This is one heck of a way to kick off the gratitude blog.
As I was brushing Elaina's hair before bedtime on Tuesday, I noticed a little glisten in one of her strands of hair. A tiny "bulb" if you will, that seemed pointedly out of place. Investigating more closely, it was becoming more clear to me that I had found a dreadful nit in her hair. (Since my blogging break, I have failed to mention that we've been through this before with Elaina back in June.) Oh, the work that is involved with nits and long hair.
Tonight's thanks is that we already had the shampoo/ treatment on hand and 3 hours later (and about 10 loads of laundry), we had remedied her of what could have potentially been spread to all of her friends and family. I caught it early and at this point, I feel confident that our house and our heads are free and clear of this dastardly little bother.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
It's time. No, really.
No excuses. No more.
So much of life passes us by goes so. fast. these days. While it's (mostly) all good, I can barely seem to keep up - even on a good day. At the same time, I'm so thankful for all of the goodness and fulfillment that this crazy, hectic life has to offer and that's become my newest inspiration for breathing new life into this very stale blog.
A friend of mine posts her facebook statuses under, '#1000 thanks.' And as sure as I can make time to facebook, I AM going to make time to post my thanks. My gratitude journal as Oprah suggests. Some thing or event in our day that makes my heart sing and deserves preservation.
Let's face it, I'm not a great writer by any stretch and it seems apparent that I have a tendency to ramble, feel overwhelmed and then shut down. (thus: no blogging) But this, this will be easy. And on the heel of Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, there is just SO much that I am thankful for each and every day.
I can be mostly certain that many of my posts may be choppy. Some may seem mundane while some may seem down right boisterous. But, this is life - our life - and there's not a single day that I don't feel more blessed than I deserve.
Let the gratitude GUSH!!!!
So much of life passes us by goes so. fast. these days. While it's (mostly) all good, I can barely seem to keep up - even on a good day. At the same time, I'm so thankful for all of the goodness and fulfillment that this crazy, hectic life has to offer and that's become my newest inspiration for breathing new life into this very stale blog.
A friend of mine posts her facebook statuses under, '#1000 thanks.' And as sure as I can make time to facebook, I AM going to make time to post my thanks. My gratitude journal as Oprah suggests. Some thing or event in our day that makes my heart sing and deserves preservation.
Let's face it, I'm not a great writer by any stretch and it seems apparent that I have a tendency to ramble, feel overwhelmed and then shut down. (thus: no blogging) But this, this will be easy. And on the heel of Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, there is just SO much that I am thankful for each and every day.
I can be mostly certain that many of my posts may be choppy. Some may seem mundane while some may seem down right boisterous. But, this is life - our life - and there's not a single day that I don't feel more blessed than I deserve.
Let the gratitude GUSH!!!!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Since we can't forget April
At least my last post can better explain how we've been spending our days, but this month has been so exciting and full otherwise that I would be remiss if I didn't do just a little recap and rewind.
At the end of the month of April, I saddled my lovely husband with a full weekend filling the role of Full Time Dad. My mom and I headed to Greg and Kate's house to scour the garage sales in their neighborhood and tried our best to hit up as many great restaurants as we possibly could. Generally when we land at Greg and Kate's house, my kids are in tow and we are usually celebrating something or have a specific focus for our time there. Not this time. We relaxed, we visited and enjoyed some Chinese, Indian and Greek cuisine which made for some wonderful meals. I can only hope that this kind of getaway weekend will become an annual event for years to come!
Thanks again to my awesome brother and the best SIL ever for hosting me and for your generous hospitality! It was great to see you and get to share some time in your lives!
At the end of the month of April, I saddled my lovely husband with a full weekend filling the role of Full Time Dad. My mom and I headed to Greg and Kate's house to scour the garage sales in their neighborhood and tried our best to hit up as many great restaurants as we possibly could. Generally when we land at Greg and Kate's house, my kids are in tow and we are usually celebrating something or have a specific focus for our time there. Not this time. We relaxed, we visited and enjoyed some Chinese, Indian and Greek cuisine which made for some wonderful meals. I can only hope that this kind of getaway weekend will become an annual event for years to come!
Thanks again to my awesome brother and the best SIL ever for hosting me and for your generous hospitality! It was great to see you and get to share some time in your lives!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Home Team
By a show of hands: whose life isn't busy?
It was only a few weeks ago that I thought our days were relatively full and our free time ended up being filled with at least one of the 78 billion things that could be done around here. And then baseball season started.
Oh. My. Goodness.
When we went to our first baseball meeting with Elaina, I just about lost it when the coach said that the kids would be practicing on Monday and Wednesday and game days would be on Tuesday and Thursday. Um? 4 days in a row? BaJesus! How can we keep up with that kind of schedule?
And then the last bit of winter weather broke and spring was upon us. And it has rained! It has rained this season at least 4-5 days out of the week. And suddenly, when you plan on baseball 4 days a week and only squeak in 1-2 practices/games (per week), I found that the coach's seemingly insane approach to the schedule started to make sense.
So our lives have changed. Over baseball. And do you know what? It has been great! Elaina has emerged as quite a little athlete and has knocked some hits into the middle of the field. Lincoln has been made to endure the practice days and game days along with us and has been quite content snacking and playing with his cars and his new found friends at the ball parks. The games are limited to 90 minutes (which generally run over) and it's coach pitch (overhand) until they miss 3 times and then get to hit the ball off the tee. It's been impressive to watch these 5 -6 year olds progress with confidence and skill as the weeks go by. As for me, it's lucky that I've already known many of the baseball moms, so it's been enjoyable to hang out with them for a few hours each week cheering on each others kids and talking about Mom-Stuff. Last but not least on the roster - Eric. He's not so much of the sitting-on-the-sidelines kind of dad. These kids are little and the coach staffing is slim. At every game and practice, Eric is behind the gate helping the kids with their helmets, their batting stance and instructing them on what to do next.
Even though I haven't had time to share about my wonderful solo trip to visit my brother and SIL in Columbus and I haven't dished on our recent addition to our home scape, or Mother's Day or Lincoln's birthday - all is well with our family. We've been busy, but it's been fun and exciting, whirlwind kind of busy!
It was only a few weeks ago that I thought our days were relatively full and our free time ended up being filled with at least one of the 78 billion things that could be done around here. And then baseball season started.
Oh. My. Goodness.
When we went to our first baseball meeting with Elaina, I just about lost it when the coach said that the kids would be practicing on Monday and Wednesday and game days would be on Tuesday and Thursday. Um? 4 days in a row? BaJesus! How can we keep up with that kind of schedule?
And then the last bit of winter weather broke and spring was upon us. And it has rained! It has rained this season at least 4-5 days out of the week. And suddenly, when you plan on baseball 4 days a week and only squeak in 1-2 practices/games (per week), I found that the coach's seemingly insane approach to the schedule started to make sense.
So our lives have changed. Over baseball. And do you know what? It has been great! Elaina has emerged as quite a little athlete and has knocked some hits into the middle of the field. Lincoln has been made to endure the practice days and game days along with us and has been quite content snacking and playing with his cars and his new found friends at the ball parks. The games are limited to 90 minutes (which generally run over) and it's coach pitch (overhand) until they miss 3 times and then get to hit the ball off the tee. It's been impressive to watch these 5 -6 year olds progress with confidence and skill as the weeks go by. As for me, it's lucky that I've already known many of the baseball moms, so it's been enjoyable to hang out with them for a few hours each week cheering on each others kids and talking about Mom-Stuff. Last but not least on the roster - Eric. He's not so much of the sitting-on-the-sidelines kind of dad. These kids are little and the coach staffing is slim. At every game and practice, Eric is behind the gate helping the kids with their helmets, their batting stance and instructing them on what to do next.
Even though I haven't had time to share about my wonderful solo trip to visit my brother and SIL in Columbus and I haven't dished on our recent addition to our home scape, or Mother's Day or Lincoln's birthday - all is well with our family. We've been busy, but it's been fun and exciting, whirlwind kind of busy!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
New
Highlights of this week include:
Elaina is now eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yeah, I get that this seems kinda lame to some, but seriously - in this house - THIS is BIG news! PB&J! Yes! A new food!
Lincoln still has his cough but his temperament seems to be washing in a flood of sweetness. I've often said that his maturity and demeanor comes in tidal waves. Recently, some of the defiance has begun to diminish and I'm seeing more smiles, more happy and more hugs. Yes! A new boy!
Elaina has been playing baseball and tonight was her first game. Oh, the cuteness! 2 quick facts: Her coach is a friend of ours and their shirts are green. As he called the team in their first huddle before the game, he shouted to them, "Come over here all you little boogers!" Yes! A new evening commitment! (with boogers!)
Lincoln has become Mr. Social at the baseball fields. He has met lots of new friends to share his toys with and has been exceptional at including all the kids he meets to play together. Yes! A new director in the house!
It's been a good week!
Elaina is now eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yeah, I get that this seems kinda lame to some, but seriously - in this house - THIS is BIG news! PB&J! Yes! A new food!
Lincoln still has his cough but his temperament seems to be washing in a flood of sweetness. I've often said that his maturity and demeanor comes in tidal waves. Recently, some of the defiance has begun to diminish and I'm seeing more smiles, more happy and more hugs. Yes! A new boy!
Elaina has been playing baseball and tonight was her first game. Oh, the cuteness! 2 quick facts: Her coach is a friend of ours and their shirts are green. As he called the team in their first huddle before the game, he shouted to them, "Come over here all you little boogers!" Yes! A new evening commitment! (with boogers!)
Lincoln has become Mr. Social at the baseball fields. He has met lots of new friends to share his toys with and has been exceptional at including all the kids he meets to play together. Yes! A new director in the house!
It's been a good week!
Easter Flop
Let me take you back to last weekend. Easter weekend. The holiday we look forward to for hosting our family at our house and cramming Easter baskets full of goodies.
We seemed to be off to a good start. Though my brother's family wasn't able to come, both sets of grandparents arrived early in the afternoon to enjoy the day together. Late into the evening, everyone scattered to the bedrooms knowing that we would be racing the clock for Easter service the next morning. (that would be 8 people out of the house by 9:00 a.m.) Elaina was designated to share our bed in order to accommodate the sleeping arrangements. Little did I know to expect my Darling Girl to be such a snoring machine. Since I wasn't able to fall asleep next to her, I moved into my snuggly, little boy's bed. And, little did I know to expect an hour after I'd fallen asleep, Lincoln began to cough. A cackly, croupy, barky cough. The child continued to cough relentlessly for the next 4 hours. I'm pretty sure I tried every trick in the book to ease his cough to no avail.
Church became out of the question for both Lincoln and myself since we hadn't any sleep and I wasn't sure where we stood on him being contagious. And as if it weren't enough that my boy was suffering a relentless cough, I couldn't peel myself out of bed after only sleeping a combined total of about 4 hours. I so much regret missing the kids find their Easter baskets, my darling girl beaming in her new dress and sharing our church service with both sets of grandparents.
I'd like a do-over.
And just for the sake of complaining just a little bit more, I discovered the reason that Lincoln was like the Energizer Bunny on RedBull despite sleeping just a short time was due to the medication I had been giving him. Apparently, it turned him into a little firecracker while I was the one who made a double iced coffee and nursed my sleep-deprived, zombie-self for much of the day.
I wouldn't doubt that the next nice weather day that comes by, I may just dress both of my kids up in their Easter Sunday clothes for the sake of having a spring picture of them looking cute together. And it wouldn't even surprise me if I might happen to hide some random plastic eggs one last time before they get put up in the attic for the year. That is - if I don't get an Easter do-over; grandparents and all. Still crossing my fingers for that to happen.
We seemed to be off to a good start. Though my brother's family wasn't able to come, both sets of grandparents arrived early in the afternoon to enjoy the day together. Late into the evening, everyone scattered to the bedrooms knowing that we would be racing the clock for Easter service the next morning. (that would be 8 people out of the house by 9:00 a.m.) Elaina was designated to share our bed in order to accommodate the sleeping arrangements. Little did I know to expect my Darling Girl to be such a snoring machine. Since I wasn't able to fall asleep next to her, I moved into my snuggly, little boy's bed. And, little did I know to expect an hour after I'd fallen asleep, Lincoln began to cough. A cackly, croupy, barky cough. The child continued to cough relentlessly for the next 4 hours. I'm pretty sure I tried every trick in the book to ease his cough to no avail.
Church became out of the question for both Lincoln and myself since we hadn't any sleep and I wasn't sure where we stood on him being contagious. And as if it weren't enough that my boy was suffering a relentless cough, I couldn't peel myself out of bed after only sleeping a combined total of about 4 hours. I so much regret missing the kids find their Easter baskets, my darling girl beaming in her new dress and sharing our church service with both sets of grandparents.
I'd like a do-over.
And just for the sake of complaining just a little bit more, I discovered the reason that Lincoln was like the Energizer Bunny on RedBull despite sleeping just a short time was due to the medication I had been giving him. Apparently, it turned him into a little firecracker while I was the one who made a double iced coffee and nursed my sleep-deprived, zombie-self for much of the day.
I wouldn't doubt that the next nice weather day that comes by, I may just dress both of my kids up in their Easter Sunday clothes for the sake of having a spring picture of them looking cute together. And it wouldn't even surprise me if I might happen to hide some random plastic eggs one last time before they get put up in the attic for the year. That is - if I don't get an Easter do-over; grandparents and all. Still crossing my fingers for that to happen.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The next one follows
I signed Lincoln up for pre-kindergarten today.
School.
For my baby. Because even when he's 30, he'll still be my baby.
Lincoln is excited and would like to go on the school bus tomorrow. And as much as he is my baby, I am excited for him as well. Some days I feel as though he gets into some trouble at the babysitter's house because he is bored. When the weather doesn't allow for them to get outside, I can tell that he gets restless and tired of the monotony of staying inside day after day.
I know my son is bright, caring and capable of learning. I also know that he doesn't show it in the same way that as his sister - as we are accustom to. Lincoln's temperament is more challenging. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and reacts more defiantly and more immediately than the situation calls for. He can be demanding and oppositional and at times, he's just down right unpleasant. Like I said - he's got a different temperament, for sure.
But then there are times that he lays down his guard and he is loving and sweet and funny. When you remind him that his words need to be nicer, he immediately complies. He's very complex.
My hope for him starting school is that he will grow. I want for him to grow within himself to discover more how to get along with other kids and follow adult directions. I want to see some maturity set in and accountability. I realize this seems like I'm asking a lot - some adults don't even seem to possess these qualities. What I'm asking for is him to be exposed to these attributes for him to use as a launching pad. Although he is still only little - I know that Lincoln is capable of big things. I can't wait to see what his future holds. School can't seem to get here soon enough for the both of us.
School.
For my baby. Because even when he's 30, he'll still be my baby.
Lincoln is excited and would like to go on the school bus tomorrow. And as much as he is my baby, I am excited for him as well. Some days I feel as though he gets into some trouble at the babysitter's house because he is bored. When the weather doesn't allow for them to get outside, I can tell that he gets restless and tired of the monotony of staying inside day after day.
I know my son is bright, caring and capable of learning. I also know that he doesn't show it in the same way that as his sister - as we are accustom to. Lincoln's temperament is more challenging. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and reacts more defiantly and more immediately than the situation calls for. He can be demanding and oppositional and at times, he's just down right unpleasant. Like I said - he's got a different temperament, for sure.
But then there are times that he lays down his guard and he is loving and sweet and funny. When you remind him that his words need to be nicer, he immediately complies. He's very complex.
My hope for him starting school is that he will grow. I want for him to grow within himself to discover more how to get along with other kids and follow adult directions. I want to see some maturity set in and accountability. I realize this seems like I'm asking a lot - some adults don't even seem to possess these qualities. What I'm asking for is him to be exposed to these attributes for him to use as a launching pad. Although he is still only little - I know that Lincoln is capable of big things. I can't wait to see what his future holds. School can't seem to get here soon enough for the both of us.
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