May 25th, 2009 by Heidi

I’ve spent some time thinking today. I realize that the older I get, the more sentimental I grow. Today was no exception.

This is a day that the United States has set aside to remember our fallen soldiers and to celebrate our active soldiers – men and women that our entire nation has to thank for our freedoms. For many families it’s also a day to celebrate family with outings and picnics and fun. It’s also the kickoff to summer. [for those of us up here in the north, it's more like the official kickoff of spring, summer will happen tomorrow.]

Starting early this morning, Facebook was full of Happy Memorial Day wishes and those reminding us to remember what the day is all about. I took some time to think about the soldiers that I know that are active duty or active guard right now. People were commenting about their grandfathers and uncles and I had to stop and think a minute to remember if I had anyone in my family to celebrate Memorial Day for. Then I was really sad. I was sad for the not knowing which of my family members may have served in the military and then for actually having to take the time to remember that both of my parents served in the Navy.

Because I couldn’t remember, I had to ask my sister, “Did we ever celebrate our parents being in the service or did we just have family picnics?”  She never remembered anything beyond picnics and family time either. I know we didn’t talk about the war while we were growing up. And honestly, while we were kids, I don’t think that mattered to us. We waved our flags and we caught candy at the parade, we played with our cousins and ate watermelon until the sun went down.

I’m pretty sure my kids don’t even know that my parents served in the Navy. I don’t know that I’ve ever talked about it with them. It wasn’t something that was talked about with me, I just know that they were, so how can I talk about it with my kids?

And I can sort of understand why my parents didn’t want to talk about the service or the war. I know it was not a great time in their lives and maybe they didn’t feel so proud to be representing our country. But they did. They fought for us. They cared for the wounded. They served our country. And yet we never celebrated that. And I feel sad.

I almost emailed both of them today, wanting to avoid putting them on the spot with a phone call, and asked why we never acknowledged their time in the service. But I didn’t. I will save that for another day. Instead, I thought about the joy we used to have on this day and I took a drive with Hannah down to the cemetery where I knew the flags would be flying and families would be visiting their loved ones. I teared up several times. I’m so thankful to have not lost my parents and Hannah and I talked about how fortunate we feel to not have loved ones to visit in a cemetery. I have lost grandparents and an uncle, none of which are buried locally. We looked at all the flags and flower pieces. We admired headstones from the 1800’s. And I took this picture as we entered the cemetery.

I have some more thinking to do about this. My family is dear to me and I want them to celebrate and be proud. I want to wish them a Happy Memorial day and have it have meaning from both me and my kids.

May 10th, 2009 by Heidi

And for the second year in a row, my sons are not with me. It seems their other parent doesn’t respect the importance of the day for them or for me and has bribed them away on a weekend trip out of town. I was trying to be ok with this only because I have no desire to try to argue with him but because I have the boys with me much more than he has them with him and I have far more Mother’s Days than one  materialized by Hallmark. But then I woke up this morning and was reading my Facebook page and seeing how everyone else is spending their day is really depressing. I’m trying not to feel angry or bitter about my own situation and to be happy that I get to spend the day with Hannah and some with my own mom too. But I’m sad for my sons who are learning inadvertantly to think that this day isn’t important or that if they do think it is, their dad isn’t letting them spend the day with me.

Though before they left on Friday, the boys gave me gifts made in school. Dillan made several art pictures and gave me a painted pot full of violets. Connor gave me some special notes in a neat envelope book. And yesterday, after returning from her class trip to Minneapolis, Hannah surprised me with a cute card and a polar bear magnet from the gift shop at the zoo. She saved some of her eating money and took time to find me a little something all on her own. This warms my heart so much.

I love being a mom.  Well, most days anyway. There are those days that all chaos is taking over and I wonder what the heck I got myself into but those days are totally overshadowed by the fun and the joy and laughter we have. I love seeing who my kids are becoming – watching them strive and succeed and develop their own uniquensses. (is that a word? I hope it is. If not, it is now) I never imagined parenting would be so tiring and challenging. I never thought that doing so much for other people could be so exhausting and rewarding at the same time. But looking into all of their bright blue eyes and hearing them laugh and sharing their excitement puts me in a really happy place.

And I’m thankful to have my own mom just down the road from us. I’m glad she gets to share in the joy of my kids growing up and for being special in their lives. Tonight I’ll cook her some dinner.

And the sun is shining and the sky is blue and the air is fresh and I have my kiddos close to my heart even though they aren’t all here right now. I think we’ll have to do something special when they return.

March 1st, 2009 by Heidi

Ok, so it’s been 2 months since I’ve blogged. Not for a lack of wanting, just for a lack of time and organization. There has been plenty going on, plenty to blog about, I just haven’t made the time for it. And now, the idea of getting caught up and talking about all the things that have gone on, I’m overwhelmed. So I’m going to label myself a blog slacker and fill this post full of pictures from the past 2 months with a bunch of commentary just so I have something to share. Then I hope to take a little time each week to sit down and type some entries and pull myself out of slacker status. I’d also like to update the theme of this blog. I’ve paid for a couple of really cool themes but they lack some of the things I want to put here. I’ll need to take some more time to decide if staying or changing is the right thing to do. Sooner or later you might visit and find things in a bit of disarray or totally different. We’ll see.

I last left off just after New Years. Since then the kids have been busy with school, we’ve been digging out from under snow, and we’ve had some good fun too. How about I just dig out the images and tell the little story as we go along?

We went sledding and James was all bundled up and mountainman-like

When it’s really really cold and you have facial hair, your breath freezes on it

I played with my new camera plenty. Besides doing my Project 365, I’ve just take a lot of neat pictures.

The boys were interested in the coconuts at the grocery store. They could hear the milk inside but have never had it or seen it. I bought one. James tapped some holes in the ‘eyes’ and we slipped a straw into each one so the kids could all taste at once. That did not go over well. We cracked it open afterwards and found it was rotten. yuck! But it was funny to watch.

We mad e a very large pot of yummy chicken soup to go with the awesome noodles mom made us for Christmas!

No day is complete without cocoa,

or silliness.

James spoiled Millie. He does this every day though. But on this day she looks especially spoiled.

More furrbabies

Casey loves to lay by the bedroom door waiting for James to wake up each morning. He’s just so cute.

It has been horribly cold. Downright frigid.

And super snowy. This is our street – our house is almost burried in snow piles.

Connor’s teeth keep falling out. He’s even lost another since this picture was taken. Funny enough, they have yet to grow back in, even a little. He has a big ole toothless gap!

We’ve lost our heads

But we innaugurated an awesome new president

James celebrated a birthday. He treated himself to a spiffy new laptop. Now being away on the road is a little easier to handle  since we can share images and even video chat if the connection is good.

We took the kids bowling for the first time – Hannah had before actually, but not the boys. We went with friends and had an awesome time!

We’ve had our share of the respiratory sickies. I’m so thankful that for the most part, we are a really healthy family. The kids get mild fevers and a day or two of the yucks. Me, I’ve been sick off and on like crazy since September. I haven’t been this way in years. Sinus infections, strep throat, bronchitis, cold virus. Yuck. This picture was Dillan. He had a fever the night before and went to bed very early. He woke up early but fell asleep on the couch again.

For my birthday I got a spiffy new lens that does some really cool things! This is tiny Millie’s nose.

I visited Dillan’s class for Valentine’s Day where they did a little program and we had muffins and helped pass out Valentines. Very cute! One of my favorite pictures of Dillan recently.

There was crazy in the Valentine box!

And James gave me beautiful roses. They look amazing and they smell so good too!

The sundogs have been out. I wish I could get to a better place to photograph them without distractions but they rarely stay around very long. I love the way they light up the sky.

We celebrated Casey’s first birthday! He was so not thrilled to have to be wearing the party hat. But we all think it’s a super cute tradition.

Last weekend, Dillan and I had a day to ourselves. Hannah had gone skiing with her class and Connor was at boyscout winter camp. We got to hang out and play and just be us all day. Here he wanted to do his own silly pose and give himself rabbit ears! that boy…

He went outside to play in the fresh snow and jump on the trampoline. [our neighbor friend in the background] He’s the only one that even attempts a backflip – he nails it every time.

He’s been learning some sign language in school. Now I frequently here, “Hey Mom!” and then he flashes me this sign. I love him too!

For good behavior he’s earning quarters to use in the pencil machine at school. He has a new collection obsession. Here he is showing off his ‘pencil beard’ and ‘pencil teeth’.

Connor and Dillan started swimming lessons this week and I had some fun with processing images.

This is how Corgis be lazy. We love it when they lay like this. You can’t help but smile and giggle.

Little Miss Princess Millie looks so extra adorable on her purple throw on my bed in the winter sun.

Last night, Hannah and I went out with friends for a little Cosmic Bowling. Since we never get ourselves in a picture together, we snapped one before we went out the door. We look a little deer in the headlights and silly but thats’ us!

And I leave you with The Zoo. This is a typical night in my bed. They all come in, one by one, and claim their space. They don’t care that I [or even James as well when he's home] can move legs or not, they get comfy and that’s that. This image is missing Jelliebeanie. She’s not a fan of the group slumber party and usually sleeps on a bed with only one person taking up space. But funny enough, in the morning I woke up and Thomas was off the bed but Jellie was on it! Even with the rest of the crew still on it. At least we are warm!

There’s my big update. It’s picture heavy and if you’re on dial-up, I appologize! But it’s the quickest way to get the goods out there and get myself back into the blogging groove. I’ve missed it really.

January 4th, 2009 by Heidi

It’s 2009 already? How did that happen? It’s no joke, time really does go faster as we get older.

It was an uneventful ringing in the new year here. I was exhausted and went to bed at 10pm. James stayed up and watched some TV. We still have Rockin’ Eve on the DVR and have yet to watch it. Same with the Rose Parade from New Years Day. Yeah, I’m into it. I have good intentions anyway.

All the hoopla surrounding New Years doesn’t excite me. I like looking forward to a new year and new things and renewed attitude. But starting it off with an exhausting hangover is so not my thing. I’d rather be cozy at home.

We’ve lounged around and gone sledding and have been eating ourselves silly since then. Just the way things should be on winter break.

Tomorrow school is back in session and I need to get back to the gym. I’m feeling like a sloth. It’s nice to be lazy but I have to get back into the groove.

I’m feeling really excited about photography right now. I’ve been using my new camera some and really loving it. The snow reflections make for some nice bright winter light. I’m looking forward to spring but I also enjoy frozen photography. We’ve gotten plenty of snow but not too much frozen. In most cases that’s a good thing!

I decided to take on Project 365 again this year. I will be taking and posting a photo a day for the whole year. Last year I got off the wagon in August when things got just too busy. I hope to make it all year this time! I was going to post every image here but I started another blog for my photography clients and friends to also see. I don’t want to double up on posting [or server space] so I’m just going to add a link in my side bar for PROJECT 365 in 2009. Here is the direct link: http://www.heidismithphotography.com/blog_p365_09/. Check it out from time to time – there will be some cool stuff there!

So what else do I have in store for 2009? A booming business, much love and fun with the kids, a happier, healthier, better me. I’m not a resolution maker, I just aim every year to be better than the one before and for me to be a better me – however that might be.

Best wishes to everyone in the new year!

Some pictures coming soon –  I have some to upload.

December 25th, 2008 by Heidi

From my family to yours!

December 14th, 2008 by Heidi

Yesterday we celebrated Connor’s 7th birthday with his school friends at Skateland. Despite James and I feeling unsteand and uncool on skates, all the kiddos had a great time.  7 friends came and Hannah and Dillan too. We skated and played video games and had some really awesome cake thanks to my friend Marlene made.

Sadly, the lighting at Skateland is dark. I know it’s super cool to have spot lights and colored lights and glow sticks, but it really makes for cruddy images. I all of a sudden felt like an ameteur with a camera. I salvaged what I could to commemorate the day. At least we’ll know that the lighting was so cool that even the picutures didn’t turn out!

Connor was looking for his friends

Marlene and all of her awesome cake making skill made a totally awesome skateboarding cake for Connor.  Connor specificially requested it to say “Tony Hawk” on it. There were even some random Skateland strangers that commented on how cool it was!

Here is the table full of party guests!

Blowing out the candles, cha cha cha.

Doing the Limbo! Connor didn’t win but he got pretty far. He loves playing the skating games.

Happy Birthday Son!! We had a great time!

December 4th, 2008 by Heidi

Seven years really isn’t supposed to go by so fast. Today Connor turned 7. And he’s so excited! He’s such a great kid! He’s always full of hugs and “I love you’s”. He’s enthusiastic and compassionate and growing up a fine boy. He was so excited to get a ‘big’ skateboard. And this one is extra cool because it’s a “Tony Hawk” board. I’m not sure what he’ll do waiting for spring to get out and use it! Though trying to get a good picture was a bit hard, he just wanted to ham it up – that’s my boy! I love you, son!

November 27th, 2008 by Heidi

You won’t find an obligatory yummy turkey image here. In my family, we have this problem that prevents a nice picture every year. It’s called, turkey skin. We pull the bird out of the oven, set it on the counter, drain the juices for gravy, and gather around the counter like baby birds feasting for the first time in hours – anxiously awaiting the debagging of the turkey. We’ve learned not to all dive in at once and start to pull the golden skin from the bird for extra fine dining. We patiently await the dividing up and handing out of our portions. This year, Hannah graduated from little kid who’s not allowed to be near the skin to teenager who can have a small portion. Less for me. Phooey! She’s lucky I love her.

The turkey was awesome but the gravy was especially yummy. I’m not quite sure what my special touch is but we love my good gravy.  Other staples included mashed potatoes, cranberries, corn, beans, buns, and desserts! I’m so full. I definitely over ate. And I’m counting down until I can snack again before bed!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is nothing like a laid back and casual gathering of family for a big feast of all of our favorite foods. There is no conscious effort to be healthy eaters. We add a lot of butter and sour cream, gravy is made from all of the turkey juice, and we eat until our eyes are bulging – at least once. We get painfully full. We turn into tryptophan coma zombies. And we love it.

The kids went outside for trampoline jumping. I don’t know how they managed to keep their turkey in. I suppose they’ve not learned to be true gluttons yet.

So what are we thankful for?

Heidi: good health [scope came back perfect even though I haven't made it back to talk about it] – family – love – and a full tummy.

Hannah: everything

Connor: us – everybody in the whole entire world except the people who don’t clean up the earth.

Dillan: turkey!

I wish James could have been here – and my dad and my sister and family. It’s just not the same without them.

I’m looking forward to leftovers tomorrow and the next 3 days with the kids. We’ll avoid shopping at all costs. I think we’ll hit up the library and maybe play some board games. It’s going to be super chilled out for sure – just the way we like it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!