A Poem

I like poetry and was thinking of posting a weekly poem. We will see if I stick to it or not . Oh look, here is one now!



You wanna snake and shake me and see what might fall out.

You approach and slowly snake and shake me all about.

I was the rigid frozen ice minding my only own, when I heard the raven caw

Along you came to snake and shake and make me promises, if only I would thaw.

You pulled me in and heated me through and through and through.

But,I am no fool, not the fool that would believe that you were true

After the shake you took my gold, baubles and my shine

You violated my body, stripped my spirit and my time

and when I was all used up and nothing left was worthwhile

you decided that my burden cramped your vastly imaginary style

Now my ice is melted right away, exposing all my latent fears

and I'm left here in this salty puddle that tastes suspiciously of tears

Snowapalooza Update

It wasn't a blizzard or anything worse than regular Michigan madness. This was not the ice planet Hoth-like day I had envisioned, but the boys had some fun on their snow day:

I managed to have a little fun too.

Snowapalooza 2011!!!!!

The news is blowing up about this! The weather guy on channel 4 was so pumped up last night he reminded me of those excitable dudes that sell stuff on t.v after 2 am. He couldn't even hide his excitement while discussing how people would be in danger if they tried to venture out. I imagined him thinking this in his head "If you bastards even step outside you'll be instant Popsicles, AWESOME!" I was totally pulled in! I have realized that I am still a little kid at heart. I can't wait to see what this snow storm is gonna look like.
I washed all our extra blankets, put batteries in all our flashlights, and stocked up on foods that don't need to be cooked. My hubby has even got the green light to work from home! I am imagining the ice planet Hoth here people, wouldn't that be awesome! I keep telling myself I live in Michigan and they always get the weather wrong, but I can't help but be excited about seeing an epic snow storm (as long as everyone stays safe, no collapsing roofs or anything!). I will let you know if the reality is as exciting as my imaginary snow storm.

p.s(for anyone who doesn't know what the ice planet Hoth is...shame on you)

Entertaining the Troops

For those of you who know me well I ask you now to try to think of words to describe me ( keep it G rated!). I bet no one came up with this one "outgoing". So, imagine my surprise when I discovered I love entertaining! I'm not talking stand-up here, which might even be a closer fit to my personality (I have a wicked sarcastic streak). I mean like Martha Stewart entertaining. It started with cooking. I really, really love to do this. Trouble came when I would have 2 or 3 kinds of leftovers in the fridge and multiple deserts hanging around the counters and my hubby complaining about his waistline expanding . So, I figured the problem was I didn't have enough people to eat all the food I wanted to make. I thought to myself, I could have more kids, but I would still have to gestate them, wait till they got teeth, and unless I am having multiple births I am still gonna have too much food. So instead, I poached some friends from my best friend, lured them all to my house by pretending I was gonna scrapbook and then attacked them with my foodapalooza! It was a brilliant plan. Although I knew I was going to have to bite the bullet and be all "hosty" , it would be worth the pain of being social. Here is the big surprise. I liked being all "hosty". Now, I don't use fine china (walmart brand paper plates!) or fancy place cards, but I manage to display the food pretty well! Since my first scrapbooking get together (which we didn't even get our scrapbook stuff out at) I have hosted Christmas Eve and another scrapbooking get together. I can't wait for my next one!

Renewal of Christmas Joy

Remember when you were a kid and Christmas seemed exciting, mysterious and just about the most wonderful time of year? Yea..... as you get older and some real life smacks you in the face this can change. My Christmas experiences changed into a whirlwind of spending, rushing, white-knuckling few weeks that inevitably ended in a huge let down. I would spend boatloads of money on buying up everything the kids just HAD to have (and never played with), making plans to do a billion things all at the same time, procrastinating Christmas wrapping until I found myself with 2 boatloads of things to wrap on Christmas eve. Dealing with the loss of loved ones (miss you Mom and Eli) that should be with you during this most family oriented of all the holidays. Planning all these fun things for the kids to do that I just never quite got to....you get the idea. Needless to say Christmas just kind of lost its zing. Until this year. Here is how it started...I offered to host Christmas Eve. When I decided to do this i found it so exciting a prospect that I wanted to enjoy it. The only way I could think to avoid the stress that can bring was to be organized. I made a list of everything that needed to be done then broke it down into a few things a day from then until Christmas eve! Here are the side-effects of that decision : I am not overwhelmed, I feel proud of my accomplishments, I am done with shopping and wrapping, my house is getting uber organized, I am getting much more holiday activities done (more about that in my next post) and best of all? I am giggly, joyfully, can't sleep excited about Christmas! I feel like a kid again! There is just something about cooking for people that not only makes me happy about that but energizes me for all things Christmas! Oh cooking, thank-you once again for all the happiness you bring me!

On a side-note...about all those presents your kids just have to have? DON'T DO IT! I cannot tell you how much happier Christmas can be when you spend the money on a family oriented gift and family holiday activities! I feel good knowing that without a shadow of a doubt our gift will get much, much use and if you feel the itch to do some holiday shopping? Do it but drop it in the Toys For Tots box on your way out of the store! Why should those presents sit in the corners of your house where your kids never got to them or only played with them once, when there are kids out there that would truly appreciate them :)

Thankful

We are going to be out of town for Thanksgiving this year , so I wanted to go ahead and do a post about gratitude, a little early.

I am thankful for my connection to spirit. Spirituality is my riches. I have learned to recognize it and since then all things are more alive. Every time Carter runs through the house laughing like a hyena and I am sure he looks brighter than his surroundings, I know spirit is with me. Every time Trent and Donovan and I are rolling with laughter at some inside joke, I know spirit is with me. Every time Dan comes home, hugs me and I actually feel a little happy zip through my body, I know spirit is with me.

I am thankful for my Husband. Before Dan I was a different person. I was sadder, my light was duller and I was treading water just trying not to drowned. In the house that is me , Dan is the support beams. Sometimes I wonder how one person can be so awesome and how on earth he ended up loving me! When we met my belief in soul mates was cemented.

I am thankful for my children. They are adorable to look at and teach me so much. Trent has taught me a lot about patience and unconditional love. Donovan has taught me the power of positive thought and the blessing of miracles. Carter has taught me about the healing powers of love and what tenacity can accomplish. They are each so different and I fiercely love them all.

I am thankful for the time I had with my Mom. She taught me way too much to list here, but she enriched my life and I love and miss her greatly.

I am thankful for my Dad. My Dad gives a lot. He gives to me, my brother, his other family members, his neighbors...everyone. He shares his time by doing repairs, he shares his money, he shares his excess food, he even shares his home by giving people a place to live. On top of all this he taught me some of the lessons that enriched my life the most. He taught me there are good men out there and to take a chance to find one. He taught me that no amount of bad that has touched your life has to define it or you.

I am thankful for my mother-in-law (yes, you read that right...not all of them are bad!) Here is a woman who not only lights up a room and makes every child who meets her love her, but she also raised 3 kids that turned out awesome! As a mom I appreciate this accomplishment and I appreciate that she admits she wasn't perfect. Somehow that gives me hope knowing you can turn out some awesome kids with out being the perfect housekeeper, therapist, chef etc.... Plus she is just a really nice,loving, genuine human being.

I am thankful for Nancy and Jamie. I met Nancy and her awesome daughter Jamie when Jamie and I were like 3 and 2. These are the people that we spend Easter, 4Th of July, Thanksgiving (except this year!) and Christmas with. We may not be blood related but this IS my family. Jamie is my best friend and Nancy my surrogate mother.

There are many, many other people I am thankful for but my bruised tailbone says no more sitting so I will have to cut it short. For everyone and everything that blesses and enriches my life , Thank-You!

Happy Halloween

We had a wonderful Halloween. We went to Papa Dave's and Nancy's and met up with the Bonk-Lotts and ate some Halloween themed food and did some trick or treating. We also went to the Allen Park Halloween celebration! It was great fun and I hope you enjoy the pictures. The rest are on my facebook page if interested.