Blog Challenge

I'm challenging myself.  This is me-stepping outside of my box.  Now that I've announced it you can hold me accountable.  I am going to try to post 7 days in a row.  If I can accomplish this, I may extend it to a whole month.  Even if it's just a picture, a quote or a ramble about my day.  I want to make more of an effort to post.  Wish me luck.  And if you have a blog-join me in on the challenge. I love to read new posts before I go to bed every night!

Tonight I'm going to just post some pictures from the last few days.

Hughie after a bath

Bubble time

I love when Bailee acts protective of the napping boy behind the door

Eli says "He's my best bud"

See ya every day this week!

Where is your beauty

It's been a hard week.  For the whole world.  It's hard enough when we all have our own tough stuff to struggle through every single day.  But when there are big, real, scary things going on somewhere else we have to trudge through the guilt of worrying over our (sometimes) small stuff.

We may wake up and find our life floating by (literally) in 12 inches of water in our storage filled basement.  Maybe your garage door won't open so you can't get in your car to get to work.  Remember when your stove broke the morning of the big Easter dinner?  What if you woke up and there was water dripping from the ceiling in your kitchen but the roof seemed completely in tact?  What if you had a miscarriage while your friend announces her pregnancy?   Are you scared for your health?  Maybe you lost someone close to you, or your life flipped upside down in ways that others cannot imagine or understand.

Can you find beauty in it?  I wouldn't expect you to.  Can you find beauty somewhere else?  I hope so.  I try to.  It's not always easy and my closest buds know when I'm having a moment where I feel as if there is no beauty in the world.  And frustration builds when I am reminded to try to see the beauty.  It's there-they remind me.  We all have these moments-they all say.  It's normal-I'm told.  Thank you, but I don't feel it-I think.   But it's important---find that beauty.  Because it really is all around us.  And what is beauty to me may not be the same to you.  So find your beauty.

Today I'm finding it in the sunshine.  It's cold but it's bright out. Rocking Hughie to sleep for his morning nap was different today because his room was so lit up. 

Yesterday I found beauty in the words of a friend who DID have 12 inches of water in her basement.  She was brave and texted me "Some people have it worse. Everything we lost is replaceable".  I'm not sure I could have been that positive. She is beautiful.

Recently I found beauty in the fact that a friend celebrated her BIG money savings by texting me that she jumped up and down.  I loved picturing that beautiful moment.

There is a lot of construction going on around our house. This is causing a traffic back up which can be viewed out our back glass sliding doors.  In the morning when the cars are piled up, I don't even care if they see me dancing in the kitchen (with and without the kids).  Sometimes I find beauty in a good song.

I know someone who is finding peace in her newly painted rooms.  There is beauty in her passion for this project.

To my friend who said "I can't change it"-she let go of the control of her poor situation.  It shed some light for me.  I realize that is how I should think about a lot of my small struggles.

Thanks to all my friends and family who encouraged me this week.  I know there will be beauty in the changes that are happening in all of our lives-sometimes it just takes time to see it. It's there.

 To all those who supported, ran, watched, helped, saved, reported and prayed this week.  There will be beauty as Boston rebuilds itself.  And Texas too.

An old favorite....

Oh Mr. Sun

Nobody in our house is satisfied with the terrible weather we are having. We are ready for Mr. Sun to come on out.  Show your face!!
On Friday it was still yucko out but  I was given some activity ideas from good ol' For the Love of Naps.
Because Eli is a boy I won't call it a fashion show, instead I sent Eli "shopping".  I sat in the dining room and put him in the living room with an assortment of clothes and accessories.  He was told to go shopping and put 2 things on and then come in for a picture. 
(Disclaimer- Eil dressed himself Friday morning. Therefore his very stylish jersey (I hate jerseys) is on inside out-it only enhances his crazy outfits.)

Meanwhile Hugh complained enough for all of us.  He just can't wait patiently for good weather anymore-he wants to go outside.

When he really couldn't get his act together I realized he had a fever and wasn't feeling well. Sorry Hugh.
But-today he is a whole new man. A daring one at that.  He won't sit down on his new little chair.  He is kinda creepy about it too.  I'll be cutting vegetables at the counter and realize he is quiet. Too quiet. So when I spin around to see what trouble he is in, this is what I see: Just standing there, silently staring at me.  (I'm not sure how long he quietly stood there, but he did it 4 or 5 times until I decided to take a picture). 

This is dangerous so I am going to blame cousin Syd for his daredevil skills (I hope you know I'm smiling at you For the love of naps.  Thanks for the activity ideas at least. Ha ha!)

2 more good reads

I grew up going to the library often and I can still remember what my childhood library looked like, inside and out.  I'm a firm believer in books and am so glad that my parents encouraged me to read and look at books.  When I was young my mom would let me check out as many picture books as I wanted. There was never a limit.  I would pile the books up, sit in a chair and pretend to read to a library class.  As I got older, we still went to the library and checked out a huge stack, but I progressed to chapter books and I would read the all the descriptions to my mom on the way home. (She probably never listened).  I think I got made fun of in middle school for how much I loved to read, even though I was in to sports and wouldn't consider myself a nerd. I read a chapter book almost every 1-2 days.  I read in the morning on the bus, during reading time at school, after school and before bed.  Now I'm part of a book club and use a lot of the (little) free time I have reading. 

Since I've had a few responses to my blog posts with the picture book recommendations I'm gonna keep goin' with it. Sorry if that's a bore to you.  And please share if you have any goodies!!!


So!  Do you have a fashionista on your hands?  I don't but we randomly checked out this book.  It's cute.  The story line is pretty self explanatory and I AM a fan of old clothes.  But it is the pictures that grabbed me.  They are so amazing.  (It doesn't hurt that the little blondie in the book reminds me of Hughie but has the name Henry-which fits another special blonde boy in my life). 


Check it out.



The funny thing about the second book is that it was another random pick, and the first time I read it to Eli I didn't "get it".  But he ended up reading this one with Grandma and Grandpa Roeder next.  And they have been around the block a few more times than I.  Therefore, the second time I read this one with Eli-we did it much differently.  This is definitely a night time book.   Turn out the lights and give your child a flashlight or head lamp.  While you read the page have your kiddo shine the flashlight on the page (obviously so you can read and also this excites the parts of the page to light up moments later).  When you are done reading the words on each page, turn the flashlight off or turn it away and OHHH and AHHH together as you find the parts of the page that light up.  The second time I read it I wasn't prepared for all the glow in the dark specialness, therefore I was smiling from ear to ear and enjoyed each and every page with Eli in the dark. This is a very fun surprise for littles.   (I now realize on the cover that it says "A glow in the dark search".   Trust me, the story is pretty dull if there are no hidden glow in the dark nightlights.  There is always magic reading to your child in the dark. You can hear the smile in their voice even if you can't see it. )





What are you reading to your kiddos?  We read a lot of  Dr. Seuss and Llama Llama books.  Do your kids always request the same book over and over? Do you pick or do they pick? How many do you let them read at night before bed or at nap time?  Do you check out random books from the shelf at the library or depend on best sellers?  If you have any good ones-send 'em my way!

Easter 2013

Things to know about our Easter--

It was low key and I loved it.
We attempted church the night before but we had the time wrong. It was one of those-all dressed up and no where to go moments.





you know...mom of 2 doesn't always get to dry hair before going out. 



We hosted my parents, my aunt and Emma (Hugh's godmother).  It was a great group.
I felt really organized until the day before.  Then I was calm until about an hour or 2 before.
The Easter Bunny hid real eggs all over the house.  Hugh found one, Eli all the others.

The bunny also left a basket with some treats and hid plastic eggs in the backyard (Filled with fake bugs, coins for piggy banks and candy).
We are still munching on Easter Candy. 
I've decided I'm a much bigger fan of Easter than I knew. 

Blog Block

I've hit somewhat of a block with my blogging.  Remember when I used to post every 1-3 days?  How did I do that? Oh yeah-I didn't have 2 kiddos at my feet.  Hugh has figured out that there is something pretty neat about technology and pulls so hard on the laptop screen I think he might pull it right off the keyboard.  If he's not pulling he's screaming- and it's loud. So blogging has taken a back burner.  I have done a lot in these last few weeks and I have tons of pictures to share.  But at night I'm completely wiped out and I want to zone out next to Andy instead of focus on any organized blog post. 

Therefore, I am going to be one of those late holiday posters.  Yes, I will post Easter pictures but it will be so late that everyone will cringe.  Even me.  Sorry ahead of time.

Eli has been on so many adventures since Christmas.  But I'm months late trying to come up with words to describe how neat he has become and how amazing it feels to spend time with him during these experiences.  He's soaking up anything he can and learning, bragging, listening, talking, jumping, dancing and growing.   I can't get any good pictures of him because he is one of those boys who can't control his wiggles.  It drives me insane. INSANE.  He can't stand still so you never know if he is paying attention. I doubt he knows if he is paying attention.  He reminds me a bit of myself when I was little.  I was quite the hopper/jumper.  Since he is so much of his dad I'm sort of glad he takes after me in some way.

Hugh is crazy busy.  He loves to bring us toys and then take it right back. How hilarious, right?  Don't you dare put him in his highchair until the food is good and ready. He will scream so loud you will want to walk out.  And there better be some fruit on his plate. If you mix it all together he can meticulously pull out the little pieces of fruit. And don't even think about showing him a banana. That boy and his bananas.  He still wakes at night, some nights more than others.  I almost blogged about a 2-3 day stretch where he slept well better but then he had a longer stretch of terrible, awful, horrendous sleep so I decided not to share my glory with you.  Not yet.  He runs through the house and wants to be held a lot.  He is still such a joy. 

Andy and I have been to a wedding and a Brewers game on opening day.  We've had grandparents here for a few nights and we hosted Easter.  We did a new flooring project upstairs.  We are very slowly trying to simplify and organize the house (that never ends I know!).  You think it's a rough day when the kids are whiny and needy and then you find water in the basement. Right? uggggg.  Still dealing with that.
And we both are so busy at work.  But we are also happily planning the next few months. Hoping for warmer weather. Another wedding.  More working out.  Making more meals and eating healthy.  Reading more good books and listening to some good tunes.  Gardening. Watching the kids grow. And hopefully....I will find time to bring my blogging back.

Stay tuned.

Domes year 3

After the new year we always visit the Domes.  The weather outside usually feels frigid while inside the Domes it feels balmy and tropical.  We are able to take our jackets off and ogle at neat flowers, plants and cacti.  But let's be honest. The reason we go this time of the year is because the special showcase dome theme is trains.  There are kids of all ages running around this train world and Eli is in heaven for as long as we'll let him stare.

We go back 3 years....

 
Eli's love for trains has not wavered.  He has moved on from Thomas the Train and expanded his adoration for any and all trains.  This year we had some friends join us which made the trip all that much more worthwhile for Andy and I.  We of course, as any mean normal  parent would do, forced our kids to walk through the safari and tropical garden areas first.

You can tell I was busy talking to my friend gazing at the trains and chasing my 1 year old because I didn't take any pictures of the big trains.  Oops.  There's always next year.