Have I told you about last Sunday? The day I went jogging? It happened. It won’t happen again. I’m positive the elderly ladies who passed me on their power walk will appreciate not hearing me snort-breathe ever again. Five minutes is a long time to have someone trailing you, gasping for breath, losing the battle with her lungs; Not unlike one of those comedy-horror films. It’s also majorly embarrassing, since I was not actually going for the comedy-horror role, nor did I mean to snort in air like a malfunctioning vacuum. These moments I call character building. As a youngster I was all nibble and rock solid; Playing volleyball tournaments on weekends, conditioning for softball season and eating whatever the heck I wanted. These days I think I’ll stick to snort-gasping for air in the privacy of my own home, with non-judgemental instructors, who are just appreciative that you paid actual money for their exercise DVD. 

So with jogging not on the list of things to do this week, I’ve kept up with the laundry and dishes, not to mention, cleaned a bathroom. Conclusion, not jogging makes a better housewife. It also leaves you with more time to enjoy the deep blue skies and amazing weather with your boys. Have I mentioned that this week, the highs are in the high 50s – low 60s? Heaven. 

At lunch today, Jacob requested Roach Beef. I assumed he meant Roast Beef, but you know what they say about assuming things. So we clarified our menu and it literally took five minutes to convince him that those two words are totally different. An explanation of roach as being a bug and he got it. Birds aside, bugs are his number one enemy.

This might be why so many of the housewifely chores have been getting done recently. Don’t judge.  

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The other morning I woke up, opened our candy/coffee cabinet (what you don’t have one of those?) and realized we had no coffee. One cannot eat candy for breakfast without coffee. So, I did what any sane adult would do. I drank a cup of sweet tea. After re-reading that, I am willing to admit I have a problem; But I didn’t actually eat candy for breakfast that morning, just so you know. Anyway, so I drank some sweet tea, hoping the caffeine in that small cup of sugary-syrup would step in for the regularly scheduled cup o’ jo. It did and I made it. The only down side? In my pre-caffeinated state, I failed to screw the lid on tightly and my fridge bled sweet tea for a good ten minutes before I realized. So, we’re starting this weekend with freshly mopped floors and the grocery order I placed this morning consists mainly of large coffee cans full of rich goodness. Like I said, I have a problem.

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I’ve got coffee in hand and I’m daydreaming about what the perfect year would look like. Sometimes planning which moments should unfold, without having to logically plan out the details is good for the soul. This year, I want to spend more moments with family, than without. If this were the perfect year, it would include joking around with my brothers often, having girls nights with my sisters-in-law, relishing in the beauty of my boys developing that forever-friendship that comes from cousinhood and staying up late to drink coffee with our parents. It would include best friendships growing even deeper and new friendships blooming. And since we’re striving for perfection here, it would include me doing my Zumba DVD without pulling a hip out of socket or having my side muscles cramp with agony rivaling childbirth.

 In the meantime, I’ll squeeze every last drop from this goodness I’ve got. 

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When you’re young and in love, you don’t really peer into the future and picture yourself washing your make-up off with Suave Kid’s Two-In-One body wash and shampoo. But then, you’re slightly older and slightly wiser and still in love and that Suave Kid’s Two-In-One body wash and shampoo is proof; Proof that your young love was true and good and it grew.

Sometimes writing is therapeutic and free and sometimes time waxes on while I try to un-cram my brain of it’s thoughts. It’s waxing slowly now, but my thoughts aren’t crammed together. They’re chock full of moments lined up one by one, waiting their turn to take a spin.

Like the one from the other morning, when the boys were up at 4:30am for the fifth time in a week and we were dog tired, yet happy. There was no struggle between the knowledge that I should be finding the good in life and actually finding it. There was tiredness, but there were moments of sheer fulness. Where I sat on the red bean bag and cuddled my babies and I really truly felt the fulness. Normally I’d be in the midst of that emotional struggle that happens when things don’t go according to plan, yet in that moment, I realized how lovely the imperfections are. How the tiredness, the mid-morning run for donuts, never quite making it out of pajamas and the toy bins emptying on every floor in the house, those things were all beautiful because they were real.

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We picked up our Thanksgiving dinner from Whole Foods yesterday afternoon. As I type that I feel my domestic patch being ripped off my girl scout vest; if I had been a girl scout and won such a patch.

The dinner to feed four is sitting in our fridge as I type, taunting me with it’s nearness. Tomorrow, we eat. We’re stretching this four day weekend of Josh’s out as long as we can. We’ve lounged around, taken drives and spent time at the park and it’s been good. But tomorrow, tomorrow brings friends over to visit and to help us eat and give thanks. It’s only just begun folks.
He’s been asking to go to the “green park” for the past two week and we only just realized which park he was talking about. The kid knows a good park when he sees one. 

I love a good shadow wall. I think we’ve established the best way to photograph our entire family is A. in shadow form or B. while throwing Judah in the air. We got both, baby! 

Hi, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Granny Pants Jodi. This is me, seizing the day. I’m not sure what slipper-like loafers and granny pants say about me and my version of seizing the day, but that’s how I do. 

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My hat is off to Whole Foods. They delivered big time. If they offered this meal year round, I think I’d burn my girl scout vest and it’s domesticated patches and never look back. Better than the food, was the company. It was so nice to spend time with Malisa and Anthony and get to know them better. I have to say, when Malisa agreed that taking a walk to the park was a good idea because then we’d be able to eat more, that sealed the deal of our friendship. Anyone who thinks that way is a friend of mine! 

I must mention that there was sweet tea. I’ve got a few Southern roots and no Thanksgiving meal is a meal of mine unless there is sweet tea. 

Thanks for many of these photos is due Anthony and Malisa. They took over camera duty for a bit.

The menfolk. I think Malisa would agree, we have it pretty good. There are definitely plans in our future for a double date.

Truth be told, when we decided to move to the West Coast, my first thought was about the holidays. Part of our family lives in the Mid-West and the rest on the East Coast, so I knew most likely we’d be making our own traditions. It’s fun to create your own holiday traditions within your tight little unit, but part of me was worried we wouldn’t be able to make it special enough or that we’d miss out on our extended family’s celebrations. We did miss family, but this past weekend did not disappoint. Getting four full days of togetherness, spending time with new friends and making new memories; They were drops that filled my cup to overflowing. I love that Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season. If you approach it right, it can set the tone for the year’s finale and bring in the new year on the right foot.

My brother and sister-in-law are adding another little one to their family of three sometime in December and they have the cutest idea for the nursery. Because they’ve decided not to find out the gender (go them!!) they went with a rainbow themed room. They told me the mobile they wanted and I couldn’t wait to get it started.
I cut the cloud shape and rain drops out of felt. I sewed the cloud together like I would a pillow, turning it right-side-out when I was done and stuffed it. I sewed the raindrops together like mini pillows and stuffed them as well, just to add a little extra puff. I wasn’t able to find invisible thread, but the white thread didn’t turn out so bad.

Now we just wait for the little guy/girl to arrive!

Jacob is certain it’s “Santa Clogs”. So certain that it’s blaspheme to correct him. Apparently that’s what Barney calls him? Santa Clogs and Gora the Explorer. Two of his favorites.

Somehow the true story of Old Saint Nick is intertwined with Dora’s Rojo Firetruck episode and we’re still working out the kinks.

There’s something about putting up a Christmas tree with the family. Even if it’s a Charlie Brown kind of tree and even if the concept of hanging ornaments gets confused with testing it’s strength by adding ten to one branch.

We went cheap this year. A skinny little fake tree with dollar ornaments and colored lights. It’s better that way, with Judah’s need to “explore” the tree and my inability to watch evergreen needles scatter across my carpet each day. Plus, the act of lighting the tree and being together, that’s really the main part of the memory I was aiming for; Not so much the grander.

We did things slightly backwards. Our tree went up on Thanksgiving afternoon and our Thanksgiving dinner was eaten two days later. A little off kilter, but I couldn’t wait; Also the Little Gingers were turning into lesser versions of themselves and needed an activity to tire them out before bed time.

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So I saved Judah’s life the other day. I don’t want to sound full of myself or anything, but I’m pretty sure pulling shards of glass from his mouth while talking to my mom on the phone qualifies me for any branch of military. Note, I’m not looking for military employment. If that’s not convincing enough, I also walked four miles (I am exaggerating very slightly for story content) to and from our home and the car service station. Sure, maybe we were walking beside tranquil waters, spying on diving ducks, but pushing a double stroller with two toddler’s feet that never stop riding on the front wheels, that’s gotta count for something.

I’ve been thinking about adventure lately. Mostly in regards to drumming up enough husbandly interest to pack the babies in the car, drive across country and spend the holidays with family. Note, it’s not gonna happen. But also in regards to how each season of life plays out different versions of adventure and how some may seem more grand than others, but each one adds to the character and substance of life.

The holidays bring with it the opportunity for retrospect. Re-evaluating goals from the previous year, adding notches to our proverbial belts and making space for next year’s adventures. My parents have a tradition. Each year around their anniversary, they sit down together and fill in their calendars with goals and adventures they plan on having. Sort of like having a loosely knit vision of what the next year will hold. You know what I think? That’s the best way to maximize any of life’s adventures, big or small.

A new and very exciting feat…holding onto and biting into an apple. It’s the little victories!

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This weekend we’re taking it easy. Josh was a minor bicycle accident while commuting to work on Thursday. Someone opened their car door and it blocked the bike lane, causing Josh to crash. He’s a little banged up and still has some neck pain, but I think a restful weekend will help. That along with a week full of issues added to Judah’s school/therapy situation and I’m completely ready for some down time. It’s been a good week all in all though!

Here are a few things that caught my eye this week.

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