Fall Break Unpictured

So you know the whole "If a tree falls in the woods but no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" As a mother I've come across my own puzzling conundrum.  If we do something fun as a family but we don't take any pictures, did we really do something fun together?  Seriously, pictures help me remember things so much better.  I often catch myself when I'm remembering family events, picturing the pictures to help me remember what happened.  So when I don't take pictures, I have a hazy recollection that we did something cool and that's about it.  But we DID do some fun things over fall break even if I didn't take pictures.

• The kids got flu shots and then we got dunkin donuts.
• We went to the pumpkin patch, where we each picked out a pumpin and rambled through the corn maze.
• We went to Reid's company picnic at the park.
• We played flashlight tag with the kids in the neighborhood. 
• We went and saw Hotel Transylvania (we loved it!)
• We went to the park with some friends.
• We went on bike rides.

Captain America

So Owen LOVES superheroes, and is always stealing things from around the house to be different superheroes. 

 

Wolverine

Thor

 

But his favorite one to be is usually Captain America, for his Captain America costume he uses the lids off these cute containers I bought at an antique shop. 

Baby Captain America

 It didn't bother me, until I realized he is totally ruining my lids.  Then I started to get annoyed and everytime he so much as looked at one of the lids I would kindly ask him to not play with the lids, then I would tell him to put the lid down, then I would say "Owen if you pick that lid up one more time you are going to time out", then I would say "Owen , I warned you, you are going to time out." And then it would start again, for three months until today we sat down for 5 minutes and made a shield out of a paper plate.  Seriously, how did I not do this sooner.  My little boy looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said "Momma, now I can be Captain America like I've always wanted, thank you so much."

Again I ask how did I not take the 5 minutes to make this shield 3 months ago?

Blessing

We blessed Camille today.  It was kind of sad to not have any family here with us.  But it really made me thankful for my little family and especially for Millie.  We prayed for and hoped for her and I am just so thankful to have her in our family.  In her blessing, Reid talked about her strong understanding of what is right and of the great example she will be for her family and friends and I am just so thankful for her.

I am so thankful to have this wonderful family and to be able to have the gospel to help me to teach them and help them become the people they can be is so wonderful.  We definitely are so blessed.

 Also, if your wondering why there was a lack of Owen in the pictures here you go.

Photography Class

After getting my new camera I decided to take a photography class at the local community college.  It was so fun to take a class again and learn about something I'm really interested in.  I still have a ton more to learn and photoshop to pine for but here are some pictures I took at our class "fieldtrip" i.e. walk around campus.

Dollywood

We took the kids to Dollywood last week.  They got kicked off the ducky ride for fighting.  The ride attendant seriously had to stop the ride, ans said"mother, you better come get these kids".  So I had to walk the walk of shame as I went in to get them and put one in each arm and got out of there.  Other than that fun memory, we had a great time it was a fun end of summer hurrah.  I can't believe school starts next week.

High Praise

Last night when we were in the bathroom getting ready for bed, Brooke started looking at their hooded bath towels.

Brooke: Mom, did you make these?
Me: Yeah, honey now brush your teeth.
Brooke: You made them with just a wash cloth and a towel?
Me: Yes, now please brush your teeth.
Brooke: Wow! (Then in a whisper voice to Owen) Did you know our mom was so incredible?

I just had to write that down so that I would always remember that there are moments when my kids think I'm cool stuff. Best Mother's Day present!

Just Talking

I have a hard time talking about personal things, you know serious personal stuff. I feel like I always end up crying and I hate crying so I just avoid such conversations or make jokes. But I feel like I need to talk and I thought, I have this blog, maybe if I just talk on there I won't start crying and have to wipe my nose in front of someone. So even though I really like to just talk about the fun, good stuff on here I hope you'll bear with me. I had a miscarriage in October, it was my 4th. I thought that because I had gone through this before I'd just be able to buck up and pull through it. But that's not happening. I'm so sad. I was so excited to see our family grow. As soon as I found out I was pregnant I started thinking about when the babies birthday will be, and how old the other kids would be and how I would decorate the room, etc. So even though I miscarried early I still feel like I lost so much. At first, Reid and I talked about just being done having kids, because really,we have two beautiful kids and this is hard, we don't want to go through this again. But we want to have another baby, that's why I was pregnant. So we've been seeing a specialist to figure stuff out and there was a surprisingly lot of stuff to sort out (I guess it's just amazing we have kids). It's so good to feel like we're figuring this out but it is driving me crazy how long it is taking. Patience is not really a strength of mine. I hate not knowing the plan, will we have another baby or not, is it going to be this year or not. It's hard getting on with things when I keep having to go in to the doctor, and take medicine and do all these things so that I will be able to get pregnant. It's just hard.
I don't mean to be complainy, I am so blessed and I have so many things to be grateful for. I feel so blessed to have my 2 kids, to be a mother, to watch them grow and learn new things, to hug them when they are sad, to snuggle when they are sleepy. I am so grateful for Reid, for the strength that he brings to me and to our family, I love him so much.
I guess there wasn't really a reason for me writing all of this, except, that I just needed to talk it through. So thanks for listening!

I Got A Haircut!

It had been a year since my last haircut. My hair was disastrous and I hadn't been able to wear it down for months. So I finally made an appointment and I am so happy. They had to take over 4 inches off because it was so damaged. So hopefully I won't wait an entire year before my next haircut!

I Have A Problem

Hi. My name is Bonnie and I am a book addict. Seriously. I read 7 books last week. I was getting so out of hand that I told Reid I would only read 1 book in the month of September. Yesterday, I read a book. Today, I counted how many days until October. It's 28. That is a long time to not read. Wish me luck.
If you are not a book addict and you can read without becoming completely useless to daily life then you should read Mockingjay (the last book in the Hunger Games series) and The Thief, Queen of Attolia, King of Attolia, and Conspiracy of Kings, I really liked this series.

Packing

I remember one time saying something ridiculous like "Packing is fun, because it gives you a chance to organize things and carefully go through your stuff throwing out what you don't need."
I don't know what ever possessed me to say something so crazy. Packing is NOT fun. And I am at the point now where I am just throwing stuff in boxes instead of being short and precise my labels are reading more like this "stuff from bathroom, living room, and kitchen and some kid stuff" helpful, right?

I give up

My house is a mess. And I've decided to give up trying to keep it clean, it seems there is nothing I can do. The more I clean the dirtier it seems to become. It's not just a little dirty, it is a mess. In order to put clothes in the washer I had to step on a 50 lb. bag of rice. My kitchen counters are covered in coupons, bills, house papers, etc. My bedroom/office/excercise room is totally crazy and cluttered, there are stacks of paper and boxes everywhere. Brooke's room is getting even more crowded as we finally bought her her own dresser from craigs list (so her and Owen no longer have to share). I am sharing this not so you all are embarassed that you know such a messy person, but to you let you know that I've decided this mess is not my fault. Yes, that's right I've been thinking a lot about the disaster that my house is becoming and I don't think it is my fault. I've decided that the blame lies 100% on the fact that our house is too small and there is not enough storage and organizational areas. It has nothing to do with me and my kind of messy kids and everything to do with this house. So I'm fully expecting that when we move in a couple months our new house is always going to be spotless, everything will always have a place and will always be ultra-organized! Heres to dreaming!

I kind of feel like a runner again

I ran cross country in high school and I loved it. It was definitely one of my favorite things about high school. I was never super fast but, I loved the friends I made and I loved running. But when I got into college I stopped running regularly. After I had Owen I decided to try to get back into running again. It has taken awhile, but I am starting to feel like a runner again. Running makes me so happy, I just love it! Yesterday I ran a 5k and it was so much fun! My goal was to run it in under 24 min. and I finished in 23:53. So it was nice to get in under my goal and just have fun. I am so glad I am running again!
Pardon the super crazy face, I don't know what I was doing!

After Our Run

So I have always had a secret love of rowing, but living in Utah I didn't have many chances to indulge that love. How lucky for me that we live in Tennessee where rowing is the thing. I think rowing is just the coolest looking thing, tranquil but at the same time really intense and energetic.

Anyways, that was all just a crazy tangent, this is what I am really going to talk about. After I ran this morning Brooke had planned a picnic for us to have at the park. She packed the food (cheese sticks, graham crackers, oranges, fruit snacks, and tootsie rolls), brought a blanket and an umbrella so the sun wouldn't burn us. So as we sat down ready to enjoy our picnic we noticed we had company.

They started circling.


This was the leader.


I could tell they were eyeing Owen.


They really freaked me out. So we ended up having our wonderfully planned picnic like this instead.

tulips

I was at the grocery store buying boring things like milk, eggs, and bananas when I saw these tulips. They were so pretty and they made me happy. I have never bought fresh flowers before, because its always seemed like a waste. But I rationalized that instead of buying ice cream I'd buy flowers. So I bought them, and they are beautiful. They make our house feel like spring. And they make me happy, now if only I had some ice cream :)!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and just clowning around

Lately, I've been feeling like a lot of my days have been me constantly trailing after my kids cleaning up their messes and ending up so tired that by the end of the day I haven't really done anything with them. Not today! I had some Dr. Seuss activities planned for today, but all Brooke would talk about were clowns and the circus.
She asked me to paint her face like a clown, and before I automatically said no I thought why not so I used our old halloween face paint and turned her into a clown. She had a ball putting on a circus for Owen and me. She did different tricks, and practiced juggling and riding a "little car", for never having been to the circus she did pretty good. She was a cute clown, but I will say I am not a big fan of clowns and I was happy when she said she was ready to wash it off.

The face paint went so well and Owen was still asleep so we decided to go ahead and make a cat in the hat, hat. Then when Owen woke up we read The Foot Book and they each did their feet stamps. They were both so giggly and wiggly when I was painting their feet, Brooke said it tickled.



It was such a fun day and somewhere in the middle of all that I still had time to make yummy Rosemary peasant bread and soup for dinner! I love good days, but it does make me sad that all days don't go quite so well.
Also just as a random note. Brooke used the phrase "It's just not fair" for the first time today, in reference to the fact that I wouldn't let her move her room in to the living room.

Half Marathon

Reid and I ran a half marathon this morning. The actual race didn't quite go as I was hoping. We were hoping to be under 2 hours and we came in at 2:20. I am pretty dissapointed because we had been feeling so good on our runs, last week we ran 11 miles in 1:25. But mentally I was not really with it today and I just never got going. My sweet husband could have done so much better, but he stayed with me and kept me going. But we finished and it was kind of fun! Anyways, getting ready for this race has been so fun. We have really loved running together, we both agreed it is one of the funnest things we've done together. And we are so appreciative to all of our friends who watched our kids so we could go on long runs on Saturdays, you guys are the best!

Get the Job Done

I had been thinking a lot lately about making Brooke a job chart, but I didn't want to do one that we constantly had to be putting stickers or checks on, I was wanting something that she could be more independent with and this is what I decided on. I took pictures of Brooke's six jobs: get dressed, make bed, brush teeth, set table, clear dirty dishes, and clean up toys. Then I made two magnetic hooks one for her jobs and one for when they are done, so when she finishes the job she just switches the picture over. We've been using them for about a week and I really like it. I feel like she understands more that these are her responsibilities and she has to do them before she can play and she is able to do her "job chart" by herself.
So now I'm wondering about a reward. Should we pay her for doing her jobs (I'm thinking a dollar or two a week), or should she be learning that helping out is just something that everyone needs to do? Is this a great opportunity to start teaching her about money or would it just make her think she has to get paid to do anything? I'm not really sure where I'm leaning on this, any thoughts?

5K

Two of my goals this summer were 1)run a 5k and 2) run a 6 min. mile. Well, I am laughably no where near the 2nd one but I did do the 1st one. I hadn't really ran a race since high school so I was a little nervous, but it was great! My goal was to be under 30 min. and my time was 29:13 (in my secret hopes I was shooting for 27 min). It was a really hilly race, but it was just so fun to race again!



Brooke also enjoyed the race, and was busy copying all the runners stretching, we'll have to let her do a fun run next year.

Kitchen Adventures

I decided to take some of our delicious blueberries and make some delicious freezer jam (thanks for the idea Adi). I've never attempted jam before and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. I'm thrilled to be able to have yummy jam all year long now!


I also decided to try my hand at making homemade babyfood. I didn't ever make any with Brooke and I thought I'd give it a shot this time. I just did carrots and sweet potatoes, and it was super simple. I just steamed them and then pureed them in the blender and then froze them in the mini muffin pan (because we don't have ice trays). It really didn't take very long and was way cheaper. And as those are the only two vegetables that Owen will actually eat I guess he approves!

Am I a horrible mom?

Maybe, don't answer that! Anyways, for my birthday Reid and Brooke went shopping and Brooke saw this purple lamp that she knew I would just love. So I got a puple lamp for my birtday (among other things) and I don't quite love it. I put it in the garage to take back to the store and everytime Brooke sees it she says "You're lamp, mom are you going to get a lightbulb?" So, I think it is so sweet that my little girl thought about me and picked something special out for me, but I don't really want a purple lamp that belongs in a college dorm. Am I horrible mom if I take it back? I mean isn't it the thought that counts?