It's so quiet...

If you're a mom you've had those days where if you hear the theme song to Zach and Cody or Phineas and Ferb one more time you might scream. Those are the days all I want to do is curl up with a good book and fall asleep after only reading a few pages. (Just a side note: No one has taken a nap in our house all summer, not even on Sundays.) My children have been Energizer bunnies all summer. Even on the days we go non-stop and I think surely they're gonna crash early, one 30 minute sitcom and they're bouncing off the walls or should I say jumping on the trampoline. :) I love my life, I love my kiddos, most of the time I don't mind the noise...but every once in a while I need a little peace.

This past Sunday my mom took the kids to the farm. We ran a few errands in town, ate lunch and then went our separate ways; her with my kiddos and me in the quiet of my Tahoe all by myself. I may be weird, but I've always been one to get homesick. I could never spend the night with friends as a child. My mom always had to come get me in the middle of the night, and forget about Girl Scout camp...it was horrible. Well, that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when things just aren't quite right, that's the feeling I had on my ride home. My dad always refers to that feeling as being "baby sick." I remember going to college and every time I talked to my dad he would tell me he was baby sick. I talked to my dad after Mom and the kids got to the farm and the first thing I told him was that I was baby sick and the house was too quiet. He said, "Just wait until they go off to college."

I've enjoyed these last few days of peace and quiet. I've gotten to have a lunch date with friends, finish a quilt I started several years ago and watch a few movies. I'm about to walk out the door to meet my parents to bring my kids home. I've missed those little people. I wonder what we'll do when we get home? I'm kinda in the mood to watch a little Phineas and Ferb...

Has it really been 20 years...

I admit more and more often these days I am reminded that time passes quickly and 20 years ago can feel like yesterday. My lovely children delight in reminding me that I'm "old;" needless to say, this doesn't bother me. "Old" is a relevant term and I admit to thinking my mom and dad were old when they were 39.

A few weeks ago my sister and I were going through a box of things from her high school days and we came across several letters I had written to her when I was a camp counselor one summer at Kickapoo Kamp for Girls down in Kerrville. I decided it would be great fun to work at a summer camp, so when the camp job fair came to campus I was the first one to sign up; little did I know how much work it was going to be ~

Following is an excerpt from one of the letters dated July 2, 1991:

Let me just give you a sample of my day:
6:30 Wake up for myself to get ready in order to get 7 little girls ready at 7:15
7:15 Wake up the girls
7:45 Flag raising
8:00 Breakfast
8:30 Clean up cabin (get it ready for inspection) Try getting seven 7 year olds to clean the shower, toilet,   sink, mirror, sweep the floor, line their shoes up, make their beds, put their dirty clothes in a bag and take out the trash in 15 minutes because at
8:45 Go to classes
9:00 to 11:45 Teach classes
12:30 Go to lunch
1:30 I get to take a 30 minute nap while they are at song practice. Yea!
2:00 they wake me up. Not yea!!
2:00 to 3:30 Rest hour! Best part of the day (just kidding)
3:30 Go down for campers to get a Coke
3:45 Classes start up again
5:45 Classes over!
6:30 Supper
7:30 Night activity
9:00 Up to cabin. We usually listen to music and sing and dance. Sounds like that's right up my alley huh?
Anyway, that's my schedule. Don't think I'm griping, I'm just really tired right now. I guess I better go get some sleep. Kiss Mom and Dad for me and give them big hugs! Love, Tina

Now I wouldn't trade that summer for a million bucks; I learned so much as a camp counselor and gained a little independence being on my own so far away from home, but I'm pretty sure if I had known in advance what my summer job was going to be like I would have chosen a different path. Isn't life in general just like that? We grow, we learn and we become the people God wants us to be because of the experiences he puts in our paths, but 9 times out of 10 if we knew what it was going to take to get through those trying times we would chose the easy way.

I just happen to read these letters to K today and noticed the date at the top of one of the letters...July 2, 1991. Twenty years to the day has gone by and in my mind I can still feel the cool summer air on those early mornings. I don't know how we managed to get those 7 year olds to do all the things that had to be done to pass inspection, but somehow we all managed (and survived.) Now I have a little girl of my own who sat listening to me read those letters from a summer so long ago. She has big plans for summer camps in her future the only catch is she wants me to be her camp counselor ~ isn't that sweet? :)

Here's to all those sweet memories of summers past that we all have... 

Artichokes, Kale chips and a Mango...

I'm back after a short break to visit my sister and her family. We stayed longer than we ever have and had a great time. We swam, went to the movie, enjoyed a nature walk that was not so enjoyable once my nephew H was stung by a bee, and just had fun being together. The girls played dress up while the boys chased each other through the house with nerf bullets flying. They built tents and played with water balloons. My kiddos got to join Hunter in his Cross-Fit class and had a blast! I'm now bugging Rodney to hang us some rings from the ceiling in the garage so the kids can do pull-ups. I got some great ideas on how to make fitness fun for the kids. Thanks Sis for letting us tag along.

Watermelon for breakfast ~ yummy!

Yesterday we went to the grocery store and I thought it would be fun for the kids to pick out a fruit and vege they had never tried before. The catch was they had to at least taste what they picked out; so after much deliberation they agreed on an artichoke and a mango. I picked up some kale; I've been wanting to try making kale chips. The mango was a huge success; they had it for breakfast this morning. The artichoke is still waiting patiently in the fridge (I'll be Googling "how to cook an artichoke" shortly.) As for the kale chips?

This health nut mama thought they were delicious! I have to hand it to the kids, they at least tasted them. I must say, for those of us living a low carb, high fat diet these little chips are perfect for those days when we need something crunchy and a little salty. Not only are they tasty, they are so good for you. Kale is rich in nutrients such as vitamins A, C, and E, fiber, calcium, manganese and loaded with sulfur containing phytonutrients which have been shown to protect against many kinds of cancers including breast and ovarian. The chips are super simple to make; simply wash the leaves, spin in a salad spinner, gently tear the leaves from the stem, place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes.

I hope you try them and if you do, let me know what you think ~

Chalk Art ~

It's amazing  how a bucket of chalk can bring so much contentment. I think so many times as parents we (or should I say "I") feel a tremendous amount pressure to entertain our children especially throughout the summer months; not only is this exhausting, it's also very expensive! We're so used to being busy that it really is an adjustment to just "chill out."

Despite the fact the wind has blown 30 mph everyday so far this summer, the kids still want to be outside. I would say the chalk was a nice change of pace from water balloons. (Our water balloon adventures came to a halt when we discovered our destructive sweet puppy had chewed up the water balloon nozzle and the hose. Yes, I tried to buy more balloons, but apparently Target buyers think people only play with water balloons around Easter time and I have yet to make it to my least favorite store...Walmart.)

I loved watching the kids being creative ~ even Sam got in on the fun and ate a piece of white chalk. :) As a mom I have to remember how easy it is to get sucked into the vortex that is computers, tv's and video games...our creative juices dry up quickly when they're not being used. I may meet some resistance, but everyone is so much happier when all that junk is switched off. The simplicity of something as basic as a piece of chalk, a new coloring book and colors, a set of children's water colors or *gasp* a good book might be just what you need to tap in to your creative side. I have several craft ideas in mind for us to work on this summer...can't wait to get started and blog about our creations!

Hoping for a drink of water...

Once again lots of things happened today that went unphotographed; basketball camp, playing in the blow-up pool at a friends house, enjoying a chocolate coconut mocha with a friend at Target. We do so many things during the day and I'm constantly on the look-out for "the picture of the day." I finally decided on the subject of today's photo just before sunset. 

This is our livelihood

This baby cotton could really use a good drink right now. Oh sure, it's irrigated or it would never have broken ground; what I mean is a really good drink from above. As I was taking this photo the clouds were rumbling and hopes for a rain was off in the distant west, but as I am writing this our rain chances are gone. We'll keep irrigating and this baby cotton will keep growing, but a good rain would make things a whole lot better...in the meantime we'll also keep praying.