Magic

My B, my beautiful 7-year old daughter, wrote a letter to Santa last week. Yes, it is March. She made sure to immediately clarify to me that it is NOT a request for gifts.

           Dear Santa,

I am B. I am 7 year old and I have a prablum! This is not my Christmas list, My problum is My teacher beleaves in magic but I know kids that do not, I am very comefused!? P.S. I am trying to find the magic (I sill beleave) but I can't find it!? Will you write me back? Love B!

Oh, my heart. Does Santa write her back? Does Santa tell her about magic?


How do I help her to see that SHE IS MAGIC. I hope that someday she'll understand that. The distress all began because she's got friends who do not believe in fairies or Santa or elves. It's obviously caused her a lot of confusion. I remain vague and tell her that someday it will all make perfect sense and that I will explain it all to her in great detail.

And man I hope by then I have the perfect answer for her! Until then, she may need to just receive a form letter from the business office at the North Pole. It seems the sensible option. A child like B needs to be rewarded for her hard work in pursuit of magic and for bringing so much of her own into my life.

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No Niche

I'm not particularly funny.
I don't have a special talent.
I've been in the middle of the pack for most things I have tried or joined in my life.

My interests vary and are not specific to one thing. I love scrapbooking, I enjoy gardening, photography, and decorating. I like crafts. I am a pretty good parent. I enjoy the field of education with regards to my career, but have completely embraced full-time parenting/house-wifeness and could picture doing it long term. I like to think of ways to make holidays special. And I like to entertain.

That would be the range of topics that I read about daily, a wide variety that appeals to my deficient attention span.

I've been reading a ton lately on design and home updates because it's what my focus has been lately. We have been trying to get our house here organized and are trying to achieve that *permanent residence* feeling that it had been lacking.

When I read about others' accomplishments, I'm amazed at their energy and talents for the things they are trying to achieve.

I think I'm somewhat lacking in the energy and talent area of my life. I wonder sometimes if the reading that I do helps to motivate me or helps me to feel lacking.

I really enjoy a good sit with a cup of tea and a good book. Even my taste in books is pretty mild. I enjoy a fiction novel written about friends/family, but do not enjoy suspense, mystery, drama, or anything that's too sad. I like chick-lit. Light, funny, and happily ended. Throw in some non-fiction that references the interests mentioned above and you've pretty much got the range of my reading list.

I wonder sometimes if this makes me shallow? We drove to a fun outing with some new friends a few weeks ago and I almost felt rebellious as I voiced my dislike for anything scary, suspenseful or violent (she was a fast-driving, zombie movie loving, active woman). I could feel her rolling her eyes from the front seat.

I am vanilla, which also happens to be my favorite scent and flavor.

I have decided to be okay with that. I just don't know where that leaves me with this site. This site where I've enjoyed sharing, writing, and rambling. Vanilla is fine. But where does that leave one's blog? Maybe I should rename it Vanilla Mom.

Best to think a bit more on this. I'm just not sure at this point.

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Lots of Tiny Messes Making for a Messy House

I love it that my kids are imaginative, creative, and honestly...pretty wacky. It's great that they are constantly creating new "games". They play puppies, homeless kids (set in different places, an alley, the dump, and other depressing type settings...as imagined from their centrally heated suburban home), they are super heroes, or shop owners. Today they are using some cardboard from recent online purchases to turn one of their bedrooms into a clubhouse. The styrofoam from inside, a mansion for their action figures, pet shop pets, etc.

I honestly do love it.

But, but, but...did you feel the but coming?!

Nice and neat

It is such a MESS! I love toys in their categorized bins. Labeled and tidily stacked on shelves. I enjoy clean floors and sorted toys and tidy rooms. It just doesn't happen very often without a lot of work on my part.

Can you see what's under the step stool? Take a closer look...

Apartment living at its finest, Wall E's come for tea...

I struggle for the balance between nagging them about picking up and sitting back to enjoy their creative process. They just ran past, I think this morning they are super heroes. Apparently my little guy can turn people into lemons...his sister can turn into a baby wolf or a grown-up wolf. They are currently howling at the moon.

Last night's adventure,

turning packing materials into a luxury condo...

The pet shop friends scored a corner penthouse suite...

Who needs a clean house when you can have fun like that!

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What's Up

TOMORROW, another person will sign a stack of papers and officially own our Omaha home. Crazy.

I had no idea how emotional I would be last weekend as I spent a couple of hours cleaning out the last of our belongings and shutting the door, with our garage door openers and keys inside. Good-bye house, I told it. I really do hope he'll be happy there, we were. And even when times were really rough, it was a great house to come home to.

That being said, I have been really getting into making our new house our HOME. I've been looking at plant stands on line, wall hangings, side tables...shopping for light fixtures, and thinking about paint colors. I even bought a coat hook that you screw into the wall to replace our current situation of those stick on hooks that currently hold the kids' stuff.

With spring approaching, I find that we're making all sorts of plans. To see family, to visit with friends, to travel. I feel a weight lifting and it's fantastic.

Speaking of weight, I've also been busy trying to prepare and eat super healthy (and delicious) meals in an effort to shed what I still think of as the baby weight. My baby turns five in April...IT'S TIME. Have been getting more physical activity, eating less, throwing more fruits and veggies into the picture. It feels so great.

That's the run down. Nothing new here. But really, so much NEW. Our lives are so completely different than they were one year ago today. All good things.

All good things.
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A Sweet Day

Valentine's Day is especially sweet this year.  We're in the process of finishing our home sale in Omaha and enjoying the feeling of our new home being PERMANENT.

The kids have talked about nothing but pillow pets since Christmas (can you imagine? Our home had NO PILLOW PETS!) so were gifted this morning with their very own pillows/pets. Excitement, pure joy. There were also gifts from my parents, more excitement. And waffles! On Valentiney paper plates!  MORE EXCITEMENT!

Then everyone was off to school/work/the daily routine. But maybe with a slight spring in our step.

I think that's what I like most about the little holidays, and the big ones. It's a day to change the routine, even if just a little. A day to point out the each other - hey, I really like you and the life we share together.

For the Hubs and I, a small token shared between friends, spouses, partners. An awesomely cheesy 80's compilation CD for me and some chocolates for him.

Hey Hubs - I like you and the life we share together. SO MUCH.

What could be better than that?!

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A Love-ly Giveaway

Reluctant Entertainer is doing a really nice giveaway today, inspired by love.

Head over if you'd like to enter. She's got three great books and a fun apron to send to the winners!

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Up to our ears in papers...

We sold our house in Omaha! Very exciting...but also causing inevitable piles of paper and more paper. We are working on getting things settled in Omaha and in our new town. It's SO *FUN.

As luck would have it, we're doing all of the home buying/selling paperwork during tax season, so are also trying to keep those papers together to so that we can get that out of the way.

It all feels like a game of Monopoly, or maybe the game of Life. Is this really something we know how to do?! Not really. We are the ones who are supposed to be the grown ups in this situation? Really. Huh.

Will there ever be an age where I feel competent to do such big things?

While I ponder this, I think I'll procrastinate the taxes a bit longer and play another game of Angry Birds. Now there's something that will put off me feeling like a grown up for just a little bit longer. I'll face adulthood later on today.

[* - FUN if you consider paperwork and problem solving and phone calls and decision making "fun", I personally do not.]
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