{this moment}

A Friday ritual. One day late this week...

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember...

Joining Amanda.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Or, Samantha and the purple dry-erase marker...Are you familiar with Harold? He draws his story with his crayon as he goes...



So...I am here in TX, with my three. We just made it through a week of illness, one with pneumonia, all with high fevers and me trying to get the house ready for market so we can move to North Dakota to reunite with Dad come June.

Yesterday, Samantha was working hard on her dry erase book at the kitchen table for the better part of an hour while I cleaned the kitchen. I was called off to assist Bubba or Stump and then she:

scribbled the table cloth
scribbled her chair cushion
scribbled the cabinets
scribbled the shutters and walked across the living room to the hall and
scribbled a line that followed the chair rail molding (convenient height) all the way down the hallway into the family room to the entertainment center and finished with a beautiful abstract scribble conglomerate that covered the open cabinet doors by the tv

It was a three-room and a long hallway purple scribble-o-rama.

All of this was accomplished in less time than it took me to type it

My apologies for lack of pictures. I grabbed the cleaning cloth and started wiping because the real estate people were coming today! And unless you closely inspect the chair rail, I think all the evidence is gone...

Posted by The Editor.

Recipe for Forever

Recipe for Forever
Gather all of the ingredients together, so that they are close at hand! Get a clean cloth and wipe the bowl clean of any lingering dust from the past.
Take maturity, respect and friendship, and stir gently.
Add unlimited amounts of compassion and kindness, and mix well.


To this, add caring by the handfuls and fold in trust.

Continue stirring gently, adding listening, honesty, and large amounts of communication.

Slip in some dreams, goals, and firm pieces of keeping promises.

Bake in a home filled with peace, beauty and serenity.

Before you taste the finished product, sprinkle liberally with patience, love, and a touch of spice.

Serve very hot, with imagination on the side.


Author Unknown

I found this recipe on the internet. It says ‘author unknown’, but I think it was written by a child. Who else but a child would have such a firm grasp on all that is good and pure?
I look at my kids and I think that my heart might explode from loving them so much. They are so soft and sweet and innocent and full of love and kindness—and then it hits me—my mom probably used to look at me like that, too, before I grew up and became a cynical, jaded adult.

And so I think it would be best if we, as adults, forgot about all that we have learned over the years. I think it would be best to return to that place called Childhood where everything is still possible and within reach, where we can touch our dreams, and live a life untainted by worry, stress, limitations, or fear.

I think that by looking ahead of us to role models, we are overlooking the best role models in this world—the pure of heart, also known as our little children.

Joy and Marlo are full of all that is good and kind and sweet and pure.

I’m hoping one day to be just like them.


Posted by The Editor for Busy Body