Because

Yup. I love him. And the coolest ever: He loves me too!

A Day in the Life

Yesterday was a wonderful day. And to be honest, I have no pictures. The ones included here have absolutely no relation to the subjest matter (except they are the same kids). The day was just the right temperature, not too hot and not too cold. There were scattered clouds in the sky and a bit of a breeze most of the day. Yesterday was also quite busy. We went to a play date with an old friend of mine and her son and then we had a bunch of errands to run. Now, normally my kids are fairly well behaved in public as well as at home (at least I think so). But I guess that they need crazy days occasionally too. Take yesterday for example. Kids don't really care what all you have scheduled. They will throw monkey wrenches into your plans as often as they think that they can. So monkey wrench number 1 was Mr O's doing. As we were getting ready to head out of the play date and on to errands I smelled it. That smell that you really don't want to smell, especially on your child that is over the age of three. I must admit, that moment is only one of a handful since the children got older that I have wished with all my heart that I had a case of wipes. So into the bathroom we went, Mr O and I. Got cleaned up and off we went to run errands. First was the grocery store where Peaches decided to throw her monkey wrench. On came The Fit. If anyone has ever dealt with a two year old's temper tantrum, consider that a piece of cake compared to this. Because two year olds you can blame it on nap time, or misunderstanding, or whatever. The point is that in those younger years the cuteness factor makes up for the tantrum throwing. Well, Peaches is still cute, but not cute enough to make up for a massive fit in a store. In the blink of an eye she went from nice, obedient, listening child into an unreasonable, pouting, screaming thing. It was not pretty. Thankfully I did not need to physically touch her or restrain her in any way, I merely stated that if she didn't stop, right the heck now, she was going to get sent to bed with a swat when we returned home. So that was that, and she quit. At this point in the errands we're halfway through, both kids have thrown monkey wrenches, and I really have no clue what to expect from them any more. Because apparently my children had taken themselves off and left these unreasonable things behind. But I still had a couple places to go, and go we did. But thankfully, since both had already tried to change my plans and didn't succeed, they were total angels the rest of the day. It was a little scary, to be honest. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the entire rest of the day. Ahhhh, the joys of motherhood. I still wouldn't trade it for anything, even with days like this to think back on.

How to Find a Lake

We're goin' on a lake hunt

We're gonna find a big one!

What a beautiful Day

We're not afraid!

Oh No!

A Forest.

A Deep Dark Forest.

We can't go over it

We can't go under it

We'll have to go through it

Stumble trip! Stumble trip! Stumble trip!

We're goin' on a lake hunt

We're gonna find a big one!

What a beautiful Day!

We're not afraid.

Oh No!

Mud!

Ooshy Gooshy Mud.

We can't go over it

We can't go under it

We'll have to go through it.

Squelch Squelch Squelch.

We're goin' on a lake hunt

We're gonna find a big one!

What a beautiful Day!

We're not afraid.

Oh No!

Bushes!

Big Leafy bushes.

We can't go over them

We can't go under them

We'll have to go through them.

Swishy Swishy Swishy.

T-I-double Guh-Er

The most wonderful thing about Tiggers. Is Tiggers are wonderful things! Their tops are made out of rubber. Their bottoms are made out of springs! They're bouncy trouncy bouncy bouncy, full of fun fun fun! The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is: I'm the only one! Iiiiiiii'm the only one! Hoo Hoo!

An Introduction

This is Mr O. A Mr O that we all know and love. A very active Mr O. Mr O likes to run. Mr O likes to kick. Soccer is a good fit for Mr O.

Yummy Goodness

For all you chocoholics out there, these are for you. Oh, and if you also have an obsession with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups it helps too. I found these courtesy of a friends blog and made them. Oh. My. Word. Absolutely Amazing! After a night of very little sleep, these hit the spot. It also helped that I wore my combat boots...but that is beside the point. Cookies! These ones do take a little more time to make than just your average chocolate chip cookies, but they are worth every minute (and they don't take too much longer). Here is the recipe, but I did make a few alterations. I found them to be a little dry and flat so added an extra egg to the chocolate dough and that made them moist and rise beautifully for me. Also I had a hard time handling the peanut butter filling at the ratio that is given so I just switched to 1/2 cup powdered sugar and that was great for me. Keep in mind that you should do a test cookie with the original recipe first to see how they turn out for you. Weather, humidity, and distance above sea level do really alter recipes from kitchen to kitchen. Have fun and Enjoy!

Insert Melodramatic Sigh Here

So my little man is now officially out of kindergarten. I think I'll sit down and cry now. It has been a busy fun filled year of learning. Learning lots of different things. How to follow directions, even when no one else is. How to get along with other people even if we don't really like them. How to read with more speed and accuracy. How to write much more legibly. How to follow a whole set of instructions. It has been amazing to see him grow and learn so much in such a short time. I'm amazed. Mrs. Brown and her assistant Ms. Shannon have taken my little boy and helped him gain many of the essentials for his future learning. They made learning fun. Mr O wanted to go to school every day, and that my friends, was awesome. Mrs. Brown hosted a picnic to celebrate the learning that the children achieved and to be together one last time as a kindergarten class. Oh what fun! To see all those wonderful friends again! Running! Jumping! Throwing rocks into the river! Wheeeee! It was a delight to watch these children interact with one another, running, playing, and in general having a blast. Whereas a year ago they didn't even know each other. Fun times! But all good things have an end, and so we did eventually have to go. Not without many hugs, a few tears, and hollers of "goodbye" that I'm sure the whole block heard. And then it was over. Now I have a first grader and a kindergartner. Oh how the time does fly!

From Thing 1 and Thing 2

Thanks for being my best friend. Thanks for all those wonderful snuggles. Thanks for teaching me to launch rockets. Thanks for all the wisdom that you've imparted to me. Thanks for working so hard for all of us. And most of all, Thanks for being my Dad! You are awesome, wonderful, amazing, and many many more. Love you!! Happy Father's Day!

It Went Fast

So came and went the kindergarten year. We were very lucky and blessed to have the best possible teacher for Mr O. For those of you who personally know my son, being his teacher on a daily basis was a challenge more often then not. Mr O has a wonderful sunshiny temperament, unless you don't follow the rules (whether it is the teacher's or his it doesn't matter). But in spite of that character flaw of wanting to be the "policeman" he really is a great kid. Not to brag or anything, but he was in the top of everything in his class. He was the top reader, making sure he sounded out words before saying them if he was unsure. Mr O was also one of the top math kids, adding and subtracting and looking for more difficult problems to do (we've moved on to double digits here at home just to keep him challenged). Science was a favorite, and Mr O loved the thought process and problem solving that went with it. Having a teacher that kept him occupied and wanting to learn more was wonderful. Mrs. B really kept him moving and learning no matter what he was doing. And having done lots of lessons here at home, I know that it was challenging, especially with a classroom full of eager learners each learning at their own pace. So thanks to Mrs. B, I have a smarter, quicker kid then I did 9 months ago. I love it! I'm definitely going to be challenged to stay ahead of him with "homework" this summer, but it will be fun. Mrs. B was so much fun to work with and learn from. She made learning fun for the kids, and that is what it is all about. Thanks Mrs. B!

Sunshine!

You are my Sunshine. My only Sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I LOVE you. Please don't take my Sunshine away!

Very Important Day

The first introduction Mr O had to playing soccer. Oh my goodness! What fun! Thankfully Mr O has picked up the basic rules from playing with friends during recess at school, otherwise we may not have had such a good time. He did very well. Mr O kicked the ball towards the correct team, and even most of the time towards the correct goal. For his age group the league that he was participating in plays three on three with no goalie. Playing like that insures that each kid on the field gets plenty of ball time while still reinforcing the importance of team playing. Though kids of this age bracket still don't really understand how to play together as a team, they try. There were lots of passes, though most of them missed, and they tried to cover the field rather than staying grouped together. But...they're kids, and they're learning. So we totally enjoyed watching them run up and down the field, stealing the ball from each other, and trying to score goals. Such fun! Such energy! I'm tired just from watching.

It Wouldn't be a Celebration Without Fire

There are lots of un-birthdays throughout each year. But each of us only has one birthday. Here we celebrate just us. A fairly small little family affair. This year to celebrate Handsome's birthday he requested a kind of cake that I had never made before. I hadn't even tasted it before. So I put on my apron and got to work that morning, to give me time for a failure and remake if needed. Mixing and pouring and watching it rise. That cake took forever to bake! Timing in at 1 1/2 hours, that is the longest I've ever baked a cake. But, it was wonderful. Especially with the cream cheese frosting that Handsome asked for. Lemon Sponge Cake with thick cream cheese frosting. MmmmHmmmm good! So, it did not fail. And once dinner was over and done with the kiddos began the when when when. To keep them occupied for a few more minutes we had them put candles on the cake. Well, you know number of candles on a birthday cake needs to correspond with the age of the person. So as Peaches carefully pushed in each candle just far enough, Mr O counted. 1...2...3...4...etc. Some of the candles were a little far in, but they all lit! And Handsome did blow them all out (in two breaths).

A Happy Flag Day!

And you can't celebrate Flag Day without a few flags. Needed to stop by four different stores to get said flags, but we got them! 13 stripes one for each of the original 13 colonies, and 50 stars for the 50 states that we are today. We really do live in an amazing country. There is freedom of speech. Freedom to vote. Freedom of religion. Freedom to have goofy blogs (ie freedom of press). We have so many other freedoms that it is really imposible to list them all. We are free to follow our dreams and achieve them if we but have the will power to do so. Free. We have all those freedoms because our forefathers were willing to lay down their lives for them. And also because we have men and women who put their lives on that line every day to protect those freedoms for us. Many lost their lives, and many still will, to the fight for freedom. We are free. Amazing. All summed up in a flag of 13 red and white stripes with a square of deep blue in the upper left corner behind 50 white stars. What does that fabric mean to you?

Just Because

Because I can't seem to help myself. I love this man! And the camara just swung up and took the picture...all by itself. Really!

This Post Dedicated to the Number 5

There are a lot of 5's in the world. The kids claim our family to be one with five members (if you count four legs into the equation). We have 5 hens in our backyard. The human hands and feet each have five digits. 5 quarters will get you something off the dollar menu. There are also several businesses and bands called 5. Five happens. While we were on the beach (with the nonexistent sun), I happened to look down at just the right moment and spot this rock. Pretty dang cool!

Our Day

I know I know, I've neglected you horribly. Just know that when I'm neglecting you, I'm being as good of a wife and mom as I know how to be...As in, I'm freakin busy with life. The laundry needs done again, the kitchen just received a cleaning last night, and now needs another one. The floor is past the gross level (I just love muddy footprints) and needs mopped badly. I think I'll sic the kids on that. And both Peaches and Mr O's rooms need a deep cleaning (as in mom goes in and throws out all the garbage and vacuums twice). So, I'm still busy, but taking a moment to post something wonderful that happened. We went to the beach. I know what you are thinking. Beach means sand, sun, umbrellas, and SPF 50 right? No. Not here. Beach is pebbles, rocks, and some sand, chilly enough for jackets, and without any hint of sunshine on the horizon. But it was fun anyways. The kiddos laughed and ran. Threw rocks and splashed. Found some makeshift shelters and played house. It was beautiful. Fun. And best of all: we were together. We spent the day with each other. Talking, laughing, just being a family. It was wonderful.

Missing You

I miss sunshine. I miss open fields. I miss the smell of freshly turned dirt and mud. Watching the rain come across the field in sheets, coming quickly and leaving quickly. Not needing to wear shoes. I miss sunsets that are multiple colors, not just another shade of grey. The rarety of rainbows. Being able to take the laundry outside to hang. I miss the feeling of being alone and safe in the middle of a field. Not worrying about stranger danger because there were no strangers. I miss dust. Kicking it up with bare feet and making small dust storms. The wind ripping through and forming dust devils. I miss the sun.

Another Way to Recycle

I'm really not sure why or who came up with the idea of bottle rockets, but I'm pretty sure it was some geeky guy bored stiff from playing on the computer too long and wanted to try something new. So a bucket of water, three pop bottles (not 2 liter), and an air compressor later...presto! Bottle rockets! Mr O and Peaches have been asking to launch rockets for quite some time, and since we are out of engines for the other rocket, this was an excellent solution. The kids would get the pop bottle half full of water and hand it off to Daddy. Then they would run back about 10 feet so they wouldn't get wet. Goofy kids. So Handsome would hook it up to the improvised launch pad and the count down would commence. 3...2...1... And POP! The bottle was air born! Spraying water all over Handsome and the surrounding 5 feet as it ascended into the air (I love the look on his face!). He only managed to launch two into the neighbor's yard... The kids loved it! More more more!! So we continued to launch rockets until Handsome was too wet to want to continue any more, and I had gotten a couple cool pictures of the rockets in flight. Those things move fast!! They really are rockets! Minus the whole blowing up thing.

Thoughts

I know that Memorial Day is most often celebrated by the BBQ, with burgers and baked beans, salad if you feel particularly healthy. But so often between the day off and the (hoped for) sunshine we forget what the day is really for. It is a day to remember not only those who have fallen and given the gift of their lives for our freedom, but also for those who live and continue to fight for our freedoms. Those men and women didn't get a day off. They had to work, on the day that is for them. Our little family drove out to an old Fort by the coast, and I wasn't surprised to see quite a few more police cruisers on the road. Unfortunately they do not get to celebrate a day off on the day that we honor them. The troops don't either. There are armed forces all over the world who put on fatigues, boots, helmet, and picked up their gun just like any other day of the year. They protect our freedoms by putting their lives on the line day after day after day. I am so thankful that we live here. Where we are protected. In visiting the Fort I was reminded of all of this. Standing on the bluff that overlooked the ocean it seemed as if I could hear the sounds of boots marching, voices echoing, and the report of gunfire. Just an echo of the past, but a good reminder for the present. We remember and we are thankful.