Embracing Life

So we are working our way through our Summer Bucket List! Besides what has been crossed off, we did some things not on the list as well! We went to the zoo! Sat in the splash zone for the dolphin show and got soaked! We also rode the carousel, ate bison burgers, saw the penguins, and shopped for a special toy. Last week was Connor's last night game for baseball.  My mom and dad had promised a cool ice cream treat to celebrate, so after the team won (yay!), we headed for ice cream!  They have these cool tables where you can play chess while you wait. We went to the Farmer's Market and had lemon shake-ups! It was pretty hot yesterday, so then we headed to my uncle's for some swimming.  My parents also found a nifty wagon at an estate sale, so they bought it and hooked it up to my uncle's riding lawn mower. Instant tractor ride! Of course, it was Father's day too. The kids saw some fun stuff at the dollar store earlier in the week, so aft

per·spec·tive /pərˈspektiv / a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view. Last week, I called my mom with a medical question. I had kneeled down on Colin's bed as I was tucking him in and was met with a sharp pain in my knee.  I looked down and my knee had begun to turn purple and swell.  We decided it was just a broken blood vessel (a really big one apparently). I said "What are the odds of me getting a broken blood vessel from just kneeling down?" She replied, "What are the odds of you getting kidney failure?"   Haha, good point. I laughed at her comment.  Because it's true - I don't seem to have good odds. I've always said that weird things happen to me . I can't help it, I attract weirdness.  And I am ok with it. Sometimes I enjoy it, other times, I wonder why me?  The 2nd opinion doctor told me I had bad luck.  Not only do I have a normally benign hereditary disease that only progresse

It's started.  The Instagram pictures from the moms doing all the fun summer-y things with their kids. Or the Facebook posts stating that vacation just started, and they are already ready for kids to be back in school. The check-ins from the pool. The fun with squirt guns. I don't know what that's like. You see, I don't get to be a stay-at-home mom. I have to work. And by have to, it's not so I can live in a big ole' nice house. It's so I can pay a mortgage on a house that's actually more than the house is currently worth thanks to the recession and the neighborhood in which we live in. My kids are spending their summer vacation with grandparents, not parents. We will try to cram in our loads of summer fun on the two short weekend days we have off, in between baseball games and grocery shopping and laundry. This summer will be different as well, since I don't really have much time to take off.  I am trying to save my vacation time for whenever

Before I was a Pinterest-crafting, blogging-about-parenting mom of three...before I was the very patient wife of an endurance athlete, before I had my own house that I am required to clean every day so that it doesn't look like a scene out of Mad Max... I wrote poetry. And it was deep and dark. And I liked it that way. There was something about becoming a mom that made me feel like I couldn't write that way anymore. Or if I did, someone would find my poetry books and think something was wrong with me.  So I locked that creative piece deep down inside, and let the words just die inside.  Yet somehow they didn't die. They continued to build, to grow, to gain a power of their own.  Recently, whether it be all my health stuff going on or something else, I find that I can no longer lock those words inside. They have a voice of their own and need to be shared. Darkness swallows up the light The winter night's magical rush Takes an unwielding turn The wind

If you are looking for a super fun mystery read, I highly recommend Sue Ann Jaffarian 's Odelia Grey series.  Odelia is a plus-size paralegal living in California who finds herself attracting more dead bodies than she knows what to do with!  Hell on Wheels is book 9 in the series. This time, tragedy strikes a friend, and Odelia and her husband, Greg, quickly are tangled up in a new case. Did you know there was a sport called quad rugby? It was very interesting to read about. After witnessing a murder on court, Odelia and Greg work together with friends to clear a friend's name. As the body count rises, so does the humor. Ms. Jaffarian's witty dialogue make the book a success.  And Odelia's boss, Mike Steele, has a mystery of his own.  (It's also nice to see how that story pans out! Finally some happiness for Mike!)   While you may have an inkling on who the murderer is, this isn't one where you can predict early on who the prime suspect is. Al

My husband always lucks out - the kids make Mother's Day gifts for me at school.  I, on the other hand, must get creative and come up with something for him every year.  I won't say what the kids are going to do for him - in fact, since he reads my blog sometimes, I won't even say if the idea is listed below! But for you fellow moms out there looking for ideas, here are a few things I came up with to help! Make a memory jar !  Fill it a few favorite pictures of dad and the kids for a lasting memory. Help dad out by giving him a choice. Make him some coupons , such as helping out with yard work, free snuggles at bedtime, car wash, or an undisturbed nap! A DIY-treat jar ! Yum! For the coffee drinker - all you need is a blank mug and some painters pens! For the Disney fan For the Handy-Man Dad !

I remember as a little girl, Grandma L picking rhubarb fresh from her garden and eating it.  She made rhubarb everything! When I was 5 months pregnant with Connor, we moved into our current house.  The day after we moved, there was a giant snowstorm, my grandpa died, and Keith came down with the stomach flu. I was hoping that wasn't a sign that we should not have moved.  That spring, we noticed lots of green things growing on the side of our garage.  One of the "plants" ended up being a nice crop of rhubarb!  Over the years, but especially since Grandma has been gone, I like to pretend I'm a baker. :)  I've tried my hand with jam and bread - both turned out yummy!  But my favorite is her rhubarb crisp recipe.  However, one of the ingredients is strawberry gelatin - which unfortunately has food dye.  We are a food dye free home, due to Colin's intolerance of it and Keith's clean eating. So this year, I adapted the recipe to my new "All-Natural-ish

From the time my children were little, the amount of parenting advice that one can find on the internet has quadrupled (at least!).  It's easy to scroll through my FB feed and read up on many different ways that I "should" be parenting.  What's best for my kids, according to 80 other mom bloggers, doctors, HuffPost, friends, family.... you get the point. The newest thing I see is how to have a schedule-free summer! Great! Although that totally conflicts with what my children's teachers have advised - we must work on math and reading skills so that the kids don't forget them during the less than 90 days they are off for break. So now what do I do? Make them work on math or let them play in the sprinkler? Well, I guess it doesn't matter - I work full-time and don't get off for summer break.  I can convey my thoughts to the grandmas who will be hard at work this summer, taking care of my children, but in the end, I just want my kids to have fun.  My tho