Living with a Fashionista

It would be an understatement to say that Taryn likes to change her clothes and "dress up".  It hasn't helped that her cousin shares all of her outgrown dance costumes with Miss TaTa.  Here is just a sampling of the outfits she has assembled and modeled for me in the last little while.

She is certainly developing her own sense of "style."

Here is the downside to living with a fashionista:

She seems to manage (with the help of her stool) to get everything off the hangers -- However, she can't seem to hang it back up??? 

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

                --Robert Frost

Every spring for a couple of days when the leaves are first appearing on the trees this poem rings in my head.  I drove around my neighborhood today and tried to capture the golden moment.  It's so beautiful -- both the trees and the poem.

Now I should probably end this post right now and allow you to think I am intelligent and artistic and that the scads of poetry my English Professor parents have recited to me over the years really impacted me and stuck with me-- but, well, this is HonestlyJen.  So, here is a glimpse into the crazy stuff that really goes on in my brain and why I fondly recall this poem.

Every year as this poem comes to mind with the golden trees what also comes to mind is the movie "The Outsiders" from the 80's.  Nothing Gold Can Stay  is the poem recited by Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) to Johnny (Ralph Macchio).  I remember thinking this was the greatest movie ever -- And what a cast -- Tom Cruise, Emilo Esteves, C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe -- It was every young girls dream...

If you want a taste from the 80's -- I found a clip of this poem being recited in the movie.

Watch it on YouTube

And then, remember, at the end of the movie as Johnny lays dying he says to Ponyboy...."Stay golden Ponyboy."  I tell you ... that's good stuff.  I think I'll be renting The Outsiders again soon.

Wives Tale -- Success Story

I had a wood chip in my thumb.  And, I have to tell you, it wasn't just a little old sliver that slipped under a thin layer of skin...it was embedded deep into my thumb.  I was digging around in my landscaping looking for green shoots to assure me that spring was indeed coming and I guess I got a little carried away.

I must say it caused me some pain and it looked kind of gross, so I grabbed a tweezers, and asked Cal to operate.  He attempted to remove the foreign object, but ended up only getting the exposed tip out.  His advice to me was, "You just need to get a needle and dig around in there to get it out." 

Excuse me!!  I'm a little squemish.  The thought of digging around in my flesh with a needle, well, it wasn't going to happen.  So I decided to ignore it.

For a week I lived without using my thumb.  But being the logical-thinker that I am, I decided ignoring it probably wasn't a good long-term solution.  However, "digging" and "needles" were still out of the question. There had to be another way.

I then recalled something my grandma once recommended as a sure-fire solution for removing foreign objects from a wound...she had once wrapped a cabbage leaf around her foot in order to get out a piece of glass, and it had worked.  However, I didn't have a head of cabbage handy so that wasn't an option.

So I decided to go with another method...handed down from Cal's side of the family.  I took a piece of bread, dipped it in milk, wrapped it around my thumb, covered it with saran wrap and taped it up.  This is how I slept all night.

In the morning, I couldn't wait to remove the cast of bread and see if the magic had worked.  I was initially disappointed because there was no stick laying in the bread.  But then I made just one tiny push on the open wound and out popped the stick.  It was cool.  So here's what all the fuss was about:

I swear the picture makes it look smaller than it was -- and I need you to imagine this pushed straight into my thumb.

I know I'm a wimp and I'm not sure why I admit these things, but I think you just might thank me for this advice the next time you have a screaming child with a sliver who is squirming all around as you attack with your tweezers. Now you know there is a kinder, gentler way.

Friday = My Day (Not!)

I had this great plan!! 

Now that Taryn is in school every day of the week -- I was going to arrange my work schedule not around  her days home, but around me.  I wanted Friday's off and it was going to be MY DAY -- I would run all my errands,  maybe even shop a little for myself.   I would take a walk, have my quiet time, plan a weekly menu, buy groceries...And I was going to blog!!!

Yeah -- right!

Since I started my "new schedule" in January -- I believe I have had 2 Friday's to myself.  Between days off of school (which seem to be frequent and always on Fridays) and volunteering at the school on my one day off the my-time thing isn't really happening. 

But things looked good for today and I must admit I was seriously looking forward to "my time".  Then last night at 9:30 p.m. I received a phone call that due to a water main break...school was cancelled.

"Not Fair," was the initial whining in my head, "This was supposed to be MY day."

Oh well -- I guess flexibility is key when you become a parent.  Instead of coffee, quiet time and shopping, I became social coordinator, picnic packer, craft counselor (help me!) and waitress.

We also had an indoor beach party.

And Carter got creative in feeding the birds.  (Do birds even like pretzels?)

And thanks to a bright sunshinny day -- the kids are outside for the moment and I posted a blog.

Not a bad day after all!

Too Much?

Life simply caught up with me.  I was on such a roll...posting a blog once or twice a week and then...well...life happened.

As any typcial mom of school-aged children -- here are the ordinary activities of my last month...basketball practices, volleyball practices, softball practices, piano lessons, trumpet lessons, ball games and then more ball games, cheer demonstrations, concerts to attend, concerts to perform, fine arts night, school projects, building balloon cars, writing book reports, math homework, field trips, Star of the Week, chapel services, church youth group, church boys group, church girls group, Bible studies, one weekend get-away, two birthday parties to plan and host (Taryn and Paige), a bedroom to paint and redecorate. You get the picture....Sound familiar?

Add to this the fact that Cal started a new job which required 5 trips out of state 5 weeks in a row...AND the fact that American Idol is in season right now -- adding at least 3 hours of TV watching to my weekly agenda which I didn't have to schedule before.

March is also the month to sign up for the variety of camps each kid wants to attend this summer...I have currently completed 11 camp registrations along with signing up for baseball and softball -- and I don't think I'm done yet.

I have felt dizzy at times trying to coordinate the schedules of three busy kids, complete my own job requirements, keep up with my husband's itinerary, eat a decent meal every once in a while, and find clean clothes to wear.

So I ask the age old question....how busy is too busy?  Because I haven't figured it out.  Everything we are doing seem to be good activities.  The kids never complain about any of their extra-curriculars (well maybe practicing piano).  In fact, they truly love everything they do!  But sometimes I think I am jipping them out of enjoying an evening of nothingness! 

Now I know I am the adult and I have to guide them and help them make the tough decisions about when to just say "no" to something.  And perhaps that's the problem -- I never say "no" myself.

However, I do seem to say "no" to many things that would be good for me, such as exercising, staying in touch with old friends, staying up on current events such as health care legislation (but who has time for that?).

So anyway -- I will continue on in my attempt to find balance in all of this.  I guess my goal is that amongst the hectic -- we will also find moments to really talk, moments to laugh, moments to play, moments to read, moments of peace, and most importantly moments to pray and stay rooted in our faith.

And if I fit a blog in every once and while...I'll be happy!

A Good Morning Moment

This morning was still a whirlwind, but it had a beautiful moment that I wanted to share and remember.

Cal just returned from a trip late last night and so the kids were excited to see him this morning.  Taryn was sitting on his lap telling him a story and I thought it was cool how the sunlight caught her ponytail -- so I snapped this picture.

However, what I like most about the picture is not the sun on her pony, but how it captures a girl happy to see her dad. 

My Mornings

I just survived another morning of getting the kids up and off to school.

Why is this such a dreaded task for me?? If you ask me, "morning" is a dirty word.  My sister started a blog, once upon a time, that she titled "My Mornings."  She would take an artistic, peaceful picture to share of her morning.  I really enjoyed it.  It was the polar opposite of my real-life mornings.

Granted...I love to stay up late into the night and I am not a morning person by nature.  I struggle to pull myself out of bed.  But God has really done everything he can to help me out in this department.  He has provided a carpool driver that picks my kids up everyday so I never have to drive to school and I also work from home, so I don't need to get myself ready for anything. 

So what am I complaining about?   I essentially just need to role out of bed & wake up Carter and Taryn since Paige is up before me to shower.  But it is unfortunately never that simple.  For one thing, my kids are a little too much like me and don't have such a pleasant demeanor in the morning.  So all of our lovely personalities blend a little harshly at the start of a new day. Here is the progression of this morning:

7:00 -- Turn on the fireplace.
7:02 -- Wake up Carter & pick out his sweatpants and t-shirt for the day.  Fortunatley he could care less what he wears if it falls into the "sweatpants and t-shirt" category.
7:07 -- Physically pull Carter from bed.  5 minutes of saying "Get up Carter."  Have given me no results of movement.
7:09 -- Wake up Taryn.  Pick out three different options for her to select from while she lays there moaning.  Hold the outfits directly in front of her sleeping face and tell her to open her eyes & point to what she wants to wear.  She picks the girliest thing.
7:11 -- Put her selected outfit in front of the fireplace to heat up because I otherwise deal with her crying the
entire time she is dressing because she is so cold.
7:12 -- Physically pull Taryn from bed and plop her on the potty.  Dress her in front of the fireplace.
7:15 -- Carter arrives upstairs and immediately turns on Sponge Bob Square Pants
7:16 -- We start the litany of "What do you want for breakfast? ... Cheerios, toast, waffle, granola bar, yogurt?" (I should've learned long ago to give them only one option per morning ... that's how my mom did it.  Granted, my mom also actually prepared a breakfast of eggs or oatmeal or something good.)
7:17 -- I put waffles in the toaster.  Pour Carter and Taryn apple juice and Paige orange juice.
7:19 -- Paige arrives upstairs -- waffles are ready.  Taryn changes her mind and now wants yogurt.  I eat the waffles.
7:22 -- Kids are sitting like zombies in front of Sponge Bob without eating a bite.
7:22  -- Mom turns off Sponge Bob to a chorus of whining, "Turn that on."  To which I reply -- "You need to eat."
7:24 -- Charlie, the dog, is dragging his butt on the carpet -- we all yell at him to stop, and I comment "We should just get rid of Charlie, all we do is yell at him."  Bad timing...I immediately have two kids in tears... "But we love him.  Don't get rid of him."
7:25 -- Two kids smothering Charlie with more love than he has received in months.
7:26 -- "Finish your breakfast."  I brush Taryn's hair while she eats.
7:28 -- "Brush your teeth."  A fight ensues over the toothpaste.
7:30 -- Search for snow pants and gloves.  Shoes in backpacks.
7:32 -- Paige hauls out homework that she forgot to do.  "Mom, what is something I would stand up for?  I need to write a paper."  "Now? Are you kidding me?"
7:35 -- Carpool arrives and I kiss them all as they walk out the door.

Whew!  Not a minute to spare.  In fact, had we had a minute to spare, we might have gotten farther on a topic for Paige's paper, loved Charlie a little more, and in general been more civil to each other. 

I am fully aware that if I started our morning routine just 5-10 minutes earlier, I would probably have better results.  Yet, no matter how mature I might think I am, as I am laying in my warm bed every morning, I will always choose to wait until the last possible minute that I can reasonably get up and still pull off this whirlwind!