Stream of consciousness...

I'm nervous that my sister Anna is going to be disappointed with this post. I doubt this is what she had in mind when she pulled up the blog on her phone tonight and told me she needed something new to read :)

I've started with the back to school dreams. Except this time it's not me who is standing naked in the halls. I've morphed into the mother role. (of course) And in my last dream, I realized school was starting the following day and I had not bought Zachary his school supplies, and I didn't know what his bus number or who his teacher was. Those are horrible dreams. It's such a miserable feeling.

This blog has officially been kept for 3 years. And while it is certainly not a comprehensive record of my thoughts or our family doings...it's something. And it really, really makes me smile.

I won! Or at least that is the feeling I have about my latest craigslist-ing adventures. I saw the iron and wood table and thought the lines looked similar to THIS one. Plus it was $965 cheaper. And that mirror was an old wooden mirror (with cat claw scratches) that I scooped up and decided to gold leaf. fun times. It's not a great picture because (1) the angle...you can't tell how long the table really is, and you can't really see the mirror (2) we don't actually have an entry way...so it is a bit out of place here in our rental (3) it's not styled yet. But that's the fun part for me. I'm sure I'll spend the next few months trying to figure out exactly what I want.

But you know what I really want? I want to jump off a cliff. No I'm serious. I sort of want to do something crazy and wild and fun again. With David. We used to jump off cliffs or what about that time we pulled the rip cord ride and dropped 190 feet...free fall, or swam in those caves in Maui or hiked that tiny trail on the edge of a mountain in Colorado. And because we knew each other when we were teenagers, the list of stupid/ridiculous activities we participated in (or snuck around to do) is long. And laughable. Like..."Hey, remember that time when we were making out in the creek and...". Yeah. Stuff like that. I'm not sure what spurred this on. Maybe I've bought one too many boxes of diapers lately, or maybe it was the roller coasters at the amusement park last weekend. I guess I need to shake it up a bit.

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - C.S. Lewis

The Woods are friends from the original Kansas City era. Pre-blog. (pre-Painter home computer)

Our kids drooled on the same toys, and it was parallel play. At least that's what the books told us.

Those days were good. So good. Katherine and I were new-ish moms. We met at the pool, the park, our houses...the kind of friend you can call last minute and say, come over, we need to talk. And talk we did, about our pregnancies, our kids milestones and our futures and of course...home decor.

We both shipped out of Kansas City about the same time, but lucky for me, they stopped back by this weekend.

Our kids played (nonstop),

we talked until 3 am,

and on Monday, our husbands took over child duty so we could make a pilgrimage to our old favorite home decor stomping ground. Nell Hill's.

Luckily, some things don't change.

Nauvoo

We spent the weekend in Nauvoo, on the banks of the Mississippi.

We played old fashioned children's games,

enjoyed the magnificent pageant,

jumped on hotel beds,

and felt peace in the temple.

For me, Nauvoo is always a deeply personal experience.

The city has been meticulously restored.

But this time it was the raw scenery that humbled me.

hilltop views

ditches

that wide river

Respectively, they whisper evidence of

faith

industry

and fortitude.

This trip came at the perfect time for me.

I love Nauvoo.

Lily Anne Painter

My little Lily-lou-do.

The last picture strikes me the most.

I think I can see her 4 year old self peaking through.

Thursday we ran errands together. Just the girls. We talked and talked and talked some more. She had me find "beautiful music" on the radio (which is what she calls classical music) and then wanted me to tell her all the instruments that were playing in the piece. It's our little routine lately. We bought polka dotted sunglasses, and she carried her pink pony in her skirt pocket all afternoon.

I love her. I love her. My little girl is perfection.

(posting from somewhere in rural Missouri...we're heading back from a weekend spent in Nauvoo. Ahhhh despite my resistance, sometimes, technology wins.)

As I sit here writing this post 2 full days after July 4th...there are fireworks exploding outside. it's 11 pm. i'm dead serious.

I'm not gonna lie. The weather this weekend was the pits. Saturday and Sunday were full of heavy clouds and rain. Big bummer for all those Independence day plans. In fact, Sunday night at the peak-9:30-boom-time...it was pouring. But don't worry, it didn't stop Kansas Citians. We were named 3rd most patriotic city by Men's Health Magazine. (ha!) Of course one of the criteria they used to determine this important status was the sale of fireworks and US flags. I'll vouch for the firework sales. Those colorful tents pop up in vacant lots every year at the end of June. (who am I kidding...more like the end of May!) I have awesome memories of going with my dad to these overcrowded tents and spending a silly amount of money on fireworks. So Dave and I took the kids this year. I planned a mini lesson complete with flag facts and coloring. It was cute and fun, but let's be honest...sparklers, tanks, smoke bombs and snappers totally won out.

He's always thinking about me...

My husband did something sweet. Our anniversary is coming up and he rented a lens for my camera. I always talk about renting the lenses I've been thinking about in hopes of deciding which one suits me, but I just never follow through. I put it off because I think there are other more important things that need our money right now. But he doesn't see it that way. I love him for that. And it makes me wish I was more supportive of his hobbies. :)

It was nap time, so my first subjects were brown eggs. I shot quite a bit yesterday, but of course my favorite pictures don't really showcase the lens' ability very well (or my own quite honestly) but this little series of Roman captured my heart. I think it's the miniature drooly chin surrounded by chubby cheeks. It was dusk, at the park, and he spotted an airplane flying overhead. Going... Going... Gone.