I handed Abby a magazine of cute painting projects for kids rooms. She made several gasps at lavender, blue, and green rooms, then said:
A: Oh, momma, look at this pink room! When we move can I have my own room?!!?
G: That's what we're hoping for.
A: I have my room, Noah has his room, and it's up to you guys if you want to sleep together.
Yes, I think Matty and I will still share a room...however, we might graduate to a king-sized bed to accommodate the morning dog pile of kids.
November 23, 2008
November 22, 2008
"Enjoy the fun of Failure"
I read that quote recently in an article on happiness. Now, I think I am a pretty happy person--I love my husband, my kids, and my family and friends; I enjoy lots of worthwhile time with friends (both in person and via the trusty cell phone), and I have so much comfort to be thankful for. I am learning a lot lately about what makes me not just happy, but contented. This has been a long life lesson to learn, in great part due to my desire to please others and to avoid failure at any cost!! If I perceive that I wont be good at something, I just wont try it. Seriously, I remember dreading having to learn foreign languages and to do advanced music theory in college, so much so that those fears played in to my decision to leave an outstanding music program in which I was doing very well. I mean, I had A's in every subject, but I was worried that at some point it would become so hard that I might, GULP, get a B! Or, worse, I'd finally audition for a symphony and I'd be rejected. I feared disappointing my parents and my professors. I left a place and people I cared deeply for--out of fear. Well, fast forward ten years (or more, actually) and I now love speaking broken German, mixed with some french, while making morning coffee or asking Matthew a question I don't want Abby to understand ;) And, for what it is worth, I've made it to the dissertation writing phase of a PhD. But is that what makes me MOST happy? Really, the things that make me most happy are those things that come with a lot of failure! And failure I can't avoid, because I'm a human being who makes mistakes! I've begun to accept that I fail, but it never occurred to me to ENJOY the FUN of failure! Is failure EVER fun? Well, yes. I think it can be!
So what does enjoying the FUN of failure look like to me? I guess it looks like this:
Maybe this isn't "failure." It is the product of an attempt to do something special for a very special little girl, whom I love. I've never painted with watercolors before, and I've never done a portrait before. But the thought came to me that I wanted to TRY marking Teg's birthday with something more intentional than a toy. My dear friend, Bronwyn, is now the momma of a one year old. I was there minutes before and minutes after this delightful, gorgeous, most precious baby girl was born-- I left for the good part, but really the birth of one's first child is something to be enjoyed privately between a hubby and its "wif", right? Right. I didn't even stand by the door. I went down the hall and paced, watched some lame sitcom, called Matthew on the cell phone 3 times, paced , looked down the hall, smiled, teared up, picked my nails out of nervousness, then started creeping back toward the door, trying to not make eye contact with anyone who would shoo me back to the waiting room. And then Jeremy burst though the door and said I could come back!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness. What a sight to behold: a brand new TEGWYN ELLA!
So, thanks Teg. Because of you I've learned that I like to paint with watercolors, but much more, I love to study a face and enjoy the fun of knowing a person better and appreciating her more for having tried to faithfully render her on paper. It was fun to try. It was FUN to feel like if I botched it horribly, (and maybe some of you think I did--and that's OK with me!), it would be fine! And really, if Teg's parents don't put this up on their wall, that's fine too! I made it with love and with the intention of saying without words "how wonderful life is now you're in the world" sweet Teg. How COOL to learn life lessons from a one year old.
So what does enjoying the FUN of failure look like to me? I guess it looks like this:
Maybe this isn't "failure." It is the product of an attempt to do something special for a very special little girl, whom I love. I've never painted with watercolors before, and I've never done a portrait before. But the thought came to me that I wanted to TRY marking Teg's birthday with something more intentional than a toy. My dear friend, Bronwyn, is now the momma of a one year old. I was there minutes before and minutes after this delightful, gorgeous, most precious baby girl was born-- I left for the good part, but really the birth of one's first child is something to be enjoyed privately between a hubby and its "wif", right? Right. I didn't even stand by the door. I went down the hall and paced, watched some lame sitcom, called Matthew on the cell phone 3 times, paced , looked down the hall, smiled, teared up, picked my nails out of nervousness, then started creeping back toward the door, trying to not make eye contact with anyone who would shoo me back to the waiting room. And then Jeremy burst though the door and said I could come back!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness. What a sight to behold: a brand new TEGWYN ELLA!
So, thanks Teg. Because of you I've learned that I like to paint with watercolors, but much more, I love to study a face and enjoy the fun of knowing a person better and appreciating her more for having tried to faithfully render her on paper. It was fun to try. It was FUN to feel like if I botched it horribly, (and maybe some of you think I did--and that's OK with me!), it would be fine! And really, if Teg's parents don't put this up on their wall, that's fine too! I made it with love and with the intention of saying without words "how wonderful life is now you're in the world" sweet Teg. How COOL to learn life lessons from a one year old.
November 18, 2008
19 months old...and making us laugh harder than ever
Just a little snippet of Noah's zaniness. We laugh a ton around here. You'll see why. Seriously, nobody has to teach Noah these things--they come naturally.
November 14, 2008
we're doing much better
kids and I are all healed. Matty got an ear infection, but antibiotics are helping him fight that. We think he will back to 100% soon.
So, I'm better enough to answer some questions after being "tagged" by Emily in Knoxville on her blog...
7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die. .
this is a hard question. I mean, I've been so busy planning what's for dinner, I hardly know what to write.
1. love love love my family
2. travel out of the US
3. discover new hobbies (and get better at my current ones)
4. have grandkids!
5. maybe adopt a kid. (definitely adopt a cat, and a dog too--if Noah begs)
6. build or renovate or just decorate a very cool home!
7.grow old with Matty
7 Things I Do Now. . .
1. love love love my family
2. cook
3. clean (even if it doesn't seem like it!)
4. play with the kids
5. talk on the phone
6. talk with matty
7. teach and grade
7 Things I Can’t Do. . .
1. find time to sew
2. keep my floor clean
3. run a half-marathon
4. consistently wake up early enough in the morning to have personal time
5. always make it "all better"
6. run regressions
7. finish my dissertation tomorrow
7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex. . .
these are not all necessarily aspects of maleness, but when they are traits a man has, they are especially attractive. I should know, I am married to Matthew, after all.
1. faithfulness
2. patience
3. a sense of humor
4. tenderness toward children
5. calm in the midst of a storm (of any kind)
6. perspective! (in the midst of those storms)
7. humility and willingness to talk and listen
oh, and it doesn't hurt to be super handsome! :)
7 Things That I Say Most Often. . .
1. I love you
2. Oh, Bean!
3. Dude, why did you do that?
4. I'm tired (or, I need a nap)
5. I need a hug.
6. see a bus?
7. want some coffee?
7 Celebrities That I Most Admire. . .
I don't know. I defer to Matthew's pop culture knowledge--I just don't follow these things closely enough to know how to answer this question.
7 Favorite Foods. . .
these are not in order.
1. does coffee count? I love lattes and a properly brewed cup of coffee.
2. fruit: cherries, strawberries, nectarines
3 . beignets
4. tart frozen yogurt
5. delicious salad
6. BBQ
7. meatloaf! I just made an awesome meatloaf (from an America's Test Kitchen recipe). It's DELICIOUS.
close runners-up: salmon, ted drewes frozen custard, indian food, thai food, french food, pretty much anything Matthew makes!!, Melanie's crawfish pie.
Bloggers Who Need To Do This. . .
Melanie
Bronwyn
Lisa
So, I'm better enough to answer some questions after being "tagged" by Emily in Knoxville on her blog...
7 Things I Plan To Do Before I Die. .
this is a hard question. I mean, I've been so busy planning what's for dinner, I hardly know what to write.
1. love love love my family
2. travel out of the US
3. discover new hobbies (and get better at my current ones)
4. have grandkids!
5. maybe adopt a kid. (definitely adopt a cat, and a dog too--if Noah begs)
6. build or renovate or just decorate a very cool home!
7.grow old with Matty
7 Things I Do Now. . .
1. love love love my family
2. cook
3. clean (even if it doesn't seem like it!)
4. play with the kids
5. talk on the phone
6. talk with matty
7. teach and grade
7 Things I Can’t Do. . .
1. find time to sew
2. keep my floor clean
3. run a half-marathon
4. consistently wake up early enough in the morning to have personal time
5. always make it "all better"
6. run regressions
7. finish my dissertation tomorrow
7 Things That Attract Me To The Opposite Sex. . .
these are not all necessarily aspects of maleness, but when they are traits a man has, they are especially attractive. I should know, I am married to Matthew, after all.
1. faithfulness
2. patience
3. a sense of humor
4. tenderness toward children
5. calm in the midst of a storm (of any kind)
6. perspective! (in the midst of those storms)
7. humility and willingness to talk and listen
oh, and it doesn't hurt to be super handsome! :)
7 Things That I Say Most Often. . .
1. I love you
2. Oh, Bean!
3. Dude, why did you do that?
4. I'm tired (or, I need a nap)
5. I need a hug.
6. see a bus?
7. want some coffee?
7 Celebrities That I Most Admire. . .
I don't know. I defer to Matthew's pop culture knowledge--I just don't follow these things closely enough to know how to answer this question.
7 Favorite Foods. . .
these are not in order.
1. does coffee count? I love lattes and a properly brewed cup of coffee.
2. fruit: cherries, strawberries, nectarines
3 . beignets
4. tart frozen yogurt
5. delicious salad
6. BBQ
7. meatloaf! I just made an awesome meatloaf (from an America's Test Kitchen recipe). It's DELICIOUS.
close runners-up: salmon, ted drewes frozen custard, indian food, thai food, french food, pretty much anything Matthew makes!!, Melanie's crawfish pie.
Bloggers Who Need To Do This. . .
Melanie
Bronwyn
Lisa
November 11, 2008
tummy bug
Poor little kiddos (and poor me and poor Matty) have been fighting a tummy bug. We're getting through it, but blogging hasn't been high on the list of things to do.
I'll check back in when we're feeling a bit better!
I'll check back in when we're feeling a bit better!
November 4, 2008
couldn't have been easier
We voted this morning at 7:15. After our less-than-two-minute walk to our polling place, we walked in, signed our names, and went straight to a polling booth--no wait. M had Noah and I had Abby. On our way across the street to Starbucks (for our free coffee), M said: "Voting couldn't have been easier unless they knocked on my door and offered to write in my vote for me."
It is fun to watch the news and be glad we're not in a 12-hour line right now.
Go vote! (easy for me to say, I know!)
It is fun to watch the news and be glad we're not in a 12-hour line right now.
Go vote! (easy for me to say, I know!)
November 2, 2008
Peter Pan, Tink, and Wendy
Hook was behind the camera...
We had a fun time loading up on candy. Abby raked in 40 pieces! When asked tonight how many she has eaten, she answered (truthfully) "one." She gave some away, and the rest are on top of the fridge. I must say, however, that she has had a handful of the Reeses pb cups we bought to give out. We only had 3 kids come by, so we have some leftovers.
The funniest part of trick-or-treating this year was the many foreign students we met who either had no idea what was going on--why are kids knocking on my door and looking at me expectantly? Some people looked afraid, and some looked out their windows with wide eyes and then ducked away from the blinds-- or they apologized profusely for "not being prepared" (that was my favorite response), or, best yet, ran back into their apartments to fetch food from their cupboards! Abby and her friends (Abbey and Katie) got bags of cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and even a diet coke! We tried hard to refuse these items, but the people insisted on giving the kids something to take with them. Abby and Abbey were asked for their picture, this year by a man from Africa (each year they get asked for pictures by families from China and Japan). They were filmed by asian guys (who were filming their friend give out candy), and they were sent off with sweet wishes from a group of lovely indian women in pretty clothes.
It really is a strange practice, running around and asking for candy while threatening to cause mischief if denied... Oh well. It's over for the year, and we are reminded of why our lines are never long at our polling place on election day: we live in a community with lots of folks from other countries! It is really cool.
We had a fun time loading up on candy. Abby raked in 40 pieces! When asked tonight how many she has eaten, she answered (truthfully) "one." She gave some away, and the rest are on top of the fridge. I must say, however, that she has had a handful of the Reeses pb cups we bought to give out. We only had 3 kids come by, so we have some leftovers.
The funniest part of trick-or-treating this year was the many foreign students we met who either had no idea what was going on--why are kids knocking on my door and looking at me expectantly? Some people looked afraid, and some looked out their windows with wide eyes and then ducked away from the blinds-- or they apologized profusely for "not being prepared" (that was my favorite response), or, best yet, ran back into their apartments to fetch food from their cupboards! Abby and her friends (Abbey and Katie) got bags of cookies, ice cream sandwiches, and even a diet coke! We tried hard to refuse these items, but the people insisted on giving the kids something to take with them. Abby and Abbey were asked for their picture, this year by a man from Africa (each year they get asked for pictures by families from China and Japan). They were filmed by asian guys (who were filming their friend give out candy), and they were sent off with sweet wishes from a group of lovely indian women in pretty clothes.
It really is a strange practice, running around and asking for candy while threatening to cause mischief if denied... Oh well. It's over for the year, and we are reminded of why our lines are never long at our polling place on election day: we live in a community with lots of folks from other countries! It is really cool.
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