Word of (Two) Weeks: Disconcerting

disconcerting  /adj./  upsetting the composure of.  frustrating.  causing a person to be self-consciously distressed.  embarrassing or confusing.  mortifying.  bewildering.  being thrown for a loop.

disconcerting  /adj./  1.  For whatever reason, this has always been one of my favorite words.  I love a word that is (all by itself) a little revelation of its definition.  You can feel it's mortifying unease as the syllables break apart and switch directions on the way out of your mouth.  So I was excited to spotlight it, but forgot about the uncanny and disconcerting way the word-of-the-week determines my destiny.  As Amy commented: "last week when I saw "disconcerting" I knew it didn't bode well."  I wish I had had the same sense.

disconcerting  /adj./  2.  As I type this, it is disconcerting to realize that I can hardly remember back two weeks.  I remember I was going to comment on the disconcerting economy, the disconcerting lack of sagacious national leaders, the disconcerting speed that entropy takes over in my house, and the disconcerting bad grades my children continue to bring home in math and spelling.  I am starting to get the disconcerting feeling that I have very little "real control" over anything.

disconcerting  /adj./  3.  Last Saturday I volunteered myself and David (he was briefly disconcerted by this) for the Prop 102 campaign.  Here in Arizona there is a proposition on the November ballot to change the Arizona constitution to say that "only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."  So we went and worked at a phone bank for about three hours on Saturday afternoon to poll registered voters about how they were voting and encourage those in support of the proposition to be sure to vote.  Admittedly this was a bit scary calling people I didn't know, and there were a few disconcerting calls, but for the most part I felt good about doing what we could to hold the moral fabric of our state together.  Plus, I thought that being a "political activist" might make me that much more attractive to David.  He now reports that I'm irresistible.

disconcerting  /adj./  4.  Caleb decided to enter an aerospace contest with some of his friends from school, in which they have to make a model of a space station for 100 people to live on for 2 years.  He asked me to be the "parent coach."  It has been a bit disconcerting to discover all the variables he has to address in the project:  food, water, power, oxygen, waste removal including carbon dioxide, the effects of weightlessness, docking, communication, radiation protection, and the list goes on.  This week we worked on air supply (that seemed like the most critical first step).  We made some progress, but quite frankly, I'm a bit overwhelmed with the magnitude of the project and secretly think Caleb would find it disconcerting to discover that I got a C in my organic chemistry class.  I'm seriously considering flying him out to his grandpa's house for a crash chemistry course.

disconcerting  /adj./  5.  Caleb and Olivia performed their musical number (Olivia singing, Caleb on the violin) in sacrament meeting at church this last Sunday.  It went well until the disconcerting moment when Olivia stopped singing.  She just stood there as Caleb finished the song and later said through her tears that she "just went blank."  I hugged her and assured her that it was beautiful and no one could tell that that wasn't how it was supposed to be.  So many people came up afterwards and told her how well she did that she was on cloud nine before we left church.  On the way home she told us that the bad part was forgetting the words, but the good part was all the compliments.  She kept track.  And counted 37.

disconcerting  /adj./  6.  The end of my canning season came this week.  Last week I made what I thought would be a year's supply of raspberry jam, but then made the disconcerting discovery that this wouldn't be near enough, when my family finished off an entire bottle at dinner that night.  And I was also a bit disconcerted when, after kissing David hello and after having him admire my jamming, he said offhandedly, "So what did you do today?"  Um.  Do you want to rethink that question?

And in a wholly brave move, I tried canning spaghetti sauce this year.  (I usually just do the tomatoes halved, but I had 60extra pounds of romas and decided to try something new.)  I find the process of box to sauce to jar nothing short of miraculous.  The only disconcerting thing about it was that these babies turned out to be about $5 a jar.  (Don't ask me how Prego does it, but I'm suspecting it might not all be real tomatoes in there?  How's that for disconcerting?)  My only consolation was that I added real sausage to the sauce as well, so it's ready to go as is.  I was admittedly proud of the endeavor, despite the disconcerting price tag. 

  

disconcerting  /adj./  7.  I got a UTI this weekend and if you don't know what that is, then you have been blessed and you can blissfully skip this definition, because the rest of this won't make sense.  All Sunday I kept having that disconcerting feeling that it was coming and then by evening I was completely miserable and David ran to the pharmacy for antibiotics.  I didn't feel like myself until Wednesday and then had to face my house, which nearly took the wind out of my sails again.  It was a disconcerting combination of the regular weekly mess plus two serious days of neglect, not to mention the laundry, some of which I had to wash twice, because people had just walked over it rather than wearing it or (heaven forbid) folding it after I washed it the first time.  It is nice to know I'm needed, but a bit disconcerting to think about how these darlings would survive without me.

Word of the Week: Sagaciously

sagaciously  /adv./  with acute mental discernment or keen practical sense.  shrewdly.  wisely.  sagely.  intelligently or keenly.  perceptively.  prudently.  judiciously.  cleverly. 

[torridly:  /adv./  with intense heat, subjecting something to scorching heat.  with so much heat as to be parching.  very passionately.  ardently.  zealously.] 

sagaciously  /adv./  1.  Last week when I posted the new word of the week on my sidebar, I had every intention of spotlighting the word "torridly," but when I went to type in the definition I started having second thoughts and ended up with the word "sagaciously," which is ironic since this was not a wise choice in any way.  I lived my entire week "torridly" and not a bit "sagaciously."  So in the most sagacious move of the week,  I'm going to sneak "torridly" in here as well.  This is also ironic since the passionate little "torridly" has never snuck anywhere before.

sagaciously  /adv./  2.  I spent lots of hours this week in my kitchen "putting up peaches for winter." (This is how Caleb refers to my canning and I LOVE it.)  The big question is always how many boxes to buy.  This year I sagaciously bought three for canning and one for eating.  This seemed to be about right, as I only really enjoy canning for about three boxes, any more than that and it starts to feel like a chore.  My favorite part is the eating though.  We've had peaches at every meal since I picked these up.  They are so good, and I've been torridly filling bowl after bowl of them for me and my darlings.  Yesterday we had them with whipped cream on top of our pancakes.  The kids asked what holiday it was.  It's peach season, lovelies.

sagaciously  /adv./  3.  The lady who sells me Utah peaches also has an in with the tomato farmers up there.  She had a couple of  boxes of gorgeous beefsteak tomatoes for sale and even though I'm getting three boxes of romas this week, I just couldn't help myself.  When I wasn't eating peaches this week, I was torridly eating tomatoes on crusty bread.  (September is quickly replacing November as my favorite month.)  I canned all the ones we didn't eat and sagaciously decided to make spaghetti sauce with the romas.     

sagaciously  /adv./  4.  Olivia finished her latest Laura Ingalls Wilder book a couple of weeks ago and has been positively destitute without something to read.  I sagaciously pointed out that she has shelves full of books she hasn't read yet, but she is madly in love with Laura and couldn't bear to start something new.  I finally took her to the bookstore on Thursday afternoon after her viola lesson and she has been torridly reading ever since.  She almost wouldn't let go of the book long enough for the man to ring it up.  Every night as I tuck her in she gives me the update.  (Mary's on her way to college and Laura's working in town, by the way.  They had to sell the calf for Mary to go.  I thought Olivia was going to swoon when she told me they were going to buy Mary a trunk.  "A trunk, Mom, a trunk!  Oh, can you imagine having a trunk?") 

sagaciously  /adv./  5.  I found out (through sagacious deduction) that our water softener hasn't been working since we moved into the house.  We've been here nearly three years, but I'm just discovering this.  Anyway, on Saturday I asked David to replace the salt in the softener so that we could turn it on.  He did and we ran the cycle and felt quite proud of ourselves.  Then the water pressure in the kitchen faucet and the shower went to practically nothing and the water softener, which hadn't run for three years, started leaking all over the garage.  I decided I was perfectly fine with "hard water."  We spent part of Sunday trying to stop the leaks and fix the pressure, but didn't get it all solved until last night.  This is how home improvement projects go at our house.  I not-so sagaciously think something will be easy, and it's always a hundred times more work and complication than it's worth.  It is only an indication of how torridly David loves me that he agrees to any of these projects in the first place.

sagaciously  /adv./  6.  David and I went out to dinner on Saturday night at our favorite restaurant.  (I sagaciously ordered the Oscar medallion with blue crab on top, oh my.)  And then we stopped by the grocery store on our way home.  A good date night always includes a torrid stop for bread and milk.  I find David loading the car with groceries among the most romantic of gestures.

sagaciously  /adv./  7.  You do not want to know how my gospel doctrine lesson went on Sunday.  I stand up there dying a little death with every word that comes out of my mouth.  But I have sagaciously formulated a new plan.  I told David I need him to get a substitute next time I teach so he can come and hear it.  I need his gorgeous, blue eyes looking at me, torridly telling me that no matter what I'm saying he thinks I'm H.O.T. Hot.  He said he'd see what he could do. 

Domestic Bliss

A few reasons I'm celebrating my life as a domestic goddess today:

1.  These shoes.  (Darling.)

2.  This quilt.  (Gorgeous.) 

Do you remember our quilt retreat project from earlier this year...this is it.  Finally finished and up on my wall.  It's been in my "to do" sewing box since April.  It only took me 4 hours to complete it...and that included an extra hour for unpicking.  (I always like to add an hour of unpicking...and draw out the fun.)  I wonder why it's just been sitting in my box all these months.  Anyway last night (after my decorating consultant got home from work) I got it up on the wall.  Can I say how happy I was to wake up to this beauty this morning?

3.  This man.  (Delicious.)

A few months ago David asked me if I wanted to be on a committee at the hospital to host a "Spring Tea" next May to raise funds for his cancer program.  I said yes, even though I have no expertise whatsoever in "tea."  ("The Spring Punch and Cookie Party" title just didn't work.)  We had a meeting at the hospital this morning to prepare for it.  One of the ladies there spoke so highly of David and the really (really!) good work he is doing at the hospital for the cancer patients, and all the wonderful programs and people he has put into place to bless the lives of families going through cancer.  She told us how good and brilliant and compassion- ate he is.  It was a good thing that David wasn't in the meeting because if he had been, I would have lept over the table and started making out with him.  Which would have been embarrassing.  For him. 

4.  These peaches.  (Divine.)

I wait all year for these babies.  My canning days are some of my favorite of the entire year and here they are again.  I washed my aprons and my jars this morning in joyful anticipation.  Not to mention the peaches and cream morning, noon, and night.  And pie.  Oh my.  I'm going to the store for half-and-half, THE staple of September.  (Though I may have gone a little overboard this year, [there are four boxes of these in my laundry room], and I am hoping that this doesn't become a post in my "delusions of grandeur" category.)

5.  These tomatoes.  (Spectacular.)

I just went to pick up peaches.  But then I saw these tomatoes.  (To die for.)  I bought two boxes, just because they were so beautiful.  There will be BLT's tonight, heavy on the T.

Sweet Nothings

I am madly in love with the three guys at my house.  Here are three more reasons my crush keeps growing.

1.

Last week, after reading the "doughtily" post, David was pondering the fifth "definition" in bed.  He said, "Do people know what a MAC counter is?  Everybody probably thinks I took you to get a Big Mac."

I smiled in the dark.

And then he gasped (apparently remembering the end of that same paragraph) and groaned, "My parents read your blog."

I smiled again and assured him that they already knew he had a wicked wife.

2.

Last week in church, the man who was speaking talked about a bridge from his boyhood home to Vietnam.  Caleb leaned over and asked, "Is he speaking literally or metaphorically?" 

Can I say how happy (giddy even, and quite near delirious) it made me to hear him use "metaphorically" in a sentence?

3.

And then last week Ethan saw a picture of Barack Obama.  He asked, "Mom, what's his name?"

"Barack Obama."

"Is Baback Ohamina our bishop?"

"No, honey, Barack Obama is not our bishop.  He's running for president."

He pointed at the picture and said, "That guy looks just like our bishop."

    

(I love it.)

Word of the Week: Burgeon

burgeon  /vt./  to grow or develop quickly, flourish.  to bloom or blossom.  effloresce.  expand.  thrive.  flower.  snowball.  sprout. 

burgeon  /vt./  1.  I need to get this post written, as this word's life and influence is quickly burgeoning into my current week.  And may I just say that I love a word that can be defined by both a snowball and a flower.  Clever word.  You can feel it's anxious, growing, proud self in the first syllable.

burgeon  /vt./  2.  David's love of politics has burgeoned from a sweet little crush to an all-out obsession.  I have felt a bit like a "football wife" for the past, oh, ten months or so, but it has been particularly bad this last week.  He has Fox News on his Blackberry 24/7 these days and he was cheering and clapping and yelling so loudly during Sarah Palin's speech this week that the kids got out of bed to see what all the excitement was about.  (In his defense, she is quite fabulous.)  He's even given up sleeping-in on Sunday mornings (gasp!) to watch the political shows.  That election cannot come soon enough. 

burgeon  /vt./  3.  My sister, Rachel, and I taught another of our body image classes last week and we have another one tonight and two more scheduled in the coming weeks.  I cannot explain the burgeoning popularity of the class, but we are so happy to teach it whenever we can to get the message out.  Though the more we give it, the more we see what amateurs we really are.  Really, you'd think our confidence would burgeon the more times we give it, but I think both of us are just more and more aware of our flaws.  I told her this last week that the one really great thing about it is that we get to spend more time together.  That part is admittedly delightful.

burgeon  /vt./  4.  Savannah was baptized this week and Olivia was unaccountably emotional about it.  As I was blow-drying Olivia's hair on Saturday afternoon the tears burgeoned to overflowing.  She finally threw her arms around Savannah's neck and sobbed, "I'm just so proud of you Savannah.  You make me so happy."  I cannot believe my luck in catching this moment on film.  Savannah's look so perfectly captures her bafflement at her sister's emotional (and decidedly lachrymose) moment.

burgeon  /vt./  5.  Much to my delight, Caleb and Olivia performed a musical number at Savannah's baptism, "When I Am Baptized."  Caleb played his violin and Olivia sang.  I accompanied them on the piano.  They did so well, despite the sheer terror (as Rachel described it) that Olivia experienced just before she opened her mouth.  I love to see my children's talents burgeon and flourish.  They have been asked to do the number in sacrament meeting in a few weeks.  Olivia has been quite conflicted about this invitation, vacillating between burgeoning fear and happy pride. 

I didn't have a picture of their musical number, but David sent me an email earlier today letting me know that I had neglected to include his favorite picture in the baptism post...I'm including it here, for him.

burgeon  /vt./  6.  Olivia had her first viola lesson this week and was bursting and burgeoning with uncontainable excitement.  Her teacher is a woman named Marie with a charming eastern European accent.  When I picked Olivia up she said, nodding at Olivia's joy-infused face, "Oh, she's just vonderful."  And so the practicing has begun in earnest, and I am aware of a burgeoning acknowledgement (again) that I should listen to my children...apparently they do know what they want.

Word of the Week: Doughtily

doughtily  /adv./  courageously and resolutely; steadfastly.  valiantly.  bravely and heroically.  stoutheartedly.  boldly.  intrepidly.  pluckily.

doughtily  /adv./  1.  This week's word almost seems unlikely to live up to its definition.  You don't expect a word with the beginnings of "doubt" to end up brave and bold and valiant.  Against the odds, as it were.  Perhaps this is why I like it.  The dark horse of courageous and plucky adverbs.  I spent too much of the week crying (clearly), but I am doughtily persevering and mothering and wife-ing all in the ugly face of the fallen world and the dangers it holds for me and the ones I love.

doughtily  /adv./  2.  I have been touched and sobered this week by the story of Nie Nie and her Mr. Nielson and all those who are doughtily rushing to their aid.  Though I do not know them personally, I have spent most of my mornings this week sobbing in the shower for the way their lives have been so changed, and praying doughtily for their care.  I have observed and admired their family doughtily doing whatever needs doing, and watched the blogging world doughtily rallying to do what they can (each in their own way) to raise funds for this family.  And because of their tender story, I've also vowed (again and once-and-for-all) to love the life I've been given, hold my darlings tighter and my grudges less, and to find joy in the simple yet extraordinary miracle of everyday life.

doughtily  /adv./  3.  We doughtily made our way through the third week of school this week, especially courageous since the adrenalin of the new school year has worn off and the exhaustion of routine and scheduling has finally caught up with me.  I went to curriculum night for the youngest three on two different nights, and took home armfuls of rules and calendars and unit plans and report card templates and expectations, and the stomach ache I haven't felt since May returned with a vengeance.  When Ethan's preschool teacher told us that she was going to divide the kids into two reading groups according to the level they were at, I thought I'd had quite enough and seriously considered pulling him out in defense of his childhood.

doughtily  /adv./  4.  I met my very good friend, Merri, for breakfast at the Farmhouse on Wednesday morning and enjoyed one of the best hours of my week over an omelet and orange juice.  We doughtily made a secret pact that has already blessed my life (though I haven't kept it perfectly, I'll admit that straight out)...and we have plans to meet for breakfast in a month to make another one.  We tried to take a self-portrait afterwards (to mark the occasion) but there was no memory card in my camera, which is too bad since we both looked darling.

doughtily  /adv./  5.  I told David that if I was going to continue to doughtily mother our gorgeous children through this school year, I was going to need more alone time with him.  This keeps me going better than anything else.  So we met for lunch on Friday which was delightful (even though most of the conversation was political) and then we went out on a real live date on Saturday night...a stop by the Mac counter and then to a movie.  David said the movie (a foreign film, French with English subtitles) had too much nudity, violence and swearing for me to be able to recommend it to anyone, but I did really love it.  So don't go see it, even though it was quite fabulous.

After, in the Dark

Last night there was lightening.  And thunder.  And candles, just in case.  And romance, because there were candles.

And after...

there was lovely throaty whispering.

And a while after that, in the darkness I heard David sigh regretfully.  "I don't think McCain's going to pick Romney." 

I started giggling.  Because it is just so David to mix love and politics. 

He listed the reasons why not.  I said those were all good reasons.  He said he'd thought about it a lot.

Then he listed the reasons why McCain should.  I said those were all good reasons too.  He sighed.

And then he said, "Romney has a certain gravitas."

I said, "Did you just use the word 'gravitas'?"

He said he did.  And then I kissed him hard (I really couldn't help myself) and there was more romance.  Because it is so like me to mix love and vocabulary.

Look at these yummy pillow shams...I am delirious about them.  Ticking and toile are my undoing.

Word of the Week: Deprecate

deprecate  /vt./  to express earnest disapproval of; to urge reasons against. to depreciate or belittle. denigrate.  underrate.  pooh pooh. 

deprecate  /vt./  1.  I've always loved this word, especially the "self deprecating" combination, the way it defers and shrugs before it even really gets going, but I'm happy to see its week end.  With "deprecate" on my mind, my inside voices have been too negative and whiny to stand for much longer.   

deprecate  /vt./  2.  I spent much of the week deprecating Squarespace's new V5 version and the difficulties it created in my life.  But by Friday, I had worked out most of the bugs, created a new banner, and figured out the best way to upload pictures.  Whew.  Now if I could only figure out the other issues my computer is having...is it the memory, the modem, or the 10 million megabytes being taken up by Caleb's computer games?  I know just enough about blogging and computers to be dangerous. 

deprecate  /vt./  3.  One of things that David finds most aggravating about being married to me, is the way I deprecate big birthday celebrations.  (I ascribe this to nature and nurture, by the way.)  I find regular life taxing enough, and so I always quail a little bit at the monumental effort required for birthdays.  Especially the parties.  Despite all this, I encouraged Savannah to invite her friends over for a swim party (at my parents' house) on Friday afternoon.  I picked up a pizza and grapes and ice cream bars at Costco and we had an impromptu party with three of her best friends...no invitations, no presents, very little expense, just fun.  I'm expecting my Olympic medal any day now.

deprecate  /vt./  4.  Yesterday I taught my first gospel doctrine class.  And I'm not being the least bit self-deprecating to say that it could have gone better.  For the most part, people just stared at me, like, "Okay lady, go ahead and teach me the gospel.  I'm just going to sit here and watch you make a fool of yourself."  And we had really good material yesterday too...tons to talk about, but apparently I don't inspire that kind of really good classroom discussion.  The highlight of the lesson was when I used colored chalk to diagram the wars and epistles that went back and forth between the four main characters (Moroni, Helaman, Ammoron and Pahoran [my personal favorite]), but that was over in the first ten minutes.  David ran to Walmart for me at 9 o'clock on Saturday night for colored chalk.  Bless his heart.  He wanted to help, but there was just no help for it.

deprecate  /vt./  5.  My sister, Rachel, and I taught another body image class on Tuesday night and had another round of serious technical difficulties.  You'd think by now we'd have it down, but no.  This time we showed up without a cord to connect the proxima to the computer (an fairly important part it turns out) and so I had to call David to come to our rescue.  Even after he brought the cord we still couldn't get it to work and so he came in and tried to help us while I started the presentation.  I told Rachel later that it's either the devil or the Lord trying to stop this presentation and I'm not sure which one it is.  I was immensely grateful for David's expertise and IT support, and felt I ought to take back all the deprecating remarks I've made over the years about not having a "handy husband."

deprecate  /vt./  6.  One of the highlights of my week, again, was watching the Olympics.  I intended to go to bed early last night (I mean really intended), but I thought the closing ceremony was just so incredible that I stayed up and watched.  And then I couldn't leave without hearing Mr. Costas sign off one last time.  We have quite a relationship now and I just couldn't help myself.  (Did you hear the comment about laying the egg in the bird's nest?  Classic.  Be still my beating heart.)  And no matter your feelings about the Olympics in general, you just can't deprecate the efforts of Beijing and the Chinese people in their hosting of these most spectacular games.  I am quite at a loss as to what to do now.

At the Border

I'm sitting at the computer in our hotel lobby in Amherst, NY.  We're on our way to Niagara Falls...just waiting for David to get back from the grocery store.  (He forgot his razor and the complimentary hotel one chewed up his face.  He spent an hour of so this morning staunching the bleeding.  Lovely.)

We crossed the border into Canada yesterday at Port Huron, on the eastern side of Michigan.  This part of Canada looked like Indiana to me, complete with the farms, the corn, and the golden wheat.  We stopped at Niagara last night before heading back across the New York border and made it just in time for the fireworks.  I've never been that up close and personal with fireworks and it was spectacular.  The kids were somewhere right between terrified and giddy.

It is so good to have David with us again.  When Olivia found out we were driving to Detroit to pick him up she said, "Oh good.  Then we can turn the navigator off!"   However independent I think I am, it's always a relief to be reunited.  I just don't live well without him.  Last night I had the first good night's sleep since he left. 

We're headed back across the border this morning...they say the Canadians have the best view of the falls. 

Word of the Week: Effulgently

Editor's note:  I intended all last week to do a proper Mackinac post, with more pictures and lots of details, but here I am doing another word-of-the-week post with only a little SPT and holiday good wishes separating this "wow" and last week's.    A bit of vacation lag, I suppose, but I have more good intentions for this coming week.  (Ugh...I started this post two days ago and am watching all my good intentions die a slow, sad little death.)

effulgently  /adv./  shining forth brilliantly.  radiantly.  giving off light readily or in large amounts.  brightly.  luminously.  resplendently.

effulgently  /adv./  1.  We spent the week at David's parents' house, enjoying their little town and all of its charms.  David was born and raised here, but he never talked very effulgently about it, though I find it nothing but delightful.  I went to yoga at a little studio downtown on Tuesday afternoon and took a much-needed class.  On Thursday evening, we went to a concert by the Tridge (which is a 3-sided bridge) and then walked around Main Street window shopping and had pizza and the best ice cream I think I've ever had at Pizza Sam's.  We went back for more ice cream on Friday night and closed the place down.

effulgently  /adv./  2.  David and I went to dinner with our very good friends, Gary and Sara, on Wednesday night.  David and Gary grew up together and have been friends their entire lives.    Sara moved in during high school, and I happened along last and just feel lucky to know any of them.  It doesn't matter how long it's been since we've gotten together, it is instant joy to be reunited.  When we're with them, I laugh until the endorphins are just charging through me, and I feel crazy in love with all of them.  It really makes me just incredibly happy, and I left dinner smiling effulgently and wishing it wasn't so late so that we could talk for a few hundred more hours.

I snapped this picture on Sunday afternoon after the baptism of Sara and Gary's second son.  They blessed their fifth baby in Sacrament meeting this same Sunday.  We felt so lucky to share in all their joy.

effulgently  /adv./  3.  On Thursday we went to the Chippewa Nature Center and saw a whole lot of nature.  I kept throwing my arms out and saying, "Look at all this nature!"  To which David only indulgently smiled.  It really is quite astounding though.  The kids wanted to find frogs and armed with buckets and a fishing net they headed through the tall grass near the ponds.  Luckily, they didn't end up covered in poison ivy and actually found two very tiny frogs.  The girls effulgently carried them around in their red, plastic buckets, naming and mothering them, and sniffing a bit when it was time to let them go.  (We found out later that you have to step in the muck and wade through the nature to find the big frogs, but the girls were happy enough with their tiny ones.)  We saw cardinals and blue jays and other birds I've only read about or watched play baseball.  It was just incredible to see them in real life. 

On our way out we stopped by the Chippewa River and I told the kids to take off their shoes and wade in the river.  They said, "What's wading?"  Okay, there are some serious gaps in their childhoods here.  So I demonstrated and Caleb and I waded out to the middle of the river, just for fun.  The girls waded out and found some freshwater mussel shells and Olivia reverently declared them, "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen" and proceeded to fill her bucket to the brim.

effulgently  /adv./  4.  Our plans for the 4th of July  changed a bit mid-day, and we ended up staying in town for the fireworks.  We had a spectacular show on the grass near the Tridge and didn't even get eaten by mosquitoes as the city sprays the park really good in the days leading up to the show.  My favorite part of every show is watching my children's faces light up effulgently as the "bombs burst in air." 

(Incidentally, we had sparklers a few nights later as it was after midnight when we got home from the "big fireworks."  Of course Ethan burned his hand on the sparklers and cried anytime his hand was out of cold water the rest of the night.  My just desserts for bad-mouthing the Arizona legislature, I presume.)

effulgently  /adv./  5. We made it out to Wixom Lake on Saturday and had a great time tubing and jet-skiing...there was no waterskiing as the lake was busy and choppy, but my back was grateful for the reprieve.  Savannah was completely terrified of tubing, as last year she had a bad experience on the lake and wasn't about to forget it.  (One of the things my girls do best is remember their sufferings and/or tragedies.)  After a bit of prodding, I talked her into going with me on a "nice, slow ride" on an "easy tube," and she reluctantly got on with me and placed a white-knuckle grip on the tube.  We had a bit of trouble at first because she wanted to go so slowly that the tube couldn't plane on top of the water and we kept going under which completely terrified her.  But eventually we found a speed she could handle and she grinned effulgently at me and said, equally surprised and chagrined, "I like tubing.  I didn't know that." 

This was a "before" shot...Savannah is still uncertain about the decision to trust me.

effulgently  /adv./  6.  This week we also got to see David's brother, Jon, and his sister, Cyndi, and their families.  We spent most of the 4th together and then went to the lake with Cyndi and Jason (her husband) on Saturday.  My kids loved playing and swimming with their cousins, and I love that they get to spend these rare moments enjoying each other.  On Sunday we went to church with Cyndi and Jason and their kids, and Caleb sat with them in the row ahead of us next to his cousin, Tyler.  I had to swallow hard against the rising lump in my throat as I listened to these two, sitting side-by side, effugently and loudly singing out the words of the hymns, especially as they belted out, "the veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst."

Ethan and Caleb on the lawn with their two "Michigan" boy cousins.

effulgently  /adv./  7.  My in-laws are so good to let us come and invade their sanctuary for four weeks (can you believe this kind of hospitality?!), and are so generous to the kids with their time and hugs and care.  David's mom has MS and so she is down in bed a bit, but the kids just love to climb on her bed and get their one-on-one chat time.  The kids guard these moments jealously and sneak up to see her whenever they can.  Both of David's parents have such of gift of really listening and the kids just soak it up.  They emerge from these impromtu sessions beaming effulgently and busting with pride and self-esteem.  Bless them.