Random Wright-ness

Some highlights, photos, and rather scattered thoughts from the week in no particular order . . .

This photo is from several weeks ago, when the weather was warm and our trees rained golden leaves for 2 days. I love that it pretty well sums up each child: Rachel, the mother hen; Malachi fighting his way out of her embrace; Karis, acting like a wild animal and unable to sit still even for one photo; Zekers, sitting off by himself with an enigmatic look on his face. I also love that in the midst of fall leaves, there sits a snow shovel. The kiddos somehow thought it made a whole lot more sense to "rake" the yard with a shovel than with an actual rake. I suppose the important thing was that they had fun and didn't hurt anyone.

Rachel lost her fourth tooth at AWANA on Wednesday. I was more than a little relieved; it had been hanging by a thread for days, but she wanted no part of anyone pulling it out before it was "ready". Memories from my own childhood involving a piece of string and a slamming door convinced me to let her have her way on this one. Now she officially looks like a first-grader, sporting a gaping hole at the top of her mouth. Occasionally, when we have a late night and she's tired, I brush her teeth for her before she goes to bed. And whenever this happens, I'm reminded, "Mom, don't brush my hole!" For some reason, this strikes me funny every time, and I haven't yet been able to hide the burst of laughter that follows her frantic request.








This past week everyone decided they wanted to "help" me in the kitchen. Which can be precious, but also a little frustrating. The other night, we had tofu pancakes for dinner. Normally, it takes me about 7 minutes to throw everything into the blender and whip them up. But with all the extra help I received, we managed to mix them up in just under 40 minutes. Being an extremely goal-oriented person, this was an intense exercise in forbearance for me. But, I'm happy to report that I passed with flying colors . . . well, until I tripped over Karis for the 37th time. But that's another story. I do love that they enjoy helping me cook and clean.

Kari Bou had her first sleepover on Friday night. I almost cried - she is getting to be such a big girl, and she was SO excited to be having fun with her very own friends, not just following along behind Zeke and Rachel and their friends. The twin girls she stayed with came over for dinner the next evening and they had a chance to play even more together.

Today, she got to wear her new dress, and it was pretty apparent she felt like a little princess in it. She spent a good part of the evening just twirling.

I overheard Karis earlier this week describing "The Trinity" to Zekers as "God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit all mashed together."

Rachel asked me last week to straighten her hair. Not having a whole lot of time, I just blew it dry. It got pretty straight and went halfway down her back. To tell the truth, it kind of freaked me out seeing her hair so long and straight, so I've refused to do it that way since. Her curly hair is just such a defining part of her - she is, and always will be, my "curly dimpled lunatic."

Inexplicably, I've become a tea-drinker. Even when I'm at Starbucks I usually end up buying a bottle of Tazo green tea. I still enjoy a good cup of coffee, but when I get up in the morning, I have to indulge in a steaming mug of chai or Earl Grey or wild berry tea.

Danny is leaving tomorrow at 4 am and will be gone for 6 days. I find myself thinking back to the days when he worked for an itinerant speaking ministry and traveled for weeks at a time while I held down the fort back at the office. To tell you the truth, those 3 years were the loneliest of my life. That's when I took up guitar; what else was there to do at 12 am when I couldn't sleep? And Larry, our rabbit, wasn't great company. Remembering those years makes me extremely thankful: that Danny doesn't travel all summer anymore; and that I now have 4 beautiful, wonderful kiddos to fill this week with warmth and snuggles and laughter (and fighting and screaming and messiness). But seriously . . . . I'm thankful.

No more random thoughts are coming to mind. Goodnight, everyone!