"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!