Of Taking the Challenge

As previously mentioned, I love me a good checklist.  So, when I came across a challenge to take the time to play in the month of March and photograph it all with a different prompt every day, I was in.  I mean, I'm posting at least one photo a day anyway, right?  This commitment, I thought, would give me a little inspiration.

And since I was jumping on one bandwagon, I decided, though I was two months late getting started, now would be the perfect time to begin counting my 1,000 gifts for 2012.  Another dare accepted.

Thus, using the list on this blog (and also catching up from January and February), I will be documenting at least three gifts per day this month (which may or may not include photos) and photographing my playful moments.  I hope you don't mind voyeuring on my journey.

Seeking 1,000 Gifts . . .


March 1, 2012
1.        At 11:30: Blooming trees and painted grass – the first signs of spring in Oklahoma.
2.    At 2:30: Finding what was lost.
3.     At 3pm: Technology that does the work for me.

4.       At 3pm: 77 degrees on the first of March.
5.       At 3pm: 300 diapers arriving just in time.
6.       At 6:30: Our Little Man turned goalie (or protector of the concrete patio)


March 2, 2012
7.       Making room for loved ones, “Climb aboard, Emmett, there’s a seat for you!”

8.       A green balloon (no longer a puppy), abused, deflated and loved.

9.       The laughter and joy in waking up to play with your best friend (who happens to be a sibling).
10.       Bed-time prayers from the lips of the innocent.
11.       “Weeds” which cause ours to be the first natural green lawn on the street. 
12.       Garlic sprouts nearly ready for harvest.

Taking Time for Play Challenge: Polka-Dots:

And a couple miscellaneous moments captured of Emmett's amazing knack for being a big brother:

Love my boys!

Of Clearing the Way

Cleaning out our overflowing fridge, and the pantry in which I could barely step, has been on my to-do list for a couple of weeks now.  Having a walk-in pantry is lovely, unless you can take only one step in and then are forced to lean way forward, hoping your front-heavy load doesn't pull you down with it.  And a fridge filled with leftovers and a remainder bottle of sparkling grape juice from last holiday season (yes, that would mean this appliance has not been cleared for a year - at least) leaves little room for the foods we actually eat.

The real fire under my rear, though, was the realization a few days ago that, in hosting Thanksgiving in our own humble abode this year, our kitchen will be abundant with foods that need a new home - and if things remained the way they were, our squatters would edge out the good stuff, leaving it homeless.

So, I tackled the big job.  And one filled trash bag later (plus three bulging grocery sacks from the pantry), suddenly the vacancies are abundant.  In fact, there now remains an entire shelf in the refrigerator to house a freezing bird that will need days to thaw - who would have imagined?

And the bonus?  My chores for the day allowed me to check four (okay, I cheated and checked a fifth that I didn't really do, but no one but you and I will ever know that) items off my fall-cleaning checklist.  Now if that doesn't satisfy a girl's home-making heart, I don't know what will.

Of Leaf Art

I would first like to reassure you this evening that I am nearly recovered from the "loss" of our dogs.  My mind has been fully able to wrap around all the glorious aspects of not having two large animals taking up residence in our backyard and the trauma of last night's farewell has mostly passed.

Moving on, this evening I decided to tackle yet another item from our Family Fun Fall Checklist.  As I have had a nice stack of dried leaves hanging out ever since our "Nature Walk" a few weeks ago, I named tonight our evening to "Make Leaf Art."

I'm wishing I took pictures for you, but, sadly, I tend to get caught up in the activity at hand and fail to run for the camera to actually capture it for posterity.  Please forgive me for enjoying the moment.

We began with leaf rubbings, which I thoroughly enjoyed, though the idea kind of flopped as far as our three-year-old was concerned.  She loved, of course, coloring as a family, but the fact that the image of the leaf under her paper was showing in her colored strokes did little to excite her.  And Emmett was just happy to have a crayon in his little hand.  So, after Daddy and I got our creativity out on our own papers, we moved along in the evening's activities.

Next, I traced each child's hand on brown construction paper and cut out the hand, making a tree trunk extend from the wrist.  I then glued this bare tree to another piece of paper and planned for us to glue the dried leaves to the trees.

Micaiah actually really enjoyed this part and did a great job placing her glue-covered leaves.  Meanwhile, Daddy had to do all the work for Emmett - but he still loved having a crayon in his hand.

Sadly, our Elmer's did little to help the leaves actually stick, so that was kind of a flop, too.

But the important thing is we spent time as a family and we made art, with leaves, so that's checked off the list.  At least we I have priorities.

Of Getting it Done

Slowly but surely I am sticking to my commitment to check off my lists - both the mundane and the memorable.

I realized, as the cleaning list is rather long and somewhat cumbersome, I needed to stop avoiding it and take advantage of these fall days.  So, as the sun peeked out from the clouds today, I was inspired to see that sunshine more clearly through our clouded windows, the ones which have never seen the likes of a washrag or glass cleaner.  Today was makeover day and they sure do polish up nicely.  Of course, it was easier to get to some of them thanks to the destructive nature of the canine claws in our backyard and our subsequent lack of screens.

Sadly, however, due to an issue of dead shrubbery adorning the front bedroom windows, with which I did not want to tangle, and a rather formidable spider web (with equally formidable resident) spanning the width of the side bedroom windows, those were largely walked away from - which I figure is just as well for the time being, as those blinds are never opened anyway.  The unfortunate part of this is that there is still a certain tiny check-box with no happy check indicating the completeness of the activity.

But at least sunlight now permeates the primary living areas of our home with a greater clarity than ever before.  I consider that a win.

And to reward myself for my hard work, I decided our family would be taking a "Nature Walk" after dinner. However, being under-ambitious, living in the suburbs, and parenting two children, ages three and under, who cannot tell the difference between a small patch of grass with trees bordering a nearby creek or Yellowstone National Park, we opted to stroll on down to the said small patch of grass at the bottom of our street, admiring the fallen foliage and damp-grass smell of our recent rainfall to the point just before wandering across the creek into Private Property.  And the forest was just dense enough to cause Micaiah to declare, "This is scary!  Let's go home!"

Nature Walk.  Check.

We'll have our bucket list wiped out before you know it!

Of Checking Them Off

I know I am not alone in this, but I have a confession to make: I love checklists.

A dear friend of mine always teases about herself that you know it's bad when you add something to do your "To Do" list after you've done it, just so you can feel good checking it off.  Yeah, done that.

So, when I find checklists created by someone else, that I didn't have to put thought into but still puts a little fire under my widening behind to get some things done, I fall in love.  And, via my favorite blog, A Holy Experience, I have found two wonderful checklists for the fall:  one to inspire a little family fun, and one to inspire us to get some work done.  Hopefully we'll strike a nice balance and still be able to check 80% off each list (a noble goal, I think, especially when you consider there's no way this house is getting pressure-washed).

I hope to blog about some of it, but either way, I encourage you to download (or create) your own checklists and take a little control of your time!