Week 4 - Rocks around Town

Okay - painting all the rocks was not as fun as I thought it would be.  Its like decorating cookies.   The first few are fun, you eat one, then you realize you still have 3 more batches to decorate and by the time you are done you never want to see a sprinkle again.  My kids totally bailed on me while painting rocks today.  Then I was going to take them to the gazebo on Main Street and Tim said "shouldn't you do that in the early morning - before anyone is there?" And for once he is totally right.  So even though tomorrow is the beginning of Week 5 - I will be dropping rocks around town tomorrow morning with the kids.  And hopefully we will help someone have a "Rockin' Fourth".

Its not an uncommon feeling for me to doubt myself and the decisions I make.  This is definitely one of those times.  I know I am not artistic but I was hoping for a little creativity when it came to doing the rocks.  Only after painting almost all the rocks we had chosen did I realize that painting them all white was a great way to really leave my options open.  I glued googly eyes on some and  used sparkly red and blue stars on others.  I was hoping inspiration would strike and that I would make something really creative but frustration and 3 kids took over.  I am happy that this one is done!  Now I will type up some little notes to attach (because my handwriting is not that great) and tomorrow I will leave them around town while toting my three darlings.  We will hit the gazebo and a couple of playgrounds and I will be getting both a workout and an exercise in patience.  I will also be picking up some kind of bribery (M&Ms and Mini Oreos are kid favorites) to get the kids moving.

We had my husband's brother and Aunt come into town yesterday and I loved it!  Even though I have not been feeling well the last couple of weeks, I just really enjoy being around family.  Tim's Aunt Jennifer is an amazing woman who is smart and funny and seemed to love us right away.  I found it very easy to talk with her and, even though she hasn't been around Tim, his brothers and dad in 20 years, she still knows them so well and I felt like I had an instant ally.  It reinforced how amazing people are and how establishing a connection with people is so important.  Sitting on the porch yesterday and catching up and hearing stories of the Carrs as boys and watching our kids play was just wonderful.  I felt so lucky to have had that time with Jennifer and John and definitely want to make a habit out of visiting with loved ones.  In this day and age it is so easy to "connect" with people on Facebook and texting and e-mail and never really get that face to face contact that humans need.  I was reading an article recently that said that people aren't using handwriting much and that writing exercises a different part of our brain than typing.  I feel that's the same with our relationships.  If the only contact you have is electronic, you aren't getting the same benefits as you would from a phone call or visit.  If we could all make an effort to call or set up a dinner the next time we think of a loved one, then I think we might find ourselves a little happier and a little more connected!