Tiny Nerdling

Mason is being raised to be like his parents, and by that, I mean a nerd. Homeboy is obsessed with Star Wars and dancing to Michael Jackson and Angry Birds. His little world is still very much influenced by what his parents think is cool because he still thinks we are cool. I know our coolness will be gone shortly in his estimation, so I am trying to appreciate it and use it to our advantage while it lasts.

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New Beginnings and Gratitude

Ouch. It has been a year, an entire year, since I last posted. I think about my blog sometimes, then feel a little sheepish, a little ashamed, then do nothing. Today is different, though. Today, I thought about this neglected, sad blog of mine and logged in to write a new post. Here goes...

Today, I am grateful for love. I am grateful that Landon loves me enough to look past my many shortcomings, forgive my many mistakes, and support me through the thick and thin. I am grateful that my children love me even though I can be a terrible, mean mom and even though I yell way too much. I am grateful for the love of my siblings, every single one of whom would do pretty much anything for me. I am grateful for the love of my family by marriage, and their acceptance of me as truly one of their own. I am grateful for the love of my parents, their unwavering support, and acceptance of my many quirks and obnoxiousness. And I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my own capacity for love. It amazes me how full your heart can feel, then someone/something else comes along, and your heart finds more room for love. It's a true blessing.

Miss Marissa

I have really been enjoying Marissa lately. She brings me great joy. Whenever we have been apart, even just for an hour or two, she is genuinely happy to see me. In fact, she often gets a little emotional with joy upon my return, drops whatever she is doing and runs to be held by me. This is something Mason has always done for his dad, but not as much for me. It's nice to be appreciated in this way.
She is also becoming funnier and funnier. This morning, I suggested she take a nice warm bath. A minute later, she runs into the room and says, "HEY MOO-OOM! I'M NAAAA-KED!" and laughed at her own silliness. It made me smile.
Marissa is also becoming quite a good helper. She wants to help me cook, do dishes and clean up. She basically does half of the grocery shopping with her own tiny cart. She loves doing laundry and is really practicing how to fold the clothes.
My time at home with Marissa, just she and I, is coming to a close soon. She'll be starting preschool in a few months, and I will be going back to school shortly thereafter. I am trying to savor the moments we have together now, and appreciate the opportunity to be with her so much. I love that little girl with my whole heart, and I am grateful to be her mom.

My Kids are Awesome

Today, there was a birthday in Mason's class. His school doesn't allow birthday treats to be handed out during school, so there is usually a mom standing outside the classroom on birthdays distributing sweets to the kids as they leave. Today, the treat was a snickerdoodle. I watched as Mason waited to get his cookie, said "Thank you" upon receiving the treat and then immediately broke it in half to share with his sister. He did it without giving it a second thought, without me prompting and even without Marissa asking. His immediate response to getting a treat was to share it with his sister. I'll admit it, it made me get teary-eyed. What a cool kid.

Marissa has become an old pro at entertaining herself during Mason's soccer practice. She actually looks forward to playing with her friends, the other younger siblings of Mason's teammates. Today was no different than other days except that when we got into the car to leave, Marissa said, "Mason. You played awesome today! You worked so hard and got lots of goals. Nice job!" I don't know whether she was actually paying attention or not, but I could tell that it made her brother feel good.

Today, I am grateful for the sweet spirits I was given to raise. They are such awesome little people. I am so glad I get to be their mom.

One Step at a Time

So, I have totally sucked at blogging since we started looking for houses back in March. I feel all guilty about it, but I also feel completely exhausted pretty much all the time. I know that home ownership is generally a series of projects, but I have to believe that buying a foreclosure means those projects are larger in scope and more immediate in urgency. We have basically been in a constant state of fixing our fixer of a house, and between those projects and my pre-existing obligations that previously took up all my time, I am just spent. Every damn day.

All bitching/excuses aside, I am excited about our house! Already, the different online house appraisal sites show our house as being worth $50k+ (or close to 25%) more than what we paid, and that doesn't take into account everything we have done to the place. And we have done a lot: refinished the original hardwoods; installed (really nice) carpet in the bedrooms; took the master bath to the studs and completely remodeled it; installed a custom closet organization system in the master bedroom; replaced several doors; painted nearly every room in the house; replaced all the hardware in the house (it had really old, worn out brass fixtures/hardware); installed cabinetry/storage in the garage; fixed the plumbing in the garage for the washing machine; changed the exterior light fixtures; and, about a million other little things throughout the property. This weekend, Logan painted the exterior of the house, and I am so excited for the change! We have had several neighbors come by already to tell us how much better it looks, which of course made us feel really good.

This week, we are spending a long weekend in Colorado with Gavin and family (and we finally get to meet Ellie!!). We are super excited to be with our friends and to have a little get away before Landon's life gets extra chaotic, as it usually does around this time of year. Something about fall and/or the coming of the holidays apparently puts folks in a litigious mood, I guess.

Once we get home, Landon will get into full-swing trial preparation mode (for a trial scheduled for early October). And me? I will get full-swing into fixing the damn yard mode. Our landscaping currently consists of copious weeds on uneven/holey ground. I will be rototilling the entire 1/3 of an acre, digging trenches for new irrigation, laying out planter beds, preparing soil and doing some basic planting (seeding for grass and putting in some plants that do best when planted in the fall). Landscaping is our next big project, and it is largely going to be me doing it by myself (hooray?) for the next 6+ months.

After the painting and landscaping is finished, we start saving like crazy for a kitchen remodel. I have been crunching the numbers and am hopeful we can redo the thing for about $15k. After that, we have only minor changes that can be done as we have money for them, and then I think we start looking to sell this place.

I am grateful today for completing different stages of fixing up our home. It feels so good to have accomplished goals, even the small ones, and see how our home is really starting to show pride of ownership. I am grateful that folks are noticing and complimenting us on our hard work (and probably secretly feeling really happy that this eye-sore is getting closer to no longer dragging down home values in the neighborhood). I am grateful for the continuing help from our families, especially Logan, who is a total and complete stud. We wouldn't have anywhere near as much checked off our to-do list without his help. We are taking it one step at a time, and I am grateful to see our progress!

Sonoma

About a month ago, Landon's boss told him that he would pay for a weekend in wine country if Landon got a certain amount in settlement for one of their clients. After putting a little time going back and forth, Landon got that amount plus another 25% extra, then called me and told me to book our weekend in Sonoma for our anniversary.

We had a wonderful time in wine country this weekend. The weather was beautiful, the wine was delicious, and the company was perfect. We ate like kings and gave each other too many high fives (did I say too many? I meant just the right amount of high fives). When it was time to come home today, we felt reconnected and ready to take on the world again.

I am grateful that my husband is also my best friend. I look forward to being with him, and always have so much fun when we're together. He's a good man, that husband of mine. And he makes me laugh like no one else can.

Happy 7th anniversary, Landon! I love you, i.e.u.

Feeling Happy

As I sat on the small deck off our bedroom with my husband next to me, watching our daughter lovingly snuggle with and sing to our new pet rabbit, I felt happy. Really, really happy. Happier than I can remember feeling in a long time.
Happiness is good.
I am grateful.