Always something.....

Like tonight. Trying to get dinner cleaned up and the kids shoes on so we can get out the door. Haley is in her socks, she stole my camera, and she is running around taking pictures. This is what I see when I went to look at my shots for the day. Not the picture I planned on using, but this is my life. I just shook my head and laughed. What being the mom is all about, I suppose?

My nemesis...

...laundry. No matter how fancy the washer & dryer (mine somewhat resemble spaceships with all the doo-dads and gizmos), no matter how organized the "system" (and mine is about as organized as a bleeding carp tossed into a piranha tank) nothing makes laundry any easier. You can do 8 loads in one day, wash, dry, sort, fold and get it all put away. Tomorrow there will just be more. It isn't fair. Laundry is kind of like life I suppose. We should just be grateful we have clothes to wear. That we are well enough to get dirty so they need washing. Proud that we are well off enough to afford a place to do our own laundry. I still hate it. If I had a magic wand, or a fairy god mother, laundry is the one chore I would make go away. We had new tile floor put down in the laundry room so my washer and dryer were unhooked for a few days. I am the proud owner of 8 loads of wash to be done. Figures the tile came the day I changed all the sheets.
Did I mention how much I truly don't like doing the laundry???

Day 2 is about.....

Coffee... and more importantly, the cup you drink it from. I have not always been a coffee fan. As a matter of fact, I never did like it much at all. Then I got pregnant for the first time. Seems like being limited on the amount of caffeine I was allowed to have made coffee just all the more appealing to me. The smell was heavenly. To this day, nothing thrills my senses like the smell of a fresh cup of java, ahhhh..... This morning was rainy and cold and I woke up with coffee on the brain. I had a cup at home, and another at work. Then I was craving another after lunch, but the power went out and I couldn't get anything. Now, I have a cold and I am sipping on some warm tea. That is pretty good too. Whatever the beverage, warm and sweet, it is always better in a big mug. The mug has to have a good weight to it, fit in your hand just right, and it has to have a look to it. I like mugs that remind me of something. Mugs that make me smile. Not something random. It has to come from some particular time, place or event. It can be stupid, "Someone went to so-an-so and all I got was this lousy mug" is fine if the person is a good friend and you have a laugh or a joke about it. This one was a gift from a student one year. Ira and I fight over it sometimes. We finally had to go get a second one. Its a good mug. Makes the coffee taste better I think.

Where I am

I have decided to challenge myself. My daughter, my first baby, turned 8 yesterday. That was a pretty big day for her, and I realized it was a pretty big day for me as well. When I look at my pictures and my scrapbooks, it is all about the kids. Of course it is, I just adore them! The creating is for me, but the finished project is for them. I am recording their lives so they can look back and remember, but what will it tell them about their mom? Well, certainly, it will tell them how nuts she is.... all this over paper and stickers and glitter....? I want them to know more about me. Sometimes I wonder what my mom was like at my age. Sure, I can ask her, but what she tells me is her memory and recollections. I want to record a little bit of me in the now so that when the girls are older, they can look back and know what I was like when they were too little to see their mom as any thing more than the giver of cookies. Maybe, when I am older, and all grown up myself, I can also look back and think about how far I have come. It is already kind of hard to remember what it was like being the mom of a brand new little baby 8 years ago.... Who I was then, what kind of little every day things did I do, what made me laugh, how did things make me feel. That was only 8 years ago, for goodness sake, what is going to happen in another 10... 20...30?

So, here is my challenge to myself. Each day I am going to post one picture. Just one. It could be a person, a place, a thing. Ok, a picture of a noun :o) and I am going to tell you why that picture is important to me. I am going to this every day between today, the day after Erin's birthday, until the day before Haley's birthday. That is going to be 32 days. 32 pictures. All recorded here. Hopefully each picture will tell a little about me right now. What makes me happy, why I laugh, the kinds of things that make me crazy, and what I think is important. When I am all done, I will have a collection of pictures and thoughts to make a great scrapbook about myself. It sounds a little vain at first, I know. Look at it this way; What would you give to have something like this about your mom or dad? About your grandparent? About anyone in your family that was recorded when they were younger? Yeah, it is a journal about me, but it certainly isn't for me.

So..... Today's Picture is the cake I made for Erin's birthday. Why is this important? It has nothing to do with the cake itself. It has to do with the fact that I made it. I always make the girls a birthday cake. I don't know why, but I feel like it is important to make their cake. I am not the super-baking mom. I don't make home made cookies, only the stuff from the tube, brownies from a box, everything else from the bakery. When it comes to birthdays, I just have to make them a cake. Birthdays are special. My girls are special. Just one little way that I show them how much I love them. I don't think they realize how much of me goes into these cakes, I think they are too young to se that now. Someday, when they are all grown up and have their own kids though, I hope they tell them how their mom always made them a homemade cake for their birthday. I hope that it is one of those "Awww" moments for them when they are all grown up.

My Erin Turned 8 Today!

I can't believe it.... I have been a mom for 8 years now. I have to say, it kind of hit me hard and has prompted some serious self reflection. But more about that later, right now is all about Erin and how she enjoyed her day!

At the birthday girl's request, Ira made chocolate chip banana pancakes for breakfast (I made the batter the night before) and Erin skipped Hebrew school this a.m. so we could all sleep in a little. After breakfast, the girls played a little while we cleaned up and all showered and did some stuff around the house. They needed some relaxing time after staying up late and enjoying Erin's birthday present from mommy & daddy... cable in her room on her TV that formerly she could only watch DVDs on!

In the afternoon I took the girls to Color Me Mine and they each chose a piece of ceramics to paint. Erin made a penguin bank and Haley chose a mermaid hugging a sea horse. When we got home, grandpa was there with his corvette, and he took Erin for a long birthday ride (and then Haley for a ride as well). While the girls were out on their rides, we played in the yard with the dogs enjoying the beautiful fall day.

The best part of the whole day was dinner. We headed to Don Pablos along with our whole extended family; grandparents, aunts, uncles, and ALL of Erin's cousins, (except the oldest, Rachael, who has the nerve to be in college) and her best friend Zoe. It really meant so very much to Erin to have her cousins there. The kids (even the big teenage ones who would have rather sat with the grown ups, but they are good sports) sat at their own table. That is a pretty big deal to an 8 year old. After dinner, the servers brought Erin the big sombrero and fancy Mexican dessert and we all sang. Each of the kids took a turn trying on the hat, and having their pictures taken. My nephew Jake looked like a bobble head! It was just so awesome. I couldn't have made a better night for our little girl. It was exactly what she wanted, a night with her family having fun together. After dinner, we gathered for cake and presents to top the night off and then put 2 exhausted sisters, and one exhausted mommy to bed!

So, of the whole day, here are some pictures to share. (As I already plan how to scrap them.. he he he!) It was a fabulous day. I hope all your birthdays are as happy as Erin's was today!

Recent Layouts

Over Columbus Day weekend, I went away with some of my closest friends for an all girls getaway. We rented a house in the Pocono Mountains and headed up for some scrapping, some relaxing, and lots of laughing... not exactly in that order :o) We ate some great food, shared lots of stories and caught up like only girls can do. I think we all spent the whole 3 days in our pajamas? Anyway, I did a total of 33 pages, most of them even completed! Some still need a little journaling here, a title there, a few need a whole bunch of work... but I wanted to share some of my favorites. I couldn't have done even half this without the inspiration of my "sheep" who inspire me with their creativity, their friendship, and their acceptance of me for just being who I am. Nothing is as renewing and peaceful as spending time with friends that you know you can just be yourself with. These girls make me feel like a better person. I am truly blessed to be a part of this little "flock" of scrappers. How lucky I am.

Fall Days

I love this time of year. I love the colors, the smells, the holidays, the foods associated with autumn.... It is just wonderful! I have to say that this weekend was a little of all of that for me. On Saturday, we had a family photo shoot outside at the local park. When we arrived, we let the dogs out (because of course they are part of the family, too) and Isabel went chasing the geese right into the lake! Well, wet dog in the pictures, I suppose... Good thing our photographer/pop-pop had a towel in his car :o) Sunday we made our annual trip to the local farm for pumpkins, apples and cider donuts. The day was so beautiful we played out on the play yard there for over an hour. It was the perfect fall day. I love this time of year... now if only it lasted the next 5 months and we could skip the whole winter thing....

October Already?

Where has September gone? I know it is a short month at only 30 days, but it seems to have gone by in a flash. How does that happen? The girls both started school and are loving it. Erin is in 2nd grade and an old PRO at the whole thing. She came home from her first day and I asked the typical mom question "How was it, honey?" Boring! she says. Huh? We had to listen to the rules, we had the same assembly we had last year and I know all that already, mom! Duh!! She is in the same class as last year with the same teacher and the same students; looping they call it. They all moved from 1st to 2nd grade together. On the 1st day it was like walking right into the same old familiar routine. Apparently, she wasn't quite expecting that. It has been a wonderful experience, though. She has not had any nervousness or anxiety about a new teacher, new class or making new friends. They were able to get right to work and are already accomplishing so much. She is growing into this real person. She has such strong opinions, such an amazing sense of humor. We knock heads so much I am already scared to pieces thinking about the teenage years, they certainly won't be pretty... but I just love the way her mind grows by leaps and bounds. She is so smart and soaking things up like a sponge. What amazes me most about Erin is that she loves to learn for the sake of learning. She seems to just seek out knowledge and enjoy the information. She is truly interested in everything. New things intrigue her. Be it math facts or ways to solve them or stories about historical characters or how things work. Animals are always a favorite and anything on the animal planet channel or National Geographic (even the disgusting stuff) has her instantly enthralled!

Then there is Haley, my little love. She is having a wonderful time in Pre-K. She is in the Giraffe room this year and has made some new friends, but is also enjoying the old friends she has been with since she was 10 months old. Her schedule this year gives her class time in the imaginarium every day, which is like your birthday and Christmas rolled into one in the eyes of a 4 year old. Add to this a visit from mom mom a few days a week when she stops in on her way to and from the gym at the center, and school is just heavenly. On top of that, her Cheerleading class from last year is in session again, so she get to be a Pee Wee Team cheerleader! But she is so stinking cute! It is the one phrase that comes to mind every time you mention Haley to someone.. she is so darn cute! Haley is such a love. She is sensitive, considerate of others feelings and tries to please people. She wants everyone to be happy. What makes me the happiest is that she still loves to snuggle. She so often comes up to Ira or I just for a hug or a kiss. The real kind, not the obligatory kind. The kind where she climbs into your lap and really snuggles in and wraps her little arms all the way around. It melts your heart. Her smile just makes you want to hold her like that forever... or at least until she starts pinching you and poking and doing something silly, which is what always happens. She does have that wicked sense of humor. That is what makes her so perfect I suppose.