How Did I Get Here?

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife
You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
--Talking Heads, Once in a Lifetime

Do you ever have one of those moments when you stop, look around at your life and just become struck by it all? I've been feeling that way the last few days. I am feeling so incredibly blessed and lucky to have the life I have. I have one amazing husband. Not only is he good-looking, but he is an incredible husband and father. He works hard for our family, plays with the girls and really works hard to be a good dad. As a husband, I couldn't ask for anything more. He is supportive and encouraging of me in all my various roles. He's my cheerleader and my rock. He is kind and respectful. We absolutely have our differences, but we are able to respectfully discuss them and work them out. Sometimes we agree to disagree, sometimes we compromise, but rarely do we yell. I know he always has my back, whether I am present or not.

I have two sweet, smart, beautiful girls who are so much fun. They play well together and have a curiosity for life and learning. I love getting to know them better and help guide them as they become their own people. They are generous with their affection even thought I sometimes get eye rolls when I tell them I love them.

This week I started graduate school. I'm sure the newness and novelty will wear off, but I am thrilled to be sitting in a classroom again. I love the intellectual stimulation of the conversation. I get fired up talking about topic that I feel passionate about with others who have similar interests. As I've looked over the syllabuses, I am so excited by all the cool stuff I get to learn. I will get to publish papers! My name. In professional journals! I have made a conscience decision to jump all in during graduate school. I am going to be the epitomee of all things student and suck every last experience I can from graduate school. This thought is thrilling and I almost hate the I only have classes 2 days a week.

JM and I both have good jobs. We are in a place with a very bright future. I know we have worked hard in the past to get where we are, but it seems that our reward has been exponential to the sacrifices we've made. JM and I have had many conversations on how we want to give back. We have been given so much, we feel it is our responsibility to do what we can to pass along our blessings. I have a stupid perma-grin on my face lately and I'm going to enjoy it.

Four Eyes Are Better Than Two

I have terrible vision. JM has terrible vision. We knew it was only a matter of time before our girls would need glasses. When I took BG to her pediatrician for her annual exam they did a basic eye exam and she was concerned with her vision. Her Doc suggested we take her to an eye doctor for a full exam.

This week we finally made her appointment and she was so excited. She thought the whole thing was pretty cool. Turns out, she does need glasses. She is also very excited about wearing glasses. Trying on different pairs was lots of fun for both girls. These are the ones she finally settled on. They should arrive just in time for school to start.

Blanche thought the glasses were awesome - these were her favorites. She looked like such a little diva.

Such cute girls in their new specs! I'm a little worried about a 6 year old being responsible for some (very) expensive glasses. Anyone have experience here? Suggestions for helping her keep them on her face or a safe place and unbroken? I did spend more on the nicer lenses in hopes they will wear better. And I bought the 1-year warrenty, because we're talking about a 6 year old here.

Pink Sponge Rollers

Speaking of hair, Blanche's hair is finally long enough for her own right of hair passage. The pink sponge curlers! She was so excited to get curlers put in her hair. It was a little tough getting her to hold still long enough to put them in, but we managed.

She was so excited to pose for the picture, she couldn't even hold still long enough to take it. This is a common theme among pictures of Blanche, blurry body parts because she is always on the move.

 Showing off her curlers.

Funny story about the curlers. I put them in her hair after bath and put her to bed. A few minutes later, I heard her crying hysterically, like she had been beaten. I go in her room to see what was wrong and she tells me between sobs "My (sob) curler (sob) fell (sob) out". She held up one sponge roller like her world was ending. I calmly put it back in and she went right to sleep. The tragedy of a ruined hair style is not lost on her at 2.5.

In the morning, this is how her hair looked, all "co-ley". She loved it.

Haircut

We have been growing out BG's hair for some time now. It used to be that she wanted Rapunzel hair (what 6 year old doesn't?). Then I told her how some people get really sick and all their hair falls out when they take medicine to make them better. And how you can cut off your hair and send it to the sick people, who can use it to make wigs.

She really liked that idea. After researching different organizations, we decided to go with Pantene Beautiful Lengths. (Side note: Locks of Love makes wigs for kids with alopecia, not cancer.) The Pantene program uses it's donation for cancer patients and we like that better. Plus, their required donation was shorter, only 8 inches. So sweet BG grew and grew and grew out her hair. When I she couldn't stand it any more, we took her to a friend to get it cut. I may have selfishly wanted to make sure it was long enough to donate plus have enough left over for a cute non-pixie style. 

Here is her hair before the cut.

And after!!

I LOVE the way it turned out. As the summer has worn on, I love it more and more. It's long enough that she still can do pig-tails, flowers, and headbands, but short enough that tangles are not nearly as big an issue. She has combed her own hair almost every morning since cutting it. She loves wearing it down too. I may just keep it short from now on. It has eliminated so many morning hair fights (not all, but many).

Summer Fun Update

At the beginning of the summer, we sat down a wrote a list of 40 fun things to do over the summer. I thought I would give an update on how we're doing. Mostly, the things I found most interested have already been completed. The ones I'm not so into, have yet to be done. You may also notice a trend that the messy projects have yet to be done. 

1. Family Picnic
2. Play in the Park
3. Go to the Library
4. Go Swimming
5. Take Swim Lessons
6. Blow bubbles
7. Go the to Zoo
8. Play with sidewalk chalk
9. Make cookies
10. Make ice cream
11. Play with friends
12. Go Camping
13. Go to Yellowstone
14. Run through the Sprinklers
15. Home Depot Kids Workshop (free on the first Saturday of the month)
16. Watch a movie
17. Build a blanket fort
18. Go to the Dinosaur Museum
19. Glow sticks in the Bathtub
20. Painting
21. Run a Race
22. Watch Fireworks
23. Play Playdoh
24. Balloon Tennis
25. Shave with Daddy (With saving cream and Popsicle sticks)
26. Balloon Characters
27. Write Letters
28. Act out a story
29. Go to Cabella's to see the fish and animals
30. Weeding
31. Potato Stamps
32. Make Pizza
33. Eat Popsicles
34. Hike Lake Mountain
35. Roast Marshmallows
36. Star Gazing
37. Buy a botanical book to learn about native plants
38. Target Shooting
39. Plant flowers
40. Watch a baseball game

We are making good progress! We also mapped out the remaining weekends of the summer with the things that need to be accomplished on a Saturday (like the Zoo). It's cool to see all the fun things we've done. I think we are going to extent our completiong date into September. Origionally I wanted to be done by the time school starts, but that may not happen. School is right around the corner!

Hookie Day: An Annual Tradition

Hookie Day first began in 2010, by accident. It was a July morning. JM and I were both tired of the monotony of getting up every day, and going to work every day. We both agreed to call in sick. Then we had the even better idea of taking the girls to day care AND calling in sick.

We spent that glorious day together. We shopped the Nordstrom Anniversary sale (love it!), went to a leisurely lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and just spent the day together. It was a great day of re-charging our relationship.

Fast forward one year: July, 2011. Similar situation, neither of us want to go to work. We both decide to call in sick. Then we recalled how great that one day was last year and we happily dropped the girls off at day care to spend the day together. This day had a de ja vu effect to it because we shopped the Nordstrom Anniversary sale and ate at The Cheesecake Factory. We also got massages and decided this kind of day should happen more often.

June 2012: Now that we have the basic premise down for what Hookie Day looks like, (and our lives seem to be more crazy) we booked Hookie Day a month in advance. Not as spontaneous, but effective at making sure it happened. JM requested the day off work and I re-arranged my schedule to make it work. This year we mutually decided that neither of us needs clothes so we would fore-go the shopping this year. We had planned on hiking in the morning, but JM has been sick for the last week and wasn't feeling up to it. Instead we went out to breakfast then drove around looking at and dreaming about huge houses we can't afford.

We went back to the house to clean up and take a short nap. Then we set off for a leisurely lunch. While I don't want to go into the details here, this lunch was/will be life changing. Not because of the food, but the conversation. We discussed our life, our goals, and what is most important to us. I may have cried, embarrassing myself in front of our waiter.

After lunch we headed to the spa for a couples massage. It was relaxing and a great way to end Hookie Day. What I love about Hookie Day is that it's a special day just for us. We do plenty of family activities, but often fail to take the time to nurture our marriage. This is a full day to just do what we love together. We take it slow and dream big. It always reminds us of our dating life when we would dream about our future together. It's fun to see how far we've come as well as dream about what the future will hold.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite traditions.

Friday Fragments

(Somehow my scheduled post, didn't automatically post, so you get Friday Fragments on Monday.)
It's been a while since I did one of these and we've had lots of things going on in the last few weeks. In fragment form, here's an update:

We went the my niece's baby blessing last week. At the family party after, BG had to go potty. I went with her since she didn't know where it was. She asked me to go into the bathroom stall with her to untie her dress (she was wearing a halter dress). I told her she didn't have to untie and pull down her dress, she could pull up her dress to go potty. She looked at me with amazement and said "Mom! You are so creative!!" Made my day.

*****
BG has also been praying lately for a baby brother. I figure either way life turns out, it will be a good lesson. Either 1) God answers prayers or 2) We don't always get what we want/ask for.

*****
There have been lots of fires where I live this summer. Many have left people evacuated from their homes. A few homes have been destroyed. It makes me nervous for the long, hot summer we still have ahead of us. I'm very grateful for the firefighters who are working non-stop. It also makes mad at the stupid people who are still target shooting in hot, dry climates and those using fireworks irresponsibly. Most of the fires have been human started.

*****
We went camping at Yellowstone a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and we survived! It's a beautiful park with incredible views and wild life.

*****
I'm running a 5K this weekend. I'm excited for it, but also a little nervous. Mostly, I'm ready for it to be over so I don't have to run anymore. It also makes me think I need to sign up for another one to keep up the motivation.

*****
Blanche burned her arm pretty bad on Father's Day. She bumped into the hot grill while running around. She is a tough kid because she hardly cried. After the initial tears, she only cried one other time about it- when the nurse tried to take off the bandage and it stuck to a blistered area of skin. Other than that, she's been all smiles about it. It's taken a few weeks, but it now looks like a sunburn vs. charred flesh. Poor kid!