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Scanning through photos on my iPhone brings smiles to my face. I grab the iPhone when something is occurring I want to remember, but it will be over by the time I get the big camera. Here’s a few such occasions. All photos edited with the iPhone ShakeIt app.
Celebrating Benjamin’s birthday in 2009. Benjamin, Priscilla, Mercy, and I all went to Cheesy Jane’s (hamburger joint) and had fun laughing and goofing off. In the last pic, I believe Benjamin is holding a stick of "dynamite" he made out of a french fry, ketchup, and a cherry stem.
This spring, I drove with Priscilla to New Mexico to deliver her to her Sophomore year of college. The first photo is her room. You can see how cute it is decorated in turquoise and chocolate brown – one of her dance recital costumes hangs on the wall, along with a colorful light garland and clothes-pinned photos of the family. The second image is the two of us while shopping at a cute antique-y style outdoor shopping square. The drive from San Antonio to her school was about twelve hours, and we talked the whole way. It was the first time it was really noticeable that we are peers. I still feel like her big sister in some ways, but in others, I just feel like we are sister-friends. It’s always an interesting transition in life to realize this has happened…..with a sister, with your mom. The old relationship doesn't go away, but something new has been added to it.
Visiting Tabitha and Matt, I had a blast playing trains with Sebastian. This is before Piper’s birth. Sebastian is sooo cuddly and a ball of fun to be around. This bear hug was taken right before we said goodbye.
Community Group – Aidan eating rice krispy treats. Homemade rice krispy treats are especially gooey, and Aidan is seen here with the gooey pieces stuck all over his face. I love how kids at this age are so oblivious to how they look. At whatever age our looks start to matter, things are never the same again, and we fight the rest of our lives to not make it matter anymore. Under Aidan's arm is Leopard - a Ty Beanie Baby. Aidan has such a tender heart, and his love of all his stuffed animals makes this quite evident.
A month ago, Benjamin and I did some major reorganizing of our storage unit. Documents older than seven years we assigned to the shredding bin. Aidan came in when we were shredding, and fell in love. I was nervous we would lose fingers, but it turned out okay. He was incredibly focused on this task, and continued shredding non-stop for over thirty minutes until it was completely done. When I pulled out my iPhone, he wrinkled his eyebrows at me and grumbled, “Why are you tay-teen a piture uh me?” I replied, “Because we’re having fun together, and I want to remember this!” Pause and consternation. Then a resigned sigh. “Otay, you tan tate my piture.” And then he smiled....just a little. Isabel came to help, but she refused to take off her dress-up elbow-length magenta gloves. Party-pooper that I am, I equally refused to let her handle a shredder with oversized gloves on!
This is Benjamin at his computer, chair rocked back as far as it will go (we have to have an annual budget for new office chairs after sending many of them to the grave via this method). This is how I see him at least once a day, and usually for several hours each day. The picture is taken from my perspective where I sit at the other end of the desk, at my computer. We spend a lot of evenings side by side, silently working on our own businesses or projects, interacting here and there with some interesting comment.
This photo shows something I can get a bit anal about – using up the last drop in a bottle of something. My method involves stacking one bottle upside down on top of the other, and leaning the arrangement against a corner on the bathroom counter, hoping it stays long enough to drain. These two bottles didn’t have the same size mouth, and kept falling off of each other. Hearing exasperated noises coming from the bathroom, Benjamin invented this fail-proof method. He wrapped a bunch of electrical tape around the openings, so they would stay together. I am always floored by how creative he gets on little stuff like this! Now I need to decide which is using more money: using up a foot of electrical tape, or throwing out a tablespoon of shampoo.
Again, Isabel and Aidan at Community Group. The group was worshipping, so there was music from a CD playing. The two of them danced their hearts out the first song. The second song, Esther made them sit down. You can see they are learning by observing the adults – Isabel’s eyes are closed, there is a small furrow in her brow that shows her focus on worship, and sometimes she lifts her hand while she sings. Both the joyful dancing and the intimate worshipping were beautiful in their own way. I want to go back to this childlike place, and rediscover simple, adoring worship. So innocent and pure; so authentic. It brought tears to my eyes and passion to my heart.
