Summer time and the Living is...

Not easy. I could lie and tell you that being at home with the boys is magical and amazing but truly? It's not. I'm almost done ya'll. In two week I will be DONE with my Masters degree. D.O.N.E. I take a 4 hour written essay exam on August 13th and then...you can call me MASTER!!!
The house is still on the market- 43 showings(whose counting?). My boys are super. Seriously. I love them and they are sweethearts. Robert is kicking ass at work and is a great husband/father. I have nothing to complain about. Nothing. Highlights of summer '10
* 17 hour train ride to visit Gram/Papa in Walnut Creek
* Jake learning how to swim
* Bo going to TAG camp (Astronomy)
* San Diego trip to see my baby brother get married to sweet Katrina
*Oh...and finishing my Masters Degree :)

LIFE IS GOOD!

My Love Affair

I was thinking about saving this post until later...say May, but then reconsidered - I didn't want the moment to escape me. Bo asked me the other night, "Mom, why are we here?" A big question for a second grader. Heck, a big question for anyone. He was concerned because he didn't know why, "he was here." I reassured him that some people never find out their reason but with most certainty, he would at some point, find out his purpose. I told him that I did know my purpose and it is to touch the lives of children; both my own and the ones that I teach.

I love being a mom to my two sons. Being their mom gives me more joy and sense of purpose than I could have ever thought possible. I love tucking them in at night when they are all warm and snugly from their baths. I love reading them bedtime stories and giving the characters different voices. I love it when we go and see a movie at the theater and being able to watch their reactions in the dark when they are unguarded. I love their spontaneous hugs and kisses. I love cranking up my iPod on the Bose sound dock and having dance parties in the family room with them. I love clicking them into their seat belts and cutting up their meat so that they don't choke. I even love folding their small clothes that are getting bigger. I have loved, in all sincerity, every stage of their existence. From childbirth, to middle of the night feedings, to cleaning up the umpteenth glass of spilt milk.

I tell them that I love them every.single.day. Robert and I are that kind of a family. We say it and show it. Hugs, kisses and a, "buddy I love you" are commonplace.

I realize that when they are almost 8 and 5 that loving them is easy. Tweens and teens are tough - I see my possible future five days a week. Those sweet little cherubic faces can become sullen, sarcastic and withdrawn. Those little voices deepen and are not as ready to tell you how pretty you are or that, "you are such a good cook that your food should be in a restaurant!" I'm prepared for that transition (I think) but hopefully the metamorphosis is slow because frankly, this love affair I'm having is simply...amazing.

Moving on...

The house is on the market. The house that I brought both my babies home from the hospital to. Where they took their first steps, blew out their first candles and learned to ride their bikes. There have been so many firsts in this house and as a family we have grown both quantitatively and qualitatively; now it is time to move on. For people (strangers) to come into our home and both criticize and praise it is draining. Paired with the showings of course is the cleaning. All I do is clean these days. Oh. And work and go to school and try to be a good parent. A friend told me that when you put your house on the market it's like 50 first dates. Will they or won't they? Will they come back? Did they like me (it)? Only time and the market will tell - will we be moving on or maintain the status quo? Stay tuned.

http://www.portlandtoprealestate.com/Portland_OR_listings/34BF4231-D0A2-9275-1E0BBE1475D4C956.shtml