Monday, December 31, 2012

End of the year wrap-up

2012 was definitely a roller coaster ride for us, emotionally, physically, monetarily and in many more ways. 2012 brought us many happy moments, both for us and our friends and family, challenges that we were not ready to face, choices that we were forced to make whether we wanted to or not and of course many "Little Things".
I am of course thankful that our littles H & Z are both happy, healthy, carefree children and overall 2012 was a good year for them. Our oldest little H began Kindergarten (when did he get so big??), made new friends, and was a happy little guy. Our youngest little Z said goodbye to both her pacifier and diapers this year, began taking ballet classes and discovered Hello Kitty!!!
As for Mr. O and I, this year was challenging. Unfortunately the "highlight" of this year was Mr. O's illness and subsequent recovery which thankfully he is now doing well. This year was definitely the epitome of "The Little Things", the smiles of a friendly face late at night in a hospital, the friends and family who took care of H&Z when we were at the hospital, my girlfriends who were there for us morning, noon and night.
While this year was a mix of high's and low's there were many little things that helped us get through the not so easy times.
Of course we are hoping for the continuation of good health for H&Z , good times with our family and friends, traveling a bit and more of The Little Things!!!!
Personally I'm hoping to blog more often, even if its just an outlet to think more like a college educated adult occasionally as opposed to just a SAHM, maybe even connect with other mom bloggers. Some of my girlfriends and I have vowed to make 2013 the year we focus more time to our health and well being to assure that we are here for a long time both for our children and to witness all the little things life has in store for us!!!!
Happy New Year....

Monday, August 13, 2012

Weekly Roundup

I am going to try something new in an effort to try and get my brain in more of a writing, adult mode rather than a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Kipper mode.  I am going to do a post hopefully every week of the little things that have either made me smile, made my life easier or that I just plain enjoyed, now I realize I may not do it on a Friday but nobody said a weekly roundup has to be on Friday.... So here it goes, while this summer has been anything but tons of fun for my family some of the recent little things have included:

Warm Bread - Yes in the dead heat of August I love a nice chunk of warm bread.  The other day C and I stopped for lunch at Panera and with my salad I got a nice warm chunk of a baguette, didn't think until after I inhaled it to ask for butter!!!!! YUMMY

Paper plates and plastic utensils - Yes, I know these things aren't great for the environment but they are great for quick meals and snacks, especially when you do not have a dish washer.  So I will admit to using these things and plastic cups but I do my part to help Mother Earth in other ways.

The other day I asked C if he knew where my Montessori Albums (large binders each containing all the lessons taught in a 3-6 year old classroom, that contain my sweat and tears) the answer I got was obvious "downstairs in the basement" I was looking for a more specific answer but oh well.  Later that afternoon we trekked down to the basement looking for the elusive binders and surprisingly they were easy to find, but what else I found was certainly better than any Montessori album....I found a cover to a photo album.  For a second or two I thought to myself "what is that and why is it here", upon closer inspection I realized that it was a cover to a photo album that belonged to my grandmother and in it were samples of her handwriting, one from childhood and one from adulthood.  This particular grandmother (LJP) passed away when I was 7 years old, I have memories of her and pictures but she is someone who is still very much loved and missed. She has away of showing up just when I need her, weird as this may sound it is true, there has been the occasional dream, the feeling of her presence at specific times in my life, or finding her photo album cover.  Now would I have found this eventually, sure but I can't help to think I found it now for a reason. My daughter Z shares the same middle name as my grandmother, Laura.  In fact the name Laura goes back 4 generations so far as we can tell, Z of course being the most current.  The picture below is of a quote that is taped inside the photo album cover, and applies so perfectly to this situation, even from the afterlife I know that my grandmother loves me and me her.


So there they are some Little Things from this week that have helped me out in one way or another recently.  I am hoping that as the summer comes to an end there will be more opportunities to experience all the Little Things around us.....

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Little Things....Easier Said Than Done

I have not written a post in several months but that does not mean I am forgetting about all the little things, in fact I need to think of them now especially.  While my family managed to skate through the winter without anything more than the occasional cold or sniffles and zipped through spring without any major allergy attacks I was looking forward to a healthy and fun summer.  Well that all changed when my husband became ill around the end of May, and like most men (sorry for the generalization) he just ignored it and chalked it up to allergies, having 2 small children, work, the sky being blue and everything else he could think of.  On June 11th that all changed when he had to be rushed to the hospital, he was unable to stand up at work and was so dizzy unlike anything he had ever experienced.   He was in the hospital for our son's (H) 5th birthday, which was one of the hardest things I have ever had to explain to H, and why we had to cancel his party not once but twice. Fast forward two months he has spent a total of 2 weeks in 2 different hospitals where he endured countless tests culminating with a spinal tap.  He has also spent two weeks at a local rehabilitation facility to strengthen his muscles and learn how to walk again.  Up to this point no Dr. can figure out what is making him ill, he feels as though he is walking in a bouncy house (think children's birthday parties).  All the Dr's can tell us is what isn't wrong, no tumors or cancers, not ALS, Hodgkin's disease or Parkinson's disease, he does not have vertigo, or MS.  And while this should and does bring us comfort it also brings us fear and so many unanswered questions.  The fact that he does not have anything serious and it is probably just a virus should be my little thing for the rest of our lives....but it is not. 
During this time of hospitalizations and rehabilitation centers I was essentially a single parent, yes my husband (C) did talk to the children (H&Z) and they did go to visit him, but the everyday parenting was all me, everyday.  We did have help from some amazing friends and family members but it was still ALL ME!!!!!  The outpouring  of love and support we have received from friends of mine that have never met C, friends of family members, friends from across the country has been amazing and for that we are thankful. 
I have tried everyday to find the little things to be happy about or that make me smile and yes even laugh.  Some of them have included, the hospital having an Au Bon Pain in it, can you say chocolate croissant!!!!  The fact that several times while at the hospital I left so late at night that the gates were up and I did not have to pay for parking.  The fact that when we were at our breaking points the nurses at both hospitals that actually cared, offered a hug or even offered ice cream to me!!!!!  Now there have been small things too, the butterflies we saw daily, the funny texts that my girlfriends and family sent me, the smiles on my H&Z's face when C came home....both times.  Needless to say there has been tons of tears, lots of yelling, times of frustration and days when we didn't want to deal with this any longer, but something keeps us going perhaps it is the little things in life that really are the great things.....
For today my little thing is sitting on the kitchen table cooling in a bundt pan and waiting for a healthy dose of chocolate frosting!!!!!!