How I Lost My Imaginary Friend

"Imaginary friend" is the term Jason uses to describe people I know online through blogging.

Two weeks ago, Josiah, Grace, and I drove to meet Kathleen and her family for the first time when she was visiting family in a nearby city. I was very excited and a little nervous to meet Kathleen; Josiah spent time speculating whether or not we would actually recognize each other.  (We did.)  We met at Chick-fil-A since rain was in the forecast, and as I spotted Kathleen parking and everyone getting out of their van, it was a little surreal...I told her it was as though photos from her blog were coming to life in the parking lot.  We all enjoyed our lunch together and, since it wasn't raining after all, we decided to head over to a local zoo as we had originally planned.

The kids paused briefly for photographs

Josiah, Jacob, Audrey, and Grace

before they began racing through the zoo together. At one point, Grace came running back to tell me, so excitedly, "Feline is here!  Feline is here!"

Who is Feline?  Feline is the deer Grace becomes when she is playing the Baby Deer Game.  While she rarely crawls under a pillow to become the baby deer who has lost her mother, she still occasionally does the Baby Deer Dance. 

So, yes, I had to explain to Kathleen why Grace was so very excited to see a deer in a zoo. 

We saw a bald eagle

 

and he saw me when Kathleen made some noise to get him to look her way! Yikes.  What a look.

 

We saw a few bears

 

At the bear exhibit

and some really cute owls.

Audrey and Josiah

 
We left the zoo area and headed over to the playground.  I find it hilarious that Kathleen and I both got similar shots here

  

and here 

  

as we walked towards the pond.  (I had stopped off at our van to get Josiah's water bottle and as well as some leftover fries to feed the geese and ducks.  Everyone else went on down the trail, so Kathleen and I walked these parts separately.)

  

 We spent a little time feeding the geese and ducks the leftover fries

 

 

and then some grease from the fries got on my camera lens and made the rest of my photos a little blurry.  :(

The kids had fun playing together.  The girls played "house" and the boys played games of friendly but sometimes, well, painful competition. Kathleen and I chatted in the way that moms with six children around them chat.  (It would have been seven except Robert stayed with Jason that day.)

The kids rather reluctantly posed for a group shot before we said our goodbyes.

And you know what happened?  Somewhere along the way--really, early on during our visit--I lost my imaginary friend

Kathleen and me

...and found a real friend. 

I love how it wasn't awkward when we first met.  We began talking like we'd known each other for a while--which, of course, we had, just online.  I love how our kids got along so well.  I love how Grace wants to mail Audrey some of her books as soon as she got home--just because--and how Josiah has asked when he can see Michael and Jacob again. 

I'm hoping it's pretty soon, because I'm looking forward to seeing Kathleen again, too.  I have a few hundred questions to ask her now that I'm not a bit nervous.  ;)

Who, me? Stylish?

My imaginary friend* Kathleen at Treasured Chapters recently awarded me the Stylish Blog Award.

And then I got sick, we traveled to be with family for Christmas, yada yada yada, and now it's more than a couple of weeks later. Which makes me look ungrateful. Which I'm not.

To accept this award, I have to list 7 random things about me and then pass it on. (And hopefully not within a certain number of days...because, if so, I've likely blown that.)

1. I don't really say "yada yada yada" in conversation; I only say it in my mind...and, apparently, on my blog.

2. I think it's laughable that I've been awarded the Stylish Blog award. It's safe to say that I am anything but stylish. That's why I typically ask my sister-in-law Cindy for a sweater for Christmas, because she can pick out stylish clothes.

3. I am perfectly happy shopping at Goodwill or consignment stores/sales, which is why I am saddened that my favorite local consignment store closed this month. Now I will have to find a new favorite consignment store.

4. I'm not particularly fond of change.

5. Or shopping.

6. Or conflict. (Can you say "middle child"?)

7. But I like making lists. They help me think and plan, and clear my mind of the details. The more conflict (or shopping...or change) going on in my life, the more detailed the lists become. Which is probably why I became downright obsessive with my list-making during my last two pregnancies. ;)

So, there you have 7 random facts about me. And now I'm passing on the award to Julie at From Inmates to Playdates, Elizabeth at Yes They're All Ours, and Suzy at The Winter Blahg.


*"Imaginary friend" is the term my husband uses for people I have met online but have never met in person or talked to on the phone...and they may or may not even know that I exist. :) I am happy to say that Kathleen, Julie, Elizabeth, and Suzy all do indeed know that I exist, and I am thankful to count them as friends!

Easter Sunday

We just got back from a mini-vacation...OK, so we got back home last night, but it's been a little crazy since today was Josiah's first baseball game of the season.

Anyway. I thought I would share some things I think you should read from my imaginary friends.*

Like this, written by Beth Moore over at her and her daughters' LPM blog. It's a little long, but worth it.

And this, written by Big Mama a few months ago.

Happy Easter!

Easter 2009

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* "Imaginary friend" is the term my husband uses for people I have met online but have never met in person or talked to on the phone...and they may or may not even know that I exist. :)

Sisterhood Award

I received this award from my imaginary friend* Julie at From Inmates to Playdates a few days ago and, like a bad imaginary friend, I suddenly seemed to disappear from the bloggy world and didn't accept my award. My apologies, Julie! But I am back now, and I gratefully accept this Sisterhood award.

This award goes to those who display great attitude or gratitude in their blog. I am honored to have been chosen for this award by Julie! Thank you!


In order to accept this award, here are the rules:
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs who you feel are worthy of this award by displaying great attitude or gratitude in their blog! OK, I don't have 10, but Julie didn't either! :)
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within this post.
4. Let your nominees know about the award by commenting on their blog.
5. Link back to the person who gave you this award.

Here are my 10 5 nominees, in no particular order.
1. Mama Ant at Ants on a Farm, who has a new baby I have not yet seen in person, I am sad to say. But he's adorable!!
2. Dawn at My Home Sweet Home.
3. Elizabeth, a.k.a. BusyMomof10, at Yes.they're.all.ours.
4. Donna at Life of Drama Mama.
5. Dannielle at 50 Fingers & 50 Toes.

And one of the things I am most grateful for is that all of these ladies are my SISTERS in Christ! Check out these blogs and see why I love reading them. :)

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* "Imaginary friend" is the term my husband uses for people I have met online but have never met in person or talked to on the phone...and they may or may not even know that I exist. :)

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My 100th blog post is approaching quickly, and along with the semi-traditional post of 100 things about myself, I will also have a giveaway at that time. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on my 100th post when I post it.

You can have another chance to win if you receive my blog posts by email (see the top of my sidebar to enter your email address) or if you are a follower (see my sidebar and click “Follow“). Leave an additional comment telling me that you receive my posts by email or that you are a follower. Comments will remain open until next Thursday at 10:00 p.m., at which time I will pick a winner using Random dot org.

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I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my imaginary friend* Lori Downs with instructions to post the 6th photo in my 6th folder. When she tagged me, she said, "I bet it will be a kiddo!" Well...how 'bout two kiddos? :)

January 2007...This is a photo of Robert and Josiah with Robert's new bow and arrow (junior set) that he had gotten for Christmas in 2006. This was immediately before we got a bale of hay for him to use with target practice. We have a really long back yard so he was hitting nothing but yard here.

If you look really closely, you may see a little bit of red poking out of Josiah's collar. He has a Spiderman costume (bodysuit) underneath his clothes. He wore it to the point that the zipper in the back broke and holes are in both knees. And he still wears it, even though it's so short the "knees" are at his thighs. His big brother (the original owner of the Spiderman suit) refuses to give up possession of the Spiderman mask that went with this well-loved costume. Never mind that it doesn't fit him comfortably or that he even wears it...ever...Sigh...

I am supposed to tag 6 people now. I choose:

1. Dannielle at 50 Fingers & 50 Toes.

2. Mama Ant at Ants-on-a-Farm.

3. Julie at From Inmates to Playdates. (And please read this post and keep her family in your prayers!)

4. Dawn at My Home Sweet Home.

5. ...And I ran out of steam here. You can consider yourself tagged if you want to participate! I love the randomness of this (although that's probably because I had recently gone through old photo files and kept only the ones I loved...you know, the ones I might one day actually get printed...maybe...). I just failed miserably with the passing it on part.

* "Imaginary friend" is the term my husband uses for people I have met online but have never met in person or talked to on the phone...and they may or may not even know that I exist. :)

Just a quick "Hello"

I am still knee-deep in laundry, unpacking, eating my sister-in-law's cake, and trying my best to get to bed before 1:00 a.m., but I wanted to share a couple of links with you.

My imaginary friend Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer wrote this.

My imaginary friend Melanie, a.k.a. Big Mama, wrote this.

Please read them! I hope you had a merry Christmas! And you can ask little Grace about those 1:00 a.m. nights I've had...