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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Saturday smiles

Saturday smiles: I've got the joy edition

May 25, 2013

There’s a little something bubbling up inside of me right now, and it’s got nothing to do with indigestion.

Call it hope. Joy. A little happy, happy, happy for the Duck Dynasty crowd. 🙂

I can’t pinpoint a reason and maybe I don’t need to.

But here’s what happy looks like in our house.

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The only good thing about drinking hot chocolate because you’re cold after a walk in the last week of May is this amazing chocolate moustache.

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Sadly, though, when you “drink” your hot chocolate with a spoon, you don’t get a moustache. But you’re still awesome. (Mom: Do you think we’ll fly away because it’s so windy? Izzy: No! We have bones, so we won’t fly away! Note: She must be learning this from PBS because I never really liked science.)

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I love flowers, though my thumb is definitely black more than green. These beautiful roses greeted us on our way to the library, a lovely reminder that even though it was a gray and dreary day, colder than we expected, the weather early in the week made these pretties pop.

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And this kid wanted to carry his books home from the library. There are moments, as a parent, when your kids seem older than they are and you get a vision of how they might be as older children, teenagers, maybe even adults. This was one of those moments. Big Man on Campus, anyone?

What’s got you happy this week?

Filed Under: Children & motherhood, Saturday smiles Tagged With: happiness, hot chocolate, joy, library, moustaches, reasons to smile, roses

Saturday smiles: little things edition

May 11, 2013

It’s Mother’s Day weekend, and I didn’t send any cards, and I’m not sure it will be a special day in our house because my husband has worked a grueling schedule this week and has an early start to next week. On the days when I’m tired of being mom and really just want to sit down for 5 minutes without anyone asking for something, I have to try harder to be thankful. Here’s my thanks for the week in pictures. Mother's Day-izzy“Dear Jesus, thank you for our food. And I hope we can get my training wheels on my bike. Amen.” (She looks at me with hope in her eyes. And I have to disappoint her and defer to her father’s expertise.) Mother's Day-corban scooterHe has his own scooter now. And this kid in shorts, a jacket and a helmet while riding a scooter cracks me up every time. Mother's Day-kids holding handsAnd those “aw” moments which sometimes I’m smart enough to capture on the phone while we’re walking. On this day, we were headed to the library. Izzy insists on carrying her own bag now.

Filed Under: Children & motherhood, Saturday smiles Tagged With: kids, Mother's Day, playing outside

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Photo by Rachel Lynn Photography

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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