Raising Cubs in a Campground

I think I might have dyed Julia's hair by accident. Julia's hair is becoming dry and brittle and in an effort to salvage every last twist of her trademark curls, I used a deep conditioner that came with my hair dye from July. In a perfect world I would have some organic conditioner from the health food store, but I figured the other stuff would work for the time being. That is until I caught a glimpse of red in her damp locks. What's done is done. It never dawned on me that there would be a hint of color in the conditioner. Gulp.

Julia adores her big brother - almost to a fault. Her favorite toy is whatever Sam is playing with. Her favorite activity is being in Sam's space. For the past two weeks the kids and I have been in a downward spiral of boredom, laziness on my part, and the most annoying of toddler behavior. (Screaming, tantrums - she actually foams at the mouth they are SO bad) All of these in combination have made our household edgy, grumpy, annoying, and majorly bummed out. Thank goodness school starts on Tuesday!! Not necessarily looking for a way to escape the plethora of bad attitudes, we have been doing our best to get out of this funk as I call it. Brian took Sam to GanderMountain to purchase some fishing lures while Julia and I read stories under the giant willow trees in our backyard. (Ever since I was a kid I've dreamt of reading books under a shade of a weeping willow.) Brian has taken the kids fishing a few times as well. In the midst of all the frustration there have been p...

Has it really been that long since I blogged? Geez. Sorry 'bout that. I actually had to go read my own blog to see what I wrote about last. The last week has been a blur of activity and preparation for my sister's visit. She and Lily arrived Monday evening and it's been a rollercoaster of emotions ever since. Lily wasn't gaining weight, but didn't have insurance to be able to go to the doctor. Kara lives in a different county and it was an uphill battle to get my county to help out with some much needed forms. Would you believe the woman I talked to wouldn't even tell me if she had the three forms I needed in her office? Ugh. I don't get it. I knew the exact name of each of the forms and she wouldn't tell me if I could pick them up at their office or not. Stupid. Your prayers for Kara and for Lily are appreciated. Specifically, you can pray for an easier time with the navigation of the paperwork trail, the communication between the center where...

(Pictures from my MIL retirement party back in July) When was the last time YOU were in a potato sack race?

Please join me in prayer for Brittany and her unborn twins who were in a car accident this morning. You can read her story here .

*** Pop Quiz answer posted at the end of this post*** There is an ebb and flow to the number of pacifiers we can locate on any given day. Ever since Julia decided that she needed at least three every night to fall asleep we've been lucky enough to be able to keep track of 3-5 most of the time.....until yesterday. We came home from the hospital and couldn't find any . Somewhere I know there is a stash of them that we brought home from the cabin last week, but we haven't been able to find them anywhere. We tore the house apart at bedtime, desperate to find one. The couch coughed one up so disaster was averted. Twenty-four hours later we found ourselves in the same desperate situation because the one paci Brian found in the couch wasn't the kind she liked and for some reason and the only other one I could scrounge up was the one we had cut the end off when we broke Sam of the paci habit. "BOKE!" she said with a sob - over and over again. She was also cryin...

My niece, Lily Angel born August 15 th at 9:39pm 7 pounds, 7 ounces 19 inches long Lily with Grandma and with Aunt Katie Since she was "supposed" to be a boy my mom, sister, and I went on a shopping spree when we left the hospital to grab some lunch. No more blue for this beauty! Sam and Julia were shy, yet curious about their new cousin. Congratulations Kara! She's beautiful!

It's a ......... boy girl! I'm still in shock that they told my sister, Kara, that she was having a boy at her 20 week ultrasound but about an hour ago she had a little girl. I can only imagine how Kara must feel after 19 hours of labor to be handed a daughter when she was expecting a son. In the morning the kids and I will head up north so they can meet their new cousin, but first I'm going to go peruse all the blogs of pregnant ladies I know who have posted recently asking for baby name suggestions since Andrew James won't work for my 7 pound, 7 ounce niece. If anyone reads this before I leave to go visit her tomorrow morning feel free to leave you suggestions for names. She likes names that start with A, K, or J. Irish names are high on her list too.

Apparently I wasn't meant to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. My sister called at midnight to say she was headed back to the hospital now that her contractions are getting stronger. Hopefully the next time I log on it will be to share the exciting new that I'm officially an aunt.

I'm so mad right now! I was sitting here updating my blog, adding new pictures to my sidebar, etc... when I hear a knock on the door. Uh-oh. This can't be good at this hour. Did someone need to call an ambulance? Would I have to go out and quiet down a rowdy group of campers? Was somebody dumb enough to want to check in at 11 o'clock at night? Nope. The large group that is here for the night was..... get this .... out of paper towel in the women's bathroom. IF I had been asleep in bed and been woken up (and the rest of my crew along with me) I would have handed them some rolls from MY bathroom and sent them on their way. This isn't the first time that I've been rendered speechless because of something a camper has said to me. (Once, I caught a lady who had left her dog unattended and she gave me the excuse that her 12 year old daughter must have let it out. When I asked her where her daughter was, she said she didn't know. Nice. And I was worried ...

We're potty training Julia almost a year earlier than Sam and to be perfectly honest it's because we are trying to cut our expenses as much as possible. More than ever before I'm glad we invested in cloth diapers to fill in the gaps while she's training. So where does the More with Less lesson come in? Instead of buying candy as a reward for going in the potty I bought a bag of these TollHouse treats. I get more candy and spend less money AND I indulge my sweet tooth at night with a small handful. I'm also getting more with less by using the old fashioned Gerber plastic pants instead of the fancier diaper covers. For less than the price of one cover I get three (better fitting) ones. Other reasons we've decided to start potty training is that she talks so well and it's much easier to train in the summer months. It would be silly to wait until next summer. She's totally on board now so why wait? With the warm weather we're having she simply ...

We work very hard to make both our kids feel special and do our best to not compare Sam and Julia. One way we heap on some extra lovin ' is to make the day of the month they were born their "special day". Sam was born on the 13 th so each month on the 13 th he gets some extra attention, gets to pick out what we eat (within reason) and gets a special privilege (watching a movie, one-on-one time with a parent of his choosing etc...) Yesterday his special treat was to get a bagel from Target. I sang happy birthday to him while we snuggled at bedtime, kissed the second freckle he got as a 6-7 month old and told him how much I loved being his mom. It happens to be VBS week at our church so he was able to play with his new friends Savannah, Zach, Naomi, and a friend from the community center, Riley. The kids giggled as they batted a balloon back and forth, they tumbled into each other at the end of Ring Around The Rosie, and they each focused on creating a watercolor and ...

Last week we spent four glorious days up North at a friend's cabin. The weather was P.E.R.F.E.C.T. The lake was like glass for much of the day, but somehow there was enough breeze on land to keep us from getting too warm. I was a little concerned about how Sam would sleep without his pack-n-play, but he ended up being so tired at night that he fell asleep in my arms while we sat around the fire most nights until almost midnight. Julia asked to go to bed by 9pm - two hours past her usual bedtime. On Thursday the kids played in the water - a LOT. I think Sam, Adam, and Tommy (twins who are six months older than Sam) ran for an hour straight back and forth in the shallow water of Hartley Lake. We missed having Brian there with us, but thought of him often. Brian's family has been friends with the cabin owners since Brian was Sam's age. These families have lots of history together which always comes out in funny stories told by Tony (one of Brian's groomsmen at our ...

I'm married to a walking encyclopedia. Brian is a bottomless pit when it comes to trivia. He soaks it up every day by reading baseball stats, trivia books, and even by reading TriviaPursuit cards sometimes. He was one question away from passing the Jeopardy test. Me? I have a tendency to soak up useless knowledge. Things like: The first ingredient in licorice ten years ago was flour. (Now it's high fructose corn syrup.) Or this one: My third grade boyfriend's birthday is January 3rd. The reason I bring this up is because I found a collection of random trivia the other day and thought it would be fun to share some of it with my readers in the form of a pop quiz. Here's the first question: How long does it take the average person to fall asleep?

I couldn't think of a caption for this one so I'm using it as my WW. Anyone have any good ideas? Sorry no prize awarded except the thrill of being the most creative. :)

Last month Brian was laid off from work for a week. This was a mixed blessing for us. One one hand we were stoked to get extra time with him, but missing a paycheck is brutal. We also had to tend with the fact that we NEVER get time to do things as a family away from the park. We thought long and hard about what special activities we could do during this rare window of opportunity. We kayaked a few times over the 4 of July weekend. We dined on our porch many times. Thanks for bringing the yummy shortcake Sharon! We cooled off at the beach at least three of the days. This is the face I get when I ask Julia to smile lately. We went to church together and watched little Sierra get baptized. We made it up to the tennis courts for the first time this season. If you can call always being careful not to bop the kids with the ball playing tennis. Sam's coordination is improving the older he gets. He enjoyed hitting the ball so much he didn't want to wait for his turn. I'm loo...

Phew!! I can't tell you how good it feels to be typing on my OWN computer again! It was a long two weeks without my "baby". I'm going to pull an all nighter and get get caught up on my work. I dropped the ball big time with a couple projects that have been in the works. It will feel SOOOO good to get caught up. It will be great to get caught up with all of YOU too. I didn't want to get too many blog addresses plugged into my work computer so it's been a while since I've checked in with many of you. I could write all night about the spur of the moment road trip the kids and I took over the weekend, the flu bug that is going around, Julia's potty training and the backlog of pictures I have to post, but duty calls.

I know many children half Sam's age that are in toddler beds, twin beds, or even full size beds, but since he has never attempted to climb out I never felt the need to move him to a toddler bed. As his fourth birthday draws near I figured it was high time I made the switch. I watched Craigslist for deals on toddler beds but never saw anything that would work in his room. Then I remembered that the front of my cousin's crib came off and maybe, just maybe that would work for us too. Cha-ching! No need to spend money on a bed. Sam sleeps securly and soundly in his "new" big boy bed - until 6:20 that is, and he comes in to tell me "I like my new big boy bed Mommy!". "Great Sam, then go crawl back in it until 7am. "

You may have noticed my lack of pictures lately and that is due to my computer being broken. It's looking like it will take at least 2 weeks before I get it back. I have all my data on a new external hard drive and am piecing together ways to get some work done. One of the things I've figured out is how to post pictures using my work computer (without having to save them on the computer - this photo especially) The catch is that I can't edit them. You are getting them SOOTC (Straight out of the camera) as Pioneer Woman calls it. So on with the reason for this post... Why is my daugher only wearing puddle boots? because it's potty training time at our house, that's why! Almost a year before Sam started, Julia is learning to tell me when she needs to go. Four hours of running around naked this morning yielded only 2 accidents and then success. She ran over to the potty and went all by herself. A peanut butter chocolate chip for a reward and then it was back to p...

That is why it is called the present. Recently I've tried to put my feelings of contentment into words during a conversation with Brian. Being able to stay home and raise Sam and Julia is a gift I treasure and one I know I write about often. No matter how often I try to put it into words, it never seems to be enough. Being their mom is the greatest privilege next to being married to my best friend. We have a roof over our heads, a loving family, and more to keep us entertained here at the park than we can do in a summer. I used to want to get out and go somewhere every day, but now I'm content to tidy the house (FINALLY learned to stay on top of the housework most of the time), read, bake, sit on the porch, play in the sand and just BE with my kids. To put it simply our lives are just that - simple . That simplicity leaves lots of room for hugs, snuggles, giggles, and quality time spent as a family. I am grateful for the peace that God has given us after a difficult year. It...

The computer techs gave me a glimmer of hope to get me through the weekend as I try not to stress about losing the data on my laptop. On Friday they could see the file names, but the "easy method" as they called it wasn't working to retrieve my files. All weekend long they ran a different recovery program and today I got the call that saying that they have retrieved my data. Praise the Lord! Here's the catch: There is so much data they don't know where to put it. My hard drive is shot and it would take too many DVD's to store all the data in any sort of organized fashion . I need an external hard drive. (Like I haven't been telling myself that for a week!) Problem is, the money I could have used to purchase a external hard drive will now have to go to the geniuses who saved my data. I also learned this good, yet bad piece of information: My hard drive is covered under warranty and the GeekSquad would have recovered my data for FREE. Ugh. Tomorrow I will ...