Motherof3brothers

Spring Forward....

Spring forward here in the PNW brings about much anticipated excitement. We live in a region that is about 85% grey and wet. So any opportunity of delighting in a bit more daylight, a bit more time to get things done outside, a bit more color and a bit more added to the never ending to do list. So with that, here's what has been filling my time as we spring forward  :

 

The biggest time sucker has been getting prepared to start another scrapbook. . I have struggled, as most do, trying to "keep up" scrap booking". I let this go a long time ago, but with that, I let go of doing it all together. So the past few months I have come to a new and brighter conclusion. It initiated with my introduction to Becky Higgins Project Life.

 

 

 

I think sometimes it was created for me. So what i have determined is this: The boys do not need individual albums. I take way too many photos to do that. (i can't help it because they are just so dang cute). Initially when I was doing this I ended up scrapping the same event 3 times. this does not work!! SO, this is what I am doing. 

1. Christmas Album. I started this early December and had it about 95% completed in 2 weeks. That is awesome. We are talking 1994 (pre kids) to 2011. Amazing!! It is stuffed full with photos, Christmas letters, memorabilia and a ton of love.

 

 

 

 

2. (My newest album) School days:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is daunting. But as I have been compiling the years, I realize that I can belt it out as quickly as I did the other albums. Which is so exciting considering I have a Freshman and i just got done registering my middle son for high school. i gotta get this baby going!!

3. Birthdays.

4. Vacations.

5. Sports

 Easy enough. It is so great not to have the idea of  designing pages, buying more supplies, being creative, mastering digital scrap booking....etc. all of this is what got me frustrated with scrap booking to begin with. Now, I truly am recording memories, not designing pages. That is what I have intended all along!! yeah!!

Speaking of sports...we are at the tail end of basketball. It is lingering on because we have one last tournament for Ketner, Ayden's high school basketball banquet and one more week of school basketball for Nolen. Which i have to say has been quite fun. it is like organized chaos, but  i love it. At his last game, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It was the last seconds of the game and Nolen got fouled to 0.1 seconds left! We were down by 1. He went to the free throw line. I tell you, I was so nervous for him!!! His shot would either tir the game, win the game or lose the game...ugh!!! He beautifully tied the game and they went on to win!! Yeah. How cool is it to hear your son's name being chanted by his team in the breakaway huddle!!

And because it is spring, you know what that means...BaSeBaLL. This is my first year only having 2 kids playing. Ayden is not playing baseball this year, first time since he was like 3, so he can focus on riding.  But we are making this up by Ketner playing on 2 teams... (gross). But whatever, keeps me busy. SO I have dusted off my scorekeepers handy dandy supply bag:

 

And as always, baseball, along with football, involves so much clutter!

 

Thankfully, I got to add to my future OHS quilt supplies after we went through everyone gear and cleaned out the outdated, no longer used items. Always such a trip down memory lane. 

 

I know it is so short lived so i am trying to enjoy it all.

Other things keeping me busy:

my newly diagnosed DIABETIC border collie. Yep, blood sugars and twice daily insulin! Fun!

 

 

Filling my calendar with multiple things daily.

 

I love making girlie reminders for my men!

 

 

reorganized our medicines

 

framed some recent photos. I've had this frame forever, just needed the perfect photos. I'm diggin' it!

 

 

Been nursing a hurt back.

 

Playing a little competitive board games....

 

And finally, enjoying early signs of spring:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Spring Forward.....you are yummy!

 

 

Welcome Fall

I Love Autumn. L*O*V*E I*T! Nothing makes me quite as giddy. ( except fro maybe Spring with her sweet, pretty flowers. ANd Summer too, how can I not give her the respect she deserves. But Winter, you tickle me too with your cold nights, stormy weather, warm wood stoves) I guess I have a fondness with these 4.

So here's the skinny on the Young Homestead....

{Homecoming}

 

Ayden asked sweet Jessica to his first Homecoming.

I have heard some remarks like "whatever happened to mumbling to a girl in the hallway?" "we never did stuff like this to ask someone to a dance" and I agree, However, this is my point of view. I have 3 sons. It is very important to me that they learn to treat a girl like the queen she is. It is never to be assumed a girl will say yes, just because you ask her. She must be woo'd (aka courted). There is nothing wrong with this old fashion view. Everyone deserves to feel special. Alex and I give each other flowers all the time. i have sent flowers to his office just to woo him. After 17 years of marriage it is important that he still feel that I enjoy him. The same goes for my sons. there is nothing easier than making someone feel special.

So here was the plan. He had cohorts to help. We picked up Tyler from football to carry the chocolates. nolen carried the  roses

and Evan provided the stake out. Gabi and her dad distracted her and her family while we prepared outside.

He placed the flowers on her doorstep and lined her walkway with truffles.

 

We used chalk to write the invitation on her driveway.

Rang her doorbell and ran........

The greatest part is she said "YES!"

 

More Fall goodness:

{ Warm, rich Brown}

 

{A Basset all decked out in Autumn Hues}

 

{a chill and dampness in the air}

 

 

 

 

 

{Autumn Decor}

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Football}

 

 

Although for one, the season has been cut short by a broken collar bone...bummer!

 

As always, there are worse fates... so no worries here.

 

{And most importantly, My Love's Birthday}

 

 

Savor Autumn....grab yourself a Pumpkin Spice Latte and let it all soak in..she really is something to marvel at.

 

{can't wait for this beauty...she's coming soon. year after year she takes my breath away}
 

 

JUNE- why do you have to be so fickle?

Does your calendar look like this?

Does your to- do list look like this?

If you answered yes to either of these, you are a parent with a child just finishing the school year.

June is always like this, I have learned to go with the flow. September also rears it's ugliness at times too, but this year, we have an added oddity to the yearly chaos:

 

A trip to India in about 10 days!!!!! Holy Cow people! i am barely keeping it together! We had a meeting On Sunday where we were given the super opportunity to sample the types of food we would experience while traveling.

 

 

 

 

But I do have some rays of sunshine in all of this muddy mess:

My planter boxes are completed. perfect height for my disabled knees. i cannot wait to fill them with so many goodies. I am drooling thinking about all of the happiness these 2 boxes will create! thank you boys for my perfect Mother's Day gift!

SOme other joyfulness right now:

it is beginning to warm up a bit. just enough to start drying the laundry outside. Yeah!

Seriously? is it even possible to create such beauty!!!???

The above statement can apply to this lady as well!! LOVE HER!

Celebrating the Crohn's and Collitus night at the Seattle MAriners Game...betcha didn't know they did that did you? Yup!! they do!!

Mike McCready of Pearl Jam has Crohn's so he helps promote the event. Total stud muffin!

My Mom, Dad, step mom Nancy, Auntie, 4th son Tyler, and my nieces Piper & Lily and nephew Parker all came in support of Ayden. he felt the love for sure!!

 

Definitely a annual event in the making.

in other news, BASEBALL, it has sucked the life out of us. This is the first year we have had 3 different teams. We have always double-up'd on teams so we wouldn't be spread so thin. We have been at the ballpark every single night for just about 3 weeks. My kids have eaten more concession stand dinners than I care to admit, and we have not  been home more than 15 minutes at a time. It really has been dreadful. Fun, but dreadful. And what hasn't helped us much is Ayden has started High School Summer Basketball adn Ket has filled in on another tournament team. So we spent the weekend up in Auburn from 8:15 am until 9:20 pm.........

(after hitting a  homerun over the fence!)

 

 

 

We have also come to the end of our Elemntary School Days. Out last school performance:

Is there anything cuter than a school show???

I'm really starting to realize what a change this is going to be for us. Centennial has been a huge part of our lives. It really is something special. One of a kind. ANd last week, the staff surprised me with an award! I wasn't even there to receive it (tells you how much i suspected it :) ) so ALex and Ketner accepted it on my behalf. But it is the "Olympia Education Associations Advocate of The Year" award. So, so nice!!

Just makes me smile from ear to ear!!!

 

And one last thing to wrap up this long post, I have 3 sick kiddos. One is just snuffy and went to school easily, the other 2 have not been so lucky.

(Ketner was not impressed with me documenting this day.)

And my poor, almost 15 year old Ayden, has the biggest, swollen neck I have ever seen!! monster lymph nodes. Took him to the Dr. today, they ran a bunch of tests and it is  Mono...perfect. He is done with sports for this season, done with school for the year. He might be able to go for the last couple of days but we will play  that by ear. Just right for traveling overseas!!! big sigh...... Lots of prayers needed for a quick recovery!! poor dude!

 

 

Just in case you were wondering. this little lady is hanging onto this life with all of her might. We keep telling her Heaven is outstanding, but she refuses to go just yet.

 

 

The life I live

 
 
Here we are in the middle of April and I feel like we are in a standstill. Now don't get me wrong, we are busy, busy, busy as usual

 

 but the winter weather is not budging!!! 47 degrees this morning!

 

 

It is crazy! The flowers are struggling to come awake, but each morning we are greeted by frost.

 

This weather makes me so lethargic. I wanna make stew and dring hot tea all day long. i crave seasons! i love each one as they come, but my fondness grows weak after they over stay their welcome...so be gone with yourself Old Man Winter! I have great aspirations for spring!

 

 

 

This morning, i had an Epiphany! I live with 3 boys, 2 of which are teenagers. AS I perused my house, their presence was everywhere even though they were long gone to school. Seriously, tell me this is what your house looks like too....

let's start with my car....

 

 

 

I drive a suburban.........the back if FULL of their baseball junk.

now let's move to my laundry room.........

 

 

 

this is Ayden's baseball uniform "set out" for his next game.which isn't until Saturday.

 

 

 

this is a balled up sock that just came out of the washer, but didn't make it to the dryer apparently because it was found on the floor...damp and all!

Now to Ketner's room.........

 

 

 

 

Yup, that is his Jock, just hangin out on his desk with his baseball uniform.

Now the bathroom....

 

 

 

of course no toilet paper

 

 

 

And those are the clean towelsI folded on Sunday sitting on the floor and a weeks worth of PJ's balled up in the corner.

 

 

 

How does toothpaste spray end up at the top of the mirror?

 

Now Ayden's room...........that i must say was spotless 3 days ago!

 

 

 

Now it looks like this:

 

 

 

The only sweet thing I can say about this is when his room was cleaned this weekend, I came across this:

 

 

 

He has had this cat since forever....it still even has our lost cat's tag on it. Just a glimpse of sweetness in all of this:

 

 

Nolen's room....

 

 

 

baseball uniform "ready" for tonight game...sleepover stuff from Friday's sleepover.

I do love this though..

 

 

 

As i wander upstairs, i am greeted by this:

 

 

The dining room table where the kids do their homework...the chair is still pushed out...FROM LAST NIGHT!

ANd finally, the last true reminder that i live with teenage boys:

 

 

The peach pie I made last night minus the CRUST, they ate it all off!


Along with these brain dead teenagers, i have these wildly crazy animals! Willow is our lovely 2 year old cat whom we love, love, love!

 

 

 

She really is perfect except for ONE hugely, rotten characteristic...she chews through cords!

 

Yes, that's right, you heard me correctly, she chews through cords. When our alarms go off in the morning and we push snooze, she sees this as her time to go under our bed, where we cannot reach her, and nibble on our cords. Drives*Us*Nuts! But she has learned this is what gets us up to feed her!! She has eaten through many phone cords, alarm clocks, earphone and what's worse is that she LOVES water so if we spray her she turns towards the water in pure enjoyment!

 

 

We have tried bitter apple spray, but it only lasts for like 2 days.

 

 

 Lame, lame habit she has. But how can I be mad for long..she's way too cute!

 

 

Then there is Blossom.

 

 

Poor, dear, sweet, Blossom. If you've ever known a Basset hound you know they are the sweetest things around. Not a mean bone in their squishy bodies. they literally melt into you like they are being poured out of a bottle. And their eyes...they look at you with suck sad, longing eyes, it makes my heart swell. But our poor Basset developed a horrible skin infection last weekend. it was like her face and chest were melting off. We took her to the pet emergency room. paid some good, hard cash, and left with a gob of medications.

 

 

She is better and back to herself, but what a worry she gave us!

And finally....we are on to baseball season

 

Cold, frigid, wet, frustrating, baseball season! I used to love it, but the older they get the more frustrating they get with even the smallest error or striking out and then it makes our whole night sucky dealing with a grumpy baseball player. i liked it when they ran the wrong way towards 3rd base, their helmets covered their eyes and the had ti leave 2nd base mid inning to go potty! this is the baseball I love.

And to top off all of this mayhem...i am in full yearbook suffrage mode.

 

 

{even though these boys make me crazy sometimes....it seem like a day ago they were this big}

 

 

 

 

 

I will miss it immensely when my house isn't full of their messes!!

 

 

The lump in my throat

 
 
 
Today I am having a hard time swallowing this lump in my throat that has been building over the past 3 weeks. Usually my blog is pretty light hearted and full of randomness, but I have been swept into a heartwrentching story of a friend who is losing her husband, kids who are losing their dad and a community who is losing a fabulous coach and friend.

My sister is very, very good friends with this family and my nieces are best friends with their daughters. Because of this closeness, I have in a sense watched this family grow up.

This morning I find myself , thinking of her, of him, of their kids frequently. We are anticipating snow today and I realized  the excitement of snow hasn't even entered their minds. How the country is all talking about the Auburn and Oregon game,and they are all holding their breath just waiting for an answered prayer.

My heart is aching so much right now. He is unable to talk to them, to tell them how much he loves them, to comfort his wife, to give advice to his kids, to hold his brides hand. to watch the snow fall, to cheer on a football game.

This is not how it is supposed to be. They have 3 kids, they are in love, he is a GOOD guy. Why would his time here be over?

The hard part is.....Life ends, for all of us, but thankfully Eternity is just that, an eternity! This lifetime will feel forever for this family. Each new day will be a day without their dad or husband. Each holiday, each season, each birthday each  soccer game, 1st day of school...each snow fall will be a reminder of what has been lost.

I can only pray that eventually, each of those days will be a reminder of what is NOT lost....memories, relationships, love, and the gift of eternity.

Please take some time today and say a quick prayer of thanksgiving and healing for this sweet, sweet family.

I know God has these days already planned and he answers prayers each and every day.  

It still sucks though....................

 

I'm gonna miss this

In school, we were often asked to write, draw, color or share what our favorite season is and why. But I don't have one. I really don't . I am equally in love with all 4.

Winter time always is reading by the fire, warm blankets, mittens, being able to ignore outdoor chores becausee they are either covered by snow, or completely rainsoaked. We are in full basketball mode..a lovely indoor sport. And of coarse the holidays. But by March, I am over my infatuation with winter and ready for some color.

My fondness of spring includes my favorite Spring Olympia tree,

 
new growth, bulbs sprouting and just a tiny inkling of sunshine.

Summertime is hard to dislike.No school, no hectic schedules, vacations and my lovely garden. My windows and doors hardly ever close and it is hard to be grumpy when the sun is shining.

But as I transition into Autumn..I fell like summer never really showed up this year. We had very few hot days. Way too many cold, grey days. ANd my own dahlias never grew. Thankfully, in my neighborhood, we have a lovely man who shares his passion for dahlias with the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

$5 gets you a overflowing bunch of color.

 

 

Whenever we pass the field from March to October, he is usually out there, preparing for or tending to this amazing crop. Photos do not do it justice. He does not lock the gate so I often meander around and just gaze at all the colors and shapes and textures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

It speaks my love language!!!

 

I fills me completley to the rim with happiness.

This week I can recognize that this garden is gettign close to being done for the season. Most of the stocks do not have new blooms waiting to open. The flowers are facing downward, saturated by the recent rain. SO my goal for the next few days is to cherish the little remaining joy late summer/early fall bring. And of course, watching ever so closely as my favorite Olympia fall tree changes her colors and screams at me to enjoy all she has to bring. How can I not love fall when she is in it?

 

 

 

Disarray

 

I don't know about you but I cannot get the kids into bed before 10:00 since it's been so hot and sunny. They are outside playing until the mosquito's force them in. And once they are in, our air conditioned house cools them off just enough to go back outside for one more round.

My house,however is a disaster. I cannot find the time to clean it. The laundry is all over my room, the hairballs are panting in the heat and my craft room looks like a tornado hit it. i guess once baseball is done, which keeps us out until 8:45 most night of the week, I will be able to get back in order, but until then....please don't stop by :)

 

homesteading

Can you relate?

My kids have been assaulted by electronics. From the second the front door opens at 3:PM, my peaceful, quiet, enriching environment that i try to replicate, gets bombarded by media, sounds, and the click of the keyboard. Immediately "gmail" is revived and the distractions begin. 

Now it didn't start out this aggressive. it was a slow assault on my kids. After school tv since it is so rainy, a little Wii here and there and maybe a bit of computer Runescape gaming. But it escalated and exploded.

Don't get me wrong, I remember coming home from school and immediately getting on the phone and talking to my friends whom I just left less than 30 minutes ago. But the gmail business is just nonsensee. There are just pages of irrelevant conversations. I don't expect them to be solving the worlds problems, but pages of "sup", "nothing", "sup with you"  it is truly nonsense!! But I recognize the  need for this social contact. He has super, great friends! I trust  them all for the most part, but it was becoming a huge distraction. I was struggling to get all of them to do their chores. When they did do them, they did them half ass-ed. But for the most part what I recognized was happening is that the communication within my family started getting pissey, short and at times rude. So as the mom, I MUST SQUASH IT!!!

This is the deal: no computer after school, homework has to be done right after school. All electronics go off at 4:40 and remain off until 8:00. We are homesteading during those 3.5 hours.

OH THE SUFFERING.........but OH THE PEACE, they are forced to communicate and interact, OH the Suffering....

But what a relief................BACK TO BASICS, it's always the answer.

A Day in the Life

        

(my kitchen window, on it's side, i can't change the view for some reason)        

 (my heart garden)

   

Typical Wednesday, I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned! i mean hours of cleaning. I continued on a few craft  projects. I fed my birds. I had hours of conversations with the cat and dogs and read a bunch. this is my day off. I fill every second of it, but I like it that way.

The evening continued in this same consistant manner as we jetted to basketball, jetted home, scarfed dinner at 8:30, homework, folded laundry, watched Nolen give Skylar way too much catnip and attempted to keep the  glitter Ketner was using to decorate a  very colorful turkey, somewhat at bay.   

yep, it feels like Wednesday.

Just to gross a few of you out, we took our gorgeous, lovely Bassett Hound and Border Collie on an evening walk, when we got home, poor, dear sweet Blossom had a tummy ache and threw up. Alex dubbed the smaller pile under the table and I got the large pile by the computer. I grabbed the garbage can and the paper towel roll and proceeded with my motherly duties. Alex and I, at the same time both said "what did you eat?" She apparently ate...........hold on tight, it's foul.........a caterpillar nest :( She vomited a pile of whole caterpillars, luckily dead, but complete with their orange and black furry selves. Leave it to a hound dog to find some little thing to eat, but devourer anything and everything in her path. It was sick!!!! How can such a lovely beast be so dang disgusting? (baby Blossom)

a day in the life

I followed Ali Edwards tip, partially, and chronicled my week.

1. Alarm woke me up at 5:05, pushed snooze once
2. dressed easily in scrubs, chose socks that would make me unique. (that's all we can do other than choose different scrub hats)
3. threw in load of laundry.
4. started tea kettle and milk for coffee.
5. let dogs out
6. packed lunches
7. drove to Tacoma for work listening to NPR for election/economy updates and when they started repeating the headlines, turned on my book on ipod to listen to.
8. sent boys photo of sunrise via cell phones
9. 7:00 clocked in, morning report, individual patient report, start my day saving 1 life at a time :)
10. 7:20 text Ayden to wish him a good day
11. 8:00 call home and talk to remaining men.
12. 3:23 clock out. Text Ayden, talk to Alex on way home
13. 4:00 begin 1/2 hour process of getting kids suited up for football.
14. 5:00 drop off for football
15. 7:30 make dinner
16. 8:00 eat, help with homework, clean up
17. switch laundry, check emails, blogs
18. bed at 9:30
19. read until 10