Giving Thanks

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I just got the Thanksgiving box down on Monday. In the box, I found some of our Thanksgiving thankfulness projects. We haven’t done something every year, but I do have a few mementos. In 2003, we made foam trees. I must have been inspired by a preschool project.

In 2004, we were thankful that Charlie survived and didn’t take the time to create another project.

In 2005, we made placemats with each of our homemade trees of thanks. They are sitting around our table now and we are all getting a kick out of what we were thankful for back then.

In 2006, we made bookmarks. I have these hanging on a mirror in another hallway.

We must have been really busy living and were not that creative in the past 8 years!! This year we are settling again and are ready for another thankfulness project.

We looked on Pinterest, and both Juliana and I gravitated independently toward the same 3D tree idea. This morning the aha light went on, and after yoga I went to the craft store to get supplies and came home and began building our Thankful Tree to surprise the kids before they came home.

Later while I was out running errands, Charlie decided to adopt the tree and made it his own. He decided our tree needed birds, and proceeded to find the ones he liked, printed them, cut them out and attached them to our tree before asking what anyone thought of his idea. I loved his creativity and independence, even though this idea was NOT on pinterest and was NOT mine! Juliana was clearly bothered by his creative freedom and wanted them removed. Even though I preferred our simple tree idea, I loved his personal touch and ownership of our family project and I didn’t want to take away from his creativity. The birds stayed.

We are creating our leaves of thanks and adding them as we think of ideas. I can’t wait to see how our tree grows.

We have so much to be thankful for. I hope the tree is overflowing in abundance and I wish you happiness, good health and peace.

What are you thankful for this year?

xo Happy Thanksgiving next week! xo

30Oct2014

Stillness

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Juliana called me to come outside to see the sky this morning before she left for school. It was radiant!! My phone camera hardly captured the beauty of the moment.

Charlie had a football game this afternoon and again the sky caught my attention.

While I wait for Christian’s water polo match to begin, again I find myself looking up.

As you walk through your day, I hope you take a moment to look up and enjoy the stillness for a moment or two, especially before the holiday rush begins.

18Jan2014

Kid Sports and Being Present

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Having three kids is really cool and helps you to be really present and aware.

We have a boy, a girl, and another boy. I like this birth order too because of the age difference between the oldest and youngest of the same sex. It gives me a way to view the present and the past and to use the past experiences to appreciate the present moments.

Watching our third child play basketball today brought back memories of all the previous games we have watched over the years. We’ve observed our kids try new sports, join new teams, make new friends, develop new skills, and move on.

Seeing Charlie’s focus and determination and passion was exciting to watch. The kids are getting better and better as they age and gain more experience. It was cool to watch him play and to compare and contrast his way of playing with the way his siblings played. I was remembering watching Christian and Juliana play too and felt the awareness that time has passed away – that they are done playing in the community leagues. And knowing that they are done, made me want to really pay attention to Charlie still playing. Does that make any sense?

I feel like having the “baby” connects me to the memories of my first born and gives me another chance to really enjoy their childhood. It makes me nostalgic and reminds me to enjoy the moments and to continue to be present because I can really see and feel how fast the times flies by. I was thankful that Christian was sitting with us and observing his brother, “coaching” from the sidelines.

Life is good.

17Dec2013

Waiting

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I have three kids and a husband that works at a startup. My routine is to not really have a routine. Our traditions are to not really have traditions. And to always expect things to change. I think that’s how it is with multiple kids and a non-traditional job.

I am a stay at home mom and I spend a lot of time waiting. And because I’m waiting, I don’t always want to start something because I know I’ll be interrupted. I’m trying to be better at this, but a lot of times it frustrates me. But I always look for the good and to enjoy the chaotic moments

For example, today I volunteered at our teacher luncheon. I was helping out while I waited to pick up Juliana. I dropped her off and unloaded groceries while I waited to pick up Charlie. I walked to school to wait for Charlie to be done playing.

This is me enjoying my walking alone moment and listening to my fun Stella & Dot necklace jingle jangle, which made me smile and take a selfie!

When I came home with Charlie, I sat down and had a snack with the kids. I wasn’t quite sure what to do next, so we hung out together. When I tried to read, they tried to talk. When Charlie started his homework, the doorbell rang with friends looking to play. I told them they had to wait too until Charlie was done with his homework.

They wanted to play outside, but I was mean mommy today and wouldn’t let him go out because the air quality people said we should stay indoors because of the fires nearby and chemicals in the air. Charlie learned about fairness and different rules for different families and I got to hear about it and his protests. Lucky me. And so I sat and waited patiently some more while he practiced controlling his body.

When he resumed some level of calm I taught him about life not being fair and things don’t always go as planned and that we have to deal with the loss and make new fun plans. I mean it’s depressing to miss your scheduled winter water ballon fight at 4:30 pm and it’s really hard to understand why when it’s good outside. Just look outside. Just ask him.

He decided he wanted to play with me instead then and that we should paint. He wanted to paint lawn decorations on cardboard. And so we did. We dug around for some cardboard and he sketched his design. Then Juliana and I joined him in painting in the details. We painted while we waited to take Juliana to her appointment and waited for dad to come home, before dinner.

We filled the time and waiting was good and he taught me something too. Not everything has to go as planned and sometimes not having a plan is good too, if you can be comfortable waiting for whatever shows up. Hmm.

16Nov2013

GGG – Day 15 – Being Healthy

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“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” ― Gautama Buddha

Today Is day 15 of Gratitude Gift Giving and I’m thankful for my health. I am thankful that I can wake up early in the morning and my body functions properly, even if I am tired. I’m thankful that I can exercise and breathe easily and work and move and play and love on my kids and husband. I will enjoy this feeling for as long as I can.

Typically one doesn’t really think about whether they are healthy or not. Usually it’s just a given until it’s not. And then the awareness sets in that you can’t do what you normally do because of your health, or the compromised health of a loved one.

Today I learned that a friend died at the age of 66 unexpectedly and there were no signs of sickness. This was shocking to me and made me sad. I will miss you Barb! Rest in peace.

Another friend mentioned she had a heart attack before she was 40. Wow! I would think that would be a huge eye opener and make you reevaluate your life and the choices you are making.

Both of these women’s stories made me think today and made me appreciate what I have right now. Thank you for the reminder to be thankful for my health and to enjoy the present moment because you never know what tomorrow will bring! And may good health continue…for all of us.

Namaste.

28Oct2013

The Grass Just Is

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The grass just is.

It isn’t greener on the other side. Right, Julie?

It’s just different shades of green or brown and alive and dead and wet and dry. Seasons change. Grass gets cut. Grows back. Has weeds and dead spots. Ages. Renews. Comes back again. It’s just grass.

It just is.

23Apr2013

Day 271: Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

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Have you heard of this book? Charlie’s class read it recently and he came home talking about it and shared it with me. He asked me to play with him and invited me to just come hang out with him. We then played foosball together and laughed and had fun, doing something I didn’t expect to do. I, of course, had 100 other things I “had” to do, yet I stopped to play and was so happy afterwards, mostly because he was happy and also because I had fun sitting on the floor and enjoying my kid. Afterwards he asked if he had filled my bucket? It’s a connection to the story that teaches children the meaning of bucket filling and bucket dipping and encourages positive behavior. I loved that he was thinking of ways to make me happy.

So today we were at his school, and giving our family friend, Darryl, a tour of the school. The kids were excited and proud to show him around. Charlie wanted to show him his classroom door that was decorated with the book cover and mini buckets that each student wrote on and decorated, explaining how they filled someone’s bucket. Charlie wrote about how he filled my bucket by playing my favorite game with me. I love it!

Darryl said that his son also read the same book and shared that with him. What a small world.

Watching the kids give Darryl a tour and showing him the art displays, music rooms, food tech, design tech, Dutch and humanities classrooms was very touching to me. I love that they were proud of their school and that Christian was taking pictures so he’ll remember it after he leaves one day. They filled my bucket today!

This picture is a piece of art from outside the Dutch classrooms.

It was very comforting having a friend from home come and take the time to drop in on his way to a business meeting in Delft. We enjoyed making dinner together with the kids and afterwards went for a walk to the park and played until bed time. I love that Darryl was open to just flow with the kids and enjoy just being with our family for a few hours, and played outside until near dusk. Thanks for coming, Darryl and for the British treats! But now you’re making me miss home!

Life is good!! Have you filled someone’s bucket today?

1Mar2013

Day 219: March 1st

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It’s the beginning of a new month, and March just sounds warmer, like spring is almost here and winter is almost over. The skies are still very grey and heavy in Holland, so I know I have to wait patiently. I’ll wait. What else would I do?

Which brings me to my thoughts of gratitude today, and being present and living in the moment.

When I walked outside this morning, I noticed these cute little flowers peeking out from under the bush. A sign of spring, I think… and Christina’s birthday. Happy bday CB!

I’m focused on seeing and finding joy right now, to fight back my sad feelings of being homesick since April and Steve left last week. When they left, I realized how much I miss our old life, or our other life, which is still part of our current life, but is so far away, and now is a bit complicated. I found myself longing to be back there playing outdoor tennis and hiking with Michele and Julie, and having coffee with the girls, and PEO, and yada yada yada. Longing for my previous routines and relationships while living and experiencing and building new routines and friendships here is/was confusing to me. While being a bit sad, I’m also so thankful and love living abroad. I am enjoying all our crazy adventures and adaptions. It’s just that yin and yang thing again and feeling balanced and unbalanced. Normal right? Especially for a Gemini.

Friends here ask how long we will live here and friends back home ask when we’ll come back home, and that makes me feel somewhat unsure of where I belong. I’m sure this is normal for expats, especially for those who plan to return one day but don’t know for sure when that one day will be. I think the best answer to everyone, is it depends and I’m not 100% sure, and then to go on living where I am and seizing the day, not worrying about the when. Isn’t that what being present is all about? Easier said than done, but it’s my truth.

So enough of my pity party – it’s over. I just like to share this side to keep things real and hopefully to relate with others who might be experiencing similar feelings.

The best part of my day today was holding a brand new baby and sharing time with her mama and a friend and a 2 year old little boy. Talking about being in the moment – I so loved holding her that I didn’t want to put her down! I loved watching her stretch, and peek open her eyes, and to listen to the little squeak sounds she made. I just wanted to soak her up and stare at her for hours. It was so peaceful just being with her and watching her every move. I was in the moment, and felt so lucky that I got to hold this newest little angel.

Life is truly good.

27Feb2013

Day 217: I Love the Sun!!

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The sun peeked out again today and I wanted to do my happy dance! When I don’t see the sun for awhile and then it shows up again, it makes me extremely happy! I am a warm weather girl! When Jeff was looking to go to business school, I begged for Stanford and not Chicago or Harvard! I don’t do well with the cold and gloomy skies.

Today I showed up at a function with a lavender, North Face down vest (trying to add a bit of color to my gray and black outfit), and my long, black, down filled North Face coat(that I wear everyday!!) and my friends teased me saying it wasn’t THAT cold! They just don’t know me well enough yet and they’re from Minnesota, so they just don’t understand! 🙂

Here are some pictures of the beautiful sky that cheered me up today, as I’ve been homesick since Friday. I also bought some Vitamin D tablets today. I feel better now!

So beautiful, right? I would take pictures of the grey skies so you can see what most days look like here in the winter. No wonder people look so forward to the spring here! At least it’s starting to stay lighter, longer. Summer is coming!!