Our lil guy has been working so hard on keeping up his grades especially for behavior. So we decided to treat him...my brother invited us for dinner and a family movie, so we decided that we could take a trip to the Lego Store on the way...

We have been trying to teach him the value of working for things in life. So many people are just given what they want, and grow up in a fantasy world where everything is free. In our attempt to break the cycle we have been giving him allowance, and making him do more chores. Not only did he feel proud of his achievement for behavior, but he also was able to buy a cooler toy than what he would have earned just for behavior. He is now the proud owner of a new Lego Star Wars Watch, and has the Dark Vader he's been wanting for a while!  Now he and Vader are temporarily inseparable. 

We were then off to my Bro's house for the Movie and Food night. He made some great Meatloaf, and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Almond-Mushroom Green Beans....so yummy. I made some bread sticks wrapped in prosciutto...super easy and super yummy! We found our new go-to appetizer for wine and cheese nights. What is great about this recipe is you can keep the stuff on hand for drop-in guests too! 

We watched the Epic film Willow. Shi was so excited when he saw the director...too cute. But it was a movie that entranced him. I haven't seen him so into a movie like that in a while. A fun night...even though my darling husband could barely keep his eyes open after such a great meal...
Just another day in the life of C A Stone...♥
Live in the rhythm of love...and share the bliss!

I am so tired and exhausted. So many people important to me have lost their homes over the Labor Day weekend. People who are more family than friend, and who's homes have been a part of my life. Somehow, so far, my childhood home is safe. I am relieved but feel guilty at the same time. If you were to look at a map of the area of the fires, from what we've seen and heard...they went around us in a semi-circle. I don't know how but I am in awe of the miracle. And I hope that the fires stay away. Even when there is so much tragedy and loss I have to look for the light and hope and try to see something good.

My light in this madness...? A friend has just gone into labor!  A blessing of life among the tears and strife. It brings me to my first tears of the day. I have held back the tides, and must now release. I have been in what-can-I-do mode. luckily we were at my parents' house for the weekend that was supposed to be great...of course it started off great-with our serendipitous anniversary AKA the night we met, and then on our way to my parents' we saw some smoke. Not much concern at first...but I started to feel the smoke in my lungs and went outside to look-oh my! It was a large fire. So I get online and hear how close it is...maybe 8-10miles away and strong winds. Not good. Mom gets a bit worried and Dad teases her for her worrisome attitude. But I'm worried too-so we get online and turn the movie off and see it is bad. Long story kinda short- we went up to the arena on the hill near my parents' house talked with neighbors who had firefighter connections and packed some clothes and stayed the night...it was still kind of far. In the morning it was worse, and all around us so we packed what we could in the cars. We are now all to safety and are praying for no more homes to be taken.  My heart aches for my family, friends, and loved ones all the same as well as my community and state. Please pray, send love, and affirmation that all will be well, and look for the silver lining which is so hard to see in the intense flames. My soul is aching; I send all my love to everyone.

But like I said...I have to remember the silver lining...there is hope. There will be change, and lots of it- but with change comes hope. Like a Phoenix, I know my community will rise up and be stronger from this. We may not be able to see it now, or even anytime soon. But already I see the love and compassion spreading-it makes me smile and brings bittersweet tears to my eyes. We have to take care of each other so we can rise up and above this disaster. 
We were able to pack pictures and files from the computer, but in the end all that really matters is our loved ones. I felt guilty even being able to grab my keyboard and Christmas toys we've already bought for our son...when so many weren't even able to go home to get anything...I know I must look at what we still have and be thankful-and in doing so I can see that there is so much more that I can do without. 

Just another day in the life of C A Stone...♥
Live in the rhythm of love...and share the bliss!
Even in the wake of tragedy such as this- we need it now more than ever...

It is a necessity. And because we were prepared, we avoided a disaster. 

Oh okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit...no a lot. But dang. I was so proud of Shi this morning. Apparently there was a blackout last night in our part of the grid, and we lost power. Which means the alarm in our room didn't go off. I woke up with a start at 7:25, which is late for a school morning, and we have to get the lil-big guy to school by 7:45!

Wanna know what flashed through my head at that very moment?

Yes, that's right. Don't Panic.
We are prepared for this kind of emergency. We get Shi to bed at a good time, I made his lunch with love last night, he has an alarm and gets up on his own for over two years now...so I'm sure he's playing in his room, and all I have to do is breakfast...right? 

Yes! So a quick and healthy breakfast of yogurt and granola, brush the teeth, make sure homework is in the bag...and off we go!  At first when I proposed to my darling husband that we could make mornings a lot easier, he thought I was insane, but we did it, and it works. And our 8year old has been getting himself up and dressed in mornings for a while now. It starts his day off so perfectly and I could prevent the panic mode setting in even when we wake up late. The last thing a kid needs, is a frantic morning to get his day going. :) 

And since I am a creature that desires to never make the same mistake twice...I've put batteries into our alarm clock, and will probably make the switch to using the iPad for our alarm clock...it's better than waking to radio commercials, or radio shows in the morning.

And for the lil guy...He's getting a surprise this weekend for being so darn good and responsible. :) I am so proud of him! 

Sorry if you were thinking this was going to be a blog about how to prepare for a "real" disaster...um....not going to give a lame excuse but just say maybe someday I'll let Jon blog about that. Tee hee.
Just another day in the life of C A Stone...♥
Live in the rhythm of love...and share the bliss!

I learned in Kindergarten how to control time. You think I'm joking, but I'm not...

I was playing with one of my friends at our favorite center, and we were having such a blast! Just talking and playing with the blocks (I believe), when we realized we were having too much fun. I remember looking at him and discussing the fact that we had to stop having fun, otherwise the time would go too fast and we wouldn't get to stay at that station long enough.

So this other 6 year-old and I sat there complaining about our favorite station, while playing- and tried to trick our minds into "not" having fun. And it worked, so for days we would do the same thing each time it came to that station...and eventually the teacher noticed. So during our reading station with her, the only real one-on-one time, she asked us to explain, and to our child minds it went something like this:

"We noticed that when we are having fun, we don't get to stay as long doing the fun stuff. So we pretend to not have fun so we can have fun longer..." 

I can vividly remember so many things from that year-my best friend getting sick and being in the hospital for weeks, slumber parties with the teacher and some other students, kicking the boys on the playground with my Sunday shoes because they had pulled my hair the day before and I wanted to show them I could take care of my self, so after a few warnings and a few days of kicking they caught on...taking a line in the class skit, so one of my classmate's feelings wouldn't be hurt by the line he drew from the hat...but most vividly I remember the day we learned how to control time.

I still use it today. I have never driven a car with A/C, at least not for long. My first car's A/C went out two weeks after I bought it...and my second car's A/C went out as soon as summer started. So I used to roll down the windows, and sing my heart out. Not caring who saw me, or heard me-just having fun. So that where ever I was going, and however far I had to go would get there faster. Complaining only made it worse- so that was outlawed in my car. 

And today I found myself stuck in time. Shi went back to school, and after a summer of going to the river almost daily, doing activities with him everyday, cooking with him, reading together, and playing games...I didn't know what to do with myself. My darling husband was here, and working...and he's a great distraction, but works has to get done. So what did I do? 

I cranked on the music, and got to singing...went through some of the lil guys clothes, and toys, cleaned out the fridge, cleaned up the breakfast mess, made lunch...oh man...the I hit another wall. 

I wonder how Shi's day is going...man if he was here we'd be hooked up to our DS's or playing Wii right about now...and time stopped. It felt like 3pm would never arrive, then I remembered; It is all about perspective, and I do have control. I got my motivation back, and in no time we were on our way to pick him back up. 

He too said he had a long day-so we had a talk about how when we make our duties fun, the time flies by. I'm ready to try it again tomorrow...and so is he. But for this evening I was hoping the time would slow a bit so we could enjoy the first evening of the semester as a family. 

I am still in awe of the wisdom in childhood...and am still learning from the wisdom that comes from innocence. With an open heart and an open mind we can learn so much from our kids...So Yoda is set, Shi is in his dreamworld, and I am reflecting on my life lessons for today.

Just another day in the life of C A Stone...♥
Live in the rhythm of love...and share the bliss!