In conclusion...

Today, I was going to post about the post that would have been yesterday. Different words, different pictures, different tone. But that would undo what my husband did and I don't want that. So instead, I'll show you how we partied after our day of "firsts" yesterday.

 

 A trip to the salon for some manicures with some friends, followed by a scoop of ice cream seems like the perfect way to celebrate heading back to school.

But I would have had ice cream anyway, because:

a. It was Monday.

b. Jordan Knight likes big thighs (and probably muffin tops too).

c. It is my final post of my insane posting daily promise (whew! I had to dig deep some days).

It's been fun, but I'm taking a few days off. Thanks for sticking with me!

Day 22 (1st Day of School)

Amber has been bugging me about "guest-posting," so here goes.  Today was the first day of school.  Cora started 1st grade and Claire began her second year of preschool.  As you can see in the picture Cora is loving it, Amber is being the good mother/wife and filling out paperwork (which also included volunteering to help out with just about every party/event), and Claire is pretending to read.  I like this pic because it has all three of my beautiful girls in it.  I then went on to spend all day in court....yay.  That's it Wife, hope you like it.

*This post made me laugh for so many reasons. First, Mark hijacked my blog without me knowing which was ubber sweet of him. If you know Mark, you know how not Marklike that is. Next, this post sums up my husband to a T. When you ask him how his day was, he will always say "fine." He could have shot and killed someone or not taken a single call all night. Regardless, the answer would be the same.  He is very matter of fact; seemingly void of all emotions. And while this post reads much like an arson report at work would, I wouldn't have it any other way. It wouldn't be organic otherwise. Ah, how I love that "fine" man.*

Day 21

Because we live in a world of biggerfasterbetter, the pansy beaters I grew up licking would just not do. Kids, meet Kitchen Aid Mixer. Because stirring is such strenuous work, someone had to create a machine to do it for us. To the kind inventor of said mixer, my arms thank you (my wallet however, does not).

ps. I loath character clothing of any kind and only allow my daughters to wear clothing of that nature around the house, or as a flour-catcher while making cookies. Does that make me a mean mom?

Day 20 (Celebrating Clairebear)

Dear Claire Brooklyn,

For months we planned for you. We picked your name and your paint colors and your coming home outfit. We washed and arranged and organized, so everything would be perfect when you finally joined our family. What we couldn't have prepared for was how you would change our view of the world entirely.

You affect people. You radiate with such a zest for life and tackle this world head-on. You pay no attention to what others think of you. While you do aim to make others laugh, you march to the beat of your own drum (a very loud drum) while never giving a second thought to the music playing all around you.

Because you can't concern yourself with what others say about you, let me tell you. People adore you. Friends. Strangers. Neighbors. You sparkle (and not in a creepy vampire sort of way) and people notice. I can't count the number of times people have approached me to tell me how much you make them smile. Most of them I have never met. And while they may never get to see how, um, "busy" you are when you're at home, just getting to experience a few moments with you affects them.

You are our little sunshine. And you have made us laugh everyday for the last four years. You remind us that simple is best and smiling is easy and a cookie cures everything. This world is so much brighter with you in it.

We love you THIIIIIIS much,
Mommy and Daddy

Day 19

I'm posting photos today. I'm posting photos because when it's 105 degrees outside you do what any sane person would do. You head towards water. And I'm posting photos because for the 1st time all summer, I remembered my camera. And I'm posting photos because big fat smiles on my babies makes me happy.

Truthfully, I'm posting photos to keep my mind off the fact that tomorrow, my baby turns 4. And that makes her not my baby anymore. And occasionally, when she is talking back or copping an attitude, I want to shrink her. Because as the years pass, the memory of her tininess fades. I don't remember what it is like to cradle my infants. Borrowed infants from friends, sure. But my own? I'm forgetting.

So stare at these pictures with me. If you squint, can you still see their littleness?

Me, I just see giants. Very happy, very exhausted giants.

Where did my babies go?

Day 18

If I just post a link to a blog I'm guest posting on today, does that count as a post?

What if I told you the particular blog I'm guest posting on belongs to my lovely friend Andrea? Still not enough?

Okay, tough crowd.

Well then, what if I told you the owner of said blog, another one of our mutual friends and I once puffy-painted a big fat "B" and 2 glittery "Fs" onto some t-shirts and then wore those bad boys during a $5 Walmart portrait session. And that we laughed so hard while the kind photographer snapped shots that we all almost peed ourselves. Still no?

What if that particular incident didn't happen when we were 16? Or 20? Or even 29?  But it might possibly have happened the last time I was with those crazy girls.

It does count you say? Yep, that's what I thought.

Day 17

Summer means...

popsicles....

a backyard full of friends....

last second trips to see people we love....

and forgetting our camera in the busyness....

and using a junky camera phone to document our adventures instead.

We only have a few days left Summer, please let them be as sweet as a handful of ice cream (yes, that's what you see in Claire's little paw. The "guts" of a mutilated ice cream sandwich).

Day 16

I have posted about this in the past and even emailed it to a few of you. I love it more every time I hear it. I envy that she was able to so perfectly capture my feelings. It encompasses everything I believe about the strength of women. The strength of YOU.

If you ever need anyone to howl or clutch or circle with, please know I'm available. And knowing you are too is often the only thing that gets me through the day.

ps. First pause my crazy music at the bottom before watching. I know I need to set it so it doesn't automatically start playing when you view my page, I'm just too lazy to log in & figure it out!

Day 15

I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and then I reread it (read my full review HERE if you're interested). It fascinated me and troubled me. Made me angry and happy simultaneously. I have never wholeheartedly agreed and disagreed so fiercely with someone all at once.

I was eager for the movie to come out because, a. I'm a visual person and b. I adore Julia Roberts ("Man this baby must corner like it's on rails," anyone?).  I think I enjoyed the movie more than the book. That is rare.

One thing the movie reminded me of was all of the talk about finding "her word." In the book she speaks extensively on how, much like cities have words that define them, people do as well. She actually titles her book in one-word reflections of the places she visits, and then spends the entire book searching for her word. Which she finds.

I remember pondering that as I was reading. What is my word? What one word sums me up? Is one word enough to define who I am? Quite simply, no.

I process everything through written word. The click of keys has unraveled every heartache, every struggle, every triumph. My entire life has been defined by a series of scribbles and journals and essays. I am a writer. Not a great one. Some days an awful one. But a writer still the same.

I feel limited choosing just one word. While I am not the most complex person you will ever meet, as evidenced by this silly little blog of mine, my emotions are broad and ever changing. And I wear those emotions on my blog. I do that by taking a whole mess of words and cramming them together in an effort to make sense of my life.

It rarely works, but I am left with a fascinating trail of those jumbled words documenting that journey. If I had to choose just one word to sum that up, well, it would not do my life justice.

So I am left wordless. Or I guess you could say wordy?

Day 14

Man this is hard. When your life is as boring as mine, posting daily is a lofty goal. Which is why I typically don't do it.

I want my posts to matter. If not to anyone else, at least to me. I want them to have some sort of substance. Which this one won't. At all.

I knew taking on this daily posting challenge was going to be difficult, because I rarely have enough material to post once a week, let alone every. single. day. But I had been in such a blogging slump on my personal blog lately and I had to snap out of it.

Go big or go home, right?

Tonight I had nothing. No pictures to post. No words of wisdom. No funny Claireisms. I didn't even have the desire to fake it. But a promise is a promise, so I headed into the office to post.

I found my husband on the computer and the wheels started turning. I would log into my blog and hand over the reigns; let him run wild. He could write about anything his little heart desired. But I would leave the room of course so he could transform it into a why-I-adore-my-wife-so-much post. And then I would log on and act surprised and read it and weep a little. It was the perfect plan.

So I presented it to him.

He laughed.

And now you're stuck with this.