Odds and ends

These are a few of my favorite photographs .

A summary of our August so far.

Mommy needs a break.....

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. I don't understand why. (Insert sarcasm here). I thought that maybe a weekend away without the kids and with my husband would help. As soon as we came home, I still felt stressed.

My friend approached me with an idea. She suggested that we leave the husbands at home and take the kids to the beach for a few days. The idea appealed to me. My camera was stolen in the beginning of July, and all of our family beach trip pictures were on that camera. This could be a way to get some new beach pictures of the kids before the summer ends. The other part of me thought this...... No husbands, one hotel room and three children that are five years old and younger. This could be a bad idea.

Yes there were moments that were stressful, and loud. Very loud. A four hour car ride full of "Are we there yet?", "How much longer?" and the classic, "I have to go potty!". Then there was the battle of getting the little buggers to go to sleep at night. The bigger challenge was just keeping them in their beds, and keeping them quiet.


But I was wrong, it was refreshing. All of this time I thought that I needed time away from my kids to feel better and recharged. What I really needed was time away with my kids. It was wonderful. It was so nice to spend time with them without having to worry about taking care of the animals, cleaning the house or making dinner.

I was looking at things the wrong way. My kids reminded me of this. It's not the kids alone that make me feel so overwhelmed and in over my head.

It's life and all of it's demands. But when you are sitting at the beach, all of this is forgotten. It no longer exists. We lived in the moment, and every moment was great. Well, most moments were great.


Peace and love........

Snowed in

Today was a magical day.

A day to realize that the little moments in life, really are
the best moments.

A day to act like a kid again.

Thirty inches of snow fell on us within a 24 hour period of time.
I am from New York state, up there that amount of snow is the normal routine.
But down here in West Virginia, not so normal!




The dogs and us all had so much fun playing in the snow.
The day couldn't have gone anymore perfectly.





Jaylee has always loved playing in the snow.
She is such a free spirit, would we expect anything else from her?!





The last time we had a snow storm Marshall did not like the snow.
He thought it was nice to look at from a distance.
Once he got out there and touched the snow, he realized how cold
it was and he was not a happy camper! This time he actually loved playing in the snow.




Today we built memories. It was all because we had fun with the little things.
We spent quality time together, and didn't worry about anything else. Today was another day
of our little moments frozen in time.
Peace and love.....

Christmas Chaos

There is something so magical about the month leading up to Christmas. This is one of my favorite times of the year. And it is even better now that Jaylee is really getting into it. She is so into it this year. When we put up the tree she was so excited. Every morning when she wakes up, she asks if she can go downstairs and see the Christmas tree.

It brings me back to my childhood. I remember feeling the excitement of driving somewhere and seeing Christmas lights, and quick glimpses of Christmas trees in windows. The smell of newly baked Christmas cookies covered in sprinkles; presents under the tree with big bows and shiny paper. It was almost unbearable to have to wait another day.

I can’t wait to see and hear her on Christmas morning. Marshall won’t know what is going on, but I know he will have fun tearing up wrapping paper and pounding on boxes. Oh, and the food. He will love the food. Family, friends and everything in between. It really doesn't get any better than this.

I am so blessed to have who I have in my life. My family and friends…I couldn’t ask for anything more. That is what is most important after all. The gifts are fun, but they really don’t matter. I think that a lot of people lose sight of that.

So keep that in mind when that lady runs you over with a stroller in the mall. Or when some guy cuts you off in your car. Laugh it off and say to yourself.....I love the holidays. It brings out the best, but also the worst in people.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Peace and Love.....

Daddy has a hippo.

Russ has been sick with a really bad head cold. He was sick in bed most of the day on Saturday. Jaylee kept asking where “Russ” was. Yes - she calls us Russ and Kel. Sometimes we are Mommy and Daddy, and sometimes we are Russ and Kel. It is so funny how upset other people get when they hear this. I have had friends say things under their breath about it. I love that she does it. She is just pretending to be one of us. She hears us call each other that, so she does too. It has gone up a notch. Since I have started babysitting a little girl named Riley who calls Russ “Uncle Russ”; now sometimes Daddy is referred to as Uncle Russ by Jaylee. This is really going to start confusing people, who don’t know us very well!

So all day Saturday I kept telling Jaylee that Daddy was sick with a bad head cold. She helped me bring him soup and crackers. At one point she was playing pretend with her Elmo doll. She started telling Elmo that Daddy was really, really sick. Elmo asked what was wrong with him and Jaylee exclaimed that Daddy was sick with a hippo. Headcold, hippo....I can kind of see it. I wish I had it on film. That will always be engraved into my memory. I can still hear her little voice saying it with such sympathy; like he had some incurable hippo disease.

We started putting Marshall in his walker lately. He has totally mastered the whole crawling thing 100%. But he isn’t satisfied with it. He wants to be upright and mobile like his sister. He gets so frustrated when he finally makes it into the same room that Jaylee is in. By the time he gets there and starts playing she leaves. And he gets so mad. The walker makes it so much easier for him to keep up with her. She runs and he runs right behind her in it. Jaylee even hitches a ride on the back and he is so strong that he can take her from room to room.

He isn’t always the most polite driver though. He crashes into your heel with such force that it brings tears to your eyes. The dogs and Jaylee run in terror trying to salvage their feet from being run over. And if you have food, forget it! He rams you over and over until you share.

Marshall and his love of food are amazing to me. He stared at the Thanksgiving spread in such awe. I swear he had a tear in his eye. He tried and liked everything. Even the pickled beets! He was such a mess afterwards.

Lately I have definitely learned the power of living in the “now”. Stop worrying about the future and stop thinking about the past. Stay in the now. That is all that matters. Now is when these little moments happen. That is how children and animals live their lives, and that is why they don’t have a worry in the world. If you start looking at things in a new light you will see that life is good!


Peace and love....

It is what it is.....

I can’t even believe that it is November already. Halloween has come and gone. Everyday seems to come and go faster than the last. It seems just like yesterday that I was 12 and bringing home a stray cat. Secretly feeding it and nursing it back to health. Plotting on how I was going to convince my parents to keep it.

I still do that. Russ doesn’t allow me to foster animals anymore. They definitely find a permanent home, with us. I did successfully nurse a dog with a broken pelvis back to health, and find a home for her. So I can’t say that I have kept them all!

But 4 cats, 3 dogs, a husband and 2 kids later…..space has become a little tight. Before we had kids I didn’t care about the hair everywhere. I didn’t care about the muddy paws and how someone is always throwing up somewhere it seems like.

I didn’t care how our house always seemed like a mad house. Cats wrestling and dogs rough housing. Dogs sleeping on the couch. And our cats scratching up the wall. I really didn’t care. They were my babies and they could do no wrong.

But then the human babies came. I got so preoccupied with my little humans, that my first born, furry babies got the back burner. I started stressing about the dog hair. “How horrible it would be if the baby got one dog hair on her.” I started stressing about the muddy paw prints. And I was so tired, that I didn’t want to play ball as much anymore.

I lost myself. I couldn’t figure out how to balance it. I started worrying about what people thought. I don’t know why. It is a lot of work, but I do keep up with keeping things somewhat hair free. But when did a little dog hair kill someone? So what if I have to sweep and vacuum multiple times a day. Or so what if I don't sweep and vacuum multiple times a day. It is so worth it.

So now…I am going to take a step back. I am going to let the dogs back on the couch….well they have been back on the couch for a while now actually. If someone doesn’t like animals or animal hair then maybe they shouldn’t come over to my house.

I can’t imagine my life without animals. They don’t judge you. They don’t hold grudges against you. They always greet you with a wagging tail. They love you no matter what. They take it like it is. They don’t expect too much or too little. And most importantly they live life in the moment. They don’t worry about the past or the future. And they are downright hilarious!

Children are kind of like this too. And I think we all need to live like this. Who cares what other people think. So what if my neighbors think that I am the crazy cat and dog lady. Maybe I am….who cares. All I know, is that I couldn’t imagine my life without these human and furry creatures in my life.

This is who I am. This is who I have been since I was a little girl. Everyone has their thing. Everyone has something that they are known for. And this is mine. I need to stop fighting it, and I need to own it. I think that people spend way too much time trying to be someone that they are not. They try so hard to impress other people. They try so hard to be perfect in every way that they lose themselves.

So this is it. A new day. A new thought process. I am going to let it go. Well, not too much. I am going to stop caring what people think so much. This is me. Take it or leave it. I love my humans, dogs, cats and husband. They make me crazy sometimes. But that’s what makes life interesting right?

We all need to let the little things go. But also learn to love the little things. Keep love in your heart. Love all creatures (human and non-human). Be kind to one another. But also at the same time stand up for yourselves when someone isn’t being so kind to you. You can only try so much. Sometimes it is just time to move on. If someone doesn’t except you for you…then be done with it.

It is what it is. And I am what I am. Yes, my children have taken the number one spot, but animals and Russ take a close second. No, really I love my Russ more than my animals….really I do. I love you Russ….: )

Peace and love....