Tongues and stuff

Wyatt's new favorite thing is sticking his tongue out. He does it all the time, and of course I think it's adorable. My favorite is when he sticks his tongue out and closes his mouth, though it's impossible to catch on film! The kid never stops moving!

He also crawls everywhere. He is fast, and tiny, which means I am afraid he will get lost! I picked up this, like new, pack and play to keep him contained every once in awhile when I need to get something accomplished and he would rather be trolling the house! It's worked out great thus far.

Natalie has been doing great at school and is really progressing in her dance skills. She has been working especially hard now that competition season is right around the corner. This year she is even going to have her own jazz solo! She will be competing in the last competition of the season, and also dancing in her spring recital. It makes me so proud that my baby girl will be dancing all by herself up on stage. She is turning into a beautiful and talented young lady!

Brady has been giving me a run for the money at school! He loves to play, problem is he doesn't always know when to stop playing and start listening. This has led to a few meetups with the VP at school. Luckily he is a cute kid, and he changes his behavior when told....most of the time. As far as academics, he is killing it! He started the year out barely being able to read and now he is in the most advanced reading group. He wants to read everything! He is trying to read every chapter book that Natalie reads, I am encouraging him to read all the "easy" books on our shelves before jumping into Harry Potter or something! I love that I have a reader on my hands. Now if only I could get him to work more on his penmanship!

Keith is in his {very} last semester of school. When he graduates in the spring he will have his Masters in tax law, and a few more letters after his name. Show off. But, seriously, I am so proud of all he does. Keith works 45-50 hours a week, plus school, plus helps out at home with whatever I just can't get to. He's the bees knees, and I try not to take him for granted!

Life is moving on, and moving fast. We are making it work every day, and loving it. It's hard work, but the good far outweighs the bad and as long as I get enough sleep I am able to appreciate it!

Cards for Daddy

Today Wyatt was being super needy due to his baby cold (and probably a bit from the shots he got yesterday) so the big kids had to fend for themselves a little more than normal today. Every so often I ask out what they are all up to. This afternoon Nat was in the craft area making a card for Keith. She put all of our ages on there, our favorite colors, a few games (cross word and mazes) and some math problems. She made him a little book. And on it she wrote "Dear Dad, I made you a book over sckool and work so you can remeber us! P.S. bring it to your office!" For some reason that made me so sad! The kids don't get to see Keith very often and she wants to make sure he doesn't forget us!

Of course, then Brady wanted to make a card too. He came up to me and asked if I could spell "once upon a time..." uh. No. I could see that route would take an eternity so I wrote down his story for him. "Once upon a time there was a little kingdom. And the King was named, Dad. And his family names was Brady, Natalie, and Mom, and Wyatt. They were having so much fun. They were doing a dance. First Natalie and Brady then Mom and Dad. They were having so much fun doing dances. The End" He even illustrated it. So cute.

I am grateful that my kids have a Dad that loves them and plays with them and provides for them. And I am grateful that my children love their Daddy so dang much!

In other news, Wyatt sounds like a baby Wookie when he cries now because of all the  gurgly wetness in his throat. Makes his crying extra pathetic.

A checkup

Today was Wyatt's four month check up (can you believe it??!). It went as well as can be expected. He has a bit of a sniffle and is congested, but Dr. Bishop said all will be well, as long as I watch for warning signs of something more serious. He had to get shots and since he was already down in the dumps the shots didn't go over well. He cried so durn pathetically I thought my heart was gonna break. I had the big kids with me too and they hated that he was sad!

As we were leaving the nurse let the big kids pick out a sticker (they were SO good for me) and after digging through the bucket full of transformer stickers and Spiderman stickers Brady picked out a big needle that says "I was Brave" for Wyatt. Kill me with sweetness why dontcha! That boy is constantly thinking of others, well, when he isn't crying or rolling his eyes at me!

I love my kids! Oh, and Wyatt's stats today were 25" long (25-50th percentile) and 14.1 lbs (25th percentile). She said he is growing great and to keep doing what I am doing! By the next appointment he will be trying solids! Eeek!

The big 5! Oh...

So, three months ago Brady turned five. It was a fun day! I don't want to forget, and I am sure family would like to see what we did!

We started off with our traditional donut breakfast at Shipley's. Yummy!

And messy! As Brady is showing here in his Mama made birthday shirt!

The rest of the day included school, where we took muffins for birthday treat. A picnic at the park with his closest friends. And then moving over to a house so that we could eat cupcakes without getting blown away! It was windy windy that day!

That evening after Natalie got home we finally had birthday dinner and then to the best part...presents! Want a cheap and entertaining gift for a five year old?

Musical greeting cards! Especially one that sings "shake your groove thang". I still hear them dancing in the bedroom to the card every now and then. Both kids love these things!

Work it Brady!

This kid was convinced, CONVINCED, all leading up to his birthday that I was gonna get him the "episode five lego set". Of course, we did. He was over the moon thrilled. He loves Star Wars and he loves Legos. Combine the two? Childhood bliss!

Poor kid only got 4 candles on his cake, but we drew a 5! He didn't care, he got cake and he got to stay up late! It was a good birthday, if low key, and I think he felt how much we love and adore him. He has truly transitioned into 5 with flying colors. No longer is he my soft and squishy 4 year old that will snuggle on my bed with me and watch PBS kids. He plays so wonderfully on his own, creating imaginative scenarios and wonderful stories. He loves art, and is proving to be a very good artist! He is so sensitive and loving, yet isn't afraid to get his cranky on. We love our Brady boy and he will always be my sweet baby!

Blood and Gore

Brady has a habit of coming in to our room in the middle of the night complaining of growing pains. It ranges anywhere from his ankle hurting to his legs to his head or neck. Friday night the kids were a little wild and feeding off of each other so we let Brady start in the spare bed. It's a little taller and a little bigger than his normal bed (can you see where this is headed?).

Sometime in the middle of the night Brady came crying into our room cry-saying, "my head is hot". I put my hand to his forehead and pulled my hand away wet. I was like, this kid is burning up! So out we go to get him out of his hot jammies, maybe get him a drink, and as soon as we get into the dim light of the kitchen I can see that what I thought was sweat was BLOOD. ALL over Brady's face. ALL. OVER.

My initial reaction was bloody nose. He gets them often enough that I figured that's what it was, so I take my gore covered child to the bathroom and we start cleaning it up, all the while keeping his head tipped back to stop the flow. While I am trying to clean the blood that has clotted on his eyelashes and shmeared on his forehead I realized, CRAP. Not a nosebleed. He had a quarter inch gash on his forehead. The kid had fallen off the bed and smacked his forehead on the night stand! Yikes! Apparently he was saying that he hit his head hard, NOT that his head was hot. (I blame sleep deprivation!)

Now I begin flipping out, because there is a visible bump and this gash is wide. I whisper called Keith to come help and together we began cleaning up Brady. Thankfully we had some butterfly bandages because I certainly didn't want to take him in for a stitch or two (which if it would have been Natalie, we would have! Can't have a giant scar on a girl face!). It was actually so bloody and gory that I had to go sit down because I was feeling faint!

Anywho, Brady took it like a champ and never cried after he got me up. Afterwards we found a super heartbreaking blood trail across the house. What a brave boy! How scary to fall out of bed, hit yourself and then feel blood oozing on your face. It breaks my heart to think about it! He is gonna come out of this with a pretty gruesome forehead scar, but hey, chicks dig scars, right? I sure hope so!

All bandaged up. He got lots of attention at church today with this sucker on his head!

 And just because, a current pic of our little Wyatt. He is getting quite chubby, and I absolutely adore it!

five.

How to: keep your kids entertained

1. Pull all of the desks and tiny chairs from around the house, remove Mama's desk, and place strategically in the craft area to create a school, filled with coloring books and paper and crayons and markers galore.

2. Be sure to set up an art table complete with paper, glue, scissors and pencils, let them go to town.

3. And the teachers desk (for "learning time").

4. Leave the other half of the front room for sewing and messiness (wow! that is really messy, it's organized chaos I promise) and laundry.

5. Get to work (and play!)

Everyone is happy with this set up and we are all together beating the heat under the fans. Plus it's so fun to see the kids playing school, when I remember loving that game so much as a child!

the kids 6/22/10

I realized it's been ages since I took pics of the kids. Yesterday I took advantage of the sun and shot a few. The dappled light is annoying, but the sweetness of the kids make up for it. Love these guys so much!

Behold

The Cuteness.

Natalie lost BOTH her top teeth this last week! I can't stop smiling at her toothless smile, and I want her to read War and Peace (or something equally as long) to me, so I can listen to her adorable new lisp.

Two days ago I told Brady he could have some gum if he cleaned his room, which actually worked! Then he went in there to play and I didn't think anything of the quiet until Nat came and told me he was asleep! He put himself down for a nap (probably so tired from keeping me awake all night...) and still had his gum in there. He also fell asleep listening to his old musical toothbrush. So sweet.

about some cuteness

*possibly the cutest Nat has ever looked for school, but of course she wouldn't pose for me. I love her hair in those buns, and she has a white button up under her navy cardigan*

*Brady slid this giant stack of books all the way down the hall on his belly. Cracked me up at the time, he does such goofy stuff sometimes.*

*Last week Natalie decided to use her imagination (for once! Yay!) and started playing Salon in the bathroom. She named her shop Rainbow Hair Cut. You can see her old singing toothbrush standing up near the flowers, she would turn that on for music. So clever! And the prices are great there, kisses and hugs for an original style!*

*It took her all afternoon to organize her drawer. We were both so proud!*

*Open for business!*

Weekend Roundup

So, I didn't take a SINGLE picture this weekend. I know, it's a tragedy! But, I will plop those kids into their costumes (Brady was a Jedi, and Natalie was Cinderella) tomorrow and take some pictures. In 15 years no one will know they weren't taken ON Halloween!

We had a rather mellow holiday weekend. Thursday night was Natalie's school trunk or treat. It was nice to go and support her school and she got to see her friends and teachers, and it was just some good SHORT trick or treating fun. Nothing grand, but not horrible either.

Friday Natalie had her assessment at the new school. Basically we went in, the Kinder teacher came and took her back to the classroom and while Brady and I waited she had Natalie take some of the tests and things they had done that day in her class. Natalie passed them all, only missing a few of the phonics questions which are things she has never even heard of. So, way to go Nat! She is all approved to go there, and we are just finalizing the last details and she will start some time this week. THANK GOODNESS they had some uniform pieces that had been donated by another family and the secretary gave them to me for FREE. Woot! That saved me 100 bucks! So all I need for Nat are a few shirts and one more pair of pants. Not bad, very doable.

Friday night we crashed our old wards Trunk or Treat. A friend from our current ward was there and said she was there with her family, what was my excuse. I realized that since we have no "family" those friends that we made in 1st ward ARE our family. Keith and I are pretty outgoing once you get to know us, but it takes awhile, and four years in the same place can really make you feel like you are home. I do so love that ward!

Saturday started just like every other weekend. Garaging. Haha, I am so addicted I can't miss a week. BUT, this week I made a believer out of Keith. We got a 200 dollar child sized computer desk from Wild Zoo for 5 dollars. FIVE. DOLLARS. I couldn't believe it. SUCH a steal, and the desk is awesome. The kids love it. It is the perfect place for Brady to do playdoh and paints and such while I am sewing. Before he had to work at the kitchen table which meant that I was in the kitchen with him and not accomplishing anything. So it's a win win! Yay for steals. I also got some vintage sheets to add to my growing collection.

The rest of Saturday was spent all together as a family. After lunch we dumped out all of the candy the kids had so far collected on a towel in the living room and we all went to town. They had previously picked out a few favorite pieces and those I saved for later in the week. The kids ate until they were full, we ate SO MUCH, and the rest we threw out. It was actually kind of liberating to throw out all the candy that otherwise I would have been munching on all month long. The kids were kind of sniffly so we decided to nix traditional trick or treating, which I kind of regret now, but it ended up being a nice slow evening. Natalie made us all crowns, Brady played letter tiles and puzzles, Keith had a football game on, and I sewed (shocker, right?). I love evenings like that, where we are all together, but kind of doing our own thing. Very nice.

I am glad the weekend is over. This week will prove to be a crazy one I am sure. Nat starts her new school sometime this week, I think Wednesday. Brady is starting preschool on Tuesday, and just other general errands that I have been putting off. I can't wait to get started!

Quiet time

Brady can be a wild and crazy kid, but it always seems to really manifest itself when we are around other people. When it's just the two of us he plays or colors quietly. Often times I find him in random places around the house "reading" his books or just laying and thinking. I finally realized I needed to get some pictures of his peaceful moments.

I heard him in his room talking to himself and when I peeked he was reading from this book. The book is actually one of the first things I ever got garaging, Brady picked it out months ago, and it's still one of his very favorites.


Today when I was prepping lunch it got really quiet out in the living room and I came out to find Brady relaxing on our blanket chest/window seat thingy. Just gazing outside, I love that so so much.

I love...

...that he takes a million vitamins every single morning. That he gets up at the crack of dawn to get out the door to work before we have even thought of waking up and then after a full day comes home to make dinner, bathe the kids, clean the kitchen, put the kids to sleep, and then goes to sleep on the couch, only to do it all over again the next day. I love that he gets giddy over things like video games and football, but can still act like a full on grown up when the time calls for it. That he loves me even though I get cranky after a full week of work and still thinks I am pretty even though I can't muster the energy (or motivation) to put on real clothes, do my hair, or wear any makeup on most days. That he is the best Daddy my kids could have ever asked for, and that this makes me happier than anything else in the whole world.

...that she still prefers to sneak into my bed in the middle of the night rather than sleep in her pinker than pink bedroom. That her knees are hairy and her skin is as smooth as butter. Her freckles and her button nose and her blue eyes, and dainty ears and long piano fingers. I love that when I look at her I see myself at that age, and I remember what I was going through and I love that she doesn't have to deal with any of that. I love how excited she is about school, and new clothes, and new school supplies, and a new box of Kleenex for her room "in case her nose gets runny." That she will still let me cuddle her though she hasn't a bit of squish left on her body. That she is my princess, and even though she is a Sassy McSassypants that she loves me too!

...that all he wants at bedtime is for me to lay with him. That is still squishy in all the right parts, perfect for multiple squeezes throughout the day. That he love love LOVES his Transformers, but he also loves his small stuffed bunny/puppy/squirrel/etc. and will carry them around like little pets for days on end. That he will play quietly in his room after Dad and Natalie are asleep waiting for me to come tuck him in on my break. I love that he is a creature of habit. I love his huge eyes and small toes and round belly and smooth arms. I love that he loves me, and that he will give me a kiss whenever I ask and that he will always be a Mama's boy, no matter what. That he is my heart and soul.

...that I want to be a good mother above all else. That I am finally feeling like a "grown up." That I am finally realizing what my "style" is, things I love to look at and wear. That I try my very hardest to take care of my family and make them happy, and that I succeed more often than not. That I am hard working. That I can create things with my hands I never thought possible. I love that I am willing to try new things and projects, even if I don't always finish them. I love that I have a tendency to forget unpleasant things. That even though I may shop a lot, 98% of it was on sale. That I am becoming more comfortable with who I am, the good the bad and the ugly.

I'm back...I think!

I have been wracking my brain as to a reason why I have stopped blogging. I think life has just gotten busier, I find less and less time to sneak away long enough to post something worthy to share with anyone. As the kids get older they need me more and more, plus I am soaking up the last bits of summer before Natalie starts Kindergarten on the 24th (WHAAAT??!? That is SO CRAZY!!), and then it will be just me and my little man. I am honestly looking forward to it. Brady has become quite the lovey dove lately, and he has just stolen my heart. I can't get enough of him!

I guess I should update a bit about the kiddoes. Natalie. Natalie Natalie Natalie. That girl is all over the place with me. Her teen years will be veeeery interesting. Of course, I love Natalie with all my heart, but she is a sassy/bossy/whiny girl, and 5 going on 15, and drama drama drama with her. All the time! Though she is the sweetest pudding pop I could ever ask for, sometimes she drives me crazy with the whining, but then she turns around and makes me a picture or gives me a snuggle and it melts my heart into a pool of butter. It's funny, because I have heard so many stories of me at five, so when I look at her I see a taste of what I must have been like. A little spitfire that is for sure! She is into all things girly. Every day we have what I refer to as "quiet time" where the kids go in their rooms with the doors closed, and can nap and play as they choose for an hour or two while Mommy has some alone time to nap and play as she chooses (mainly nap...haha!). I am so blessed that they will actually do this for me. Anywho, Natalie always fills her time by playing all sorts of girly things (Barbies, house, shopping, singing, etc.), I just love it! She is a princess through and through.

Brady on the other hand is all boy, all the time. He is a Mama's boy too, and I loooove that! Keith calls Brady hot and cold, and it couldn't be more true. Really he is just 3. We don't have terrible 2's, in this house it's the threes, but it seems that Brady is slowly growing out of them. It is quite a site to behold though, when they surface. He will go from being perfectly normal and sane to a screaming mess in a matter of milliseconds. For some reason he hasn't grasped yet that if he wants some milk (or anything else for that matter) all he has to do is ASK for it in a normal voice. Screaming is completely unnecessary! To be fair, those crazy outbursts are few and far between, only amplified when we are around other people (obviously. Why be on our best behaviour around others? Of course not!). The other 85% of the time he is literally an angel child. He will play for hours at a time on his own. He loves Transformers of all shapes and sizes, and anything related to them. During quiet time he will play for a bit and then about half the time he will crawl into bed and put himself down for a nap. No joke. I am still amazed at it as well. It surprises me every time. I am constantly loving on this boy, and he is constantly having to remind me to back off! Haha, it's too hard though, because I look at him and know he won't be my little baby boy for much longer. He is growing at the speed of light it seems, and I wish I could make it stop.

As far as Keith and I go? Keith is very busy with work, still working around 50+ hours a week, and I am pretty sure he loves it! Then he comes home and helps me with the kids. He has 2 full time jobs and he handles it like a champ. I couldn't do what I do without him backing me up. My job is still going strong, we have finally (after 2 years, can you believe it??) settled into a nice routine of work nights and non work nights. We love living in a house, and are having fun (maybe too much fun) making it a place we love to be. I have a lot of little things to catch up on with the blog, expect a full on essay about our vacation. Complete with lots of pictures!

Baby Sitter

Today I left the kids with a honest to goodness babysitter for the first time. I was a bit hesitant, but I have heard only wonderful things about the girl that came over so I wasn't scared at all about that. It was more a fear of how my kids would be for her. I shouldn't have worried at all, because they had a blast. They did playdoh, played duck duck goose and Mother May I, and made me some cute cards.

When I got home and was making a snack for the monkeys I made a discovery. The following text-versation (in exact form) came quickly after.

S: Ha! That girl did our dishes!

K: What?????!!!!! I will commence the adoption proceedings.

S: She washed the dirty ones...BY HAND!!!

K: Ok kidnapping is much faster


Seriously, where has she been all my life? I hope she doesn't have any big summer plans, haha, because she just made one more satisfied customer.

Oh, and on the way home from dropping her off the kids asked if we could do that again tomorrow.

Puzzles!

One thing I love to do (though I haven't done so in a very long time) is put together puzzles. I don't know why. I must have gained this love from my Mom and my Grandma Jean, and now it looks as if I have passed it on to my kids. Brady for the longest time, would pull out his puzzles after I had tucked him down for naps,a nd put them together one by one. Now he will go to the closet and pull out a huge puzzle to put together. I love it! It also gives them such a sense of accomplishment when they finish one. Plus it makes me one proud Mama!
Oh! And a very, very Happy Father's Day out there to all the Daddys!

fleeting moments

Yesterday we got to take both kids to the dentist for the first time in too long (no cavities for either kid! Woo hoo!). Keith and I were watching the way they were acting, and said to each other how nice it was to see them acting their respective ages. Not acting like a baby (whining, crying, pouting) and not acting like a teenager (sassy, rude, defiant), just acting like sweet innocent kids. It was really refreshing, and it made us so happy. Brady was being so good in the dentist chair, and when it tipped back he just held on to the little toothy alligator he was playing with for dear life, making sure it wouldn't fall down. It was so sweet. And Natalie with the little sunglasses she put on to block the light, she just opened up wide and obeyed the hygienist, but then was still fascinated by all the tools and stickers and bubbles they had to look at. Weird how some seemingly insignificant moments of time, that you might not even have noticed had you not been watching closely, can bring such a sense of peace and joy.

I also saw it in Natalie the other day at the library. They each got these cool cowboy hats for turning in their second reading log of the summer, and she instantly put hers on and pretended to be a cowgirl riding her pony all over the library. Gone was the little princess, the sassy girl who thinks she is older than she really is. All I saw was my precious, creative 5 year old enjoying being a child. Sometimes I feel guilty that we have made her grow up too fast, but seeing things like that make me breathe that much easier, she is still a little child, happy to enjoy simple and sometimes silly things.

Brady can be so hot and cold. One minute he is just the sweetest thing, soft and squishy and lovey, and the next minute he is screaming "NOOOOO" at the top of his lungs and you are standing there scratching your head wondering what set him off. Even with the weird outbursts I still can't get enough. Often times when I am just watching his sweetness and can't resist reaching out for a few squeezes or maybe a nibble of a squishy body part (toes, thighs, fingers, cheeks, arms, elbows, belly..you name it!), he has to tell me to stop. Earlier he was playing with his harmonica and had said that the high note meant stop, and the low note meant go. Well this afternoon, as soon as I sat down on the floor next to his piggies hanging off the couch, to get a little nibble, he let out a high note, "that means stop, Mama."

I think having a 5 year old, that is clearly NOT a soft toddler anymore, and just so ready to be a Big Girl and having a 3 year old that is there in that in between, no mans land of being a Big Boy and yet still being the child that will tell me he never wants to grow up so he can be my baby forever, makes me see and realize how quickly time goes by. In 2 short years Brady will really be a Big Boy. It makes me sad in some ways, but in other ways makes me realize I need to enjoy what I have while I still have it. Instead of a time out, give an extra squeeze or ten. To grasp at those quickly passing days of childhood.

Garage Sale

Firstly I want to say, yes, I know I have been a major blog slacker. And I apologize to all my family. I know this is a good way for us to keep in touch, and I do want to be more regular in posting, but I just don't have the drive lately. I may force myself soon to post once a day, but for right now I just can't do it. But know that I think about all of you every day, miss you all, and can't wait till you can learn about our life by being a part of it, instead of reading about it on the Internet!

Anywho.

We had our very first garage sale this weekend. I have been putting it off and off and off for at least a month, and finally a week ago I decided that today was the day. We had a pretty good spread, lots of kids toys, 2 strollers, books, picture frames, and all other manner of junk treasures.

We opened up at 7:30, and the only advertising we did were a few signs on the main street leading to our house, and an add on Craigslist. We actually sold all of the big stuff, except the complete set of Classic Pooh crib bedding (why won't somebody buy that from me??!), and most of the little stuff. We had one trunk load of stuff to take directly to Goodwill afterwards (no need to keep it laying around, or it will work it's way back into circulation!), so I was really happy with that! The only real downside of the day was that it is June. In Texas. So that means it was pretty much a billion degrees out. Not fun.

The goal for the day was to get enough money for the kids to get real bikes, they have been sharing a plastic Dora big wheel since we moved in, and honestly I am sick of hearing them take turns aka fight over whose turn it is. Luckily we surpassed our goal! So after cooling baths/showers, lunch, and naps we headed out to Target to get some new bikes! We then continued on to Chili's to celebrate (plus the kids had free meal coupons from their summer reading program at the library), and then on to Pure Bliss from some seriously good frozen yogurt. Seriously, you need to try it out. Keith and I aren't even fans of frozen yogurt and we loved it. They have SO. MANY. TOPPINGS. It's a serve yourself yogurt bar, you get your own flavor of yogurt, and then load on the toppings, and the prices were totally reasonable. It was 7 bucks for all of us to get a perfectly sized sundae with whatever we wanted on it. I highly recommend it.

Um, I digress. The bikes. Long story short (since I am tired of typing and I am sure you are tired of reading), the kids love them. Natalie was just over the moon. And tonight getting ready for bed she couldn't stop saying "I can't believe I was riding a BIG. GIRL. BIKE!" I love how proud she was! Now we just have to convince Brady that "yes he can!" ride his little bike (which we worry is a bit too small, he is just so dang tall!) if he puts his mind to it!

Plum Tuckered Out!

The last 2 and a half days have been so full of activity that I am ready to crawl back under my covers and stay there for the next week! In all honesty I am most happy when I am spending my days lazing about at home, there are always plenty of things to do, and I never seem to get bored. My cabin fever was getting bad though, because after a few weeks of being a hermit, sometimes you just need to get out!

I thought I would cure it with a much needed picnic, so Monday morning on our weekly grocery trip the kids and I picked out some fun foods to have a picnic that night. I am so glad we did, because I am not kidding, the weather was perfect! It was slightly overcast, breezy, and just down right beautiful! The kids had fun running around, and I had fun sitting and relaxing. It's so nice to take them to the park as a family because Keith can be the parent that chases them around while I get to sit!



Apparently that didn't cure my fever though, because Wednesday became the most booked day I have ever had. Fun, but exhausting. The day started with a trip to the local library for the reopening of story time for the summer. We really love the librarian that does story time (Mr. Bob) and the kids missed him so much during May when the librarians do school visits, so story time gets put on hold. Anywho, we got some great books to start our summer reading logs. The kids are excited to get prizes for reading. I guess there is nothing wrong with a little bribery every now and again, as long as they are enjoying the books!

After story time we headed home to gather up supplies for a trip to the strawberry farm with my friend Betsy and her adorable kids. We all packed lunches and the kids all had a "car picnic" on the way there. Brady was sitting near Betsy's new (2 month old?) baby and at one point told me, "Mama, I love baby Kate", can you say sweet? He couldn't get enough of her, and to be honest neither can I! She is teensy and precious.


The strawberry picking was a success! The weather was perfectly overcast, so we didn't sweat to death, and the kids were all excited about what we were going to be doing. We doled out buckets, set a few ground rules (only pick the red ones and don't eat any), and they were off. All of them did so well, and with a few minor setbacks; ginormous patches of mud, a few falls with dropped buckets of berries (Brady), and one incident of shoes literally stuck in the mud (Brady), we were able to get a good 10 lbs of berries between the lot of us. I am so glad we went, it was a good time and we came home with some fabulous loot!

After picking berries and then cleaning off our feet, we headed over to some friends of ours who so graciously let us use their pool! I couldn't think of a better way to cool (and clean) off from a sweaty, muddy excursion. It was a great way to top off a busy afternoon. Thanks again Betsy for coming with!


After a good nights sleep (the kids slept in till after 8, they were so tired!) I was ready to just stay home and get the laundry done, and make my first ever batches of strawberry freezer jam. My Mom always made this stuff growing up, so I was excited to try my hand at it. I have to say it turned out yummy! And we shouldn't have to buy jam for at least a year! I found some sweet little plastic freezer "jars" (with cute purple lids!)and used some liquid pectin by Ball for my batches and it worked just fine. I was a little nervous because I know my Mom always used the powdered pectin (which makes jam solid), but the liquid was very simple and seems to have done the trick.



Anywho, I digress. The morning was uneventful, well if you can count washing AND putting away ALL of the laundry (woot!) and making the jam (can you tell I am excited about that dang jam??). I was just getting logged on to work, and getting the kids settled down for a movie for the time before Daddy gets home when I got a phone call. It was Keith and he had been rear ended. Through multiple phone calls and texts we decided that since Keith's head broke out the rear window of his truck, that a trip to the ER to get checked out was necessary.

Everything kind of fell into place and our friends were able to pick up the kids, and treat them to McDonalds, and watch them for the next 5 hours (Thank you Taylors!!), and I was also able to leave work and take Keith in. After 2 unsuccessful attempts at getting the catheter needle in his arm (apparently he has tough skin, because the first one literally BENT, and the second on PINCHED CLOSED), he was all C collared up and we waited for the CTs. Thankfully all scans were negative and now all we can do is keep any pain under control and make sure no strange symptoms manifest. It may seem that I am being overly cautious, but in cases like this better safe than sorry! I told Keith that if I ever wake up and he is dead in bed beside me, I would kill him! So we are just trying to make sure that doesn't happen any time soon! Next comes the waiting, and the checking out of the vehicle, and all that jazz. I hate car accidents! This is our first between the two of us, and I hope that we don't have another for a long, long time!

All I can say is after all that excitement, I am ready for a lazy weekend!

hard knock life

It's hard out there for a kid. Apparently.

Keith just informed me of a small conversation he just had with Brady.

As Brady is heading into the bathroom to go potty, he says, "I am just cold and tired and freezing."

As he plops down to go potty, said in his saddest most depressing puppy voice, "It's tough."