Joy Dare 2013 - Day 12

Something above, below, beside

Something above
This one was really hard to come up with without sounding corny. I'm glad the sky and sun and moon are above me. Really I am. But I was trying to think of something not so "expected." And this sounds corny too, but I am thankful for the roof that is above our heads. And I'm talking about the literal 3 year old roof that is on our house. It's a baby roof which means we have quite a few years before we'll have to replace it. And that is a gift.

Something below
This morning I woke up to the sounds of cousins playing together. They were all below me because I was sleeping upstairs at my mom and dad's house. I really enjoy hearing/watching my kids play with their cousins (even when they wake me up). They are all such good friends and they love being together.

Something beside
Tonight we went for family dinner to my favorite hometown pizza place. And while the pizza was delicious, the real gift was the guy sitting beside me:

As I sat eating my pizza I realized that I needed to take a picture with my Dad because sadly there aren't too many of them. One of these days I'll be glad I did this. Oh wait, I already am.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 11

3 gifts yellow

This one is a day late. We traveled to my parents yesterday and then I stayed up way to late playing a game of Uno Roboto with my parents, Tony, brother and sister-in-law.

It was worth it though. Everyone except my Dad ended up with a nickname (prompted by the little robot man). For some reason Tony was "Cutie" and I was "Fartsmeller." Go figure.

1. Bananas. I don't like bananas really, but I put them in my smoothie every morning and the texture just isn't the same without them.

2. The sunset on our drive to my parents. It was beautiful. That's all.

3. My Mom's yellow kitchen. Whenever I see my Mom's yellow kitchen that means I am "home." That's actually the gift.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 10

A gift sweet, sour, just right

A gift sweet
In our city there is a really nice factory. In this really nice factory they make some really nice chocolate.
I like to go to this really nice factory to buy some of the chocolate that they think isn't so nice. They like to call them "Not Quite Perfect."
Today I called them "a gift sweet."
Meet the sea salt turtle

A gift sour

Today for lunch I had my favorite salad ever. Usually whenever I eat it, Ty has a couple bowls too.

It's called a chopped harvest salad....or something like that. All I know is it's romaine, walnuts, bacon, craisins, pears (or apples) and feta cheese.

A gift sour today was the dressing that goes on that salad - balsamic vinaigrette mixed with poppyseed.

I had it eaten before I could take a picture.

It's the best kind of sour I know.

A gift just right

Large unsweet tea with 1 splenda.

No need to say more.

A gift just right.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 9

A gift held, passed by, sat with

A gift held
I held lots of things today. Most were gifts in one way or another.
None were overly spectacular.
So I guess I'll just pick one.
I held my keys.
They are a gift because it means I have a vehicle to drive around and a house to live in.
Simple but true.


A gift passed by
I went to the Rec Center on campus tonight to get in a quick run. Well, it wasn't supposed to be quick but I forgot they were closing early tonight. So it was quick.
I passed by this gift while running on the track.
My gift was the inspiration provided by a girl running.
She was probably only about 15 years old.
She was a double amputee running on blades (like the South African guy we all watched in the Summer Olympics).
I ran a little faster tonight.


A gift sat with
Wednesday mornings are when Ty and I have a little downtime.
I sat with this gift on the couch this morning.

He truly is a gift. We never planned to have 3 kids, but God knew I needed this gift.

I can't imagine my life without him.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 8

Dusky Light, Surprising Reflection, Lovely Shadow

Dusky Light
My joy that came in the light of dusk tonight was that Tony arrived home! He left home on Friday headed for Miami. 4 nights later we're all under the same roof.
And that means I have another referee to help me call the sibling squabbles.

Surprising Reflection
One of the things we do at our house is write on mirrors with dry erase marker. Typically it's on the bathroom mirror and it's usually a scripture verse. One that I want to memorize myself or one that I use to try to get a point across to the kids.
It's subtle yet effective (sometimes).
But today my surprising reflection was in my bedroom:

Anna started it with a Welcome Home/I Love You message to Daddy and a "You're Awesome" message to me. Then the boys decided they wanted to add their own touch.

Joyful surprising reflection.

Lovely Shadow

This is one that I thought would be tricky. I was even trying to come up with ways that I could go outside and make it up. But I didn't have to because Ty finally found his shadow today.

His shadow had been missing for 4 weeks! 

He's back now and in his rightful place....right next to Ty. It was a joyful reunion!

Welcome home, LaLa (Teddy Bear)! We missed you! 

Please accept this ND necklace and Spurs hat as our humble apology for leaving you at BSF 4 weeks ago.

We won't let it happen again.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 7

3 Graces from People You Love

One
Anna thanked me tonight for offering and warming up leftovers for dinner.
Leftovers.
I believe this shows the true colors of her heart. She may complain about other things a little more often than I'd like, but she thanked me for leftovers.
I love her.

Two
A text message from a friend (whom I love dearly) this morning "Prayed for you this morning and will continue to pray."

Three
My dad called tonight asking about the website where he could find Tony's latest video projects. He was at a friends house and wanted to show them.
It makes me feel good when my Dad is proud of my husband.
I'm not sure if that's grace or just love.
Either way, it's joy.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 6

Let me just say that my biggest joy tonight comes from knowing that tomorrow my kids go back to school.
They have been off for 16 days.
Sixteen. Days.
I love my kids, but they don't act like they love each other much right now. And that tells me it's time for some separation.

Of course they were crying like tomorrow was the end of the world.
I suppose for them it kind of is.

But today's joy dare is actually this:
One thing in your bag, your fridge, your heart.

One joy in my bag:
I carry a bottle of this with me at all times and also keep one in the medicine cabinet.

It's kind of like a homeopathic Zicam, only better. The chiropractor that treated Zane for his food allergies (read about that crazy hoopla here) gave me this last winter. You put 5 drops of it under your tongue every 30 minutes for about 6-8 hours at the first sign of a cold and then just every few hours after that until symptoms subside. I honestly believe it knocks a cold right out. I even use it on the kids. 

It. Works. People.

One joy in my fridge:

Oopsie. 

When I read this this morning I thought it said "on" my fridge so all day long I had decided what my joy was going to be. But then tonight as I sat down to type all this I realized it was supposed to be a joy "in" my fridge.

I'm not changing it.

This one makes me too happy to replace with some sort of food item (and in the case of my fridge it would probably be some sort of moldy-long-over-due-need-to-be-tossed food item).

Smart kids.

Yes!

Much better than deli fresh colby jack cheese (which is a joy "in" my fridge).

A joy in my heart:

I don't have a picture of this one. 

Although I really wish I did.

Today Zane's 13 year old cousin (soon to be 14, yikes!) gave him a present. 

Rumor is, Zane started hugging him before he even opened it. Sweet boys.

The cool thing is, this present was purchased by the 13 year old with the money he got for Christmas. 

This teenager wants to be so invested in the life of my 7 year old that he spent his own Christmas money to buy a gift that he knew my boy would love.

What a generous heart.

I could definitely learn a thing or two from this guy.