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:)

Come Take a Walk with Me...

I promise that if you come "this" way, you won't muddy your shoes or feet or get sucked into the ravine that is in our backyard due to all the rain latey...

In fact, coming "this" way, you won't leave the comforts of...wherever you are looking at your computer screen...

The sun has finally decided to stay awhile and with that, not only are our spirits lifted from the dreariness of the soggy ground, but it means that the garden is happy once again...

So far this year, despite the fact that is has taken me 3 packets of Spinach seeds to actually get it to sprout...AND the fact that I planted WAYYY too many potatoes again...it's looking to be like a great garden for the summer!

Let me introduce you...

Here she is...on the back of our property...six 4 x 12 raised beds of vegetables...

 Well hello there lettuces...so nice to see your big green heads...these are probably my favorite thing about gardening...

 I did  a little bit better this year with thinning them out...but I think I still managed to keep more than we'll be able to eat...

 Our girls LOVE LOVE LOVE Sugar Daddy peas...I love their little curly-cues that climb up the make-shift trellis that Italian Stallion made out of pvc pipe and twine...

 this is the full box of potatoes...and then we have a half box up there in the right top corner of the picture....wayyy too many potatoes...but they are so darn fun to pick...

 Our newly planted and now sprouting zucchini, with cucumber right behind it...the girls are looking forward to zucchini bread this summer!

 Everything in the garden was planted from seed EXCEPT for the peppers and tomatoes this year...I just didnt' have the gumption to start them indoors and attempt the transplant...and so Oakland Nursery came in quite handy...

 I believe we planted 21 tomato plants this year...one less from last year, but just enough to make sauce to last us an entire 12 months:)

 Onions...once again, I planted about 15 and then was reminded by my pasta loving husband that we ran out last year...and so I headed back to the store last week and purchase more...we now have around 30-35 onions sproutin' out of the ground..

 The garlic I planted in themiddle of December...I'm not quite sure how that happened seeing as the ground was probably frozen, but up they came this spring...and lookin' mighty fine...

 Our "strawberry patch" is in the front yard...and yesterday yielded our first crop...

 we love getting out there and pickin' them...they were just waiting for some sunshine...

This is what I made...and sorry for the dark picture...we harvested in the late afternoon and I made the pie in the evening...I didn't catch Italian Stallion soon enough...he already dove into the pie before I got my picture...but, I think you get the idea...

thanks for taking a stroll with me...I'll keep you posted on the progress this summer...



Prelude to the long weekend...

We had Peanut's birthday party today. 

Italian Stallion told me afterwards that one of these days we're just going to scrap the whole thing and send them to Chuck E. Cheese.

Not that it was a "bad" party...far from it...but, the "energy" that is involved and therefore required of the adults present is sometimes a little taxing...and it's not always the birthday girl and friends to causes us to feel this way...sometimes it's the little almost 4 year old who wants her turn first and wants to open all the presents and starts to whine and question "when is it MY birthday"...

Awhile back Peanut thought it would be cool to have a fairy party...and so I started researching and googling and asking friends for ideas...I started to make lists of things that I needed to purchase and get ready...

and then she changed her mind and wanted Nemo...

so I scrapped the plan and tried to fit in some google time in between my photo shoots and edits and trying to wrap my head around the fact that Oprah is gone from daytime television...which is akin to the feeling I had when Friends went off air as well...and yet, I don't really watch TV much, so I'm sure I can catch up in reruns or find it on the History channel in 5 years or so...anyhoo...

And then, 2 days ago, Peanut informed me that she'd like to go with the Fairy theme again...

did you see that?  TWO DAYS AGO...

So, I dragged Little Munchkin out to stores and rummaged around in my basement and strolled around the backyard, through the standing water and mud...and we came up with the following...

please disregard my pathetic attempt at a cake this time around...I could bore you with my excuses from late nights and loss of power, but I think I already went that route a couple posts back, so I'll save you the pity party...again, as long as you do not cast judgement on my baking and/or decorating skills whilst attempting to function on minimal amounts of sleep...

I also want to shout out to my friends Carrie and Laura for awesome ideas that I stole rather rapidly in order to pull together a semi-functional party in a short amount of time! 

Without further ado...here are some pics to commemorate the big #7 celebration!!!

 SCORE on the Disney sale and purchase little fairies that we hid in the flower bed for the girls to find...

 and then they made their fairy houses out of sticks that had blown off our trees along with whatever else I happened to find around the yard...

 WA-LA

 I love the attempt of blowing out candles OUTSIDE with the WIND blowing...

 We went with the rainbow cake once again...

 you can find the recipe HERE from Little Munchkin's birthday party last year...although I wish I would have listened to my "old and younger self" from a year ago and let them actually cool before transporting them...because seriously, I wasn't planning on using 3 tubs of frosting in order to piece the cake together, but friends, THAT is exactly what happened...

 woohoo...big girl gets a BIG bike...and I must say, she looked rather small next to that thing..just a reminder that my girlies are growing up...WAYYY too fast...

 Here was my "brilliant" last minute idea...sew up pixie dust pouch necklaces for each of the girls...complete with glitter to throw around THEIR OWN houses...oh, how the mothers will love me now!

 The biggest surprise was the "fairy flying house"...aka blow up bounce thingy...it was a huge hit..

hopefully it made them tired enough to go to bed early, but I'll get back to you on that one...

It was an amazing deal...in which we ended up paying for 2 hours and they gave it to us for 5...another SCORE!

All in all it was a great day!  We finished it off by "scarfing" down chicken nuggets, french fries and mac-n-cheese because frankly, in the words of little neighbor girl, "we are pizza-ed out"

Have a wonderful Memorial Weekend Y'all!