I must stop and breathe

take a moment

I must take it all in


I must slow down

I must close my eyes and feel everything around me

It (life) all goes by so fast, too fast

If I could just lie back for a moment

I'd watch the clouds take shape

and then re-shape

If I could just not move and listen to myself breathe

in and out

in and out

Listen to the sound of the trees

Listen the world around me

Only

if I could just slow down!

ALL IN WHITE

It has been such a crazy couple of weeks here. It seems as though I don't actually get to sit down till after the kids are in bed, but that is only to fold laundry. We have had a lot of rain and cloudy weather so at least the pollen is getting all washed away. My work schedule seems to have increased overnight, not to mention baseball practice, soccer practice, soccer and baseball games, homework, end of school year activities,birthday parties, and that is only to name a few. So, that being said I am finally able to sit for a moment and collect my thoughts.



We decided to get started on the kitchen. I guess I didn't realize (or avoided) the fact that this was going to be and is a very intense and overwhelming project. To say BIG does not even cut it. Here we are over a week later and all, yes all my kitchen things are still sitting on the counters, floors and table. We started the process by removing everything, sanding it all down and then priming. The sanding was such a disgusting part of this. We had sawdust covering everyone and everything. I have learned several things during the early stages of this project.....#1 Always open a window or wear a mask when you are in a small space and using oil-based primer!!!!! I swear I saw pink elephants a few times dance around the house. #2 Make sure you Always wear another mask when sanding or you WILL breathe in every bit of dust that flies around. And #3 Make sure you wear gloves and keep your hair up in a ponytail when using primer. IT DOES NOT WASH OFF!!!!!


These are very important lessons to have learned! I must say that there is something very invigorating about that first brush stroke. It's like having to mark on the first page of a new notebook... just because. We have worked late into the night to finally be finished with the priming and ready to start with the painting. I do hope it turns out nice. We get to go tomorrow to purchase the new handles and hinges. More than anything, I hope my mom really loves the changes we are making in the home. Every time I begin to paint I can hear my dad behind me saying, "Why in the world would you want to paint over Oak?" Well dad, hope you like the changes too. :)










All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France

Gardening Day

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost (1915)


Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fullfil.

Sunny Days part two

Sunny Days

I have taken a little break from the house and from work and taken some long needed time to myself. Though I have enjoyed not having a time schedule to meet every minute, and my babies little voices around me, I am so very glad to be back in my life and the house I now call home. Now that warmer weather is here, we have begun the hated suburbs wars of who can keep their lawns trim and greener and nicer. We have a long way to go, but have many plans in store. Will be starting my gardening this week. I am planning on having a beautiful vegetable garden. I love to make homemade salsa, so I am excited to make new salsa recipes and having family and friends over to try my creations. Our local farmers market opened this weekend, so I will be doing some shopping next weekend for some plants as well as other homemade items.

My plans are to plant tomatoes, garlic, onions, lettuce, spinach, purple cabbage, bell and other peppers as well as all the needed herbs in my veggie garden. I also have great plans to plant some strawberries, blackberries and grapes. We will also begin.....or should I say my husband will begin the tedious process of power washing and re-staining and sealing our large deck and the kids playground equipment to match. I have hopes of creating these great spaces in each corner of the yard. One for the kids with lots of area to run and the other in a separate corner for a beautiful tree and a fire pit and maybe some log seating for, of course....s'mores nights. The Cherry Blossom tree and the phlox bloomed yesterday. Smells AMAZING!!! The kids enjoyed chalking and climbing the tree in the front. We have had beautiful weather this weekend. Each warm day makes me so excited to fire up the grill, invite people over, taking long walks after dinner and staying up late on the deck , drinking margaritas, with the just the moon to be our light. Oh how I love summer nights



With all my mind can see and all that I can dream up on a daily basis, one thing is for sure, the love that is in the home, the love that has been in this home and the love that will continue is stronger than ever before. As I have said before, each wall of this house has a story, but now I am finding out that with each change of this house, will come new stories. I am excited to see all the changes and hope to make this house even more beautiful from the inside out.

Easter

Today the kids and I decided to dye Easter eggs. We will be having some family over to celebrate Easter and the real meaning as well as spend time together and show off the new /old house. The kids are excited about getting to have an Easter egg hunt in the new backyard. Unfortunately, not everyone will be here, but I guess in spirit. Holidays are not as wonderful and magical as I once thought they were. My father enjoyed every holiday.....or I guess I should say,he loved the food taht came with every holiday! LOL
You would find yourself getting excited right along with him and as dinner was being placed on the table, you didn't have to ask him twice to come and sit. We would all sit and gorge on the food until we couldn't breathe. I know that my childhood was not all magic and laughter and joy, but I DO have wonderful memories and to me, in my thoughts, those were happy times for me.
I would give anything to sit at the table with both my parents and both my siblings again and just talk and laugh and listen to each other as we share a meal together.
Anyway, back to the eggs....
It is always exciting to see the vibrant colors that are created and trying to think up beautiful ideas for each individual egg. Of course, you want yours to stand out! They really did turn out so beautiful. I wish I could bottle up the look on theri faces when they pull out the first egg from the bright green or blue or red. So, we now have dyed fingertips and lots of memories that we created today.

“Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.”

Richard L Evans Quotes

We are Moved!!

So much has gone on since my last post. We finally are now officially moved into the house. I am forever amazed how much stuff we have accumulated in just 3 years worth of time. Boxes upon boxes of memories. I realized that there are so many thing that I value so very much that may just look like a simple piece of paper to someone else. I truly value every moment and memory of my life. So, we packed up a billion boxes and loaded up the moving truck. Of course the kids were so excited and begged to sit in the truck. I must admit, there was a moment that morning that was exciting and refreshing to me as well.

Once we got in to the house and got all the furniture and boxes stacked on top of everything, it was time to settle down. Yeah right! Now comes the process of organizing and putting away and getting rid of. We did make our first home transformation purchase. I am really quite excited about it. We bought the primer to start on kitchen and trim in the dining room. I am so very ready to get started. I am reminded though, every time I walk into the dining room and kitchen how much work there is, and that oops, I still have to take down that purple wallpaper. YUCK! I did however decide to make roman shades out of old mini blinds. I found this great blog on here with easy step by step directions. I think for my first time, they turned out pretty nice!














That first night in the house, I really was nervous about. There are alot of memories of my fathers last moments in the room which my husband and I now sleep in. There are moments in ever nook and cranny that my husband will never be able to understand that I carry on my own. As I thought about the difficulty of trying to make their house my own, I began to think about how it must have felt for my mom to be on the outside of her home. That made me really take a step back and realize that I am not the only one struggling with this change. As I laid my pictures around the house and set beds up, there was the most amazing peace throughout it all. I know this will be hard some days and some days the excitement is overwhelming. I am ready to change it and get started. My dad would be proud. We did finally get to spend some time outdoors with the beautiful weather while on Spring Break. The kids and I went on a nature hike , and ice cream to top it off. Then......back to work.


So, now that my computer is back up and running and we are officially moved in, hang on.......here we go!!