Living Simply Revisited

I started posting some blogs on living simply awhile back ago and haven't really posted one in awhile. I am looking forward to digging into this idea more this year as we try to fight up against the American idea of go, go, go. This weekend I had a day that involved sleeping in a bit, playing with the boys, Pat sketching on at the kitchen table as Jude colored and Zane and I played a game all while bread was rising and getting ready to put in the oven. It was simple and lovely.

I'm just like everyone else in that I totally get caught up in the madness of being busy. I can always tell I've committed to too much, have over scheduled our family and am comparing myself to others who are doing "more" when I am standing making dinner one night and crumble into tears at the counter. This usual happens a couple times a year and I know that's when we need to take things out, that we have way too much going on. It's like the pressure builds up, I haven't had time to just be, haven't had time to think or enjoy anything because I'm always on the go. And then I can't handle it anymore, my mind and body are done and I have to let out the frustration.

As Pat and I have talked about this year and how it looks for our family we have decided to guard our time more. It means more time with the things that give us life and less time with the things that drain us. Of course there are the annoying things, like grocery shopping, that we can't avoid but hopefully we can find a way to share those items so one of us doesn't get to a breaking point.

I saw this video this past weekend and was truly inspired by it. The video makes me crave simplicity. The simple workouts on the back porch, simple healthy meal, simple home, simple moments. I love the chair by the window and can only image the moments that have occurred there. How refreshing it is to look at how a 95-year-old women is living and wondering how I can take some of that simplicity into my own life. 

Jude: One Year +2 Months

Jude,

The pitter-patter of your feet on our wood floors as you run through our house has become one of my new favorite sounds. You are always on a mission, usually it's to find me. To say that you are attached to me right now would be a massive understatement. You are for sure in a Mommy stage. The most common view I have of you is your face looking up at me as your arms are wrapped around my legs and you're yelling "Momma, Mommy, MOMMA!" I can't make dinner, go to the bathroom, put on shoes or sit to read without you wanting to be right with me. When I finally pick you up you begin to crawl up me and squeeze your cheek into my neck or into my face. It's like you can't get close enough to me. I'm sure one day you'll want nothing to do with me and I'll miss this stage but goodness right now I need a break every once and while.

You are slowly starting to say some words here and there. Besides Mommy and Daddy you run around saying Elmo. Zane was never really into Sesame Street until recently. As he sits and watches it you will watch it too and have a new obsession with Elmo. Your grandparents loaded you up with Elmo gear for Christmas and you are in heaven. As I was picking out your pajamas the other night you walked into the closet, grabbed the Elmo pjs and put them in my hand saying "Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!" You walk around with a little plastic Elmo and have a Bert or an Ernie in the other hand. You just started saying Ernie too.

I love to see that you might have Mommy's love for reading in your future. You will sit with a book, turn the pages and then start all over again studying each page. I love when I peek into your room and see you sitting on the floor with all the books you've pulled out of the shelf surrounding you. You usually have one in your lap and are flipping through it pointing and babbling to the book. If your brother or I are sitting on the couch reading you'll go grab one of your books and try to climb up with us.

Your favorite location when you are doing anything is to be directly in someone's lap. You'll go grab a toy, walk up to us, turn around and then inch your butt around to plunk right down in our lap. You don't really need us to play with you and the item you brought, you just would prefer to play while sitting on our lap.

There is something about you that just screams mischief. The lazy susan has become your latest "I don't hear you saying the word no" item that frustrates us. It has a couple of bottles that are used for olive oil and soy sauce in which you like to grab and get everywhere. Those are probably two of the hardest things to clean up! Your hands are lightening fast and grab things before we can even get to you. You have yanked coffee mugs out of friend's hands, pulled plates down and thrown things into the trash so fast that everyone looks around trying to figure out how that just happened while we were right there. Just this week you started the "uh oh" game. You walk up to me and say "uh oh" and start walking towards something wanting me to follow you. So far I've followed you to the trashcan to find multiple toys inside of it and also into the bathroom to find toys in the toilet. I have never understood the whole child-proof-everything idea until you! I get it now!

This past weekend as we ate some pancakes I realized six pancakes into it that you were still eating! Six pancakes?! Zane had two and was done. I had three. You ended up having six and half pancakes, plus some fruit. Seriously I have no clue how you are so tiny. People still seem shocked when I tell them your age and then I explain that you do eat, in fact you eat more than the rest of us most of the time. It's amazing! Your food tastes change daily and you have gotten really bad at throwing food off your tray when you don't like it or are done. You have not been happy with us removing you from your chair when you throw things. In the past couple of months you had your first cookie, frozen yogurt and ice cream. With frozen yogurt and ice cream you get some in your mouth, realize how cold it is and make the funniest face. Everyone ends up laughing but you still go for more.

One of my favorite times of day with you is in the mornings. I walk in your room to see you standing up in your crib, usually crying because you want out. Once you see one of us your face lights up. You crawl up to my shoulders when I grab you out and rest your head on my shoulder with yourself tucked into me as close as possible. You normally don't stay that way for long before you start pointing for the kitchen because you want to eat. But in just those few short moments I can feel how much you rely on me, on Daddy and on our family. It scares me that I hope we're raising both you and your brother well. And it reassures me that you most think something of us and we're doing okay by that little moment in the morning.

In the midst of all your craziness you truly are a joy. The way you run through the house with a smile on your face squealing in laughter can brighten up the worst of days. Don't stop living life to its fullest Judey but please do stop throwing things in the trash!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Bread: Nutella Bread

I must be on a chocolate bread kick right now but I saw this on Pinterest and had a bunch of homemade Nutella in the fridge so thought I'd give it a try. I think it might work really well with the real-deal Nutella but it was still good with the homemade! The real Nutella might stay a bit thicker in the bread.

Here's where you can find the recipe. I added in a bit more of the Nutella.

Looking for Such Great Models

Just in case you missed it over on the Such Great Heights' blog we are looking for 2013 seniors to be models! There's no model experience needed, no limit to the number of seniors from each school. Just fun and discounts! Please help spread the word about this opportunity! Thanks!

The Details

So here’s the scope and what it looks like to be a model:

- You get to take part in one stylized session and have a friends session. You’ll have a Saturday in March of being pampered with hair and makeup and a fun stylized theme! We’ll then do your friends’ session closer to graduation.
- You then have your regular senior session in June.
- Your $150 session fee goes towards ordering prints and products. Plus you get some major discounts when it’s time to order!
- You also get to raise money for your charity of choice by sending us more seniors and having people comment on your blog post.

Let me explain a couple of things: 1. You DO NOT have to be a “model.” We just call it that because it’s fun but by no means do you have to have modeling experience or anything like that. 2. It’s kind of a big deal to be a model. No one else gets these deals and discounts!  3. There will be a parent meeting in February that we’ll require your parents to come, meet me and learn about all the details of you being a model.

All you have to do is fill out a model application and we’ll get you all the information you need. You have to sign up in the month of January so hurry on over and get to typing!

Zane: 4+11 Months

 

Zane,

A lot of our mornings have started out with you snuggling on the couch in Mommy's office with me, under a blanket as I have my Bible or a book and read it. You sneak in from your bedroom and ask if you can sit with me while I read. You sit in silence and tap my hand every once in awhile. Your feet curl up under my leg as we share the blanket. You get bored eventually and tell me it is time for breakfast but those few minutes I have with you in silence are precious. I love the way you love. You seem to know just how each person needs your love and give it accordingly.

 

You are currently so into super heroes and anything "heroish" that it cracks me up. You live in your Spiderman costume the majority of the time and the other part of the time you are setting up cars on the coffee table in a Speed Racer race. The bathtub ledge has also turned into a Speed Racer track and you can't stand it when Jude knocks down the cars. You are so intense when you play and are concentrating. If we interrupt we are told quickly that you are in the middle of something. Excuse us!

You are seeing the world in new ways and are asking questions that sometimes Daddy and I have to think long and hard about how we are going to answer them. The questions are challenging us which is super cool. You will go from one thought to the other so fast that if someone is only partially listening it's hard to focus on what you're saying. When you lose your train-of-thought you start blinking your eyes a bunch as if the more you blink, the thought will come back to you.

One of the things we do on most nights before bed is make up stories as I lay with you in bed. They usually are about Batman or Spiderman showing up at our front door and asking you to take a ride in their superhero vehicle. Or I make up some cool new superhero tool, like Spiderman's secret fishing rod that sees fish and catches them right away. You then will try to tell me a story, which is usually the same as Mommy's. We also have to name the story at the end. The fishing one was called "The Amazing Spiderman and his Special Underwater Fishing Hook."

Suddenly every morning you are wanting a waffle with chocolate chips on it. We may have started this problem by making homemade waffles and topping them with chocolate! You still eat less than your brother half the time but you've always had a little appetite. At least this is better than the time you preferred to have sprinkles all over your salad! You also think that living in your pajamas and never having to change out of them would be the best thing ever. When you get home from school you change back into your pjs. I guess you are just a comfy clothes kind of kid!

You and your brother continue to either make each other really mad or totally enjoy one another. Jude just wants to play with you all of the time and this means he is up in your business a lot. Sometimes you take it well and other times there's a little pushing involved. Then there are the times that I hear loud belly laughs from your room and the two of you are in the bottom bunk with the curtain closed just wrestling and laughing. You have actually moved your chair at the kitchen table a bunch of times so you can sit right next to Jude. The two of you just laugh together at the table and you talk to him the whole time.

Luna is still your best friend. The two of you play super hard and both then crash. You play with her with a balloon as the two of you run around the house trying to catch it. She almost always ends up landing on it someway to pop it and then there are tears from you. She still nips you every now and then and you yell "NO BITE!" to her. You truly do love her though and can't get enough of your puppy.

I can't believe next month we will be celebrating your fifth birthday. GaGa T's family has a tradition to do a carnival for fifth birthdays. I think you envision carnival rides in our front yard or something so hopefully you are okay with our handmade games and food! Being five also means that in the fall you'll be headed to "big school" but I'm not talking about that right now. I can't even comprehend that and the fact it is right around the corner!!!

Continue to love on us the special way that only you can buddy. You capture our hearts in a new way each day and inspire us to be creative.

We love you,

Mommy & Daddy