My girls and me, 5K style

Too much tomato pasta and I dropped off blogland. Actually, tryptophan-induced gluttony has gotten the best of me as of late, but that's another post.  :)

One event my girls and I have not missed the last five years is the the nation's largest 5K for women. The first year was in 2007, with 4-year-old Amanda and a 7-month-old Abigail, and Amanda walked with me while I toted Abigail in a Bjorn. Read about our first foray here:

In 2008 - read about our second year here:

In 2009, I made the mistake of emptying out my memory card without fetching the 5K photos.  What's worse is that I never wrote down the memories.  Oh well....

In 2010, I was but 2-1/2 months postpartum when the girls and I walked again:

Again, I didn't write down the memories!

So here I am, a few months behind, making sure that blogland knows I've taken photos AND written the account down for year number five!

::2011 5K::

With three little ones and their items to keep track of, I made sure to lay out all of our uniforms the night prior.

The morning of, we were up at an ungodly hour to get going - see how dark it is still?

Here we are ready to go, all five of us (there's one nestled in my belly!):

We met up with our good friends, Julie and Brooke, and we happily bugged other 5Kers for a group photo:

Amanda sure had fun having a friend with her! Plus, I got smart (after several years of doing this) and signed up for the stroller wave, so my girls didn't have to endure looking at other ladies' backsides and legs for the opening ceremony.

Abby and Alyssa had the luxury of a stroller ride the entire time. Amanda was walking the entire thing at Abby's age!

It was a gorgeous day with no rain in sight. Julie and I had a lovely time chatting the whole way. It didn't feel like 5 kilometers at all! Even though this was Julie and Brooke's first 5K, you never would have known.

The finish line photo:

We all sat down and wolfed down our finish line breakfast!

Looking onward to next year's event!  With four kids in tow....

 

Right now

1) Older two girls in Vacation Bible School
2) Alyssa fills the room with her zzzzzz's - the girl can snore!
3) About to tackle the mountain of laundry
4) Wondering how in the world I can put #3 off longer, grin
5) Grateful to have gotten Mandy and Kevin's photo session blogged


(Click on image to view)

6) Procrastinating Strategizing about getting faux curtains up in the family room this week
7) Thinking about all the changes coming down the pike for our little family


8) Choosing peace over worry...


...and curiously enough, joy comes to surprise me!

Grateful for . . .

- Mighty Wings under whose shadow I daily take refuge (this figurine atop my desk reminds me of this:)

- the ten years of "I do" we have spun into a warm family
- a beloved father/father-in-law/grandpa whose life was placed into the eternal arms of the Lord
- three pink and purple balls of energy we tuck into arms and hearts; their names are Amanda, Abigail, Alyssa
- homeschooling days both productive and trying (I'm finding out both are precious)
- a three-year-old's sweet little scrawls

- friends that refuse to let me sink into the hard days - get up and thrive, they say
- a cozy bed to tumble into at day's end, even if some wee stowaways find their way into it in the darkness (good thing it's large enough)
- a piping hot shower with my favorite peppermint body wash
- the talents of a great hairstylist that can do wonders for a gal with postpartum hair loss

Life gave me lemons

But not in the way you'd think.



Like in fresh-off-the-tree Meyer lemons from California. One of my dearest friends that I've known for 25+ years scoured the Bay Area to pacify this pregnant craving of mine. Picture it: She and her sweet husband get off the plane and almost immediately hand me this Ziploc bag full of sunshine. Oh, I could've cried. If you've never tried lemonade with fresh lemons... run, don't walk, to get your hands on them. Store bought lemons are not even comparable, actually. They have a vibrant, flowery undertone to them that's hard to embody in words. My hands smelled heavenly for hours after making the lemonade. And boy did I make my family ration it!

Yum. For the lemonade recipe (via allrecipes.com):

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups white sugar
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups lemon juice

Directions
1.In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2.Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.


Heather's revisions:
Since Meyer lemons have a sweeter, less tart flavor to them, I opted to go for 1-1/4 cups white sugar and a dollop of honey instead, and it was still a bit sweet for my taste. Next time, I'll try either raw sugar, or all honey.

Julianne, thank you from the depths of my heart! Perhaps you'll be back for a marathon or two, wink wink? At least to be lavished with compliments from a certain seven and three-year-old? To quote Abigail: "Suyon Emo (Aunt Julianne) wif the pwetty face gived me a pwesent."

Giver of strength

::On strength::

I admit - I don't feel much strength these days lugging my heavy body around during this last trimester of Little Peanut's life in utero. Couple this fact with a pretty whopping sinus infection and there you have my current life in a nutshell.

Except, this set of circumstances is not how I will choose to define myself. On this beautiful Mother's Day, as I reflect on the love and strength my own mother poured into me all these years, I identify with this fact:

A mother is a giver of strength.

One encouraging look across the school yard, and my Amanda lights up, excited to tell me about her day's events.

One grasp of the hand, and Abigail can endure the gaggle of dogs coming toward us (she's deathly afraid of dogs and cats).

One "How was you day", and my husband's heavy day falls off his shoulders one word at a time. Calm takes over his demeanor.

I cherish my role and marvel at the power I have been granted. May I proceed with wisdom.

Thank you, family, for the sweet card and pancake breakfast. The air is perfumed with the lovely scents from your efforts - bacon, batter, maple syrup. Never mind that Amanda accidentally poured two cups of maple syrup onto my pancakes. How'd you know I wanted my stack sickeningly sweet? :)


::How to catch up?::

I've stepped away from the blogging world for so long, with so much to report. I'll save the details for another time... I have some wonderful guests in town with us - more on that later too.

Until then, here's a photo of a precious friend and her daughters:



I'll be posting the rest of the photos from the session soon, Brenda!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the World Wide Web!

7 blissful years as Amanda's mom

Dear Amanda,

7 years ago, you and I were born - you, with the soft cry and puffy eyes... and me, a nervous wreck of a new mother. I felt like I waited my whole life for us to emerge, instantly in love.

(5-week-old Amanda with Momma, Apr '03)

As delightful as motherhood is in itself, it is you that has made the journey meaningful.

(15 months old, Jun '04)

You inspire me to conquer my fears, both silly and substantial, because when I see you, I want to protect, cherish, nurture, and inspire you.

(3 years old, Sept '06)

(smitten big sister Amanda, Feb '07)

(At her first 5K, Sept '07 - mad at Mom for making her do this. But she really ended up enjoying it! The second year she was ticked at me too)

How thankful I am that God granted you to me. This I don't take lightly.

(At the OMSI, Aug '09)

I can't wait to see which mountains you scale in your lifetime. Happy birthday, my dear eldest daughter.

What started out as potty training

Frequenters of this family blog are well aware of my joys and frustrations parenting a very willful toddler. Combine said toddler with the event of potty training, and you have another story to read!

Except this story isn't about how spicy/stubborn/unrelenting/obnoxious she is; between rushed runs to the potty chair, I discovered my daughter Abigail. The delightful, eager to please, calm, careful, joyful, quick-witted, articulate child that has been there all along.



Thanks to the advice of a good friend, I engaged in the 3 Day Potty Training Method, intent on getting Abigail off diapers. One of the main tenets of this method is that the guiding parent is required to give all his/her attention on the child for three days, eschewing any other activity until the child is done. Simple enough, right?

I couldn't believe how distracted I was the first few hours. And what was revealed to me during the entire 72-hour potty training vigil was not Abigail's strong will, but my overarching lack of attention on Abigail. Just Abigail.

I don't consider myself a bad parent. It has sure helped that my college major was child and adolescent development, coupled with my experience as a teacher, director, and assessor in early childhood programs. Once Ron and I decided that I would stay at home with Amanda, Amanda got the very best of two doting parents' attention.

Abigail's world has largely orbited around her sister's nurturing. I carted Abigail to all of Amanda's lessons and gymnastics. Abigail spent a lot of time learning that her sister is talented in many directions, especially when we started homeschooling Amanda. EVERYTHING focused on Amanda, and Abigail took a backseat.

But what's even more foolish was that I started a side business AND participated in creative teams at the same time as the homeschooling. And Abigail was almost forgotten except for her tenacious screaming to be heard. And in my distracted mind, I started classifying her as "difficult".

While I know that Abigail is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (don't you remember who her mom is?), I sense that my unwillingness to quiet my life enough to enjoy her may have created more friction for this little one than necessary.

How do you begin to say sorry to a two-year-old for the last year's transgressions?



I will start by enjoying her tiny grape toes cradling her Dora pantied bum, letting her linger on my lap just a while longer, and thanking my Creator for another chance to be a better steward of what I've been gifted.

Love you, Abbers Stombers.

Like mother, like daughters

(click image to enlarge - credits here)

This is one thing I'm glad I passed down to my girls. :) If you haven't noticed in the first photo, Abigail has adopted little binoculars as her "camwah".

The big three-five and other happy times

What a lovely birthday I had! Ron came home from a weeklong business trip just in time to be with us three ladies on my day. I tell you, I don't function at full power without my dear husband around, and neither do the girls. The girls and I made these itty bitty cupcakes that turned out perfectly imperfect... too much batter in the wee cups, and most of them spilled over. But no matter, because the lavender colored frosting we made to top them matched the lavender plant that a sweet friend of mine surprised me with. All morning, my siblings and Mom called to wish me a happy birthday, and a few dear friends that I don't have frequent contact with e-mailed me out of the blue. And, my sister-in-law sent a wonderful card with new photos of my beloved nephew.

T H A N K Y O U ! Each of you that took the time, you really filled me up.



See the pretty lavender? I'm smitten. And I *heart* the new and improved blue walls - but note to self: Self, please don't embark on big projects when your husband is out of town. You and your kids suffer because of them.

Recently, Amanda borrowed this library book about Helen Keller:


She deemed it one of the "best books of the world" and read it at least five times over. I jumped on her enthusiasm and borrowed another book about Helen Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan:


It took us a month to get through, as we read only at bedtime each night. This book really cemented in both our minds the incredible resolve that Helen and Annie showed to overcome whatever obstacles that each dealt with. It gave us the opportunity to talk about how we want to proceed with our own lives. Amanda is busy spelling everything out using the ASL alphabet after reading the books. And she really enjoyed The Miracle Worker, Disney's remake of the story. It makes a big difference when learning can be tackled in multiple ways - through reading, doing, and watching.

Do you have any recommendations on which inspiring biography to tackle next?

And other happiness inducers: Our chrysalises have all revealed their breathtaking butterflies - we are proud of our five painted lady butterfly visitors. {The metamorphosis was amazing to behold}

Today

Today, I am thankful for the calm I feel in my heart -



for the precious little hands that bring color and vibrance to my world -



for the surprising emergence of a hobby that constantly reminds me to release the lifesong that rises in my spirit -



for a partner who understands the cadence of my footsteps here on this Earth and willingly matches his to it, all the while remembering to dance with his two little "Cinderellas" -



Today, I am thankful.

So where does one pick up?

Do you know how many photos and life events happen in a span of three months? What to post, what to post.... :)

I guess the best place to start is with yesterday's stream of thought - I continue to purge and rearrange my list of priorities, and this layout was born out of my brain's spring cleaning:

(linked for credits)

The tiny journaling reads:
Will the girls know to stop and smell the flowers if I never do? Too many irons in the fire. There is no more of me to give to the people I yearn to love the most. NO MORE. My Mother's Day gift to myself is to act on this wake up call. Time to reorganize. Time to simplify.

Off to the girls' gymnastics classes - I love seeing the concentration on Amanda's face as she pushes her strength to its limits, and Abigail's unbounding joy tearing through the circuit. I just love these kids and am so glad they are mine.

April showers bring May flowers

(Look what greets me in the front yard - my tulips are so breathtaking!!!)

As evidenced by the dust that has settled on this blog (not to mention the lone tumbleweeds and chirping crickets heightening the effect), life has been busy. Heather, everyone's busy, you say. Yes, I know. But the kind of BUSY I've had is the kind where you know you're not the one in control, but rather the commitments and deadlines pulling my strings. I've been a useless marionette... especially to my beloved husband, children, God.

The funny thing is, I volunteered for most of it. While they're all wonderful things to be involved in, all at once is just a heavy enslavement.

So the moral of my extended blogcation is this: He who is involved in the most activities LOSES. Live a simple but meaningful life.

Many of you out there are superwomen/men. I have found that I am not. Multi-tasking equates to multi-bungling for me.

I am in the process of shedding many, many, many commitments. Easy? It's extremely painful, actually. I despise quitting, and letting people down makes me want to throw up. But I'm feeling a freedom I haven't felt in a while.

Dear husband will be out of town all next week, and I'm eager to step up to the plate for my children.

Folks, I'm back.


(Another tulip photo from my front yard)


Indeed, life is altogether too fleeting, too precious.

t.g.i.f and Happy {Lunar} New Year! :freebie too:

Thank goodness it's Friday. And Happy New Year - year of the Ox. My sister Gina was born in the year of the Ox. Moo.

Synopsis, my friends? Life is good. :)

-met up with some new friends at a local Chinese buffet for Lunar New Year
-Amanda's homeschooling is going swimmingly. It's exciting to see my little one grasping the concepts of fractions and geometry so readily. Amanda's latest interest is astronomy, as you will see in this drawing she made:


(do you need a translation? clockwise: Mars, Uranus, Moon, Pluto {she says is now a little dwarfy planet}, Daddy Planet, Abby Planet, Amanda Planet, Neptune, Sun, Mommy Planet, Saturn, and Venus)
-Abigail is now an adoring fan of the shows Caillou and Curious George
-made an astoundingly delicious balsamic vinegar reduction sauce the other day. It made for an even tastier chicken and veggie pasta! Ah, the wonderful internet is my favorite cookbook...
-finishing up post-processing on my first wedding shoot
-sore from yesterday's weight training class - it's aptly called "Chisel". Since I have shelved my goal of running the Race to Robie Creek because of my knees, I'm focusing on strengthening my knees and ankles. And core. And arms. Who am I kidding, everything. I've found a good 11-year-old running partner too. Jeremy, are you reading this?
-Ron set up the new 52" in our family room. TV has not been this fun in a long time! Abigail is able to unpause the Media Center (DVR) already - another nerd is in our midst!
-gearing up to paint the rest of my kitchen
-finishing up some projects for friends
-one of my projects was featured in a publication, The Daily Scrapper. You can snag this freebie there:







-some layouts from the past month or so:











-made a "feelings" notebook for Amanda, so she and I can communicate about things that are on her mind. The rule is that she can write in it whatever she wants when she's feeling a certain sentiment, whether she's angry with me over something or excited/nervous/happy with other things. Then I respond to her. Occasionally, I add entries too:












(created for the hybrid feature in ScrapMatters' January newsletter)

Whew, this is one loooooonnnnnnng post. You deserve a good weekend for plodding through my mind's mumbo jumbo~