Sunday Love

Some things we love to do on Sundays 

Legos

Soup

 Baths with all her friends

Sleeping in with my orange cat

Yoga in a tidy little space

Sister Crafts

Catching My Breath

Balance. It's a word that has been on my mind quite a lot this year. I've been looking for the perfect balance. Home, kids, school, family, friends, exercise, relaxing. Searching for the perfect mix. Then, it hit me at yoga last week, in tree pose...balancing. Falling out. Balancing again. Wobbling, then balancing again. Oh! Balancing is not a perfect stillness at all. It is a moment of peace, calm, unwavering. Followed by lots of thinking, some shaking, sometimes falling out of the pose altogether. Then you do it again. So, that's balance.

We can do that. So, here's a little winter recap to get back in the swing of things.

One snow storm (so far). Took us longer to gear up than the snowshoeing lasted, but it was funny!

Two cat friends. Sleeping on my Anatomy book. Much like I do, actually.

A warm trip to the local tree farm. By the way, we chose a perfectly nice pre-cut tree in the shed. Then we went on a little hay ride around the field, just for fun.

A little ear nibbling....

Self portrait of my pretty teenager, morning after her semi-formal.

Child's pose. Ahhh...nice.

Mommy made some new owls over winter break! These three were for a friend, but I did some babies for her too, of course. I miss my sewing machine when I'm busy at school.

Yoga with mommy. :)

Sophie! Nothing....there's a blue fish in here! Did you see it?? Can I have it?

Dance parties, naturally. We love dance parties after dinner.

Brown eyes and ice cream cones...

Some days are harder than others when you're 13 and your sister is 4, you see.

And a new haircut for mom. (Boy hates it, but I like it. And besides, it will grow.)

That's all for now. I love my little family.
:)

Play on

Still here...still good.

Trying to remember to appreciate it all in these days of transition.

Not an easy task for this Virgo, but here goes

Three

On my mind today...my three favorite people and all their wonderful-ness and all their differences and the huge spectrum of feelings I am filled with towards each of them. It amazes me the way in which my own mindset affects each situation so much.



When things get a bit crazy (as they have lately), I'm so thankful for the ability to stop and assess the situation. I ask myself, "how did I react differently the last time this happened?" "Was there, is there, a better way to handle it?" Surely there is, and I have. Under calmer circumstances, when I had a clearer mind, perhaps a smaller pile of laundry, maybe a shower within the last 72 hours...I vaguely remember handling that moment of fierce, strong, 3 year-old will a little, um, more...well, adult-like. I surely did not have a mini-tantrum in the kitchen in front of my 12 year-old over dishes and microbiology homework, did I?

The thing I am most thankful for on days, weeks, months like these is the ability to stop. Think. Analyze. Use all my past experiences and heartbreaks and mistakes and triumphs as examples, and try again! We get to try again every. single. day. What a gift. Every day we wake up and get to choose who we will be, how we will treat people, how we will treat ourselves. If we don't like who we were yesterday, we can change it.

So, back to my three.

Littlest: You are 3 years, and 10 months. Each day you become exponentially more independent than the day before. I remind myself 38756388463628 times a day not to squash that independence, even if it means walking (running) out the door 10 (18) minutes later than I hoped. I have come up with clever ways to help without the appearance of helping you. You love sequins, purple, and hello kitty. You do art each and every day, and you are SO GOOD at it! You are fabulous and your sweetness and outrageous-ness put a smile on everyone's face. You surely make me crazy several times a day, and I love every minute of you.


Middlest: You, my friend, are 12 years and 10 months. Almost a teenager, on every level. You would spend every minute possible in your room if I let you, and some days I'm tempted to let you...but then I remind myself that the best anecdote for your moodiness is usually some silly time with me and your sis. You are and always have been a whirling, twirling, silly sweet girl. "Spinning, laughing, dancing to her favorite song..." School is the hard part right now. But! Today I had a thought, and we will talk about it...we will just keep looking for what you love and when we find it, you will devour it. Getting good grades is NOT how you earn my love. Being born got you that, so I promise to make sure you know every day that your grades do not define you. Never. You make everyone smile with your kindness and silliness. You're the pied piper of little kids...they love you. And so do I.

Biggest: You are almost 21...You work harder at school than I have ever worked at anything, I think. (except being the mom...I do work so hard at that). You make me proud every single day, and you are my favorite grown up to spend time with. One day you will be a fantastic landscape architect, you already are. People love to be around you, you are sure of yourself and silly and just such a good friend. You have never given me a minute of grief (except that one time when you were 3? And I told you to go to your room? I still remember that day...) I thank you for that, and your sisters curse you for it. How can they follow in those footsteps? I just can't wait to see where you go in life, what you become. I can't wait to come sit on your couch with you and your family and have a cup of coffee and just be so thankful that I get to be your mom.

You three are such a blessing.

xoxo

Mom

Getting Back

I've been away from this space for so long. It's not that I'm worried that my 8 followers missed my posts. Having a blog and posting in it forces a person to do a lot of thinking, reflecting and babbling on about things. And, well, since the name of this blog is "Good Things" I felt like I should remain true to the name and try to just talk about...Good Things.

So, when those little good things start to get buried beneath all those little not-so-good things, sometimes it's easier just to stop thinking about all of it and just get through it. Get it done. Keep moving. Not that I recommend that.

I've been visiting here over the past few days. Just a little at a time. It became a space that I didn't want to peek at, those good times, good days that seemed so far away. I've cried so many tears just looking back and remembering all of them. Wondering where have those happy times gone, look at us...

But, really, I think that was and is the point. That happy times are always here. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder and put on your rosie rosie glasses and maybe squint a little to make them out.

So let's just get back to it then. :)

Tincture of Time

I love pictures.

I can get lost in the photos of the kiddos when they were littler. I remember the day, the smells, the way I felt just that minute the picture was snapped. Usually very different than I feel the day I look at those sweet faces and remember it wasn't that long ago, but boy how they are growing up and slipping just a little bit further out of my grasp.

But in the moment, there are power struggles, impatience and exasperation. It's the tincture of time - one my favorite doctor prescribed me the day I sat in the hospital waiting room desperately trying to nurse baby Katie and not so much enjoying the moment - that replaces all the struggling with the sweet memories and the longing to have that day back again, just for a minute. To squeeze the soft little body and kiss those gigantic cheeks.

So, I will try every day to live in those sweet moments. Even when they are maybe not going the way I wish they would. Because we can't go back, right?

Random Sweetness