{ happy birthday }

happy birthday sweet samme...i can't believe you turn seven today!

{ volunteer with ME }

I've had lots of emails about how & where to volunteer with young children and how I am implementing our weekly volunteering effort with Sam, my 6 1/2 year old daughter. We've typically volunteered as a family during the holidays but I really wanted to incorporate it into a more regular basis for us this school year. I think this is so important - not only as an educational tool but in order to help develop kindness and empathy in kids.

Samme & I brainstormed some ideas together that we are going to do. Some are once a week, others are an ongoing commitment. Some we are doing on our own, others we are doing with the church. We are going to try to make Thursdays, afterschool our "volunteer" days.

1. Sponsor a child through Compassion. There are currently 1666 children awaiting help through this program. For $38/month you can help make a child's life a whole lot better. I searched for girls in Africa about Sam's age and those waiting for sponsorship the longest time and then had Sam pick. We talked about the program, looked up where they lived on a map, put together a care package and notes and Samme will be donating some of her earned & gifted money towards this sponsorship each month.
2. Simple things...For example one day we picked a ton of plums from the plum tree and put them together in cute little boxes, Samme made notes and we delivered them to all of our neighbors.
3. We volunteered at the school learning garden & set up a farm stand to raise money for the garden (picture above).
4. Some things we are planning on doing...
- Donating food to the food bank & soup kitchen.
- Volunteering at the soup kitchen (Sam is too young to be in the kitchen but she can help serve and help stock the pantry).
- Visiting local nursing homes and bringing muffins and art work to the elderly residents.
- Visiting a children's hospital and bringing balloons to the kids.
- Picking up trash along a stretch of the road we live on.
- Planting a tree.
5. Support online causes...such as this, this or this.

What are some of the ways you volunteer with your kids?

{ back to school }

{ back to school dinner + celebration and 1st morning of 1st grade }

{ rainbow brite }

Samme's 6th Birthday Party Recap....

Because it was less than a week after our first major event of the season, I kept it simple (totally against my nature) and hosted it at the local gymnastics center....I got the printable rainbow invitations off of etsy along with some of the goody bag items and huge balloons. For food we had pizza, rainbow fruit salad, rainbow goldfish and rainbow cupcakes. Flavored water in rainbow colors for drinks and goody bags comprised of a wacky straw, butterfly crayon, package of 6 gumballs, rainbow toothbrushes (yes I give toothbrushes out for almost every occasion!), pencils imprinted with "AWESOME" and other goodies....

Are any of you completely floored by some of the birthday parties for kids these days? HUGE, expensive, extravagant affairs? Some of them are fancier than my wedding for goodness sakes! I vow(ed) to keep Samme's simple despite the "pressure" to go big. ;)

{ and then she was six }

{ happy birthday samme }

Today, my sweet little girl turns SIX....off to go celebrate HER!

{ keeping it real }

Here's what Day 2 looked like for Kindergarten...

{ and she's off to school }

and mom is crying and missing her already....

{ a good day }

photo of Danyelle's momme planner

Stephanie is back! Oh, how I've missed her daily posts!

And some LobotoME love from the lovely Danyelle.

Oh, and look at cute Sam at her first ski lesson yesterday. Wasn't she just a baby? Now she is skiing!!! Where does the time go?

{ samME's room + what to do with all the art now that school has started + baby update }

Here are a few pics of Sam's room - not sure if I've ever posted some before or not. Anyway, here is the {art wall}. I love displaying Sam's beautiful creations where we all can see and enjoy them. One entire wall in her bedroom is covered with HER art.

I have a bunch of clear frames in all sizes and just pop in new artwork and creations from time to time. I can store a few behind the one showing and Sam can take them off the hooks and re-arrange them when she wants to without fear of her breaking glass.

We've also created a little reading nook for her on the window seat which she uses all the time. What creative ways do you have for displaying &/or sharing your kids creations?

Update: Still no baby...slowest birth EVER.

Dear Henry,
Please come today. we are SO ready to meet you. I'm not sleeping anyway due to my excitement, so I'd rather be up looking at you breathing and taking care of you and kissing you at night. So please come today. Pretty please.
Love, your new family, the Newcomer's

Meanwhile, I continue to find adorable little baby things on etsy.

{ back to school celebration }

I had planned on big back to school dinner festivities - nie nie style- {before my life became insane and we were out of town for the official first week of school}. Thankfully my mom helped ME pull off a back to school dinner on Sunday night when we got back into town from Boulder. She cooked; I got the crown and decorated the table. Sam told her what she wanted for dinner (chicken, baby potatoes, carrots, broccoli, bread with butter and ice cream)....and Connie delivered! {Thank you MOM!}

Samme's new school!
And next year I am totally doing this.

{ i'm figuring this thing called LIFE out & the winner is... }

Realization: This little girl makes ME wiser everyday.

I have figured out that I can either be drug down by the amount of stuff I have to do, or I can choose to realize that my days are always full and never boring. Yup, I'll take the always full and never boring. So, today, when you look around and think about how NUTS your life is - what if you shifted your perspective and looked around and said, "Look how FULL my life is."

I have also figured out that MY time is MY time. I can choose how to spend it. I can choose to LIVE life or read about others lives. I can choose to waste my time or use it wisely. I can choose to rush through each day or I can choose living mindfully and being in the present moment more.

Having said that, I am only going to be blogging (on my site or others), twittering, blog surfing, etc. on M, W, F (the days that Sam is at preschool). I contemplated bagging this whole blog thing entirely but I am going to try the M, W, F thing and see if that works for awhile. I am only going to read blogs that inspire ME, the rest are being removed from my google reader. And the days that Sam is home with ME, are going to be all about HER. Work is just going to have to wait. Orders will have to wait. Phone calls & emails will have to wait a day. That's all there is too it. She is growing up too fast. Too darn fast. This article inspired ME to make this change as did this great blogger (who I will miss). What if we eliminate all but the essential tasks - how much FREE time would that make available to spend time with family, to exercise, to cook healthy dinners, to work on the garden, etc.?

ps - The winner of the blog giveaway (chosen at random) by my husband is....Daphne. I'm also going to send out a Fit ME planner to bikiniyogini who had the funniest comment! Email me your mailing addresses and I will get your prize in the mail next week! Thanks to all who entered! Stay tuned for the next 3 Monday's for more great giveaways (a new Helly Hansen workout outfit and a complete yoga package & more!)

{ sam's adventures }

Here are some photos of Sam & Will's camping trip they took while I was in NYC and some pictures of Samme's FIRST bike race this weekend. Note: She came in dead last. She was more into waving to everyone and posing for pictures than actually racing. Pretty funny considering who her Dad is! :-)

I'm grateful that my parents raised ME to enjoy every moment in nature but also be adaptable to city life. I fit in both environments and while sometimes I crave the excitement that city life offers, I'm happy living in the town where we do where kids bike races rule and we know our neighbors. Yet at the same time, I can't help but feel as though I leave a little piece of ME behind when I leave NYC. I hope to raise Sam into a confident, adventurous young woman who delights in her outdoor adventures and who can navigate the exciting city streets of life.

Happy Memorial Day - Be sure and read Maureen's wonderful post about what Memorial Day is really all about.

{ i'm so lucky to be YOUR mom samme }

Today, Sam said, "Mama, you know what comes after Mother's Day? KID's DAY!" So tomorrow, my sweet Samme is our first annual {Kid's Day} ~~ all day long I will do whatever you want to do ~ go swimming, have a picnic, have 37 tea parties, whatever you want. I will not turn on the computer, return emails or prep for the show. I will not clean the house. Because today, I feel very, very lucky to be YOUR mom and tomorrow I will show you how important you are to ME! (and remember that everyday has to be a {kid's day} to a certain degree!)