Kir and Her Cupcakes
Kirsten from The Kir Korner is one of the most warm and genuine people I have come to know through blogging. She has been down some rough roads and visited some dark places, but she survived and she is wonderful. She chats with you and your day is instantly brightened. Her words bring a smile to your face. Oh and did I mention she is an amazing writer… cause she is!
In many ways, I like to think my comments are like cupcakes; a tiny piece of that much bigger cake.
A dainty yet delectable slice of my heart that I give you in exchange for the stories and secrets you have made and shared with me.
I may not be good at a lot of things, but I can promise you that if I read your words, I will never leave your space without leaving a whole lot of sweetness behind.”
@InAPaperWrapper was born… I would turn my love for twitter as not just a way to connect with others and make new friends, but as a way to spread cupcakes and thoughtful words. I would use my strengths and Kir’s inspiration to help make others smile. So while I do not have as much time to write as I want, the small moments I have on twitter to recognize other, be thoughtful and spread cupcakes warms the moments in my day!
Hats of a Many Sorts
Take my wife for example. When she wakes up in the morning, she is my blushing bride, even though it has been 13 years of marriage. She wears the hat of ‘wife.’
Ok so… he’s a keeper huh?! And I’m a lucky gal, but I already knew that!
Grandma’s Basement
Darkness at my feet. Heart pounding. Shadows tease me. I’m frozen. My mind Whisper lies. Holding my breath. Dare I? The Light switch is in there. Ruunn for it…
Passionately Optimistic
I love my life.
I am an optimist.
My life infuse my days with passion and insist that I see all fantastic things that are in it. I see life for all the good it has in it. It gives me hope, endless possibilities. I grab onto life with passion. It gives me energy, zest.
I am fueled by my passion and by my optimism.
A Letter to My Girls
The adventures you planned may not always go exactly the way you want them to. The unwanted adventures will always teach you something unexpected and remind you of your strength. The impulsive adventures might be the scariest ones but they will also be rewarding and the most fun. And the unexpected adventures will change your life forever.
Grab on tight and jump right in…because the adventure is all yours!
The ‘Eyes’ Have It
It was my favorite day of the work week… The night of the week I get to stop and buy dinner. The night I don’t have to cook. I walked into Jimmy John’s to order sandwiches. “Hi welcome to do a Jimmy John’s. What can we get you?”
The girls were fantastic. Olivia crossed off the list and Francine pick things off the shelf. No fighting, no whining… a small mommy victory, my own personal moment. Walking to the checkout line at the grocery store the cashier warmly says hello to Olivia and Francine. Olivia shies away at first. “You’re with me sweetie. It’s okay to say hi,” I say to Olivia.
I was busy answering e-mails and getting things done on the computer. I was a machine and my To Do list was quickly dwindling… yeah me! A colleague at work walked into my room. She wanted to run some ideas by me and share an exciting new program she was using. I looked up to say Hi and welcome her in. I was on a roll… I was getting things done! I kept working as she started talking. I nodded, uh-huh uh-huh and I briefly looked up.
Then it all made sense to me.
Olivia shied away. A mom look and a friendly mom nudge was all it took. She instantly stood taller, confidently looked the woman in the eyes and said, “Hi”. A smile quickly came to her face and a hands over her head, 1 foot, spinning ballet twirl showed me how happy she was with herself.
My collegue continues to share. My head was still in the computer, but I was listening. I stopped. I looked up, closed the computer and looked her straight in the eyes. A smile came over her face. Her shoulders went back a little. My attention was fully hers.
*Next Weeks Theme: “I knew I had to…” or your choice
Just.Be.Enough: Usually Unusual Enough
We oozed happiness. The day could not have ended better. This day, like most days spent with my dad, was Just.Enough The game, for the Cubs, proved what we long time Cubs fans always know… they are Just.Enough… they just need to start believing it too!
Be more the Just.Enough for someone else…
Bellflower Books will be sponsoring the Be Enough Me Monday link ups for ONE month, starting on August 22nd. For every 20 people that link up with a story of how they lived the Be Enough Me “feeling” that week, Bellflower will donate ONE $75 gift certificate to a family identified by Crickett’s Answer for the creation of a 20-page memory book. We will keep a running total of links over the four Mondays and hope to reach our goal of 120 links,
which would provide TEN Bellflower memory books.
Just.Be.Enough: 8 Miles
“Just.Be.Enough… was founded in July of 2011 by Elena Sonnino. The idea for the site came to her as she was swimming laps, training for a triathlon, thinking about the importance of feeling confident and empowered.
It all started when she was reading a blog post about accepting ourselves even with our imperfections which led to a link up on her own blog C.Mom asking women to create a Things I Like About Me list. The struggle that followed for many was eye opening. The focus on imperfections and flaws had taken seed and had deep roots that were hard to change. But so many women did. And as a result, they walked taller, felt empowered, and took the Internet by storm.
Just.Be.Enough. will share the stories, the voices, the truths of many. Its mission is to empower, inspire, and remind women, parents, and children that that the time has come to celebrate ourselves. We must. We must carry the weight of confidence and empowerment on our shoulders instead of allowing the burden of our flaws and imperfections to push us down.” About Us www.justbeenough.com
Myself and eight others indescribably Just.Enough women have been overwhelmingly lucky to have the opportunity to share this adventure with Elena. Every Monday, we will all be joining Elena at www.justbeenough.com to link up and share our story of the week about how you have lived the Be Enough Me feeling this week.
This week Olivia drove me nuts.
Crying, screaming, yelling, mad, more crying… tantrums.
Olivia is five years old.
More crying, more tantrums, hitting her sister.
I usually don’t go to Twitter vent about moments like this, but I just needed to lay it all out there. Suddenly, I had two warm, responsive women asking me how old she was and happy to share with me what worked for them and their children. They kindly shared. Their empathy for my moment reminded me that I was not alone.
She made me crazy.
The girl made me crazy.
Wednesday came. The girls and I packed up the backpack with snacks and water, put the jogging stroller in the back of the car and we were on our way to our favorite path by the river for a long walk. It was a great eight mile walk with the girls in the stroller, the iPod playing our favorite tracks and me pushing them along. Two hours later (with a snack in between) and a new quarter sized blisters on my heal, I smiled as I watch them play at the park.
Today there was no whining, there was no crying, there was not a single hit, there were no, “I’m MAD at you! “ or “You’re a MEAN mommy”, there were no tantrums on the floor.
There were pleases, there were thank yous, there were smiles, there was, “Olivia can you help Mommy with this ?” and the response was, “Sure Mommy!”
This week’s experiences reminded me that I am enough. I am doing the right things with Olivia. I do know what I am doing. It reminded me that Olivia is her own person. She has her own mind and her own will. This reminded me that it is her job to grow up. It’s her job to push me away. It’s her job to test me and my limits. It is my job to make her feel safe, give her structure and give her limits. It is my job to teach her how to deal with these new things, new feelings, new situations, and new experiences.
So, with a little help from some new found friends on an unlikely source I realized that I was going to be enough. My child, like all children, has her moments. Sometimes the moment is an hour, sometimes a day and in my case sometimes it is three days, but it just means that they are growing up. So, even if it does make me want to lay on the floor, makes me want to pound my fists and makes me want to cry… I am Just.Enough!
We can not wait to hear about it!