Another lovely installment of Kids with Camera! Tyler had the camera this time. Interesting to see what he documented around the house. Of course, what cracks me up is that this journey always ends up in the same place – taking pictures of the cats under the bed.

I assume it is something very exciting for them -taking pictures of the elusive cats to prove to the world that they exist even though no one has ever seen them. The cats are clearly thrilled with this – you can see it in the joyful expressions on their faces!

The puzzle was completed! Hooray! It was a 400 piece family puzzle and really worked out great. Quinn already wants us to go back and get the fairy castle one and I think in a few weeks I just might!

The other picture here is of the kids resting. Near the end of these hot summer days the kids were pooped. And a few times, I would find things like this – the kids deciding themselves they needed to rest. And so hear they are laying on the floor in their room listening to stories on CD. It was pretty cool that they were acting upon those needs without me asking them to do so. They are growing up.

It hit me the other day that this girl has a very strong art thread running through her. She draws on any surface available to her without remorse. “It was there, it was blah, I added some color” is all I can assume goes through her head. One of her favorite canvases is herself. She will use our face pencils, markers, pens – whatever art supply is closest to her when inspiration strikes. That is our budding artist…who might be covered in tattoos one day!

Catching up on more posts here! This from the beginning of August. First off, starting off a Saturday with more work on that puzzle. We’re almost done! I really enjoyed having a puzzle out for a few weeks. All of us enjoyed wandering by or sitting for a spell and trying to put in a few more pieces.

Also, seems one of the kids got the camera and got a great shot of the state of Quinn’s kitchen. If I don’t do some regular cleaning out, the thing gets stuffed with everything. I am sure there is some developmental reason she does this, but I don’t know what it is. Any nook that is “hers” – between her bed and the night stand, the area at the foot of her bed where her treasure basket is, and her kitchen are constantly filled with items pillaged from all over the house. When anything is lost, everyone already knows to check with Quinn first. I know she was sent to thwart my decluttering ways!

Flashmob!
This day I was also in a flashmob with some friends. This wasn’t one of the fancy, dancy highly choreographed with professional dancers kind of thing, just a bunch of Mom’s having fun and helping kick off World Breastfeeding Day with some excitement. Don’t worry – some people freaked out when they saw flashmob and breastfeeding in the same sentence. We just did a fun dance – the rap part of the song we danced to had lyrics to were raising awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding.

It was cool to see how one worked and something to check off the ‘ole bucket list.

Yummy Dinner!
Well, I was feeling so great after that flashmob that I came home and made a sinfully yummy dinner – Creamy baked noodles with eggplant and cheese.

Oh my, melt in your mouth eggplant and tomato sauce, a bechamel sauce, penne pasta, a pinch of nutmeg – it was so good! I paired that fairly heavy dish with a salad and some raw carrots. Y-U-M!

Today was just not a good one. As I told Chris, that is good – helps me to know why the good ones go well. For one, we needed more activity this morning. I see how a lot of exertion in the morning really sets up our day. Also, I was tired and distracted as well.

We survived and as always, there were still some highlights. We made our cheesy snails which have pizza sauce in them. They are so good! We had a great lunch. And trust me, we do plenty of PB&J around here, so I was excited to come up with this. Today Tyler also made a golf club with a baster and spoon and began inventing games he could play.

I still made myself go to the gym even though I couldn’t even run a mile. I did some other core work though, so I got some kind of workout. Chris kindly put the kids to bed. I am just making myself take care of a few things before I collapse into bed.

I can’t get tired. I am just getting caught up with things and don’t want to get underwater again. I am still having to find my rhythm around here as well – otherwise I am always cleaning or trying to get something done. Trying to find more space for me to just be as well….

OK, that is about all my brain can come up with….

So Fridays are usually busy for us – cleaning up the house for the weekend and going to the store. One afternoon I was finished up some laundry as Chris was due to be home soon. I knew the kids were in their room, but wanted to see what they were up to.

I found them both in Tyler’s bed, snuggled under blankets, listening to some books on CD. Wow, they were pooped, so decided it was rest time. It was so very cute.

Right as I was going to take a picture, Daddy got home and decided he needed some rest time too and joined them for a snuggle. It was so sweet!

At the end of July, I traveled to Rhode Island for a Rousing Intuition workshop. I was gone for 5 days from my family. It was a Mommy vacation. It was a wife vacation.

This vacation was for Alyssa. It was a chance to be me, myself and I and I enjoyed every moment. I didn’t talk the kids while I was gone. There was no point – they are very much out of sight, out of mind kids and talking on the phone does really do much for them. I have seen this when Daddy is out of town. So…they are a lot like me I guess!

I enjoyed every moment. In the mornings I went to a coffee shop to enjoy a latte and breakfast. In the evenings, I would head out into the town with friends.

One night, a friend and I headed to beach. There was the most incredible full moon shining brightly right over the ocean. I felt so very alive that night.

The next night, we were eating at a restaurant seated outside – again that full moon! And then at the table right next to us, a jam session breaks out! It was awesome!

I got to talking to this man at the airport about luggage process and airline incentives and he thought I was on a business trip! He thought I was a business woman – man, I still got it!

I talked and admittedly flirted a bit with this hot guy who sat next to me on the plane. He talked with me for like 45 minutes! Had I not been married – a phone number would have been exchanged. I still got it!

The workshop was intense, but great and I learned so much about myself. To chat with all these other mothers who also home school was great and really inspired me for this coming year.

I don’t know else how to describe it but electric.

I came home ready to dive into this new journey….and also ready to make more room for me to be me out in the world. I need that and this trip helped me realize how much. It is all a balancing act, but if I put some energy into it – I know I can make it work. So dance classes for me this fall….I think so!