Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Puzzle


a little mental unraveling
so here it goes….

I see LIFE as a giant puzzle,
and there are many little pieces to that puzzle.
Among all those pieces, there are:

HAPPY
FUN
LOOKS LIKE A PERFECT FAMILY

sort of pieces

 
and these "perfect moment" pieces are shared in photos, and in stories.
BUT....On the flip side
there are moments, even days (as with everyone else)
that the pieces to life's puzzle illustrate the "messy moments"
– an absolute disarray, turmoil, mayhem,
a wreck!!!
But it’s a beautiful wreck,
because we learn so much from those days
if we allow ourselves to!
But for the record, I’ll probably stick to blogging about what makes me happy!
Just so you know...
we have those chaotic, frustrating, and super complicated moments, sometimes days!
Real quick.
One more tidbit of frustration in our home on this "glorious day"…
so......my Bucket List
(trying to accomplish everything on it before the summer is history,
yet attempting and longing not to get uptight if we don’t fulfill everything,
or if it goes completely "NOT how I imagined!")
So my idea today....its raining, can't go outside
....lets build a fort!!!
Cross it off our Bucket List!
The boys were super excited, and we got a really cool fort built
(but everything unraveled before I got a photo!)
They started fighting about what goes inside the fort, and it just got ugly from there! We (Josh & I) both just observed them, and we both must have been thinking the same thing...
"surely one of them will give in,
and they'll stop fighting & work it out"
however,
the screaming got louder,
the punches got harder,
and one of us had to step in,
as they were both very determined. So I said it....
I had had ENOUGH!!!!
"STOP!!!! we're done!!!! the fort is coming down!"
Ohhhh my....
there were tears,
and more tears,
and yelling,
and more yelling....
you get the picture,
TOTAL CHAOS!!!
So behind our "perfect" photos and our stories,
sometimes there are ugly times,
There are hard talks, tears and all the stuff that makes a family real.
We have those times,
and we always will have those times.
Just because I don't write about them,
doesn't mean that they don't exist.
those times are real,
those times are memories too
I'll look back at all the times,
(good and not-so-good)
and appreciate both!
Family is hard work, but ever so rewarding.
And every memory,
every smiling moment,
every season,
every road trip,
every trial that ends with triumph,
every blog post is hard-earned.
But sometimes, the best things in life are hard-earned also!
This is life.
This is real life.
And there will be more chaos.
And there will be more frustration....
But there will also be
more joy.
more laughter.
more smiles.
more moments.
And there will be lots more Love.
And it is ALL worth it.
All of it.
So Bring on Life.

This is our life.
And I Love it!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Thursday, July 18, 2013

is it too late for a summer bucket list???

clean the house, pull the weeds, sweep out the garage, clean the house, run errands, make dinner, clean the house, go to work, get groceries,
and lastly, clean the house
(blah, blah, blah...boring!!!)
the summer days are beckoning me to....
do something fun!!!
 
the summer is slipping by,
and i'm wanting to fill our time with some excitement!
i'm thinking that a last minute (very last minute) bucket list is in order!
i do believe that i will be jotting a few of the things down that have already taken place!
that would be green slime - thanks Parenting magazine!
 
complete squishy slime with turtles and lizards
 
drink from the hose
 
surf in the "kitty pool"
 
goggles in the "kitty pool"
 
make time for cousin time
 
explore the woods  (they found a frog!!!)
 
throw a potty party (sort of a success)
 
catch frogs (ain't raisin' no sissys!)
 
get the boys a pet (kittens rated #1 on easy!)
 
go tribe!! Indians game with the guys! lane took great pics for me! (wink)
 
get my camera out at least 3x a week (lovin' him some sweet cousins!)
 
i refuse to let summer slip by.... 
so here are the 50 days of
crilow summer fun:
  1. go to a parade
  2. lunch @ lems
  3. indians game
  4. hershberger truck patch
  5. backyard campfire
  6. fun with pop-its & sparklers
  7. water balloon fun
  8. make slime
  9. family movie night w/popcorn
  10. have cousins over at least 3x
  11. sidewalk chalk art
  12. family game night
  13. go to a zoo
  14. get a pet
  15. go to the library
  16. drink from the hose
  17. pick blueberries
  18. explore Dundee falls
  19. surf & wear goggles in the "kitty pool" (haha)
  20. make cookies
  21. make dirt (the dessert)
  22. water park
  23. blow bubbles
  24. catch fireflies
  25. fun with stackin' cups
  26. make apple frogs
  27. catch frogs
  28. make our house diaper free!
  29. build a fort
  30. ice cube treasure fun
  31. make a mini sand box (and i mean mini)
  32. make freezy goo
  33. fun with glow sticks and balloons (at night)
  34. catch fireflies
  35. take pics in a wheat field (*mom*)
  36. take a family pic
  37. nature walk scavenger hunt (with printout)
  38. play in the rain
  39. bike the trail
  40. bubble art
  41. try out lemonberry downtown
  42. make sponge balls
  43. go fishing
  44. decorate a dish
  45. make lemonade and drink it in cool cups
  46. backyard alphabet hunt
  47. play at a park (a couple times!)
  48. go for icecream
  49. feed the fawns at neighbor house
  50. and finally RELAX its summer!!!
 


 
 

Saturday, July 13, 2013


What is this blog for?
My reasons have changed over the last 2 years.
Initially, it was to promote my Photography work; however, I have laid that dream aside for now (in a sense)I was trying to juggle too many things:
striving to be a Godly wife
giving my all to be a nurturing mom (a new mom at that!)
keeping my house in order (did I mention I'm an organizing freak!?)
trying to grow both my Real Estate business as a Realtor for Kaufman Realty & Auctions, and my small photography business
and living what we call "Life"
 It was WAY too much!
 
I still love photography, and I still photograph my family, and try to capture the memories that are being made!
Seeing life happen through my lens excites me!
Crayons are a necessity around here these days! I love the masterpieces he creates, and I love hearing him sing as he colors! That's the best part!
 
A milestone has been reached at the Crilow house!
I'm not sure if its a milestone for me (the "helicopter mom" side of me) or Trevan!.....eating grapes WHOLE and not cut in half!!!
(its the little things, right?)
 
And this is just a sliver of our life...
what has been going on @ the Crilow House
so far this SUMMER!