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The End.

[written before the cold/flu hit... he even pushed enter and moved the mouse around and told me not to touch it. A writer already.]

Of kids' clubs and extracurricular activities

Every other week, we trek to Dun Laoghaire for kids' club. During rush hour. Usually in the rain. At dusk. 

Yes, it can be an ordeal. Kids' club nights mean we're eating dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon and driving 40 minutes with three sometimes cranky kiddos. Homework has got to get done, and everyone must eat and go to the bathroom and take a car activity. And when we get home it's nearly bedtime, and everyone is still wired and ready for second dinner.

But it's worth it.

You see, we don't do a lot of extracurriculars. My kids aren't exactly, um, athletic (picture me whispering athletic, because this is usually how I say it to a new friend when I feel bad my kids aren't more, well, athletic). In truth, Ella is or will be, but her sport of choice will probably end up being track or cross country or wrestling and that's a few years down the road yet. Hopefully. But Jack just isn't interested. And that's OK. As much as I want him to explore new things and occasionally get out of his comfort zone (and his nose out of a book), I'm learning not to force things on him that he is not gifted towards. So finding low-cost, low-risk things they can get involved with after school can be difficult.

And our lifestyle isn't exactly routine day-in and day-out. Matt's work schedule is different every day and the car is not always at my disposal. Committing to a once or twice weekly activity isn't realistic for us now. Just getting homework done is afternoon-long activity in itself!

In lieu of committing to things I'm not sure my children will enjoy or benefit from, we drive 40 minutes to kids' club in rush hour traffic every other week. They play games with and get to know other kids, spend time with our friend who youth pastors there and whom they've known nearly their whole lives, and Asher and I get a change of scenery.

This is just one small thing that works for us, right now. One tiny bit of routine we can all look forward to. One more way we've settled into home here. It probably won't last forever and I'm hoping we can integrate swimming or a library activity from time to time. But you do what you can, right?

One more bonus: on a rare day, we get to see a sight like the one above. Like I said, totally worth it.

Binging on living, for today

The house is a mess.

We came home from Germany to three adorably sleeping children and a beautifully orderly home, vacuumed and wiped down to perfection by my mom and sister. Then we promptly trashed it. We stayed up till 1am watching Say Yes to the Dress. We spent all day walking a seaside town and falling over in sand. I relinquished all sense of motherly duty and ran around Dublin with my sister, trying on veils and flipping through wedding books. We have spent these last two weeks living, wildly. Our kitchen counters and sticky floors are less than pleased.

But tomorrow my mother returns home, my sister already there. I'll leave city centre adventures behind and spend the day in the laundry room. We'll run from shop to shop to shop finding uniforms and shoes and stocking up on little boy underwear. I'll have to jump-start the menu planning and act like I care about groceries and budgets and three square meals.

And I know I'll be so homesick for family - this is the flipside of visitors, for they always leave and you will be reminded anew of the sacrifice - that just rolling out of bed will take courage and kleenex.

So for one last day, we won't clean. We'll play fast and loose with the rules. We'll send Granny off with a bang, and maybe some dessert.

Tomorrow the recovery will start, the school prep will begin, maybe the bathroom light will get fixed.

But not today.



Go ahead, let's encourage eachother: what one thing will you put off till tomorrow?

Camogie Camp, a restropective

DAY 1
I watch for her, sweaty children in masks making their way from the clubhouse. Her pink backpack precedes her and I wait, anxious: Did she make it ok? Sid she stay dry? Did she love it? As she turns, her frown confirms my worst fears. Slowly, she makes her way towards me, her arm juts out, middle finger upturned in my face. Oh no! I think, Already? She's turned on us already? It takes a moment for the flesh-coloured bandaid to register. "I got hit," she says. That's a relief!

DAY 2
Fumble. She goes missing for a few minutes in the locker room whilst I wait outside, camera in hand, to take a picture of her with helmet and hurl and smile on her face. I find her crying on the bench inside, knee banged up, all determination and joy gone. We cuddle for awhile, get her helmet fitted, take a couple of very sad photos, then the smile returns. This picture is for Papa, I say.

DAY 3
The boys and I arrive early to catch a glimpse of our little camogie darling. It is hot as all get-out and it's hard to find her in a sea of small people with caged helmets and green uniforms. Finally we spot her and watch her stand there, walk aimlessly for a bit, and then break out in a dance when her team scores. "Did you see me make a point?!" she asks. "I saw your team get a point, " I say, afraid I'd just burst her bubble. "Oh yeah, that's what I mean!" Joy undeterred. She is pink as a grapefruit.

DAY 4
"I scored 100... no... 1000!" ...Questionable.

DAY 5
We are now both adept enough to get her helmet securely on, and we take action shots for the family back home. I promise to arrive early to catch a few minutes of her last match. But... I get that sinking feeling all parents get when they drive into a parking lot only to see it completely full, knowing that you must've missed something. Sure enough, it's the award ceremony. I spot her in the middle of the huddle, all shiny and exhausted. And when she finds me, I get two big thumbs up. She is wearing green, white and orange. Her new colours, and one shiny medal.

***

So this is what we did this week... plus drama workshop, plus grocery runs, plus temper tantrums in car parks, plus sun sun sun. What did your week look like?

The lazy mom's guide to summer

Ok, I've got 10 days to prepare myself mentally, emotionally and physically for my kiddos to be home 24/7. I love spending time with my kids, but both they and I need space. Frequent space. So we like to keep summer low-key, low-maintenance, and low-energy. Some people call this lazy. Fair enough. I, for one, will choose to embrace the laziness of summer and lean into my lazy giftings.



1) Reading. Reading isn't exactly lazy, but round these parts it is. We lounge around in our pjs, spreading out all the reading material and colouring books. I also institute a mandatory quiet time wherein each child must stay in his or her own room for one hour. With a book (or audio book). Whether they read it or not is their choice, but it's gotta be screen free and away from me and each other. Check out your local library for kids' reading programs. Our library has one, but the late fees are killer. Which brings me to...

2) Get online and renew, order, check out, shop, whatever. If you've got books and don't want to drag a potty training three-year-old across town to the library, renew your books/movies online and reserve new ones. Your girl needs a new swimsuit? Check amazon or other online shops. The eldest is forgetting his maths? Give him your old slow laptop and introduce him to online kids math games (check your school's website for recommended links). Watch videos on youtube or netflix, have your kids play games and watch short clips on pbskids.org or other some such educationally fun site. Just because you're home-bound doesn't mean you are without options. You just have more, comfy, pajama-friendly options.

3) One outing a week. Any more than this and you risk endangering yourself and innocent bystanders. Pick something close enough so they won't fall asleep in the car, but far away enough that you can justify driving through McDonald's for milkshakes on your way home. Don't put pressure on yourself to come up with loads of outdoor activities or daytrips. Just try to think up one place a week that won't break you or the bank. Even if it's just across the street to the green (which is where we'll be).

4) Water. Buckets, bowls, cups of water. Doesn't matter. Just send them in the back yard with a container, show them the water and let them go to town. For added fun, give them a few towels to lay down on, dry off with, whip at siblings. If you pay for water, keep track of the time or use a sprinkler or sprayer to keep it under control. My friend Nicole made a great homemade sprinkler last summer using old 2-litre bottles. If you're crafty and non-lazy, you could help your kids create them. If you're like me, make Dad do it.

5) Forts. Never underestimate a good fort. If keeping it indoors (like we had to do last year), set up shop in the living room, bring in loads of chairs, blankets and pillows, turn on a book on cd (we prefer the Chronicles of Narnia radio theatre). If you've got outdoor space (like we do this year, praise God!), use lawn furniture, towels and old sheets. Things will get dirty and fights will eventually break out, but this can help your kiddos work together while you "work on pinterest" or "write" or "inculturate by watching back to back to back episodes of Doctor Who." Whatever.

6) Chore charts. My kids don't make much of an allowance, but in the summer I always try to up the ante. They get more chores, but they also get more rewards. Ranging from big (sweep the floors, which in our house is a major task) to little (brushing teeth), I'm trying to help them become responsible and independent. Also, I have my kids fill out their own chore charts. This can take a handful of minutes to several hours, depending on the child. Mine get a kick out of coming up with their own tasks, and I enjoy seeing what they think is valuable work. Just make sure you save your pocket change. You're gonna need it.

Finally...



7) Don't clean. Just don't. I mean, yes, if there's a major spill on the floor, take care of that. And I'm assuming you like to eat on clean dishes. Do laundry when you run out and hang it to dry (better for the environment and a great excuse for only doing one load a day!). Forego dusting, vaccuum only when necessary and leave the kids' stuff where they left it. Toys and junk and books will inevitably cover your floors and table tops, but stressing about reorganizing everything every night will just make you the Hyperventilating Mom with Crazy Eyes (trademark pending) when the kid-tornado comes back around in the morning.

So there you go: seven tips to making yourself the lazy summer mom you've always dreamed you could be. Results may vary, screen time may increase, tears will be shed. But come September, everyone will be well-rested and ready to get back to school's structure. And most importantly, everyone will have survived. Which, really, is my overarching goal of any parenting adventure...

Survival.

What are your plans this summer? Are you go-go-go? Are you do you feel kinda lazy? No judgment.

Sometimes I design

In my previous incarnation I was a lowly amateur graphic designer, meaning I whipped together church bulletins, logos, business cards, the occasional HIPAA manual and a really colourful U2 fansite (don't judge). I freelanced, emphasis on free, and today still enjoy doing a few small projects here and there for my friends (and my mom).

I am a total photoshop novice (even though we've had it on our computer for ages, I find it overwhelming and never seem to find the time to take a proper class or tutorial on it), so the majority of my design work is done in MS Word for Mac. Yep. Lame. But that's how I roll. And my friends don't seem to mind as you know, it's free. :)



My best lady friend, Nicole, whom you've all gotten the chance to know and love, has a fantastic user-friendly blog on living naturally. Nicole's on her own journey towards finding the diet, lifestyle, and home that suits her and her brood of boys best, and I love seeing what she comes up with. I often pick her brain on what she's cleaning with this week or how her garden thrives under harsh boy conditions. And when she gave up wheat, I knew I needed to empower her decision with a new look.



The overall look - and idea - of Nicole's blog is clean, simple and natural, like her. I hope you'll pop over and say hello and even try a recipe or two. Yesterday I tried her apple (or pear) sauce and it was a hit. And if I - being so culinarily challenged - can do it, anyone can. Also check out her reviews! This girl inhales books like no other. I should know... she makes me read almost all of them.

Helping Nicole has inspired me, too. I'm currently enjoying the Blog (Design) Love e-course offered through A Beautiful Mess, and while it's taking me more time than I realized, it's so much fun and totally worth it. I can't wait to show you the end result... whatever that ends up being.

***

Do you have an hidden talent on the side? What is your creative outlet?

Reaganing

I hear bumps and shouts from upstairs, but it's all good. We actually have an upstairs now! I'm letting the children run ragged up there, playing and running, legos scattered everywhere, tickling fights being had. The eldest gets annoyed with the youngest, but they hash it out without tears and I sit down here listening to my Easter playlist and Reaganing.

It's a 30 Rock thing, and my husband resonated with it immediately. When Jack Donaghey is on a roll, gettin' stuff done, he calls it Reaganing. I don't particularly remember Reagan, or his Reaganing, but there really is a fantastic feeling that comes with accomplishing a laundry list of things.

This week has been another week of sorting through the startings of a brand new life. Trash bins and utilities and proof of insurance. Even when you make the calls and pay the bills, you still need proof of such things and you occasionally still have to run down the trash tuck with proof of payment so they'll take away your rubbish. The children were off school Thursday and Friday, so we took our wee three valentines to Dublin for the day. Not so much for fun, but for work. They needed some important government numbers and we hoped to make a day of it.

Now a disclaimer: many times I leave our new front stoop thinking I'll get something done and dusted in a half hour and can just pop in to a coffee shop or other such establishment to celebrate my success. This is often not the case, resulting in two or three such trips before one can technically call oneself done and dusted. Taking the wee three to Dublin on a weekday to wait in line at a government office seemed like one such event. So we played it loose and cool. We were rollin' with it, willing to wait for awhile, praying for patience, reminding ourselves of the adventure.

But lo and behold, manna from heaven! The queue was short, our number was quickly called, and as we gave the woman behind the glass our passports, she gave us a gift. Our children already had these Very Important Numbers! She wrote them down on a sticky note and sent us on our way, in 15 minutes or less.

Huzzah! Victory! This has been our most painless adventure, yet (and in stark contrast to the hard flat tire tuesday lesson), so we celebrated with lunch at a new favourite spot, a walk in the city, and the crowning glory of a playground.

So here's my lesson for the day/week/month: I write a lot about the regrets, the frustrations, the losses and the waiting. I don't often write about the victories, the proud moments, the wonder and the fun. They often go hand-in-hand. But I'm trying to celebrate more than mourn, rejoice more than complain, pursue more than languish, laugh more than cry.

And on the days we laugh, when the sun shines in Dublin for the first time in weeks, I want to remember it. On Valentine's Day 2013, we were Reaganing. Getting stuff done. And we celebrated.

Oh, and we got some groovy mid-century chairs at a thrift store, too. Bonus.

Tell me your latest victory...

An open call for topics, ideas or general merriment

It has been decided (by me and the above Princess Captain America) that the blog needs some fresh ideas that don't involve me crying over spilled milk (both figuratively and literally), croup, or the only one thing that always has been and always will be banned from my blog: cooking. And I also need a distraction from dwelling on our storage issue.

So this is your chance to offer up some fun and/or informative questions, ideas, burdens, or controversies.

Lay 'em on me.

halloween's gone past

came across this picture today

the girl @ 12 months

the boy @ 4 years

the whole crew, 2007

oh, it goes so fast...

2006

2008

2009

2010

wordless wednesday

31 days of LIVING in transition :: a night off {day 29}

How can one survive the daily tedium of transition? Treat oneself to a day or night off every once in awhile.

We have a kiddo sick today. A sad wee lad with a fever and a nasty cough and swollen cheeks. So there's been crying and frustration ... and this is mainly just from me and the 3 or so hours of non-sleep I spent by his side in the night.

Tonight the sister rescued me and we went to shop for some necessities and then treated ourselves to a yummy appetizer dinner. It was fab and just what this exhausted mama ordered.



So, do it. Treat yourself, even for just a couple of hours. Take the night off, enjoy some company, and remember to have fun. We did. We laughed and laughed until we cried and embarrassed ourselves. All good things for living.

For fun not likely for profit

So I got this idea from a co-worker of mine (OK, I stole the idea!). 

I play around a lot with photography and like to think I'm good at it (though really I just don't have the patience or energy to be that good at it), so I joined a website called Redbubble.com where I can display and/or sell my photos. Really, this is just for fun and very unlikely to produce any profit, whatsoever. But still... nice to think about some of these images on the face of a card or mounted in someone's hallway - even if it's just my mom's. :)

Also, I know a lot of you have taken some amazing photographs, so perhaps you should think about joining as well. Did I mention it's free?