April 16, 2012- Happy Birthday

My kids and I sat around the breakfast table today and
called to sing happy birthday to my grandmother.

We then passed the phone around between my husband
and I and then to my children -  we watched while they
giggled and laughed with and sang to their great grandmother.

To say that I don't understand what a true privilege and
blessing it is for all of us to have this experience would
be an understatement.

I'm so grateful for moments like these.

Happy Birthday, Nana!  We love you.

April 15, 2012

Three things cannot long be hidden; the sun, the moon and the truth. ~ Buddha

Love this quote.  So true.  And... look who's adding photos!  
~K

April 14, 2012 - What to say?

It's been soooo long since I've written.  Not here or over here even. 

Lots of little reasons.  Yet no good reasons.  Life getting busy.  Staying busy.
New Mac that I can't upload pics with or copy too much.   Note to self
to do the tutorials.  

Since I've last written, the tulip tree has bloomed and then frosted and
fallen, cutting the season shorter than I like.   The grass has turned from
brown to green, and our garden has been planted.   I watch the birds
from my feeders each morning and smile as they play in the yard in
pairs.   The dogwood sprouted buds and petals and is now lush and full.

Grandparents have visited and times have been wonderful.  We played
and laughed and shared and loved.   Recently, we were so blessed with
a team of medical doctors in the right place at the right time utilizing their
talent and skill in such a way to preserve what is most precious to us.  And
what more to be grateful for than this?

The kids are thriving and learning, both in and out of their classroom and
we are focusing on doing just that, - focusing - here more.  We have become
softball and tee ball parents and though my backside gets sore, I've found
that sitting on metal bleachers in the sun watching my sweet children is a
wonderful way to spend a spring afternoon.

A week away in the mountains was exactly what we needed (if I knew
how to post pictures, I'd have a weeks supply of amazing views and
plenty of little smiles... give me a minute and I'll get it figured out)

So much has been happening and so much to be thankful for.   I'm here
as an April resolution to be here more- to remember how wonderful
this space is and how valid it is in taking note of all that is good in our life.

The first night of our mountain trip, I looked around at this amazing life
we have created, with healthy, thriving children and a loving home... and
like the lyrics of a song I enjoy, the chorus came to me as so appropriate-

"I could not ask for more..."

And that was it-  life is too good.  So much to be grateful for.  I intend to
take note of that more often.

January 19, 2012- All over again

I've had a post that means a lot to me, to write.  And so I'm behind, but I've waited to be able to give this one the attention that it deserved.


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My daughter is home for a morning from school for a doctor's appointment.   This little girl these days seems so uncomfortably, yet beautifully stuck in a world living somewhere between big kid and little kid.   She is so smart, and curious and loving.   Additionally, she is asking hard questions, finding parameters and boundaries and trying to understand social dynamics and peer relationships.    It's such a tough spot and sometimes it feels like we're doing things right while other times I feel so completely helpless, like I'm just sitting on my hands desperately wanting to do what's right and also to just stop the inevitable and rewind; the inevitable, of course, being just simply, her growing up.


This morning, we walked together into the doctor's office and I took note of how she grabbed my hand, skipping alongside me as we entered.   Wonderful moments that used to be everyday and are now just a little less often.  


She stops me and points to a large sign with a man in a suit on it.   The words around it indicate it is a welcome sign for a new doctor.

"Mama?  What's that?" she says, pointing to the sign.

"It's just a sign, baby."  

My mind is somewhere else.  Probably on finding out exactly where we are supposed to be as I've just realized we are in the wrong doctor's office and now late to our scheduled appointment.  She is persistent and curious...

"But, mama... who is that on the sign?  Who is that person?" 

"Uh...you know,  I don't really know honey.   It looks like he's a new doctor here."

I'm trying to usher her out quickly, thinking already of how to find an address to our next stop and how we are new patients and certainly not ten minutes early to fill out paperwork as we had planned.

"Mama?   What's a car... cardio, um... cardio electrolllooogissst? "

I stop and take a deep breath.   Focus on her and try to see what it is she's talking about.

"What, love?  What are you asking me?

I see quickly it's still about the sign.  I stop, look at the suited man closer and see the words under him say that he is a cardio electrologist (whatever that is) and sure enough they are welcoming him to the practice.

"That says cardio electrologist, Peanut.   See,  that's his job -   he must be a new doctor here and they are using this sign to welcome him.    You know,  Baby, maybe you could be a cardio electrologist when you grow up.  What do you think?   I'm not sure what a cardio electrologist does,  but it is a doctor who I bet has something to do with the human heart."

I'm often terribly hard on myself and this moment is no different.   Instantly, I'm mentally reprimanding myself wondering why I didn't just go there to begin with.  Answer her question.  Apply it.  Give her information.  


But before I could be too harsh with my own faults, she interrupts my thoughts and answers my question.

"You know, I just may do that.  Daddy told me a bedtime story last night about a beautiful little girl who grew up and became a surgeon.   He told me I could be anything I wanted to be, - even a surgeon, mama!" 

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And, well... that's it.    All over again.   In this moment, I fell in love completely with this man, her daddy, -  all. over.  again.  


We want to give our children everything.  To be everything for them.   It is in these moments that I realize I cannot ever do it all or be it all.   And it is also at these times -  and so many others -  when I find myself  beyond grateful that my daughter has a daddy who also guides her gently through in between land; who tucks her in at night with her stuffed animals and baby blanket all the while effortlessly telling her bedtime stories of little girls who can grow up to be not only princesses but also beautiful surgeons.  


~K

  

January 18, 2012 - Because it only makes sense...

... to smile and to be grateful for a 70 degree day at the park with nothing to do but play with your children.

And to consider this surprise happening mid January makes the awareness just that much better.

My smile for today.

~K

January 16, 2012 – Thank you, Sir

‎"Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better." - Martin Luther King, Jr

 

Thank you, Sir… for your dream.   Thank you Sir, for believing what was possible and for modeling how to behave.  And thank you, Sir, for my daughter’s bedtime story tonight.

Before she went off to bed tonight, I called her to me and she curled into my lap.   There she sat in her flannel pajamas and we held hands and watched this speech together.  

Thank you, Sir, for making the world a better place for which my children will grow.

~K

January 12, 2012

"Everyone is a genius.   

But if you judge a fish on it's ability to climb a tree,   

then it will live it's entire life believing it is stupid."   

- Albert Einstein 

I love this and I believe this.

My high point for today is that my daughter's teacher shared this with me.  I feel so grateful that someone else who understands and believes this is also the person who daily has such a large influence upon the life of my child.

~K