Dear Pinterest Commentator,

Thank you for sharing your opinion - "thats disgusting.  please stop ruining the world for our daughters." on my pinboard (pin pictured right.).  While I appreciate the fact that you are standing up for "our daughters," maybe you should worry more about how you're raising your own daughter and less about how I'm raising mine.

This quote is to motivate ME. This is not a quote that I would put on a post-it note on my daughter's bathroom mirror in the morning to motivate HER. I will not motivate her to be skinny.  I will, however, motivate her to be healthy. I will motivate her to be confident in herself, to accept that she has flaws, but then don't we all? I will motivate her to work with those flaws and not let them define her, but rather, enhance her. I will motivate her to enjoy running outside, to love chasing a volleyball, and to laugh when riding a bike as much as I will motivate her to read books, to study science, and to do well on her math tests.

I can't shield her from everything and I can't mother everyone else's daughters. I can only give her the tools to stand up for herself and also, I hope, to stand up for others. I can tell her that not all girls are pretty on the inside and to be careful when choosing a friend, but that sometimes you have to learn those hard lessons on your own. And I will be there to listen to her when someone else's daughter tells her that her voice is squeaky or her cheeks are too round or her hair is stringy or that she's too slow and too short to play volleyball. I will be there to motivate her to look past the mean things that someone else's daughter spewed in her direction. I will empower her to rise above and, in the face of meanness, offer kindness instead. I will teach her that doing the right thing is not always the easy thing. I will tell her that it's okay to fall down seven times as long as she stands up eight.

So, thank you for bringing to my attention that some mothers are not really very good at mothering. I am not one of them.

As for me, I am motivated when I read this quote. I realize that healthy and skinny are not always synonymous.  I realize that I will not ever be considered skinny; I would like to be considered healthy, though.  So, when I read this quote, I am motivated to rise above the ice cream craving or the potato chips in the pantry.  I am motivated to take off another 25 pounds and 25 more after that.  I lived a hard decade and I grew a human and it's evident in my waist line and my hips and my bum. Does wanting to get rid of that excess make me a bad person?  I don't think so.  I think proves that I'd like to be around to protect my children from the world, to pick them up when they fall, to motivate them to be more than they thought they could be and remind them that they are prefect just as they are. I can't do that for very long if I stay the weight I am, my life expectancy will not allow it. I can do it as a healthy person.

I will do it as a healthy person.  And I will motivate myself as I see fit.

Sincerely,

Heather.

Thank you for sharing your opinion - "thats disgusting.  please stop ruining the world for our daughters." on my pinboard (pin pictured right.).  While I appreciate the fact that you are standing up for "our daughters," maybe you should worry more about how you're raising your own daughter and less about how I'm raising mine.

This quote is to motivate ME. This is not a quote that I would put on a post-it note on my daughter's bathroom mirror in the morning to motivate HER. I will not motivate her to be skinny.  I will, however, motivate her to be healthy. I will motivate her to be confident in herself, to accept that she has flaws, but then don't we all? I will motivate her to work with those flaws and not let them define her, but rather, enhance her. I will motivate her to enjoy running outside, to love chasing a volleyball, and to laugh when riding a bike as much as I will motivate her to read books, to study science, and to do well on her math tests.

I can't shield her from everything and I can't mother everyone else's daughters. I can only give her the tools to stand up for herself and also, I hope, to stand up for others. I can tell her that not all girls are pretty on the inside and to be careful when choosing a friend, but that sometimes you have to learn those hard lessons on your own. And I will be there to listen to her when someone else's daughter tells her that her voice is squeaky or her cheeks are too round or her hair is stringy or that she's too slow and too short to play volleyball. I will be there to motivate her to look past the mean things that someone else's daughter spewed in her direction. I will empower her to rise above and, in the face of meanness, offer kindness instead. I will teach her that doing the right thing is not always the easy thing. I will tell her that it's okay to fall down seven times as long as she stands up eight.

So, thank you for bringing to my attention that some mothers are not really very good at mothering. I am not one of them.

As for me, I am motivated when I read this quote. I realize that healthy and skinny are not always synonymous.  I realize that I will not ever be considered skinny; I would like to be considered healthy, though.  So, when I read this quote, I am motivated to rise above the ice cream craving or the potato chips in the pantry.  I am motivated to take off another 25 pounds and 25 more after that.  I lived a hard decade and I grew a human and it's evident in my waist line and my hips and my bum. Does wanting to get rid of that excess make me a bad person?  I don't think so.  I think proves that I'd like to be around to protect my children from the world, to pick them up when they fall, to motivate them to be more than they thought they could be and remind them that they are prefect just as they are. I can't do that for very long if I stay the weight I am, my life expectancy will not allow it. I can do it as a healthy person.

I will do it as a healthy person.  And I will motivate myself as I see fit.

Sincerely,

Heather.

Cousins

We are wrapping up a whirlwind weekend in Kansas City.  It felt a little strange to be back after 5 months and driving down familiar roads.  The weather is beautiful and I know that it will stay this way for at least another 2 months.  As we drove around the city, I felt a little pang of longing for our first apartment down by the Plaza.  I miss the hardwoods in our house on the south side.  But mostly I miss seeing my kids play with their cousins on a regular basis.

They're growing up so fast.

We are wrapping up a whirlwind weekend in Kansas City.  It felt a little strange to be back after 5 months and driving down familiar roads.  The weather is beautiful and I know that it will stay this way for at least another 2 months.  As we drove around the city, I felt a little pang of longing for our first apartment down by the Plaza.  I miss the hardwoods in our house on the south side.  But mostly I miss seeing my kids play with their cousins on a regular basis.

They're growing up so fast.

Finn at the park...

I took my best boy on a wagon ride to the park.  I have got to do this more often because fresh air and exercise makes for a very smooth and easy bedtime (It's hard to fight sleep when you're plum pooped out!).  He's been tugging on his ears a bit, so I played the over-protective mother role and put his hat and sweatshirt on before we left, but soon realized that being in the late afternoon sun was warmer than I thought, so I took them off pretty quickly.  He walked and crawled his way though that playground.  I can't believe how big he's getting...big enough to crawl up and down the stairs without help and brave enough to try to get onto toys that are clearly too big yet for his toddling ways.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

I took my best boy on a wagon ride to the park.  I have got to do this more often because fresh air and exercise makes for a very smooth and easy bedtime (It's hard to fight sleep when you're plum pooped out!).  He's been tugging on his ears a bit, so I played the over-protective mother role and put his hat and sweatshirt on before we left, but soon realized that being in the late afternoon sun was warmer than I thought, so I took them off pretty quickly.  He walked and crawled his way though that playground.  I can't believe how big he's getting...big enough to crawl up and down the stairs without help and brave enough to try to get onto toys that are clearly too big yet for his toddling ways.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

d + a = love

Daniel left to go back to Kuwait on Friday and so I've been working today on the pictures from our visit.  I just sent a bunch of pictures off to Daniel and Ady and thought I'd share my favorite with you.

Hug your loves.
Pray for peace.

Daniel left to go back to Kuwait on Friday and so I've been working today on the pictures from our visit.  I just sent a bunch of pictures off to Daniel and Ady and thought I'd share my favorite with you.

Hug your loves.
Pray for peace.

Abby: Team USA for Volleyball (& Wood Block)

Let's talk about Abby, shall we?

She had her first volleyball game this week.  She played...with enthusiasm.   She was so nervous before she left for school that she forgot her snack and her water bottle.  But she was equally as excited to be wearing her jersey.  She is so proud of that jersey.  When it was her turn to be on the court, she could never remember to pull her knee pads up.  And she waved at us.  Twice.  

But she loves to play.

She loves to cheer for her teammates.  She loves the smell of victory.  And she gives the game her all.  Every time she is on that court, she is playing as best as she can and is positive even when the score is looking a little bleak.  I think Tuesday was the first game that both teams had ever played because they were all running around, not quite sure where they were supposed to be, not really getting the ball over the net, sometimes not even getting the ball in the near vicinity of the net.  But they all had fun, Abby especially, and I think that's what's important.  It takes time to learn how to work together as a team.  It will be fun to watch their season progress as they start to become a team.

The Homecoming game was a couple of weekends ago and Abby marched in her first Homecoming parade.  She showed that woodblock who was boss while rocking her sweet, fine Spirit Lake Indians Marching Band Uniform.  While we were waiting for the parade to start, the elementary school kids were chanting back and forth across the road to keep warm.  One side would yell: "Indian!" and the other side would answer back with increasing volume: "Power!"  Uriah and I could only laugh.  This school...this town...is so different from what we are used to.  And Abby is thriving.

See that really tall kid in the back?  Yes, he's in 7th grade.  And yes, I asked for you.  He is going to play basketball this season.  I bet the basketball coach tinkled in his pants a little bit when he saw that kid.  Based on the way she blushed when I asked her about him, I have a feeling Abby will be asking to go to a lot of basketball games this winter.

And that's the middle school news from Iowa.  It's getting cooler here, although this weekend's forecast boasts of low 70s. I've been DIY-ing the crap out of my days this week. I made some sweet little Halloween luminaries that are almost done (hopefully tomorrow) and I've been painting and mod podging the alphabet to hang on Finn's wall, but that project is taking longer than I anticipated.

It's almost the weekend...I'm going to get out and enjoy it!  You should, too.

Let's talk about Abby, shall we?

She had her first volleyball game this week.  She played...with enthusiasm.   She was so nervous before she left for school that she forgot her snack and her water bottle.  But she was equally as excited to be wearing her jersey.  She is so proud of that jersey.  When it was her turn to be on the court, she could never remember to pull her knee pads up.  And she waved at us.  Twice.  

But she loves to play.

She loves to cheer for her teammates.  She loves the smell of victory.  And she gives the game her all.  Every time she is on that court, she is playing as best as she can and is positive even when the score is looking a little bleak.  I think Tuesday was the first game that both teams had ever played because they were all running around, not quite sure where they were supposed to be, not really getting the ball over the net, sometimes not even getting the ball in the near vicinity of the net.  But they all had fun, Abby especially, and I think that's what's important.  It takes time to learn how to work together as a team.  It will be fun to watch their season progress as they start to become a team.

The Homecoming game was a couple of weekends ago and Abby marched in her first Homecoming parade.  She showed that woodblock who was boss while rocking her sweet, fine Spirit Lake Indians Marching Band Uniform.  While we were waiting for the parade to start, the elementary school kids were chanting back and forth across the road to keep warm.  One side would yell: "Indian!" and the other side would answer back with increasing volume: "Power!"  Uriah and I could only laugh.  This school...this town...is so different from what we are used to.  And Abby is thriving.

See that really tall kid in the back?  Yes, he's in 7th grade.  And yes, I asked for you.  He is going to play basketball this season.  I bet the basketball coach tinkled in his pants a little bit when he saw that kid.  Based on the way she blushed when I asked her about him, I have a feeling Abby will be asking to go to a lot of basketball games this winter.

And that's the middle school news from Iowa.  It's getting cooler here, although this weekend's forecast boasts of low 70s. I've been DIY-ing the crap out of my days this week. I made some sweet little Halloween luminaries that are almost done (hopefully tomorrow) and I've been painting and mod podging the alphabet to hang on Finn's wall, but that project is taking longer than I anticipated.

It's almost the weekend...I'm going to get out and enjoy it!  You should, too.