My Day's Life, or A Life in My Day, or...

I used to get all of these fun girl's magazines growing up, and almost every single one had a 'day in my life' feature.
This, my friends, is my day.
I woke up rested. (Now that felt good)  I spent some time doing paperwork with Bronz, made his lunch and sent him off. But not before he brought in a care package from my littlest sister, which made me cry.  So sweet. 
Kamie came down the stairs and wanted her rice crispy oatmeal - which is rice crispies. Somehow the name sounds more nutritious.  As much as I try, the boys can't seem to roll out of bed until much l-a-t-e-r than the rest of the fam.  So if you can't beat it... learn to enjoy it.  Kame's and I curled up on the recliner with her pre-k book and she drew the most amazing K all by herself, which kind of made my day.  And we matched an occasional picture to the right letter/sound.  Then the boys were up and the hubbub began - breakfast, baths, clothes, Bible time, morning nap for my little man, school for Wally, chores for Kamie.  She is loving helping, with everything. And is pretty much amazing.  Today I let her peel boiled eggs. (Speaking of which Bronz voxed me 3 times at dinner to make sure the egg was boiled, I guess I really must be a practical joker...)
Lunch, and more school, and drivers' permit studying, and cuddling in with Kamie for a nap.  Then having her lean over and say "I'm sorry Mama, for saying that I Hate naps." And then seconds after feeling her little body relax next to me, I hear Moo-ing from the next room.  Apparently that's my little farm boy's way of cooing.  I actually (Wishful thinking) wondered if it was coming from the pasture...? Not so. I'm pretty sure Blake's love language is physical touch. He wakes up with a grin, and slobbery kisses, and big hugs for Wally. And then he marches out to the fridge trying to hunt down some food.  Spelling tests, supper prep, scrubbed floor, spaghetti squash in the stove. (anything else I can alliterate?)  I ran Wally down to do chores and then went into town to grab milk, and give a friend a hug.  (About 3 days late. I really, really want to be a good friend.) At the gas station I realize that Kamie dressed herself. Maybe I should mention that Uncle Si is her favorite character on Duck Dynasty, and just maybe we've been watching too much of it.  Cuz' she marched into the gas station with shorts, rubber muck boots, (and a coat)  This would also be the time that you run into your banker and random people who know your husband enough to know you.  Also about this time you remember that the gas station attendant was hitting on your husband last week -- Please, please, don't let it be her shift.  Also about five minutes after this, you would get a call from your hubs wondering why you only bought 1 gallon of milk, and could you please go get more.  Oh, and could you bring out supper to the field.  (I just know those boys are gonna looove my spaghetti squash.)  Fortunately my friend has a Keurig, which meant a very quick amazing cuppa coffee.  And then back to the house to round up supper.  (Oh, and I really did have more than the squash in the oven.)  Around this time Kamie had an accident about three inches from the toilet, so she was streaking around the house.  I threatened that if she didn't get some clothes on I would put on unders and a coat and make her go au naturale, but she did comply and came down in more pajamas. I looked in the mirror at my very cute sweatband, from my very cute little sister, and read 'I'd Rather Be Running'   What?!!  I am running?!!  How much more running, can I be doing?  Oh, yeah, somehow this kind doesn't burn the same amount of calories, bummer.  We delivered supper, and Blake rode in the tractor with Bronz for a little while.  Then back home to tuck in the kids and clean up the kitchen. But wait.  Some guy's daughter is going to be dropping triticale off for Bronz to look at around 9:30.  So I keep the kids up, and we clean the kitchen. (And totally Tmi, but I also put off a trip to the bathroom... cuz that's when everyone comes over.)  I did learn an important lesson.  Never underestimate what children can do when they don't want to go to bed.  Kamie dried racks of dishes, Blake repeatedly put non-breakables into my sink of soapy water, and ran the sweeper back and forth on the floor.  Both got along famously.  After finishing Kamie raced over to my phone and pulled up Voxer to tell Bronz all about what she had done.  -That's a little disconcerting, especially since I'm not a big fan of their privacy settings.
Then it was 10:30 and the triticale hadn't showed up so, I tucked the babies in, and finally (Tmi alert) made it to the bathroom, when, lights came in the driveway...  Turned out Wally was getting dropped off, and I am still waiting on the triticale. And my man.  But even Mom's need sleep. 

So, I think I shall say

Sayonara Y'all, And to all a good night! 

(Have I mixed enough cultures?)

He Makes Me To Lie Down...

When I'm in the thick of life, I just see what's up close and personal. The monumental challenges, overwhelming joys... It's time that gives me perspective.  Thinking back on this year, I've seen God bring so much rest into my life.  It didn't start out easy, and it's not like there haven't been obstacles, or frustrations, but it also hasn't been a constant dark tunnel.  I've learned some coping strategies this year.  I've been way more faithful about seeking God. And I can't let go of His peace, it really does pass all understanding.  And it really is there for me in every circumstance. A friend and I were chatting on Sunday... "I don't know how, or if it is even possible to show another person how reliable God is." I told her, we both understood, her struggles, my struggles, both looked very different, and yet we were both coming out of the 'wringer' of the pain.  Ironically, neither of us has had a miraculous change in circumstances.  What changed was our hearts, we no longer fight the pain, the unfairness. We feel it, but we don't fight it.  I wish I could walk your road with you and quick give you some true verses and have you instantly 'get' the lesson that God wants you to learn.  But I can't.  I can tell you that He is faithful.  He can hold you. You must seek Him.
So that brings me to life right now.  We are currently caring for and loving up on a great little guy.  Talking to Bronz last night I realized that it's been a month and I'm waaaay behind on all my friendships.  And I need my girlfriends.  I've been pouring everything into the family, and things are going good.  Having an extra family member has helped me to be more organized, a little less artistic. My house is pretty clean, we are doing good on laundry.  Kamie is loving her pre-school. Blake is pretty thrilled to have another big boy around.  It is sort of like having a new baby, (only, much, much easier :)) you desperately try to keep your head above water, figure out your new normal... then make adjustments along the way.  I'm realizing that I very much need to budget in times for real friends, face to face contact over facebook.  I don't want to fall into the classic homeschool Mom trap, where we are so busy planning field trips, lesson plans, and wiping noses, and sweeping floors, and training, and being a good example... and all that wonderful stuff, and never leave relational time.  God may have put an extra relationship gene in me... I do know that it does say something about "Older women teaching the younger women"  and that sorta intimates that we are having some girl time, Right?! So that is what I want to be more intentional about this next month.  I want to find out all about a new relationship a friend is in, talk baby's with another friend who is doing foster care for a prison mom, and maybe get a couple neighbors to come drink coffee with me.
Ok. so essays are supposed to end with a summary of your article... But this isn't an essay, it's my journey, and it's not summarized yet. And if I keep rambling I'll get waaay off topic and probably tell funny Kamie stories... Like, Me (during school time): Don't distract each other, time is a gift from God, and we need to use it wisely. (Isn't that a nice sermonette?!) Kamie: No it's not, Mom! Babies are a gift from God!  (Can you tell who's on a big campaign for another sibling?)
I'm glad that God has given us many gifts, I'm thankful for a heart that can be washed clean, and filled with his Love.  Thankful for forgiveness...  And Grace... And more forgiveness... And babies (Nope. That's not an announcement.)

On the Road Again

So, I have a little rant to get off my chest. It has to do with the myriad of treks to unknown locales in order to find my husband near some field.
Our phone convo's go like this:
"Turn where the greenhouse used to be... You know where that is? No?! Everyone knows where that is. Then take lefts on both Y's... and just try and find us... Gotta go." 
Or tonight's:
"I'm on the Sinclair blacktop, I've taken you by there. I've got to run." 
Yup, I've been by there, and where they feed cattle, and where his Dad lives... and so which of those three places am I to guess that he's bagging at tonight?
I think some husband/wife team, who is fabulous at communication -that counts us out- Need to come up with some sort of app.  The code can be written in man - language "Bring XYZ (parts, pizza, pop...) to Ervil's (some long gone, rest his soul, former farmer).  Then the app will magically translate that to Left & Right's and actual street names.  That would be pure genius.  Or we could save some money and get the men to use actual locations, and living people, and current landmarks... But it would probably be easier to create an app.
I'm of the opinion that it's another way for guys to prove themselves, how long they've lived in the area, how well they know the landscape, and how well their 1978 plat book is memorized...
In the meantime, I'm the girl backing up and turning around in all the field drive-ins from here to the Ervil place.
Farm life definitely does have it's perks... I don't want to come across as too negative, cuz I really do love it.  I like it that my kids get to go see their Daddy's work.  And everyone is always kind.  (Course that could be because I usually come with food)

Tonight Blake was wiggling and making all kinds of gestures, until I realized that he had spotted a cow and wanted to run over and see it.  You'd think two big dogs kissing him to pieces would've been enough.  And the fact that he does have cows at home, and he had just spent 40 minutes a couple hours earlier climbing gates and kissing cows.
Kamie's little guy, Mayor Moo, ducked out of the fence tonight.  She quickly stepped up to the job of putting him back in.  My heart felt like bursting with the total cuteness of watching her, in a little dress, marching along the fence shooing him back into the pasture, and yes, he's taller than her.
And I'll admit it, seeing my man in a tractor still makes my heart go pitter-patter.  So I guess I'll keep putting up with the lousy directions...  Cuz of things like that sweet smell of corn silage, red bees wings flying in the air, tractors, wranglers and a flannel shirt on my very own farm boy.

What About Now?

That Lonestar song.  We put it on.

What about now?  ~ That spin that never ends ~ How 'bout tonight? ~

Baby, for once let's don't think twice

That one.

Then we packed our bags.

(Which basically consisted of me pulling out the clean laundry out of the dryer from the Kansas weekend the kids and I just got back from.)

And we sorta did the 'Heads Carolina Tails California' thing.

Fueled up, breakfast at Mickey D's.

Bronz: "Michigan or Black Hills?"

We went West.

Lots of driving.  Stops at cool tourist spots and stops at places that had more dust than anything else.

Blake giving Bronz a little kiss during our lunch stop

 

Your South Dakota traveler guide is now going to inform you that the more billboards the less time actually spent on the attraction.

We made it to Rapid City by evening.

Stayed in a fabulous hotel.

There was a pretty sweet waterslide.

Kamie was proud of herself because she went down with Bronz and plugged her nose, and actually got her chin wet.

Blake, the water baby, never took the smile off his face. Wiped the water out of his eyes and toddled back to the ladder.  (Oh and we are talking like a 140' slide.)

We pushed the stroller down to TGI Friday's for supper.  Yummers. 

Walked around the mall area and back to our room where we tucked sleepy kids into beds.

I made a pot of coffee...

Whammo

Both were up. Like wide awake up.  Blake has no middle ground for his crying, it's all or nothing.  We tried to let him cry it out, but when I could hear him from the floor below I decided to have mercy on fellow guests.  Thus started many moons of very bad sleep. 

We saw Mt. Rushmore.

Kamie looked out her window and gasped "Mom! Look!  There's some guys up on that rock!"

 

Our Fam

Cheesin' with my princess

Love how the crayon is in mid-air

Having breakfast...

Love my boys!

We had a nice older gentleman take our picture in front of Mt Rushmore.  Next time we'll have to make sure we ask a tourist whose glasses aren't quite as thick...

(What is in the background is definitely below 'the guys')

Celebrating our 5 year anniversary

(a tad early)

 

 

I thought this quote was pretty cool.  I Love how our Country's roots are so honoring to God.

Almighty God, from this pulpit of stone the American people render thanksgiving and praise for the new era of civilization brought forth upon this continent. Centuries of tyrannical oppression sent to these shores, God-fearing men to seek in freedom the guidance of the benevolent hand in the progress toward wisdom, goodness toward men, and piety toward God.

William Andrew Burkett

 

 

 

 

St8te Fair

It's been a cram, jam packed week with a couple trips to Des Moines involved.

Bronz was dying to go to the State Fair.

We are drastically different.  And the State Fair always proves it.

So we were very intentional and proactive this year.

We both wrote down exactly where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to see.

And then wrote some kid friendly options.

I packed a yummy lunch.

This was wonderful, because anytime the kids got the munchies I had strawberries, granola bars, cheese sticks, gummies... all ready to go in the bottom of the stroller.

 

Here's Blake trying to get a closer look at the Super Bull.

He was contemplating how quickly he could scale the gate.

I know this because He tried.

 

I loved walking through the arts building...  and that painting on the top was my favorite.  Bronz and I both completely cracked up. 

(So wish that they sold more of their exhibited pieces.)

We have sat like that many times, with those very expressions.

-Apologies for how wonderfully my phone captured it-

 

It was Veteran's day at the fair, so there was a big parade.  And I'm that lady who always tears up, and gets goosebumps, and who never thinks you can over thank a veteran. 

From the WW11 veterans sitting in floats to the Vietnam Vets riding their Harleys

The active duty regiments,

Crisp, young, impressive

That crazy group of Kilt wearing Vets

The cute little ladies in a WAVES truck

The two who were Pearl Harbor Survivors

The injured.

Those who weren't there.

I especially love seeing those of a different ethnicity in uniform, to me that is the quintessential American dream.  Someone who's found freedom and is willing to sacrifice to keep it. 
Had a cool experience a couple weeks ago, along those lines

A Hispanic young man looked across the street to see a middle aged white woman taking down a flag at a restaurant,

it was noticeably dragging on the parking lot.

He called out

"Get that flag off the ground!"

She laughed and maybe lifted it an inch or two

It was still touching

"Pick up the Flag!"

He repeated.

When she still made no effort, he said:
"I took an oath to the United States Army to protect that flag.  Get it off the ground."

Now, that is cool.

We met up with Bronz's sister and her boyfriend for supper, at the Cattlemen's Shed. 

Ahhh love getting to the end of fair day and being able to sit down.

...and sitting down reminds me of that which I am doing...

I usually write when the kids are going down for naps, or bedtime.

And they are now quiet, which means my work is also quietly waiting for me.

 

Please forgive the discombobulated nature of this post. 

My brain is running on coffee.

Seriously.

We hit our warm little bed this morning at 3:30 a.m.

Then up at 7 to pick the kiddos up.

(Des Moines trip #2 for me...)

Bronz actually ran through there once more this week...

So I'm slightly fried.

 

 

 

 

My Dirty Laundry

I am getting tired of loads and loads of laundry.

What's a girl to do, but take inventory of ways in which to cut down on it.

Now that's been discouraging.

Kamie had two bathroom accidents yesterday...

inches from the toilet

Blake appears to be magnetized by mud.

and me:

I ran this morning = sweaty workout clothes

+

cute dress

--Won't admit how much Kamie and my conversation yesterday had to do with this... 

Her: Momma is that a baby in there?

>pokes tummy<

Me: No!

Her:
It just kinda looks like one?!--

Cute dress hasn't quite hit the hamper yet, I wore it for all of three hours, but in that three hours Blake and Kamie started a new game -- played like this.

Dip hands in mud

Run and pat mom

Run, run, run!

Then Bronz needed me to help him unload a rack of hay, so I changed into jeans and borrowed a flannel shirt from his side of the closet.

(Wearing your man's flannel shirts.. It's just one of those fabulous things in life)

And guess what, I'm still wearing that get-up

 

When Bronz & I were first dating I asked him what he liked about me, why he was drawn to me.

Being the ever romantic that he was, he answered:

Scene note:

Riding in a tractor on a beautiful November day pulling a ripper behind us.

"Because of how responsible you are, and then he elaborated..."

Me, I sorta chuckled to myself.

But, I was somewhat responsible.

4 star moneywise, pretty careful with relationships

It's just that I wasn't born with the innate sense of responsibility Bronz was.

He never broke anything as a child.

He could be set down and not move, or get into a purse.

(Still waiting for one of our children to get his genes.)

His first 'real' job involved riding a dirt bike at 4 in the morning to a neighbors for their morning milking. 

(Meanwhile I was very snuggled under my covers.)

(I got the early riser award in my fam, cuz I was up by 7 a.m.)

 

Well, we go back to our riding in the tractor, and have a lovely day.

Until Bronz drops me off at my car.

I knew something was wrong when I opened the door and the seats were hot.

Very hot.

Like

she-left-the-car-running-on-a-full-tank-of-gas-hot

And then he knew what he was getting into

And I knew I would be taken care of,

Because, of course he carries a tank of gas in the back of his truck.

And yes, this story has absolutely nothing, to do with anything.

Except I just told my sister

(almost 6 years later)

And you have no idea how incredibly mortified I was.

Or how many times I've laughed about it since.

 

I guess I'll go back to my laundry and be thankful I married a farmer, and have these adorable farmkids who make lots of dirty laundry.

 

 

 

 

 

Roadtripping...

 

We love a good drive, to a sorta crazy extent.  See two days ago we spent nine hours in a truck hauling cattle to Mo. 

Then we go and load the kids up after church and

drive.

Or meander, that's a more proper name.  Cuz' it's definitely not the fastest way to destination, and come to think of it we really don't have a destination in mind.

We took a pizza to the park and the kids ate two bites and took off for the slides.

Blake can now do it all by his own little self. 

Pretty cool stuff.

Then we watched big fish by a dam. Big, Big, fish.

Chatted with a lady who was obviously extremely intelligent, she took one look at the kids and told us that we had the cutest kids in the world.

(And this was after she had told us about her bicycle ride across France, so yes, she's been out of Iowa.)

 
We spent most of our time driving back roads around Dyersville and eating sour gummies and Culver's ice cream.

I fought flower envy.

Bronz fought dairy envy.

Gorgeous farm after gorgeous farm, with landscaping everywhere.  Rose bushes behind machine sheds, rock gardens by barns, carefully weeded zinnias, meticulously mowed yards, and cows. Good ol' dairy cows.

We intersected with a scenic byway... and drove along the Mississippi for some more pretty driving.

Ending in Guttenburg, where we stopped at Greaser's for supper.

It was a cute little drive-in, with homemade burgers, and a definite retro feel. 

We did all that and made it home by midnight... Not bad, eh?



Fun Runs...

Took a lovely little selfie before my morning run...

Yeah baby, I could go shopping with those bags under my eyes.

And there's nothing lovely about selfies. Period. End of Sentence.

My excuse was that it was such a gorgeous morning

cows grazing in the pasture

sun coming up, still leaving some beautiful colors behind it

tall, green, corn, with yellow tassels

 after-a-rain-shower air

 gravel road that is so not a treadmill

(and that's a good thing)

praise music

20 minutes from some fabulous endorphins.

 

I've been meaning to write a running post.  See, I've been doing it now for over 4 months.  Me, the non-runner.  And I seriously love it. (Yup, that's me the non-runner saying that)  I started running because I made a list of goals I didn't think I could accomplish this summer.  And then I checked my 5k off the list, and kept running.  I was hoping that pesky baby weight would fall off. Half of it has...  the rest is still being pesky.  But mainly I run for my own margin.  Incredibly it recharges me.  The only reason good enough to get up early and fit it in.  I run for sanity, clarity.  I run out frustrations, and I accomplish... It is often the only thing at the end of the day that feels accomplished.  Laundry is always waiting, children, husband, house all have needs that weren't all met.  Running gives me the physical/mental boost to go at it again...  I made the choice when I started to only listen to praise music.  And with few exceptions I've done that.  It's in no way a replacement for devotions, and yet it gives me that time to pray, and focus on lyrics, that focus on God. 

~I'm not one of those people that thinks really clearly while I run~ My prayers are pretty in depth. Not.  "Lord, that lady, you know the one who leads the Bible Study. Bless her. Jane! Her. Bless her."

~People talk about runners high, and just running feeling nothing~

I haven't hit that point.  Every step is hard.  Every minute is long.  It's when I get done and I hear the little voice say.  "Well done, you have completed your run for the day" That's when I feel amazing.

So, here's my quandary.  I'm fighting having it become an obsession.  I'm purposely avoiding Scheels. (I can run in $3 shorts.) I have spent too much time reading up on the mechanics of running. I want it to be kept in it's margin. Because it isn't about running this race, it's a tool to help me run The Race.  

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

Hebrews 12:1-3 ESV

 

Let us also lay aside every weight.  That's what my heart goal is.  And that's why no matter how much I like running... I can't let it become it's own weight. So like many things in life I struggle to keep it at its own tension, hugely beneficial, fun, rewarding, but not an end in itself.  Cuz' I'm looking forward to hearing a voice say "Well done, good run." And it sure won't be coming from my phone! 

Grandma Day Trip

My grandparents faithfully attend a local Bible Conference every year.  We grew up going as well, and I remember special quiet books, and lots of time spent outside the building (apparently that was when the quiet books didn't cut it.) They have speakers... so you can still catch the gist of what's going on.
This year Grandma got a girls group together to hear Kay Arthur... with the promise that she was making lunch for us all afterwards.  Of course we couldn't resist that.  I dropped the kids off at appropriate child care places and sat through the first hour.  I personally was most challenged by:


Happily recovered and drinking
juice with his Mama

Focusing on the Bible as the authority, rather than our feelings or someone else's.

Reminded that we are going to give an account for each day of our lives.  And that leaves no room for rebellious, frivolous tangents.

Her total frankness, and the fact that she genuinely loves God.

 

Blake was traumatized by the nursery so I didn't get as much out of the second half.  Kamie, on the other hand, happily told me when I picked her up "Mom, I was good for pre-school!"   And I'm like -- Whoa-- Did you just say that you were in PRE-SCHOOL! 

Then followed a fun afternoon at my Grandparents condo....

I love how angelic this photo appears... Until I realized Brock and Kamie were having some sort of altercation!

Poor Ty

Mom & Grandma

Normal Days...

My little garden helpers!  Kamie quickly went from digging up weeds in her little square to throwing dirt at Blake, which really shouldn't have bothered him much considering the amount he was eating.  He prolly thought it was chocolate.
We ran and picked up Bronz this morning which should have taken 5 minutes but turned into more like 45. He called for a ride just as Kamie pulled a whole glass of chocolate milk on top of herself... which didn't help with communication much. So after chatting with the neighbors for awhile I find I'm not at the right spot. Then I specifically asked hay field or V's place? "V's place", so I pull in and no one is around.  I call in, and find out that there's a difference between V's place and the place he lives.  Who woulda thunk it....  All this with my pathetic stick shift driving.   Oh well, more steam coming from my head than the truck.  
Loving, loving having the barn cleaned out.  The kids spend lots of time riding trikes, playing tag and drawing out there.  Last night after a bonfire we played a couple games of hot potato with Kamie, she had a blast.  Mostly she was pretty happy to have both her parents undivided attention.  Which meant we were listening to a lot of stories.  She is absolutely hilarious once talking... describing her dolls imaginary car she said it had a "Behinder" (otherwise known as a truck box.)
And right now waiting for the little Miss to fall asleep in order to throw together a peach pie, to have with coffee in the barn tonight.  The white lights have been practically begging for it.  Oh whatever, so it's my tastebuds...


The kidlets had a ball playing with these adorable puppies yesterday.

Grown-Up BLT's

I'm keeping my fridge stocked with bacon for the moment my big tomatoes finally up and decide to turn red.  This is slightly dangerous.  Cuz' I'm willing to make compromises for a BLT.  So currently I'm all about being a test kitchen and getting the perfect BLT down pat as I wait on the real tomatoes.

Today's Amazingness:

Toast

Cream cheese, spread on one piece

butter and mayo on the other

(like I said this BLT testing is dangerous business.)

Bacon (Duh) 

-I snip mine into little pieces so I have more even flavor-

A few drops of flavored vinegar

(I use red wine vinegar, it's milder and sweeter than balsamic, which I wanted to like but just didn't.)

lower-case-t tomatoes

Onion greens

Lettuce

Chervil 

(which is like parsley only milder, and not gone to seed yet...)

Cheese

and

*drumroll*

Lemon Basil

I planted it because I'm not a huge fan of basil but love herbs.

Then it grew and I had no idea what to do with it cuz it smells so lemony.

After a little experimentation...

It doesn't really keep it's lemony flavor in baking, and I like the basil flavor a lot better than, well, basil.

Uncooked it has a fantastic lemon flavor and is pretty soft on the herby basil side of things.

Yum yum!

 

Barn Party (and Random July Happenings)

 

Our favorite Aunt Inga had a birthday last week.

Schedules were hectic, two siblings were out of state, fair was going on...

Soo we decided to do a sneaky surprise party.

(Make-up for having a dud birthday)

Bronz, the kids and I worked overtime on the barn.  Blake even got in on the sweeping.

But there was also a lot of this.

(Note, Blake's balancing act.  Is it any wonder our kids are constantly nursing lumps and bumps?)

 

 
 

Her boyfriend, Blake L. completely handled the surprise part of things and did a good job as you can tell by her face!

(My apologies for photo quality... all off the smart phone.  Which happens to have an easy.to.charge.battery)

I just love birthday parties.   

It's like an extra special chance to tell them how much they mean to you.

That said, I didn't get a card written and nary a present wrapped.



Nancy & Layla went all out with a gazillion cakes and salads.

(Lucky me, I found leftovers in my fridge this morning!)

Blake L. had pretty much come directly from a business trip to Kansas, so he was not without fireworks.

This was pretty exciting for the younger crew.

All in all we had a pretty fabulous time.

And we might have pushed our bedtimes a tad...

as in crawling in at 1:30...

 

Here's the Queen Bee.

Her Royal Highness

Miss Kamie

Miss Pam signed her up for a parade float...

Which thrilled her little heart.

She practiced her princess wave on the back of the four-wheeler.

Modeling her hair.

She's soo beautiful...

(No apologies for bragging, you all know her faults.)

And now she wants her hair curled

the crown hurts her ears,

it gets stuck in the back of her trike.

Then my gorgeous little blondie

furiously pedals away

(Blake doing his best to dodge)

(No wonder everyone comments on how fast he walks, it's survival, people)

Happy July!

What I'm Laughing At

Me: I want to run a 10k
Wally: I don't think you can do it.
Me:  99% percent of the time I underestimate myself, and I really think I can do this.
Wally:  But what if you're wrong 1% of the time?
Haters gonna be haters

Kamie sitting on the counter, hand in the candy jar, almost loses her balance...
Oops! I almost fell!  This counter is dangerous for little girls.  We need to cut out this counter and build a new one. 
And now I exercise great self control and don't get all political...

Listening to three repetitions of  'Don't close your eyes', waits until the chorus comes around again and then echoes 'Don't close your eyes' with

'Keep Your Eyes Open'

Kamie is getting quite argumentative, for an example:Holding up a package of bottle rockets
"Mom what are these called"
"Bottle rockets"
"Nooo." "They're called Bowel Rockets"
As they say 'you only embarrass yourself'

We have a neighbor who could double as Si from Duck Dynasty, he has a brother.  So picture Si with a Willie & Jase dynamic.
Last year 'Si' accidentally cuts off half of his brothers finger in a machinery accident.  (Rumor has it that 'Jase' felt worse about this than 'Si')
This summer 'Si' and 'Jase' are working on something and somehow or other Jase accidentally knocks 'Si' out cold.  So 'Si' is laying flat on the ground and starts coming to.  "How many fingers am I holding up?" asks 'Jase'.
"9 and a half" comes the quick reply.

Kicking -er- Hitting The Bucket

Agh... So we thought Blake had food poisoning, until a day later Bronz got sick... Then Kamie, and myself.  It wasn't your ordinary garden variety flu either.  Wham Bam Slam.  Whew. Blake was back to feeling normal and since two of us were lying prostrate over buckets, and Bronz was a delicate shade of yellow, My family graciously took Blake for an overnight.  We are all up and feeling pretty good today.  Kamie has her doctor kit out and is happily pretending that her dolly 'lil' Aaron had to go to the E.R. because of the flu.  I'm working on the laundry pile. Try washing every blanket in your house twice in one weekend. 
Kamie was a trooper, and really caught on to the art of 'how to be sick'.  Including one incident where she woke me up to tuck her into bed.
"Sure, honey. How come you're up?"
"I went downstairs drank some juice, it was really good. Then I came up, threw it up in my bucket, wiped my mouth, and now mommy, could you tuck me into bed."
Feeling sick makes me:
Empathize in a tiny way with the struggles my friends with chronic health issues have.
Appreciate my overall very good health.
Enjoy the ordinary.
It felt so good to be able to sit up and feed the kids oatmeal, and cuddle in bed, and crawl chase the little guy, and find hidden pictures with Kamie.
And I think I kinda fell all over, in love again, when my greenish/yellowish husband was holding my head up, and brushing my hair out of my eyes while I was tossing my cookies (or kidneys, or possibly toenails.)

How To Create A Calm Environment

(When The Piles Are Bigger Than You)

 

I’m writing this because yesterday was the kind of day where the kids would leapfrog their naps.

Where I actually prayed for Kamie to go back to sleep. 
Bronz sensed my desperation – After subtle hints. Oh whatever, Yeah, I don’t really do anything subtle. 

So he took Kamie with him to run to the feed store… I knew I had at least 40 minutes of peace and quiet. 

I surveyed the disaster. 

And…

>Drumroll<

Here’s my 40 minute recipe for making a stab at restoring order.

Use Bleach Like Perfume

Dab strategically. 

I put a squirt of dish soap a splash of bleach, and some water in a bucket, and go to town.

(Actually I use splash-less bleach.  Amazing.  It’s completely saving my wardrobe.  I found it at my grocery store, and it has a gel like consistency.)

 

Beautiful Music

Even if you’re not really into the classical music thang. 

(I did that on purpose, they’re all grinding their teeth.  And you can tell what genre of music I prefer.)

While you’re at it light a couple candles, and if you have any yummy scented plug-ins get those going too.

 

Attack The Worst Area

And keep it to an area.  When it’s completed move to the next. 

Don’t go and try to do the whole place at once.

 Y’know there’s only one of you.

 

Use Your Time Saving Devices

Washing Machine

Dishwasher

Crockpot

Breadmaker

These are your servants, put ‘em to work.

 

Hit The Floor

I bleach scrubbed my kitchen floor, and ran a vacuum over the rest of the main floor.

Much, much better.

 

Don’t Take A Bubble Bath 0r Sit Down

This is a sure-fire way of guaranteeing someone will immediately wake up or come home.  I know it’s unscientific, but believe me, it’s been proven my whole life.  Even, back to the days of babysitting siblings.

If you absolutely have to relax,  Do what I did.  Make coffee.  Ice it.  Pour some yummy creamer in there.  Look at the three rooms that look amazing.  Lean against the counter.

Don’t think about the porch which proves evolution wrong –nothing, spontaneously gets better. 

 

Ta Da!

 

Postscript:  Then last night, or rather early this morning Blake woke up.  I put him in bed right beside me, about 5 minutes later he started getting sick all over me.  Disgusting.  After bathing both of us.  And then taking him downstairs so I could clean our bed up … he started all over again.  All night long this was repeated.  Bronz and I took shifts.  Whoever he got sick on had the following nap.  By 5:00 a.m.  We were running low on blankets to wrap him up in.  Bless my man’s very sweet heart.  (Cuz’ he hates puke even more than I do.)  He took the 5:00 to 8:30 shift and I finally got some sleep.  I didn’t even get called down to help with more clean-up assists.  And I bit my tongue when I heard about his Nyquil dosage.  The little man has been sleeping a lot today.  Leaving me lots of time to attack the laundry. 

 

So, this housekeeping stuff sort of feels like treadmill material.  Yet, it’s these things that create a serene environment for our family as well as ourselves.  Keep it up sisters.   How many great things were created without little steps?

 

First Birthday Mom Thoughts

I’m going through all the rituals.  Remembering the feelings, scents, trepidation and prayers. Lots of prayer.  Getting out my bleach.  I swear that I craved the scent of bleach with his pregnancy.  The house had to be smelling like bleach and coffee constantly.  Remembering being in labor and thinking “Drywall.”  As hard as I tried, I’m going to always associate the smell of drywall with Blake.  Something about the bathroom remodel that wasn’t quite done.  Meeting my sweet baby and thinking “He’s big, he’s really big.”  Realizing that I never hit the “I can’t go on” wall.  Praising God.  And now I’m crying.  Because I was so afraid for Blake through so much of my pregnancy, that he would come too soon.  That the homebirth would go awry. I fought fear, constantly.  And fear won, many times.  But God overcame every fear, and he took care of me.  He took care of me, and best of all he took care of our little Blake Lee.

Birth Story  >Here<

 I was for certain that I would go into labor early considering how many contractions I had every day, so I spent the last two weeks sleeping on the couch.  One morning I woke up to the passage of Matthew I have on our living room wall.  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  I couldn’t stop laughing.  That heavy laden part sure described me, but labor, she was still no-show.

And then my Bebe is one.  One year we’ve been gifted with him.  A year in which there were days where my nerves were shot from never being able to turn my back on The Kamie, not for fear of what she could do, but knowledge of what she would do.  Time when the line from a song kept playing through my head ‘Remember when, the sound of little feet- wasn’t music, we danced from week to week.’  Surviving colic.  Being elated the first time I figured out how to get a shower with both kids staying safe. 

I love this little guy.  Kissing his little round cheeks, hearing him say “Mama”.  The heartbreaking cries when I leave him with anyone.  Anyone but his daddy that is.  He adores his daddy.  I’ve loved watching him take his bowlegged first steps with arms upraised.  Crawling up the stairs and shaking Kamie’s crib until she wakes up.  Doing a late night hotel swim with him, cuz he just loves the hot tub.  Watching him ‘wrestle’ Bronz, then crying big ol’ sobs when the tractor leaves the driveway. Looking into his eyes and seeing this amazing little person.  A little person I met one year ago.

Happy Birthday!
Blake Lee

 

A Helping Hand From A Few Good Friends

I think I mentioned awhile back that I am starting a Couch 2 5k...  It's been great being able to fit a workout in.  And running makes the most of my l e e t l e bit of exercise time.  I usually go early, while Bronz feeds Blake breakfast.  Can I just say that it's incredible to have your husband encourage you in a goal, and make sacrifices (like some mornin' sleep) in order to help you reach it?  Cuz it is.  My bright spot is getting home and having him ask me how I did, and telling me how hard it is to do what I'm doing. (Which is like zilch compared to what he could do with zero training.) 
I had a really lousy run yesterday.  (Lousy, is completely my Dad's word, he uses it about everything negative, and really should own a patent on it.  I didn't realize how much I talk like him until Kamie is starting to point out that "You sound like Grandpa Dean" I do, like what? Then she proceeds to do a pretty good imitation of Him... But I digress.)  My home cheerleader even began to be skeptical.  "So do you think you can do it?"
This morning I called in reinforcements, one of us has a 5k tomorrow (Def. not me) So I pulled out of their warm little beds my 13 year old Brother-in-law and 17 year old sister, and the three of us did a training run.  I told them to just race each other at their pace and I would follow, but they didn't.  Nope they hung around me,  my brother-in-law literally running in circles.  When I quit for approximately thirty seconds they made me start running again.  When I said I couldn't do it, Wally ran backwards in front of me telling me what a good job I was doing.  While Abbie kept updating her Spotify playlist for the most motivating music ever.  And y'know what.  I got 20 minutes of running in the books.  And that's pretty amazing for me.  To top it off we used our cool down time for praying together.  I learned that from my Mom.  She uses her exercise time to pray for each family member.  I determined to do that, as well, while running this summer. 
There are some perks to running with the older sista... We celebrated our run with warm, -out of the oven- warm, Rhubarb Pie.  And my home cheerleader even freed up some of his Schwans Vanilla Ice Cream. 
In the genre of Inspiration/Running:  I just read an incredible book this week.  I happened to grab it at the Library.  Link is Here

 

It made me cry, and I don't usually cry over books.

I think what drew me into his story was his attitude.

Rather than spending his time finding out why his life was rotten, He accepted it.

Rather than waiting for life to happen, he ran to meet it.

His work ethic

"Why do you want to come to America?"

"To work!!  I Love to Work"

Acknowledging God in everything.

Complete Nail Biter.

I won't be a spoiler. 

So,

this is a must read.

 

Parallel Living or Not

Saturday night we wrapped up the last of the weekend’s open houses.  –It really went out with a bang too, our friend and their foreign exchange student did an ethnic themed open house, the big hit with the kids was a piñata every half hour – How cool is that?! 

I came home about 9:30 and ran across this little gem of a quote on Facebook:

Parallel Living vs. Entwined Living:           

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Sometimes we choose to live parallel lives that never intersect, or that happens a little bit at the time.  Entwined lives include  activities and interests that drive us together (physical intimacy, shared interests, purposeful interaction.)  God didn’t bring you and your husband together so that you could live parallel lives. He brought you together so you could live entwined lives and impact the kingdom.  ~ via The Busy Mom

That pretty much hit me right between the eyes.  This time in our lives right now has quite a bit of the parallel element to it.  It’s pretty rare that I can be of much help to Bronz with the kids in tow… And he’s swamped-busy and can’t really flex his schedule my way.   That’s ok to a degree, cuz those things are basically ‘unchangeables’.  However it’s not a rut I want to be stuck in, or comfortable with.  It also isn’t very comfortable or easy to build in marriage time right now.  I did have an idea… Bronz was going to work all night in order to beat the rain.  Bedtime was already past for the babies so just maybe… >enter< my fabulous family…  Of course, they could have the kids sleep at their place. Yay da Yay. By the time all details were in place  & Bronz was starting a new field it was around 11:00 p.m.  I won’t bore you with all the details… It just takes a ton of intention to make time together happen. 

This marriage thing isn’t a piece of cake.  It is valuable.  And value isn’t cheap.  It takes time, energy, sacrifice. It hurts, it helps.  My diamond ring didn’t happen onto my finger, Bronz didn’t pick it up in the end aisles at Menards either.  Why, cuz it’s valuable, precious, significant.  And our marriage is so much more so.  It’s not disposable, or cheap.  And so why do I expect the upkeep to just accidentally ‘happen’?

I hopped in the tractor and rode until 3:00 a.m.  We didn’t talk about anything big, I actually scrunched up on the floor for a little bit and dozed.  Then rotated between the my.right.leg’s.asleep.seat and the bounce.your.head.off.the.roof spot. (If I were President there would be a Buddy Seat in Every Tractor)  In a lot of ways it was a lot of trouble for not very much payback… And yet it wasn’t.  Because we invested in this marriage.  This marriage, that God gave us to be a reflection of his relationship with us. And that’s worthwhile.  That’s worth dragging crabby, tired kids to church on Sunday, that’s worth drinking a couple extra cups of coffee, myself.  It’s even worth the sore back…  Let me tell you, a tractor sure doesn’t have sleep numbers.

Parks and Popsicles

I gave a writing assignment last week, and made it a timed one.  "Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, etc. We'll address that later, just get your thoughts down."  It worked amazing, and then I was feeling all a'guilty cuz' I could probably take some of my own advice over here. 
So put up with some bad grammar and mediocre spelling... Time's Going!
   Another amazingly beautiful day.  I took the kids out to run errands, which mostly revolved around spring fever.  New window boxes, spray paint -- all of the freshen-up-the-outdoors genre.  Except the diapers... that freshens up everywhere.
The kids were really good, and I promised a park outing afterwards.  I'm not really sure who was having more fun, though.  Pushing them in swings. Listening to the giggles.  Watching a Crane. (Of the bird variety)  I even went down the slide a couple times. 
Then home...  where a friend and I caught up over strawberries and white chocolate cheesecake dip... yum, yum. 
 I also started the couch to 5k program this morning.  (And, nope, that doesn't mean I did the couch part.) Whew, didn't realize how out of shape I am.  Now this should be a good challenge for me.  I have put it off, because it's impossible to do with kids.  But now that it's light earlier, I really don't have too many excuses. 
-A couple pictures from today. 
I gave the kids orange push-up pops when we got home, I didn't care if they got dirty a.n.d. I wanted to buy myself a little time in order to carry in groceries.

Here is proof, both received there pops at the same time...


 
Blake is very intent and dedicated to getting the orange sherbet out as quickly and thoroughly as possible

Even if it makes a bit of a mess.

Kamie on the other hand...

Is goin' on a laid back sorta style

Not pictured:

Major drama when Kamie

removed Blake's pop "Cuz he was too messy"