Five Years Without My Mom

Tomorrow marks the five year anniversary of my mom's passing. I honestly can't even believe she's been gone five years. The days and months and then years just accumulate and before you know it it's been five. I've been busy raising children and living a life - a life that I so wish that she could be a part of. Although, that's only partially true. The last few years, and particularly months, of her life were filled with so many challenges. Her days were filled with doctors appointments where she never found any answers. Her furniture was slowly taken out to make room for walkers, wheelchairs, and eventually a hospital bed. Her days revolved around which medication she had taken and what she still needed to take. Medicine time was full of stress because since the muscles in her throat didn't work properly she often choked on the pills that didn't give her much relief anyway. It was a vicious cycle. She was completely dependent on other people which I know destroyed her a little more each day.

It was not the life that she wanted to live and although I would love to have her here with us I would never want to make her live that life again. I know that she is in a happier place now. I just wish that life could have turned out differently for her. I wish that she never had to be sick. I wish that her life was not full of so many struggles. I wish that she could be here healthy to see her grandchildren. I know just how happy they would make her.

But since you can't live a life full of just wishes I'll tell you what I do. I remember her. I tell stories to my children about how amazing she was. I remember how much she sacrificed for me. I remember her smile and her laugh. I'm inspired by what she accomplished given her limitations. Most importantly, I remember that on my darkest days she is pulling for me and loving me - even if I can't see her.

Me and my Mom in 2002 (It's a shame we don't look alike!)

Listen To Your Mother Boston 2014

When I heard that Listen To Your Mother was coming to Boston this year I knew I had to audition. Not sure what Listen To Your Mother is? Well it's a national show performed in cities across the country that gives motherhood a microphone. Original readings are performed live on stage by their authors that showcase the good, the bad, the heartbreaking, and the funny of all things related to motherhood. Pretty cool, right?

So a few weeks ago I headed into Cambridge to audition. Unlike most normal people who would be nervous about reading their piece on stage, I was most concerned about traffic and parking. This girl has long moved out to the suburbs and the thought of having to parallel park literally keeps me up at night. So I left plenty of time and arrived basically an hour early to ensure I could find a good old fashioned parking lot for my minivan. With a spot securely found, I headed in for my audition. I was actually the very first person to audition for the Boston show. I told the producers and director that I was either going to wow them or be forgotten quickly. Well I'm happy to report that I must have kind of wowed them because I MADE THE SHOW!!

That's right people, on April 26, 2014 I will be reading my piece about my mother live on stage at the Old South Church in Boston. I'm going to need you all to buy tickets HERE and come support me. You can also check out the official announcement of the cast HERE to find out the amazing people I will be sharing the stage with. I am honored and humbled to have been chosen for this production as I know there were many awesome writers who auditioned.

On one final note - YIPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Marvelous Monday!

Wondering why it's marvelous? Well the sun was up when I left bootcamp this morning which is something I haven't seen in a LONG time. So even though the temps are dropping today I know that the glimpse of sunshine means that spring is on it's way. Woo hoo!

Today is also the kids first day back at school after a week off for February vacation. Wondering what we were up to over vaca?

Well my husband ran a race the day after a big snow storm. Yup, he's crazy. The kids were psyched to play in the snow on the sidelines though and cheer him on.

Tim and his cheerleaders

I spent a night teaching Isabelle how to blow bubbles with gum. She was in her glory and I was completely grossed out by the amount of drool and gum spitting out that's involved when learning. Eww.

Bubbles!

The kids have been building more and more with Legos and even made their own good cop/bad cop courtesy of inspiration from The Lego Movie!

Good Cop

Isabelle enjoyed several sleepovers in the boys' room. The first night she slept in a sleeping bag on the floor but the next time she decided to join Henry up on the top bunk. They did surprisingly well up there together!

Plenty of room for all!

Beyond that we had lots of playdates, saw family members we hadn't seen in a while, and went to a birthday party at Monster Mini Golf. I also had a cavity free dentist appointment and we welcomed a new pastor to our church. All in all a great week (I'm blacking out the constant bickering between the three kids when we were home).

Hope everyone had a great week and are starting off the new week right!

A Day at the Movies: The Lego Movie!

We wanted to try to squeeze in some fun before (yet another) snowstorm hit hard today so we headed to the movies. We've actually never taken Daniel (age 3.5) to the movies before because he's not the kind of kid who can sit still for long. He can't last a whole movie at home but since the hubs and I were both looking to get out we decided to give it a go. The no frills theater around the corner from us offers $6 matinees so it's not TOO bank breaking for this family of five to attend. I also figured we could tag team it if one of us needed to leave the theater with him for a bit. Even our big kids (ages 6 and 5) have been to less than a handful of movies so it's still a big deal for them. We arrived at The Lego Movie and the kids were psyched. We got a large popcorn that they surprisingly did a great job with sharing. Daniel totally pigged out on it, talked loudly for a bit, and then passed out.

What a great movie!

I'm not going to lie, I was pretty pumped when he fell asleep. It meant I could actually relax and not have to worry about him. So Daniel got a nap in and the rest of us got to enjoy the movie in peace. A total win/win! We are now home taking turns incessantly singing, "Everything is AWESOME!" and watching the snow fall. It's debatable what will drive us more insane - that song or the 8+ inches of snow in the forecast.

Snow Day

We had another snow storm here today so the kids were off from school. We had a lazy morning with the boys playing and the girls making Valentine's. Then I begrudgingly headed outside to shovel and let the kids play in the snow. I wish I liked the winter but I don't - not any part of it. But the kids love it so I at least can get some joy out of that!

Hope everyone around here survived the storm and let's keep our fingers crossed that the meteorologists change their minds about another storm on the horizon for the weekend!

They did not inherit my hatred of snow!

My Project of the Day: The Piano

A friend of mine was recently telling me how she had convinced her husband to get a piano. It reminded me of the same scenario that happened at our house only the roles were reversed. We were made aware of a free piano and my husband was dying to get it. Our house is small and made only smaller by our ever growing children so the last thing I thought we needed was a piano. However, he really wanted it and I'm not opposed to the whole music thing so we took it. A couple years and two broken keys later (thanks to Daniel the Demon), and this is what the piano looks like:

The Piano Dumping Ground

In our defense, no one in the house can actually play the piano and it's so convenient to keep it shut and load the junk up on it. Inspired by my friend though, I decided to tackle the piano today. I now give you our new and improved piano:

Care to play a tune?

Please note, I added the picture frames so that it's not so easy for us to just throw stuff on. The boys are psyched that it's open and they've been banging on it playing it all day. I'm excited at the thought of one less part of our house looking like a pigsty. Woo hoo!