Absentee

Between working and birthday parties and strep throat, who has time for children? (And even moreso, blogs!)

Pool Party 2009

I’m catching up on some posts from the summer that I should have finished a long time ago!

This year’s 2nd annual great girl campout fizzled into a small cousin sleepover, but the girls didn’t mind.  The next day we had rented out a local pool and invited a bunch of kids and their families. We had approximately 70 people show up to enjoy the perfect weather, and have a  hotdog lunch and a dip in the pool.

It turned out so well and I think the only complaint was that it just wasn’t long enough.  We will for sure be repeating this party next year.

These 3 are related thru marriage: Rohini, Debbie and  Patty-Jo.

            Malachi and Giselle splashing it up in the toddler pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

Gavan was chef for the day

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

A post, finally.

I haven't been blogging lately because I have been busy. Busy with weddings and family and camp-outs and parties and back-to-school preparing.

I also haven't been blogging because I've been grumpy, some of which can be blamed on being busy.

With all of the blogging I haven't been doing, I realized that I've been feeling guilty about it, which I further realized is insane. Last year, I posted every post with the honest impression that no one ever read my blog, but this year I know that there are one or two faithful readers and some stragglers or happeners-by. It's amazing how that little snippet of knowledge suddenly transforms a blog post into a whole other animal.

The original purpose I had for keeping a blog was just to keep a record of our lives as my kids grow up, and to have an outlet for all the experiences, challenges and blessings of motherhood. The community it builds has been an unexpected, but welcome surprise, and I appreciate hearing so much from other moms who are with me in the trenches of child-rearing.

I have also become a bit of a blog junkie myself. In fact, my Google blog reader is getting a little out of hand. Blogging is becoming more of a full-time job than a past-time; a full-time job I'm not getting paid to do.

And that is where I realized that I have become a little bit tied to this blog in ways I didn't forsee. Oh, someone's reading? Better write something. But oops, can't say that, that's not very interesting/nice/articulate etc. I have found myself editing my life to make my blog a more appealing read, and that is so far from my original goal of truthfully expressing myself and diarizing the happenings here at our house.

So if I'm away for longer than normal, or I blog in spurts, or the photos are fuzzy and the words kinda flimsy, I hope you won't hold it against me.

why I make a lousy blogger

I have a weeks worth of posts, all practically waiting for me to click that little "publish post" button so they can be birthed into the internet diary that is my life.  

The problem is, that when I remember to charge the camera battery, and then remember to actually take some photos, I leave the camera at my parents home in another town, which results in photo-less blog posts all queued up and ready to go. 

Maybe there will be something to read next week.

star-struck much?

So Cjane, of who I am constantly envious for her spice, and writing ability and cheekiness, started a discussion on the Blogfrog tonight about blogging being a Mormon phenomenum. She asked for opinions and a discussion on what we readers have learned from Mormon bloggers.

I had to respond. Of course I didn't answer any of her questions, I just wanted to tell her that on my Facebook page, is a little note that says, " I love Mormon bloggers."

I was totally amazed that I was the first to respond. I was even more amazed when she replied with this....

Reply by c jane , author of c jane enjoy it on 2/24/2009 9:08 PM

Bless you Sharmilla. Bless you.

(To see the post for your own eyes click here)

AAAHHHHH!!! Can you believe it? Cjane used my name. She BLESSED me! We had an interaction!

I know I know... I'm really lame. I feel like the worst kind of celebrity stalker right now, but this is about as exciting as it gets in my life these days. (And on another note, how bizarre is it that bloggers, which ironically is a word my Blogger spell-check does not yet recognize, can achieve celebrity status?)

I just had to record this moment for posterity's sake. And possibly bragging rights.

She's back!

I have a little obsession.

Her name is NieNie aka Stephanie Nielson. I met her in October, accidentally. Bored one night, with a newborn at my breast, I followed a link from a link from a link, and ended up in the loveliest of places. A kaleidoscope of motherhood, marriage, family and inspired living. Its brilliant colours and patterns made real by the clear voice of a kindred soul.

I stayed up late into the night, and spent the better part of the next day soaking up every ounce of the NieNie Dialogues. I learned that weeks earlier, Stephanie and her beloved Mr. Nielson had been in a terrible plane crash, and were recovering from their injuries and burns in an Arizona hospital. Devastating enough to think of any stranger in this type of experience, but as I read through every archived post, I began to fully understand what Stephanie meant to her readers, and brought to everyone who knew and loved her.

I knew then, that to lose her voice, in all its warmth, passion, femininity, and yes, sometimes even humorously flawed human-ness, would be a real tragedy.

In my desperation to absorb all things Nie, I began to read the blog of her sister, CJane, who along with 3 of the Nielson's 4 children, inherited the responsibility of Nie's blog, and keeping her quickly growing fan base up to date on her and Mr. Nielson's recovery.

As the months progressed, and the Nielson's healed, CJane won me over in her own right. What is it about these sisters that has me hooked?

They are mothers, like me.

Wives, like me.

They center their lives around their faith, like me

Women, like me.

Passionate about their children, their homes, their marriages, their shoes (oh, what lovely shoes!), like me.

But somehow they are not like me at all. They are who I'd like to be. Resplendent in their womanhood, somehow they transcend the mundanities of life. They share a unique talent for celebrating all the little shiny moments that are too often dulled by dirty floors, drowned out by crying babies, and lost under heaps of laundry.

In doing so, they have inspired me to look for little gems throughout my day. Little nuggets of vibrancy in my oh-so-normal existence.

And today, I am celebrating, because Nie is back!