Our families came over this weekend to spend some time enjoying the beautiful Fall colors and to celebrate October birthdays. Kara's birthday is today, my mom's is the 26th, and it feels like Sam and Julia have been celebrating their birthdays all month. My other sister, Katie, is holding Lily . Look how big she's gotten ! For $8 I was able to create a theme for the parties using crayon candles, colored sprinkles, balloons anchored with boxes of crayons, and if the kids ran out of things to do I was going to roll out craft paper so they could color in the garage. That never happened though. They were happy to either run around or play with Sam's new race car toys. The kids took turns blowing out candles on the cake. The balloons were a hit - especially when the kids were allowed to run around the yard with them. It was two days of fun, family, and friends. Sam found the perfect way to end the weekend was to lounge in his new hammock and roast marshmallows over th...
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Sam's baby and toddler years aren't nearly as documented as Julia's because I didn't start blogging until he was 2. I didn't even have a digital camera until he was six months old. The horror! In honor of Sammy's 4th birthday I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite pictures that I used in his birthday slide show. Enjoy! 2 months old My 10 year high school reunion. Sam was 10 months old then. I'm standing next to my best friend from high school, Rhonda, and her newborn daughter Jenna. Rhonda is expecting her third girl next week. The very first digital picture I took of Sam (at 6 months old) On Sam's second birthday Sharon and I took him to Camp Snoopy to go on some rides. For a bit of perspective - Julia now fits in these jeans (without the cuffs rolled). The shoes are almost two small for her already. 3 years old From day one Sam has had the deepest, darkest, most beautiful blue eyes. Love 'em! Happy birthday baby boy!
The idea of coming up with fake blog names for Brian and I has been bouncing around my brain for a few months. It never hurts to keep as much of our identifying information private and when I can't resist the urge to write things about our park, I can't help but feel a twinge of worry that someone will come across my blog and put two and two together. In our pre-kid days we used to be park rangers for the National Park Service and while we live and work in a park these days, we aren't really park rangers. Plus, I'm not 100% sure I want to take that direction with names. If fun, creative names happen to comes mind would you leave me a comment with your suggestion? Thanks in advance!
One of the many things I like about the "Not Me" carnival hosted by MckMama is the ability to record the real, candid, unusual, and not always fun moments that are our lives in short snippets. This week's list focuses mostly on this past weekend. I did not take a picture of the entire congregation of my church on Sunday. There is no proof. None whatsoever. (Thanks for the sending me a copy Dwight) I did not have to remove my screaming and I mean screaming children from the front of the church this morning when they refused to be quiet 3 minutes into our church's 150 th celebration. I did not make Sam sit in time out for the rest of the two hour service in the rec room below the sanctuary. I did not wait until 9 pm the night before I needed it to make a slide show of the past 4 years of Sam's life and the past 2 years of Julia's. I did not eat 17 different kinds of chili on Saturday and then have to remember which three I liked the best so I could offer m...
We experienced a couple of firsts in our house today. The kids have been watching waaaay to many movies as I get back on my feet so today I pulled out my old Candy Land game and we spent some quality time* moving our game pieces all over the board. All three of us got to take the rainbow shortcut but then I was sent back to the gingerbread man. Sam got a kick out of the game (he didn't even mind that I won) and would have played much longer if I didn't have to bow out and finish my chores before we go grocery shopping. Julia thought it was fun to shout out the names of the colors (and knock over our pieces). We don't have the complete game because after almost 30 years and three kids, it's seen better days, but I can see us instigating a game night in the near future. With Christmas around the corner, I'd love to here your suggestions for other games that young children might enjoy. I remember thinking Hi-Ho Cherrio was pretty fun as a little kid. To this da...
Thanks for the great suggestions ladies. I wish I could say I did something fun, something productive, or at least something that didn't add to my stress level. See, my camera is on the fritz and I thought this coming week would be the perfect time to send it in for repairs. I'll be enjoying the great outdoors freezing my butt off in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and wouldn't dare bring my good camera along. My warranty isn't valid without a sales receipt though and after 2 hours of tearing my office apart I still didn't find it. I've got my fingers crossed that when I call the company tomorrow they can fax me some sort of proof of purchase. In the meantime I have a messy office to contend with and the uncertainty of not knowing if I can get my camera fixed. I can't complain though... I did sleep most of yesterday (when I wasn't puking my guts out) I finished the 4th book in a Tracie Peterson series during naptime today. I took my first bubble bath...
It's just me and the dog for the next few hours. What's a mom to do with all that quiet time? Any suggestions?
I stepped on the scale this morning and was shocked to see that I've reached my goal weight. I rarely step on the scale anymore (my borderline anorexic days of high school are but a distant memory). What isn't a distant memory is the morning sickness I endured during my second pregnancy. I had lost 15 pounds and spent 9 days in the hospital before I started gaining any weight. Those were dark days. I weighed 123 pounds. (I'm almost 5' 9") I ate whatever foods I could keep down and unfortunately that was mostly greasy, fattening foods. By the fifth month I had gained back those 15 pounds and then some. When it was all said and done I had gained 60 pounds. I didn't make the time to exercise during Julia's pregnancy like I did with Sam (I only gained 35 pounds with him). It's sad to say but I haven't gotten into a regular exercise habit since, so losing baby weight has been a challenge. I have a whole wardrobe of clothes that didn't fit f...
I have a veggie hater and a veggie lover. Last night's dinner is the perfect example: Julia kept eating all the tomatoes off of her taco and would demand more. I think she ate 1/3 of a big tomato by the time it was all said in done. Sam, on the other hand was pitching a fit because he knew one tiny sliver of tomato was hidden in his taco. The only obvious difference in their personalities right now is that Sam is very shy around people he doesn't know and Julia will say hi to anyone. She even went up to a stranger at the zoo once and asked the woman to pick her up so she could see the animals better. Yikes! In all honesty the kids are more alike than they are different. They both: love animals love to be read to can sit for a half hour at a time and look at books in their rooms love to run and be silly with Daddy want Mommy to be the last to tuck them in at night love the same toys (usually at the exact same moment) are sound sleepers love to draw What I'm most thankful...
It's that time again and in order to get my "Not Me" post up at a decent hour I did not just put the kids in front of a video so I could try to dredge up some dirt on the past week. Nope. Not me. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't intend to write things down as they happened so I it wouldn't take me long to whip out this post and then not actually write anything down. So from memory here are the rest of my Not Me's: I did not stick my fingers in p**p when I went to check Julia's diaper the other day. The kid hasn't had a blow-out in ages. What was up with that? I did not get the answer to that question when I discovered not one, not two, but three poop smears on my steps where she had slid down the steps on her bottom. I did not eat Julia's birthday cake for breakfast on Friday and Saturday. I did not swear off milk products again now that my skin is so dry, cracked, and itchy that it is bloody from my ever increasing intolerance to some o...
If I could get my hands on the person who decided that it would be wise to use star headed screws to close up the back of my vacuum, I just might use some of these tools on them ! Who has star-headed screwdrivers in their toolbox? We have three tool boxes and not one of them contains a screw driver that will open the back of my vacuum. What's a mom to do when Lincoln logs and Little People get trapped inside my vacuum? Not vacuum, you say? Well, I wish that were an option, but we have a white shedding machine dog so I have to vacuum often. So I resort to these "tools" to bust out the log and the lady from the innards of my vacuum. What have you gotten stuck in your vacuum lately?
In what seems like the blink of an eye Julia is turning two today. I was reading through the book of letter I've written to her since the day she was born and reliving the past two years while the kids played quietly at my feet. As much as I blog about our lives I still feel like I've done an inadequate job of putting my feelings into words. Maybe that's why I take so many pictures??? She's growing up so fast and if she had her way she'd be included in everything her brother does. She's working really hard at potty training, hums the tunes to a few songs, sings the words to a bunch of songs (my favorite is the Cares Chorus ) can count to 14 all by herself (she skips six though), wants to be "eight" when she grows up, is agreeable yet has her moments that make me dread the teenage years, eats her veggies because she likes them, not because I bribe her, naps 1-3 hours every day, sleeps at least 10 hours a night, still nurses three times a day and sh...
This small, inexpensive collection of toys can keep my imaginative 3 (almost 4!) year old entertained for hours. The kids don't have any battery operated toys and that's just the way I like it. What are your kid's favorite toys these days? Bonus points to the person who can spot the vintage piece and what TV show it is from.
Those of you who know me in real life might recognize the location of the wedding I shot on Saturday with the help of MckMama . Seven years ago my favorite picture from my own wedding was taken at the very same gazebo . I loved Kim's choice of bridesmaid's dresses! Kim, Adam, and their whole wedding party were so easy to work with. They were open to my ideas and were always creating opportunities like this to capture their fun personalities. Check out Adam's unique ring. It suits him. In case you missed the other wedding picture I posted, click here . Kelly Vasami did this pose once and filed it away to use when the occasion presented itself. Turns out she borrowed it from Jessica Claire . The beauty of the Internet is that I can find inspiration from photographers around the world and right in my own neck of the woods .