Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Friday, August 27, 2010

Just thinking out loud...

So I have to say with all this summer busy my house has gotten the short end of the stick. No really this is so beyond mom small talk that it has been stressing me out. It's like loosing a race with a wreaking ball that is rolling down a hill - things only go from bad to worse. Every morning I have been waking up to find the time and motivation to get everything caught up and you know what- those days have come but it's not catching up any more - it's just staying afloat. Take this week for instance, every morning I have chipped away at something but every afternoon I have looked around the house and it looks like a family of barbarians live here. Don't I teach basic hygeine and manners around here?
Sometimes it just all gets to be too much, I feel overwhelmed and failure. Stupid laundry that makes me doubt my own value and worth. Stupid dishes that makes me question if my husband even loves me. Stupid messy bathrooms that make me question if I am a good mother.
Stupid house - no wonder I love any excuse to leave all the confines of it's self demoralizing grip.
Do you feel me?
And then tonight - a God moment - it can only be described as such because it was the perfect revelation, the peace offering, the perspective that couldn't be gained on my own. The above rant has been my perspective. Tonight as I looked around just before I went to kiss my kids goodnight and my eyes rested on the pile of laundry on couch, my feet crunched through the crumbs and who knows what on the carpet, i passed the bathroom with running tap and floor covered in water and I remembered. I remembered that I am so blessed to be living in the middle of this beautiful mess.
Obviously I have had this moment before because that's why I named my blog the way I did. It was supposed to remind me but I am so easily distracted. You know your life is the wrong kind of busy when you can't see the beauty for the mess.
Beauty is SO powerful. I sometimes mistake a clean house for beauty - yes it's pretty and nice (and yes I still want it!) but for the pretty of my house - I miss the beauty of my children - of my husband (sorry Ed that doesn't sound manly but my readers get it don't worry)- the beauty of my life. My beautiful chaotic messy life.
Thank you Jesus for every second of it.


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Overstimulated overflow

Ok here's the deal.  Soooo much has been going on around here I have found myself completely overwhelmed.  I know I am busy when I am not on my computer at least every second day.
And yes I have been busy and yes I intend to fill ya all in but its gonna take just a bit more time....


So this is what I got.


A new profile picture for my blog.  Yes it once again is me buried beneath my daughter but if you really look I think you can see 99% of my face which  - lets face it (no pun intended)  - is a miracle.


I set out the other day to play around with some studio lights a friend of mine lent me (Thanks Ang!!) and when it was all said and done I actually got some decent pics of my kids and was pretty excited about the whole thing.  Flying on my photo high I thought - what the heck, why not have a shower and try to get a semi decent photo of myself?!?
LOL
An hour later
And about 50 000 shots that had only one eye or half a face...
The kids decided they wanted to join mommy in this silly game of run back and forth between the camera.
BEEP BEEP BEEP  Flash!!!!!
Everytime I sat down one of the kids would lunge into my lap.
So here it is.
My best attempt at a self portrait and it probably captures more of who I am and what my life looks like than if I had captured some thoughtful dramatic pose.





Wednesday, August 18, 2010

What a Weekend!!

So this past weekend was an absolute blast.  We headed out on a short roadtrip to take in the airshow and get some visiting in with friends!!  I am having a hard time thinking in words right now so here is what our weekend looked like.

It was SUPER hot - like almost 40 C on the tarmac - Whew!

We stuck the kids under little umbrellas gave them LOTS of water and they coped better than I did I think


Gabe was soooo taken with watching the planes that he would just stand there staring at the sky waiting. Such a cutie.  Eliana on the other had was just bummed out that she was not aloud a jet ride - yes literally she wanted to fly!!


This plane is the Avro Lancaster (the big one with the 4 props).  It sure meant a lot to us to see it this year.  It is one of only two Lancasters still flying.  Earlier in the year Papa Stein had planned on joining us to this air show but he passed away since then so everything took on a different importance.  The lancaster was one of Papa Steins favourite planes and we know he would have loved seeing it.

On a totally separate note...this was the first weekend we had our new car!! And it is official - I love it.
Really fun little ride and although I missed the extra space the van offered (there were 5 of us in a 5 seater!! My little sis came along) it is so fun to drive and so cheap too!  We spent less than half of what we did on gas last year for the same trip. WOW!


I sure love my family - We stopped to pull out some snacks and Ed and Gabe went exploring.  Ed found this cool little raveen that we all hiked down into (which was tricky as it was really steep with no path and i was in flip flops!)  Meighan snapped a few photos of us as a family and she even got a few where we were all looking at the camera!


One of the best parts of the whole trip was hanging out with friends.  Eliana and Gabe had so much fun playing with Sam and Martina they are still talking about it.  We ate good food and chatted about everything from soup to nuts and it just made you feel like it should be like this everyday. 




Friday, August 6, 2010

I Hope this has Happened to Someone Else

OK I seriously do hope someone out there can relate to this somewhat embarrassing/funny moment I had today.


I was in the mall with my kids and I was so preoccupied scooping up some AMAZING deals on summer clothes for next year (From $30 down to $2 anyone!!!) that I had tuned out the endless chatter from my 4yr old daughter.


Although when her voice not so pleasantly interrupted my buying bliss  - I assumed that she was once again complaining (You know the tone of voice that overrides any language) So I loudly and in my firm mom voice said 
"Stop your whining!!"


Only to be shocked out of my shopping coma to hear a mom standing just next to me say..."Oh that was mine not yours" as she hurried her daughter away from the crazy lady - me.


oops.



Out with the Old and in With the New!!

Last couple of weeks have been super busy project land around here.  We finally bit the bullet and re-did our roof. So now I can say that I know how to shingle a roof but I really don't want to do it again. 
I can't complain though - Ed is the one that really put in the hours along with my brother.  They would come home from work and shingle until 9 pm and wake up and do it all over again.  It took a week and we even had a whole crew of volunteers on the long weekend.  So a big thankyou to my Dad and Mom, Megs, Greg, Stacey and Mauricio and of course James and Ed!!











Tada!!!