These are the days!

I love this quote:
“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”
-Anna Quindlen

Awhile back I posted this on a myspace blog I had, (these are so much better) and I read it again today and I realized how much more I mean it now that it has been over nine years.

So I just went to Shauna's myspace page and I heard her song and I got to thinking. Her song is "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. It talks about how fast life passes and that if you blink you will miss a lot.

Now with all four kids quietly sleeping in their beds the song makes me all choked up. It is so true, they change so quickly, life changes so quickly. It has been eight years that I have been married to Greg. I have finished college, watched Greg go through Law School, moved to Kansas and back, seen Greg as a prosecutor, and as a defender, bought a law firm, bought a house, sold a house, built a house, and most importantly been pregnant three times with four beautiful children. I have seen the first day of kindergarten, been called into the principal's office because my kid was in trouble, learned how to deal with ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome, attended Parent Teacher Conferences that have left me so depressed and down I couldn't stop crying and ones that have left me so proud and happy that I couldn't stop hugging that poor kid. I have taken kids for stitches, been to countless soccer and tee ball games, sat through tumbling class and Kung-fu classes so that when they ask "mom did you see me?" I can say yes and mean it. I have carried babies so small through the store that people have stopped me to tell me that they "thought that was a real baby." I have potty trained two kids and am working on two more. I have been a substitute teacher which has made me contemplate being an actual teacher. I have given up on my dream of Med. School thousands of times only to pick it up again a thousand more. I have kissed more owies, rocked more sick babies to sleep all night long, cleaned up more play-doh, broken up more fights and been thrown up on more times than I can count. So yeah, a lot has happened in those eight years and sometimes when I have three toddlers screaming at me all day it is hard to remember that these are the times that when I am old I will look back on and say "those were the days, I miss those times."

I go back to having the four kids all sleeping quietly in their beds and if I don't look around at the mess that is my house I can feel that these are the days.

So my point is that I am making a resolution to try harder to remember that these are the days when my kids are awake and rowdy and messy so that when they are grown they will look back and think, "those were the days, I miss those days" and they will come home to me, because as Emma told me today "even when I am a grown up you will still be my mommy and daddy and I will be your baby girl."

YARD SALE!!!! (Part 2)

OUCH!!! So yay we had our yard sale and did we ever sell some junk! We sold 2 couches, 1 chair, 1 loveseat, and dining set, a queen sized bed, 2 cribs (ya gotta love the twinners), a tv, lamps, ugly brass candlesticks, a washer and dryer set, tons of little toys, a camera and a few more small things I can't remember. We took the few little things that didn't sell to Alice's Attic, a thrift store here in town whose proceeds go to support Alice's Place which is a center for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse. I figured I had already decided that I didn't need any of those things so why bring them back in my house right? We made some good money too! :D Ethan has had a couch in his bedroom since we moved in and he loved it! I think he felt really grown up having "furniture" in his room. We have an old desktop computer that we have been telling Ethan he could have when we get him a desk to put it on. Well we made a deal that if he would sell his couch we would buy a desk. He was more than willing to see it go after that deal! :D So now Ethan got his desk, the girls bought new Polly Pockets and mom is getting a digital SLR! Greg just doesn't have to worry about paying for any of it! LOL Now to the OUCH comment. 6:15 AM before the Yard Sale I bent down to help move the couch outside for the yard sale. Mind you this is the couch I have moved to vacuum under every two weeks for a year! But this time my back was not having it!!! Before I could even start to lift I heard a nasty *snap* and I couldn't stand up or go down to the floor. So we had to call my poor dad at 6:30 AM to come help Greg move all of our crap, I mean priceless items, out for the yard sale. But I am doing a little better now, I can at least walk around somewhat normally and I am getting a camera baby so that makes it all feel a lot better!

YARD SALE!!!!

So I am hot, sweaty, and exhausted. I have been working for an entire day in this house and it is a disaster area!!! and I couldn't be more excited! :) Ever since my Grandma Nita died I have had this need to purge. I have cleaned out cupboards and drawers and still feel like I have too much crap. My kids have too many toys to play with and leave out. We have too many things that are still in the boxes we moved them here from Topeka in (6 years and 2 houses ago). So tomorrow we are having a yard sale! I can't wait to get rid of our useless items and get a little cash in exchange. I think I have all of my bases covered, I got change already, I checked the weather (clear but not too hot), I even got a babysitter to hang out with my four kids while Greg and I sell, sell, sell! I really feel like it is my Grandma inspiring me to organize and simplify my life. She was famous for her stuff. If there was a cute shirt she got me one in every color, her collection of Justin Ropers was a testament to that. She had millions of books and an amazing collection of bells. She could shop and accumulate with the best of them and she had some very good taste! But lately I feel her letting me know that she feels like I have too much stuff. Instead of getting frustrated because the toys are all over the house pare it down to only the toys they actually use and to a manageable amount. Only keep what we are willing to take care of. And that goes for the whole house. ( do I really need three sets of dishes?) Anyway wish us luck tomorrow hopefully we make some good money! :) Where is Niecy when you need her??

What a good wife Greg has!

So my good friend Brooke had this on her blog and I have to admit I am kind of addicted to online quizes. I think it all started with seventeen and cosmo. Drat those quizzes they can tell you everything about yourself. :) Back to online quizzes, I love to take them but I have never wanted to "share my results with friends." I figure nobody cares which "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" character I am or what "my favorite color says about me". Anyway, this one was cute and I thought I would share. I was so surprised by the results, here I thought I was a very modern forward-thinking woman, but apparently I would be a very superior wife in the 1930's. :D If you try it out I want to hear how you did! Oh and there is a test for the husbands too so maybe I can try and get Greg hooked too!

80 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

Here It Is!

I have grown up here on Route 66 and so I have always taken it for granted but there is one thing I have always wanted to do but I don't remember ever doing. Just off of I-40 there is a bump in the road called Jackrabbit, Arizona and it is famous for it's giant jackrabbit.
People have come from all over the world to have their picture taken with the rabbit. Now I have driven by Jackrabbit more times than I could guess and many times I have thought to myself, "self we really should go take pictures there sometime." But we are always busy and on our way somewhere whenever we have passed Jackrabbit. Well today the planets and stars aligned and we actually had a reason to go specifically to Jackrabbit!!! I made sure my camera was charged and the girls had their hair done and we were off. You see last week Greg got out of court only to find that he had a flat tire. He didn't have a lug wrench in the car but he was lucky enough to find a good Samaritan who was willing to help him out. Unfortunately the good Samaritan had set down a stack of files on Greg's car while they changed the tire and he drove off without them. So today he calls Greg and asks if there is any way we could meet him in Jackrabbit so that he could get his files. So anyway we got there and the kids thought the rabbit was amazing and they loved getting their pictures taken too! It was a very bright sunny day so they had a hard time looking at the camera but I think they are still adorable!