Five on Friday (August 4, 2017)

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. -Isaiah 26:3

After such a long absence, there is nothing to do but pick up my laptop and start typing. I can't possibly fill in all the gaps, but here are 5 of the many things that happened in the past few weeks.

1. My parents finally made their move to Tennessee! It wasn't without a few hiccups, but they're here and getting settled. The first set of grandparents move Labor Day weekend with the second set of grandparents arriving soon after. With the exception of a brief period of time shortly after we were married, we've always lived apart from my family so it's quite a blessing to have them nearby. I stopped by for coffee with my mom after dropping the kids off at school this morning. That's pretty awesome!

2 Becky and the boys visited for nearly 2 weeks. Camden, William, and Xavier were inseparable as usual and they disappeared upstairs to play and talk for unending hours. (Seriously, poor Rory) They shared a bedroom and, without fail, we had to make them stop talking in order to sleep every night.

You will not be surprised to hear that I did not grab my big camera even one time while everyone was together. Sadly, not grabbing my camera has become the norm.

3. While Brian and Camden made a trip to Illinois to help my parents move, Becky, Rory, the boys and I made a trip to Louisville for our denominational national convention. The kids competed in various Bible and drama areas while the adults just tried to keep up. The five of us shared a hotel room which was blissfully a suite. As in, Becky and I had beds to ourselves and two closed doors between us and the kids. :)

Before making the trip, I worried about the emotional toll over seeing so many people and having to reassure everyone many times over that I really am fine. Not to mention the sheer vanity aspect of facing everyone with no hair, lashes or brows and in generally definitely not looking my best. As it turned out, I was mostly able to set my vanity aside and it was a joy to see old friends and be on the giving and receiving end of many hugs. And, of course, it was good to have Becky as my sidekick. Or maybe I was hers. Either way, we were together and it was good.

After being home for a short time, Becky, Liz, and I (along with many friends from church) drove to Evansville, Indiana for a Living Proof Live Beth Moore event. While rushed, it was lovely and emotional. Why does Beth Moore always bring on the tears?

Gram and Gramps were there too

After not leaving the hotel and convention center for 48 hours, we ran out for lunch and coffee. I asked Rory to take a picture for us and she proceeded to climb up on the window sill (in her dress) to take the picture from above. That makes perfect sense, of course.

4. I have eyebrows! They're not finished quite yet, but two weeks ago I had my eyes microbladed. Basically, a kind and generous aesthetician took a blade, drew many hairlike strokes on my face and rubbed ink in the open wounds. It wasn't super pleasant but not as painful as I anticipated. I cannot believe how much better I feel about my face in general with the return of eyebrows. I'm giving Brian fair warning to start saving his pennies because when these start to wear off in 12-18 months, we're paying to have them freshened up (this first experience was a sweet gift).

(Not a stitch of makeup or hair - this is so embarrassing. Through the process until the final picture about a week after the procedure. They have lightened up considerably from this picture, but I am still thrilled to have something resembling eyebrows again.Clearly, makeup and a photo filter make a difference as well.)

5. Camden had his braces put on about 10 days ago, and it's amazing how a mouth full of metal changes his appearance and ages him. No one in our family grew up with braces so this is a whole new experience for us. I feel pretty sorry for all the extra care he has to take, the many sores they rub in his mouth, being deprived of certain foods, etc. It was especially sad when his lip literally got caught in his braces while eating supper earlier this week. Ugh. Maybe that whole thing about your braces getting caught if you kiss someone else with braces is true. Possibly this will work in our favor since he'll be 16 by the time these things come off. Oh, my. Let's pretend my brain did not even go down that road.

I can't possibly leave this one out, so we're moving on to number . . .

6. The kids went back to school yesterday and, just like that, I have two middle-schoolers. Summer was an incredible blur (literally, I can hardly remember two weeks of camp and our road trip), but there's something just so good about a routine. We've already decided getting out the door in the morning is not so fun, but there's something a little bit beautiful about dropping the kids off at the door for a full day of school although I did miss them almost immediately. Both of my kids adore school so while there were a few nervous jitters the first morning, they tend to settle in quickly.

Brian also went back to school this week (his in-service actually started up last week - SO early!). The weekend is full - school meeting and pizza with my parents tonight, church training event Saturday morning and dinner with church friends Saturday evening. Happy Friday!