Rainy day pasta

What to do on a rainy day? Make pasta of course. We spent all afternoon making pasta. Luckily I got 3 dinners out of it. It was fun, but it reminded me why I don't do this very often.

Mom was right

This commercial proves that Mom was right. Turn off the tube.

A little me time?

A friend who was expecting her first baby asked me when I got my me time. Well there isn't much, but I don't regret it. I had a lot of me time through many years of college and a few years of working before there were kids and a husband. I guess in a way that makes up for having less now.

Here are a few things that keep me happy and sane:

Park Day - You would think that this was for the kids. I look forward to it as a time that I can visit with friends and spend time outside.

Book club - Some of the same Moms that I see at the park are in a monthly book club. I love it. I read things that I might not read otherwise. The kids come and play while we talk about the book and life.

Creative indulgences - I like to draw, paint, sculpt, sew, cook new things etc. It is all (especially the art) rather amateur, but I like it.

Remembering that this is all very temporary. I need to cherish the best things and remember that the challenges will pass pretty quickly.

I am also at a place in life where I feel free to be me, warts and all, not someone filling a role or someone elses expectations. I really enjoy it. Life is really good.


more wordful wednesday

Buddy Boy digital art

Buddy Boy likes to use the Paint program to doodle. He chooses the colors is pretty deliberate about what he does. The third one he said was "road lines". He wanted a black background and yellow lines. He definitely had something in mind when he started.

Rain, rain, and more rain...

We have had over 3 inches of rain in only 3 days with over and inch and a half on Sunday. I hope that this has put a dent in the drought and the projections for water rationing.

We went to Santa Cruz yesterday to visit cousins and it just poured while we were driving over the mountains. I loved watching the clouds pulling through the red wood trees. Buddy boy thought it was pretty cool as well. Just before we left to come home there was an incredible downpour and a serious hail storm. The chickens were taking shelter on the side porch which made them easy for baby girl to watch. She wasn't sure she liked them. They were fascinating and a little scary for her as well.

Lemon squeeze

After making lemonade for Buddy Boy I let Baby Girl have what was left of one of the little lemons. It was funny to watch. It surprised her, but she liked it and kept going back for more.

Oranges

I love having an orange tree in the back yard. When we first moved in I tried the oranges as soon as they turned orange. They were pretty sour. So I left them alone. I was afraid it might be a bad variety. Months later they were as sweet as candy. They just needed to wait awhile longer and they just get better and better.

Love Languages

Years ago when my husband was in his MBA program I was in a book club sponored by the MBA spouses association. It was a fun group and we all had one thing in common, very busy hussbands. One of the books we read was The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. The main idea is that people give and receive love in different ways, their "love language". His other important point is that real love is a choice and takes effort. Part of that effort is making sure that you communicate you love for the other person. It is important to recognize what someone needs to feel loved and how you show love. Sometimes if you aren't listening for the "love language" of the other person you may miss their expressions of love. If you know someone's love language you can focus on showing love in those ways and not worry as much about the other things. For example, I don't worry about gifts that much for my husband. They just aren't that important to him. But I say "I love you" a LOT. While this idea is pretty simple it really helped me since my husband and I came from families with very different ways of showing how we care for each other. For my family we worked together and helped each other and show up for family events. His family does things quite differently but is still very loving.

One person wanted to discuss the book with her husband but didn't think that he would listen to anything that wasn't on a PowerPoint slide. So I summarized the book on PowerPoint for her. Here is one of the slides that lists the love languages discussed in the book. His list includes most things, but you may find that there is something in your relationships that is a little different. Ask "What do I do that says I Love You?"

Here for the full slide show.

The book focused on marriage relationships, but this idea is important to anyone we have a close relationship with, family and friends.

More wordful wednesday

Super fun furniture

So much fun in a very Dr. Seuss sort of way. Find it and others at Straight Line Designs.

Kid quote

Buddy boy: What do boys say? BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM (at high volume and high velocity.)

Yup, he's a boy all right.