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....

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.....

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!!!!!! 

The Little Things...Girlfriends

     I knew I wanted to write a post today but had a hard time thinking of my own little things that happened this week.  After a week filled with child meltdowns, early mornings and late nights it occurred to me that the thing I can always depend on is my girlfriends.....they are my little thing this week.  Since becoming a mom I have needed my girlfriends more and more, whether it be advice on what to feed my babies or a listening ear when I needed to vent.....my girlfriends have been there. 
     Recently the relationship with many of my girlfriends has changed for the better.  As I have gotten older I have realized that I need different girlfriends for different things, while I adore them all, they each bring something wonderful to my life. 
     There is the girlfriend who cried tears of joy with me upon learning I was finally pregnant with my son and then 2 years later who held my hand when I was surprised to learn of my pregnancy with my daughter and comforted me during the post partum depression that followed.  She is the one who I would call if I ever needed bail money and would never ask why.  She is invaluable to me and I Love her.....
     There is the girlfriend who has been my girlfriend since middle school, who always ends an e-mail or Facebook message with I Love You and does not care who sees it.  She is my friend that I can confide in whenever I am scared or worried about something and I Love her......
     There is my girlfriend who I had not spoken to since high school and now I can't imagine not speaking or texting with for a day.  She makes me laugh, reassures me when I am feeling like a horrible mother for not wanting to watch cartoons.  She has inspired me to be a better wife, person, mother and friend.  She listens to my cheesy "Guess what the children said or did today" stories and laughs with me.  She is a person that I can text or call at 10:00 at night upon realizing my daughter painted her room with Vaseline and searches for ways to remove it and for that I Love her.....
     There is my girlfriend who has shown a massive amount of people how to have strength when facing the most horrible of events.  Through her courage, strength and immeasurable love for her daughter she has helped us be strong while we were trying to help her in some small way.  Just by her allowing me to call her a friend truly humbles me, she has taught me that it really is the little things in life that mean the most, to cherish every minute with your children, and most importantly through allowing many of us to be a witness to her unwavering strength she has taught us how to be better mommy's and for that I Love her.....
     This is just a short description of some of my girlfriends, I have many more who are wonderful mommy's, wives, friends and confidants and yes I Love them all....
     I know only a couple of people read this and that is ok the most important thing is that this is heartfelt and pure and if anyone stumbles upon it they are fortunate to not only have great girlfriends but that they appreciate all the little things......

The Little Things...a brief explination

How many times have we all heard the phrase "it is all about the little things"?  Since becoming a mommy of two young children I have come to believe this statement even more.  Some days are busy and we may not take the time to realize what went well that day....whether it is no line at Starbucks in the morning or realizing you have a $20 bill in your pocket that you forgot about, realizing that these types of things are good may make all the difference in your day.  I will be the first one to say it is not easy to appreciate this, sometimes days later we will realize what is good in our days however trivial it is.  For example, I was recently preparing lunch for my children on a rainy, yucky day.  We had been stuck inside and all going stir crazy, on this particular day I was making grilled cheese for them and as I was getting the butter out I thought "spreadable butter what a complete waste of money, but I love it" and it that moment I realized that was my "little thing" for the morning.  Now, I realize that this is totally crazy, in the great scheme of things but I don't care....it is all about the little things.  That is what I hope to do here point out all the little things that can help get us through the day, week, month or even year.  I will share our family story a little later on, but for now I'm focusing on the little things...