These recent weeks, in pictures

Our very, very, very, dear, dear, dear friends came into town in October. Once upon a time, we saw them multiple times a week. Now we happily take what we can get and survive on texts and calls in the interim. This lovely lady below is pregnant with her third child. Actually, she is 36 weeks right now. Isn't she beautiful? 

We still managed to get in our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with them. These girls have been going together since they were babies. Now they are pilots. Wow, where does the time go?

A very precarious double-rider trike experience led to--you guessed it--a crash. Unfortunately, my child was the one at the handlebars, so now her driving record more closely resembles her father's than her mother's.

Finally! A picture of the perfect, precious, and power-walker Madeline.

The annual school bus shot. Madeline looks like she wants to make a run for it, and Coralie and Cammy are breaking the rules of "one child per seat". Awesome.

Ryan's place of employment loves them some dressed up kiddos on Halloween. So we all bundled up our little trick-or-treaters and took them on a "parade" around the office.

Our fairy

Our kitty

Coralie got more and more bold as the night went on and even tried entering many of the homes. Madeline got more and more snuggly.

Oh yeah! Ryan and I went to Vegas and left our kids in St Louis over Thanksgiving! This picture is taken INSIDE our hotel. It's crazy what they can build in Vegas. (Also, they kids did great with their grandparents, so that will make adult-only vacations that much more tempting. Though I am not sure Ryan would want to take me anywhere again as I slept so much he worried that I had mono.)

Inside my favorite hotel, the Wynn. This garden was gorgeous. Yes, I am wearing the same outfit in the above picture, and these three photos encompass every single picture we took on the trip. Yes, I only took three pictures, and I took them all on the same day. Guess who won't be making a Shutterfly vacation book?

 A close-up of the garden in the Wynn. Do you think I could make this in my bedroom?

 Also, Coralie got her hair cut. She looks twice as old now, don't you think?

The end

Bringing out the best

Before I begin, I would like to start with a side note: This blog is feeling very narcissistic, but since this is not a profession-related blog, you get me. I once fancied that I would try to write an entire week of posts without using the personal pronouns I/me/my/mine/we/our/ours, but I (haha) decided that would be impossible.


Back to the point of this post:

I have a wise mother. In my post about changing the way I treat others, she commented that people who bring out the worst in us probably have issues of their own.

This got me thinking. Since I have issues of my own, I must bring out the worst in some people, right?

We should all be able to bring out the very best in people; it's what they deserve of us.

Thinking about this is akin to dangling a carrot in front of a race horse (though I am not pretending to be comparable to a race horse in any other situation)-- I want emotional health for me, yes, but I also want it for others. Others should know they are important and made in God's image. If I have issues of my own, I cannot communicate that truth to others.

So here's to mom, and here's to you. :)

Friends friending friends

We like introducing people to other people.

I am not too crazy about our friends becoming better friends with our other friends than they are with us, though. It's petty, I know, and I'm not bragging about it, but it strikes at my insecurities.

I, however, do not mind making friends with some of our friends' friends. It seems hypocritical, though.

These situations are all quite sticky, and I try to be respectful of our friends who make the introductions so they do not feel left out or abandoned.

Do you have any tips on this? Have you experienced either side of this situation? I would like to navigate all of these relational possibilities with grace, but yeah, it's not coming to me. So, comment away, you readers with doubtlessly more social grace than I.