You Capture - Sunshine

This week's You Capture topic wasn't quite as easy as you might think - the past week was rather gloomy in the Northern Kentucky area and sunshine wasn't exactly plentiful.  This left me a little anxious at the end of the week.  Lucas was scheduled to have his very first tee-ball practice Friday evening and he could not have been more excited.  This kid has been a sports nut from day 1 and has been dying to play sports since he started tagging along at Ella's various games.  However, Friday morning brought clouds.  No rain, but it was just hanging there, with the feeling that it just might drop down at any moment.  I did not have the heart to tell him that his practice he had been waiting for all day, all week, ever since sign-ups... might be cancelled.  But lo and behold, just as 5:30 rolled around and practice was to begin, the sun came out!  Lucas took the field and played hard for the entire hour and came off the field with a smile on his face.

Trust that there will be plenty of photos to come of Lucas in action, but this is one I just could not resist sharing.  First, the obvious sun shining through the trees.  Second, someone on the team yelled "Let's change the game to Kick Dirt!"  And so 13 tee-ballers did just that.

A completely different take on sunshine... There is a peony bush at the corner of my front steps.  It is one that I transplanted last fall and now I can see it through the front windows when I am in my kitchen or walking down the steps.  I was super excited to see it start to sprout this spring and a couple of weeks ago we saw the first bloom.  It is still the only one (although I have seen a few that are not too far behind).  Every evening this flower closes itself up and every morning when my kids wake up, before the sun has hit the bush, they say "Our rose died!"  Every morning I assure them it did not, it is just waiting for the sunshine.  And sure enough, as the sun comes up over our front yard the peony opens once again to take in all the warmth it has to offer. 

Aren't the colors just brilliant?!

That's all I've got this week!  Check out more sunny photos at Beth's newly remodeled site.

Sexist?

Is it possible for a three-year-old to be sexist?  If so, I think my son is just that.

I am VERY big on not imposing any sort of gender restrictions on my children.  They are never told things are just for boys/just for girls or they can't have or do things because they are the wrong gender.  I believe in letting them figure it out for themselves and see what happens.  I love that my 7-year-old daughter loves her Barbies and dress ups and crafts, but she also loves to help her Daddy in the yard and garage and likes rooting on our favorite sports teams.  My 3-year-old son loves sports and action figures and wrestling, but he is also my biggest cuddler and loves to help me in the kitchen and can be found on occassion playing in his sister's Barbie house.

I think we also do a good job around here of sharing household responsibilities, so our children don't make any assumptions of their own.  The only job I have never done is mow the lawn.  (I will not lie - I have no idea how to mow the lawn.  I have never pushed a lawn mower in my life.) 

So WHY is my son so against females in certain positions?  And why does he designate things as "guy things"??  A few examples...

He has a female swim instructor.  She is wonderful and motherly and older than I am with children of her own.  Lucas likes her, too, but he is mad that he does not have a male instructor and he does not let us forget it.

I told Lucas I would have to keep exercising so I could get stronger and always be able to pick him up.  He told me I needed to start picking up "those guy things."  After further conversation I figured out he was talking about weights.  I asked why they are guy things and why they can't be girl things.  He said girls can use them, but they are still guy things.  How very gracious of him. 

We pulled up to the playground today and he only saw 1 girl, no boys.  "Why is that girl out there?"  I said because she wants to play.  He said "I'm not playing with her."  Lovely. 

The examples certainly don't end there.  He has also informed me that Daddy is smarter than me and stronger than me (on many occassions) and if he needs help and I offer, he will remind me that he asked for Daddy.  He went through this faze as a baby, where he very much preferred men over women, Momma included.  But he eventually outgrew it and I assumed we were done with it.  Apparently that is not the case.

So as much as I remind him that girls can do certain things and he should be nice about it, I'm not sure it's doing much good at this point.  I guess it goes back to certain traits being ingrained into people at birth, regardless of how they are raised.  All I know is that he better get over this soon because he has a big sister and I'm quite certain she will not hesitate to put him in his place!  And if she doesn't, this Momma won't let it slide.

11 Years

Yesterday I celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss with my wonderful husband.  We didn't plan anything for our actual anniversary this year (even though it fell on a weekend) because he was supposed to be between business trips.  We decided we didn't want to cram something in, we would rather wait until we had time to actually enjoy ourselves and not feel rushed.  So we went about filling up the weekend with other fun things like soccer games in the rain and work.  But then his second business trip was cancelled and as it turned out, we could have planned something after all.  Of course at that point it was too late, so we went about our day as planned, which was fine with us, knowing we would just make up for it later.

But that was NOT fine for a certain little girl in this house.  She didn't like the fact that we weren't doing anything on our anniversary so she wanted to plan something fun and special.  She got together with Lucas and Brandon and they cooked up quite a surprise that turned into the best anniversary celebration yet.  While I was at my 31 party they got to work and here is what I came home to:

Lucas greeted me at the door as I came in from the garage.  He was wearing "church clothes."  (HUGE for him since this kid wants to live in sweat pants, t-shirts and no socks.)  He said "May I show you to your seat?"  And I saw "Awwww!!!!" in that embarrassing mom way, he got shy and giggly, covered his face and ran up the steps without me.

I walked upstairs and was welcomed by Ella, who showed me to my seat and handed me a menu for the evening.  The table was set with a table cloth, wine glasses and fresh flowers.  We even had place cards so we all knew were to sit and Ella graciously offered me her seat so I could sit next to Brandon.

My dinner was served to me in my seat (rather than me having to make 2 plates, cut food, then go back for my own along with whatever else the kids are demanding).  Bacon wrapped filet, fresh green beans, steamed carrots and bread along with some red wine.  A menu selected by my loves that included all of their favorites.  (Steak for Brandon, fresh green beans for Ella, carrots for Lucas and bread for Joe.)

We had a wonderful dinner where everybody was happy and excited and remembered to use their manners and got along with each other. 

After dinner we had family movie night.  Popcorn for all the big people and golfish for Joe.  We all put on our pajamas, squeezed side by side onto the couch together and watched The Muppets.  The kids loved it for its silliness and Brandon and I loved it for the nostalgia factor.

After the movie the kids went to bed and Brandon and I finished off the wine while watching more movies. 

We have never celebrated our anniversary this way.  We always get a sitter and head out for a nice, "fancy," child-free dinner.  But I have to admit - I LOVED THIS NIGHT!  I think it is the best anniversary celebration I have ever had.  I'm pretty sure I didn't stop smiling from the time I walked in the door until I dozed off to sleep.  Everybody was happy and together and having a good time, which is all I ever wanted 11 years ago when I said "I do."

You Capture - Chocolate

Photography lesson learned this week - carry your camera at all times!  But with trying to get 3 kids out of the house and into the car, one of them being incapable of getting himself down the steps and buckled into his seat, and also requiring his own bag, my hands are a little full and my mind a little preoccupied.  On Tuesday I was doing some shopping and there was a mother goose with her 7 little gosslings strutting / waddling along the shopping center.  So very cute - and I had no camera!  I had to settle for what my phone could do because I just couldn't resist.  Not terrible, but not what I would have liked.

ANYWAY... on to You Capture!

Donuts are a special treat for our kids and they only get them when Pawpaw Damon is in town and buys them or about once a month when we stick around after mass and join everybody for coffee and donuts in the church basement.  But last Friday I had a late night run to Wal-Mart and they had Krispy Kreme donuts with chocolate icing and sprinkles marked down to make way for the next morning's delivery.  For some reason I could not resist the sweet treat for my babes, so I indulged.  Not only did they get chocolate donuts for breakfast, but they got to eat them at their little table in front of the TV watching Saturday morning cartoons.  Quite a treat indeed!

The chocolate in this next picture is not nearly as sweet as the story behind it.

Since Easter candy made its first appearance on the store shelves I starting buying Dove chocolate eggs, in both milk chocolate and dark chocolate, and storing them in this glass candy dish on top of the microwave.  Out of the reach of my children.  It took them a few days before they finally noticed it and asked for a piece - I offered them a piece of their own (not-so-high-quality) chocolate instead.  I love me some good chocolate and I was not willing to share it!  My stash ran out two days before Easter and I figured I would wait it out and just start snagging candy from one of the several baskets each of my children receives.  (We usually wind up throwing away half their candy anyway, sometime near the end of summer.  They would never notice the missing chocolate.)  At some point on Monday Ella pointed out that she had taken 2 chocolate eggs out of her Easter basket and put them in the dish.  She told me the pink was for me and the blue was for Daddy and she wanted to replace some of our candy and she thought that was probably the same kind.  SERIOUSLY?!  How unbelievably sweet is this girl?!  (And how absolutely terrible do I feel now for not sharing my original batch?)

That's my chocolate for the week!  There's a lot more chocolate around here, but most of it is going into my mouth and I don't think anybody wants to see that picture.  Instead, check out I Should Be Folding Laundry for more chocolatey goodness.

Keeping Up With The Tabors

It has finally happened.  I knew it was only a matter of time, but I have to admit it happened a little sooner than I expected.  We are now one of "those families" that has extra-curricular activities scheduled every day of the week.  Every day except Sunday, but I do teach Sunday School so if you count that I guess that finishes off the week.

Our kids are busy little people who love to get involved and we encourage that.  As long as it doesn't go overboard and I don't start pulling my hair out at the roots I will let them play sports and participate in outside activities to their heart's content.  I am curious to see how they handle it though.  There are kids in this world that can juggle a million things with complete ease and Ella is one of those kids.  She is my social butterfly and if it were up to her she would play just about every sport and sign up for every club.  We have already had to draw the line on her requests several times.  Lucas on the other hand is my home-body, just like his Dad.  He starts to melt down when he is worn out and doesn't handle the go-go-go lifestyle all that well.  And Joseph... God love him, because he just goes with the flow and is up for pretty much anything, always happy to tag along. 

So starting this week... Mondays are swim lessons for Lucas.  Tuesdays we have gymnastics for Ella.  Wednesday it's Ella's turn for swim lessons.  Thursday she moves on to soccer practice and Friday Lucas now has tee-ball practice.  Saturday Ella has soccer games.  In a few weeks we will add tee-ball games, likely on Wednesday or Thursday evenings. 

Of course this won't last forever and we only have about 6 weeks where everyday is booked because of the overlap of seasons.  But still, in the meantime... I am excited!  Does that sound crazy?  It is crazy, but this is part of what I have always dreamed about.  Being "that mom" who shuttles her kids around town for all their events, sitting on the sidelines to cheer them on and watching my other kids play on the playground at the same time.  I love that they are active and energetic, even if it does wear me out sometimes (OK, a lot of times).  I love that they want to try new things and get involved.  I love watching them succeed and seeing the excitement in their eyes when they realize it. 

I know this is just the beginning of a long career as a sports mom and I'm so happy to get the game started.

Confessions

Confessions from my Wednesday spent (mostly) alone...

• I slept until 9:30 AM with both big dogs in bed with me.  I would have slept longer if Brandon hadn't called and said "Are you awake?"  (Well NOW I am!)
• I had coffee and Cadbury Mini Eggs for breakfast.
• I logged into Facebook more times than I can count just to see what people were up to.
• I stayed in my pajamas until 1:00 in the afternoon.
• I took the hottest, longest shower of my life because I didn't have to worry about saving hot water for anybody else.
• I listened to the 80's satellite radio station while doing some work around the house - it was at full volume and I was singing and dancing along.
• I set out to clean the entire house - not one single room is 100% clean.  (But most are tidy and vacuumed.  OK... some.)
• Brandon and I ate dinner in front of the TV on folding tables.  It consisted of chicken wings and beer.
• I missed my children terribly.  But since I'm confessing... I enjoyed my sleepy morning, my quiet afternoon and my lazy evening.  I really did have a good day.

You Capture - Easter/Pastels

I had so much fun taking pictures this week!  Lots of Pastels and lots of Easter to be captured everywhere.

My neighbor has this tree in their front yard.  I have no idea what kind of tree it is because I'm not so good with plants and flowers like that.  But what I do know is that it is the lightest shade of pink and against all the other deep purples and greens of our street it just jumps out.  It catches my attention every time I walk out the door.  This shot was taken from my front porch, so this is exactly what I get to see every day.

This week I actually took a picture of some flowers in my own yard!  Last fall I decided I wanted all the plants and flowers in my yard in different places.  So I started digging and transplanting and praying that I hadn't just killed everything.  Turns out I didn't!  These geraniums are coming up like crazy and I couldn't be more excited!  (For the record, I only lost one plant - everything else has come back.)

Easter and Pastels rolled into one...

Some of the results of our egg coloring on Easter-eve

And some of the eggs Lucas found Easter morning (Not exactly sure what you call that egg next to the yellow one - is that pastel??)

My brother and my nephew in their matching Easter outfits with pale blue shirts.  ("Coordinating" he says, they do not match exactly.  I think that made him feel girly.)

I made so many attempts to get a decent (not even good - just decent!) picture of my kids on Easter.  I think I need to face the fact that is is not possible.  This is what usually happens when I try to get pictures.

But I did get this shot, which I don't even think they were aware of.  This is post-egg hunt, when the three of them decided on their own to gather together on my Grandma's front lawn and take stock of what they had found.  Ella and Lucas had 10 eggs each, with quarters inside.  Joe had 2 or 3 eggs, some mulch, a couple of dead leaves and some small sticks.  Overall a good hunt!

Want to see more Easter and Pastel shots?  Head over to Beth's for this week's You Capture challenge.

Mixed Emotions

I sit here now in a completely quiet house.  Other than the washing machine running downstairs and the clicking of the keyboard, there is nothing!  All 3 of my kids are currently in Bowling Green with their grandparents, a mini Spring Break vacation.  I dropped them off yesterday afternoon and will pick them up tomorrow afternoon, so for a total of 48 hours I am childless.

I have mixed emotions about this.  I cried for 3 days leading up to the drop off.  I haven't been away from Ella and Lucas for this long in several years, and even when I was away they were home with Dad.  I have never been away from Joseph for this long.  Yes, there are certainly days that I need a break or a little quiet time or a little grown-up time.  But I LOVE being home with my babies everyday.  I love that I get to spend my days with them now and be the one to pick them up from school and help with homework and schedule fun outings and activities.  I love seeing all of Joe's new discoveries and milestones.  I love snuggling with them to read books and watch cartoons.  I love every single second of being a Momma and I don't want to miss out on anything.

But today... I have to admit, today it is nice to have the peace and quiet.  I had big goals and a long to-do list for today.  Some of it is being accomplished, but I'm sure some of it will not.  I have spent a good chunk of this morning playing on the computer and checking in with people on Facebook and eating hands-full of Cadbury Mini Eggs.  (Curses to you Mini-Eggs!  I am trying to get my body ready for the beach!!)  I have not turned on the TV or the radio or anything else that makes any noise.  It is quiet.  And full disclosure - it is noon and I am still in my pajamas.  I slept until 9:30.  (Would have slept longer if a certian somebody hadn't called and said "Are you awake?"  a-hem!!)  Quiet and comfortable.

So maybe today won't be as super successful as I had planned.  But so far it is relaxing.  I will knock some things off my list and some will be postponed for the weekend.  But tomorrow?  Tomorrow afternoon I will run up to my babies and throw my arms around them and make up for all the hugs I have missed in these 48 hours.

You Capture - White

This week's topic for You Capture was white which I thought we be a piece of cake since there are white flowers blooming on trees everywhere.  But of course I did not get a chance to photograph any of them.   :(  Ella's allergies have been so terrible this year that we spent a lot of the last couple of weeks inside, instead of outside where my kids love to be and where I love to be with them.  She even missed a couple days of school due to allergy over-load and ear infections.  But it did not take long for her to bounce back and head back to school and finally the boys and I got outside for a walk so we could all enjoy some fresh air and I could finally take some pictures! 

My kids - just like every other kid out there - LOVE to blow the "white fuzzies" that come from the dead dandelions.  Much to my husband's dismay they are all over our yard.  It does not help that Ella encourages her brother to "blow them in the yard so more will grow!"  He tells them to stop, I call him a kill joy.

We have a ton of beautiful flowers in our yard, both front and back.  And if the theme is ever "purple" I will show them to you.  I didn't realize I planted that much purple or that I even liked purple that much, but apparently I do.  It is everywhere in our yard.  We do have some other colors, including white, but of course none of those are blooming yet.  I have to admit, I do not know the first thing about gardening.  All I know is that I need plants that can take "full sun" because our yard does not catch a break.  I'm honestly shocked all these flowers have survived, and even thrived, all these years.  So since I didn't have anything to shoot in my own yard, I had to use a neighbor.  (They probably think I am crazy from taking pictures of their yard from across the street.)  But these white daffodils were just too irresistable and looked even more brilliant against the green.

And I even like them with the little splash of color in the background.

More white can be found over at I Should Be Folding Laundry.  Happy capturing!

On My Mind

Random thoughts for the week (because creating a separate post for each topic seemed a bit like overkill)...

NCAA Basketball: UK - National Champs!!  Woo-Hoo!!!  We are big Cats fans in this house and everybody is excited that Kentucky gets to hang an 8th championship banner.  Brandon and I fill out tournament brackets each year and enter them into a pool that involves money, as well as our "Tabor Family Challenge."  The Family challenge involves everybody in the house (excluding Joseph of course - for now!) completing a bracket.  The kids make their selections mostly based on the team mascot, and with this year's outcome that wasn't always a bad method.  Tabor rules are you get 1 point for each win, regardless of which round you are in.  Person with the most points wins and gets dinner of their choice (at home, not a restaurant).  For the second year in a row I won!!  I am still trying to decide what I want for dinner, but here's the catch - I'm head chef around here.  No way am I cooking my own victory dinner.  So I need to come up with something delicious that can be 100% prepared by my dear husband.  This might take a while...  To go along with my TFC win, my bracket also finished first in the money pool I was in!  I might frame my bracket because this will never, ever happen again.  So I sit here awaiting a pretty good chunk of change for my hard work and good gambling skills.  What might I do with that money, you ask?  Spoil myself?  Buy a new wardrobe??  Day at the spa???  Oh no - I will be purchasing new timing belts and a few other glamorous items for my 2001 Toyota Camry.  And we need a new furnace because ours is totally dead.  Be jealous.  Be envious.  At least I get to brag, right?

The National Anthem: To all celebrities and anyone else who is chosen to sing the National Anthem: This is not your song.  It is the nation's song.  Therefore, if you are so lucky to be chosen to perform this song in front of large crowds do not attempt to make it your own.  There is a 99% chance you will make it sound bad.  Or even terrible.  I have heard many renditions and very few have left me thinking "They did a really good job!"  I bring this up because The Fray was somehow chosen to sing the National Anthem before the fabulous basketball game mentioned above.  I don't know how they were chosen as I can think of many other wonderful musicians from New Orleans (where the game was played for you non-followers) who would have done a much better job.  The musicians started playing and it sounded nothing like the beginning of the song, so I thought maybe they were actually singing something else.  Oh no, not at all.  They sang the words I have heard so many times, but the tune was something I have never heard in my life.  I don't even have words to describe how disappointed and angry I was with the whole performance.  If you feel so inclined you can check it out here.  Good luck making it through the entire song - I will tell you now, it does not get better as it goes on.  We used to be Cincinnati Bengals season ticket holders.  (Yes, that is a topic for a separate post.)  There was a Cincinnati Firefighter who sang the Anthem at about half the games - he was amazing!  Maybe they can just get him to sing National Anthems everywhere, all the time.  I found an old clip of him singing and it still gives me chills.  This is what it should sound like.

Spring Break: At 5:00 today everybody in our house is on spring break!  As luck would have it my kids do not have the same exact spring break, but they do overlap a bit.  Lucas is off this week.  Ella's spring break starts tomorrow and runs all the way through next week.  Brandon is taking off tomorrow and Friday.  Hooray!  Everybody is off!  Oh wait... except mom!  As we always hear, moms do not get a day off, much less a spring break.  But how wonderful would that be... Spring Break for Moms!  Moms Gone Wild!!  I don't even think I know how to "get wild" anymore.  It's wild enough around here as it is.  If I get some time off I want peace.  Put me by the pool with an endless supply of adult beverages and some good trashy gossip magazines with a few of my closest friends.  That sounds heavenly!  Maybe one day I can arrange that...  For now, though, I will enjoy the fact that we will all be home together for a few extra days and make the most of it.  We have big plans tomorrow and a fun weekend ahead and I promise, I really do love when everybody is home even if it does create more work for me!

Wow, I'm kind of a whiner today, aren't I?  No apologies, though, because this is MY blog!  I'm working on my latest You Capture shots - hopefully to be posted tomorrow.  Stay tuned!