Public...Private...Reader...yada...yada...yada

I'm still trying to figure out Blogger since going private. I thought I had it set up so my posts showed up in  people's readers, but now I'm not sure. If you are seeing this post in your reader, will you let me know? Will you also let me know if you have or haven't received an invite to the private blog (I don't care one bit if you haven't--as long as you are not a creepy guy from Indonesia commenting on how pretty my children are.)

Thanks. Sorry for the lame post. Here's a funny picture of Ella to even the score.

highway robbery

I had a plumber come today to fix a leaky faucet. While he was here I asked him to take a peak at the brown spots on my lawn and see how much it would cost to fix my sprinklers. He crunched some numbers and came back with a bid of $755.00 to fix the three broken sprinklers. Gulp. I said I'd talk to my husband and get back to him. Inspired by what seemed like an insanely high bid I channeled my inner DIY-er and consulted the world wide web. Found this little ditty, stopped by Home Depot, and 2 hrs later I had fixed four (I found another broken one) sprinklers. I called the plumber back to make sure I hadn't read the bid wrong and he really quoted me $155. No ma'am: $755.  

Brooklyn Bridge

NYC (from the iPhone)

Last week Ryan went to London and Rome, and I found cheap tickets to New York, so I packed up the girls and off we went. First we visited Thayer and Lily. It was Mother's Day, so we joined in on the Smock festivities. Thanks Chris! Then we were off to the Big Apple. I can't believe how much we packed in, especially given that we had 2 babies and naps to work around. Plus, dragging 3 kids through the subway is no small task. But we did it and had a fantastic time. Ignoring the 2000 miles between us, having sisters live in New York is the best. Hotel, tour guides and entertainment wrapped up in one sisterly (free!) package. 

I didn't take many good pictures, but here are a few from my phone. Some are hipped up via Instagram (sorry if you follow me there, you can just skip this post) but most are marginal quality "I want to remember this" pics.  (Jamie did more aesthetic blog here.)

flight out

the train from CT to NYC

Kimmy and Jamie live right across the street from Central Park

We walked along the High Line and had it all to ourselves because it was drizzling. It was lovely.

Kimmy and I had our eyebrows threaded. It was kind of amazing, kind of crazy. But mostly felt like a slow (painful) wax.

Corn ice cream from Cones. A little cinnamon sprinkled on top. Delish.

Scandinavian candy shop. Everything was fantastic.

Children's Museum

Ella's favorite part of the trip

old school

Grimaldi's pizza under the bridge. Doesn't get much better.

We left with plenty of time, hit a major accident and were stuck in gridlock traffic. My flight left at 7:15 and we didn't get to the airport until 6:35.  After telling me there was NO WAY, Betty took pity on us and got us through. 

As we were sprinting through the airport I told Ella to run. She said, "I am running as fast as I can without my legs hurting!" Sweet girl. I bought her a treat before boarding.

In all the hustle we left Anna's binky holder behind. After throwing it on the floor a few times (and rolling to the row behind) I dug through my bag and fastened this using a USB cord and a rubber band. I zipped the other end into the bottom of her sleep sack. Necessity=mother of invention.

Mother's Day

Saw this in Japan and liked the translation.

Offense

{serene via etsy} 

In my church calling I see many people who are not active because someone "offended" them 20 years ago. The whole thing didn't make sense to me. But today I had a glimpse into how that can happen.

I was in Sunday School and raised my hand to make a comment. I didn't make myself clear and the instructor misunderstood what I was saying. Her response to my comment made me feel, well, stupid. I felt like I looked foolish to everyone, and it made me a little mad. During the rest of the lesson I was surprised by my thoughts. "She thinks she is so smart. Maybe I'll just skip her class from now on." I realized this was silly and tried to brush it off. But it ate at me the same.

After the lesson I felt I should talk to her. (Which I was happy to do, because a part of me wanted to validate my comment. Petty, I know.)  I went up and explained what I had intended to convey. She immediately became soft spoken and kind. "My husband tells me that I am always scolding class members. I am so sorry. I don't mean to." And in that instant, my bitterness was gone. I felt I understood her, and I harbored no ill-will. Amazingly, I felt love and kindness toward her.

I'm writing this down as a reminder to me for the next time someone "offends" me. What a difference it made to have a 30-second conversation. It would have only done me harm had I let my bitterness grow and snowball into something bigger.

When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.       

                                                                                                -David A Bednar

Anna

Anna has been jiber-jabering like crazy lately. She just learned to say her own name and now it's one of her favorite words. (The video is upside down--sorry!)