Are we there yet?

We are almost there.

The day before the "Big Trip".

It feels like i have been packing and cleaning FOREVER!

And i really hope i haven't forgot anything.

Packing for a big trip with a 9 month old is a lot different then just packing yourself. I'm still not sure how in the world i got enough clothes and such for me AND Gwen for a whole week in just one suitcase. Like i said, i hope i didn't forget anything!

The car is all packed too, and i'm still not sure how i managed to get most of the contents of about 8 totes in the trunk alone. Lets just say God was with me. :)

Tomorrow we start the long 17 hour drive to Beulah, North Dakota. Whew! That is a long way. Especially with a baby in the back seat! :)

Hopefully it will be a prettier and more scenic drive then the drive to Phoenix, AZ. Talk about boring!

Then we will have a week of fun with my MIL and FIL. Followed by renting a very expensive car, courtesy of one-way rentals, and driving 17 hours back home.

With a baby in the back seat

:)

I really am looking forward to this trip.

Really.

Just not the driving all night part.

Or the in a car for 17 hours part.

At least i don't have to drive :)

What i've Done 8-30-10

I have done too much to write down. I am going to take a nap.

My Have done list

I was thinking the other day and i decided a To Do list is good, but sort of defeating. What if i don't cross off very many things on it in one day? What if i don't cross off any?!? And what about all the things you do in a day that you don't put on a list to cross off?

So i decided every day i am going to try and list my have done's before my blog. We will see if it works. :)

Have Done's:

Folded 2 loads of laundry, dried one load and started one load.
Cooked 4lbs of dried beans
Dug half a row of potatoes
Got the mail
Did dishes
Ran and emptied the dishwasher and its contents
Changed 1 diaper
Bagged shredded zucinni and put in the freezer
Straightened up the house
Posted on my blog
Posted pictures on face book
Moved sprinklers 3 times
Read probably 5 chapters in my book
Read my bible
Washed my face, brushed my teeth and actually put on makeup!


I have also been busy decorating our house and they always say the proof is in the pudding, so here is the pudding :)

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

Living room

Kitchen and dining

A Mothers Heart

You know, we all have bad days.


Some bad days are worse then others.


Some are bad because we are grumpy and tired and its our own fault we have a bad day.


Some days are bad because other people around you just keep doing the wrong things and rubbing you backwards


Some days are bad because of our own stupid mistakes. Kinda like my bad night last night. It looked something like this :

This lovely blackberry syrup was so deep on my stove i had to spoon it off into a jar before i could even take a rag to it. Plus i had to take off the burners and spoon syrup out from under THAT! Fun, fun fun.

Here i am, whipping through a quick batch of blackberry syrup at 9:30pm, just going to hurry and get it boiling so i can pop it in the canner and be done. I knew it wouldn't take too long and then i would be done and could sit down and have a cookie with my hubby.


A word to the wise: do not boil syrup on HI and walk away from it. It will boil over and make a huge mess.

So about 2 hours later i was done with the syrup and cleaning up the mess and went to join my husband in bed, exhausted.

That's not a very good day. But arguably not the worst.

Some days are so bad. You get hit with something and for an instant, maybe longer, you just kinda freeze and wonder "How are we going to get through this?" or ask God "Why?"

Maybe like when you get laid off from your job and don't know how you will make ends meet.

Or like my best friend had yesterday. This is the worst kind of day at all, a parents worst nightmare.

Yesterday my niece-in-love was suddenly rushed to the emergency room.

I heard the news and immediately my heart started walloping. I wanted to be there for them and i was in tears about my little niece and that she would be okay, and for her parents, knowing how they must feel.

I knew in that instant that no matter how much i may have wanted to believe i understood what they were going through, that i would have absolutely no idea of it, if i did not have a little one of my own.

I started fervently praying. For my niece, for her mom and dad. I could only imagine how horrible it must be for them. Because if my reaction was so strong, and it wasn't even my child, how would i be if it had been my little girl?
It got me thinking and pretty soon my mind was going off in several different directions:

Praise and thanksgiving that i know the GREAT Physician and had somewhere to channel all my fear.

Wondering if i would remember to automatically turn to God if i was in their shoes.

Disbelief that people live, day in and day out, and through crisises like this, without knowing God, and his peace and love.

Thankfulness that my baby girl was safe and healthy.

Awe at what an amazingly strong bond parenthood creates. I never knew i could love a little person so much. But how could you not love this face?!?
And that's when i realized: A Mothers heart is such an amazing thing. You can love everyone and anyone in the whole world and still have all your love left for your babies.


Her first piggie tails!

Summer fun?!?

I love summer! Every winter, around the middle of January, i start to look forward to summer coming. I love the sunshine, i love being able to be outside, i love not always being cold, or always having to wear socks or slippers or take a coat with me everywhere! I love the popsicles and the ice cream cones, the bbq's, swimming, fishing, thunderstorms, camping, suntans, open windows in my house, picnics, outside walks, gardening and all the flowers!

So why is it that i can always remember all the good things but not the bad things?!? :)

Like the heat, the stickiness, the not-having-AC, the weeding, the watering, the sweating, the having to take a cooler with me when i go grocery shopping, the sunburns, the bugs, and the canning.

Lately it has been the last thing. The canning.

For the past 3-4 weeks i have been working my you-know-what off trying to get all the wonderful bounty of the summer preserved and ready for the winter. (You would think the working my you-know-what off would mean it is getting smaller. It isn't). I love it when my garden produces and i love having all the good things to eat in the winter. But right now, i am HATING canning. So far i have canned: 20 quarts of peaches, 10 quarts of pickles, 20 quarts of green beans and today i processed and froze 2 gallons worth of sweet corn and i have one gallon to go tomorrow. Now, i know that doesn't look like much, but it is a lot more work then it sounds. It took me an entire day to do the peaches: cutting, de-pitting, blanching, peeling, loading jars, making syrup, hot lids, process 25 minutes. Green beans take even longer! 7 quarts worth of green beans takes me about 4 hours to snap and clean, 2 hours just to pick them, then i have to pack them in jars, process for 25 minutes under pressure (which usually makes out to about 40 minutes total time). Pickles are a little easier, about 30 minutes worth of picking, scrub them up and then maybe 30 minutes to assemble the brine and pack them in. Sweet corn is not so much fun cause it took me a half hour to pick 40lbs worth, then it took me all day to shuck them and cut them off the cob. Then i had to cook them a bit and put them in bags. So pretty much all day. The worst part of it all? Doing it in 95 degree weather with no AC. Talk about sweating! And i still have potatoes, tomatillo sauce, blackberry syrup, choke cherry jelly, applesauce, more corn and green beans, more pickles and hopefully some tomatoes and tomatoe sauce to do. (Sigh)

I know it sounds like i am whining, and i suppose i am a bit. I guess i just wanted to put this all out on paper (or on cyber space :) so i could see how much i have done and give myself a pat on the back. Cause lets face it, for the most part a mom's (or a housewife's) jobs and hard work go largely unappreciated, at least verbally. So here's my own pat on the back. Good job me for working your you-know-what off and getting so much good food put away for your family this winter! :) (Sigh, i feel better now :)

This weekend I

This weekend i made roast in the crock pot. It was soooo good and my house wasn't stifling!

I went grocery shopping. I really don't enjoy it (although Gwen seems to) but the day was brightened considerably when i met THREE of my friends while at the supermarket. What a small world this is! :)

Went to the rodeo. I don't enjoy all the events but i just like the atmosphere and of course, the food. Gwen had fun to.

Straightened my house but did not clean it. I think it is bad when you can't remember the last time you swept your floors or cleaned your shower. :)

Ate way too much bad food. I will not list it here, as i know it will just make me feel bad all over again, but it was too much. And i was so busy i did not work out. There goes my weight loss! Darn fair food.

Went dress shopping with my sister and had a blast! We took a mini jaunt around the mall, looked at some cute shoes (and found some!) had coffee and just had a really great time! Plus, the dress we picked out for me has pockets! Its so cute.

Went to church and sunday school as a family! It has been awhile since my hubby and I have both made it to church and it felt good to be sitting next to each other in the pew.

I put my baby girl in the nursery for the first time. I wasn't very good at letting go! I laid her down for a nap myself and then checked in about 20 minutes later and she had just woke up! So i took her back. :)

Did a massage. I usually don't do massages on the weekends and especially not on sunday, but this was a special circumstance and i am so glad that i could help!

Hung out with my mom, dad, sis and brother. Ate too much again, and painted my nails and toes. My toes still need some work and unfortunately i think i destroyed my nails canning peaches today. :(

Our "picturesque" life :)

Playing Uncle Shane's guitar
Our garden! The corn is like 10 feet tall!


I have been busy decorating! This is in our living room

The dining room

The kitchen

At cousin Mason's 3rd birthday party. We went swimming!

and we loved it! Me and mommy swimming

Our little family :)

This is fun!

Posing for the camera :)

I love my daddy :)

at jump creek. i wanted to eat the rocks

I loved playing in the water!

Jump Creek 7-10