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 I haven't had much to say here, clearly. Still don't. I have also taken a break from my daily journal. It's just the way things are right now. Every day is essentially the same. That's not a complaint. We are happy and cozy and have made the most of our moments. Ups and downs like everyone. Here are a few pictures that will catch me up on the blog. Maybe the spring will bring more posts - especially since we have a yard now!

So, the blog

Last night, in order to help Sophia get through a rough spot brought on by its being Monday and all, I showed her a bunch of videos from our Youtube channel. You can see what I was working with by clicking here. She was horrified to learn that one of the videos is titled "Potty Training". That was poor planning on my part, but it's really a great video that has nothing to do with potty training. It's just that she happens to be sitting...on the potty. Sorry, Soph.

The videos were helpful for her and a little bittersweet for me. I know she's growing up. She is not a fan of that, by the way. She says that her ideal age is somewhere around four or five. In her mind, that's when we stopped being able to hold her, and that seems to be the biggest disappointment in growing up. Maybe not the biggest, but it's up there.

Anyway, I'm aware that she's growing up, but I'm usually so busy downplaying it or going through the feelings for her that I forget that it's sad for me too. She's my one and only. And the days of her singing silliness to me and the pets are - nearly - over.

I was so happy a couple of weeks ago when Sophia decided that she needed to build a fairy garden. I had been sure that we had collected our last acorns. I was wrong. She collected all the acorn caps and intact acorns she could carry, and she placed them carefully in the big planter my dad made. Then she looked at me and asked if fairies were real. This one I gave up because the treasure of childhood might not be worth going out to this planter in the wee hours of the morning to make it look lived in...

Apparently this post is going to be stream of consciousness. You're welcome.

The fact remains that she is growing up. And there are fewer things to video. I don't know if that's true. I could have been videoing the soccer game this weekend, but then I might have missed seeing her very first goal with my own eyes. Here she is afterwards.

I think that's the thing. Most of the things that I want to record of 9-year-old Sophia doing are things that I'm living with her. I will try to do a better job of at least writing them down because she is just as precious and adorable now as she ever was!

These Days

Winter is long and cold. It's here in all its glory without a flake of snow to make it worthwhile. Still, we manage to eek the fun out of its darkness and goosebumps.

A record playing in the background, hot cocoa cooling down and the puppy squeaking his toy. Not a bad way to while away the hours. 

Looks Can Be Deceiving

I really love this picture. Here's the story that I may choose to tell with this picture one day: I said to Sophia, "Hey, would you like to have a picture with me, Sophia?" She responded, "Yes, Mama! I want to have my picture with you at every opportunity because I love you sooooooo much!"

Here's the story that really happened with this picture: "Sophia, I'll only let you climb on my back if you let me take a picture of us." Sophia responded, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" while trying to slide down my back and out of the frame.

Oh well. The love is the truth.

Confession

Sophia was at home for two days this week. She had a low- to middle-grade fever for the first day into the evening. A virus of some sort. I kept her home the second day for two reasons. The first was to follow the rule. The "no fever for 24 hours" rule. Primarily, though, because she did this exact same thing last year around Halloween. I sent her back the day she felt better, and she ended up being sick for the following two days. So, I'm hoping that by giving her the extra day of rest, she'll actually be healthy this time...

Also, I love spending time with her. Which brings me to my confession. I miss her today. Two days of not getting the things done that I had planned to get done. No exercise, no friends, no time to myself. But we giggled and snuggled and talked. And I miss her today.

Today, I'll go get all my errands finished. I'll have a few minutes to myself. No one will have an invisible 5-foot leash on me.

And I'll be so happy when 3:30 rolls around.


*the picture was not from a sick day, but it's still representative of our state for the past two days

Silly Sunday

It was a beautiful day yesterday. We started it outside with some grass weaving. I helped braid, but the primary braider was Sophia.

She was in such a good mood that I got an actual smile out of her. Beautiful smile.

The middle of the day was filled with football watching, resting, card games, imagination games and such. We got a little bored but had determined we were not going out. So, what did we do? Face crayons, of course.

In case there was ever any doubt, Sophia marked me. "Clown."

We are very serious about our makeovers. Intensity suits our moustaches quite nicely, yes?

Frame it.

It's impossible to make Sophia look ridiculous. Not sure I'd really try, but seriously. That face.

Play Date Chatter

This afternoon Sophia had a friend over to play. And chat. They had a magnificent time. And I had an entertaining afternoon listening to them. Sophia listened when her friend talked, but she was the one who felt particularly "share-y" today.

The afternoon started off with a look through Sophia's baby book. Always a favorite pastime of hers. Other topics covered this afternoon were: all three of her dead pets (two fish and a hermit crab), the Missouri Tigers, the Portland Timbers, her aunts, her singing career (five years in the making) and much, much more. She is very lucky to have friends who find her as interesting as she finds herself. Hopefully it stays that way.

I've been pretty fortunate in that area myself, so I assume Sophia will choose wisely as I have.

Saving the Day

Last night, the family had big plans. Erick and I were going to the Jazz Under the Stars event at the Planetarium, and Sophia was looking forward to an evening with her favorite babysitter. She was particularly excited about showing off her new fish. (A story for another day.)

Things didn't work out as planned. About twenty minutes after we planned to leave, I got a text from our reliable and awesome sitter that she'd been in bed sick all day, except to get up to throw up...and had forgotten to call.

In that intervening twenty minutes, Sophia had been despairing in her room. Crying and telling Corol (pronounced Coral) all about how she felt forgotten and alone. I can identify with those feelings, of course. Any time someone forgets a commitment, it's hard not to take it personally. Still, as the person most often forgetting, I can't say much. Sophia, on the other hand, forgets nothing and has a hard time understanding those who do...

Even after we had heard the truth from the sitter, Sophia was sad and disappointed. As were we, but we're adults, so we saved our emoting for later. We painted a canvas together to lighten the mood. That worked for a few minutes. Then it was back to bed for Sophia, where this time she was despairing over the short amount of time left in the evening and a lack of decisiveness on her part that would likely result in no more fun before bed!

I was hanging out in there with her, although she offered, "Mommy, you can go have fun in the other room. I'll just be sad alone." I declined after making sure she didn't really want me to leave. I was about to just give up, when salvation walked through the door.

Erick handed Sophia a rolled up piece of paper, which she discovered to be a treasure map. She looked at me and the clouds were gone from her eyes. She almost tried to hang onto her sadness for a minute, but it couldn't win over the mystery and promise of a treasure map.

They tromped around the house, past the Spinning Discs of Doom (the record player) and other obstacles and landmarks made up of household items. They found the treasure after a search that lasted just the right amount of time. The treasure was the last cookie. A treasure that Sophia had coveted all day, so it was a good one. Sophia's feelings of sadness were lost to the fun with her daddy and guide. A daddy who knows just how to lift the heart of his sometimes desperate girl.

Blank Paper

Newly fallen snow makes me think of blank paper.

Also, it's been a quiet week. Sophia hurt her toe at school last Wednesday, so we didn't go out in the snow when it came down here. Now it's been rained on and is gross but sticking around.

This is what she did when the toe got better. I know it's blurry, but it's the best I could get.

Obviously, she's feeling much better. 

This is and has been a full week for me. Helping at school with Literacy Groups, which is a short-term commitment, has been lots of fun. Best thing to come out of it was when one Kindergartner told me he doesn't eat snow any more because of the trans fats. I kid you not. I have no idea how he heard about trans fats or how he thinks they come to be in snow, a.k.a. frozen water. Regardless, it was all I could do not to laugh or ask him to repeat it for me several times. However, I didn't want the rest of the kids in our group to go home worried about the trans fats in snow clogging their "orteries" as he said trans fats are likely to do.

If something interesting happens, I'll be sure to fill you in. Till then, happy winter days for all!

Diamond of the Week

As typically happens, as I write more for myself, I have fewer words to share about our life in general.

That's okay, though, because our life has returned to its normal rhythm. We are all grateful for that. Sophia has recovered from our trip, her illness and some sleep disturbances that resulted from those.

She has been sweeter than ever, especially as today is the first day of her week as "Diamond of the Week" in her class. She told me in all seriousness that she was looking forward to it, but the first day is a lot of work. While there are some "favors" like getting a book of your classmates' artwork and such, the diamond of the week has extra work to do so the other kids get to know that person even better.

This week also includes Valentine's Day, of course, which will be extra special for our little love bug, I'm sure.

Hope everyone enjoyed a lovely weekend with their families. And can use Valentine's Day as a time to focus on and feel grateful for the love we enjoy all year, in whatever form it takes.

A Memory for the Wall

Just before Christmas, Sophia's school had a fundraising auction, and I purchased a "Family Masterpiece" session from ArtMart. Essentially, you get to choose a style of painting based on number of people (3) and age of children (6). These factors set us up perfectly for the Jackson Pollock style of painting. And it was SO much fun!

Armed with squirt bottles, cups full of paint, brushes, eye droppers and even a super soaker, we got to turn a blank canvas into our own masterpiece.

All three of us enjoyed the process from start to finish.

Sophia particularly enjoyed the squirt bottles of yellow and red. For a while, our painting resembled a hot dog.

We got a bit dirty, but it was entirely worth it.

The canvas is on here somewhere...

This is what it looks like dry and in our dining room. Beautiful! It was a memory that we'll always cherish -- unless someone offers us a fortune.

I highly recommend the experience to anyone. Yes, we probably could set up the same experience on our own, but it wouldn't have helped out Sophia's school and, more importantly, I would have had to clean up that mess!

The Average Weekend

 A weekend at the Creach house is pretty average if it includes lots of dancing.

A mustache or two.

Some butterflies, perhaps, maybe even on the face...

And it ALWAYS. Yes, always. Ends in a slow dance.

And some snoring.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a walk to the zoo. I never get tired of going on adventures with these two. And yes, it's December. Weird.

My Schedule

Many weeks ago, I had mentioned that I might share what my weekly schedule looks like now that Sophia is at school all day every day.

Up until now, I haven't wanted to share, nor have I been entirely sure about my schedule. I'm still not sure, but I'm more willing to let you in on what I do know.

I know that time is a lot like square footage. The more you have, the more crap you get to fill it. I am not complaining, mind you. Just making an observation. In other words, I have been blessed with a lot of time that I can fill more or less as I choose. However, when I'm not intentional about carving out specific time to accomplish my goals, I find less and less of it available to use. In other words, crap starts piling up with no open space for breath and art.

Every week, on Thursday, I volunteer in the morning in Sophia's classroom. I do everything from work on the decorations to hearing the kids read to playing bingo. It is something that I have really enjoyed and feel very grateful for the chance to do while Sophia is in Kindergarten. However, for the past month or so, this commitment has combined with field trips and parties and other requests to put me at the school at least two, often three, days a week instead of one. Again, I'm happy to get to know the kids that Sophia is with all the time and become familiar with her routines, but it's not what I planned. Also, I have within me the power to say no... I'm aware.

I have actually been cooking! For those of you who know me well, you know it's a big deal for me to say that ever since school started, I have consistently been cooking at home significantly more than I've been serving prepared meals or eating out. Even more surprising is that I really enjoy it! Well, I enjoy it a bit. Really enjoying it might be a stretch.

And I've been keeping the house clean, which is not my favorite thing. So, let's recap: Kindergarten, cooking, cleaning. Plus, I love my life.

What I planned on doing during Sophia's Kindergarten year was the following: write. Not blogging. Writing. Something. Who knows what? Really. Do you know what?

Actually, never mind. I don't need your ideas. I have plenty of my own.

So the plan has been writing. For the month of September, I was a writer. Each day, I was getting some good things onto paper. Plots, characters, themes. None of these necessarily went with any others, mind you, but they were there. Then October came along. An illness, a wedding and previously mentioned commitments. I wasn't a writer any more. Or at least I was a very frustrated one.

It's November now, and I am hopeful. I am not hopeful that I will make more time. I only have the square footage that I have. However, I am hopeful that I can see myself as a writer and as a creator whether my time is free or occupied. I am hopeful that I will be more intentional with the time and energy that I do have in order to make things happen. If I can volunteer, cook and clean with a writer's mind in action, then I don't need time at the table with a pen and a cup of coffee. I am selling my mind and my creativity short.

This is actually more sharing than I intended to do, but there you have it. 

Note from Our Future

This says:

"Mommy, I do love you, but I might need to do other things. P.S. Sophia"

I think the catalyst for this note was a discussion that has been ongoing about using voices - even if we're frustrated or tired - that let the other person(s) know they are loved. Regardless, I found this particular note very telling. I'll be holding onto this one...

Monday Mayhem

Sophia painted my nails today. And our cat's more than a little nutso...

Perfection

All I need for complete and utter happiness is about a billion more days like today.

Or two billion.

Sometimes I...

...forget about the blog. There. I said it. Did it hurt? I hope not. Since you never comment, I assume that I am, in fact, writing this for myself. That sounded bitchy, but it wasn't meant that way. It actually has nothing at all to do with the fact that you don't comment. I write this for myself regardless. Anyway, nine days has passed since the last post. We are in full swing Kindergarten mode. It is pretty awesome. As every parent has promised, Sophia has been very tired. It's amazing just how tired. So, Erick and I have been battling that by being completely present with her while she's present with us. That seems to work like a charm while we can focus. As soon as we get distracted or give in to the tiredness ourselves, it all goes south in a handbasket. Sophia loves school. No surprise there. She eats up the direction and the structure, which she has never had the privilege of experiencing at home. And that, above all other reasons, is why I would never home school. Oh, today was supposed to be a school day? Oops. So, that leads to a post that I will write at some point that describes my days at home by myself. I'm trying to artificially place structure in my daily life, and it has met with a moderate success. My goal has been structure by September, but that's next week. All right. So next week, I'll let you know what my structure looks like. Or I won't. That's the joy of being me.

The Tour

The apartment is pretty well the way that we want it now. There are a couple of final touches that we need to decide on, but it's finished for the most part. And we love it. The whole place is just cozy and comfortable. Quiet and refreshing. All around awesome. For these pictures, I didn't get everything just perfect, but I figured it was good enough for a start. If you want to see it perfect, you'll have to come for a visit. The room that we spend the most time in is the third bedroom/office/family room. It's in the back of the condo and shares a bathroom with our bedroom. We took our old guest bed and turned it into a huge day bed. Since taking this picture, I have covered the whole mattress set with a canvas painter's dropcloth. Now it looks must better. Really just like a huge day bed. But you get the idea here.

There are two areas that I am most excited about in this place. If you have known me in the last two years, you have known how little I enjoyed our kitchen in the old place. This kitchen is like a little slice of heaven. Plenty of storage, new and functioning appliances, great countertops and lots of light. I love it. I might actually do some cooking in here. That has yet to be seen.

The other area that I'm excited about is our deck. It's not huge, but it's dedicated outdoor space. It's nicely kept and very usable, so we are looking forward to some cooler temperatures so we can give it a try.

Our dining room and living room are orange. And I really love it. The walls are warm and inviting and very fun. Here is our dining room.

And the living room. No TV. Just great windows and a fireplace. I think I'll make do with those.

Sophia's room is just the right size to fit all her books, toys and huge bed. We have already had a lot of fun playing in here.

Our room is nothing special. Kind of small and minimal, but we like it. The bathrooms are nice. Showers are awesome. All in all, this place is just right for our family. The longest we will live here is three years because the owners move back at that point. For now, we will definitely be enjoying this space.

Settling into summer

I haven't had much to say on the blog lately it seems. As one lies around too long, one's mind begins to atrophy... Sophia and I have spent the first few weeks of summer in a very strict routine of chilling and swimming, with an occasional errand. That's been fun, but I've been surprised to find that without a routine, Sophia and I tend to get a little snippy at one another. Actually, it's just been Sophia being snippy and me trying to stay calm about it. Apparently, she's in a bit of a teenager phase, in which she disagrees with pretty much everything I say and can defend in at least five ways every action she takes. Sigh. This morning, she headed back to Samuel Preschool for a two-week summer camp. They are going to hunt for treasure and play in the sprinklers. She was very excited. I really think adding some structure to our days will help us both tremendously. I'm also pretty sure that it will help the organization of our apartment... In two weeks, we will be in Seattle for our family vacation. Visiting our friends again. Can not wait! A few weeks after we get back, we'll be moving into a condo next door. Still renting, but renting a much nicer place. It has a little less character in the architecture, but the central heating and air and the storage make up for that little flaw. All that to say that it's a busy summer around here. Lots of fun and a little bit of learning. Oh yeah, and 59 days till Kindergarten.