Terribly Interesting

I'm stripping the paint off this built in bookcase. When I was growing up, the Von Erich wrestling family was a big deal. These brothers were a force to be reckoned with. In a tag team match up when one massive, strong brother needed a break, he simply called for his equally forceful brother to take his place and give him a break. I found myself standing in my kitchen this week wishing that I had a tag team partner. This has been a week of vomit, tantrums, things falling apart, and health issues. If y'all could just send me a Von Erich.  I'm really glad for random funny things that pop into my head. They take the burden off all that we have taken on here. I did make the mistake of looking up the Von Erich family on Wikipedia. It made me so sad. Only one of the six brothers are still living.  Sometimes you think things are tiresomefor you and then you read a much more tragic story. I am bone deep tired from all of the hats I wear. Then I have been reading Kisses...

There are a couple of voracious readers in the Cherry house. I never miss an opportunity to review a young reader because Lulu will be hot on my heels to read it. She kept telling me to hurry up as well as sneaking it out of my room. I am quite certain that you will see it on her blog soon. This was a cute book in my humble opinion. The author, Astrid Lindgren also wrote Pippi Longstocking. This story follows upon the same whimsical lines as Pippi. The characters just plain make you happy. The vagabond, Oscar, refers to himself as "God's best friend." It's terribly cute. We follow our escaped orphan and his traipsing friend all over the country side as they seek food, shelter, and fight bandits. There is a lot of sweet character in this book. Of course, you could pick it apart morally, but I just enjoyed their story. It's like Pippi. Of course we see the things that are not perfect, but her character and heart shine through. It's much like most people w...

I never buy books at a retail store. Let's be honest. They are crazy overpriced. I do love to be in them, however. The truth is I never get to go. If I do, I have three girls in tow and I and can usually be found reading Beatrix Potter. One day around Christmas, my man and I ventured into Barnes and Noble while my mom watched the children. All the grown-up books, y'all. Swoon. I came across a table of classics for sale and I had never read The Sun Also Rises. I decided I would bring a little Hemingway home with me.  I have been reading it in between the other books I read each week (I feel as though I just wrote a truly nerdy statement). Let's just say I had a love/hate relationship with ol' Ernest. I felt the whole time that I was reading a book about nothing. These people are basically bar hopping the entire time. How is that even a book? They do take one jaunt down to watch the bulls run at Pamplona (a favorite pastime of Hemingway himself). I kept feeling lik...

This past weekend, I was given the honor of taking a little bit of Gomer to the ladies at my church and a few handfuls of our friends. I cherished the opportunity to pray over these women. On Friday night we had great worship and a beautiful message from the Rev. Dr. Chris Richardson from Titus 3:2. I have been praying this verse over myself and these ladies and Chris for an entire year. I have written it in my journal and thought about it every day. How can we show this full humility to everyone around us... in our home, our work place, our extended family? How can I love and respect in such a way that it builds people up in character and grace? The sermon was beautiful in every way. That worship, y'all. My bffs delivered! I have buckets of love for these people and I am deeply grateful for their hard work. Running a retreat is easy when you have an amazing team.  My dear friend Gwynne helped me decorate. We met at the ladies retreat a few years ago and so every year ...

I usually post books that I have been given by the publishing company, but I kept seeing this book and downloaded it to read while traveling. If you have read Sally's books, you love her. She writes in such humble and caring ways. Her words help us think that we are going to make it. This book is no different. Sally really drove home the things I think we all want.  We want to order our day without idolizing it. We want to be fully present with our children while encouraging them to fly. Our desire is to love our husbands deeply and with full humility so that we are blessing them to become and be. It seems to be quite a lot. We all want this mentor to speak life giving words into our ears to help us be and do and live. Most of us just have these nagging voices surrounding us because people are generally not equipped to work in such a way. Sally is. She speaks life into our very core. She is that voice in the desert of motherhood and marriage that not only urges us to press o...

I cannot believe that I am telling this story, but it is part of our journey here. Most of the drafts and holes that were drilled to insulate this old joint have been covered with dry wall. There were, however three of these holes still visible on our second floor. Each hole is about 3 inches in diameter and stuffed full with insulation. One of those holes somehow lost its insulating factor and was just wide open to the third floor and the outside. You can see what is coming. One day I look up to see Denbigh wildly waving his hands at me to speak privately in the other room. I can't say that he has ever done this before so I was marginally panicked. He proceeded to tell me that there was a bat hanging on the wall in our upstairs dining room. Yes, y'all, a bat. Of course, I started shouting to call the mounted police as I quickly ushered my girls to another room. Denbigh called our beloved neighbor Fritz to help capture the bat. In no time these guys had captured our ...