I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth....yet.

Hi there, bloggy friends! Things have been really busy with the Crew as of late, so that's mostly the reason for the quietness around here.
We went up to Charlotte for almost a week to babysit our precious nephews so that their Mama and Daddy could go on an awesome adventure in Belize (they were in a wedding there). We had such a great time exploring that fab city.
But for any of you that really know me, the very best outing that I had was to the Billy Graham Library. The life and (oftentimes unsung) ministry of his beautiful wife, Ruth Bell is such a huge inspiration to me. I have read her biography and her books over and over again, and I just love how Jesus really shone (shined?) through in her life. She went to be with Him almost a year ago, so I was even able to visit her grave, which is there on the grounds.
I will say that it appeared that I was the only person under the age of 60 there, and I took 2 of the kids with me, so the greeters and all the volunteers were practically giddy when we walked in the door. Hopefully, that day was the exception as far as the lack of young people, because the place really is wonderfully kid-friendly.
We ended up staying for hours because I simply cannot pass up conversations with the elderly. I love their stories and all the wisdom that flows from them. I love to go back to a time that seems so far and long ago, yet really wasn't in the whole grand scheme of things. I love how every single one of them reminds me that this is the sweetest time of my life, and that I would be remiss if I didn't make the best of it. I intend to mind them. Hopefully, I will have more opportunity to sit at the feet of the wiser, because I can tell you that I have never-ever walked away sorry that I took the time to do that. What a blessed morning I had there; worshipful, even....and reflective. Hard to describe.
Anyway, after we got home (from Charlotte), we realized that the computer was having "issues" which weren't able to be fixed until today. It was alright though, because:
1. I have had some amazing quiet times. I am at the start of one of those seasons where I am hearing God clearly, and continually. This is the kind of season that I long for all the time, but frankly, seem a little elusive, so I know that I need to take it and soak up every single ounce with all my might. Teach me, Father...
2. I took a walk with the kids a few days ago, and we found a caterpillar which we decided to make cozy in a temporary mason jar home. Well, that night it decided it was time to form it's chrysalis, and we have been watching a really cool transformation take place ever since.
3. Today, after we went to the pool (and after I got burnt to a lovely shade of crimson) we found a nest of baby birds right outside of one of the kid's rooms. It wasn't long before their beautiful cardinal Mama came by with a little vomit for her babies. Heh-heh. Sorry. Seriously, I have been watching this lovely lady do her thing for hours. It has really been sweet.
So, if any of you are still with me after 2 weeks off, and a post that contains no real rhyme nor reason, I will go ahead and tell you that I am about to make some changes to this lil' ol' blog o' mine. In an effort to not be so "out there" with my bidness, I am going to amp up my security. So what that means to you, is that if you still want to keep up with the Crew's happenings, you will have to email me at westiecrew6@gmail.com, so that I can add you to my list. Warning: This message will self destruct after a few days, making it a whole lot harder to get ahold of me....so don't pull a "Gayle" and not take down my email if you just really can't live without my pointless prose. :)
Ok, off to torture my permanently damaged nerve-endings with some more aloe-vera. Toodles!

Are Ya With Me?

Alrighty, I need to put something up here that isn't so Eeyore-esque. I have not had a super-spectacular week, actually, so it's a bit hard to fake it, ya know what I mean?
I will ask you, bloggy friends, to add my Grandma to your prayer list. She has been sick for quite some time and we had to put her on hospice this past week. She has been in and out of the hospital several times in the last 6 months, very close to death, and now she is just tired of fighting. So even though we know that this decision is the best one, it is still a little hard to swallow.
On the bright side of things, I chatted with The Amazing Cindy for almost 2 hours this morning (we have been trying to touch base for a sweet forever), my Mark is home after being gone for the week, and I don't sound and feel like an old man who has smoked 6 packs a day anymore. So, things aren't all bleak 'round hee-yah.
We are hoping to take the kidlets to see Prince Caspian tonight, and then tomorrow I book my plane ticket for the Siesta Fiesta....YES SIREE!! (By the way, Cindy, I am letting the cat out of the bag).
So who among you can we coerce into coming along? We already know of LOTSA friends we are getting to meet, so why don't you come join the par-tay?
By the way, if you are some burly man with ill intentions, I think you should know, I am packing high-powered heat and I am NOT afraid to use it.
Ahem. So anyway, you wanna come?

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

So, as I am sitting here wolfing down my leftover massive burrito from Moe's, feeling sorry for myself because I have a chest cold, I check my email where I find an urgent prayer request from my church:

"Today, we received word from Dr. David Vunga, GlobeWorks missionary to Burma:
* Our Myanmar Center for Church Planting - new building - was 1/3 destroyed by cyclone Nargis
* 4 of our 12 paid GlobeWorks International missionary families are still missing; presumed drowned.
* 40 of our GlobeWorks International Burmese Bible students and Burmese missionary families are starving, due to lack of rice."

And I realized, I have no clue.

I Declare...

Let's talk about muffin tops for a moment, shall we? Yes, I have a memoir that I have been trying to think of since last week (I can't believe how hard I am making this, Gayle), and a really awesome recipe or two to share, but my mind has been hyperfocused on the ol' muffin top.
Do you know what a muffin top is? Well, please let me be the one to enlighten you. It's love handles that wrap all the way around, and it looks distinctly like a, ...well...muffin. top.

So now that I've cleared that up for you, I must inform you that I the owner of one of these. Yep, bought and paid for. Hello, my name is Gayle, and I have a muffin top.
I have been a bit unsettled over the last year or so at how I desperately need to get rid of my muffin top, so I have starved, fretted, crunched (not the food kind of crunching, mind you), sucked it in and even cried (more than anything because I have no will-power). BUT NO MORE, PEOPLE. I am embracing my muffin top. I do not care anymore. My husband loves me and my God loves me, and I love cake, so what-ev-er.
Who wants an AMAZING recipe that will NO DOUBT contribute to that which I have come to terms with? Oh, sweet freedom!

Butterflies and Bobs

Could this week get any busier? I feel like I have been caught up in a whirlwind and I am t-i-r-e-d. I'll be woman enough to admit that I am a smidge grouchy, too, so rather than write a rant about the color of the sky and everything under it, I will simply take you on a picture tour. See, I really do care.

Here we go...

We couldn't get any pictures that were of decent quality while Julianna was performing, because you aren't allowed to use a flash, but this is her getting her flowers once we were outside:

I love my girl...

She has been begging me to get her hair cut for a couple of months now, but I kept telling her that she had to wait until after her recital. Well, her much anticipated appointment was yesterday. Can you believe that all of that hair wasn't even long enough for Locks of Love?

Here she is with our oh-so-fabulous hairstylist and friend. Bye-bye tangles! I DID keep her ponytail because I am going to see if L.O.L. will take her 9 inches anyway.

JuJu's new do. Don't know why the quality of this shot turned out so bad, but you can still see how her cut turned out.

She has never had short hair before, and I will go ahead and say that I worried that she would lose that "little girl" look if I got it cut. But I was wrong! It looks SOOOO cute, and it is super easy to take care of now. I am really excited about how much easier it will be when we start heading to the pool. I am actually really excited to start heading to the pool, period.