Bittersweet Goodbyes To Summer

 Life has moved forward in  higher speeds than I wanted it to.  This time of  year is when I realize that time truly does fly by.  I look back at summer and realize that its gone. Ciao! Adios! It's been awesome!

The long sleeve shirts and pants came down from the attic last week.  I bought mums for the front yard and the pumpkins from our garden were harvested and displayed.  Tomorrow fall will be here officially.

But, I say this every September, I'm ready for it and the crisp cool weather.  I'm looking forward to warming up my first apple cider, Halloween costume prepping and the crock-pot.  Oh yes, the crock-pot, it warms up my house and makes it smell like food all day. Yum! Oh fall, I'm ready for you with open arms and hot chocolate kisses.

I loved you summer, oh so much and you will truly be missed.  Thank you for teaching me valuable lessons and letting me spend another summer with my wolf pack.  It was the hardest season of my life but the most memorable one of them all.

September On The Creek

"What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature." -Pierre Elliott Trudeau

I've fallen in love with our canoe and its become a routine that I take her out on the weekends with some of my dearest friends.  It's been awesome and we've had memorable moments including flipping the canoe, losing my phone, and Kelly's keys. It was a moment I will never forget.

When we took her out last weekend the water was like glass and you could see the reflection of the sky when you looked down.  We made small talk at the beginning, we needed time to unwind from the madness of our lives and take in everything around us.  The air was crisp and we could feel the weather changing into fall.  We could smell fire burning from a distance and hear the subtle sounds of the creek.  It truly was magical.

We found our rhythm in our paddling and we became in sync.  Our arms and back were working muscles that have been dormant and only used to carry our little ones.  When we would start veering off the path we worked together to bring her back onto the right course.  It was team work.

Eventually we stopped in a nearby wooded area to chat and catch up on life, our dreams, plans for the future and of course the kids.  The sun started setting and reds, yellows, and oranges painted the sky.  It was a great way to reconnect, relax and be outside.  There will be a lot more canoeing in the near future

Inspired to canoe, here's what we have:

Canoe: Pelican 15.5
Life jackets: Speedo

Follow me on instagram

What The Heck Is Balance?

My to do list is never ending and I'm lucky if I get one item done these days.  I  laugh hysterically at the laundry monster who haunts and stares at me everyday.  "You shall never get me done. bwahahaha!" Yes laundry monster, you win everyday. Sigh.  With a new baby, writing my first book and juggling the everyday things, life has gotten a little crazy.

My days normally go like this. Please note that this is a short and sweet version of my day:

8:00 am - breakfast
   *in between five diaper changes, spilled milk, must get kids out of the house before I lose my mind, and screaming baby *

10:00 am- still trying to clean up from breakfast.  Got half the dishes in the dishwasher when I realize I haven't even unloaded the clean dishes. *slaps forehead*

11:00 am - kids start begging for a snack.  "But I just cleaned breakfast and you're hungry again!!"

12:00 pm -  I decide I need to feed these kids before their sugar level drops any further and the crying goes from a whine to a full blown temper tantrum which leads to throwing ourselves on the ground and biting.

 Side note - I envy all you parents whose kids still nap. No nappers here besides the baby, who bless his heart, tries to nap but normally gets a car on his stomach, a sloppy ketchup kiss or "let it go let it go" sung to him.

1:00 pm - I receive a text from husband "are you ok? kids ok? is the house ok?"  It's his way of asking me if I am still standing or am I waving a white flag.  Trust me there are days I want to text him "COME HOME NOW OR IM GETTING A ONE WAY TICKET TO SOMEWHERE WARM AND TROPICAL WITHOUT ANY OF YOU!"  yes those caps are intentional and I am screaming.

3:00 pm- I'm done. I have reached exhaustion and have not done anything on my to do list besides feed the kids and get them partially dressed.  At this point I have caved and I decide the best thing for all of us is to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or Hulu Plus.  God bless internet service and streaming.

6:30 - husband walks in the door and I disappear

So the question I get asked frequently is "how do you balance everything?" The answer is I DONT! I try and I've read countless blog posts from establishing a routine to living a simpler life.  But in all honesty, right now I live moment by moment and I am very forgiving to myself and everything I said I was not going to do when I became a mom, I have now done.  If I take away all things "I have to get done" my days go smoother. I do what I can, write when I can and do laundry when I can.  Instead of focusing on what I didn't get done, I focus on what I have gotten done.  I gave my kids lots of love, I fed them, we eventually got outside and we are all still alive.  There is more positive in my day when I look at it from this perspective.

So if you ever come over and you step on a lego or there is no clean cups or a kid is running around naked, welcome to my happy home. This is how we are balancing life, for now.

Butterfly Wings

“Are they done yet?” asked Maria eager to see the final product.

“Almost done, Dear.  Just hold still,” said Ophelia pushing her eye glasses back up.  This will be her greatest piece.  There can be no mistakes.  Everyone will see them during the festival.  She would retire after this.  Her paint brushes and paint will all be put away.  Her bags were packed and she was ready to leave the others. It was time to see what else was out there.  Her plans were to fly further south to the edge of the Andean mountains.

Since her migration into Mexico, she hadn’t left Michoacán.  It had become her home the last couple of months.  She knew she had very little time left and with so few of them coming in every year, there was worry that their kind would soon vanish. This is something she could not bear to witness.

“Oh, I just can’t wait.  I’ve told the others about our idea to transform into another butterfly.  I just can't believe no one has thought about it before. I’m going to be beautiful!” Maria said unable to keep her antennas from fluttering.  

"You are beautiful but this is definitely going to turn everyone's head for sure," Ophelia said.

“Just a couple more touches and we should be all done,” she said.  She felt guilty that she hadn't told Maria about her plans to leave.  She was like a daughter to her.

She added a few more strokes of red to Maria's new wings and put her brush down.  She took a step back and admired her work.  The wings were finally done.  She had transformed Maria into a new butterfly.  She no longer looked like the rest of The Monarchs.  

"There, all done. Now take a look," Ophelia said.  She handed Maria a mirror.  

Maria took one look and gasped. "I can't believe it! They're beautiful." She flew in a circle admiring every detail of her new wings.  They were fire red with glitter.  No longer black and orange.  Maria would be the talk of the festival.  Stories would be told of her and passed on from migration to migration.

"I must hurry and catch up with the others.  The welcoming ceremony of the new butterflies will start soon," Maria said.  "I love you Ophelia,  thank you!" She bent her antenna down and gave Ophelia a butterfly kiss.

"It was an honor.  Now, off you go!" Ophelia said.

Maria hurried out and headed straight to the ceremony.  Ophelia quickly gathered her bags and said goodbye to her home.  

She had done the right thing and given Maria a gift she will never forget.  A new set of butterfly wings.

participating in the july prompts for write alm

These Days

This past week has been pretty busy.  Right now, I'm writing this post in my underwear and shirt because I've changed 100x. Why? My boobs won't stop leaking.  And if you follow me on twitter or instagram, you are well aware of my leaking boobs but look at that face, he is so worth it.

We also hit the road to the Eastern Shore and it was great.  It was nice to get away and out of the same routine.  More pictures of our road trip soon.

We celebrated Wolf Rayne's 3rd birthday this week and it was awesome.  All the kids were so excited and so were we.  We visited the zoo, had family over, and had a pinata.  Wolf was over the moon and her smile spoke a thousand words.

I've been editing a story that I started writing last fall.  It's still not finished but I needed to send it off to my mentor to help me figure out what to do next.  Its a deep story and I haven't decided if I should share it or not.  If it should be a short story or be written and filed in a folder labeled Personal.  Not sure yet.  But, its a story that has made me cry and touched my heart.  It feels good to start working on it again and eventually finish it.

Speaking of writing, I have an idea for my first book! I'm excited to start the process of it.  I have no expectations though, I just want to do it.   The research has begun for it and I give so much credit for all the authors out there.  The amount of research that goes into a book is crazy.   But, I'm excited to share this adventure with you guys.

Have a fabulous weekend!

On The Road

On the road this beautiful Saturday! 

Keep Moving Forward

Even in our darkest day there's light.  A speck.  A small hope.  But, its our choice whether we want to continue to fight the madness, the evil, the hardships, the unknown.  To follow the light takes faith, courage and strength.

There is no easy road to get where your heart desires.  To get to a better place you must have a soul of a warrior.  You  must get up when you have fallen.  When you come to a crossroad dont take the path that looks the easiest.  You know, the quick fix route.  The one that guarantees in thirty days you will get there with no bumps on the road.

No, don’t take that one.  Take the one that will make you sweat. The one that you have to hike 5 miles up a steep hill and you have to keep moving forward.  The one that gives you bumps and scrapes.  The one that leaves you with a scar that later on you will have something to show for.  

We’ve all been there.  At the bottom of the abyss.  The darkest and saddest place in our lives.  It’s a pivotal point.  It makes us cry and tears us up inside.  Its a battle that no one in the world knows your are fighting except you.   No, we won’t show those pictures on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.  Those are pictures that are kept in a folder in our phones. Because those are real life.  

Where ever you are, whatever problem you have, what ever battle you are fighting, keep fighting. Put your combat outfit on and keep moving forward.  Because know, that I am fighting the same battle, one day at a time.  


participating in the July writing prompt from writealm.com