Ten Years

Hubby and I recently celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary. On top of that we dated for five years before getting married, so we have been together for fifteen years. Wow! 

Ten years ago, I was working two part-time jobs. I had a student loan and a car loan. I was living with grandma and grandpa. My baby sister was still in high school. Mom and dad were both healthy. I would not quite envision the life I have now back then.
 

We paid for our wedding mostly out of our own pockets. Grandma made my wedding dress. My wedding ring was my great-grandma's. We got married in my little country church, who doors have since been shut. I made up prairie flower arrangements for the front of the church, complete with rattlesnake master. Dad walked me down the aisle. Mom and step dad #2 made it to the wedding, mine is the only one she attended. We had a simple reception at an outdoor pavilion. We did not have a fancy honeymoon, just one night away.  We had Hawaiian pizza for our first meal. 

We temporarily moved into an apartment and at one time talked about building a home. I dreamed of a home with a creek and pond. We wanted to live in the country. We wanted to have one or two kids after we paid off my student loan. I dreamed of a full time job.

Ten years later, I still love my hubby. We have two beautiful children. Both are special in their own way. One has autism and the other vision problems. Every day is an adventure into the unknown. I am still working part-time. We live in a house that hubby's grandparent's built. Thankfully we do have a creek and pond, even though we are in town. My grandma and sister live near by. Grandpa and mom are gone. Dad has had two bone marrow transplants. I have learned that dreams are just that, dreams. The future never turns out how we envision. I have learned that it is best to just take one day at a time. 

I am thankful for my blessings. I am thankfully for hubby. I am thankful for Pumpkin and Princess. I am thankful for grandma. I am thankful for my dad. I am thankful for my sister. I am thankful for grandma R. I am thankful for hubby's family. I am thankful for a roof over my head. I am thankful for food to eat. I am thankful for freedom of religion. I am thankful for clean fresh air. I am thankful for the beauty of nature. I am thankful for so many things.

I do not know what the future holds, but I hope to have many more years with my wonderful, caring hubby.

Ode to Hubby

I love my hubby!  Even though I have been sick for the past six days, he has been remarkable helpful.
 

Here are some of the little things that have made me smile:
- He took a few hours off work Saturday to take me to the doctor.
- He braved the zoo by himself with the kids.
- He gave the kids ice cream for dinner one night.
- He grilled me a hamburger. 
- He is a wonderful daddy!
- He took Princess to her six month eye doctor appointment.
- He went with me to Pumpkin's special education meeting.
- He made me rye toast.
- He brought home pizza, then put away the leftovers, and did the dishes.

How did I get so lucky??

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

It has been an interesting week. . . . below are just a few pictures of our week.

Photos by me

Barred Owl in the country

 Big Brown Bat on the house

Northern Shoveler in our pond 

Crawdad (crayfish) from our pond

 Kids and Daddy looking at the crawdad

Princess

Pumpkin

Photos by Daddy

Northern Water Snake in our pond

Painted Turtle in our pond

Mommy

Gray Fox in the yard

Last Hurrah of Summer

Summer is almost over.  We have not done too much this summer, but we are trying to make the most of the time that is left.

Two Sundays ago we visited a museum in our state capitol.

Last Thursday we visited the zoo for the first time this year.

Friday was the kids last day at daycare and I am on vacation.  Nine whole days away from work!  Only happens once a year.  Too bad it is not a paid vacation, but beggars can't be choosers.

Yesterday we had a tea party, got haircuts, and decorated little plant saucers for miniature bird feeders.

Today the kids are playing in the kiddie pool in the yard, while hubby and I try to accomplish a few needed projects.

Plans for the next seven days include:
- Taking the kids to tour Princess's new daycare that has a preschool curriculum.  Yay!!!!
- Playing at a children's museum.
- Visiting the library.
- Meeting Pumpkin's new teacher and starting 1st grade.
- Visiting the state fair.
- A mommy / daughter day.

Friendship

Friendship comes in all sizes, all shapes, and all types.  There are school aged friends, there are college friends, there are work friends, and there are parenthood friends.  All of these types of friendship fill a niche in our lives.  Some friends we talk with quite often, some friends we Facebook stalk (a shout out to Mike), some friends we chat back and forth with on Facebook and blogs,  some friends we touch base with from time to time, and some friends are the ones you turn to when the world is crashing down.  Friendship is an amazing thing.  It can span decades or it can be short lived.  But we all have something to learn from one another. 

From my grade school friend, I learned about bagels with cream cheese and Tang.  She has been my best friend since the 5th grade.  Even though we do not get a chance to talk often, we automatically pick up where we left off (like we had just talked the day before).  Now if she only lived closer (wink, wink).   I love seeing pictures of her girls growing up and love seeing pictures of their horses and greyhounds.

College friends are amazing too.  One of my college friends and I were inseparable for a quite a few years.  She is the one that got me addicted to chocolate cherry cokes.  She is the happiest, most positive person I know.  She is rarely without a smile and her determination has taken her places that she was told she could never go.  We have many stories to tell from our carefree college years and have learned a lot of lessons (all filled with laughter).  We spend hours on the phone during the "dark years" when dad was having a lot of medical problems (prior to his cancer diagnosis), mom was going through a messy divorce with husband number two (which lead to her excessive drinking and smoking), and my sister was being tugged back and forth between her dad and my mom.  I had even thought about dropping out of college and trying to get custody of my sister at one point, but I managed to make it  through my junior year of college instead.  Anyway, this friend is amazing and helped me keep my sanity during a very difficult phase of my life.

Two of my college friends and I try to met up every few months.  One is local and the other is about a two hour drive.  They help me to feel young and carefree again, even though more often than not we have kids in tow.  My local college buddy has triplets and the non-local college friend has yet to start a family.  We have a grand time together.  My local college buddy is very loud (whereas I am quite) and has a good sense of humor.  We were talking the other day and she told me that it was a shame that we did not become friends sooner in college because I probably would of helped her stay out of more trouble during her college years.  She cracks me up, like I could of stopped her from being herself!  I had the honor of holding her triplets as newborns at the hospital.  Only family was allowed in the room, so she told them I was her sister.  (ha ha ha ha ha)  My non-local college friend is a librarian and loves being around kids.  Last time she was in town, she crashed at our house for the evening.  Pumpkin got to practice his reading skills and read her a book.  She does not mind it if we drag her to the library or used book store, which is awesome!  My funniest memory with her is when I talked her into placing a lamp shade on her head in college and snapped a picture.  No . . . . none of us were drinking (I personal do not drink any alcohol); we were just being goofy to blow off some steam.

I have a lot of amazing parenthood friends.  Two really stick out in my mind right now.  One has children the same age as mine and the kids love to play together.  She is an amazing cheerleader and cheers me up when I am blue.  She helps me brain storm about ideas to try with Pumpkin.  Her kids have birthdays three days apart, just like mine.  When mom and dad were sick, she offered all of the encouragement that she could think of.  She send me emails and texts of support and she sent me snail mail to encourage me.  She even came to mom's visitation to show her family's support.  I am so blessed to call her my friend.  Another friend of mine is the most amazing parent ever.  She would leap through fire for her children.  I have mentioned her family in my blog before.  Her oldest daughter is a cancer survivor.  Her daughter was diagnosed with leukemia just weeks after starting kindergarten, around the same time that my mom died.  My friend's determination, strength, and endurance is beyond words.  Through the last three years they have raised two confident, fearless, and beautiful daughters.  The youngest is just a few months older than Princess.  Even though her daughter has won the battle against cancer, she continues the fight to draw attention to childhood cancer research.  It is truly an honor and privilege to have her as a friend and I love her kids dearly!

Oh, and I cannot forget to mention my best friend and number one supporter- my husband.  We were friends in college before we started dating.  He would help me traipse through the prairie as I did research for my undergrad paper and later for my master's thesis.  I needed someone to protect me from snakes and those ugly huge yellow garden spiders (wink, wink).  Of course years later, I learned he really did so he could look down my shirt when I bend over (typical guy).  He has helped me through a lot of rough days- ups and downs with both of my parents. And of course, he is the handsome dad to my two kiddos. 

Well I am definitely long winded this evening.  I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Whew . . . What A Week!

Definitely an interesting week. . . . .

We woke up Monday morning to about 14 inches (35.6 centimeters) of snow.  Thankfully my boss called and told me to NOT come to work.  Hubby on the other hand was not so fortunate and had to work.  The kids and I had a good snow day.  I shoveled and shoveled and did not quite get any progress made until hubby got home from work and finished up.  So since my car could not go any where we built a snowman and took the sleds down the hill in the yard.
 

View from the back of the house

View from the front of the house down our driveway

 View of the front of the house

 Kids with the snowman

The heron . . . . 

On Tuesday I caught a few good pictures of these beauties through the window at work.  It was so funny watching the toms walk through the snow.  They would take a step, then flump down they sank into the snow and pluff went their feathers all fanned out.  Then they would repeat the process.  Oh, how I laughed at the sight!

Reminds me of a mirror image

 Two toms hanging out

 

Today the kids and I were home for the holiday.  A friend came over and installed a new garage door for us.  Yay!  The old solid wood one was on it last leg, literally.  It started to fall apart as it was taken down.  Princess and I went to the grocery store this afternoon.  When we returned home hubby and Pumpkin had found a painted turtle down at the pond.  Spring has to be right around the corner!  Then we came inside and had a "tea party" with the tea set Aunt L gave her on Wednesday.  We served pink lemonade and letter crackers.  
 

Before view of the garage door (earlier in the week)

See the rotting panels at the bottom of the picture

The beautiful new door

 Painted turtle . . . spring is in the air

We wish all our family and friends a happy and joyous Easter!!!!!   

Our Thankful List

Princess

"I thankful for giving you a hug.  I thankful for my pink shoes.  I thankful for my mommy and my daddy.  I thankful for my Pumpkin. " 

Pumpkin

"I'm thankful for corn.  I'm just thankful for a lot of stuffs.   I'm thankful for mommy, daddy, grandma, and my teacher.  I'm thankful for food.  I'm thankful for our house, but it's a secret that I never told you.  I said everything of the world I'm thankful for."

Mommy

"I am thankful for my faith, family, and friends.  I am thankful for my amazing husband and my energetic kids.  I am thankful for a warm place to live and food on the table.  I am thankful for the beauty of nature.  I am thankful for God.  I am thankful for books and yummy recipes.   I am thankful for my camera.  I am thankful for our freedom and to those whom have served to defend our freedom. I am thankful for my children and my husband.  I am thankful for my health.  And I am thankful to be an American."

Daddy

"I am thankful for me and my family's relative health. I am thankful that we have a nice home and food to eat. I am thankful that my wife is so beautiful.  I am thankful for all those whom have served and died so we have the freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   I am thankful for when I get to be outdoors in nature.  I am thankful for my wife's grandma who helps us so much with the kids.  I am thankful for the infinite number of other things that I should be thankful for but take for granted."

What are you thankful for today?

Children . . . .

I do love my children, but sometimes they are a touch trying.

Since Pumpkin has started kindergarten he has gotten more stubborn.  Since Princess is without Pumpkin at daycare she has gotten move devious.  We have our good days and we also have our bad days.

With Pumpkin sometimes I feel like a broken record. "Leave your sister alone."  "Don't tease."  "Use NICE words."  "You need to LISTEN."  "Please do what I ask."  "LEAVE Auntie's dog alone."  "Give me a normal smile for the camera."  "Get in the bath tub or I'll wash your hair." (<-- His one super hero weakness)  Most of this is a typical five-year old boy not listening to their mother scenario, but none the less it can get frustrating.

With Princess I have to constantly watch.  She cries on the drop of a dime if she think she can get her way and/or get Pumpkin in trouble.  And today I told her that she needed to eat all of her lunch to get the donut she picked out at the store.  So what does she do?  For the first time ever, she attempted to hide the food she did not want to eat. She brought me her plate and I asked were he food had gone so fast.  She gave me a pouty look then led me to the pile of carrots hiding behind the couch.  I know years from now, I'll probably be laughing and it is kinda of cute but definitely a no-no in my book.  Once again typical three-year old girl.  I will have to develop some super special super powers to deal with the stealth, quite child as she grows up.  (Ha ha ha ha ha)

They also both know that daddy is the weak link.  They can already twist his arm to succeed in getting what their little hearts desire. . . . chips before supper, delay bath time, fries and milkshakes from a favorite fast food joint, taking offensive food from their plates, etc. . . . Hubby really is a good guy and a great dad, but they just know how to successfully make him crack.  I need to send hubby to some super hero training sessions to strengthen his defenses against the powers of children.   (Ha ha ha ha ha)

Anyway they are both great kids and I love them with all of my heart, but sometimes mommy cracks and I need to escape to keep my sanity.  Sometimes when they get too overbearing and I can't escape we do a "project" to distract. . . . color the driveway with chalk, draw a picture with crayons, watch a favorite movie, blow bubbles, etc. . .  If that does not work, then the vacuum monster makes an appearance and they scramble to pick up fast.  They definitely listen after the vacuum monster is turned off.

Well off to super hero mom training school to sharpen my skills! ;-)

Yard Time

We spent part of the holiday 

playing out in the yard.

  Enjoy!

I'm pedaling on my own!!!

Sweet Gum leaf with dew drops.

Playing by the pond.

What a sweetie!

 Mommy & Princess 

with our beautiful glasses.

 Mommy & Pumpkin

standing on the bridge.

Mommy & Daddy

(Definitely A Keeper!)

Pumpkin looking for flowers.

Princess joins Pumpkin looking for flowers.

Love this profile shot!

Pumpkin found a spotted cucumber beetle.

Princess blew dandelion seeds.

Pumpkin has a handful of dandelions.

Pumpkin gave Mommy the flowers.

How sweet!