Happiness.

 

Happiness is when your great-grandparents arrive at your house and set up their trailor for the summer.

 

Happiness is looking forward to the both of you spending lots of summer fun with your great-grandparents.

 

Happiness is when your great-grandmother makes you pancakes for breakfast at 8am.

 

Happiness is looking forward to your last soccer game of the season.  (lost the game but had lots of fun.)

Just An Ordinary Day.

I just love these yellow flowers and couldn't resist snapping a few shots in this field I found. I even got McKenzie to snap a few shots with my camera. She's going to be quite the photographer someday.

On another note, after I picked McKenzie up from school we got some icecream at a place called "The Roasting Co." and then we hit one of my new favorite vintage shops called "Vintage Goods." I saw this pretty white wicker basket with a lid and saw a very large lizard sitting on top of this white wicker basket. I'm thinking... that's kinda strange to have a fake lizard on top of this white wicker basket inside a vintage goods store and I'm also looking at this lizard thinking... that is one real-life-looking lizard. As I'm just about to investigate the pretty white wicker basket and take off its lid, that real-life-looking lizard blinked its eye at me and I let out the biggest scream that I think anyone within a 2 mile radius could have heard. This was not just an ordinary lizard I have seen in my yard basking in the sun, this was the biggest lizard I have ever seen. McKenzie came to investigate and said "I'll catch it!" and I said "Oh no you don't! A lizard of that size might bite!" The lady working at the store apologized and said it's a crocodile lizard and it just came in through their front door while they had it open. So, I never really got to investigate that white wicker basket that I was going to put Callie's new wooden train set in that I picked up a few weeks ago at another vintage shop.

Ok, so now I'm home and finally recovering from the lizard incident and Jasper has left me some of his poop on the living room floor. Of course Callie runs over to investigate and I tell her "don't touch that." So, if you tell a child not to touch something, I swear it just makes them want to touch it more. So she picks it up and I'm yelling "Callie, drop that disgusting poop of Jasper's on the floor!" I'm then rushing her into the bathroom to wash her hands and saw more poop on the bathroom floor but this time it came from Callie. I stripped her of her clothes and tossed them in the utility room sink, plugged the drain, poored a little spray-n-wash in the sink and ran some cold water. Meanwhile, I got Callie cleaned up and put her in the bathtub for a good scrubbing... got her cleaned up along with a bath for McKenzie. Ok, so now for the good part... are you ready? I heard this dripping coming from the utility room so I went to investigate and there was water everywhere... you guessed it... I had forgotten all about the water running in the sink and it completely flooded the laundry room. I'm thinking... "Oh my god, where do I start?" I pulled the drain, opened the back door and started sweeping the water out the back door. Then Callie starts chanting "I whana come out now!"... remember she is still in the tub. Well, I did get the water cleaned up and the kids feed and ready for bed. Here's to another ordinary day in my life.

Memorial Day.

Today is Memorial Day, the day we have set aside to honor by remembering all the Americans who have died fighting for the thing we like the most about our America: the freedom we have to live as we please.

 

No official day to remember is adequate for something like that.  It's too formal.  It gets to be just another day on the calendar.  No one would know from memorial Day that Richie M.. who was shot through the forehead coming onto Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, wore different color socks on each foot because he thought it brought him good luck.  No one would remember on memorial Day that Eddie G. had promised to marry Julie W. the day after he got home from the war, but didn't marry Julie because he never came home from the war.  Eddie was shot dead on an un-American desert island, Iwo Jima.

 

For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off.  There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few moments of reflection during which we consider what they did for us.  They died.  We use the phrase "gave their lives," but they didn't give their lives.  Their lives were taken from them. 

 

There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war.  The goal of war is to cause death to other people

 

Remembering doesn't do the remembered any good, of course.  it's for ourselves, the living.  I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don't find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives. 

 

That would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating.

 

(the following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.)http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/60minutes/rooney/main697964.shtml

There is no one quite like you.

 

Callie enjoying her favorite sandwich, peanut butter and jelly.  Her second favorite is a cheese sandwich with a little butter.

The Seven Rules Of The Toddler.

 

1.  If I like it, it is mine.

2.  If it is in my hands, it is mine.

3.  If I can take it from you, it is mine.

4.  If I had it a little while ago, it is mine.

5.  It it is mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

6.  If I am doing or building something, all of the pieces are mine.

7.  If it looks mine mine, it is mine.

 

... this photo was taken on Callie's 4th birthday.

There Is No Doubt.

 

There is no doubt: life with you is one amazing adventure after another.

 

I absolutely loved this photo shoot with you as much as you loved throwing gravel over the bridge.  Have been wanting to do some shooting at some new locations (like a very old bridge) which happens to be on Old Highway 99.  It's always fun to get a fresh perspective on a familiar place and try some things outside of my typical routine.

"Through My Eyes."

I am... McKenzie

I wonder... if I will fly on a plane.

I hear... my sister screaming.

I see... me playing a violin.

I want... a violin.

 

I am... nice.

I pretend... to stop polution.

I believe... I'm going to be president.

I touch... the clouds.

I feel... amazing.

I worry... my sister won't get potty trained.

I cry... when I get hurt.

 

I am... good

I understand... if you hurt me it was an accident.

I say... "I hope."

I dream... that I can fly.

I hope... my sister will be nice to me.

 

--- photo taken on Mother's Day.

 

 

 

Sunday.

 

I had a wonderful mother's day.  I felt celebrated, appreciated and reminded of my amazing important and precious role I have in the lives of my children and my husband.  I was showered in kisses and hugs.  McKenzie made a flower pot in her school class and Callie with the help of big sister made me the most special card.  I'll share later. 

Happy Mothers Day.

 

Being a mother is a calling to provide the best of yourself in unimaginable ways.  Children rely on us... flaws and all... for practical, spiritual and emotional well-being.  Being a mother to me has been an utterly surprising awakening of strengths I didn't know that I possessed and a revelation of weaknesses I'd rather put aside. 

 

I'ts been far too long since I've had new photos of me with the kids.  All I want today is a little carefree time to play around an open field and Matt behind the lens for a change so that I might be a bigger part of the kids' photo memories.  That and a "white chocolate mocha" from Starbucks.

 

Blessings to the Moms.  I celebrate you.  I celebrate with you.

A Question From McKenzie.

McKenzie asked me this question yesterday:  "Can guinea pigs give you the swine flu?"  (the "swine influenza" or swine flu is a type of flu that normally only affects pigs.  The symptoms in humans can include high fever, cough, runny nose, cough and body aches.)  Recently there has been a lot a talk on the news about this new flu and how it affects people. 

 

In response to McKenzie's question, I told her that she does not have to worry about her pets giving her any viruses. 

Be Free.

"Eventually I discovered for myself the utterly simple prescription for creativity: be intensely yourself.  Don't try to be a success; don't try to do pictures for others to look at - just please yourself." - Ralph Steiner

 

I took this photo of Callie at a Central Point school, while McKenzie was in a soccer game last Saturday.  She could swing in this position for hours.  So carefree and content with herself.

Today Is Everyday...

 

Everyday there is something to be learned from the kindness of strangers, generous acts of others, from mistakes, from each success as well as the failures.  Not everyday is a good day.  Sometimes we snap at our kids (which I find myself doing frequently as the day is coming to a close and I hate myself for this), we hesitate too long on decisions, we're overwhelmed by life, and sometimes we just forget to stop in the middle of our own chaos and reflect.  I believe in karma, I believe that even though we might make mistakes, we are all good people.  I think good people screw up, I screw up quite frequently, but I also believe that it is in those moments that we learn the greatest of life's lessons.  That changing the negative course of your actions is as simple as doing the right thing.  The universe has a way of teaching us and reminding us of these most important messages in life.  I am trying to surround myself with positive energy and and understanding that everday offers with it the chance to be the best we can be.  Today is everday.

 

After McKenzie got out of school, I took the girls to get their hair cuts.  The lady gave them french braids and I love, love, love it.  Even though some of these photos were over-exposed, I absolutely adore their yummy faces.

 

 

She's 4!

Amazing how time flies. Just seems like yesterday that I gave birth to this little one. And in the blink of an eye, she's now 4. Incredible!

The day started of (May 1, 2009) with the making of blueberry muffins. Yum! My grandmother is in the hospital, so we took a trip over to Grants Pass to pay her a visit. I know how very much she wanted to spend the day with us. The night before, I made a double batch of manicotti and took some over to my grandpa along with the muffins I made this morning. McKenzie had her school spring concert this afternoon. Matt was able to go and video her class, while Callie and I made a stop to Wendy's to get lunch. I was starving due to the fact I neglected to eat breakfast and Callie was also very cranky due to the fact she was hungry herself (don't worry, she ate a couple muffins this morning). After arriving home, Callie opened her presents with the help of big sister (Callie was kind enough to let McKenzie open one of her gifts). She got a puzzle and a couple Playmobile circus sets that she is absolutely loving. I let the girls play while I made the birthday cake. Girls got a chance to hold the guinea pigs while the cake cooled. They each had their own mini cake to frost and birthday girl took great pleasue in getting a head start at cake testing.

Ok, I'm so tuckered now. Going to head to the shower and then do some reading in bed. We have an early day in the morning. McKenzie has a soccer game in Central Point at 8:30am. No sleeping in for me.