Currently

Getting dirty and sweaty working on our current home improvement project of the front and side patios.  Sledgehammering pillars and concrete (mostly B, but I did some smashing too!)  The rain has slowed our progress slightly, but its so exciting to see it all come together - even if slower than we want.

Polishing Greyson's first ever trophy from his teeball season.  And by polishing, I mean Grey is polishing it - hahaha, definitely not this chick.  He was so happy and excited about getting a trophy, it was so sweet and hilarious.  oh, that boy. 

Celebrating America's birthday at a great picnic day at our cousin's house (thanks Tausha!) We even had the chance to get a picture of Mimi and every single one of her eleven grandkids!  (4 grandkids and 7 great grandkids).  It turned out to be a beautiful weather day and the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins all day.  By the end of the night, they were completely wiped out - which is always just fine with us! hah

Saying goodbye to our sweet, dear Rosie (Gigi and Pappy's dog).  Rosie took an unexpected turn for the worst last week and we learned she had Lyme's disease but it had taken a severe toll on her kidneys.  Rosie was so sweet and lovable, it broke all of our hearts.  In the car while running errands today, Gemma called up to me, "Mumma, I'm feeling sad about Rosie."  We will always miss you Rowie girl.

Tending to our two big kids who both ran fevers this week for about 24-36 hours each.  So strange, no other symptoms, but both were sort of knocked on their butt for a day or so.  Everyone is back and running at full steam again (!) so can't complain too much about that. 

Cozying up in the warmth of our outdoor fire pit that we (finally) moved up closer to the patio.  B and I sat out by the fire twice this week after the kids went to bed and it was such a nice way to wind down.  Strange how sometimes its the smallest little changes that bring the best comforts.

Reading still A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and loving it so much. Also finishing the last couple chapters of our Inspired Readers book, Make It Happen .  Can't believe we are already almost done with our first book!  The next book (a novel) will start on August 1 - so check out our facebook group page if you're interested in joining up for next month

Enjoying Shark Week, which basically means talking about sharks only slightly more often than we already talk about sharks (which is quite a bit, probably second to Bigfoot).  We had Shark Week cupcakes (a few had hidden maraschino cherries in them and if you got one of those that meant you were in a shark attack!)

Writing towards my novel which has me really excited.  They say the more you write, they more you'll write - so I'm trying to hold myself to high expectations to get some novel writing in every day even if it seems like I don't have the time.  Hello early morning writing or late night writing!

Giggling about Violet and her little personality.  She learned her first baby sign this week ("All Done") and tries so much to talk to us and get her little point across.  It's hilarious, we are all trying to guess what she is saying (usually it's "Hi Daddy!") She absolutely loves the tractor and is going through a phase that she both wants held all the time but also not held at all.  It's very frustrating and a lot of picking up only to put back down within thirty seconds.

Finishing last minute details for tomorrow's 7th Annual Beer Olympics!

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This week in interesting internet:

This article had me all kinds of choked up about how it really does feel every.single.day at the end of the night.  Did I love you enough though, darlings?  Do you know how much it is even if I don't do a great job every single day? (thanks  to Jamie, my internet guru of happiness and inspiration)

This really funny article about people who live in tiny houses.  I would love to downsize to a Small House (like >1200 sq.ft) but we aren't quite there just yet (get.rid.of.all.the.things).  This article had me laughing out loud.

This awesome visual representation of the different kinds of privilege anyone can have.  I like the way the video asked the participants afterwards what they thought and everyone was sort of shell shocked in their responses and seemed fairly somber about the whole thing.  It's hard to look at privilege - just because you have some privilege doesn't mean that your life is easy (at all), it only means you have access to something that some other people don't.  it's only important (very very important) to try to be aware of what sort of pieces of life you are blessed to have access too, lots of times for things you had no control over.

3D printing is seriously the most amazing thing ever.  welcome to the future, people.

thought-provoking and important points in this NY times article about the next culture war. 

100 Small Things - Half Year Check-in

At the start of the year, I set out to complete 100 small things to help direct my focus towards living intentionally.  The list is one part practical (things that just plain need done around here) and one part hopeful (things that will help me be the kind of person I hope to be someday).

So it's half way through the year, and I've completed 19 tasks completely! Here are the new ones to add to my previously completed list at the quarter year check in.

#35 Plant a "garden" (June) - We didn't get to put in a full blown garden, but the kids and I worked together to plant zucchini (we are obsessed) and tend to the strawberry plant on the back patio flower box and we planted sunflowers in the front flower bed.  Then we were feeling really defeated when we found that some of our little sprouting zucchini plants had died and we speculated it had been the heavy rains that drowned them.  Only to find out that Daddy had sprayed them with round-up because we forgot to tell him we planted them in the flower box and he thought they were weeds.  Not kidding, I almost cried.  But we have a few persistent ones that are coming up late, so we should still get some this summer.  sheesh.

#13 Create books with the kids stories and drawings (May) - when I initially made this task at the start of the year, I was thinking it would be proper hard back books we'd order, but in desperation to fill some long afternoon hours, Grey and I made a folded paper book together about (no big surprise here) Bigfoot and now it's one of our most beloved books in our downstairs kid library.  Gemmi and I worked together with stickers to write a mini-book about a frog and butterfly.  I sort of love it even more now as a task.

#36 Participate in Screen Free Week 2015 (May) - I'm a full blown Screen Free Week fanatic, hah.  I'd like to incorporate Screen Free weekends in as a monthly staple, but we're not quite there yet.  Maybe a 100 small things task for 2016?  (Read about our full Screen Free Week 2015 here)

#18 Create individual Memory boxes for each family member (July) - this was a huge undertaking for Brandon and my memories.  We had two enormous bins of old stuff that I was dreading going through.  But during the rainy days that we had in June, I just would sit down in front of the bins and sift through the old cards, art projects, billions of stacks of pictures and filter through what was important to save and what could be tossed.  It was such a welcome walk through years past and I actually had fun pic-texting my family and friends old photos of us.

The Memory boxes now include a few old cards that were signed by our parents and grandparents, newspaper articles, a few old high school notes (some of which were written between Brandon and I - hysterical).  Old photos that have no digital duplicates, and other important keepsakes.  I filtered out blurry photos, lots of old clothes (they've gone into a bin that our kids as teenagers can look through if they want something 'vintage' of their parents - hahah).  All our stuff has been filtered down to one singular box (with room to spare!).  What a relief.  seriously.  huge relief.

#28 Dominican Republic family vacation (May) - it was awesome (read about it entirely here)

#76 Plant a tree on Earth Day (June, oops) - Well, we didn't do it on Earth Day, but we have planted a tree.  We received a tree as part of a gift that was sent from Brandon's work after my grandfather passed away.  Greyson has also been tending an oak sapling since last fall and it's growing beautifully.  So we technically are growing up two trees!

#56 Create a Hawaii trip book for the kids (June) - it only took me a few days, but I went through our Hawaii vacation pictures from 2009 to create a little travel book on Shutterfly for the kids.  Our new Dad & Mum visit Oahu, Hawaii books it the third in our travel book series to add to the kids' home library.  Others include:  Dad & Mum visit Thailand and Aunt Uch visits Scotland travel books.

#82 Get my hair done (May) - done finally after almost two years.  seriously.

#63 Scrub the kitchen table and chairs (May) - this is one of those practical items that just need done for so long now and I really just didn't feel like doing it.  The kids and their crummy, sticky hands do work everyday, three times a day, on our wooden table and chairs in the kitchen and they needed a serious scrub and polish.  Done!  One Sunday morning before church outside.  I was just feeling motivated and jumped in and tackled it.  hooray and thank goodness!

#70 Convince Brandon to get rid of some clothes (April) - as part of our months long process of preparing for a giant yard sale.  I think I wore him down with my tireless nagging (hahhaha, worst wife ever).  He's not the only one that needs to get rid of clothes, I did too!  He just needs convinced, where I'm happy to pitch into giveaway/sale piles.

#73 Run in a 5k (May) - my baby sis and I ran in the Johnstown Path of the Flood 5K in May together.  I'm hoping to sign up for another 5k in the fall too!


Working towards completion of these projects:



#6 Read 12 books (at least two classics):  I've read 6 books, one of which was a classic and I'm currently reading book number 7!  Need inspiration to keep reading?  Our Inspired Readers book club will be starting a new book in August - so if you think you're interested in reading along (next month we'll be switching it up to reading a novel!) - check out our facebook group and request an add!  We'd be happy to have you join our community!

#10 Get rid of 50 things:  'things' really mean categories of items, so I've gone through 14 categories of items so far of the fifty (things include: adult clothes, kids' toys, kids' books, adult books, coats from our front closet, scrapbook supplies, old photos, etc)

#9 Grandma and Kid trip to the city:  we are in the final planning stages and have the date set for later this month!  We are headed to Baltimore, MD this year!

#34 Pour patio out front & side:  concrete has been almost completely busted out (I even took hold of sledgehammer and pounded out some of the pillars! #beastmode) and we hope to frame and pour within the month!

#80 Re-read a Tree Grows in the Brooklyn:  re-reading now and it makes me so full and happy

#12 Host 'art gallery' opening for the kids:  we are doing an 'art month' right now - family & friends, look for your invitations to a super exclusive art show to come later this month! hahhaha.

#19 Finish 2014 Yearbook:  ugh.  always working towards this and it's always weighing on me.  I must finish this or I'm going to drive myself crazy.

#54 Watch 15 TED talks:  I've added two more TED talks to my list since April check in, bringing my total up to five:
Inspiring a Life of Immersion:  Jacqueline Novogratz
How to Build Your Creative Confidence:  David Kelley

#4 Get to 'The End' of one novel:  holy moly, this has me super amped up with creativity and  my mind is barely containing all the ideas.  seriously, I feel like this thing must.get.out.of.me.  and B is really supportive and I'm super hopeful.  fingers crossed.  just get to the end, tabitha.  the end.

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I'm feeling pretty inspired and hopeful about my list at the halfway mark.  I don't know that I'll get all 100 things completed, but if I can reach half of the list - I'll be pleased.  My 100 small things list doesn't feel like it weighs me down, rather I use it when I need inspiration and feel like I'm stuck in the everyday muck of life with three small kids.

an Ode to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

An Ode to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Tabitha Studer

This book
which I read years ago,
declaring confidently,
'this is my favorite book of all books'

This book
which is framed to an open passage in my dining room
the pages, spread wide like the span of a proud gobbler's fan

This book
which I picked up timidly again to re-read
cautiously bracing myself for disappointment
I've read so many books since declaring
this book
as my favorite.
Maybe I would discover the words don't grip me quite as deeply
Maybe I would find that my own progression in age, experiences and beliefs
will cast a shade on the spotlight I've so loyally directed at
this book.

This book
of which I made it only to the second page
before I was blanketed with the warm comfort of a friend
maybe more than a friend
a grandmother perhaps,
who always has tea and toast ready
and a listening ear
and a hand reached across the kitchen table for you to hold
at just the moment that you realize you had been feeling incredibly lonely
a hand that is worn down by years of life and wisdom
and a hand that says, 'no sweetheart, you are not alone at all.'

This book,
which I repeatedly and uncontrollably
have several times
clutched to my chest like a life vest
as I float through the sea of my days
I cling it near my heart
and frantically whisper
'thank you, thank you, thank you'
nearly weeping
with clear understanding that somehow
this book
contains all of the secret hieroglyphics etched into the walls of my inner heart
and I am so grateful that someone else knew how to discover them
and decipher them
and bring a more clear picture of how the world feels
even if only to me.

This book,
who's author, Betty Smith,
despite our separation of the vastness of space and time
between our lives
wrote
this book
that fills my entire soul with a recognition that
someone else on this earth knows
what the voice of my heart sounds like
somehow we are connected, Ms. Smith.

This book
that reaches out to me from the past
that sings to me the song of my heart
that reminds me that one person's story,
one person's written word
can make ripples all the way into a future unknown
to a mother who will put her children to sleep with the sound of her voice reading
this book
and those children will grow up and someday ask, what was important to my mother?
and they'll remember it was
this book,
her favorite,
and so they'll pick it up and learn more about what made their mother their mother
and in that way, Ms. Smith
you will live forever.

This book, these words,
you, Ms. Smith,
have made a difference through the ages,
even if only just to me,
even if only to this one girl out here in the future,
in this time that is so different from when you lived and loved
but somehow not different at all
what you said and what you wrote
matters.
do you hear me out there in this prayer of gratitude?
what you created from nothing
matters.

This book
that somehow in some fantastic way
quietly and persistently whispers,
'You, Tabitha, are a writer too.
Don't give up, friend.'

Betty Smith,
your book
my favorite,
this book:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
I love thee.
so much,
do I love thee.