Brides Magazine Local Edition - Chicago

Christmas is upon us and I can feel the excitement building each day when Mason and Miles come down the stairs to see our tree. Matt and I have been adding presents each night as they're wrapped. Not the ones from us but the gifts from Nana and Papa, the cousin draw names and for Matt and myself. There aren't that many gifts but I can tell you that Mason knows each and every one. This is the first year that he's taken to shaking the presents. He's already convinced that there's at least one LEGO set and a Bionicle under the tree with his name on it. He knows the books but he's stumped by the two pack dvd. Ha!

This year Christmas has felt a bit magical. I think it has to do with the boys getting older but not too old. Santa is as real as he can be, in fact we mailed their letters to the North Pole today. Mason and Miles put them in the mailbox themselves. They're getting to be such big boys!

There's something else this year that I haven't been able to put my finger on until now. I think what I'm feeling is an underlying glimmer of hope. Hope for a better future, a better tomorrow. Hope that things will actually turn around with our economy and that people will find value in conversation and spending time with friends and family over spending money on unneeded things.

I also have hope that all of the time and energy I've been putting into this business will produce great things, and, in light of that hope, I have some fantastic news that I'm eager to share. Forget Me Not Design has been included in a list of 11 album companies featured in an article in Bride's Magazines 16 local editions. Chicago was the first to hit stands and I'm giddy with excitement. The rest will filter out across the country at different times of the year. This is a crazy wonderful Christmas present for sure!

What's really crazy is that out of the 11 companies listed, 6 don't work with the general public and 2 are DIY companies. That leaves 3 companies that are listed who work with the general public to create albums. THREE! and FMN Design is one of them. I think I'm doing a happy dance pretty much everywhere I go these days. What a way to end 2009 and begin 2010. I can't thank Be Inspired PR enough for all of their hard work and faith in my business. Those girls ROCK!

I'll end this post with the intro paragraph of the magazine spread. (FMN is one of the "specialty custom artisans" mentioned.) Woohooooo!!!!

Brides Magazine Local Edition - Chicago

Christmas is upon us and I can feel the excitement building each day when Mason and Miles come down the stairs to see our tree. Matt and I have been adding presents each night as they're wrapped. Not the ones from us but the gifts from Nana and Papa, the cousin draw names and for Matt and myself. There aren't that many gifts but I can tell you that Mason knows each and every one. This is the first year that he's taken to shaking the presents. He's already convinced that there's at least one LEGO set and a Bionicle under the tree with his name on it. He knows the books but he's stumped by the two pack dvd. Ha!

This year Christmas has felt a bit magical. I think it has to do with the boys getting older but not too old. Santa is as real as he can be, in fact we mailed their letters to the North Pole today. Mason and Miles put them in the mailbox themselves. They're getting to be such big boys!

There's something else this year that I haven't been able to put my finger on until now. I think what I'm feeling is an underlying glimmer of hope. Hope for a better future, a better tomorrow. Hope that things will actually turn around with our economy and that people will find value in conversation and spending time with friends and family over spending money on unneeded things.

I also have hope that all of the time and energy I've been putting into this business will produce great things, and, in light of that hope, I have some fantastic news that I'm eager to share. Forget Me Not Design has been included in a list of 11 album companies featured in an article in Bride's Magazines 16 local editions. Chicago was the first to hit stands and I'm giddy with excitement. The rest will filter out across the country at different times of the year. This is a crazy wonderful Christmas present for sure!

What's really crazy is that out of the 11 companies listed, 6 don't work with the general public and 2 are DIY companies. That leaves 3 companies that are listed who work with the general public to create albums. THREE! and FMN Design is one of them. I think I'm doing a happy dance pretty much everywhere I go these days. What a way to end 2009 and begin 2010. I can't thank Be Inspired PR enough for all of their hard work and faith in my business. Those girls ROCK!

I'll end this post with the intro paragraph of the magazine spread. (FMN is one of the "specialty custom artisans" mentioned.) Woohooooo!!!!

A Little Update on the Reoch's

It's the middle of the day on Monday. Christmas has somehow once again snuck up on me. I told a friend recently that the end of January would be here before we knew it and I think I was right! Once Thanksgiving hits, it's kind of all over. There's Christmas or other holidays to celebrate depending on your belief, then New Years and before you know it we're getting into 2010.

It's interesting to think that another decade of time has gone by. My being born in 1970 makes those dates even more meaningful. Another decade of time and decade of life and crazy enough, 10 years of knowing my husband. When I was younger I had the experience of months and years taking a long time to pass. I remember being told by my parents and other people how quickly time goes when you're older and I guess, now, I'm older. No way to deny it. The years are flying by. I can remember being younger and dating someone. 3 months felt like an eternity at times, let alone a year or two. Now, I feel like these past 10 years with Matt are a drop in the bucket. Funny how that works.

It helps that there is much to do. A business to run, presents to make and buy, people to see, trees to trim. Oh, and fish tanks to take care of. ;-) Miles is laying at my feet sucking his thumb. Mason is in the great room with Martyna making Christmas projects. I'm going to blink and they'll both be different, older. I'm excited to see who they become as much as I'm sad that they won't be my little one's anymore. But, no need to go down that road yet.

So, for a brief update on what's been going on around here: Miles head is much better. The glue patch that's supposed to fall off like a scab is still stuck on his head from where they glued it back together. I'm hoping this means the scar won't be so bad. (He cracked his head open a couple of weeks ago. Split it open right where his third eye would be. Gross.) Mason has two loose teeth. The bottom front teeth. He's planning on saving ALL of his teeth as they fall out so that instead of dolling them out to the Tooth Fairy one at a time for a measley silver dollar each, he can give her the whole mouth full at once and get something REALLY BIG. We're still checking in to see if the Tooth Fairy is strong enough to carry all of those teeth at once. She is pretty tiny you know! Matt is good, still playing soccer and making music. Still as cute as ever and the best husband a girl could ask for.

And me?! I'm great. Taking time to breath and say my daily affirmations. Kissing my boys whenever I can and appreciating each moment for what it is...amazing. I'm also slowing down. I can feel that winter mindset creeping in. Getting ready to stay in doors on rainy days and sit by the fire whenever possible. I also have a feeling that change is coming. Change for the better. Change in a good way. I think this happens most years. It's the cycle. The end of something and the beginning of something else. I welcome it this year and can feel a tingle of excitement to see what this new decade will bring.

Oh, and before I forget again, Mason is now a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. I haven't posted for a bit and he actually got the belt a few weeks ago. Since a post is better with pictures...here is Mr. Yellow Belt.

Thanksgiving Through The Years

Thanksgiving was never my favorite time of year. I wasn't that into turkey and I can't stand gravy on my mashed potatoes. Maybe the not being into turkey had something to do with my experience one Thanksgiving. It was somewhere around 1976 when the microwave had become more popular than a dishwasher. We of course had one and it was as big as a television. It even had it's own cabinet/stand that it sat on, proudly, in our kitchen.

We cooked everything in that thing. I can remember discovering that eggs exploded and that water would boil in no time at all. That Thanksgiving my mother decided that we were going to do things a bit different. That year, we were going to microwave the turkey. We cooked everything else in there, why not our Thanksgiving day feast?! Well, she found out from the recipe book that you could cook the bird in the microwave but, and this is a big B.U.T. it wouldn't brown. No crispy and delicious skin holding the turkey together. No real way to tell the turkey was done, other than sticking a thermometer into it. A nice, big skin colored bird. Well, that just wouldn't do. Not for my mother.

What you may ask was the solution? A little bottle that contained a dark brown liquid. What this was I'm not sure but I can clearly remember my mother telling me that we were going to paint the turkey. She's an artist so I don't think the idea seemed that far fetched. Paint the turkey, definitely, that's what we'll do!

I can honestly say that it did look brown when it was all done cooking. A nasty kind of brown that was thicker in some places and thinner in others and now that I'm thinking of it I can pretty much say that it was a turning point. I think I decided that year that I just didn't like turkey all that much.

The year that I spent Thanksgiving with some vegetarians didn't help either. They still wanted to feel like they were eating turkey even though they didn't want to eat the real thing. I kind of think there's something fundamentally wrong with that. I mean, if you're a vegetarian then why on earth would you want to eat something that looks like a big dead bird??!! It was entire turkey made of tofu. It, again, wasn't brown. No crispy skin to peel off and eat. There wasn't even a real substance to it and my gosh that thing cost A LOT of money! I had to special order it from this place in SF. It was in the shape of a turkey at least. They did their best to try to fool you. That year I paid for the artwork of forming tofu into a turkey shape more than I paid for anything to actually eat. I think after about 5 bites I couldn't stand it anymore. After all of that I resorted for a few years to cooking lasagna and saying that I was just honoring my Italian heritage.

After Matt and I were together and NOT having a turkey on Thanksgiving wasn't an option, I knew things had to change. Forced to "make this work" as my favorite Tim Gunn would say, I discovered all of the varieties that were possible. Turkeys could be roasted, bbq'd and my favorite, fried! I did have a lot to learn however and it wound up being by trial and error. The first year I cooked the turkey half way through dinner Matt pulled the plastic bag out of the turkey. I didn't stuff the bird so I never stuck my hand in there! How was I supposed to know that??!!

Now, years later, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. I get to cook with my husband some of the yummiest dishes. Stuffing doesn't have to be from a box and vegetables could include bacon! We all know that everything is better with bacon! We even have a semi set menu. Cornbread, apple, sausage stuffing, brussel sprouts with bacon, fresh cranberry sauce with oranges and of course, a turkey. This year we're trying a recipe from Giada De Laurentis. It's turkey with herbes de Provence and citrus. YUM!

I'm looking forward this year to a nice, quite Thanksgiving. It's just the four of us. I know Thanksgiving is supposed to be about family and friends and most people gather around large tables filled with people and more food that you can eat in a week. But, last year I spent Thanksgiving on an airplane flying home after spending a week with my mom in the hospital.
Maya and family had left some of their Thanksgiving feast leftovers for us on our porch. It was a Thanksgiving filled with emotion and exhaustion. This year it's going to be quiet. I have so much to be thankful for. Mom is actually doing quite well, better than any of us thought possible. She's spending the day with her Arizona family and has been cooking for two days in preparation. My sister will be spending the holiday with a ton of people I'm sure. She and her husband are the extroverted social butterflies of the family and me, I'll be here with Matt and the boys. I'll be saying thanks for all that I have. An amazing family and wonderful friends, a beautiful home and my health. I'll be saying Thank You all day long in the back of my mind behind everything that I do. Sort of like a silent mantra that just plays on repeat with each action I take and each hug I give or receive and behind every conversation I have with my friends and family.

Every year is a year to be thankful, but so is every day, every moment. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I wish you love and peace and joy this holiday!

A Day At The Beach

I was sorting through some files and came across these photographs. We spent a day at one of my favorite spots on the planet. It's a pretty secluded beach with a long staircase descending from farm lands to the pebbly sand below.

I just love it there and every time I take the boys, they love it too. They feel free at the beach. It's actually one of the only places that Mason seems to be at peace. He wanders and plays and laughs. We all do actually. I just love it there.

The Writing Mamas & Anne Lamott

My head is fuzzy. It feels like it's a bit squished between an invisible vice. Not terribly tight but tight enough to make me want to keep my eyes closed. That however, is impossible. How do you tell the little human that is standing beside me with SO much to say to please stop talking. Please let mommy have a minute to herself. Please stop looking so adorable and how on earth can your little voice still sound sweet when all I want is peace and quiet.

After practically bathing in Purell over the last couple of weeks I've managed to keep my kids healthy and contract the cold myself. Nice.

I recently, before coming down with this cold, went to an event with a friend, thank you Lisa for purchasing tickets at the last minute, where for the first hour or so different women, mothers, read a story that they had written. The women were all part of a group that meets once or twice a month here in Marin county. Their group is The Writing Mamas. Their stories were nothing short of wonderful and had us in stitches describing sagging breasts, sitting on pee filled toilet tops in the middle of the night and of course, birth.

After they spoke the main speaker of the event took the stage. I've heard of her for years. She is quite well known here in Marin for her books, views on life and her recovered alcoholic nature. She is Anne Lamott, a liberal and a believer in Christ. She didn't have anything prepared and would up just talking about her life for quite a bit. She shared intimate details of her childhood and early adulthood. She shared her thoughts on life and family and her relationship to alcohol.

I'm always amazed when people share from the heart. It connects me to that person even if I don't know them. It opens my heart a bit more. I'm interested to read one of her books. Lisa purchased two and handed me one to read. She said we would switch when we were finished. Hopefully the fuzziness goes quickly so I can actually read the book!

Well, Miles needs me and I need a pillow. I hope everyone else is feeling well and avoiding being sick. I'll hopefully be back tomorrow feeling more like myself and less like a throbbing head the size of Texas.

Friday Inspiration - Blackle

I love my husband. There are too many reasons to list so I'll share the one that sparked this post. I love my husband because he knows that I'm not a news reader. I don't like watching the news or reading too much of it because it always seems to circulate around death and destruction. Who's doing something terrible or what disaster just struck the life of some person somewhere.

The downfall to not paying attention to what's happening in the world is missing some of the good stuff. The interesting or cool things that are shaping and changing our world. Because Matt knows that this is a by-product of my tunnel vision, he sends me things he thinks I would be interested in. Things that I should be aware of, things that I would want to know. Thank goodness for Matt!!!

Here's one of the latest things he sent. I thought I would share.

BLACKLE

Does the black screen really put out less energy? I'm not sure if I really care about the answer because I like the thought of the black screen being a reminder. A reminder to use less energy and be more conscious of our environment. I've been unplugging more things around the house that are plugged in but not on. Doing a small bit to try to conserve more than I have in the past.

What are you doing?? I would love to know. Maybe it's something that I should be doing too!

Architectural Inspiration

Sometimes I feel myself sinking into myself. Hearing that voice that says I'm not doing as much as I should be. But, lately, I've been able to quiet it, tell it thank you for sharing, now shhhhh. Mainly I can tell it to pipe down because I know I am doing a lot. There are times though that I compare myself to others, I think most of us do that from time to time.

Usually, when I'm busy with life and work, writing is the first thing to go. Writing is a little bit of a treat I give myself. Being able to sit and think and write the thoughts that float through my head on paper or in this case, type them on the keyboard. Having people who regularly read this however, can put a little bit of pressure that can be good at times. Good because it reminds me that it's a good thing to sit and think and write. It's not just a selfish act. Other people enjoy and benefit from knowing what's going on in my world. Other people become inspired by things that inspire me.

I completely missed writing my Friday Inspiration last week even though it was clearly laid out in my mind. Now, today, I'm starting off the week with a bang and sharing this post is just one thing to check off the list.

There seemed to be a number of postings on architecture over the last couple of weeks. I thought I would put my favorites together. These have been shared by Matt and a couple of good friends Via and Ruby. Thanks to you three for sharing these works of art in structural form.

Definitely click on the links to learn more about each one or to see more of others. Be inspired and enjoy!


LEGO HOUSE

MODERN AND BEAUTIFUL

WOODLAND HOME

Trick Or Treat

Halloween is over but you wouldn't know it from driving by my house. The cobwebs are still up. No, not the ones that I need to vacuum from the ceiling from the real spiders but the ones all over my front porch. The pumpkins are still whole and waiting to be chopped up to be pumpkin soup, or maybe if I'm feeling really ambitious, pumpkin ravioli. The costume box is still in the living room and the candy, oh the candy, is too large a quantity to count.

We did have a great time celebrating the spookiest holiday of the year. Although we didn't ever get around to carving our pumpkins I did make a couple of Halloween treats that I thought I would share. Those along with the photo's of the Reoch's in costume I know my mom is dying to see.

The first treat I made took some investigating and research. I signed up to bring fruit to Mile's party this year. People, especially the schools around here are getting so sugar conscious. We were discouraged from bringing any candy or sweets to the party which was fine by me. They get enough Trick-or-Treating anyhow, but, that led me on a quest. How could I make "fruit" festive for Halloween. Luckily I came across a site that had a recipe that did the trick. It's so simple and brilliant all at the same time. You take a bag of oranges, not too small and not too big, hallow them out just like you would carve a pumpkin and yes, paint a jack-o-lantern face on the front. Fill the hallowed out orange peel with chopped up fruit and voila! You have a mini jack-o-lantern fruit cup. SOOO cute! I used acrylic paint so that if the little one's hands were wet it wouldn't rub off. Everyone loved them. HUGE hit!

The other treat I made was for the party we went to Halloween night. I have a recipe book filled with ghoolish delights and the one I picked was Monster Fingers. You take a can of Pilsbury Bread Stick dough and lay the individual strips out. Lay skinny strips of ham and cheese with a little mustard if you want smeared on top of one of the sticks, take the other half of the dough stick and place on top, sealing the two halves together to make a "finger". When you've filled all of them, take a sharp knife and without cutting all the way through the dough, make knuckles by slicing lines. To finish it off, mix the yolk of one egg with some green food coloring and make "finger nails" at one end. They turned out super cool and yummy. We wanted the fingers to feed more than 6 people so Matt had a great idea to cut the fingers in half and use red food coloring to make them look like they were bleeding. Oh they were gross but perfect!

Can you tell that we enjoy Halloween around here? I think it's because there's so much creativity flowing. People show up transformed to parties, sometimes unrecognizable. I get to make creepy things with food, decorate the porch and come up with costumes that are easy and fun. It's all about easy around here these days. Anything too involved and it's passed on before I can blink.

I guess I should take the decorations down soon. The parties are over, the costumes are back in the box and it's time to start thinking about turkey's and apple pie. Mmmmmmm....home made apple pie!

This year our costumes were pretty easy to figure out. Miles was a pirate. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a pirate or Spiderman but the sword tipped the scales. He was all about being a swash buckling pirate swinging his sword to steal the golden treasure. Mason and his borderline obsession with Star Wars narrowed down the field when we were choosing a costume. Obi Wan was the winner because both the costume fit and they had an Obi Wan light saber that lit up in the dark. Matt and I wanted easy but something that we could be together. In all my years of dressing up I've never been in costume as a "couple"! This year was great and when the boys were trick-or-treating, people loved that Matt and I were in costume too. I loved our look so much this may become the costume of choice for years to come!

Friday Inspiration - Pumpkins

I just love Halloween. It's such a fun time of year. The weather is turning cold and bundling up with scarves and hats makes me feel cozy and warm. I love to decorate the front of our house and am always amazed at what a few bags of spider webs can do.

Usually we spend a weekend afternoon carving our pumpkins so that on Halloween night we can light them and pass out candy. Last year I made a Lightning McQueen pumpkin for Mason although I'm sure he doesn't remember. I always like to see what other people are doing and how creative they're getting with pumpkins. This year, Matt and realized that we didn't carve our pumpkins. Maybe we'll take some time tomorrow to do it but this might be the first year that we skip it altogether. Scooping out gooey pumpkin guts could be something to skip every now and again. I could be o.k. with that.

But, I couldn't help taking a look around the web for some interesting ideas. I stumbled across a site, pumpkingutter.com that has some AMAZING pumpkin carving.

I thought in the spirit of Halloween, I would share a few of my favorites as inspiration. Just in case you're like us and haven't tackled the gruesome mess of stringy, yucky, pumpkin insides all over your hands, arms and body, maybe this will inspire you a bit! We'll see if we pull out our carving tools tomorrow. If we do, I'll be sure to share.

Happy carving everyone and have a spooky Halloween!

p.s. As huge Star Wars fans over here I had to include some of the cast of characters. It's unbelievable what people are doing with a pumpkin as a canvas!

Green Is SO The New Black

It seems that every time I turn around I'm discovering a new website or company that is "Green". I absolutely love this because it shows that we're not just a bunch of unconcerned humans running around on our planet not thinking or caring about the effect we're having on this earth.

I recently, via Twitter, found another site that is all about "green" in relationship to weddings. This industry is filled with so much disposable "stuff" that it can be difficult to stomach at times. Being conscious of what you're using and trying to use recycled or eco-friendly material can make a huge difference.

Emerald Weddings is such a new business that they haven't started taking clients. They're opening their doors in January of 2010. They offer green wedding consultation and are based out of Seattle, Washington. If you're planning your wedding for 2010, you may want to contact them to get in line for when they open to the public.

Being lovers of things green, they posted about my Earth album today on their blog. Check them out for posts on "green" tips and offerings. It's great to have a list of these types of sites to check on how to make your footprint on the earth lighter and I'm happy to add Emerald Weddings to that growing list.

Thanks EW for featuring the Earth book today! and FMN Design wishes you much success in 2010!

Artistic Exploration Through Collage

A few months ago Matt came home from a scouting job and had a flyer and a 4x6 card to give to me. It was information on a collage class that the owner of the home he scouted offered. Her name is Delisa Sage and she is a local artist here in Marin County. She owns a store in San Francisco named Collage which is a home decor store and art gallery.

I looked everything over and had the call to attend a class. It took a couple of months to schedule the time, noon to 5 on a Sunday but this past Sunday was the day. I showed up in the company of 9 other women, Delisa and her husband. Her home is wonderful. Full of art and wonderful decor. She had transformed their great room into a studio. A large table with surrounding chairs over a blue tarp to catch our mess. Drawers filled with supplies and buckets and a table with tons of things.

We started the process by painting on a canvas that was covered in paint to get us to experiment with texture and to just warm us up. Then, we were each given an 11x14 canvas to work with. She had all of the supplies we would need, paper, ribbon, beads, books, scissors, glue, paint etc. I didn't bring a ton of things from home but I did have the idea to bring a few things that called to me. A couple of things I brought were my fingerprints from when I was a teacher many years ago and a fortune from a fortune cookie.

I can't remember the last time that I spent time creating. Time just sitting and making art. Not feeling rushed or like I should be doing something else, be somewhere else or that I was neglecting my kids. Actually, if you take a look at Matt's post of the day, you'll see that they were completely taken care of and had their own artistic afternoon.

I love what I created that day. I send a HUGE thank you out to Delisa for sharing her time and her talent. To all of the women who were there participating. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with artistic inspiration. One thing I find interesting is that when I look at it, it feels like me, like my art. I think now, after creating art for so many years, I'm finally seeing who I am through my art. Elements that I like to incorporate in my work, mirror, and a limited color pallet. Bold design that is minimal in content. There I am, finding myself more and more through art.

If you're local to the area, I HIGHLY recommend taking her class. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Artist or non-artist, she pulls the creativity from you and helps transfer that creativity to a canvas. Truly remarkable. Each piece from each woman was wonderful.

On a side note, I had gone to church earlier that day and what came to me as I sat listening was that I wanted to step out of the way and let the talent that God gave me shine through. To quite the self critic and just create. I love the result...

Let The Music Play - In B Flat

The other day Matt's music partner Brian sent a link to this awesomely cool site. Being that he's everything music it seemed appropriate to come from him, and being that today is his birthday, it seems fitting to share this with everyone.

Happy Birthday Brain! (No, that's not a typo, that's what we call him)
Thanks for sharing this with me so that I can share it with others.

Happy inspiration Friday (on Thursday) everybody. Go and make some beautiful music.

http://www.inbflat.net/

Punctuality & Kids

A bunch of years back, before I had kids I was late. Late to friends parties, late to appointments, late to things that weren't on the top of my priority list. I wasn't late to important things like work or a movie that I really wanted to see. Funny how that works isn't it?

Then, I attended some Landmark Education courses and started to take a look at what being late represented to me as well as to the people or events I was meeting and attending. It pretty much was a big slap in the face of, "You're not that important. I have better things to be doing with my time." When I stopped to look at that, really look at that and feel what it felt to be on the receiving end, I took a big step back and adjusted my internal clock and made sure that I was on time for everything that I could be. It was a lifestyle change but one that I knew was for the better. Everyone likes someone who's on time. That's just a fact.

Then, as life shifted and changed and I had children, that clock has slipped here and there and being late has crept it's way back into my life. Not by a mile but far enough that as I was drifting off to sleep last night this topic was lingering there for me to look at.

I realized that I run around gathering up snacks and sweaters and anything else I may need in my bag while yelling at the boys to "hurry it up" and "get your shoes on" and let's go, let's go" too often. Then, I realized something else. They have NO idea what time it is. NONE. They can't tell time, they don't know when we have to be somewhere, they have no concept of what any of that is all about. I think this whole reflection on time was sparked by something Mason said last night. He wanted to stay up for a bit before going to bed. He asked if he could have 5 more minutes. Then he said, "You could let me stay up for 5 more minutes or maybe more or maybe less. Like 4 or 3 or 2 or 1 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10." There it was, his concept of time. Numbers that didn't really equate to too much, especially when I tell him, "o.k. 5 more minutes" and sometimes it takes 10 or 15 for me get to him. How can I even expect him to understand what 5 minutes really feels like?!

So, then it hit me, like it has a million times since having these boys, I'm responsible. Completely responsible. I'm responsible for all of us getting to where we need to be, and on time. I realized that I don't like getting into the car and telling them that we're going to be late. I don't want to raise them as people who are late to things. I don't want them to constantly feel rushed. I don't want them to form a habit that is anything but beneficial throughout their lives.

What does this mean for me? It means that I need to adjust my clock once again. I need to allocate more time to get ready, get the boys ready, pack the bag and get to wherever it is we need to go. I want the people we see to feel important. I want to raise boys who understand that being on time, or even a bit early, is not only respectful and kind but that it can be done without running around like a chicken with your head cut off. (This is how I think I appear most of the time and THAT has to change!)

I guess I share this with you readers, thank you by the way for reading, to help hold myself accountable. To speak this new way of being out loud, {the keyboard keys are making quite a racket as I type), for people to hear.

I can't promise that I'll always be on time but I can promise that I'm trying.

Tae Kwon Do

As Mason gets bigger and grows older his needs are changing. Of course. Right? I mean he isn't going to want me to snuggle up with him and kiss the crook of his neck forever. O.k. you have to wait a minute while I go get a tissue because I know that's all coming to an end way too soon!

O.K. I'm back. Well, with his needs changing all the time, we've started taking him to Tae Kwon Do two days a week. He seems to really enjoy it. Learning discipline and order, how to fall, to kick and punch. Everything a boy seems to love to do anyway, and now he can learn how to do those things properly and with control. Self control!!

His teacher is the uncle of one of his school mates and I can't tell you how much we LOVE Master Park. He doesn't hold back telling the boys to quite down, get back in line or stop goofing around and yet he does that while being funny at times and has the boys in fits of laughter. Love him!

Here are a few shots of Mason in his outfit practicing his moves. I know Nana, Papa and Grandma have been waiting to see these. Sorry for the delay! I wish you could hear the "Ay yah" that he says with each move. Would you believe we're working on his being able to say it louder?!

I ♥ Olive-Route

If you know me at all, you know that I'm all about packaging. Good packaging can make me pick up just about anything. I would check out a hammer if it was packaged in a unique way, or a set of paperclips or even a spatula for that matter. I LOVE packaging.

A couple of days ago a box was delivered to my door and when I opened it my heat skipped a beat. It wasn't because the packages inside were wrapped in some super cool way or that there was a box that was ornate and beautiful, it was because there were three brown paper wrapped bundles. This is where figuring me out can get a wee bit complicated. I think I get just as excited about plain brown wrapping as I do over crazy, beautiful packages.

I think it's because anything could be inside. Anything! I remember a Christmas one year that my mom decided to wrap all of the presents in plain paper. All of them were decorated with gold, silver or green ribbons and bows. It was quite the graphic effect. It made Christmas more artful that year and I've never forgotten how it all looked under our tree.

So, when I opened the box and pulled out the packages I could hardly wait to open them. I knew right away what they were, my envelopes from Via at Olive-Route Press. I was in need of some new envelopes recently and because I love everything letter pressed, I called Via. Her work is absolutely exquisite and her attention to detail is unmatched. She printed my business cards and thank you cards and now my matching envelopes. I think that if I could letterpress EVERYTHING I would. Can you have a tattoo letter pressed? I would get I ♥ Olive-Route.

Take a look at her craftsmanship. I wish you could just reach in and pick one up!