Shout it from the Rooftops!

Okay, so I shared that I have finally come to a jaw-dropping realization. I can't do it all.

Sounds a bit elementary, really. But it was a tough pill to swallow. But then a liberating one.

Really liberating.

Liberating in the exact way Kevin McAllister felt (I would imagine) when he finally decides he's not afraid of the "bad guys" anymore in Home Alone. 

image courtesy home alone (one of the best movies!)

I feel just like that. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I can't do it all! 

I said, "I CAN'T DO IT ALL!"

Amen.

Go ahead, shout it out in your little corner of the world. It feels fantastic.

Amazing Revelation

 yikes. this is a keeping it real picture, proving that i can teach, but, on some days, i can't teach and cook and put on makeup. something's gotta give, and this day it was concealer & mascara. 

I can't do it all.

Simple, right?

But for a first-born, type-A personality, it's actually quite a difficult to accept and life-altering revelation.

I.can't.do.it.all.

With homeschooling, church commitments, family responsibilities, healthy eating, attempting to exercise, be a good friend, maintain my marriage, keep up (somewhat) with laundry....something's gotta give. Or a lot of somethings.

And little by little this fall, I have come to realize and accept that I just can't be everything to everyone and do everything I "think" or "feel" that I should. I have come to love even more the verse in Phillipians (4:13) that says, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." Because that verse doesn't say "I can do EVERY thing..." but just ALL things. I think there's an important difference. I don't have to bake 7 varieties of Christmas cookie and make homemade laundry soap and conquer every dust bunny. I just have to do my best at what I do tackle. And, to be honest, these days its a lot fewer things.

Homeschooling is hard work. Mighty hard. But the fruits of my labor have demonstrated that I'd rather make choices about my time and do less, but do it better.

I can't do it all.

Sounds like a simple thing, but you could ask my best friends and they'd definitely realize it's a huge deal for this girl. This girl who, in fact, held her Little Man's birthday party in a BOWLING ALLEY. Yup. I can't do it all.

Thank the good Lord.

**Cute pictures courtesy of Gruman Photography

Long Time, No Excuses

My sad little blog has really gone by the wayside lately.

Life has a crazy, sneaky way of sideswiping you, not always in a bad way.

So we had spring and summer and fall and birthdays and decisions and some vacations and some more decisions.

So here is a snapshot of our little life right now:

Little Man is almost 7. I, the consummate, self-proclaimed obsessive party planner have yet to begin planning his party. What has happened to me? Little Man, though, is seeming less and less little as the days go by. The summer saw the loss of many more teeth in his apparently too-small mouth and the arrival of some even bigger teeth. His smile makes me smile. Every time. The awkwardness of the giant teeth and the spaces and the squinty-eyed grin combined make me melt. Every time. Except when he's making me crazy, in which case I only defrost a bit. :) He is Mr. Soccer, Mr. Football, Mr. Light Saber and Legos, too. Little Man has become quite a smart, outgoing fellow. I am so proud of him. And those cute, big teeth. I'm blaming his father for them...!

Littlest Man is 5. FIVE. Half a decade. Who the heck took those years? He was just my baby. Our "OH MY WORD! We're pregnant!" baby, 20 months younger than his big brother. My smiling from the moment he was born (almost) baby. And now he's starting to read and (currently) covered in chicken pox (from the booster, can you believe it?) and riding a bike without training wheels. His dimple (just one!) is so deep and so charming and so dangerous (you could fall into that thing) that it should come with a warning sign. One little sheepish or even sneaky grin, and I'm smitten. Watch out, World. Or at least girls of the world. When this fellow decides he's putting on the charm, it's ON. And he's FIVE. Did I mention that? FIVE. Cinco. My heart hurts just typing it.

Little Miss Pink. Oh, my baby girl. She's two and almost a half. My baby who I will call "baby" until forever comes. She is sweet and sassy and spunky and stubborn as all get out. But, man! is she cute. She loves shoes and shopping and purses like there's no tomorrow, frequently changing purses and making certain she has one of her cell phones, lest she lose touch with her peeps. The child was fairly mute for almost 18 months, save for the traditional "mama, dada, baby" words. And one day, the girl woke up and started to talk. And she hasn't stopped since. She wants what she wants and has often been heard sassing after being scolded that, "I'm not naughty, I'm just cute!" We're in trouble.

My favorite Irish hubby (and only Irish or any other breed hubby, for that matter) & I celebrated our ninth anniversary this summer. I can't remember what we did....wait. It will come to me. Oh yes. We went out for a fancy dinner and saw a play. But the day isn't really the celebration. It's the day in, day out that is. I continue to be amazed that I married this fellow when we were practically babies (22!), and yet God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that we were meant to be. We've grown closer and stronger and better every year. And he has gotten even cuter. Way cuter. We may have more wrinkles and a few gray hairs (him, not me...!) and some stretch marks (me, not him!) and lots more mileage on us, but I wouldn't trade the "us" we are now for anything. And ten years is coming up fast and furious! Lucky we! Lucky me.

So, that's an update from our little corner of the world. I hope to attend more carefully to this little blog. No promises. Life is crazy. But it's good.

In Absentia

Long time, no post!

Life has been a whirlwind of late, though, to be honest...when is it not?

I guess I really got out of the swing of documenting my creativity, cooking and projects and was kind of enjoying simply living them out on a daily basis.

Since the holidays, my grandmother passed away, which hit me square in the gut. She had faded slowly, but the reality of her passing is still shocking and not fully set in.

So, busy life, grandma's passing, avoidance...these are my reasons for avoiding this blog as effectively as I avoid laundry.

Which I have a mountain of at the moment. Are you surprised?

The Land of 10,000 Kisses

So, we of this little Irish Norwegian family are Minnesotans. Not by birth, but by circumstance and choice. This state we call "home" is referred to as The Land of 10,000 Lakes. The truth is that there are probably more like 15,000 or so lakes. There are lakes everywhere in this lovely state. They dominate the landscape, which is a fantastic thing.

Where I live my life is the Land of 10,000 Kisses. Give or take a few thousand. I figure about 10,000 though, since my favorite Irish fellow and I shared our first kiss 10 years ago today. At the very least we've probably shared 3 kisses a day since then (minus a summer apart...Spain for me, DC for him...but we made up for that I'm sure!), so the math says at least 10-15,000 kisses since that first magical one. I remember it clearly. With a giggle.

What's funny is that, the night of our first "real" date---to an Olive Garden in Jackson, MI----the Cutest Irish Fellow on the planet told me he could see me being the mother of his children. I thought it an adorable comment, but never in a million years would've dreamed it to come true! We were opposites attracting, to say the least.

I'm glad that he was right and I was wrong. I'm unbelievably blessed to live with him and our three kidlets in the Land of 10,000 Kisses, where love dominates our landscape through the up and the down. God has richly blessed our lives and orchestrated us to come together at a tiny college in a tiny town 10 years ago. We are so grateful.

image courtesy dakota community college

I am also incredibly grateful to have a love that has grown more deeply than I could have imagined back in 1999 when we started dating, or in 2001 when we tied the knot. Here in Minnesota, wild prairie grass is prevalent and gorgeous. The thing about planting a prairie, like planting a good marriage, is that a lot of the important growth is below the surface. To weather the hot summers and the cruel winter, the prairie has to have a strong root structure. Our love has definitely grown that structure over time, with God at the center of our marriage. We have gone through ups and downs, trials and struggles. But with deep roots, we know that our prairie will continue to thrive and be gorgeous through the years.

I am thankful for that first kiss so many years ago and every one since.

Recovering!

Sorry for the lack of updates of late. We are all recovering from a very long Thanksgiving weekend. We have much to be thankful for, as I have been mentioning, but I am beyond thankful that Little Miss Pink is in our lives. She had a rough weekend involving lethargy and an ambulance ride and an overnight hospital stay. Thank God she is okay and doing much, much better. Her mama is a bit worse for wear, though. I promise to get back to more regular blogging once I find my brain. If you see it, let me know!

My Favorite Little Bookworm

On Facebook a few months back, a college friend commented that Irish hubby and I were raising nerds after Little Man, upon seeing the snow on the ground in early October, said, "We're on Hoth." As in, the frozen planet that Luke and Co. travel to in Star Wars.

I have to say that I'm kind of proud to be raising nerds. Nerds that like cool music and have great senses of humor. Nerds that love Jesus, their mom and books. In that order!

To bear witness to the nerd-dom we are creating in our little Irish Norwegian family, I present exhibit A.

It's a normal Tuesday afternoon at our house. I pick up Littlest Man at preschool with Little Miss Pink in tow. We head to the prep academy that Little Man attends to pick him up from half day kindergarten. We get there early, so Littlest Man and Little Miss Pink look at books (and I do, too) in the car.

Little Man and his classmates file out of the building, waiting to get escorted to their awaiting minivans. Little Man's adorable teacher (who reminds us all of Giselle from "Enchanted") holds his hand and walks him to the car. Normally, she says hello and goodbye and is on her way to deposit another kindergartner in his or her vehicle.

Not today. Today, she looks at me with a rather serious face and says she had to have a chat with Little Man. Uh-oh. You have to know that Little Man, like his mother, is incredibly obedient and rule conscious when it comes to other people (at home, not so much always!) and school, church, etc. I remember the very few times I got in trouble in elementary school. Vividly. I digress.

My stomach dropped when she said those words because, as I said, I'm a rule follower, too! She proceeded to tell me that, upon arrival at school, Little Man and a classmate stopped at the book fair that was being held in the school atrium. They did not continue onto class, though. They stopped for many minutes. Little Man was reading and reading, until another adult stopped him to ask, "Where are you supposed to be, boys?" His teacher told me that Little Man was actually late for class because of his little Book Fair visit. She let me know she'd talked to him about this behavior and he understood he couldn't do it again.

So, Little Man's first run in with the law at school was as a result of his inability to hold back the urge to check out all the new books. Like an escapee from Fat Camp at the candy store. My Little Man.

We had a chat about it that night at bedtime. Little Man told me that when the adult "caught" him, he felt like his heart was just racing. We talked about being obedient and making good choices. Then he said, "My heart is beating a lot again." I asked him why. He said, "I wonder how am I going to walk by all of those books without stopping again tomorrow?"

Priceless.

Slacker Me...

I know I said I'd post details about finishing up Little Man's birthday party invitations...and I will!
I have been brainstorming ideas for decos, the cake, the games. We will definitely have some Lego fun come 11.20!

In the mean time, I wanted to share this SO SUPER FUN blog I found a few weeks back. It is called Shanty2Chic and is written by two sisters that have a penchant for spray paint, gorilla glue, Ralph Lauren glaze and making everything they touch turn chic for very little $!

Please check it out. Don't get mad at me that you lose at least 30 minutes looking at all of their cute projects, like these rustic chalkboards, or this cake stand, or this headboard project.

This blog makes me want to run out and by some Ralph Lauren glaze and get to work on ANYTHING! It's actually supposed to be warm here today, so I hope to get a few projects done, including the revamp of a vintage metal bread box (kinda like this, but cuter!). I plan to spray paint it and use it to catch the MOUNTAINS of paperwork that come home from school with the Little Men.

Sick, Sick, Sick!

Greetings from the Sick Ward!

I have been playing nurse to three sad little sick kidlets. Littlest Man has been hit hardest--an ear infection and a case of H1N1. Little Man has had a cough and low fever. Little Miss Pink has the croup. Thankfully, God is watching over her and kept her from getting the H1N1. It's a miracle, given the fact that they steal each other's cups and she puts everything in her mouth!

The Dad and Mom are sick, too, but not terribly bad. I am way behind on everything and digging out. Excuse the absence...we are on the mend. I hope to be back in action soon!

Image Courtesy A.Reueda

All about "Us"

Olivia Wagner Photography

So fun! I have been tagged by Monkey's Mama at Monkeys on the Bed (she's the supermama crafter, cook, photographer, inspirational sister in Christ and fellow KKG sister from my college days...stop on by her site! ). This exercise is a little get to know you, or a get to know "us!" The "us" being my favorite Irishman and husband extraordinaire, D!

Do you remember when you and your love went from being "him and I" to "we" or "us"? What a magical time! These questions remind me of all the wonderful reasons why I love being an "us" with my favorite man!


What are your middle names?
Mine is Marie. His is Cadman, which means "warrior" in Gaelic.

How long have you been together?
Our first date was to his fraternity informal in November of 1999. We started dating December 15, 1999. And broke up once for a week or so...or I tried to break up with him. He fails to recognize that breakup (I apparently was not hot at break ups), so we say we've been together almost TEN (!) years this December.


How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We had classes together (both History majors). But he was wild and fun. I was studious and a copious note taker, so we weren't in each other's field of vision. We hung out a few times before our fraternity informal date, but he was basically a stranger to me. Kind of funny  when I think back on it!

Who asked who out?
He asked me. After he and his roommate drafted a list of "potential dates" for this informal. So I guess his roommate also asked. Thanks CB!

Who made the first move?
I think it's a tie. Just thinking about it makes me giggle.

my extroverted man and his homecoming crown. we were crazy in love!

How old are each of you?
We are both 30. I'm two months older, which he never lets me forget. Calls me a cougar for the 2 months that I'm actually a "year" older. 

Did you go to the same school?
Yes. Met in college.

Are you from the same home town?
Nope. I'm from "fly over country" and he's from San Diego. We're both Minnesotans now, though.

Who is the smartest?Him by a mile.

look at all my honor cords and summa cum laude-ness. too bad he's waaaay smarter!

Who majored in what?'m a double major in History and Elementary Ed with a minor in Spanish. He's a double major in History and Poli Sci.


Who is the most sensitive?Definitely me. Worst when I'm pregnant.

Where do you eat out most as a couple? These days it's wherever is most kid friendly...you know, Red Robin, Buffalo Wild Wings. But as a couple? Probably Smalley's Pirate Bar or the little Irish Pub in town.


Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?

Kauai on our honeymoon.

Who has the worst temper?
Probably me, but neither of us is really crazy in the temper. He has a gift of being so tolerant of my shortcomings, though. Much better than I.

How many children do you want? Exactly the number we have: 3. But some days when I see my pals' preggo bellies, I do want more. And then I remember that I vomit for the entire pregnancy to the point of hospitalization, and I come to my senses. 

Who does the cooking? Me, definitely. He makes a mean grilled cheese and wicked good pancakes, though.

Who is more social? 
Definitely him. I'm an introvert.


Who is the neat-freak? Neither of us. We both like neat and clean, but not to the point of freakishness.


Who is the most stubborn?
We could debate about this for years. So, I guess both of us are stubborn.

look! it's little man and littlest man (in utero) with the cutest daddy ever. 

good thing the stretch marks don't show up on this low res photo....!

 

Who wakes up earlier? Naturally, or as a result of 3 monkeys that are "so hungry" or "want to go outside"? He is a champ about getting up with the kids in the AM many days, but I'm a more naturally early riser. I can converse and make plans, he is mostly catatonic until after a shower and a latte.

Where was your first date?
His fraternity informal in Windsor, Canada...some Irish Pub, followed by dancing. Our first "real" date was to (!) Olive Garden in Jackson, MI. Classy, I know. Nothing says "forever" like all you can eat salad and breadsticks!

Who has the bigger family?
Me for sure. I have one brother, but a humongo extended family of cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. on both sides. He's an only child with very few cousins or aunts/uncles. My family likes him almost more than me, though, so it works out for him!

Olivia Wagner Photography

Do you get flowers often?
Not a ton, but certainly many times a year. I'm not a huge flower person, but he loves getting me long stemmed red roses. My favorite flower gifting was when he had two dozen roses for me when I had Little Miss Pink, but one gorgeous pinkish red rose for her. Her first rose! From Her Daddy! Melt!

Who is more jealous?
I agree, this is an odd question. I guess probably me...I sometimes wish I could wine and dine and use all of my brain cells more often, but would never be able to do it like he does. Neither of us is really a "jealous" spouse, though. We trust each other implicitly.

How long did it take to get serious?
Not too long. We were first just dating casually out of convenience (great date to sorority events, similar major, common friends), but then he broke his jaw (softball to the face! ouch!) and I played Florence Nightingale to his injured soldier, and the rest is, as they say, history. We went on hours-long drives around southern MI and IN, talked about everything under the sun, and fell in love. We spent that summer apart---he in Washington DC and me in Spain, and got engaged shortly after that. Married the following summer. Crazy!

all of these photos that look too beautiful to be real are shot by the amazing olivia wagner .

Who eats more?
Him.

What do you do for a living?

He is the president of a non-profit , I am a mom of three who does a bit of grant writing, editing on the side. And avoids laundry full-time.

Who does the laundry? Funny! I didn't even see that this was the next question. I do the laundry. But I'm horrible at it, or at putting it away promptly. He pretends he doesn't know how to use the washing machine. I wish I could feign amnesia with it! Laundry sometimes makes me cry. I'm just throwing it out there.

Who’s better with the computer? For sure him.

we like to laugh. i'm funnier, though. don't tell him. also, please ignore my double chin.

Olivia Wagner Photography

Who drives when you are together?
Always him. We drove from MN to the Black Hills this summer, then home and straight to Milwaukee and back. He drove every.single.mile. Loves to drive. I love to ride, so we're a match made in heaven!


What is your song?
"Crazy Love" by Van Morrison. See previous post for details. 


Thanks for the tag, Monkey's Mama! This was so fun. A good refresher in "Why I Heart my Hubby 101." So, to encourage more fun for all: I'm going to go ahead and tag a few mamas I know. Tag, you're it (if you have time and energy!) to Mandy , Maria , Megan, and Michon! 

Days Like This

I'm a big Van Morrison fan. My favorite Irish hubby (and only hubby, to be clear!) and I danced to "Crazy Love" as our first dance as Mr. & Mrs. It was our song because, back in the college days of dating, we were cautious to say, "I Love You" to each other, so we'd say "I'm crazy about you" instead. We even had a little numbered system, e.g. Crazy #1 was "I (almost) Love You" and Crazy #2 was, "I just want to kiss you and skip class." Crazy #3 may have been "You're actually making me crazy and not in a good way." I'm glad we got past all of that craziness! I can barely keep track of the names of our children, let alone 12 different types of crazy for each other! Young Love!

I'm glad to have graduated to...well, Old Love. The kind that's comfortable in its own skin, the kind that is like my favorite part of one of my favorite books, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room.  "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse.  "It's a thing that happens to you.  When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful.  "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse.  "You become.  It takes a long time.  That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.  Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby.  But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." 

These days, I am definitely Real. My fur hasn't been loved off, but I have loads of proof that I have been loved enough by the Little Men and Little Miss Pink and my darling husband to become loose and shabby.

I pray that, in this process of becoming Real to those I love, I would do a better job of having my sharp edges worn off and having my patience, along with my skin, grow thick. It's hard to have limitless patience some days as a mom and wife and friend and daughter and sister. Certainly and most objectionably, I tend to display the shortest fuse with those I love the most. On those days that are like another Van Morrison song I love, "Days Like This."

I need to do a better job of praying for a patient heart and mind and mouth with my babes and my husband. Because some days even when everything goes well, it will be a Day Like This, just like mama says. 

This job description of mom and wife doesn't always come with daily doses of praise and accolades, nor glamor or glitz. It does come with days like this, so to speak.On these days, I find it so important to be prayerful and ask for the right heart and mind. Things can turn around quickly from Days Like This to, well, Tupelo Honey. But enough of Van Morrison.

The Magic of Fall

There is something magical about fall...the light, the air, the food. It is such a crisp and lovely time of year. Our little Irish Norwegian family tries to head to a pumpkin farm and the apple orchard every year. I inevitably try and take a hundred photos, including a photo of the kids. It usually involves one of them looking at the camera, one at the other parent clapping to get their attention, and one looking at the other kids. You have seen these photos.

 

After 12 tries, I usually give up.

Then we head to the petting zoo portion, where I love watching the differences in my kids' personalities emerge. Little Man is incredibly careful and serious around the animals, slow to jump in there. Littlest Man dives in with both hands, trying to hug the animals, feed them, talk to them, woo them to come home with us. A couple years ago, he was bitten by a pig at the petting zoo. It didn't hinder him one bit.

This year is Little Miss Pink's first petting zoo experience and, though loves animals "in theory," we discovered that she would rather love them from a distance!

She did, however, enjoy "posing" for her mama all over the various photo spots at the farm, which was hilarious.

We picked out a bunch of different pumpkins, several variety of squash and some decorative gourds, too. In addition, we came home with a couple sets of terrifying vampire teeth.

Well, terrifying, or adorable. I'll let you be the judge.

After all that pumpkin goodness, I decided I had to bake something that involved pumpkin! And Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread was the ticket. I'll post the recipe tomorrow!

Oops!

So, I'm clearly not a blogging professional.

A dear friend has brought it to my attention that you caught me with my...well, my butter exposed. Or unexposed, as it were.

My Apple Crisp recipe mentioned butter in the instructions and failed to list it in the ingredients. For shame!

Please accept my most humble apologies. Of all the ingredients to leave off! I have rectified the matter and hopefully, I'm more careful next time!

Sorry to my friend in Rockford. And her husband!

I heart the Pioneer Woman.

Since my first trials of "blog" recipes were HER recipes, I have a soft spot in my heart for the Pioneer Woman. She keeps it real, makes me laugh and has some pretty darn good recipes. I will post reviews of my faves some time soon.

I appreciate the photos she posts (though could do without the "how to chop an onion" tutorial in every recipe!) and the helpful tips, as well as the encouragement to throw caution to the wind and eat like calories don't matter. I love how smitten she still is with her "Marlboro Man" and the fact that she home schools her little brood. And I admit that I have a small problem with coveting when it comes to the a-ma-zing ranch that she's "thrown together" with the world's most amazing kitchen.

I digress.

The Pioneer Woman is going on a book tour for her cookbook. Normally, I'm not a person who is impressed by celebrities, elected officials, even Presidents (okay, I've only shaken 2 Presidents' hands, but still)! I think people are people and everyone puts his or her pants on one leg at a time (even if someone helps them do it!). But The Pioneer Woman? I think she's a rock star!

And she's coming to Minneapolis on her cook book tour. I bet she's coming to a town near you, too.

Check out her website for details on the book tour! If you live by me, let's go together so we can embarrass ourselves. And by "we," I mean me. You'll probably be a picture of decorum and coolness. I'll be a dork, but I'm okay with it.

Too cool for (Mom at) School

My Irish hubby and I got married right out of college and were the among the first of all our high school and college friends to have kids. We are now among the first of our friends to send our kids off to preschool and kindergarten. Hopefully our dear friends don't think we overload them with advice and tips and "wisdom" from our parenting experience. I try my best to avoid the annoying mom rants on sleeping, diet, etc. However, one thing I know I say too often to my friends with kids younger than ours is, "They grow up sooooo fast."

Such a clichéd phrase! But it couldn't be more true. The passing of time once you have children borders on the obscene and ridiculous. It.just.flies.

All of a sudden, we find ourselves the parents of a KINDERGARTNER. It seems wrong! I swear that, in the blink of an eye, they go from tiny to toddler to pre-teen. Thankfully, we're not at the pre-teen phase yet.

While adults may be slow to change, the adjustment to kindergarten has gone incredibly smooth for Little Man. He loves it and can't wait to go back at the end of each day. He loves riding the bus and his first day on the bus was effortless. He hopped right on without turning his back. Loved the experience.

His mother, however, found the experience to be a mite bit on the traumatic side. Darling hubby decided to capture said trauma on film in extreme close up. Note the tears in eyes; ignore the wrinkles:

Now that Little Man is three weeks into kindergarten, he has definitely "transformed" into an elementary student. The other day, I happened to drop him off for school and bring in some supplies. Last year, we would always walk into preschool hand in hand. On this morning, Little Man hopped out of the car and let me grab his hand, walking up from the parking lot.

As SOON as we hit the sidewalk, he dropped my hand and slowed down. Not even thinking about the "cool" factor, I reached for his hand again. Little Man pronounced, in a matter of fact tone, "Kindergartners don't hold their moms' hands anymore."

And there you have it. Word to the wise: They grow up SO fast! Hold little hands as often as you can! Now, Little Man is super sweet and I know I'll have some hand holding moments in the future. But gone, I'm certain, are the days of the unabashed hand holding, the unaware grasping for my hand as we walk.

I'm mourning that loss a little bit, but I'm so proud of Little Man. Of the Little Man he is becoming day by day. I am blessed to be his mama and am excited to see what God has in store for his Little Life.

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day...

...And neither was this play structure.





It was a gift and cost us only one trip to urgent care (hammer claw to the nose of my handsome husband, three stitches & a cool scar) and several weekends.

Luckily, all the hard work was totally worth the effort of all involved. The kids L-O-V-E the thing and have demanded to "stake their claim" so to speak with a flag. I came up with this idea.

I'll post a tutorial soon!

But shouldn't you be YOU?

Secretly, deep down, I always wanted to be a mom. I mean, yes, there was that time in 3rd grade that I was convinced I'd be a lawyer-slash-teacher-slash-Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. And I did go to college to become a teacher, which I still hope to do someday. But way deep down, I knew I'd be a mom. I grew up with an amazing stay at home mom who built robots out of cardboard boxes, let me cook in the kitchen, made me write in my journal in the summer and go to the library often. That growing up experience solidified my desire to be a mom.

So back to the title--shouldn't I be "Nicole" and not "Mostly Mom"? I'm not a mom first; I'm a child of God first. A wife second. A mom third. But if I had a dime for every time I heard the word "Mom" I could retire to Fiji with my kids and have a limitless source of wealth. To heck with the NASDAQ and plunging dollar! So, I'm Mostly Mom because, well, I think I hear that word more times in a day than any other word.

And, truth be told, I wouldn't change that for all the money in the world.

(Beautiful photography by Olivia Wagner Photography!)

Where does Time go?

I can say with a fair degree of certainty that Time goes to the same place as all of the lonely un-matched socks that end up in my dryer.

Poof. Gone. Vanished.

At least Time leaves us memories (as well as thousands of digital photos that are priceless, but still not in a photo album!). The dryer just leaves me a huge basket of single socks that will never find a match!

Back to where I started. Time has marched on in this little Irish-Norwegian household. And school starts a week from today!

We're savoring the last moments of summer, forgetting about the unmatched socks (let's pretend I'm "focused" on them all of the rest of the time...ha!), and enjoying the two big boys at home before they start school next Tuesday.

Our summer has been priceless. Hope yours has been that way, too.

Gingerly dipping my toe into the blog pool...

Oh so gingerly!

What do I have to say? And who the heck wants to listen? Some days, I can tell you everyone who doesn't want to listen: my kids, my ironing pile, the grocery list, the bags under my eyes, my (gasp) complexion. Just to name a few. Oh, and my waistline.


All that aside, I decided I'd give it a whirl nonetheless. I'm a jack of many trades and master of none (save giving birth to three of the most beautiful babies this side of, well, anywhere). I thought I'd give a shot a sharing some of my "mile wide/inch deep" knowledge with whomever wants to read it! If that includes you, yippee! Welcome! I hope we can learn from each other as we muddle through life one spin cycle at a time.


Who am I? I am blessed beyond measure to be married to my college sweetheart who still makes my heart skip a beat. I am a mom to three gorgeous kidlets---two handsome boys and a sweet baby girl.


And what is this little blog, exactly? The title of my blog comes from the sense that I sometimes get that life is an endless pile of laundry. Yes, there are some gosh darn cute things in that pile. But, didn't I JUST wash that? And fold it? AND put it away? Life as Mostly Mom is pretty wild. Some days there are amazing new recipe finds. Other days there are craft projects. Or tantrums. Or homemade playdough. Or timeouts. Or stain removal. No one day is the same, with the exception of the ever-full dirty laundry baskets. And the mountain-sized blessings of the four people in my life who make it all worth while!