Dinosaurs

Playgroup last week was at the dinosaur museum - thanks Sheena for getting us in 1/2 off on your pass!

Second generation playgroup babies! minus 2. Finally they are not confined to the stroller!


It would've swallowed these little minnows whole!

They had 3 different play areas with things for the kids to do. They love getting their hands dirty don't they! Digging in the sand and water for little dinos.

What do these seashells feel like?

Now I think I am caught up.

Witches again . . .

I am a little behind on the things that I wanted to post so it is a little overload of pictures probably. Here the kids and I went to a playgroup at Gardner Village to go on a "witch hunt". It was pretty fun.

Just to explain why we are always going places for playgroup . . . well when we were smaller we used to go to each other's houses most of the time and just let the kids have at it, but now since most of us have had our second child and we've added a couple mom's since the beginning it has become too crowded to do it at home at least most of the time. But the summer is great cause we go to parks or play in backyards, now through out this season we'll be on the move doing some fun things and fun places, hence all the picture taking. Explained. Now you may notice that it doesn't seem like too many kids, that is because we've planned ahead and sometimes people don't come. ( in this instance we are missing three- there are usually 7 toddler/preschoolers -5 babies- 7 moms) I guess if we knew it would be a smaller group we could stay home more often, but

oh well it is fun to get out. This I just thought was way funny!

Can't believe we got them to sit for pictures more than once.

My "eventually" . . .

The title is inspired by someone else's inspiration, but this is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I love my family so much. They mean the world to me, they are everything that is important. At times I feel myself to be quite inadequate or undeserving of such a great husband and such precious little souls. Especially since I had my second child and I often feel pulled in each direction. The day we brought Embrie home from the hospital, we were actually back on our way to the doctor's office (she had a few little problems and had been in the hospital some extra time). It was a rough day for her and for us. I remember on the way to the doctor's office telling Brad through tears " I want to do everything. I want to do everything with and for Garrett, everything with and for Embrie, everything with and for you, and I still want to keep the house spotless and get dinner ready on time everyday. . . and I just can't." I feel "giulty" all the time that I am not spending enough time with anyone in the family. I've often said "nothing gets enough of my attention, not Garrett, not Embrie, not Brad and not the house." What I want is for everything to get my attention all the time. And these feelings often tend to make me frustrated and then I loose my patience with those whom I love the most and who should have my patience. Then I just feel like a worse person and the cycle goes on and on.

Now this probably sounds depressing but I am lucky because I have something . . .
Constant prayer . . . that is the thing that helps. It is a good thing that the Lord is so understanding of our faults and that He is willing to forgive me my short comings and let me try again. (I need lots of tries.) I have great mothers in my life, like my own and my grandmothers, my mother-in-law etc. Plus wonderful friends and family that let me know I am not completely alone. Their kids have done things that have drove them crazy too (for instance taking the scissors to my bedspread). So many of the mothers in my life have encouraged me, lifted me up, and made me laugh (which is also important). Often through out the day I have to stop and ask myself how Christ would handle the situation. Sometimes I know and sometimes I am at a complete loss as to how he would do it, but that is probably because I am far from perfect and don't yet have that perspective. But that is my goal to handle things that way. With utmost care, just enough firmness, but not too much and to take a step back and decide if it really matters. (In the scheme of things bedspreads probably don't matter, but my 3 year old definatley does.)
So my eventually means to me that eventually I will be the person I want to be . . .

These are a few moments in picutres from our daily life that make me keep trying to be better.

daddy-daughter bonding time
one of the few moments when they love each other ;)

Did he run out of energy?

No he did not.

Sprinkles!!!

I'm up!

Peek-a-boo

Daddy helps with homework

Another rare moment

They are so perfect, now I want to be perfect too.

Eventually. . . if I keep trying then . . . eventually . . .

I wish I had . . .

paid better attention in sewing class in high school it would have come in a lot more handy now as a mom. Hind sight right? Well this year I decided a bit reluctantly to make costumes for the kids. I wanted the kids to match or go together and I had some really cute ideas, but Brad saw the cost of costumes and suggested that they just be ghosts. I couldn't argue at least with the fact that costumes cost a lot of money. His other argument was " everyone will be a pirate no one dresses as a ghost anymore." I couldn't argue with that either. But my arguments were "if I put a sheet over their heads they won't keep it on and I can't sew!". In the end I pictured a cute idea in my head and decided to try it out. If my mom was coming down for the witches weekend then she might be able to help me out. And thankfully she did.

The costumes turned out cute enough although I am not sure that people will know they are ghosts. So I am not showing them here. That will have to wait for Halloween pictures. Plus I think I need to add a few touches. My only hope is that they will be cute and not dumb, but none the less the kids wont care and so I shouldn't care either, right? Right.

I am not contemplating taking a sewing class so that I will have this skill down pat for future reference.

I don't usually condone spitting, but . . .

Harvest

I feel pretty good about our gardens this year. We did mostly seed planting so we spent some time vamping up our soil, which is a lot like clay, and getting it ready earlier this spring. We planted a whole new flower garden as well as vegtables. Our flowers looked good I'd say they all grew to be pretty big and most of them were seeds. Our vegetables did really well too. We got a ton of zucchini and a good amount of tomatos and peppers. Unfortunately, I forgot to cover them the other night and therefore what was left of them is now ruined . . . all but one last crop. A neighbor reminded me about them by asking what they were.

While choosing our seeds at the store Garrett kept bringing me carrots so I decided that could be our little project together. So I took pictures at the beginning and then some at the end.

He helped me plant the seeds.

He helped water them.


And he helped pick them too!

I was impressed, we got a pretty nice haul on the carrots!

I didn't think I thinned them out enough. I thought they would turn out pretty whimpy or way mutated. They acutally weren't too bad a couple were probably store worthy, but most were about mid size. I was impressed with them anyway.

Wicked Witches!

A few days ago I hosted a Witches Tea party for some of my friends in the neighborhood. When handing out the invitations I was a little nervous that the girls wouldn't want to dress up, but hey I had no problems there. While rsvp- ing many of them told me they already ran out and got costumes! I was surprised but happy. A lot of them even said we need to do something like this every month! Ha! I guess girls, little or big, like to play dress up once in a while.
The tea party was a lot of fun my only regret is not being able to invite everyone I could think of!
We set up the garage (because I needed that much space) decorated and covered outdoor things with sheets. My mom gave instructions on how to make and drink your tea (herbal non-caf, no worries!) I had several flavors to choose from. Some people liked theirs some didn't. I would be among the "didn't" group. I had a mint tea and it tasted like drinking gum. UghK!
It was fun just like any girls night all you need is the girls really, we have our mouths what else do you need?

My mom gave a special reading of the history of the Salem witch trials. It was awesome!

The whole gang!

Thank you mom for always being so willing to help me with all my projects, whether it is a party or the day's dinner ideas. I love you! Wouldn't have been as fun without you!