Don't let these spiders crawl up beside us, they want to bite us, inject the virus...

This song title probably brings back some of the fondest memories of any of the song titles I've used for dedications so far.  Not because the others aren't meaningful or that they don't remind me of the person, but this one seems different somehow.  Maybe it's due to the fact that this blog is dedicated to more than one person.  In fact, it's dedicated to three people.  Three little boys.  Really, really, really cute and awesome ones.  Quite possibly the cutest.  This blog is dedicated to my main men, Carter, Owen, and Lewis.

I met the Harms family like... four or so years ago now.  I'm not totally sure, but it's been a while.  Anyway, so I am pretty sure I started babysitting them when Owen was barely two and Carter was threeish.  (I am not good with time periods, so bear with me)  Lewis was not even an idea yet, so we won't talk about him yet.  Carter was this sweet little crazy kid who liked to wear superhero costumes and watch movies.  Owen was hilarious and spastic and loved any music with a heavy bass line and a good beat, but he had an awful temper and he would throw some massive tantrums.  One time I made him mad by not giving him more snack, and he had been crying and screaming, and he had calmed down a little bit but he was still mad, so he threw his face into the hardwood floor so that he would cry more.  It was pretty hilarious, but don't tell anyone.  He also liked to "rock," which means he would sit on his hands and knees or up on the couch and rock back and forth to the beat of whatever music is playing.  Carter was more of a talker, if I'm remembering right, and even though he liked music, he liked to watch videos and play with toys and stuff.  Both of them were constantly wearing some superhero costume.  ALWAYS.  Hardly a moment went by that they were not wearing one.  They were my favorite.  Babysitting became less of a job and more of a fun thing I got to do, to the point that I have gotten into the habit of asking Kim and Corey if they need a babysitter any time soon so I can come and play with them.

Several years have gone by since then.  Carter is in first grade, Owen is in kindergarten, and Lewis has since been born and turned one.  Carter became super shy somewhere along the line, and likes to watch videos and play with his friends and catch bugs and frogs and stuff.  I don't usually see much of him when I'm over at their house, because he is a busy little man, playing outside or watching Magic School Bus or Batman or something.  Owen is the little craft-maker.  He's always coloring or making something cool.  One time he corrected me on how I was coloring in my Superman coloring page.  Lewis loves popsicles and likes to "rock" like Owen did when he was littler.  Sometimes I will walk into his house and he will start running into furniture so I will laugh at him.  It's pretty cute.  Sometimes he is very serious, and other times he is a little spaz.  It sort of just depends on his mood.

Anyway, those boys are basically my bestest buddies.  Life is so much simpler when all you have to worry about is what video you're going to watch or whether you want to be Batman or Spiderman.  Why is everything so complicated, anyway?  I would rather color.

 

Sincerely,

Mara

Lléname con tu amor, Señor, otra vez...

This blog is dedicated to the man of many nicknames. Weathy. Weatherfired. Swayzee. Twinkle. And my personal favorite, Otra Vez. And that's not even all of them.

I originally picked this song line because it is the reason we call Patrick "Otra Vez." It's a song we sang in Mexico on our youth group missions trip. It translates "fill me completely with your love once again." Of the songs we learned that week, this one was probably the one where Patrick spent the most time forgetting the lyrics. Every once in a while you would hear Patrick, almost under his breath, singing "llename da da da da amooooor..." and then he'd get a little louder and sing "otra vez!" Eventually he did learn the words, but he had a thing for that song for some reason, and he still sings it, and we still call him Otra Vez.

Patrick became a Christian some time around March. We didn't hear about it until some time after at a Skillet concert, where he told one person and slowly but surely we all ended up hearing about it. He didn't see what the big deal was. We were thrilled, to say the least. Of course we were thrilled, though. That's what we'd been waiting to hear for months.

Every year the youth group has a big party at the school for the Iowa vs. Iowa State football game. It's a big outreach thing, and we all try to invite as many people as we possibly can. Patrick was one of them. I knew him from riding the bus with him and this guy called Rounds. He never talked to anyone and he sat by himself and Rounds would talktalktalktalk to either Patrick or me, and neither of us made much habit of responding too often, because Rounds was not a very nice guy. Anyway, so I knew who he was but never talked to him before. Then he comes to this football party, and I tried to talk to him. Just say hello, thanks for coming, are you having fun, the food is good, you know, whatever. I was not the only one to attempt this and fail. I remember Gabe asking a couple of us if we'd talked to the new guy, and we were all like "We tried and he won't respond! I think we're scaring him." Turns out, we did scare him. But he came to youth group two sundays later, and he's been coming ever since.

Patrick has missed youth group like, twice since then. He is involved in everything the youth group does. He's read more C.S. Lewis books than I have. It's pretty awesome. At first, he didn't talk to anyone at youth group. He literally showed up at the beginning, sat in a corner by himself, and left at the end. Eventually, he started to talk to us. Now we can't get him to shut up, and I mean that in the best way possible. ;-)

Patrick is a good example of why it is okay if you freak out the new people. He is also a fun person to skip advisors to go to vending machines with. He will laugh at you when your Gardettos spill all over the floor, but he will buy you more if he has enough change. He will bum rides off of you for everything and then talk about how awful your driving is, but he will let you steal his pop-tarts. He is a fun guy. You should know him.

Sincerely,

Mara

I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped-up four wheel drive...

**EDIT** This is a WAY better song line for us. *laugh*
**EDIT AGAIN** This picture is a good example of how Sierra will steal whoever's camera is lying around and take pictures of herself with it. It's true.

This blog is to Sierra. Sierra and I have been friends for 4 or 5 years now, I think. Ever since that dumb play about the trees. She was one of the first people to come up and say hello to me when I moved here. We have always gotten along really well.

One time, Sierra got some new horses. I tried to get her to name them TobyMac and Starbucks. She didn't, but at the time, we thought those were sweet horse names. I like riding Sierra's horses. That is usually what we do when we are at her house. When we are at my house we usually watch movies and eat junk food, or pull my mattress onto the floor and talk into the wee hours of the night. We can be sort of ADD when we are together, because most of the time one of us can't sit still. We need pretty constant entertainment. I don't usually get bored, but for some reason Sierra and I always end up trying to think of things to occupy ourselves because otherwise we are pretty sure we will go insane. It's pretty hilarious actually.
**EDIT** This picture is a good example of how Sierra will steal whoever's camera is lying around and take pictures of herself with it. It's true.

Sometimes we trade clothes, too. I have a bandana of Sierra's that she still insists isn't hers. It has been in my closet for like, two years now, and she is convinced it isn't hers. Once, Sierra took my leggings to Taiwan for six weeks. I didn't even know they were gone until she gave them back. There was one time, too, where we went to a concert and she didn't know what to wear, so she went through my closet until she found something. We like to share things.

Sierra is an incredibly fun person to be around. Easily amused, yes. Quick to boredom, yes. But that just makes the things she comes up with even more hilarious and awesome. You should seriously hang out with her sometime.

Sincerely,

Mara