The beginning of the end of the beginning

Okay, so people are complaining about not getting the story on our trip to Asia, but now that I've recovered I have to mention the most important thing...

Matt GRADUATED!!!

WooHoo!!!

Saturday we went to the awards ceremony, and then all day Monday we were at the graduation program. It was really nicely done, and not a corny program that some schools put on. Either way though, I think I would have loved it because it meant that we were done. No more school! My baby did it!




Now for the other big news... we don't have to move! Matt took a new job with Abbott as an Area Buisness Advisor. It's kind of like a director position, but at the same time is different. I can't tell you yet, since I really don't know. But either way, it's a new job! He turned in his two weeks to Kimberly-Clark last Thursday and his official "last day" is the 19th. This new job is here in the same city we currently live, and is even one exit closer! So now we just get to figure out what this means to be a family with two parents IN the house! I couln't be happier right now.

*sigh*
(and thats the relieved kind!)

There's no place like home!

I'm home again. Yea! It was an amazing two weeks, with some crazy stories (which if course I'll share with you), but for now I just want to sleep. It was 13 hours different in Japan, and 12 in China. For some reason the jet lag wasn't bad at all going, but it's brutal coming home. They say you get back an hour a day....so I've got a couple of weeks! Tomorrow I'll see if I can post a few pictures and start my journey. Right now though, the best journey I can think of is to the bed! Until tomorrow....sweat dreams!

Just about out of here!

So the time is finally here. I'm off. We're off. We're headed to Japan and China for a whole two weeks.

Ummm, we leave in 4 hours.

I guess that means we should probably try to get some sleep because who knows what these next 14 hours on a plane are going to be like.

Man I'm going to miss my kids!!

Really

So I was trying to get the kids to clean up their rooms tonight. These last few weeks have been a very giving relationship. You give me the time I need to paint, I'll give you full run of the house. It worked great. But now it's time to un-run the house.

The kids were acutally cooperating and not complaining really. A lot of playing in between picking up, which is much better than pouting or arguing! So as my kids clean their room, anything that doesn't belong in their room they put in the hall outside their door (I have no idea why, or where they go this ingenious idea). Getting them to realize they still have to pick that up and put it away is a little harder of a concept. "But it isn't mine" is the common utterance. Well tonight I even got them to pick all of that up. If that is picked up, we can finally see the bottom layer of things-they-don't-have-to-pick-up.

The garbage

I don't know why, but they don't think they have to pick that stuff up. They throw it back on the floor when they realize what it is. So tonight, Bug picked up a piece of paper to see what it was. Decided it was not needed and threw it back on the floor. This was a paper he used to play with that day, and no longer wanted. I asked him what it was. He picked it back up and said "garbage". Then get this... he threw it back on the floor. With me standing right there. Um, hello? The conversation went like this:

"Why'd you do that?"
"It was garbage"

"Who do you think is going to pick up what you just throw on the floor like that?"
"You"

The kid didn't even blink an eye. Yup. Lets just say he didn't leave that paper on the floor too much longer. Lets figure out why there's no picture with this post. Hmm, I have a feeling it wouldn't have been to pretty!

So I'm not really mad though (okay, I was a little steamed at the scene of the crime but am doing much better now), more just flabbergasted. Really? He said that? To me?

I am as HERE as I want to be.

I am trying to be more in the moment with my life. My kids aren't going to stay this age forever, but I WILL always have bills to pay no matter how little or much we make.



My kids aren't going to want to play house when they're 15, but I will ALWAYS have dishes to clean.




My kids aren't going to be so willing to tell me EVERYTHING in their life, but I will alway have a phone call I need to make.






There are too many things I'm missing out on because I'm always worried about what's on the list for the day. Or that I didn't pay a bill. I know I can't just forget all that stuff, but I shouldn't dwell on it. It's not productive. Either go and pay the bill right away, so I can spend that time with my kids, or write it down and work on it when they are asleep. Or just simply say no. I can't do this with everything, but I can do it with so much more than I do now. I always have thoughts rambling through my head. This said, those thoughts are taking me away from all those little expressions Ase makes while eating lunch. Or when the kids play with a flashlight in the dark of the bathroom. It seems I would rather be inside my head, planning on how to make things better. If I would just stop and look at what I have in front of me, I'd realize.

It can't get much better.

Move or no move. Job or no job. This is my family and I don't want to miss out on these beautiful blessings I have been given. I am finding that the GREATEST reward to being a stay at home mom is that I'm able to see all these little moments. These are my "paydays". I would be a lot richer if I didn't pass them all up with unconscious thought.

"I don't need more attention. I don't EVER want to make something into another way of saying 'here I am'. Because I am as here as I want to be."

Time to let things be, and enjoy.

Because I am here.

Yard pick-up is tomorrow!!

My neighbors are going to be so glad to have all my mess picked up tomorrow. Ase will to for that matter. she loves to sit at the curb. She'll sit there for an hour with the newspaper, a book or some snacks. It doesn't matter. And obviously my tree-age didn't deter her any. Love it! The best was watching her try to wave to all the cars as they drove by. The only think making it so they could see her was the pink top!




I just had to put up a couple pictures of our sky tonight. A little dark, but the color was incredible (in the actual sky). These obviously don't do it justice. And the weather was perfect. Still a warm 70 degrees at 8pm. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Sigh and Breath... and then smile

I have three radom tulips that bloom in my yard. They somehow survived the lack of care from previous owners. They are just about on their way out, and had to snap a picture of one of them. I don't know what it is about them, but they are amazing flowers. So bold, yet so delicate at the same time.




So it's probably a good thing I didn't have a computer the last couple of days. I was just in one of those spaces where I don't think I was to pleasant to talk to. Or be around (those poor kids). I was sick of everything, but had no way to get away from any of it. I ended up doing nothing all day and then staying up until about 2am, watching old Oprahs and for some reason that's all I needed. I was back at work.

I've since taken down some more forest in the front yard, painted two more rooms, changed some more door knobs (we're at 25 now!), changed the smoke detectors, changed out yet another light fixture and fixed two leaky faucets. It's been good. Really good. I also almost caught up on the bills and budget. That should probably be top priority at this point, but I thought that was easier to do while the kids were awake, so I'll paint now. I just finished the final coat on the bathroom, I may have to do the hall in my room, but I'm undecided. so I'm waiting for some more opinions before I make myself to do. If I can avoid it I will. I never thought I would say I was tired of painting. There really isn't much left in this house to paint. Just the stairs and railing, the crown molding in my room (I'm desperatly waiting for Matt to be around so I don't have to try and reach that again) and that should be it. We've then painted just about every square foot of this house. Wait, I've just about painted every square foot of this house.

I have a feeling if we move I'll jump right back into the painting again. That's just me!

First Spring BBQ

Mmmmm. This Friday and Saturday night Matt and I went out.

Without the kids.

Whoohoo! Matt turned in his final two projects this weekend. He is done. Well, after the Japan trip. It was wonderful. We actually spent some brief time together. We grilled outside. We had some of the best hamburgers, carmalized onions, polenta and some ice cream to top it all off.



Bug loved spending some "guy" time with his dad on the grill. It was sweet. They made the whole dinner, well except the ice cream ;)... on the grill. He was in heaven.




The girls both loved having their dad home too, but the best part for Ase was getting to be outside! It was a wonderful night. We were all tired and exhausted from the week/s, but the time together was something very much needed. Now I'm in withdrawl. Matt's gone for the entire week, and I'm back to my huge list of repairs.




Funny how one day can be so splendid and the next so lonely. That's life, and I can't complain too much. If there weren't the hard times, I wouldn't recognize the good ones. So I have to say I'm grateful for them all, but right now I'm ready for more the the good ones!

Can you Here or There? Can you find it anywhere?

So although it's way past Easter, in all my yard work I've come to realize just how many Easter Eggs may lay hidden with the possibility of never being found. Atleat by the intended recipient. There are some eggs I've found from way before we ever moved in. Candy still in there! It's actually kind of fun to think of all the years this house has seen, with all the kids and Holidays. We weren't the first to intorduce this house to all there is, we are just adding a little to it's history. So in leu of what I've been finding outside, I just had to ask.... can you find an egg anywhere in this photo. It's there, I promise!

Let the birds sing

Every night we say bed time prayers with the kids. For the last week, every night, Nutmeg has a request.




"Please let the birds sing to me while I sleep."




It seems, when she wakes in the morning the birds are chirping outside her window, and she thinks they've been doing the entire time while she's been asleep. My favorite though, is that she noticed. How many of us even take the time to notice, let alone pray to hear the birds sing?

Oh the lessons I can learn from my kids!

There's more than a beginning, middle and end

Hello! It's been some time. There has been much prep work going on here for our move to Chicago. Yard (me), painting (me), cleaning (again- me) and finishing our last week of school (him!). Whew! Hopefully I'll have some pictures of the yard up soon. We've had some horrible wind which blew a bunch of stuff on the newly mulched beds, but it still looks much better than it did! And of course after doing all this to the house it just makes me want to stay all the more. (by the way...the girls in the picture, I love these guys. I don't know what I'd do without them in my life)

Tonight I heard something which I really liked. It was said that life is no longer viewed as having three major parts to it. The beginning, the middle and the end. Now there are many short stories to make up the big production. There is no longer young, mid-life crises, and old.

There's the twenties when you start to take control of your life. There's the thirties when you really are finding out who you are. The fourties you grab the bull by the horns. The fifties are when you have the time to be who you have always wanted to be. It keeps going. The 80's aren't just something you reach. They are something you achieve. Being old isn't the end of the book. When I hit thirty, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I've moved on to another short story, which I can make even better than the last. That's how it works when you write, or do anything for that matter. The more you do it, the better you get. So each of our stories should work this way too, right? There is no order. Each production is unique to the writer. I think that's the best part.

This is ours to write, and there is no wrong other than to not write at all.

So I am going to write.

Something bright for a dull day

It's been amazing here lately. Remember back when I was loving the grey days? Well, we've had grey days ever since. In fact, last Saturday we had tornados, as you probably already have heard. 14 of them to be exact, and still counting. Yup. But I think they sucked all the sun out of this place along with the warmth. We are at a couldy 63 degrees today, which is chilly for this place right now and tomorrow has more thunder storms in tow. Last Easter we were outside taking easter pictures on the green grass next to the green plants in the warm sunny weather. I think we'll have to get more creative this year. And I told Matt I didn't want to move to Seattle for the lack of sun! I guess we really should enjoy it while it's here though, because in a couple of months we are going to be BEGGING for that cooler weather to come back! On the bright side though, look what I was still able to find. Looking at this it doesn't seem to gloomy after all does it?!

Looking out and up

I was just thinking about something. Fancy that! I think I"m okay with getting older. Really.

Probably starting around in high school, we seem to want to make ourselves different. We want to find ourselves. We want others to see what it is that we have found about us. So we wear the goofy headband (to stand out), we wear the newest trend (to show we are ahead of everyone else), we wear what's not in style (to show we don't care), we act spoiled, like a clown, reserved, we get the good grades, we get the bad grades, we skip out on class, we become teachers pet, overly involved in activies, or not involved at all.... you could metion just about everything and anything here. Why?

We long to find who it is that we are. We also want to show this off, because somehow in doing that, we think it will further define who we are. But notice how that doesn't ever seem to stand up in time? If only we knew all these "masks" were having the opposite effect. The harder we try to show who we are, the less we really are showing. However there is something that happens through the years to all of us. Atleast those of us who are willing to let it happen.

We find ourselves. Our true selves.

Somthing only time can help us to accomplish. It seems that most of us find who we really are, long after those years in which we knew. We relax. We aren't so worried about showing who we are, allowing what inside to venture out. Look at all those men and women out there you admire. How old are they? 20? Usually not. Try 30, or 40. 50 or 60. It doesn't matter. It seems the more time, the more sure of who they really are. There are always those who were able to find this in themselves after a short amount of time here in this life, but for the rest of us, time is on our side. Really. Every year draws us closer to that moment of meeting, when the surface meets the inner you. I love every year, as I let my guard down and realize more and more of who I really am.

It's amazing. And I can't wait until I watch my daughters find out who they really are, and share it with the world. This is after all a big part of what we are here for.

Bubbles and bubbles and bubbles and bubbles

Have you ever seen those bubbles that don't pop? They have some type of plastic in them, so when you blow them, they don't pop like the regular bubbles do. They form their bubble, and stay there. They will stay for days if you leave them alone. You have to actually poke one, or smash it to get them to pop. They are great. My kids absolutley love them.

Especially Ase.

She loves that she actually able to catch these ones. So being the good big brother he is, Bug asked if he could blow some bubbles for the girls. "Sure" I replied, glad to have them entertained while I did the dishes. Next thing I know, Ase is repeating "Uh-Oh" in a very concerned fashion. I walk out to see what is going on, and could do nothing more than grab the camera... then the vacuum. The entire rug in the family room was covered with bubbles. I had a hard time getting any pictures with the lighting in the room, but you can see there are more than just a few here. This is what the entire rug looked like. It was crazy. Luckily I did find out the white film they leave behind does vacuum up. Otherwise we'd all still be sitting there picking it out. Whew!

The best part about the whole thing though, is I snapped this picture of Ase. I love her big brown eyes. It's hard to capture what they really look like, and I think this might have done the trick!

One last cup?

It was just one of those days. The days where you don't do anything.

Literally.

It's now way past bed time and the only thing I've done today is feed the kids 3 meals. I won't say they were great meals. But they were meals. No showers. No baths. No getting dressed. No cleaning. No venturing outside of the house(heaven forbid someone saw me like this!). No answering the phone... unless you're one of the lucky ones. Nothing. Lets just say I can count the things done on one hand. So what made this day turn out like this. I know we are the ones that are in control of how our days go. So why did I choose this today and what does it mean? There has to be something hidden deep in me that would explain this. It would be nice to know, so I might learn how to possibly avoid these days.

I can't imagine all the things I could do if I were one of those ultra motivated people. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who have 7 kids, a job they work from home with, the time to volunteer for everything, manage to have a to-do list with only 3 items on it, showered, worked out, eaten 3 full meals, and will still have sex before they go to bed. Hair and make-up always look great, they never forget a birthday or appointment, and will call you back withing an hour of leaving them a message.

Nope. That's not me. You aren't my friend because of any of these traits. You are my friend because, well... I'm me. I do have a day or two where I pull this off, but that's all I can manage. That's okay. I don't know that I'd want that life. I just wish I knew what caused these days. Maybe I'll try to figure it out tomorrow. Or maybe not. It'll be awhile before I get that far down on my to-do list! Until then, I'll be the one who knows how to sit down to a cup of hot chocolate, the final one until next winter, and not feel guilty about it. Anyone want to join me? No guilt here, just a good relaxing time of doing nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Until the next day of nothing - enjoy.

Perfect and perfectly Grey

Today really was one of those perfect days. Not because of what was there, but maybe because of what wasn't. Many times I kept finding myself just sitting out on the front porch and just being. Not anything in particular, just being. Days like today seem to almost always bring these feeling out in me. Nostalgia. Who knows what for. Something in the past, or something in the future. Or maybe, it's just nostalgia for the exact moment your are in.




The sky was grey. Really grey. There wasn't any color to it. Even the clouds took on a hue of grey, with enough contrast so as not to blend in with the sky. Any they were traveling very quickly to wherever they were going. But it didn't seem to matter any, because there were always just as many to follow behind and fill the what would have been left as empty sky. Down on the ground there wasn't any wind at all. It was calm, as if everything were in a deep and peaceful sleep. The air was moist and cool, but not at all cold. And the ground stayed wet all day, although barely a drop of rain fell upon it. In the distance you could hear a low rumble. Distant enough to make you wonder if it was just a plane passing through, or maybe it really was thunder after all. It was all perfect!



I tried to take pictures, because I just didn't want to let this moment pass. I wanted to be able to hold on to it. But Grey with grey with grey just doesn't translate the same on film. Unfortunate really. I did come up with a couple I liked (the first one is one of my favorites), but there aren't many. Maybe if I really knew what I was doing with the camera I could have come up with something cool, but it is what it is! Either way, I love these days. And to top it all off, inbetween my wanderings on the porch outside, I cleaned. I really cleaned. Bleached most of the house down. It felt good. Half the main floor is done. Tomorrow I will conquer the rest. Too bad there's supposed to be snow. I think I might enjoy another grey day to go along with it all. Sigh. -but that's a content sigh non-the-less! Funny how much the weather really can and does affect us "weather" we like it or not....lol!

Spring in February

These are one of the reasons I love living in Georgia. I mean, really. Most of this country has no idea how good it is to move on from winter to see the flowers in February. It's been 70 degrees outside the last couple of days.

Never mind we are going to have a snow flurry tomorrow. Even those are pretty feeble here. Winter is great, for a month. You hunker down, pull out the sweaters and blankets. Start the logs in the fire, and pull out all the mugs.

But after about a month of that, or less with kids, you're done.




And it seems that around here, when you get to that point and say "I'm done" someone listens.

The sky opens up and starts to pour out the sunshine. The flowers start to creep out the the buds start growing on the trees. Now is the time you will see all of us out here doing our gardening, getting things ready. Blowing the sprinklers out just in case they ever lift the ban on outdoor watering. Doing the final trim on the dogwoods so they'll bloom just perfectly. I love it! Ahhh! Makes me want to actually get out there and do yard work.

Who knows. Maybe I'll be posting pictures of the outside of our house for once!




And of course the kids love it outside too. They can't wait to get out there and play every day. And lucky for me they are getting old enough they can do just that while I visit with friends, or do actually get my hands dirty. Spring is just so inspiring. So full of life. So hopefull.

Really, for me, it's just a breath of fresh air!

Sweet like Sugar

Well, it's day two with my sick husband. I think I might survive this, but I don't know if he will. It's been pretty rough. I know I'm not alone however. It seems all the blogs I read, all the emails I get, or all the phone calls I make, the other end is dealing with the flu or colds right now too. Makes the world seem a little smaller to know we're all dealing with the exact same thing. Literally. So I hope you all get feeling better!

Tonight for dinner I made pancakes for the kids. This isn't unusual for us. I'd say we have pancakes atelast once a week. Don't judge me please! We also make our own maple flavored syrup to go with it. Why spend the money to buy the other cheap stuff when we can just make it. Unless of course you are talking about the real stuff! That we will buy. Anyway, I found this recipe hidden in my stack of still-need-to-try-because-they-look-so-good-but-haven't-had-a-chance-yet recipes for vanilla syrup. It was from a friend of my grandparents. How I ever came to have this recipe I have no idea. But there it was. So I decided I'd give it a try. Can I just tell you, this was the BEST!! I couldn't get enough of it. Forget Maple syrup. You'll never want it again after tasting this stuff. I love it so much, I just had to share it with all of you. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think! Pretty good wouldn't you say?!

Homemade Syrup from the kitchen of Phylis Aldis

1 Cup Water
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
Bring these ingredients to a boil at med-high. Continue to boil for approx 6-8 minutes.
Add 2 Tbls butter and boil for two more minutes.
Add 2 tsp. vanilla and boil for two more minutes.
Ready to serve, so enjoy!

and Another One Bites the Dust

Matt had been gone for as long as I can remember and it starts. I was the first to get a cold. Then Bug got some flu. As soon as he was getting better Ase got the same flu Bug had. Just as soon as she started to recover, it was Nutmeg's turn. I have had two weeks of nothing but being stuck at home with sick kids. After Nutmeg started to improve I started to get sick myself. This time with the rest of the cold I fended off two weeks ago. Finally we were all starting to feel normal again today when..... Matt comes home from school early because he was so sick. He's miserably sick. And you know how guys are when they're sick. They aren't just sick. The world has stopped spinning. They are laying in bed pleading for help. No one has ever felt this horrible before. They are worse than the kids. It's his first day back in the state, and he brings this with him. And it's different then what any of us have had. If he shares this with us... so help him. He'd better get back on a plane and not come back for a very long time!

Elements in Dancing

I put on some music Saturday for the kids to dance to. They LOVE to dance to music. Nutmeg even had to go and get her "dance costume" on so she could dance. Funny how the clothing makes such a difference! I had been dancing with the girls when Bug decided he was missing out on all the fun. I was exahusted (yes, this is a sign I'm getting old) and decided I would just let Bug take it over. Little did I know he really would. Nutmeg grabbed his hands to start bopping around like we'd been doing, when he explained he was going to teach her how to "dance for real". He then placed her hand on his shoulders and his on hers. They danced around the floor like that. And every now and then he'd take her hand and twist her around, bringing her hands back to his shoulders. It was such a grown up thing for such a little kid to do. I didn't teach him this, and he didn't learn in it school (trust me I asked!) but he definitely knew how to slow dance. I grabbed the video camera for which he was very willing to perform, but naturally the battery was dead. So this was all I was able to get. Man, he's gonna get all the girls when he gets older!!