this morning

October 24, 20131 Comment

This morning I have a little more time than usual before we need to get out the door, so I thought I would stop by and say hello!

I’m tempted to say, “life has been crazy, lately,” but it hasn’t.

It has been FULL. Is it full of craziness, sometimes?! Yes, but it’s FULL.

I’m tempted to complain that I haven’t had enough time to get everything done, but I have.

I have had the time to take care of sick kiddos, time to rest when I do not feel well myself, time to volunteer in the little guys classroom, time to go on baby girl’s first field trip, time to spend with my mother-in-law, time to visit pumpkin patches, time to be creative, and time to enjoy the beautiful weather we have had here in the pacific northwest.

I’m tempted to talk about all the things my kids aren’t doing, but I won’t.

They are incredible little beings who are inquisitive, strong willed, loving, fun, and happy. They love to create, climb, imagine, run, ride bikes, and learn. And, they love being with me. I can’t beat that, can I?

I’m tempted to vent about the disagreements that Ryan and I have, but that would be silly.

I have an loving husband who does an amazing job providing for our family. He works hard, spends time away from our family each week, deals with my creative craziness, makes our children laugh, and makes sacrifices (like not going hunting) to make sure he spends enough time with our little family.

I grew up being taught that what you focus on expands.

I have found myself focusing on the don’t/can’t parts of my life a bit lately and I want going to change that.

This morning, I’m focusing on the positive with a can do attitude.

Today, I will make enough time to do what needs to get done.

home is…refocusing.

a good groove

October 7, 2013April 6, 2020Leave a comment

hello monday!

i think we can get into a rythmn this week…a good groove.

last week we got derailed by colds and strep. reece and lorelai were home from school all week. by thursday we found out that reece had strep and got him onto antibiotics. seeing my kiddos sick is always hard. i feel so blessed to be able to make the decision to keep them home with me on the days they are not feeling well…so thankful for how hard ryan works so that it can be that way.

today we are back to our “normal” routine.

we walked to school as a family today…the fresh air felt so good.

it made me so happy to see reece smiling again with his friends at school.

here are a few photos from this past week…

we were able to take care of some yard clean up after some heavy rain…preparing for late fall and winter.

odyssey and i have taken a break from running the last couple of weeks…he got “fixed” so he had to take it easy for 10-14 days…we’ll get back to it this week!

when the sun shines after the rain everything glistens.

i did some crafting and minimal fall decorating while the kids were home last week.

a happy room.

the neighborhood horses eating green grass in the sun over the weekend.

pacific northwest fall color.

home is…a good groove.

just writing

September 26, 20131 Comment

Getting into the right routine with two in two different schools has taken a couple of weeks…that’s why I haven’t been writing.

I really missing them being home.

Especially the little guy.

I get time with baby girl a few days a week.

I’m torn.

I have free time that I was desperately wishing for, but I find myself wondering what to do with it.

I have cabinets that I need to finish painting.

I have doctors appointments, haircuts, and brow waxes that I should get scheduled.

I have crafts I want to do.

I have exercise I want to add to my routine.

I have Nordstrom Notes screaming at me to spend them.

Instead of doing any of these things, I think…

if i craft and do something fun, then i am not getting work done
if i paint cabinets and clean then i am not spending time on myself
if i go to the appointments it just spends money and time that i really don’t want to spend
if i go exercise then i am not doing anything that really needs to get done

Really, my main concern is that I will not be doing the “right” things with my free time…whatever the “right” things are.

If the house isn’t perfectly clean (which it is not) did I fail at cleaning?

If the laundry isn’t done will somebody get upset that their favorite “ballerine” or shorts are not clean?

If I don’t spend time doing things that will make me happy (crafting, exercising, blogging, taking photos) will I just be frustrated that I don’t have enough free time?

I just count the minutes until I get to go pick up my kids.

And, then there is not enough time in the day to spend with them.

And, by the time we get them to bed, I am exhausted and ready to go the bed to start all over the next day.

The answer is just do SOMETHING!

Anything.

But I get wracked with guilt that my choices will displease somebody.

I’m just writing…so, I’d better go do something.

home is…counting the minutes.

{faith} learning to pray

September 13, 20133 Comments

This morning I feel frustrated, hurt, bewildered, and angry.

So, I decided to pray.

I did a quick internet search about praying for my children and found this back to school prayer tool.

Although it is called a “back to school” prayer tool, I believe it can be used anytime to pray for my children.

home is…flying anyway.

community

September 6, 20131 Comment

com·mu·ni·ty

/kəˈmyo͞onitē/

a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

I’ve felt an overwhelming sense of community this week.

Overwhelming in a good way.

It began the last week with a visit to the zoo with my momma friends from friday playgroup. We haven’t met regularly this past year due to school scheduling conflicts, but we try to get together when we can. A couple of us were talking about how, with the big kids in school all day, we would be able to get together on Friday’s with our little ones again.

And, just like that, we have friday playgroup on the calendars again. I host the first one at the end of this month. Oh, how I have missed those mommas. We have gone through a lot together in 6 years of raising our babies together. I am so thrilled to be able to share Friday morning’s with them again!

Community.

On Tuesday, the little guy started kindergarten at our neighborhood school. He can ride a bus to school, but we are walking distance from the school, so we choose to walk.

On Tuesday, we walked with our neighbors.

On Wednesday, we walked alone, but started to recognize the same families and kids walking together. On Wednesday afternoon, I rode the little guy’s bike while baby girl rode hers so they could ride their bikes home from school. It was so fun!

By Thursday, I was introduced to other moms in the neighborhood by mom’s I met walking around our neighborhood, etc.

This morning, it was raining, so I drove the little guy to school, but the momma’s (and dad’s) in the neighborhood were still out there walking together, coffee (and umbrella’s) in hand. In the future, I’m not going to let a little rain deter me from walking to school. How awesome is it to know they people in your neighborhood?

Community.

Wednesday evening, I went to the parents open house for baby girls school. It is the same preschool we have gone to since the little guy was three. This will be our fourth year there. With all the “newness” of the neighborhood school, walking into the open house on Wednesday was like coming home. The familiar faces of the wonderful teachers. The faces of the parents who I have seen every morning for four years. The same stories that the director tells every year as she goes over the information she has to share.

Not to mention, while I was walking in another mom asked if she had seen me that morning at the elementary school. Yes! I was there. Our sons are in kindergarten together. Their family is moving in down the street next week. As we were talking another mom chimed in. SHE lives around the corner from us and has a son in first grad at the local charter school and a daughter one year older than baby girl. She said another neighbor had told her about our outdoor movies and how fun they were!

Community.

I have also jumped back into a fitness routine. I went on a run Tuesday morning and to a yoga class at our health club yesterday. I love to see the same people on my running route and to share a commonality with the people in yoga and at our health club. Baby girl was even able to reunite with her friends from school at the childcare. Tomorrow, I am going to attend a new class with our next door neighbor. Getting healthy with others is awesome.

Community.

And, finally, online. On Wednesday, at school, I was approached by and Instagram follower who has a child in the little guys class! She introduced herself to me and I was so glad that she did. The sense of community that I find on Instagram and by following blogs is amazing. I love seeing the homeschooler’s starting their school year; the moms sending their kids to preschool for the first time; the moms finding more time for themselves, and their passions, now that their kids are back in school. Just to know that other moms are sharing the same experiences as I am all over the country is awesome.

Community.

I love all of this.

It’s what I want for my family.

It’s what I want for my kids.

It’s what I want for myself.

Community.

home is…a feeling of fellowship.

{milestones} the little guy at the big school

September 3, 20133 Comments

He wanted to wear his shorts and jersey from the boys next door.

He wanted spiked hair and photos with Odyssey.

He let his sister sit in the chair for a few photos with him.

She was as excited as he was.

They waited for their friend to walk to school with us.

We stopped to look at snails, but walked quickly so we would not be late for the first day of school.

The little guy was fighting back his tears to smile for the camera.

He’s a little guy in a big school and I am sure that he had a great first day. I am so excited for him.

I get to go find out in one hour when we make the walk again. One that will become very familiar in the years to come.

I am so proud of my little guy.

home is…snips and snails and puppy dog tails.

two weeks left

August 21, 2013April 6, 20202 Comments

we still have two weeks of summer break left around here.

although i am ready for the kids to head back to school, i am thankful {while i watch others send their kids off to school this week} that i still have two weeks to suck the marrow out of summer.

on monday i received an email from one of the moms from our friday playgroup. although we haven’t met for a playgroup in a year we still send group emails out to each other on a pretty regular basis to get together with whoever can make it whenever they can. she said that she was planning to go to the enchanted forest with her kids and wondered if anybody would be able to meet them.

my plan for tuesday was to go to oak’s park for the preschool rides, but when i saw her email i decided that the enchanted forest, where we had never been before, was just what we needed to kick start our last two weeks of summer!

my prince and princess…

poor miss muffet…

my sillies…

heading into the hansel and gretel house…uh-oh!

on to wonderland….

down the rabbit hole…

and, a little tea party…

have to admit, Alice in Wonerland is one of our favorite movies…it will be seen on an outdoor movie night someday.

looking in on the seven dwarfs house…

the squirrels were making the beds…

and, then there is this…

it’s supposed to be the witch from snow white and the seven dwarfs…

little red riding hood…

at the shootin’ gallery…

comedy theater in the woods – pinocchio…

miss jill and cade…

and, nola…who invited us to meet them!

the western town where reece had his “favorite part of the day”…

and, one of the “free” slides the kids get a chance to ride on with a genreral admission.

this was an awesome day for our 3-6 crowd…under 2 was not able to do much, and over 8 would probably be bored.

we will go again next year and change a few things:

admission averages $10 for anybody between 3-50 years old

you can bring your own food, so be sure to pack a lunch or snacks

you can re-enter the park with a stamp, so leave you lunch/snacks in a cooler and go back out to eat it (or bring it back in)

all said and done, it was a great day away from home and a spectacular kick off to our last two weeks of summer!

home is..waiting until the last minute.

life at the lake

August 7, 2013April 6, 20202 Comments

the kids, my parents, my sister, my niece and i spent a week at lake pend oreille in beautiful northern idaho.

the first night, reece was throwing his hook into the water…

by the next day, he was catching fish all by himself with one of topher’s mepps spinners!

uncle buzz and aunt michele have tons of water toys at their lake house…

reece and sasha got out on the jet skis with topher and uncle buzz…

while lorelai played on the beach with meme.

reece also go out on one of the hobie cats with uncle buzz…

and meme got some time on the water, too.

my 95 year old grandfather was up there with us, too. he couldn’t make it down the stairs to the water, but enjoyed the view from the patio…

my parents rented a house for all of us about 6 miles away and we ate dinner there every other night…it was a way for all of us to have some quiet time, but we still had a beautiful view of garfield bay and the lake.

i ran three times while on vacation…this was my halfway/turn around point on my first run.

and, here is where it ended (near the house where we were staying).

running errands by boat is awesome…

on sunday, topher took my sister and i into town by boat so we could do a little birthday shopping for sasha. the girls rode into town with us and back to my aunt and uncle’s house with topher.

reece and sasha made the trip back to town with topher to pick us up.

returning to the lake house, we were greeted by these two little dock dogs…lily and elmo belong to my cousin and his wife…

that’s my cousin, greg…

and, this is his beautiful wife, natalie. our first visit to the lake was for their wedding last august. they just celebrated their first wedding anniversary! (you can see the posts from their wedding here, here, here, and here)

we took the boat out to watch greg on the air chair…he makes it looks way easier than it is.

you can see topher on a jet ski in the background…marley, who is the original dock dog, was sad that she couldn’t come on the boat, so he took her for a ride on the jet ski.

i can’t wait to see the go pro video of all my cousins giving it a try next week (we missed their visit by a week…maybe we can all be there again together next year)!

we celebrated the kids birthdays…july 5th, august 1st, and september 8th.

and, watched the baby bald eagle…

watch us.

the days of playing on the lake melded together…slow, relaxing, fun…i have more photos and video on my phone that i think i will need to add in another post.