busy, busy, busy

{yo amo a mi familia--by Mya}

Mya drew this picture of our family in her Spanish class. When I saw it tonight, I asked her, "What's with all the girls?" To which she replied, "Oh, those are just my princess sisters." I asked her if she ever wants a brother and she said, "Oh no mommy, daddy watches enough baseball." True enough, true enough. Daddy does watch a lot of baseball, a lot of baseball and basketball and football and hockey and soccer...well, he watches just about everything. And boy do I hope I can give him a son who will watch it with him. I do what I can to keep up, but with three little gremlins running around, I hardly have time to watch more than a few minutes here and there. 

I love the way Mya draws. If you look closely, you will notice a few intimate details that she included, namely my blunt part, my purse, a small amount of stubble on Tim's face, one child with blonde hair (V) and a little baby with curly hair (Elle's hair is beginning to curl. My absolute favorite things she has been including lately are the ears. I love how they stick straight out, almost identical to my real ones. Mya loves drawing and coloring. No doubt she'll be an artist of some kind. And a side note to this photo, I should tell you that Mya told me this morning (before I saw the picture), "Mom, if you yell at me today, I am going to take one of the hearts away from your picture because you won't deserve it." I laughed right out loud as I plopped her in her booster seat. Little stinker, you are wise beyond your years. 

Life feels busy lately. A little too busy, but a good busy. Between all the school drop-offs and pick-ups, I am constantly in motion trying to entertain V and Elle at home. I've been teaching V her letters, and you know what...she is getting really good at recognizing letters and their sounds. I'm a proud teacher, and a proud mama. I take pride in all the little progress I see. I have also been helping Elle walk. She has taken up to twelve steps at a time, but she never does it for the camera. Never. You just point it at her and call her name to come to you and she'll squat right down and stare at you until you put it away. Have I mentioned she is a bit stubborn? Hmm. 

In an effort to free up some time and find a moment to meditate throughout the day, I have decided to disconnect a bit. I deleted the Facebook app on my phone because I found myself checking it a bit too often. I still have my account because it's how I keep in contact with long-distance friends, but I don't really need the hourly reminders or updates beeping at me. I just don't. I have been amazed at how much less I'm looking at my phone. 

I have a terrible headache tonight. Work has been getting increasingly harder over the past few weeks so I find myself sitting in front of this neon light more than I'd like. But it's an income, and I'm glad I can help out around here, even if it's in a minute way. 

I have felt so lonely lately. I am missing so many friends who live all over the map. I received the kindest letter in the mail last week from a dear friend of mine who lives in Vegas and after reading and re-reading it, I felt so loved. I have some amazing friends. Moving has made making friends difficult, but I have been fortunate enough to create lasting friendships in each place I've lived. 

So friends, you know who you are, thank you for randomly thinking of me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.