Balancing Bliss

some spring eye candy

we have been outside playing on trikes and blowing bubbles for two days

we even devirginized luci's baby stroller she got for christmas to the outside world....see i put it together and it kinda came apart whenever pushed more than 3 feet.......it has since been fixed by my husband and so babies are able to be walked around the block by a cute girl in pigtails

love how these two can play together for hours. i recently scrapbooked a page and titled it "how lucky you both are to have met your best friend so early in life". they truly are. love them

and how can you not love a girl who has this much style mixed with some tomboy attitude?   

or when she wears an obama shirt to preschool!

and eli blu has a new obsession i think he has ended the cowboy phase of 4+years and is now entering this one            

why yes that is a pouch and he can make anything into a whip making him........indiana jones. funny boy.

so gaven isn't in any of these pics because he has been at school and eli blu was home sick with pneumonia. i think i cured it with some meds and large doses of sunshine. he is feeling much better but did try to get out of school today. after all he takes after my spirit. love that boy

looking forward to pj day friday on our first day of rain this week. i will leave you with just one more piece of eye candy....... something to look forward to.........loving spring......i feel it coming....i have bulbs coming up, herbs sprouting and i painted my toenails to wear some flip flops!

as promised........

    I created a little yoga corner in my room. Eli Blu just picked out a new yoga mat for me on my birthday. I painted a canvas and some picture frames, wrote the word NAMASTE on the canvas and printed the meaning of the word in the frame. I also covered a canvas in some fabric that I had to have a few months ago when I didn't even know why and I am so glad I did. It was kinda my color palette and what is art without butterflies?


and             


and





so that was my creativity. Felt wonderful. I look forward to going up there tonight and having a moment. oh and before I forget this is the meaning of NAMASTE;

   I honor the place in you which the entire universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom, and of Peace.

   When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, We are One.

    Beautiful eh?  Notice I put this @ a short persons height so I can really focus on this while in pose.

After a crappy end of the week, sunday was blissful

   I guess that balances itself out now doesn't it?

   I had a hard couple of days. Very overwhelmed, anxious, high then low and just couldn't shut my mind down. That is what they call "manic" for little bipolar me. It starts out like a good couple days with excessive energy but after a week or more in my case you just want it to stop. It's like I can't even walk through a room without cleaning it. I mean really you would think because I cleaned it yesterday I could but oh no. When I am all done being manic one would think my house might be spotless but it's not the way crazy people think. I have cleaned spots on the wall the kids left there, floorboards, the stair hand railing, light switches or anything people touch often. I know it sounds crazy........try living it. So i still have lots to do around the house like the bulk of the laundry and such.

    Finally I decided I couldn't do it any longer and wrote down all of my thoughts in my journal, tied it up and left them there. The mind is funny that way, it worked. My dear sweet husband thought he would make it better by taking me to the Portland or Eugene ballet (which I have never been to). Not the best timing but the kindest gesture, maybe another time soon.

    All the kids stayed home with me from church. I looked at that sweet husband and said "did you ever think that this time alone is MY CHURCH?" When he came home he got the kids ready and took them to Eugene to the $1 theater and a candy store. This is what Luci wore:




    The boys with these in hand:





    Love some alone time. I think most women can appreciate some time alone. Some like to go out for lunch or shop but my bliss happens when I am left alone in my own surroundings. I cleaned to music, I rearranged a few things, sorted the kid's toys (and some have been lost?) and then CREATIVITY set in.

    I will post later with some pics of that.

took another artsy break...

   

i plan on doing much of that until brian leaves because the Lord knows i won't have much peace later on this summer. i covered a cd tin in fabric, added a butterfly embellishment from a barrette that broke then filled it with butterfly punches. i wrote dreams of mine on the butterflies. i believe dreams only exist if you dream. i filled it with like 40 of them, what can i say i'm a dreamer!




    bri stayed home today to attend a funeral of a friend from home depot...so since he was home luci and i drug him a long to her dance class. total cuteness.




i enjoy wednesdays so much just for this reason. i will add more pics to my album family or daily life. also love her because she is my chocoholic, she is the only kid who loved the brownies. they were really chocolatie and not so much sugary. loved them. a little too much maybe. oops.

another sunny day in oregon. have to make the most of it. looks like it's almost time to plant my pots. love to dress up the porch in the spring. by august i'm bored with watering twice a day but aah love the spring newness. then we are off to the library.




AND A REMINDER MY UPPERCASE PARTY IS TUESDAY @ 6:30PM PLEASE RSVP ME SO I HAVE AN IDEA. I'M SURE THEY HAVE A WEBSITE. LOVE TO HAVE YOU ALL MAKE IT OVER

had a minute or two to be artsy

and this is what i came up with. just a stroll down memory lane every time i see this pic. i am lucky i remember it at all.

you can find more of this layout in my album "projects" there is some good journaling and more details

you know you are a mom when...

    the green stuff in the brownies is a new spinach puree recipe!




    we had a sunshine beautiful weekend here. cleaned the garage and cars. also sent a ton of stuff to goodwill. love to simplify our life. i love the word simplify, it can mean many different things on so many levels. loved it so much i had it tattooed in 1996 but i won't tell you where! tried to wear out the kids with bikes and scooters but i'm not sure if it worked, it may have had the opposite effect.




    so funny thing.. brian was checking out some blog/google "stuff" when i realized he had highlighted a sentence from my last post about shopping @ twopeasinabucket. hehe i had yet to tell him. we laughed for several minutes over that one. it made me feel like a teenager getting caught by my parents. see i used his credit card without his knowledge. hehe

    had a couple great experiences this weekend and i highly recommend them.

1. i found an unfinished project from luci's first birthday and i decided to follow through and finish it. it was wonderful, i relived her day and the days i worked on it previously.

2. i also watched a musical "across the universe" based on beatles songs. amazing if you like trippy times or/and musicals.

NOW WITH THAT SAID WHY DO I NEED GREEN BROWNIES???

feels like spring

    recovering from yesterdays news. we drank some sparkling cranberry cider to celebrate the new internship (we mormons know how to party) and then we both bravely put on smiles while we discussed the future. lucky for us i have a very cool little sister in portland who has an empty basement and is good to let him stay rent free. all he has to do is make sure he lets out their old doberman and be aarons designated driver to all his gigs. thanks jen- we appreciate your generosity, with that i will stop because you are not one for silly emotional chit chat. hehehe

    I spoiled myself with some online shopping @ twopeasinabucket.com and cafepress.com where i proceeded to buy political bumper stickers and new cha goods. besides what a better time to get hard news than valentines day when you are surrounded by endless chocolate. i am also able to turn my head to the left for the first time in 3 weeks, so i am a happy grateful girl.

    i don't know if it's the sunshine or im manic but i feel like cleaning every corner of my house. love spring cleaning. i've had my windows open during the day most of the week. it gets down to 62 degrees in the house pretty quick but love the freshness in the house after a long winter. luci is in high spirits too and nonstop gives her valentines to each of us. sweet girl but she gifts and regifts and and and did i mention nonstop??

    i'm going to start my friday ritual of pjs, pizza and scrapping. looking forward to the weekend of more cleaning and scrapping. hope you all enjoy the sunshine in your life whatever that is to you.

happy valentines day?

   

Lets just get it over with........last year on my birthday Brian found out his internship was in Portland. My heart sank a little bit when he found out today that he is yet again selected in Portland. Man I was in full make up with my hair done and planned on making a nice dinner making it...2x this week. Instead I am spending my evening in PJ's. Just finished off the last of the cheesecake and am planning on left over pizza for dinner.
There are a few good things about this 1-my meds are right this time  2- I get lots of personal time to focus on yoga, scrapping and me stuff 3-my girl friends can come over any night and I don't feel guilty 4- until April when he leaves I plan abusing any personal time to myself,  okay now off to the good stuff about today and I will try to be strong again tomorrow.

    Theres nothing like watching kids enjoy the magic of all those tiny valentines and then eat candy till their sick. My sweet Eli Blu decided he didn't like the solid chocolate lips we gave him and he needed to give it to a friend at the park. He has the biggest heart. love him love him love him. He then went home and ate on everyone else's solid chocolate lips. hehe

    Leaving this on a VERY FUNNY note.......................

    I was getting the kids ready for bedtime and asked them to go potty. Luci walked in on Eli Blu standing up peeing and exclaimed "WHOA I wish I could pee like that!"

    Eli Blu responds "Luci you can"

    She says " umm, no I don't have a penis"

    Eli Blu "YES you do!"  like duh?

    Eli Blu came into his room where I was waiting for him and I said "Eli Luci doesn't have a penis" He looked totally confused, funny since they still bathe together. Then I said " she has a vagina"

    See Eli Blu is learning to read and sounds everything out so he goes on like a stoner might, repeating the word "v.v.v gina. vaaaggIna. VaGINA" then he says " sounds like China" and ......wait for it............. "like the great wall of Vagina!"  umm yes he did.  and yes I journaled in immediately!

Hope you all enjoyed your day and the stupid comment I made on my previous post about materialism........um ya I plan on dumping chocolates down my throat all night coupled with good tunes and inscents. So no guilt  on your end if you do to next time just tell me to blow it out my whooha.

     And on a even happier note my loving husband called and wants to make me a nice dinner. He is wonderful and supportive and that is why I can live for 6 months with three kids on my own. So I will suck it up, congratulate him with open arms and reciprocate that love and support.

i'm back and refreshed

so i sat down to my hot yummy carmel coffee with chocolate and carmel creamer at just the right temp to blog and check out my favorite blogs too. well by the time i got to my coffee it was cold and i'm pretending it was iced and i just ordered it like that....

this is why it went cold....... my luci girl reminded me that i promised her i would do her valentines with her when "her boys" left for school. a promise is a promise, even if it means stuffing 20 tiny envelopes with 20 little cards that i helped her write LUCI 4 on each and one piece of candy then a sticker to seal the deal. anyone who has done this before knows it is quite a long event that requires much love and patience or it could go terribly wrong. right in the middle of doing it i whispered in her ear i'm glad we did this and she replied "i know i'm acited (excited hehe)".

i had a wonderful trip at the coast with my friend LISA HALL better known to her friends as POLLY. anyone who knows her can just picture the fun time i had because she is a lovely genuine, freakin hilarious lady who would do anything for you and is a joy to be around. her vibe is amazing and i want to thank her for her hospitality.
*i went to taylor made memories the scrap store she is working at now and made 13 valentines

* her boss was @ CHA yay scrappers it's that time again

* we went back to her house relaxed and she made me an incredible dinner as always

* spent the next morning in her scrap room in PJs until noon

* said my good byes and headed to the bay front to get my kids some taffy and then to my fav little hippie shop there to stock up on inscents  then off to craft warehouse to get a butterfly punch to do my ali edwards project

* um yeah thats where the trip went terribly wrong....i thought i would treat myself at the craft store and spent an hour picking out special little things carefully thought out. i use my credit card maybe 2x a year but since we are paying it off with taxes this month, i went for it. umm this is the terrible part.. it was declined!!!! how freakin embarrassing! my closest friends all assured me it happens to everyone at some point but i could have died. brian reminded me that this was the card we used when he was out of work this fall.. hehe joke on me. URGH! nothing like turning around and walking out of a store with nothing in your hands and your pride hurt

*my daddy made up for it by taking me to the craft store in salem so i could get my canvas for a project i am really excited about. i am having an uppercase living party on feb 26th @ 6:30 you know those big rub ons for signs, canvas, and walls. so look for your invite chickies.

  yesterday was a big day for us. brian interviewed for his next internship that will start in april and finish up in the fall just in time for us to move out of here! so i made him a fancy rachel ray dinner. he does all the cooking around here so anything not out of a box is fancy for me. i made cod cakes kinda like crab cakes (i guess) and mashed red potatoes with spinach and garlic. i also made back up pb&j sandwiches and jello for the kiddos. after one bite of each they opted for the pb&j. then brian and i choked down the fish because the seasoning was a little too much and i even caught him throwing away the extra one he took just to please me. however i am quite the baker so my cheesecake rocked and i cut up fresh strawberries on everyones plate. YUM

almost forgot i went to my OB (warning-guy friends skip this part) and i guess you can't correctly identify the location of an IUD in an x-ray only in an ultrasound. so after answering some questions and him checking it out- all is well. guess i just have a back problem after all. i really miss my yoga and am just going to pick it up again really slow.

so anyone who made it all the way down this LONG LONG post...you are now officially filled in for my past week! remember i write this for myself to have a journal of our life and it's just an extra to have my friends read and be in the know of our lives.

i'm now off to dance class for my luci love and am so "acited" to help the boys with their valentines tonight. luckily gav is mostly on his own with it this year and just in time, he has 32 kids in his class this year!!!!!!!!!!!

            HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE  HOPE YOU GET A HEART FELT ONE AND DON'T DROWN IN IT'S MATERIALISM

before i go....

update on my neck....i scheduled an appt. to have a therapeutic massage friday evening. never having one before i have nothing to compare it to but it rocked (i think). i asked her if she could feel where it was and she replied "um ya you are as tight as a rock. can't you feel it all breaking up? i can hear it"  EEWWWWWW and after awhile she says "ok we got into it enough to find that you have popped your neck out and i can't do anything for that but you will need to see a chiropractor very soon, like monday"  so right on i wasn't be a wimp i really was gimpy. ha.   and as far as my lower back....i don't care i don't even feel it anymore since my neck hurts so bad!   oh and it turns out the heating pad was not my friend and could have caused more harm than good. ice is my new friend until monday.

so onto better things.......i'm still going to drive an hour to the coast and go scrapbook! i figure it's one lane there so i don't need to merge or turn my head to pass anyone. fyi: watch out for the aqua mini van on hwy 20!

and saving the best for last, i think this is a little bit of goodness we all need

yes we can