Lanelle & Bear

Lanelle and I are having a wonderful day together. We waved goodbye earlier to Papa Bill, Daddy, and Kellen (to the cabin of course - do I need to say?!) Garage sales, Farmers Market, and a long walk with a stop at the coffee shop have been highlights. We got to hang out with Auntie A and the cousins and visit around at the Market. Fun.

Also fun, Lanelle's new bear from her cousins is a real hit. His name seems to just be Bear, she shook her head if I suggested otherwise. She absolutely would not eat breakfast without him in her hands. Oatmeal wipes off fur (kind of).

Old news

I'm posting old news first. I don't know where this past month has gone. Really, I've said things like that before, but I REALLY mean it this time. I feel like I don't know what happened to time.

So, this beautiful piece came into our house in July. We talked about what to do with this corner of the kitchen since we moved in - take down the wall and open up the kitchen/dining room/living room into one space, OR put up some shelving in this corner and put in a island, OR put a table here (which I really didn't want since there's already one just a few steps away). Anyhow, I saw this advertised late one night and the next day we went and bought it. Kitchen - done! Beautiful and functional. It's the baking corner. Kitchen aid, bread maker, flour and all such things stored here. When the top is pulled out, plenty of room to work. I will admit to having pretty bad buyers remorse for a bit after such an impulse by, until it made its way from the garage to its corner in the house. I especially fell in love when I was making biscuits peacefully here while Ian was making soup in the other corner of the kitchen.

The only thing we need to do is put some glass here. I'm wondering if my wonderfully talented cousin Monica would be interested in helping us out here? Any thoughts Monica?

Cute stuff?

Me: Kellen, what would you like to be when you grow up?

K: (with snotty look, squinty eyes, and a shake of the head) nuthin

Me: I mean, I'm a dietitian and I teach people about food. Dad operates equipment and works for the town. What would you like to do?

K: Nuthin. Just whatever I want to do.

Me: Oh, so if you were not working and doing whatever you wanted to do...what would you do?

K: I'd do nuthin.

Yikes, should I be concerned?

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Me: Kellen, what was your favorite part of the circus?

K: The elephant pooping!!!!!

Me: Oh. What else did you like? (sounding hopeful for more)

K: Nothin. Just the elephant pooping.

Dad: Yeah, that's pretty interesting.

K: Yeah, he pooped, just like me.

Dad: (laughing) But we don't clean up after you with a shovel and a garbage pail.

K: No, but maybe we should use a combine! Yeah, just like BOOF!

We haven't really figured out a definition for boof, but it is the word around here and seems to be applied in any way you could imagine.

Our magical morning

We had a magical morning down at the beach, just a short bike ride away. It always seems to be quiet at this rocky little spot.

Kellen requested to come here. The monkey bar beach he calls it. There's a little grove of trees behind the monkey bars. I said to him, lets go on a hunt in the woods. He was right with me and his eyes lit up. "What do you think we'll find? Is this the woods with Fox and Franklin? Let's go hunt for treasure!"

Of course, this was after he abandoned his shoes.

And had gotten all wet. He stripped naked while I was looking the other way and refused to wear his wet clothes. Well, he tried to. He did wear his shirt and underwear while we played in the woods and I hung his pants to dry a little.

Lanelle explores in her own way at her own pace. Today, rocks were very interesting.

Kellen was so excited about his treasures that we took them home and displayed them for Dad. Rocks, bark, leaves, twigs...

While I was taking pictures of that excitement, I realized I had never taken pictures of Ian's table. Not that I wasn't excited about his project. I really love it, even more than I hoped to.

Week thoughts.

My week flew by at an amazing speed. I'm counting down the remaining carefree days of summer minus work. I'd like to say I've been enjoying every second, but its been hard to. Lanelle was sick this week - grouchy and fevered. So sleep was far from optimal and she's been very demanding. But, we carried on and Kellen did his swimming lessons every morning at the beach. He did real well and got his duck sticker. It was difficult for me, because he found it very cold and didn't want to stay in for the whole time. It went better when I finally resorted to bribing. We would get ice cream if he listened and stayed in the water. I hated doing it, but it worked so well. It's only bad if you do it ALL the time, right? (We only did it 2 days, just to clarify.)

Do you like Lanelle's dress? I'm very proud of it and had her wear it almost every day this week. I think my sewing machine is going to make a few projects, as I might get addicted. The little afternoon project was a bright spot for me and made my week feel successful and happy.

Until Friday anyhow. Friday was a "hmmmph" kind of day. I'm not sure if I woke up grouchy or if the kids did and then made me grouchy. Maybe, I realized that the week had flown by and I didn't get to do many things on my fun list. I couldn't seem to get anything done and didn't really have enough motivation to tackle life. Anybody out there understand? I just felt stuck in a rut I didn't want to be in.

I really wanted to feel motivated again. I was hopeful I would have an inspiring Saturday morning on a fun shopping adventure with Lanelle in the city, since Ian and Kellen were off to the hunting cabin. After picking up the necessary wedding gift (which we needed for this evening) and being tortured at Michael's by each other. I decided to shorten my fun shopping list, since it really wasn't fun for either of us. But, I still did hit Fabricland since I wanted to be able to make a couple more dresses this week.

And then I stumbled across this. An amazing deal on some beautiful curtains that match our living room/dining room perfectly. I'm sure I've dreamed about them, but never thought I'd find exactly what I wanted and especially at such an amazing price.

Good bye you ugly old red curtains. I'm feeling more inspired about the upcoming week and making my list of what I really want to do - with the kids and my own projects. I'm thinking its going to be a good week. I know I've shared some weak week thoughts here, I just find it interesting what little happenings make me feel like its a sunny, happy world. Little dresses, curtains, or whatever.

Now that I'm smiling again, its easier to remember more of the good things about this past week, which included, fun times with sister Kathy visiting for a day, good times reconnecting with friends at the beach that I've missed since being back at work, seeing the beautiful relationship between bride and father tonight that made me cry...just a few more of the sunny spots in my week.

Reminder to self: kids are pretty smart.

My kid does know what I'm trying to teach him. Lanelle was hitting Kellen, who was getting a little frustrated. I talked to him about how we have to teach her, because she doesn't understand she shouldn't hit. Kellen was right into that and very patient when he told her later, "please don't hit, that is not allowed." He mentioned it several times to me in the evening. "We have to teach Lanelle, right?" So, I asked him, "And, what do you think I have to teach you?" His eyes wander around the room, but I can tell he's thinking. I'm laughing inside, thinking he probably has no idea. I'm also thinking, "sharing!". I couldn't believe when he smiles slyly and says, "to share!" Obviously I'm getting through to him if he can come up with that, right?! I was surprised, but probably shouldn't be. Kids are pretty sharp, eh?

Love

I'm feeling a lot of love this Sunday afternoon. Love for my husband who took the kids to camp and gave me 32 hours all to myself. Love for inspiring friends and reconnection (thanks so much, Julia.) While it seems very strange to type - Also, love for myself, which I think is pretty good after spending so many hours in solitude. I loved being alone and all the things I got to do, even laundry, baking, weeding and all the quiet reflection. It has been fantastic and I'm so ready for this busy week. Only working 3 days, but long days into the evening. Not that I'm complaining, because then I'll be enjoying 2 more weeks of holidays. Anyhow, I'm getting sidetracked.

I also loved the people I got to meet at Creation Vacation this week. It was a wonderful group of people. When the kids are older, I would love to do the whole week. But, I loved the day I had, and Sheena was awesome! She made me want to take up writing.

These are 2 recent pictures that give me lots of love feelings. It was such a great moment watching these kids have so much fun playing up on the hill. It was gorgeous!

Now that I'm feeling so very refreshed, I can hardly wait for family to get home to love on them! I am so thankful for those who bring love into my life. I hope you can feel overwhelmed by love in your life today!