Just a few things (again)

I've mentioned before that I had another blog for a short time before starting this one. It was all about me. In February I posted some things there that I thought might be important to transfer here. One was a list of things I wanted to do this year. Not that I would be able to get to everything of course.

Anyway, it feels good to have and be working on real, tangible, worthwhile goals. Here are a handful of the ones I've been focusing on recently:

Live in the NOW!
*I have really been enjoying my family! The house may be a little messier, and the food may not be gourmet, but we're having a lot of fun together. And I like it! Hopefully they do too.

Listen to more music!
*I've reached my limit. I can no longer live with the TV on all the time! Okay, not all the time, but too much of the time. So we've been listening to more music! I love music! My sister and I are from the "disco era" and I could still listen to disco every day. However, so as not to drive the rest of my family (Craig) crazy, we listen to other types of music too. Music makes me happy and can really put me in a good mood!

Go through my mountain of fabric and do some fun sewing!
*I have a plan and although I haven't put it into action, it's still in the forefront of my mind and I WILL follow through with it. I'm looking into possibly selling some of my creations. (I'll let you know more about them when I'm closer to actually doing it.)

Take better care of myself.
*I am now taking vitamins; almost regularly. Next I will be working on getting a consistent amount of sleep each night.

Figure out and put in place some kind of consistent workout routine.
*This is a tough one. I haven't done much. However, it's on my transferred list because it's still important to me and I'm still going to figure it out!

Nurture important relationships.
*I think communication is key here.

Be less fearful of letting others get to know me.
*Still blogging...

Have some great family pictures taken - outside.
*I plan to have this done in the fall.

Read some of the many books on my list.
*I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I know I'm behind the times.

See some of the many movies on my list.
*I actually saw Made of Honor in the theater, and have rented a few other movies recently. I think I'll wait to rent anymore until the weather gets cooler though. Summer just isn't movie rental time to me. I'm all about drive-inn's though!

Keep up on the reading for my Sunday School and Relief Society lessons.
*Since I was called into the Primary presidency a couple of months ago, this hasn't been something I've taken the time to do. And honestly, I don't think it will be something I can keep up with regularly for a while. Not that I won't read regularly, I just won't beat myself up if I don't keep up.

Strengthen my testimony.
*I think Primary (and especially those I work with in Primary) will be helping with this one. Come to think of it, they already are!

Change some of my home decor.
*We are going to do some painting! Logan wants some green in his room and I think we'll do some orange or yellow in Bergen's.

Stop procrastinating!
*Another toughy, so I'm taking it one step at a time.

I hope to keep updating this list. It's been good for me to see my progress so far. Even when you think there isn't any, something like this gives you hope and shows you that there is!

More summer fun - Swimming

We met some of the same friends from the zoo at Tropicanoe Cove on Tuesday. It was our first time going this year and Bergen's first time to really remember it!

 

The weather was nice, but the water was a little chilly. It was no problem though, we just took a few breaks:
The big spraying tower (and sand pile - not shown) are always fun for a little out-of-the-water activity.

 

 

 

And you can't really call it a day at the pool without a few snacks.

 

 

Of course it's always nice to make new friends.

 

 

But best of all is to have someone you love to hang out with and show you the ropes.

 

We're definitely looking forward to more fun days like this.

First real summer fun - Zoo

Summer's here and we're having some fun!

We met several friends at Columbian Park Zoo last week and had a good time. (Great idea Margot!) The kids played in the fountains, looked at the animals, and climbed all over the place.

 

 

 

My kids were a little leery about the animals in the petting zoo, but did warm up before moving on. Logan even touched a horse!

 

 

They both liked the dinosaur excavation area. Bergen was "diggin' it" so much I almost hated to make her leave. (Hey, maybe she'll be an archaeologist when she grows up!)

 

 

Logan's favorite part of the day was definitely riding the train! We even bought extra tickets so we don't have to get them before we ride next time!

 

 

What a fun day with friends. Thanks guys -- we can't wait to do it again!

"Pretty Mommy"

Logan is all about doing my hair lately. He tells me he wants to make me look pretty. Here I am after he decided to fix it up while we were in the middle of playing on the floor. He had me lie back on one of the walls of his fort that had fallen down and made me look "nice" right then and there. What a guy!

 

It's fun to see yourself in your kids isn't it? Apparently when my sister and I were little we used to do the same thing to our "Pretty Daddy!" (Only we'd sit on his chest and comb his hair forward).

*By the way, my dad is sporting a ponytail these days.
I think it's "pretty" cool!

Mmmm Strawberries

We had a lot of fun picking strawberries last year so decided to make it an annual event. (I also decided to do something with the berries this year. We still have bags of them in the freezer from last year...) We were going to go out on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago, but the weather was bad so we skipped it. Having put it off, it slipped my mind and we wouldn't have made it at all if Logan hadn't reminded me about it on Thursday. So on Friday morning (after swimming lessons) we went out to Pretty Prairie Berry Farm and picked 21 pounds.

The area we were in seemed to have been gone over pretty well so we weren't getting the biggest or the best fruit, which wasn't at all like last year. The kids had a blast though. They ate and ran around to their hearts' content, the ground was wet and they got muddy, and people oohed and aahed over them wherever they went. Those things alone made it well worth going! ha ha

 

We lasted over an hour before the heat and humidity got to us so we headed back to the car and cleaned the kids up the best we could before driving home. They weren't completely mud covered when we finished with them, but they still had to make the trip in their unders. Logan (ever aware) put his wet swimming suit back on too, but Bergen, in only a diaper, couldn't have been happier! That or she just liked being a mess. You never know.

 

 

Things got crazy once we were home and the weekend was already busy, so even though I had planned to make jam and prep things on Friday night, I didn't get to it until Monday morning. Craig was a little worried that the berries were getting mushy, but we were eating them by the handfuls over the weekend so I wasn't too concerned. Besides I wasn't going to let a a little ickiness ruin my big plans.

This was my first attempt at "preserving" and I went the freezer jam route. Here, are some of the fruits of my labors, for your viewing pleasure!

 

I made some regular and some low sugar jam and boy was it good! What am I saying? It is good. We haven't eaten all of it! Perhaps a few of our neighbors will be getting yummy jars of jam for Christmas. Perhaps not. We might just decide to eat it all ouselves.

Our Daddy

 

You're a great Dad Craig, and your kids and I love you! Happy Father's Day.

Da da da daaa da da daa

Logan chose a musical Indiana Jones themed Father's Day card for Craig this year and we listened to it I don't know how many times as we waited for the big day to arrive. The kids had fun with that card all week! (It's a wonder the battery wasn't worn out before it reached its recipient.) I especially enjoyed watching Bergen laugh as her brother put on his "fedora" and practiced his action moves each day after daddy left for work.

 

 

What to do about a tattoo...

Logan is very observant. He notices everything. He remembers everything. And I mean everything! Tattoos for instance.

I can't remember when I started wanting a tattoo. I do remember mentioning it to my mom once, and making a mental note of her reaction. I still think it would be "fun" to have a tattoo, but I will never get one -- and not because of my mom. It's just not gonna happen. Nope. Nada. No Sirree. I wonder if Logan knows that.

Getting back to the point. We know people with tattoos. So he knows people with tattoos. He knows what they are -- we've discussed them at length. He knows they can look pretty cool. He knows it hurts to get one. He knows that nice people have/get tattoos. He knows tattoos are permanent. He knows that having a tattoo doesn't make you a bad person. And he knows that "we don't do that in our family". Still there's something about a tattoo that he finds irresistible.

 

Logan showed me a fine looking anchor (hanker) tattoo on his chest and a few others on his arms, cheeks, and back the other day and I had to laugh. Where does he come up with this stuff? I thought with the "hook" and the look he was giving me that he was pretending to be a pirate, but no! He informed me that he was a race car driver! Okay?. Either way I'm sure girls would be in awe. Just look at Bergen. She was so taken with Logan's tattoos that she had to get in on the action "too"!

New Additions

Our watermelon plant died. I'm not sure if it got too little water, or too much. One day it was good and the next it was shriveled up like the feet of the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. Logan wasn't very happy about it so we went to the store again. Here are the new additions: a pumpkin, the original zucchini moved a bit to the right, and a different type of watermelon. We also got a red pepper, but didn't really have a place for it, so put it in the bed with the tomatoes.

 

*And in case you're wondering; yes, I know there isn't enough room in the "garden" for all of the plants! Lets just say we're experimenting.

It's all about ME

I told Craig over and over last year that this was going to be my year. Here's what I wrote in my first ever blog post at that time: "Today is the beginning of a new year for me (I'm 45!) and I'm determined that this is going to be my year. I have much planned and am sure there will be quite a bit of introspection. So in hopes of remembering the details, I'm going to attempt to document it. Who knows, it might be fun to look back and see what happened. I know I'm looking forward to the challenges and whatever transformation comes from them."

So now, almost 4 months later, I'm asking myself what happened?! I had such big plans (in my head) about where I would be now and I'm nowhere near that place. Not that I was planning to neglect my family; I was just going to be taking a little "me time" by focusing on areas I deemed important or worthwhile and by making some changes and improvements... Apparently nothing has qualified yet.

Okay, I did make a long list of things I wanted to accomplish and I have crossed a few things off that list. But otherwise, I am no better off than I was before my year began. Maybe it's because I changed my original blog. It was "all about me" in the beginning, but it made me feel selfish and self-centered so I changed the focus to my family. And honestly I wasn't really comfortable opening myself up in such a public forum anyway.

Well the time has come to change -- again! My days of procrastinating are over! (I hope.) I don't like the challenges. I want this transformation to be easy. I am tired of worrying and feeling guilty about my needs and about putting myself first. But I have to fill my cup!

Here's my plan:
(Maybe if I write it down it will come to fruition.)
eat right
exercise
get adequate sleep
pray harder
study the scriptures regularly
keep the sabbath day holy
listen to more music
read more books
watch less tv
plan
improve daily routines
prepare for things well in advance
serve others
spend less
love more
get organized
be grateful
waste less
be able to ask for help
stop doubting my choices
and
love myself

Wish me luck. I hope to be getting to know and introducing you to the new and improved me sometime next year.

Wannabe

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? I have; so I know what it's like. That being said, I think Bergen wants to be Logan... or at least be just like him!



Here's some of the evidence:
Swinging high!

On the big kid slide.

Wanting to be in the exact same space.

Even going to time out. What's up with that?!

And reading before bed.

I don't think she could have picked a better person to "wannabe". Way to go girlie!