"Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see."  --C.S. Lewis

Someday I will gather and sort my long-jumbled thoughts on photographs and their relation to words.  For one thing, there are photographs that capture an entire panoramic view.  You get the lay of the land, kind of like a short biographical essay.  Lots of information.  Then, there are the macro / detail photos.  They're like poetry.  One small subject filling an entire canvas.  My journal, I think, is a lot like the photos I post:  action shots.

Someday.  Some day...

Currently Reading (aloud, to the kids): Madam, Will You Talk?

Cleaned up the basement, cleaned up that pile of deal-with-it stuff that's been gathering for ever, then scrambled to find bathing suits for the kdis.  Drove to the Holiday Inn Express for Dale's birthday party.  I hurried through the spattery rain to the front door, and met the desk clerk with a silly grin.  "This is totally crazy, but we're here for a birthday party.  I don't know their last name, don't know the father's name.  The kid is three, his name is Dale, and his mother's name is Bertha."  Well, even if it wasn't the only birthday party going on in the dining room, Bertha is not your common, garden variety name.  She pointed me toward the tables, where Bertha and her mom were unpacking foodstuffs.  I went back to the car to get the kids.  I herded them through the rain, listing all the Remember Your Manners necessities, then released them into the pool room, where they joined the kids with a splash.  The pool isn't deep, so I left Mari and Bri to watch Wilson and Logan while I went back to help Bertha set up the kitchen.  I met Mae, her mother, who had just lost her husband.  Ed had been suffering from dementia for years, then his very poor health, so she takes comfort in the fact that he is no longer suffering.  Still, the loss of someone you love is a hard thing.  "About a year ago, we lost a baby..."  Never mind the fact that I have a new appreciation for the children I have, it is nice to be able to offer silent condolences from the place of true commiseration.

The kids splashed and played and made noise and all that.  Myra found a new BFF, Carissa, 10, who used to go to Hayden Bible Church, who homeschools, who loves to chatter as much as Myra -- or at least to listen to Myra chatter.  I visited with her mom, Triscia, for a while, then with Trisha Frey, then with Jenny Booth.  The boys had great table manners, and Kendric played with Carissa's brother...

Tuesday:  leaf garland and caramel apples

Wednesday:  Thankful tree, Madam Will You Talk, Michaels, "in everything give thanks," and Toy Story 3.

today:  THANKS, gluing the letters on the wall, more Madam Will You Talk

Saturday:  Kirby brought Brett home and picked up the girls.  But not until after Bertha's kids were here.  They were not so thrilled to be here without Myra.  Kendric wasn't even here to keep them entertained.  The big kids went outside to the playhouse, David stayed inside with me.  I took apart that sweater.  Myra returned, to the delight of David.  They brought more leaves, but we didn't have time to string them today.  I helped Myra with her cheerleader costume, and painted Bri as Lady Gaga, shadowed Mari's face for a scary sorcerer's apprentice, then transformed myself to a gypsy fortuneteller.  The party was okay.  The Cary girl and her brother Gharret were my favorite people.  Connie is cool.  Cooler than Darlene anyway.  She told stories, including the Creamation of Sam McGee.  Bri won the award for Funniest Costume, and Mari won first in the pumpkin decorating contest, Bri won second.  Myra just had fun being with other kids.

Sunday:  Kirby brought Mari, Bri, Myra, and Kendric to church.  We cleaned up at home.  Then Mari and I went shopping.  Tiring.  Mari does NOT like shopping.  We found some good stuff: several pairs of jeans, some nice black pants, a niiiiice denim skirt (long and flared).

today:  We're supposed ot go to Dale's birthday party this afternoon.  Time to lug out the bathing suits.  Pooh.  I also have that room to clean downstairs.  Better get crackin'.

Thursday:  At the last minute, I decided to bring Wilson along.  The table was already packed in the back of the van, all I had to do was dress the boy, and we were off.  Clear sunrise, I was surprised to see clouds hugging the hills as we drove past Fernan.  The mist was melting off Lake Coeur d'Alene, "Look, Wilson, that's where clouds are made!"  He had a hard time accepting that, "Clouds are made out of cotton balls."  We saw snow on hilltops as we approached Lookout Pass; as we neared the top, we were increasingly excited to see snow on the tree branches, then snow on the side of the road, then signs that the snow in the ditch had been piled there by a plow.  As we crossed the state line into Montana, for lack of a camera, I was taking pictures with my mind.  The sun shining through the frosty branches of the bright yellow tamaracks...

We had only been parked at the 50.000 silver dollar bar for two or three minutes, just long enough for me to let Wilson out of his car seat and return to my own when we saw Grandma Nancy's Jeep coming down the exit ramp.  "They're here!"  A quick trip inside to use the rest room, a quick gawking walk through the store (they have brass knuckles, throwing stars, swords, armor helmets, and pen knives with the usual touristy junk like turd birds, etc.) and we were on our way.  I had hoped Bri would be able to take some tangible pictures with her camera, but she had forgotten it in her purse in the Conrads' car the night before.  Poo.

Bri chattered about her time with Gramma Betty, how their joke of the week had been "That's Debatable," how she'd surprised Taelor by meeting her in the car after school, how the kids at the "youth group" were incredibly disruptive and unattentative, how she and Gramma spent every evening with a movie then a little Wii playing...

There was a second round of excited hugs when we arrived home.  As we put away Bri's clothes and set the house to order, I remembered I'd been wanting to go to Mary's.  It's been a while since I've seen her, and we've both been too busy to talk much lately...  The schedule is pretty full these days, and this week / weekend is especially busy; If I'm gonna do this, today is the day.  I phoned, and she sounded miserable.  She's been sick, so I didn't want to bring the whole gang...  Kirby gave his blessing to a trip to Springdale, on the condition that if we drove that far this late in the day (lunchtime), we spend the night.  We packed our bags and stopped at Walmart for green tea, grapes and apples...  Then our car wouldn't start.

We killed an hour or two at WalMart.  Kirby finally came home from work and got thecar to start.  I went to Mary's.  We crocheted and talked and mostly crocheted until late.

yesterday:  We got up early and made cinnamon rolls. Bri, Myra and Gabi walked to the store for butter and brown sugar... then milk.

Grables', Johns Automotive, girls to Natalie's, Brett here, boys made a tent in the play room...

today:  I have to return Brett and get the girls, then Bertha's kids are coming over to stay during the memorial, then ... Kylee's party.  Better go.

Shopping with Myra and Kendric.  Myra's hair stacked atop her head in a mop of unruly curls, her "fake" glasses, her lip gloss, her tan pants, her green hoodie, she looked quite the stylish little girl.  Best of all, we found two fancy purple dresses like new,etc.

Kirby brought me out to The White House.  Lamb Kebabs, Chicken Fettuccine, pinot noir, tiramisu, candlelight.  Nice.

Mari stayed home with the little boys all day.  She's capable of running a house alone -- all she needs is fine tuning instruction in how to stock the pantry.

Rain gets a bad rap, I think.  "Nice weather" refers usually to sunshine, but to me, it's the stuff that people complain about that makes some of the nicest days.  The eaves were drippy, the sunlight was dim, but inside our house was dry, warm and cozy.  Mari kept the fire fed, the cat stretched out on the floor near the fireplace, the house was clean, the laundry was going at a steady hum, the boys played with Legos and Bionocles while I read to them from Undaunted Courage, I did the majority of the work on the Christmas doll I'm crocheting, I finished carving a pumpkin...  Not that those things couldn't happen on a bright, sunshiny day, but...

Also, there's a family from California here to visit her dad as he's dying.  We watched Richard, Lynn, Dale and David while they (Scott and Bertha) were at some important family meeting...

I moved the boys' room around this morning.  Basically rotated the whole shebang 90° clockwise.  It looks so cozy in there now.  Like.

We went to the Goodmans' new home for Natalie's birthday dinner.  The kids had a blast, and Angela kept remarking about how thrilled she was that there was room enough for them all to run around.  Though it seems at first glance that our standards for behavior are same enough, they are just exactly different in all the little ways that makes it uncomfortable.  Doug is so uptight about some things, and so not uptight about the things I would expect him to be uptight about.  Anyway...  Doug and Kirby looked at his ancient chainsaws, then played Wii; Angela and I pored over her old scrapbooks; Natalie, Myra and Mari took turns spinning on the wooden office chair in the kitchen (Myra: reservations + invitations = reserve-itations); the boys played with Nerf guns and Legos upstairs.

Logan vomited on the way home.  Sick?  Or just too much spinning in the chair after cake and ice cream?

Hoisingtons invited us to their house after church.  After lunch, Kirby, Mari, Joseph and Eli played a round of Airsoft...  Karlina showed me her chickens, goats, rabbits and more rabbits...

♫ I can tell that we are gonna be friends... ♫

Is Puma going bonkers?  Or is the simple fact that a cat, welcomed into a warm house with a supplemented diet, feels free to spend time playing like a carefree kitten?