renewed

From the day the Daddy-O and I got together he has had an old Garfield blanket from his childhood.  We have never used it.  It's always been placed high up on a shelf with other memories from long ago.  A few weeks back I took it down and washed it up.  I knew we had a little boy or two who would enjoy it. 

I took the time to pull each stitch apart and then sew it back up with new batting inside.

This blanket--that was filled with many memories from the past--is now being used to create new ones with a new generation--well, that is if we can get it back from the Daddy-O.  It seems he has fallen in love again with this blanket. 



excitment

It's been a long time since Mama laced up her running shoes, strapped on the Ipod with Kings of Leon pulsating through the ear buds and ran.  Ran until the legs hurt and the lungs could no longer stay caught up with the heavy and deep breaths....in, out, in, out.  

Who knew that running at six in the evening in 90 plus degrees could feel so good. 

My sister, Aunt Kissy, her husband, Uncle Dude and myself are signed up to do the Terrain Mud Run on October 6th at Old Tucson Studios. 

Here's a video that was shot in Eugene, OR of their Mud Run so you can get an idea. 

I am so excited to get back out their and run for something and not only that but to have someone to do this with.  Mama needed this. 

savoring

I think just about once a week the Daddy-O and I are having the talk about the kiddos.  It's the one that starts off like this....

"Do you think we are screwing the kids up?"

and then

"Do you think we are being too hard on them?"

And this is why parenting is so hard.  Our 3 year old, Bug, can't seem to listen to save his life and he is physically violent to me, to his brother, to his dad, and to his grammy.  Of course, most of you don't know these things about him because he is pretty well behaved outside of our home and his comfort areas.  I am sure he is very normal for a 3 year old but I don't know that I want to let this behavior continue because he is three and this is what is normal.  However, at the same time I don't want to "break" him because we expect him to understand more than what maybe he should. 

Do we lower our bar of tolerance for him or has society already done that too much and this is why we are in the state in which we are in as a country. 

There are days though that I do feel that everything will be alright and on one of those such days we had a mommy and me date.  We went bowling, then to lunch, and then to Target for a little indoor playing. 

Here we are at the bowling alley

Lunch at Lucky Wishbone

My pictures of Bug...

Bug's picture of me.

Some fun at Target



gratitude

I have the BEST MOM EVER!

My mom surprised me with these guys earlier this week as a "thank you" for helping my mom and dad with some stuff relating to my dad's accident.  My mom sure does know the way to my heart!

I love you mom and dad!

sharing

This morning I took part, for the first time, in this food co-op called Bountiful Baskets.  Daddy-O swears we talked about this co-op before but I totally disagree. 

Just for the record though....the Daddy-O does swear A LOT and I don't mean in the "I swear I told ya so!" but more in the "Holy S**t" or in "WTF" kind of way.

Okay, so back to this blog post about Bountiful Baskets. 

There are two choices in "baskets" that you can buy---organic for $25 OR non-organic for $15.  Then there are various "add-ons" you can buy in addition that change weekly from what I understood.  Being this was our first time we decided to buy the non organic basket and this is what we received...

Mount Rainer Cherries, Red Grapes, one head of Romaine, One Cantaloupe, 4 Mangos, 4 Peaches, 4 Plums, 10 Red Potatoes, 2 Red Bell Peppers, 1 pint of Cherry tomatoes, 2 Cucumbers, and 1 bag of baby Carrots. 

We thought this was a deal for $15.00.  Don't ya agree?

Here are the "add-ons" we bought in addition....

Tropical Granola which is extremely yummy!

A case or organic blueberries at a cost of $2 each.

And 5 organic nine grain loafs of bread at $2.40 each.

There were a few more "add-ons" that we didn't buy. 

Ordinarily, we wouldn't buy five loafs of bread or a case of blueberries but I can tell you that I spend more weekly on fruits and veggies then what I did today and I received probably double then what I typically buy. 

Each week will vary in what you'll get and when you order your basket you won't know what is in it which we like because we will be forced to use stuff we wouldn't ordinarily use.

So how does this all work....Starting on Monday at noon ordering opens up on Bountiful Baskets website and it closes on Tuesday at 10pm.  You select what basket you want, organic OR non-organic, and how many you want, and then you can select your additional "add-ons."  You pay right then with your order.  Print your confirmation and then show up at your site that you selected.  I selected the Clements Center and I arrived at 6:30ish this morning.  I was the 2nd person there but by 7am the line was HUGE.

I'll be honest....I can't wait for Monday's now just so I can order my next basket and "add-ons."  

As the saying goes....the early bird gets the worm.....so if you want a worm too you should be there.  

PS.... I will deliver for a small fee of.....$1,275.00 per item. 

educating

I've been keeping my toilet tank, desk, nightstand, dining room table and just about any other flat surface covered with a book or two, or three, or four...

I thought I would share with you my selections for reading materials.  Are you ready?  Here I go....

The Well-Trained Mind

You Are Your Child's First Teacher

Simplicity Parenting: Using The Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids 

Above All, Be Kind

Phonics Pathways Clear Steps to Easy Reading and Perfect Spelling

Phonics Pathway Boosters!

Phonics Level K

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

As you can see I've been and will be keeping busy. 

mending

As Daddy has kindly pointed out a time or two (or three, or four, or five, or six....or a hundred) "this blog used to be happier."  And he is right.

I never claimed to think that being a full time stay-at-home mom (SAHM) would be easy--I just didn't think it would be this challenging.  I enjoy nothing more then being a mom but what I don't enjoy and what makes being a SAHM challenging is that on most days I feel like I am the "no" police. 

"No, don't do that!"

"Stop hitting your brother?"

"Stop biting!"

"That's a bad idea!"

"Bug, get off your brother!"

"Hey" (as Squish slaps Bug in the face while I am typing this out)

"Squish, get out of the freezer.  It's too early for ice cream!"

And on and on and on....

The word "no" can be very exhausting and I had no idea. 

So now that I have worked on letting a few things go, clearing out my mind of the past, and in light of my dad's accident I am going to start focusing on the things that make me happy. 

Let's start with my kids...

The monsoon season is here but it seems most of the rain parts around our house when it starts.  Here it is mid-July and our rain barrels have only overflowed once.  ONCE!  The last good rain fall we had left just enough standing water for the kids to enjoy.