The fight

Too much sugar? A full moon? Spring like temperatures...perhaps a combination, but all three kids were misbehaving the other night.

One child whining, we can handle. Another child talking back, we got this. But when all three pick the same time to act out with multiple misbehaviors, it isn't fun or pretty.

While one child was doing push-ups for talking back to us, another was sent upstairs to shower. 

10 minute shower rule. 

About 15 minutes later Stephen had to go up and tell the oldest it was time to get out.

When middle was finished doing his push-ups, he was sent upstairs to shower. 5 minutes later we hear running around upstairs, middle is acting silly, while oldest is still in the shower. 

I told oldest her time was up and scooted middle into the shower. 

10 minutes later we hear laughing, Stephen runs up and finds middle in the shower with oldest BACK in the shower with a towel wrapped around herself, both spitting and throwing water at one another.

5 minutes later I go to tell middle to get out, to put youngest in, and find oldest still there! 

As I tried to maintain composure, I loudly encouraged her to get to her room before she got in more trouble.

About 20 minutes later, with everyone showered and ready to read bedtime stories, Stephen has the boys on the couch and I go looking for Avery. I find this note on her door.

In her sensory processing disorderly way, she figuratively slammed her door in our faces (because actual slamming would be too loud for her), acting very pre-teenish. 

And it was so darn cute!! 

After I stopped giggling and wiped the smile off of my face, I asked her if I could talk with her. Her swollen red eyes and lip tremble made me wish I had cake in my hand. We talked about the events leading up to her getting in trouble. She apologized for not listening and I apologized for raising my voice. 

Then we snuggled and read a really dreary book (Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket...not for the faint of heart or those who are sensitive) and decided we would read happier books after just one chapter. Especially after a night like that night. 

her first piano recital

After playing "twinkle, twinkle little star" by ear at a very young age on her six key xylophone, we kind of knew oldest had an ear for music. When we lived in Baltimore, our music teaching neighbor recommended oldest take piano lessons after watching her hand positions and the ability to play songs without reading music.

So we enrolled her in lessons last year and she is enjoying it tremendously. A few weeks ago she participated in her first recital. She played two songs solo and then a third with a friend. It was really great to see her perform and hear how much she has learned in a year. One of these days I'll get the video I have of the recital on here:)

With her piano teacher Mrs. Reynolds.

Practicing her duet.

Two ninjas and a dragon

The kids enjoyed trick or treating this year. We went two full blocks more than we have ventured before.

They came home with a lot of candy and after they picked a few to eat (and mom and dad picked a few to eat!), they donated the rest to  our service men and women overseas.

Back to our regularly (altered) schedule

Oh look! It's November and there hasn't been a new post since July.
Learning to navigate the waters of working full time outside the home while trying to keep life "normal" as we have always known it, has been challenging, interesting, hair pulling and a bit exhausting. With some tweaks in expectations, throwing more independence at the kids and Stephen partnering with me on this new journey we have a new normal and it seems to be working.

I'll try to recap a few of our highlights from the past several months in future posts. Piano recitals, pumpkin picking, running races, Brownies, it's been fun and busy!

As Stephen makes his annual visit to Miami this weekend to watch the last Nascar race, we decided to take the underwater camera the oldest received for her birthday last February - out of the box (insert blush that we are just getting around to using it!) - and head over to the community center for some fun.

Happy 4th!

JMan came down for breakfast so excited to find a treasure chest and glow in the dark sword waiting for him on his 4th birthday. He has been talking about having a pirate birthday party for weeks now complete with:

a green glow in the dark sword

telescope

treasure chest

pirate ship

We thought we would have a little fun, so Stephen created a pirate map for JMan to follow to find his gifts.

He had to wait until we came home from church to follow the map. But when we came home, he disappeared! Five minutes later he came downstairs ready to begin his treasure hunt!

He loved his new pirate ship and his legos that were at the end of his hunt. He also enjoyed helping daddy put everything together.

After dinner and cake, we headed outside for the pirate ship pinata. 

It was a terrific pirate family party...ARGHHHH!! Avast, ahoy, aye, aye! Happy Birthday big guy!!

Save them all

Garden, thinning, hard to do.
Want to save every pet.
Now I want to save every historic home that looks like it is about to fall down.

Show me the money

Recently I have felt like calling the newspaper where I work and having this conversation with them.

SHOW ME THE MONEY! (click on the words to get to the link)

Another famous quote comes to mind in my circumstances - "Do what you love and the money will follow." 

In April I asked the newspaper for which I freelance if they would consider an increase in pay. For two solid years, over 110 realty sections, with little direction and no "vacations" or time away from my work, I have committed my time and resources to provide outstanding materials.

About three weeks ago I was called in for some meetings, new staff had been hired and some changes were being made to the section I edit, write and layout each week. Finally! Working as a team, more direction, more communication, building a better resource for realtors and homebuyers to utilize for their needs (because up until now I didn't think the changes were mine to make).

While the meetings have felt productive, there has been little movement following. Instead I am confused by the talking heads and the sides they are taking. One side wants this, the other wants something different. The something different side has more power but has rescheduled our most recent meeting four different times, leaving me to scramble to find a babysitter and then cancel, three times over.

My time is valuable. My kids, my family, taking care of my home and my sanity is much more important than working this job. This last week I crafted my letter of resignation and have been very close to pressing "send" many times this weekend.

And then I found this.

Isn't she beautiful? Well, I didn't find it, but I did find this story about a home built in the early 1800's. Lived in by three confederate soldiers, purchased by a couple who farmed over 200 acres of the land, bore their children in the home, with a family name integral to the history of Hillsboro, VA. Five generations of this family sat together for dinner at this home for many years.

When one son of the farmer and his wife built this new home just down the road, he asked the masons to look on the old property for stones to use to build this landscape wall. They turned up with this from the old tanning barn...to skin animals for their hides, not the tanning we know today...a cornerstone with the carving of the year the barn was built, 1815.

I love my job. My father's passion for history has enveloped me and I love to write about historical homes in this part of the country. To stumble upon this gem makes me daydream about what life was like for all of the people that passed through the doors of this home.

When the family decided to put a central heating system in the home, the installers found some of the insulation to be grain. A natural spring running down from the local mountain ran right to the house for fresh water, and then not only for this home, but three others and the local school. The wide planked wood floors were hand cut from trees on the property and with a little finishing will be stunning.

So my heart tugs to keep doing what I love, because I really do love this. But the money isn't following. I have been asked for more of my time and handed more responsibility with no sign of an increase in pay. Make no mistake, money is not everything. But I am beginning to feel of little value and that is disheartening.

The Crim Family

Missing Louie

It has been over a month since we had to say goodbye to our beloved lab Lucas. While our hearts do not ache consistently as they did that first week he was gone, we still miss him and think of him often. Over 12 years of memories with that big ball of love, I know we had a great time with him, I hope he felt the same.

I am thankful Stephen agreed to adopt Lucy last fall. While it did take her a few months to settle in, she is doing so well. And she really helped fill the void we felt losing Lucas. She didn't replace him by any means, but I think having her around for all of us to love on really helped. She really is such a great dog and so much fun to have around.

Father's Day

I heard from the one who mattered most yesterday, "I had the BEST Father's Day!" So glad we could make it such a special day for him.

We packed a lunch and enjoyed the day exploring Harper's Ferry National Park. This little gem is about 40 minutes from our home and while Stephen and I enjoyed reading all of the historical background and taking in all of the old buildings, the kids enjoyed swimming in the river.

Telling me of his days gone by tubing with friends on this same river, I could tell he really enjoyed introducing the next generation to this beautiful, peaceful place. 

He may be dying but he hasn't changed his ways.

Our twelve and a half year old black lab has lymphoma. His lymph nodes are swollen and rock hard and the tumors seem to be growing leaps and bounds every day.

We decided to forego any treatment, he is a big, old dog and his time has come. He has led a happy, albeit, gluttonous life and we are sad to watch him go, but happy he has been such a part of our lives for so many years.

He was my first baby. Well, the rottweiler we had to give away was our first, but Lucas is the first baby that we kept. We picked him out of a litter of 9, all black. We drove home with him at eight weeks and raised him day by day.

We moved with him. And moved, and moved and moved (there are still not enough 'moves' in that sentence!). He was my walking buddy, I took him

summer projects

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Insert blushing face now. 
The last month of school activities were crazy which left me little time to do much else including updating the blog. Which is unfortunate because the kids had some great achievements, funny quotes, fantastic photo opportunities. But I refuse to beat myself up about it. I do enough of that thinking about their baby albums...let me rephrase, their unfinished baby albums for my children who are now 8, 6 and 3.

We had a fantastic spring break. Which lead me to believe summer was going to be a lot of fun. Yet there was still some fear that the fighting, whining and "I'm bored" comments would begin within moments of packing away backpacks for fall retrieval.

Our first week of summer break has been very successful and I attribute its' ease to having a plan. As summer approached I sat down with a friend of mine and we planned our summer. We planned our days, which turned into weeks which made it look like summer would actually fly by faster than we would like.

So far the kids have really liked their scheduled days (Monday through Friday). On that schedule, I have picked a big craft for the kids and I to complete each week. This week included tooth pillows! Each child helped make this adorable soft place to hold their loose teeth (in the tooth's mouth!) in anticipation of the tooth fairy. The idea came from this lovely book I received as a gift for my birthday.

Yes, we have only completed week one. But I am hopeful our plan will be a continued success, especially with fun crafts like this one.

Big week for C-Note

C-Note is now a red belt, two belts away from earning his black. He did a great job breaking his boards sparring and showing his forms. He is so focused! He is really looking forward to his tournament in May.

He also lost his first tooth! Eating dinner, he asked me why there was red on his quesadilla. Excited, I jumped up and told him it was his tooth coming out. I then grabbed his very wiggly tooth and pulled it before he could say no. For two nights he waited for the tooth fairy. And for two nights, the tooth fairy was a no show. Quite the slacker. Last night he finally left the lid off of the glass gift box, which is the tooth box in our house, and she deposited $5 in return for the tooth. More than she gave for oldest's first tooth, but oldest also was visited the first night.

Oldest told C-Note that the fairy probably came the two nights before but due to the fairy's tiny nature, she couldn't lift the lid. It is hard to tell if Avery believes or not, so it is always cute to hear her take on the situation. I was just so relieved she had an explanation.

Getting off the sugar train

A few months ago a friend told me about the Clean Program. It is a 21 day cleanse created by a cardiologist, eating approved foods and supplements to rid toxins from the body.

I have wanted to do a cleanse for awhile now, but was never satisfied with the approach. Until this one. I didn't want to starve myself, I like food too much. And although this program does sell supplements to buy, you don't have to. I read Dr. Junger's book, Clean, which this program is based upon, and bought the recommended supplements at my local health food store.

The book, website and blog all have approved recipes created by a wonderful chef which is so helpful. But this is where my fear kicks in. There are numerous ingredients 1) I have never heard of, therefore 2) have no idea where to find them in my grocery store and 3) some of the ingredients I have heard of I don't necessarily like. Beets are one that come to mind.

But as much as the cleanse is physical, it will also be a mental cleaning. I don't feel healthy with my current diet (pizza for dinner last night, toasted salt bagel with cream cheese and a coke for lunch, insert eye roll here) so the point of this cleanse is to be open to new ideas, new foods, re-try foods I have tasted in the past that I may not have liked. I desperately want to change my cravings and palette, so I will face my beet hurdle and I am sure other food hurdles to come.

I imagined myself wandering around the grocery store, asking an employee to be my personal shopper hoping they would know what these elusive (to me) products were and where they would be located.

Thankfully another friend told me about Wegman's online shopping list. After I planned my weekly menu, I entered my items into the website and not only did Wegman's website show me a picture of the product, it also told me what aisle to find it in!

I spent 80 percent of my time this morning in the produce aisles. I learned that a daikon is a Japanese white radish, that there are many variations of kale and cabbages (of which I needed three, regular, red and napa), that Tahini is a sesame based paste, that chick pea miso has to be ordered online and so much more. 90 percent of my grocery bill was produce, green produce, and it felt good spending money on things that are nourishing and wholesome.

There is so much natural color in my refrigerator and fruit bowls. I am armed with all that I need for week one of Clean. I know the cravings for sugar and dairy will be strong, but I am keeping my eyes on the prize. I want to feel better and this will help me achieve that goal. Whether I find that I have food allergies when I re-introduce foods, or I curb my cravings, or I just start eating clean foods more often, it will be worth the 21 days of Clean.

Clean's motto: Address Root Causes of Poor Health Cleanse the Right Way
(I have linked to the actual manual that describes the cleanse instead of the website where the products are sold.
http://cleanprogram.com/files/clean-program-manual.pdf

no surprise

We picked up her glasses yesterday and not only does she love how well she can see with them, she looks great wearing them. It really is no surprise that one, if not all three, will need corrective lenses.



She picked a pink case that closes in the shape of a heart and she loves the little 'bling' on the sides of her frames. The optician gave her a few lessons about the general care of glasses and she is taking this new responsibility very seriously.
"Mommy, can I wear them in the bathroom?"
Me: "Well you need to see what you are doing in there, so yes."
"Mommy, do I take them off to shower?"
Me: "Yes, they will get too wet and then you won't be able to see out of them."
As she packed her glasses case in her backpack this morning she told me she would take them off for gym and recess. I told her to do what she thought was best, but that they are for her to see more clearly, so the more she wears them the better for her eyes.

Mile 20

Seasoned marathon runners warned me. But no matter how many warnings you hear, you have no idea what you will feel at mile 20, or 21, or whatever mile you happen to hit your wall.

Our trio of runners trained four months for this St. Patrick's Day race. We clocked a lot of miles, a lot of laughs, we felt good. Our longest training run hit 21 miles, we knew we would face a tough road from 21 to 26.1 on race day, but we knew we had laid a pretty solid foundation and would power through that last leg.

I'll spare you the details about my intestinal issues the day before and day of the race. What I thought were nerves was most likely a stomach virus, leaving me starting the race on empty, nothing would stay down, in, you get the picture.

With that said, I felt decent the first half. If I had crossed the finish with the rest of the half marathoners, my time would have been close to a personal best.

Close to crying, realizing I had another 13.1 to run, I hit my wall. Not at 20, not at 24...no, at 13.1. I felt awful and I could feel myself slowing down considerably. I could tell my neighbor was slowing down to stay with me and while I appreciated the gesture, I didn't want to see her ruin her race. But she knew I was in the pits and hung with me. I could feel the dehydration sinking in, I couldn't catch up with what I had lost the last 24 hours and nothing sounded good or tasted good even though I forced myself to eat and drink at every water station.

When training, the three of us passed the time by telling each other stories. We know a lot about one another now, and it is often hard to find a story we haven't told to one another. Many times we don't even care if we have heard it before, at least it keeps our mind off of the miles that lie ahead.

I begged my friend to tell me a story. She laughed but knew I needed it. She took time trying to find one that she hadn't told before and finally came up with one from her husband's time spent working for the secret service, nothing top secret of course, but a funny one to give me a good laugh.

A couple of the bands kept me moving, a women's drumline was particularly motivating. A lot of signs made me laugh..."Chuck Norris never ran a marathon" kept reading over and over in my head.

At mile 15 my friend asked what I needed. I told her I needed her butt running in front of me or else. We had slowed to a snail's pace. While I knew how badly I felt and that moving forward was my goal, no matter the pace, I had to get my friend running her own race. Finally she took off and when I couldn't see her within a couple of minutes I knew it was going to be a long day.

While most to all of our training runs have ended in 50 degree weather, race day we started at 55 degrees. By Mile 18 it had to be 70. The course had also opened to full sun. I kept drinking and eating what I could, but it was getting harder and harder to stomach anything. I pushed on, and felt pretty good until Mile 20. Then I got very dizzy, very sick and threw up right there on the side of the race. While I was OK with getting sick, I was not OK with the dizziness, I feared falling and hitting my head. I started walking and I called Stephen who tried the "mind over matter" pep talk until he heard the details of my intestinal issues. I so appreciated the "atta girl" talk, but had to cut the conversation short due to a wave of nausea. I went back and forth in my head about sitting down, walking over to a police officer to ask for help, or continuing on. No doubt in my mind, if I had been wearing white, I would have laid down right there and raised my white flag in surrender. I felt awful.

I did stop in a medic tent. Sat in the shade, stretched, drank some gatorade and talked with someone about my options. I could stop now, be taken to the finish and get an IV of fluids or try to walk for a bit and see how far I could go. I decided to walk but with the intent of finding help as soon as I felt dizzy again.

So for 6 miles I walked. With open cups of gatorade in my hands. I thought about a lot of things. Funny things, like how I managed to walk the worst part of the course, where the stores have bars on the windows and a house had yellow caution tape around it. I steered far away from the "I can't believe you are walking this after all of that training." I was already down for the count, I didn't need my self-inflicting talk to drop kick me as well. Pink's song "Perfect" played several times on my iPod which was a great inspiration:
You're so mean (Your so mean)
When you talk (When you talk) about yourself, you were wrong
Change the voices (Change the voices) in your head(In the head)
Make them like you instead
(Chorus)
Oh, pretty pretty please
Don't you ever ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect
Pretty pretty please
If you ever ever feel like you're nothing you are perfect to me

5 hours and 13 minutes later I crossed the finish line. Physically, it was difficult. Mentally, it was a beast. I couldn't believe my body had let me down after months of training. I had to walk, not just here and there, but six miles, across the finish. Even though I had already signed up for another marathon (Marine Corp in October), I was ready to hand over my bib number to someone more deserving, someone who could run.

It took quite a few days to physically recover, especially since myself and the three kids were diagnosed with strep just four days later. It took until my next race to mentally recover. April 1, Cherry Blossom 10-miler, best race of my running "career." I'm back.

Lastly, I read this quote several days ago and realized it rang true for me and that awful race day.

"There is a difference between giving up and knowing when you have had enough."
Marc and Angel Hack Life - Practical Tips for Productive Living
www.marcandangel.com

I'm back.

The Kitty Party

Thanks to a lot of helpful tips on the internet, Avery's kitty party was a blast. Two hours was just enough time for twelve kids to eat a lot of sugar, play games and have fun.

Avery chose black, silver and pink as her party colors, colors of a cat of course! She enjoyed making this centerpiece for the party table.


We played lots of great, old school party games. Pin the tail on the cat (Daddy and Avery drew this masterpiece!), guess the number of goldfish in the bowl, hot kitty (our version of hot potato) and many rounds of copy cat (our version of Simon Says). Pop rocks were great game prizes! For a craft, the kids decorated balloons to look like cats.



The kids were also given plates of candy to decorate their cupcakes to look like cats.



The game the kids liked the best was when they found deflated balloons and decided to blow them up and let them fly around the house over and over. Who needs goody bags?

Second Grade Theater

We thoroughly enjoyed Avery's second grade play "Circus, Circus" last night. The music teacher put together a great show, every child participated and it was funny, cute and entertaining.



Avery enjoyed being a part of the chorus. I didn't capture it here, but each child wore a brightly colored shirt with rolled up jeans and mismatched knee socks. Most accessories were made from the elementary school fascination: duct tape (see her pinned on flower).



She came home from school, right after performing the dress rehearsal for the kids at school, and told us she was so nervous she couldn't stop smiling!

I Love February

Our favorite daughter has a February birthday! A magical one this year, turning 8 on the 8th. She had a wonderful day celebrating.



Using an idea from the website Pinterest, we decorated the bedroom doors last night with hearts telling the kids all the things we love about them. The kids loved reading them and the day started off much better than most, interesting what a little positive encouragement can do first thing in the morning!




I received the BEST Valentine's gifts this year. Our new dishwasher was installed, I can actually see the countertops after three weeks of handwashing everything and leaving it all out to dry. Stephen also hung the last two curtains in the family room, a point of contention between the two of us for over a year now. Not to mention the sweet love note and box of chocolates he left for me at my desk this morning on his way out of town.

Finding your way

Our precious daughter, it is hard to believe eight years has passed since you

Wet bed

C-note is our best sleeper. Can take a nap and still go to bed on time even at age 6. He can sleep through anything too, vacuuming, dogs barking, phone ringing, he loves his sleep.
This is a good thing, a great thing, except when he asks me why he still wets his bed.

Recently I had j-man and C-note change bunks. Changing wet sheets on the top bunk should be an Olympic sport, I am breathless and sweaty by the time I wrestle clean sheets up there. Even wearing a nighttime diaper, he had wet the bed several nights in a row and I told him he had to sleep on the bottom until he could make it through the night dry for an extended period of time.

This morning he came downstairs and said, "mom, I just don't get how Jackson keeps his diaper dry at night and I can't."

We've tried all the tricks, no drinking past dinner (impossible for our sweatiest, thirstiest child), waking him up before we go to bed to get him to potty, he is just a deep sleeper with a bladder that doesn't speak loud enough to his brain.

I know he'll outgrow this phase and I tried to convince him of that, but I could feel his disappointment. As if we needed yet another thing around here in which the boys are competing.

Staying on top of things

Haven't kept up with my post a day, as it has been an interesting week.
What I have learned:

While I was almost counting myself out of training and running in the St. Patrick's Day marathon, listening to good advice, icing, ibuprofen, lower mileage and more rest have me back on track without an injured knee. 17.5 mile training run and no knee pain!

I can clean up a disastrous diarrhea explosion from the youngest child in 5 minutes flat so as not to miss picking up the older children from their church club.

The black lab needs some sort of Eating intervention, as I helped the youngest shower after the above mentioned incident, the lab thought it would be helpful to clean the child's dirty pants. I have never screamed so loud in my life and I gag still, just thinking about it.

The oldest is very excited about having a cat-themed birthday party with a few friends. She has started decorating by taping cat whiskers and ears all over the house. When researching for the party, looking for game ideas, I learned to type cat-themed parties and not just cat parties. Or you get websites with pictures like above.

There is so much more to the Joe Paterno story than the mass media shared, surprised?! There is no doubt that man died of a broken heart after hearing how much he did to get Sandusky fired and off of campus. My dislike for journalists and politicians grows, one in the same.

After an aggressive incident between our rescue pup and the lab, and a long talk with a behavioral specialist the rescue group set up, we understand Lucy more and how to help her. Always great to have the right tools and understanding of a situation like rescuing an older dog.

Giving up Coca Cola is hard.

One of those days

Drove 45 minutes to an interview that had to be rescheduled. Since the kids had a day off from school and were rushed out of the house to make the interview, I decided to surprise them and take them to a bouncy house that had free play. Free play was full. Came home to a dishwasher repairman informing me we are better off purchasing a new one, parts and labor to fix our current machine would be just as much. Spent the next hour washing dishes as the dishwasher decided to break the day we had company and lots of fun football food.

Just going to have days when it feels like everything that can go wrong will.

But today I also snuggled with my healthy kids, my knee wasn't in any pain, my house was warm, our bellies are full and right now the house is quiet except for a snoring pup.

Ray Finkle

Will Baltimore need the Pet Detective to solve the case of the missing Raven? Billy Cundiff may go down in history as the true life Ray Finkle.
Granted, there were multiple plays that could have won or lost the game, unfortunately the last missed field goal will be forever etched in our minds as the season ending for 2011.

The game changer

It takes time to build friendships.
Acquaintances are easy, find a hobby and you immediately have people to talk to, meet with once in awhile. But deep friendships take time and commitment and not many people make/have time for that any more nor are they willing to put themselves out there, to take chances on what may or may not come of it.

After Stephen and I married, we started attending a church in San Diego that we really liked. Thought we might find some "couple" friends there, so we attended a class for young married couples.

When asked a little bit about our backgrounds, Stephen and I, along with one other couple, were the only ones in the room that did not come from missionary families, nor did we have the Bible memorized from front to back. We felt isolated and kind of rejected, looked down upon.

The other couple felt the same way we did. We sought each other out at church (never going back to the young married group) and we started doing things together. Hockey games, seeing a movie, having dinner at one another's homes.

One night the husband knocked on our door, he was alone. They were coming over for dinner and we didn't quite understand why the wife wasn't by his side. The husband asked if I would go talk to the wife in their car, they were in the middle of a disagreement.

Wife and I sat in their car and talked for a long time. She confided in me, cried to me, that night was a game changer in our friendship. From that night forward, we knew we could count on one another, we had each other's backs. Through thick and thin, our friendship would endure.

Today I am reminded of that night that wife took a leap of faith to let her guard down and talk openly and honestly about the difficulties of marriage, to open up to an almost perfect stranger, and not in a needy way, but transparent, asking for a friendship to help her through a difficult moment and continue on that journey for years to come.

Important learning going on

I treated myself to a little pampering before Christmas. I went to get a pedicure and the nail place was having a special on gel manicures. Being that I NEVER get a manicure except when visiting my jersey-licious friends, where manicures are dirt cheap, I thought it would be great to give it a try.

My nails looked fabulous! Only after 3 weeks did my nails start to look bad, the gel began peeling, and this included two days of intense water park fun!

Well, once I peeled off the gel, I realized how much damage the gel causes. My nails are peeling, weak and so thin. I have had to cut most of my nails down so low it hurts, only because that hurts less than leaving them a little long and having them catch on things or suddenly rip off for no apparent reason. I look like I chew my nails or dip my hands in chemicals all day long.

As the skin under what is left of my thumb nail bleeds, I have learned I will never get a gel manicure again.

Oh, I was also reminded today that a night spent coughing and listening to the howling wind does not make for a happy mommy the next day.

Simoa cookies

Tonight I learned that there are people who don't love Simoa Girl Scout cookies. GASP

I don't know how it is possible to get a box and not inhale the entire thing within 10 minutes...I must be missing that gene.

The needy stage

This afternoon I counted three consecutive hours that I was not asked for something by one of the three children. And yes, they were home. Dare I say I almost found myself bored??? It was a very strange feeling. Strange enough for me to recognize.

Since 2004 I have been needed almost every minute of every day. I love having the kids so close in age, but it has made for a pretty demanding six to seven years. Just when one was learning to be more independent, another infant came along. And even as toddlers and preschoolers, there has always been a need. A drink, food, toy behind a bed, etc. While I am certainly not one to jump the minute they ask for something, I despise the pestering "did you get my drink yet?" that occurs if the task isn't accomplished within five minutes.

Today all three played together without incident for three hours. When one came down to get his own drink, I asked if they maybe wanted to sit and read some stories together. "No, we're playing," was said over the shoulder as he went back upstairs to continue the game playing.

I have longed for this moment. Some peace and quiet to call my own without jumping up every few minutes to help someone. And here it was. It was as sweet as I imagined. Perhaps this is my independence day, can you imagine my post when all three are in school for the first time next year??!!

Sauerkraut and bratwurst

If you put me on one of those game shows where two plates were placed in front of me, one containing monkey brains and the other containing brats and sauerkraut, I most definitely would choose to eat the brains. I was reminded yesterday of how much I dislike the latter, could hardly stand to have it cooking in my house.

Express my love

I learned today that someone has my American Express credit card information and tried to purchase almost $700 worth of product online.
While I do not like that my financial information has been compromised, I love that within hours of the transaction occurring I received a notification, my name has been cleared from the purchase and a new card has been issued to arrive next day.
I love when someone has my back like that.

Nursing a newborn

As I tried to keep from falling asleep numerous times today, I realized that training for a marathon is much like nursing a newborn.
I remember the advice before I had my first child, "get as much sleep as you can now."

So I knew I was in for sleep deprivation, but I had no idea how much I would eat during the period of time I nursed my children. I was hungry all of the time and I ate mass amounts of food to keep from feeling like I was starving. Not to mention it felt good to finally have room to eat, once the baby had exited!

I also remember falling asleep anywhere, the moment I sat down. A full, deep, dreamless sleep that felt wonderful and too short.

Well, here we are again. But this time it is the number of miles I put in during the week that make me ravenous and able to fall asleep instantly. The same feeling of being overcome by hunger (MUST EAT NOW!) and sleep is a bit overwhelming and kind of keeps me in a fog, and a little cranky. I can't get enough of either which makes for an interesting day.

I wish I could say all this eating and sleeping is a growth spurt!

squeaks

Charlie has a classmate and friend who also happens to be a neighbor. Charlie's friend has a little sister. Friend's mom ordered a pair of shoes for the sister that have squeaks in the soles.

I am getting old, because I NEVER like a pair of shoes that squeak! But this squeak is designed in the shoe, I guess to sound cute? To know where the child is at all times? To get a few extra laughs from the child? The mom informed me after one day in the house, the shoes are now designated outside shoes.

Anyway, I learned about these shoes today and I also learned (bonus learning today!) how much our boxer loves squeaky toys. The dog wanted to pounce on the little girl every time she moved while we were waiting for the bus drop off. I had to use two arms to restrain the dog from knocking the little girl over to find that squeaky toy she MUST have been hiding in her coat.

photo courtesy/squeakyshoestore.com

running and diving

I have learned a lot while running. So much about myself and my running partners. Running long distances gives one a lot of time to think about things and gain some perspective.

Today I learned that a great day for running is garbage day. While I do (did) not consider myself a dumpster diver, we happened upon this great Van Gogh canvas and I couldn't help myself (and yes, the thought did cross my mind to run the 1.5 miles home with the canvas in my hands, for fear the garbage men would come and take it before I made it back, but then decided better to "hide" it and return in my car).

Today I learned I can combine two passions of mine, running and decorating!

I get to

A friend of mine was telling me her discussion with a cancer survivor, how inspiring to hear this woman talk about all the things she "gets" to do everyday.
How many times do I say/whine, "I HAVE to go to the grocery store" or other such (what I think are menial) tasks that make it sound like a burden?
Today I changed my "haves" to "gets" and really saw a difference in how I perceive my daily tasks.
What do you "get" to do today?

my 'baby' wins

When I came downstairs from pulling clothes out of the dryer, J-Man had the Candyland board set up and ready to play. I thought that was pretty great. Then he proceeded to beat me at the game three times in a row. I thought that was pretty great as well. We had cool little conversations while playing, I realized he knew his colors, numbers and exactly how to play the game. I also realized he is not a baby but a very cool little man.

On a side note, I despise Candyland. It can take forever to end that game. Just when you get close to that last blue square, the gingerbread man pops up and back to the beginning you go. But after watching him have so much fun and practicing his preschool skills, I have a new found love for this game. I look forward to many more chances to lose against my favorite three year old.

God cheers for the blue and orange

Tim Tebow has been receiving a lot of press lately. Some good, but much of it making fun of the way he wears his faith on his sleeve.

I am impressed with his lack of interest in being popular, but his desire to showcase his faith whenever he gets a chance. He doesn't get caught up in the hype of being a pro football quarterback, he has tunnel vision for his end prize. Not a superbowl ring, but his place in heaven.

I truly believe God has a Broncos flag waving from his seat in heaven, but more importantly I think He feels such joy in being brought along on this journey with his faithful servant.

Today I revisited being bold in who I am. Not everyone is going to like me all of the time (or even some of the time), but I have to like who I am all of the time as well as be pleasing in the eyes of God. Trying to be truer to who I am in 2012.

two days in a row!

I really like this "what I learned today" format. I find myself thinking on a deeper level a couple times a day which is a nice change from what's for dinner? is there still a load of wash in the washer? did I shower in the last 2 days? etc.

I am guessing a lot of what I post will not always be what I learned today, but maybe more of a what I have revisited, relearned today.

What I learned today?
Everyone has a story to tell. And those stories are powerful when we take the time to sit, listen, and sooner rather than later, befriend someone who needs to tell that story.


Just finished Same Kind of Different as Me. A great story to be told. So glad I didn't put it down when it didn't feel like it was going anywhere, because it went there. A book that will make me look differently at life, at people, at circumstances. I love a good book and this is one of them.

Let's Get it Started

A fellow journalist and friend walks in very familiar footsteps as my own, writing freelance from home while taking care of her family. While keeping a blog for several years now, she has found herself "saving" her blogging for later, and as it has happened with me, means days, sometimes weeks pass before we remember to sign in and catch up.

In trying to keep creative juices flowing, she is determined to blog daily, always beginning with "what I have learned today." I love this idea and while it may not happen daily, I hope it comes close as this blog is my memory keeper, the glimpse into our daily lives.

Today I learned to keep reminding our middle child that HE is not bad, that his actions are bad. While he can be full of drama, he is also quite sensitive.

I know there are times my words sting and hurt him. While I try to apologize as soon as I realize what harm has been caused, it doesn't fully heal the hurt I have inflicted. Tonight after another battle, he kept saying how bad he was, that he is such a bad kid. Some of it dramatic, but some I think he truly believes. One of those moments when you realize, "He'll be talking about this in therapy one day." I tried to reinforce it wasn't him, but his actions, but only time will tell if those words sunk in.

I hope so, because I know his heart of gold, I know his belly laughs, I know his quick wit and sense of humor, I know his hugs and I know his ability to help his siblings or me without the blink of an eye. Not only is he not a BAD kid, he is GREAT kid.