Boys singing! from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Reminder to Lauren and Dan . . .
Note to self: Please watch this video before you get tempted to have another child.
P.S. The greasy thai food on the kitchen table was super yummy!
P.S. The greasy thai food on the kitchen table was super yummy!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Recruiting for next year's trip . . . .
So, check out the photos of the new cabins that will be available for our trip next summer. Who's in????? Come on, you know you want to!
Please excuse the random people in this photo:)
Please excuse the random people in this photo:)
Hello June
I am tired and it is late (quite early actually). But for the moment, I don't care and want to welcome in the month of June with my third blog post for the evening. Life is good - I am blogging and editing photos on my gorgeous new MAC computer so at the moment, I'm not much concerned with the fact that my sleepy time will be seriously lacking tonight (probably not a good idea to talk to me tomorrow though:)
To me, June is a beacon of happy times to come. It is the start of a summer full of promise, but also is an acknowledgement that my children are growing fast and that time passes much too quickly. This summer, my three-year-old Owen will start preschool. And I can hardly believe these words as I type them, but next year at this time, we will be preparing for Drew to start kindergarden (gasp!)
I can hardly believe it. My baby - my firstborn - will be ready to join the ranks of students in school. Actual school! I remember when I was in kindergarden - how can I have a child going to kindergarden? This is a bittersweet emotion for me. On one hand, I'm excited for Drew to start a new chapter because he is so ready for the challenge and would thoroughly enjoy it; however, the other hand is telling me to slow down, take a deep breath, and think about what I have taught him, or more importantly, what I have not yet taught him (and get on it!) It's very important to me to raise kind and conscientious children, those who think about others and make efforts to improve the circumstances around them and lead by example. I want to raise gentlemen. It is my job to raise gentlemen. And so much of their ability to do this comes from skills and lessons we will teach them as parents. Pressure, to say the least.
I don't always know the perfect thing to say to my kids when they ask me questions or need a good lesson. It is interesting to me how much they believe me and trust me. It is pure blinded unwavering trust. At times, admittedly, I have absolutely no clue of what I'm doing as parent, but I'm reassured and validated by trusting little eyes that tell me whichever path I select, it will be the right one. I believe our kids will know what's good and will find their own way to adopting good inherent attributes even if we don't have the perfect lectures to provide. I believe that they will know far more by how we model behaviors than by how we verbally advise them. As Jill Churchill said, "there's no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one."
While I may never instruct my children in a way that merits applause or goes down in history, I do it as thoughtfully as possible, cutting myself some slack that I'm doing the best job I can. And every day, God grants me three special reminders that we're doing just fine.
You know, the strength of motherhood is really powerful. I am sitting here with a house to clean, a car to clean and a to-do list a mile long (and by 'house to clean,' you should realize that I mean the point where you consider if it's really worth cleaning the master bedroom or rather, lighting a match and watching it all burn, and by 'car to clean,' you should realize that I could feed Drew's preschool class for a week with the leftovers on the floor on my mini-van, and by 'to-do' list, you should realize that I have post-it notes slapped on every surface available to me at both home and at work); yet, none of it really bothers me. I would rather think about my children and continue to capture my thoughts in this blog post than cross any one of my tasks off of my post-it notes.
Welcome June. Goodnight moon - it is night night time.
To me, June is a beacon of happy times to come. It is the start of a summer full of promise, but also is an acknowledgement that my children are growing fast and that time passes much too quickly. This summer, my three-year-old Owen will start preschool. And I can hardly believe these words as I type them, but next year at this time, we will be preparing for Drew to start kindergarden (gasp!)
I can hardly believe it. My baby - my firstborn - will be ready to join the ranks of students in school. Actual school! I remember when I was in kindergarden - how can I have a child going to kindergarden? This is a bittersweet emotion for me. On one hand, I'm excited for Drew to start a new chapter because he is so ready for the challenge and would thoroughly enjoy it; however, the other hand is telling me to slow down, take a deep breath, and think about what I have taught him, or more importantly, what I have not yet taught him (and get on it!) It's very important to me to raise kind and conscientious children, those who think about others and make efforts to improve the circumstances around them and lead by example. I want to raise gentlemen. It is my job to raise gentlemen. And so much of their ability to do this comes from skills and lessons we will teach them as parents. Pressure, to say the least.
I don't always know the perfect thing to say to my kids when they ask me questions or need a good lesson. It is interesting to me how much they believe me and trust me. It is pure blinded unwavering trust. At times, admittedly, I have absolutely no clue of what I'm doing as parent, but I'm reassured and validated by trusting little eyes that tell me whichever path I select, it will be the right one. I believe our kids will know what's good and will find their own way to adopting good inherent attributes even if we don't have the perfect lectures to provide. I believe that they will know far more by how we model behaviors than by how we verbally advise them. As Jill Churchill said, "there's no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one."
While I may never instruct my children in a way that merits applause or goes down in history, I do it as thoughtfully as possible, cutting myself some slack that I'm doing the best job I can. And every day, God grants me three special reminders that we're doing just fine.
You know, the strength of motherhood is really powerful. I am sitting here with a house to clean, a car to clean and a to-do list a mile long (and by 'house to clean,' you should realize that I mean the point where you consider if it's really worth cleaning the master bedroom or rather, lighting a match and watching it all burn, and by 'car to clean,' you should realize that I could feed Drew's preschool class for a week with the leftovers on the floor on my mini-van, and by 'to-do' list, you should realize that I have post-it notes slapped on every surface available to me at both home and at work); yet, none of it really bothers me. I would rather think about my children and continue to capture my thoughts in this blog post than cross any one of my tasks off of my post-it notes.
Welcome June. Goodnight moon - it is night night time.
Holiday World (Santa Claus, IN)
I love this place. We have so much fun here that the simple thought of Holiday World brings a smile to my face any time of year. Seeing my boys' happy faces this weekend has left me smiling. I am smiling from our fun coupled with my hope that through trips such as this one, we are creating a storehouse of happy memories for our boys and at the same time, creating a family tradition that they look forward to, remember, and recall with childlike joy.
It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed since we visited this place. This past weekend I was reminded of all of the reasons that we love this place and why making time for family fun is so important. We savored every moment of our time together this holiday weekend and soaked up every ounce of fun that we could muster . . . needless to say, we are exhausted. Exhausted, but happy!
Of course, trips with children are absolutely blissful when recalled in thought alone; however, the reality of being in a moment with a four-year-old having an extreme tantrum because he refuses to leave the park is another (drew). Or my particular favorite is a child whose cheeseburger accidentally touches the ketchup on his plate and proceeds to have the meltdown of the century for such a travesty (owen). Or not to be forgotten, a child who feels the need to climb anything and everything to demonstrate just how independent a one-year-old little boy can be - "just set me down, Mommy, I can walk myself!" (evan).
My little angels were fun, but a challenge this weekend. Thank goodness my parents joined us who helped out tremendously. But the good thing is that the challenges are quickly erased in my mind and what is left is the beauty of the much-enjoyed togetherness. And watching my parents love on my babies is heaven. These kids are my heart and when others love them, consequently, it is a direct path to a deeper place in my own heart.
I found a great quote on one of the mommy blogs I follow that translates family love into meaningful accounting lingo:):
"When one focuses her business on the home, she can measure her success in smiles, pay dividends in laughter, and chart revenues with wonder. When others' ventures fail and fumble, hers will flourish. And when she is old and the home is quiet, her butterfly chasers and dress up dreamers will have a vault of memories that will make them all rich."
Grandpa Dave's infamous smile!
Enjoy the video!
Check out out our accommodations for the weekend:
It is hard to believe that an entire year has passed since we visited this place. This past weekend I was reminded of all of the reasons that we love this place and why making time for family fun is so important. We savored every moment of our time together this holiday weekend and soaked up every ounce of fun that we could muster . . . needless to say, we are exhausted. Exhausted, but happy!
Of course, trips with children are absolutely blissful when recalled in thought alone; however, the reality of being in a moment with a four-year-old having an extreme tantrum because he refuses to leave the park is another (drew). Or my particular favorite is a child whose cheeseburger accidentally touches the ketchup on his plate and proceeds to have the meltdown of the century for such a travesty (owen). Or not to be forgotten, a child who feels the need to climb anything and everything to demonstrate just how independent a one-year-old little boy can be - "just set me down, Mommy, I can walk myself!" (evan).
My little angels were fun, but a challenge this weekend. Thank goodness my parents joined us who helped out tremendously. But the good thing is that the challenges are quickly erased in my mind and what is left is the beauty of the much-enjoyed togetherness. And watching my parents love on my babies is heaven. These kids are my heart and when others love them, consequently, it is a direct path to a deeper place in my own heart.
I found a great quote on one of the mommy blogs I follow that translates family love into meaningful accounting lingo:):
"When one focuses her business on the home, she can measure her success in smiles, pay dividends in laughter, and chart revenues with wonder. When others' ventures fail and fumble, hers will flourish. And when she is old and the home is quiet, her butterfly chasers and dress up dreamers will have a vault of memories that will make them all rich."
Grandpa Dave's infamous smile!
Enjoy the video!
Check out out our accommodations for the weekend:
Untitled from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.
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