We are a fun family and a colorful 5k

Sometimes fun families do fun things like run totally rad 5k's.  Or walk part of them because you have a 7 year old for gosh sakes.  Or whatever.

The Color Me Rad 5K Run was just such an event for us. 

Also, my kids came home from school saying that no one knew what the word RAD meant.  WHAT??? 

We are the cool colorful family in these photos in case you were wondering....

 It was so dang fun.  

+++++

Deep Thought:

Sometimes, when you are awfully low, and your dog feels like nothing but a burden...your friend can say something like, "I hate your dog"...and your heart will swell with gratitude for her. 

You see, a friend that can hate your dog with you is a friend for life.  

My son doesn't do his homework and I am totally ok with that

(recent trip to the Georgia Aquarium.  Total awesomeness.)

School is almost out.  What this means for me is:

1) Now I have to figure out how to entertain my kids since I have a job besides my mom-job and 

2) YES!  No more homework.

You see, it is time that I make a public confession. 

My son doesn't do his homework.  

My older daughter, yes, because she doesn't need me to help her (er... I have no idea how to do algebra to even TRY to help her).  But my son, who needs me to prod and beg him for an hour before he even picks up a pencil?  No way.  And, well, I don't really care.

Don't be hate'n.

You see, in an ideal world, my kids come home from school and eat a healthy snack and quietly sit at the table and finish what their teacher assigned them to do. And then when they are done we snuggle together and read for 30 minutes (because 20 minutes just isn't enough time for this precious moment.) And then they happily do their chores.  And eat whatever dinner I put in front of them. 

In MY world, my kids throw their backpacks down on the floor, sneak extra fruit snacks, and I don't see them for awhile because my office work is not yet complete.  By the time 6pm hits and I am exhausted from a long day, the last thing that I can emotionally handle is begging my son to write his spelling words 3x each.  Since his "weekly homework packet" is technically not due until Friday, it gets pushed off until Thursday night, when I suddenly frantically remember that he hasn't done a single first grader page.  And then more often than not I say, "forget it and go ahead and play with your lego's, son." 

Is he alive?  Is he well fed? Are his grades good? Does he know how to put the silverware away? YES! YES! YES! YES!

Then who cares about homework?

I know doing homework is supposed to prepare him for future grade levels, but I have to ask, is it really necessary this young?  I remember my Junior year of high school.  I got 5 hours of sleep every night between school, HOMEWORK, extracurricular activities, home chores, gossiping about that girl who likes the boy I like,  etc.  Can't we just let kids be kids while they have a chance?  You know, before reality sets in and teachers tell them that if they don't do their homework they will never get into college? 

Unfortunately my passive feelings really don't stop with just homework. I got a letter saying that my kids were late to school 3x in one month and that it seriously effects their learning so quit it.  I wrote the reason the next time they were late...I'M TIRED. 

Is it possible to still be considered a good mom with such a lack of regard for certain school protocol?  I freaking hope so.

I have wondered what his teacher thinks of me.  I mean, isn't it obviously the parent's responsibility to oversee that completed homework gets back to school?  So, it's obvious that I am the one making it NOT happen, right?  Or can we put the blame on a 7 year old? I have been telling myself I can.  Kids will be kids, you know?  The dog totally ate it.  

The basic truth is I would rather hang out with my kid doing fun stuff like folding laundry together (match the socks!  It's educational!) then beg and plead for him to finish that last page.  I would rather read a book when we feel like it then spend precious time marking down how many minutes we read each day.  I would rather tuck him in at night and kiss his cheek and ask, "what was your favorite part about going to the aquarium last week?" then worry about locating that one assignment.   

I would rather do anything than pile on more Mom-guilt...as though I don't have enough already.  

And so, for the last few weeks of school I have decided to put that guilt away and not worry about his last report card that says he doesn't do his homework. As far as I am concerned, his HOMEwork is done with the time we spend together--snuggled up--watching the Disney Channel.

Personally, I'd give my kid an A+ on that one.  

PS. He DOES complete his homework sometimes. I promise I am not THAT neglectful to his teacher's request:)

Lucky Mom I Am

I really like this picture of us.

I am so happy to be their MOM.  They have made me better in every way.  Sometimes I look at them and think, "We made them?" I know Rowdy and I are cool and everything, but I think we hit the jackpot with these two.  I couldn't have asked for more beautiful, fun, artistic, funny, smart, challenging and rewarding kids. They are spectacular. 

 

have to

Super crappy news at the dentist this morning.  I have to get a root-canal-gone-wrong-surgical-procedure done next week.  I have dealt with pain for the last 2 years because I hated my previous dentist and I just didn't want to deal with finding someone else.  I finally found a nice one though, so although I am crazy unhappy about what has to be done, it could be worse, and at least I feel like I am in good hands.

So after the bad news set in, I bought myself some flowers and a burrito.

Sometimes you just have to do that. 

Also

So I saw THIS recipe in Bon Appetit magazine (my favorite monthly subscription ever) and I have been thinking about it for a week.  I don't eat sugar a lot--but this idea blew my mind so I had to try. 

Dulce de Leche ice cream
Homemade Caramel Corn (I used my own recipe)
Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce (I used Fran's) 

Need I say more?  

Also, every time I go on Pinterest my page is full of food.  I wonder, is that what we women do?  Pin food all day? Do we actually MAKE that food?  I admit I have made some recipes on my board, but sometimes I just wanna log in and see a page full of trees instead of cookies and cakes.

Also, I wish Google Reader hadn't gone away, but I am on BlogLovin if you want to follow there. 

Also, I would like to know if paying $2500 a month in rent is insane?  Ya...I thought so. Praying that the skies open one day for us to find a place to live in a good location without such financial insanity. 

found on my i-phone

The other day Kai came into my room and said, "Mom, sometimes I want to cry I love you so much."

At church he raised his hand and said, "I felt Jesus's love this week when I spent time with my Mom."  

Best yet?  "Mom, I just want to crawl right back up into your uterus." 

I seriously cannot get enough of this kid.  

 

Oh! He broke his wrist.  He also tested positive for a Vit D deficiency which could be the reason he breaks his bones so dang easily.  In Seattle?  I don't believe it.  

My Letter To Momastery

Dear Glennon (of Momastery),

Last night I met you.  You probably won't remember me from every other face in the crowd, but after I heard you speak, and after I waiting in line for a good 1 1/2 hours just to meet you face to face, I giggled like a school girl when you gave me a hug like you KNEW me.  You did that for everyone.  Every person who stood in your line waiting for you to sign their book--you hugged and smiled at as though we were your best friend.

Thank you for that.

They gave me a cute index card while we waited in line and said I could write my story to you if I wanted.  I laughed a little and then started to write as I leaned on the bookshelf recommending the latest self-help book (so ironic) and I tried to spill my guts out on 5 lines.   I didn't do so well.  So I kept my card and threw it away later that night...it just didn't have enough room to say what I wanted to say. 

So here, on my humble blog, I write my passionate story for you to read.  Here--I have more than 5 lines on which to pour out my heart.  

You see, I used to write.  Before the glory that was the Internet I wrote as a girl (even winning an 8th grade award-yippee!).  I come from a line of authors and I just knew it was in my blood to do so.  However, I suddenly grew up and found a different life of young love and marriage and a baby in the carriage, so time just came and went without a single word written.  Then, after I lost myself for a year once my daughter was born, I began to write again because I realized that I didn't want to remain lost.  This child that I brought from my womb was so tragically magical.  She gave me the greatest gift a mother could ask for--the opportunity to raise her--and in the same breathe that achingly bore her--I lost a part of me that was so fragile and suddenly so foreign that I couldn't exactly remember what it was or when it had disappeared.  Then, as though the clouds parted, I began to write again.  I wrote personal stories.  Essays of motherhood and how she made me laugh, how my boobs would never be the same, and how losing her for 10 minutes in the chaos of Old Navy stopped my breath so fast and so hard that I have yet to recover.  

And then my son was born.  I lost myself for another year feeling that I might not recuperate--and then in a swoosh of a miracle WHAM came the blog world.  Thank God for such a gift--where I could record my journey and share it in a way that more than just me...could see.  

I have tried to be honest on this blog.  I have often been horrified at exactly how honest I have been, and yet the publish button has remained strong because I have believed so passionately that there is another soul who needed to read what I have written.  They needed to hear about my heartache when my husband was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  They needed to hear about my pain as I realized that my son was delayed in speech.  They needed to hear how inferior I felt to so many women out there and how imperfect my life was and how I just barely make it out of bed some days.  And also, they needed to hear how there have been moments of pure joy and how fiercely I love my husband and children...and am learning to love myself.  And how we are all the same.

But time went on and gradually this past year I have made myself believe that no one cares to hear my story anymore.  It wasn't really for them anyway--it was therapy for me and how dare I believe otherwise.  I take pretty pictures.  I throw gorgeous parties.  I share one of the silliest tips in the world about freezing spinach in ice cube trays for smoothies and Pinterest goes viral.  And that is all this blog is good for anymore.  So why write?

And then last night...I met you.  I watched in awe as a crowd of women simply adored you.  And how strange that I was one of them?  We really were all the same and not alone--just as you said.  I wanted to be you for a second--so totally adored--and then I realized that adoring YOU was enough.  I didn't need to crave to be the center of attention because learning to be attentive to myself through you was enough.  Remembering that love is more powerful than fear was enough.  Being in a line of women anxiously waiting to just get a hug from you was enough--because in some way we were all the same.  We all represented the same cause--which is to be loved and accepted and unconditionally understood by those around us without judgement.

Thank you for giving me such a gift of understanding.  

Thank you for reminding me that I need to write--even if it just for me to read.

Thank you for making me feel like your best friend for 3 minutes--because those 3 minutes rejuvenated me more than an entire year of reading self-help books could.

Thank you teaching me that Love Wins.  And even if it feels like this race is still in progress...

I do so love a challenge.


Your BFF,

(my friend Melissa, Glennon, and Me)
(could the lighting be any worse?)

just to let you know

I am no longer ghetto-phoning-it and I got an IPHONE!  Praise be to the phone angels.  And praise be to my husband, of course, since he got it for me.

Therefore I am also on Instagram and I might be obsessed with it for awhile.

You can follow me at http://instagram.com/c_stroud  

My birthday was really good.  But I definitely ate too much and so I must go rest my gluttonous belly now...

Peace out.

Happy 32 years to me. 

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Our Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

A day late-- but here are our Easter Eggs using natural dyes.  My favorite is the green tea!

 

green tea

tumeric

earl gray tea

chai tea

red cabbage

paprika

red beets

kool-aid for that bright blue one

:)

  

Going's On

 (source)

 

2 posts in one week?  This is amazing.

+ I have the BEST idea for my birthday and I can't wait to share how it goes.  I just hope it works...

+ Last night our waitress came to our table and told me that all the tables around us were talking about us.  I was a little confused, but she said they all loved how they heard my son say, "Daddy, do you think Mom is HOT?"  Thank goodness Rowdy said YES:) 

+ We saw the movie Oz The Great and Powerful and totally loved it.  But we also saw it in Imax 3D and I honestly think that is the only way to go or else it's not half as cool.

+ I'm pretty dang sure I'm going on a trip to NYC soon with some of my favorite girls. 

+ My cheap phone shuts off all the time.  I have to go get another replacement.  It's taking everything I have not to sign a new contract and go with an IPHONE.  Maybe the birthday angels will hear my plea.

+ Spring is coming.  Maybe?  I hope it is for all of us:) 

+ Thinking of going the Natural Egg Dying route this year.  I am such a hippy these days.  You?

Dude. So my birthday is next week.

 perfect confetti garland

I will be 32.

When asked what I am going to do I said, "Something BIG."

I have no idea what that means.

So, you need to help me.  Ideas? 

What can I do to make this birthday memorable? 

 I go back and forth between "what is the big deal?" and 

"why not make this day super awesome?"

Really.  What should I do? 

Light bulb.

 my green and white afghan thrift store purchase.  love.  

Dude.  Light bulb.  Rowdy and I were conversing last night (sometimes we married couples do that) and I was lamenting about how I am suffocating in our apartment.  I can't change anything--there is no other way our bed can face and there is no other way our couch can be arranged and I am super sick of feeling restricted space and decor-wise.  It's hard for me.  Interior design--bringing out my unique style--is something I love and I honest to goodness just can't do it where I am at.  I have spent a lot of time trying to.  Or feeling bad that I can't.  Or being irritated with how restricted I feel right now and can't I somehow do something that would make me feel better about our currents set-up? 

Then Rowdy said to me, "Why are you spending so much of your energy being frustrated with such a temporary time in our lives?  We won't be living in this apartment long enough for anything you do to matter. Try to find a way to be at peace for now...because it's such a small amount of time in the grand scheme of things."

This thought has never occurred to me before.  To be at peace with what I cannot change.

You see, I have always thought I could change anything because if I was creative enough...I could find a way to make it work.  But instead, I have been banging my head against the wall with frustration that my dresser can't fit anywhere else in my room and with that said, I must be missing some element to make it fit somewhere else in the room. But guess what?  It seriously can't fit anywhere else in the room!  For gosh sakes.  I can stop thinking about it!

Instead.  I can be at peace knowing that where I am at and how my apartment looks is simply temporary.  My style can be arranged in the future and just because I cannot do it now, does not mean I am any less unique or creative.  WHAT IF I spent that energy on a different aspect of my life?  WHAT IF I took that focus and created something different?  WHAT IF I channeled my passion into something greater and of more importance in the here and now?  


Good idea, no?