Embracing

My dear friend says that the beginning of every season is her favorite.

So true, so true!

I don't even want to speak the words (so I'll type them)...

I'm over summer.

Fall is knocking on our door.

Yesterday, Henry's hippotherapy session with his NEW therapist went well.
She had him just a waving to me...

they sang songs...

Ms. Kelly had Henry command Tiger to STOP and GO...

and of course, Henry had to give Tiger lotsa rubs (all enjoyed).

Guess I was nervous about the therapist change...

and was so relieved that it all went well...

when lil' mister came out, yelled MOMMY and jumped into my arms...

I started crying.

Ms. Kelly must have really thought I was the nut job! Sheesh!

It really is amazing to see how far my little man has come.

One year ago he wasn't speaking and wouldn't look when his name was called.

Very emotional to see daily changes.

Anywhoo...Henry jumped into my arms and said EAT! HA!

*****
Speaking of eating...

Good grief! I'm still cooking up a storm....my waist and thighs thank you Ree! Ugh!

Just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Gluten free.

Frozen cookie dough from Whole Foods.

Genius!

And for dinner?

Like I said...moving into fall, so chili it is!

I'm going to have the girls help me make soft pretzels when they come home from school! MMM!

And guess what?

Henry asked if we could stop by Home Goods on our way home from hippotherapy!

(Okay, I guess I can't blame him for everything!)

I purchased a few fall looking loves.

I'm liking the change.

Side note: My great grandmother's chest.

Yep, it's really beat up...scratched...and my momma says I need to have it refinished.

But, I keep saying that all of those marks have a story.

Even if I don't know what any of the stories are!

Fall, yes you are knocking on my door...

and I'm embracing you...

letting you in.

Maybe you can eat all of this food I've been cooking!

Eating Up Family Time

It's all about having fun...

getting dirty...

filthy...

but there are always smiles...
jumbo pixie stix seem to add to the delight.

Just enjoying family time.

Loving weekends when we are all home together.

Just our little creative family.

Sweet Laney's free spirit attire.

And Emily's fun artwork...
(Yes, I may grow fangs and horns when I am mad, but no bare midriff for this momma!)


Time together as a family...
very precious.

Because I know that my three little ones will just get busier and more independent as they grow.

So, I'm enjoying every little moment with them.

*****

And when the weekend is over...

and Jon is back to work...

and the girls are in school,

Henry and I have our time.

Today we cooked.

Okay, he played with his TOY STORY friends while I cooked.

Much earlier this morning, while exercising, I watched this gal.

Have you watched?

Made me hungry...

so I prepared dinner this afternoon.

(So I can just enjoy the girls when they get home...instead of running around...trying to do too many things at once.)

The outcome... we are having egg/sausage casserole and cinnamon rolls for dinner.
Oh and this...

peach crisp over ice cream.

Since all of the above doesn't have enough calories or fat in it.

Cheers Monday!

Kick It!

We started our weekend off with a family treat.

One of my best friend's hubs is the Purdue Women's Soccer coach.

First home game of the season...

we were there!

Jon's sister and her girls came too!

So did our friend, Lacey and her two kiddos!

All of the lil peeps were stoked to see Purdue Pete!

Emily made signs the night before...
so the players could sign them after the game!

One of my favorites...one of the lefty players telling Laney how cool and amazing lefties are (Laney and I are lefties!)

Cousin Madison, Laney, Emily and Cousin Megan...so excited to have the players sign!
While the girls got autographs...

Jon got some tips from the assistant coach, EO!

We all love EO...especially Emily, because they are about the same size! Ha! So sweet!

Then hubs got some more great coaching advice from Coach Rob!
Last year, I have pix of Emily doing cartwheels in the middle of the soccer field.

This year...crawling?! with Coach Rob's son, Aspen!

Takoda...first Purdue game!

He was pumped to see his daddy coach!

My bestie, Alyssa, and me.

Everyone had a great time...

and you know what?

The kids played so much better at their own soccer games on Saturday morning!

I'm seeing more Purdue soccer games in our future!

Ahh-Choo To The Weekend

Late summer...

oh, I can feel the transition into fall.

Morning cardigans due to crisp air

and evening sunsets just a bit earlier.

And just this morning...

sneezing every 2 seconds.

Don't know if I am having hot flashes or just get sweaty from all the sneezing.

Ahhh...late summer...and RAGWEED!

But, I'm bucking up.

My body is full of Allegra, nasal spray and Mucinex-D.

(Still going through a box of tissue a day...

anyone have a cure-all?)

Bucking up because it's the WEEKEND!
Can't wait to have my girls home!
Can't wait to maybe spend a wee bit more time in jammies!

Oh ya, that's right...late summer is here...

can't wait to make some peach cobbler outta these babies...

fresh from Michigan!

(Thanks to Jon's parents!)

Ohhhh....can't wait to get this weekend started!
We have some family fun planned!

Even if I have both nostrils stuffed with tissue!

Happy weekend, everyone!

About Us

Back to School Time...doing some ABOUT ME projects!
Big Sister spent a lot of time last weekend creating.

Proud of the outcome!

And lil' sister is getting the hang of kindergarten.

Her favorite times? Recess and when she sees her sister!

And lil' bro...embracing hippotherapy!

Waving to his horse, Zippy!

And one of his favorite choices...swinging!

Yep, we're all on the climb up!

Exciting!

But, we do have our moments.

Em hurt her foot at recess yesterday.

A hole in her foot and it still had asphalt in it. Ewww!

Laney then ran into a pole at recess.

Big goose egg on her forehead!

So, bandaged up today,

and in the best tennis shoes and socks!

While they are hopefully boo boo free,

We are a little scattered around here at home.

Had all my carpets cleaned today.

No furniture in some rooms...

And my kitchen is the make-shift living room, office, etc.

Haven't had enough of me?

Here's the ABC's of moi:

A: Age: 37 (thought I was 35 all last year! Oops!)

B. Boogie down to: 60' s music

C. chore you hate: folding clothes

D. dogs: Sacco (a rescued greyhound)

E. Essential start to your day: Get ready before the kids get up...and coffee!

F. Favorite color: green, but I'm loving orange at the moment!

G. Go to meal: Tacos

H. Hair: this please!

I. Ideas you are thinking of: artwork and Halloween costumes

J. Job title: mom, cleaning lady, gourmet chef, taxi driver, artist

K. kids: Emily, Laney and Henry (human)...Sacco, Puffy, George (furry)

L. Live: Indiana

M. Middle name: Dawn (yep, I'm from the hippy era)

N. Nickname: ---

O. Overnight hospital stays: 3...with babies

P. Pet Peeve: Slow peeps. I'm quite impatient!

Q. Quote: There are no rules when it comes to art.

R. Righty or Lefty: Lefty! But I play sports as a righty.

S. Siblings: My sister, Andee, is 4 years older.

T. Time you wake up: 5:30am ...hello treadmill!

U. University attended: Purdue

V: Veggie you love: tomatoes...fresh off the vine!

W. Wildest Dream: I would love to be able to talk to animals!

X: X-rays had: ---

Y: Yummy food: pizza, any time. Red licorice!

Z. Zoo animal favorite: All of them...I'm the one who wants to set them all free. Come on over to my house!

Soccer Saturday

Soccer season officially started for each girl...8:30am Saturday!

Jon's sister (Coach Suzanne) getting Laney revved up for her first game of the season!
(Yep, this is who Laney gets her blonde from!...and Jon's mom and grandma too!)

Laney and Cousin Madison...getting their game on!

No score keeping for Laney's age group, but I think the Blue Smurfs (snazzy team name, eh?) dominated!
Once Laney's game was over, we threw our chairs over to the next field where Emily's team was still playing.

My lil' quick step in action! (Too bad her momma STINKS at action shots!)

Em's age group had goalies and refs.

Cousin Megan...lucky lady got some goalie time!

The team did great!

A few friends coached the other team.

And one of their team members said they "smoked" us. Ha!

Oh, did I mention that Coach Jon (AKA hubs) is coaching Em's team...4th year now.
He gets pretty excited though.

He has to stay on the sidelines in this age group.

He paces.

He gets quite into it.

And I have a ball just watching HIM!

Fun Saturday.

Again, we took down the a sideline for our own family. Yep, our family travels in packs!

And after the game?

Aunt Suzanne brought Oreos for the little ones.

We let Henry have his first oreo since the beginning of June.

His response?

Mmmmmm! Cookie good!

Our first Soccer Saturday out of many more to come!

Gonna be a kickin'' season!

School: One Week Down

When I was in elementary school, I would often ask to go to the restroom.
Because, at the end of the hallway, through closed doors, right outside the bathroom doors, were waist to ceiling windows. And what I saw when I looked out those windows was priceless: The tree tops of MY trees...in MY yard...shading MY house, where MY mom was probably folding warm laundry, while sneaking a peek at All My Children. To see the tops of my trees made me smile. It was my comfort. I needed that piece of home, even if it was at a glance.

Well, sheesh...the girls have had one full week of school under their belts now. And I think Laney has a bit of me in her. Home is comfort, and even though school is nice and fine...she may have a dull ache for home. I feel for her, but I just have to suck it up and show her my enthusiasm, even though I am hurting more than she will ever know.

Yes, I've had a horrible week. It's hard having the girls gone all day. I feel heavier, probably due to the amounts of tears that I'm keeping inside. But, they do come out at the strangest times. No, of course, not around the kids. My heart aches and I feel sad. It all comes down to this...change. I don't like it, and it takes me a while to melt into it. It will be fine once I do though.


So, the girls are off in the morning and come home all happy about their days.
Yes, it gives me the most wonderful time with this guy. Just us, and I think it's huge. This guy...the one who sings his ABC's all the time, cheers Dora on, telling her YOU DID IT! This guy who for the first time today told his daddy I LOVE YOU. This guy who absolutely adores Buzz and Woody...plays with anything Toy Story! This is my guy.
And my 13 year old...oh how she misses the girls. But, she does enjoy her quiet naps when Henry is down too. She's always quick to cuddle on my lap when I sit...and always comes to comfort when I cry.


And I spend a little more time with my outside friends too. (Now that the girls are gone, I've added a lunch menu for my critter friends!) A few months ago, this little one came here as a bitty babe. Now it's ready to tackle the world on it's own. (And with the help of my lunch meal too!)

Yes, my girls are up and ready each day. Today was no exception. I've been walking Laney into her classroom every morning. Today she wanted to take baby. She wouldn't let her go.
As we walked to her classroom, I asked Laney if I could take baby for the day. I thought baby would enjoy a nice day in town with Henry and me. I talked up quite a day for baby. And baby wanted to go with me to pick out Laney's special gift. A gift that Jon and I agreed on if Laney had a nice first week. In the end, baby was willingly handed over, and my girl went off to class with a smile. Yep, I do think baby had a nice day: car ride, family lunch with Jon, Henry and me, and of course, picking out Laney's new Justin Bieber barbie.
When we got home from school, I showed these pix to Laney. She loved them...and screamed in delight when she saw the JB pix!

Do I think I spoil my kids with unnecessary things? Yes. Do I worry about it? Yes. But, here's my thoughts...
1. Life is very short.
2. It goes by soooo fast.
3. You don't get any do-overs.

No, Laney did not need the barbie. No, Emily did not need the markers. No, they did not need the $5 movie.
I remember when I was little, I would walk home from school and my mom would be out in the yard, waiting for me. I loved going inside, especially on grocery days. All of the groceries were all over the kitchen, except for the perishables, which she always promptly put away. Seeing my mom, my home...it was so alive and cheery. (Except for the time that I came home to a black kitchen...small kitchen fire, but my mom didn't skip a beat and seemed not to keep her from a nice after school welcome.) So....all of these little gifts for my kids, yes...unnecessary, but it makes me feel alive, and I want them to have the same warm welcome as I did when I came home from school. It doesn't matter if I make homemade apple cinnamon/chocolate chip cake or place store bought chocolate chip cookies on a plate...

I'm pretty sure it makes my kids happy, feel comfort and love. And some day they will know that I try my hardest.

All in all, change is happening and we are all adjusting to it in our own ways, in our own time. And in the end, it will all be fine. I am THAT mom who cries a lot and well, I'm okay with it. I'm okay with doing everything I can for my children because these days will soon be gone, and my babies will be grown. Why not seize this opportunity?

Off to spend some time loving on my kiddos. It's the weekend! And goodness, we are gonna enjoy!!!!!

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GRAND WEEKEND!