Their next adventure...

Yesterday the 9 One Year Volunteers that we had walked alongside all went their separate ways on separate adventures.   Last week was really sad for me because I wanted to be there with them - saying "goodbye" and listening to them reflect on a year that inevitably changed their lives in many ways.

Then on Friday we got to Skype with them one last time as a group.  There was teasing, and laughing, and gratitude.  All was right in the world. 

But how would any of you ever know how awesome they were?  How could any of you possibly comprehend how this international team of volunteers made my life better by knowing them?

Maybe if I showed you this video they made for us, it would help:

To the volunteers I love and miss....
Here's to your next adventure.

xoxo,
Me

Back to School

First, nothing says "end of summer" like a picture of a baby double-fisting corn on the cob.



Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Miles.  I scrolled through (what felt like) HUNDREDS of posts by my friends that rambled on and on about the sadness of another summer ending and their babies going to school. 

If I could use any word to describe today, it would be anything but sad.

It's been a long and brutal summer people. 

I have felt pushed and stressed. Misplaced and trapped.  I think my boys have felt it too.

They were ready.  I was ready.

I was "counting down the days/don't even SPEAK of that half-day nonsense with me" ready. 

And we've done this all before.

So this morning I congratulated us on getting our acts together long enough to even snap a few pictures. 

You can compare HERE and HERE.

And as I watched my little kindergarten walk away with his oversized red backpack and his super hot dad, I couldn't help but think that maybe what I was feeling was just a tiny bit of nostalgia and sadness. 

Don't worry.  I got over it.

My baby turned ONE so I made a sappy video about it...

Can you call it "being published" if it's on a blog?

On Monday of this week I found myself dragging my kids up the stairs to my one-bedroom apartment, sweating profusely, and wondering how I was going to survive life in a small town in middle America when something very exciting and unexpected happened to me. 

I say that it was unexpected, but the truth is that I knew about it, and I knew it was coming, and I had been excited about it for MONTHS, but in the craziness that is me trying to figureouthowthisallworks I had fogotten.

This is how it went...
I got home, fed the boys, threw them each onto a different mattress scattered throughout our flat, and then in a huff sat down to drink a cup of luke-warm tea and check my email. 

In my inbox was an email from Joanna Goddard, the author of the blog, A Cup of Jo.  It was such a nice email, telling me how much she loved featuring me today on her blog.

TODAY?!

I suddenly panicked, because I had all of these plans of how I was going to finally get around to blogging again right before it was publish.
Best laid plans.

You see friends, my heart took a little longer to heal than I realized it would.  It was a little harder for me to write than I thought it would be.  Life got a bit busier than I intended.

None of those things have changed, but the sudden traffic my teeny tiny corner of the internet did force me to kick my butt into gear a bit. 

I mean, you DON'T get to be featured on a super awesome blog by someone in New York and just stop writing because you're still a little sad.

So I hiked up my big=girl trousers and published the easiest thing I could think of - pictures.  Which led to other ideas.  Which led to more ideas.  Which eventually led to two posts in one day. (Wowza.)

So the basic idea is that I'm not not sad.  But I'm not not happy.  What I AM is ready to start writing again. 

(I know, you're all so excited - please, in the back row, stop hyperventilating.)

And now that I live in a one bedroom apartment I can look out of my window at certain angles and pretend like I'm in New York too. 

Okay, so it's a stretch. 

Whatevs.

If you are feeling even the slightest bit interested after what I can only imagine sounds like my self-important rambling, you can read the article HERE!

Good day.

O.N.E.

Yesterday my greatest accomplishment of 2012 turned a whopping ONE. 

That's right, it was a year ago that I introduced you to this guy.

We celebrated Oliver's milestone first birthday with cake, ice cream, slides, songs, friends, and balloons.

Wednesday night I was driving home from a friend's house and I suddenly realized that exactly a year ago I was in labor with what would soon become the one of the most splendid people I would ever meet. 

Tied only with his two predecessors.

All day on Thursday I thought about the day I brought him home (which was the same day I had him).  I thought about the day we spent together alone in the hospital room, and how I knew from the beginning that he was fierce.  Now, a year later I know he is what can only be described as "softly fierce" or "cuddly fierce".

I never would have guessed ten years ago that I'd be a mom to three such handsome boys. 

Of course we ate cake.  And laughed with friends.  But there was also an emptiness that was once filled with our lived community at Corrymeela.  I'm sure they would have loved to be there to wish this boy the happiest of birthdays. 

Little boy, I CAN NOT believe it's been a year already.

 

 I feel like we just met, and have known each other for a decade already.

Happy birthday little Ollie.

When you can't stop crying at Kindergarten Registration.

Today I registerd my oldest baby for kindergarten.
This guy right here...

Oh my stars, isn't he getting so big?

Do you like his haircut?  Someday I'll tell you about how he took matters into his own hands. 

But for now I want to repost something as a reminder to my son - something I need to remember to tell him everyday I know him for the rest of his life.

Reposted from February 16, 2012.


To my precious boys.
You are enough.

You are enough for me.  You have been since the moment you joined the world.  You  exceeded my expectations the instant you took your first breath, or walked into the nursery room in your foster mother's arms.  When you're exploring this world, you are enough. When you make me laugh, you're enough.  When you ask me a million questions in three minutes and I might sound a little huffy because I just. need. a. minute. to get something done... you are enough. I love the person you are even without my help.  My job is to help you along the way, but babes....the truth is that you don't need my help, because you are already enough.

You are enough at school.  The schools have enough people fighting for valedictorian.  What they don't have enough of, are people craving knowledge.  You don't need all A's.  You don't need to do extra credit.  Find your passion and explore it.  When else are you going to have a group of people dedicated to teaching you things and there to help you every step of the way?  Experiment.  Ask meaningful questions.  Hell, ask stupid questions.  You don't have to take the hard classes unless they excite you.  Be excited rather than overwhelmed.  When you try your hardest and engage, you are enough.

You are enough for your friends.  People are going to disappoint you.  Just remember that you are worthy of love and acceptance.  There are enough people in the world fighting to be the most popular. What the world lacks are people who are genuine and kind.  Find friends that realize how awesome you are.  Treat those friends awesomely.  Be true to yourself and don't sell yourself short.  Even when you're not the most popular...especially then....you are enough.

You are enough in the world.  The world is full of rich tycoons and millionaires.  What the world needs more of is the authentic you.  If you want to fix engines, fix engines.  If you want to join a band, work hard so you aren't sleeping in a cardboard box on the streets.  Power is great, and fun...but power without love is dangerous.  Fill the world with love and your light.  That can come in any profession, in any career, and in any form. When you spread love around, you are enough.

You are enough my dear boys.  You always have been.
xoxoxo
Your Mom

This Month on Instagram...

Heavens to Betsy it's been too long.

I'm still here.

I'm still alive.

I can't wait to tell you all about our latest adventure.

Here's a clue...it takes place in a little tiny one-light town in surrounded by cornfields and old red barns.

And it involves a one-bedroom apartment.

And the universe deciding that by some fluke of luck we deserved to get jobs that we might just love.

I can't wait to tell you about it.

And I will....I promise.

But for right now, I want to tell you a little bit about our summer so far on this side of the ocean.  Actually, I want to show you with a special rendition of...

This Month on Instagram...