Tag Archives: Summer Vacation

Day 46: Summer

Posted in Beach, connection, family, fear, simple living, work life balance, working mom by

It’s almost August. I think it starts next week. Oh my goodness. It does. That means school starts up again 3 weeks from tomorrow, which seems like a long time but it’s not really! We have residency verification dates and photo dates and school schedule pick up dates  and pirate camp and life guarding and driving lessons and homework to still squeeze in before we are done. It feels like summer is almost over and that gives me anxiety! I feel like it just begun and I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’m a little slow at this adapting thing, and once I finally feel comfortable, it’s gonna be time to create a new schedule again and to change again. 

Hopefully I’ll be ready, but right now I’m already feeling the end of summer blues.

How do you handle change? Do you flow? Do you get anxiety? Is it no big thing? I am curious.

Here’s to slowing down and enjoying the last few weeks of summer! I plan to go paddle boarding and to get to the beach before it’s over. What will you do with your summer days?

Day 34: Summer

Posted in best friends, connection, Cooking, family, food, Friends, Gratitude, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, joy, Love, memories, motherhood, positive living, rooted, simple living, work life balance by

This is the life. 

This is my happily ever after right now, in this moment. 

This is the best staycation I never dreamed of.

I love this life. 



Thank you, Sunshine, for inviting us over tonight. We had a blast making pizzas and “shmores” and playing corn hole!! xo

nAMaste

Day 20: Summer

Posted in family, happily ever after, Happiness, intention, Mindfulness, motherhood, positive living, rooted, simple living, work life balance by

This staycation keeps getting better!  Who says you need to travel far to enjoy summer vacation?  I still want to go away, but not just yet. 


These two sawed pieces of scrap wood and practiced writing with their new wood burning tool, while I worked from home. I had to come see their work and play a little too. This was fun!!  Charlie painted a sign for his room and Juliana did the lettering for him.

Charlie was craving Vietnamese pho for dinner and Christian wanted Korean BBQ. I told my international kids we could cook together instead of going out and save some money. I had them chopping and dicing and we prepared a bit of both, and stopped at the Korean market to buy a few side dishes to go with our homemade meal, that we enjoyed out on our patio. 


The cool thing about this staycation thing is that the days and nights are long!! We are not in a rush and the crazy thing is that when you’re not rushing, time slows down and we seem to have more time to do all the things we wish to do. It’s really ironic what you can learn when you slow down.

What did you enjoy today? How is your summer going and are you enjoying your moment?

Life is good.

Day 18: Summer

Posted in family, happily ever after, joy, Mindfulness, motherhood, parenting, positive living, simple living, work life balance, working mom by

Believe it or not, I am learning to relax in my old age!! 

This is the first summer where we haven’t made “real” plans ahead of time that I can remember. I am practicing going with the flow on a daily basis without a definite plan, which is quite uncomfortable for me, and I’m actually starting to enjoy it.  I feel liberated, unrushed and content just being (home).

I’m getting the hang of working from home and my flexible schedule and its actually manageable and doable! Today I worked for two hours before heading out to yoga with my BFF.  I then did kid logistics and enjoyed a relaxing lunch with my girl before working for two more hours before running out with my daughter to get our eyebrows waxed together!  Bonding at it’s finest!! When we came home, I finished up the last part of my work shift before dinner. I flowed through today and it actually felt good. 

How do you balance work and life like kids and chores and exercise? It’s all doable, just sometimes a little challenging! I’m liking the practice, though!

Hope you’re having a good week!

Pray for Istanbul and our global community that is under attack. We are Istanbul. One Love, you and me.

nAMaste

The Power of Nothing

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I was happy to do nothing today.

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Doing nothing is quite powerful. Having quiet space to do absolutely nothing felt exciting to me.

I didn’t make any plans except to get a pedicure right before the kids got out of school.  I wanted the day to unfold without an agenda except to get the house back in order and without rushing or being interrupted every five minutes.

It felt so good to read the paper this morning and to shop online. I had four hours to do nothing and I filled them up with joy and structure and organization.

After I had my hours of solitude, I was ready for the chaos to return. This is how I always feel. I want a break from the routine and then I want my routine back.

I was happy that the kids were back at school and then I wanted them home again with me. Sooo ironic! That yin and yang thing is every where I go!

I love this balanced life!

xoxo

Back to School Finally!

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The summer honors assignments are done.

Hell week is over for their sport teams.

Constant needs and demands will now occur before 8 am and after 2 pm.  The house will stay organized and neat for greater periods of time.

Driving continuously around town between 8 am and 8 pm will slow down now with a few less trips.

Summer ends today according to our school calendar. We visited the doctor, made lunches for the teachers, bought new shoes and enjoyed our friends while making homemade pizzas and pretzels. We drove by the school to see the new class lists and went to summer practices. We ordered dinner in and will go to bed early in preparation for our big day tomorrow. 

  
I am grateful for the time we had together this summer. It was a much more challenging year for me with the kids growing up and doing their own thing and needing me to be more of a chauffeur than a playmate. We still enjoyed each other however with less frequency as there were more demands on their time this summer.  I am fully aware that they are becoming more independent and it’s a beautiful thing and challenging too as their adoring mama observes life changing in front of my eyes.

Life is good. I admire each of you and the gifts you each bring to this world. Wishing you all a wonderful new school year, filled with adventure and hard work and friendship, happiness, love and laughter.

xoxo Let the journey continue. We are so lucky! xoxoxoxo

Loving the East Coast

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We enjoyed Mystic, Connecticut today and wished we had more time to spend there. The weather was gorgeous and the water was calling my name. I especially loved seeing the paddle boarders in the calm water.

We also drove out to Rhode Island to see an east coast beach and to stick my toes in the water. The east coast is very different from the west coast and was wall to wall people still at 4 pm!

   
    
The rest of the time was spent with family and seeing M’s play. There is nothing better to me than time spent with good friends and family. I loved watching the cousins run around and play together and build friendships, and sitting around and sharing time with C&S.

Life is good.  Hope you’re enjoying your weekend and doing something great!

 

Coffee Break?

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I’m so happy the kids are back at school. Did you just raise your glass to cheer me?  Thank you! Cheers to you too.

I actually felt really sad when everyone left to go back to school. For a few minutes. Maybe a little more than a few. I felt the loss of their constant presence, but then of course I wanted to jump for joy.  You know, that yin and yang thing again?  I loved them being home. Yet I longed for quiet and structure and less dishes and laundry and my own agenda and not 4 other people with different ideas. I know you get it.

When everyone is home, there is more chaos, and I have more work to do thank usual. It’s just that the work and demands are constant and there doesn’t seem to be a break. At least when everyone goes to school and work, I can clean up and get things in order and they stay that way at least for a couple hours, and it’s quiet and peaceful. I can workout and shower, shop and volunteer and be back again to do pick up and homework help and taxi driver duties.  I like that little respite and long for it, which is why I was happy when everyone went back to their business and I could do mine.

It’s weird to me though, because I think I want us all together and I do, but then I long for a break again. Maybe that’s normal. I don’t want a long break. Just enough to get everything back in order again – to restock the fridge, cook a little with no one walking in the kitchen and interrupting or making their own food, and getting all the clutter back to where it belongs.  

2015/01/img_4013.jpgplaying with carrots before roasting them tonight

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As I put it into words, I feel a bit neurotic, because I’m a stay at home mom who wants to be home with her family, yet I want them to all go away? That’s weird. I don’t really want them to go away for long, but I already mentioned that. I think you get it.

So once everyone went back, I got back to my normal and that felt really good. I have a routine again and this routine provides structure to my days. I know what to expect and things just kinda flow.  I feel like I can do my job and this gives me purpose and I feel successful, if that makes any sense.

I am thankful for my family and my job and my quiet time and when they all come back into the mix again. I love my people and I wouldn’t change a thing. I love our togetherness, and I now know that I also need some space and I think that’s healthy. We all need a coffee break.

Can you relate?

Life is good.  What provides structure and purpose in your life?

Work and Play

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This is one of my mottos. We work hard and we play hard. We do the work and then we play.

I’m trying to instill these values in my kids and I’m trying to help them to be accountable and responsible as we enter the summer season, much to my oldest’s dismay.

He thinks he should be free to do whatever he wants and that there should be no expectations whatsoever.  He says I used to be the cool mom but now I’m a bit crazy. Bless his heart. He doesn’t understand my motivations and I’m trying to teach, ever so gently, yet we have lots of conflict and it’s only Day 1.  God give me patience and grace and help me to be a good teacher.

I’ve asked them to come up with their own daily schedules to help them feel like they have structure to their days without asking me what they should do or telling me that they are bored. I told them that they have limited screen time and that they have to include time to eat, do chores, read, exercise, rest, play, outdoor time, learn and have time to be giving. It is up to them to come up with a rough sketch of how they think the day should play out and that they should think of some of the fun activities and places they would like to visit. 

I want them to feel empowered and I want them to be productive, while still enjoying the laziness of summer. without being too lazy.

Each night they are to come up with a plan and write it out, share it with me and then we’ll decide if we need to make any changes. Once we have a plan, it’s perfectly fine for it to change, but doing nothing everyday is not ok.

For Juliana and Charlie, this was easy. It worked. No gripes. They worked hard, played hard and enjoyed their first day. For Christian, not so much. He didn’t like this idea at all and has resisted. He is of course a teenager and has his own definitions and knows it all, so I’m ok with that. We’re working through the chaos and conflict and loving each other despite the disagreements. I think we’ll meet in the middle hopefully by the middle of this week.  

Here are copies of their charts from tonight. I especially loved Juliana’s creativity, Charlie’s family ideas, and Christian’s list of possible ideas to explore. They are thinking. They are creating. They are working. They are playing. I am happy.

Happy Summer Everyone!! If you like this idea, steal it, copy it, and let me know if you have success!! xo

 

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