Our Latest Hobbies

We go through stages of fun around here.  Dude latches on to hobbies and inhales every aspect of said subject.  Each area of interest lasts for a few months before we move on to the next latest and greatest. We've worked our way through Angry Birds, Magic School Bus, Word Girl, Wild Kratz and now it's Legos.  All Dude's sets have been moved into his bedroom where his little sister no longer has access to his prized possessions.  Our little man will spend hours upon hours building creations I don't know that I could construct without his experise.  He follows directions like nobody's business and makes sure every last detail is perfect.  He now claims he will be a Lego architect when he grows up.  We don't doubt it.

 This rad helicopter is part of a set from our cousins D and Hudson.  Pretty awesome.  We're missing the third blade, but he rolled with that exclusion just fine. 

This is what our bed looks like on mornings Tim and I refuse to get up until 7:00am.  This was an hour's worth of ship, tower and machine building from our little rascals.  They lined them up over our heads and we faked a deep sleep.  

Next new hobby is reading.  A switch went off in our Dude's head and he's reading up a storm. Everywhere we go he's dissecting signs, store names...anything he can catch a glimpse of.  This makes for confusion in the car as we often have no idea what he's trying to say.  Most of the time he's just reading and not attempting to converse at all.  It's fascinating to watch his little mind click with stuff we do without thinking.  This has also changed the way Tim and I converse.  No longer are the days when we can spell stuff out with secret parent code.  Busted immediately.  The book below is our recent favorite night time read.  If you have a kiddo around this age, check it out.  The sequel is due out any time now.

My favorite aspect to this new love and understanding of the written word?  See below.  And melt my freakin' heart.
    

The Writer, Unleashed

Big day.  Gwen, the writer, has been officially unleashed.  My website is now live and ready for the virtual taking.  What does this mean?  Well, it means I'll be spewing my heart language on that page and sharing my little loves on this one.  Family fun here, mamahood life truths there.  Light and joyful here, mother load and no holds bar there.

I'd love for you to join me on the mother load journey if you're so inclined.  I know, it's a lot of Vogel.  But hopefully incorporating a lot of insight and relatability into the mix too.  

gwenvogelzang.com
Boom, there it is.

Cups

22 plastic cups.  One play coffee maker full of water.  Stella the doll.  One rag for cleaning up spills.  One hour of 3 year old contentment.

And while we're on the subject of my multi-faceted three year old.....

Our Little Tumble Bug

The joy our little 3 year old shows when faced with the realization that she gets to go to "Tumblebugs" is like nothing we've seen from the child.  Our local rec center contains a gymnastics room where she and I have taken classes and attended multiple birthday parties.  She runs around like a crazy horse and giggles with glee as she prances, jumps, hops, balances, swings, glides, climbs and bounces.  Naturally, we chose Tumblebugs as the destination for her 3rd birthday party.  She's been counting down the days (in her own warped view of time - everything is "last week.")  17 of her closest little people joined her for 1.5 hours of padded bliss. Dude ran around like a crazy chimp with his bud Brady too.  

As a little guy, the first two times Dude threw himself into this pit of foam he woke up with major eye infections.  Like he couldn't see out of his right eye it was so puffed out and freakish looking.  And during Dude's 5th birthday part here, a little friend had to be rescued from the depths of the foam.  Therefore, I'm not a fan of the infested pit of squishy germ trappers.  But Squirt loves it, as does Dude.  So I folded.  No eye infections thus far.  And everyone survived.

Oh the leaping child shooter.  My child is afraid of some things (like walking down the stairs unattended) but THIS?  No trepidation.  Let's do this people.

 Oh how I love this kid and his zest.

 Ridiculously edible.  

 Two of my very favorite preggers.  Due within two months of each other.  

 

If you live in the Denver area and are in search of a birthday party destination, give this one a go.  No stress, no mess and the parents can stay and play alongside their kids.  Easy shmeazy lemon squeezy, as Dude would say.

It was a weekend chock full of birthday goodness for the Vogel girls.  Friday was my annual birthday dinner at White Chocolate Grill with the Glassmans (sans kids of course).  The Filet Salad is my very favorite meal on the planet, so this is an event I eagerly anticipate, as does Linsy, who orders the same orgasmic menu item (sorry, it's THAT good).  Sunday I awoke to bagels and locks and fruit smoothies from my hubs, no notable change in behavior from my children (I had low expectations anyway), an incredibly moving church service where our new pastor was installed, a charming ladies lunch with 3 of my favorite women, a Broncos partaaaay with the Krom family and Maria and I hit the sack at 9:30pm.  Perfection.  Thanks to everyone who made me feel special and loved with outings, gifts, texts, cards, emails, random pop ins, etc.  35 feels pretty darn good already.  

 I'm holding what was a bottomless Mimosa.  The first of four.  Every birthday should include mimosas friends. 

This was my lunch candle.  Made a wish none-the-less!

35

Today I'm 35.  35 feels like a marker, more so than 31 through 34 did.  I still felt like a baby when I reached 30.  It didn't phase the part of my brain that analyzes age and maturity and all the things that go hand in hand.  35 feels significant.  Not just because my thighs are evolving into a different life form.  Life in general is more significant for the 35 year old me than it was for my 34 year old self.  I'm starting to feel a bit more present in myself as a friend, a mom, a wife, a Christian, a professional, a servant, a consumer and an individual.  More intentional maybe?  I have a relationship with myself these days and that's starting to change the way I see the world.

Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" is my current book of choice.  Each morning (the three I designate for working), I sit in my white, paint chipped rocking chair in the corner of my baby blue office and read.  Actual books.  With a highlighter in my right hand.  Gretchen grabbed me immediately.  She was "happy" in a blessed life that included a dreamy hubbie, two healthy kids, a fulfilling career, a fun city to exist in, healthy relationships etc.  But she questioned the quality of her "happy."  Was she living each day truly smiling at all she had surrounding her?  Was she grateful and sharing herself with the world?  Was she too negative and critical?  That resonated with me.  She says,

"One of my goals for the happiness project was to prepare for adversity - to develop the self-discipline and the mental habits to deal with a bad thing when it happened.  The time to start exercising, stop nagging and organize our digital photos was when everything was going smoothly.  I didn't want to wait for a crisis to remake my life."

Isn't that the truth?  I'm at a point in life where God has handed me a slew of gifts, on a shiny silver platter. Do I know what to do with them?  Do I know how to be responsible with the gold in front of me?  My kids, my marriage, my relationships, my money, my time, my freedom, my voice?  Because I do realize that the gold might disappear or change with one phone call or one doctor visit.  All the gems life holds right now could evaporate tomorrow, so it's time to determine how I deal with the gems so I'll be able to tackle the dirt and grime life will inevitably bring.

My 35 is a transitional year for our family.  We're changing and evolving and learning, according to what we need as a unit of 4.  My new career path has kicked all this off, given the time I have to process our priorities and challenges.  Of course this looks different for every family, but through the past year's events and discoveries, life has taught us a few valuable lessons.  As a result, we're attempting lifestyle changes....not to say we'll succeed at them all, but we're giving it an honest go.

Goals (some lofty some not so much):
Eating healthier and with purpose (future blog post on this subject to come).
Spending less on things that mean less in the grander scheme. Spending more on experiences that mean something.
Praying and talking to God like he's a little troll that resides on our shoulder, because he does.
Instilling values of acting with a servant heart on a daily basis - both to our kids and ourselves.
Sitting on the floor with our kids and ignoring the mess.
Donating toys and "stuff" we don't use or need.
Getting rid of the glue that attaches our hands to our phones.
Reading and turning off the tube at night.
Talking - a lot.
Reading chapter books to Dude.  Dedicating the time he needs for daily OT exercises. Experimenting with natural supplements and things from God's earth in order to help him be the best Dude he can be.
Deeper breathing and less yelling.
Smiling at people.
Smiling at each other as a family and laughing like we mean it.

That's a list.  I know it.  But something tells me that if we can start pulling this stuff off, that whole "happiness" aspect that Gretchen talks about will fall right into place.  That's 35 for this Mama.  Life is new, life is good and I plan on monopolizing on that.  Or rather, learning how to monopolize on that.  Slowly, mind you.  With a whole lot of room for error.  

      

My New Normal

My career as a PR and Marketing professional concluded on December 19 at 12:30pm.  I was sent off with more love and admiration than I expected, which was touching on so many levels.  My food bank family was a steadfast part of my everyday for 7 years.  For that, I'll always be grateful.  This week Tuesday marked the beginning of my new normal - I should probably say the beginning of trying to decipher what my "new normal" will look like.  And feel like.  And sound like.  And taste like (I bought a crap load of new coffee flavors to start my day with).  Dude went back to school and Squirt will continue to go to day care 3 days per week.  And I'll dive in to this new routine of writing.  One baby step at a time. Like, teeny tiny baby steps.  My wise and uberly supportive confidants keep hammering those words into my overachieving, "get it done" brain.  What I hear them saying is......Take.  Your.  Time.  Breathe and let this life manifest in the way it's meant to.  Go easy on yourself and don't expect to move mountains on day 1.  Or even on day 60.  Or day 365 for that matter.  This isn't a small task for me.  I'm a doer and an organizer of anything that might possibly need one morsel of organizing.  This new normal is flowy and unpredictable.  I'm slowly learning to appreciate that and breathe through my days.   

A significant piece of starting this new routine was creating a space where my creative juices can explode. The basement desk, which looked like something you'd find in a cubicle in Office Space, wasn't going to aid in my creative process.  SO.....we did this.  We turned our guest bedroom upstairs into Mama's Haven.  The bedroom has been relocated to the basement, which is proving to be quite nice.  Especially since it'll put guests out of the midst of our intimate family biz.     

I spent a day painting the tan walls a baby baby blue.  Calming blue.  THEN I found my masterpiece.  This chest of drawers came from a farm in Nebraska where it was used to store farm tools.  One of the drawers is still labeled just that.  I knew I had to have it when I peered through the window at a local antique store. And I found a way to bring it home.  I'm rather crafty when it comes to using my Dutch money skills.  The rocking chair was a Craigslist special - $20.

We sold the stiff desk and I found another antique piece that was born in the Midwest. I heart the scratches and dents all over him.  Hes been used and used well.  

 This chair is going to be seeing a lot of my bootie.  A whole lot.  

 My sweet son anointed my new space with the pet rock he crafted in Kindergarten.  He keeps me company.  The middle rock was given as a gift from a foundation I volunteer with.  It reads, "What in the world are you doing for heaven's sake?"  And the shiny heart is a precious gem from my old co-worker, Kaye.  It's also my phone screensaver.  These items bring smile and inspiration.

That's my Haven.  I love this space and I love that it's mine.  The kids treat it as such, which also makes my heart happy.  No legos or plastic fruit inside these walls.  The work that will come from my Haven?  The words are knocking at my teeth trying to get out, but I'm keeping a clenched jaw until I'm ready to verbally vomit. This week I started working on my writer's website, domain, email and organizing my thoughts around how to proceed.  It's forming.  I can feel it.  If you ask me what I do with my days, my answer will be simple.  I'm writing.  I'm creating.  I'm forming connections.  I'm unfolding.  Slowly but definitely surely.

Can I take a moment to tell you the depth of gratitude I feel toward my other half?  My Tim has supported me through this dreamy existence since day 1 and is a pillar of encouragement and calm. Thank you love. THIS is what it looks like to support your best friend in following their dreams.  I can hardly wait to do the same for you down the road.