One of the gifts I got Joe this year for his birthday, or Christmas I can’t remember, was the complete 5 seasons of a little show we love called “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. It is one of those shows you can watch over and over and never get tired.
I am currently organizing and cleaning things out of closets for an upcoming garage sale. In the midst of all of this I happened upon several of my old pairs of running shoes. I thought a photo would be fun. I couldn’t pick just one, so I made a collage.
So, again, here I am online, but since one of the things I want to spend more time doing this year is taking photos, this is allowed. As I mentioned I am going to try and hopefully succeed in taking a photo each day for the rest of the year. I got my new lens, which was my Christmas and birthday present, and am having as blast playing with it. Here is today’s pic. There are actually two, I call them “playtime”.
Enjoy!
Things don’t always go as planned. I am sure most of you can attest to this. I think in reality it is that we set out with certain objectives and realize that perhaps those objectives aren’t going to work out exactly as we had hoped or planned.
Such is the case with my attempt at limiting my use of my computer and mostly the internet. So, I am still going ok as far as facebook and email go, but I realized that one thing I really want to get back into is writing, and since I do most of that on the computer, well, here I am. I figured a blog once in a while won’t hurt anyone and will give me a chance to share how my new years resolution is going. Kind of backwards, I know, to share how my technology ban is going via the very technology I am banning, but hey, I never said this experiment was fool proof. I will say that in the last 24 and some odd hours I have experienced quite a lot. The first being huge frustration with my cell phone. It won’t allow me to take the facebook app off, or at least it isn’t making it easy to do, so in an attempt to at least limit the amount of posts I see I have somehow managed to not be able to do anything at all! It is as if by trying to ban facebook my phone has now banned me as a user! Oh well, perhaps it is for the better. I am pretty sure I can still make and receive calls, so that is that. In a round about way I made my resolution easier to achieve, at least where my phone is concerned.
On the upside, I did more laundry yesterday than anyone has ever done ever in the history of the world. Well, at least that is how it felt. But it also felt good to have the hampers empty and closets and drawers full. I also organized some of my crafty stuff, which has been bugging me for ages, and made some headway on a pile of stuff for the garage sale we are having soon. So, I got some stuff done to say the least.
I have also realized that there are certain areas of my life that require me to be online, or at least available online, like being the room mother for Anthony’s class and having an online store, etc etc. So, I guess my limitations should have been clarified as including social and recreational internet use, as opposed to business or school related.
I have noticed how loud my computer is as well. It is almost as if it is trying to get my attention or something, by humming and turning the fan on. Well, it ain’t going to work. I don’t care if it starts singing songs to me, I am only going to use it when I have to, and right now, writing this blog, is a time when I have to. I just have so many thoughts floating around in my head that it is hard to make sense of it all. I am also waiting for a package, the package that is going to help me with my goal of taking a photo everyday for the remainder of the year, so I am desperately trying to kill time.
Well, I guess I have reached my time limit. Oh, didn’t I mention that while I am on the computer I have set the timer? 20 mins for blogging and emails, 10 mins for facebook. And facebook, for now, will be once a week. I figured if it works for the kids it should work for me as well. Speaking of kids, they are asking for me to come play Wii, and I am more than happy to oblige. And no, the Wii doesn’t count, especially when it gets me some fun time with my kids.
I vaguely remember posting this time last year that I was going to write a blog post each week, among other things. I am well aware how that turned out. I did run a race, a few actually, and now officially have the running bug. I wish my enthusiasm for running could translate into blogging, and cleaning, and grocery shopping, and laundry, etc etc.
However, as this new year starts I do want to do my best to be my best. I feel like there are so many things I could and should be doing but just don’t find the time. It is partly due to being a mom to three boys, but I use that excuse too often. It is mostly because I find myself sitting right here, in front of my computer, far too often. So, this year one of my resolutions will actually be the opposite of what I posted last year. I am going to try really hard to spend less time online. Now, that means my means of communication will have to change for many of you, so be prepared for snail mail and phone calls as opposed to texts and emails and facebook posts. I will still do the latter on occasion, but I am hoping that by cutting down on computer time a lot of the other things I want and like to do will actually get done!
One thing I really want to do, for fun, is take a photo everyday and that I will post online, but I want to take time each day to examine and explore the world around me. I do this a lot when I run and sometimes wish it wasn’t so awkward to carry my huge camera with me when I do a long run. It seems that the online world has replaced the actual world in a lot of ways and I want to try and change that, at least for me personally. I know I will miss keeping up with many of you on facebook, and I will check in once in a while, but part of my reason for doing this is to teach myself the value of patience. We are so used to instant gratification, instant communication, instant everything that we have forgotten the excitement that surrounds waiting for a letter in the mail, or waiting for film to get developed! I don’t want my kids to get everything immediately but in order to teach them patience I must have some myself.
This past week I spent some wonderful time with my mom and dad and brother at my parents’ home. It was the first time just the four of us had been together in 17 years! It was a wonderful time of talking and laughing and visiting with friends and family. And the one thing I didn’t miss was my computer. I got some posts on facebook saying I must be having fun since I haven’t been online very much. That struck a chord. I was having fun! I guess I didn’t need my computer as much as I thought.
So I guess this year is going to be one of patience building and less technology for me. I remember my freshman year of college when I just discovered email, practically none of my friends, aside from those at the same college, had email, and I could only check it once in a while as there was usually a wait in the computer lab and it also took a heck of a long time to log into email so it wasn’t very time effective. But I do remember the anticipation of going to the lab to get my email once a week or whatever it was. I liken it to how people must have felt when they had to go into town to pick up their mail or packages. It was an event, it was exciting, and it often occurred with one or two friends doing the same thing so it also, as weird as it seems, was a social event in a way. Now with email and facebook on cell phones I feel like I see the top of people’s heads, looking at their phones, more than I ever see their faces. Even when we are out and about we are still stuck in our own little online worlds. It is starting to really bug me. And I am by no means innocent, far from it. That is why, once again, I am putting this out there, making it public, so when you see me on facebook or get several texts from me in a day you can say, remember your new years blog post?! It isn’t going to be easy, but I do think it will be rewarding. I hope it will mean more quality time with my kids and husband, more effective house keeping, and just more enjoyment of actual life, rather than simply enjoying my online life.
So, for a while, this will be goodbye. And keep your eyes and ears open. You just might be a phone call or letter from me. Happy 2011 everyone, blessings on you all!
So, as many of you know we went to MN to visit my parents a few weeks ago and we did so much and had such a great me I felt like it needed its own blog. I mean, there were 400 pictures from that trip, but don’t worry, I am not going to post all of them in this blog, most, not all.
The trip started out with a great flight where all three kids were so great. We got them each their own little mp3/video player and loaded a few movies and videos onto them so they had plenty to watch and do while flying. It worked out great!
Our first day there started out with breakfast on real MN farm. It was so fun! We saw sheep and cows and farm cats and dogs, bees in a hive, and chickens who were laying eggs while we were there! Dom got to pick up a freshly laid egg, it was warm is what he he said. Kind of cool and kind of gross.
We did so much it is almost hard to remember. We went to an amusement park type place called Como town where they have rides and games just for younger kids. We boys rode a ton of rides, even a roller coaster! They had a blast. We also got to walk through the butterfly exhibit. Sadly, no butterflies chose to land on any of us, but it was really cool nonetheless.
We also went to the, wait for it, MN state fair! This has been a dream of my mom’s for a long time, to get us all to the fair. My mom and dad go each year and it is always a highlight of their summer. We certainly didn’t see everything that was there, it is like a small city it is so huge, but we did see a freshly birthed baby cow, baby ducks, baby goats, and baby pigs. There was a parade and a lot of yummy fair food. Everyone was pleasantly worn out at the end of the day.
One of the highlights for the boys was swimming at the lake. We went to a lake where they have a huge 10 foot dock that you can jump off. It has a diving board or you can just jump off the side. The big boys did so great and loved jumping off the diving board. We also went fishing and caught about 20 fish altogether! Dom caught the biggest catfish of the night, so big in fact that someone asked to take it home to eat it. I think he was a bit freaked out, but it was really fun. Everyone caught something even Nico caught his first fish.
Joe and I were able to have a couple date nights which was so nice. the weather was just perfect, minus a couple hot humid days. The boys loved playing in the big backyard and working with grandpa in his workshop on their wooden plane sets. They rode in the go-cart grandpa built and has fixed up since their last visit, and basically just had a great time MN style. Even though Joe had to work a little while we were there I think we all felt really rested and relaxed and didn’t want to leave. We were already planning next year’s trip while we were there. I am thinking two weeks next time, so we can do everything two times! Oh, and I really like running in a nice flat neighborhood.
Enjoy the pics!
I had to to three web albums there were so many pics! Enjoy, I know we did.
So, remember that time I said I wanted to blog each week? Well, we all know how that worked out. Did you know that having three kids is actually a lot of work? I thought that as they all got a little older things would get slightly easier, and in some ways they have for sure, but in others I feel like I am drowning in laundry and snack making and lego clean up! But it is all worth it of course, my three boys are perhaps the most amazing children in the world, and although I am biased, it’s still true.
I have to say that this past summer was truly great! I didn’t feel like it dragged on in any way and I think the boys did a lot of fun things that they will remember forever. I am sure our mild weather had a lot to do with enjoying things a bit more. Of course there were days when I longed for a nice hot summer day, but for the most part it was great to be able to go to the park and not overheat, or head to the beach and not feel like you were melting. The big boys were able to do one week of day camp at the YMCA and LOVED it! They did Radical Reptiles and were able to hold and touch a ton of reptiles and bugs, so cool when you are a 7 and 5 year old boy. That same week Grandma Janis took Nicolas for a few days and did Grandma Camp with Nicolas and Gavin so all the kids had a great week and I had relaxing week where I was able to organize toys and closets. I will never be able to repay either set of grandparents for how much they help out with the kids when they are able to. I am so blessed to have the most amazing family in the world! And I love that if we wanted to we could start a soccer team right now without any help. Gotta love having boys.
Our last big summer hoorah was a labor day camp out in our backyard! I have to credit Auntie Erin with this idea. We talked about camping somewhere else, but of course waited too long and every place from San Diego to Oregon was booked that weekend, so we made our own campsite. It worked out so great. All the boys, minus Brody, slept in the tent and the mommies slept inside. We cooked out on the grill for dinner, make s’mores in our firepit, and told ghost stories before bed. The highlight, at least for the adults, was when Gavin was telling a story about a guinea fowl and Nicolas kept calling it a chicken fish when he was retelling the story. Anthony also lost another tooth at dinner and we weren’t sure if the tooth fairy would be able to find him in the tent, but she did!
Now on to the first day of school. Tues was everyone’s first day, even Nicolas’. Anthony started 2nd grade, Dom started kindergarten, and Nicolas started preschool. I can hardly believe any of my babies are old enough to go to school all day, but here we are. We all went to drop them off and to help with parking issues Grandma Janis drove our van around with Nico while we did drop off. Saved us from a repeat of what happened on Anthony’s first day of kindergarten where I couldn’t find a parking spot and missed saying goodbye altogether. Not a good day for mommy. So, we dropped off Anthony at his line, met his teacher and then we headed down to Dom’s class. Dom was a little overwhelmed, I think, as he looked like a deer in the headlights as he put all of his stuff away, but at the end of the day he was smiling and talking about how much he loved school and his teacher and all the new friends he had made. And Anthony had two friends he knew in his class so he was so excited and had a great day as well. I have to say I was a bit worried about Nicolas’ first day. I had to register him in the afternoon class because the morning class was full but he did not sleep well Mon night at all so he was super tired right about the time he was supposed to get dropped off. But, we did a special McDonald’s lunch and then he was ready to go. Drop off was a snap and he jumped right in to things and hardly had a moment to kiss me goodbye. The great part is, I asked if there were any openings in the morning class with the same teacher and there were! So now he will go in the morning and be a much happier camper and I will have two days with more than 30 minutes to myself!
All in all this summer and the beginning of the school year have been great. Thanks to all our family and friends who helped make it so much fun.
