So many beautiful things

The last couple of days have been lovely.

In the last moments of packing up our house, we just started tossing things in bags and throwing them in the van, so yesterday I spent the day unpacking and repacking our dear van, and organization is always therapeutic, isn't it?

We put our things in storage, managing to whittle everything into a few bins and boxes.  I kept the bunkbeds. I shipped my mattress. (YES I DID.)

I'm tired but rested and the beautiful things bring me into the arms of my Father. I'm fretting a little, about dear friends who are hurting, but prayer is always better than fretting.

YaYa's cake, by request, was a princess cake. I've become more and more amazed, as I get deeper into this mothering thing, by the ability to throw something together at the last minute. I thought about YaYa's birthday and thought, we'll figure something out, and lo and behold! She had a horsey ride and a princess cake and some little friends to celebrate with, and of course there was dancing. I love little kids- so flexible. It's one reason I'm glad that we're going to be traveling with them at this age.

Here's how the cake turned out.



Then yesterday, after I packed the van, we saw some of this.



And some of this.



And some of this.



And there were some buckeye trees with their leaves just unfurling.



And a gentle cow with loving eyes.



Who let YaYa sit on her back.



I wonder why green is such a healing color? It fills all those roving spaces in your head. It lays its blanket of peace.

Our friends have been so kind to us, and now we say farewell and jump into our newly packed van and go.