My Respect

I love my kids. I love my kids to the moon and back plus every galaxy know, unknown, named and unnamed. I love their father, my husband to pieces. Single momhood is not for me. Thank goodness for Grandma!

Evan went goose hunting for the weekend, leaving me home with two toddlers and one puppy(in the midst of house training.....who loves 5:00 am ). An adventure for all of us, Evan's first goose hunt and three days, two nights for us home without Daddy. Yes, we have done this before during elk hunting and fishing trips but that was pre-puppy and younger toddlers. I was excited to conqueror!!!!

Three days, no good naps for Layton and only one for Julia, plus early mornings (my kids are early morning risers, bless their hearts, it's perfect for farming and our lifestyle!!) by evening Mommy is pooped. No naps for my kids equals no listening, no thinking power, no memory, lots of loud noises, messes and trials. All that aside the weekend was awesome fun!

My hats off to single mothers! To have the energy to raise kids, spend time with them while being the only one to discipline, only one to hug, comfort, plan activities, teach, keep a positive outlook, keep patience, plus work, household chores, bill paying, and still have time to work out, read, unwind or have a hobby...bless you hearts!

Friday was grocery shopping and Layton choosing our eatery....his choice, the Cow Palace because he gets free ice cream! The evening was Pizza and Movie night! We camped out on the floor with pillow, blankets, and watched open season, full of giggle and snuggles.

Saturday was SeussPalooza in Tribune. The theatre board put on a crazy, fun and nice morning! Breakfast of green eggs and ham, Seuss Readings, Photos with crazy costumes from Seuss books, a silent auction, bright, colorful decorations and a Matinee of Horton Hears a Who (Layton's very first movie in the Theatre!!!). He loved it, enjoyed Sprite and popcorn (*he spilled twice but got refills, bless their heart). Saturday afternoon was trialing with no naps, so we spent the afternoon outside in the sunshine playing in the sandbox and taking wagon rides to help improve spirits. My family found many giggle by their antics over Facetime!

Sunday was quiet with church and dinner at Grandma's with her and Aunt Christy. More crazy antics, giggles, and Laytonisms. He has very good conversation skills and when you let him explain his logic he makes sense. At one point, he had us in tears laughing so hard. One conversation.
L: Aunt Christy where do you go this week?
C: Topeka and Russell.
L: You can't go there, its only for boys.
GMA: Layton, Christy can go there it's ok.
L: No, Russell (wrestling) is only for boys like Justin. (His cousin Justin recently won State Wrestling....)
Giggles ensued.

Crazy three days, but the kids took bubble baths, read books and went to bed with no argument each night full of hugs, kisses, snuggles, and stories to tell.

I Love my Life! Love my Kids! Love my Husband! Love my Family! Lucky to live a blessed life!

Snow Days

SNOW!!!! 8 inches fell late last week. We enjoyed the snow! Snow shoveling, snow sledding, snow ice cream, snow balls, snow suits, snow days, snow bunnies,  snow angels, snowy roads, well you get the picture. We only missed the snowman.

The kids had a ball making snow angels and sledding! We used a runner sled behind the 4 wheeler, maybe we will invest in a saucer to slide down the silo pit! Mavis loves running and jumping and chasing in the snow.

 

Snow Ice Cream was a huge hit!!  ** Thank You Lyndsey Stamper for the tried and true recipe!

1 cup milk

1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (adjust to your liking)

1 tsp vanilla (adjust to your liking)

4-6 cups fresh clean snow

 

Mix first three ingredients, add snow until desired consistency. Tastes best straight from the mixing bowl!!!!

 

 

After a long day playing, relaxing is tops!

 

 

 

 

Snow Day!

Yes, we are still in Eastern Colorado, still farming, still have two kids, and maybe one reader!! Ok ok, my slight sabbatical from blogging is over.

Since my last post Layton turned 4! We went to Denver took in Bass Pro, a gun shop, National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, Cabelas in Sidney and eating lots of yummy places. Throw in an indoor outdoor pool at the hotel and Layton was Happy Happy Happy. He also purchased his very own cattle semi with his birthday money!

February we added a new family member! Mavis the dog! She is a chocolate lab, loves to chew, chase the kids, take baths (she tried to jump in the tub last night with bubbles, toys and both kids!!), we are currently working on house training. She is showing progress and carpet shampooing is in our near future!!!!!!!

 

Today is super exciting!!! It is S.N.O.W.I.N.G. So far 3 inches....and two kids beginning to get cabin fever. So far today we have cleaned the Tupperware cabinet out, played farm, two loads of laundry, played fetch with the dog, played puzzles, read books, had lunch, now it's naptime. After lunch we are making banana bread and maybe snow ice cream!!! The most entertaining project..............

 

 

Mini volcanos.

*Vinegar

*Food coloring

*Baking soda

*Dropper (or in Julia's case she dumped the vinegar to get a bigger reaction)

 

 

Pure entertainment..pure giggles....able to add more vinegar to clean out the drains after the baking soda is all colored!





Inspiriation Space

Everyone has their creative space. A place or space to inspire, ignite, relax, block out the voices and allow the creative to surface freely. Driving in the car (I'm to busy singing), running (nope, I'm always telling myself "i think i can, i think i can"), laying looking at the clouds, watching the sunrise or sunset, sitting to meditate, listening to music, staring out the window, in the shower.

Yep, that is me in the shower. My most creative thinking happens in the shower. Most of my blogs are written in my head in the shower. I should really figure out a way to jot the notes down in there! The shower is hot, steamy, and oddly quiet for having 2 kids. The kids for the most part allow me a quiet shower 5-9 minutes but that is an amazingly long time. My mind is transformed and the creative and inspiring just flood out. It's relaxing and exciting to know I have finally figured out "my inspiriational space".

Go ahead. Find yours!

Poop is Funny!

As parents you deal with poop, some days none, some days a little, and some days an elephant load. As a parent poop seems to be noteworthy, even conversation worthy at times. During potty training Layton, a friend told a story about their grown son holding a sign up at the airport to greet his grandfather "poop is funny"

"Poop is funny" has gotten me through many, many, many, many trying bathroom accidents with Layton. If I was frustrated with the mess, accidents, or him not pooping in the toliet I would recite, "poop is funny, poop is funny, poop is funny", guess what IT IS!

 Fast forward to Julia. My dear sweet stripperella! She has recently learned to remove her pants, next the diaper and run around and giggle! A phase every child goes through. Today, I was loading the dishwasher after lunch, Layton was quietly playing cars, and Julia starts crying. Oddly enough, Julia doesn't cry unless something is REALLY wrong or Layton has taken her toy....my mind was thinking, Layton was "borrowing" her toy. She kept crying, nope it wasn't Layton, she hadn't fallen, upon further investigation....wait for it........


Yes, she had pooped. Not only pooped but tried to remove her jeans and diaper, poop started to streak down her leg and she was over it..done..started crying..wouldn't move...we had to put down a towel to lay her on then proceed to clean her..I learned four valuable lessons.

1. Julia doesn't like messes.
2. Julia stopped to prevent spreading the mess.
3. Julia will be ready to potty train soon.
4. Poop is still funny. Or as Evan pointed out, "until you have sewer problems"

Kids vs weather follow-up

No conclusive evidence kids vs weather however, Layton can now spell his name! We mastered 6 letters!! Onward and upward!

Kids vs Weather

Fact or Fiction: Weather Fronts affects Kids?

A question pondered at our house each time a weather front or significant change is approaching. Our pair seem to be more tuned up, wild, full of cabin fever, vim and vineagar as fronts approach, more so in winter  than summer. So, is the front affecting their behavior or are we just more in tune with the behavior changes blaming it on the weather?

The recent out of ordinary Julia......she has been an awesome sleeper since the beginning! Bless her and bless us ( we never had to walk the floor with sleepless nights)...two nights in a row (at home, no routine changes, vacations, diet changes, etc...we are big on routine at our house!), she woke in the middle of the night crying...not just crying but large, sobs, tears, almost hyper-ventalating and clung to me like a spider monkey. She was not letting go of me for ANYTHING, her little arms and legs wrapped around me as tightly as possible...yes, I caved and held her the remainder of those two nights (we have vowed to not let our kids sleep with us for many reasons but there are exceptions.....)daybreak came and she was happy go lucky again, never missing a beat...Weather, teeth, seperation anixety, night terrors, we will never know what threw her sleep into a two night spiral.

Layton...well Layton....he is our talkative, active, guy anyway...Today he has been talking lots extra and been extremely difficult to "get through to"...we are working on learning the letters in his name, 6 letters.....today was epic fail with mother and son both in tears. We will get there, eventually...he has learned colors, shapes, numerous farm machinery pieces, can count to 10 but letters are getting the best of us today...

Time will tell! Tomorrow is supposed to be super windy as a cold front sweeps the plains. Will my sweet, loving, precious children be back to "normal" or will we still have "weather"challenges.