Our Kingdom At Last

My lack of blogging lately correlates to the subject of today. I'd apologize for the lack of posting but let's face it, we all know as parents how quickly time can slip away. And these past few months have been chaos cubed. Why? Because as of Christmas time, J and I decided that we were finally ready to make the biggest purchase of our life.

We're buying a home.

Ever since we moved down here to NC over six years ago, I've been missing that feeling of owning our own little kingdom, with a fenced backyard, rooms for each boys, and an office J could work in. But it took us six years to become debt free (yay!) and have enough to put down for a down payment. Still, six years isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things to go from where we were to now. But I regret the fact that it took so long not to give the boys something so many take for granted with their own rooms to really decorate as they please, and  place I can kick them outside free of worry until dinner time as I was told when I was growing up.

We sat down months ago to figure out exactly what we needed and what we wanted. Our main goal was to stay in the same town we live in now as everyone feels like it is home. We had to have a minimum of four bedrooms so that each boy had their own space instead of sharing as they have since we came down to NC. We needed an office space for J. And most importantly, we needed a backyard, preferably fenced. And we needed it all within our budget.

As luck would have it, we found the perfect house that fit every single criteria on the first day of house hunting. With our feisty agent, Y, in our corner, we waded the waters of offering, paperwork, mortgage, inspectors, and everything else that comes along with house purchasing. All of the stress (not much because Y is amazing and I'm so glad she had our back) and time was worth it. This Friday we shall have the keys to our kingdom placed into our hands and finally own our own home in NC.

The boys have been promised that they can choose whatever they want to decorate their very own rooms. Each boy has been promised one wall mural, something I have been wanting to do for them for ages. Soren has chosen  Plants vs. Zombies (of course). Ashe is leaning towards Zelda (of course) and Xavier is still considering his options. Ashe wants a black room, Soren, red, and Xavier is still considering his options. All three want Christmas lights strewn about their room.

There are two sheds in the backyard, one of which I am going to convert into a clubhouse for the boys. I've already loaded up my amazon cart with a rope ladder, rock wall pieces, a ship wheel with a periscope. I'm purchasing chalkboard paint to paint one wall for them to color as they please, and have priced out the materials to build a sandbox with shade covering. I'm looking into hammock chairs to hang from the ceiling. Oh and I can't forget the zip cord, the most important thing I promised years ago.

There are gardens in the backyard and each boy is getting one plot as their own. Soren wants to plant flowers. Xavier wants to plant tomatoes. Ashe wants an Apple tree. Now I have to find an apple tree.

So this is why I've been absent, amongst other life stuff. I'm looking around my townhouse now, to see boxes and crates stacked haphazardly like wobbly Legos, and all I can think of is that I have to figure out how to make this next week fly. Because quite frankly, every single one of us is desperate for Friday to arrive. Every single one of us is dying to finally have that one thing we have all been wanting for a very long time. A perfect little place that we can honestly say is our home. really, truly ours.

Wish us luck!

Scrapbook 2013

Happy holidays everyone! It is that time of year when I pull out every photo of the boys I have taken over the past year, pick my favorites, and create my virtual scrapbook. It's always one of my favorite projects to work on.

This year was a crazy rollercoaster ride for us at the SRM household. We've had new additions added to our family (which reminds me to post the blog about our newest family member... must get on that soon). We've had family move closer, family friends move from the north east to join us in NC, Xavier started middle school, and so much more.  My apologies for the lack of reading material. I am finding that free time where I am actually awake and coherent is nonexistent lately. Maybe for Christmas this year I will ask Santa for more time in the day. I wonder if I've been good enough?

Anyways I hope that all of you are doing well, enjoying the end of the year, and I raise my glass of spiked eggnog to you in celebration. Enjoy the humorous antics of my boys, my gift to you!

It's Been Seven Years, Ashe

It's always amazing to me when another year has gone by and I look at my boy standing there, so proud, so excited that he is a new age, and yet, I can remember in vivid detail the day he was born. For each parent and child I am sure that this is common. But Ashe... Ashe is special. He was born on December 12 at 12:11 pm.

12/12 12:11

 

 

Do you know how many times, my lovely Ashe, that I have been asked why I didn't hold you in for one more minute so that you were born  12/12 12:12pm? Do you know how many times I have had to hold back from smacking those idiots? Of course, they do not realize that by that time I had been holding you back for ten minutes while the doctor ran as fast as she could to make it from the opposite side of the hospital, after already trying to keep you at bay from being born in the car during a five minute car ride to the hospital. Or that she barely skidded into the room when I yelled "Catch!" and you were born. And of course, they don't realize that, let's be honest here, there really is no such thing as holding you back.

The fact that you were born on 12/12 at 12:11 and not 12:12 is just another reminder that you are the writer, performer, and conductor to your own epic soundtrack of your life. You are the hero of your story, unstoppable, undefeated! No one can take that away from you, nor should anyone try.

Seven years, my love. Seven years you have graced us with your vibrant soul. It seems that not nearly enough time has passed for you to be seven while also trying to remember what life was like before you entered the world like a comet in a blaze of glory, hell bent to make your entrance to this glorious world known far and wide. I can barely remember life without you. I don't want to know life without you.

You make life so much more! More of everything! More fun! More loud! More inspiring! More chaotic! More frustrating! More fulfilling! More worthwhile!!!

You, my child, will go far in life in whatever you do. You own this stage called life, and you know it. And while sometimes this knowledge you keep creates many situations where I want to pull out my hair in frustration as you make some sarcastic comment with that little smirk on your face, totally confident in yourself, that confidence you exude as a child will be a huge strength as you grow and reach maturity. It will lift you up when you stumble and push you to move forward when many people would just stop and stay down after their fall.

My advice to you child, as you grow... don't stay down when you stumble. Don't ever stay down. You were made, not to fall, but to fly. And you will fly high.


I watch you now, at seven years old. So confident. So funny. So amazingly smart. So stubborn. So full of life. Everyone you touch is forever changed for the better. You make everyone laugh. You make them smile. You make them think. You make them wonder in delight. Seven years old and you can do all that and more.

Ashe, you are amazing. Never change your ways for anyone. And please, never forget that you are SO loved, that I can't even begin to describe to you in a blog, or through our chats just how much you are loved and cherished by me, your father, your brothers, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends.....

You are SO loved. And my love, may I wish for you today the most happiest of birthdays, and an awe filled year ahead of you.

Happy birthday Ashe!