baby shower cupcakes! Super easy, super cheap, super cute!
Found my passion and I start tomorrow!
I’ve figured it out. After a year quest of trying on new ideas and asking myself and others a lot of questions I have decided that I’m going down college road. At 30 (almost) yrs old, 12 years of marriage, and 2 kids later I am starting college. It’s crazy/weird/awesome. I realized how obvious it was in my every day life, past and present, where I should direct my purpose. It’s what I’ve done most my life and what I love to do. What makes me feel absolute joy. It was simple. An elementary teacher. I’m going for early education with an emphasis on special education.
I honestly knew it years ago. It just wasn’t “cool” enough in my mind. I wanted to do something HUGE and rare, so that next time I’m in a group of cool smart people, which I ADORE, and they ask me what I do for a living I could be all “yeah, I’m a nuclear physicist”. Or I could be an archaeologist, or go build homes/schools in Africa, or be an awesome computer techy person like so many of the wonderful people that I know, but alas, those just didn’t fit. I really REALLY tried the tech thing. I’m just really REALLY not that. I fell in love with all of my tech friends and the whole culture where I had lived in CO, and my husband in my hometown. I wanted to be just like them, but no, there is a trigger in my brain that starts to glaze when I start hearing tech talk. My poor husband. So I decided to leave the tech stuff to them. I realized it’s not just technology that makes them cool, and in fact, not all of my awesome inspirations were techy. It’s that they are following their passion. They are living passionately in all areas of their lives. That’s why they, and my husband are so cool. So, thank you, friends and my husband, for being an inspiration and showing me what an amazing joyous life is.
So now, I’m living with passion. Tomorrow’s my first day of school. Wish me luck!
My son the comedian
Jaden…you know…the serious one, has been cracking me up lately! The thing is that he’s not TRYING to be funny, it’s just his sweet childhood innocence that has him saying things that surprise and crack me up. I’m so loving it.
So, I’ve started to leave him alone just for a LITTLE bit. Jason and I decided to run an errand quick and were standing outside the door rehashing all the rules and the “if _____ happens what do you do”s when he finally responds “don’t worry mom, if any bad guy comes I’ll kick his ASS!” Oh. mygosh. My very right/wrong responsible son said “ass”. I was in shock. I just kind of looked at him and he shocked himself and goes “oops, I’m not supposed to say that” and looked so embarrassed. I nodded in agreement and told him to lock the door behind us. I swear the second that door closed I busted up LAUGHING! My “perfect” little boy said “ass”! I couldn’t help it. It was absolutely hilarious. Come on, if you were there you would’ve laughed too. It’s a few days later and I’m still cracking up about it.
THEN, yesterday we were sitting at the laundromat and he asked if we could go home because he didn’t feel good. I told him that we had to wait a little bit because the apartment broker was showing it to potential renters. He didn’t understand what that had to do with us being there or not so I explained to him that they want to be able to picture themselves or pretend that they live there to which he replies ” well, why don’t they just pretend we’re guests?” Hilarious, right? Such an obvious solution. Seriously. He’s grade A hilarious and he doesn’t even know it.
I so love that boy,
Entrepreneur family OR gypsies
I had a conversation today with another mom about schools and moving. At the time I was polite and all, but it was one of those conversations that I was left feeling a bit stung.
She had told me she moved this past September. It is the school district right next to our current one so I asked her if she was going to be switching her childrens’ school next year.
“OH NO!” she replied “Absolutely not! It is way too difficult for the children. They need to grow up with the same friends. It’s hard enough for them to switch classes with new classmates. I would never switch schools!”
I completely agreed and said so. It’s absolutely beneficial for them to stay in the same school with the same kids. I’m really hoping to achieve that…after this one last move, but this time it’s just outside the city back to the suburbs and where my kids can still see their Brooklyn friends. City life is just not for us. We are a backyard BBQ/bonfire/large garden family.
The part that stung a bit was that she knew I had moved a few times in the last few years. So I felt a bit judged. But I know she probably didn’t mean anything by it. At least, I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt. The part that hurt a little more is…I really wish my children had that and that I knew that this was it, but I don’t.
But also, I’m really glad that they had the living experiences that they did. I’m so thankful that my children had the opportunity to live in one part of the country where we would pick fruit from the orchards and can and bake with them. They had more of a “farm” living and they also had the beach right on the lake to go to on the weekends. They got to have bonfires and cookouts and parades in our hometown of Holland, Michigan. I’m so glad that they got live on the other side of the country where their backyard was the mountains, well foothills, that they could hikw anytime they wanted and were accompanied by huge boulders right in the middle of the magnificent Pearl St. that they could climb on while watching the street performers every single day and take in the unending beautiful sun and breeze in Boulder, Colorado. And now I’m thankful that they get to experience the city with it’s diversity and learning to step up to the plate in order to be the best you can be and all the amazing sites and history that NYC has to offer. We didn’t anticipate this many moves, but with my husband’s startup/entrepreneurial life, this is what it is (thanks honey), and I’m thankful for it all because we’ve gotten to experience life outside of the “bubble” and learn and grow from that.
Also? Children transition so well. They’re so flexible when they’re younger. Do they really miss a few specific friends once in awhile? Yes, but do they forget them after time and move onto other friends? Yes. It’s easier while they’re younger. And I’m thankful to have a wonderful, strong, loving relationship with their father that creates an extremely strong and happy foundation for our children.
So folks, home is where the heart is….but, yeah, it’s time to plant some roots….right after we get a suburb commuter’s distance out of the city ;D
My Little Builders
Maddox needed a new dresser, so of course I ran to our local Ikea and got him a dresser. I love Ikea. Maddox loved his new project. He put together himself!
He said he was building his cage. I agreed.
Jaden helped out too
Maddox’s favorite part….hammering!
trains, bridges, and water taxis
We had what was probably one of the best days in NYC/Brooklyn ever. A neighbor mom/friend took me, my boys, and her 2 little girls on a fun field trip after school. We took a subway train to the Brooklyn Bridge, walked OVER the bridge to Pier 17/South Street Seaport on NYC side of the harbor, then we took a water taxi back to Brooklyn back on the subway train home.
First of all, the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh.My.Gosh.
Just look at this view!
The kids absolutely loved it, even though it was so absolutely stinking cold up there!
My neighbor friend did warn us to STAY ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE WHITE LINE, otherwise we would get our heads chopped off by the bicyclists. Only one near heart attack episode that was quickly righted
Then to the South Street Seaport/Pier 17.
It’s this huge red building on the harbor side. I love it and can’t wait to go back when it’s warmer. It reminds me of those colonial harbors in the movies. It has the brick streets and restaurants with outside tables, and large boats that look like pirate ships. It was so cool. Then you can go into the big red building that is South Street Seaport where they have 3 floors of shops and a large food court with a wrap around balcony with chairs that you can sit on outside and enjoy the views. Of course we had to grab an ice cream cone…
Then we walked the boardwalk and hopped on the water taxi!
It was such an amazing adventure. I can’t wait to do it again…. on a warmer day :D
Mighty Milers!
I am so proud of Jaden. There is a program at his school called Mighty Milers. It encourages children to be active and builds their self-esteem. They run miles at school. Nobody is on any of the kids saying “you need to run”. It’s completely up to them. They get rewarded with different things based on how many miles they run during recess. You know, that time where other kids are playing on the monkey bars? Jaden, along with a bunch of other kids, forgo their normal recess activities to run during one of the recess periods. They can stop running whenever they want. According to Jaden, it’s so much fun!
He’s been talking about wanting to earn his Tshirt and medal for a few weeks now, and folks, HE DID IT! You should have seen his face when he showed me. I honestly about cried right in front of all his classmates and other parents. This is something he did. On his own. No one else helped. It’s completely his, and I couldn’t be more proud.
I love you, buddy. You are my hero.
He Lost A Tooth!
My youngest has lost his very first tooth. This is a bitter sweet moment for me. Not sure if I want to cry or be very excited. Whaaaaa!!!
When my oldest son’s tooth was loose, I couldn’t wait to pull those little suckers out for him. I was so incredibly excited! Then I realized, a little too late, that his sweet little boy smile would never be the same again. I remember Maddox would *CRY* every time Jaden lost a tooth because he wanted to lose his too. He tried to refuse to brush his teeth because we told him if he doesn’t take care of them they will fall out. Now, my baby, for all I know my VERY. LAST. baby just lost his first tooth. He will never have his cute little boy smile again. He will grow and grow until he’s taller than I am, move out, find some nice girl (he’s already girl crazy), and make a family of his own sniff! sniff! Ok, breathe. I know. That’s the way it should be. I really am so happy for him and I love how stinking excited he is right now. He feels all grown up now. Too cute!
"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” ~Albert Einstein"
Stress management - what do you do?
ugh…. stress management…. not my strongest point. I tend to be a worrier, unfortunately. It’s getting better because,well, first step: I’ve realized that it IS a problem-thanks for the wakeup call ALL OF LAST YEAR-and I am actively working on it every day, but jeez louise, even if my mind says you’ve got a handle on it, my body says uh uh uh you are internally freaking out. Sometimes I don’t even realize that I’m stressing out until I’ve realized I haven’t taken a good breath for the past 15 min or - all of a sudden, for no good reason, my stomach starts going crazy on me. Thankfully, I am finding wonderful ways to help manage it and become more mindful.
Here’s are 10 tips that help me:
