Friendships

For my birthday this year, we traveled up north to Chicago and spent a weekend visiting with college friends. It was great and so very overdue.  It was amazing to reconnect and catch up with everyone.  College friendships are so wonderful.  These are the people that I was surrounded by during a very special time of life - when I was deciding upon a profession, deciding what kind of person I wanted to be and realizing that I loved Dan so deeply that I wanted him to be my husband.  Pretty influential years.  And fortunately, Dan and I were both blessed to have shared this time with amazing people that made the journey incredible.  And although we keep in contact electronically, there is nothing that can replace the emotion of physically witnessing my girlfriends, now wives and mothers, beautifully carrying on with the lives we had so very carefully mapped out over ten years ago.  

We stayed with my friend Girlie, her husband Jim and their sweet little baby boy, PJ.  Girlie is my dear friend who at times, I believe, may know more of the nuances of my everyday life than my own husband does.  Although I didn't formally 'meet' Girlie until grad school, she is the type of friend that I feel as though I've known forever.  We enjoy early morning commute chatter and we can cover all relevant topics of the week (including but not limited to: parenting, public accounting, purchasing a home, changing jobs, promotion dynamics, exercise, etc.) in the amount of time it takes to get to work in the morning.  She is my friend that I have travelled all over the world with and have visited in a variety of cities and whom I respect immensely.

We started the morning in downtown Downers Grove for breakfast and a walk through the market.

The boys caught sight of a train passing through - very exciting moment for my little ones. 

My boys were fans of little PJ immediately.  

Much to Drew's delight, we spent the afternoon at LegoLand.  It was pretty cool and the boys had a great time (although, a bit pricey in my opinion).  

We got to watch a show in 3D - this was really cool.  The boys had not seen anything in 3D before and they were talking about it all the way home!  Drew was so blown away by this and I know that this is the kind of thing he will remember.









Girlie and Jim were so sweet to treat us to Chicago style pizza - it was yummy!

On Sunday, we met up with more friends!  Friends with kids!  Trying to get a picture all together - yeah, right.  But it was worth a try . . . 

It was a great birthday - thanks to all of you that made it so fun!

Now, as a birthday treat to myself (from myself), we had to stop in at IKEA before we left the Chicagoland area.  I had not been in an IKEA in over a decade and was super anxious to find some treasures in this enormous store.  I have been working on a picture wall for our staircase in our house and I was hopeful that I would find some trendy, reasonably priced, accessories for this purpose.  One hour and $200 later, I emerged with a cart full of pure joy.  I had clearly forgotten what a fun experience a trip to IKEA can be.  Can't wait until next time!

Photographer (wanna be)

My super-cool graphic designer brother-in-law designed a photography logo for me.  I look pretty official, don't I?  Thanks to my friend Lindsey for having such a sweet daughter and for allowing me to shoot this sweet photo of her for my logo's debut!  

Bridges are Scary

Come on, Owen! You can do it!

Summer Days

The summer days are passing quickly.  As much as I love the fall, I'm not ready to admit that this summer is almost over.  We're definitely not ready for the pool to close, not ready to start thinking about our Halloween costumes and not ready to think about next year at this time when our firstborn will join the ranks of actual students in school.  Holy Moly. 

This summer has been filled with happy family times and that is the best thing that I could have asked for.  

I am in love with this picture of Drew.  I love his expression, the clarity, the color . . . this one will be getting made BIG - I am sure of it.

I am in love with this picture of Owen swinging - I love the angle (as he appears to be deep in thought) and the beautiful vibrantly-colored sky.  Likely to be made BIG as well.

I keep my camera handy for interesting angles and perspectives all the time.  This particular view of Drew looking at me through the steamy shower window really caught my eye.  I love the dramatic look created by the high degree of moisture.

Drew has always loved babies and it warms my heart to watch him interact with little ones.  I was so proud of him when he asked 'Aunt Kookin' (Karen) if he could hold baby Harper.

Check out the shiner on baby Evan's forehead.  The main story behind this monster bruise is that Evan thinks that he can fly, but unfortunately, he cannot.  Enough said.  

I love this particular note sent home by Drew's preschool teacher.  It appears that Drew and a sweet little girl named, "Brynn" became good friends one morning at preschool . . . :)  If you ask Drew about Brynn, his cheeks become flushed immediately . . . hmmm, what does that mean?  Good grief - the boy is only 4!  I didn't expect this would happen so early!

And Goodnight!

The Way It Was When I Was Little

I love to think about the times when I was little.  I definitely have happy memories of my childhood.  I remember learning to tie my shoes in kindergarden.  I remember trying so hard to learn to ride my bike (my first bike was purple and had a long purple banana seat with fancy strands of glitter streamers coming out of both ends of the handlebars).  I remember riding the bus.  I remember having an 8:30 bedtime which seemed ridiculous to me in the early grade school years when it wasn't even dark outside at 8:30 during the summer months.  I remember the strict rule that if you had a baseball/softball game during the evening, you could not go to the pool during day in order to maintain all of your energy.   I remember sitting at the exact same place at the dinner table each night with my family (even though we didn't have 'assigned seats,' we operated as if we did).  I remember that without exception, my Dad made us buttered toast each morning before school but none of us ever ate it.  I love remembering our Christmas traditions:  the cozy, sleepy nights traveling to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and waking up on Christmas morning to a living room abundant with gifts.  I remember playing in the backyard with my brothers, riding bikes with our neighbors, and overall feeling very happy and safe knowing that I belonged to a very loving family.  


I hope that I can offer my boys a similar childhood.  Carefree days of play.  Summer fun.  BBQs.  Great neighbors.  But I often think of how different things are now and how I will be able to accomplish the same end result with a different set of circumstances in a different time.  In some cases, I think that what we have now is better.  It is hard to believe that when I was a baby, there were no infant seats (and no rules strictly enforced to ensure that children were buckled securely); that seat belts likely weren't safe and not worn regularly anyway; that people smoked basically everywhere, kids gnawed on plastic and toys full of lead, climbed on high steel monkey bars, and electrical outlets were always in plain view and available for a finger to be inserted.


It is clear to me that parenting standards have obviously changed over the years, but I worry about a lot of things that my parents did well that I'm not sure I can replicate.  I came across an interesting article in my Parenting magazine that cited a few differences between the generations and the items I cite below definitely resonate for me personally:      


My Mom and Dad cooked.  Actual Meals.  In pans.  In the oven.  Everyday. And if we were hungry, we ate.  We never went to McDonald's.  We didn't order pizza.  We only got soda on special occasions.  We ate meals with a proper starch and a vegetable.  And we couldn't get up and play until the food was gone (or substantially) gone from our plates.   


They Sent Us Outside to Play. We played outside most times until after dark. I'm sure that I told my parents (in general) where I was, but overall, I guess they didn't question my safety in our own neighborhood.  


They weren't afraid to discipline us. At least, that is how it seemed to me.  My Mom and Dad weren't afraid of looking like a "bad parent" at the mall. They weren't afraid of telling us 'no' and that we were out of line and punishing us accordingly (sometimes with Dad's belt and an occassional wooden spoon on the butt).  From what I can tell in my generation of parenting, parents are easily embarrassed and insecure about disciplining children. In the event of a meltdown, most parents just want to get out from the public's eye, lest they be subject to judgment.  


Less parenting philosophy. It seemed to me that when I was little, things were casual and parents just naturally knew what to do and that most families were similar to each in that regard.  I do not recall distinctions between families that home-schooled their children, only drank organic milk, were vegan, were opposed/not opposed to vaccines, gluten-free families, 'green' families, etc. There were just families. And they played. Together. No one was on their soapbox trying to assert their will, or looking down on others for not following suit.


They knew the value of money.  Definitely better than now.  We had some toys and we played with them until they basically fell apart. We didn't get a new toy every time we cleaned our room.  We didn't have Nintendo DS's with fifteen games, an iPod, a cell phone, a laptop, and DVDs to keep us entertained.  Our current way of thinking place a significant amount of trust in abundance.   


They allowed us to make friends.  My Mom and Dad didn't scrutinize my friends and for the most part, may not have even known everyone that I considered a friend.  I generally made my own decisions as to who I would be friends with and my parents didn't conduct an on-line background check on my friends' parents, or 'friend' the kid's parent(s) on Facebook to find out what their deal was. Friendships weren't contrived by way of playdates. We made friends organically.  


I don't consider myself old, but things have changed quite a bit since I was little.  Some things are better, safer, less labor-intensive and more convenient; but unfortunately, many other things are more complicated, more dangerous and definitely more frustrating.  As I move forward into the future with my babies, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous about navigating the winding and socially complicated road ahead of us.  I'm just grateful that I had a genuine, raw and meaningful upbringing that will serve me well as a benchmark for helping my own children. 

Paint Your Own Pottery

I love to read "mommy" blogs and I have a few favorites that I follow closely.  It is my favorite way to start a weekend morning:  a cup of coffee and a few inspirational words from my favorite mommy bloggers.    

This morning, I read a passage from a blog written by a young mother whose own mother experiences a recurring dream.  The grandmother dreams that her own kids are little again, and she's back in the days of rocking them, reading stories, holding their hands to walk across streets to parks and picnics.  She says that when she wakes up, for one second she thinks her kids are still little and in her house, and that when she finally comes to realize they are not, there is a moment of heartache - a paralyzing reminder that those days are gone, and that her kids have moved on. 

I think about this a lot. 

I know that every mom wants to encourage their children to build independence and explore outside the comfort zone of their own home. I know that I will be happy and do all that I can to encourage and support their independence and explorations away from home. But I also know that what I have right now - three little boys who comfortably remain in the security of this tiny piece of time where they are ours - is fleeting.  Hundreds of times each day, I think to myself, "I'm going to miss this." 

And since time stops for no one, I am determined to be mindful of these days and soak up the precious minutes that are the childhood of my darling baby boys.  

Today, we made art.  

Drew, Owen and I ventured to a new local establishment this morning (Glazy Daze Pottery in Columbia, IL) where we created our very own pieces of artwork.  Drew chose to paint a bulldozer, Owen chose to paint a jeep and I kept busy tending to the boys' constant switching of paint colors and brushes in a store full of breakables.  Yikes.  And baby Evan stayed at home to nap with Daddy.  

It was definitely stressful at times, but the important thing was that we were together.

So our painting skills could stand to have some improvement, but I know that I will love the treasures we created today forever.