You Capture - Summer

When I saw the topic for this week's You Capture post, I wasn't quite sure where to start.  What's not to love about summer?!  There are so, so many things that come to mind when I think of my favorite season.  I finally decided to capture my two favorite things of this hot and steamy time of year.

My mom and step-dad have a pool at their house and many weekends are spent there, with a lot of other family members and friends.  We have a very large family and a lot of very close family friends (extended family, if you will) - if you didn't know any better you would think they are having a party every weekend.  But no - it's just the family! 

Of course they love nothing more than when their little angels (my 3 kids and my nephew) come to visit.  Being the doting grandparents they are, the kids pretty much have the run of the place and can do and have what they want.  So here they are - Joseph, Lucas, Ella and Nathan - taking a much-needed snack break.  They had drinks in their personalized water bottles (purchased by Mawmaw) and Oreo cookies (provided by Pawpaw).  Pool, sun, cousins, chocolatey snacks - what more could a kid ask for?

The thing I look forward to most every summer - our annual Haungs Memorial Golf Outing. 

This is the eighth year for our outing.  It involves all of my mom's siblings (that's them in the picture above, plus my Grandma), along with their families, converging on Northern Kentucky for a mini-reunion and 9-hole golf outing.  Now that everybody is scattered across the country, we don't see each other as often.  But every year, in early July, we come together for a golf outing and party in honor and memory of my grandfather and my uncle who have passed away.

It is fun for so many reasons.  Most of us (myself included) are NOT golfers, so we just get out there to have a good time.  And there are a lot of us - my mom is one of nine kids, there are 14 grandkids and now we are starting to have our own children so there is a whole new generation.  There is a trophy, so there are some bragging rights that go along with a win.  There are pictures from years past, all compiled into an album, so there are stories shared and rehashed.  There is food and drink, and swimming and card-playing and time spent together that we don't get any other time of the year.  It is an all-day and all-night event and it has been one of my favorite things every year since we began.

I could have posted half a million pictures from the day.  I am the unofficial "staff photographer" of the day - I take all pictures and add them to the album each year.  My mom has dubbed me the paparazzi - on the course I am much more concerned about getting pictures of everybody than I am about golfing!  (Oh!  My turn again?  What hole are we on??)  So here are a few more shots from the course...

My paparazzi-ish work, taking pictures through the trees

An action shot from the ninth green

Intimidation!  As each team finishes, they line up their carts along the ninth green and watch as the other teams come in.  You do NOT want to be the last team to finish!

I should have spent a little more time on my editing this week, but I am later than I had planned on linking up and I didn't want to miss the challenge all together!  For some other great photos, be sure to visit You Capture over at Beth's place.

Best Laid Plans

It is finally happening.  I finally feel as if I have a handle on the things going on in my home and in my life and in my career.  Shhh... don't talk about it too loudly or it is bound to all fall to pieces again!  Last week I wrote about the craziness that consumed June and how terrible I felt about the way everything was going.  I vowed to make July better.  And guess what?  It is working!  This week I have felt an inner peace and happiness I have not felt in quite some time.  And friends, it is amazing. 

I must admit, when I first quit my full-time office job I had a very false picture of how things would go.  I did not expect everything to be calm and clean and perfect all the time, but I envisioned happy mornings spent playing with my kids and quiet afternoons where they napped and I took care of household chores, followed by happy family dinners in the evening, then more family time spent playing games or playing outside or going on outings.  How very fairy-tale-ish.  I don't think I need to tell you that it did not go like that at all.  Not even one day.

But this week... oh, this week the tides are turning.  I have been to the gym and plan on going back this afternoon.  I have taken the kids to the pool and will be taking them again tonight.  We are going to the zoo tomorrow.  I have run some errands.  I have cleaned the house (well... the top half!).  I have had ample time to do my work while Joseph slept and the big kids enjoyed some "quiet time" of their own playing downstairs.  Today, for the very first time, I have actually completed all of my work for the day - it's already done!  That means I can spend this evening editing my pictures for this week's You Capture post.  (Finally!) 

All of this has left me feeling satisfied and happy and somewhat giddy, like I want to skip around my house for the rest of the day.  I look ahead in my planner and it is nearly empty.  Unheard of!  (I confess, I wrote a couple somewhat-meaningless tasks in there earlier in the week because the look of an empty weekly agenda was so foreign to me I didn't know how to deal with it.)

Yes indeed, my plan is finally falling into place.  Don't get me wrong - I still have quite a bit of catching up to do in all areas.  But I feel like I finally have a chance to actually do it and to start my Home Project To-Do list again.  Maybe one day soon I can even cross one off that list!

No, it is still not perfect and yesterday there were several near-meltdowns, from mom and kids alike.  But we got through it.  And we will continue to get through it.

Just this morning Ella told me "You are the best mom ever.  You always have been and you always will be."  If that's not enough motivation I don't know what is.

You Capture - Feet

It has been so, so long (way too long) since I have been able to link up with You Capture.  Twice over the past month and a half I have actually taken pictures for You Capture and then, before I even got a chance to post them, the week was over and it was on to a new topic.  So with my vow to find balance and get back to what I love, I read all the You Capture posts I missed over the past 6 weeks or so.  I figured I would read the most recent post from this Monday, get the scoop on next week's topic and get to work.

But Divine Intervention - or maybe not something quite so wonderful or miraculous ;) - stepped in!  Turns out the topic for last week was "Feet."  I immediately thought of at least 3 pictures I had taken of feet last week.  I have to admit, I was so excited I almost clapped my hands and squealed!  (OK, maybe I did... a little.)  I can link up after all!

Last week we went on vacation with the entire Tabor family to Perdido Key, FL.  This is the first time we have been to the beach in 3 years - it will be the first trip Lucas remembers and it was the first trip ever for Joseph.  We have a sand box in our backyard, so he has certainly touched and played in sand before.  But he has never actually been IN the sand.  His first visit - he was not so sure!

He did NOT like the feel of it on his feet!  He wanted so bad to get it off, but he was very hesitant to touch his feet with his own hands.

But once he saw everybody else running and having a good time, he pulled himself up and didn't seem to mind his feet in the sand after all.

And by the end of the week, he was setting off on his own adventures.

I know this shot isn't nearly as cute as the previous shots of Joe's chunky little toes, but I think it's still worth posting!  These are my feet - pedicured and all, which is a real rarity - standing in the gulf water.  The bright sun, the soft white sand, the clear cool ocean.  I could have stood in this spot all day, watching all the activity around me and feeling the waves crash over my feet.  Makes me feel dreamy just looking at it!



Ah, it feels good to be back!  Be sure to check out this week's other You Capture posts.  Happy reading (and posting)!

Welcome Back

Holy cow, what happened to June?!  I had the very best of intentions to write numerous posts - the ideas were just swimming in my head, tons of things to write about.  But sadly, there were too many things swimming around and absolutely no time to sit and write about them.  Same goes for blog reading - I am behind on all my favorite blogs and it makes me sad, like I am missing out on visits with good friends.  (Maybe not that extreme - some of these people I have never even met.)

I thought for sure June would be the beginning of our "relaxing" summer.  The kids were out of school, meaning lack of schedule and homework.  Lazy days in the backyard and at the pool.  But there was tee-ball.  And gymnastics.  And swim lessons.  And preparing for vacation.  And of course the everyday stuff around the house and, oh yeah... work!  So in the midst of all that everything else got lost and it felt like the most frantic month in my entire life.  I look back and it is all a blur.  I felt (and still feel) very unbalanced.

My primary goal when I quit my full-time office job was to be happier and more relaxed at home.  To find a true balance between work and home life and everything that goes along with it.  In June, I failed miserably.  We were all at our wit's end, Brandon was beyond stressed, the kids seemed to fight constantly, and I felt like I spent all my time dealing with other people and things and absolutely no time dealing with myself.

So I vow that July is a new beginning!  All classes and lessons and games and practices have ended for the summer.  Vacation has come and gone.  I am writing what I hope to be the first of many posts for the month (and beyond).  I have books (yes, plural) on my nightstand just waiting to be read.  Thanks to some reading I did on vacation last week, I feel motivated and inspired - more than ever - to find the balance I am so desperately seeking and make everything come together.  Things are looking up and I refuse to look down.

So bring it on, July - I am packed and ready to go!

The Next Thing On My List

So all of my (one of my?) loyal followers may have noticed that I have been absent from blog world of late.  That's not the only thing I have been missing!  Things have been insanely crazy around here and I am trying desperately to reign it all back in.  I feel like I have 20 half-started projects laying around here and a list of 20 more that I need to start, not the mention the things I just WANT to do - no idea if or when I will find time for those.

I remember when I was a full-time working mom, outside the home, in an office downtown 40 hours a week plus bringing work home.  I would hear stay at home moms talk about how busy and crazy they were and I thought "Are you kidding me?!"  Now don't get me wrong, never for a second have I thought SAHM's had it easy - I just never thought it was harder than what I was doing.

Enter culture shock here.  I willingly chose to become a SAHM, even though I swore for years I would never want to do it.  But we simply reached a point in our lives where it seemed to be easier and just make sense - we had an additional child, we now had 2 children involved in activities, plus Brandon was traveling more for work.  And I will say, I absolutely cannot imagine being where we are today with me still working full time outside the home.  No way.  I would have already lost my mind and been sent off to the loony bin.  But that certainly doesn't mean this is easy! 

In addition to the regular, every-day stuff like school and homework and cooking dinner and keeping up with the house and extracurricular activities...  Brandon has been traveling even more.  Like, A LOT.  In the past 2 months he went on 5 separate trips.  Plus it has been birthday season around here - all 3 of our kids' birthdays fall within a 2 month span.  And then there are those little extra things you never think about or account for when you are making plans for the week... invitations to parties/events, school projects, extra work that you have to get done...  So needless to say, I'M BUSY!  It has been all about survival mode for the past few weeks.  As long as I managed to keep up with 3 kids going in 3 directions and get everybody fed, that was enough for me.  Forget a clean house and clean laundry and reading and all those other things I wanted/needed to do.

BUT... Brandon is home this weekend and should be for a while.  And the weather is gorgeous.  And we have absolutely no plans today that will take us away from our house.  So we are spending the day planting our garden and pulling weeds and mulching and while we are doing all that our kids can play in the backyard.  We are cooking a whole chicken on the smoker and will eat that tonight with a big, fresh salad and maybe a few adult beverages.  After that we will throw our sure-to-be filthy kids in the bath and get them to bed where they will hopefully drift off quickly and peacefully because they are so exhausted from playing outside all day.  And then I will sit with my long-absent husband on the deck and enjoy the evening air (and a few more adult beverages).

And so things will finally come back together and the chaos will subside for a while.  We will accomplish some big things on our to-do list and our yard should look pretty darn good at the end of the day. 

But the inside of our house... well, don't look in there!  That's on the to-do list for another day.

(P.S. - For those not familiar, the title of this post is the title of a Toby Keith song that has been on my mind and in my head a lot lately.  For those who know it I'm sure you can see why!  For those who haven't heard it, take a listen - it's a good one!)

The Past Week

As if this household needed more craziness... I think this past week about did me in!  Last week we had the electrocution fiasco with Ella - a trip to the ER followed by a trip to Shriner's Burn Clinic.  I am happy to report that she is healing quite nicely and all is going well with her. 

So Tuesday I took the dogs to the vet for routine check-ups and shots.  I was pretty certain Casey had an ear infection in her right ear so I made sure to tip them off on that when I dropped them off.  By myself.  Carrying a very heavy 14-month-old and attempting to control two 80+ pound dogs.  I cannot believe we successfully made it in the door.  The nurse even said as much.  Turns out that Casey's right ear was indeed infected, as was her left and both of Rugby's as well (although not as bad).  Awesome.

The week goes on and Joseph gets fussy.  I finally realize on Thursday that he had 4 molars pop through last week, quite possibly on the same day.  Poor boy!!  That definitely explained the crabbiness and the yucky nose... or so I thought.  By Thursday night he was not himself, very clingy and fussy and running a temp of 102.  Gave him some Tylenol and hoped for the best in the morning.  No such luck, so a call was made to the doctor and a visit scheduled.  They diagnosed him with a sinus infection (the second in his short little life) and gave a prescription for Amoxicillin.

The weekend went on and he just did not seem to improve.  His fever was gone and his nose wasn't so yucky, but he still was not himself.  Sunday afternoon he had a slight rash on his face, we chalked it up to heat.  But this morning he woke up with his face and neck covered.  Ugh!!!  At least it didn't seem to be bothering him.  I already had Lucas' 4-year check up scheduled for today so I called the doctor (again!) to see if Joseph could tag along.

Lucas wakes up around 9:00 (super late for him) and walks out looking confused, telling me something is making his ear itchy.  After further inspection, it looks as if his ear drum has ruptured.  At least that was my diagnosis based on my vast medical knowledge.  I've never actually seen a ruptured ear drum, but I couldn't imagine what else it would be.  So tack that on to the already-scheduled-visit, too.

I fix lunch, put Joseph down for a nap and settle Lucas in for an afternoon viewing of Cars 2.  While cleaning up I notice some water trickling down the kitchen faucet and think this might require some looking into.  Open the cabinet under the sink and sure enough, water everywhere. 

Have I mentioned yet that Brandon left for another business trip today?  That's right, he is GONE all week!  So what do I do?  Pick up the phone... "Dad!!!"  :)  Yes, I called my Daddy and yelled help!  I do not know the least little thing about plumbing and I wasn't going to pretend I did.  Luckily my dad does not live far and has a fairly flexible schedule, so he was able to stop by and perform a quick fix for me. 

Upon arriving at the pediatrician's office, they check Lucas and report his ears look perfectly fine.  I am baffled.  They really have no explanation as to what happened earlier.  They examine Joseph and declare he is allergic to penicillin and his ears (which were perfectly fine when we sat in this office 4 days ago) have fluid behind them and look worse than Lucas'.  So pitch the amoxicillin, buy another antibiotic and start Benadryl.

It's official - I am DONE for the week!  Unfortunately it is only Monday, so that is not an option.  So who has a bottle of wine for me???

Lessons

The past few days have given everyone in our house a chance to learn some new lessons and reflect on those learned in the past.

Sunday night Ella was in the bathroom as she had just gotten out of the shower.  I was cleaning up dinner and Brandon was playing with the boys.  All of the sudden a scream from the bathroom.  We didn't respond because Ella is a girl and a screamer - she is always screaming "just because."  But then another scream, just as intense, so I dropped everything and ran.  She was holding her hand out; two fingers and her thumb had streaks of something brown, I assumed dirt or some other (more disgusting) substance.  After what seemed like minutes, but in reality about 30 seconds, I realized she had shocked and burned herself.  The wall around the electrical outlet was black.  She led us to believe that she had simply touched it while she was still wet and that did the job.  After some prying (and finding a mangled bobby pin near the sink) she confessed to sticking the pin in one of the holes.  This left 3 burns on her left thumb and first 2 fingers.  Our neighbor the firefighter was gracious enough to come check things out and advised us to have her checked at the ER.  So off we went, at 8:00 PM on Sunday.  They diagnosed her with second degree burns, cleaned and dressed the wounds and gave us a referral to visit Shriner's Burn Clinic the next day.  (In this process they also gave her Tyelonol with Codeine, which was the only funny part of the entire experience because she became so loopy and jabbered endlessly about the craziest things that I could not stop laughing.)  On Monday afternoon we set off to Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati for a follow up.  Luckily the burns had already started healing on their own and the doctors at Shriners gave Ella the all clear.  We are to apply Aquaphor several times a day and put bandaids on the burns and follow up in 2 weeks.  If all looks well by then we can even cancel the appointment.  Although we have asked several times, I don't believe we will every know why she did this.  She still somewhat traumatized about the whole thing and after telling her story to all the medical professionals and all of her friends who keep asking I have just let it go.

So several obvious, painful lessons learned by Ella and a quite expensive lesson learned by Mom and Dad - don't just assume your children know not to stick things in the outlets; get in their face and tell them point-blank!

Two sad events led me to reflect on lessons learned this week as well.  On Monday the world lost two great educators, one from my high school days and one from my college days.  It wasn't until I heard of their passings and started thinking back that I realized how very similar they were.  Mr. Bill Westerman was a religion teacher when I was in high school although I was never fortunate enough to be in his class.  But I have to admit, in high school I was A-OK with that because that man scared me half to death!  He came across as very gruff and I don't recall ever seeing him smile.  But then as an adult I had the opportunity to serve on several retreat teams with him and really got to know him and the absolutely wonderful, amazing man he was.  There are not enough good words in the English language to describe Mr. Westerman and I feel very fortunate for having crossed paths with him and for the small amount of time he spent in my life.  The life lessons I learned from him on those long weekends at St. Anne's Convent will forever remain with me.  Professor Art Chesler was an Economics instructor at KWC.  He was as round as he was tall and only taught those dreaded early-morning classes.  As a business major, those classes were on my list of requirements so off I went, sometimes (most times) half asleep.  I'm not going to pretend I absorbed every single word he said and I'm an econ expert now.  But it's funny now, how often I am able to think back and have that "ah-ha" moment where I realize that wonderful knowledge I'm applying is something I learned in his class.  He too came across as very gruff, a professor who was just there to talk to whoever cared to listen and didn't care what else was going on with you or anybody else.  But then there were the times I actually engaged him in conversation, or our encounters outside the classroom, or the concern he expressed when he learned something had happened.  I remember being shocked once when he asked how a classmate was doing with sincere concern!  Chesler is certainly a man I will never forget.

The obvious lesson learned here is the oldie-but-goodie "Don't judge a book by its cover."  But from both of these men I also learned to pay close attention to what is being said and think on it, then apply it to my life.  It doesn't matter that one taught religion and spoke about his strong faith and the other taught economics and spoke about its application in everyday life.  In one way or another, everything these men said applies to my everyday life.

And on a some-what related note... I started writing this post yesterday morning.  It is now 9:30 PM on Day 2 and I am finally getting around to finishing it.  Lesson learned?  Perhaps don't attempt to do anything with 3 crazy kids running around!