Circle Tour - 2010

Friday night, Jake and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert at Soldier Field in Chicago!  Our great friends, Kori and Tim, invited us to go with them.  How could we refuse?  Along with 60,000 other fans, we - well,  Kori and I - belted out song after song, all a part of 27 years of the band's music.   

27 years, people!  That's when I was born!!!  I think Jon and I must be connected in some way for that very reason.  I'm sure of it. 

Here are some pics from the night.  I hope they turn out okay since I only had my point-and-shoot.
My favorite part about being at the concert is that Kori has waited for 23 years to see them live.  She has a whole story where she had tickets in high school but then wasn't able to go.  It was so fun to see her so excited!  She couldn't keep a smile off her face.  I loved it!
Ah!!!!  I love him.  Don't worry.  Jake knows.  He's not concerned about my love for a 48 year-old man.  Which, by the way, eww.  It's way grosser when he's described that way.  Let's just go back to calling him Jon.  Or Bon Bon.  Yes, he is that cute, he needs a pet name.
Tico, Richie, Jon and David.  I've decided Tico looks just like one of the husbands on New Jersey Houswives, Richie needs some help in the style department and David has GOT to change his hair, which he hasn't for the last many decades.  Bon Bon is just fine the way he is.

I really can't believe that I've seen Bon Jovi in concert TWICE in my life already!  My sister took me for my 16th birthday and that was incredible too!  I'm still geeked about it all today. 

Just Call Me Bozo?

I am entering/have been in this new stage of motherhood called juggling.  What I've come to find out is that I'm not very good at this.  I'm trying to do lots of things that I think are important (example: decluttering house) and am getting swept up in what life is bringing to me instead.  It's causing my plans for the house to fail.  Bomb.  Completely and utterly get thrown out the window.

I suppose that's okay.  At the end of the day, I'd much rather have the good pleasure of knowing that I played with our kids, exposed them to "new" things like the library, going to different parks and doing creative projects than having a clean stove or a closet that looks like no one lives here.

I tried.  I really did.  I tried to care about having the kids' rooms decorated like a Pottery Barn Kids catalog.  I tried to care about organizing their clothes so they are always perfectly folded and perfectly matched.  I tried to care about putting the toys away every single night so we could start "fresh" the next day.  But then it happened.  Our house was very un-fun.  It was in the midst of one of the twins crying at my leg for me to hold her while I was straightening up the living room, that a very uncouth movie line came into my head.  "Frankly Scarlet....".  I dropped the toys and picked her up to give her the snuggle she so desperately wanted.

It's easy at this stage of motherhood to think that these moments will never pass by.  We have four kids four years old and under.  The kids always want me to hold them.  They always want me to serve them.  But reality is, these times will be gone before I know it.  I am working on changing my focus.  I am focusing on my home instead of my house.  Did you catch that?  I think so many of us get into the game of comparing and wanting and thinking that "if only I had this..." then my house would be a home....a comfy home as I like to put it.  But it's just not true.  A home is where you bake cookies and have movie nights.  It's where you laugh and cry and, some days, go plain crazy.  It's where you can feel free to be yourself and to run around and giggle and scream.  A house is just a building.  A home includes the people in it.  A house is featured in a catalog.  A home resides in your heart.

I absolutely believe there is something to keeping organization and structure in a home.  I'm not an advocate for unruliness!  And we do have our own sets of structure and organization in place.  I'm actually going to post on one later.  I just think it's so sad to see homes where children are "seen and not heard."  Homes that don't have signs of the children who live there....toys on the floor, pictures on the walls, jelly on the table....okay, maybe you don't have to have the jelly on the table.  That just seems to be a staple in our home!

I'm committing to giving up my house cleaning and focusing on home building.  As I learn to juggle our new schedules and calendars, the laundry might be overflowing and the shoes might block the perfect path to the front door but our family will be loving.  Our kids will walk in that door and know that this is their sanctuary; a place where they are loved just because they're them.  So, sorry for the raucous I caused in not completing my "marathon."  I guess this clown is running another sort of race.  I'm just praying that I don't trip while trying to hold all of the balls in the air.  With that said, let the tickle fights, Lego building and baby rocking ensue!

Lance Armstrong's got nothing on me!

I'm running a marathon!

Well, not really.  But I'm conducting my own sort of marathon experiment at home.  Marathon as in, cleaning marathon.  Considering it's my entire house that needs help, it's more like a triathlon.

It is my intention that every day for the next two weeks, I will work on one room a day, completely deep cleaning and organizing from top to bottom.  I've had it.  The clutter has got to GO!

I thought about putting in order what rooms I will be doing but I can guarantee that I wouldn't stick to it.  The entire reason I'm putting this on the blog is so I can be held accountable to get our house in order!  So instead, I'll just tackle the room that is bothering me most when I wake up in the morning.

You might be wondering what your job in this is.  Well, bloggy friends, it's to 1) not judge me based on the before pics and 2) just keep reading so I have the motivation to keep going!

I'm working on the girls' room today.  Check back tomorrow! 

A New Spark

June also brought with it a somewhat new adventure for Maurah.  She joined MainStage Academy of Dance in the winter and showcased her work t...