Being a Better Mom

I recently heard a story about Dr. Jane Goodall's mother when Jane was a little girl. I can't stop thinking about it. It's haunting me; like when I saw that bumper sticker that simply said, "Love wins." Am I this kind of mom? Honestly? No. I want to be. I need to be. My girls need me to be.

When Dr. Goodall was five years old her mother came into her room to tuck her into bed for the night. She saw that Jane had also tucked some worms into bed with her. Her mother's response is amazing. What would I have done? Flipped. "What are you thinking?! Get these things out of your bed and out of my house!" But Mrs. Goodall had no knee-jerk reaction. She calmly explained to her tender-hearted daughter that if the worms stayed with her they would die. They needed to be in their own environment to live. That had a profound impact on that little girl that she never forgot.

So today I'm vowing to be more conscious of my girls intentions and motivations. No more knee-jerk reactions. Well, fewer anyway.

(Okay, I just realized that the title and the picture are pretty funny together. ha! I didn't intend it that way!)

My Mom

Today is my mom's birthday. It's hard to believe that she has been gone almost 10 years. They say that time heals all wounds. It's not true. Time can never heal the wound of losing a parent. I think about her and miss her everyday. This is one of my favorite pictures of us together:


I think about how proud she would be of my girls. I picture her sitting in my living room listening to Chloe play the piano and being so proud that she has learned to play "correctly." (Not self-taught like her. She was a very good piano player, but it always bothered her that she could play better by ear than by reading music.) I picture her sitting at the kitchen table sharing coffee with Tessa and just listening and understanding. They had a very unusual bond. Mom totally "got" Tessa's temperment and could communicate with her like no one else could. I picture her sitting on Brooklyn's bed at bedtime, choking back tears as she listened to her tender heart. (A special gift that I'm sure she got from Grandma.)

Here is another favorite picture. This one is in the garden that Brent made for her. It was taken on my dad's last birthday with her. We lost her just eight months later.


Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you.

My Love/Hate Relationship

Running. After a several month hiatus, I hit the road this week. I knew it would be tough after such a long break, but.......tough does not begin to describe it. Here's a picture of me beginning my first run:








And here is a picture of me the following day:

Today I thought I'd try again and decided to take my camera along to help motivate me. After years of walking and running through the city park, running in the country is a whole new experience. And I love it. Here are a few pictures:

I've always loved barns. This one doesn't have the faded, peeling paint I always picture in my mind when I think of barns, but I still love it. It was just built this winter by some Amish men.

And here are my favorite reasons for running in the country near my house:

The elk!! Aren't they beautiful?! We drive by them almost everyday, but to be right there on the road, so close to them was breath taking. Our neighbors tell us that we will hear them "bugle" later this summer. How cool!

So that was today's running experience. I'm anxious to really get back at it and get back to where I was in the fall. Supposedly I'm doing a 5k in May. We'll see.

A Surprise for Dad

Today I happened upon an amazing sight. Tessa and Brooklyn voluntarily cleaning their bathroom. And when I say, "cleaning" I don't mean the obligatory wiping-the-counter-around-all-the-stuff-they-leave-out kind of cleaning. I mean really cleaning. Take a look.







After I picked myself up off the floor, they explained that they were doing it to impress their dad. Keeping things picked up and clean does not come naturally for them. They know how much it bothers him, and they wanted to surprise him while he was away to a meeting. Did I mention that they are on spring break? These are truly amazing girls.