painting moments.

For some reason I love taking pictures of her painting.
And I love that she loves to paint.



She always chooses the most colorful watercolors.
Today she painted me a flower, a garden, and a picture of
all five of us standing in grass and dirt. :)



I register this girl for kindergarten Friday.
Crazy.

Maybe that's why I was in tears first thing this morning
when I read this article from Ann Voskamp.
It talks about embracing and be present in the moments we've been given:
even the hard moments.
Not every part of parenthood is enjoyable,
but we'll even long for the hard moments once they're gone.

I realized that come August, I'll have fewer moments with her during the day.
I know because I feel I have precious few moments with the boys during the week.
Will she and I still have time to paint during the week?
Will I still get to take her grocery shopping with me?
I won't get to have lunch with her every day.
I miss the boys.
I'm going to miss her.

Seriously.  I'm crying again.  
Read the article with kleenex.

My sweet friend Amy sent me this card for my birthday.
It was one of the best cards I've ever been given.



In it she wrote that no matter what I'm doing,
God is watching over me and has put me in that moment for a reason.
On my hard parenting days,
I reread what she wrote and take a deep breath.
She gave me such a gift with that card.

So...I hope you know the same.
Even in those hard moments,
those "I just want to go to bed and forget about this day" moments,
God put you there for a reason.

Deep breath.
I need more kleenex.

thursday: the bad and the good.

You know those situations as a parent
when your kids do something in public
that makes you want to either sink down into the sidewalk
out of embarrassment
or wring their necks right there without a care as to who sees you do it?

Yeah. 
Today the boys had one of those situations.

The rest of the afternoon involved them losing every privilege they have,
tons of punishment chores.
{dog poop duty...weed pulling...crushing soda cans...and more},
and these.

On the bright side:
I learned that a new spa has opened in our town
that offers
ONE HOUR FOOT MASSAGES
for $24.99.
That sounds like heaven.

Next week:
I'm THERE.

the nook and the chore chart.

There is a little desk nook in our kitchen.
I frequently keep my laptop there
I pay bills there
I keep my purse there
my calendar and bulletin board are there
the chore calendar is there
the boys do homework there.

I love having the kids' artwork up on the window.
{I just took a bunch of Christmas stuff down.}

I like this picture of Riley doing his homework and listening to Gary's old ipod shuffle
with Avery's headphones.
{He was quite upset with me for taking a picture of him in pink headphones.}
Their favorite songs on the shuffle are Crocodile Rock and Ghostbusters. 
Thank you, Lego Rock Band.

This is my latest version of a chore chart.
So far...knock on wood...it's working.

Each of the kids has their own color,
and they each have a different chore six days out of the week.
Avery's chores aren't very demanding right now,
but she loves doing them and helping out.

The boys grumble some days,
but it's working.  Mostly.
I wrote 'poop' on Saturday in both Riley's and Colin's colors since they share that fun chore. :)

Riley actually said, "Mom, what are YOU doing, now that we're doing all these chores?"
Ummm...seriously?

Winter Walk.

I hope those of you reading this on the East Coast
or the midwest
or other places that are getting pounded by snow right now
don't think I'm a huge winter wimp.

But I am a huge winter wimp.

These past several days have been foggy and cold.
(Cold by my wimpy California standards, anyway.)

But this morning the sun was shining through the windows
so Avery and I bundled up and headed outside.

I would just like to say that I have never given this girl permission to
get that tall or
look that big
or just walk five steps ahead of me like she doesn't really need me.

This is not ok with me.

The park was freezing.
I was miserably cold, but it didn't bother her.

I hate how quickly she's growing up.
I can't believe that I only have a year and a half more with her home and not in school.

But I'm not going to dwell on that right now.
I'm going to enjoy these days of freezing at the park
and warming up with pb&j's and hot chocolate.

And having a girl at home that wants to help with the laundry.
{Seriously.  She does.  How great is that?!?}

The view from here.

Don't you love it when 4:30 rolls around 
and your kids are all quietly doing homework
or reading
and you have time in your afternoon
to just sit and stare at the fire burning?

You have nothing to do but to sit
and relax
and enjoy the moment.


And you sip your Diet Dr. Pepper
and think about how clean your house is
and how quiet your children are being.

Ha!
Did I have you fooled?

True, I was sitting and staring at the fire burning
but the house wasn't clean
and the kids were running amok
and I was enjoying my Diet Dr. Pepper
and doing my best not to glance to my right.

See ya.
I'm off to put some laundry away.

Bribery Works.

Did I miss the weekend?
It already happened, right?


It's hard for me to tell. 
Gary worked yesterday and is working today
(and is still there now...at 9:30.)
This schedule will continue until around April.
I may need to be committed to an institution by then.

Friday morning Avery learned the beauty of when catalog meets Sharpie.

Friday afternoon I taught an art lesson in Colin's class.
We were doing a study on Kandinsky.
The kids always blow me away with what they do.

Friday night was such fun.
It was our town's annual Christmas tree lighting,
which we go to every year,
but this year was a little different.


This year Avery was wearing a purple tutu
(underneath her warm jacket and sweats)
and performed with her dance class.

When we got there she said, 
"I just want to dance in my class."
I guess she didn't realize she'd be dancing on the street
in front of a hundred smiling parents and grandparents.


I told her if she did the dance I'd buy her a zhu zhu pet.
She danced.
:)


And then as we walked on down the street we came to The Big Guy.
The boys didn't want to sit on his lap
but realized Santa was the means to an end.
(Candycanes, of course.)

Candycanes ... cookies ... hot chocolate.
It was worth it.


Our town's tree lighting is, to me, perfect small town fun.

The streets are crowded
and filled with people we know.
There's music and carolers and drinks and Santa.

It was a great night.
And the zhu zhu pet I bought Saturday morning was worth every penny.

Scenes from the school pickup line.

When the temperature dips below 60 degrees
I become a huge wimp and rarely walk 
to pick up the boys.

I'm usually in the pickup line.

{Me and a bunch of other wimps.}

In the past I've had some interesting experiences in the pickup line.
Let's just say . . . I've witnessed some people getting p-r-e-t-t-y cranky when they have to wait.

No cranky people today, though.
Thankfully.

Just my girl and her library book in the back seat.
{and Pooh...but that goes without saying, right?}

A little afternoon pick-me-up
and a package of fudge to be delivered to a friend.

My purse . . . 
an Ed Emberley drawing book
{do your kids have any of those?  I love Ed Emberley} . . .
and Avery's coat.  Polka dots, of course.

Today's soundtrack for the pickup line...

And three cheers for a 3 year old that didn't wake up coughing ONCE last night.
I think the crud is working its way out of our life.
For now.

Retail therapy...yes, please. {and a giveaway}

It was a rough couple of days with the kids.
Rough like, "I'm going to voluntarily commit myself to a mental institution"
kind of rough.


There has been a LOT of bickering going on over here.
After I called Gary 
{who was working late} 
{again}
{I hate big deadlines}
last night at 7:45 telling him about the boys' constant fighting,
I think he recognized the near psychosis in my voice
and took pity on me.


He came home at 1:30 today.


I love him.


He took the kids to piano and drum lessons and to Subway for dinner.
I went shopping.  Alone.  Ahhhhhh.


And to further lift my mood I bought this:

Isn't retail therapy grand?
I've loved this print for awhile and think it's an excellent reminder.


And I bought this one for you:

 

{i bought them at studio mela}

Also a great reminder.

I hope I'm not tempted to keep it for myself.

{Just kidding.}  

{No I'm not.}

If you want it to be yours, 

just leave a comment.

I'll pick a winner Monday morning.

And, for the record, the kids were much better today.

{I love them, too.}

Soccer: the highs and lows.

As much as I sometimes grumble about my life being dominated 
by soccer from August to November,
I really do love watching my guys play.


Especially when they're having a good game:
making nice plays,

having fun,

 defending the goal,

 even scoring a goal.

Those are fun games.

And then there are those games that raise my blood pressure.
Give me gray hair.
Make me pace the sideline.


Riley's games.


As the boys get older,
the games get more intense
and fast-paced.
The kids are more competitive.
{And we won't even talk about the competitive parents.}


Riley's games are super fun to watch.But when he plays goalie,
I die a little.


He handles the pressure well,
but there are those times when it all comes down to the goalie.


Sometimes you make the save
{and Riley made a lot of saves yesterday}
but sometimes you let one slip through.

And when that happens...

...this happens.


And my heart can barely take it.

Because we all need a reminder sometimes...

I love the chalkboard in my kitchen.

I always have something written on it:
birthday greetings,
what's for dinner,
or something I need to remember.

I wrote this on it a couple of days ago:

it's one of my favorites.

And it can be an easy one for me to forget.
Sometimes I have a hard time being glad,
when I have a migraine
{again}
or when the kids are fighting
or when the dog has torn up the garbage bag in the kitchen.
{isn't she supposed to be out of that phase by now?}

So the reminder is good.

And I actually made Riley memorize it today
after he complained (heartily) about doing his chores
and practicing the piano.


I suggested he stay in his room until he could come out feeling glad.
It took about 10 minutes.
:)


Avery's satin pajama pants make me glad.


Drinking my coffee in this cup every morning makes me glad.
{and it's 11 forty-something at night and this looks so good to me right now.}


This polka dot shirt I got in Santa Cruz makes me glad.


And this guy blowing bubbles for his little sister makes my heart super glad.


I think I'm going to keep it up on my chalkboard for a few more days
just in case I need more reminding....

Lest I give you the wrong impression...

I was looking over my posts from the last few days.
All of them of late have been happy...pink...fun...and picnic-y.

Please don't let me give you the impression that life around here is always happy kids and a non-yelling mom.


Trying to get these two to clean their room this morning led to yelling...threatening...and eventually them losing every privilege known to man.

Then I took all three to Target and had a less-than-relaxing experience in the dressing room while I was trying on swimsuits.
Boys goofing off :: Avery enjoying hearing herself squeal in the small room :: unflattering swimsuits
{really...it was like every element of torture wrapped up in one 6'x8' room.}

Then of course there's the laundry.
There's always the laundry.


But there was a high point of the day.
The absolute best salad dressing you will ever have.


mix:
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
juice and rind of 1 small orange
salt & pepper to taste

I grill chicken (brushed with olive oil, oregano, salt, & pepper) and then cut up over the salad. Adding chopped avocado never hurts.
I think I could eat it every day.

So, back to my crummy day...
tomorrow will be better, right?
Surely we can't have two days in a row of fighting and yelling and crabbiness and losing TV.
{That may have been more of a punishment for me than them.}

At least I know the laundry will be better.
I spent almost two hours tackling that mountain today.

Only 15 more days of school.

Hooray!

Then it's all about
...slow mornings
...days at the pool
...lazy afternoons at the park
...sun tanned shoulders
...picnics in the backyard
...three kids at home all day arguing with one another 75% the time
{just thinking realistically}

But I'm ready.

I'm ready to take a break from
...packing lunches
...homework
...the carpool line at school
...waking Avery from naps to pick up the boys

We are taking an oath of f-u-n this summer.
Gary will be busy at work,
so the kids and I are going to do our best to enjoy those fleeting summer days.

Lately I've been very aware of my kids getting older,
and I know they won't want to have fun with me much longer.



Summer 2010 will be one for the scrapbook.