Yes. My everyday has also been complete chaos, tiring and – most assuredly – a mess. No – this picture is not the result of a staged photo-op. This was just an ordinary fiasco of our home – which, for once, did not happen to be caused by the little dude in the background. He did help me clean up this mess, however – picking up one little Fruit Loop at a time. Until he realized what a marvelous sound they make when stepped on, that is.
I know – and am flattered – that so many read this blog. I started this blog – and keep it going – for a specific audience of three. In other words: Just us. I was a.s.t.o.u.n.d.e.d a while back when I got a small glimpse at just how many folks tune in for ‘Happy Thomas Family’ news. And yet it’s hard – especially lately – for me to post. Mainly because – despite a very few high points – our lives have been extremely mundane. All I have to talk about is the everyday. The ins and outs of our daily schedule and routine … if you can even call it that. And while I know that there are many – particularly family members that live a good distance away – that are insanely interested in our humdrum ‘everyday’ lives – it is honestly something very hard for me to write about. Nothing gives me writers’ block like everyday life.
I guess that is because it is my everyday life. I live it day in and day out – I know better than anyone that it is very rarely grand. Nine times out of ten, when all is said and down and I sit down to blog I don’t want to revisit the ‘fun’ of the day.
And yet, it is our everyday life – those mundane moments – that make us who we are. It is the everyday stuff – those everyday moments we share as a family – that are the important things. I do believe that. I have no problem creating everyday memories. But even still – I’ve noticed that lately I only find the motivation to blog if I have a grand story to tell. If I have a herd of photographs to help tell my tale. If we’ve been on a trip – or just participated in some sort of large-scale event. All of this has me somewhat confused, because it doesn’t jive with another aspect of my life.
Most know that I am a – albeit behind – scrapbooker. I say this, though I don’t like the term ‘scrapbooker’. You say, “I’m a scrapbooker”, and folks automatically picture cutesy stickers and creative lettering done with glitter pens, all adorning photos with scallopy die-cutted corners. People who aren’t a part of the industry don’t understand what it really is. They also don’t know that anyone can be (and probably already is) a ‘scrapbooker’. A photo album full of photos is a scrapbook. Even without the stickers. Preserving your memories in any form – especially those everyday moments – for yourselves and your posterity is what it’s all about. This being said, I am a paper crafter who focuses on family life preservation. And, to set the record straight, while my previous description of a ‘scrapbooker’ is perfectly fine … it isn’t me. Despite my mammoth supply stash, I rarely reach for stickers, don’t use my glitter pens, and don’t have a scallop corner punch to my name.
Let’s get back on track: I am passionate about preserving the everyday existence of my family in our scrapbooks and art. I firmly believe that it is simply about the words and photographs – rather than the cutesy stickers. I have been known to preserve a moment sans pictures. I love photographs – and usually have plenty of them. But such isn’t always the case. And yet, it is still vital to preserve that moment, picture or not. I’m reminded of a recent quote I read:
“I’d like you to think back to your most treasured memories – the ones you hold dear, the ones that make you laugh, or the ones that simply touch your heart. Now let me ask you this: How many of these memories have a perfect photo capturing the very essence of the moment? I don’t know about you, but most of my favorite memories are stories. There are no photos of my daughter taking her first breath or the moment I received my first kiss from the man I’d marry. They are those exceptional little moments that live within each of us, void of photos but bursting with life.” (Deena Wuest courtesy of CK)
So, to make sense of all of this: I adhere to an ‘everyday moments are important’ rule in serveral facets of my life – but not blogging. Or at least I'm not good at it all the time. For whatever reason. And – on further speculation – I don’t think that it should be that way.
I am a stay-at-home-mom. Part of a dying breed, you could say. My life is drab – yet n.e.v.e.r boring. It is drab – and yet it is rich. Rich with the things that are important. It isn’t glamorous. It isn’t meant to be. It’s strenuous, demanding and exhausting. But because of that, I think my priorities remain in-check. I am outrageously grateful that I have the opportunity to be home with my child. That I have the chance to witness these tiring days – these humdrum moments that are sprinkled with magic.
I mentioned earlier that I didn’t feel like blogging unless I had a grand story to tell. I’ve learned that our life is the grand story. Our very existence. Our humdrum days. Our everyday moments. My life.
So – though I took the long way around to get to this point – here are some of the everyday moments of the Thomases Three. The ‘unexciting’ things that make us us:
Things are slowly shaping up in our new home. Every room still needs a tad bit of work – and I still have several projects waiting to be done. The only room that is a complete mess is my craft room. It wasn’t the priority, so I put it off till last. And now … well … I’m tired. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tackle it soon. Because I need that space to work on the aforementioned projects. Ah … it’s just a vicious cycle.
We have finally got this yard of ours under control. There is still an ocean of work to do, but it isn’t so overwhelming now. After we cleaned everything up, weeded flower beds, cut back trees, dug up various somethings, put out fresh pine straw and – of course – cut the grass … our yard seems to have doubled in size. There is still some clearing out to do in the back and more pine straw to put out – and we haven’t started our garden yet – but the difference is remarkable. Something that you would have had to see the before and then seen the after to believe. It truly looks like a completely different space. We’re proud of it – proud of the work we’ve put in to it. We love being outside. Love having a yard after all these years.
We’re beginning to figure out all the quirks of our new home … and town. We live in a very old home that has been restored and added on to – but there are some existing ‘things’ that we’ve had to get used to. And then there’s our new hometown. Which we love, but … enough said.
Brian is enjoying his job as much as ever. He had the opportunity of running Day Treatment the other day – which was a first. He is enjoying school as much as can. He’s ready to be done, for sure.
I’ve had to hide the Yo Gabba Gabba DVD. Ammon’s a hit or miss fan. Brian was intrigued by the fact that this show was developed by an Aquabat. I liked the retro-esque attributes of the show. Ammon watched it once at a friends’ house and seemed to like it. Since we don’t have cable – a DVD was purchased, just to see what his level of interest was. There are times when he’ll watch one episode and be done. There are times when we’ll watch the disk through once and be done. There are times when he doesn’t want to watch it at all. And then there are times like last week. When all he wants to watch is that one DVD. Over and over and over and over and over. Despite my attempts to turn him on to something else. There are only four episodes on that disk. One can only take so much. So, I hid the DVD before the weekend. Ammon spotted it last night. Guess what we’re watching today.
I’m dealing with some serious allergy troubles this year. I always have some flare ups at the change of the seasons, but this year it has been h.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. I attribute it to being outside so much more. For the last several years, I haven’t been outdoors much during this time of the year. Because of our new yard and our new playgroup commitment and such, I’m outside a heck of a lot more. And I’m suffering for it. So, the last few days I’ve been stuck inside. And missing out on this prolonged nice, crisp cool weather. Aggravating, indeed.
Ammon is talking up a storm. Literally overnight he’s started speaking in complete sentences and saying clear words. He still does a lot of gibbering, but he is saying so many things that even people who don't know him can really understand. He now says “Please” without being prompted to. He has taken his recently-acquired “I want this” and gone plural: “I want these”, “I want those” Now, instead of only pointing out letters when asked, he is saying the letter name. All day long, he is pointing to things and asking, “What’s this?” He also asks, “Why?” to just about everything. Apparently he is going through that normal ‘Why?, Why?, Why?’ stage a little early. He is also repeating words and remembering them. For instance, on our way home from church Sunday, we passed a car with some kayaks on top. Brian said, “Look, Buddy. Kayaks.” A little way down the road the car passed us, and Ammon said, “Hmm … kayaks.”
We had some visitors last Sunday afternoon. After Stake Conference, my mom and grandma came over for lunch. We haven’t had many visitors yet, and we were glad to have them. Ammon was, of course, showing off. And giggling. And being silly. Just how we like him.
Brian and Ammon have jumped on the tree-hugger wagon again. They – like me – typically watch DVDs in a cycle. Blame it on the OCD. They’ve gone through Transformers, Scooby Doo and Thundercats and are back to Planet Earth, The Blue Planet and old Shark Week specials. Don’t get me wrong – I like nature just like anybody else. I love my planet. And I do enjoy watching these things – except for, maybe, the sharks. But I can’t get anything done watching them. Within mere seconds my eyelids weigh a thousand pounds. Those suckers put me out quicker than a bullet.
Ammon is going through a growth spurt … of sorts. He seems to get bigger by the second. He is outgrowing clothes at an alarming rate, and yet still seems to be able to wear some of his old ones. For instance the shirt he is wearing in the photo above is sized 3 months. Yes – 3 months. The tank/short set in the first photo is sized 9 months. And yet, my favorite size 18 months shirt is now too small. The size 12 month shorts in the above picture are rolled down a couple of times so they don’t fall off. It’s a mystery. But, Ammon has outgrown (seemingly overnight) his Vans and is now the proud owner of his first pair of hard-soled Converse – and he looks absolutely jazzy in them.
We are thoroughly enjoying all aspects of our move. All the things that have been affected by it. We are really, really enjoying our new ward. Ammon and I are loving the active playgroup. And … wait for it … Ammon has been going to Nursery by h.i.m.s.e.l.f . He is only staying for the first hour … but still … he’s never stayed more than 2 minutes. The only reason that he doesn’t stay the entire time is because his favorite Nursery worker has to leave for another calling half way through. And then he wants to be her and not me ... or Brian.
My burn is healing up at a snail's pace … finally. Those of you who didn’t see it really missed a whooper. It was na-asty. It happened during our first weeks in the new house … while I was still getting used to the new, lower height of my oven. Who would have thought that a nano-second tap on 325 degrees would have done that. It’s been five weeks and most of the scab is gone. Though I do think I’ll have a scar. A scar the size of Nantucket on my forearm. Very, veeerry nice.
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