Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thoughts on 30

Tonight is my last night in my 20s. It's hard for me to believe I'm hitting this milestone already... I don't feel like I should be in my 30s yet! (Or as an ecard on Pinterest put it,  "I'm 30 but I feel like I should be 20. Unless I hang out with a bunch of 20-year-olds; then I'm like, 'Nope, never mind. I'm 30.' ")

I've known several people who were actually glad to leave their 20s behind because it can be a tumultuous decade of learning how to be an adult and possibly lacking the confidence or knowledge to be successful at the whole growing up thing. But I honestly feel like my 20s were pretty great simply because the major highlights of my life so far were in my 20s--getting married, getting my first real job, buying my first house, traveling to New Zealand and writing a book, giving birth to two awesome kids. It's going to be hard for my 30s to top all of that. So I guess I feel a little sad because I wonder if the best parts of my life are already behind me.

On the other hand, I'm excited for the decade to come. It's going to be different--probably much more focused on my family than on personal achievements. And I can look back to age 20 and see how far I've come spiritually, which gives me hope that I'll see God doing amazing things in my life and in my family's life in the years ahead as we continue to draw closer to Him. 

So bring it on, 30! I'm ready for ya! (But you can cut it out with the gray hairs. Seriously. I'm not quite ready for that yet.)

Sunday, September 7, 2014

So long, summer

Summer is pretty much over, and I can't help feeling a little sad. We've had a lot of fun the last few months: Visiting Disney World and the beach, camping, playing on the slip 'n slide, making popsicles, catching fireflies, setting off fireworks, having cookouts, and staying up late as a family to snuggle on the couch and watch movies. Part of me doesn't want it to end. Our lives are a lot busier throughout the rest of the year and I'm afraid I'll miss our carefree summer.

But I also have to remind myself that I tend to over-sentimentalize things. Yes, we've had a lot of fun this summer and have made some wonderful memories. But there have also been days that have been so LONG and BORING that I would have sold my left arm to get five minutes of peace away from my little darlings. 

I can already feel the pace picking up as we enter September. Our days of waking up and saying, "What do we want to do today?" are being replaced by structure and schedules and early bedtimes.

The good news is I just happen to love fall too. I love pumpkin patches and state fairs and bonfires and baking pies and watching my kids jump into piles of leaves. Yes, we're busier. Every new season and stage of life brings unique adjustments. But as long as I'm intentional about how we're spending what free time we do have, then I know we'll make lots of fresh new family memories this season too. 

So, adios summer. I won't miss the mosquitoes, sunburns, yard work, and weeks on end at home with cranky kids. Change is sometimes tough for someone as nostalgic as I am, but I'm excited to see what good things God has in store for our family this coming season. 

I'm feeling optimistic that it'll involve pie.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Camp out!

We just got back from our first ever camping trip as a party of four. As soon as we got our tent set up yesterday afternoon, I whipped out our camera to begin documenting the fun, but the batteries were dead. So since I have no photographs from our camping trip, allow me to set up a mental scene for you. 

The sky is dark and studded with stars. The sounds of insects and frogs permeate the air. A gentle breeze floats into the tent, bringing with it the scent of damp leaves and wood smoke. A small, grubby foot caresses your cheek. Suddenly, a quick movement within the tent causes you to sit up in alarm as you realize your son may have brought one of his many frog friends in for a sleepover.

(By the way, I was unable to confirm or deny the presence of a frog in our tent. If we did sleep with a frog, I think I'd rather not know).

Grubby feet and frog friends aside, the camping trip actually went really well. We camped right on the lake at Woolly Hollow. Perrin and Brielle were both ecstatic to see that the campsite was teeming with itsy bitsy frogs. While I wasn't quite as thrilled with the frogs, they did at least keep the kids occupied. After we set up the tent, we changed into swim suits and headed for the beach. We played in the water and buried Perrin in the sand about a thousand times. Brielle was starting to look a little droopy, so after a quick trip to the playground, we decided to see if we could get her to nap in the tent. No such luck. She was way too excited to waste time napping. 

We went for a hike instead and strapped Brielle into a baby backpack. Within minutes, she dozed off and spent the rest of our hike with her neck at a 90 degree angle. Perrin continued to look for (and catch) frogs. At one point we told him to unclench his fist, and at least 7 or 8 frogs fell out. 

We had a picnic dinner back at our campsite, then roasted marshmallows and made smores for dessert. Getting the kids to go to sleep in the tent was a little challenging, but we had pure exhaustion on our side and they gave up the fight fairly quickly. (Both kids did crawl across me in their sleep, however. Luckily not at the same time.)

The kids woke up at 5:45, which is a whole 45 minutes later than the one other time we took Perrin camping. So we had an early (early, early) breakfast. I feel sorry for the campers near us. I'm pretty sure everyone within a 300 foot radius was also awake at 5:45, thanks to a couple of big mouths. I'm reminded of the camping trips from Calvin and Hobbes--it's not real, character-building camping unless everyone is miserable, right? We're just doing our part to grow character in everyone around us. 

After breakfast, Perrin and I rented a canoe and paddled on the lake together. Correction--I paddled. He made steering more difficult by "helping" with his paddle. He enjoyed the boat ride but seemed a little disappointed that we didn't see any crocodiles. 

We had a lot of fun, but one night of camping was enough for us. Maybe when the kids are a little older, we'll be brave enough to stick it out for longer. And maybe someday I can get Perrin his own little tent. Frog friends welcome.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Vacation thoughts

We made it home safe and sound from our whirlwind vacation to the beach and Disney World. We had a lot of fun! I think parents get a double dose of fun on vacation--you get to enjoy the activities and sights for yourself, and you get to experience your kids' joy. But parents also get a double dose (or triple dose) of work on vacation... you're slathering sun screen on three bodies instead of just your own. You're packing an insane amount of kid paraphernalia to take with you any time you leave the room. You're coordinating bedtimes and nap times and park times and swim times, trying to squeeze as much fun into the vacation without exhausting everyone. (It's a pretty hard balance to strike, and I think we mostly erred on the side of exhaustion. It would have helped if SOME little girl who will remain nameless would have been willing to take naps in her stroller once in a while.)

We made some great memories. Perrin LOVED the thrill rides and went on anything and everything that he was tall enough for--Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, even the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Even Brielle got into the spirit and by the end of vacation was demanding "Ride! Ride!" (Although I think her all-time favorite ride was the resort elevator.) But I think my biggest takeaway was just an overwhelming feeling of love and thankfulness for my kids. There was something really special about being on vacation with them, spending so much time with no real goal other than having fun together. I loved watching them have a good time. They got so excited about even the littlest things--feeding our expensive Norwegian pastries to the ducks, riding the monorail (or "mommy rail" as Perrin called it), or just taking an ice cream break in between rides. 

No vacation is perfect, and we had some challenging moments. But I'm so thankful we decided to take this trip. Perrin is already begging to go back. (Um... let me take a year or five to recover from this one, okay?) But honestly, I really am looking forward to next time, even if it is several years away. And this time I'll bring some cheap bread for the ducks.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Catching up

Has it really been almost three months since I last posted a blog? Geez. I guess I need to update all my faithful followers (all three of you--hi, mom!) on what's been going on in the Richardson house. 

In a nutshell: Perrin turned four, Brielle hit the terrible twos (even though she's not quite 18 months), Trey and I are training for the Warrior Dash (4-mile obstacle course and mud run), we're planning a family trip to Disney World very soon (but I won't tell the dates just in case any of you were planning on breaking into our house while we're gone), and we're doing lots of work on our land in Jacksonville in hopes that we'll be able to build a new (bigger) house sometime in the next couple of years. (Cuz you know how many bathrooms we have? One. You know how many people are in our house? Four. And for some reason my kids think "Mommy has to go to the bathroom" means "Let's go have family bonding time in the bathroom.")

Whew. So we've been busy. And although I love writing and blogging, it's one of those things that's been temporarily shelved while I'm in the years of temper tantrums and boo boos and mud pies and bedtime snuggles and toys all over the floor and annoying cartoons and pet bugs and more cuteness and frustration than I ever thought possible. 

Someday I'll pick up my pens and journals and writers' guides again and maybe accomplish something more in a typical day than scraping unidentifiable orange goo from the underside of the dining room table. But until then, I'm content to be in this season of life. Just look at these cuties! 



Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Our big mistake (and how we survived)

Somehow Trey talked me into going out to eat tonight... with the kids. We had a Chili's gift card and a coupon for a free dessert, and I was feeling pretty burned out on cooking anyway, so it really didn't take much convincing. 

Never again.

We've always avoided dinner out with the kids, but I reasoned with myself that it would be fine--Perrin's old enough now to know how to behave, and Brielle's young enough that she hasn't hit the terrible twos. Perfect, right?

The restaurant was PACKED. Thankfully, we got seated quickly and I began digging through the diaper bag to pull out the dinner I'd packed for Bri. Only... it wasn't there. No peanut butter sandwich anywhere to be found. I remembered sticking it in the bag before we left the house. Where was it?? After I dug through the bag several times and sent Trey out to the car to look for it, Perrin found it on the floor. Apparently in the shuffle to get seated, half the diaper bag had dumped out. 

Oh, well. Time to order. I busied Brielle with some crayons (which she tried to eat) while attempting to convince Perrin to order something other than macaroni and cheese. (C'mon... if I'm gonna spend $5 on a kid's meal, it ought to be a tiny bit more awesome than macaroni and cheese.) We finally settled on chicken strips and cinnamon apples. (Believe me, this is pertinent to the story. In case you're wondering.)

Brielle threw all the napkins on the floor. ("More napkins, please.") Then she threw all the crayons, the menu, her fork, her fruit cup. A rather sizable pile of crap had accumulated under our table.

Food finally arrived! Perrin decided he liked the chicken strips and ate three within about 20 seconds. I told him he should try the apples too. He said he didn't like them. I told him to try just one. He said it would make him gag. I insisted. So he ate an apple and threw up all over himself and the table. Literally. Vomit everywhere. ("More napkins, please.")

Trey took Perrin to the bathroom to get him cleaned up. He came back and told me his tummy wanted cookies. Too bad, tummy. I was finally getting ready to eat my own food when Brielle's face went red and she started grunting. Sigh. I knew what that meant. I hauled her off to the bathroom to change her diaper and realized when we got there that she had lost a shoe at some point. I changed her and then needed to wash my hands, so she toddled around the bathroom with one shoe on while I lathered up. I scooped her up and we hunted around the restaurant. No shoe. We hunted around the table. No shoe. Finally we spotted it wedged between her booster seat and the booth seat. While I was getting readjusted, Brielle grabbed Perrin's cup of cinnamon apples and dug her hands in, then began smearing the apples across her face and the table. While I dug out the wipes from the diaper bag, she grabbed my shirt with her slimy fingers and wiped apple bits from my shoulder to my elbow. ("More napkins, please.")

I asked for a to go box. Trey ordered the free dessert (still trying to salvage what had thus far been a trip to hell). Did I mention the restaurant was packed? Our server was trying his hardest running from table to table, but he just couldn't keep up. We waited about 15 minutes for our dessert, then another 15 minutes for a check. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but it was possibly the longest 30 minutes of my life. 
 
Finally it was time to get the heck out of there. I picked up Brielle's mess from under the table and took her out of her chair to put her coat on. I set her down and turned around to grab my purse, diaper bag, and coat. I turned back around and Brielle was gone. She was speeding as fast as her little legs could carry her down the aisle and around the corner. I chased after her, but there were people everywhere (did I mention the restaurant was packed?) I dodged a server with a tray and nearly bumped into an old man. Brielle navigated the crowds with ease and was making herself at home with a booth of strangers when I finally caught up to her. 

I was pretty quiet on the way home. Trey tried to cheer me up. "Look at the bright side--it couldn't possibly have been any worse than that." Um, that's the bright side? "And we survived!" he said. I think he was just praying I wouldn't kill him for having the most boneheaded idea in the universe. 

But yes, we survived. And we learned an important lesson. I think it's safe to say that we won't be taking our kids out to eat again until they're 40.