Inspiration

I am often inspired, uplifted, motivated, moved, and ultimately changed by the words of others. Whenever I hear a quote that I find particularly relevant or moving, I write it down...anywhere. I have quotes on the back of receipts, on post it notes etc. and I’ve always intended to keep a journal and collect them there or even to have a separate quote journal…but the whole journal thing is just not working out for me which was part of the reason for starting this blog…so yay…I will record them here!!

Here are some of my favorites:

Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of its trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse for impossibility for it thinks all things are lawful for itself and all things are possible.

~Thomas Kemp

The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.

~ Ben Okri

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

~T.H. Thompson and John Watson

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love.

~Washington Irving

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

~Gandhi

There are many many more, but right now Kyle & Jo are waiting for me to join them in some Sunday morning family time...

 

My Mom

I am a lucky girl. I have a life surrounded and defined by love. My first and most influential & enduring experience of love was my mother's. And boy does she know how to love. I strive to be the kind of mother to Kyle and Jordan that she is to me. She is constant, warm, steady, affectionate, strong, brave, compassionate, empathetic, and unfaltering in her commitment to her family. And she is POSITIVE. J As crazy as it used to make me (as a morning-challenged teenager) that she would be up and happily whistling or humming as I grumbled around all half-human-like (and it must be said Mom, the grumpier I got - the louder you whistled!), her positive “look on the bright side” attitude has, in fact, found its way into my brain and my heart. The older I get the more I resemble her…and I am so very grateful.

So, Mom, thank you for all of your mom-isms that jump around in my brain and settle in my heart just when I need them the most! (And I’m sure Ky & Jo will someday thank you too, as I say these things to them often)

“It is what it is”

“It could be worse”

“Everything happens for a reason”

“We have each other”

“We are rich with love”

Oh and another favorite that my Uncle Sam always says to me at exactly the moment I need to hear it…

”This too shall pass”

Life is good and just keeps getting better, but for the bumps along the way that shape & eventually strengthen us, it’s amazing what a loving mother can provide for a daughter’s soul.

Thank you Mom

Life is beautiful.

Crazy, hectic, difficult at times...but breathtakingly beautiful. It seems as though the situations that challenge me the most are often the ones that lead to, not only immense personal growth but, more importantly, to these heart-stretching moments of overwhelming gratitude for this family of mine. Regardless of whatever else may be going on in our lives, we are a happy family. 

Spring semester at LSC began today. My first day back at school after a month long vacation. I felt myself getting overwhelmed by the question I ask myself at the beginning of every semester, "how am I going to do this?" Keeping up with dishes, laundry and household organization is overwhelming when Kurt works more than full time, I go to school full time (and maintain a 4.0 GPA!), we are at practices or games 6 days a week, and we spend every moment we can together as a family. Although I tend to be a little obsessive-compulsive about our house, I am learning to let it go. When I find myself overwhelmed by these things, I take a deep breath and LET. IT. GO.

A few years ago I was talking to my friend’s mother about parenting. Since her children are all grown up, I asked her what her greatest piece of advice was. She said that she regretted spending so much time cleaning her house and so little time on the really important things. Then she said something that I will never ever forget; “When Kyle and Jordan are all grown up, and you look back at their childhood, you will never regret spending time with them over cleaning. You won’t ever want to look back and only be able to say…well, my house was clean…”

So we are the parents who sit and watch every practice and game, who ignore the dishes and laundry for a while and instead go outside to build snowmen and forts, and who can take the time to just “be” without being distracted by other aspects of life that are beckoning. Because as far as I'm concerned, all that other stuff...just doesn't matter as much as I once thought it did.

So, as I was saying before I got completely side-tracked…life, this life, this little family and the enormous way we love each other is beautiful. I am one hundred percent head-over-heels in love with my best friend, and we have two amazing, inspiring, compassionate, intelligent, kind-hearted, hilarious children. That is what matters. I love our life. I am defined by these amazing little people we are raising and by the love that bursts from the seams of our home. It just doesn't get any better than this.

"...These are the moments I'll remember all my life. I found all I've waited for...and I could not ask for more."

Basketball Superstars (& of course some proud-mamma-bragging)

Our basketball season is in full swing and both Kyle and Jordan are playing. This is Kyle's 5th year and Jordan's 2nd. They are both incredible! They are so much fun to watch. Kyle is super fast and explosive, never slows down, never quits and never lets up (even if they are clearly not going to win). He steals the ball away from opponents before they even realize what happened. His ball handling skills are beyond impressive; behind his back, between the legs of opponents, I can't even name all the tricks he's learned through countless hours of dribbling around the house. Best of all, he has an amazing attitude. He epitomizes sportsmanship and I couldn't be prouder!  

Jordan is still learning the game but handles the ball like she was born dribbling one. She loves her coaches and asks them all kinds of great questions. She takes their feedback and applies it to her game and gets better and better with every practice. She was born determined! She is gaining confidence, skills and height. She is crazy tall! And has these incredibly loooong and powerful legs that make her F.A.S.T.  It drives Kyle crazy when his friends make comments about how she is almost as fast as him ;) The other night at Kyle’s basketball practice the boys were running suicides and Jo decided to join them (in her socks). She raced those 12 & 13 year old boys and came in 3^rd!! She didn’t even boast, just tried to hide a grin.

  

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Love this one





In basketball, Jo is #1 & Ky is #2, but in baseball, Ky is #1 & Jo is #2

(strange bc completely unplanned!)



 



Jo shooting a foul shot



  



"GOOD GAME!"



Warming up

Captains, coaches & refs ;)

Ky about to blow right by the other team!

Taking a shot...

...and another.

I love watching these two. Whether it’s snowboarding, swimming, playing in the snow, playing a board game, softball, baseball, football, children’s theater, Dance, skate-boarding, or basketball, I am and always will be their biggest fan.



Jumping in

START A BLOG...this has been on my to-do list for too long. So here I am, in true "me" fashion, finally starting something that I put off because I just couldn't figure out how to do it perfectly. Naming a blog, choosing which of my favorite family photos will become "blog worthy,” what to write about, and who will read it...not starting one was so much easier than making decisions! But my kiddos deserve this blog. And I need a place to document this overwhelming, heart-stretching, bursting-with-pride, head-over-heels, unconditional love I feel for them. Because my biggest fear is that they won't know.

So I am jumping in, imperfectly.

My vision for this space was a beautiful page filled with eloquently written posts proclaiming my love for these two little people who so perfectly completed my heart and instantly defined me. And amidst those perfect posts would be over-the-top documentation of their lives because, lately, I have felt, more than ever, that my babies (my 12 & 9 year-old-babies) are growing up entirely too fast. The journal that I promised myself I would keep holds a mere and disappointing 3 pages, and according to the scrapbooks I promised myself I would create yearly Kyle is one and Jordan was just born. Sigh…

Fortunately I am letting go of my vision of what this blog should be and letting it become what it will. I am forgiving myself for not documenting our lives the way I envisioned and am loving myself for the gazillion pictures I insist on taking...daily. Photography is my favorite hobby and has been my way of documenting our lives...over-the-top style. Putting words to the pictures has always seemed so daunting because there really & truly are no words that adequately describe my feelings for this little family of mine. But that is what I am letting go of here. This blog only has to be “good enough” because perfect would be boring...right?!

I am completely overwhelmed by where to start, so I will just begin with a few of my recent favorite pics of Kyle & Jo, and save the perfect proclamations for another day (you’re welcome ;)



Kennebunkport, ME



My boy

Jo at Cannon mt. on new years eve

Kyle at Cannon



My girl



Hooray for blogging!