As you all have probably caught on by now, I just love anything antique/vintage! Over the past few years, I've really come to appreciate and enjoy old pottery. I love almost all of it... but much of it is far to expensive for me to collect right now! You can find McCoy pottery at a reasonable price if you do a little hunting though... so I've began a small collection :) I just love the muted colors ...especially the turquoise :)... and the beautiful patterns of McCoy. For me, it's a Happy Thing :)
This morning I made time, sat down and read my devotion... sometimes that seems like a hard thing for me to do! Between responding to the constant needs of my children, house work, homeschooling, and other random tasks, I struggle with making those fifteen minutes a priority in my day. I've been reading "Devotions for a Sacred Marriage" lately. Today after I was done reading, I was once again reminded of my privileged responsibility to nurture my marriage...to guard it, treasure it, serve in it... Too often I let the struggles cast a shadow over the blessings of marriage. Marriage is work. Marriage can bring pain. Yet, next to the gift of salvation, my marriage is the most overwhelming gift that I have been blessed with in this life. I'm so blessed to be here in this marriage, with this man, at this moment. I am blessed and I am loved... I'm so glad I sat down this morning and let the power of scripture remind me of that...and that's more than just a Happy Thing.
The sun was actually shining today so we headed out to play... I took a few snap shots of the girls. Alice is sporting her standard odd expressions... enjoy!!
I just love the old photo strips that you used to be able to get at the mall. Every now and then you can still find one, or at least a digital version. At the mall in Hutch, KS JJ and I found one while we were dating (one on the right). And then a couple of years ago we found a digital version at Town East mall in Wichita... it might still be there. Anyway, I'm always on the look out and hope to find one again soon so that we can have a little family pic including Sadie Pie. I'm not sure what it is about them. It just always seems like the people in them are so happy. They have such a nostalgic feel. Maybe it's because I've admired the ones my parents had from their early years of marriage so many times. They're smiling so big... and life seems so wonderful in those poorly exposed strips of little pictures. I snatched one of my parents' which included their first two kids... and I enjoy seeing it next to the one of JJ and I with our first two... We may not have been smiling before those shots were taken. Who knows what chaos was occurring at the mall that day :) But when we all crammed into that booth and it was time for the big flash....it wasn't hard to look happy, because we were... And these days, at any given point when I'm with my family, if I stop and savor the moment I realize I'm happy... very very happy. And that, is a Happy Thing. (and yes, if you were wondering, the mirror is dirty and that is a Route 44 Sonic drink in the background :)
