i am so intimidated by the thought of writing a recap from our weekend with the myerseses. i imagine this is what the apostle luke felt like when he had to sit down and try to describe what it was like the day the church received the holy spirit and started talking in bonkers languages and having jesus inside of them all the time. ok, did i go to far just then? so maybe it wasn't that amazing, but it was close.
if i sit here and try to do a narrative thread from the whole weekend, this sucker will top out around a million words. so i think i will go with bullet points of goodness and facts and anecdotes. it would just be easier if yall all just came with me next time to be a part of the goodness yourselves. here is raechel's synopsis of the weekend to fill in some of my blanks.
-when we first got there raechel and the kids were running some errands so she just texted us to "go on in." have i been there before? yes. but all of the friends-in-real-life-ness had sort of run out in the 8 weeks since i was there last and i was kind of back to being superfan lady in disbelief that i get to know "finding my feet" as i tend to call her when she's not around. so it was kind of bizarre to be in their house by ourselves. dont worry, we checked their underpants drawers and their bathroom cabinets and everything is kosher. nothing freaky weird. jokes. we mostly just lugged in our travelling circus of gear and bags and children and then rubbed our faces all over their lush new carpet.
the carpet was divine. and these guys are buddies. judah kept asking as we drove off toward home, "where ah-ver go?"
-jesse and ryan got along smashingly. when ryan got home from work that first day i was all, "jesse! your blind date is here! please dont mess this up for me!" so nervy for him. but within hours they were nerding it up about apple products and trying to work a power play against the wives lobbying for playstations in the home (denied x2).
-we started the whole IRL (in real life) friendship under a banner of "sewing buddies!" those proverbial training wheels are now all but off and the friendship stands on its own. we know this because we got almost NO sewing done and just had sleepover style funsies. jesse and ryan stripped us of the H in Hardcore Sewing Delight and threatened to take away the S too because we mostly just had delight. but we did learn some cool new techniques (and i learned a few ones that apparently i should have known all along) so that counts for something. the entirety of what i made over 3 days (despite having a list of to-dos that had 8 projects listed) is as follows:
she accomplished her first forward and backward crawling movements on the glory of the myers' new carpet. that stuff inspires greatness.
one oliver + s pattern bubble dress that gave us the business much more than we expected from a pattern ranked only 2 out of 4 scissors on the difficulty level. and one pair of matching bloomers that made us 15 minutes late to church because i HADTOFINISH. i nearly stroked out a few times in that time trial when my bobbin ran out or got tangled. so not worth it because i think layla stayed in her carseat under a hideous blanket most of the time anyway.
jazz hands
and one snappy toddler top that i am in love with. (my in-progress busted quilt makes a GREAT backdrop for pictures). i made some matching bloomers for this shirt after we got home but they weren't finished when i took this pic, so pretend you dont see the diaper (at least it's not a denim diaper). and yes she is sitting up with much aplomb of late. though she did fall back and crack her head on the coffee table that this quilt is draped over while i was taking this.
-oh the food. birthday french toast was served on layla's .5 birthday. she was a little bitter to not be able to eat any so she slammed her hand down on my plate and dumped my entire glorious meal in my lap. there was also chicken bacon kabob-ery that we have already made again since being home, a yummy pork chop salad, and the caesar salad sammies of wonder. we went out to PF Changs for an AWESOME double date on our last night and had takeout BBQ pork stuffed baked potatoes (i was a skeptic, but SO good) for lunch one day. i am still recovering numerically from raechel and ryan's cooking skills but oh. so. worth. it.
-raechel is one of those people who doesn't laugh often. it took me a while to realize this because we are having so much fun and you feel like she is laughing because she really is full of joy. but it hit me back in march: she doesn't actually laugh laugh that much; instead she labels something, "funNY!" or "that's so funny!" it's really is hilarious once you notice it and makes the occasions whena true LOL escapes her extra special.
-the kids got along great for the most part despite the varied developmental stages they are all in. judah was somehow offensive to sweet hazel. i dont think he ever actually hurt her or stole something from her (could be wrong) but she would tend to burst into tears around him for no apparent reason. i choose to believe it was bieber-fever type of crying. it was great to see this little lady in full form since she had a cold last time. she is so stinking sweet and adorable you guys. she is just getting her walking legs under her and actually took a few steps toward me when we first got there. be still my heart for that fuzzy little blonde koala.
blondies in the bath
-this yoube video was watched about 12 times that weekend (there is some colorful language, so feel free to avoid if necessary, we didn't mind because honey badger don't care). we have a sneaking suspicion that ryan is the actual voice behind this character because he can imitate him PERFECTLY. so many jokes were made about the scraps, larva, and cobra meat. the honey badger is now our official HSD mascot.
-i went garage sailing (see what i did there?) with raechel. if you read her blog you know that she is a garage sale maven. seriously? she once found a brand new $175 video baby monitor and got it for $2, and a kate spade diaper bag for $15. we only went for a few minutes because wicked rain was coming but i got 4 pillows to use in sewing projects, 4 cafeteria style trays for my kids and a pair of froggie rain boots for $6 total. i also may have been an accomplice in encouraging raechel to get a really awesome but totally not-her style antique rocker that we now regret. we also got to hear the lady who sold it to her tell us, "let me tell ya!" about 8 times as she was recommending a wood-staining product to paint the chair with.
the chair is awesome, but even with raechel's upholstery skills and a new coat of gel stain (let me tell ya!) it still doesnt really match the rest of their house's style. that little door behind judah is oliver and hazel's club house. also judah's makeshift bedroom for the weekend.
-raechel has taken the word "tender" and made it her own. she uses it the same way i would use the word "sweet." obviously tender is much more strong and schmoopy-mushy of a word so i just thought at first that she was, well, tender, like that and was a little confused at how everything could be so touching to her. but it turns out she is being funny by sort of overusing it for things that are only slightly sweet. am i making any sense? do you have to just be there? here's one awesome example: we were hanging out talking to their awesome babysitters after our night out and jesse was playing with a candle beside his chair. like sort of shaping it and melting the wax with his hands. raechel said, "i love how you have been tenderizing that candle all this time." so funny because he was being tender with it by lovingly stroking it but also actually tenderizing it by making it softer. or when judah did something mean to me and then was forced to come back and say "sawy mommy" and clearly did not mean it one bit, that would get an, "aw, that was tender." tender: not a creepy word when you know its creepy and use it for humor.
trying to be demure and normal after our nerd-pun picture
-our PF Chang's dinner out was just peachy to the max. we were SO hungry and in need of some time away from the kids. juggling 4 kids under 5 while trying to have adult fun and playtime is exhausting. especially when two of the kids are not in their home turf. we had a hilariously awful waiter and deliciously wonderful food. VIP duck and too-spicy lamb along with the requisite chicken lettuce wraps were on the docket. we foolishly passed on the great wall of chocolate dessert and then spent 30 minutes driving around afterward with raechel and me DEMANDING chocolate cake from the boys when we realized that krispy kreme wasnt open at 10:30pm on a sunday night. we were straight slap happy in the backseat despite only having water and coke to drink all night. we were drunk on HSD.
-we went to see one of the fantastic babysitting duo's dance recitals. she is 17 and is going to be on so you think you can dance one day; mark my words. we got there late because we are dummies who were lost in the cold trying to find the auditorium, and had to be escorted in in between songs. i tell you this: that theater was darker than glenn beck's black heart (i dont even know what that means. i have no care or knowledge about politics whatsoever but i think i heard tiny fey make fun of him once, so that's good enough for me). i am confident i got to second base with raechels poor sister a few times as i was groping around for guidance. raechels ADORABLE 4 year old niece was also in attendance and it was an added activity for me to feverishly download kid apps on my phone to keep her from rushing the stage and performing with the other girls. i almost had a heart attack as i was installing "ant smasher" and some kid behind me screamed out of the blue, "she's squashing bugs!" little backseat driver was peeping over my shoulder. also raechel scammed me into buying her ticket. but she made up for it by filling my belly repeatedly with cheese and bread.
on a walk to look at ryans new office space in downtown pleasantville, aka franklin. judah is saying, "let me tell ya!" oliver is not so sure.
-speaking of bugs, franklin, TN was under the dominion of a cicada plague. their 13 and 7 year life cycles happened to land on the same year this spring and these things all came to life for one brief season of power. the locust horde was everywhere and their songs, husks and exoskeletons trapped in olivers bug-catcher were 10% fascinating and 90% gag-inducing. luckily judah got ahold of the bug cage and toddler shook the trapped beast into a stupor for a few hours so i dint have to hear his thorax thrashing against the plastic.
-i got to try out raechel's new sewing machine and it is a dreamboat. it sews like sweet sweet butter. my machine sounds like a mac truck while hers is a prius. a prius that is more powerful, intelligent and versatile than a mac truck. and that sews it's own buttons. and her sewing room was rearranged since the last time i was there and was even more drooltastic. oh to have such a space. i will just claim that that is the reason why her stuff is so prime and well-executed all. the. time.
this was during hour #5 of getting the pattern cut out and organized. NOT FUN.
-while garage sailing raechel's mom and sis crossed paths with us. i was wearing a shirt i got at target a few days after returning from HSD1.0. i bought it because it looked like a shirt raechel had worn while i was there. i am shameless. she is like my oprah: just tell me your favorite things and i will go try to copy them for myself. raechel's mom goes, "oh raechel has a shirt like that too!" and i had to so lamely/proudly say, "yeah i know, i bought this one to copy her." oh my gosh. i'm sure her mom was like, "raechel, is this friendship wise?" after i left. red flag!
fort building
-i was immediately forgotten as oliver's old pal keight, who had given him an amazing waldo book on my last visit when jesse strolled in with his ipad and where's waldo app. are you kidding me? i cant compete with this. oliver was jonesing for some ipad action since theirs had been given to raechel's mom for mothers day and a new one hadnt yet been purchased. it became almost comical, oliver's addiction to this device. he would go missing all of a sudden and we would find him in our room engrossed in the technology. it was almost outside of his control. they would set boundaries and tell him we wanted to hang out with him in real life and that he couldnt play with it anymore, but seemingly within minutes he would be back on it, always sliding and tapping with his middle finger rather than his index. adorable! it was like it had a gravitational pull on him that he couldn't fight for very long.
appleholics anonymous, class of 2027
-if he couldnt have the ipad, the iphone would serve as a substitute. after immediately falling in love with jesse (he even called him "other dad" at one point. the kid's heart is HUGE!) on the first day, their little oliver-and-uncle-jesse vibe grew. they were playing some rough-housing game, boys versus dads, and jesse had his phone in his pocket. well oliver attacked and jesse caught him and rolled him to the floor. somewhere in that maneuver, jesse's phone must have fallen out of his pocket because ryan said that literally, oliver came out of the roll with the phone magically in hand, unlocked and an app opening up. all one seamless transition back to his beloved. freaking hilarious.
roughing it up.
-jesse and ryan took the boys to the mall in nashville to get them a new ipad on saturday (their first bromantical outing!). they took the double stroller and judah quickly fell asleep in it. while they were walking around the mall oliver was walking in between them and was holding ryan's hand. naturally, he reached up and grabbed jesse' too at some point (LOVE that kid) and then he wanted to do the 1, 2, 3 fly! thing that kids do when holding 2 peoples hands. so we have two grown men holding the hand of one adorable 4 year old flying him around the mall while pushing a 1 year old in the stroller. you can imagine how classic this looked to strangers. the bromance never felt or looked so real. so precious--nay, tender.
-we had some stupendous talks after the kids were in bed each night and on our night out (THANK YOU audrey for being amazing and handling them like a pro. and possibly lizzie who came over after they were all asleep but is also awesome). there isnt a lot better than sharing a meal with friends and talking about jesus (hello lord's supper!). does that sound cheesy or lame? well it's not. it's encouraging and edifying and wonderful. to find people who you can laugh with about ipads, stich selection and honey badgers is awesome. but to share something eternal and soul-shaping makes it so much more real (and tender!). to talk about where jesus is taking us and how he has loved us through things is such a worship experience for me. our bellies and hearts were filled to bursting from a weekend spent with this amazing family. even if our sewing loot bags werent.
LOVE this pic. i had on NO makeup, no shower and was wearing jesse's clothes. that is why i stole oliver into my lap in case you were wondering why ryan is childless. O-man makes an adorable shame-smock. ryan and i are not related nor is raechel actually a model in case this pic led to you believe otherwise. layla really does have side chest-pudge though and judah is that much of a tough guy. hazel's dress of perfection was made by raechel while jesse and i napped one afternoon (embarrassing!)
i know i am leaving out 50 billionity tings about how awesome the weekend was and how bad we want to live nearer this family and hang out with them all the time, but the more i try to explain the more incoherent i become. it's so overwhelming to have to try to get it all out and remembered for posterity. all i can seem to convey is tiny bits of the grandness of it all. "thanks for the scraps, stupid!" maybe HSD13.0 will be a festival of epic proportions and you can all come play and join in for yourselves. as long as your bring me meat and cheese and bread offerings.
Love love love hearing about these weekends. So much fun :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh, I feel like I was there! Awesome recap. I definitely laughed out loud at the image of Ryan and Jesse swinging Oliver. And again, I feel like a jealous stalker... but I am so happy for you guys to have found this amazing, God-formed bond. There is nothing like having "couples" friends who are on the same page as you in so many ways. Um, and I totally thought Judah was in my daughter's Little Gym class this morning. The dad was definitely not Jesse but I did a double take when I saw the kid! Too funny.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I think my last comment just failed.
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh! (though, not out loud...) :) I'm so glad you wrote down all the fun details to remember. Yay!
Definitely tender.
Come back soon!!
Given that I don't know either of you, I'm probably a little too excited that you've become friends. But! Super excited! Friends to share Jesus with are the best things ever. It makes my heart happy (and maybe want to visit...).
ReplyDelete