2009 According to Facebook

I participated in this little application on Facebook that pulls a random samplings of your status updates and puts them into a collage like this:

I love this!  This past year I've kind of felt like Facebook has been a journal of my life.  While I rarely have time to write daily in a journal, or jot down the cute-isms that my oldest has spouted this past year (a friend recently called them Nate-isms), it seems I always have a second to update my status or send an update via text to my Facebook account.  Some people probably got annoyed at my daily ramblings and quotes from a three-year-old (albeit a rather witty three-year-old, if I do say so myself!) but I found it cathartic.  At least I know these thoughts and the little things I might forget otherwise are logged somewhere.  And I was able to share them with people, get positive reactions and share a smile or two with my friends.  I intend to go in and make a couple of these specific to each of the boys to put in their baby books.  It's a clever little thing...

Merry Christmas to all...

...and to all a good night!

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas, full of wonder and joy...family and friends...magic and spirit...

Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday

Nature's Playdoh

As I forecast here...Winter has (finally) arrived!

 Just when it seemed we might see temperatures in the 50s right through Christmas, Mother Nature came through for us and delivered a fresh white blanket of beautiful snow to cover up the brown landscape Autumn had left behind after her departure.

 

Unfortunately, the fascination doesn't last long as adults.  We quickly start griping about the hazards and tedious chores that come along with this winter wonderland.  However this year, I hope to hold on to that wonderment a little longer than usual - To see the beauty beneath the black ice and snow drifts.

It's amazing how the miserable scraping and snow brushing and the dreaded winter driving can be so easily transformed into joy when a three-year-old runs to the window on a snowy morning and exclaims, "Yeah!  It's WINTER, Christmas is coming!!!"

 

Wordless Wednesday

Overstuffed

My plate is OVERFLOWING these days.  Not much unlike anyone else's I know this time of the year.  But I feel like my potatoes and my meat are all getting squished together and my beans are falling off onto the table.  It's a mess.

My life, my home and my mind is in a constant state of chaos.

It should be telling to say that I got notification that my Women's Day subscription (a magazine I've been getting for some time, for unknown reasons, that would be interesting to read if I had time but instead has been piling up, un-perused, since I started receiving them) is up for renewal and I was thrilled.  The expiration notice I received via email actually brought a flash of relief and instead of saying "Oh, drat!" (which I wouldn't say anyway, but whatever...), I exclaimed (out loud, which probably looked odd since I was sitting in my office, alone, with only my computer), "Thank God!".

Why would receiving such news bring such joy?  Why would one rejoice at notification that money was due or that something was being discontinued?  Simply put, because it's one less thing.  One less thing to sort, one less thing to stress about (yes, I stress about such things), and one less thing to deal with, store, and eventually dispose of.

I've previously made reference to my stress about stuff and my desire to simplify my life, as well.  This magazine subscription expiry is a natural, unsolicited blessing.  Thank God for small blessings.  Now if only my Christmas cards would address themselves, my presents would magically be wrapped, and my house would somehow clean itself in preparation for Holiday guests, I'd be less stuffed and more relaxed.  There's always the 1st of the new year for relaxing....HA!

Wordless Wednesday

I ♥ Faces...Sweet Dreams

I ♥ Faces is having their weekly photo challenge with this week's theme being Sweet Dreams. I have hundreds of photos of my boys sleeping and would love to share one of those with you but my hard drive that houses all of my photos has crashed so I am somewhat limited. I was able to find this shot of my youngest, Alex.  I took this when he was two days old and comfortably snuggled up on my chest after feeding.  I was able to catch one of those priceless content grins (gas?) which certainly looks like he was having sweet dreams, to me!

Be sure to head over to I ♥ Faces to check out some other beautiful shots of peaceful slumber!

Silver Lining

You know the saying..."Every cloud has a silver lining".  It comes from an old proverb often quoted to remind us of the hope and promise that lays even in the darkest clouds in life.  How true it is!
 

Lately I have been obsessed with the clouds and Autumn skies that have graced our area.  It's generally gray and dreary around these parts once the gorgeous leaves fall from the trees and the cold winter blows in.  So I've been extremely grateful for the gorgeous colors, textures and dimensions found simply by looking up.  Some days it's just a layering of various grays but the sun that tries to peak through or the way the different clouds come together is just beautiful.  It's like a painting I wish I could reach out and touch.

With this recent obsession with the sky, comes an uncontrollable urge to capture this beauty with my camera so all the photos here are of actual skies I have witnessed (usually during my drive to or from work).  I apologize for the quality of these photos as they are all taken with my cell phone and I assure you 95% of them were taken while standing still at stop lights or in traffic.  (I live in the City and therefore stop a LOT en route to just about anywhere.) 

There are a ton more where these came from but they seemed too pretty NOT to share!  Next time you're having a dreary day, just look up.  It works for me!

Wordless Wednesday

I ♥ Faces...We ♥ Tooshies

Ok, so I already posted once tonight about my being short on time but I have the perfect picture for this week's challenge over at I ♥ Faces so I had to post again.  Check out their website for many more adorable shots and tooshies galore!  

The theme is : We ♥ Tooshies

(You may remember this photo from this previous Wordless Wednesday post)

Hourglass

Have you ever played a board game where the object is to do something quickly or see how much of something you can do in a specified amount of time?  Perfection, Scattegories, Outburst, Pictionary.  You know the kind, where there is usually a timer clicking away while you try to think or an ominous looking hour glass pouring sand from one hemisphere to another...taunting you to go faster,   f a s t e r,   f  a  s  t  e  r, before you

                         run

                                       out

                                                      of 

                                                                     time!!!

Fun stuff, right?  The stress, the pressure.  Seriously it is fun, when it's a game.  But I think those games were loosely based on my life.

I feel as if every day starts with an hour glass being flipped over and as the day goes on, the sand seems to fall faster and faster and faster until *poof* it's midnight and I have to get to bed so I can get my 6 hours of sleep and start the next day.  Invariably the list I had in my head - the to do list I wanted to tackle for the day - never gets finished because I ran out of time.  So the next day starts with another flip of the hour glass and a modified to do list that gets longer and longer with added leftovers from the day before.

And so on, and so forth.

It's never ending.  Especially this time of year when the days are even shorter and the to do list is even longer.

Anybody up for a game of Boggle?

92%

I did it! I passed this self-imposed "test" of participating in NaBloPoMo!  I'm so happy and proud (and a little relieved!) to have made it!

Today is the last day of the month and I successfully managed to post 29 out of 30 days in November, making me 92% successful in this NaBloPoMo endeavor I agreed to take on just one short month ago.  (I'm still kicking myself for forgetting day one, or for not even remembering that November had started, for that matter!)

So, now what?

Good question.

Should I keep up the good (?) work?  Should I take some time off?

I'll be honest.  I really enjoyed the challenge.  It was a LOT easier than I thought it would be.  If anything it forced me to complete and publish some thoughts that had remained unfinished and fragmented.  It gave me an opportunity (good or bad for you, the reader) to share some (more!) photos of my precious boys.  And it allowed me the chance to feel accomplished, having completed (ok, so almost completed...) something that I set out to do.

Finishing something feels good.  But that's not entirely like me, if you will.  For you see, I'm a putterer . I dabble.  I stick my toe in to test the waters, but rarely do I ever actually go in.  I get on random kicks but never see these projects through to completion before my fleeting interests and attentions move on.  I have a basement of half-finished interests to prove it - cross-stitch patterns started and forgotten, scrapbooks neglected half way through the year it was created to memorialize, even exercise equipment I vowed I would use that now holds up a pile of boxes in the basement.

So to have completed this task I set out to accomplish (ok, so ALMOST completed) feels good.  It makes me want to keep going.  It encourages me, even in the smallest way, that I can do it.  I can finish something if I set my mind to it.  It doesn't hurt that it was fun and I got to write about stuff I love (my kids) and things that come easily to mind (my random thoughts).

I thank you for coming a long with me while I participated on this journey.  And thank you for not judging me for only getting a 92%.  At least it's still an 'A'.  I'll take it.     

Inside your head...

Oh, my dear Nathaniel.  I wish I could live inside your head for just 5 minutes.  It must be a fantastic wonderland of fun, great adventure, and daring escapades.

I sit here watching you enveloped in your imagination and it fascinates me.  Dressed as Batman (complete with cape and mask) you have built an intricate roadway using matchbox tracks, your Little Tykes chairs and table, your beloved boo bankie, and our couch.  This roadway surely must lead to grand places.  Along the way there are perilous valleys, treacherous construction sites, and even an armed alien road block.  The town and community being constructed around me is nothing short of amazing.  Race tracks, airports, even a school bus to take visitors and tourists to their destinations.  I believe you have utilized every spare part from every last toy in your bedroom to create this masterpiece.  You have just finished repairing a broken down car and filling it with gas and have moved on to loading the townspeople into an airplane to transport them to the big car races.  I can only imagine where your creativeness will take you next!  

Every day your world entertains me.  The stories you tell, the costumes you invent, the characters you become, and the adventures you animatedly act out are captivating.  It thrills me to watch you as you turn an ordinary paper into a pirate treasure map or a precious ticket aboard the Polar Express.  Our regular, common chair has been known to be the scene of more than one dangerous storm that has thrown captains to danger in the choppy unforgiving sea.  Bumps in the night quickly become big furry monsters or ghosts looking for you to be hiding under cover of darkness.  But these aren't scary monsters and ghosts, for you have no fear of such things.  You find them exciting and love to chase these "gi-gan-tuck (gigantic) monsters" and hide from "pooky (spooky) ghosts".  Even at the ripe, mature age of three-and-a-half, you will lean over to your baby brother when he starts to tear up and whimper during our games and whisper, "Don't be scared, A-yex (Alex), they won't get you!  I'll pwo-teck (protect) you!"

Man, I love this stage and hope it never ends.  I never tire of the adventures we have.  I hope to always be your partner in crime as we ward off fire-breathing dragons, ride our horses into the sunset, rescue fairy princesses, and hide from furry blue tickle monsters.  I take my newly dubbed title of "Captain Mommy" and I wear it proudly.  You make me proud, dear Bug, and I thank you for living so freely, for loving life with the openness and vigor that you do, and for reminding me of the little important things through the innocent eyes of childhood.  


*I apologize for having yet another post with no pictures.  I even took some of Nathaniel's grand village but am having hard drive issues that prevent me from sharing them at this time.  (just in time for Christmas cards, perfect timing, huh?!?)  I promise I will make up for it!