Family Picnic Day

my big boys @ Family Picnic Day at Eli's school.

little E

smarty pants.

Scrapping the music challenge

thanks to jessi for getting me involved in this challenge. this is my creation for kid rock's "all summer long." obviously, i chose the lyric "it's the simple things in life." the picture was taken in jessi's back yard one lovely, dirty night with lucas, silas, and eli :)

twenty-nine years.

my soul has moved about this earth for twenty-nine years now. in those years, i have grown, and i have loved. i have felt love in return. i have played important roles...daughter, grand-daughter, sister, aunt, friend, wife, mother. i have been sheltered in the warmth of a loving family, and given solid roots from which to grow. i have lived far, far away, and come back home. i have succeeded, and i have failed. i have tried, and i have achieved. i have had hope, and had dissappointments. my heart has been broken, and put back together. i have said many hello's, and too many goodbye's. i have shared my soul. i have given, and i have taken. i have brought life into the world, and i have mourned for lives that have ended. i see beauty, in so many things, and i am hopeful for the future. i am grateful for happiness and health. i am twenty-nine.

Lola

L-O-L-A, LOLA ;)

sweetest dog on earth.

one of those faces

I guess I have one. One of those faces which indicates I must be a good listener, friendly, compassionate, empathetic. I guess those aren't bad attributes, right? I should take it as a compliment, the oversharing. Let me tell you the story. A quick Mommy/Silas trip to Hobby Lobby (much overdue and needed, I might add). Silas was VERY well behaved. Looking super-cute, using his listening ears, and not once was he confused for a girl ;) Given the information I provided you with at the onset of this blog, I usually try to make my way through the scrapbooking aisles of HL (let's just be real...I rarely venture outside those 5 or so aisles) peacefully. Silas is a chatterbox, particularly as of late. He is in love with the sound of his own voice. I can't blame him...I'm in love with it, too. So, I chat with him, as I peruse the inventory, try to keep him appeased. Today, we brought along Clyde, his Clydesdale horse webkinz. It's actually spelled Clyed, b/c his helpful big brother registered him on webkinz, and spelled it so. :) I digress. Like I was saying, Silas was really well behaved in HL today, and I knew I'd pay for it somehow. I should mention that a thunderstorm had just begun as we arrived, and thus prolonged my browsing....figured I'd let it pass whilst we were safely inside. I made my way up and down the aisles, uninterrupted (don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact), and then it happened, right there on the paper aisle. I made eye contact. This very nice lady began to talk to me about paper, to which I politely responded...friendly chat. Then she casually mentioned that her daughter used to refer to Hobby Lobby as "Lobby Lobby". Eli used to do the exact same thing, when we lived in New Mexico, and there were few places worth going to other than HL. So, I told her that. And that was all she needed. I tried to escape, not a blatant escape attempt, but more like "ok, let's go check out the albums". For the next half hour, no matter what aisle I found myself on, there she was, opening up more and more with each meeting. I gave no real feedback, I swear I didn't. I was polite..."oh, really?", and "that's funny", and that was about it for my contribution to the conversation, and all the while, I'm still trying to peacefully go about my shopping. Her Aunt moved in 4 years ago, temporarily, and still hasn't moved out. She is hoping that she'll meet someone soon, so she can dump her on them. She loves her, she really does, but her house is too full. Her two daughters, her 14 year old step-son, who is full of attitude, and 6 foot tall. They made room in the garage for their Harley, but didn't have room for the fully restored classic car her husband just inherited. The police officers where she works don't think she's very nice (as Silas suggested "she's a very nice lady"), b/c she doesn't take any crap from them, and yelled at one of them this morning, and threatened to send him on an animal call (apparently, this is the call the cops hate most) the next time she got one on dispatch. Ok, there is brain space I'll never get back. It is ALWAYS Hobby Lobby. Always. On a positive note, stickers were half off, and I got some great ones! ;) I am making the Grandparents scrapbooks for Christmas :)

Falling into Autumn

At right, an image which represents every weekday morning at my house. Eli has gotten more tolerant since this picture, and usually doesn't have to be coerced to grant his brother a goodbye hug. You don't want to be here if that hug is not hugged. I promise. Silas adores his hero, Eli.

At last, cool days. What a perfect reward from Mother Nature for a long and hot summer! It is sunny, and cool, and my house is taking cleansing breaths. I have begun to scrapbook again, now that I have created a space to do so. It feels good. Really good. It is so rewarding to have a hobby where the end result is so beautiful. It's emotional for me, to preserve these memories, to re-live the memories brought back by the photographs. It is to accept that they are in the past, that my children have grown, that nothing can stop the passage of time. Sometimes, this realization stops me in my tracks...it takes my breath. Be with your family. Live with your family. You can not get this time back. It is also to be grateful for the present and hopeful for the future. I am so grateful to have two wonderful, beautiful, happy, and healthy little boys. Yes, at 7 and 3, I do believe, at the very least, I can still call them my little boys. Yesterday, I did a strawberry patch page, and it really made me anxious to get to the Pumpkin Patch. Fall is my absolute favorite. We had Eli's P/T Conf. last week, and his teacher, of course, loves Eli. He is doing brilliantly in 2nd grade, and we are so proud of him. Such a beautiful, sweet and sensitive soul. My first born son is seven years old. ahhh. Silas is hilarious, as usual. He's hangin' w/ the big kids now, and, accordingly, caught up a bit in the Hannah Montana phenomenon. His interpretation..."Girls say what what whaaat?". That kid. He's so beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that he is often mistaken for a girl. "Bless her heart". He can't help it that he's so pretty :) So, to sum up, we are all enjoying life, and the cooler weather. Oh yeah, and Jazz Saturday! More fun family time...and with wine! ;)

i lost my blog

and now, i have created a new one, and will do my best not to misplace.