Enough

In The End

Tara Sophia Mohr

In the end
you won’t be known
for the things you did,
or what you built,
or what you said.

You won’t even be known
for the love given
or the hearts saved,

Because in the end you won’t be known.

You won’t be asked, by a vast creator full of light:
What did you do to be known?

You will be asked: Did you know it,
this place, this journey?

What there is to know can’t be written.
Something between the crispness of air
and the glint in her eye
and the texture of the orange peel.

What you’ll want a thousand years from now is this:
a memory that beats like a heart–
a travel memory, of what it was to walk here,
alive and warm and textured within.

Sweet brightness, aliveness, take-me-now-ness that is life.

You are here to pay attention. That is enough.

More thankful goodness

Thankful for:

8) Rad ladies who take me on their pub-crawl. I went on my first this past weekend and it was so much fun. So many great memories. I laughed so freaking hard and had a blast.

9) My husband who watched the boys so I could go.

10) Rian's school. I am truly thankful for where my little man spends most of his day.

11) Dr. Seuss. I had wanted to post something celebratory on his birthday, but obviously didn't. We have recently checked out Horton Hears a Who! from the library for like the 8th time. I LOVE THIS BOOK. (And so does Ethan, apparently, who has been having me read it at least twice every day for the last week. Not that I mind!)

12) Running friends who drag you out of a warm, comfy spot, (at 5:30 AM!!!) next to a cuddly 4 year old who snuck into your bed in the middle of the night, just to run.

14) Rian and Ethan's passion about our solar system. Looking at the night sky has never made me want to learn more about it than when checking it out with them.

13) My boys. I just love them so much.

14) Ruby Red Grapefruit. It is so yummy.

15) Fights over who gets to play the piano. All four of us. This is a pretty sweet "issue" in our house. I love it.

15) Song of the day...

Thankful

In the spirit of the first day of lent, I am starting something. I know, I know, usually people give something up or avoid doing something but this will, hopefully, have a similar effect and stretch me a little. Remind me to be...thankful.

I'm borrowing this idea and going to begin making a list of 1000 things I'm thankful for. (Cheesy? Oh, absolutely. Doing it anyway? Of course!) Not sure how long this will take. Just going with it.

Anyway, jumping right in….Day 1 of thankful confessions.

1) Early morning runs. For me, the day starts off on the right foot (heh) and I get it out of the way. I never really, truly want to go but once I do, I’m glad.

2) Good moods. Both boys woke up in a good mood this morning and we made it to school without any arguing, annoyance or frustration. Lately, most of our mornings aren't. HOORAY!

3) COFFEE.

3) Rian’s enthusiasm about me coming to work in his classroom. I love doing it but it means even more to me that he is excited about me being there. Someday he won’t want me hanging around at his school and I’m so thankful that he isn’t there yet.

4) Prayers last night. Ethan was thankful for his big brother Rian. Rian was thankful for the Bible.

5) NEW DISHES. I ate my yogurt and pineapple this morning out of a brand new green bowl and it made me happy. A precious friend and her husband surprised us with a very generous gift of a set of Ikea plates and bowls. They are simple, a light celery color and I love them. I can’t believe how fun it is having a nearly full dishwasher but not having to run it because there are clean dishes in the cupboard still! Eek, so fun!! (Ah, the exciting life of being a mom!)

6) My phone. This morning I made a call I’ve been putting off for weeks and it actually felt good hearing the voice on the other end. I’ve missed it.

7) Today I am thankful for these guys and their music

Ethan Jude turns 4

Four years ago today this little guy joined our family.

(OH MY GOSH, I want to snuggle this precious bundle!!! Looking at baby pictures is so addicting and I can't believe how FAST my boys are growing up! *sniff*)

A few things about this four year old:

-Ethan loves sports. He is obsessed with playing basketball right now and is a very intense dribbler and "donk" maker. He loves to run and is ACTIVE.

-He ADORES his big brother Rian. He talks constantly about "my friend Rian." A phrase we hear repeated over and over, "Hey, Rian..."

-He has a pair of black kid gloves and wears them all the time. Everywhere. He wears them to bed, when he eats (yes, I'm working on this one...), in the bathroom (again, working on this..), all the time. It's pretty cute.

-He loves Science and "doing science" by playing with water and cups.

-Ethan is enthusiastic and easily excitable. (I love this.)

-He loves being read to.

-He loves to be cuddled and is super snuggly.

-He is full of curiosity, usually starting and ending the day with questions.

-He has the most kissable face.

-Ethan is an intense little guy. He can be extremely difficult but on the other hand extremely loving.

-He is friendly.

-He is hilarious, incredibly silly and playful.

-His family loves him so much!!!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Times like these

Sometimes, I hear a song that just fits.

This is one of those songs.

Chemical Reactions

We really like our library. Wait, let me rephrase that, we freaking LOVE our library. At this moment we have 48 books and 9 dvds checked out. This is usually the norm in our house. However, sadly, we probably will end up returning some books unread....

Anyway, EIGHT of those dvds are Bill Nye The Science Guy videos. Remember him? I used to watch him on PBS growing up, thought he was pretty hilarious, and even learned a thing or two from his show. So when I saw one at the library a couple weeks back, I first squealed with delight (there may or may not have been a little happy dance) and then explained to two confused (slightly embarrassed) boys about how much I enjoyed his show growing up. We started with Space Exploration and The Moon. That's all it took and now, it's all Rian and Ethan want to watch. Ethan refers to it as, "watching Science."

A clip from our current fav:

Here are some of the things I've heard from my little scientists lately:

"I just love science!!" - Rian

"Hey mom, I'd really like some H2O. It's science." - Rian

"I want sodium chloride. That's salt, mommy." - Ethan

Walked into the kitchen to find Ethan shaking the dish soap container and then staring at the bubbles it made. The bottle was slightly open and I told him to stop doing that. (Bad mom moment, I know) He looked at me and sighed, "But, mommy, I'm just doing science!"

Caught Ethan jumping from couch to couch, shouting between jumps, "This table is a chemical reaction!" "This couch is a chemical reaction!" "That water is a chemical reaction!" "My friend Rian is a chemical reaction!" "Everyone is a chemical reaction!" "Chemicals react and isn't that COOL?"

Why, hello there

You're back!!

This goes without saying...

So, here we are.

Ethan started preschool in the fall, is now writing his name, singing new songs he's learned and has been "teaching" his teachers how to shoot hoops, make "donks", and practice their defensive football tactics.

Rian is doing awesome in 3rd grade. He LOVES his teacher (as do I!) and has some really great buddies. He's been playing football at recess as of late and I hear he is quite the wide receiver. He played soccer in the fall and will be playing again soon in the spring. Basketball season started last month for him and he plays like Gerald Wallace. I mean, this kid has some wicked skills. He plays his heart out and just has the most awesome, up-beat attitude.

I'm taking a break this quarter from classes. It has been really, really nice. I'm running more again and have recruited a few ladies to run with me in the early morning hours during the week. Nothing like the alarm going off at 5:15 A.M. Ugh...and to think I once thought of myself as a morning person.

Eric is keeping busy, studying some crazy stuff and working hard at the same time, leading a Cub Scout den, teaching our boys about math, science, the solar system and just EVERYTHING. Yeah, he's pretty great. :)

Why has it taken me so long to get back to this? That wasn't so hard! A brief catch-up, an awesome tune and I'm thinking the happenings in 2012 might be blogged about after all.