All Quiet on the Western Front

It's 6:32 and my kids are fast asleep.  Man, I love busy weekends!!  This weekend was spent at the lake and was the perfect combo of relaxing and fun.

First up?  Bike riding!  Now if you've been paying attention (as I'm sure you all have) you know that the kids wanted to be able to ride their bikes to the big boulder at the lake when we went for Memorial Day.  Ben has been "riding" for a little over a month now but was still a bit (as Abby says) "wibbily and wobbily".  Abby on the other hand was still struggling to balance for more than a fraction of a second at a time.  So first thing Saturday morning we headed out.  Me on foot, Grandma on her gigantic bike, Ben wibbiling and wobbiling and Abby looking ready for riding in her pink tie-dye shorts, witch shirt and bunny helmet.

 I never let go of the back of her bike, but we made it to the boulder!!!

 By the time we headed back, Ben was wobbiling less and starting to look like a real bike rider!  (I told you Grandma's bike was big...I couldn't even get her head in the picture.  And yes, Ben's riding a pink bike.  The handle is still on his bike so that's the one Abby was using.)

 After our bike ride it was time for a swim.  The kids said the water was COLD.  I stayed on the dock in my sweats so I wouldn't know.

 We also got in a little bit of snuggle time with our favorite little guy, Cousin Christian.

 Saturday morning everyone (and by everyone I mean everyone but me) was up bright and early to go fishing.  And apparently when you get up bright and early to go fishing there is no need to get dressed.  Ben successfully reeled in a fish all by himself and since Daddy was out in the boat at the time he even "batted it all by myself!"  For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, it means he clubbed it on the head with a bat to put it out of it's misery.  That's my boy!!

 Later that evening we headed out for another family bike ride. 

 This time, I started letting go of Abby as she rode.  And what do you know?  She did it!

 Now she was definitely wibbily and wobbily and there may have been a very close call with a parked tractor but she did it.  And she was so proud!! 

 By this morning she was able to ride a couple miles with us and he was screaming "yahoooooo!" as he flew down a steep hill!  I am so proud of my littles for setting a goal and meeting it.  They worked hard to be able to ride their bikes by our lake trip and they did it!

 Above all else, I am glad to have bike training behind us.  I'm sure our neighbors would agree.

What's our next challenge?  Well since we get to go back here for three more weeks this summer the kids have decided that they want to learn to ski/knee board/wake board.  Wish us luck and stay tuned for what promises to be very entertaining.

Happy Mother's Day Y'all!

Sometimes, I just don't want the weekend to end.  When I've had three straight days of fun in the sun (yes I said SUN...I hardly even remembered where my shorts were!!) and time with my family, it is hard to remember that it is still only May and I do, in fact, have to go to work tomorrow.

My Mother's Day weekend started early on Friday when I took a day off  (which a co-worker pointed out was "highly suspicious on a sunny day") to attend "Mother's Tea" at preschool.

 While we were there we drank tea (which I'm told doesn't have any taste):

 and were treated to some songs.

 We also played a game called "Guess the Mommy" in which the teacher showed us a drawing and read us some things that the kids said.  I learned a lot about myself.

Abby said:
"My mom is 20 feet tall (close).  She has black hair and brown eyes.  For fun, my mom really likes to go to Chuck E Cheese (for the record that is probably the place I like to go the least).  Her favorite food is a bagel with cream cheese.  I go to Starbucks to get them (I think we did do that once?).  My mom likes to drive to work and to swimming lessons.  Something special she likes to cook is chicken dip casserole and pizza casserole.  My favorite thing to do with my mom is play.  I love my mom because she lets me play on her iPad and she takes a day off when I am sick."  That last one made me cry a little. (I know.  Big surprise.)

Ben said:
"My mom is 30 feet tall.  She is 32 years old.  She has black hair and she's gonna come home with blond hair (I was apparently in Florida when she interviewed him...I'm home but not blond) and brown eyes.  For fun, my mom really likes to play with me (way more than I like going to Chuck E Cheese, that's for sure).  Her favorite food is I think pizza.  My mom likes to drive everywhere.  Something special she likes to cook is lots of things.  My favorite is pizza casserole and chicken dip casserole (the teacher said she asked them these questions at different times).  My favorite thing to do with my mom is play with her.  I love my mom because she snuggles me."  Cue more tears.

The rest of Friday afternoon was spent getting a pedicure and shopping all by myself.  The weekend was off to a great start!!


On Saturday we were up nice and early for our T-ball game which started at the crack of dawn (well, 8:45, but on a Saturday?) and then I headed off for the inaugural Gig Harbor Beer Festival.  An afternoon of sun, beer and friends was just about perfect.

And then, there was today.  Abby woke up and found her Mother's Day present (from her babies, of course).  And yes, that is another baby.

 Why does our five year old get Mother's Day presents?  Well, when she was 3 she heard us talking about buying Mother's Day presents and she kept saying, "I wonder what my babies will get me?"  We tried to explain that her babies probably wouldn't be getting her a gift.  And then I walked in on this:

 ME:  "Whatcha doing, Ab?"
ABBY:  "Helping my baby make me a Mother's Day card."
I went shopping that night.  And we have been sneaking her babies out to buy Mother's Day gifts (and Father's Day gifts for that matter) ever since.

After she opened her gifts, they left me in bed so they could go decorate the house and make breakfast.  Which was fine by me.  I had Robbie open up the doors so I could look out over the sunny yard.  Living in the middle of nowhere sometimes has its perks.  We will most definitely be bombarded by bugs tonight since the doors were open all day but it is totally worth it.

 After we finished breakfast I had to sit on the porch with my eyes closed while they hauled my presents out from their secret hiding spot in the woods.  Lots of new flowers to brighten up the front porch!! 

 Just what I wanted.  Plus Robbie said what good are flowers if you can't see out the windows so I'm getting my windows cleaned too!!!  This is great news since they have never been cleaned in the time we've lived here.  And every time the sun comes out I think to myself, "we have GOT to get those things cleaned!"

After gifts we tidied up the playhouse.  You know, dusted off the cobwebs, swept the front porch and got it all ready for the daily use it is sure to get, starting today.

 While the kids napped, I did my all time favorite thing which is to sit out in the sun with a good magazine and read/sleep.  Soooooooo perfect.  We ended the evening with a BBQ with all of the family.

My weekend couldn't have been better and I couldn't feel like a luckier momma.  My kids are sweet, funny, smart, and so fun to be with.  I couldn't ask for anything more.

Step One

A couple weeks ago, I started to tell you about our yard.  And it is a big mess.  But the part that drives me the most crazy (besides the no grass issue) is this:

 This is on the side of the house and I am sooooooooo glad that I can't really see it from inside because otherwise my head would have surely exploded by now.  Here is a break down of what exactly you are looking at.  Under the big blue tarp is all of the wood that is "drying" (aka needs to be split and stacked) for next year.  This big pile...

 needs to be chipped.  But since we need to rent a chipper we (and by that I mean he) feel the need to have every spare branch on our property in the pile.  Two and a half years later, mission not even close to accomplished. 

And this area?

 I have no idea what is going on.  It is the dumping ground for everything and it drives.  me.  batty.

The problem with this area is that we need to chip the branches but to do that we need to get the wood chopped and stacked but to do that we need to build a wood shed but to do that we need to chip the bracnches.  Can you see why we haven't started yet?

Our goal (I should say MY goal...time lines aren't really his thing) is to have this area ship shape by mid summer.  Here's what we have to do:

Chip branches

Spread chips

Build wood shed

Chop wood

Stack wood

Today, we got started on the wood shed.  Paul Bunyan Robbie got to work cutting down some trees to build it out of.  Yeah, we're building our own wood shed.  Since my lumberjack husband has little experience falling trees, we all watched from a safe distance.

 That's when things started to get all "Little House on the Prairie".  We used a tool (that of course my dad had) to scrape all of the bark off our trees.

 Everyone helped.  Especially Ben.  He'll do just about anything if he gets to wear his new work gloves!

 Abby wore my gloves.  And earlier she got to pick our some candy from the gas station.  Obviously, it was blue.  I was a little concerned that it would stain but I shouldn't have worried because by the end of the day all of the dirt on her face had washed the blue off.

So we've started...sort of.  I sleep a lot better when I can actually cross things off my list.  And you'll notice that chop down/debark trees was not on my list.  But it had to be done.  Next up, we are going to rent a chipper in the very near future and get that mess of branches taken care of because then we can build the wood shed in the corner where the branches now live and then we can stack the wood and then I can start crossing things off!  Stay tuned.

There is a God

I don't know if it was the Supermoon, or what, but things at work were pretty crazy this week.  Just when I thought I couldn't make it one more day, I was blessed with this:

a sick kid.  I know that I shouldn't be rejoicing over a high fever, but since he lived through the weekend I feel like I can be a little bit happy about the fact that I didn't have get to go to work on Friday.  You see sick kid days are the best kind of days off.  They are totally unexpected so I never have any plans which means I can do one of two things.  Option A is to get things done around the house and Option B is absolutely nothing.  Now those of you who know me well know that I love both of those things equally.  Cleaning and projects make me deliriously happy because I love the end result and a day of lounging around on the couch is sometimes much needed.  On Friday, I chose Option B.  And it couldn't have been more perfect.  While Abby was at school, Ben and I snuggled all morning.  And in between episodes of "The Berenstain Bears" he kept looking at me and saying things like, "I love ya" and "This is the best day ever!"  and "I love snuggling you, Momma."  And I really couldn't think of anything better.

By the time he woke up from his nap the fever was gone and he was ready to party.  And he was in luck because it was Kylie's birthday!!  Who's Kylie, you ask?  Well one of Abby's many babies of course.  And somehow Kylie's momma talked the grandpa (AKA Robbie) into going out to ice cream to celebrate.  The clincher was that if it was her baby she had to pay.  So Robbie snuck upstairs and put some money in her piggy bank so that we weren't actually making our 5-year-old treat the family to ice cream but she was none the wiser.  So out we went.  And I wish I had my camera.  Abby had her purse on one arm and her baby in a carrier on the other and she couldn't have been more proud to pay for the ice cream!

What a great Friday!!