Okay, let's try again...

This is becoming my oh so very once in a while blog. At first (4 years ago?) I said I would write in it monthly, then I stopped for (4 years?) and then in May I decided to start again (ok, just one post) and now I'm saying, how about quarterly? That sounds doable (is that a word?).
I was thinking that my life would be a lot closer to perfect if at least 2 out of my 3 children would just go the *blank* to sleep without an hour of cajoling, shushing, milk-warming, and returning to bed-ing. Because, we can still pay our mortgage, our children are healthy and happy, there is no dachshund poop on our kitchen floor, I have a job that I'm excited to go to (and only 2-3 days/week!), my husband is still enjoying his job (and still has a job!) and we are, even though the above about the 2 out of 3 kids not sleeping is true, still married after 12.5 years! So, I have much to be thankful for. Sometimes it's hard to be a parent though.
Reasons to be thankful, 12/12/11:
Frog and Toad
A clear, cold, December dawn
The Springfield AND the Eugene public libraries
Pre-school
Mittens
Ryan Gosling

Long time

Wow, it's been, like, forever and a house and a baby ago since I last made a blog entry! I was inspired to maybe start up again by a blog I happened upon by a college student in Iowa which is so funny and he really doesn't talk about anything or have any particular interests except getting drunk every weekend so I thought, I can do that!
Just a quick note to say that I've been a stay at home mom now for 10 months(!!) and I have some very good days, and some not so good days. Today was a not so good day. Usually I don't even know why I have the not so good ones. I even slept ALL NIGHT last night (as the baby, who usually wakes around 2am, did not) but somehow felt tired anyway. Then the weather was frustrating with the sun peaking out every now and again before the black clouds would return and start drizzling rain again. Then my son was crabby but wouldn't take a nap even though I laid in the "race car bed" with him for 20 minutes while the baby ate lint and bits of foam out of the carpet and my 6 year old played with my iPod touch which I now cannot find! But I think tomorrow might be a better day and this weekend will hopefully be fun as I will be going with my husband and baby (leaving the older two behind with grandma!) to the thriving metropolis of Milton-Freewater for a wedding. Yeah!

Tired & Lazy

I actually have tried to post to my blog recenly, actually, I think three times. I have a couple of cool pictures taken on a very cold, very dark, very overcast & eery day when there were seagulls flying about down by the river. The pictures haven't made it so I got frustrated. I'll try again soon I'm sure. Too many nights working until 2am. But, soon, I will be down to half time at work. This will be good, very good! Then Wednesday can be my recover & rest day and Thursday & Friday I can be alert and ready for whatever comes our way!

Happy New Year!

We decided to celebrate the new year by going into the mountains to check out the snow. Just a little bit, but enough to play in. A new years resolution idea came to me while playing, we need to get into the woods more often, at least once a season. It always feels like coming home to me as I grew up hanging out in the woods. I miss it!

Santa vs. Jesus

I wasn't brought up in a particularly religious household. Sure, we went to the odd Sunday service, and each of my younger brothers had their "born again" moments, but I never seemed to have one. I'm kind of still waiting for that to happen, because I do believe in God, and I think that the religion I am most familiar with (although I'm using familiar very loosely here) does have some very honorable tenets; Love thy neighbor, Do unto others..., etc. So, I'm not athiest, not really agnostic, just being, maybe lazy? Maybe cautious? Maybe wanting to believe but not wanting the baggage that comes with organized religion?
I also wasn't brought up in a household where Santa played much of a part. I don't remember ever believing in Santa. My memories of Christmas start off after my father died when Christmas was a depressing holiday for my mother. No magic there. No Santa. And I should remember Christmases from before I was nine, but I don't.
Flash forward, I have a three year old who is, just this year, very interested in the whole Christmas season. What the hell do I tell her? I am not an authority on the religious aspect or the magic of the season stuff, but yet my husband and I are to her.
Of course, when you don't really think it through and decide what your child will be exposed to, she will be exposed to the commercial side, the Santa Claus-y side, the lights and the music and the trees. This is good, we've seen a couple Christmas-type movies featuring Santas and such, read a couple of books. But then I wanted to tell her about the "true meaning" of Christmas, and she kept asking how Santa fit into the manger and the baby Jesus and stuff. Not sure. Don't really know. Make something up! How did this happen?
I don't know how to explain why we celebrate Christmas when I've never really introduced the concept of God and Jesus. I don't know if I want her to believe in a Santa that brings presents when it's really her loved ones that bring her presents. I do know that I want this time of year to be magical and full of meaning, tradition, and love.

Should really be sleeping...

Oops, I deleted my blog post. Guess I'll stay up a little later and re-do it, urgh!

Anywho, I wanted to post a few pictures taken by Hannah. She has taken a lot the past couple of weeks, mostly of various pieces of furniture from her perspective, many at a jaunty angle, some of me in my unflattering morning wear, etc. These three are just silly. The first two were taken earlier this evening and when I saw them, I had to think for a moment before I realized that it was just a few hours ago when they were taken. It's nice to have someone else doing some picture taking around here besides me, and she's great at getting a candid, real-life shot.

A little lost

I got a little lost over the past two weeks, you see, I have returned to work. I was getting into a groove with staying home to watch over two kids, a husband, a dachshund, and a mostly absent cat. It hasn't been the welcome reprieve I was hoping for. I didn't want to dread it, because it was inevitable that I would go back. I was looking for ways to make it sound like an alright plan. Now I'm looking for ways to get more home time. We shall see...it's only been two weeks. It's been a hard adjustment though.

On a lighter note, loving the sunny, crisp, fall days. It's my favorite time of the year. I like the other seasons too, but fall has the best of everything. More sun than spring, less heat than summer, a gentle reminder that a long winter is ahead, better stock up on your supply of sunshine and harvest veggies. This is the time of year I always think about ambitious projects to start and homemade Christmas gifts to make. I never seem to get around to making the homemeade Christmas gifts though, I guess the fun is in the daydreaming for me.