Mondays

Porter headed back to school today after his Thanksgiving break and Maggie and I had the morning to hang out. My house was a disaster and I had errands to run and food to buy but instead we played. We met Aunt Jana, Finn, Lauren, Cooper and Baxter at the park and went on the swings. It was a bit cold but fun to see everyone.

Then we headed to the Caurosel and rode on that and with Jana and Finn. And then headed over to Target and Learning Palace for popcorn and playing with toys. It was such a nice morning with just my girl.

Now I gotta unpack, make dinner and start decorating my house for Christmas. The busy season has begun!

Snow

On our way home from Sunriver, where we spent Thanksgiving with my family, we stopped at Hoodoo and played in the snow. It was cold but blue sky and the kids loved it. We forgot Porter's gloves but he wore mine and still had fun!

Perpetual cycles

Life is one giant perpetual cycle full of lots of other cycles. Hurry up to wait. Steady eddy. The early bird gets the worm. Our planet is spinning while we live and breath, all the while our heads our literally spinning.

But what I get caught up in is the drive and the things we do for good reason. All make sense but then in the huge scheme of things, what does it really matter. For example: I am walking across the street and it starts raining so I decide to run to get out of the rain and allow the car waiting for me to cross sooner. But does my jogging five feet really make a difference in their day and schedule? Does it really hasten me out of the rain quicker? I ran faster through the raindrops, so I feel I am just as wet as if I walked. Why can't I just enjoy my moment and not be affected by other's haste?

Perpetual cycles. The dishes get dirty. The dishes get clean to then be dirty again. We create garbage and each week have to pull it out to the street to be disposed of. I tell my kids to eat faster, run to bed or quick, get in their carseats (we know this never will happen but we say it anyways). And yet, what is the hurry? Hurry up to wait. Life only slows down when we let it.

Planning each minute. Calculating each experience. Creating each moment. This doesn't allow for slowness. This doesn't allow for relaxed enjoyment. As I enter into the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, here on November 13th, I am feeling overwhelmed and I don't want too.

I want to be intentional. I want to savor my kids at 1 and 3 and the holidays through their eyes. I want them to enjoy the moments and feel free as a bird and as childlike as possible. I don't want them to feel the hustle bustle we as adults create.

I want to break some perpetual cycles. I want to slow down, contemplate and enjoy. Family, friends, newness, fondness, traditions and lots of laughter.

Deep breath in 1-2-3. And now exhale.

I am a Pinterest junkie

Yep, I am a by product of Pinterest. All my latest crafts, recipes and fun projects are off of Pinterest. But the thing I like is all the super simple ideas I find. Like putting Christmas lights in the dishwasher box. The kids loved it!

New recipes are super convincing if a photo is involved. Then I look at the ingredients and it looks easy-medium difficulty and I am sold.

Pinterest is my google. It is a verb to me.

Pinterest it.

Sick babies

Porter woke up at 4am saying he hurt. I felt his forehead and it was warm. Took him potty and the brought him to our bed where he slept till 7am. He had a slight chesty cough so I made the call to keep him home from school. Then after my shower, I got our baby thermometer and his temp was 100.3. Poor thing.

Maggie slept pretty good but woke up with a crusty nose.

For these reasons, I love summer time all the more. I keep reminding myself they are building immunities but it is hard to see your vibrant active kids so mellow. Porter was a champ today though and hung out with Nammie and Maggie while I worked.

Nothing phases Maggie! She marches on.

We let Porter watch a movie tonight and he fell asleep to the point of snoring. He is exhausted.

Here is hoping for a good nights sleep and all are feeling better tomorrow.

Hard parts of parenting, for me

As my kids have gotten older and the baby phases are wearing off and I realize, I have two kids, there are things I am coming to terms with in this new stage of parenting that are hard for me.

Brutally honest. My blog. No judging allowed.

I struggle with being creative and healthy and on-top of meals for my kids. It is easier to give them cereal in the morning because I know they will eat it versus making them eggs and toast which ends up on the floor. Mac n cheese is SUPER easy and a crowd pleaser. I am hoping this is a phase and their picky ways don't stay, but feeding them 3 meals and snacks is hard some days.

I struggle with taking pictures and recording cute phrases they say. In my head I aspire to these things. I think I should do this or that when in fact it just isn't me.

I always want a few more minutes of sleep whether they wake up at 6am or 8am. Whether their nap was a hour long or 3 hours long. I do know my energy levels have gotten better as they have gotten older but I still feel like a few more minutes would be good. It is so sad because as you get older, your body takes less sleep and so as your kids start to sleep in, you start waking up earlier. Oh to be a teenager again and sleep till noon!

I struggle with getting out of the house with my 2 kids. I struggled when I had 1! It just feels easier to stay home.

These are all things that don't make me a bad parent. They make me real. I find other things easier that might be challenging to someone else. But we were all created to be individuals and so no comparing but that doesn't mean I don't struggle.

I hope and pray these are phases and in a year my struggles will be different. That's the beauty of evolving as a parent. Plus, where some of my weakness lie, AJ has some major strengths that helps complete the parenting circle.

I love my kids. I love my husband and I love being a mom. Things that at age 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 that I didn't know I would ever feel.

Posterity sake.

Things I did today:

Carved a pumpkin-yep, it's after Halloween but Porter wanted too and then decided the pumpkin smelled bad so I ended up carving it myself.

Washed everyone's bedding. It was like spring cleaning!

Vacuumed the basement. There were a lot of dust bunnies!

Did 3 other loads of laundry.

Ironed the bedskirt for Porter's bed, finally.

Made muffins for breakfast and French toast for dinner. We like breakfast!

Played, colored, and hung out with my kids.

Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher today.

Gave the kids a bath!

Whew! AJ worked outside and took a bunch of junk to the dump. It was so nice to have a dry day on the weekend to get lots accomplished. Not a typical November day but I was very grateful for it!

I <3 Running

Never in a million years would I have ever guessed that post having my babies, I would have said that, but it is true.

I have been lucky enough to have a treadmill and can run after the kids go to bed. Plus, I have had lots of people motivating me along the way. AJ encouraged me to get in to shape by booking a 5 day 43 mile backpacking trip to Glacier. I lost 30 pounds and got in to shape so I could carry my 30+ pound backpack for those 5 days.

Then my sister is an avid runner always inspires me with all the races she has done.

And then another inspiring friend, Christi, convinced me to sign up for the Warrior Dash and go deep in gooey mud through a 5K course with her.

My sister in law, Jana, is always asking me to run in 5K's with her and we have done so many together!

Well, my bucket list included a marathon, but that requires SO much training I thought I might start with a half and asked my brother in law JJ if he was interested. He has lost 80+ pounds and runs on a very consistent basis and he said yes! So we signed up and ran 13.2 miles one rainy, cloudy and partially sunny Sunday morning.

Here's my lesson: don't think you can run that far without training. I was fine cardio wise but I could barely walk for about 3 days after. It was brutal.

Needless to say, a marathon is no longer on my bucket list. But more races are!

JJ wants to do another half in May it June and I suggested we do a 15K in March. Shamrock Run 15K, here we come!

Remote Controller

Yes, I am a parent who does bribes. Let's just get that out of the way.

Porter started preschool this fall. He is in a dual language immersion program three days a week. His teacher is amazing, sweet and pretty much awesome! Porter was having a little separation anxiety and was making progress but would still get upset pretty much every morning when I would drop him off. He had his blanket to help console and would then end up fine and having a great time by the end of the morning.

In my head I knew he wouldn't cry forever but it just seemed to be getting a bit more intense each day and he was even crying when I left him in his classroom at church which he hadn't done all last year!

I knew Porter had been asking for a remote control helicopter and Amazon sells a pretty fun little one for $19. So I told Porter if he was able to go 3 days of school with out crying, I would get him that helicopter. I didn't know if he would do it, but he did awesome and really took it all in stride. He really does love school and his teacher and would come home excited to go back.

So after three days plus the bonus of not crying when I dropped him off at his class at church, he was rewarded with the helicopter.

Now, let's all remember, he is three and a half. He has some major skills flying this helicopter. He is quite the pilot.

And then he took it to the next level. He could land and take off on other people's hands. And being the little crazy boy he was, went one more level. He puts the remote in one hand and flies it and the catches the helicopter in his other. Truly impressive! The kid is amazing in my opinion. And he does want to be a rescue pilot when he grows up!

Halloween 2012

Porter is in love with all things firefighter- the uniform, the truck, the siren, the station and mainly the fireman pole! So he choose the firefighting outfit.

Maggie is still too young to fully grasp it and will do whatever Porter is doing, so I pulled out Porter's first costume, garden gnome and stuck it in Maggie and she was cute.

Porter had a great night and can't believe how much candy he got. He continually asks me if I have ever seen so much candy ever?! He's cute!

So then today, after my Bible study this morning, I take the kids to pizza for lunch with a few other friends and their kids. Maggie and I go up to the counter to get our pizza and the last asks Maggie is she went out last night trick or treating? Maggie shakes her head yes and then she asks, "We're you a kitty or a princess or a fairy?" as if that is all a little girl could be.

My mommy defenses went up. I know it is an innocent question. AJ and I are trying so hard to raise our son and daughter to feel amazing in who they are, not in what they do or how they look. They are just amazing because they are Porter and Maggie.

Anyways, so my response to this very innocent but felt assuming question was, "No, she was a garden gnome." The lady didn't know how to respond. It was priceless. And then to justify it all, I said, "the cutest garden gnome ever." I didn't have to, but I felt like I had too.

It was just a good reminder to me, again, no matter what my kids do or look or say or are, I love them-no matter what. They don't have to be anything because they already are Porter and Maggie.

Anyways, here are the kids:

Help!

Okay, total vent rant blog post but I am that totally annoyed homeowner today. We have a bazillion cats in our neighborhood and the owners let them be mostly outside cats and they have taken to pooping in our yard and in our bark dust! It is grossing me out and making me very angry and hate cats-all cats, even if your cat didn't poop in my yard, I hate it.

But that isn't who I am. I love animals, we had cats growing up and I loved them. We have a dog and she poops and I still love her, I just don't let her run around and poop in other's yards.

So what do I do? Porter loves cars and he hears my disdain toward them and I don't want him to hate cats but he just might because it frustrates me so much. Today, I full on stepped in the poop. YUCK!!!!!

I am trying to have love and patience with all my neighbors and the plethora of cars around, but why are they pooping in my yard! Go away.

Ok. I really don't like outdoor cats. End rant.