Life

Ever had one of those days where you do everything you can to stay on top of things and you seem to get nowhere??
I feel like I walked in circles yesterday…
misplacing everything I touched,
trying to fix the same computers over and over again,
and still managing to smile when I felt like screaming.

It was a Tuesday, but everything about it was Monday.

Exhausted from the long day, I took the advice of the man who married us and spent my 30 minute ride home thinking of positive things, happy things, good things, anything & everything I could think of that made the chaos and frustrations of the day go away…

Forget about the “Lows” – here are my “Highs” for the past 5 days:

Clean windows,

Freshly mowed grass,

The fence between the yard & the pasture,

FFA alumni tractor driving contests,



Homemade ice cream,

My mom singing “Take Me Out of the Bathtub” to my son,



Blue Collar Comedy,

A shiny pick-up inside & out (not for long),



A “date” with my husband,

John Deere lunch pails,



The mountain pasture,

Robert’s 40th birthday party,



My new belt (thanks Becky),

and…

The “Welcome” mat at my back door.



The day is over – I made it home!

I know Mason is saying:

Take my advice mom - Tomorrow WILL be better!

Thanks mom & dad for EVERYTHING!

What a blessing you are to us... we love you!

Surviving

Mason has been without a bath for 3 days...
he's fallen asleep the last 2 nights in the pickup before we've arrived home...
he had a cupcake for dinner on Wednesday at Ty & Emery's birthday party...
(click here to check the awesome super-hero party out)
learned the "baa" sound for sheep...
says "fwower" for flower and loves to "pick" them for me (from other people's yards)...
tried to play basketball with the big boys last night...
and...
he has loved every minute of this chaos we call life!

Well - week one of working full time again is almost over... it's been a little crazy with meetings, a quick trip to Costco, a super-hero birthday party, learning a WHOLE lot about my new job as the "tech" (supposed to know everything, but don't) coach, more meetings and a staff bbq last night. What can I say - we're surviving and I think Mason has adjusted to the "chaos" of full time working mommy the best! I'm learning how to get a lot done at night so it's ready to go in the morning and loving the feel of my head on the pillow... and Ian, well, he asked me this morning what he could help with as I tried to carry everything to the pick-up in one trip...WOW...Love that guy! ... I think this is going to work!

Looking forward to this long weekend...

praying that it doesn't fly right by...

knowing that it probably will...

going to enjoy EVERY minute of it!

Morning

I love morning. I love the quiet. I love that morning means a new day has started.
Morning provides opportunity to begin fresh & new... and a chance to trust that God has the whole day lined out for me and my family... morning...love it!

Caught these as I drove to school today -

beautiful, peaceful, fresh... God at work!

What does morning mean for you?

Animal Farm

Our last evening before the start of another school year for me... picture it...

I'm running around trying to check off my "to-do" list, making sure Ian's coffee is ready to go in the morning, packing Mason's bag for daycare, sorting through the stack of mail/junk on the counter, washing dishes... the list goes on ... but I'll let you imagine...

and I stop to watch this:







Of course the cow "moo" and the horse "neigh" are Mason's favorites! Daddy's too!!

Freezer

Who needs

"keep it simple suppers"

or

"dinner's ready!"

?????

All I had to do was put my powerstrip (which the freezer is plugged into) in a place where Mason can turn it on and off... and of course he couldn't resist...and off the freeze went. Wish I had noticed the day it happened instead of 3 days later. The food wasn't ruined, but thawed....and tada...




Mom & I worked all afternoon making 5 batches of freezer jam, 3 pans of enchiladas, and 3 containers of taco meat... the list goes on and on... my freezer is now full of prepared food!

A blessing in disguise for sure - what started out as a disaster turned into a great way to start my school year!

Love you mom - thanks for all of your help!!

{highlights of summer}

As I sit here at my computer and skim through the hundreds of pictures I took this summer, I can’t help but smile. I love my new camera – so thankful to have had it this summer! I wonder what I did without it? There is no going back now – only many more “somethings” to capture… Here are some of the highlights of summer… no specific order… just life rolling by!

Dessert

Stitches are out - not a flinch, not a tear, not a sound...
he did great!

Enjoying camping with Papa & Grammy

while Mommy gets ready for school to start...

and eating his favorite thing...

DESSERT!

(a boy after his dad's heart)