Remember Today 2.18.11

{remember} that some days are just better off forgotten.  And let's just leave it at that.

It was a Chocolate Martini kind of day!

Let me start by saying, I am not a big drinker.  I'll have a drink when we're out socially, and I might have a glass of wine with dinner once every three months.  But today I just had one of those non-stop, Mommy Marathon, don't-sit-down-once (unless you count the time driving the car shuttling the kids from one place to the next sitting) kind of days.  And at nearly the end of it all, I just really wanted a glass of cold riesling.  Here's why:

Wake to more snow and stress that the bus will be late again and Maddox will miss his 4th swim class in a row of a 7-week session.  Get up, shower, realize that Camden is "too sick" to go to school, shuffle Logan out the door to a bus that is only 7 minutes late (praise the Lord), grab a cup of coffee and rush off with two kids to swim class.  Clean up spilled cocoa at the Y, "I just don't know how that spilled, Mom", towel dry a blue 5 year old and head to the grocery store.  Shop with two boys who whine and complain that I don't let them get anything good to eat three quarters of the way through the store.  By the frozen foods, I relish in the idea that I can actually hear the grocery cart wheel squeaking because they are finally quiet.  Check out, load the car, and Camden announces that he forgot his book and timer bookmark at the Y. Back to the Y with a trunk full of groceries. He retrieves the book and timer, we head home to unpack groceries to find that there's a foot of icy snow lying at the bottom of the driveway (darn plows!).  Yell at boys to not step in the 4-inch deep puddle because "those are the only boots you have to wear all day!"  Unpack the groceries, grab shovel, go into near cardiac arrest shoveling 500+ pounds of icy snow mix.  Head inside, make lunch, scoff down lunch, brush Maddox's teeth, run out the door yelling at Camden that we are going to be late and to hurry his butt.  Drop Maddox at school, pay his tuition 8 days late, return his Cheerio project one day late, and supply his tissue box Valentine mailbox one day early (score one point for team Mom!).  Run to BJ's for milk and vitamins, walk out with half a dozen other miscellaneous items.  Race home, unload {again}, drive to school to pick up Logan for an early dismissal.  Head to the orthodontist for, not one, but two children who will eventually need braces and who-knows-what-else orthodontic work.  Sit through both appointments in a slight panic that I won't get out in time to pick up Maddox at school.  Call Mom to be on back-up alert for the pick-up.  Scoot out of the office only after doing the through-gritted-teeth hiss-of-a-yell at the boys as they dawdle through the prize box for just the right treasure to take home and clutter up the house.  Run through the puddle-infested parking lot trying not to break an ankle or land face down in a puddle and rush the kids into the car.  Check the time: 3:08  Hmmm, I think I can travel halfway across this town and halfway through the next to pick up Maddox in 12 minutes.  Call Mom, "Stand down, back up plan; I've got this mission."  Ten minutes later, and five miles and two minutes to go, "Ummm, Mom, could you just run over to grab him, I'm not so sure I'm going to make it in time."  Head to the school anyway and pass Mom who was about to get into the wrong parent pick-up line that probably would not reach Maddox until tomorrow.  Yell a thanks to Mom, buzz off up the street, inadvertently cut the entire pre-k line, apologize profusely, and pop Maddox into the car.  Get into the turning lane to stop at Mom's to thank her and realize Logan left his homework at the Orthodontist.  Run into Mom's where Camden promptly takes his boots off and then cries when I tell him we are not staying.  Discuss, tell, fight, yell (with Camden, not Mom), head all three kids back to the car, and trek back to the next town to retrieve homework.  Nearly run over Logan's foot in the parking lot, learn that sometimes momma duck just needs to toss her baby into the pond and say, "swim, baby, swim", and drive around pot-holed puddley parking lot while waiting for baby duck to get his homework.  Once homework is back safe and sound, get the brilliant idea to stop at children's clothing store to hunt out bargains on snow pants.  Trek three boys into the store against their will, spend 8 and a half minutes searching the racks for a good deal, and head back to the car empty handed.  Drive home through afternoon rush hour traffic hoping that there is a bottle of wine in the cupboard.

We're out of wine, so I settled on a chocolate martini instead.

Remember Today 1.10.11

{remember} how fantastic the boys were getting ready for school this morning, and how much easier it is to pack them up on Papa Gino lunch day.

Remember Today 1.8.11

{remember} having 6 boys in the house is really not much different from having 3.  I love having the boys' friends over our house.

Warning: Hormone-Induced Post Ahead

I've been feeling down lately.
Not at all myself.
Overwhelmed, frustrated, impatient, sad, angry, disconnected, and stretched really thin.

But tonight I had dinner at my mom & dad's, shared in my dad's excitement at the boat he's building, ate a delicious meal made by Mom with love (and I didn't even clean up after. I always clean up after.), saw my little nephew who is just too cute for words.
I sat and did nothing.
It felt good.
Really good.

Then I came home, got the boys showered and tucked into bed and sat in front of my computer for a little me time before tackling this clutterd house. I read someone's scrapbook journaling about surviving terminal cancer and "saying yes to life." I read this blog entry from a mom who was having a bad day and "prayed for kindness today. For the words that come out of my mouth to be soft spoken. For the motive behind my actions to be love. Clearly love."
And I can't help but think that these are all signs.
Little signals from some greater source that come at just the moment you need them.
Like a hand reaching down to pull you back up again.
The whisper in your ear that everything will be ok.

We all have bad days. Nobody's life is creamsicles and cookie dough all the time. And these sprinklings of rough times remind me of the good in my life. Lets me see the positive with more appreciative eyes. And allows me to be more compassionate and gentler with others (and myself).

Here's to the creamsicle-filled days ahead!

Remember Today 6.9.09

{remember} how the sickness continues. Just when you think it's safe to send the kids back to school. . .the stomach bug strikes again. This time it's Camden.

Here's a re-cap of the past month or so:

• 5/19, 20, 21, 22: Logan home sick with stomach bug;
• 5/29: Camden falls and goes to his first ER visit for his first stitches on the night we are away from them for the very first time;
• 5/30, 31, 6/1, 2: Maddox sick with stomach bug;
• 6/1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Logan home sick with strep throat;
• 6/8, 9, 10 (and hopefully no longer): Camden home sick with stomach bug.

I think I have earned an honorary degree in pediatric nursing!

Remember Today 6.5.09

{remember} sitting at the kitchen counter, munching fruit snacks (I needed a sugar fix) with the boys sound asleep upstairs, and being so grateful that this week is finally over: a stomach bug for the youngest, stitches for the middle, and strep throat for the oldest. There's a reason I didn't take the nursing career path.

Remember Today 4.29.09

{remember} getting Maddox out of the car to take him to school and a little conversation that went something like this:

Me: Come on, buddy

Him: Come on, Yease (not sure of the spelling of this one but rhymes with grease)

Me: Yease, who's yease?

Him: He's a mouse.

Me: A mouse, and what does he do?

Him: He's a fireman and he gets all the sticks.

Me: A fireman , but he's a mouse?

Him: Yeah, and he wears a flat hat like this [pushes palm of hand into his forehead].

Me: Oh, so he gets sticks?

Him: Yeah and dandelions. He gets all the sticks and dandelions.

Me: And what does he do with all the sticks and dandelions.

Him: He throws the sticks in the woods. And he throws the dandelions into the woods, too.

Me: Aaah, interesting

This kid cracks me up. He's always making up little crazy stories like this. I need to write more of them down. . .

Where has the time gone?

{edited: pictures added}

This past week was April Vacation week for the kiddos, and it positively flew by. All of a sudden it is Monday, nearly May, I haven't posted a Remember Today in a week and a half and I have to ask myself: Where has the time gone?

Here's where some of it has gone: {pics to be inserted soon}

playing outside *finally* after what seems to have been the longest winter EVER

a trip to the zoo

working on wedding programs, table numbers, and place cards for a wedding that is quickly approaching

Camden's sixth birthday party

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball

reading this book

And I can tell you what hasn't been happening because of all of the above:

my 37 Days Project (but I haven't thrown in the towel yet)

cleaning up my house

I hope to catch up on my RT's this week, upload a bunch of photos, and generally get caught up in all areas of life. Logan commented the other day how the days are getting longer. If only they truly were getting longer--24 hours just isn't enough!

Happy Birthday, C-Man!

In many ways, the past six years have been a blur. It is hard to believe that you are six years old. It seems like just yesterday I was walking the halls of the hospital breathing through contractions, delivering you in just three pushes, and hearing the wail of your first cry fill the room. It seems like just yesterday we brought your littleness home welcomed by your big brother, who at only 22 months-old seemed like a giant. It's like only yesterday you flashed us your first smile, reached out for a toy you had dropped, and learned to walk by pushing Logan around on the firetruck. It seems like only yesterday you begged us to take the training wheels off your bike (you were still 3), solved a math problem faster than Logan (or Mommy) could, surprised us with knowing how to read.

With each year that passes, we are reminded of the conundrum of time. How it doesn't seem possible that you could only be six years old, and yet at the same time how could you have only been in our lives for six short years? How certain milestones seem like only yesterday, and yet you've changed and grown so much. You are our great joy, and we love you more than you'll ever know, always.

Remember Today 4.23.09

{remember} how easy the playroom can turn into this while the boys are home on vacation:

And then, while the boys are at sleepovers, how quickly Maddox and I can turn it back into this:

Remember Today 4.18.09

{remember} surviving TV Turn-Off Week (are we the only family on the planet to do this anymore??). I know it's suppose to be the week of April Vacation, but no mother in her right mind would leave the week home with her three boys to the chance of the weather, especially given this Spring's track record. We played it safe and did it a week early. I know, not as sacrificial, but a lot more sane! Note: In our house, TV Turn-Off Week involves the use (or rather, non-use of any and all screens: tv, DS, Wii, computer, movies) And the boys did not ask once, NOT ONCE to use screens the entire week. Ahhh, heaven on Earth.

Day ???

I had to give some real thought as to what day today is. I mean, I know it's Friday, but I had lost track of what day of 37 today was. I had to count from day 10. That's not good. Not good at all. I am trying to get back in a groove. This blip in my 37 Days just reinforces my theory that creativity is cyclical. One cannot be expected to be able to create all the time. A page a day, as simple as it sounds, is turning out to be a very big undertaking. I am not giving up, I've not lost hope that I can do this. But I am realizing that at the end of 37 Days, I may not, probably will not, most likely won't have 37 layouts done. Life just gets in the way sometimes. We have to put aside those things we really want to do, things we've made a priority in our lives so we can focus energies elsewhere, be it getting ready for and enjoying a holiday, vacuuming out the garage after a long winter, or shooting hoops in the driveway with the kids. The key to happiness is finding a balance between both. It also helps when you can combine what you want to do with what you have to do: like fiddling with a layout while dinner bakes in the oven, or sitting on the rug cutting out embellishments while the kids drive cars over your scraps!

Oh, by the way, it's Day 18. And I've done 14 layouts.

These shoes

I couldn't bear to see them sold in a yard sale

so I stole them
right out of the Rubbermaid bin
the day before the big sale.

What would they go for--
a dollar, maybe two

These tiny, navy blue Converse All Stars
barely used
with the slightest bits of sand
and a pebble stuck in the soles
and maybe a touch of stickiness from a popsicle drip.

I couldn't bear to see them go

Maybe it's seller's remorse over our babies' crib,
but I couldn't bear to see them go.

And, Jenna, if you ever want them back, you know where to find them (just promise you'll never sell them!)

Remember Today 4.6.09

{remember} this conversation with Camden:

him: Mom, does God make everything? I mean, I know he makes lots of things, but did he make everything? Like even paper?

me: Well, God made the trees that we make paper from. He makes the people that make the paper.

him: Paper comes from trees? {ponders this for a moment} But money doesn't grow on trees?

Hmm, I'm thinking I'm not going to be able to use this line on him. I can hear him already: Yeah, money's made of paper, and paper comes from trees, so money really does grow on trees.

Day Five: Feeling a change

It's funny how I started this 37 Day challenge with some hesitation and doubt. I wasn't all pumped and geared up, I didn't glorify how wonderful the whole thing would be, I wasn't 100% motivated, and certainly not 100% sure I could even do it. But now 5 days into it, I'm feeling really good. When I had Logan, I would scrapbook every waking moment he was asleep. By his first birthday I was totally caught up on his first year. Crazy, I know. Somewhere between child one and child three, my page production decreased dramatically (gee, I wonder why!) Anyway, my point is, this 37 day challenge has put me back in touch with the "getting it done" part of scrapbooking. These past few days I haven't just been thinking about the pages I want to create, I've been creating them. I'm thinking that all these years of stewing in my own creative juices is culminating in these 37 days (and beyond) of delicious production. That's my philosophical rant for Day 5. Here's my page.

Remember Today 4.4.09

{remember} yet another cheesecake fiasco. Remember this one. Well, I've managed to botch another cheescake. Our back doorknob suddenly stopped turning this afternoon with no warning what-so-ever. Shouldn't something that you use every single day give you some kind of a heads-up before it just quits working on you?! Anyway, my cheesecake, which might have been a bit overcooked as I was busy getting the boys showered, jammied, and brushed while it baked, had just gone under the broiler. C was on the phone with P telling him about said door and I busied myself trying to figure out how to open said door, rather than watching my cheesecake grow "attractive spots of brown." Something smelled a bit off. "Oh, (insert bad word muttered under breath), the cheesecake!" as I leap over two children and throw open the oven door. Forget the brown spots, this thing was blackened and in flames!! Lots of bad words trying to force their way from my lips as I put every effort into keeping it PG-13 for my kids. "Shoot, fffff, crap, damn" and lots of grumbles and groans as I scrape the singed top off and hope that the rest of it doesn't taste like an ashtray. It's only for my family, and if it tastes like we're chewing cigarettes, they'll still love me anyway.

Remember Today 3.29.09

{remember} Camden choosing me over his dad (only one of us could go because L is sick) to take him to skating lessons. I'm not sure why he did it (he offered up that "Daddy gets to brush my teeth sometimes"), but I was honored to be able to see this little guy on the ice, and that he WANTED me there (nothing against you, Daddy-O!)

Remember Today 3.24.09

{remember} Camden losing his very first tooth while eating tortellini soup at dinner tonight, and then negotiating some sort of crazy deal with Logan: if L puts the tooth under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy takes it and gives him the money, he'll give C the $$ and also one of his prized Bakugan. Not sure what the point of this deal was (Logan's attempt at being given a chance to catch the TF in the act, perhaps), but I strongly advised against it: "If the Tooth Fairy is confused about where the tooth is, or can't find it, she probably won't leave any money."

4 bits of inspiration

Here's a bit of inspiration I have gleaned through my blog travels today:

1) From Liz Kartchner: "I confess. . ."
A little list of innocent confessions, good scrapbook page journaling

• I just took down my Christmas cards
• I finally cleaned my bathrooms this weekend after 2 weeks
• I still have my Valentine decorations up
• I add extra pasta and meat to Bertolli frozen (and overpriced) prepared dinners so that there's enough to feed my family of 5 (and I don't tell Perry it's not made from scratch!)
• I put a fistfull of Jelly Belly's in my pocket and pop a little bean of sweetness in my mouth throughout the day.

2) From A Foothill Companion: "In Real Life. . ."

Take pictures of everyday things that show your "real life" and write a brief blurb about each (another great scrapbook page inspiration).

3) From Small Fry & Co.: Place Mat Purse compliments of Kayla!

A tutorial on making an adorable purse from a single placemat. I feel like I always run into great placemats at Target, Pier One, and even Christmas Tree, but never buy them because they don't match my kitchen. Now I have an excuse to buy them! Speaking of matching my kitchen, Perry is soooo lucky the new Orla Kiely line at Target doesn't go with our cream and blue color scheme. . . sooooo lucky!

4) And one I came up with while ironing my outfit yesterday for my nephew's first communion: a page of "right now" versus "back then" to illustrate how my life has changed since having kids:

Right now I iron for Easter and Christmas and maybe one day in between; back then I ironed nearly every weekday for work. Right now I clean my house one room at a time and by the time I get to all of them it's time to start over again; back then I cleaned my house every Saturday morning in one fell sweep. Right now I wake to the sound of Maddox's sweet voice saying "I'm hungry for breakfast"; back then I woke to the buzz of the alarm clock, or whenever I felt like rolling out of bed.