She Laughs at the Days

So, today we we meet with a lawyer to go over everything pertaining to applying for non-profit status with the IRS. Tat's not stressful. He just said bring every single record or piece of documentation we have for the whole time we've been doing this. In one way it's exciting, it means that this little thing we started to help some kids has grown enough that it makes sense to branch out on our own and to leave the shelter of our church, who has been handling donations for us, behind. In another it's it's a LOT of work. I'm tired just thinking about it.

Side note-Have you ever read corporate bylaws before? Talk about dull, and long, and I am now convinced that lawyers go to school specifically to learn how to write page long sentences. Definitely not something I imagined myself doing in high school. Also, it's, like, our deal, so we suggest a re-write and it goes in there and then it's permanent and oh man I hope that won't come back to bite us in th…

The Boy coming in to sit beside me during Bible study last night, his eyes seeking mine, his lips smiling affection, his body leaning into my arm, and his head nudging against my hand whenever it grew idle reminding me to stroke his hair some more.

Marveling at how tall, how slender they are, how much they have changed over the years, still riding their scooters ahead of me down the same stretch of sidewalk, yet so much different now than at first.

My strong, strong beautiful big girl dealing with grown up things and holding herself together so well. I am so proud of her.

Laying forehead to forehead with the Girl while deep inside I feel Jellybean rolling and flipping around.

Watching the Girl figure out how to move to Latin rhythms. Surreptitiously so she doesn't get self conscious and stop.

The only good thing about a sick Little is that she loses her fierce independence for a while in favor of snuggling and mommy help.

The Boy reading Winnie the Pooh out loud to the girl. He m…

...and I can't blame the head cold anymore, since that's almost better.

Seriously.

My brain is mush.

I have started 3 blog posts this week and been unable to finish them.

I have work to do on so many fronts.
Closets to organize.
Gifts to sew.
I'm rewriting all of the content for the charis project website, which is goiing to look so pretty with the new design to go with it.
I've got two writing submissions that are outlined and just need to be written sitting here staring at me.

Except that mostly I open up the files and stare at them blankly, unable to force myself to come up with words.

One of the more messy realities of adopting a person into your family is that their life becomes yours to a certain extent, their tragedies your tragedies, their crisis your crisis, and their triumphs, well, something that you rejoice in too. But those aren't things I will write about here, because they are not really my stories to tell, even though I live and participate in them…

It's been a while since I did one of these. I have all these photos I took, thinking they would turn into posts, but I never used them. 7 quick takes seemed like a good way to catch up on on the little things that are happening around here. Don't expect anything much though. This is literally a laundry list of trivium.

1.



This is what I would have had to interrupt one day in order to start "school". Heaven forbid they should all sit around reading together and enjoy it in order learn serious stuff like reading and writing. I didn't interrupt. But I did take a picture.

2.



Little was very sick a few weeks ago. But she's a very cute sick girl.




And a very tired sick girl. Now she is sharing a head cold with me and she is miserable again. She's has a fear of coughing ever since the great throwing up every time she coughed brush with whooping this past summer. She cries and swallows a lot trying to stop the cough. She is poor right now.

So am I actually. I…

I don't know why exactly, but peer pressure never affected me much. At some very young age I decided that I didn't care what other people thought about me, so long as I was happy with myself. I remember that my defiant mantra in junior high was, "The opinions of worthless people are worthless."

In case you were wondering, yes, I was a total nerd. But unlike the nerd stereotype, I wasn't one to longingly gaze at the popular people wishing I could crack the code and become one of them. I do remember thinking they were quite silly and doing stupid things and knowing I wanted no part of it. I also knew that I didn't want for friends anyone who could be so two faced and nasty in public, not that all of them were.

I remember a popular boy asking me out in front of the whole class in grade 8, probably for a joke, and his shock and obvious discomfiture when, without even looking up from my book, I snorted, "In your dreams."

I'm sure he thought it would …

Just over a week ago Chelsea King, a pretty straight A student from an upper middle class family, parked her car and went for a jog in a nearby park. She never came home. One week later her body was discovered in a shallow grave near the water's edge. It appears she was raped and murdered.

About one year ago 14 year old Amber Dubois went missing on her way to high school one morning. Her remains were also discovered this week. Her picture still looks out from every shop window. The trees downtown are still tied with tattered ribbons that beg, "Bring Amber Home."

Public outcry over these two girls has been what you would expect, vocal and warm. Helicopter searches, prayer vigils, networks of people banding together out of care and concern for these girls and their families. People wept when Chelsea's body was found. I know kids who went to school with her, her death has shocked them, as it has shocked many.

I can't imagine the anguish her parents have experienced.…

Today I had two neighbor kids drop by with their mom so I could cut their hair. (They tried to do it on their own at first you see. It needed some evening out.) So while my kids raced around outside I trimmed hair on the front patio, while keeping an eye on them and the extra children running in and out the front door.

An hour later a toddler pushed her way into the not quite shut tight front door and looked around big eyed, wondering where Little was. Since I had just banished Little to quiet time I shooed her, and the 3 year old with her, back to their moms on the playground nearby.

An hour after that, while I chatted with Aaron on facebook for a few minutes, fielded a phone call, baked cookies, and started dinner, neighbor children and their parents came in and out countless times, the parents to chat, the kids to find more toys to pull out and play with, or to look for a friend, ask for water, and once use the potty. Little chased the Girl screeching all around the playground beca…