Sunday, December 28, 2014

Life. Is. Better. When. You're. Laughing.


The past few days I have spent (wasted) some time on Facebook admiring my friends photos and posts on their Christmas celebrations.

I have debated posting my own photos.

This Christmas was a good one, one that I want to remember for many reasons...

My favorite of which will be witnessing gratitude from my kids.

This year, my kids were grateful, they seemed to genuinely appreciate each one of their gifts and remembered to thank those who gave to them (with little or no prompting from me).

Raising them in this crazy 'me, me, me' society has made it hard to teach this important life skill.

It is one that we are still working on, and probably will be until they are grown but for this small moment I smiled when I heard those two simple words come from their mouths, 'Thank you.'

Aside from this pretty awesome sight, I am also going to remember laughter.

This Christmas, we laughed, a lot.

There is something pretty amazing about this simple thing.

I am still smiling at this memory.

For that reason, I am only going to post a few photos from our Christmas...

They are all the photos that make me smile and remember our laughter.

Enjoy our Hoilday 2014 Out-takes.




This photo isn't actually an outtake, but it sure makes me smile.

The little guy thought he was being so smart when he hid under the goodie table at great grandma's house.

I couldn't help but capture his little hand 'sneaking' up and grabbing some m and m's.






So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our crazy family to yours! 

I hope you laughed a lot too! 

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Reflecting

Someone dear to my heart gave me a great piece of advice recently and it has caused me to do a lot of reflecting.

The advice basically boiled down to this....


You will never have this day with your children again.
Tomorrow they will be a little bit older then they were today.
Today is a gift.
Breather and notice. Smell and touch them.
Study their faces and little feet and pay attention.
Relish the charms of the present.
Enjoy today, mama, it will be over before you know it.

It's funny how words can effect you.

These words aren't new to me, I have heard them before and taken them to heart.

As much as might I want to, I don't have the ability to stop time.

All we have our these moments, and they all add up into something bigger....

Life.

Lately, I have been struggling with a few things.

This journey of parenting that I naively thought would get easier just isn't getting any easier than it was during those years of sleepless nights and seemingly endless sickness, temper tantrums, and diapers.

Today, we struggle with something a bit different...

raising our children and teaching them all about what this crazy life is like.

There have been a few bumps along the way, but we are riding them out and learning together.

I realize that although these 'bumps' are difficult and sometimes feel so insurmountable that we can't ride over them, they are simply what they are...

bumps.

They are a part of our crazy life and without them I wouldn't be able to completely comprehend my favorite part of the amazing advice I was given....

Today is a gift.

We have had a lot of great today's, here's hoping for many more....



















Sunday, October 5, 2014

A Glimpse Back In Time.

You know those days, those ones where you wake up and think, 'today is going to be different, this will be a day that won't blend in with all the others?' 

Ok, well, maybe you don't have those days ...but I do.

For me, today was that day.

It started out in much the same way, get up and rush out the door to get somewhere we "had" to go.

As always, we were in a hurry.

Like nearly everyday before, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

The day continued on in much the same manner until we arrived at the afternoon.

Something was up, and although I couldn't decide what that something was or put a name to it, I definitely felt it.

This afternoon I found myself without kids waiting to meet a couple family members.

A few months ago my aunt asked me to take photos of her son who is a senior in high school this year.

To say that I was honored would be an understatement.

She is an aunt I have looked up to for most of my life.

I remember being a little girl and wanting to grow up to be just like her, smart, beautiful, and driven. 

She asked if we could take some photos of her son at the farm, which for me seemed like a really good idea.

My grandparents had a farm for many years (I should say, generations) and about 12 years ago had to sell and move to town.

At the time I remember being affected by this, it was sad, but I was also 22 and just starting my own life, so it wasn't something that I gave a lot of thought to.

Fast forward a few years and my life was in a tailspin, my father had passed away unexpectedly and the grief and sadness I felt (and continue to feel everyday since) left me struggling to find my way.

It wasn't quite 2 years later and my grandpa passed away.

Life was changing, and for someone who has always embraced change, this was not a good change.

Today, when I found myself standing outside the old house looking up into the windows I could almost hear the shouts of laughter and screams from two little girls who loved catching frogs in the yard.

I could almost smell the savory garlic aroma of raviolis cooking on the small, outdated stovetop.

If I listened really hard I could hear grandma calling for us to "come in and eat!"

Off in the distance, toward the barn, the putt putt sound of grandpas John Deere could be heard as he got ready to mow the grass.

Reality brought me back of course, and I stood staring at a shell, a shell of a house and a yard filled with precious memories of time gone by.

I thank God that I have these memories, however hard they are for me to relive.

So, before I say good-bye, I am going to share a few of my happiest moments (there are way to many to post on here) at Grandpa and Grandma Grani's, I'm so grateful for this part of my happy childhood.

I learned to ride a two wheeler in 1986 at the farm...I was pretty determined when I heard that my 'little' cousin Andrew knew how to ride before me (he is only 6 months younger)...

I spent a lot of time (or so I've been told) with my dad at the farm as a small child while my mom worked. I remember bits and pieces of this...

Some of my most vivid memories at the farm are from Christmastime when we were all together.

There was never a shortage of amazing food to eat when grandma was around. My favorite was and always will be her homemade ravioli. 

And as a warning to my family, the following photos are extremely hard to look at, so you may want to stop reading now. 

Selfishly, these photos are mainly for me, as I don't want to forget a single moment spent here. 

This place was so very special to me.


Sunday, September 28, 2014

Summer 2014 in a nutshell

Summer 2014 Truths...

All 3 kids grew like weeds.

Oldest two developed a little 'lip'.

We lived in our vehicle.

I took my camera out less than ever before and resorted instead to using my iPhone.

Calves were raised.

Kitties were born.

Animals were found.

Laughter was abundant.

Tears were shed.

Splashes were shared.

Love ran wild.

Here is a little glimpse through the lens....