kiddos

kiddos

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Captain America

Do you see this guy? Yes, this one..Captain America Boy.




I was awakened at 2 am by this guy (mask and all) throwing up in my hair.

Isn't parenthood beautiful!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

A Little Perspective




Do any of you just want a clean and simple life? I know I sure do. I look in the mirror and my thighs are bigger than I want them to be...I have more chins than I prefer and my hair is always a bit frizzy. There is a pile of clothes here. A pile of dishes there. A pile of toys here, and there..I mean...the piles. Just the word pile makes me cringe. Seriously, my house can be a bit like a land mine.
I just want it all clean. I want all my clothes to be an easy size 4. I want them ironed, color coordinated and ready to be worn. I want to be able to find a matching set of socks without screaming. I buy socks all the time. Where do they go? I want my shoes to be paired and accessible. I want a shiny sink, spotless floors, manicured hands and a balanced checkbook.
I do my evening run and I dream of my lawn looking like the ones I often pass. Green grass. The lines you can see mowed neatly in rows. No weeds.
Who are these people with their perfect lawns and spotless homes? Do they work or are they already retired? Do they have a gaggle of children? If they have children, do they all sit and do puzzles at night in their dressing gowns? Doesn't that sound sublime?
I can't seem to get my house clean without bitching at everyone in my path. Daddy tells me to get over it...as long as we keep on making children, my house won't be clean. He tells me to plan to wait at least 8 years, 10 if we are still planning that 4th child. He also reminds me that I have never had a perfect spotless little life....even BEFORE children and full time jobs.
He is right. Before Boy was born, he went and traded in his truck and got a Volvo. Yes, cringe, a Volvo. I was mortified. I am not a fancy Volvo kind of girl. Daddy got a great deal on a great car and he was just being practical. But I woke up and said "Daddy, I just had the worst dream." "I dreamed we lived in a sub division and all the houses looked the same and I was a soccer mom driving a Volvo wearing a tennis skirt".
Please don't take offense...because I have learned to love my Volvo. AND Soccer mom is now a proud title I wear on a badge (haha, don't fret, I haven't gone that mad yet).
So...where is this girl that didn't mind a cluttered closet and toothpaste in the sink? Where is the girl who didn't care which way the toilet paper was placed and how much milk was left in the carton before putting it back in the fridge? Where did she go?

She must still be in there because I still prefer thrift and consignment over the mall. I prefer unique and one of a kind finds that can't be replicated. I am thrilled to sand down things and repaint and refinish. ALTHOUGH...if I had money I would totally be shopping it up at Pottery Barn (that reminds me a bit of the episode about Rachel and Phoebe and PB shopping, haha). I compost (which I am finding is much more disgusting than I anticipated), and I jar my own broths and I recycle EVERYTHING, and my favorite flowers are and always have been dandelions.

So I feel as if I have come to some cross roads in my life and I am unsure how to join these two sides of myself. I am the bipolar housekeeper.

How can I have a weed free yard and still enjoy the beauty and comfort and whimsy of a dandelion?


How can I be the mother I want to be without teaching my kids to seek out these beauties and make wishes as they blow and watch the little star like fur flutter about?
I am desperately trying to find the balance here...the balance between organized feng shui and letting life just be?

I don't want to get lost in the chaos, but also don't want to get so caught up in the controlled details that I miss the living part of life.


...even as I still often dream of a neat and tidy life without weeds...I know that there is comfort and happiness in the madness of it all as well.

Somebody tell me to read this next time I am running like a mad woman trying to organize things (which will likely be tomorrow)...just tell me to sit down,kick my feet up and laugh with my children.










Saturday, May 14, 2011

Our family


Chaotic

Blissful

Serene

Beautiful

Entertaining

Loving

Resemblance

Friends

Silly

Really Silly

Attached

Goofy

Protective

Happy

Crazy

Playful

adoring

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!!!


I don't have a lot to say today. I am just trying to be quiet and grateful for the blessings I have been given. A wonderful heritage of loving mother's.
I am one of the few who actually got to have a personal relationship with both of my grandmothers and two of my great grandmothers. Such a rare blessing. I have so many wonderful things to say about them....but I am just going to post some of my favorite photos instead.
I wish I could have included photos of my wonderful friends and their children...and all the women in my life who teach me how to be a better mom...but for now, I wil just include the mothers in my immediate family...

For me, I spent the earlier part of my mother's day hiking a new mountain, picnicking with my kids, grilling...and just taking a break before I go outside, sun my legs while my children splash in a kiddie pool...and let my husband serve me a favorite mojito. Life is goooood!!!


My Dad's Mother "Grandmama"

"Grandmama"- with her eight children

at my wedding.
"Grandmama" died in 2008, with all of her eight children in or around her bed. She was well loved and lived a beautiful life, full of love for Jesus and everyone she encountered.



my "Nanny" (my mom's Dad's mom) with her four children


my Nanny with her brood a few years later (hint: I am the baby she is holding)

My Mother's mother "Ma-Ma"

my Mom and Ma-Ma


my Mom

on her wedding day

with me in the 70's

in the 90's

with me and my sister

with some of her grandkids





my Mother-in-law with her 4 children

with my husband with his crazy hair

my husband now

me

my kids

my sister and her girls

my sister-in-law and her son

my sister in law and her girls