Sunday, April 28, 2013

Sprinklers, Strawberries & Squirrels

So sad, the weekend has already come and gone. I love the weekends, especially Sunday when we have family days. John and I are spring cleaning and trying to get our house back in order. Both kids rooms are disasters- actually every room minus the living and kitchen are disasters right now. How that happened I have no idea. John went to Lowes and picked up a few things to do some heavy duty yard work - next weekend we will both be slaving out there, hopefully it will be a nice cool weekend again. While daddy worked in the yard a happy little goose ran around getting soaked in the sprinklers.




Heidi went on all of John's trips to the different stores and that gave me a chance to pack up all of the clothes in Heidi's room that either do not fit or are not of this season. I attempted to clean and organize her room, but that was a worthless cause once Heidi got back home. Laundry was another item checked off the list, oh and I reorganized and cleaned out the linen closet, went through the medicine basket and threw out expired medicines....you know, all fun things on such a beautiful day.

Yesterday {Saturday} Heidi and I went to pick strawberries with my sister and a few of the rug rats. It was fun - I think Heidi was more interested in watching the pig races, she ran as fast as she could to see them when they started. They had a few fun events going on - a large slide, tricycles to ride, duck races with a water pump, hay rides, all sorts of farm fun! Harrison had a great time, ha!





I'm sure you are dying to know how the bird feeders are doing. We have a very happy camper here :)


Saturday, April 27, 2013

Bird Feeders

Thursday was a no good, horrible, rotten day. Well, it wasn't that bad, but it was painful. I think I have a little case of mastitis or a clogged milk duct and I was achy and feverish all day. Pair that with a cranky toddler and my patience was wearing a little thin. Usually I have more patience than the average person, but being sick and having a child jump all over you and forget that listening is a skill that she does not need to have and you have one exhausted Mama. About 15 minutes after John got home I went to bed. Thankfully Harrison went to sleep right before that and John was a saint to take over Heidi duty.

While I was trying to sleep I started thinking about how the day could have gone better. Besides the obvious, wishing I had felt better, I knew that Heidi needed more structure at home instead of just running rampant throughout the house. My plan was that I would have activities for independent play and also activities we can do together throughout the day. During her independent activities it could be during times I needed to tend to Harrison or when I could be cleaning the house. I figured I needed to look at staying at home with a toddler kind of like being a school teacher because I will need to plan and prepare the activities. This will be especially handy when pre-school is out for the summer.

Today I printed out some dot art for Heidi's independent play and we made bird feeders for our group activity. Heidi really enjoyed both! I know at her school the teachers have mentioned that the kids really love the dotting. I found a pin on Pinterest, of course, and it had some links to a few blogs that had free printables for dot art.



You can order the dot pens from:



The bird feeders were a project I remember doing back in my days as a Girl Scout. I asked on Facebook where I could find some pine cones and I felt super silly because everyone was like "in my yard". To be fair I only asked because I was not sure if pine cones had a season of when they fell and things like that. So, after the answers on Facebook I looked on the side of the road by pine trees and found a few on the ground. I bought bird seed and we had peanut butter at home. We also had yarn at home and I have no idea where the yarn came from, I don't usually have a need for yarn so I really do not know why I had yarn. You will also need a spatula and a bucket.



To start we poured the bird seed in a bucket. Next we held the tip of the pine cone and spread the peanut butter on the pine cone by using the spatula. After the pine cone was covered in a layer of peanut butter we put the pine cone in the bucket and rolled it around to get the bird seed all over the peanut butter. Once the pine cone was coated in bird seed I sat the cone upright and tied the top with yarn. Finally Heidi picked a spot and we hung the bird feeder. Heidi's favorite part was covering the pine cone with bird seed, or it could have been rubbing herself with the spatula covered in peanut butter.



I really have to admit that having the planned activities really helped me to have a little order in my life - at least one this particular day :) stay tuned for more fun days ahead!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Friendships - Making & Keeping {and a little TBT with pics!}


Linking up with the bloggers above on this week's topic of Friendships: Making & Keeping Them
{disclosure - if you are not in a picture do not get hurt!! I wanted to hurry and post and I was nursing going through pictures on FB quickly...I was also having issues getting pictures to post and it was getting the best of me!}

It is funny, but when I read the topic for this link-up I instantly thought about girls who would say that they are better friends with guys than they are with girls - that guys are easier to get along with. I kind of see that, but I kind of feel sad about that because the friendships you have with your girlfriends are so important. They change, of course, as we change, but they are longer lasting than any friendship you can have with a guy - in my opinion. I only say that because I feel that once you are married to your spouse the dynamic between your opposite gender best friend changes.






John and I have been so blessed with the friends we have made and kept in contact with through the years. Growing up I lived in the same house my entire life and knew the same people forever that I never really knew or learned how to make friends. Going to school, church, and other activities I was always just put with people and they became my friends. Some people I do not even remember meeting because I met them at such a young age. 








It is funny that this is the topic because just the other day I was thinking about friendships and how my life is in that aspect these days. There was a time when I was worried more about the number of friends I had. It was important to know everyone, be friends with everyone, and be liked by everyone. Aside from needing to have tons of friends I have always had a core group of friends that really know me. That group has changed over the years as I have changed. There are still a few who have been in my core group for ages. I remember graduating high school and having people say that you would make your true friends in college and that I would lose touch with my treasured high school friends. It felt like I was challenged to prove that person wrong. I worked so hard for years making sure I did not lose contact with people. Too bad Facebook was not around back then to aid in that!






In college I joined a sorority and hung out with one fraternity. It was easy to make friends when they were dumped right at your feet :) I am shy {if some of you can believe that} when it comes to meeting new people. I have those awkward social skills and I get really nervous. Sometimes I try to imagine what it is like meeting me and I think I would probably annoy myself - strange? Probably. Anyway - it was great having an instant way to make friends and I definitely have friends in both the sorority and through John's fraternity {the wives club and other fellow ladies that I hung out with up there} that are lifelong friends. 






After college it all became a little tricky. We all moved around and it was harder to have get togethers {I looked forward to all of those weddings!} and I missed everyone so much. There are days when I long to go back to that time in my life if only for a moment. I am now living in the area {well, close to} that I grew up in and you would think that I would have picked right back up with the friends I hung out with before. Nope, not how it worked out. I tried to reconnect with certain groups, but it just didn't happen - which is completely fine. I started working at a local bank and reconnected with a childhood friend and a couple of other ladies that I knew of but never really hung out with in high school. 





Flash forward to today and we have been here almost 6 years. Now I have kids and with everything that everyone is involved in - mainly kid stuff - it can be hard to get together. One thing that has been very important to me are my lunches with the girls. It is such a great time to just let it out and have that girl time that I need. My lunch ladies and I have a very special bond. I think we've been "lunching" for the past 4 years. I also have a couple of groups of ladies that I go on trips with and those are always just the most fun!






Another place I have been able to make friends is through our church small groups. It is nice to be able to have friends that are "couple" friends. Groups that both John and I can hang out with and enjoy. We have been in two different groups and really made great connections with the men and women in both groups. These people have been there to pray with us, laugh and cry with us, and to help us grow even more in Christ. 





Lets see - where else for friends...well, now that Heidi is getting older and getting more involved in activities I am definitely able to make a few more friends that way. I love all the "dance moms" I get to chat with each Monday. There are also a few ladies I chat with every so often at Heidi's school. Hmm...sometimes my sister lets me hang out with her friends - ha! I think I am out of ideas on friends...




In having friendships it is very important to put in the friendship as much as you would want to be given back. Not saying that you should expect the friendship to give back to you, but you know what I mean, right? It stinks sometimes when friendships seem one sided and all the other person does it take, take, and take. I remember at times I felt like I put so much into friendships with people and there was no return of the same respect. So, I stopped putting the effort and you know what changed? Nothing really, just me putting less time into something that didn't matter to another person. This is all just recently y'all - I would say within the past 5-6 years that I have been learning about friendships - true friendships. I am thankful for all of the friends I have had throughout my life and I actually consider everyone that I have met to be a friend. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Maternity Pictures

I just wanted to share a few of my maternity pictures taken by Molly Smith {check out her Facebook - there is a sweet little boy as her cover photo}. Molly did such an amazing job and I grateful to have these precious memories. Ok, I am more happy that Harrison is here and that I am not miserable anymore, but I am thankful for these pictures :)











 
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