Guess what we did today?

We traveled up yonder into farm country...

When we arrived and went into the little shed...Sweetpea said with a gleam in her eye, "Mom, I feel like we're at Little House on the Prairie!"

We had a beautiful day...we hadn't been blueberry picking in a longgggg while...

Not quite sure what I'm going to do with all the blueberries, but I had fun taking pictures, Sweetpea had fun eating them off the bushes, Peanut liked picking them and Little Munchkin enjoyed petting the dogs...

Once we finished there, we headed to the pool where the constant splashing and floating wore them out profusely and we came home and collapsed on the couch to watch a movie...

All in all...it was a great day...I'm loving summer!

Meditating and ADD

After reading THIS awhile back, I got to thinking...

I realize how much this "culture" of ours stimulates BUSY...I'm barely out of bed before I'm bombarded with a To-Do list a mile long...and then, for me at least, I am hit with the Mommy guilties of "how are you going to be the BEST mom today?"...inevitably, it is then compounded by parenting that must take place which has the potential to send my ever-fading good attitude down the drain...

My brain never seems to shut off and I sometimes feel as though it is hit with 15 topics all at once. 

I went out with my "peep" last night.  It was the first time that we had a conversation that lasted longer than 30 seconds over the phone.  In fact, we talked for 4 hours straight...sometimes, both of us talking AT THE SAME TIME with two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TOPICS...

but hey, we're moms and we can multi-task!

And yet, I miss the stillness and the FOCUS...it's no wonder why so many people struggle with ADD nowadays...who wouldn't? 

All this to say that I struggle with 'quiet'...but it is in the quiet that I have the most peace, the most rest...It's the time that I get to 'hear' what my Heavenly Father is trying to tell me and NOT listen to all the mixed messages and just plain lies that are being launched at me continuously:  "you need to lose weight", "you aren't a consistent parent", "your house is messy", "you need more clothes", "you aren't as good as _____", "if you'd spend more time doing this then _____", etc etc...

And yet (again) I don't spend a ton of time in the 'quiet'...oh no...I push forward in my day...rushing here and there and trying to "accomplish the world" it feels like...

I know that to combat it, I need to slow down...I need to take the hurry out...

but did you catch the line above where I say I STRUGGLE with it...yes...so therein lies the problem!

We are trying one way though to aid in my ever-long laundry list of to dos and not good enoughs...

Our pastors have been talking about meditating on God's Word here of late...and I'll be the first to admit that memorization is not necessarily my forte...HOWEVER, I'm willing to try b/c I know that since my brain is apparantly able to handle a gazillion things at once...what if I shoved some Bible in there for it to munch on for awhile?  Would it change my attitude, my perspective??? 

With some inspiration from a past roommate whose family (who conveniently has children right around my girls' ages) is memorizing Psalm 19...We have begun this journey...

We chose a version that seemed most "doable" by my young ones and we are currently on verse 4...I will admit that they are much better than me at this memorizing thing...

But, I will say that I mull the verses over in my head periodically throughout the day...it forces my brain to meditate on something more important that folding clothes and the tire of fat that circles my middle...

I'll let you know how it goes...

Trying Something New

I can't remember if I mentioned that we bit the bullet and got a pool membership?  Did I tell you that? 

We've never done that before...for a myriad of reasons, but we decided that this was the year to try it out...and trying it out we are....

Infact, we're heading there in about 2.5 hours...hee hee

The really cool thing about it is also the fact that they have tennis courts. 

Now let me preface this all by stating something obvious...at least for those that know me...I'm not the most "athletically inclined"...and therefore, I have birthed girls that have inherited some of that....fortunately, they are half my hubby and so I contribute their stamina and any semblence of a competitive nature to him...

I tried basketball, cheerleading and track in highschool...I dabbled a bit in softball and actually tried golf once I started teaching...Let me just say, "I'm no super-star"...Infact, I'm more like the "sit on the bench and watch everyone else while eating orange slices and talking to anyone in the stands who may want to hear about my latest Calculus test" sort of person...

The girls have tried soccer and gymnastics and they really do enjoy the energy and comradery...and I like to sit on the sidelines screaming (soccer) or holding my breath (gymnastics)

Which brings me to our next "athletic venture":  TENNIS

Little known fact about my hubby:  he used to be short...we're talkin' VERY short...where everyone else towered over him and he felt it necessary to extract himself from the basketball team.  Now, I have trouble imaging this considering he is VERY tall now and towers over everyone else in his family...older brother, older sister, parents, grandparents, etc...you get the idea...However, because of this "self-imposed" extraction from the wonderful game of ball...he decided to try Tennis...Needless to say he shot up in height pretty darn fast after that, but not before he learned some great lessons...and it all paid off b/c that's how most of his college tuition was paid for on his tennis SCHOLARSHIP...woohoo buddy!

Now, I know NOTHING about tennis EXCEPT there is no falling from a high beam, no kicking of the shins or possible kicks to the nose...no spikes to contend with...AND to top it all off...wait for it...this is the BEST part...THE GIRLS GET TO WEAR CUTE LITTLE SKIRTS!!! 

Isn't that just soooo fantastic?

Therefore, I thought it would be a GREAT idea...ya know, having the pool membership WITH the tennis courts and everything...that Italian Stallion could start weekly lessons with the girls...

And so began our Sunday afternoon tradition...Now, I know that Sweetpea is NOT wearing a cute skirt in this picture and I TRIED to get her to understand the importance of it all, but she had her own ideas and her swimsuit underneath b/c who can learn tennis at a pool without jumping into the pool afterwards? 

Little Munchkin patiently awaits her turn someday...in the meantime she can just dream of all the sweet skirts and pretty tops she can outfit together...

...I'm thinking that Sweetpea has inherited some of her daddy's know-how...Peanut is next in line...so we'll see how it goes!!!

Did I mention that we caught a mole?

Hmmm...must have slipped my mind...I can't know why..it's not like we've been running full steam ahead for the past 5 days...with gymnastics starting up (did I forget to tell you about the free 9 week course they offered my girls too?...good grief, what is this blog coming to?) ...where was I?

...oh...yes...so, it's not like we had doctor's appointments for my baby girl who turned four and took her shot like a champ and DID NOT CRY ONE IOTA!!!

...it's not like we had VBS nightly and we lived off of sandwiches, cold pizza and cereal for dinner

...it's not like Mommy has been glued to the computer until 3am watching silly tutorials on the never ending possibilities in photoshop...

oh wait...I DID lament about that one...sorry...I suppose I "do" enjoy a little pity party for myself every once in a while...

Okay...so the point IS...we've been a bit busy this week and though I "somehow" find time to slip in a little blog reading and facebook stalking intermixed with my crazy schedule...I did fail to mention a rather interesting TAIL(hee hee...did you get the "pun" there...pretty ingenius if I do say so myself!)

Now, I want to say right now that these pictures are nothing to get excited about...why? you ask...I mean, come on...you claim to be a photographer right?

Let's just say that when I am asked to photograph people or inanimate objects, I am perfectly cabable of finagling my way to get some possible good shots...however, when you bring a RODENT into my home, the place I lay my head...when you bring this "thing" close enough to where I could almost touch it...I'm just a tad squeamish...I'm not saying bad things about the animals of the world...I'm not even endorsing the killing of all rodents or rodent look-a-likes...I'm just saying, that I don't have one ounce of desire to get within 100 feet of these things...but for the SAKE OF THE CHILDREN...I got my camera and whatever lens happened to be on it and snapped what I could before getting all jittery and jumpy and scootin' myself into the house, locking the door and swearing that I will never set foot outside without shoes on again!

Goodness, I'm getting completely off track...the fact is...don't judge me by my pictures:)

Exhibit A:

this is the mole that Peanut said was following her around the back yard

Exhibit B:

This is the container into which Sweetpea conned the mole into entering

Exhibit C:

This is Italian Stallion taking care of said mole after I screamed bloody murder when the girls excitedly brought exhibit B INTO MY HOUSE...so we could "see" it.

All is well...mole is gone...we haven't seen him since and I am thankful...I also haven't ventured out to the garden much nor have spent much time in my backyard...right now, I'm quite content being inside...with shoes on...in front of my computer...reading blogs about this and that...and munching on potato chips and ice cream...

did I mention my lack of cooking skills this week too?

Have a great weekend!

a birthday, VBS and staying up too late

Yesterday my baby girl turned 4!  I am in awe that it has been 4 years since I lay panting and breathing in a hospital room informing the doctor and my husband that "I think I'm finished now...let's just call this quits and wait until later to get the child out."  And it's been 4 years since the doctor ignored my pleas and out came a screaming, crying, red faced little GIRL...the third one for this Italian household...

We celebrated by decorating our ever-popular chocolate chip pancakes with candles...It's really a staple in our house...the pancakes that is...we feel that everything tastes better if you put chocolate into it:)

We're all into the "happy" here...and apparantly, sugar too...

Little Munchkin had a great day of ice cream, Red Robin lunch with daddy, rapunzel dolls, calls from family members and getting a new booster seat...

She woke me up saying, "Mommy, is today my birthday?"
I replied, "Yes it is...today is the day!"
"I am 4 right now?"
"You are 4 years old...right now!"
to which she began to cry...the tears forming in her eyes as I tried to scramble and figure out why today, of all days would cause her such pain...and then she said in anguish, "but, Mommy...I did not growed!"

Little Munchkin will probably be the shortest of the 3 sisters...and if not, and by some miracle she shoots up past one or both of them later in life...we're still off to a slower start...and therefore, the traditional "get rid of the 5 point harness carseat and get a brand new booster chair" was not going to cut it for safety purposes. So, we had to purchase one of those boosters with the seat back attached...it's pink with butterflies...we passed with flying colors!

VBS also started this week...thus I'm a bit on the weary side...I'm in charge of the "music" portion of the programming...I'm sad to admit that I didn't necessarily put a ton of thought and practice into this endeavor and therefore, I'm scrambling and flying by the seat of my pants...

It is probably NOT a good thing that this was also the week that had a free online broadcast 16 hour tutorial on photoshop elements that I wanted to watch...so that I could stream it for free instead of paying for it later...and so, my evening consisted of staying up until almost 1am...sleeping for a bit and then getting up again at 3am to finish the set...

The extremes I go to save a buck is sometimes just ridiculous:)  but, I figure I won't really remember it in a week or so anyway....it's all good!

All this to say:  Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl...VBS is kickin' me, but we're having a blast and oh my goodness, I need some sleep!

Father's Day...

To the dad that knows that comforting his children isn't just a hug with strong arms and making it all go away, but that it is done with a heart that is willing to listen and understand...

To the dad that works hard and long hours not just to pay bills, but to provide for a family that he loves...and then even when the sun is going down and the exhaustion has set in...gets to plunging toilets, tucking little ones in bed, kissing heads, reading stories and giving his last ounces of energy to each of his girls.

To the dad that knows how to have fun...no matter if it's playing dress up or waltzing with a princess...the one that knows it's about the relationship and not just the activity:)

To the dad that knows that it's the little things that mean the most...the one who goes out of his way to make sure his children know that he adores them...

To the dad that isn't afraid of stinky diapers or wee hours of the night...who cherishes moments b/c he knows they won't be here forever...

To the dad that takes time out of a stressful day to share TIME with his children...even in the stillness, to get to know their hearts and to continue to build bonds of trust and admiration...

To the dad that leads by example and shows his own heart to his children so that they will learn to trust and follow their Heavenly Father even more...

And...to the dad that loves his children's mother with such an unconditional and faithful heart...to the dad that shows his girls the type of man they are to look for one day...one that will cherish them and lead them and love them for who they are...

To the dad that is Daddy to our little girls...happy Father's Day...to the love of my life!  You are more than I ever hoped and dreamed for...I am beyond thankful of the gift of YOU that God has given us...

It's been a week...

Let me rephrase..."it's been a longggggggggg week"...

I am thankful that my hubby's travel did not start out like this...I"m thankful that I've had plenty of years to get used to things before he has to head out to California or up to Canada or down to Georgia or over to New York for days at a time...

And yet, it's not really something we girls get used to...I still get the tears in the morning when they realize that Daddy won't be home for a few days...

This week I decided to keep us all busy so that we'd fall into bed at night and sleep in in the mornings and make it through until Friday when Daddy finally got home...

This worked splendidly for the the girls...we went to the park, the zoo, the library, the pool...we grocery-shopped, I taught them how to sew flowers and quilts, we played the piano, we watched a couple movies, we baked banana bread...we had sleep-overs every night in Mommy's bed...

I WAS exhausted and would have LOVED to fall into bed and actually SLEEP this week..but that didn't necessarily happen due to my over-active brain and fears of fires, tornadoes, break-ins, and girls that needed drinks of water at 3am.

The good news is that we DID make it...Little Munchkin is a bit more cranky than usual and 3 of the 4 of us caught colds in the meantime...but, I did see some pretty awesome heart changes in them this week that made it worthwhile...

I shared on facebook earlier about Little Munchkin...but I'll share it here too...

She had a temper tantrum at the library this week.  Out of my girls, she is the one that I have struggled the most with parenting...the other two were and are compliant...stern looks and remorseful hearts easily change behavior and attitudes...Little Munch, though...she's in a category all her own...she has a WILL and she knows how to use it.  I've walked a fine line between "she's only 3" and " good lord, let's get out of here before someone recognizes us!"  My goal with all my girls is heart change...the behavior would be great as well..DUH...but what I'm really after is that they 'get' what I'm saying in their hearts...that they want to obey, that they will, when given the choice, chose the wisest path...

My older two make mistakes, don't get me wrong, but their hearts are soft and moldable...they often think about their actions before hand...my eldest especially...

Little Munchkin on the other hand, thinks of herself...ONLY.  It's a selfish life I'll tell you! I love her to pieces though and there are times that I can see a change beginning to take place...this week was one of those times...

She fell apart at the library...she wanted to do something a specific way and it just wasn't happening...I attempted to help, but decided that it wasn't the best choice and gave her another option...she didn't like that and let me know it...and apparantly the rest of the library as well.. We exited rather quickly and set out to the car.  At which point, I had to pick her up and carry her b/c it seems that her legs were glued to the sidewalk and if she pulled away from me one more time, I was going to get angry instead of dealing with the situation calmly:) 

It was a long and quiet ride home.  She wasn't allowed to speak...but I spoke to her...her sisters were caving to her tears, but I asked them to stay the course!  After arriving at home, everyone got out of the car and went to do their next "thing"...I set to making lunch and emailing Daddy...she found me in the office...blankie in tow...

"Mommy...??" she said in barely a whisper.
I looked over at her...I must be completely honest, just a little frazzled and exhausted from the trip and wondering what MORE she was going to demand of me.
"I so sorry for having a temper" she replied...her arms hanging limply at her side. I could see the tears starting in her eyes as she waited for me to make the next move.

I walked around the desk and  knelt on the floor next to her and scooped her into my arms..."I so so sorry for my temper" she said again.  And I looked at this sweet bundle in my lap and thanked Jesus for a tender heart...thanked Him that He had held my anger in check...that I didn't allow her temper to continue, but that I didn't crush her in the process...that she is beginning to see life outside herself and see how her actions and attitudes affect other people too...

She's almost 4...I know we have a ways to go...but it was a light for me this week especially...

Welcome to Summer...

I know this post title may be a tad confusing due to my last title of "goodbye for the summer"...I wasnt' necessarily saying goodbye to YOU all...mostly just saying "goodbye to SCHOOL" for the summer...ya get my drift...

So NOW, we say HELLO to summer vacation...

A time when my children will scream my name (in a pitch that will drive dogs crazy) every 3.5 seconds b/c they are in need of some emergency that they are unable to handle on their own and it most often happens while I'm on the phone with a client or someone wanting me to buy something...

A time when we leave the dishes piling in the sink, the toilets having an "aroma" all their own, the laundry piling up on the couches and head out to pool only to discover that there is a plumbing problem...

A time when we go to the park to play on the playground and end up covered in sand b/c it's much more fun to get completely covered in grit after you've lathered yourself up in sticky sunscreen...

A time when beverages are a commodity...a necessity...a time when your children remind you that they are literally going to DIE...a slow and painful death...if you don't get them WATER (or a frozen pop, or a milkshake) immediately!!!

A time of joy and laughter....and whining, arguing, complaining, a little bit of laughter again, more arguing, a tad more whining, some burping, tattling, more burping, more tattling...some more laughter again...

Summer has begun folks...we're heading out once again...let the FUN begin!

Goodbye for the summer..

The fact that my older children have graduated onto their next respective grades has left me feeling rather old...I'm not looking for pity or, "Just wait until they hit high school...bwhaa haa haa"

I get it...kids get older...they go into the next grade...these things happen...

I'm not "sad" about it...I'm just sayin': I'm feeling or rather realizing the fact that as they grow older...I do in fact, grow older...and that's okay...b/c duh, that's life..

so where am I going with this?  absolutely nowhere folks...this is me rambling...rambling because I have not had a whole lot of adult conversation lately due to the fact that my hubby has been gone for a few days on business and even my older ones have been off having slumber parties here and there...and so my "communication skills" have been limited to that of an almost 4 year old who doesn't really want to hear about her Mommy getting older...

although she did say to me this morning, "Mommy, when I get older, I want to be just like you"
To which I replied, "Oh sweetheart that is really sweet" AND THEN she said, "Yep, I want to be bigger...I will have big boobs, big legs, big arms..." and at this point, I just stopped her and gave her squeeze and told her that I would fix her some banana bread and apple juice...b/c do we REALLY want to continue THIS conversation??

To stop this line of thought I will now transition into the last days of school for my older two...just a few pics to share and then surprise-surprise, I'm starting another project...

they had outside water fun stuff and inside writing autographs on people's shirts stuff...it was fun and we LOVED our teachers this year!  Right now though, the biggest dilemma is trying to figure out what to do about the "pool" situation...we've never had a pool membership before and swim lessons are alittle pricey this year...we may just bite the bullet and get a membership and I'll earn the money through my camera classes that I've done and am doing in the future...

And that brings me to my "project"...

I'm startin' on these bad boys here soon...I had fun matching colors today...I hope all the gals will like them once they are all sewn and ready to go!!!  (In case you don't know what they will become:  camera strap slip covers...just so ya know)

Stay cool!

Twenty Things from today

1. I've listened to the Wiggles too many time to count and I think I may be going a little crazy.

2. My children "graduated" from the 1st and 3rd grades today and are now officially 2nd and 4th graders...and I feel very old.

3. Little Munchkin clung to my body like a monkey today while we were at end of school year parties...while I was trying to take pictures with my 4 lb lens hooked to my 3 lb.camera with one hand...while sweat poured from my armpits like a faucet...turns out she had a fever.

4. I've listened to Phillips, Craig & Dean too many times to count as well and I think I might just ban the CD player for a day.

5. Two loads of clean laundry are sitting on my brown couch in the music room and I keep finding OTHER things to do rather than fold it...cuz I just don't like doing laundry!!!

6. I made fruit kabobs this morning for Sweetpea's party...I think there is still watermelon juice on my floor.

7. Little Munchkin did NOT pee in her bed during naptime today and I am glad b/c it means less laundry.

8. I ate half a jar of left over frosting that I found in the fridge...just because...and it was vanilla in case anyone was wondering.

9. I changed my shirt 3 times today...maybe 6???  I have perspiration issues...

10. I edited/processed photos from a photo shoot this past Sunday and kept thinking I was seeing green...turns out it was just the trees and I need some time away from the computer screen.

11. We all ate a LOT of snowcones, with LOTS of syrupy syrup.

12. The sugar overload caused all 3 of my girls to whine, argue, complain, whine, annoy each other, whine...did I mention whine?

13. I inspected at least 15 bug bites that each of my daughters thought were life-threatening and required generous doses of topical anti-itch creme.

14. I got a shower AND I got to shave..woohoo!!!

15. I got myself a mocha frappe today and purchased McD's for dinner b/c daddy is out of town this week and I was too tired to cook...apparantly, since we don't eat out much, fast food doesn't settle well on our stomachs any longer...I'll just leave it at that.

16. I cleaned our tub at 6:30 this morning...no real reason, just felt like something to do...should have done the laundry instead.

17. I finally put gas in our car...it's had the light on for a couple of days...but, it was 20 cents cheaper than 2 days ago...SCORE!

18. I'm planning on teaching a photography class in Michigan in July and I'm working on NOT getting overly excited about it b/c I tend to go a little overboard and then feel deflated when things go wrong (i.e people cancel)  but, I did spend time writing a little "advertisement" again...and it was fun.

19. I thought about the fact that I need to start on Peanut's thank you notes from her party, but I still haven't made much progress in that area...UGH

20. I researched pools, pool memberships, swim lessons and have decided that basically, the most cost effective way to swim this summer is to win the lottery and build my own community pool...or just blow up our little one and have a few hard lemonades this summer:)