It's Been a Year?!?

Is anybody out there?

It's been almost a year since my last post. And that's okay. We were busy with kindergarten, and One Ordinary Dad's new job (and then another new job, and then another new job-- we think this one will work for a long while and is a good fit for our family), B starting preschool somewhere, keeping house, having fun, and dreaming big.

Which brings us to today. I started blogging at a time when pretty much none of my family members had joined Facebook. Blogging was a way to show off pictures of my kiddos without sending annoying picture-heavy emails each day. They're all on Facebook now, and let's be real, I just lost steam.

But I'm back. We'll see how long I manage to stick around this time. Our 2014 resolution was inspired by Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years-- we're going to live a better story Okay, we kind of started this before 2014, but we're continuing to live it out (more here). It doesn't mean we're spending oodles of money (though we did visit the mouse a few months ago).

It means saying yes to the things we want for our family-- for the story we're living and creating each moment. And it means saying no to things we know don't benefit our family or have a part in our story (yet-- not all things we say no to are bad).

And it's working. 2014 has been really really good to us. Our biggest yes of all?

Well, we decided to say yes to another baby. We've been waffling on this one for about a year. And then back in the winter it became clear to both One Ordinary Dad and I-- our family just wasn't complete. Miss E will complete our family when she arrives this fall.

So for now I'm getting ready to start my eleventh year teaching, Miss C will be in first grade, B is going back to preschool, One Ordinary Dad is working from home, and we're soaking up the summer sun (and dancing in the summer rains) as much as we can as we live our story.

This summer has also been a reinvention of sorts for me. Maybe that's why I logged back on and wrote this post. More on that later, but let's just say I'm finally, at the age of 32, figuring out who I am and who I want to be, and feel incredibly comfortable in my skin.

Blessings to you all, whoever is still reading,
One Ordinary Mom

A Better Story

 Not too long ago, I read Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I knew the basic premise of the book and have had several friends read it and loved it. I knew I'd probably love it too, but I also knew that I'd probably find it a little convicting. And maybe that's why I put off reading it.

For those of you who haven't read it yet, the general idea is that as humans, we are created to live in a story. Our lives are stories-- with exciting parts that would look amazing on the big screen with a swelling soundtrack along with moments that are so mundane they'd never make the Hollywood cut.

Some people are living amazing stories, but most are just living mediocre ones. Spoiler alert: you can change your story. The ending isn't finalized (well, other than that whole we can't live forever, so yes, everyone's story eventually ends in death-- not to be morbid though).

We've been living a pretty good story lately. One Ordinary Dad and I spent some time in California sans kids.

 Later, we headed to Myrtle Beach.

 But there's more. There were times when I got a little ticked off reading the book because I thought, "well, sure, if I had written a New York Times Bestseller and had a ton of money in the bank and lots of time off, I could certainly make sure I was living a better story." But it's not necessarily about money or time (though those are nice things to have). It's about the little changes. It's about the legacy I want to leave. It's about setting the stage for the stories my kids will live once their father and I are gone.

And so while yearly vacations, monthly date nights, and other events that take a little more money or time will remain on our calendar and as parts of our story, there are small things happening too:

• we say "I love you" a lot more and raise our voices a lot less (hard to do with little ones, but worth the effort)
• we turn off the TV (and Candy Crush-- I was addicted for a bit) and get lost in books and magazines
• we play with Legos and we play lots of games and we put together lots of puzzles (One Ordinary Dad and I occasionally stay up late on a weekend with some wine and a 1000-piecer)
• we have more impromptu dance parties
• we say "yes" to going to the park or going for a walk/hike or going to get ice cream-- even when it's not quite what we want to do
• we choose to be generous without judging-- whether it's a dollar to the pan handler at the highway exit or volunteering our time to help others or teaching our kids how to sort out toys they don't play with anymore so that they can give them away
• we don't count things-- hours of sleep, calories, number of times we've read the same book over and over again, who did the dishes last, who cleaned the toilet last, who made all of the beds last, number of loads of laundry, pounds on a scale, etc. 
• we do count blessings though-- every night we name them with the kids before bed

We've basically chosen to embrace our one wild and precious life. All stories have conflicts too, and we embrace those too (everyone loves a story where the good triumphs over the evil conflict).

We want to live a good story. I know it sounds cheesy, but we want to honor God by getting the most out of the earthly time He's given us and by leaning into Him in both the good and the bad.

Changing directions in our story's "draft" if you will, has been a blessing for our little family. We're so thankful that God gives us the grace to change our story, to live a better one.

~One Ordinary Mom

Epic Summer Sunday #1

Today was amazing. And not just because C moved up to the kindergarten room at church (I may have teared up a little).

We really had no agenda once church was over, and the day was just so sunny, and I was just craving bacon...so we headed downtown to Crave.  We'd heard that they had a good brunch and we knew they had outdoor seating, so we figured we'd give it a try. Turns out that Sunday brunch is a tasty buffet with a lot to choose from and it includes a mimosa (for the grown-ups, obviously). Kids eat free-- bonus. We stuffed ourselves silly and then headed over to the Reds team shop.

C needed a new Reds shirt since she's outgrown her others and passed them on to her little brother. She chose a Votto shirt (a girl after my own heart...One Ordinary Dad got me an authentic Votto jersey for my birthday). B had fun playing with foam fingers.

Up next we headed to the park down at The Banks. When going to downtown parks, we generally prefer Washington Park, but we were already parked and decided to play at The Banks instead. Before we got much playing in, we thought it might be fun to rent a Surrey Bike and ride along the river. The day was absolutely gorgeous. One Ordinary Dad and I sure got a workout, but we enjoyed the view.

After an hour, we returned the bike and then finally got around to playing in the fountain and swinging on their big "porch swings" that overlook the river.

We ended our afternoon with some Orange Leaf fro-yo (Crave gave us coupons for 2 free ounces each).

It was a day well spent and we are all spent. I have 2 days left of school with my students and then a half day teacher work day on Wednesday.

And because I haven't mentioned it here yet, One Ordinary Dad went back to work in the non-profit world a couple of weeks ago. He likes his job so far. The kids have a babysitter coming to the house in this transition time, but C will be in all-day kindergarten next year, so with only one kiddo needing childcare, we knew it was time. We knew we couldn't move forward, pursuing some dreams of ours without a second income. God has blessed us immensely and we're excited to be in this new phase. I've never had both kids on my own all summer (One Ordinary Dad's previous position was reduced in June 2011, when B was a baby, so we've had lots of family time the last two summers with both of us at home). This will surely be a fun adventure!

~One Ordinary Mom

*Note: I am cautiously titling this post with the "#1" in the hopes that there are more epic summer Sundays in our future-- not necessarily doing the same things, but just enjoying things around our city that are new to us. :-)

Tapering

When I was training to run a marathon (this time six years ago I was just beginning), tapering was what you did as race day drew closer. Basically, you backed off. Your workouts became a little shorter because your body had already done the hard part (in my case, a 20 mile training run) and it was time to coast and take it a little bit easier until it was time to gather at the starting line.

I feel like the last several days have been a sort of tapering for our family.

C completed her swim lessons and we're not making daily treks to the pool.

 The ice cream truck is not coming around nightly.

My reading is becoming slightly more professional in nature, though I'm still enjoying some time for the fun stuff (like my current novel).

We spent a night with my parents before we headed to the wedding last weekend and we took it slow. Normally our trips are hurried and busy. Friday night we enjoyed a steel drum concert on the new green at First and Main. We enjoyed pizza and later ice cream in celebration of Daddy's 30th (which was last Sunday). We basically took it slow.

One Ordinary Dad headed back to our house after the wedding while I stayed with my parents for a few more days. C, B, and I continued the slow pace. We mostly lounged around, enjoying the blessing of some cooler temperatures. We took a few bike rides, visited the local book store and toy store, and watched some more of the Olympics (taking full advantage of my parents' cable, a luxury we don't have at our house). One afternoon, we went to feed the geese at a park near the high school I attended.

The geese loved Miss C and were ready to follow her home if it meant more crackers.

We played at the park a little more and then went home for naps.

C had a mild cold while we visited, so even she was "down" with the whole nap thing each day. A preschooler with a scratchy, hoarse voice is equal parts pathetic and entertaining. She finally decided that her voice "went to Disney World and was on vacation." That girl and her imagination!

I headed back into my classroom yesterday and got more work done than anticipated. So at this point I'm not going back in until I have to be there. I was planning to head in on Monday and possibly Tuesday, but I think I'd rather use those days to relax.

Yes, we are in full on tapering mode here. We maxed out our energy this summer and are slowing down. Our bodies are ready to take on the work and fun of the school year ahead. We're spending our mornings lingering in our pajamas instead of hurriedly dressing to head out on a fun summer adventure; we're spending more afternoons lying around the patio instead of at the pool or the zoo or the museum (though One Ordinary Dad will be taking C and B to the zoo and museum a lot this fall, I'm sure); we're spending more evenings just chilling at the park instead of downtown on the square or out somewhere else. The cooler temperatures we've had lately are a blessing after a hot summer-- even our AC is thankful for the chance to taper, to slow down. We are thankful for all that the summer brought us and are happily beginning to look forward to autumn.

~One Ordinary Mom :-)

Empire State

One of the advantages to our current situation (me, teaching, with summers off, and One Ordinary Dad free-lancing and picking up worship-leading jobs when he can), means we can pretty much pick up and take off whenever we want to. We don't have to get vacation time approved. We don't have to pick and choose between what reunions, celebrations, and trips we want to take. We can just, well, go to all of them (if we want). This summer we traveled to Disney World, traveled to my hometown for the 4th of July, hung out in Hazard, Kentucky for a family reunion, and most recently, we traveled to Long Island for the wedding of a friend.

We loaded up the Big Blue Compromise-- our minivan-- on Friday and headed to my parents' house. C and B stayed with them, while One Ordinary Dad and I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning to drive to Long Island. We made a slight detour in Pittsburgh so I could soak in all of the cuteness that is one of my best friend's five-week-old daughter. After that, it was New York or bust.

A wrong turn out of the Lincoln Tunnel meant a detour through Manhattan. Gee darn, we had to enjoy this view:

We finally made it, only slightly late, checked into our hotel, and headed to the rehearsal dinner. One Ordinary Dad has known J since high school, so it was fun for him to see another high school friend and to catch up with the parents of his friends as well. It was nice to go to bed that night without the sound of C's and B's snoring coming through the monitor.

The wedding was an all-day affair on Sunday. Mimosas and coffee before the ceremony, an outdoor ceremony (with Beatles music played on strings), a cocktail hour following the ceremony, and then a feast of a dinner. We stuffed ourselves silly, danced some of it off, and goofed off in the photo booth.

While it would have been cool to have stayed another night or two and to have spent some time in the city, my parents both had to work on Monday, so we needed to get back. We had left our van with the kids' carseats with my parents and had my dad's convertible for the trip. As we left, we put the top down and enjoyed the views.

The approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge gave us great views of the water...

...and the bridge itself was pretty cool too.

We had to put the top up before we even got out of New York though as a thunderstorm was approaching. Other than the rain, we didn't have any other delays on the way home and pulled into my parents' driveway at midnight.

One Ordinary Dad headed back to our house with my dad so that he could do some touch-up housepainting that's been on our to-do list for awhile now. I stayed here with the kids. We've had fun biking downtown, taking walks to the park, and just being lazy. The daily grind of the school year will be starting soon. Tomorrow we head southwest and back to our home and Daddy. J and her husband said we're welcome to come back and visit and stay with them anytime. One Ordinary Dad and I are thinking it might be fun to leave B with my parents one weekend and take Miss C into the city for a couple of days. She'd love it!

~One Ordinary Mom

Full Bellies and Hearts

Saturday was the annual family reunion on my mom's side of the family. My great-aunt is a graceful 90, and her gorgeous home in the mountains of Kentucky usually serves as our gathering place. However, to take some of the pressure off of her (and because a different location had a pool), we headed my mom's cousin's home in Hazard (yes, like "The Dukes of Hazard") instead.

We did a lot of swimming.

We did a lot of eating.

We did a lot of new-cousin-meeting.

And there are just plain a lot of us!

We've been having these reunions ever since I can remember. I always looked forward to them as a kid and still look forward to them as an adult. We've only missed a year here or there. As I get older and as we sadly lose family members, I see the value in these gatherings even more. I want my kids to experience the fun of a multi-generational day of eating, story-telling, and photo-album browsing as often as possible.

When the kids get sleepy...

...we know it's time to head home with full bellies and even fuller hearts.

Hazard isn't too bad of a drive from where we live (we can go roundtrip from our door to theirs on one tank), so we headed home. My parents had to come from farther north, so they stayed overnight in a hotel. Miss C desperately did not want to leave the reunion, so my parents offered to take her with them for the night and drive through our city en route to their home. C loved staying in the hotel with Nanny and Poppy. One Ordinary Dad and I enjoyed sleeping in (C is our early riser, but B likes to sleep in).

What about you? Do your families get together often?

~One Ordinary Mom

** With apologies to my dad's side of the family. I know you had a reunion this year, but flying to Colorado, renting a car, finagling car seats through all of the traveling, etc., with two young children just wasn't realistic for us this year.

Summer in the City

We are lucky enough to live in an area where just about anything is accessible within a ten-minute drive, including downtown, where we spent quite a bit of time this week. Monday night was spent on Fountain Square. We ate ice cream (using up some of my Graeter's gift cards that I got at the end of the school year), danced to the live music (they have live music every night), and generally enjoyed ourselves. B loved the fountain.

C loved finding one of the Taft Museum's Art for All pieces. The Art for All campaign is an effort to lure people into the Taft Museum of Art, where they can see the originals plus a ton of other artwork. Replicas of various pieces housed at The Taft are "hidden" all over the city. I also saw one on the bike trail with a friend a few weeks ago. It's kind of cool to see where all of the pieces are popping up.

On Tuesday, One Ordinary Dad and I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss.  We are blessed! Technically, we celebrated on Saturday night when we went out to dinner and C slept over at her Grandma's house, but we had to celebrate the actual day a little too. We went to the Museum Center and B went crazy for the train display. The little guy hasn't been there since he could walk and he walked all over that museum. "Choo-Choo" is one of his favorite words. He also had a blast in the ball pit seeing as how if it doesn't have wheels, it better be a ball to capture his attention.

As part of an anniversary present to One Ordinary Dad, I got him a one-day flex pass to the World Choir Games, which are in town until tomorrow. My husband is a music geek. I have to say I was quite proud of myself that when I picked the day for him, I did pretty well. After I'd already purchased his ticket, the local paper did a full spread about the Games and said that if you only had one day to spend downtown at the Games, to do it on the 12th. So yesterday morning, the kids and I dropped Daddy off downtown for a day of show choirs, quartets, sacred music, and more. We headed to one of our favorite parks after we dropped him off (I figured he would enjoy himself more without the kids tagging along).

 B drove every steering wheel at the park.

This park is situated under a freeway bridge, so it's always shady. C climbed on everything. I think we may need to take her to the climbing wall soon.

Don't you love C's Harry Potter wound on her forehead?

I have no idea what face he is making here.

We picked a tired Daddy up after dinner and headed home. Tomorrow is the City Flea in Washington Park, so we'll be down there for that-- the kids and Daddy to play and Mommy to help a friend out at her booth. Stop by and see us from 2-4. :-)

We love our city and the song really is true, "things will be great when you're downtown."

~One Ordinary Mom
P.S. Speaking of music, One Ordinary Dad and I treated ourselves to both Joshua Radin tickets and Mumford and Sons tickets as sort of anniversary presents to ourselves. Looks like we'll be hearing more great music in the coming weeks.

Stricker's Grove

Over the weekend we discovered a nice little gem not too far from our home. It was literally in the middle of a cornfield (ahh...the Midwest). I shot the picture below from the train ride.

Stricker's Grove is only open to the public a few days each summer. Mostly, they are a small for-rent facility popular for company picnics. Luckily, One Ordinary Dad's stepdad's company was having their annual picnic there.

There were only a few rides there that the kids could do, but it was enough to keep them entertained. C started off with a boat ride.

Next, she took a spin with Daddy on the elephants. She said they weren't as good as the Dumbo ones in Disneyworld, but she still liked them. I hate to break it to her, but pretty much every amusement park she ever goes to for the rest of her life will pale in comparison to Disney.

It was a hot day-- in the triple digits hot. Luckily, they had free soft-serve (and sno-cones, popcorn, drinks, burgers, etc.).

C fell in love with the Ferris Wheel at another local amusement park last year, so of course we had to ride the one here.

I love my girl!

B was able to ride a little rocket-ride with Sissy. He smiled the entire time!

The company put out buckets of squirt guns to help stay cool as well. My boys enjoyed showing off their guns. Welcome to the gun show!

A train took you around the field, and my "choo-choo" lovin' little man had a blast riding it.

No one was brave enough to tackle the wooden roller-coaster. Even on smooth, metal coasters, I need to take a Dramamine to avoid losing my lunch, and One Ordinary Dad didn't want to ride solo. So we just watched. I'm sure the day is coming when my kids will be fearless and ready to ride everything.

Just before we got so hot we couldn't stand it, we decided to head out of the cornfield and back home. All in all though, it wasn't too bad of a way to spend some time on a summer Saturday.

~One Ordinary Mom

In the Middle

We are alternating between days of being busy and days of being lazy, finding ourselves in the middle most days. My parents came into town last week, just a couple of days after we arrived home from vacation. Mostly we sit and visit and play with the kids, but on Friday night, we headed to a park downtown, by the river, for a picnic.

We hung around at the playground after we ate. B was on a mission to try to do everything his big sis could do.

We brought home two very tired kids and proceeded to have a fairly lazy rest of the weekend. One Ordinary Dad and I headed out on a date on Sunday night, taking full advantage of free babysitting from my parents. Our goal was to be cheap, so we used a BOGO coupon for the new berry almond chicken salad at Wendy's (delicious by the way), picked up a hardbound copy of The Annotated Charlotte's Web at Half Price Books (I love, LOVE, love Charlotte's Web) for $8, and then used free tickets to a local comedy club, where we did enjoy quite a bit of laughter.

Monday was another lazy day. Yesterday brought the exciting news that two of my friends had babies (one had twins), so there are now three new babies to snuggle in my life. And then, we spent the majority of yesterday evening at a friend's house for a small group pool party.

One of our friends enjoys fireworks, so we lit some bottle rockets and the kids played with sparklers.

Back when I first got my camera, when C was just over a year old, I tried to shoot in Manual mode as much as I could and to use natural light to my advantage. As she got busier and I had to be quicker, I began to rely on Auto mode more and more. I rarely went back to "M" unless we were doing a family photo shoot or something.

One of my goals this summer is to spend some of my lazy time learning more about the many wonderful things my camera can do. I've started shooting in RAW, which I never did before, and am trying hard to do all of my settings manually and to play with light. Our house has a ton of huge windows (an advantage to a nearly 100 year old home) that allow in a lot of natural light.

One of our small group friends is a photographer (like has his own studio photographer). He helped me get most of my settings right for the fun sparkler pictures. Between now and July 4th though, I'm going to try to learn how to get my flash to go off at the end of my exposure instead of the beginning as he said that would enhance these pictures quite a bit. If anyone knows how to do this on a Canon Digital Rebel xSi, please let me know. There's definitely a lot to learn, but armed with some guide books, a notebook for note-taking, and the ever-informative Internet, I'm confident I can get better and more comfortable on the Manual setting.

Enjoy your week friends. I'm off to go daydream about snuggly, newborn babies. And no, I am not pregnant and not planning to be anytime soon, lest you think all this baby daydreaming is a hint.

~One Ordinary Mom