Resolutions are meant to be broken, right?

I had the greatest of intentions in January when I resolved to blog more often (three times a week actually) as a form of creative expression.  Well, real life caught up with me and has kept me from doing this.  The kids and I just returned from being snow birds for over a month(!) in Florida and we are returning to normal life as we know it. 

Here are some things that I will cherish about out trip to Florida:

• The time spent with my nieces.  Watching all three girls perform an impromptu talent show in my sister's kitchen.  Dance parties to Queen and Will.i.am. Avery's persistent mothering of Maeve, Violet's sly realization that with Maeve around she could slink off more easily and have uninterrupted play time with all the toys. All three girls eating together at the kitchen counter like sisters.
• Finn's Baptism. This kicked off a very hectic weekend for my family, and I was surprisingly calm and collected for this event. It's hard to explain, but despite all the preparation for the dinner after the baptism, I left all that at the door and was very present for the actual sacrament. Sure I was laughing hysterically when Maeve started to sing 'Happy Birthday' as Pastor Stephen lit the candles, but when it hit me that 31 years ago I was baptized over that same giant clam shell, and I got chills.  Pastor Stephan also added some water from the River Jordan where Jesus was baptized, and then I remembered that Zar was also baptized by water from the River Jordan.  Again I got chills.  Afterwards, my mom told me that once Finn was baptized, Maeve whispered to her "It's a miracle". Once again, I got chills.
• Reuniting with friends.  One of my oldest friends lives in Sarasota and lives a eerily parallel life to mine, only thousands of miles apart.  We met weekly for play dates with the kids and to watch LOST.  We rekindled our old friendship and it was wonderful to talk about things that were important to us other in this life, and laugh about things we did in our past.  She is wonderfully forgiving for times when I was a flat out bad friend and for this I am very thankful.  Also, I was able to escape to Orlando for a weekend to spend with my best girlfriends in the world. As we are now scattered all over the country, we try to get together once a year for a 'girls weekend' of wild and crazy antics like sitting around reading gossip magazines and eating circus peanuts.  This year I was sick (so sorry girls) with a terrible cold and I just didn't feel like myself, but they loved me just the same. I love the company of these women and I feel so at home with them that I was truly able to relax for the first time in FOREVER.  love. love.love.
• Watching my parents be grandparents. This isn't something I get to do very often, being so far away from them.  They are fantastic grandparents and they really appreciate each grandchild for his/her differences.  We were there for a looong time, and this was a first for all of us and I think overall we all did well.  They were very tolerant of my kids (and m) even when we were challenging--sick, cranky, up at all hours of the night, throwing tantrums, etc.
• Bring able to pop over to my sisters and chat.  This seems very silly, but I miss this A LOT by not living near her.  I know if we lived near each other, I'd be over there several days each week after school, just shooting the breeze (likely over a Guinness) while the kids ran wild.  I spent many a winter's day dreaming of this, and I am happy to see that I was able to do it, even if only for a few short weeks.

I posted a lot of pictures to my facebook account, so I won't post them again here.  If you want to see them, just send me an email and I'll send you the link.

Liz

Ready to head to Florida!

Friday's Five-Valentine's Edition

We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day in our house because we have birthday's right around the corner.  But, I love the sentiment of a special day to tell those around you how much you love them. I wish I had made this list when we first got married, because I am sure that it is drastically different now.  As we each change over the years, so does my appreciation for this man. Happy V-Day, Z.

Five things I love about my husband:
1. His determination and ambition
2. He is an AMAZING dad, and I love hearing him talk about how much he loves our kids.
3. He provides me a lot of security.  He knows exactly how to calm me when my nerves are rattled.
4. He will always do anything, or try something new even when I have trepidations.
5. He's pretty funny and makes me laugh. A lot.

wordless Wednesday: First Tatoo

Store Bought Baby Food

We are getting ready to travel to Florida for about 6 weeks this weekend, and I feel as if I am closing up my house for the summer.  Yes, Zar will be here, but I'm pretty sure he won't be cooking many meals so we are doing our best to raid the pantry this week and avoid buying nay new perishables.  Zar will also be out of town for the rest of the week until we head out, so I am on my own with the little ones.  In an attempt to keep my sanity, I am not making Finn any foods this week and I have stocked up on some awesome store bought brands.

I have always been a fan of Earth's Best Organic Baby.  They make some great combo meals.  I find that they are really thin however and I usually plump up a jar with a few tablespoons of Happy Baby Brown Rice or Oatmeal. Finn is particularly fond of the vegetable dinner.

I also found some very unique combinations of foods from Plumb Organics.  I haven't tried them before, and I'm a sucker for the neat packaging. So far I tried plain peaches (Finn was not a fan) and a Spinach, Pear, and Pea combination.  Finn loved the green stuff!  This is great because I am having a hard time adding in greens to my homemade repertoire. Maybe it will be easier once are in Florida and away from all of these winter root vegetables!