Where have all the flowers gone?

So, fall is here again. Where have the summer flowers gone? I can't believe we are into the school season. Elem has started Kindergarten! Maris is now three and in preschool. Wow. Being a mom goes fast. I read somewhere the other day...'The days are long; the years are fast' Hmmmm is that not true!? Working full time and being a good mom is tricky. Anyone else agree?

Elem is loving Kindergarten - for the most part - as evidenced by the singing that I heard all evening long 'Jesus I have given my heart to you....' So cool (: Go God!

Maris is exhausted. Fell asleep for two hours when we got home at 4:30. Couldn't even wake her up. Now she is still awake in her room at 9:27. Hmmmm. I hate when this happens.

Jeff is gone again to the studio. He got home from the Food Program from church about 7:30 tonight, ate leftover oven pizza, and then left again. Artprize is upon us.

Me, well, I continue to clean dishes tonight, pay bills, and well clean up piles of clothes that have accumulated this week.

How about you?

Winter is in Michigan!

Winter is upon us! And I think we are enjoying it (: A skating rink in our backyard to enjoy, as well as a winter blizzard that developed into 2 snowdays.....yeah, I would say we like the snow these days. As a family, we are trying to be more active and if we are to live in this snowy location, we need to figure out the best ways to enjoy the season. We look forward to maybe some cross country skiing and real sledding (beyond the mini-hill of our backyard!). What are you enjoying about winter?

Maris turns 2

Maris is 2 - already!

Things I love about Maris:

1. Pretend shopping trips where she likes to buy 'fruit' and say 'Love you' as she carries her purse around the house
2. Dollies and their 'poopy' diapers
3. Monkey tricks on the playground and the bathroom sink
4. 'Self'
5. Big eyes of excitement and awe
6. Her hugs - strong and real
7. The way she says macaroni -- 'Roni'
8. 'Horsey mommy?'
9. The hair!
10. Shoes on the wrong feet

Fun to dream

So, school has started, for 3 of the 4 of us! Elem and Maris have started at the Appletree Christian Learning Center; Gretchen has gone back to Excel Charter Academy. Busy-ness is very much upon us. Fall is here.

However, when I close my eyes, I like to dream. Instead of being a working mom - full time working mom - I am a stay at home mom....My days go something like this:
8:00 a.m. - get up and lounge in PJs and I find the children breakfast. I make pancakes in fun shapes like dinosaurs and dollies.
8:30 a.m. - We read books together, still in our PJs
9:00 a.m. - We have learning time with all the fun preschool activities that I have made. Elem sits nicely at the kids table working on cutting, painting, and drawing. Maris quietly listens to music on her Fisher Price headphones. I lounge on the couch reading a book.
AND THE DAY GOES ON

But then, I wake up again. Hmmm, instead the day looks quite different. The evening really looks like:
5:45 p.m. We pull in the driveway from daycare both kids are crying that they are hungry, sucking their thumbs or pacifiers, clinging to their blankets, wanting 'mommy....' to carry them to the house.
6:00 p.m. Supper is half an hour away from being done. I just stepped on a huge crumb, tripped over three shoes and am having a hard time breathing from wearing pants that are too tight all day.
6:30 p.m. We eat - okay Jeff and I eat. The kids cry about how the dish is too spicy, they don't like beans, and scream out 'how many bites do I have to eat?' Meanwhile pulling and leaning on me, getting my school clothes dirty, as I sit on the broken chair.

UGH.....real life. Dreams are free though, right? SMILE.

We love IKEA!

So if you know the Rottmans, you know that we love IKEA. Jeff and I love to wander the store for ideas and inspiration. We love the prices. Modern, European, versatile, and inexpensive. However, did you ever wish you knew how they name these items? Yikes. How to pronounce the names?! Well, if our family each was a piece of IKEA furniture, here is what we would be called.

Cute eh?

A Lazy Day - Sorta....

So, it has been months since we posted anything to this blog and I feel sad about that. I love reading other people's blogs to see what they are up to, what they have created, or what is just 'on their mind'. I wonder if this blog is any longer a journal from the Rottmans, or just a waste of time. I would choose the first...a journal of life here in GR.

We are home now from all the pottery ventures we made this summer. Check out Jeff's blog from Dutch Lake Pottery to see all the places we traveled! I am so glad to just be home. I love being home!

But Fall is acoming. School is starting. I feel like I have put in lots of work already with my job at Excel. Glad to see friends and co-workers! Glad to see a few students! We start on Tuesday. Wow, where did summer go.

Today we are taking the opportunity to stay in our PJs as long as we can. YIPEE!

Hope you are doing well.

Jeff's Pottery Wins Award

So the summer show schedule is very much underway these days. Here I write from Chicago, while Jeff is at a show in Evanston. He is busy selling pottery! We are busy visiting family and friends! Just wanted everyone to know that last weekend Jeff won a Third Place Award at the Clothesline Art Festival in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was happily surprised to win this award once again. Yeah Jeff. We love you for all your hard work and visions for success in the art world.