tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290566242024-03-07T02:14:36.362-07:00Two Mittensnot a sockTwo Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.comBlogger598125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-78261875276037160052012-10-27T23:12:00.001-06:002012-10-27T23:12:17.039-06:00Gettin' Spooky I probably don't have to tell you how much fun I have with Halloween photos (cause it's painfully obvious!). But it really is so much fun! It's like Tim Burton just bores into my skull and won't get out :) Happy Spooky Halloween to you!<br />
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<br />Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-76657799260749442572012-10-17T17:24:00.003-06:002012-10-17T17:26:04.594-06:00Cat GirlMy kids drive me crazy sometimes. It's true. But I also think they are the most beautiful people in the world. And when I take their photographs it's like I can hold on to those moments of beauty right in my hand. And when all the quarreling and whining and the mess fades away I still have all these glorious pieces of beauty. Crazy teeth and shaggy haired and dirty faces and all. <br />
Maybe I have a magic camera because if I take your picture, I think you're beautiful too!<br />
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<br />Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-75407048936268412412012-10-17T12:56:00.000-06:002012-10-17T12:56:49.717-06:00The TwinsThese two. They don't look much alike and they certainly have different personalities but they are still the best of pals. They are constantly wrestling, riding bikes, being loud, bugging their sister, creating, making each other laugh, getting into stuff, having adventures and looking for food. So different and having so much fun together. I hope that never changes! Love these hooligans.<br />
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<br />Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-13239424945647563642012-07-05T11:47:00.001-06:002012-07-05T11:47:25.210-06:00The Babe 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The 'official' 5 year photos! It's getting more difficult to get my kids to cooperate at times when I really want to take their pictures. It's trickier to get a natural face. The cupcake was excellent incentive in this case!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-52360597480924182392012-06-15T12:01:00.000-06:002012-06-15T12:01:14.487-06:00Fun With Instagram<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I LOVE taking photos and using my phone is so liberating! Quick and easy and then <a href="http://instagr.am/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> lets you add a filter and viola! Fancy pantsy photos!<br />
I also love my big camera, but I don't love the time it takes to download and edit and process everything. And just try stuffing that thing in your pocket! That's why I don't post more photos. Which is probably good. How many gratuitous photos do you need to see, right??<br />
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Unless you DO want to see more, more, MORE photos you can find follow me on <a href="http://instagr.am/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>...9stars. <br />
We can follow each other. It'll be fun!<br />
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*Instagram is a free iphone app. Find it at itunes.Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-23748390277457180992012-05-22T10:37:00.001-06:002012-05-22T10:38:17.257-06:00Baby Girl is 5I guess she is officially not a baby at all anymore. 5 is definitely a big girl. And while she challenges me in ways I never imagined, I also adore her in ways I always imagined! Love you Babe!<br />
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Here is her 5yr interview:<br />
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Favorite color: Pink<br />
Favorite number: 5<br />
Favorite food: avacado on toast<br />
Favorite toy: new dollhouse<br />
Favorite thing to do: birthday parties!<br />
What do you want to be when you grow up? A fairy so I can fly in the sky<br />
<br />Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-44576571428735727872012-05-16T13:23:00.001-06:002012-05-16T13:23:11.141-06:00Shaliece - Motherhood Series 2012Shaliece is a wonderful balance of talent, hard work and lots of fun! I have had the pleasure of sharing a class of 6yr olds in Primary and putting on a Christmas party with Shaliece. She is great with people. She puts great effort into everything she does. Her pinterest projects actually look like the pictures (something that rarely happens with my efforts)! And she invited me to my very first XBox Dance party. It was AWESOME! And so is Shaliece!<br />
Her family moves quite often for her husband's work and she has a way of not only fitting in, but welcoming and forming great bonds of friendship. <br />
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Shaliece, I'm so glad I've had the chance to get to know you!<br />
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<div style="color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Tell us about yourself!</span></div>
I've
been married 8.5 years now and consider myself greatly blessed with an
amazing husband and two great children. I love reading, gardening, the
outdoors, camping, spending time with family and friends and of course
traveling!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2.
What were your expectations of motherhood before you had kids? (ie. Did
you think you'd have a whole houseful of kids? Did you see yourself as a
mother at all? Did you wonder if it would ever happen?</span><br />
I
always imagined myself as a young mother with about 4 kids. Though I
have found myself having only two children and at an older age than
expected due to choices in my past. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. What has been(was) your biggest surprise about Motherhood? (different than you expected? or wish someone had told you?)</span><br />
I've
been a nanny several times in the past so some of the surprises were
already gone. Though it is completely different being a mom to my own
children. The biggest surprise was the deep love I felt for my daughter
Riley (now 7.5 yrs old), the first time I held her. I grew to love all
the children I cared for in the past, but with my own children it is
unreal how there is an instant deep unwavering love between mother and
child! <blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Biggest joy? </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
My
biggest joy in life right now is my family! We are not perfect and
there are bumps along our path, but the joy they bring me far surpasses
any bumps and bruises along the way. I love seeing my children play
together and the vast amount of love they show towards one another! (for
the most part) ;)<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Best wish for your children?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
My
wish for my children covers a wide array of options. ie, I want them to
grow up with a strong testimony in the Gospel, knowing their Savior and
Heavenly Father. I want them to learn from my mistakes so as not to
make them. I want them to get a full education, as that is something I
still need to accomplish myself. I want their happiness in every way
possible!! <span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?</span><br />
I
wish I had more time for myself as I feel that is the one thing lacking.
I feel that my time is completely wrapped up around my family and
though I love it, it is exhausting at times. I would love to have more
time with my girlfriends to renew my sense of self.<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">7. What do you wish you had more of? Less of?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
mentioned already what I wish I had more of and that is time with
friends! I can't imagine having less of anything at this point in my
life.<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
hope that my kids can learn how to put family first as they are always
there with you no matter what. I hope that they enjoy and not take for
granted all that may come their way! Also, I hope that they can take
from me a love for the Gospel!<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
My
mom and I weren't super close growing up. I believe we are very similar
and that we butt heads quite often. Though as I have grown up and now
had my own children, I can more deeply appreciate all that she went
through with me and the selfless love that she has shown me over the
years. I have also learned how to be a better mother, how to listen to
my children, and spend time with them because of her.</div>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-67983881012912863822012-05-13T14:05:00.000-06:002012-05-13T14:05:57.316-06:00Happy Mother's Day 2012One of my favorite things about doing this series is that it gives me a chance to ponder and reflect. Kind of like a meditation. Less dirty dishes and more feeling the love!<br />
Which is why I have so much appreciation for all of you. Thank you for all your thoughts and shared wisdom and willingness to be open.<br />
If any of you would still like to send in your 'stories' PLEASE DO! I say, let's keep them comin'! <br />
<br />
It has occurred to me that as we are all connected through our current experiences we are also connected to all those brave women and mothers who came before us. Their experiences are also in us. Their talent and determination and faith. <br />
And I am thankful for their courage and patience, kindness and strong
hearts, book reading and writing, and strong bodies, and stubbornness,
gardening and dancing, humor, singing, birthing, gentle loving care,
poetry, education, fierceness, hope, and everything else that has carried me
to this point. And continues to carry me.<br />
<br />
I have so much appreciation for all the women in my life. You continually inspire me!<br />
<br />
Happy Mother's Day Grandma, and Linda and Bonnie and Mardi and Cheryl! We love you. <br />
<br />
Happy Mother's Day to my Mom with so much love. You are my constant example of unconditional love!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-26602446158701346472012-05-12T22:01:00.000-06:002012-05-12T22:03:42.709-06:00Jennifer - Motherhood Series 2012Jenn and I have become friends through our children. Our first graders specifically. They have become fast friends and very important to each other. Kids have a way of bringing parents together on the playground or recitals and such, but that doesn't always mean you want to be best pals. <br />
In our case I think it has worked fantastically. It has been more like finding a long lost friend! <br />
<br />
There's not much I can say about Jenn that she doesn't say much better herself, other than she is <i>truly</i> a beautiful person in every aspect.<br />
<br />
Thank you Jenn, for sharing so much light and love!<br />
<br />
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;">1. Tell us about yourself!</span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;"></span></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am
37…or 38 (I have seriously done the calculation six different times and I
still can’t be certain…) but more stunning than THAT is the fact
that it only consciously occurred to me in this very moment that my age starts
with a “3”!!?? How does that happen to someone? </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">In (what feels
like) another lifetime - I was a teacher. I taught in the gifted and talented
(GATE) program and then at the Center for Gifted at the university for many
years.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">It feels
strange to say that in the past tense, I suppose because teaching was never
simply a neat and tidy professional role that I stepped in and out of, but
rather, an all-encompassing state of being.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I always found
teaching and learning to be inextricably woven, so I was far more comfortable
seeing myself as a giant learner. Especially in light of the gifted children I
taught. I began my very first teaching moment with the deep, haunting,
exhilarating realization that my students already knew far more than I EVER
would. This orientation, while daunting at first, freed me to be present and glittery
and whimsical and soak up everything these kids knew but no one had bothered to
listen to (because they were too young to possibly know it.) </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t
know if I ever did a great job “covering curriculum” (ironically,
in my graduate work, I went on to specialize in curriculum development for
gifted learners.) </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">But, I fought
linearity and predetermined “course content” to the end and
grounded my practice deeply in sparkly, creative ways of knowing and being. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">And love.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I loved the
kids I taught as if they were my own. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I sort of
thought they WERE my own. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Hundreds of
children, all somehow woven into my heart. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am now a mom
of four children, ages 7, 5, 2 and 6 months. After each babe was over a year, I
returned to the bigger world to teach a course or two or do some curriculum
consulting, but I often felt like that tipped the precarious and delicate
balance of our family. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am now
firmly and intentionally anchored in the home (the kitchen, to be exact) and I
still find myself surrounded by beings that already know more than I do. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I used to
think being in a classroom was the hardest, most consuming, exhausting, enlivening
experience one could have – but when held up to the daily intensities of
parenting, those teaching days feel like an all-inclusive vacation. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">So, a teacher
and a mom…what else?<br />
I love metaphor and myth and swirly water-colored images</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I love warm
air and the gentle clinking of crystal wind chimes.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I love
fireflies and pink-sherbet sunsets and the moon. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I really,
REALLY love the moon. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am often
lost (or perhaps found) in my imaginative reveries and my inner world is more
real than my outer.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Whether by
accident or on purpose, I have stumbled upon my passion and purpose - the
sacredness of pregnancy and birth, being with children consciously and
creatively, and cultivating a home where we all love one another without
strings.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. What were your expectations of motherhood
before you had kids? (ie. Did you think you'd have a whole houseful of kids?
Did you see yourself as a mother at all? Did you wonder if it would ever
happen?</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;">I always knew I wanted
children of my own (although I may have gotten a bit sidetracked when I threw
myself into teaching and academia in my 20’s and thought the hundred kids
I taught somehow belonged to me!) I always strongly felt (and longed for) four
children…I had to work harder to get some here than others…and I still
feel a few more to come. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">My
expectations have often gotten me into trouble. I spent WAY too much time
reading Sweet Valley High novels at WAY too young an age, so my psyche was
indelibly imprinted with a sort of heart-swelling anticipation that at ANY
MOMENT my life was going to become an American prom, or at the very least, a
summertime, sunset beach party. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I entered into
motherhood with the same sweet valley hopes and dreams. I was competent,
educated, well-informed, and completely in control. I had a closet full of super
cute clothes (for me and for baby!) and a circle full of super-pretty-ab-fab-best-mommy-friends
with super cute babies of their own…all content to coo and goo in plaid
bucket car seats through mommy lunches and mommy dinners and mommy pedicures. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">That was
TOTALLY what I ordered!!! </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I picked a
sweetly scalloped white painted crib; I ironed receiving blankets, painted
poetry on the nursery wall; I hung glittering fairy wings in my
daughter-to-be’s closet</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">It was going
to be PERFECT (did I mention that I LOOOOOOVE when things are PERFECT???) </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">And then came
baby…and thus marked the end of sweet valley.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">(Really, at
some earlier point in my life, I should have re-rooted my life in an
alternative literary genre…my first warning sign that Sweet Valley High was
a bit of a reach came when I discovered that we don’t even HAVE proms in
Canada !!) </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
At the end of a why-the-hell-did-nobody-tell-me-about-this-kind-of-pain labor,
I was greeted by an utterly precious, dark eyed little girl…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">…who
never stopped staring at me (sort of like I was stupider than her…which I
was, but I hadn’t yet realized that.) </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I often held
her up to the sun with the hopes that she would close her eyes for a minute. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">In all my
commiserating with newly found, like-minded mommy friends (just as cute, but
minus the lunches, dinners and pedicures), no one has ever confessed to housing
an infant that was literally AWAKE for 15 hours at a time. All the nursing, shushing,
swaying, and white-noised-swaddling-in-darkened-rooms could not convince this
child go to sleep. It was UNREAL. I think I cried for a year. And my closet of
cute clothes remained a shrine – the only thing I had going for me in the
world of fashion was the occasional on-line ordering of a new baby carrier. <br />
<br />
But, somewhere in that haze of sleepless days and sleepless nights and crying
and not-a-moment-to-breathe-or-shower-or-put-on-mascara (pointless,
remember…I was mostly crying), something totally strange happened. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Something in
me fell apart and opened up all at once. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Beyond all my
hurts and aspirations and failures and accomplishments and all I thought I knew
or cared about…I fell deeply in love with someone. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Not sweet
valley high love…not even the profound love I had felt for my husband
from the first moment I saw him. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">But the kind
of love that altered me at the very core of who I was.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">The kind of
love that healed and transformed me. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">The kind of
love that made me want to stick around and love myself. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I always think
about Joseph Campbell’s words about the birth of the child meaning the
death of the mother. This sounds morbid to the literalist. But to someone who
is more at home in hermeneutical interpretations, THIS became my PERFECT. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">On the day my
first child was born, something old died off, and something phoenix-like and fierce
took flight. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Sophy
continues to be at the leading edge of our family – in the most difficult
ways. Even once she slept and even once she could sit in the car seat without
foaming at the mouth, and even once she sat in a stroller (oh wait, she NEVER
DID THAT!!!!), she continues to challenge me and call me into deeper ways of
being. She has taught me everything I know about parenting with compassion and
faith and did I mention a kind of patience that still takes every ounce of
energy I have. Had she been easier, I may not have discovered that I feel
REALLY STRONGLY about certain ways of being with babies and children. I may
have been sitting in a restaurant somewhere at 8:00 at night with perfectly
painted toenails and with my newborn in a jean skirt in a bucket car seat. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I may have
forgotten that children have a bigger consciousness and a bigger calling than
we assume when we look at their little bodies. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I may not have
learned that there are ways to work with and heal complexities and patterns of
tension in children</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">And mostly, I
may not have discovered that I have it within myself to parent these kinds of
kids in this kind of way. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">What a shame
that would have been. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">So thanks,
Sophy, for all of your difficult wisdom and wise difficultness. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">You have been
my biggest teacher – and you led the way for the babies that came after. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<b><span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">3. What has been(was)
your biggest surprise about Motherhood? (different than you expected? or wish
someone had told you?)</span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;"></span></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">The whole
thing has felt like one relentlessly giant learning curve. I think my biggest
challenge lies in not projecting my own hurts or joys or ways of dealing with
things onto my children as they move through and along their intricate paths. I
have a tendency towards a paradoxical sort of egocentric empathy, where I feel
what they are feeling – but through my own lenses. So, I have be
extremely conscious and care-filled not to get pulled into my own anxieties
when I feel their anxiousness – or my own hurts when they are hurt –
or my own failures, triumphs, wounds, hopes and ways of seeing. I am stunned by
the ways their struggles impact me and call me to see and heal my own material
(like it or not.) </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am also
stunned by their resilience and the ways in which they pick themselves up and
dust themselves off and move forward with courage and grace, when I am still
huddled in a ball somewhere.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I try hard, so
very hard, to respect their individual journeys with every shred of conviction I
have. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">To see them
each as whole against a vast sky. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">To not give in
to the compulsion to save them from themselves, but instead to allow them, one
precious step at a time, begin to save themselves.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
4. Biggest joy? </span></b><br />
</span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;">I find birth joyful. Which
sounds strange to many. I had my three most recent babies at home in the bath
tub, and I don’t even have the words for the joy of those experiences. <br />
They were timeless, enchanted, open, expansive moments of bringing someone from
another realm into the physical world – and then seeing them just stare
up at you with this profound sense of recognition. <br />
I think birth IS my definition of joy. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I feel so
fortunate and blessed that I was able to do it this way. My body makes me so
mad sometimes – and I feel, at times, like it fails me. But it rocks in
birthing, and I am so grateful for that. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I also found
it stunning, joyful, humbling and holy that I was able to connect in (tangible and
intangible and vastly different) ways with each of my babies before they came. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t
know what else to say about that. <br />
Like birth, it sort of leaves me speechless. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Definitely,
conception and birth have been my most poignantly spiritual, centered, divine,
inspired, joyful experiences. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I never would
have imagined that. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><br />
5. Best wish for your children?</span></span></b><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;"></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I had this
vivid, lucid dream not too long ago, that I was walking through this enchanted
forest, filled with tiny pine saplings…they looked like black cut outs
against a moonlit sky. The king and the queen of the forest told me I could
choose a glowing orb that hung from the tiny branches – one for each of
my children – the gift that would be their life. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I started to
panic…how could I be trusted to choose, while asleep and dreaming, JUST
the right gift.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I walked
tentatively towards the closest tree, holding Sophy in my heart and mind, and
there an orb, hung like a Christmas ball, began to glow. I lifted it carefully
off the tender branch – it was blown glass, purples and blue, and it read
“Wisdom.” </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I suddenly knew
I could do this. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">With more
confidence, I walked further into the forest, thinking of Noah. Another orb,
deeper in the darkness, began to glow. I reached for it. It was crystal clear,
with a photo of him digging in the sand on the inside. Etched in the clear
glass was the word “PEACE.” </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I journeyed
deeper still. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">Now completely
dark all around me, and just when I started to feel lost, a little ball began
to bubble with oranges and yellows – it read “JOY’ and I
plucked it from the tiny branch for tiny Holly. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">And finally, I
travelled right to the center of the forest. There, hanging from the strongest
branch of the tiniest, centermost tree, hung a rosy pink strained glass heart, engraved
the word “LOVE”. It was for our newest, baby
Eden .</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I gingerly and
carefully placed the four glass orbs into the basket I suddenly found myself
carrying, and began to make my way out of the dark and deep forest. The pulsing
light of the fragile orbs lit my way, and they clinked together like a tea set.
I would glance down each time I hit uneven ground or took an abrupt twist in
the dark path to see if they had shattered with all their clinking – but they
were strong and bright and the beat together like little hearts. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I remember
feeling so proud and relieved – like my work as a mom, in the vastest
sense of the word, was somehow done. I had chosen the gift that would mark each
of their lifetimes – and I was SO happy with my choices. With the
glowing, other-worldly wishes I had brought back with me to make their time on
earth meaningful and right. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">When I woke up,
I began to write: </span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;"></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Segoe Script; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "Segoe Script"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Once upon a time there lived a family.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Dad’s name was Strength.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">He was tall, like an oak tree, </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and his heart was big enough</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and wide enough </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">for everyone to fit inside.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">When anyone felt sad or small,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">they climbed up his sturdy branches and
into his heart.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">There they stayed and rested,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">until they could once again face the world.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Mom was named Light.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She shone through the oak tree’s
branches. <br />
She bathed her children in moonlight</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and dressed them in rainbows.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She painted dazzling stars on their soft
cheeks</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and wove wildflowers into their hair. </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="Violets watercolor floral giclee fine art print" height="177" id="yiv316702759_x0000_i1035" src="http://ca.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f1%5f3786537%5fAIoPw0MAAHbHT67MowXBinqvnuI&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&appid=YahooMailNeo" width="190" /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">When they forgot their beauty </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">- or the beauty of the
world </span><span style="font-family: Segoe Script; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe Script";">–</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">she spun strands of sunlit spider web
around their tiny torsos</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and give birth to butterflies.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><img alt="Papillon original watercolor flower painting 4x6 inches" height="134" id="yiv316702759_x0000_i1037" src="http://ca.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f1%5f3786537%5fAIoPw0MAAHbHT67MowXBinqvnuI&pid=3&fid=Inbox&inline=1&appid=YahooMailNeo" width="138" /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Their first child was named Wisdom.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She burst through the frozen earth, </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">a brave and solitary crocus, </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">beckoned by the first light of spring.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She was dark-eyed and careful. <br />
She carried her treasures close to her heart.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She was sometimes afraid,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">but mostly, she was the bold leader of the
children.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The next child came close behind.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">He came quick as a trick, on a day meant
for mischief.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">He was named Peace</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">(although sometimes he forgot that was his
name.)</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">He was as sweet as candy.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">His eyes burst with flames </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and his heart was so open,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">he could hear whispers from other worlds.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Next, came a precious girl named Joy.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She was hand-plucked </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">from the heart of the silver winter moon</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and drifted to the blanketed earth </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">as a gentle snowflake.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She was sparkly and bright </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and bubbled with gratitude.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She traced tiny circles in the earth </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">with her fingertips,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and spoke the secret words of the fairies.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">And then came the littlest one, warm and
pink,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">named Love.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">She fell across the bright blue sky</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">like a gold-tinged autumn leaf,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">carrying with her guides and galaxies.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">When Love was born,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">worlds upon worlds opened up.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">And, when Love opened her gentle eyes</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and gazed upon the family,</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Strength deepened;</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Light expanded;</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Wisdom forgot her fear;</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Peace remembered his name;</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">and Joy danced and danced and danced</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">in the yellow sunshine.</span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #0192b5; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"><img alt="Spring Sunshine yellow floral watercolor giclee fine art print" height="116" id="yiv316702759_x0000_i1029" src="http://ca.mg4.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f1%5f3786537%5fAIoPw0MAAHbHT67MowXBinqvnuI&pid=4&fid=Inbox&inline=1&appid=YahooMailNeo" width="160" /></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The circle of heaven and earth pulsed
between them</span><span style="font-size: small;">…</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">There is more
to the story…maybe next mother’s day?</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">But for now,
these are my wishes for my children who are already here – I wish them
the wisdom, peace, joy and love that is their birthright and their life gift. <br />
</span></span><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><br />
6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?</span></span><span style="color: navy;"><span style="color: navy;"></span></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I have the
best, most supportive, most equal husband in the world. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">All I really
need from a day is a walk and a prayer. Then I am ready for things to unfold as
they may.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span></b></span><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;">7. What do you wish you had more of? Less of?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I had
more strength. I wish I could run alongside my kids while they biked (or bike
along with them!) or give them awesome under ducks or lift them anywhere they
ever wanted to go.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I had
more time to paint, more time to write, more time to read. <br />
I wish I had more patience. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I could
make my day one giant prayer. To live from morning until night with one big
outpouring of gratitude and other-worldly guidance and presence…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I could
see things as perpetually perfect and right, especially when they are most
difficult and dark and complex. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I had
less pain. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I had
less mess to clean up. <br />
Or maybe I just wish I didn’t flap my arms and walk in circles and waste
time picking up messes that weren’t even messes </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I had
more time to be fully and spellbindingly present with each of my kids, one at a
time, in every moment of every day. <br />
That sort of holy presence where you just soak in everything and miss nothing. </span><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span></b></span><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;">8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?</span></span></b><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
I still see myself so much as a bumbling, stumbling learner when I am with my
kids. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I guess my
deepest hope is that they learn to read the world symbolically…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">That they come
to know the meaning of the moon in all her golden phases…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">That they
believe in the fairy is curled up into a blue bell, even though they
can’t see her…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">That they
always say “YES” to walking a million miles to see a rainbow…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">That they
remember the truth of who they are…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">And that they
know with unequivocal certainty that they are never, ever, ever alone…</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am still
learning all of this myself, so maybe we can teach each other? </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;">9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">My mom is a fierce
protector. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">She is
faithful and strong and incredibly stubborn. <br />
She has devoted her entire life to her children, and now her grandchildren.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">She taught me
that if you are crying REALLY hard, you should try and take a breath, because
it is virtually impossible to cry and breathe deeply at the same time (she is
totally right.)<br />
She taught me that love overcomes all suffering (again, totally right.)<br />
She tried to teach me to slow down, but mostly this lesson irritated me, so I
keep going my own speed. <br />
(She used to tuck notes into my high school text books and lunches, saying
“SLOW DOWN”, “THINK BEFORE YOU ACT”, and “TAKE IT
NICE AND EASY.” Every once and awhile, one of these old and faded notes
falls out of an old book or appears magically in the strangest of
places…just when I actually do need to slow down. Plus, she was still
making my lunches when I was in high school, so who can argue with that?)<br />
<br />
When I was in elementary school, I was always doing these weird
self-directed-studies and once a month, I was allowed to present my personal
research project to the rest of the school in some sort of assembly (really??)
and my mom ALWAYS ran around town to find me the perfect kimono or spent hours
cooking up fried rice, enough to feed the whole school. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">In high
school, my friends all loved going on funny adventures with my mom. One night,
when all my girlfriends were sleeping over and we were hanging out in our
pajamas, my mom came into my room and ordered us all to hop in the car with
her. We all piled into our cutlass cruiser station wagon (Pachelbel’s
canon had been stuck in the tape deck for three years on high volume) and my
mom proceeded to drive us to Bonavista Mac’s, where ALL OUR FRIENDS were
hanging out and smoking. She slammed the car into park smack in the middle of
the parking lot. She remained nonchalant when all our friends began to climb on
the car and pound on the windows. She even rolled down the window to say hello
to a few that she knew, pachelbel’s music filling the parking lot like a
church. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">She then
turned to us, our heads all tucked between our legs in utter mortification, and
said calmly, “I don’t ever want to see any of you hanging around
here.” </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">We each had to
solemnly promise before she agreed to roll up the window, wave good bye and put
the car back into drive. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">When I was
just a few months away from my 21<sup>st</sup> birthday, I was in a wretched,
near-fatal car accident. Can you imagine, as a mother, driving upon an accident
scene of a heart-sinkingly familiar car (already engulfed in flames) and your
child, lying lifeless and bloodied on the road. Now as mom myself, I can hardly
fathom. And then, to be able to leave that child months later, with a shaven
head, wheelchair-bound, on the other side of the country (because I insist
there is nothing more important in the world to me than finishing my degree and
graduating with my friends) and somehow mirroring back to that broken child
that the world is safe and she can do it, even though I very much doubted both
of those things and mostly felt broken and tired. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I think my
time here on earth would have felt far more wobbly had I not had my mom, who
gave me deep roots and prevented me from floating away at every turn. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">still, she
says goodbye to me and (most of the time) allows me to find my way, no matter
how many potential disasters I skirt.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I sometimes
felt misunderstood as a child. And like I was “too much.” <br />
But mostly, I felt protected and strong inside, even when things crumbled
around us. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">My mom advocated
for me with a terrifying and primal ferociousness. <br />
She drove me and my friend anywhere we ever wanted to go (and many places we
didn’t.)<br />
She made enough hot dogs in our new-fangled 1970’s microwave when I
brought my entire grade one class home for lunch day after day. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">And, she let
me wear bridesmaid’s dresses (and on warm days, lacey SLIPS) to school
until I was in grade six.</span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;">I am not sure
if this was good or bad, but it definitely honored who I was. </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv316702759MsoNormal" style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;">
<span style="color: navy; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: navy; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></div>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-36976540623073001522012-05-12T10:05:00.000-06:002012-05-12T10:12:17.184-06:00Roxanna - Motherhood Series 2012Roxanna has a beautiful family and a large extended family. Her house is often 'abuzz' with friends/family. Yet Roxanna herself has a spirit of calm and steadiness (I think she might laugh at this, but she gives off that energy). She is fierce... and calm, if that makes any sense!<br />
She is very tuned into her kids and works hard to make sure they have what they need.<br />
Roxana is also tuned in to the mind/body/spirit connection and is always reading and researching. <br />
I love talking with her.<br />
<br />
Roxanna you are insightful and thoughtful and lots of fun!<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Tell us about yourself!</span><br />
<i>I
am a daughter to wonderful parents, an older sister to 3 sisters and 1
brother, a mother to a 7 yr old, 5 yr old and 1 yr old, a friend and a
wife. I am a farm girl, turned city slicker, turned country girl (in
that I live outside of city limits!). I am an insufferable
procrastinator, a giver of unsolicited advice and a fiercely loyal
friend. I love to cook and bake, often experimentally, but I loathe
cleaning the kitchen...AGAIN! If I could be outside all day, I would.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br />
</i><span style="font-weight: bold;">2.
What were your expectations of motherhood before you had kids? (ie. Did
you think you'd have a whole houseful of kids? Did you see yourself as a
mother at all? Did you wonder if it would ever happen?</span><br />
<i>I
fully expected to be married by 20 and to have 4 kids, any older than
that and it would be too late! I missed that deadline by nearly a
decade and it turns out it wasn't too late! I am a mother to 3 girls,
something I totally expected. I never saw myself as a mother of boys
for some reason. That is why I know to not keep trying for that elusive
boy...it won't happen, I wouldn't know what to do!</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<b>3. What has been(was) your biggest surprise about Motherhood? (different than you expected? or wish someone had told you?)</b><br />
<i>I
thought motherhood would be a whole lot simpler. I thought I would be
the one doing all the teaching around here, but what I have discovered
is that we, as parents, are really the student. I am discovering that
those things that drive us the most crazy about or children, their
little quirks and habits that make us pull our hair out, are the things
that we need to most work on ourselves. The saying that we "teach by
example" has never been more true than within the scope of parenthood. </i><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
4. Biggest joy? </span><br />
<i>I love going to get the baby up from her
bed and to see her nearly jumping out of her body with excitement to see
me. Babies know how to show pure emotion and I could eat it up. I
love watching them make right choices and know it and be proud of it.
To see that maybe, just maybe, they are listening and watching. I love
the absolute forgiveness a child has. Heaven knows we need it once in a
while when those " bad mom" days happen and your child still wants to
hold your hand and love you. We need to remember that always, when our
children have " bad kid" days, to still want to hold their hand and love
them anyway.</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<b>5. Best wish for your children?</b><br />
<i>To have a firmly rooted
STRONG sense of self worth. To have the confidence to make and stick
with good choices even when it feels the world is going the opposite
way. To do what they love and to find the happiness and satisfaction
that comes with knowing who you are. To never doubt the love of a
family.</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<b>6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?</b><br />
<i>I stay
up WAY too late most nights either working on something I want to do,
reading or just enjoying the selfishness of having the couch and remote
all to myself. If I can get away, I mostly try to spend time with my
friends. Maintaining friendships is vital and I treasure the times I
can beg away and enjoy a few moments laughing with a good friend.
Sometimes I just go grocery shopping...you take what you can get!</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<b>7. What do you wish you had more of? Less of?</b><br />
<i>More money, more time, more energy. Less dishes, less laundry, less stuff.</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<b>8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?</b><br />
<i>I
hope they learn that the learning never ends, that you spend a lifetime
trying to grow and develop and to foster those interests into passions.
I hope they learn to question everything, to make informed decisions
and to not become the status quo, no matter how easy that may seem.</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<b>9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother? </b></div>
<div>
<i style="font-size: 16px;">I
learned how to be a mother from my mother. She taught me that mothers
of daughters have a responsibility to raise good mothers. What a heavy
job! But when you look at it from that perspective, it becomes all the
more important to try everything you can to become the person you hope
your daughters will one day become. I also learned that it is a work in
progress and equally important, is that your daughters know that you
don't one day wake up and become the perfect mother. You make mistakes,
you learn from those mistakes, you look to one another for support and
advice and you dig deep for that faith that will pull you through. </i> </div>
<div>
</div>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-62813867155925452942012-05-10T10:11:00.004-06:002012-05-10T10:17:56.533-06:00Michelle - Motherhood Series 2012Michelle is my dear cousin. And while I am the oldest cousin on that side of our family (that used to seem a lot cooler) Michelle was the first to have a family and become a mom. So she has been a great example. She is being very modest about her own accomplishments and her children who are extremely talented and lovely people.<br />
<br />
Michelle I admire how you have supported and loved your kids and your whole family. You really operate as a family unit, encouraging each other and putting in the time and effort to live your dreams. <br />
I'm so proud to be related to you ;)<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>1. Tell us about yourself!</b><br />
I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, an aunt, a friend, a chef , a taxi
cab, a gymnastics teacher and I wear a few other hats. All of these
titles come with a huge amount of responsibility of which I am glad to
wear on my sleeve. I love that I am able to love, serve and grow with
special people every day.<br />
<br />
<b>2. What were your expectations of
motherhood before you had kids? (ie. Did you think you'd have a whole
houseful of kids? Did you see yourself as a mother at all? Did you
wonder if it would ever happen?</b><br />
I always wanted to be a mother, although I never really considered how
difficult it would be. Or how much you would worry, fret , feel joy,
sadness, happiness ,frustration and every other emotion one person could
feel. <br />
<br />
<b>3. What has been(was) your biggest surprise about Motherhood? (different than you expected? or wish someone had told you?)</b><br />
Ok so the biggest surprise about motherhood, I would have to say is
"time". No one told me how much time would be spent perfecting my
skills. Which by the way are not even perfected yet. Time is something
so intricate. Time is all about perspective, we often wonder where does
the time go? Have I spent it wisely? Did I use it to teach my children
everything they need to know? Did I take time to look after my self? So
I thought I had control of time, my life had been going according to
the plan... marriage, kids- 2 of them 2.5 year apart, a great job I
loved, a great husband and then time seemed to get away. I had come to
the conclusion that life would be a happy family of 4. Surprise, I guess
I had was getting to much "me" time because we were blessed with a
sweet little spirit to once again guide through this life. I often have
pondered if maybe I wasn't getting right with the first 2 so I am
getting a second chance to redeem myself. But I have wonderful,
thoughtful children that teach me so much.<br />
<br />
<i>*just to be clear, Michelle has two teenagers (daughter and son) and a sweet one year old boy!</i><br />
<br />
<b>4. Biggest joy?</b><br />
My family brings me my biggest joy. There are always hurdles to jumped
and races to be ran but as I reflect on what really brings me joy, I can
say that the little stresses go away and all that remains are the
blessings I am privileged to receive.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Best wish for your children?</b><br />
My best wish for my children is for them to follow their dreams. I hope
that as a mother I instill in them a sense of confidence and character
to press forward, find what makes them happy, share it with others and
make more happiness in the world that surrounds them.I hope my kids
learn to seek after happiness and not be selfish in the journey. I want
them to understand that true happiness don't come from the pursuit of
the world's riches, but comes from spending time with loved ones,
working hard and facing each day as a new exciting challenge. Take time
to enjoy the process of life, there is much good to be found.I hope
that they realize after all the work is done, they will be blessed with
all the riches they could imagine.<br />
<br />
<b>6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?</b><br />
Finding time for myself can be difficult, I am not sure I have
perfected that skill yet. In moments, I repeat "short moments", I get to
my self I try and do the things that bring me a little piece of
happiness. I enjoy scrapbooking, photography and all things creative. I
enjoy dinners out and walks with friends. Lately as a "new mother" of a
12 month old, I often look for sleep. haha<br />
<br />
<b>7. What do you wish you had more of? Less of?</b><br />
I think this is a trick question! This answer changes daily maybe even
hourly depending on the situation. But on a serious level, I would have
to say that as my kids get older I wish for nothing. I really have all I
could ask for. If some one was to give me less laundry, housework, bills
and deadlines, I might take them up on it.<br />
<br />
<b>8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?</b><br />
I think the question should be what do I hope my children don't learn
from me. I am pretty sure I have lots of bad habits that do not need to
be passed on.<br />
If I had only one thing I hope my children learn from
me it is to hard work. All things that come to someone are because of
hard work. Hard work can be applied to relationships, home, jobs and
even fun. Work Hard,Play hard, Love hard. <br />
<br />
<b>9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother?</b><br />
There is much to be said about the best things I learned from my
mother. I am still learning from her. She is an amazing woman. She
taught me to work hard. She taught me to persevere. She taught me that I
do not have to follow the world to live in it. She taught me that I can
do good. She taught me to be humble. She taught me to Love. She taught
me to stand up for what I believe. She has molded me to become who I am
today, for that I am forever grateful for her efforts as a mother. I
hope that I am as amazing as her one day!<br />
<br />
<i>* I just have to add my two cents here that Michelle really does have an amazing mom ;)</i>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-22557542382728317292012-05-10T09:32:00.001-06:002012-05-10T09:33:43.709-06:00Jamie - Motherhood Series 2012Shortly after I met Jamie she invited me to join her book club. Which I was very excited about and which says a lot about Jamie herself. She loves to read, of course, but she is also open and kind and likes to get involved and have fun. She has passion for the arts/music, family, work and her friends. And crafting! And really good chocolate!<br />
<br />
Jamie your enthusiasm and your candid nature are inspiring.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Tell us about yourself!</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">Oh
man, what do you want to know? I am almost 32 (my birthday is on
Friday!). I have been married for 11 years this August - I married my
high school sweetheart. I have 3 children - all boys - ages 8, 6 and 2
1/2. I went to university to get my Bachelor of Music degree in
elementary education and you guessed it, I teach music. I have a couple
of jobs that add up to a part time gig as a music teacher. My full time
gig is QUEEN of the house - or what other people might call, MOTHER. I
love music of most varieties, art, books of the good variety (yep, I'm a
book snob), and trashy television. I am also a bit of a crafter, though
not really that great at it - I'm not Martha Stewart! I like to blog
because I used to want to be a writer, and because it's a good way to
remember these days that seem to fly by so fast. Oh yah, and I have
narcolepsy, which is mildly interesting I guess! :)</span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2.
What were your expectations of motherhood before you had kids? (ie. Did
you think you'd have a whole houseful of kids? Did you see yourself as a
mother at all? Did you wonder if it would ever happen?</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">I
always wanted to be a mother. Ever since I can remember. I've always
loved kids and nannying, camp counseling were my summer jobs until I
got a real, grown up job. You know, teaching kids. I thought that
raising kids would be easy - especially as I watched everyone else's
parenting mistakes. I wanted 4 kids - don't know why.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
3. What has been(was) your biggest surprise about Motherhood? (different than you expected? or wish someone had told you?)</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">How
hard it is. How much work it is. And I don't mean physical work - that
part I think I was prepared for. I had no idea the emotional toll it
would take and I expect that it will only get worse as they get older. I
also thought that my innate sense of what to do would be enough. Turns
out, parenting is a lot more complicated than that. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
4. Biggest joy? </span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">This
sort of answers the last question...I was not prepared for the amount
of love I would feel for these little beings. No one can explain to you
what it feels like to have a piece of your heart walking around in the
world. It's a different kind of love than the love you feel for your
parents, your siblings or your spouse. And it is priceless.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
5. Best wish for your children?</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">I want them to be happy. Enough said?</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">I
have been blessed with amazing children who sleep well at night. I also
have an amazing mother who helps me watch my kids when I need help,
which is pretty much every day. While I think it's really important to
spend lots of time with your kids, I think it's equally as important to
find time for yourself and have a life outside of being a mother.
Balance is everything. But if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
7. What do you wish you had more of? Less of?</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">I wish I had less laundry, less dishes and less cleaning to do. I wish I had more time - always more time.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?</span><br />
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">I
hope they learn SOMETHING, ANYTHING, from me. I hope they learn to
always be kind, even when it's difficult. To work hard. To be respectful
of all people, no matter what.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span"></span></span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span"><br />
</span>9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother?</span></div>
<div style="color: black;">
<span class="yiv2067599102Apple-style-span">To be honest and loyal. To give quietly. To love unconditionally. To love books and reading.</span></div>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-20089430310948059602012-05-09T14:39:00.000-06:002012-05-10T09:09:58.902-06:00Tamara - Motherhood SeriesTamara is hands down one of the most amazingly organized and capable mothers I know. It's shocking really. She also has a clarity that seems rare these days. <br />
She just gets stuff done. And it's possible she has the best balance of family and personal time of anyone I know. Her family is a huge priority to her, but she makes time to see friends and have her own fun too. If you ever figure out how to bottle your super powers, I'd like a vat of it please!<br />
<br />
Tamara you continue to inspire me as a mother and a friend!<br />
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Tell us about yourself!</span></div>
I
am a mom to 5 little ones, oldest being 9, and youngest 15 months. I
have 4 boys and a girl. I am a wife to an amazing husband who is very
supportive. I am a daughter to an awesome mom. And a older sister to a
brother and sister. I am an auntie and a great aunt. I am a
granddaughter, a niece and friend. I am also a daughter of God. I love
to play and have fun. I am a girl that loves diamonds, but not
necessarily the jewels. I love the baseball diamond. I love playing
the game and coaching. I have been lucky to be able to coach since my
oldest started playing. I am a mom who likes to volunteer and know what
is going on in my children's schools. I am a co-chair for school
council (at least for another few days:) I have done this for the last 2
years and have loved it. I love being with my family, going on hikes,
camping, playing sports, or just watching a movie on the couch with
popcorn! I am a home body. I prefer to stay home and hang with my
little ones. I don't like to shop. I love being around people, but
also need my alone time too. I love to read almost anything. I don't
like to read directions, I prefer for someone just to show me how things
work! I love to take pictures of the things I see. I love to write
in my children's journals so they can know what they were like and who
they were when they were little. I am stubborn, but nobody knows that
:) I love to work out and learn new ways to make things more healthy
for my family. Saying that, I do love to make treats for my family too!<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">2.
What were your expectations of motherhood before you had kids? (ie. Did
you think you'd have a whole houseful of kids? Did you see yourself as a
mother at all? Did you wonder if it would ever happen?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Before
kids seems like a life time ago and I remember parts of it! But love
where I am now. We were able to just think about having a baby and we
would have one. We are blessed that way. I would NEVER have thought I
would have a whole handful of children. But am grateful for them. Even
on the tough days. I had lot of people say after having my 2nd that I
had the million dollar family. Mom, Dad, Boy, Girl....I was done
right....wrong. I didn't feel done and now I have 3 more boys. Talk
about messing with the whole million dollar family uh. I don't know if I
ever really excepted anything. I just knew I would know when it needed
to happen again. I don't expect much other than to be happy. I have
my moments like all mom's, but I try not to let the little things bother
me. Just be in the moment and know I am doing my best to raise these
crazy children.<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">3. What has been(was) your biggest surprise about Motherhood? (different than you expected? or wish someone had told you?) </span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
could do with out potty training, really not my favourite thing at all.
I don't like the dependancy of it, having to always be there to help,
the accidents drive me crazy. However after doing it 4 times now, I am
way more relaxed and don't care and know it will happen. Not often or
ever do you meet a 10 year old still in a diaper or even a 5 year old
for that matter:)<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Biggest joy? </span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
love the hugs and kisses! I am not a touchy/feel person with anyone
really, but my children and hubby of course. I love the smile in their
eyes when they do something they love. I love when they figure
something new out and the excitement. I love that they are all
different. Even though it's a challenge sometimes:)<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Best wish for your children?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
want them to be happy. I want them to know they are loved. I want
them to find the love that I have found with their dad. I want them to
follow their dreams, even if it is to be a singer or a politician (my
daughter) or my boys who want to be pilots or professional baseball
players.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">6. How do you find time for yourself/what do you do?</span><br />
I
love reading, I love working out, I love getting a massage or
mani/pedi. My girls nights are the most precious thing for me and I
have some amazing ladies in my life that I have learned so much from. I
am grateful for them each day!<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">7. What do you wish you had more of? Less of?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
wish I had more time, to spend more with each child. I wish we had
more money to travel the world, but that 's what our imaginations are
for right now! Less stuff....so many toys, I am looking forward to the
day I can clear out the 'baby' stuff and even though I don't like buying
more things, I am looking forward to not having to 'save' clothes for
the next boy:)<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">8. What do you hope your kids learn from you?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
I
hope they learn to be giving of there time to others, be a volunteer.
To be kind to everyone even if you don't like someone. To love to read
and love being outdoors. To follow their dreams<br />
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">9. What are some of the best things you learned from your own mother? </span></div>
</div>
</div>
To
be kind, and loving. To get an education, and love what you do. To
be a part of your child's life in all ways. I wasn't able to always
have my mom their because she was a single parent after my dad passed
away. She always did her best. With that I have decided to be there as
much as I can for my children, because I do have a husband who supports
me to be a volunteer and coach in their lives. My Mom always gave us
what we needed. I am grateful for that. I have had to work for the
things I want. Nothing has ever just been given to me....even though
sometimes I wish someone would just hand it over, I have always had to
work hard for everything I have. And that is a blessing that I have
learned from my mom.<br />
<br />Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-27762969229048831622012-05-09T14:22:00.001-06:002012-05-09T15:05:56.771-06:00Motherhood Series 2012<a href="http://twomittens.blogspot.ca/2011_05_01_archive.html" target="_blank">The series we did last year was such a joy for me</a>. We are all so unique with individual stories to tell, and still I felt completely connected to each of you. A beautiful thing!<br />
<br />
As I was reading <a href="http://twomittens.blogspot.ca/2011/05/motherhood-series-lara.html" target="_blank">my own words</a>, I was reflecting on how things had changed in some ways, and still my joys and wishes for my children are still pretty much the same.<br />
I feel that my kids are more independent now than they have ever been. The boys spend their days at school and it's a different balance now to develop that independence and keep that connection as we spend much less of our time together. They are also learning to navigate their own worlds which is exciting and harrowing at the same time.<br />
On the other hand, The Babe and I spend most of our waking hours together which is a blessing and a special kind of challenge unto itself! <br />
<br />
The kids are such a 'unit' unto themselves these days. Their interactions are full of wild dynamics, playing and fighting and pushing and pulling each other in many directions.<br />
One of my wishes for them is to appreciate the bond and friendship they have in each other. Hearing them laugh and play and work together is music to my ears...however rare! <br />
<br />
And so I am so pleased to carry on with more stories from more incredible, beautiful women in Motherhood!<br />
<br />Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-67864043611832910842012-04-17T11:35:00.003-06:002012-04-17T11:41:43.529-06:00Party People<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSoWFWjhqTUzhYSFktloybkl5a-pIh3d3qIMOIATHED95fyiwr7kWAHbjjjzHt6s1H8tISFCp2qg9HnmXlaghp1eoNguCtDhcnV7f69hIsF6nT21N9duRlM_xmMQaKlO88COofg/s1600/w5762.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSoWFWjhqTUzhYSFktloybkl5a-pIh3d3qIMOIATHED95fyiwr7kWAHbjjjzHt6s1H8tISFCp2qg9HnmXlaghp1eoNguCtDhcnV7f69hIsF6nT21N9duRlM_xmMQaKlO88COofg/s400/w5762.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732425743217229058" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieIIQdVTSMaVo1yrNDOq3pW348rJIaCl-WiOUfFni_pfcVwuDGXM4R_ItRCcRVxUMDST-fVbB3JnBmTCfbFx3TA1pgRVXQlx40ssAKQ5fjPJOQ1WfVCPn-CHjUjJVyFSzTXTk11w/s1600/w5760.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieIIQdVTSMaVo1yrNDOq3pW348rJIaCl-WiOUfFni_pfcVwuDGXM4R_ItRCcRVxUMDST-fVbB3JnBmTCfbFx3TA1pgRVXQlx40ssAKQ5fjPJOQ1WfVCPn-CHjUjJVyFSzTXTk11w/s400/w5760.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732425736952270722" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uqpkNPhMSlub1tizcpZdT0T-hnbTj13AS35PrSyBllP14TWin2ptM0Glwb9k8U7f0pTP4QvFmKpdLsnYUui1ww7pzLlJMxYfXzxBKCgSc3qWR5euVVSr58MuFpTerCXdCktTcg/s1600/w5758.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uqpkNPhMSlub1tizcpZdT0T-hnbTj13AS35PrSyBllP14TWin2ptM0Glwb9k8U7f0pTP4QvFmKpdLsnYUui1ww7pzLlJMxYfXzxBKCgSc3qWR5euVVSr58MuFpTerCXdCktTcg/s400/w5758.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732425735830730130" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicG61TH3CtVFNFLxs0WkGIXnPlXz9FVk6wIY0Vcz1-t6Xen_N-7L_zYz1CUHhkHqxAIK1C_QN62wfm977V0sjReF1h7tBnD7rDfjSSLheBgTFp79GXKmdbeldV-oBRYrL0ybSpUg/s1600/collage2.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicG61TH3CtVFNFLxs0WkGIXnPlXz9FVk6wIY0Vcz1-t6Xen_N-7L_zYz1CUHhkHqxAIK1C_QN62wfm977V0sjReF1h7tBnD7rDfjSSLheBgTFp79GXKmdbeldV-oBRYrL0ybSpUg/s400/collage2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732425729071763586" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcHpybec071rIEAi8HKKswzdmqkwk6jkDZ-aKWo6Pv8TEP9LAAkU5Vbutk-N4XoOd5S9uAX4RjuX6WdVh1pYJBptFdnqtDxXNGM_7nyXeUg26AK9C-1w56iBxQjL2OJYjNU91bw/s1600/collage1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 303px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbcHpybec071rIEAi8HKKswzdmqkwk6jkDZ-aKWo6Pv8TEP9LAAkU5Vbutk-N4XoOd5S9uAX4RjuX6WdVh1pYJBptFdnqtDxXNGM_7nyXeUg26AK9C-1w56iBxQjL2OJYjNU91bw/s400/collage1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732425721392039026" border="0" /></a><br />On the way home after the most epic birthday party ever!! There were hip hop dancers, a dj, matching t-shirts, name buttons, a mirror ball, balloons, tattoos, a dance off, crafts, cupcakes and sparklers and some of our favorite friends! EPIC!!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-82746006693319108532012-04-17T11:29:00.004-06:002012-04-17T12:02:56.987-06:00Easter Olympics<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCElpHcgs1s0FSgn9c0PvZ9i2CVI5fRX6SNDU_zagHAoGlHKw5hIExxEYmSydZrZQT0VbKl7M9TOZZ_WeTKtO3V7su7EE_d68t_W-qunXp9amfdXjmSCtABgS02L6iFaTGgn4Ug/s1600/collage8.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732424251446489714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCElpHcgs1s0FSgn9c0PvZ9i2CVI5fRX6SNDU_zagHAoGlHKw5hIExxEYmSydZrZQT0VbKl7M9TOZZ_WeTKtO3V7su7EE_d68t_W-qunXp9amfdXjmSCtABgS02L6iFaTGgn4Ug/s400/collage8.jpg" style="float: left; height: 303px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulv8yb88feLXPD1u97lP_PseKpPLhHGRHmARTgC4NLPpMDZ8A14JQU9_CeuI80FzxWYei2u0dS6hI2qaI2UzyoZKnXCHqWxM30S2AH-lpfaQdAXYtB5GFTYxfRvioEc2xkhotxA/s1600/w5405.jpg"></a><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732427780072849218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulv8yb88feLXPD1u97lP_PseKpPLhHGRHmARTgC4NLPpMDZ8A14JQU9_CeuI80FzxWYei2u0dS6hI2qaI2UzyoZKnXCHqWxM30S2AH-lpfaQdAXYtB5GFTYxfRvioEc2xkhotxA/s400/w5405.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 266px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwifNCIE633ws86m-XtaDcMTp-R8cg15PJWEcWPiGQ6JFh0ZcZoTC2R2XGWto1wf_ied4Qsr470WiQlUaX-BSNcUSpRYxpxYGtG_enKdZ-LfpBZMq9T1n0_P7gKJByyahFU7LAA/s1600/collage6.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732424240532652450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwifNCIE633ws86m-XtaDcMTp-R8cg15PJWEcWPiGQ6JFh0ZcZoTC2R2XGWto1wf_ied4Qsr470WiQlUaX-BSNcUSpRYxpxYGtG_enKdZ-LfpBZMq9T1n0_P7gKJByyahFU7LAA/s400/collage6.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 303px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYSjfYfPceRJu9sCmXIwSe0tOMm5WBOD0nyU8cmmC5gQUSil73R887P9F2sPCKku22QrRAgQIMVcnTe4J_L0dzP7PfB9TbmGl7AfojYRbwhMLvpdL5AB_4cN4MciJ-kEVEJ8fQw/s1600/collage7.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732428145637547538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYSjfYfPceRJu9sCmXIwSe0tOMm5WBOD0nyU8cmmC5gQUSil73R887P9F2sPCKku22QrRAgQIMVcnTe4J_L0dzP7PfB9TbmGl7AfojYRbwhMLvpdL5AB_4cN4MciJ-kEVEJ8fQw/s400/collage7.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 303px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EUW2vu3ZDafaycUq6Y0fbqsrhL3KOmaua5jksCQdF_36grsouderuH62NUHCAt9172YGDb-Cf4-i_vvWoTxSVIsx1rnAJi1PRpBEuty2km-37BkI0eA0OPdz5dPY1WX4stfBbg/s1600/collage5.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732424234159009410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EUW2vu3ZDafaycUq6Y0fbqsrhL3KOmaua5jksCQdF_36grsouderuH62NUHCAt9172YGDb-Cf4-i_vvWoTxSVIsx1rnAJi1PRpBEuty2km-37BkI0eA0OPdz5dPY1WX4stfBbg/s400/collage5.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 303px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>We had the first every Easter Egg Olympics this year! It wasn't a huge event but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Egg spoon races, egg toss, egg roll...you get the idea. It was a highly competitive event! I think we're already looking forward to next year!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgBZh-FhzBJhv-GMYbBunOmC8PcjWBKKIaTzyPJuU4fRmQxA0CcdnioXy1T7jRuy62yPsT7Uxss5DJDdmB83GoKpMMwfe0g4ADQmXQJ3OV43rxX3VMlUcFUffK5Od_Zml_5aHsQ/s1600/w5438.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732427783495423266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgBZh-FhzBJhv-GMYbBunOmC8PcjWBKKIaTzyPJuU4fRmQxA0CcdnioXy1T7jRuy62yPsT7Uxss5DJDdmB83GoKpMMwfe0g4ADQmXQJ3OV43rxX3VMlUcFUffK5Od_Zml_5aHsQ/s400/w5438.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 266px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMT6WJP5vnNMC0WorbVGWLU_VigfaItpA6bdP5NhyphenhyphenavEylNKXouPfLFqsql9orV-RBX4J06zaVCuXvi0L2V08oXcJh3_Mhq2kjKPdZlQeAKY-MdWLm8yTx2qGnQ1X3xX7utt0Ig/s1600/collage3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732424223601375106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMT6WJP5vnNMC0WorbVGWLU_VigfaItpA6bdP5NhyphenhyphenavEylNKXouPfLFqsql9orV-RBX4J06zaVCuXvi0L2V08oXcJh3_Mhq2kjKPdZlQeAKY-MdWLm8yTx2qGnQ1X3xX7utt0Ig/s400/collage3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 303px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-61747518356009274202012-03-15T16:11:00.002-06:002012-03-15T21:22:11.393-06:00Sharing the Love 03/15/12Here are a few things/recipes that I've been loving lately...<br /><br /><a href="http://madebyjoel.com/">1. Joel is a creative genius</a>. My kids and I love his paper crafts and villages. Makes me want to build a paper city like the school kids did. And it's refreshing to see his creativity from the male perspective.<br /><br /><a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/">2. Chocolate-Covered Katie.</a> Mmmmm...I made her recipe for <a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/31/deep-dish-cookie-pie/">Deep Dish Chocolate Cookie Pie </a>which was good but the texture was a little too dense/beany for me so I tweaked it a bit...I like this texture better. It's also very forgiving if you don't get the measurements exactly (that's how I roll). I also tend to like this better cold, oddly.<br />Check out Katie's recipes though. You won't be sorry! She has tons of simple, tasty treats.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cookie Pie </span><br />1 can chick peas 540mls - rinsed<br />1 cup oats (I use big flake, not instant but whatever you have is probably fine)<br />1 cup peanut butter (we only have brand name sweetened pb here. I'm sure you could use unsweetened or almond butter if you prefer)*<br />1/2 tsp baking soda<br />2tsp baking powder<br />pinch of salt<br />1-2 bananas<br />1 tsp cinnamon (optional, but why wouldn't you??)<br />1 tsp vanilla extract ( I happen to have vanilla stevia on hand, so I add a few drops of that instead)<br />1 cup chocolate chips<br /><br />*I don't add any extra sugar (other than what's in the chocolate chips) so you might want to adjust for sweetness if you use unsweetened peanut butter or almond butter.<br /><br />Add everything together, except chocolate chips, in a food processor. Whiz until smooth. Add in chocolate chips.<br />I scoop it all into a 9 inch round cake pan. I tried them in an 8 inch square pan but it was very thick. I line it with tin foil so I can pull it out easily.<br />Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.<br /><br />And one more quick recipe:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites</span><br />(by raw I mean not baked, not using specifically 'raw' ingredients)<br /><br />1 cup almonds<br />1 cup oats (big flake)<br />Whiz them in the food processor.<br /><br />Handful of dates (I soak them in hot water ahead of time to soften and add the water to the mix too - about half a cup? This also worked with raisins)<br />Add to nuts and oats along with cinnamon/vanilla if you like.<br />Blend until it starts to stick together.<br /><br />1/3 cup of chocolate chips<br />Add these last and just blitz them a couple of times if you want them to break up a bit.<br /><br />Form the mix into small balls or 'bars' and refrigerate or freeze them. Yum. Grab and go.<br /><br />I've seen many variations of this recipe floating around, so this is just what I had on hand. You can use different nuts (cashews or walnuts), or add raisins, or coconut or cocoa, or check out more of <a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/chocolate-covered-recipes/snackity-snacks/">Katie's recipes</a>!<br />A good friend of mine made some with cashews and dates rolled in coconut. Delish.<br />Also, I've figured out that my kids will pretty much eat anything with chocolate chips. Handy!<br /><br />3. Have some fun with <a href="http://www.colorstrology.com/">Colorstrology!</a><br />Whether you believe there is anything to it or not, I think it's refreshing to see yourself in a different light. It just makes me think look at things in a new way. And the Pantone colors are gorgeous. Fun.<br />p.s. I couldn't find a way to paste it up here, but my color is Grape Royale!<br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/">Get Happy!</a><br /><br />5. And if you're not reading <a href="http://momastery.com/blog/">Momastery</a> already, head on over there!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-8404949256301830212012-03-07T21:51:00.003-07:002012-03-07T22:43:32.351-07:00Grateful 07/03/12 Precious Body1. I spent most of the weekend watching a <a href="http://www.creativelive.com/courses/glamour-photography-sue-bryce">webinar</a> with <a href="http://www.inbedwithsue.com/blog/">Sue Bryce</a> (it was free to watch live and you can purchase the series now). There is a lot of photography information out there but it has been a long time since I felt like I was taking in such a wealth of relevant information. Despite our pitiful internet connection and trying to stay up late and go to church and feed the kids and not lose feeling in my butt, it was fantastic!<br />She has a lot to say about photography and life and loving and accepting ourselves. And I loved it! Love her.<br /><br />2. I purchased a ring a few years back that is inscribed with the words, Precious Body. It was made by a woman/artist who was struggling with cancer. I don't know how her struggle turned out, but it still reminds me to be thankful. My body is not perfect but it is powerful and strong. It is capable of miracles. As is yours.<br />I've made people!<br /><br />3. And some more good inspiration via <a href="http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/">A Cup of Jo</a> speaking to the state of motherly bodies:<br /><br /><a href="http://momfilter.com/talk/losing-the-term-baby-weight">Their new bodies are substantial and meaningful. And these are the bodies that rule the world. They are the epitome of womanly, with a heft that is curvy and vibrant to the touch. These are the bodies that say “go to your room!” and “I deserve better than that.” and “I will love you with a fierceness you have never seen.”<br /></a><br />And nothing against having a great figure, or being petite, or working hard to look fantastic. It's just nice to see more than one plastic standard of beauty in the media. Hurray!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-31886250693291796992012-02-23T15:24:00.003-07:002012-02-23T16:15:20.553-07:00Grateful 23/02/12Whew. Last week was busy and this week the kids are off school. Which means mom is 'on'.<br /><br />The pros are getting to sleep in and not having to pack lunches or be stuck to a routine. Also, we've had some fun with friends this week. Which is awesome. The Babe and I are often rather hermit-y on our own. Sucks not to have transport.<br /><br />The cons are of course, the bickering and arguing and whining. Yesterday one of my kids got a special play date which you'd think might help. It only made the other 2 whinier.<br />Today was much improved. Playing at the park and then at home with friends. We all feel better.<br /><br />I came across this today via <a href="http://www.designmom.com/2012/02/a-few-things-100/">Design Mom</a>.<br /><a href="http://www.kacyfaulconer.com/2012/02/mechanics-of-becoming-lame.html">Read it and have a good laugh. Read the comments too. Then read a few more posts just for fun. </a><br />p.s. I loved and miss my mini van.<br /><br />Other ways I am lame.<br />I make my kids listen to various Glee soundtracks with the same relish and enthusiasm that my mom 'made' us listen to the Carpenters and Simon and Garfunkel.<br />(underage listeners should not be listening to Rhianna or Dora - Glee is my happy medium)<br /><br />I have never taken my kids to see a play or live theater or an art gallery. Even though I love to do those things.<br />I have taken them swimming even though my bathing suit is ugly and a pool full of kids is gross.<br /><br />I feel pressure to have my kids' friends like me. I didn't really buy into that in high school and I don't think of my self as being superficial or terribly insecure but I still feel the pressure. I've been burned by a few play date moms and now I want people to like me. What the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">heII</span>?<br /><br />Oh and I am constantly on my kids to be nice to each other even though I fought like crazy with my brother. Siblings work really hard to be irritating and know how to really make you feel it. I want them to just suck it up and get over it.<br />Maybe this is payback.<br /><br />(if none of this makes sense, read the link. honestly, it's worth the few minutes ;))<br /><br />And now back to my original post, a few things I am grateful for:<br /><br />1. Watching my four year old run in her boots and snow pants is ALWAYS entertaining. She kind of bubbles and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bips</span> along. Or climbing/falling in the snow. I call her baby bear. She's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">roley</span> poly and happy and funny and cute.<br /><br />2. Avocado nirvana. I wish they were easier to come by in this country. As it is, we buy them unripe (and often expensive) and then try to wait the perfect amount of time so they are ripe and perfect before becoming black and gross. I've recently had a batch of perfectly soft creamy lovely avocados. They make the best smoothies.<br /><br />3. Conversations with adults. I've had a chance to be a little more social this past week (birthday parties, funerals, kids off school, etc) and it has been a treat to see friends/family and even <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">acquaintances</span> I don't always get to spend time with. Lucky me. I know some great people!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-58782970249691144312012-02-15T12:14:00.002-07:002012-02-15T12:59:19.665-07:00Grateful 15/02/12 Valentines1. Since yesterday was The Bug and The Bee's 7th birthday it always takes me back to their birth. So tiny and sweet and foreign and scary! I can barely believe they're 7.<br />7 years!!<br />Before I had kids I didn't get so much what people were always going on about. Of course your kids get older. That's <span style="font-style: italic;">how it works</span>. But at times it felt like they would be tiny and helpless forever and now they are SO BIG. Tall and smart and silly and full of so much life and energy. So. Much. Energy. (if I could just find a way to capture that energy they could probably light up an entire village)<br />I have plans for a 'proper' photo shoot this year. So hopefully more to come. In the meantime I have cupcakes to bake and games to plan and all that sort of thing for a small party at the end of the week.<br />But in the mean time I am just so full of love for my healthy, bright, funny, creative boys. I heart you on Valentines day and every day!<br /><br />2. I am grateful for my husband. He's still the funniest, sexiest man I've ever known. And he knows where to get the best chocolate.<br /><br />3. I found out yesterday that a lovely friend of mine passed away in her sleep the night before. I hadn't known her for years or spent a ton of time together, but she was the kind of person you get a feeling from. You felt her warmth and love.<br />She was a wife and a mother and a friend and I'm sure many other things. I think the worst kind of loss is that of a mother. No matter how old you are, your world is not the same without her.<br /><br />When someone famous and troubled passes away strangers/fans/admirers all mourn the loss of such greatness.<br />This woman quietly went about her life, serving her family, her community, her friends without fame or fortune. She was humble and hard working and fun and full of love. It's truly a tragedy that she is gone.<br />I'm thankful to have known her. I'm thankful that I still have my mom. I'm thankful that my kids have a mom. And I pray for her family.Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-19714989953601324322012-02-02T10:05:00.002-07:002012-02-02T10:59:39.651-07:00On Mommy GuiltThere seems to be a common theme among my friends lately (my real friends in real life, some of whom blog and some do not) and that is huge guilt over their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">inadequacies</span> as mothers. Mommy guilt. I don't think you could find a mother who didn't experience it in some form.<br />No matter what she is doing or juggling or how much success there is always a feeling of not doing enough or not being good enough or that somehow our children are suffering or are being wounded with deep life long scars because of us.<br />My own list of inadequacies and shortcomings goes up and around the block and then trails off into the woods somewhere...<br /><br />My point is that I know these women.<br />Not every intimate detail of their lives, but I know their character. I know how they sacrifice and give up their time and energy and work for their children and families. They make meals from scratch, they study and ponder how best to feed them, they home school, they take children to endless appts and doctors. They fight for their rights and fight for their children to be treated with decency. The have husbands who work long hours or away from home. Most of them have part time jobs or health conditions to juggle. They do fancy birthday parties!!<br /><br />And yet they (we - the collective or royal 'We') all feel like it's not enough. It's kind of like we're all in some wild reality show where we're given crazy challenges but we can't stop beating ourselves up for not completing each one without stumbling or getting our feet caught along the way.<br /><br />Sometimes when I need to give myself a pep-talk I try to see myself as I would see my child. I don't expect them to be perfect (well, maybe once in a while I hope they will be) and it hurts me to hear them beating them selves up for their mistakes or shortcomings. How could they possibly<br />get it all right? What would be the point if they did?<br /><br />And so I would say to them (and to me and to you) I know you're trying really hard. And even if it's not your best effort every single minute of every day, I know you want what's best for your kids and your family. And it takes everything you have. And it's not easy or fun to juggle all the things you are responsible for. And when you have a difficult day or week just take a deep breath and keep going. And the next day will be better. Or the next after that.<br /><br />Give yourself a break. And look for those moments when you can see the progress you're making. They do exist and you are making progress.<br />What you're doing is extraordinary. No one else can do for your children and family what you do. Even if they don't appreciate or know it yet. You are <span style="font-style: italic;">extraordinary</span>!<br />And think of the funny stories our kids will have to tell when they grow up!<br /><br />(We are the only ones who feel bad if they eat fast food, or get notes from their teacher - the kids are FINE. And they forget stuff ALL THE TIME. Why aren't we allowed to forget things sometimes??)<br /><br /><br />I have a new found appreciation for pain these days. Pain is an indicator. It gets our attention and makes us look at something we may have otherwise ignored. Even as a parent pain sometimes points me in a direction I need to focus on. However self induced pain and suffering just makes more misery. End the suffering!!<br /><br />And if you haven't read these already you might find some inspiration/a good laugh here:<br /><a href="http://theweek.com/article/index/99512/the-last-word-he-said-he-was-leaving-she-ignored-him">End the Suffering</a><br /><a href="http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2012/01/17/heres-a-secret-you-dont-have-to-enjoy-every-single-moment-of-your-life/">Chronos vs Kairos</a><br /><a href="http://momastery.com/blog/">Momestery</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Much love to you my friends!</span>Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-660194220786051122012-01-30T16:00:00.002-07:002012-01-30T16:33:57.523-07:00Grateful 30/01/12 - The Arts EditionSo I was asked to be a presenter at The Arts day at my boys' school last week. It was a brand new event that I'm sure they hope to continue and I was thrilled to see them put it all together.<br />I've identified myself as 'an artist' since I was about 4 or 5 years old and has been a constant love throughout my life.<br />So imagine my disappointment through my own school years when art was just a kind of throw away subject.<br />I even took Industrial Arts in Jr. High so I could 'make stuff' rather than the girl-typical Home Ec classes (explains a lot now, doesn't it).<br />However, while I enjoyed painting ceramics and printmaking and a few other subjects, what I really got was to spend time with some jacking-around teen age boys who couldn't pay attention and a teacher who was painfully shy and not very communicative (although he was probably well intentioned, the boys were a lot to manage in a shop full of power tools).<br />All around, less than inspiring.<br /><br />(I then went to 'art school' for college which was a thrill for me although in my own mind I saw it as a bit of an indulgence since 'artists' never make any money...but that's perhaps another topic...I digress)<br /><br />Now back to the present...when a lovely friend of mine asked if I'd be interested in presenting a class on Photography for the kids at school my mind became a swirl of fear and excitement.<br />The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. Especially with focus more on the creative process. It was so much fun just thinking about what I could talk about with a group of fresh young minds!<br />It become a process of paring down the information to a reasonable amount for 3-6 graders so I didn't totally overwhelm then with all my excitement about photography.<br />When the day came I taught 4 sessions (which is good practice at getting over nerves) and I explained a few simple concepts and showed examples from my own work and then let them loose with cameras. Which was pretty awesome/hilarious to watch!<br /><br />1. I am grateful for the enthusiasm of the teachers and parents at the school who made it a priority to have different artists come in and show a diversity of creative arts to the kids. (although the ultimate goal would be to have a yearlong program or multiple programs - but one step at a time)<br /><br />2. I love photography. It was fun to really ponder and reflect on what makes me happy about this medium and how I got to where I am today. And looking back at photos of my kids - fun for me.<br /><br />3. I am ever grateful to my mom who came into town to spend the day with my daughter so that I could spend the day doing something that was important to me. And rather than feeling left out The Babe got to spend a special day crafting and playing and being the center of attention. It doesn't get much better than that. Thanks Mom!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-65845255065544755812012-01-22T20:17:00.002-07:002012-01-22T20:34:11.468-07:00Grateful 22/01/121. Family night - on Friday we all went to a hockey game compliments of Mr. Mittens work. While we do spend quite a bit of time together (too much??) it was nice to go out for the evening and spend time with new friends (grown ups and kids) too.<br />It was great fun to watch all the kids watching the game. It may have been one (or two) periods too long for some 4yr olds, but it was a lot more fun than my usual night out of getting groceries.<br /><br />2. I am having a great hair day. I almost hate to sleep on it.<br />I try not to use too many heat products during the week when I'm not going anywhere and before Christmas I tried a new hair color 'experiment' that didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I really should have known better but sometimes I just can't help myself. Anywhooo...today it all worked out nicely for a change. Yay me.<br /><br />3. I'm working on a project for Wednesday. It's not a secret or anything, I'm doing a presentation at the kids school for their Arts Day. I plan to go into more detail in an upcoming post. On Sat I had a few hours to get several things accomplished, which depended greatly on the efficiency of others. I was nervous. However, it all got done. Everything really fell into place. It was awesome and I'm really excited about it. I will definitely be getting back to you on the that one!<br /><br />Happy weekend everybody!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-89988464584735036042012-01-18T16:40:00.002-07:002012-01-18T17:11:04.401-07:00Happy 2012Happy New Year! Ok, so January is half over, but that's still new-ish, right?<br /><br />My formal 'resolution' this year is to buy a really nice fitting pair of jeans. Something that says, 'hey, I may have a flat butt, but don't your eyes just love these dazzling pockets, and wow I think I might look a little taller in these' jeans. If you know where I can find them, DO TELL!<br /><br />But I was also thinking that it might be a good time to try something new here. I use to really love posting. I used to love sharing little stories or my opinion or whatever was on my mind. I still love posting photos, but I haven't felt like sharing much else. I just haven't been in the mood frankly!<br /><br />So in an attempt to improve my mood I think I might start posting things I'm thankful for. Not exclusively, but a little gratitude goes a long way...right?! It's quick and simple and if you feel like joining in (here or on your own blog) please do!<br />(you know, like if you're not too tired when you're done <a href="http://pinterest.com/larae/">pinning</a>!!)<br /><br />Even though a blog is really just ME, ME, ME, I really enjoy your thoughts and opinions too!<br /><br />So for today I am thankful for (I think 3 things is a good number to shoot for)<br /><br />1. HEAT - The kids are home today because it's too damn cold out. Heaters are cranked full blast. Oh I just saw a deer outside. Poor guy. I wish I could give him some ear/leg warmers. I'd love to see that!<br /><br />2. $2 watercolor paints I got at the grocery store - I was smart and bought 3 sets so there wouldn't be any fighting. The tiny Picasso's are painting up a storm. And it mostly washes out of everything. Sheer brilliance on my part. Did you notice #1. up there where the kids are home from school today??<br /><br />3. This <a href="http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/recipe/muffin-in-a-minute/">Muffin in a Minute</a> recipe - I add a handful of frozen blueberries, a minute and a half in the micro and yum yum yum! I have been eating gluten free for the past several weeks (and yes, I do feel better - less bloaty) so this little muffin really hits the spot.<br /><br />And voila - I'm less moody already!Two Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29056624.post-19332610143500613802011-12-20T13:38:00.005-07:002011-12-20T13:47:19.784-07:00Merry Christmas!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPX20VXszJ0C_PTGgv2OU5tTvPkJ-iAo1hlbgYCG99xME1kNi5Mr0PwM5EcYaqm2z0AOLkpsm-q8kTT2-3AcjosUGh8rk6OBpkI7P4gRMfocxcWq7YPEd3URYlzE-oraFV4aQwg/s1600/w4042.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibPX20VXszJ0C_PTGgv2OU5tTvPkJ-iAo1hlbgYCG99xME1kNi5Mr0PwM5EcYaqm2z0AOLkpsm-q8kTT2-3AcjosUGh8rk6OBpkI7P4gRMfocxcWq7YPEd3URYlzE-oraFV4aQwg/s400/w4042.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688312826651480562" border="0" /></a><br />So it's starting to look like I might not get any cards printed this year. It's just the way it has worked (or not worked) out. And instead of getting flustered and annoyed I am close to just letting it go........one less thing I have to sit at the computer to do. So if you get an ecard from me this year (instead of a paper one), try not to judge!<br />I am also sending you peace and quiet acceptance and presence (so different from presents ;)<br />And in return you may feel free to send me organization skills and anti-procrastination juju. Send it on over!<br /><br />Much love...Mrs. MittensTwo Mittenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866849032659445790noreply@blogger.com2