Today Shelby and JP started a week long camp at school. I for one was somewhat looking forward to this adventure as all of us were getting to that point of desperation to have some space. While we have had the most wonderful summer and have lived it to the fullest, we haven't had much of any time away from each other and it was starting to show. This morning was great, filled with excitement and anticipation of what the day would hold for them as we headed out the door.
And then the strangest thing happened....as we pulled up to the school and first JP hopped out with not even a glance back. He immediately launched into a story for Ms. Sharon. "You know what, Ms. Sharon?" (this is how he starts nearly all of his conversations these days) and off he walked. What?!?!?!? This is my child who is always slow to separate from me and usually requires forceful encouragement to get him to go. So, I gathered myself and drove over to the place to drop off Shelby....and that is when it happened....as she jumped out of the car and walked up to the big kid building that she will be attending for school next year all of the sudden I realized that I was A-L-O-N-E for the day!!! I expected to feel a little relief to be able to run some errands, listen to the radio, and get some stuff done around the house alone, but I didn't. In fact, I immediately called my mom to share my sorrow and fight back the tears.
This is a natural progression. As we train our children they are supposed to take steps to separate from us and we are supposed to let them go, but it is crazy hard!!!
Hopefully this preparation will make the first day of school somewhat easier on me. It is just a strange feeling, the "this is it" feeling of knowing from now on everything they do is one more step to leaving our house forever. I mean, I know I still have at least 12 more years until Shelby gets ready to go and 14 for JP, but suddenly that doesn't seem so far away:(
The Reed Anytime Review
Monday, July 25, 2011
Blueberries!!!
There is something wonderfully satisfying with picking your own food. I don't know what it is and the only thing I can think is that it must be because that is how God created us. I have a wonderful friend who currently is biking across the entire state of Iowa who brought me to this cute little farm in Georgia called Ottawa Family farms about a year and a half ago for strawberry picking and this year we went for blueberry picking. One of the good things about going with her besides spending precious quality time with her and her cute children is that she knows what she is doing and has all the tips you need like packing a small cooler to put the berries in for the trip home and also to keep some cold water in because it is crazy hot right now. Anyway, we had such a wonderful time. The boys ran around on various little make believe adventures. The girls hung in there for quite a while before deciding that the heat was more than they could bear anymore. And Heather and I walked among the blueberry bushes picking berries and talking about all sorts of life matters.
This is the best picture of the four children that I got....
I had so much fun picking the berries and listening to the children run around that I knew I wanted to got back at some point, but once we got home and I got my first taste of the sweetest blueberry you will ever have I knew that we had to go back right away!!! My children, who prior to this didn't really care for blueberries, were hooked. It could be the satisfaction of eating what you picked or it could be the deliciousness of these berries, I don't know, but I knew that they were eating them and what mom wouldn't be happy to have their sweet little kiddos eating healthy foods.
So a week later I sent out a call to anyone who wanted to join us. This time we had three other families come and it was great fun. Since we were heading that way, we just had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (don't you hate it when things like happen) and then we hit the road. I think that the mom's were more into picking berries than the children, but once again they all had so much fun running around the bushes on their little imaginary adventures. I just loved listening to them while I picked berries like a mad woman!!! I was definitely a girl with a mission and there wasn't much that was going to come between me and filling my bucket.
Shelby picking before she got to hot
Another great thing about this farm is that they have some animals to look at. We saw lots and lots of cows, dogs, and goats. Some of the goats just had their babies. Have you ever seen a baby goat that is 3 days old??? Well we have and they are so cute!!! Our first trip there the goats were born on Monday and we saw them on Thursday and it was really fun to go back the following week to see how much they grew.
Shelby, JP, Gracen and Pavin checking out the goats
Shelby picked out two who were her favorite and she just followed them around talking to them and about them.
And, do you want to see what 3lbs of blueberries looks like?? This was our bunch from last week.
Don't you just love Shelby's sassy pose??
This is the best picture of the four children that I got....
I had so much fun picking the berries and listening to the children run around that I knew I wanted to got back at some point, but once we got home and I got my first taste of the sweetest blueberry you will ever have I knew that we had to go back right away!!! My children, who prior to this didn't really care for blueberries, were hooked. It could be the satisfaction of eating what you picked or it could be the deliciousness of these berries, I don't know, but I knew that they were eating them and what mom wouldn't be happy to have their sweet little kiddos eating healthy foods.
So a week later I sent out a call to anyone who wanted to join us. This time we had three other families come and it was great fun. Since we were heading that way, we just had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (don't you hate it when things like happen) and then we hit the road. I think that the mom's were more into picking berries than the children, but once again they all had so much fun running around the bushes on their little imaginary adventures. I just loved listening to them while I picked berries like a mad woman!!! I was definitely a girl with a mission and there wasn't much that was going to come between me and filling my bucket.
Shelby picking before she got to hot
Another great thing about this farm is that they have some animals to look at. We saw lots and lots of cows, dogs, and goats. Some of the goats just had their babies. Have you ever seen a baby goat that is 3 days old??? Well we have and they are so cute!!! Our first trip there the goats were born on Monday and we saw them on Thursday and it was really fun to go back the following week to see how much they grew.
Shelby, JP, Gracen and Pavin checking out the goats
Shelby picked out two who were her favorite and she just followed them around talking to them and about them.
And, do you want to see what 3lbs of blueberries looks like?? This was our bunch from last week.
Don't you just love Shelby's sassy pose??
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Happy Birthday America!
Two years ago we went to the lakehouse for the Fourth of July and had a blast so we were really excited to get to go up again. And let me tell you, it was a blast!!! We had such a fun time and I just really loved watching the children play and laugh.
From the time we got up there until the day we left Shelby and JP literally lived in the water only coming out on occassion to eat and go potty. They were so wrinkled by the end of each day!
Shelby and Pratt enjoying some father/daughter time. This is the thing that memories are made of and as time seems to fly by faster and faster with each passing moment I hope that we can hold on to these precious children forever!!!
Pratt came up with a great idea to tie a cinder block to the rope of a tube and float it out in the middle of the lake. It was brilliant and the children had so much fun trying to jump off the dock on top of it, climb up, and jump off of it. It took many takes, but I was able to get some cute pictures of Shelby and JP on top of the tube.
I mean really!!!!! Where does time go!?!?!?!? How do they get so big sooo fast! It is just madness!!!
Of course, no 4th of July weekend would be complete without the fireworks and boy did we have some great ones!!! (That is one benefit to having a pyromaniac for a husband.) Since we had to drive home on the 4th we had our show on the 3rd. It started with what appeared to be a super cool way to enjoy sparklers, but as the fire moved from one sparkler to the other we quickly realized that what seemed great in theroy was actually not so good in reality. Can you figure out why this didn't work?
After we did some sparklers we had a few minutes (well, like 30 to 45) while we waited for it to get dark enough for the big show. I think that those 30 to 45 minutes were some of the most fun I had. Shelby, JP and I had a little dance party in the backyard. There is just something super magicial about dancing around and singing at the top of your lungs with your children!!! I can't tell you how much fun it was!!! After the dance party we tried to wind down a little and this is when we got this picture of JP and Sebastian sitting on the dock. I don't know what JP was saying, but the cute thing is that it appears that Sebastian is truly and genuinely interested in what it was. Too cute!
As a final to the 4th of July weekend, Pratt was very kind to let me run down to say good-bye to my brother as he moved to Kentucky to start a new job the next day. It was a nice relaxing evening and in those moments I realize how wonderfully blessed I am that the Lord would see fit to give me the family I have!!! Simply amazing!!!
From the time we got up there until the day we left Shelby and JP literally lived in the water only coming out on occassion to eat and go potty. They were so wrinkled by the end of each day!
Shelby and Pratt enjoying some father/daughter time. This is the thing that memories are made of and as time seems to fly by faster and faster with each passing moment I hope that we can hold on to these precious children forever!!!
Pratt came up with a great idea to tie a cinder block to the rope of a tube and float it out in the middle of the lake. It was brilliant and the children had so much fun trying to jump off the dock on top of it, climb up, and jump off of it. It took many takes, but I was able to get some cute pictures of Shelby and JP on top of the tube.
I mean really!!!!! Where does time go!?!?!?!? How do they get so big sooo fast! It is just madness!!!
Of course, no 4th of July weekend would be complete without the fireworks and boy did we have some great ones!!! (That is one benefit to having a pyromaniac for a husband.) Since we had to drive home on the 4th we had our show on the 3rd. It started with what appeared to be a super cool way to enjoy sparklers, but as the fire moved from one sparkler to the other we quickly realized that what seemed great in theroy was actually not so good in reality. Can you figure out why this didn't work?
After we did some sparklers we had a few minutes (well, like 30 to 45) while we waited for it to get dark enough for the big show. I think that those 30 to 45 minutes were some of the most fun I had. Shelby, JP and I had a little dance party in the backyard. There is just something super magicial about dancing around and singing at the top of your lungs with your children!!! I can't tell you how much fun it was!!! After the dance party we tried to wind down a little and this is when we got this picture of JP and Sebastian sitting on the dock. I don't know what JP was saying, but the cute thing is that it appears that Sebastian is truly and genuinely interested in what it was. Too cute!
As a final to the 4th of July weekend, Pratt was very kind to let me run down to say good-bye to my brother as he moved to Kentucky to start a new job the next day. It was a nice relaxing evening and in those moments I realize how wonderfully blessed I am that the Lord would see fit to give me the family I have!!! Simply amazing!!!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Speed Police
You have to be very careful about what you tell children and how you explain things to them because you never know what will catch on and stick and what will go in one ear and out the other.
A few months ago as we were driving down the road going who knows where my children we very intrigued with why cars kept passing us. So the questions came, "mom, why are all those cars passing us?" "Mom, are you driving too slow?" "Mom, can you drive faster?" "Mom, why are they beating us?" In an effort to save myself and make me look good (let's face it, who doesn't want their children to think that they are the best) I told them, which this is the truth, that I was driving the speed limit and all those other cars were speeding.
Fast forward to the present...now everytime we are on the road and cars fly by me my children say, "Oh that car is speeding. They aren't making good choices." And they say it with every car. So, be careful because you never know when my speed police will get you:)
A few months ago as we were driving down the road going who knows where my children we very intrigued with why cars kept passing us. So the questions came, "mom, why are all those cars passing us?" "Mom, are you driving too slow?" "Mom, can you drive faster?" "Mom, why are they beating us?" In an effort to save myself and make me look good (let's face it, who doesn't want their children to think that they are the best) I told them, which this is the truth, that I was driving the speed limit and all those other cars were speeding.
Fast forward to the present...now everytime we are on the road and cars fly by me my children say, "Oh that car is speeding. They aren't making good choices." And they say it with every car. So, be careful because you never know when my speed police will get you:)
Monday, June 27, 2011
Father's Day
This year for Father's Day I got ambitious and decided that we would make Pratt's gift this year...I know right, crazy!?!?!?! Anyway, thankfully there is this really great craft store called Michaels and they make it really easy to do crafts for the craft impaired. So the children and I headed over there and found a whole section dedicated to Father's Day. They had everything we needed to make picture frames for Pratt's new office and I couldn't have been happier with the result! Shelby and JP had so much fun painting their little frames, picking out which picture they wanted to put in the frame of them and Pratt, and then giving the presents to Pratt on Father's Day. Everything went smoothly with the whole project except I forgot one little thing....the children painted those little wooden frames that you put the little peg in the hole on the back of the frame to make it stand up; well, I didn't think to look at the hole placement before we started and they ended up painting on them upside down, so they don't exactly stand up like they are supposed to...ooopppsss;)
I decided that it didn't really matter in the end. They had fun, I had fun and Pratt can figure out what to do with them at work.
Here is a close up of Shelby painting. I just love profile pictures....doesn't she look like an angel?? Okay, I might be a little biased, but still....
And here is JP. He really surprised me at how much he was into it. Shelby loves doing crafts of all types so I knew that she would be excited and work hard, but I was a little concerned about how JP's attention span would be. Turns out, it was great. He worked diligently on his frame and made sure that he even painted the the edges.
Father's Day was an absolute blast and since it was his day we let him pick whatever he wanted to do. Pratt decided he wanted to go over to John and Sandi's to enjoy the water and get in a little boat ride. We were pleasently surprised to get there find that some of Pratt's cousins and their children were there as well. We had a wonderful day and I hope that Pratt really enjoyed himself.
Shelby, my little fish......
Pratt and JP enjoying some father/son time...I wonder what they were talking about???
Pratt, we are so blessed to have you as a daddy!!! You are a wonderful husband and fantastic dad. Thank you for all your hard work for our family. We are so proud of you and love you very, very much!!!!
I decided that it didn't really matter in the end. They had fun, I had fun and Pratt can figure out what to do with them at work.
Here is a close up of Shelby painting. I just love profile pictures....doesn't she look like an angel?? Okay, I might be a little biased, but still....
And here is JP. He really surprised me at how much he was into it. Shelby loves doing crafts of all types so I knew that she would be excited and work hard, but I was a little concerned about how JP's attention span would be. Turns out, it was great. He worked diligently on his frame and made sure that he even painted the the edges.
Father's Day was an absolute blast and since it was his day we let him pick whatever he wanted to do. Pratt decided he wanted to go over to John and Sandi's to enjoy the water and get in a little boat ride. We were pleasently surprised to get there find that some of Pratt's cousins and their children were there as well. We had a wonderful day and I hope that Pratt really enjoyed himself.
Shelby, my little fish......
Pratt and JP enjoying some father/son time...I wonder what they were talking about???
Pratt, we are so blessed to have you as a daddy!!! You are a wonderful husband and fantastic dad. Thank you for all your hard work for our family. We are so proud of you and love you very, very much!!!!
Erik and Rachael's Wedding
Sometimes it is crazy hard to leave the children and other times you just know if you don't get away soon you might end up in the nut house. The latter times are kind of how I hope that it is when ever I have to go somewhere without them, because when they are being super obedient, fantastically fun, and crazy cute I basically have to pry myself away from them and then I spend most of the time away beating myself up over how bad of a mom I am for leaving those cute little bugers. Fortunately and unfortunately the last time Pratt and I had to go out of town they were being down right difficult; which made me worry about how they would behave for the grandparents who were so gracious to keep them for us but of course in true kid fashion, they were pretty much angels the whole time....at least that is what I am told;)
Our dear friends finally tied the knot and it couldn't have been a more perfect day for an outside wedding in Hotlanta. We had the best time and really enjoyed spending time with friends and with each other. The trip, although busy and tiring, really rejuvenated us and got us ready for the summer and renewed Pratt's energy as he began his new job.
One week shy of 11 years together and more in love than the day we got married
The happy couple the day before the rest of their lives together
Our dear friends finally tied the knot and it couldn't have been a more perfect day for an outside wedding in Hotlanta. We had the best time and really enjoyed spending time with friends and with each other. The trip, although busy and tiring, really rejuvenated us and got us ready for the summer and renewed Pratt's energy as he began his new job.
One week shy of 11 years together and more in love than the day we got married
The happy couple the day before the rest of their lives together
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Memorial Day 2011
Right now I should be preparing for our trip this weekend. There is so much to do to get the children ready, the dog ready and the house ready, but I think it would be a good time to post a blog about our Memorial Day weekend....What is wrong with me?!?!?!? I have become such a procrastinator about nearly everything-ugh!!
We had a great Memorial Day weekend!! It was so relaxing. The children really behaved wonderfully for how sleep deprived they were and we just enjoyed some good ole family time with no tv or any distractions. The Rowe family joined us for a few days too and it was so much fun to watch JP have some real boy time.
The children enjoyed things like, running and jumping off the dock......
Fishing and taking the time to talk about if it is better to use crickets or worms or minnows (thank goodness Matt and Pratt were around to bait the hooks!)
Being thrown off the dock....
Eating popsicles and having some girl time.....
Even Daisy got into it. I don't think she has ever had so much fun!! She loved just running free and swimming. A couple of times she jumped off the dock too.
By the time we got home 4 days later all were very tired and everyday since then JP asks me first thing, "Mom, can we go back to the lakehouse today?"
Soon, buddy, real soon!!!
We had a great Memorial Day weekend!! It was so relaxing. The children really behaved wonderfully for how sleep deprived they were and we just enjoyed some good ole family time with no tv or any distractions. The Rowe family joined us for a few days too and it was so much fun to watch JP have some real boy time.
The children enjoyed things like, running and jumping off the dock......
Fishing and taking the time to talk about if it is better to use crickets or worms or minnows (thank goodness Matt and Pratt were around to bait the hooks!)
Being thrown off the dock....
Eating popsicles and having some girl time.....
Even Daisy got into it. I don't think she has ever had so much fun!! She loved just running free and swimming. A couple of times she jumped off the dock too.
By the time we got home 4 days later all were very tired and everyday since then JP asks me first thing, "Mom, can we go back to the lakehouse today?"
Soon, buddy, real soon!!!
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