Oh the Places You'll Go

Andrea at Good Girl Gone Redneck nominated me for a blog award!  Thanks, Andrea!  Andrea and I met during a blog swap and she has been my bloggy soul sister ever since because she:

1.  Donates to Locks of Love

2.  Is a Read-a-holic

3.  Has a social worker mindset

4.  Is completely enamoured with Dove chocolate

What's not to like?

With this award, you are supposed to write about where you see yourself in 10 years.

This is really tough for me because I'm not much of a long term planner.  In fact, I think that living in the moment is a healthy way to live. 

Furthermore, I feel like in so many ways I have everything I could ever truly want right this minute. There is nothing material that I want.  I'm happy with teaching psychology classes part time. 

I have my family.

I have my husband and 3 beautiful, charming, laughing, loving boys.  I get teary just thinking of how much I love them.

I live in a small yet fun log home in the mountains.  Just where I want to be.

My life feels full.  I could count my blessings and never reach the end of counting.  I'm not saying my life is perfect.  Not by any means.  Sure, I struggle all the time.  Who doesn't with a toddler and 2 babies in the home?  Most days I'm happy just to keep my mind intact without losing it. But I'm just saying my life is whole and I have what I need right now.  And I'm so thankful.

So what do I want to strive for?  Surely I must have some sort of goal?  I guess my goals aren't so much tangible as philosophical.

See, in addition to my life not being perfect, I am not perfect.  Surprising, I know.  So I would hope that in 10 years I will have grown to be a better wife and mom and that I don't have regrets looking back.  I certainly hope in 10 years I can look at my boys and know that they have the start of a foundation in:

1.  Kindness towards others

2.  Equality.  Let me say that again for good measure because it is so important.  EQUALITY.  That they might see equality in people from all different cultures, backgrounds, educations, religions, and beliefs. 

3.  Curiousity.  That they might eagerly search for knowledge and new experience in life.

4.  Health.  That they might be physically active in some way daily, and that they might, in actuality, enjoy their fruits and veggies and water.

5.  A strong sense of family.

6.  Respect towards the Earth.  That they might seek to preserve the earth, not destroy it.  That they might appreciate and love nature on a daily basis.

7.  Anti-materialism.  This one will be hard.  But I hope that they don't spend their time wanting, wanting, wanting.  Wanting the next video gaming system or the next toy or the next movie or a new pair of shoes.  I hope that they can realize that material things aren't important.  Material things may be nice to appreciate, but life experiences are what matter.  I don't think this will come until after the teen years have passed.  But if they can just have the small pieces of this foundation, then after they pass those egocentric teen years it may come together for them.

In 10 years Pierce will be 13 and the twins will be 10.  If I can say they have learned to embrace some of the personality traits above, then I'm doing my job as a parent.  I know, I have a tendency to be idealistic.  It's in my nature, what can I say?  Besides, isn't goal-setting partly about dreaming anyhow?

Now I need to nominate 5 bloggers that I feel are 'going places'.  So difficult to choose because everyone seems to be headed in awesome directions.  Plus, I know I've picked so many of you before, so I don't want to tire you out with awards!

Here goes:

 Green Mama at Green Acres.  She's a friend of mine from high school and a new blogger with an old new farmhouse to renovate.  You know she's going to have some interesting tales in the years to come.

Jeremi at Ella and Zoe because her girls are always having such fantastic adventures.  And Jeremi takes such fabulous pictures to document them.

Lyn from Escape from Obesity.  I've been following her struggle to lose weight for years now.  I even use her blog as a teaching tool in my Human Development class.  She has a way with words that not many people can touch.  In the past few months, she has ripped past an old weight plateau with shocking speed.  She's an inspiration, and without a doubt, she's going places.

Jessica at Growing Home.  She's my cousin-in-law and a doula and just carries such a positive presence in everything she does.  Not to mention she just won a huge HGTV GREEN makeover for her laundry room!  How cool is that?  She doesn't blog very often, but when she does her words are so often profound.

Amber at Mommies on the Run.  She has twin boys of her own, and I first found her blog when I was pregnant with the twins.  It was so comforting to find a fellow runner and preggo w/ twins friend - even though I didn't have a blog at the time and never posted on hers.  She's one speedy runner + athlete and there's no doubt she's headed somewhere fun and amazing.

Splish Splash Boys

For Mother's Day Paul gave me a choice between a membership to the Science Museum or something else (I forget - mom-brain strikes again).  Anyhow, I said, I like that idea, but what about swimming lessons at a gym for Pierce?  If we did the lessons at a gym, I could put the twins in the child care center and Pierce and I could do the lessons.  Paul liked that idea, so it was decided.

Well, wouldn't you know I made phone call after phone call and couldn't get anyone to call me back from several gyms?

Not only that, but the one gym I reached didn't know what time of day the lessons would be and told me that child care wouldn't be offered during that time.  Um, okay, that doesn't even make sense!

Then one day we picked up the Sunday paper and saw how cheap little pools were.

Really not much more than swimming lessons + child care would be.

So why not?

Granted, by the time we built a flat spot in our yard and covered it with sand plus bought all the accessories it was a little more pricey - but still relatively inexpensive.

Maybe that's why people call these little above ground pools white trash.  What can I say?  We're embracing our white trash side.  At least it's behind the house and not in the front yard ;-)

I have to say, after a long run, hopping in the pool is therapy for tired legs.

And Pierce is enjoying his daily swims immensely.  So far he can blow bubbles and use his kickboard.  We're working on floating and doggie paddle.

Yup, it seems like everyone is having a grand time.

Everyone that is except for....

Ah, Mister Cortankerous strikes again.

Get me OUT!  I don't want to get WET!!

Well, maybe he'll warm up to it as the summer progresses?

The Celebrate Plate and a Carjacking

It's Muffin Tin Monday!  A few weeks ago I went downtown to the pottery painting studio with the Multiples Club.  I painted this alligator plate for Pierce (or the twins) to have on special days.  Pierce had a very nice day of sharing with his brothers, so he got the Celebrate plate.

He had pizza bites, and in honor of July 4th red strawberries, blueberries, and a squirt of whipped cream for dipping.

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Meanwhile, I haven't done a chicken update in a bit.

Look what Priscilla did this past week:

Can you guess where she is?

IN OUR CAR.

She hopped in the minivan while I was buckling in Reid.

She's a strange bird, and probably our most friendly of the chickens.

Once she was in she was all, "Take me to McDonald's.  I'll have some fries and a large Diet Coke"

Baby Got Track

Last week Pierce got to participate in his first race and boy was he ever pumped about it.

It was steamy hot, but that didn't stop him from wanting to run.

First we watched the milers.

Note our friend Steve in the white t-shirt.  He loves track misery.

Cort was temperamental (surprising, I know) and refused to sit in the stroller.

Finally, it was Pierce's turn.  He got off to a slow start once the gun went off.  He ran the kid's 100.

Paul ran with him to the finish line.  Pierce held steady in the back of the pack.  Kind of like his mom ;-)

After he finished, he got his very first medal. 

A fun evening, and hopefully next month's All Comers track meet will be a little cooler!

Do I Have to Change My Profile for This?

Turning 35 kind of feels like passing over to the other side. Like youth is on one side of my life.  And 35 is on the other side.

I was thinking about why this would be?  Why 35 in particular?

I think it must be the stigma that comes with 35 in the whole child bearing thing.  Not that I'm having more children, mind you, but if I were, I'd be considered high risk because of my age. 

Furthermore, now that I'm 35, I move into a new age group with my running.

And with this age group, I'm old enough that they start adding a 'generous' 5 minutes to qualifying Boston marathon times each 5 years.  In other words, because I'm older, I now can run 5 minutes slower to BQ (Boston qualify) than I could've just two days ago.

Okay, well technically I guess 35 isn't over the hill.  I've got a whopping 5 more years before I get one of THOSE cakes.  Besides, according to Pierce, I'm getting chocolate Diego cupcakes for my birthday.  Now that'll be something to look forward to.

In the meantime, I'm off to change my profile to 'age 35'.  Ouch.  ;-)

Memory Lane Friday - A Birthday

Welcome to Memory Lane Friday.  It's a chance to preserve your memories for your family.  Each week is a different topic, and this week we're writing about 'A Birthday'.

By far, the most monumental birthday I've ever had (and certainly ever will have) was my 16th birthday.  And no, not because I had one of those pimped out sweet 16 parties like those teens on MTV.  I was, however, in another country for the first time ever when I turned sweet sixteen.  My 16th hit at the tail end of a mission trip I took with my church to Costa Rica. 

Note that this picture was during the awkward 'growing-out-the-bangs' stage.

They decorated the cabin I was staying in and got me a birthday card - in Spanish!

My mom had tucked a little package from her and my dad in my duffle to open on my birthday.  It was a silver cross necklace.

The trip was wrapping up on my birthday, but I had some fond memories from the two weeks.

We had taken a crazy curvy bus ride to a volcano.

Along the way some guys from a church in Texas tied bottles to their faces to see who could go the longest with a bottle attached.

I think they were in training for Road Rules some ten years down the road....

The volcano was in the middle of the rainforest, and the only volcano I've ever seen.

We did some hiking as well, and I have pictures of guys using leaves larger than umbrellas to block out the rain.

This is the work site.  We alternated days.  One day we would work on building the church, and the next we'd play with the kids and do crafts with them.

I learned how to mix cement and bend reebar (how do you even spell that?).

But the best part of the entire trip were the kids.

People in Costa Rica have beautiful hearts.  This is Alonzo.  His mother told us that he got into trouble all the time and didn't have any friends.  But this little boy took to us and he was always taking his machete to cut limes out of the trees.  The limes were sweet there, and you could eat them straight with no sugar.

This is a picture taken from beside the church, looking down the muddy road that came into the village.  The church was just made out of aluminum siding, like a big trash can box.  Which was why we were helping to build them a new one. 

More pics of the kids.  I have tons and tons of pictures of the children in my photo albums.  Note the girl on the left holds a parrot.  It was common to see the girls walking around with a parrot attached.

Looking back, I wonder where the kids are now...grown certainly, with children of their own.  Do they ever think of the teens who came and befriended them for 2 weeks one summer?  Certainly they touched my heart with their kindness and generosity in a simple, impoverished village.  And I can't imagine a better birthday.

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Next week's topic is 'Fourth of July'.  Except for my Canadian friend, of course.  Her challenge, should she accept, is to write about a distinctly Canadian holiday.  Enlighten me! 

Mister Ed wasn't there, but some 'scary' dogs were

The horse show is in town, so the boys and I headed over on Tuesday.  Although I do enjoy having our 'backyard' horses, I certainly miss the excitement of the true horse world that filled my teenage years.

We walked around and watched people schooling over fences.

We saw all the big tents, full of horse stalls.  With temps well into the 90s this week, I felt a little bad for the horses, although with large box fans and plenty of water certainly they are fine.

More schooling arena...a beautiful dappled gray.  I've always been partial to grays.

Okay, how cute is this?  Horse people tend to have a sense of humor. 

The hunters were supposed to be showing, but weren't, so we watched the jumpers instead.  Hunters are judged on their style - both the rider and horse - over fences.  Jumpers are judged by how quickly they make it across the course of jumps without knocking any down.  I mostly showed hunters back in the day, but certainly the jumpers are a little more exciting to spectators.

After Pierce complained one too many times that he was HOT and THIRSTY (having consumed both bottles of water I'd brought in the course of 30 minutes, even though it was only 9:30 am) we decided to head indoors.

In the colliseum, things were a little slow.  They were doing some conformation and equitation classes. 

We watched two classes and then Cort launched a revolt of epic screaming proportions.  Turns out horses aren't his thing.  But at least I got a full hour fix of horsey time.  Hopefully that'll last me through the next year until the horse show comes to town again ;-)