June 21, 2011- A Moment

This summer is racing by.  I feel like we are filling so many moments with goodness, but lately, it seems like maybe I’m also filling just too many moments.   It’s starting to feel a little heavy, I guess.   Too Consumed.  No time to clean the house, go to the grocery, even make it to my yoga.   The temperatures outside continue to rise as I feel everything else also rising, bursting at the seams, hoping for some type of relief to come.

It was in the middle of all of this when I found a moment.   Swim team was over.   The kids had been fed.   I still had a couple of hours before work.   I jumped in the pool and held my youngest while we swam and laughed, nose to nose in the water.   Next, my older child, a mermaid herself, came hopping through the water at us.   She climbed into my other arm.   My entire vision was filled with their beautiful and genuine smiles.   We laughed and danced together in the water, both of their wet little bodies engulfed in my arms.

And it was a moment.   A moment that certainly didn’t fix the rising stress or take me to yoga or clean the house or lighten the work schedule…. but a moment that let us breathe and smile and enjoy and be grateful – for just how good life truly is.

A perfect moment.

~K

June 18, 2011- Belle

Go figure.

My dog.

Giant pain in the rear.

Eats food off of counters.

Doesn’t stay in the yard.  Or the house for that matter.

Diamond earrings.   Frozen pork tenderloin.  5 # bag of potatoes.  Bags of chips.  Fruit roll ups.  Chicken poop Fertilizer.

She’s eaten all of this.  The last four in the last two weeks. 

Barks incessantly.

Never relaxed.

Jumps on visitors.  Every time.

Attacks the neighbor’s cat.  

Poops on my floor (not always, but with some regularity)

Giant pain the rear.

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This morning, though, I heard my little girl say,  “Oh, Belle… you’re the best pet in the world!”

This morning, though, I watched my kids in their pajamas run circles through the house with Belle chasing behind, her tail wagging as they played ‘tag’.

This morning, though, I smiled as somehow, her 80 pounds of craziness played tug with my two babies, and I listened to them both side by side belly laughing as she pulled them across the floor…. with an alert tail and nothing but gentleness in her graying face and paws.

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Oh, Belle.   You’re something.   Hardly a companion.   Unable to walk on a leash.   Never relaxed.   Annoying to most everyone who enters our home.  

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But, Belle.  This morning, you reminded me exactly why none of that carries as much weight as it should.

You love my babies, you dumb dog.   And that would really be the only deal breaker.   

I think I’ll go buy you a treat today.  But only a small one.  Because I know you’ll eat anything else until you puke all over my house while I’m gone.

June 17, 2011 – Chicken wing?

My husband has food poisoning.  Must be something from our after swim meet family dinner.

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It is not fun.

I hate seeing him so sick.

But I’m terribly grateful it wasn’t one of my babies….

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They’re fine.   And moments like these make me take the time to be grateful for healthy moments that are easy to take for granted.

~K

June 16, 2011- Little Swimmer

I am so grateful for community.  

For my little girl with big courage.  

For evening swim meets in the summer when it’s so hot you can’t see straight and there’s strangers cheering on each other’s kids and smiles and popsicles and goggles and whistles and lots and lots and lots of children. 

Making memories and friendships.   More importantly, watching your children do the same. 

Letting my little swimmer learn life skills.  

Sitting by in amazement of her little heart with such bravery.

The four of us.   Having fun.   Summer nights.

~K

June 12, 2011- Day on the Lake

This is how he looked….

And how I felt.  All day long.

~K

June 11, 2011- Hot Yoga

That’s it.

First time ever.

Loved it.  

Deserved it.  

Soaked (literally) every moment of it up.

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Grateful today for new experiences, for finding time to find time for myself and for feeling wonderful all day long.

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Find it- make time- whatever it is that lets you breathe easier.

Today, for me- hot yoga.

~K

June 10, 2011- Pacific

Pacific.

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My moment of the day.

As in, “Mommy!  Can you believe I found this pacific breed of dog in our toy bin?”

 

Precious. 

~K

June 7, 2011 – Of writings and such…

So honored today to have his story shared.     

So humbled to have others enjoy my writing.

So excited about the potential… for us both.

~K

June 8, 2011- Dinner

Dinner with my family.   It’s far less often than I would like anymore and yet tonight it happened.   We worked in our garden, grabbed fresh food from the Farmer’s Market and sat together for a meal.

Simple and so important.  Treasured moments over spilled milk and pleads for dessert.  Smiles over bare feet in the grass and little hands catching crickets.

Mid week.   Dinner together.  No one having any commitments to anyone but ourselves.

Perfect.

~K

June 7, 2011- Sharing

I saw someone post on facebook today congratulations to a group of kids.  They were doing good service to others and when they were congratulated, it was said in the form of ‘way to share what you have.’

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Whatever it is you have… 

I love photography and during two swim meets this week, I made it a point of taking wonderful pictures of not only my children but of the four ladies’ children with whose company I so enjoy each morning during practice.   When they got home that night, beautiful edited close up pictures of their children were awaiting.

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It’s not much.  Share what you have.   I like it.  Whatever it is.  How big or how small.

~K

June 6, 2011 – Birthday Wishes

My husband’s birthday.   I think we’ve now spent more of our birthdays together than apart.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A lot of times we make a lot of dumb decisions as a teenager.   I made far too many to count.   Mistakes as we learn and grow, errors in judgment, acting without thinking….

Choosing him, though,  was not one of the mistakes.   How a confused fifteen year old who knew far too little for certain knew without a doubt that this person was the one … I don’t know.  But I am very grateful for what it has become.

Happy Birthday, Love.

~K

June 5, 2011 – Sundays in the Summer

Dinner with friends and lots of laughs.

Celebrating my favorite.

No worries about early bedtimes or packing backpacks.

Just good times.

~K

June 2, 2011 – Change of Plans

I had my day planned.  Stacked busy with appointments.  Every single hour was accounted for with a promise to be somewhere for someone.  It was a day far busier than I prefer.   I had arranged my kid’s to be scheduled with me, around each appointment.

And then… a last minute cancel.   Ugh.

It’s so hot.  I’d prepared for this meeting.   I made my kids leave their pool time with their friends in order to make this meeting.   It was frustrating.  It was inconsiderate. 

And instead of hammering around about it for too long, I began to rearrange.   Sure enough, with the rearranging, my day could come to an end an hour earlier than originally anticipated. 

Which… left my evening open for the last yoga class scheduled for the evening.   What a perfect change of plans after all.

Namaste.

~K

June 1, 2011- Random Goodness

Tennis for two, five little monkeys, rock painting, relaxation, yoga, gardening, pre-dinner playtime, birthday surprises, veggies galore….

Lots of smiles and lots of laughs.  

Plenty of random goodness that has filled each crevice of the day.

~K