The Ordinary Days...

If you're a mom, you know that every stage of motherhood has its trials and tribulations.  Some days are great and some...not so much.  When we had our third child, we already had a 3 year old and a little one who had just turned 2, so things were overwhelming at times.  I'll never forget the nurse in the hospital telling me that it will be so fun when they were all a bit older and everybody would run and jump in bed with us.  She was right.  To this day, my husband and I still talk about those fun mornings when he'd just whistle and we'd hear the stomping of little feet running our way.

A blog/computer friend, Saloma, shared this video which she had seen on another blog and I asked if I could share it as well.  The author is reading from her book about how truly wonderful just the "ordinary" days are and those are the ones that will come to mean the most.  

My youngest went away to school last week and after a week of tears and phone calls, she's decided to come back home.  She was met with a lot of resistance, as were we, about what's the best thing to do ~ and everyone shared their opinions with us, whether we asked or not. :)  "Don't let her", "Do let her", "Don't make her stay", "Make her stay", "Here's what I would do..."  In the end it was her decision, right or wrong.  She'll be fine and so will we.


My favorite line from this video is when she said, "All flowers bloom in their own time," and I couldn't agree more.  When all is said and done, this week is not the one thing that will stand out in our minds when we think of Sara ~ it's all of the ordinary days we spent with not only her but our other two children, and with each other as well.  All those regular good ol' things are "the stuff that dreams are made of."
The Gift Of An Ordinary Day from Katrina Kenison on Vimeo.

Guest post

I'm doing a guest post today at A Joyful Chaos.  I was happy to have been asked since it's one of my favorites.  Once you read some of her past posts, you'll be hooked.  Enjoy  ~ ♥

Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore...

Last weekend was the big drop-off weekend for my daughter's first away-from-home experience.  Well, she's been away from home before, but only for a day or two at a time.  Lesson number one is learning the difference between "wants" and "needs".  When I went away to school, I called home (collect) crying every day.  There was no e-mail, cell phone, text messaging, skype (which she doesn't have...yet) and we had to learn to make do.


I've always told my kids they can ASK for anything, right?  Not a problem.  Getting everything you ask for IS the problem.  I couldn't help but share this journey with you as we watch this little puff of a chick peck her way out of the shell and into the big open world...

And here it starts.  I KNEW as soon as her roommate came in with these adorable rain boots, a request wouldn't be far behind.  I love how she's specific - she needs "cute" rain boots!  Thank goodness she told me, I wouldn't want to pick up any with pictures of machine guns on them or anything ~  :D

Keep it comin' girl...

The next day her little mind is still awhirl with things she "needs".  Have you ever really NEEDED a chip clip?

Ever since she worked at the pizza place, she's neurotic about people using coasters.  Maybe there's some antique wood in their room she's trying to protect or something, you never know.

I don't even know what this is - I had to ask my other kids...

I thought I'd send her a friendly little text myself...

She answers...Shouldn't college kids not use the word "gunna"?

Oh wait - one more thing!  But look, she's starting to learn already some things can w-a-i-t.

Hmmm, good question...

My other daughter (Meredith) forwarded me a text she got from Sara which is a RIOT!  I guess since my husband works for a grocery chain that's what she's used to.

And sometimes I get a text from a friend at just the right time, who secretly knows I need some friend therapy and Mexican food, and she swoops in to save the day!

My answer, of course, was "All of the above!".

Three days to go...

The countdown has begun and in just three short days, my youngest will be going away to college.  I think her major (for now) is "Exercise Science" or something like that - her eventual goal is being a Physical Therapist.  She's gone through extensive physical therapy herself and I think she can empathize and has a desire to help those who are going through it as well.  I fully expect that to change a dozen times, and that's completely fine.  Her bedroom has gone from this...

To this... (I just have to add here, she paid my other daughter a whopping $40 to clean her room.  She got a bargain, let me tell you - my older daughter is a deep cleaning/wall washing diva and you could eat off her floor by the time she was finished with it.)

We've stocked up on everything from cute bedding to Tylenol and Q-tips...

Isn't this the cutest?  She got this from her aunt and uncle - it's a shower caddy for taking her shampoo, etc. with her when she goes in the bathroom.

We all have dreams for our children - faith, strength, happiness, confidence, and the list goes on.  I, being a realistic mother, have my own dreams for my child...

 If she comes home having learned how to use both of these things, I think she'll be ready for the REAL world!

Grade school loud mouth...(and a sweet little book)

Since we're all getting ready for back-to-school time, I thought a good flashback would be from grade school.  This is my kindergarten picture and it's such a hoot because look at the curls on the side of my head.  These were the pre-curling iron days and so I remember curlers being in my hair - but only in the front!  It's stick straight in the back.  And that was my favorite dress back then - tiny hearts and daisies.  From JCPenney, I'm sure.  What wasn't?!  

Then for a splash of fun, I scanned one page from my third grade report card.  You'll probably have to click on it to enlarge it and read it.  The reports cards went through various forms - from a fold-out card to five or six pages of reports, then finally just the half sheet of paper in high school.  This is the page for "other areas".  

I think I could've scanned any page from any year because they all basically said the same thing - she talks too much, she talks too loudly, etc. - but the grades were always good, so that counts for something right?  I love how she put "I'm trying to impress on her that a young lady should speak in softer tones."  (I think she and my husband would agree on that one).  And come on, seriously - a grade for art? 

Finally, and this isn't a flashback, but with so many starting school this week, I wanted to share my favorite back-to-school book.  I didn't discover it until after my son started school so I bought it for each of my girls when they went into kindergarten.  It's called "The Kissing Hand".  Basically the long and short of it is that the little raccoon is afraid of starting school so his mom kisses his hand and then whenever he's at school and misses home, he can put his hand to his cheek and feel the warmth and coziness of mom and home.  Then he gives her hand a kiss also for when she misses him.  It's ADORABLE.  

I hope everyone has a great school year and if you'd like to join in more pre-digital photo fun, pop on over to Alicia's at More Than Words and join in!

The wild side...

I have a secret confession to make - I absolutely ADORE animal prints!  If I thought my family could stomach it (which they wouldn't - trust me), I'd have a room decorated in a whole jungle theme - complete with vines and Tarzan pounding his chest in the background.  Yeah, OK, maybe not THAT.  It's sort of just a guilty pleasure though, and I'm a pretty boring decorator and I'm using the term "decorator" extremely loosely.  

In getting Sara, my daughter, ready for her new dorm room (she leaves in a week and a half- sniff, sniff), she wanted a zebra print bedspread.  UH YEAH BABY!  Thank you, apple, you have not fallen far from this tree.  Lo and behold, we found a complete set - bedspread, sheets, pillow sham (which I had to explain to her what that was and then listen to her go on and on about why on EARTH is there such a thing and it makes no sense and she would just use it as a pillow case!), and dust ruffle (which of course won't get used, because who uses a dust ruffle in a dorm?).

It's reversible with half zebra print and half pink leopard/cheetah print.  I don't know, maybe it's giraffe.  Anyway, it's a color that is not on any jungle animal that God ever created I can tell you that much.  After we got home, we remembered a little someone around here has an outfit (bought by my other daughter in a fit of college spending frenzy) that matches our new purchase.  Her dress is half zebra, half hot pink with the word "Fierce" on the back.  Helloooo, photo op!  Let the countdown to college begin...

Now if we can just keep Tarzan away from the both of them, we'll be set!  For more animal fun, visit Angela at West Virginia Treasures for more Tuesday's Show & Tail.

 

Feelin' hot hot hot...

When it's like this outside...

(Heat index of 109 - YUCK)

We do a lot of this...

So we think you need some of this...

Cold macaroni salad:

1 small box of macaroni noodles (boiled and cooled).  Cook the noodles in the a.m. so that they're ready to whip into shape that afternoon.

1/2 cup of French dressing

1/4 cup chopped green peppers (I left those out this time)

1/8 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup pickle relish

4 diced hard-boiled eggs

1/2 cup (or more) cubed cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

Cream above ingredients and add 1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce and then salt and pepper to taste.  

Enjoy and stay cool!