Bowling

I believe the universe brings people together for a reason, what that reason may be, I have no idea. But, some bonds I think are meant to be stronger than others. For example, a woman pitched me via fb for my "other" blog that I keep in the public-sphere. It was for her husband's book that he co-wrote and illustrated. From that pitch, we ended up talking about health issues (she is gluten-free and I thought I had an issue with it. She gave me tons of pointers) and later ended up going to lunch a few times, brief email convos, and finally got the families together to hang out.

We have so much in common, I don't know why I didn't know her before. Her husband knows most of my hubby's friends from CCAD is an artist, we love the same type of foods, wine, live in the same area and know some of the same ladies - it is just so crazy! We also have the same astrological make up in our relationship - I'm a scorpio and so is her husband and she is a pisces like my husband. Her youngest daughter is a taurus like my girl and her other girl is a scorpio like me. Again, crazy!

Anyhow, she makes me laugh and I love that I have a new friend that is so much fun. I've been going through a difficult transition with the kids starting school and my playgroup kind of going to the wayside. The ladies I hung out with for years and thought were my good friends are now doing their own things. I totally understand, but it makes me sad.

I work hard to maintain those friendships. I always think of them when I have a get-together or parties, but I fear that will go away too. I am not feeling the reciprocation...and out of "well, I just don't hang out with them any longer" will come the day we end up parting ways forever. Smiling when we think of each other, but that will be about it. Makes me sad. So, finding someone who I like so much and is so easy to be friends with helps fill that void.

Cheers to new friends!

Dancing

bubbies had a play date with one of his friends. They were dancing "Gangnam Style." Then, I forgot to pick up my girl from school - early release day, totally slipped my mind. Bad mommy...

Kale had many uses.

On the walk to school this morning my girl said, "Mommy, did you know it is dangerous to be outside when it is raining kale?" I didn't correct her...

No fighting over whine.

Kids decided to have a fight in the wine section of Whole Foods. Luckily, nothing broke...in particular, not my bottle.

We went to the farm.

The things he says...

I told E he had to wait to eat because I was making dinner. He said, "but, mommy! I don't like food. I only like desserts."

The Hobbit

Hubby and I had a date to see "The Hobbit." It was pretty good, not as good as LOTR. I ate almost an entire bag of popcorn.

Birthdays

P went to a birthday party for two of of her school friends today. It was at a gymnastics facility. The girls played on the equipment, games, and ate cupcakes and ice cream. She had a blast.

I told her on the way home that she was lucky to get to go to so many fun birthday parties. I explained that when I was a child we had the grandparents over and aunts and uncles, and ate cake and ice cream. I never had a birthday where my friends were invited until I was much older, and definitely not outside of the home! She couldn't believe that and asked me if I was sad about it. I said "noway! That is the way things were and I was honored that they wanted to celebrate with me and give me gifts...even if they were "just" my family." Funny how I have become my mother with the "remember-whens." But, I now understand she had a message in her words. I just wasn't listening then...

Be kind, gracious, and well-mannered toward your friends and family. They love you and give you gifts and compliments out of kindness, so be kind back.

Sledding

I took the kids sledding to get out the house during winter break. We had been stuck inside for over two weeks because of various illnesses, and we had to breath some fresh air.

Well, my son didn't last long. He got cold and wet and wanted to leave. I think we went sledding an accumulative time of 45 minutes...maybe. We spent more time going to buy new sleds than actually using them. haha!

Now, in this picture he looks as if he is having fun. He did...for about 10 minutes. Then we left. P, on the other hand, loves to be outside doing something physical, and she was quite sad when her brother wanted to leave. I promised I'd take her another time.

Back to school

Both kids went back to school today. I was sad.

Especially sad because our winter holiday break was full of sickness. We had the stomach virus the week before break, Saturday of break P got a fever that lasted on and off for four days, and then each of us dropped like flies.

Then, to start off P's first day back I told her to take the toilet paper rolls to school we had been saving. The classes were all making snowflakes for Sandy Hook. 

I had not discussed the Sandy Hook tragedy with my children. I was shielding their young hearts from it, but she asked what the rolls were for, so I told her that some children had died and we were sad for their families. She continued to ask questions about how they died, who killed them, etc. etc. Basically, I ended up having to tell her about the gunman, too. She asked if he went to jail, and I told her no, that he died too. She asked how and I told her he was shot. She asked who shot him, and I told her he shot himself because he was scared when he realized what he had done. She cried. I felt so terrible about telling her the truth, even though I smoothed it over and only stated facts, it was not easy. Seeing her cry for those kids and the gunman made my heart hurt. Introducing her innocent being to a world where not all people are kind was not something I was looking forward to...

On Christmas Trees

I haven't had a real tree since I was a little girl. I thought, "this is the year!" So, hubby and I took the kids to the local farmer's market down the road and purchased the first real Christmas tree ever to live in our home.

After the first day, I had guilt. I was certain the Lorax was going to visit instead of Santa. I bought a chopped down tree just to watch it slowly die in my living room...at least that is how I was feeling. Then the needles started dropping and the water started smelling. What did I do?!

The best part, I think it brought the plague into my home. My family started getting sick the moment that tree came in the house and we weren't feeling well again until it was out - out, like pictured above, sitting there in the sun and laying on the cold snow. Something that gave us beauty, warmth, and Christmas cheer (and possibly the plague) was rotting in my front yard. I felt terrible about it.

Terrible enough to not buy a real tree next year? I'm not sure. If the kids want one again, I'll surely comply...especially since it was quite fun to pick it out and trim it. We'll see...

365 project

I am going to try to post here every day - just a thought, a picture or whatever. Nothing spectacular, but something that I can look back on that will make me (and one day, my family) smile, laugh, or cry.
 

Merry Christmas!

Feel as if I need an update

My kids are awesome. I love them so very much, and am so fortunate, thankful, and grateful I have this year with them before I enter the workforce as a teacher. My plan is to sub until I get a job. I'd love to get an actual position, but it is really difficult to get a teaching job in Columbus. Whatever, it will happen - I am not worried about it. I still smile when I think about becoming a teacher, and I think it is because it will challenge me daily.

Anyhoo, about my kids. E gets mad if you say he is only 4, he is "four and a half" with hands on hips and chin jutted out. Peyton is 6 and 1/2 and wants to be tall. She wants me to measure her at least once a week to see how much she's grown. I typically do at the birthday and then at the half birthday, but not every week. heehee.

E loves school, even though recently he says he doesn't care. The stomach virus ran its course through the kids and myself. Luckily, hubby was spared but got a nasty cold/flu thingy that lingers. Because of the protocol of his preschool he has to get his poo tested. They had some virus that went through the school and the health department says that any child with even one bout of diarrhea has to be tested. So, lucky mommy gets to gather the sample. But, during this "gathering," E freaked out and said he no longer wants to go to preschool. He thinks the testing is dumb and unfair. Hmmm...read mommy's mind, but we have to be honest and we have to do the right thing.

Speaking of doing the right thing, I had to miss a whole weekend of holiday parties because of my and P's sickness. I stayed away from the 1st grade party because I was only 2 days out from the stomach thing - there is NOWAY I was going to pass that on, especially with Christmas around the corner. Also, I was still feeling gross and couldn't attend an 80's party I was psyched for, mainly because I wanted to go to my annual Loop Christmas party. I ended up missing that because P got sick that day. Again! Poor little thing. She wanted me to stay with her, so I did. I was bummed, but my main priority is my girl and parties can be missed. There will be others.

Awesome birthday

My friends and family made me feel so special on my birthday! My girlfriends and I went out to Alana's, which is this awesome restaurant that serves all local foods. We laughed and drank too much wine. Then we saw Breaking Dawn pt 2. I was showered with beautiful, thoughtful gifts. Hubby took the kids to hibachi with a friend of ours for dinner and then showed them a movie. The kids had a great time hanging with daddy.

For my actual birthday I had a hangover and felt horrible, but that didn't stop me from having a great day. The cleanse I was on cleared my body of toxins, and putting a few drinks in me was not a good idea. I am pondering cutting all drinks - I don't like how it effects me lately (not 21 any more!). Anyhoo...the kids couldn't wait for me to come downstairs and open my gifts. It was a little like Christmas morning, except better because the kids were so excited about the gifts they had gotten me.

bubbies wanted to get me a robot that would help clean the house. It is a little square "robot" that sweeps and mops that he named Jay Jay (after one of the under water robots that discovered the Titanic). He was so excited and I almost cried at how cute he was. Sis got me a beautiful locket that says mom all over it and put a picture of her when she was a little baby in it. Hubby got me a necklace and a Zumba dvd. The kids and I had fun dancing to that.

Then we headed over to mom's for dinner. We had a delish dinner and cake, and then played games with the kids. My children played two games of old school Battleship with me and Grammies. It was a great day!

Catching up

I really need to catch up on this blog, but I've been so busy lately with life. Just a little catching up:

P is in 1st grade and not loving it. She enjoys her teacher and her friend, and is a really good little student, but she hates school. The first month she cried every morning and I had to talk her into going. It was traumatic all around.

She is doing better but still complains about lunch. She says lunch and recess are too long. I think the comfort she feels in her classroom makes her secure. Being outside of that comfort makes her feel lost. Most of the time she says she misses me - she won't even go on play dates after school much of the time because she says she missed me all day at school. As long as I am on the play date with her, she is fine. That means, we only go on play dates where E and myself are invited to stay. That's fine with me. She is only 6 and will drift away from me soon, so I need to stop worrying and enjoy my time with my little girl.

E, on the other hand, LOVES school. He can't wait to get out of the house. Well, poor little thing, mommy takes the mornings to get stuff done and he gets ignored most of the time. I try to sit and play with him - crafts or trains. He's got an agenda, this kid. He has his opinion about what is fun to him and what he will do. P would do just about anything I suggest, but E will put the brakes on. He's like that with food too.

We have a rule at our table that the kids have to eat one of the vegetables on their plate. P will eat it and then tell me how nasty it was, but E will mess around trying to avoid it. I tell him, "just eat it and wash it down with milk if you think it tastes bad!" He takes little nibbles and makes awful faces. You'd think he'd learn that he's not excused until he takes a bite, but somehow he thinks he can dodge it. His newest is to make gagging noises - I worry about that one because Ilene puked green peas all over the table because her parents made her eat them. That is a worry...:)

Hardest part

The hardest part about living in this house, is that noone listens to me. I try to make changes for healthy eating and I am sabotaged by the offerings of ramen noodles and hot dogs. I try to get the kids to clean up after themselves, and I am told "no." I constantly have to reprimand or get upset. I ask for simple tasks to be done, like when I take the trash out I always replace the bags. I don't think it is much, but it is *never* done and then I am the one who ends up taking the trash out the next time and completely grossed out by what won't come put of the bathroom buckets.

I don't clean up or organize certain things because I grow weary of every day things not getting done so we can live in our home. I am tired of being ignored. Sometimes moving out and having my own place sounds really nice...

It is so hard to be the only one with ideas for the family. My husband NEVER just takes the kids on a bike ride or to play outside, unless I ask him to. He'd much rather sit in front of the TV or play video games or do "research" online. He feeds them crap food and thinks it is funny. He hasn't gone to ONE parent/teacher conference to hear how his kids are doing NOR does he even ask after I return home from one. He hasn't even seen one of their progress reports and P has four years worth and E has one.

HOWEVER, he does go to work and pay the bills. I guess I am beholden to that. I can't wait to get a job and get better perspective and less time to think about these things. I just hope it gets better or I am not sure what choice I will make. I need a partner, not another child to take care of or someone who constantly makes me feel guilty or pokes fun at me. I am not attracted to this person and sometimes feel as if I made a horrible mistake my not listening to my heart in the first place, I listened to my guilt.

Also, I am forced to write out my feelings because noone listens to me or they DON'T want to. They say I am nagging them simply by expressing my thoughts or that I am mean. I am getting so tired of living like this.

P lost her first tooth!

P's first tooth was wiggly before we left on vacation, but I had no idea she'd actually lose it! We were playing in the pool at Papa Bill's house and she was pretending to be a shark. She kept biting her daddy's shirt and growling. Well, the biting of the shirt evidently loosened her tooth enough to make it fall out! Out it did, right into the pool.

A nice guy put on goggles to help us look, but eventually daddy saved the day and found P's tooth. The tooth fairy would indeed make a visit to her that evening. She was pretty excited the next morning when she found that gold dollar coin under her pillow. V. cute.

E-isms

I keep telling hubby we need to write down the crazy things bubbies says, but we don't. So, I am going to start writing them here...if I remember.

Today:

"Mommy, I am going to start an ice cream shop and call it Poo Poos. The only thing we'll serve is chocolate ice cream."

I said that I thought it would smell.

He said, "no, just like chocolate ice cream."

Warrior Dash 2012!

S and I had so much fun doing the Warrior Dash this year. The course was longer and there were more obstacles. I am still sore, though! Not in as good of shape as I was last year. Of course, last year I was training for a half marathon. My friend Bridgette made the outfit for me - it was an old-timey bathing suit.

From mother to daughter

I'm posting this here in case P reads it someday...

Letter from a Mother to a Daughter: "My dear girl, the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If when we talk, I repeat the same thing a thousand times, don’t interrupt to say: “You said the same thing a minute ago”... Just listen, please. Try to remember the times when you were little and I would read the same story night after night until you would fall asleep. When I don’t want to take a bath, don’t be mad and don’t embarrass me. Remember when I had to run after you making excuses and trying to get you to take a shower when you were just a girl? When you see how ignorant I am when it comes to new technology, give me the time to learn and don’t look at me that way... remember, honey, I patiently taught you how to do many things like eating appropriately, getting dressed, combing your hair and dealing with life’s issues every day... the day you see I’m getting old, I ask you to please be patient, but most of all, try to understand what I’m going through. If I occasionaly lose track of what we’re talking about, give me the time to remember, and if I can’t, don’t be nervous, impatient or arrogant. Just know in your heart that the most important thing for me is to be with you. And when my old, tired legs don’t let me move as quickly as before, give me your hand the same way that I offered mine to you when you first walked. When those days come, don’t feel sad... just be with me, and understand me while I get to the end of my life with love. I’ll cherish and thank you for the gift of time and joy we shared. With a big smile and the huge love I’ve always had for you, I just want to say, I love you... my darling daughter. "

Poem from a student

A student wrote this poem to me on my last day of student teaching. I taught a poetry unit about how to write free verse poetry and how to use figurative language to engage your reader. This student was one of the lowest I had, which makes this that much more special. Here is it:

Mrs. Marks is like a smile face
She's happy all the time
Even when something bad happens
She tries to make a happy feeling in the atmosphere
Mrs. Marks is like a smile face
Thing that Mrs. Marks is not
Is mean, cruel
Helpless, and rude
Mrs. Marks brings out the happiness in everyone
When it is raining and there are puddles
Everyone is depressed but not Mrs. Marks
Mrs. Marks would be the first person
To jump into that puddle
Mrs. Marks has given me a gift
A gift that is precious to me and many other people
The gift of writing a poem

Happy 6th Birthday P!

Happy Birthday to my darling P. We had her birthday at a bounce place with all of her little kindergarten and play group friends. What a blast! I love you, my sweet girl.

With your cousie AB

Happy Easter

My little basketball player

P insisted on playing basketball, so I signed her up. She had her first season in the "Junior Hoopsters," which was a kindergarten coed team. She was one of three girls playing, the rest were aggressive sporty boys. Many times on the court when she was supposed to be playing defense, she was pirouetting or cheering for her teammate who just scored a basket. Not sure if being a team player or a cheerleader will be her thing, but for now she loves dribbling and shooting. I was impressed with her outgoing nature and determination to play the game.

E-baby is Four!

My sweet baby boy is officially four years old. Where did two and three go?!

A few things about him:

1. He likes, no loves, to talk about poop, farts, and pee.
2. His favorite color is blue, Thomas blue.
3. He loves short-sleeved orange shirts (even in winter).
4. His fave food is pizza.
5. He loves sweets - pretty much any kind.
6. He loves to play and read about trains and cars.
7. He is recognizing words if you play word games aka reading.
8. He loves music.
9. He loves his sister.
10. He is pretty independent.

Last night he celebrated his birthday eve with growing pains in his legs. It was not fun for him or us. We finally got him to take some Tylenol to help, but he was still up early crying. I don't know what is going on. His sleep cycle is that of a newborn lately.

Student Teaching

Well, I am finally finishing up my education degree. I am on the last leg of it which is student teaching. I was fortunate enough to be placed in the same school district as my girl, which means we have spring break together! I am loving my mentor teachers and the school itself. The students are diverse and amazing - the majority of them are motivated learners and seem interested in school. I feel so comfortable in this school because I share the same philosophies about teaching with my mentor teachers, and that stems from having a life long mentor, my mom. She was an amazing educator. She was one of the best, and I am fortunate to have her as a support system not only emotionally, but professionally.

The teachers in my district don't just teach subject matter, they keep up on current educational philosophies to help them teach subjects effectively. I laugh at some people who comment that teaching is easy. They clearly have no idea what teaching is all about, well, I guess good teaching. I know some people just do their time, and I find that is the way it is in all professions...people are people no matter where you go. What makes the difference in teaching is that good teachers care about getting kids to learn and read, read, read up on how to do it in the best way possible. Teaching isn't about just going in and giving tests, it is about making connections, helping kids feel safe to take risks with their learning, helping kids become good citizens of their community, helping kids become responsible for their own learning, and helping kids be successful in school and take that into their lives beyond school.

Teaching isn't easy. Imagine a group of students who all learn in different ways, are on different levels of learning, some may be on the autism spectrum, some have behavior issues, and some just merely aren't interested in school - they all need to pass the same test. You don't have time to sit with them one on one each day. How do you do it? That is why my education degree, all my observation, and all my hours of field experience and student teaching are important - I am learning how to be an effective teacher. Classroom management, teaching subject matter from an educational text, teaching kids how to read for content, teaching kids how to write, teaching kids how to think creatively and outside of the box, getting kids to pass their tests! That isn't even half of it. I am reflecting on all of this stuff because I am passionate about my career choice. Thanks to my old job for the business counseling that made me realize this was my passion. Going into teaching was not a decision made lightly. I thought for many months and years about it. Now, I am almost finished.

Now, I am crossing my fingers I will get a job during these tough economic times. Plus, my previous mentor teacher said that that there's an average of 300 people applying for any one teaching job. I'll be lucky to get an interview!! ack.

Merry Christmas!!

Deciding on Baby Names for P

When hubby and I were deciding on baby names oh so many years ago...

From: Kristin

Date: April 4, 2006 1:12:05 PM EDT

To:

Subject: baby name

babe - I am still not 100% sold on the baby's name being Skylar. It kind of annoys me when other people say it. I don't know why. She just doesn't feel like a Skylar.

I like the names Rylie, P, Avery and a few others.

Fly little bird, fly...

Today my daughter flitted off like a little bird. On a typical school morning, she wants me to walk her to the playground and then we say our good-byes. Today, she saw a friend and ran off.

My heart was heavy.

Thanksgiving Day

Started the day off with the Turkey Trot. I've been running it for 3 years now. Putting in 5 miles before turkey dinner makes me feel okay about ingesting 5 pounds of food. My friend Shane did the race with me this year.

This is what the kids do while I run.

Dad really enjoys carving the turkey!

We enjoy eating it!

So does Miss P.

I thought this was funny - I have no idea what I am doing in this picture.

Halloween Fun

Straw mazes are the best!!

A little sass with your soccer?

P just finished up her first season of soccer. She played on a 4/5 year old league and loved it! I have a feeling I have Sporty Spice...with a little Posh mixed in. She loved playing goalie and cheering on her team. The little thing scored a goal her first game! Go P! I hope she continues to enjoy it!!

I started school.

After many years of putting the inevitable off...well, trying to figure out if I truly wanted to teach...I am in the classroom. I just started my first field experience with a Columbus Public School. They do things much differently than I am used to, but I am learning and that is what is important.

I can't believe how much work is involved to get my licensure. When I am finished I'll be certified to teach 4 - 9 Social Studies and Language Arts. Of course that is IF I pass all of my tests. I have to take 3 tests : 2 content and 1 educational theory and practice. Getting my certification boils down to passing those tests! Seems crazy that countless hours of content area classes, educational theory and how to teach classes, classroom management papers, and then in school experiences as a student teacher don't outweigh silly tests (this doesn't even count my BA from OSU in history). Oh well, I do need to be accountable for what I have learned, so I guess I understand why they do what they do. Phew...it has been, and will continue to be, a ton of work.

I really missed my kids, but it wasn't as hard as I thought to be away. I think it was because I was surrounded by children and too busy to think about it. When I got home they barely said "hello" to me...:( Either they were mad at me for being gone all day or just having a great time with the nanny. Not sure, yet.

Officially Starting Kindergarten.

P in front of her kindergarten class roster just outside of the school. She didn't want me to take her picture - can you see the annoyed look on her face?

Well, it is official. P is enrolled in half day kindergarten, and I am thrilled about her school and her teacher. I took her over earlier this week to look at her class roster and then into meet her teacher for the KRAL. The KRAL is a literacy test that assesses reading readiness for kindergarten students. It is information that the state uses to create guidelines for preschool curriculum to get students academically ready for kindergarten. Anyhow, P flew through the test and her teacher said she did an amazing job.

I found out that the teacher grew up in our neighborhood and attended P's elementary school! To me, that shows that she loved it enough to come back as an adult, so it has to be a great place to learn. I am excited for P to start class next week, and she is more excited than me. I am feeling a bit sad - that sadness over your child growing up, but I can't hold onto her forever...even though I want to.

Sunday is the ice cream social hosted by the PTA. I am excited to meet some new parents and for P to meet some of her classmates. I am sure she'll make some great new friends!

My daughter - the photographer

This one is of a tiny bug on one of our pepper plants. Picture by P.

Fairy House

Hubby built this fairy house with the kids on our camping weekend to Hocking Hills. I love his creativity, and also how easy and fun he makes these artsy things look.

Such a loving boy.

My bubbies loves his friend Tom. Now, we don't see Tom very often because of varying schedules and Tom is about a year older than bubbies, but when we do see him my boy is smitten.

We took a tumbling class over winter and spring with Tom, but then didn't see him for a few months. Then a visit to COSI brought us together and bubbies was in heaven. The cutest thing happened when we left. bubbies didn't realize Tom was staying, and as we were walking out the door I asked him to say good-bye to his friend. bubbies immediately ran to Tom, grabbed him, hugged him, looked deeply into his eyes, and then gave him a big kiss...on the lips.

It was about the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. Tom, on the other hand, looked a bit surprised. I still laugh thinking about that moment, and I am writing this down because a friend told me I should because it was funny and I'd want to remember it.

Hot girls pick blueberries

<----2011

Someone has a bun in the oven.
Someone lost 60 pounds.
Someone just wants to pick berries.

<---- 2010

Fish Prints

When we were in Salem, hubby and his cousin Darcy found this really cool place where the kids could make fish prints on t-shirts for $10. They chose their fish (P chose a bass because she just caught two bass the week before on our camping trip) and their t-shirt, painted the fish with fabric paint, and then pressed the shirt on the fish. The guy that owned the place heat dried the shirts and we picked them up a few hours later. V. cool.

I love my kids.

Kidly Weekend #2

Last year I didn't get to go to the first annual Kidly Weekend because bubbies was into EVERYTHING, and I feared him and fire. P had a wonderful time and was extremely excited for this year's trip. Kidly Weekend is an off-shoot of Manly Weekend, which the guys have been doing since they graduated from college. Every September a decent sized group of them goes camping for a weekend and, really, I don't want to know what else they do. I just know it involves alcohol, their own made-up games, knives, and lots of swearing. Kidly will be the same sans the swearing, and take place in May or June.

We had a blast at Kidly this year, in spite of Kelly's raging UTI, Bridgette getting no sleep, an accidental death of a fish, and P burning her hand with her fire drawing stick. We wrapped up Sunday with trip to our friends Alpaca farm where the kids got to feed the male Alpacas treats - good times, good times. In my buddy Steve's words: "Here's hoping we can keep Kidly Weekend an annual tradition - all I could think of on the way home was how I want next year to come around and for Kidly anticipation to be the "talk of the town" amongst all our spawn. Cheers everyone - had great time with y'all!" Yes, we have terrific friends....

Pain

I am keeping this blog mainly for my kids. I want them to see little glimpses into our family's life through my posts. Today, I am feeling pain. I am certain this pain I am feeling will pass by the time they even know this blog exists, but until then, I need to write my thoughts down for myself; and, this one is about pain. It is painful for a mom to watch her kids make their way through the world.

My heart jumps watching my son tumble. My heart pangs watching my girl "working things out" with her friends. I am hopeful for them because of my age, and also saddened to know all the heart aches and awkwardness they have to go through to get where I am now. There is a saying "youth is wasted on the young." I don't believe that, but I do wish I could give them some of the "if you only knew what I know now" pills. It'd make life so much easier for them.

Of course, I would never want to choose a path for them. And, I believe all experiences - good and bad - make us who we are today. It's just that I feel more with my heart than I ever have before because of my children, and I want to protect them from all that is painful. Unrealistic, I know...but it is a desire.

Strawberry Pickin'

We love to handpick berries and other fruit.

Such a great activity to do with my kids because it incorporates fun and eating.

But, I don't think I picked enough berries this year.

Yeah, 10 jars of jam and two days of inhaling fresh berries all day long is just not enough. I feel like such a berry hoarder.