Raising Cubs in a Campground

Why is it that one kid will cry just long enough at nap time to wake up the other kid?

What I feed my kids might not be all that exciting for others to read, but in a year when Julia won't eat veggies I want to be able to look back and see that I gave it my best effort. (Sam boycotted the spoon at 11 months and he wasn't used to eating veggies as finger food yet. This led to our downward spiral into Sam-not-eating-veggies world.) Obviously Julia loves eating everything with her fingers so maybe there's hope for her. Today's lunch menu: zucchini chunks (I swear I didn't put that seed on her nose! It got there all by itself .) grated raw milk cheddar cheese pieces of nectarine brown rice cake covered in tahini chunks of rutabaga I'm making less and less purees and letting her eat pieces of fruits and veggies by herself. It's messy eating, but she's happy.

We are trying our hand at container gardening on our deck this year. I'm not very good at growing things. Mostly I just kill things really slowly. Sam has been faithfully watering his garden and we are excited to report that things are actually growing! There are two tiny green strawberries already! I worry that our containers aren't big enough, but we don't have a sunny corner of the yard and the bunnies would eat everything anyway. An added bonus of container gardening is skipping the weeding chore. This is what we planted: 1 tomato 1 green pepper 4 broccoli 4 cauliflower 1 zucchini 3 strawberry 4 lettuce 1 pumpkin 1 onion

We have made it a tradition since Sam was born to attend the Memorial Day service downtown. We wanted to honor those who are so bravely serving our country and those who have given their lives so we can be free. The kids are too young to understand the significance, but they still had a fun time.

We have made it a tradition since Sam was born to attend the Memorial Day service downtown. We wanted to honor those who are so bravely serving our country and those who have given their lives so we can be free. The kids are too young to understand the significance, but they still had a fun time.

Happy Memorial Day!!

It's been six wonderful years since we stood before God, our family, and our friends to recite our wedding vows to each other. When I think about how much I love Brian today, and then think back to our wedding day, I can't believe how much we've grown in our love for one another. I have always wanted to put our love story in writing so our children can read about how much their mom and dad trusted in the Lord to work things out for His glory. So read along if you'd like..... Most stories begin with how a couple meet. Ours begins two months earlier in two different countries. Studying in Vienna, I was two hours away from leaving on a train for Paris when I got a phone call from the States. It was a woman named Carol Maass from Voyageurs National Park. It turns out that an application I'd filled out for an internship had been accepted. This was an unpaid position so I couldn't say yes without first talking to my mom about the financial aspect of it. I told

that I took this photo myself?

We started out at the Barnes & Noble story time. It was Sam's first time there. He sat so well and listened to all four stories before all the kids made paper kites. When Daddy got home from work we went to the pool. Nobody else was there! We had the whole place to ourselves. Sweet! I had picked up a new swim suit after story time. I must have set a new shopping record: I was in and out of the store with a new suit (that I actually like) in only 15 minutes - with two kids in tow! It was a nice treat to be able to swim around and splash with Sam while Brian held Julia some of the time. After dinner at our favorite pizza joint we stopped at a new park. This was an impromptu stop so we had to improvise sun protection for Julia. She wouldn't let me turn the hat around to effectively block the sun, but she looked too cute to fight her on it. Sam didn't want to leave and neither did I. It was so nice out!

Look what I can do now!

Sam: Daddy and Sam eat chock-lick Me: Did you and Daddy have chocolate? Sam: Yes. We sheard it. It's all gone. Now wasn't that nice of Daddy to share the last granola bar with Sam while I was gone last night? Problem is, now I don't have any more chocolate in the house to bribe Sam with. I guess we'll be taking a break from potty training today. (Yes, I know probably isn't the best way to potty train a child, but it works for us.)

Julia took a morning nap at 9:30. She slept about 2 hours. When she woke up she was content to play in her crib for what seemed like forever. Before I knew it an hour had passed. I could see her on the video monitor so I wasn't concerned. In fact, it's quite entertaining to watch her play with her paci and talk to herself. After another 20 minutes she fell back to sleep, or at least that's what I figured. She had slid out of the monitor's view. Her breathing was the only thing I could hear so I knew she was ok. (She had given me quite a scare the other night when I went up to readjust the monitor and I found her face down in the crib bumper. I don't know how it was possible for her to get any air, but she was.) It's now almost 4 hours after I put her down for a nap. I went in to check on her after I laid Grant down and somehow she had untied the bumper in the corner. The tieback is nowhere to be found. It must be under her belly. I've got the

*While this might not be the most entertaining TT, it will help me stay on task (we leave two weeks from today). I will be flying by myself with the kids(on the way there only) so being organized is very important. I figured this would also be a good time to ask for travel suggestions/tips/tricks etc.... that other moms had to offer. We depart from here at 7am (not excited about a 5am airport run) and our return trip departs at 7pm (both kids bedtimes) 1. Plan menu for kids 2. Research average temps for that time of year 3. Plan our clothes based on those temps 4. Decide on the essentials for traveling with two children 5. Check TSA regulations for carry-ons 6. Buy a new booster seat for Sam 7. Pick up the car seat we are going to borrow from some friends of ours 8. Ask someone to water the garden and pick up the newspaper while we are away 9. Lose 5 pounds 10. Pack the dog's food and supplies for his stay at my mom's house 11. Grocery shop and cook food we'll

My stress level didn't rise with our messy painting experience this morning or when Sam brought Julia all of her toys when I specifically told him to only bring her two. Then there were the peas that I spent over $4.00 for and only have this tiny handful to show for it. At least Sam got to help shell them. and Julia did enjoy eating them. It was when both babies were crying for lunch, I was changing Julia's diaper, the buzzer on the stove chose that moment to go off, and Sam was whining about who-knows-what, that I reached my boiling point. It didn't help one bit that the kids song CD was playing La Bamba or that I drew blood with the sharp edge of the diaper snappi. Thank God for nap time! (and ice cream)

Despite my "no food/drink on the train table" rule, it had gotten kinda grimy. I decided to disassemble all the track and give it a good vacuuming. While I was putting the vacuum away Sam began constructing a new track. He was off to a great start before I even returned to the living room. He built this almost entirely by himself. I only helped turn the pieces around when he got frustrated a couple of times . The design is completely his own. Not to shabby for a 2 1/2 year old!