Thursday, April 27, 2017

Spring fever


My struggle this month: staying in the moment
I realized I was having a hard time with being present when I found myself dependent on my calendar-style planner. The first thing I did every morning the last couple of weeks was make coffee and open the planner so I could review the day's (week's? month's?) schedule. It was as if my mind had to constantly tic off our activities and events like tasks on a to-do list..... which is fine until you realize there is no prize at the end for accomplishing all the tasks. The prize is being present at each event! Whether it was a baseball game, practice for ______ (piano, baseball, gymnastics, track....) or school meeting I knew that scheduling was important - but enjoying the event as it was happening was even more important!





So I worked a little harder to put away the calendar and not focus so much on planning out our lives but more on enjoying it. I helped Sam make home made ice cream and I asked Hamp to help me make dinner. And when I drove car pool for gymnastics I actually stopped and sat still for 10 minutes (could've been less?!) and watched the deer cross the street as the sun set. Last Sunday, Sam picked up pine cones and washed the car; Hamp mowed the yard; I put up the hammock and then promptly took a nap in it!!!!

It is said that you can't appreciate the yin without the yang, the heat without the cold, the happy without the sad. Perhaps it goes too for appreciating the down time. Moments might not seem so precious if we didn't fill up so many of them with activity! I am glad to have both busy and quiet moments in our lives lately.

Baseball games & bubbles:
   

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Easter weekend



Spring weather has arrived in Meeker - aka cold winds, sun, rain, hail, snow? all in an afternoon! - and spring sports are in full swing. Hamp is participating in Middle School track and trying to balance that with Little League baseball. Sam is either at gymnastics, piano lesson, or art class and loving every minute of it! That leaves me running between all of the above... but I'm not sure I would have it any other way. As long as I can squeeze in a good hike with Gabe every other day or so I am pretty happy.

Last weekend was packed with all the fun - after Sam's art class we all (even Gabe!) went to the park for Hamp's baseball game under the lights! Then the weekend found us enjoying an opener track meet at home and baseball games in Grand Junction - both days under blue skies and requiring both sunscreen and a sweatshirt!?

   

It wasn't until Sunday morning that we finally were able to relax and celebrate Spring for real! The Easter bunny actually paid our house a visit and hid our little plastic eggs, filling them with treats. I felt such a relief that even Hamp, at 13 was still a willing and excited participant in the egg hunt. Whether he was doing it for his brother's sake or mine, or just happy to get chocolate for breakfast, it made for such a fun and sweet morning. We even dyed eggs and staying in pajamas all morning... 

 

... and when we later got dressed for dinner, we tried (well, I tried) to take a nice, family holiday photo. 
  
I swear these two really did look very handsome!