And we're off to a week at the lake

It's quarter to three, my husband will be home in approximately 45 minutes, and open bags and boxes remain scattered about the house in half-packed states. The kids are in the backyard with round two of freezies- one's screaming about something I can't understand, and the other's yelling, "You can't have this!" I'm trying to pretend I didn't just hear the the third moving around in her crib upstairs and convincing myself she'll go back to sleep.

It's funny how a week at the lake sounds so relaxing utnil you start preparing for it. I always get this notion that we're somehow going to starve out there- therefore I find myself packing enough food to get us through a month just in case, you know. Let's also not forget the fact that we're a whole fifteen minutes out of town and that my husband will need to come in for work four of the seven days we're out there. So, technically if we were to run out of something crucial, like... oh, let's say hotdogs, chances are we wouldn't need to wait too long to restock our supply. Nevertheless, I go on putting in extra kool-aid packets and a summer's worth of freezies in the food box because- gasp!- what would we do if we ran clear out? Hate to run out of sugar-loaded treats for those youngsters. It is a bummer when they don't have enough high-fructose corn syrup pumping through their veins.

My other downfall is packing too much clothes. Maybe it will be hot- like really hot- and then again, maybe it we will have to deal with record-low temps so everything from tank tops to sweatshirts (and I'm seriously considering winter jackets) comes along. Truthfully we've had weeks where we've seen it all so this one comes more from neccessity living where we do. I've learned to scale back a little and we usually end up washing things out in the sauna halfway through the week... and that works well. Still, I have this problem with trying to be overprepared.

Just got a call from my hubby who will be a little late. Perfect. Buys me a little more time to make/consume a cup of coffee and scramble like mad to finish stuffing things in boxes and piling it into the van. The only thing that's keeping me going right now is the thought of the Jodi Picoult novel I found at the library earlier. It's tucked safely inside my bag along with some Christmas stocking projects I hope to get a start on while I'm chasing my still-crawling 17 month old through the dirt and trying to keep her off the road... Uh, I mean. Ahem. While I'm sitting with my feet up enjoying a clear blue sky and the laughter of happy children playing in the sand.

Let the vacation begin!

Monday Morning

Well, after a fun and busy Fourth of July weekend with family I'm enjoying the quiet that a summer Monday morning brings. My kids finally got to sleep in this morning after a few late nights. They- and I- needed it. I'm feeling well rested.

I think after I get my fill of sitting around with my feet up- or when the coffee finally runs out- I'll get busy wading through the mess that's left from a whirlwind weekend of running back and forth to the camp. As my husband was getting ready for work this morning I head him say something along the lines of Could you please wash socks today? So, among other things laundry is high on my list today. The sky above me is gray right now, but I'm hoping that doesn't mean rain so I can utilize my still relatively new clotheslines.

I also need to get back to the studying today. It got put aside all weekend and my boards are quickly approaching. My husband passed his last week which has me really anxious to get them over with so I can quit thinking about them. It's always on the back of my mind these days.

Okay, one more cup of coffee and then I'm off to regaining some control around the masses of mess.

Enjoy your Monday!

Grace, Coordination, and all those other myths

So, I got a little overexcited to go for a walk the other day, Monday, with my niece, her son, my sister, and my kids. We were rounding up the troops to go- changing out of swimsuits, locating strollers, up righting bikes, tying laces. And I went running back upstairs for something, came flying back downstairs in far too much a hurry... and proceeded to slide on a blanket that was left on the steps and catapult myself right over the baby gate at the bottom of the steps. (I had a dream about running hurdles last night, something I've never done in real life, and I wonder now if there could be some correlation here?!)

Anyways, I've never been known for my gracefulness. Did I ever mention I once ran right into a tree with thorns and got a thorn stuck right in the middle of my forehead? Or how once when I was fishing I threw the whole rod in the water? Or how about the time I chipped my tooth on a necklace?

So, back to me flying through mid-air over the gate. As you can well imagine it did not end in a graceful leap in which I landed on two feet, straightened my shirt, blinked, and said, "Phew. That was close." Nah, right in character with me, it was more like a thrashing pile of arms and legs with an awfully loud crackling noise in my ankle that instantly made me feel like fainting. Turns out it wasn't broken or anything- just sprained, to my surprise- but I spent the better part of Monday evening and Tuesday on the couch with an ice pack draped over my ankle and the fan blasting in my face.

Ah, fun. At least it's not broken. At least I'm walking a little less awkwardly this morning. I keep thinking maybe it will teach me to slow down, but I'm not convinced. I think when you're accident-prone it's just they way you'll always be. No matter how much you 'grow up'. And, the thing is, I look at my kids and I think... Oh, Jack... You got it coming. I see so much of my clumsy self in him that it makes me cringe to think of how many bangs and bumps he might encounter over his life. When you don't have grace, you just can't help it and let's just say his coordination (uh, lack of) mirrors mine in so many ways.

Anyways, looks like the sun is going to shine today. #3 is already back for a nap because she obviously woke up too early and could do nothing but complain from the time I lifted her out of her crib till the time I set her back in. #1 and #2 are happily coloring on the floor- content with some quiet time before the start of another warm, sunny, busy summer day.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Lydiaisms

* The other day Lydia was coloring a picture of a traffic cop directing students. She got to the man's moustache and she looks at me somewhat puzzled and asks, "Mom, what color should I do his beak?"

* With the other two in bed one evening, Lydia was prolonging her bedtime snack by acting silly. She told me she could do a "boy voice". Okay, let's hear it. She was suddenly overcome with giggles and throwing her head back she said, "Just wait, Mom. My tummy is too full of laughs right now!" (She did proceed to lower her voice and say hi which made her fall into another fit of giggles.)

* Lately she's been into searching for infinite answers... Such as... What's taller than me? What's taller than the ceiling? What's taller than the next ceiling (on the second floor)? What's taller than the roof? What's taller than the chimney? And so on, and so forth. Each time you answer, she challenges you.

This girl keeps me thinking, that's for sure. And laughing as well. The things kids come up with are sometimes so far beyond the scope of what we actually see. As adults we tend to think a lot in black and white while kids are more likely to go outside the lines we've set up for ourselves. Our answers are how they learn from us, but their questions are how we learn from them.

MISSING

LOST: A good amount of sanity

LAST SEEN: Date unknown, has been spotted here and there approximately sometime in the past few years or so

SUSPECTED REASON FOR LOSS: Could be directly related to, but not limited by: spilled milk at every meal, mud tracked over a mopped floor, rainy winter-like days in June, whiney kids who desperately need but refuse to take a nap, fingers slammed in bedroom doors and toddlers emptying out garbage cans. Might have also been lost due to: sticky popsicles melting on the kitchen table, tripping over toys spread from one end of the house to the other, and kids calling each other names like, "babysockyblueah!" and then listening to the victim whine about being called something so cruel.

DESCRIPTION OF LOSS: Also known as: a quiet moment, a cup of coffee disguised as relaxation, a pair of earphones carrying peaceful tunes into my head. Looks like a blue sky with blushing white clouds or a sunset bleeding over a still lake. Often seen in field of wildflowers or a white sand beach in the middle of a summer afternoon. Known to be found in a good book, the company of a caring friend, the words of an understanding mother, and a bear hug from a little child.

IF SPOTTED: Take a moment and don't let it pass by without connecting to it. Soak it in, close your eyes, and just be there. Because chances are, by the time you open your eyes you'll see it slipping away again in the form of your child in the backyard uprooting all the flowers you just planted.

Gum anyone?

My littlest is at that age in which it seems we never make it through a Sunday without one of us taking her out of church. Today she was her usual self: standing on the bench, making faces at the people behind her, sprawling on the bench, kicking her brother... and a new thing for her- chewing gum. Yeeup. I have come to the conclusion that whoever invented gum obviously never had kids. And this mother that continues to buy her kids gum and give it to them in church on Sunday morning obviously needs a mental examination. (Now might also be a good time to mention the fact that this very same mom willingly bought a bubble gum machine from a garage sale a few weeks ago, filled it up, and set it up in the kitchen corner. Come to find out the thing is broken. Which means you don't have to put money in to get a piece of gum out. In fact if you breathe within a three foot radius of the thing, out tumbles a handful of gumballs- much to my kid's excitement.)

Anyways, back to this morning. So there she was, chomping her gum with her four front teeth (that's all the poor girl has), blowing snot bubbles out of her nose at the people behind us thinking everyone was focused on her. I'm sure the girls behind us were so impressed with her unique talents. Especially the point where she picked up a songbook and pitched it right at those girls to which I spun around, mouthed Sorry! and hastily grabbed up all remaining songbooks within her reach.

Nearing the end of the first sermon she decided to lean back over the bench and spit her gum out on the floor. I looked back to see where it landed and there was one of those girls holding out the chewed up gum between her forefinger and her thumb with a slightly grossed out expression on her face. I humbly accepted the gum, gave another apologetic glance, and quickly sent Hannah over to my husband who scooped her up and headed out.

Flash forward a few minutes to halftime... er, uh... to the song and Jack needs a drink of water. So I bring him out for water and as we're getting back to the bench where we're sitting I notice he's crying. My gum! he sputters. So... I glance at the floor, find no gum in sight and realize now I need to retrace our steps to the drinking fountain to find another chewed up wad of gum- all the while hoping I don't encounter someone along the way with a puzzled expression and a string of gum attached to the bottom of their shoe and the floor.

Anyways, the gum was located, Ryan left again with Hannah sometime during the second sermon and the rest of us amazingly managed to keep our gum in our mouths. Whew.

Congrats Grads!

Remember graduating from high school? The buzzing excitement pulsating through your veins, the open-air feeling of freedom, decorating cars, counting down to the last seconds of high school, the hoarse voice and nasty cold that came along with all the late nights and all-nighters?

I'd like to wish my niece and nephew, M and D, a Happy Graduation Day! I can clearly recall these two as little kids- can it really be they are all grown up now? Two little kids that were just jumping on the trampoline in the backyard at my parent's house. Playing with brighthly colored tubes in the river at the camp, twirling sparklers on the fourth of July. And, yet now they are on their own, ready to move on with the next segment of their lives.

Still, I see two little kids smiling with no reservation, shining from within. Then I look at their graduation pictures, hanging on my fridge and see the adults they have become. Yet if I squint my eyes just right, I see the familiar faces of yesterday- two wonderful kids ready to gather all the experiences that await them like stones plucked from a stream.

I don't have any words of wisdom to instill upon this year's graduating seniors except: keep your head on your shoulders and always remember where you come from. The rest should be a breeze.

Enjoy this time, M and D! Congratulations, you made it, your future is waiting!