Wake Up To A Sense of My Reality

I haven't touched this blog for about 3-4 years. To be honest, I have rarely missed it.  For the most part Facebook has taken care of most of my desires to communicate to the world the mini accomplishments of my family.  Lately, however, I have had some experiences that have proven that a deeper explanation of some of our families realities not only can paint a clearer picture, but also be helpful to others who find themselves in the same parade in which we participate. My most sincere desire is simply to cheer you all on, and to share that I believe that you ARE good enough. 

So here it is: as stated at the top - we have hopes and desires for our families,goals that we try to attain, standards that we attempt to reach, but we are ever falling short.  Some of this falling comes because we are playing the wrong game - without trying - we humans, all naturally try to keep up with the Joneses.  Another reason is that "to err is human". I'm sure we can add more reasons to the list, but for now that is enough to make the point.  I have friends and family that I admire, that I swear are leading the life that I want to.  I read about their accomplishments and sit in wonder and awe.  I wonder how do they do it, how do they get to the point of such awesomeness?  Will I ever get there myself?  On occasion, I will post a small miracle from our home. I say miracle, because for us, these things are NOT the norm. That is why it is worth posting. I'm hoping that it is the same with everyone else.  That they are sharing the stories that they share because they are exceptional examples - mini triumphs.  Whenever I openly admit my mistakes to others they always breathe a deep breath and say, thank you for helping me to feel normal!!  So, that is what this blog is about - our reality. What we try to achieve, how it normally fails, and how we celebrate when a ray of sun pushes through giving us an ounce of hope that one day we may achieve some kind of awesomeness.

The Fun of Licorice

If you have a child you probably also know what happens when you allow your toddlers to have a whole piece of licorice of their own.  This gift of appeasement has an amazing abilty to coat the entire mouth area and hands with a brillant red sticky residue - yet, despite the knowledge of the inevitable clean-up the shining brillance of the face that eminates through deems it worth the effort.  Then there is the challenge of trying to accurately capture the true essence of the incident on camera.  Here is picture proof of two times of my weaknesses (Scotty (1 yr in green) & Bradley (1yr in blue))- but I ask you - look at these pictures - would you have done any differently?

There Goes the Sun

Yep, the next day is snow and rain.  So we had a rainy day inside and the boys painted - it might be safe to say that I didn't pay close enough attention while I was doing the dishes.  At least we have hardware floors and we use washable paint  But I think that I LOVE these paintings more than anything else they have ever produced.

 

Here Comes the Sun

It was a beautiful spring day - beautiful enough for even the babe to go out and play in the soft dirt.  As you can see he sampled some of the goods - he wouldn't be a Crump boy if he didn't.  The boys were so happy to be able to dig in the dirt instead of try to chip away the frozen mud.  The flowers are starting to come up, I'm just afraid that the cold isn't done yet - I hope that none of my later flowers get killed.

Happy Anniversary

Marc and I have never been big on anniversaries or Valentine's or anything of that sort, but for some reason - this year we both decided that it was time that we celebrate in some way.  Marc sent me my second batch of flowers ever (the 1st one was a heart break - because when I brought them home from work sometime during the 1st year I dropped them and the vase and most of the flowers broke - with my little heart).  This time they still remain intact even with all of the extra "helpers" in our home.  My plans for a surprise evening at home were ruined when Scotty got an ear infection - so I couldn't take him to Rose Marie's house for the evening.  But then Grandma called at the last minute and said that she just remembered our Anniversary and could she take the boys - she doesn't have any kids to infect - and she was willing.  So we did actually get our evening together - it was nice and relaxed.  We cooked together and watched part of a terrible movie together - even with the bad movie (which we didn't finish) it was still nice to just be together with no interruptions - but then it seemed too quiet and we went and pick up our favorite noise-makers and brought them home to finish our celebration.

It's so exhausting to be a baby. . .

It's About Time

I finally finished my wall clock - it has been "in the process" for so long that I don't even remember when I started - I just know that I bought the clock mechanism over a year ago - sad, but now it is finished and I think that it looks pretty good.  It is about 4 x 4 ft.  Hmm what unfinished project will I complete next?