Balancing & Blogging

I've come to the conclusion that balance in life is only attained when one limits the extent and experiences of ones life. Maybe not.  Perhaps others have found the secret to a full and balanced life. I prefer to believe that life's tight-rope walking is more about risk-taking and enjoying the view than actually getting from point A to point B.  It's about the walk; not necessarily the balance. At any rate, waiting until things have "calmed down" or life is "less hectic" to begin blogging again is never going to happen.  Who has time to record the happenings of a full life.  And yet, my family and I adore looking through old family photos, home videos, and re-reading stories and recordings of life's hectic happenings.  How can I not record, even an unbalanced record of sorts?

I am in a new season of life.  Gone are the days of newborns, toddlers and preschoolers.  Those tiny toes have been replaced with big stinky feet that just keep growing because they belong to hungry, happy, and huge babies of mine.  All my children are in school.  Two are in middle school.  One is headed to high school.  Each morning we all head off to our respective schools and spend at least 8 hours apart from one another.  This means we have a lot of catching up to do upon our re-gathering. And eating.  I have learned that growing children need food, a listening ear, and love.  Not much else.

Working full-time has brought a lot of understanding into our home.  I ache for my naive younger self who so misunderstood what my husband did and then came home too.  Our roles have been re-evaluated, not reversed, but definitely combined and shared.  My amazing husband is at a point in his career where it is possible for him, and he has made the personal choice, to take the time be the before and after school parent for our children.  In addition, he does all of the shopping, meal-planning and cooking.  I literally walk in from work each day and sit my butt down to a ready-made-warm meal at the table.  And yet, the minute I walk in the door, all I want is a moment to myself.  A moment, perhaps, to pee in peace.  I'm not ungrateful really, just tired.  He gets that.  Because that used to be him.  And as much as he used to try to explain to me the transition from work to home being difficult and loud and overwhelming, I didn't "hear" him.  I could not fathom it.  As a stay-at-home Mom I worked hard all day long and counted down the minutes until the father of my children would walk through the door and give me a break from parental duties, an adult perspective and conversation, and possibly a romantic kiss.  Were he to be even five minutes late, I would feel both intent and validated in my exasperation.  How could he possibly lose track of time, while I am cooking him dinner, maintaining his home, and tending his children?  Now the irony of it is that he will often call me and I will be shocked that the clock has fallen far past my designated departure and arrival time.  He is kind and patient with me.  Unlike my past accusations of imagined time-wasting activities, he knows I have been doing nothing but working.

So here is yet another attempt at blogging, but with full-admission to lack of balance.

Question & Answer with Julia

What do you like most about Hawaii?
what i like most about hawaii is the Beaches.

How is Hawaii different from Montana?

The weather is very different here in hawaii then in montana.
 
How is Hawaii similar to Montana?
Both areas have mountains.

What do you miss most about home?
I miss my house and friends.


What do you think you will miss most about Hawaii when we go home?
when i go home i wil miss the heat and beaches.

What is your favourite thing to do in Hawaii?

I love going to the beach and boogie boarding. 

What is your favourite beach?  Why?

Hukilow is my favorite because it has great waves and soft sand.

Friday, July 25 ETHAN

                       Today we woke up really early to go to Waikiki. Waikiki is a big city located on an island called Oahu. Once we got to Waikiki we went to Diamond Head. Diamond Head is a big hike. After we finished Diamond Head we went to a place to keep our car. Soon our car was in a big garage with lots of other cars and we were off to the beach. At the beach there was a big platform that we could jump off of. Dad, Tyler, and Julia jumped off when me and jacob bodyboarded the HUGE WAVES. We had tons of fun. We all loved it. After the beach we went on a boat cruise and on it we got chips and orange nectar that was super good. After the boat cruise it was about dinner time so we ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It's a really nice resteraunt where I had mac and cheeze. It tasted deliciouse. P.S. we were celebrating my dads birthday.                  



By the Fantastic, Wonderful, Great, Ethan

Thursday, July 24 JACOB

Today was my Dad's birthday.  And I had fun eating his cake and I also had fun with him in his office eating and being with him.  We brought him fish tacos for lunch.  I liked his birthday a lot.  He turns one year older every year.  And I turn one year older too.  My Dad plays board games with us and my Dad also eats with us and my Dad also has fun a lot at the beach with us.  And we have fun with him swimming in the water.  He had a pineapple cheesecake from Ted's Bakery.  Daddy blew out the candles and he had one candle glowing. That means that he has one girlfriend.  And we gave him a BYUH sweatshirt and postcards.


By Jacob Gideon Gilpin*

Monday, July 21 TYLER

Today was not a good day me and my brother Ethan were sick all day it was not fun. We were throwing up and other bad things like that if we ate something we threw it up, so when I ate two plates of spagetti it did not look good ewww. So today was a stay at home day so there is not much to talk about. don't you think we look a little skiny in that picture well I do see you latter.

Friday, July 18 ETHAN

Today we had some friends come over to visit us in Hawaii for a litle bit.   Loved it! It was so much fun. We went to the point with them and so far far out to sea.  But before that we all went to Wamaia Bay which is a really good snorkling place but is really ment for it's 30ft rock that me and my family love to jump off.   We all started on the high jump except Julia ,Mom and the visiters didn't go up to jump off. I think Julia was scared though. We all loved jumping off though and none of us got hurt. It was super fun.  P.S. if you scroll down you will see exciting pictures of the huge rock of course me. See you in my next blog.