Catch Up & Pumpkin Picking

We've had a wonderful few weeks full of pumpkin picking, apple picking and decorating for Halloween. Loretta had a Tea Party with some friends yesterday and it was a good reminder that the girl needs regular "girly" play dates. She's grown up around boys, with the exception of our her friend Ainsley, there is Devin and Alex and the 9 boys in her daycare class. She's the only girl and it shows. But, it the midst of tackling and throwing balls she still manages to do or say something really girly. She sings Ariel and just this morning told me she wished she had boobies like me (some day baby girl!). Caroline is doing wonderfully, she's talking more and more and finally has some more teeth, not that it's helped her appetite much. The girl would live on banana and cream cheese on waffles if we let her. She's doing everything her big sister does down to whispering secrets in my ear (full of spittle as she says sps sps sps psps). She is looking more and more like me and my mom. John is doing great and nurturing his artistic side some. I'm doing well too, but feel a bit like I'm in limbo waiting for an answer about returning to work on Fridays.

That's all for now, please enjoy this lovely rendition of "Part of Your World" by Loretta. Wait for the graceful close to the song, it makes it so worth while.

Love to all!

18 Years Ago, When I was 16

I actually thought that the other day. 18 years ago when I was 16. Can that be right? Seems more like it should be 18 years ago when I was 8. Yeah, that seems about right. I would be 26 not 34! I feel more like 26. I think that's why sometimes I'm so surprised that I'm a married mother of two! Don't get me wrong, this isn't a woes me, I'm almost 35, because I don't care about turning 35, I didn't care about turning 30. It's just surprising b/c some days I look in the mirror and half expect to see that 16 year old staring back at me and other days it hits me how much my life and I have changed since then.

So, I started thinking about my 16 year old self. What I was thinking then, wishing for, dreaming of. I realized something remarkable, I realized that all of my childhood dreams had come true. I'm married (had a beautiful wedding), I went to Italy, I finally became a mother, I even came as close to my 5 year old dream of becoming a movie star as I would ever really want by being on a reality TV show!

What do you do when you realize all of your dreams have come true.

1) Be Grateful (check, done - I'm thankful every single day)

2) Get more dreams!...but, does that make me selfish?

I thought about my girls and whether or not I would ever want them to stop dreaming big? No way! Dreams are wonderful, they provide hope, escape, motivation. I have dreams for my girls, but I don't want to burden them with my dreams. I want them to have their own.

So, now that my childhood dreams have been realized, what should my adulthood dreams be? I know what they can't be, they can't be me losing these last 10 lbs or being wrinkle free! They have to be bigger, feel as amazingly out of reach as my childhood dreams did for so long...

How exciting! A clean slate, they could be anything at all! Skies the limit! So, here is what I came up with:

1) I want to live in Europe for awhile at some point. I want to be there long enough to become completely immersed in the culture and fluent in the language.

2) I want to swim with dolphins,whales or manta rays. Some of the ocean's gentle giants.

3) I want to go on an African safari, but a posh one - with enough comforts that I can sleep without thinking some exotic bug is going to infest me with a terrible disease, but enough exposure that I witness unforgettable wildlife.

4) I want to go on a cruise to the Arctic.

5) I would like to do something extraordinary for someone else. I can't imagine what this might be (I even let my CPR certification lapse), but I just hope if given the opportunity to do so, I won't freeze, I'll just know what to do to help.

Mostly, when my girls are older I want them to think of their mom as someone who is ambitious and adventurous. I want to be someone they can be proud of, someone they can look up to (well figuratively speaking at least).


That's all for now. Take care!