{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

grump

Today was a hard day. Some days are just like that. Junior was up most of the night last night. She finally cut another eye tooth. Magoo was off her game today. I always thought she enjoyed gymnastics and today she said she didn't like it anymore. The hubby and I were at each other's throat all day. Junior cut her foot this evening and kept saying "Boo boo...hurt..." Maybe today was just full-moon-crazy aftermath. This Mom could use a do-over. I'm going to bed. I hope to sleep well. I hope that tomorrow we'll all wake up on the right side of the family bed and enjoy our snowy day together.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

100 things that delight me

A couple of years ago at Parent Connection we talked about listed the things that make us happy. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our day-to-day toils and let them bring us down. Every year now I like to update my list. It gets me thinking about what's really important in my life. This Mom Loves a lot.

1. our Waldorf community
2. getting to drink my tea before it gets cold
3. a fast, easy, yummy, Paleo recipe
4. taking the perfect picture
5. trees
6. kissing my daughters - they're delicious
7. taking the winding way home
8. my veggie garden
9. naps
10. gerbera daisies
11. "coming home" day
12. Junior’s little head on my shoulder
13. Snoopy dancing
14. my wedding ring
15. old photos
16. letting the fresh Spring air fill the house after a long winter
17. basking in the sun like a cat
18. clean, cool sheets
19. Magoo's eyelashes
20. Parent Connection
21. the color green
22. intelligent conversations
23. massages
24. my sister looking mischievous
25. when a dog's ear gets flipped inside-out
26. the sound of the wind rustling leaves
27. fireworks
28. the smell of leaves in the fall; I love fall
29. meteor showers
30. climbing into bed at night
31. a clean and tidy house
32. fresh strawberries still warm from the sun
33. cute Smartwool socks
34. a perfectly poached pastured egg
35. alliteration
36. Perot State Park
37. my lovelies sound asleep
38. the first buds in the Spring
39. elephants
40. my DVR
41. the flicker of candlelight
42. wiggly puppy-dog tails
43. laughing really hard
44. the picture next to my bed of my husband on our wedding day
45. the Northern Lights
46. swaying with my sister
47. Strongly Pullin' Me by Runaway
48. nursing Junior
49. seeing a great stage play
50. a beautiful sunset
51. Home for the Holidays
52. a great playlist on the iPod
53. dog smiles
54. Yates Cider Mill apple cider
55. the smell of sawdust backstage
56. Magoo's joy for collecting sticks and rocks
57. kisses on my neck
58. getting my Better Homes and Gardens magazine in the mail
59. an uninterrupted shower
60. a cardinal's song
61. reading Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus to Junior
62. maple trees in the fall
63. when I call my sister and she says, "I was just thinking about you."
64. Grandma’s hand written recipe cards
65. the girls dancing
66. time to myself
67. campfires
68. strawberry ice cream
69. cute cloth diapers
70. getting to sleep through the night
71. the smell just before the rain
72. my cozy bedroom color
73. Honeycrisp apples
74. new cookbooks
75. watching johnsmith perform
76. a great haircut
77. bird watching
78. Magoo and her daddy "playing saxophone"
79. letting the bathroom get all toasty warm with the space heater on
80. when Magoo says, "Let’s play wild!" meaning she wants to wrestle
81. knit winter hats
82. my "work in progress"
83. the smell of oranges and any citrus really
84. witnessing my kids learning something new
85. watching Junior put her babies to bed
86. Magoo's imagination
87. Junior’s increasing vocabulary
88. a comfortable and cute bra
89. a date with my husband
90. listening to my husband give the girls a bath and talk about their day
91. learning something new
92. my shamrocks
93. watching Magoo get some good silky from her blanket
94. play silks
95. pumpkins
96. window stars
97. getting a package in the mail
98. Fairy May lines
99. making my husband laugh
100.my home

valentine tradition

When I was a kid my mom always made us chocolate chip cookies for valentine's day. I wanted to do something like this for my kids but we're no longer eating grains. I found a recipe that works for us. Elana's Pantry uses almond flour to bake and cook. I picked up her first cookbook this weekend and can't wait to try out more goodies on the family. This Mom Loves being able to update traditions to fit our family.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

lost and found

This is an old card from my husband that I found and hung on the refrigerator. This Mom Loves her hubby.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

little sleepy one

The Little Ones are dolls made by the
teachers for each child. These dolls are wonderful additions to our classroom. They develop anticipation,
patience, kindness and caring. The Little Ones come to the children when they are ready to receive them, not
just when they want them. This time becomes clear to the teachers when the young children show interest in the
Little Ones already present in the classroom, or they need some help in fitting in to the social dynamic of the
classroom.
The Little Ones come during story time. Red Leaf or Cherry Maid (the teachers’ Little Ones) go over the
rainbow bridge where the Little Ones work and play together with the star children, and bring one back for a
child in the classroom. Each doll has a special name that takes inspiration from nature or the child’s personality.
The children learn how to properly care for these special dolls, they often carry them near their hearts, tucked in
their shirts, and they make sure not to leave them unattended on the floor because the “giants” might scare
them. All the little ones live in the classroom until a child is ready to go to First Grade, at that time a pouch is
made and the Little One goes home with the child.

After school Magoo's teacher pulled me aside to let me know that she received her Little One today. Her name is Pea Pod because I frequently call Magoo "Sweet Pea." Magoo is very proud of her Little One. I'm very proud of my Magoo.

The teacher also let me know that Magoo napped today. This means she's napped three times this January - three times in the past year. Her teacher commented on how different Magoo looks while she sleeps. "She has such piercing blue eyes that I almost don't recognize her while she sleeps." No truer words were spoken. Magoo really is a different person while she sleeps.



This Mom Loves Magoo.

Thankful

We missed the huge storm that swept the country. We got a couple inches of snow and my sister to the south got dumped on. Although we missed the snow we still got the cold. Today was cold. Very cold. Not the coldest day of the year, but cold none the less. Yesterday a new warming center opened up near us and just in time too. I think about it often, how lucky I am to have a warm home. There's a homeless man (sometimes two men) that we see on the way to and from school during the week. Nearly ever day he sits in the same spot whether it's hot or cold. I made up a couple of Compassion Kits to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day and was finally able to give one out last week. Our homeless man wasn't in his spot but his things were there. I just dropped it off and hoped it helped some. It seems superficial to hand out a little bag of things (socks, hand warmers, a hat, mittens, etc.) when you think about not having a warm home. I'm thankful our area now has another place to help shelter people from the bitter Wisconsin cold. This Mom Loves this warm house and I don't ever take that for granted.

late all day and other unfortunate events

Today was one of those days. We all slept in - I didn't even set the alarm last night. Magoo was feeling sick, I slept in her bed half the night, and I half expected she wouldn't be well enough for school today. She woke at 6:45 feeling better and asked if she could go to school so I said "Sure if we hurry and get dressed." We had a nice breakfast and I called the school to let them know we'd be late today. At this time I realized that I'd forgotten to put all the winter outerwear in the drier last night. Good thing we have extras of everything. With everyone bundled up we headed out for school. There was an accident on our usual route to school so I changed directions. Getting to school took longer than I thought. Oh well. We played in the school yard while we waited for the kindergarten class to come back from their walk. Jr was not happy about the cold and yet she kept throwing her mittens on the ground. She even fell down and scratched up her hand on the ice. (She'd already given herself a black eye earlier in the morning.) The parent-child class teacher invited us in with them while we wait for Magoo's class to return. They were a half-hour late coming back to the school.

While I chatted with the adults in the parent-child class I learned that a kindergartner's father died last night. Not only was his son in Magoo's class but we knew him from play group. In fact I was sitting next to him at play group last Friday visiting and watching our kiddos play. This was hard news to hear.

I took that sad news with me to play group - I got there late. There were other there that knew him well. This was sand news indeed. I leaned on a friend for a hug and started crying. I'm glad I have this good group of friends for support.

Junior fell asleep as soon as we started for home. I carried her in and tucked her into her bed. My tired little girl slept and slept. I think she felt the stress of the day too. I had to wake her to get to an appointment. We didn't get there in time. No surprise. By the way, I was due for my physical in October so I was really late. The appointment ran long and I was going to be late to pick up Magoo. I called ahead to let them know I'd pick her up from aftercare. At least she loves aftercare. By the time we got out of school and home it was 4:30. What a long day.

I started dinner. We ate late. Gram and Gramps ate dinner with us. Grandpa cleared snow in the driveway and Grandma read stories. It took a while to get the girls to wind down. Yawn. I'm ready for bed - Early.

I think if you're going to be late, be late for school and not late in scheduling coffee with a friend. If you're going to be late, be late returning a library book and not your mom's phone call. Put off bedtime for extra snuggles but don't ever put off telling someone how much he or she means to you. You just never know how much time you have. This Mom Loves everyday.

Don