First submission

I love to write. Ever since I was little I would write stories. Some I have finished, some I have not. I took a creative writing class in college and I loved that class. My teacher was interesting and taught me a lot about what I needed to know to make my writing better as well as about getting published. One of the most important things that teacher gave me were his comments on my work. On my poems he critiqued what I had written and gave me ideas on how to make them better. On my screen play he told me my form was perfect, and that my scene was interesting and a great beginning to a good story. On my short story he had a few comments on things I needed to fix and then told me to submit it to the school literary magazine for publishing. But I was too scared to do that. I never submitted my story and sometimes I'll think back and wonder why. Since I've been married I haven't finished anything. I will start stories and get half way or not even half way and then I'll just stop. Then I'll get another idea and start a new story and do the same thing. I have lots of good beginnings, but nothing finished. A while ago I started reading a blog I stumbled across. It's someone who worked as a publisher who gives advice to writers. I love reading it because I have learned a lot about writing as well as what it takes to get published. And this blog has made me want to work on my writing more and be more serious about it. And so today I submitted my first story ever. It's for a short story contest on this blog; a Christmas story. I think what I wanted the most was to take this first step. To get something out there to see if it's even good, to see if people even like what I write. I know once the voting starts I'll check the blog every day to see if anyone voted for my story and to see if they left comments. But if they hate what I write maybe it will help me to write better the next time. I just know now that I can finish something, that it felt good to finish something and it was exciting to send it out and see what happens. If you want to submit a story for the contest or vote on the stories go to this link. I won't tell what story is mine. It's not a "who has the most friends and can get them to vote for their story" contest. It's about choosing the best stories and not worrying about who wrote it.

Art Gallery

One of the things I was looking forward to the most this new school year was the chance for Colin to have art class. Over the past few years Trevor has done some really amazing art projects in school so I'm excited to see what Colin can do since he loves art and Dave and I are convinced he has real talent. Last night I was looking through Trevor's art work and some that Colin brought home from school this week and I wanted a place to display it. But the fridge isn't big enough for all of the art they will bring home this year, so I came up with a good solution. I decided to make a wall in their play room their art gallery. Ever since we moved in I've been wanting to do something to that room to make it more fun, more colorful. I think this will be perfect. After I put their art up last night Trevor went in to look and came out with a big smile on his face. "Mom, someday our art will cover that whole wall." I hope so. And I hope with it up there they will look at it and be proud of what they did and excited to do more to hang on that wall.

Easy craft!

I am not a very crafty person. But it's always around this time of year that I get the desire to try something crafty. I've made a few cute things for my house, but what I've really been wanting are some wreaths to hang on my doors. But wreaths are expensive to buy, so I went online and looked for something to make myself. I came across these super cute yarn wreaths. Just yarn wrapped tightly around a wreath (I used a straw one since it was the cheapest, but if you try it just be sure to keep the plastic on) and then some flowers added to make it look more fall-ish. I love how they came out and they were super easy to make. A few episodes of Friday Night Lights on the Wii and I was finished. I love how they turned out; I love how they dress up the front door. And now I want a bunch of pumpkins sitting outside my door to go with my new wreaths. And I want the inside of my house to smell like pumpkin pie. And I want it to be cool enough to walk to school in the morning and not be a hot, sweaty mess by the time I get home. I don't think that's too much to ask for.

Good things

Sometimes I get so caught up in the things that seem to be going wrong that I forget about the good things. I will be so worried about making sure things are running smoothly that I forget to just enjoy the moment, to smile and laugh, to be a little silly and let things happen. There are so many little good things going on and I know that is what I need to focus on. Here are some of the good things right now:
Spending the day with Logan now that the other 2 boys are in school all day
My gas tank is half full and the last time I got gas was on August 1st
Being able to go swimming after dinner every night
Hearing Colin's stories about his first week of 1st grade - he loves Art, Music and PE class
My boys fall asleep now as soon as their heads hit the pillow
My house stays cleaner longer now
I have a list of things I want to get at Michael's (who knew I'd ever be crafty?)
It was cooler when we walked to school this morning
The other night all three boys asked for seconds at dinner

1st day

I was crying over the weekend thinking about the kids going back to school. I think it's hardest sending them to 1st grade since they are gone all day. And I was getting that "I'm going to be all alone" feeling and it was making me a little sad. I even ran into Colin's teacher at the grocery store on Saturday and started crying while I was talking to her. Usually I am so excited for school to start and to have a little time at home when all three boys are not here and I can actually get something done and keep the house clean. But it's also hard knowing they'll be away from me most of the day and that their teachers, not me, are going to get to see their faces light up when they learn something new or when that light bulb goes off in their little minds. It's hard sending them out into the open and not being there all of the time to watch over them and keep them safe. But they need it and so do I. My kids didn't care about new clothes this year so I didn't really get them any. Trevor got dressed this morning in a dirty shirt he wore on Saturday but I got him to change. Colin wanted to wear his kindergarten class shirt from last year. They both have a lot of familiar faces in their classes and Trevor is super excited to do homework this year. His teacher is going to try a new program where they do homework on the computer. Perfect for that kid. And now it's just Logan and me at home. What a day we've had. I got the kitchen cleaned, I've gotten three loads of laundry done, we went to the library, read books, had lunch together, played the computer together. I am loving the one on one time I'll get with Logan and I think he's enjoying getting all of the toys to himself. He's been non-stop playing all day. And now it's almost time to go pick up Trevor and Colin from their first day. Wow, that sure did go by fast. Kind of like how fast they seem to grow up.

Restaurant-style French Toast

I love French toast. Every week we have breakfast for dinner and French Toast is one of my favorites to make. And the kids love it. But I always wish I could figure out how to make my French Toast at home taste more like it does at restaurants. Yesterday I figured it out. I saw a recipe online where you make almost a pancake batter to dip the bread in. Then you cook it like normal and it comes out all golden brown and delicious. I made strawberry-blueberry syrup to go with mine. So yummy. My kids asked for more, and then some more. Here is the recipe. Make it this weekend or on Monday for your kids' back to school breakfast!

Fun mom

I have a friend who is a really fun, creative mom. She does things for her kids like drive in movies (in her living room complete with cars made from old boxes), backyard campouts, pajama days, outings, crafts, super fun birthday parties and holidays and on and on. She is crafty and homemakey, smart, creative and she is the best mom I know. I'm not a really fun mom. I'm not very crafty or creative when it comes to kid stuff. But today I had a vision. I was out swimming (the kids didn't want to swim so I went out alone and did some water aerobics - swimming alone is SO NICE!) and when I was done swimming I was walking around my backyard. We have a lot pf palm trees and I don't really like palm trees, but today I noticed that in the back corner of the yard there is a really nice shady spot that is a little like being in a tree house. I thought how nice it would be to sit there and read. Then I thought how my kids needed to get away from the computer and go outside. So I built them a fort out back in the nice little corner of the yard. Just chairs and a blanket. But then I added snacks and drinks, their stuff animals and the books they like. I wrote a secret message and dropped it off on the computer table. And right now, my kids are outside, in their secret lair, in the middle of the jungle reading books and hanging out. Maybe I am a fun mom, after all. Maybe I can even take some of our old boxes from moving and make some cars and we can have a drive in movie this Friday. Thanks Tricia! You inspire me.