Truth be told...this never gets old:

I think we could watch the ships coming and going every day and it would still be exciting.  Last night was maybe one of the best displays yet, with the clouds rolling in and one ship waiting for another to leave and the smell of autumn and water on the air.  I let Finn run off some extra steam and then of course, he didn't want to come home.  Such is the draw that water and boats have on my boy.

Today, as it is a no school day (like every Friday), we are embarking on never-ending task of getting this house ready for winter, which seems like it's just around the corner.  That means the garage needs to be cleaned out and organized and the outside toys need to be put away and the patio furniture needs to be disassembled and stored.  And I may have to mow one more time.

And it's 43 degrees outside this morning.

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you're weekend is as productive as my is going to be (if my lists are any indicator!).

I think we could watch the ships coming and going every day and it would still be exciting.  Last night was maybe one of the best displays yet, with the clouds rolling in and one ship waiting for another to leave and the smell of autumn and water on the air.  I let Finn run off some extra steam and then of course, he didn't want to come home.  Such is the draw that water and boats have on my boy.

Today, as it is a no school day (like every Friday), we are embarking on never-ending task of getting this house ready for winter, which seems like it's just around the corner.  That means the garage needs to be cleaned out and organized and the outside toys need to be put away and the patio furniture needs to be disassembled and stored.  And I may have to mow one more time.

And it's 43 degrees outside this morning.

Happy Friday, friends!  I hope you're weekend is as productive as my is going to be (if my lists are any indicator!).

Love tastes like shortbread and sprinkles.

Our days usually look like some variation of this:

Most days staying at home with a toddler is fun, but some days it's just overwhelming.  It's like constantly being behind the curve and having a desk full of stuff with big, red PRIORITY stamped all over it, and an angry boss who changes his mind every 12 seconds.

Finn's favorite thing to say is: "I don't know." and "No."   To everything.  All. day. long.  Is this normal?  I feel like he's spending more time than usual in the uncooperative chair for not following directions, but seriously?  He refuses to tell me his colors and if I ask him any questions - anything at all - he just says, I don't know in his little sing-song voice.  I know I'm putting too much pressure on myself...I feel as though by staying at home we should be doing something every day to engage his little mind.  And usually I remember to sing the Alphabet song and play with puzzles and playdough and his shape ball.  But some days I don't.  Some days it's all I can do to get dressed and keep up with the very short attention span.

Abby is still as disorganized as ever.  She took 3 of the 4 movies that she rented back to the library.  The one she didn't take back?  Yeah, that was the one that was actually due back.  She's been writing notes to herself on her arm in pen.  Because it's easier than writing in the 2 planners that she just had to have this year.  Yes, even I, queen of lists and planners, do not have 2 of them.  Abby insisted and I know that I should have known better.  Nobody can successfully manage two planners unless they have a personal secretary whose only job is to manage two planners.

And so some days I ignore everything piling up - all the priorities and the dust bunnies and the tempers - and we make cookies. We get flour on the counters and on the floor and on our clothes and in our hair. We sneak bites of dough. We sprinkle generously, as if the very act of sprinkling will erase the feelings of inadequacy.

My job right now is to raise some kids and keep the house and juggle everyone's schedules and be a sounding board for my husband.  I am on call 24/7.  I am a cheerleader and a fixer of owies and the cruise director on the Lido Deck.  I get dressed up to go to the grocery store (which means I wear jeans in stead of yoga pants) and I almost never wear make-up (unless we're going to church, and even then it's if-y.).  Some days I would like 30 uninterrupted minutes to take a bath, but would settle for 10 minutes to take a shower.  But I know that as much as I'd like 10 minutes to myself, I'd also like to spend time with my husband, so when he's home that equates to dishes not getting finished after dinner and frustration when a load of laundry isn't pulled from the dryer and folded and resentment when, after I've put in a full day, too, I'm still doing to baby-bath time and and bedtime snack and reminding Abby to brush her teeth and wash her face and straightening up the house a little after the kids are in bed and falling asleep during the ten o'clock news.

I like being married, I like having a partner and I like being able to tag-team when the going gets tough, but these days it really is so hard trying not to be an "old, married couple," (we're only celebrating our 3rd anniversary next month, after all - we're not rocking chair folks yet!).  Right now I feel like an exhausted, married couple.  Raising a teenager and a toddler requires talking about them and their needs constantly and most of the time putting us and our needs to the back burner.

So we make cookies, where there is order and consistency in following a recipe.  Where smiles come easily and all is right, for just a few minutes, in my world.  Some days our cookies have bites out of them because certain little boys cannot wait.  And a few days later I will find that all of the cookies have mysteriously disappeared (probably into a perpetually hungry 12 year old's belly after school and volleyball practice) leaving behind only an assortment of crumbs and sprinkles.  And I realized that, even if I was snarky and even if I didn't fully challenge their little minds, even if I didn't feel like I loved them, I fed them a little bit of love.

Some days that's all I can do.

Our days usually look like some variation of this:

Most days staying at home with a toddler is fun, but some days it's just overwhelming.  It's like constantly being behind the curve and having a desk full of stuff with big, red PRIORITY stamped all over it, and an angry boss who changes his mind every 12 seconds.

Finn's favorite thing to say is: "I don't know." and "No."   To everything.  All. day. long.  Is this normal?  I feel like he's spending more time than usual in the uncooperative chair for not following directions, but seriously?  He refuses to tell me his colors and if I ask him any questions - anything at all - he just says, I don't know in his little sing-song voice.  I know I'm putting too much pressure on myself...I feel as though by staying at home we should be doing something every day to engage his little mind.  And usually I remember to sing the Alphabet song and play with puzzles and playdough and his shape ball.  But some days I don't.  Some days it's all I can do to get dressed and keep up with the very short attention span.

Abby is still as disorganized as ever.  She took 3 of the 4 movies that she rented back to the library.  The one she didn't take back?  Yeah, that was the one that was actually due back.  She's been writing notes to herself on her arm in pen.  Because it's easier than writing in the 2 planners that she just had to have this year.  Yes, even I, queen of lists and planners, do not have 2 of them.  Abby insisted and I know that I should have known better.  Nobody can successfully manage two planners unless they have a personal secretary whose only job is to manage two planners.

And so some days I ignore everything piling up - all the priorities and the dust bunnies and the tempers - and we make cookies. We get flour on the counters and on the floor and on our clothes and in our hair. We sneak bites of dough. We sprinkle generously, as if the very act of sprinkling will erase the feelings of inadequacy.

My job right now is to raise some kids and keep the house and juggle everyone's schedules and be a sounding board for my husband.  I am on call 24/7.  I am a cheerleader and a fixer of owies and the cruise director on the Lido Deck.  I get dressed up to go to the grocery store (which means I wear jeans in stead of yoga pants) and I almost never wear make-up (unless we're going to church, and even then it's if-y.).  Some days I would like 30 uninterrupted minutes to take a bath, but would settle for 10 minutes to take a shower.  But I know that as much as I'd like 10 minutes to myself, I'd also like to spend time with my husband, so when he's home that equates to dishes not getting finished after dinner and frustration when a load of laundry isn't pulled from the dryer and folded and resentment when, after I've put in a full day, too, I'm still doing to baby-bath time and and bedtime snack and reminding Abby to brush her teeth and wash her face and straightening up the house a little after the kids are in bed and falling asleep during the ten o'clock news.

I like being married, I like having a partner and I like being able to tag-team when the going gets tough, but these days it really is so hard trying not to be an "old, married couple," (we're only celebrating our 3rd anniversary next month, after all - we're not rocking chair folks yet!).  Right now I feel like an exhausted, married couple.  Raising a teenager and a toddler requires talking about them and their needs constantly and most of the time putting us and our needs to the back burner.

So we make cookies, where there is order and consistency in following a recipe.  Where smiles come easily and all is right, for just a few minutes, in my world.  Some days our cookies have bites out of them because certain little boys cannot wait.  And a few days later I will find that all of the cookies have mysteriously disappeared (probably into a perpetually hungry 12 year old's belly after school and volleyball practice) leaving behind only an assortment of crumbs and sprinkles.  And I realized that, even if I was snarky and even if I didn't fully challenge their little minds, even if I didn't feel like I loved them, I fed them a little bit of love.

Some days that's all I can do.

Introspection.

{52 Photos Project | Week 22: Season's Beginnings}

{52 Photos Project | Week 22: Season's Beginnings}

Autumn Flowers

I love flowers...we had a crop of sunflowers bloom in the middle of one of the gardens recently and every time I looked out the window, I couldn't help but smile.  My mom gifted me with a hearty mum last time I was home and I had good intentions of planting it out back, but it's still gracing the middle of my dinning room table.  I think maybe it's happier as a center piece than out in the elements - or maybe I'm just feeling a bit lazy.  I was making soup the other day and I happened to glance out the side window in the kitchen and there were these little orange flowers poking their sweet heads out of the grass.  I don't know what they are, but I braved a few raindrops to get the picture!

{I Should Be Folding Laundry | You Capture: Flowers}

{and then she {snapped} | Show off your shot}
{The ArtsyGirl Connection | Finagle A Foto: Best of the Week}

I love flowers...we had a crop of sunflowers bloom in the middle of one of the gardens recently and every time I looked out the window, I couldn't help but smile.  My mom gifted me with a hearty mum last time I was home and I had good intentions of planting it out back, but it's still gracing the middle of my dinning room table.  I think maybe it's happier as a center piece than out in the elements - or maybe I'm just feeling a bit lazy.  I was making soup the other day and I happened to glance out the side window in the kitchen and there were these little orange flowers poking their sweet heads out of the grass.  I don't know what they are, but I braved a few raindrops to get the picture!

{I Should Be Folding Laundry | You Capture: Flowers}

{and then she {snapped} | Show off your shot}
{The ArtsyGirl Connection | Finagle A Foto: Best of the Week}

On my mind...Good-bye, Summer.

•  Autumn is here.  And maybe winter.
• There was snow in the forecast for this week.  I shuddered a little bit!
• Luckily the ground is too warm for anything to stick, should some raindrops decide to turn to snow.
• I am on a soup kick.
• I made chicken stock and beef stock last week and shoved them into the freezer to be easily accessible as I plow through my list of soups to make.
• I've got a plan to loose weight this fall - it includes lots of veggie-heavy soups for lunch and lighter versions of my old favorites for dinner.
• Fall is when I typically fall off the wagon....pumpkin/apple/pecan pie and hearty hot dish (casseroles are for Southern folks.) and thick stews seem to float at the top of my menu ideas.
• It's like I'm a bear preparing to hibernate and I must bulk up!
• Finn and I have been trying to counter that sedentary feeling with some bike rides and walks.  
• They happen more in the middle of the day now, it's too chilly in the morning and too dark after dinner.
• It won't get much better when we turn the clocks back in November.
• I foresee a yoga class in my immediate future...if I can nail my husband down for just one evening to myself.
• Abby still dresses the complete opposite of the weather.
• I have no doubt that if it rains/sleets/spits snow this week, she will be wearing her flip-flops.
• I'm still trying to get used to this 4 day school week. 
• Fridays throw me off and I'm trying to ensure she has time for homework and still gets through some chores (since she's busy with volleyball/homework during the week I don't push the chores in the evening.).
• Finn has been sorting his seldom used toys for Baby Cousin (and by Finn, I mean me.).
• He did tell me that he'd share his cars and trucks, though.
• Planning a baby shower is fun...I've never done it before.  
• Turns out I have lots of ideas.  And when I say I, what I really mean is: Pinterest has a lot of really good ideas!
• There were two babies in church yesterday and it was all I could do not to ask their mamas if I could smell their wee new car smell.
• I'll (im)patiently wait until December, I guess.  And then I'll head south as fast as my lead foot will take me.
• After this baby shower business, I will put my energies into planning Sarah's wedding...she knew what she was getting into when she asked, after all!
• Things that I'm looking forward to: ECFE starting in a couple of weeks, our anniversary get-away, my birthday (obviously!) and a birthday get-away for me only, Finn's Halloween costume (something to rival last years!), Uriah making a Turducken for Thanksgiving, raking leaves, carving pumpkins.
• As much as I'm a little nervous for winter up here in the big, bad wilderness (because I do not drive in inclement weather, or even in the hint of inclement weather), I do love fall.  It's my most favorite season.

Would you believe I took these on Finn's 2nd birthday in July?  I don't think I've even blogged about his awesome party and how much fun he had.  I am behind...way, way behind!  But it was a crazy summer and I am so glad it's fall now so that I can catch up (yeah, right!).

•  Autumn is here.  And maybe winter.
• There was snow in the forecast for this week.  I shuddered a little bit!
• Luckily the ground is too warm for anything to stick, should some raindrops decide to turn to snow.
• I am on a soup kick.
• I made chicken stock and beef stock last week and shoved them into the freezer to be easily accessible as I plow through my list of soups to make.
• I've got a plan to loose weight this fall - it includes lots of veggie-heavy soups for lunch and lighter versions of my old favorites for dinner.
• Fall is when I typically fall off the wagon....pumpkin/apple/pecan pie and hearty hot dish (casseroles are for Southern folks.) and thick stews seem to float at the top of my menu ideas.
• It's like I'm a bear preparing to hibernate and I must bulk up!
• Finn and I have been trying to counter that sedentary feeling with some bike rides and walks.  
• They happen more in the middle of the day now, it's too chilly in the morning and too dark after dinner.
• It won't get much better when we turn the clocks back in November.
• I foresee a yoga class in my immediate future...if I can nail my husband down for just one evening to myself.
• Abby still dresses the complete opposite of the weather.
• I have no doubt that if it rains/sleets/spits snow this week, she will be wearing her flip-flops.
• I'm still trying to get used to this 4 day school week. 
• Fridays throw me off and I'm trying to ensure she has time for homework and still gets through some chores (since she's busy with volleyball/homework during the week I don't push the chores in the evening.).
• Finn has been sorting his seldom used toys for Baby Cousin (and by Finn, I mean me.).
• He did tell me that he'd share his cars and trucks, though.
• Planning a baby shower is fun...I've never done it before.  
• Turns out I have lots of ideas.  And when I say I, what I really mean is: Pinterest has a lot of really good ideas!
• There were two babies in church yesterday and it was all I could do not to ask their mamas if I could smell their wee new car smell.
• I'll (im)patiently wait until December, I guess.  And then I'll head south as fast as my lead foot will take me.
• After this baby shower business, I will put my energies into planning Sarah's wedding...she knew what she was getting into when she asked, after all!
• Things that I'm looking forward to: ECFE starting in a couple of weeks, our anniversary get-away, my birthday (obviously!) and a birthday get-away for me only, Finn's Halloween costume (something to rival last years!), Uriah making a Turducken for Thanksgiving, raking leaves, carving pumpkins.
• As much as I'm a little nervous for winter up here in the big, bad wilderness (because I do not drive in inclement weather, or even in the hint of inclement weather), I do love fall.  It's my most favorite season.

Would you believe I took these on Finn's 2nd birthday in July?  I don't think I've even blogged about his awesome party and how much fun he had.  I am behind...way, way behind!  But it was a crazy summer and I am so glad it's fall now so that I can catch up (yeah, right!).