Tag Archives: being in the moment

Day 19: Summer

Posted in connection, family, Friends, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, joy, memories, motherhood, space, working mom by

Flowing…going with the flow and being in the moment. That is what I’m doing this week and am loving having the time and space to flow, even though I find it challenging to let go of schedules, expectations and control.

Tonight we ate dinner at 9pm, after Christian prepared it for us. We never eat this late, but tonight this is what flow felt like and we flowed, eating on the couches in the family room sharing crazy, chaotic, interrupted conversations.

Tonight I caught up with an old friend in between drop off and pick up points, because I’ve missed her and was curious enough to text and attempt to connect at the last minute and she said, YES!  This is what flow felt like in the moment of not being too busy! It was great to give her and her girls hugs and to share a few moments together.

I could get used to this perfectly imperfectly unstructured summer and can’t believe we are almost 3 weeks in already. Where does the time go?

Life is good, especially when we flow.

nAMaste

My Backyard Moments

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I got to enjoy moments in my backyard this morning because I decided to use the smoker to smoke chicken for our dinner tonight.

Now that I’m working, I cook dinner first thing in the morning before work, so that it’s ready when everyone comes home.  Everyone comes home at different times and we’re all typically hungry and on the run to evening meetings and practices. It’s nice to just have healthy meals ready to consume and share. It’s my idea of fast food.

So anyway, back to the backyard. In the winter time,  I hardly step foot out there. But today the smoker brought me outdoors. As I was waiting for the last chicken breast to reach 165 degrees, I explored and admired the new life that was in bloom and was thankful for these moments.

  
  
   
   
When I uncovered the sofa, I found this surprise little visitor and actually picked him up and moved him safely to the bushes.

  
I haven’t seen a lizard here before and this one reminded me of my childhood days and feeling excited and scared at the same time as I tried to catch him. I think I squealed.

And finally the chicken was ready and I moved back inside to continue on with another full and exciting day.

  
Are you noticing spring beginning to bloom where you are? It’s almost time to spring the clocks forward. I’m also loving that it’s staying lighter longer again. It’s a wonderful time of the year!

nAMaste

Baby Love

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We visited our friend’s new 8 week old baby and fell in love!  

Babies bring so much joy and love and create connections just by being. We all sat on the floor together and were entertained and felt content. I loved hearing all about the joys and stories of learning and being fully in the moment with their new baby as she learns to be alone, to go potty in the right places, how to chew on toys and not people, and how and when to sleep. I loved watching her play and then fall asleep in her mama’s arms.  All babies are so sweet and fun to be around.

Congratulations to our friends and their new baby girl! Isn’t she just perfect? It was such a joy to meet her and to play with her. Thanks for sharing your love!

Home Sick

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Charlie was “bored” all day. I took away his screens and told him to find something to do.  He said he didn’t know what to do and that he was home sick.  I told him that being sick of  being at home was not the same as being home sick but I did appreciate his description. 

I also told him it’s perfectly fine to be “home sick” and that he had to learn how to entertain himself without an electronic device.

I sat with him and we read together for about thirty minutes with about twenty interruptions.  One day he’ll be able to sit still and concentrate. Right now we are still “patiently” practicing.
He discovered his Kapla blocks and this made me happy to see him playing on the floor.
Finally he decided to go outside and play and took the bakfiets for a ride through the neighborhood.

 
I loved watching him from the kitchen window and seeing him happy and outside. Of course, I went outside to capture the moment and he invited me in for a ride. I declined and he offered again. I changed my mind and climbed in with my dress on and faced my fears to share the experience with him.  He liked driving me around and scaring me by going over the bumps.    

  
I loved that he still wanted to play.

Life is good, even when you’re home sick.

nAMaste

Play

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Did you play today?

I danced around my kitchen and teased my husband. Does that count?

I chose to watch my kids play at the ice rink with friends this morning.

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I loved that all three wanted to be on the ice together because as they get older, their interests are sometimes different. I loved watching them have fun.

After ice skating, we went to see Jessie in her Little Mermaid play. I love the theater and seeing talented kids perform. It takes so much work to make it all look easy and I appreciate this.

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I was anxious today because Charlie is getting ready to go to sleep away science camp and I was helping him pack and clean his room. I can’t believe my baby is leaving me already and he’s off to middle school this fall. After we finished packing and cleaning, he wanted to play with me. Who am I to resist? I am thankful that he wants to play with me still and I want to soak in all his sweetness.

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I know these years go by quickly – all the wise women have told me so. So even when I’m frustrated and tired, I still choose to play.

Life is good.

Hope you got some rest and play in your day, today.

Being in the Moment

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I didn’t take any pictures today and instead just enjoyed the moments without feeling like I had to capture what was.

Instead, I just enjoyed the conversation, the scenery and just being.

I went for a hike with my BFF and although it was only 6+ miles, we probably could have gone 50 miles and not even noticed or felt tired. We were so happy to just be together out doing what we love and chatting and sharing and catching up that we hardly even noticed where we were.

I love these moments when time just passes by and you don’t even realize it because you are so content doing what you’re doing.

I was going to cook dinner tonight and then another friend dropped by, took off her shoes and decided to stay for awhile. I love when friends do this. I broke out the goat cheese from Harley Farms, some fresh red grapes and sliced the bread i picked up at the produce market today, and opened a bottle of my favorite Hess chardonnay to share with her. We sat together for over an hour and just caught up and enjoyed each other’s company, while our kids played outside.

I love this life. I love the simplicity of it all and just flowing with whatever comes my way.

Life is a miracle and I am loving it.

How was your Saturday?

Here I Am

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Here I Am.

This blog is about Being.  It is about being mindful and present and searching for the lessons, and gleaning the knowledge that is presented and sharing it in a way that is meaningful and hopefully repeatable.

It’s about experiencing life as it happens and capturing it’s essence, every day, never knowing what I will write about until the end, when the credits roll and I can sit back and reflect on what gifts were received.

It’s a great gift, actually. One for myself and one that I choose to share with you, hoping that you’ll take a moment too, to reflect on your own day, your own choices, your own results and find and label the good despite the chaos and struggles that we are presented. I hope that my life story might provide inspiration and ideas because I think we learn from each other and copy what we like in others. I hope you find something you like when you spend your time reading with me.  Thank you for sharing this journey together.

I know that writing has changed my life. I just wonder if it’s the mindfulness and gratitude and taking time to reflect every day that actually has changed my life for the better, because I am focused on the positive aspects of life. Every day I take time to reflect on what went well and to try to see what I might do differently next time if things didn’t go as planned.  This has taught me to accept what is and to try to adapt quickly and to be ok with what comes my way every day. It’s a practice, and I am not always successful, but this plan seems to be working for me.  I wish this for everyone.

I am thankful for this life we have been given.

Live it up. Love it out. Laugh out loud.

Namaste.

Sick Day

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My little one was sick today. He’s been sick since Friday but has been powering through school and the weekend and this morning I didn’t have the heart to wake him up and let him sleep in. When he woke on his own, he still had a sore throat and a groggy voice. I decided to let him stay home and just rest today. This is of course changed my plans, but for the better I think, even though it was challenging to enjoy the moment.

He had big dreams and it isn’t often the two of us have time alone together anymore.  So I granted his wishes and let the to do list wait.

We took the time to make French crepes, his favorite breakfast specialty.

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Afterwards, I tried to get him to read, but he wasn’t in the mood. I was trying to get the house decluttered after the weekend and catching up with laundry. I was hoping he would entertain himself. But he had other dreams.

I told him about the Kids Code initiative and the Hour of Code week that was going on this week and told him he should look into this. This piqued his interest and no sooner than I had mentioned it, he had the computer screen open and began creating his own PONG video game.  He was a natural, thanks to his 4th grade teacher, Jenny Maehara, who introduced this to him last year. She also introduced him to Tinkercad, the software used to design 3D printing objects.  I was amazed at how comfortable he was navigating between objects and motions and senses and events.  This kid can code!  When he got the background, the sprite, the ball and the paddle picked out and chose code to make the objects move, he shouted out, “Wow! I did it!”  I loved being there to see him learn and at this moment I tried to not worry anymore about the dishes and laundry and just enjoyed being in the moment with him.  

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He says he wants to be an inventor one day. I can’t wait to see what he becomes when he grows up. Well, actually, I can wait. He told me in 10 years he would be 20, and I told him to be quiet, that I didn’t want to know that. He laughed.

After he was done with his hour of code and I was folding laundry, he found some ornaments to color which only took five minutes. He was ready for the next craft project. Luckily Juliana had bought a little foam kit to do with a neighborhood friend this weekend while she was babysitting, but her plans had fallen through. I went and found the kit in her room and bought myself another 30 minutes. But of course he wanted to do it together and told me to leave the laundry and that it could wait. He was right. This kids is smart!  We enjoyed sticking sticky tiles on the roof and putting the pieces together without any glue.

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By the time he was done, I told him I had an hour before having to go pick up his sister from school. I was planning on getting some more chores done, but he thought we should go watch the movie he rented this morning because he thought I’d like it too. He asked me to come watch it with him and who was I to say no? Living in the moment… isn’t what this life is about? And I’m so glad I did. His legs on top of mine.

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His little hands rubbing my face and reaching his arm around me to snuggle. I think this is what they call being accomplished, even though it doesn’t feel like that in the moment. Silver linings.

I did still manage to get most of the laundry done, and a workout in after his siblings came home, which made me happy. I’m used to having quiet time alone now and was missing my workout sanctuary.  This constant mothering thing is hard and good work!  I felt like I had a needy toddler again and did take the time to enjoy him, although I have to admit my head did drift a few times to the dark side.  Can you relate?  I hope he’s well tomorrow and I sure appreciate his school and will miss my little buddy again. Yin and yang. Thank you for our sick day today, little one. I adore you and hope you feel better tomorrow.

Namaste.

Rainbows and Unicorns

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I don’t always see rainbows and unicorns, but I’m always looking for them in my mind and once in awhile I find them, both literally and figuratively.

Today I got lucky and actually saw this rainbow over my house and it made me smile.   There is something magical about them.  You have to be looking up to see them and they don’t last for very long, so if you’re not paying attention and you stay inside, you might just miss them.

This is how I see life. There are rainbows that appear and we have to be present and in the moment to see them. We have to go outside and play.

What rainbows did you see today?  What was magical about your day?  Did you slow down to see what’s special in front of you?

I have holiday anxiety in my body. I want to be in several places at the same time and my To Do list is bigger than my To Be list. Yet I refuse to be too busy and to let the anxiety take over. Instead, I  made the time to be present and to enjoy the gifts of presence with my self, my friends and with my family, amidst the chaos and rain and shopping and planning and cooking and cleaning.  This is what advent means to me.

Susanne saved me a place at yoga this morning. I was running behind in the rain and hitting every stop light. I didn’t think I was going to make it there on time, and if you’re late, the yoga teacher puts out a sign saying the class is closed. I was fearful and planning a plan b, and luckily Susanne was able to stall and I squeezed in the door just in time for an awesome workout. Melissa is an amazing yoga teacher.

I had lunch with my BFF Julie who broke her arm. Mom’s are not allowed to go down. We have too much work to do.  I was thankful for the silver lining that she wasn’t hurt too badly and that she had to stay home from work for a few days and that we could see each other. We enjoyed catching up and just being. This To Be list is quite fulfilling and it feels so good to check things off.

Because I was out during the day, I enlisted the help of my elves to get the housework done after school. They are good little elves and worked with me to declutter our house after our trip this past week. We got the laundry all done, the floors cleaned, the kitchen decluttered and the bathroom cleaned. I am so thankful for them.  We believe in work and play, but we have to work first. After the house was less chaotic, I took the boys to the pool in the rain so that they could swim and practice water polo. I have to thank our time in Amsterdam for desensitizing me to the cold, dark, and rain and to go outside anyway.  They were happy and I was happy watching them enjoy each other tonight.

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Finally, Juliana and I went to a Pampered Chef party and fundraiser with my PEO sisters to raise money for women’s education. I loved being out with her, spending time with friends and enjoying shopping for fun new kitchenware.  I can’t wait for our presents to arrive.

As the hustle and bustle and christmas music fills your ears, remember to slow down and enjoy the journey. Make time for rainbows and unicorns, and if you don’t see one this minute, I’m sure one will appear soon.  Keep looking. Never give up.

Namaste.