Weekend Roundup, Saturday April 14, 2018: April Showers Edition (and a HUGE suprise)

April showers bring May flowers, right? I’m counting on it because this weather is ridiculous. The wind and Seattle rain of the past week have left me feeling like I’m sandwiched in between late fall and winter. For cryin’ out loud, it’s practically mid-April! Which is why I left my (faux) down winter coat in the front closet when I stepped out to pick the kids up from school Friday afternoon and grabbed the black and green polka-dot parka from Costco instead of something warmer. You should know that if my black parka with the lime green polka dots were stripes instead of dots, they would be a dignified pin stripe. That’s how tiny the dots are. From a distance it looks like I’m dressed in black like Johnny Cash. Nothing too attention-seeking for this plain Jane (says the woman who owned a pair of hot pink Crocs when she taught kindergarten all those years ago). Needless to say, it was the wrong choice in outerwear.

It may be dreary outside but it’s cozy in our small rambler. The boy is working on Math Prodigy at the kitchen counter while the little girl snuggles into the ugly rust couch to watch The Greatest Showman. I have to be careful or I will be sucked into the movie too. The big girl is nestled in the back bedroom, the one shared with her sister, either reading or working on a craft project, most likely crochet. Chloe the dog is fast asleep on my right leg, which means only half of my body is warm.

I have much to share in this week’s installment of the Weekend Roundup and otherwise. But I haven’t decided if I’m ready to share my BIG non-Weekend Roundup news. You see, I’ve been working for the last three months on a special project that has absolutely nothing to do with my blog or writing. Hang tight just a wee bit longer. I’m warming up to the idea of sharing the news, possibly today. For it’s been a dark week in many ways. There’s an undeniable need to share something lovely, good and true.

Back to the roundup. A Weekend Roundup is what happens when I showcase the work of my writerly friends at hope*writers, which is the online writing group I belong to. We had a surge of new writers join hope*writers last week. You’ll hear from a few of them today. And of course, I can’t help but share my tried and true favorites.

First up is Karen Grauveau. Karen wrote a killer (and hilarious as usual) article about the time she was a guest over on the Life Around The Coffee Cup podcast. Head on over to Lightly Frayed to read Karen’s post about learning to dream big and on doing it scared. Then click the linky-link to take you over to the podcast. I went ahead and downloaded the podcast episode straight from iTunes, but that’s just me.

The next article is by Andrea Wolloff and it’s perfect for parents of little girls. You see, Andrea compiled a list of her favorite children books selected especially for girls. I look forward to reserving each and every book recommendation at my local library to read with the Tiniest Tiny. You can find Andrea’s book list here.

Since our oldest is eleven, I don’t have experience with teenagers. Admittedly, I’m also not the kind of mother who cooks her children hot breakfast every morning. In fact, Emily made her own pancakes today. During the week, the Twedtlings are trained to fill their own cereal bowls with Cheerios or Pumpkin Flax Granola and almond milk thankyouverymuch. Nonetheless, I was captivated by Vanessa Hunt’s essay titled Fried Eggs Are His Love Language. Give it a read. You’ll be so glad you did.

Next up is an article about a Pinterest fail by Leigh Sain. You can read it here. Like Leigh, my children and I have dietary restrictions. I have it down when it comes to gluten and dairy-free dinner ideas. But almost every dessert, except the recipe for orange scones, have left me feeling like a big fat failure as a baker. You should know, Leigh’s essay is about so much more than a baking disaster. Read on and be encouraged.

Now it is time to turn our attention to one of the newbies. First up is the lovely Quantrilla Ard. Quanny wrote a compelling piece on the life-work balance myth. Here you go. I don’t know about you, but I needed to be reminded that I’m not SuperGirl or WonderWoman, that I can’t and shouldn’t do it all.

The next (and final) essay or article or whatever you want to call it is from another brand new hope*writer named Jessica Faith. Jessica wrote a brilliant piece titled To The Woman Who Feels Broken Beyond Repair: Experiencing God’s Redeeming Work In Our Lives. It’s about how we, as woman, are not defined by the mess of our lives. We may feel broken but we most definitely are not. In Jesus Christ we are fully redeemed. Who doesn’t need this powerful reminder from time to time? I know I do (like every single day).

That’s all I have to share with you today. Ah wait, I promised to shed light on the secret project that’s kept me busy for the last three months. I worked myself up to sharing but in the end I almost forgot.

Let’s go back to Vanessa Hunt’s essay about frying two eggs for her son every morning. I have a confession to make. I dearly loved Vanessa’s essay, but I initially clicked on the link because of the word eggs in the title. Yep, that’s right, eggs. You see, I have a bit of an egg obsession going on at the moment. Normally eggs are not a food I crave. These days, however, eggs are where it is at. In fact, I’m loving eggs so much I can’t wait the five minutes it takes to fry them. Every morning I crack two eggs in a cereal bowl, slightly whisk them with a fork, cover the bowl with a damp paper towel and throw them in the microwave (horror of all horrors). While the eggs are turning to rubber in the microwave, I’ll toss a Franz gluten-free hamburger bun under the oven broiler. Once toasted, I coat the bun with an avocado-based mayonnaise and Grey Poupon, though I switched to Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce earlier in the week in hopes of recreating the taste sensation I experienced at Chick-fil-A during a fundraiser for my MOPS group.

Why am I telling you this? Well, if you know anything about me, you’d know the only time I’ve had an obsession with egg sandwiches was when I as pregnant with Lauren. Those glorious egg sandwiches happened in the days prior to going gluten and dairy-free, back when I got my egg fix in the form of a cheddar sausage egg sandwich compliments of a Starbuck’s drive-thru.

Have you connected the dots? Then you know it’s true. The little hope project I’ve been working on for the last three months is that I’m pregnant. And this 12-week person growing inside of me has been the most shocking and wonderful surprise of my life. I’m a few months shy of forty and never thought I’d have the privilege of giving birth and raising a fourth child in mid-life. Ironically, I gave away our BOB revolution jogging stroller earlier in the school year. A pregnancy is bound to happen when you give away the good stuff. Jokes aside, a day or so before finding out I was pregnant, I was studying the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis while working through the Flourishing Together Bible Study when I came across the following: “Jacob loved Joseph more than any other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age…” (Genesis 37:3 a NLT). I didn’t know I was pregnant at the time but something about the verse jumped off the page of the worn Bible on my lap and landed smack-dab in the middle of my heart. To clarify, I’m not saying I’m going to love the new baby more than the original Three Twedlings. But there is much joy in this unexpected gift, the promise of new life and second chances.

It’s time for me to say goodbye for now. Have a fabulous weekend, lovelies! Greg just took Emily to a cake decorating class with the Girl Scouts. Hopefully, Em will have better luck than Leigh (and me). As for me, I’m headed to the microwave to recreate my masterpiece egg sandwich.

Love,

N.