Thursday, August 16, 2012

JULY!!!!

 Picking Plums!  We discovered that we had a plum tree in our front yard. It got so loaded with plums that every branch was touching the ground.  2 branches even broke.  We picked 10 - 5 gallon buckets worth.  We delivered plums all around town to everyone we could find.   A few people made some jelly and one friend is making some wine, I can't wait!  We just ate and ate and ate them til our little mouths were raw.
 Best Friends Forever! Paige's best friend Julia, they have spent almost every single day of their summer together.  When Julia went on vacation Paige was so sad and would tell everyone that her life was no good because her best friend was in a different country (the state of Virginia:)
 Swimming at Eric's pond.  It is good to have friends who have friends with nice places they like to share. We spent many Monday nights at the pond.

 Painting the treasures we found. Check out Cora in the background - awesome smile and awesome Christmas in July jammies:)

 Marshall-Putnam Fair. We only got to 1 day of the fair. So good to see Grandma still in "her culinary booth"
 The 2 cutest 1 year olds in the entire world. Getting ready for #1 of 3 birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's in Morrison.
 All 6 of the Swanson cousins together on Grandma and Grandpa's couch:)
 Just a  sideways cutiepie:)
 Happy Birthday Grandpa Ken!
 Camden trying on Kale's new birthday outfit - gosh I love that goofy boy
 More Cousins!
 Paige being just sweet:)

 Happy Happy Happy!
 Our first rain of the summer made a rainbow. We had just put kids to bed when it started raining. We went and grabbed them out of bed.  Some things are just more important than sleep
 Jed's softball tournament with his Decatur Gerdau fellow employees.  As Camden says we went to Daddy's t-ball game with his worker guys.
 Discovery Museum
 Discover Museum- As Paige calls it, ixcovery museum. I just can't correct her it is the only little piece of littleness left in her
 Swinging
 More Swinging
 Cora at the Fair
Dress up time!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

TIME and BALANCE

Time is such a funny thing.  The older I get, or maybe the more kids I have... the faster time goes.  I feel like our days just fly by and before I know it another year has passed. 
In just a little over a month Cora and Kale will be 1year old!  It just doesn't seem possible.  Crawling, scooching, trying to walk, and babbling.  It just shouldn't be yet. They should still be my little cuddly babies who need nothing more than rocking, cuddling and nursing.  Now, they have much better things to do then sit and rock and cuddle and nurse. 
In 6 weeks Paige will be in Kindergarten.  This just doesn't seem possible. I talk to friends with teenagers and I can't imagine that we will ever be at that point, but I am so sure we will before I know it.  Sooner than I am probably ready.
Camden is flying around a bicycle with no training wheels like he is 12 years old.  He should still be my little guy just starting to take his first little steps.
As I think about how quickly time seems to go and how fast my kids are growing it makes me so thankful that I can be at home with them. It has come with sacrifices and lots of careful budgeting and strategic grocery shopping and activity planning and lots of garage saling.  But, oh so worth it to me to be there each and every day.  I know that not everyone can be blessed to be able to stay at home but I am so grateful that we are able to make it work.  Sometimes I have a little bit of guilt because I get to have so much fun in my day while Jed has to go to work everyday to provide for us.  Sometimes I also wish that I could go to work, to get a little break or that someone would put me in timeout (1 minute for each year old I am). 29 minutes where no one could talk to me or touch me.
I struggle daily with having enough patience, enough time.  Enough time for each of my kids. Paige wants to do projects and color and listen to book after book after book. Camden wants to play baseball and then basketball and then go on another bike ride.  Kale and Cora just require a lot of attention, both are mobile and get into everything.  I struggle to have enough energy to give all that my kids need, have our house look somewhat presentable, preparing meals and snacks, and possibly shower and have some kind of a conversation with Jed.  We watched a movie "dolphin tale" and the little girl in the movie lost her mom.  Camden was asking me about that and I explained that she got sick and died and went to heaven.  He then says, "how does she eat if her mommy died noone will make her food."  I reassured him that in that case the daddy will learn how to make food.
I think I have probably rambled enough and will not be proof reading this post before posting so if it makes no sense, my apologies:)

KID UPDATE

 Super Fancy Tea Party



 Camping
 Donuts (morning surprise from Grandpa when camping)
 Monster Cookies

 Boating
 Grandpa Doug's Birthday
 WATERMELON!!
 Annual Swanson-Scott-Birdsley Camping Trip
 Mini Golf!

 Paige is the Tball Player with the pink skirt on!
 Hotel Swimming with Friends

 Grandma and Grandpa's 57th Anniversary (my grandpa is a twin)
 Neighborhood 4th of July Bike Parade
Baby Basket that Kale and Cora's Great Grandma and Great Great Aunt and Uncle slept in as babies.