Good Times

Our Memorial Day Housewarming Party was a smashing success. It was a fantastic day and so much fun. My pulled pork turned out well and everyone brought something to share. My island was covered with food, as you can see, so no one went hungry.


I was a bit concerned that everyone would have a good time because we had a mix of people here: old friends, local friends and work friends. But, as I should have known, everyone got along fabulously, introducing themselves when I wasn't available to do so and mingling effortlessly. The kids raced around outside, inventing various games (usually Star Wars themed) and generally having a great time. It made my heart happy to see them all out there, laughing and playing. And wearing themselves out.

We started up a bonfire in the evening and, like moths to a flame, we all gravitated to it. When the sun started to go down, things cooled off and the warmth of the fire felt good. Even the smallest party attendee seemed to enjoy it.

My sweet chub of a nephew, Kieran.

It was a really nice day, one that Josh and I had been dreaming of when we were building this place. We imagined all our friends over, everyone talking and eating and laughing, kids racing around in the grass, and everyone gathering around a bonfire toasting marshmallows.

Turns out dreams do come true.

Party!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Today we're having a BBQ and get-together with friends who have yet to see The Big Red House. Should be a good time. We've got a keg of beer coming, 12 lbs of pork butt smoking on the grill, a ton of other food and beverages, and some of our favorite people coming. I get to love on my ever-growing nephew, Kieran, who is now 6 months old (my favorite age) and the sun is shining brightly. Woo-hoo!

It's gonna be an awesome day.

Hope you're enjoying your's too!

Lost & Found

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. Anyone seen it?

Seriously, I still think like a blogger...."Man, I totally should be taking pictures of this to blog!" or "This would make great blog fodder!". But somehow when I sit down at the computer, the words just aren't flying out of my fingers the way they used to.

I'll be honest, life has just conspired against me and has been demanding my attention elsewheres. I've been making a conscious effort to be more involved with Sam in an effort to improve his attitude towards school, which has totally worked to such an extent that his teacher emailed me asking if I'd noticed that he was way more positive about school. He's even told me several times "I love school, Mom!". And with the weather getting nicer, we're not stuck indoors all the live long day which then translates to less time on the computer.

Anyway, today I was cleaning out my email inbox and ended up going back to read some previous posts and it's kind of inspired me to write again. I was feeling a little frustrated because it felt like no one was reading what I was writing, and as we all know, as bloggers we LIVE for comments, which are the only way we know anyone is reading. It's nice to have that validation that Hey! I'm not talking to myself again! A tip for those of you who don't have blogs of your own: you can comment anonymously by clicking on "Anonymous" below the comment box. Then just sign your comment with your name and I'll know who you are!

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In an effort to get you up to speed on my life, here are some bulleted highlights of what I've been up to:

• Hubby & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary yesterday. We went for drinks and appys down at the marina, then to dinner at a little mexican joint, which had tasty sangria which may or may not have contributed to the tiny headache I had when I woke up.


• I have been trying to do as much walking as possible in preparation for the half marathon I signed up to do the end of June with my friend Heather. Our longest walk so far has been 7.5 miles, which we've done twice. Time to up the distance. Unfortunately the weather and life have been thwarting our walking efforts but we're determined to get more miles in.


• Sam is still in swimming lessons and doing good. We had signed Zoë up for another session but the new class had a very cute boy teacher, and she wouldn't even get in the water. So I got my money back and we'll hope for a girl teacher next time.


• I went swimsuit shopping and was successful. Seriously, I got the cutest suit and it is so flattering. I might actually wear it in public.


• Only 16 more school days left!! I can't tell you how excited I am about that. I love summer.


• We're working to turn our yard into an actual yard with grass and flowerbeds instead of the mudpit it currently is. We had a load of topsoil brought in and spread and then it rained, which led to this:

In addition to the half marathon the end of June, I've also signed up to do a 7 mile race in July. Unfortunately, my walking partner found out she had a prior commitment after I'd already signed up so I guess I'll be walking alone. But whatever. (Totally kidding! Love you Heather!) Anyone want to walk with me?? Oh! And there's a 15k in September we I want to do. Hopefully not alone. (wink, wink..)

I have been picking up extra shifts at work while I wait to find a position with more hours. While I am still stressed about money, so far we're doing okay. I have faith it'll all work out.

Life is just really good. I am so incredibly blessed and I appreciate that fact every single day. I have my health as does my family, a gorgeous home that I love more every day, the sweetest husband who I am so proud of, two awesome kids, the best friends, a good paying job, and so much on the horizon to be excited about.

The Week in Review

Boy, it's been a busy week. It seems like as the days get longer and the weather warmer, life really starts to pick up speed. But it's all good! That's the way I like it.

Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to:

~Last Wednesday Sam's class had a field trip to the local fairgrounds for the Milk Makers Festival, or whatever it's called. In our county, we are surrounded by dairy farms so it was a chance for the kids to learn all about the dairy industry. Apparently the field trip is a yearly event for all the 1st graders around here. It was very well organized, with six different stations where they learned about different aspects of the dairy industry. They even were treated to some chocolate milk. Zoë and I tagged along for the fun and had a great time. I wanted to put this little girl in my purse and bring her home.




~Wednesday evening The Hubby and I went on a date. We had gotten some tickets for a concert thru the college alumni association and figured we'd take advantage. Death Cab for Cutie had come home to do a concert and let me tell ya, for a band I wasn't that familiar with, they were awesome. They killed it. It was a lot of fun and we're definitely big fans now. So cool to see hometown boys gone big. (Sorry for the crappy pictures...used my phone.)



~Thursday was the last class for swimming lessons (of this session) and Heather and I had planned to stay after class and let the kids play in the pool during the Free Swim. Only I'm apparently a big clueless dork of a parent and didn't know/realize that kids under 6 must be accompanied by an adult. So guess who didn't have a swimsuit and couldn't get in the pool?? Thankfully, Heather donned her's and went in with the girls. Next time I'll be more prepared. (Note to self: buy a swimsuit. Oh,and work out.)

They opened up the waterslide during the Free Swim and Sam immediately scrambled up the stairs to give it a try. I was shocked (and proud) at how UNreluctant he was to try it. He's definitely a boy after my own heart. You can see in the picture exactly how fast he came shooting out of this thing! He was like a little blurry water missle! But he never flinched and came out all smiles and saying "That was AWESOME Mom!!" and went right back up. He went up those stairs so many times he ended up with a blister on his toes.


~Friday Sam's class was doing a presentation for the school assembly so Zoë and I attended that in the afternoon. They've been studying the life cycle of a butterfly and did a presentation about that. I know I'm his mother and all, but he spoke the clearest and loudest of all the kids and sounded the most natural. You know how kids get when you put them on stage with a microphone and an audience? I was one of those kids when I was little but not my Sam. I was so proud.



He was all smiles after school as we headed off into the weekend.

~Saturday morning we headed out to our old neighborhood for the annual pancake feed at the fire station. For $12 the whole family filled their bellies and then we checked out the fire trucks.


~Sunday morning we cleaned the house, since it was getting a little disgusting then Josh headed over to help my dad do some electrical work at their new house. It was sunny but a little breezy but we tried out best to soak up the rays. In the evening, the wind died down so after dinner we headed out on a walk.

And met some new friends along the way....

And at the end of the walk, we came home to our own little piece of heaven.

For reference sake, here's a picture of both our house and my parents' new place.

I'm done now. Whew! Happy Monday!

Sunshine on Shoulders Makes Me Happy

If you haven't noticed, I haven't been blogging much lately. Several factors are contributing to my writing delinquency. First, I just haven't been very inspired lately. Second, I've been trying to not be on the computer as much, especially in the evenings, in an effort to spend more time with the fam. Thirdly, the weather keeps trying to get warmer which then translates to me becoming less slothful.

Today is one of those days, where the sun is trying valiantly to raise the temperature above the 60° mark. I'd optimistically purchased some flowers and potting soil the other day so this morning the kids and I got those situated in their pots. Then my dad was over working at his house so I wandered over to see what he was up to. The kids soon followed and in their meanderings, they discovered a whole patch of "flowers" (aka dandelions).

Since I had my camera, I then wandered around taking pictures, playing with the aperture and such. There's a new lens that I'm really coveting but for now I'm making do with what I have.

It was so refreshing to be outside, the warmth of the sun on my back, dirt on my hands, listening to the birds. It's been a long, long winter and we're more than ready for a deep breath of Spring.

Motherhood

There's another meme roaring around the blogosphere and, even though I wasn't officially tagged to do it, I'm doin' it. Because it's a topic near and dear to my heart: being a mom.

The question is "What five things do you love about being a mom?"

Boy, that is a dangerous question. Dangerous because, depending on the day, it could launch me into an absolute mushy, teary confession about how much I love it, how it's changed me, how I neverwantodoanythingelse, IlovebeingamomSOSOmuch... OR I could be hard pressed think of two things that I love about being a mom, much less five. Just depends on the day. Or the hour, for that matter.

Anyway, today I'm having an "I love being a mom" day so it's pretty easy to come up with five things. Here they are:

1. Like Ms. Secret Agent Josephine, I love being the one to comfort my kids. When I was a babysitter and even later after becoming an aunt, when the kids were hurt or sick they wanted their mommas. Regardless of how close or loved I was, they turned to their moms for comfort and I always felt a little sad and left out by that. Not that it wasn't the right response for them to have, but it just made me a little sad.

I love that my kids turn to me with their tears and scrapes and sadnesses and know that they'll find sympathy and comfort in my arms. Sadly enough, I don't have any memories of my mom being that for me. Maybe she was, I don't know. But I have no memory of it or of even feeling that she was. I want to make sure that my kids know that I will always be there for them, to kiss a booboo, to wipe a tear, to listen to the injustices of their lives.

2. I love it when my kids display their softer, sensitive sides. It's probably selfish but it gives me a great sense of satisfaction and pride to see them behaving kindly, or unselfishly. It makes me feel like I'm doing an okay job.

When Sam was a baby, less than a year old, when I'd pick him up, he'd snuggle into my shoulder and pat me on the back. I mentioned it to a co-worker, saying how cute I thought it was and she remarked that he did it because I did it to him. He was mirroring the love and comfort I gave him. It was one of my first affirmations as a mother and I've never forgotten it. Now my son will bring me coffee in bed in the morning and kiss me tenderly to wake me up because he knows I'm not a morning person and I need my coffee. My daughter treats her baby dolls so lovingly that it brings tears to my eyes. She dresses them, feeds them, tucks them into bed and reads them a bedtime story before kissing them goodnight. I marvel at it, feeling a sense of pride because, even though at times I feel like I should start saving now for the therapy my kids will surely need, I know that her loving behavior is learned and it has been demonstrated to her in her own life. And that makes me really happy and reassured.

3. I love staying home with my kids. Even though being a mom is way harder than any job I've ever had (see also: relentless, tiring, annoying, thankless, and at times downright disgusting), I truly can't think of anything I'd rather be doing. Yes, sometimes I'd like to call in sick or take a day off, but there really isn't anything else I feel as compelled to do with my life. I feel so incredibly blessed that I've been home with my kids since they were born, raised them myself and been there for all the firsts. I've never gotten as much satisfaction from any job I've had as I have from being a mom.

4. I love creating traditions with my kids. A few examples: decorating gingerbread houses at Christmastime, treasure hunts for their Easter baskets with rhyming clues leading them from one spot to the next, going out to breakfast on the first day of summer vacation, homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, homemade and hand-decorated birthday cakes. I know more traditions will evolve and become part of our family story over the years but already the kids are starting to have memories of these things. I love giving them happy memories to look back on.


5. I love loving my kids. This probably sounds silly but loving my kids just feels so good. Mother love is a different kind of love, different than any other. It's the warmest, fuzziest, most consuming love. It's invigorating, hypnotic, euphoric, and blinding all at the same time. It's drenched in bittersweetness and soaked with sentimentality. It produces physical pain as the heart nearly bursts with pride and contracts with mind-numbing fear. This love rises up, ready to attack and defend, when a threat looms. This love is something I was completely unprepared for. It has stretched me, redefined me. And I know I am better because of it.

Brighter Days Ahead

Yep, that's me. Although I don't look nearly as cute as this little guy. I am feeling pretty tired though.

But next week, I'm on Spring Break! After Monday I'm going to enjoy my days off and not work any extra, and I am going to play and enjoy my son's Spring Break. We've got some plans and are leaving the rest up in the air, hoping that the weather will cooperate and we can GET OUTSIDE. So I should have some fun blog fodder for posting, a nice change from my recent whining and complaining. I need to reclaim the positive and happy in my life and I'm going to make every effort to do so in the coming days.

We had a little scare last week where Zoë almost drowned at her very first swimming lesson. Long story short, the teacher had her back turned, there was no lifeguard on the deck watching the classes, she lost her footing and couldn't get herself righted and she ended up floating face down. Josh had to jump in the pool to get her. She was fine but we took her to the ER to get checked out, just in case, and she has since returned to her lessons, albeit under our even more watchful eyes. The staff and management at the the pool are also on high alert after I called and raised holy hell about the incident, which the manager had never been told of. I debated about letting her go back to this particular pool but decided that since she wasn't traumatized, and the teacher would be watching her extra carefully now, that I should let her go back. Sam is in lessons there too and loving it so I don't want to punish him by yanking him out. I can't say I'll send them back there, though, after this session is over.

Anyway, we're all good and healthy and got outside today to enjoy the bright sunshine that we were graced with. Josh and I shoveled some dirt and gravel, relocating it around the yard and the kids happily played in the dirt and rode their bikes. Sam and I ended up playing some whiffleball in the driveway for a bit and then we all went inside with rosy cheeks and growling tummies. It was a really nice morning and made me yearn, even more so, for the warmer days ahead.