Wednesday, May 29, 2013

9 1/2 days








when you become a mother of four children there are quite a few areas in life where you just have to let go. i have excepted the fact that i will probably never be completely caught up on laundry or ever have one of those perfectly clean, organized, and decorated houses (well, at least not until my little birds have flown). i have also realized that as long as they are warm.... who cares if they wear those pants with that shirt... or if she has a christmas dress on backwards with halloween tights in the middle of may... that doesn't really matter. i have also embraced the fact that i am a easily distracted and caught up in the moment kind of person who has a very difficult time keeping a schedule (which is one of those somewhat essential things for running a big family smoothly). i have been thinking over last summer lately and although we had a lot of fun... there were many things that i could've done to make the whole season run smoother but repeatedly didn't do. so i made myself a little list today (i love to make lists). a list of summer success guildlines especially for me... are you curious what they are? well, i will share them with you then!

Jenny's Summer Success Guildlines
or how i will survive this season

  • try to get some exercise every day but workout three days a week. (working out regularly gives me a boost of energy... never while i'm working out... but if i workout three days a week or more i have more energy overall every day... so i knew i had to make this a priority).
  • get outside every day and improve something out there each day.
  • sew, draw, and paint every week. (do what makes me come alive).
  • get up early most days for some much needed quiet time.
the following three are some simple guidelines that i was horrible about last summer and ended up with cranky kids often because of it.
  • make breakfast right away in the morning so you don't end up with hungry/cranky kids. don't get distracted!
  • make lunch at noon (even if it's a snack lunch).
  • make dinner early(ish) so that you can have a relaxing evening routine w/out hungry/tired/grumpy kids.
  • have morning and evening chore rituals every day. this is a habit we always get out of during the school year and it's nice to re-establish it right away. 
  • make mondays a big, hardworking, chore day.
  • make tuesdays a go somewhere and play day.
i'm going to make a very short list of some goals i would like accomplish over the summer too... but not too many.... that's another lesson i learned from last summer.

"the days are long, but the years are short."

oh... by the way.... my title.... it's 9 1/2 days until my kids are done with school.

Monday, May 27, 2013

one day at a time









  • we have began the sanding upstairs and we are almost finished.... matt has been sanding.... i have been sweeping and dusting. 
  • i am so excited for the completion of that project. i have been waiting for it and preparing for it for so long now... i feel like i am just full of ideas. i have been watching them and the things they like to do... their natural ways... i am so ready.... they are so ready. this project is so close to becoming a huge source of fun.
  • and then we get to prepare their old room for the little girls...
  • and then matt and me get our room all to ourselves.
  • the oatmeal above... (we go all out on oatmeal around here) is regular rolled oats cooked with milk instead of water... then you mix in a lot of ground flax seed, cinnamon, and cardamon... then you sprinkle frozen blueberries and pecans... then you top with a big swirl of maple syrup (and it had better be the real stuff). we always top oatmeal with a big swirl of maple syrup.
  • school is going to be out in about two/ two and a half weeks... we will be in for a big adjustment period then.... but i do love change... it will be fun... and once again, i've got some ideas :)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

the rest of the trip : : merida and isla mujeres



i loved the stone streets and the architecture... even the bars were beautiful....







in this area (i can't remember what it was called) the street was lined with giant, old, beautiful houses....



there were horse drawn carriages all over on the weekend...









our hotel, luz en yucatan, was wonderful. after a long day of traveling we arrived and asked if we needed to pay or fill out any paperwork and the man at the front desk, esteban, said "no! now you relax!" then he took us to our beautiful room were he had cold beers waiting for us in the fridge. they also made up a packet with all sorts of information about the area to help us during our stay. i highly recommend this place if you ever travel to merida.





photos of the sunday festival in the evening....





the gorgeous cathedral overlooking el centro park...


the travels to merida were quite long... a four hour bus ride there... and a four hour bus ride back. the buses were quite an experience. we had a lot of interesting experiences. i think that the only thing that truly frightened me over my trip to mexico was traveling in any vehicle and crossing the street. the traffic laws are very different there. i did feel a little nervous though as we were driving through merida on the bus and i was noticing that every window and door was barred and locked... a bit unsettling. then we arrived at our hotel which was also barred and locked. we buzzed to be let in and they welcomed us so warmly (as i mentioned above) with cold cervezas waiting in the fridge. we were very hungry at this point and the sun was starting to go down. the hotel provided us with a nice list of recommended restaurants, but thinking of all the bars and locks i was extremely nervous to go out at dusk. matt asked esteban if it was safe to go out though and he said "yes, very safe." i was still quite nervous, but quickly i realized there was absolutely nothing to worry about. we decided to eat at a new pizza and pasta restaurant that was right down the road. when we arrived and were seated outside there was hardly anyone there and it was a bit late, probably 8 o'clock, and not more than 10 minutes later nice car after nice car began to pull up in the valet parking and all of the women getting out of the cars were beautifully dressed with giant heels. the restaurant filled up in about 20 minutes or less.... merida was already surprising us.
sunday was wonderful. there were celebrations all day long. the roads around el centro were closed down so families could ride their bicycles through the streets. there was music and dancing. everything was lit up beautifully. it was quite a romantic experience. all of the restaurants we ate at in merida were absolutely wonderful and all of the people so very kind. i look forward to going back.
then we made the long trip back to cancun, and took the ferry across to isla mujeres. it was a very small island. it was one of the most calm areas that we visited. everyone was super laid back and it was the only place that we went to where the traffic wasn't at all frightening. i have absolutely no photos of isla mujeres. our visit there went so fast and we both got sick there... matt had too much tequila our first night and i got some sort of a stomach bug. it was a nice little island. the beaches on the north side were small but quite beautiful, and i heard that the south side of the island has snorkeling and a turtle farm that sounds quite fun. i think isla mujeres could be a really nice place to travel to as a family. it feels very safe and calm. once again, very kind people. our trip was wonderful. we learned so much. next time though, we will not move around quite so much.

Monday, May 6, 2013

tulum


our first room, ambar, at posada lamar... this was our terrace in paradise... 






for our second night we stayed in the beach front cabana on the right, zafiro, it was wonderful.... right on the beach.... with a terrace overlooking the atlantic ocean...


these pictures are inside zafiro...






the ruins in tulum.... beautiful....






there were iguanas everywhere at the ruins....




tulum was amazing! it was one of the most relaxing places we visited. the beach was gorgeous. once again there were people from all over the world. we stayed at a place called posada lamar. it was wonderful. our last night we stayed in a beach front cabana.... literally on the beach just seconds from the ocean. we visited the ruins in tulum. they were supposedly small but i was still blow away. they were beautiful and the castle was on a cliff overlooking the ocean. my favorite restaurants for the entire trip were located here in tulum. a couple fun little things: the tulum ruins had iguanas everywhere and the beaches in tulum at night had little crabs everywhere. we saw these hilarious white crabs on the beach front that would run so fast if you came up close to them. we saw some beautiful orange and black crabs slowly attempting to cross a busy road, and we even saw a little hermit crab! that was one of my favorite things. i just love tulum!

sorry post is kind of frantic... i am typing as fast as i can to get this posted before checkout in ten minutes!