family – Page 59

All American Me…

Published on August 10, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

Good morning!
Not a horrible thing to start a morning off, is it? This night owl turned early morning riser, (not always by choice) has developed a theory… If more people woke up to things as stunningly beautiful as this, the world might be more filled with early a.m. smiles…

See?!?!? I am doing it! By this time, (when i poured my first cup of coffee) I had already washed my face, started a load of towels to hang on the line, and preheated my oven. I am sure you are reading this and going “wow, great, yay for you… now tell me sometime worthwhile…”

Well, this is a HUGE accomplishment for me…

But this helps…

And between us, I guess i should fess up that it’s decaf. It isn’t even “real” coffee… but psychologically, the taste of coffee associates “morning” for me. And honestly, I am wide awake after I wash my face. Nothing feels as great as that!

Which reminds me, remember when I was telling you that we here at Chez’ Wagner were in hot debate over a certain coffee pot purchase? Well, we decided, {FINALLY} over the weekend- and thanks to Amazon’s amazing prices- this baby arrived yesterday:

Happiness for the coffee drinkers (Amanda and I), for the tea drinkers (all of us), and for the cocoa drinkers (Chw and Gen)…

This morning, at five thirty, there I was… Just sipping coffee, baking cinnamon bowls for my beautiful family to fill with yogurt, fresh granola and sliced strawberries. I was stirring juice and just happily content. Gen had about half an hour to sleep and Chw and Amanda were on their early morning bike ride.

I felt so “all american”. So Suburban normal.

Well, except for the fact that neither one of those are synonymous with “happily content”, but whatever…

The older I get, the more I really do buy into the belief that it is the little things that matter most. The precious moments hidden under the throw rug of average times. The mornings. The evenings.

And there is no denying that it doesn’t get more American than an evening of this-

except, I have to remind myself, for the whole happily content thing. And you know, that’s actually pretty sad. As was one of the movies Chw and I watched. (Biutiful) And it is wayyy too early for sadness…

oh yeah, and P.S. those home canned pickles are remarkably awesome! :) {But probably NOT at 5:30 in the morning. I am not that great in the mornings.}

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Bouquets of newly sharpened pencils…

Published on August 2, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay10 Comments

Complete sidenote, to kick things off, but I LOVE school supplies… It is what I may miss most about homeschooling…

Getting back to the mind set of having a child in school, I am realizing there is quite a bit I am rusty on.

Like waking up at a reasonable hour, for one… oh, when will the struggle subside???

Anyway, I thought I’d post a cute little list (because we all KNOW how much I love lists…) of the things the four of us will need to successfully kick off the 11/12 school year…

1} a bunch of reusable sandwich bags from Fig Tree Boutique… they are adorable. I am planning on grabbing a Superman one for Chw as well, as that man adores a good sandwich!

2} I have already mentioned this once, so I’ll refrain from linking it again, but we NEED a good coffee pot. Still torn on which one, of the two, but it can’t arrive soon enough.

3} this backpack, which Gen picked out and ordered herself. Both her dad and I were sure she’d go with something loud and “tweeny” but she picked this because it was (and to quote) fashionably appropriate. Ok then… Cute though, isn’t it?

4} Target carries my absolute favorite brand of notebooks and papers- Greenroom… LOVE them! I can not get enough of these notebooks… I bought an entire gaggle (i can say gaggle when it comes to paper, can’t i) and I am not about to share. They are mine… And I wouldn’t mind that yellow bag either- but that’s another post…

5} Definitely a few of these… for cocoas and teas, soups and so many other things. MUST HAVE!!!

6} Locker decor. We’ve purchased shelves, a mirror (insert eye roll here), a lipgloss holder, a dry erase board and super cute magnetic polaroid frames. It’s been fun! Gen, the ever frugal (when it’s her money) drama queen plotted her $15 locker decor budget and is diagramming so that she can maximize her school locker interior design aspirations…

7} And lastly, when all of the pens, pencils, erasers and folders are put away in the backpack, eagerly anticipating the first day of school- the number one thing on my list (next to the coffee pot) is this baby:

While i don’t dry many of my clothes, Genny’s get dried. After hundreds of dollars in school uniforms though, and the incredibly freakish way in which she grows- I’ve decided that her uniform stuff is entering the world of hang drying…

SIDENOTE- while searching for a recommended list of “morning” music to get a family up and going- the number 7 recommended song was Sex Machine, by James Brown. Um, yeah. probably not, but thanks Random Internet List. I think I’ll stick to the Beatles and U2 list I am compiling in my head…

What songs get you going in the morning? (and NOT in the James Brown sort of way…)

Whipped…

Published on July 22, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

While summer is this gloriously wonderful and sunshine filled (usually, anyway) time of laughter and happiness- every year I am reminded of how much summer kind of gets on my nerves a little.

And I mean, just a little…

My routine is destroyed. It’s sad…

The very idea of sticking to a meal plan feels about as feasible as swimming to Hawaii for a picnic.

The laundry seems to pile up doubly fast, and the structured time to do it seems to have gone on vacation.

And then, then there is the long Summer “To Do list” which seems impossible to complete.

As it is, school starts in less than a month…

Less than a month!

For this “used to be” homeschooling mom, transitioning into a very early school morning schedule- I am already feeling that familiar chest constricting feeling of anxiety attacking me.

So, even though I’m feeling completely exhausted and whipped by the crazy (but glorious) chaos of summer, I’m making a move to be pro-active.

I am baby stepping my way to becoming that wife and mother who is up every day, before anyone else. {For those of you who already live this life- bless me, for those of you laughing hysterically- you’ll see!} This week I’ve started waking up at 5:30, every morning. My hope is to establish a routine for myself so that by the first day of next month, I’ll be mentally alert enough to start waking Gen, at the time she’ll need to be up to ready herself for school, and having home cooked breakfasts every morning.

Well, it’s a lovely goal anyway… (she says, as she currently wakes around 9 and still only offers bagels or muffins with fruit for the morning meal… *sigh*)

I am optimistic that by this time next month I will be the morning person whom I have spent 35 years hoping I would be, and that, ala’ June Cleaver- my family will be happy, well adjusted, well fed and beautiful model citizens inspiring the world for generations to come. (but really over all, I’m being pretty realistic, don’t you think?)

Any words of wisdom or advice? (PLEASE don’t say coffee… I’ve NEVER been a regular daily coffee drinker, but I am already having a mental romance with this guy, while also day dreaming of the possibilities of having this man in my life.)

And it was all yellow too…

Published on July 21, 2011January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay13 Comments

Having not seen my beautiful eleven year old niece in what felt like many months due to joint custody arrangements (between her parents) and an unmeshing of timing/schedules, she absolutely threw me the other day when she shouted out, “Next time you buy me a birthday present please make sure it’s nothing pale yellow! I cannot stand pale yellow.” With the conclusion of her ear piercing decibel confession she attached a dramatically appropriate shudder followed by an ever so dainty eye roll…

huh, I’m guessing she’s not a fan of yellow then.

oh, but I am.

Just last night I sat on my sofa as fading day light filtered in through my kitchen window, painting everything in antiqued golden hues. Turning my head just a tad, to the left, I had the same rays of shine illuminating the neighbors raw wood fence and trees. Beautifully green leaves made love with shards of yellow as the wind turned them about ever so gently.

ah, yellow…

At my feet lay my golden dog, so fluffy and warm. Just released from the dog hospital, her human family still flooded with relief to the very edges of our skin tips. As days pass, with each sneeze and patch of dry skin- we fear the worst for her as she grows ever older, weaker, more frail. As I’m dreaming amidst the sky’s falling gold, the strong and amazing man I married comes into the room- kissing me softly as he sits.

“hello, yellow dog.” He says to her, tousling her furry head.

yellow dog…

It is in this moment that I see it, just a glimpse really. My own hands wrapped in onion skin, my hair white and thin. Breaths are shallow, as I lay in a bed somewhere. Out the one window my unguided daydream grants me, I see golden floods of daytime and feel complete. I think of them then, my husband whose lip smells oh so so sweet. I remember his kisses, his warm hands and the way in which golden flecked blue eyes loved me.

gold.

I’d remember then, his best friend. They way he called her yellow dog, and how she was prepared to clumsily follow him to the ends of his world if she had to. From the longing in my daydream heart, I sense he is with her then and no longer with me…

Then I am back to the present of her at my feet and he by my side.

It is these moments I hold tight and place in my soul’s mason jar.

I tuck them in, like fireflies whose yellow light kisses make summer a million times more precious than it is.

yellow.

acidic lemons that manage to make the best cleaners, the freshest fragrances, the best drink accents and the most delicious cakes all while never ceasing to be poetically beautiful…

antique book pages bursting at their bindings with both history and hope.

golden wedding bands symbolizing more, in their petite circles than any other piece of jewelry dares.

butter… by itself, too rich and creamy, but everything it touches becomes that much better.

tiny wild flowers… big flowers… roses… sunflowers, always facing heaven.

and of course there’s this…

This post was inspired by a writing prompt over at mama kat’s writer’s workshop…