A Video, A Photo and A Verse.

So... this video is a month old now.  Sorry for the noisy locust sounds - under the trees, by the sand box there is no escaping their cacophny.

That's my girl.  I heart her.  : )  She's working on verbs these days to go with all the nouns she's learned.  Too fun.

Also, let it be known that Sesame rocks the braided pigtails.  It's true.

And, yes , that is my messy garage that is full of stuff to be moved to the attic, put in a garage sale or really (let's be honest) just needs to be tossed.  Seriously, three rusted silver spoons, who wants those???  Maybe the American Pickers, but even they might run from my garage screaming "Hoarder, Hoarder!" (Yes, that's right, I both watch and referenced American Pickers.  I am not ashamed.)

Moving on...  I just really feel like the Lord is teaching me to remember His bigness these days.  We have several friends facing insurmountable odds - things like divorce, cancer, leukemia, miscarriage - things that just seem too big.  But Jesus is bigger than anything.  He isn't surprised by anything.  After Hannah gives birth to Samuel and takes him to the temple she prays the most beautiful prayer of praise.  The second verse says: "No one is Holy like the Lord!  There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God." (1 Sam. 2:2)  I just keep thinking of this verse.  I woke up last night with this passage on my heart.  God is solid, immovable, consistent.  He is mightier than anything we will ever face.  There is such comfort in that knowledge.  I mean, think about it, Jesus overcame death and sin.  Hello - what could be more difficult than that!?  Today I am resting in the promise that God is in control, He is BIG and He is holy.

Travel.

There exist in the world few phrases that strike horror and fear in my being.  A few would be:

1. "We apologize but the air conditioning on the plane is not functioning at this time."
2. "Please keep the windows of the plane closed.  This will prevent temperatures from climbing to above 100 degrees on the interior of the plane."
3. "We apologize but we're oversold the flight this evening.  Please be patient as we try to rearranged passengers."

Oh yes.  U.S. Airways (that's right I'm telling the interwebs what airline!) said all these things in one flight.  Normally (as in before I became a Momma traveling with a 20 month old) I wouldn't have minded these phrases.  I may have even scoffed at the people who did mind!  However, they take and entirely new meaning when you have a 30 pound child riding on your lap for an hour and a half.  That's an extra 30 pounds of heat-producing gusto we're talking about.  On a flight without drink service.  Wahoo.

It really wasn't that bad.  The hardest part was keeping Sesame from opening the window shade.  She kept exclaiming, "air - plaaaaaaaay - Ar-plaaaaaaaane!  Out!"  The sweet thing.  She just wanted to watch the airplanes - but her Momma was too concerned with setting the plane ablaze because one window open can cause the temperature to rise "ten degrees"  (Yes, you read that correctly...it is in quotes from flight attendant Ernestine...who was a dear with a Jamaican accent who was just doing her job!)

Okay.  I'm done with negativity land.

Our trip to South Carolina ROCKED!  Sesame is such a fun age to travel with right now.  She was excited about everything.  Good times.  : )  I'll regale you all with stories later, but for now a pile of laundry is calling my name!  : )

The Orchard.

So.  Since I was a wee lass of three or so, my Daddy's side of the family has made a yearly trek down to the Apple Orchard every September.

(That's me in the pig tails.  I do, however, now look like the lady behind the pigtailed damsel.  Moving on...)

This year my Aunts, Uncles, Parents and Brother were unable to attend again.  Sesame ate enough apples for all of us though!

And, can I just say, when I'm 85 I hope I'm spry enough to navigate through a minefield of apples on the ground!  My grandparents are in their mid 80s and leaping about like yesterday's spring chicken!  Grandma even picked Sesame up at one point.  My baby is sweet, but she is hefty!  I don't know how she did it!  Hs'e super woman I tell you, super woman!

 

This shot is, by far, my favorite of the day.  Sesame is riding on my Pop's lap in the front seat of the van.  We were driving over a couple rows so don't call CPS too fast!  She was so giddy and I'm fairly certain he enjoyed having a squirmy worm Sesame on his lap too.

Look at the triumphant waving of the apple.  She picked it all by herself.  She kept saying "Ap-uh.  Big Gul" (aka "apple, big girl.")

Being a good sharer.

Love the orchard.  Love being with my family even more.  : )