I can see the future.

I caught a vision tonight of my son.  My baby son, who clutches my shirt as he nurses and squishes into a little lump when he falls asleep.  As I podered his babyness while rocking him in his room, I could see him in his brothers' footsteps...

...at the table eating waffles with the sun shining through the window behind him.
...climbing into his "big boy" bed, which is really just the crib without a rail.
...running to chase balls down the slope of our back yard.
...walking toward the school building paying no attention to the fact that he just left his mother in the car.

Woah.

A Boy and His Blocks

If you give a boy some Legos...

he may or may not ask for the instructions.

He'll make sure all the personnel are in order.

His work will start a trend among his peers,

but he will remain focused on his task.

He will work until his project is finished...

...with a few pieces left over.

A Princess Tale

If you give a girl a princess dress...

she'll need a purse to go with it.

She'll want to wear all her best jewelry,

and she absolutely must have a tiara.

She'll pull out all her favorite princess books,

and she might even build her own castle.

Once she's finished, she'll need a snack...

so of course she'll host her own tea party.

She pays attention to even the smallest details.

She is, after all, a princess.

Shameless

I admit it. I am shamelessly making a post for the sole purpose of advertising this giveaway (and thereby gaining another entry therein). I apologize to anyone who got their hopes up. :D

MckMama is hosting a giveaway for a new HP Touchsmart 600 computer. And I'm a nerd, so while I do not actually think I will win said computer in a million years, it would be SOOOOOOO cool if I did! Check out the full info here.

Funk.

Boo!

Did you miss me?

I think at least one person did. In the midst of mission trips to Haiti, first anniversaries, and tripling coupons like mad...perhaps you missed me too. :) I'll just assume you did, since it makes me feel better. Thanks so much.

And now for the funk...

I credit my husband with the first use of this term to describe a day when he was feeling a bit "off". We've come to understand its meaning and most of what is being said when we report the funk to each other. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here are some definite signs of the funk:

1. Everything irks you just a little bit.
2. You want peace and quiet more than anything else in the world.
3. You find yourself staring into nothing (you know, a lot more than usual).
4. There's some sort of mental block set deep in your brain--you feel like you're thinking through mud.
5. Things that normally make you happy suddenly make you go "Eh. Okay."
6. You distance yourself from other people, then wonder why those other people seem distant.
7. On second thought, even more than peace and quiet, you want a nice long hug from your very best friend.
8. You feel the urge to be just a little ticked off at God...along with the simultaneous urge to throw yourself at His feet and beg for comfort and love.

Such is the nature of the funk. Things you can not deny feeling but know you have no reason to feel. The funk has been visited upon me for at least a solid week now. In fact, I think it's been slowly building for some time. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops...nobody knows. Perhaps a decision on my part. Perhaps a song. Perhaps a note from a friend. Perhaps something I read...perhaps.

The most encouraging thing about the funk is that it is not a chronic condition. And my "brain mud" may be all washed away by the time I wake up tomorrow. We shall see.