5-19-09

So, I wrote the post below a very long time ago and never got around to finishing it the way I wanted to or adding the other things it needed. Oh well. Truth is, life has not been the funnest ride around here lately and I find myself completely overwhelmed. Sure I have a lot of "stuff" going on right now in my life to cause me all sorts of stress, and yes I brought most of it onto my plate all by myself- the house remodel, not being able to muster the word "NO!" out of my mouth when someone asks me to do something while my brain is screaming "Run! Run fast!", and then there is the whole mothering thing which I feel I am failing miserably...five kids who all need a piece of me and me trying not to feel like a rag doll being pulled apart at the seams. So, life is hard, and today I seem to be wallowing in the fact that I can't control everything, be everywhere, and do everything perfectly. I'll get over it- I always do, The month of May finds me here in this exact feeling of never being able to take a deep enough breath annually... Good thing it is almost June!



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Whoa! It has been awhile. At one point in my life it really would have bugged me that I have fallen so behind on my little old blog, to be honest, I am not sure who if anyone reads this (except for you Shelly) anymore. And so I sit here and try to rationalize why I have been so bad at keeping the blog up these days and ya know what? All I can come up with is that my life is not my own and it won't be for quite awhile...I am good with that, it comes with being a mom.

I have been right smack dab in the middle of all the wonderful moments and trudging through the mud puddles and everything else that life seems to throw at me these days. Its a good thing, it really is.

So here is my update in pictures right now, a little looky lou at what I like to call (Somewhat) Controlled Chaos....

In February we took the trip of a life time to Disney World and then on a Disney Cruise!

While on the Cruise ship we had the chance to meet up with Chickadee, a little Taiwanese Princess who shared the same baby room at Chung Yi orphanage as Maya did and her wonderful mom Andrea. They are expats living in Germany. This was definitely up there as one of the highlights of my trip. Two little girls from the same orphanage in Taiwan- one goes home to California and the other to Germany- meet on a Disney cruise ship...yes Disney really is magical. Meeting Andrea was like meeting my old friend whom I had not seen for awhile, it was so fun to talk in real life after feeling like I've known her for years through the Internet.

These guys are keeping me on my toes! Spring brings massive amounts of school work, a Jr. research paper, ACT tests, end of year huge overnight field trips, science fair projects, and more! I feel like I am in 11th,9th,7th and 3rd grade all at once and quite frankly I am failing miserably! If school for me back than was anything like it is now with my boys I would be very intimately acquainted with the letter "F!"

And then there is the three year old who rules the world...if she were not so stinkin' cute she may just end up in the garbage can! Love this girl dearly, but sheesh! She is non stop ALL. DAY. LONG. and she is reaching a whole new level of naughty!

365!

So So So excited about this project I am working on so naturally I wanted to share it with you!

This year I am taking a picture a day and then briefly journaling about what the photo is of. At the end of 2009 (if I keep up!) I should have a year in the life of the Smith family. My title for my album in "Day to Day Details of 2009 starring the Smith Family". This project was inspired by Becky Higgins who is one of my scrap booking idols...she did not come up with the concept of taking a photo a day for a year, but she did come up with this awesome kit to make really really easy and simple which really helps me out. Unfortunately the kits sold out with in a few minutes of them going on sale, but in true Becky Higgins greatness she is now offering the digital down loads on her website http://www.beckyhiggins.com/ in the blog section. Check it out!

So here is a sample of some of the pictures I have taken so far-

This is a picture of Dave and the boys Skype-ing when he was in LA for business the first week of January.

This is a shot of the big boys and a buddy who were content to spend the whole evening in their bedroom texting friends and listening to their iPods...at one point there were 7 different texting conversations going on at once! I would have taken a picture of their fingers, but it would have been a blur they were going so fast! Reminder to mom...make the teenagers clean their room!

I love this picture of Maya! It says it all about this little ones life...so girly yet so surrounded by all things BOY! The cutie pie swimming suit is from an adoption friend Miss Sarah (who just got her little Taiwan princess home a couple weeks ago!) and it was this suit that changed everything when it comes to dressing up. Before this suit, Maya still stayed dressed in her clothes when she dressed up, everything just went over what she was wearing that day, now the "I must undress to dress up" phase has begun ad I literally dress her 15-20 times a day!

This picture cracks me up! Here is the story, if you look closely, you will see that Maya is standing on a piece of card board. This is the fake wii fitness board that the boys made her cause she threw a royal Taiwanese princess fit every time they pulled their new Christmas toy out to play with it...the rule(s) here is what they have she must have, what they are playing with she must play with and what's theirs is really what is hers! anyway, after the princess had her fake wii mat and smile on her face, she and Jake spent the afternoon trying out the yoga routines! So Cute!

And this is a picture of the start of a new season of my very favorite TV show. I heart 24! This is one of the few things Dave and I stop and sit down for together. I also heart the fact that I can DVR it and watch it in half the time by skipping the commercials! I heart DVR too! So far this show is not disappointing us in the intense department! Not many shows have me and my husband looking at each other saying "NO WAY!" during the commercials!

So there you have it, a sampling of my 365 project. I am so excited to show the day to day details of what makes this family tick and not just concentrate on the holidays and birthdays and school programs.