Happy 4th!

July 4 is easily one of my favorite holidays. Someone I follow on Twitter aptly tweeted: Best holiday of the year, no obligations, no presents, only beer and explosions #america

Amen to that! Jon enjoyed a day off work to power wash the fence instead of kick back with a few cold ones, but we did make our way up to the Celebration of Freedom to run into a few friends (it's always fun to see who we run into, and to enjoy the fireworks display. It was phenomenal this year.

Eve surprised us by not screaming through the fireworks show. She actually liked all the booming and bright lights. Eleanor danced while the band played. No surprise there. 

I'm thankful the Bolivar Rotary Club organizes such a great event, and I'm always proud of my dad for being involved in such things. He's a real stand-up guy! :) And, can we stop a minute and talk about how AMAZING the weather was? Wow. I vividly recall last year being hot, humid, and miserable. Maybe it is burned in my memory because I was 8 months pregnant and rocking super sexy sweat stains. :)

Good bless America and Happy 4th to y'all!

A Little R&R

I was unsure how vacationing with two children, one husband, and two parents would go. I'm sure they were all concerned about vacationing with an emotional and sleep-deprived Mari as well. Things went exceptionally well. I could not have asked for more relaxation, more fun, more quality time--more anything. It was TERRIFIC, as Eleanor would say.


Instead of gushing too much, I'll share a few shots for the memory books blog. It's worth noting we saw several instances of dangerous marine life during our stay. The stingrays were out and about on their annual mating tour. We saw dozens of them early in the morning and late in the evening. But, on the third day they vanished. I'm not sure where they went, but I wish them well. On the day the stingrays disappeared, we saw not just one, but TWO sharks. Yes, I'm positive they were sharks. The second shark cleared the water, and everyone on the beach made a big spectacle of following him down the coast. They weren't big sharks, but yikes! A few jellyfish also made an appearance, but they seem less noteworthy after the stingrays and sharks.

I'm already planning and anticipating our return to the beach next year!

Look closely. Can you spots the stingrays? 

Eleanor was too excited to hold still for mom to snap a pic.

Our little sand queen. What a trooper!

Our castle by the sea.

A little perspective

I'm a little behind in the blogging department--story of my life. Although I'm nearly two weeks late on mentioning anything at all, I didn't want to let my first Mother's Day as a mom of two go unmentioned.

This year was the first year Eleanor could really participate in Mother's Day. She signed cards for her grandmas and she was adamant that she and Jon make me breakfast in bed.  She told me she loved me a dozen times. It was all very sweet.

I get the perspective of writing this days after the devastating Oklahoma tornadoes. I got to hug my children on Mother's Day, and those Mom's did, too. But some of them won't get to next year, and that breaks my heart. After having kids, I feel like I'm part of the Moms Club. Moms have a connection with other mothers everywhere. We all say we can't imagine the pain those mothers are going through, but we can imagine it, and that's what makes it so real. So vivid. So devastating. Maybe I can't feel the entirety of their pain (because I don't want to pretend I know what they're going through), but I can imagine losing my girls. I try not to imagine it, though.

I know we all hugged our families a little closer this week after such a tragedy.

Today, I am heartbroken for the mothers without their babies, for the babies without their mothers, and for the families who lost loved ones.

Fill-You-In #13

I might as well start calling these posts "Insta-XX". I stopped hauling around the real camera, and have been snapping my entire life with Instagram. It's just so convenient and filters make everything prettier.

Wehad a great week. We weathered the cold and rain at the beginning of the week with tumbling and soccer practice. The end of the week gave way to visits with grandmas (on both sides), a coffee date with a good friend for me, an early morning soccer game followed by a monster-breakfast at Smith's Restaurant, and a joint birthday party for two brothers (Calvin and Nolan). I slowed things down today to nap, play outside, work a little marketing magic, read, run, and get ice cream cones at "old McDonald's". The quiet spring rain seems like fitting way to end the day. A BIG thumbs down to the impending rain and (relative) cold. The week in pictures (from Instagram):

You might have noticed that Eleanor has been flashing us some very awkward smiles and poses. Getting her to look right at the camera is a tall order. I have no patience for it, and the awkwardness is reminiscent of her phase.

Books: I finished Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Watership Down this week.. Both books were great! Watership is easily one of my favorite books. It was sooo good. If you haven't read it, go read it. It's an adventure that just happens to be an adventure of bunnies, but it's so much more than a book about bunnies. I may never look at rabbits the same, though. Reviews coming soon. I just started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters.

No TV, no crafts. Just work.

Memorable moments: Eve stuffing her feet in her mouth melts my heart. She's still trying sooo hard to crawl.

Watching Eleanor struggle to climb a tree with her twiggy arms (pun intended) in a dress cracked me and the neighbors up. On a less heart warming note, I nearly blinded Eleanor today. She was peacefully watching TV and the mood struck to rough her up a bit (I think I get this mood from my father). I intended to throw a small toy at her to get her to howl. Throw I did. The toy landed right under her left eye. It left a little scratch and caused instantaneous bawling. Mom of the year award right here! If you see Eleanor this week, ask her what happened to her eye. I'm sure she'll make me look great ;) I am very thankful that her wound is just a scratch and not a lost eye. I nearly bawled along with her. New commandment: Mom shalt not throw toys. I've always had terrible aim. Thank God children are forgiving.

Peace be with you!
Mari

Fill-You-In #12

What a great week we've had over here. I've been busy working on a few marketing projects. They've been enjoyable, and I've enjoyed collaborating with my co-workers even if it's mostly through email. I work with an extremely talented group of ladies, and I learn so much from them. I'm thankful for the professional outlet every now and then.

This week was the start of the spring soccer season, but I failed to get any pictures. I meant to take pictures at Tuesday night practice, but Eve successfully ended her first pooping strike with one heck of a mess on the soccer fields. I meant to take pictures of the first game, but it was cold AND windy, so I watched from the car with Eve. We are the pink team and the girls chose mermaids for their mascot. Cuteness pretty much oozes on and off the soccer field when six little girls are involved. I believe there were two criers (my daughter included), three potty breaks, and one little girl who just didn't want to play. It was so windy that no one blamed her.

Jon's mom, grandma, and grandpa (but from different sides) came up Friday to see the girls and take us to "the bbq barn". We had a good time and enjoyed cross-generational bonding. I think Eleanor tried to cripple her great-grandpa Fred.

Saturday, I got to celebrate Lindsey and her sweet baby, Avery. We had a great baby shower with lots of good food, great friends, and cute presents. The cuteness just doesn't stop. At one point, Lindsey looked at me and said, "Look at all of this pink wrapping paper. We are surrounded." I told her to get used to it. It never. ever. stops. :)

I'm reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. It's great. You can expect a book review in a few weeks. I've watched no TV, have done zero crafting, minimal cleaning, and even less cooking, but that's how it goes.

Without further adieu, the week in pictures (Almost entirely from Instagram. My apologies to my followers for the redundancy):

Sisters, sister and more sisters. We took as many walks as we could. The week was sandwiched with warm weather--Hallelujah! 

 Baby Shower delightfulness (Linds, I guess you get to see a few more--mostly of me.):

 Me and the mama to be. Lovely, isn't she?

 Lindsey and Kendra. They go waaay back.

Me with the sisters-in-law, Katie and Kendra. Katie graciously offered to help me with my hosting duties, and we unintentionally kind of matched. She has good taste!

 

Kind of boring, but I was SUPER pleased with how our (mine and my mom's) Sunday school project turned out. The kids (Kindergarteners) made stained glass for the "Light is good" lesson. I don't know how many times I said, "WHO is the light of the world?" They would look at me, and one of them would say, "JESUS!" I would reply, "GOOD! JESUS is the light of the what?" That went on for a while. I always hope they can tell their parents what we talked about in class.

 Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish come Hell or high water 3 a.m. Have a great week, everyone!

Fill-You-In #11

It's been a whirlwind of a week. We've been busy every night this week with events and friends & family. Some of it has been hard work, but all of it has been fun.

The week kicked off with tumbling, a shopping trip to Springfield with my mom, and Book Bunch #2 at my house. We discussed Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James. Not pictured are the lovely Linda and Annie.

Old man winter finally took the hint and got on his way. We can only hope it was for good! The girls and I got out to enjoy the sunshine and took several walks in our new double stroller. We also got a package from my dear friend, Lisa, from Wisconsin who happens to be Eve's godmother. She sent lots of goodies, including these adorable flower headbands.

The end of the week brought a torrent of Easter preparations. Due to church board obligations, it fell to my dad (read: his wife and daughter) to prepare and host a reception for those that were baptized/confirmed at the Easter vigil. We cleaned, crafted, decorated, shopped, and prepared food. It was late and we were tired, but it went off without a hitch.

I got home in time to stuff around 450 Easter eggs with Jon for the Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, and to set out the girls' Easter baskets. This year, Eve wore Eleanor's first Easter dress, and Eleanor picked out her own dress. I will say that she chose a dress that I would not have, but it looked much better than I anticipated, and she was very proud of her fashion selection.

 

They look alike, right? Not exactly alike, but definitely like sisters. I know my mom will say Eve looks a lot like I did as a baby in that particular picture. She doesn't always, but she does there.

 I'm sure any mother of multiple children could have warned me that getting a pic of both girls would be difficult. Oh. my. goodness. This is one of about 50 pictures, 98% of which are unusable. Praise the Lord, we got one!

 

What a difference a year makes!

Thanks to my mom and dad for hiding all of the eggs! The Easter egg hunt was a success, and Eleanor dumped all of her eggs unopened back into the bin. Apparently, it wasn't about the candy. (Side story: We had a dramatic episode the night before Easter that ended with me telling Eleanor that Easter was one of those special days where she could eat ALL the candy she wanted. Unlimited candy. The freedom was fun for her, but she limited herself very well.)

 We had lunch at my parents. It was fast, because we were all beat. Eve looks like we all felt. Done.

At home we had a short rest and rallied for a great evening of bike riding, running, Easter egg coloring, coffee, working on some marketing things, and story time. We had a great day. I'm going to see if I can squeeze in a few minutes of reading Watership Down before I pass out.

Soccer starts this week and we get to celebrate Lindsey and her sweet baby at a baby shower. I hope to finish Watership Down as I'm on a TIGHT reading schedule through the end of April. I also have A LOT of work to get done. Thankfully, I spent some time today getting organized.

Thanks for sticking with me! Happy Easter! 

Fill-You-In #9

The official start of spring isn't until next week, but it seems spring activities are in full-swing at our house. The GORGEOUS and somewhat unseasonably warm weather might have something to do with it.

Last week, we battled the stomach flu, and this week Jon and Eleanor have had a cold, but it hasn't kept them down too much. Jon had a soccer coaches meeting this Tuesday (soccer starts in April!), Eve had her check up on Wednesday, and we hosted a group of friends on Thursday. Friday I prepped for a friend's birthday, and we've spent today celebrating a happy little 3-year-old's birthday. I'm brewing up a post about a few cakes I made for the party, so stay tuned! Our week in pictures and words:

 Eve. This is my favorite picture to date of her.

 

Eleanor, the artist. She spent a little time outside drawing herself and picking dandelions for me, but she calls them sunflowers. Why not?

 

We took a quick trip to Sam's Club with grandma, and Eve enjoyed her first shopping trip in the shopping cart like a big girl. Girlfriend is nosy! Eleanor picked out her Easter dress, too (pictures coming).

 

Eleanor sported a handlebar mustache at Elon's birthday party. All of the kids got a mustache and it was HILARIOUS! Some of the dads pasted 'staches on their faces and succeeded in looking extra creepy.

 

Eve and her friend, Elliot. 

Currently Reading: Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James. I'm getting a slow start, but will probably wrap up this week. I'm looking forward to book club on Tuesday.

Fitness: Weights this week.

Crafting: I bought what I thought was everything I needed to make some DIY shades for my back door, but didn't notice that the shades didn't come with hardware. I'll post about this project eventually.

Favorite blog post from the week: Week 29 - I can't wait to meet this little gal!

Movies: Nada. We have Edgar on Netflix, but haven't watched it yet.

TV: We're getting ready to watch SNL from last week. I'm EXCITED to see JT host, even if I am late to the party.

Planned posts: A post about my recent baking adventures, and MAYBE a book review. I'm behind on those.

Things to remember
Eleanor:  Eleanor screaming from the back yard "MOM, watch me swing!" I might have mentioned in another post (or on Instagram or Facebook--I lose track) that she's recently learned to swing herself. She's quite proud. On the same morning, she beamed as she walked in the back door with her "sunflowers" for me. She said, "Look, Mom, I brought beautiful sunflowers." We put 4 dandelion heads in a Pyrex bowl. She's so sweet, and dramatic. I see the stage in her future.

Eve:  Eve is exerting a lot more control over her little baby body. She flips and turns and rolls everywhere, especially in her crib. If I put her down before she's ready to pass out, she flips on to her stomach and grabs a hold of the slats of her crib and yells at me as if to say "get me out of this jail, lady, or you'll be sorry."

Fill-You-In #8

I'm kind of overwhelmed that we're a third of the way through March. I caught myself thinking about New Year resolutions the other day, and then thought "Mari, that ship has sailed," but 2013 still feels new to me. I love winter. I like how everything slows and we hunker down to weather the winter months, but friends, I'm over it. I'm ready for almost whatever spring has to offer, and I pray it's warm and sunny. I need some windows open, spring cleanin', yellow daffodils, and GREEN in my life. Bring it on, but hold the tornadoes, please.

We've been sick around here this weekend. Eleanor brought home THE STOMACH FLU. It was awful. My poor mother and Jon took it off Eleanor's hands for her and it looked bad. Really bad. I'm not sure how I survived it, but I'm glad I did. Someone had to maniacally wash laundry and sanitize all weekend long. I haven't had a lot of time to work on things around here, because of said stomach flu, but I've been pondering.

Maybe it's the change in the weather or maybe because it's I'm just plain motivated, but it's time to simplify. I go through this "phase" a few times a year. The local donation centers usually stand to benefit. Our closets, garage, attic, and cabinets are all packed full of stuff. Stuff is just noise. Noise that gets in the way of quality time, because I have to maintain it. Clean it, dust it, wash, store it. DONATE it. I'd love to make the phase a way of life, but somehow the stuff always wins. Not this time...maybe.

I haven't been as snappy as I usually am with Instagram, but quality over quantity, right? I LOVE these pictures of the girls. Be still, my heart. Check out our "snow girl" complete with princess dress.

Currently Reading: In the Time of Butterlfies by Julia Alvarez. I wrapped up Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson and Nancy Clancy (with Eleanor). Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James is up next.

Fitness: I'm working out regularly (yay!), but need to add in some more running. I'm hoping the warmer forecast and longer days get me out the door. I still have a 5K on April 27. We also reactivated our Y membership.

Crafting: Aside from wanting to make beautiful spring crafts, I want to buy some paint to paint these drab walls, and do a few easy furniture refinishing projects.

Favorite blog post from the week: Clean.-- Fleeting I've also been inspired to KNIT by a lot of blogs lately. Warm weather won't be good for that, but maybe I can get a jump on fall.

Movies: I finally watched Breaking Dawn Pt. 2. I've followed this series since the very beginning. I read the books in a week. Maybe I'm just over it? I liked the movie, but I found myself criticizing the acting and the ridiculousness of the Renesmee business. If I'm questioning the validity of vampire folklore (which I happen to love), you know it has to be bad. I'm not sure that the idea of a human/vampire offspring is so terrible, but who names a baby Renesmee? A baby that grows creepy-fast reminded me of an old Star-Trek episode where Deanna Troi has a baby that matures super fast. Maybe Meyer "borrowed" that one. I did like the twist at the end of the movie, though.

TV: Since we ditched Dish and got a Roku player, my TV time has dropped dramatically. I have, however, stayed with The Bachelor. I'm seeing a trend, but I'm 100% OVER him, too. I'm not even sure I'll watch the last episode (yes, I will). Sean really isn't very interesting, and I'm positive he won't pick the girl he SHOULD pick. I'll be shocked if they work out. They NEVER work out. They are probably already separated. :)

We just started Game of Thrones Season 2. I have much better things to say about it, and I'm inspired to start the 4th book in the series. It may be a beach read. Did you hear that--BEACH! We're going to the BEACH in May.


Things to remember
Eleanor:  I was listening to the '90s station on Spotify and Barbie Girl started playing. Eleanor LOVES the song, and watching her try to sing it cracks me up.

Eve:  Baby girl is just funny. Aside from jabbering ALL the time (which I love), I checked to make sure she was asleep last night, and found her trying to cram both of her feet into her mouth.  I'm also confident she's saying "mamamama". It doesn't matter if it's at me or not :)

Taking care of EVERYthing while Jon was sick. Props to all the single parents out there. I don't know how they do it, and I'm so thankful for a helpful partner. God bless Jonathan!

Fill-You-In Friday #4

What a week! Here's a not-so-secret: I'm an introvert at heart. I draw energy by spending quiet time at home with my little pod--naps, movies, snuggles on the couch, or a stolen  hour (from Jon) to read my books. We make an effort to say "no thank you" to social outtings or innings on Sunday for this very reason. After church, it's all family, all day long. Except when it's not. :) All of this said, I'm a stay-at-home mom. I spend a lot of time at home with my kiddos. My "home batteries" are charged! I was very lucky this week to find myself in the company of a lovely girlfriend on two separate occasions. We sat, we sipped coffee, and caught up. It was great. Never, ever do I miss working full-time. I DO miss the people. I'm thankful for my friends, old and new.

We're 4 weeks into 2013. I decided not to set any resolutions. I decided that working toward lofty goals just wasn't working (lose 20 lbs, keep the house spotless, cook dinner every night, read 52 books in a year, run a half marathon, etc.). This is not to say I don't plan to be productive, but I plan to be more deliberate with my time and more fluid with my plans. Enjoy life. Be thankful. Be. Present. I've especially tried to be more present when eating and feeding my family. I don't have anything specific to share about this, other than to declare that it is so, and I will be interested to look back in a week, a month, a year and see where we are. This week, we discovered Eleanor's love of bacon (nitrate free!).

Now to the good stuff. Eleanor read her first book! Yes, it was short. Yes, it had a vocabulary of less than 5 words, but oh, she was proud, and so was I. The book was called Mat. Mat is book one in a 12-book set of beginning readers called Bob Books, published by Scholastic. You can find them here on Amazon. If you were with me last week and were interested in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, I would recommend these as a companion after about lesson 20. I discovered the BOB books from a blog I follow and recommend, Rockabye Butterfly.

Eve is a rolling machine. Gone are the days of leaving her unattended on an elevated surface while I run to grab a diaper.  We are moving closer to mobility, Lord help me.

We borrowed a juicer from grandma and grandpa. Eleanor was impressed and enjoyed fresh carrot and apple juice. She fuh-lipped out when I was slow to replace the pusher, and pulp shot all the way up the cabinet. Not-so-sadly, we won't be keeping the juicer because it takes up a lot of space and is time-consuming to clean. I have enough gadgety gadgets.

Eleanor loves to get in Eve's crib. Eve seems to like it, too.

Eleanor with her first book.

 

Other highlights from the week: A baby shower for a wonderful friend who will travel to Congo this week to pick up her beautiful son, family dinner with 5 other families (LOTS of chaos), a park date with a friend and her 2 (soon to be 3) sweet kids, and Eve sucking on her teeny, tiny fingers and thumb.

On deck: I REALLY want to post my reading list for 2013. I have it scratched out, but need to spend some time gathering links, authors, and specifics. I also have a book review for A Visit from the Goon Squad that I want to share. I'll get to it. Maybe.

Peace be with you!
Mari