Lost and Found
I read a blog post recently that talked about fuel and filling. "Fuel" being all that you are passionate about and "filling" being the stuff that happens everyday that is just normal and not necessarily that exciting...or something along those lines. That's how I read it anyway! I think it was written for me as I've felt for weeks like I have nothing to write about. I've posted pictures and stuck captions underneath of them. I haven't been excited about writing or even about taking pictures and haven't quite been sure about my purpose for blogging. And then I look out the window and see all these little people laughing and playing and it makes me happy, and I realize that I love to write about things that make me happy and take pictures of things that make me happy. Sometimes they're big, important things and sometimes they're relatively insignificant--to everyone but me.
I tote my camera everywhere, but sheepishly pull it out and VERY quickly snap a picture or two of PART of what I want to capture. A friend today snapped pictures when we finished running and we laughed as she said she just explains, "I take pictures, get over it!". :) EXACTLY. I want to open pages and instantly remember the expressions on little faces, and sunbeams shining through windows, and what my kitchen looks like as we're in the middle of baking and little bike wheels and fall leaves hanging on trees, etc, etc. I want to remember how we celebrated things and things that we did to make our kids feel special and milestones that get reached every day. THESE THINGS MAKE ME HAPPY.
Thus...I've rediscovered my "fuel"...I simply had to open my eyes just where I was...at home. Get ready, I have a lot of catching up to do. :)
Jakob turned 12 over a month ago. We don't really do birthday parties, so we usually let each of the kids have a couple of friends over to spend the night or hang out. He was having a hard time picking just two and asked if a bunch of them could just come out and play football for a while. We were having a hard time finding a time, figuring out getting all the boys out to our house, etc, so we spontaneously planned for a park in Lincoln. An amazing Saturday...no Husker football, fantabulous fall weather and almost all the boys in the 7th grade could make it for a couple of hours of ...well, anything with a ball! As they all started showing up, I had this enormous flashback to meeting these boys' moms before the first day of Kindergarten, and now we're all being looked in the eyes by our boys! Look at these guys!
Check this out...totally caught in the act of...being a boy! I sat and watched these guys form their teams, make their rules and work out all the referee-less calls. I came to the park in May with the preschoolers and it was a chore for five of us, but these guys are pretty self-sufficient. Supply sports equipment and food and all of them are happy at some point at least!
The current St. Teresa's class of 2012 (8th grade), minus four by the time I took the picture.
Jakob got a gift certificate to Rocket Fizz, so we took some time on Columbus Day to check out the store. Oh my...
Like kids in a candy store...oh, wait, they ARE kids in a candy store!! I'm sure we could've stayed for an hour trying to find just the right treat. Hard decisions!!!
Another "hurry-up-and-snap-before-we-get-in-someone's-way picture. :(
Babies always catch my attention...see the little one in his mama's arms?? CUTE!! And monkeys (I know, they're not all monkeys, but in general loose terms...) are always, always amusing!
These guys totally hammed it up for us. We laughed so hard, and then...
...they did this...and we didn't know whether to laugh and keep watching and laughing or turn around and leave, covering the eyes of our students! You don't even want to know where he put his finger next!!!
Amelia intently took it all in...
Coffee...friends...enough said!
And this...
This is the longest I've ever nursed a child! I'm a little worried she's going to be 4 and climbing on my lap, tearing at my shirt for a little comfort! Savor and enjoy...for now! I love this view.
And finally, a little more of the things that just make me happy...give me those warm fuzzies...
I haven't scrapped for such a long time. It may take me a little bit to get going and pick up where I left off, but I do enjoy this precious time with friends. It's kinda like running...totally social with a perk! I didn't get squat done, but I had fun and I spent time with friends. I guess I did get all the pages I've completed in the last seven years into books finally. That's something. My scrapbooking has kind of been in blog format lately.
They love to look at pictures and give their own accounts of what happened.
Saturday is a running day. During football season, Jakob has tagged along early early so I can take him to football shortly after we're done running. I think he's totally willing to get up that early because of the coffee and muffins with mom afterward. It's the last day...I wish I would've thought about taking a picture at Scooters. We waited until we got home instead. I really relish these snippets of time that we can sneak in. I'm always kind of nervous about the next stage (age), but so far, I'm quite enjoying this age. It's as if everything we've been telling him for the last 12 years is starting to make a little bit of sense to him. (Sit back and smile) :)
And finally...Sisters. Again, enough said.
It's all good...it's all sooo good!
I tote my camera everywhere, but sheepishly pull it out and VERY quickly snap a picture or two of PART of what I want to capture. A friend today snapped pictures when we finished running and we laughed as she said she just explains, "I take pictures, get over it!". :) EXACTLY. I want to open pages and instantly remember the expressions on little faces, and sunbeams shining through windows, and what my kitchen looks like as we're in the middle of baking and little bike wheels and fall leaves hanging on trees, etc, etc. I want to remember how we celebrated things and things that we did to make our kids feel special and milestones that get reached every day. THESE THINGS MAKE ME HAPPY.
Thus...I've rediscovered my "fuel"...I simply had to open my eyes just where I was...at home. Get ready, I have a lot of catching up to do. :)
Jakob turned 12 over a month ago. We don't really do birthday parties, so we usually let each of the kids have a couple of friends over to spend the night or hang out. He was having a hard time picking just two and asked if a bunch of them could just come out and play football for a while. We were having a hard time finding a time, figuring out getting all the boys out to our house, etc, so we spontaneously planned for a park in Lincoln. An amazing Saturday...no Husker football, fantabulous fall weather and almost all the boys in the 7th grade could make it for a couple of hours of ...well, anything with a ball! As they all started showing up, I had this enormous flashback to meeting these boys' moms before the first day of Kindergarten, and now we're all being looked in the eyes by our boys! Look at these guys!
Check this out...totally caught in the act of...being a boy! I sat and watched these guys form their teams, make their rules and work out all the referee-less calls. I came to the park in May with the preschoolers and it was a chore for five of us, but these guys are pretty self-sufficient. Supply sports equipment and food and all of them are happy at some point at least!
Jakob got a gift certificate to Rocket Fizz, so we took some time on Columbus Day to check out the store. Oh my...
Like kids in a candy store...oh, wait, they ARE kids in a candy store!! I'm sure we could've stayed for an hour trying to find just the right treat. Hard decisions!!!
Another "hurry-up-and-snap-before-we-get-in-someone's-way picture. :(
F WEEK SNACKS
Fruit with dip and Fudge dipped granola bars
French toast sticks and Fizzy Koolaid
Fritters and Fruit salad
Fondue (Cheese fondue with apples Fruit and bread)
Junior High field trip to the zoo. I wasn't sure how this was going to work out because I took the three little ones with me. We weren't going to stay, but we did and I'm so glad! The boys had a blast and Amelia was thrilled everytime she saw a new animal.
Babies always catch my attention...see the little one in his mama's arms?? CUTE!! And monkeys (I know, they're not all monkeys, but in general loose terms...) are always, always amusing!
These guys totally hammed it up for us. We laughed so hard, and then...
Amelia intently took it all in...
Coffee...friends...enough said!
And this...
And finally, a little more of the things that just make me happy...give me those warm fuzzies...
I haven't scrapped for such a long time. It may take me a little bit to get going and pick up where I left off, but I do enjoy this precious time with friends. It's kinda like running...totally social with a perk! I didn't get squat done, but I had fun and I spent time with friends. I guess I did get all the pages I've completed in the last seven years into books finally. That's something. My scrapbooking has kind of been in blog format lately.
They love to look at pictures and give their own accounts of what happened.
Saturday is a running day. During football season, Jakob has tagged along early early so I can take him to football shortly after we're done running. I think he's totally willing to get up that early because of the coffee and muffins with mom afterward. It's the last day...I wish I would've thought about taking a picture at Scooters. We waited until we got home instead. I really relish these snippets of time that we can sneak in. I'm always kind of nervous about the next stage (age), but so far, I'm quite enjoying this age. It's as if everything we've been telling him for the last 12 years is starting to make a little bit of sense to him. (Sit back and smile) :)
And finally...Sisters. Again, enough said.
It's all good...it's all sooo good!
