about this summer...
1. wearing no makeup and not caring (first time in like forever. Always wore makeup during daycare)
2. letting the house be messy and being OK with it because there's always tomorrow
3. Having plenty of time to plan for the next school year
4. Watching the girls dote on their new kitty and seeing him enjoy every minute
5. Sleeping in......the girls and I (this has been GLORIOUS!!!!!!)
6. Watching a movie with the girls every morning as a routine
7. The smell of sunblock just before hitting the pool
8. Working out in the middle of the day
9. Watering my plants and having the girls play while I do so
10. Loosening up and letting the girls run through the sprinkler in their clothes
11. Watching all the creations with sidewalk chalk
12. Cooking up big meals and not feeling exhausted when done
13. Falling off the plan for meals and not caring
14. Ice pops
15. Iced tea
16. cold soda cans
17. strawberry margheritas
18. hours to search on pinterest and time to do some of the stuff I find
19. playdates with friends up the street
20. Kayaking with a friend
21. Lunch with another
22. Long road trips with my girls and a neighbor
23. 2 big vacations in 2 months
24. Cheesy patriotic music blasting during the fourth
25. Having the greenest lawn in the nieghborhood
26. Silver Dollar City passes.
27. Swimming at the city pool
28. Helping my oldest start a new (hopefully lifetime) hobby with piano
29. Staying in my PJs until noon
30. Taking a shower in the middle of the day
31. Watching the girls get all pumped to catch fireflies
32. Date nights
33. Watching Kadyn play hide and go seek with Harry and the giggles that insue
34. Watching Bren cator to Harry with play food and cover him with baby blankets when he's all sacked out.
35. Realizing one day that my littlest hasn't asked for my assistance in the bathroom for awhile
36. Grocery runs on week days, in the middle of the day
37. Training my kids to put their plates in the sink.
38. Washing the van in my swimsuit with the girls
39. Having a clean van inside and out.
40. Staying up late with my man.
41. Wearing scuzy clothes because I don't have to be anywhere and not caring
42. Watching my girls play well together
43. Listening to B make believe in her high pitched motherly voice
44. Watching Kadyn read just because she wants to
45. Heart to heart talks with Kadyn
46. Lemonade
47. A future Jammy run to squeeze in before the summer ends
48. The Lone Ranger
49. A visit from some good friends from Texas
And my all time favorite thing this summer....
50. My cute kitty poking his nose in my face, a soft mew to see if I'm awake, and then purring like crazy and snuggling up with me every. single. morning around 9. I LOVE THAT!!!!
This has been the best summer. So blessed to not have to work and just enjoy my time with my family, planning for a new job, and enjoying our new kitty. I can't believe I get to do this every year. Do I have the best job or what? So blessed.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Late night heart to hearts
I have had many heart to heart late night talks with my oldest throughout the years. Tonight was one of them. We started out being upset with each other and ended the night snuggling and talking about decisions, what makes a good friend, peer pressure, and much more.
This summer I have noticed Kadyn making decisions that have demonstrated to me that she has hid all those heart to heart talks in her heart. It is exciting and reassuring to know that she is listening to all my pearls of wisdom. It is also a reminder that I have to be careful to live up to own expectations. A perfect example. The other day we were listening to the radio in the van on the trip to somewhere. Kadyn made the comment that she didn't like the particular song that was playing because it had curse words in it and wished I would change it. I did change it of course, but I felt ashamed that I had let it play in the first place. I should've changed it before she had the chance to notice it. For the record, it infuriates me that radio has become lax about certain words. These particular words were never allowed on public radio when I was a child. What changed? As far as I know, most parents would not want their own children to say these words. The words are still not allowed to be said in public schools, so why are they OK to play on the public radio and on TV sets?
Anyways I digress, my point is my girl knows right from wrong and she is beginning to exercise the right choices not just because I told her so, but because she wants to do the right thing. I'm proud of her. I'm relieved that God is working in her life mold her into a Godly child.
If there's one thing that I worry a little about for Kadyn, it's how her humble nature (when it comes to friendships) can often lead to others manipulate her. Kadyn values friendships. So much so, that she allows for herself to be manipulated by them. She is the kid that gets told things like, "If you don't do x, y, and z I won't be your friend anymore." This strikes fear within her . Rather than standing up for herself, she chooses to listen to her friends, so she doesn't have to risk loosing the friendship. As a mother, this is a red flag. I am trying to empower her to stand up to those type of friends and help her identify that true friendships are not conditional. What starts out as normal childlike manipulation can turn into dangerous peer pressure someday. Today it involves one child trying to get his or her way in play, 10 years from now it may involve friends trying to manipulate my child to try drugs. OK so maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but sometimes I feel God allows our children to go through these obstacles with friends early on so we parents can use it as a teachable moment regarding choices before they have more severe consequences. The challenging part, is to recognize when God is handing us those moments, grab them and run with them.
So all this is to say, thank you Jesus for giving me all those heart to hearts with my daughter. I realize they have been purposeful and orchestrated by you. I know I am your vessel to help guide her and am so glad you are using me as such. I pray that as she grows older and enters puberty, you help protect her heart so that it does not close it off from the truth. I pray that she will still be open to our late night heart to heart conversations and you will use those opportunities to continue planting seeds of truth, wisdom and courage regarding life.
This summer I have noticed Kadyn making decisions that have demonstrated to me that she has hid all those heart to heart talks in her heart. It is exciting and reassuring to know that she is listening to all my pearls of wisdom. It is also a reminder that I have to be careful to live up to own expectations. A perfect example. The other day we were listening to the radio in the van on the trip to somewhere. Kadyn made the comment that she didn't like the particular song that was playing because it had curse words in it and wished I would change it. I did change it of course, but I felt ashamed that I had let it play in the first place. I should've changed it before she had the chance to notice it. For the record, it infuriates me that radio has become lax about certain words. These particular words were never allowed on public radio when I was a child. What changed? As far as I know, most parents would not want their own children to say these words. The words are still not allowed to be said in public schools, so why are they OK to play on the public radio and on TV sets?
Anyways I digress, my point is my girl knows right from wrong and she is beginning to exercise the right choices not just because I told her so, but because she wants to do the right thing. I'm proud of her. I'm relieved that God is working in her life mold her into a Godly child.
If there's one thing that I worry a little about for Kadyn, it's how her humble nature (when it comes to friendships) can often lead to others manipulate her. Kadyn values friendships. So much so, that she allows for herself to be manipulated by them. She is the kid that gets told things like, "If you don't do x, y, and z I won't be your friend anymore." This strikes fear within her . Rather than standing up for herself, she chooses to listen to her friends, so she doesn't have to risk loosing the friendship. As a mother, this is a red flag. I am trying to empower her to stand up to those type of friends and help her identify that true friendships are not conditional. What starts out as normal childlike manipulation can turn into dangerous peer pressure someday. Today it involves one child trying to get his or her way in play, 10 years from now it may involve friends trying to manipulate my child to try drugs. OK so maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but sometimes I feel God allows our children to go through these obstacles with friends early on so we parents can use it as a teachable moment regarding choices before they have more severe consequences. The challenging part, is to recognize when God is handing us those moments, grab them and run with them.
So all this is to say, thank you Jesus for giving me all those heart to hearts with my daughter. I realize they have been purposeful and orchestrated by you. I know I am your vessel to help guide her and am so glad you are using me as such. I pray that as she grows older and enters puberty, you help protect her heart so that it does not close it off from the truth. I pray that she will still be open to our late night heart to heart conversations and you will use those opportunities to continue planting seeds of truth, wisdom and courage regarding life.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Have and Have Not
This summer I have:
-gone to the pool, not as much as we'd like though (sickness, vacation, ear infections interferred)
-let the kids play outside in the sprinkler
-gone on a long vacation and have one more planned
-taken K to gymnastics two times a week for 1.5 hours each time which she is fairly certain she wants to quit and I am actually kind of relieved about
-played a lot with Harry
-watched a lot of movies
-kept up with the house
-planned lessons for school next year
-planned out my classroom decor for school next year
-cleaned out the basement and purged
-gone to SDC once and have plans for more
-ran lots of errands in the middle of the day on a weekdays (yea for grocery shopping on weekdays!)
I have not:
-read to the kids much
-gone to the library with the kids
-did worksheets with the kids
You know what? I don't care about the have nots. My kids are bright. I'm sure one summer off from learning isn't going to kill their education. I have had to do those things for 6 years. It's nice to have a break and go with the flow. It actually feels like the way summer is supposed to be. Finally. It's hard to believe, but for us summer will be half way over in one week. B goes back on the 5th of August, I on the 8th, and K on the 12th. I plan on going in and starting on my room the 5th, so to me, that's when my summer is officially over. I don't feel ready to go back yet, but I am excited, and think by the time it arrives I'll be ready.
Yea to my first REAL summer vacation. Love it!
-gone to the pool, not as much as we'd like though (sickness, vacation, ear infections interferred)
-let the kids play outside in the sprinkler
-gone on a long vacation and have one more planned
-taken K to gymnastics two times a week for 1.5 hours each time which she is fairly certain she wants to quit and I am actually kind of relieved about
-played a lot with Harry
-watched a lot of movies
-kept up with the house
-planned lessons for school next year
-planned out my classroom decor for school next year
-cleaned out the basement and purged
-gone to SDC once and have plans for more
-ran lots of errands in the middle of the day on a weekdays (yea for grocery shopping on weekdays!)
I have not:
-read to the kids much
-gone to the library with the kids
-did worksheets with the kids
You know what? I don't care about the have nots. My kids are bright. I'm sure one summer off from learning isn't going to kill their education. I have had to do those things for 6 years. It's nice to have a break and go with the flow. It actually feels like the way summer is supposed to be. Finally. It's hard to believe, but for us summer will be half way over in one week. B goes back on the 5th of August, I on the 8th, and K on the 12th. I plan on going in and starting on my room the 5th, so to me, that's when my summer is officially over. I don't feel ready to go back yet, but I am excited, and think by the time it arrives I'll be ready.
Yea to my first REAL summer vacation. Love it!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Throwing them in there, almost forgot
I almost forgot, we did go trail riding in the mountains, my Dad, Teresa, and I. It was Teresa's first time on a horse ever. We dodged branches, crossed over big fallen trees and boulders, and went through rushing creeks. I was so proud of her for taking it like a champ. She loved it. We even survived having a group of pit bulls come running at us full steam, shew!
Totally random here, but we also stopped and saw the Sante Fe Trail on our way back home.
Totally random here, but we also stopped and saw the Sante Fe Trail on our way back home.
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| It blew my mind that it was still there. I kept thinking maybe they came and remade it in secret. I mean, how can something last that long? Amazing! |
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| Trail to the tracks. It. was.so WINDY>>>>>>>>> |
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| And there were lots of blooming cacti |
The GC Part CO trip 2013
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| Mutton Buston, AKA little kids get bucked off sheep |
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| Rodeo queens, girls were most impressed by this part |
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| All looking our cowgirl best |
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| Toothless cowgirl....and me |
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| The pink hats were bought by our friend Teresa and were perfect for the rodeo was sponsoring Breast Cancer Awareness |
Colorado 2013 Part 2
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| My Mom |
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| Small museum at CO National Monument |
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| He's kissing her head, sigh! |
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| A deer taking a chill pill in my Mom's yard |
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| Loving up on Papa |
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| 4 generational photo with Mom, Dad, Me, Girls, and My Grandma and Grandpa on my Dad's side |
Colorado 2013 part 1
This year was the first of what I think will finally start turning into an annual pilgrimage to Colorado each summer to visit my folks. We left on Friday and returned the following Friday with one stop in Garden City each way to break up the drive. My sweet neighbor joined me to keep me company and help me. We had a blast and she is more than willing to accompany each year if need be. Jeff had to stay back and study for a test.
Driving that far was
very intimidating to me, but it was just as easy as everyone said it would be and with a GPS to guide me it required little to no thought. Shew! I was certainly born in the right era with technology that can help directionally challenged people like myself.
The kids traveled like champs. This was the longest stretch of time I've seen my folks in YEARS. Usually they come to see us and only for 2 days at a time once or twice a year.
Here are some pics.
Driving that far was
The kids traveled like champs. This was the longest stretch of time I've seen my folks in YEARS. Usually they come to see us and only for 2 days at a time once or twice a year.
Here are some pics.
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| Four wheeling with Papa was B's favorite activity. |
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| Watching a cattle drive on the four wheelers in front of house |
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| Riding horses with Papa was K's favorite |
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| B not so much |
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| Hiking where we can have a snow ball fight.... |
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| Great views everywhere we we went |
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| Sharing views our friend Teresa had never seen before |
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