Dear Interweb world, I'm still here

Hello,
It's me, Mary, the author of this little blog.  Yes, it's been quite a while since I've written.  So long, I thought my blog had disappeared.  I have now resurrected it and perhaps will begin this journey once again.  Anyone still out there?  You still check in on me from time to time?

Lots has changed since last I was here.  Where oh where to begin?  for starters we no longer live in the beautiful state of AK and my family mourned our departure deeply.  Alaska has a way of saturating your soul and you are never really quite the same again.  No matter where you go it just won't be Alaska.  Today I was driving past our suburban soccer field and got excited as I saw a flash of black go by, my immediate thought was "ooh a black bear"  no, I live in suburban VA, it was a large black dog.  Made me laugh though because honestly we've lived here over a year now and thoughts of black bears should not come so quickly.

My new hobbies are DIY house projects because we bought a house that needed a good bit of love.  I no longer substitute teach due to the fact that I have kids in two different schools and I want to be here for them when they are home and it seemed to be hard to fit that schedule.  Honestly it's probably for the best as
I have done lots of work on the house in that time frame but my days just fly by.  Just in case you are wondering my house is not finished.  In my mind a year should have been plenty of time but alas we have life going on during those DIY projects and that's the reality of it.

So my kids are bigger and I have two middle schoolers and we are all in the double digits.  I am approaching my 40th birthday and life still hasn't really slowed down but it's a good life and I'm glad it's mine.  If anyone is still out there let me know. :)  Guess it's time for me to start checking on all my friends blogs again too.  

 This was the first day of school for 2014 Jack 8th, David 6th and Sam 4th

Our sweet little Pepper, yup, that's a dog!  Almost all of David's dreams have come true now.  He loves her so very much.  Cute little jumpy thing.

Jack's first Gig

 Jack in action at his first concert at school.  Despite the fact the he often wants to be the opposite of what we ( his parents) are he chose to do percussion.

 This is the 6th grade Band concert at Aurora Elementary school.

He's so proud that he plays multiple instruments.  Love the bow tie he borrowed from Dad.

Jolly ol St. Nick

 David, almost 9 and still just as happy to sit on the old man's lap and tell him what he'd like for Christmas.  Note this guy has a real beard, he could be the real deal.

 Jack the 11 year old who still believes, but does he really?  The look on his face isn't convincing me.

 Sam, the 8 year old who is so full of Christmas cheer it's hard to keep him away though it looks as though Santa wouldn't have minded if we left this one home.

Merry merry Christmas! And we got what I didn't want, a house full of sick people, only two out of  eight of us managed to stay clear of it.  Whew!

US July 2012

 So these photos were taken during our Henrie family reunion this past July.  Let's just say my family's photos weren't the best shots around.  Jack had these transition lenses as you can see below and when he took them off he'd squint like crazy.  So the picture above has been touched up by our photographer.  I'm not even sure which parts but I imagine that Jack's squinty eyes where cut from one and pasted to this one.  He doesn't really look like himself.

So this photo is pretty much real life.  Not the one that comes in the frame.  I think they should start putting these kind of photos in the frames though cause it makes life more interesting right?!  I love my boys!

Oh and this was in Utah, we were sweating to death but I was grateful there was no humidity.  We are going to have a rude awakening if we do move to Virginia come summer/fall of 2013.

Motherhood

I love being a mom, I truly do but the truth is that it isn't always a picnic.  It definitely changes as they grow but there are those days . . .

Years ago a dear friend of mine was upset that her 4 year old daughter said "I hate you" to her.   I remember her saying "I know she's only 4 and she doesn't mean it but it still hurts my feelings"  I think we know to expect these types of things as parents but when they actually happen we are taken back a bit.

Lately I've been feeling like I don't DO much with my kids anymore.  No more mustache days and trips to the library (well sometimes we still all go to the library), no more helping me make play dough and playing it with them.  Instead of going to the park and playing with them I just send them and tell them when to come home.  Sure I poke my head out the door to check on them but they are growing up and don't NEED me there every second anymore.  Things are just different and yes, I know this is supposed to happen.  Thankfully they don't need us to wipe their noses or butts for the rest of their lives.

So as I was thinking about what we used to do I asked my son "what do you like to do with me?",  he didn't even really pause but said in a fairly plain voice "Nothing".  OUCH!  My heart hurt.  I was a bit shocked, I turned back to my chores in the kitchen and had to choke back the tears.  Sure maybe he was a bit grumpy, I did just tell him no video games but "NOTHING"!

The thing is I know he's still a kid, learning about the world and himself, heck it is a lifetime process.  I know I'm the parent and I KNOW kids will say and do things that we don't like but today it just hurt my feelings.

So this brought my thoughts to my own mother of course.  Bless her heart, there are six of us.  We must have said and done things to hurt her feelings many times but do you know what?  My wonderful Mother never tells me about how bratty or rude I was.  When I talk to her she always says things that make me feel good about myself and how I'm doing as a mom.  How is it that she can still do that?  I'm sure I probably still say stupid things that may hurt her feelings, though I hope not.  I'm so grateful for a Mom who can see past those not wonderful parts of me and still love me for who I am and continues to encourage me.

I believe in bread, potatoes, and butter

Oh you've all heard my convictions on butter but I've recently decided that I need to share my convictions of bread, potatoes, bananas, oranges, etc.  I know that there are about 5 million ways to eat healthy and that everyone has their own idea of what is healthy.  Some prefer sugar substitutes to the real thing for the mere fact that it has little to no calories others feel all refined sugars are the devil ( I know they are but am truly an addict) and some even feel the sugars in things like bananas and oranges are unworthy of entering or bodies. 

So where's one to turn to when in this sea of doubt in regards to food?  My philosophy is taken from the Author Michael Pollan as in the book "In Defense of Food"  he stated we should eat "real food".  So my definition of "real food" does include bread (my homemade whole wheat bread of course), potatoes, bananas, and oranges. 

I agree we should strive to eat locally grown foods because they will taste better and be better for our environment etc.  Alas chocolate and bananas do not grow here in AK so I must eat food shipped in. 

I know that organic is better for the earth and for us but I honestly am too cheap to buy it much of the time.  Occasionally I do spend a little extra and often the food is not so great, probably because of the long journey to get here. 

I despise most artificial sweeteners but have adapted to using Stevia in my herbal teas.  I eat too much in general and don't exercise enough but I do believe in real food.  So many trendy things come and go and the older I get and less I care about self-discipline the more weight I gain.  I've been tempted to subscribe to trendy diets that exclude REAL FOOD. Rest assured I've not given myself to any of them yet.  I keep thinking I'll suddenly gain some self control but it's yet to happen. 

So my question is what is your idea of healthy?  Have you given yourself to trendy diets?  Did you feel they were successful?  Do you still eat this way?  Enlighten me.

once upon a time

I wrote a bit more frequently on this here blog.  Yes, I've become a bit lazy in this area and part of me thinks, Who even looks at blogs anymore, truth is lots of people do.  Pinterest is full of things people post on their blogs.  I'm not a pinterest addict by any means but I occasionally hop on and look at what everyone else is pinning.  I need to add a pin of my own.  I found a blog http://youcraftmeup.blogspot.com/2010/07/pvc-pipe-bow-and-arrows.html and it showed me how to make bows/arrows from PVC pipe.  We made them today and they were so much fun.  Did I take any pictures to show any of you who may still check this old blog?  No, sorry but they are awesome.  Maybe I'll dust off the camera and take some shots of my boys using them.  Summer has begun!