My sister, Katie, started a blog about her reclaimed skateboards.  She and her husband Carl and 2 sweet girls live in Eagle, CO.  You can read about her story on her blog, www.acrylikstudio.com.

There are three girls and my brother in our family and it’s amazing to see how different we are creatively.  It’s all across the board; from painting, to pottery,  stand-up comedy, landscaping, guitar, writing, upholstery, karaoke…wait a I don’t know if that can be classified as creative..but he is good.  It’s crazy.  I love watching my siblings engaged in whatever creative endeavor they are doing.  Probably because I can look back and see how bits and pieces growing up are reflected in their creation.  I don’t know if I’m making sense,  like Katie with her skateboards, she has always been a painter and her husband has a skateshop and how the two pieces (painting and skateboards) are now combined.  I think it’s cool.  And I love the fact that she is using something old and making it new, that’s one of my all-time favorite themes.

Anyways, check it out, and leave a comment for her.

Our George ‘s birthday was yesterday.  It started out a little off, John and I forgot it was George’s birthday…till about 9am.  Whoops, sorry sweet George!  In our defense, we are not celebrating it with the family till this Sunday.  I guess that’s no excuse.

So the big kids and I tried to make up for it the rest of the day with a homemade birthday banner and using our emergency brownie mix  to make a special afternoon treat.  We invited the Hogans over and all enjoyed brownies and ice cream before dinner.  Grandma came over too with a balloon and sugar cookies.  So fun! Read more…

I love the mid-afternoon in my living room.  You can usually find me laying on my blue couch, facing the window, basking in the sun.  Our house faces west and between 2:30 and 3pm the sun briefly hits this spot on my sofa, I’m warm just thinking about it.  I’ll usually curl up there with a book and close my eyes for 10 minutes or so, sometimes doze off, sometimes hand over my thoughts to the inner committee in my head, sometimes pray.  Whatever I do, it is so peaceful and warm. Read more…

I don’t usually do the “R” word around this time of year, but I figured some introspection of what  I might put on one wouldn’t hurt.  So here’s my list.

1- Be in bed at 10:30pm and get up at 7am.  I’ve been staying up later and later doing nothing and being tired. Then I don’t get up till the kids do and I hate hitting the floor with my feet running. So there you go.

2- Go outside everyday.  Rain, snow, heat, figure it out.  My rambunctious boys need it.  And so does my sanity.

3- Somehow John and I save money this year – like in an account.

4- Learn to let go of my “systems”.  John told me recently that I need to relax and kinda let life happen I guess.  Try not to control things too much…I don’t even know what that means for me exactly yet.  I did listen to this sermon Matt Blazer did at church and it made me think.

5- Of course, do some sort of exercise…maybe walking with a friend a couple times a week.  We’ll see.

6- Learn the art of being fully present.  I’m having a hard time focusing on activities as well as people.  For example, if I’m doing something with JJ at the table, not to be thinking about what’s for dinner or how I can pacify him for a couple minutes while I get something else done.  Just BE with him.

7- Create something everyday.  Even if it’s something little.

8- Maybe stop drinking coffee.  Please note the maybe.

9- Intentionally connect with John everyday.  Sit down,  talk,  no distractions,  about whatever or nothing.  Why does this seem like it would be harder than giving up coffee?!?!

10- Learn to embrace my humanness. Yep -  I don’t know what this looks like for me yet either, but I know I want the freedom it entails.

Happy New Year!

I put most of Christmas away this afternoon.  I do feel a little scroogey, we usually keep it up till after New Years.  But I couldn’t take it anymore, I know I’m a bummer.  My state of mind is so  a reflection of the stuff on my counters, you know what I mean?  I don’t know if that is a normal thing or not.  John was very supportive though, especially considering he just told me how much he loved to keep it up until this weekend.  I did keep out my snowmen pillows (one of my favorite Christmas things) and hot chocolate mugs, so I have a little spirit left.

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I read this in the January Editor’s Letter from Parents magazine and loved the reminder:

“Sometimes the best things happen when you stop pursuing perfection and embrace uncertainty.”

Read it again. So true for me. What does this look like for you?

We had our first snow and only two pictures left on our memory card.  JJ and Henry went outside first thing after breakfast and I fed George looking on from the front window.  For real, one of the best things I ever bought were snow suits for the boys and the pair that was given to me.  Otherwise, I’d be a scrooge mom and procrastinate all day about letting them go play in it b/c it’s such a pain to get them ready and then undressed for a total of 10 to 20 minutes of play time.   I think we got the last snow suits for them at Once Upon a Child after snow season.

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John found this great site called, Elfster.com.  It is an free online service for “group-generated gift exchanges.”  This is great for Secret Santa exchanges or even non-secret exchanges. For example, our family draws names between our brothers and sisters and it just saves us from literally drawing names out of a bowl, hat, etc. 

It was easy to use, even for me. Although, one tip is that if you are doing an exchange that includes spouses, there is a feature that will tell the service not to allow the spouses to draw each other.  So smart – happy elfing!

I always ask people “what’s new?”. It’s my failed attempt to  get conversation going.  I guess it is rooted in the fact that I really don’t like “How are you?”.  I feel like it is such an automatic response, for me at least, and it’s usually follows “Hi…”  But the problem with “What’s new?” is that people usually don’t have a lot going on or they do have a lot going on, but it’s all day-to-day life stuff.  Nothing exciting, nothing you can pinpoint that exact second to respond to the question. At least this is my experience. I don’t like small talk. Read more…

I love Taco Soup.  I have been known to eat it for 4 days in a row – sometimes for lunch and dinner.  Plus, my kids love it. You eat it with chips – what’s not to love?  I’ll come back to Taco Soup in a minute.

So I’ve been challenging myself with our grocery budget,  I’ve been evaluating and re-evaluating what we spend on groceries. I’ve been pondering what I can tweak with my recipes to make them less expensive while trying not to sacrifice nutrition (or taste).  I have come to discover it’s a delicate balance.  I have an outrageous goal of only spending $400/month on our groceries – food only.  I’ve been able to keep it for two months now and love the challenge.

Before I go further, I don’t buy organic so that explains some of it.  But I do try and buy as fresh as possible and non-processed foods.  I do menu plan and that helps my budget and sanity a ton.  I love it when John looks at his iPhone at work and is able know that we are having spaghetti tonight. I love it more when people think he’s nuts that his iPhone told him what’s for dinner. And I especially love it when they think I’m a super wife – if they only knew how easy it was to menu plan (that’s another post).

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