Manifesto

Kids,

You may know that I have a great love for TED talks and was just tooling around trying to find good ones to share with you. Anyway, one click lead to another and I found myself on a page featuring the company that created what they call a manifesto. (I usually think manifesto = unibomber type crazy, but not in this case).

Anyway, important thoughts while we take a moment at the end of the week.

Date night

Dear Kids,

On Saturday, Daddy and I dropped some of you (2/3) at camp, and headed east to a wedding!  

Daddy worked with Hans and his darling bride Katie, and they included us in their very special day.  The funny thing is that we did not know a single other person there, 

so we wound up having a great little date.  

Usually at weddings we are catching up with friends and 

Daddy is a dancing machine which does not = qt for mommy and daddy.

Anyway- all in all, a great day for us, and you guys had a great time with Hubbie.

xoxo

mom

A Seat at the Table

Dear Hudson,

You are growing by the minute, and love any chance to be one of the big kids.  We have had this table since Taylor was your age, and we brought it back out for you to color and hang with the girls. 

I can already start to picture you in school when I see you like this.  

 So serious about your coloring.

 I know that you will get taller, and your feet will touch the ground soon, but for now, nothing makes me happier than these little baby feet hanging down, missing the ground by a few inches:)

Over the weekend we had friends over and all the kids ate pizza in the back yard.  You were so happy sitting at the table and even ate pizza buddy!

We Are Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

How about you, you, you?

Dear Taylor, Anna and Hudson,

I am usually not a fan of the zoo.  I think it is kinda strange, but Daddy and Hubbie love it.  Also, where our zoo is located- it is the dead of winter 365 days a year.  Yes, it is freezing.  It actually rained when we went. On Memorial Day:)

So, we had a great adventure- you all loved it.

Taylor- you and Daddy had a great race to the top.  You were scared at first but tried 4 times and beat your fear.

 Anna! You make such a beautiful unicorn:)

 Hudson, we thought you would love the train.  You were off before it left the station.  

 The squirrel and conductor were clearly old friends- they gave each other "five."

 Anna, I have no words for this one.

 End of a great day:)

Nightstands

Dear Taylor and Anna,

They say your bedroom should be your oasis.  I say that is a work in progress in our home.  We are slowly getting into routines with our charts and checklists.  One of my favorite things to look at in a home are nightstands.  I think they say so much about a person.  I peeked at each of yours, and almost cracked up laughing at how much yours say about you.

Anna, you have a lovely little mirrored table from Target.  (can't find a picture).  You have your lamp, and iPad docking station, and of course, this:

Taylor, this is your bedside table on its very best day.  It hasn't looked like this since the picture was taken,  but that is what makes it yours.  There are books stacked up, and flowing out of the cabinet.  There are slips of paper, little toys and treasures, magazines, bits of fabric, and your saved $.  All mixed together without much order, but it works for you, and that is what makes this room unique to you:) 

So, I will say that my table is special to me.  It was in my house growing up, and I have always loved the table.  It has a secret drawer, and there are flaps that flip up in the front and back if I need extra space or feel like a round table works better. I don't always have fresh flowers in our room, but they certainly brighten every morning. 

 I usually have a stack of books, but I am really more of an iPad reader these days.  I love to page through cookbooks and usually have a few on my table, especially if we are having dinner guests.  I love food pictures.  I keep a little jar for hair ties and a little pile for my jewelry at night- did you know I don't sleep with any jewelry on at night- at all?  Lastly, some pictures.  The one of Daddy is my favorite- he is dressed completely in hunting gear with Jessie tucked into him.  I don't hunt, don't love hunting gear, and am not a dog person, but I love that Daddy does.  I also keep a picture of us when we were newly engaged. So young, so much ahead:)  I don't think I could have dreamed how far we could come in such a short period of time.... together.... working as a team.  

xoxo

mom

Non sequitur

Ok, Kids,

Who is ready for some topics, none of which will follow.  (Definition: In everyday speech, a non sequitur is a statement in which the final part is totally unrelated to the first part).  I will do even better, none of these topics will conect.

1. My dad died 319 days ago.  It still feels like yesterday.  Grief is hard.  I have a board on Pinterest with quotes, mostly about grief.  Here is one- I don't have the source. "Grief changes shape, but never ends."  My sister and brother and I have been in an email exchange today, and I found myself saying/typing our dad would have said.  See, Grandpa LOVED books and had many of them.  Often, he would tell a story which would inspire him to share a book with you.  He would go looking for it and say, "well, I couldn't find that one, but I found this instead." Sometimes the new book was the same topic, sometimes not. 

2.  Hudson, you have been wearing "man pants."  The girls decided we can't call these undies, so "man pants" it is.  The bad news is that these don't impact your need to use the potty.  Now, you just use your sister's room.  Baby steps buddy.  Baby steps.  In the meantime, there is nothing cuter than your little bum and legs in these man pants.

 3. I LOVE fresh flowers.  They really brighten the day and our home.  Loving the simplicity of these white flowers right now.  Also, fresia are some of my favorites:)

 4. So, Hudson.  You are entering a pushy phase.  This series of pics was taken at about 8:30 p.m. or 3 hours past your bedtime. You grabbed a bowl and started saying "cereal, cereal, cerea." 

 You paused for a moment for a picture. 

 Then started trying to push me to get up and make you a bowl of cereal

 Really pushing now.  Of course I got up and got you some cereal.  You are pushy.  I am a pushover. 

xoxo

mom

Shoes!

Dear Anna,

You are wearing two shoes for the first time in almost three months! Congratulations baby girl.  We are so excited (I am lying, but I don't want to say we are heartbroken) that we have this fancy new orthotic device for you.  You and Daddy went to meet with your orthosist today to learn all about your brace.  It has such style- you did a great job with your choices.  So, off you both went to Nordstroms to get a snazzy new pair of shoes to fit this snazzy brace.  For the first time EVER, your left shoe is bigger than the right- TWO AND A HALF SIZES BIGGER! (the brace takes up a lot of space).  Woot woot!

 One of the best parts of this device is that it is addressing your leg length differences.  There is a 1.5 cm riser built in to make it easier on your hips and knees.

 So, we are still having the two sizes, two styles issues.  Well, the backs are clearly different on these two, but it is barely noticeable?

 I think I am mostly stunned that your right foot is so big! You have officially passed Taylor in shoe size department.  I didn't see that coming so quickly.

So, my sweet Anna girl.  We continue to be astounded by your strength, perseverance and enthusiasm for all of this. We are in awe.  

xoxo

mom 

Organization and entitlement

Dear Taylor and Anna,

This post is really for you, since Hudson isn't really focused on making his bed as much as not falling out of it:)

So, I have been reading this book.

It has been really bothering me that we have not been proactive enough about your tasks as members of our family, and this book is helping me think about ways to systematize this for you.  We are starting slow, much like the author, but will build up.  I started leaving these lists for you on the breakfast bar each morning.  They are all the things I need you to do each day, and my favorite part is that you each get such satisfaction from doing your jobs.  My favorite job is, "something for the good of the house."  We are all in this boat together, and I want you both to learn that we have to all pitch in.  (The house is only as clean as the messiest room). 

Now, I am not asking much. I am asking for the basics.  There will be bumps- for example, Anna, you forgot to set out a uniform and in the morning you realized this and wound up pulling a dirty uniform off the floor.  This would have bothered me-a lot. But, I hope you learn from it.  

Next week, we are steeping it up.  Each morning, I will check your rooms and the following must be done: bed made, surfaces clean and neat, floors picked up.  You will each have a job with 30 $1 bills.  Each day you are checked off as completing these tasks, you keep your $1. Days you don't, I take your $1.  Your greatest excitement in this plan.... Daddy and I will have a jar too! You will check our room in the morning and split our $1 if we haven't done our work.  You can't use any of the $ until the end of the month.

What is really fantastic is if you are successful.....I will teach you how to do your own laundry.  You are both thrilled.  Nikki and I might cry with joy when you hit that milestone.

We can do this!!!

xoxo

mom

Anna is 6!

Dear Anna,

What a fun birthday you had!  I picked up you and a few friends from school and we headed to the Cheesecake Factory- 5 lemonades, 5 pastas:)

From there, we hit the nail salon for pedicures.  You girls were just too cute.

How adorable!!  Matching flips too:)

Then, a party isn't complete without ice cream.

Then, we headed home for a family dinner with an ice cream cake.

Such a great birthday Anna girl.  

xoxo

mom

Why Mothers Day is a Let Down

So, Kids,

I will say, that for the most part, every Mother's Day has been a let down.  I go in with the expectation that you are going to be perfectly behaved angels, and I will get to pretend I have no actual responsibility for the day.  Never. Ever. Happens.

This year, the day fell after a loooooonnnng week at work, all the activities at home, and for some reason, I thought you would be extra perfect in light of this.  Instead, rooms were messy, people whined, and I was grumpy and tired.

If I were to sum it up, I would say that I was expecting a day that I would plan, and none of you would ever plan that kind of event.  So, kids, good news for you.  I am going to plan my own mother's day from here on out, and better news for you, I am not inviting any of you. I am already excited for next year.

As part of the day, we ran up to SF for a bit, grabbing flowers for Hubbie on the way.  I thought they were stunning.

Aren't they stunning?

Anna, you lost a tooth!  

I had not really thought what our dinner wold be like, but you three ate together while coloring outside. Hudson, I didn't bother to make you a plate, since you never eat anyway, and you didn't eat the mac and cheese in the "to go" cup.

So kids.  Thanks for a sub-par mother's day.  I can't wait for the years to come. 

Also, rest assured, I will be planning my own birthday, and probably buying my own presents too.

xoxo

mom

Family Photos!

Dear Hudson, Anna, and Taylor,

So, in a dream world, we would have had a great family photo.  

That clearly didn't work out for us- ahem, Hudson.  

How is my baby girl so old?

Our baby girl.

Girls, you are both lovely, but I would say that looking at the camera and smiling was definitely not possible for you at this point.

xoxo

mom