Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

There are just a few days left of summer vacation and I’m soaking in every minute with the kids. I’m excited for school to start again and to provide structure to our days, but at the same time I’m dreading it. With the end of summer, comes early morning wake up calls, rushed breakfasts, homework and sport schedules and the mad dash of it all. I’m not looking forward to all that busyness and having less time together. I actually really enjoy my kids and spending time together and am going to miss them when they go back next week. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll also enjoy my alone time again, but I’d much rather have them with me!

Today we were appointment free and headed to Santa Cruz to enjoy the kids’ pick of playing on the Boardwalk, riding the rides, playing in the arcade and eating fair food. I’d say life is good! I hope they enjoyed their time together as much as I did. I loved seeing and sharing their joy and excitement, and especially loved the Giant Dipper and Log Ride, even though I felt sick afterwards from the roller coaster. The weather was just perfect!

I Am Content.

14Aug2013

California Beauties

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Tonight I chose to walk to pick up Charlie from a friend’s house, instead of driving as I normally would. I wished I had the bakfiets to ride, but at least it should be here by the end of the month. Instead, we walked hand in hand through our neighborhood and ran into some friends along the way. The sun was shining in the tree tops and caught my attention. I absolutely love natural light and holding hands with my baby!

Charlie found these fresh eggs in his friend’s chicken coop and collected them to bring home for us. The figs were also from their yard. How lucky are we?

Another friend dropped off fresh tomatoes from her garden. I love that they share their bounty with our family.

Thank you Ling and Val! We love our gifts!

Life is good.

12Aug2013

Discipline and Self Control

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

This week has been a week of learning and practicing discipline. And I’ve realized I’m not that good at it. I thought I was good at, but I only want to be good at it and still need practice.

I want to be disciplined at eating the right portion sizes. I want to be disciplined at working out everyday. I want to control my yelling when I get frustrated with my kids. And I want to know how best to discipline my kids.

This last thought is where I am most curious and want to learn more. My family is in a state of transition. I know we all are, but moving back and having kids turn into Tweens and teens and starting new schools has brought more changes. I used to have more control over choices and decisions but now their little minds have grown, as they are supposed to, and they have opinions and ideas that are different than mine. Go figure.

I was reading another blogger’s post on discipline around the world and clicked on a link regarding love and logic, a disciplinary approach to raising kids, that piqued my interest. Of course, I didn’t have time to read all of it, but what I did read mentioned that what we are trying to teach our kids with discipline is really self-control. We want them to be responsible for themselves and being responsible for their own behavior is no different than teaching them to be responsible with their school work, chores, and relationships.

So this weekend, I began practicing different discipline approaches and didn’t think of my teaching as discipline, but rather teaching my children self control. I used words to describe expectations and gaps and tried to make connections between their behavior and our reality. I practiced not yelling and reacting and patience and my own self-control.

Huh.

Maybe my kids will teach me a thing or two about self-control. I’m paying attention and learning too, I hope.

10Aug2013

Smurfs 2 and Sushi

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

I took the kids to see Smurfs 2 this afternoon with some friends. They seemed to enjoy it and I liked seeing the Paris highlights, as the movie was set in Paris. I also liked the messaging somewhat, and especially liked the positive focus and tension between the two female Smurfs and their friendship that grew.

As my reward for sitting through the kid movie, it was only right that I got to enjoy some alone time on a date with my husband sans kids. I’ve been craving sushi and we enjoyed sitting at the sushi bar watching fresh sushi and and a Smurf go around the river! Dinner was excellent too!

Life is good! Hope you have a good weekend!!

8Aug2013

Downtown Music Summer Series

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Tonight we met up with Julie and her family to celebrate the summer concert series downtown. It was fun to be outside, people watching and enjoying a nice dinner together with our families. There were lots of crazy people there, dancing and just enjoying themselves.

I’m loving the sunshine and warm weather every day and am so thankful
for the change. I am slowly resettling and starting to feel at home again. Thanks for dinner, Julie!!

Life is good!

7Aug2013

San Francisco Day

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Today we played the role of local tourists and took the Caltrain from Mountain View to San Francisco.

We met up with my friend Jessica and her two boys and enjoyed the journey up the peninsula together.

When we arrived in San Francisco, our first stop was Panera for lunch. We enjoyed freshly baked sandwiches, salads and soup, Mac-n-cheese, and bagels. We then had enough energy to walk along the Embarcadero to the Ferry building, stopping along the way to admire AT&T Park baseball stadium and the gorgeous weather.

When we arrived at the ferry building, we took a bike taxi to pier 15 to explore the Exploratorium.

Our feet were tired and we didn’t know how much further it might be from the ferry building to the designated pier. The bike ride was an experience in itself that we all enjoyed in the California sunshine.

The Exploratorium had so much to see and touch. We could have spent several more hours there if I didn’t have other plans this evening to bring us home by dinner time.

Everyone was having a good time, touching and learning. I especially loved the transistor circuits and watching all the creative and smart kids work together collaboratively.

I also enjoyed being outside on the back of the pier admiring the sailboats passing by. There were great big boats supposedly racing today for the Louis Vuitton Race. They picked a perfect day to be on the water!

I loved just being back in San Francisco again. We picked a perfect day to be there as the sun was shining and it was actually a warm August day.

I hope we get back up there again very soon to explore another part of the beautiful city!

Namaste.

6Aug2013

Redefining Yourself

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How often do you think about transforming yourself? Kind of like a butterfly, transitioning from one stage unto the next and becoming something new?

Some people transition their bodies, others transition their spiritual selves, some their jobs, and others their hobbies or life style. Some transition with a significant event such as a birth, a death, marriage, divorce, college, kids leaving or returning, retirement or a new job. Some choose to make a change because they become uncomfortable in their current state and others just want something new. Some have no choice and some do.

There are so many ways to change and adapt and I love this process. I love recreating myself every few months. I almost seek out change and think about what I want to be when I grow up.

Sometimes change is scary and brings on anxiety. Some times it is spontaneous and desired and quick. Sometimes it takes forever. Sometimes change is welcome and sometimes it is not. But change is always constant. Isn’t that crazy?

We’re always constantly changing and we always have the opportunity to start again, to start something new. I do like this process of life’s journey and am thankful for the opportunities to begin again. If you’re not happy where you are, change it. Start over. Ask for a do over and begin again. Aren’t we lucky?

Right now I’m observing and wondering where I’ll go next. What do I want to do with my days once the kids go back to school? I have some ideas and I can’t wait to explore them and let them unfold. I just ordered my Fall Stella & Dot samples and can’t wait to start selling jewelry again. I played tennis today and can’t wait to have more time to be on the courts with friends and getting better, I hope! I can’t wait to explore the water ways on my paddle board with a friend. I am dreaming up a storm right now, while in this transitionary state. What are you dreaming of?

I used to like the quarter system at Cal Poly, because every short while we were starting over again. And if you didn’t like one class, you didn’t have to worry, because it would soon be over and the next one would be beginning.

One of my favorite mottos ( I have many) is this too shall pass. So if you’re stuck where you are, don’t worry. This too shall pass. And I hope the next phase will be more enjoyable for you. Just dream a little dream and enjoy the ride!

Namaste.

4Aug2013

Growing Up

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We are still in the process of transitioning. Not only did we move back from overseas, but our kids are growing up quite quickly and I’m fully aware of the transition state they are also in right now. Two of the three kids are going to new schools and this stirs anxiety in me. In 2 weeks+ I’ll have three kids at three different schools.

My oldest is starting high school and judging from the wise women who have gone before me, I am fully aware how fast this time will fly by and it scares me. I want to hold on tighter and longer and give just a little bit more advice while they still can hear. I know that this is probably the opposite of what they need, but it’s what makes me feel more comfortable. I keep telling them that I’m still learning and luckily they forgive me when I don’t do this parenting thing just right.

For now, I’m giving them lots of freedom and a few boundaries, rules and chores and practicing holding them accountable. I want my kids to be disciplined and learn how to delay gratification. This usually means more work for me, but that’s ok. That’s my job.

And in the end, I think they’ll thank me for it.

Namaste.

3Aug2013

Preparing for School

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In 2 weeks from Monday, the kids return to school. I’m so glad we moved back to the States long before school begins for several reasons. One, it takes longer to resettle than you think and I’m still not there yet. Second, there are lots of doctor, dentist, and school appointments to make and they are spread out and almost done now three weeks into being home. Third, there are several friends and family to visit and reconnect with and relationships take time. I love this part the most and am so thankful for all the visits and hugs and kisses on both cheeks. And finally, well maybe not finally, it’s summer break and kids need to be kids and play and swim and run around the neighborhood without appointments and structured team sports and homework.

Today brought us to the doctor’s office to have the TB test results read and signed off. We then took the results to Christian’s new high school to finish registering him and setting up a counseling appointment. Juliana’s new school wasn’t quite ready for us and told us to come back a week before school starts.

We also went to the DMV, to apply for duplicate driver’s licenses. It took 3 weeks to get an appointment, and you definitely don’t want to go there without an appointment. The line at 9:30 this morning was wrapped around the building! The Netherlands took away our California driver’s license when we applied for a Netherlands license. I don’t quite understand why we couldn’t keep both, but it just wasn’t possible. I’m learning to just go with the flow and jump through hoops.

The rest of the day was more fun. We got new tennis rackets for the kids, baked cookies for the potluck BBq at the swim club, visited with friends, and played some tennis with the kids. We ended the night at the BBQ, chatting with friends and watching the kids swim until after 8 pm. A very full and rewarding day. Thanks to Kris for stopping by for a surprise visit. You made my day!

Life is good.

1Aug2013

Carmel-By-The-Sea

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

One of the things I loved most about being an expat was my sense of adventure and curiosity for learning and exploring. I was never bored. I want to keep that spirit with me in my now “normal” life and continue to explore the beauty that surrounds me.

California is one of the best places on earth! Today brought us to Carmel with Michele and her kids. To watch our kids just play together and enjoy one another is such a joy in itself, not to mention the beautiful surroundings and just being with one of my best friends. Thank you Michele for inviting me to join you this week!!

Life is good!