Nature Walk

We went on a nature walk at Sycamore Grove last month, during a rare slew of sunny days. I took a ton of pics of Lumpkin, including some really cute ones with her daddy. Plus one good shot of the Dumplin' when he was awake.

It was a great day.

You should click on this pic just to see the look on her face.

Poppy.

Hello blue eyes.

Yes, I'm taking your picture.

No, my shadow is not usually that lumpy. Lumpiness = Will + Bjorn

Lovely Linny Lumpkin.

The way she runs cracks me up.

Mr Beetle

Strolling with Daddy.

Exploring Nature

This one is my favorite.

Just because

I found Linny's old baby blessing pictures, taken a bit before I started this blog. She's so lovely and kissable and beautiful now, I sometimes forget that she has ALWAYS been that way:

Seriously.

Our lovely little family.  

The stricken look on the kids' faces says it all. :)

Our ENTIRE family, without whom our lives would probably be in shambles.  They do so much for us, and we are eternally grateful.

A New Outlook

I really have been insanely productive lately (see previous post). Well, at home anyways. I'm hoping it translates over to work this week. :)

I started working out a couple times a week three weeks ago, and then that progressed this past week to starting this workout program, where I work out 6 days a week, alternating cardio and weights, plus I eat fantastically well - all lean protein, eggs (mostly whites), whole grains, and more veggies than you can shake a stick out. Seriously, I eat TONS of vegetables. And like it!

On top of that, I also read this book, and it has unleashed a monster. It's like all the creativity I have NOT been making time for has welled to the surface. Last week we went to the art store and got clay and tissue paper for collage making. I draw again. I play music (we gave Aden a keyboard for his birthday). I've picked back up the long-forgotten embroidery project in my drawer. I've been looking into felt online - I want to sew Linny a doll. I want to get a machine and learn to sew, in general. And, of course, I blog. Katy and I want to start a blog just to catalog all our creativity.

The end result of all this - the exercise, the eating right, the tap into my creativity, the "me time" of being up before my family - has been amazing. This has been one of the happiest weeks I can recall in a long time. I play more with my kids - I have remembered how to play! - and being home with them on weekends doesn't seem like a chore now that it's full of play and arts and crafts and music.  I feel better, I look better.  I get to create again.  I feel more in tune with my body, and have a heightened awareness of it in general. I LIKE working out. I feel healthier, more alive. I'm more relaxed. I'm more productive in general. I cook - all the time - good food! I'm better at cleaning (seriously - all this cooking means learning how to clean faster). 

I feel more fulfilled, like I'm really on a path towards living life to it's fullest. 

Really, it's a fantastic feeling.  I hope I can keep it up.  This quote sums it up nicely:

What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes?  Herein lies the key to your earthly pursuits.  - Carl Jung

Productivity

I cleaned the crap out of my house yesterday, not to mention gave Linny a bath and fed her three times, AND gave Aden the best day ever as we hid from the hot sun outside.  He played his keyboard (bday present), played with clay, and played with his new Hot Wheels (thank you Grandpa Chuck!).  He even had home-made chicken nuggets for dinner (with the ingenious addition of melted cheesy sticks on top of some), which Aden declared were "better than Disneyland!" 

THEN I surprised him by fulfilling an earlier request of making his room like a movie theater. Dressed up in a vest a hat, I welcomed him to "Paquette Cinemas" at the "concessions" stand I set up (a box on top of a laundry hamper) by the door of his room, After he chose his selection from the DVDs presented, he "bought" buttered popcorn, two Milk Duds, and "water-flavored soda" with hugs, all of which were delivered up to his "suite" (aka: loft bed), complete with wet wipes to clean his hands.  He got to stay up late and watch "Emperor's New Groove" in his bed and have room service.  He couldn't stop smiling.

However, I got the biggest compliment of all today, overheard as I dozed in the back bedroom (Sundays are my "go back to bed" days): 

"Daddy, build the fort like Mommy's.  Mommy's forts always stay up!"  (yesssss!!!!)

Life is good.

The new dream

I just got off the phone with my wonderful marvelous husband (oh, how I do love him), and we had an interesting conversation. So many thoughts are rolling around in my head, that I had to get them down...

The hubby's current employment has ceased to make him happy, and he is looking around for a new gig. He's looking at a more corporate environment rather than a restaurant this time around, for various reasons. One is money - restaurants are notoriously low on the salary scale. The other is us, his family. The Disneyland trip - pics coming soon, promise! - made him really realize how much his schedule makes him miss out on family time. Corporate dining offers a M-F, 6a-3ish kind of schedule.

Much like Magnum, I shouldn't even be talking about this, he only just applied. However, I didn't realize how serious he was about it until today - he already talked to the nanny about switching her schedule and to his mom about filling in the day care gaps (Houston, we are a go). This is a huge deal, because I usually take care of 98% of that kind of planning (Cleaning and cooking, Chris has me trumped. But I am the planner in this relationship). For him to do that kind of legwork means he is serious serious.

The implications are major. More family time, more money, less stress. But also, a bit of guilt for me. It feels a bit like growing up and leaving the childhood dream behind. This is not to say he'll never cook in a restaurant again or open his own restaurant (and even if he didn't, I really don't care, as long as he is happy with his work), but we both are acutely aware that money once gained is hard to walk away from. He's been so supportive of my dreams - the ones that involve school and graphic design and more creativity and working from home one day - that I shudder to be the cause of him taking a step away from his.

Sure, it will be nice to pay off the bills, but if this is the path we take, I hope we both have the courage to re-visit the dream one day soon... if that's what he wants. However, as I write this, I realize maybe the dream has changed.* He told me yesterday that "he wants his work to be a means to provide for his family, and not the other way around." So maybe the dream now is summer evenings playing baseball with Pumpkin, more playtime with the Lumpkin, dinners at home, weekend family trips, etc. Perhaps that will make him happier than the "glamour" of working at a high-profile restaurant. And granted, it will definitely be a bonus for all of us.

Hearing all this talk about providing for his family and how much we mean to him, etc., etc. makes me fall in love with him all over again. It's just so... manly (heehehee). Really though, of course I know we mean that much to him, but it's very heartwarming to learn that we - me - are the dream, ya know? It also makes me feel much, MUCH too adult.

Disclaimer: I do not profess to know what is in my husband's head, these are only my own thoughts. (Honey, don't kill me for blogging about you and... get used to it). :)