What comes to mind...

My husband left our camera at school this last week and there have been several occasions that I have wanted to snap a few photos and make a blog post but couldn't. For instance, I really wish I could have snapped a photo of Kailtyn reading to Adam on the couch. She has recently taken up this hobby of pretending to be "mommy" and so she read all the books just like I do. It is cute most of the time but when she copies some of the things I'm not so proud of, I tend to put a stop to it! I also would have wanted to post a picture of the kids at the zoo. We have LOVED the zoo here, I have a lot of pictures of them when they are little at the zoo but wanted to capture how grown up they have become, it was our first year going without a stroller....It's so liberating to not have to take a stroller everywhere you go but it does kinda stink not to have something to put your purse in or to hold your drink. I also would have wanted to take a picture of us going to our favorite neighbors baseball game. Robbin and her son Corey have been our family while here in Iowa. Corey is pretty much the best adopted uncle Kaitlyn and Adam could ask for and Robbin is not old enough to be my mom but she makes me feel comforted like my Mom and she is so sweet to the kids. They always go to her door and ask to look in her "treat" cupboard. They run down to her car when she gets home from work and they ask if they can help pull her car into the garage. Kaitlyn and Adam love them so much, it will be so hard to leave them. I also would have wanted to take pictures of our super fun Memorial Day Camping trip we went to on Friday Night. We packed it all up and headed just a few miles out of town to the local campgrounds and settled in with a few other families. We hiked a little, roasted a little and looked at the stars. Fortunately Kaitlyn and Adam LOVE camping and we will hopefully have many more wonderful camping trips as a family. The next morning we woke up to some friends making us biscuits and gravy and it was oh so delicious. We headed down to the pool and the kids splashed a little and than we all headed home completely drained. We had so much fun. It was nice this year not to have to guard the kids from the fire, they understood it was dangerous and it was so relaxing to just watch them enjoy the outdoors and get a few minutes of peace myself under the trees and by the fire. I looked at the calendar tonight and realized we have a little over a week left in this trimester. If things go as planned we will be leaving after the next trimester. It baffles me to think about being done here. Looking back it seems like it was so short of a time but when we were in the midst of it, it seemed like it took forever and to be honest I didn't think I was going to make it. Joseph bless his heart has always done his part well but sadly I am the weaker link, our time here in Iowa has brought out the good and the bad in me. I have a lot to be proud of and some things I'm not so proud of but I've learned a lot and know I will learn more in the next few months as we make some BIG decisions and close this part of our lives. I have a TO DO list sitting next to me, it's LONG...I hope this week is productive and that I get my camera back so I can post as the week goes on with photos to go along with the moments I want to capture...

Little Underwear Bum

I am lovin Mr. Adam's Underwear Bum! It has got to be refreshing for them to get those diapers off and the undies on. Freedom! I'm off to pinch those cheeks...so so cute!

Homemaker or something like that....

My life is at this weird crossroads right now....

I recently passed on my job at the Chiropractic Office because of time conflicts with Joseph's schooling and also in anticipation of being done here in Iowa fairly soon. I LOVED my job and the people I met through it.....the patients, the Doctors..Everyone! It feels strange and a little sad not to have that responsibility anymore.

I also am passing the ICAA President baton on. It's been a year since the current Board took the reigns and I have definitely LOVED being a part of such an awesome organization and being amongst such an amazing group of woman. We accomplished a lot this year and know the next board will do the same! A lot of energy and passion went into this role and I LOVED every minute of it.

I am just about to finish a rather large project of putting together a Student Planner that the ICAA has traditionally done for the bookstore to sell. It was a lengthy project but has been a really great experience. We send it to the printers on Monday and it feels so rewarding! It has taken up a lot of my time and energy.

We are the next family in our ward to graduate from Palmer and that feels so strange. We are so close to being finished. Our time here feels like a big blur and I am so anxious about the future and what it holds.

Somehow my little babies grew up, I am on the brink of being done completely with diapers and have discovered I am in denial about how grown up they really have become. I gotta start challenging them more and stop zipping up their jackets for them;)

So, all of these huge responsibilities that have taken up my time and energy over the past few years are all coming to an end and now I need to refocus it all into something. My Goal is to put it all into "My Kids" and "The Home". I have always tended to feel totally inadequate when it comes to motherhood and homemaking. I am thinking I need to develop some really good skills and habits...so if you know of some good websites, blogs, forums or even just have some plain old good ideas that I can get passionate about send them my way. I am going to have a lot of time on my hands here soon...I gotta find things to fill it with.

So here's to being a Full Time Stay at Home don't get involved in too much Momma!
Yeah!

Two 3 Year Olds! The Making of a Tradition..

First it was two 1 year olds
then...two 2 year olds...
now it's...two 3 year olds!
It's one of the fun things about having kids so close in age, ours are the same age for a month and a half. In a way it makes it easier because when people ask how old your kids are, which all parents know happens A LOT!!!!, you can simply say, "they are 3". But, then again...that creates a whole series of other questions because they are obviously not twins and everyone has to know how "that happened". AWKWARD!!!!! Seriously though, having the kids be so close together was one of the best surprise gifts of my life. Kaitlyn and Adam are the perfect duo, I can't imagine having one with out the other. Today we celebrated Adam's THIRD BIRTHDAY! He has grown into such a handsome boy, he is my Little Man. We had a wonderful day and Loved all his presents. Kaitlyn was the perfect older sister, she let Adam have all the attention and even kept secret what all his presents were as she helped me wrap them while he napped:)

So, seeing as every year for the rest of their lives they will have a month and a half of being the same age, I wanted to start a tradition where we do something as a family during this time to recognize the uniqueness of their relationship. So I decided we would do a family camping trip. The Irish Twin Camping Trip! I am really hoping that even when they get older and have their own families they will continue the tradition and do a camping trip together during this special time!

This last weekend, Joseph had a few days free from school, and my awesome friend Nathalie suggested I meet up with her in Arizona for the weekend, of course I thought that was a great idea. Flying on a buddy pass is not the most glamorous way to fly, except when you luck out and get first class (which I did twice...YES!) but I was ready for a few days off from "mommy hood" and decided to take my chances. I had so much fun, was able to meet up with some good 'ol friends, relax in the sunshine and do a little shopping...and eating. I really like Arizona it is a great place to visit. After getting back I came up with the most brilliant idea EVER! I told Joseph about it and he "agreed"...that every year as a tradition when our kids turn the same age I should take a vacation by myself!!!! YEAH!!! So where I will go next year will be in the works, I'm thinking it will be to visit a old friend each time, so if you are looking for a house guest next year around this time, give me a shout out:) You think I'm joking but I'm not!!!!!!

Here are some pics of the last few days......


Sprinkles Cupcakes..My Worst Enemy;)

The Magnificent "Sister Cundiff"...One of my favorite Mission Friends!

And her Cute Girls!

The adorable Miss Paige...Nathalie's Baby

Just after getting Pedi's, which are way better in Arizona than in Iowa...by FAR!!!!

Sister Wilcox..this is for you..he did this all on his own!

Adam's Favorite place is the airport so we swung by their to pick up my lost bag and also so we could hang out for his Birthday..he got "Winged"!

They just started dancing under the airplane, it was precious!


This is my....I Get a Vacation Every Year Right Honey?!..Look

Birthday Cupcake!



Adam LOVES salad, he is definately all Shepro!


This is the infamous apron I bought for Mother's Day...It makes all motherly and house duties way more glamorous and fun!!!

Shake Your Booty

Whenever Kaitlyn is asked a question she does not want to answer or if she is put on the spot she always resorts to saying..."shake your booty". Not sure where it came from until the other day when the kids were dancing in the living room and I said with out thinking..."Go Kaitlyn, Shake your Booty!". Well, as you can imagine my shock, when I realized I was the one who taught her to say that. Who knows what other little wonderful tidbits of joy I teach my children to do that is a little innapropriate.

On a side note, of all the things Joseph could have fed our child with the stomach flu, he chose red...that's right...red spaghetti. It has not found it's way up yet but when it does he really better hope it makes it into a bowl or toilet or else he is going to be in a whole world of hurt. Who does that? Seriously!

Rain Boots

My kids get soooo excited when it rains because they know it means they need to get out their rain boots and umbrellas. Too bad we were in a hurry to take Daddy to school because they really wanted to spend some time stompin in the puddles. We had a few minutes though and they stomped and watched the water run down the cracks in the parking lot. Something about watching them do this sparks a memory from my childhood at my Potter Street house in Eugene Oregon. I have fond memories of making paper boats and sending them down the rushing rain water out front in the street gutters. I also remember picking all the moss out from inbetween the cracks in the sidewalks. Kids do this, they pull memories out of you that you never thought possible. The other day Kaitlyn was making a witches brew with leaves and mud and rocks in the water bucket out back. I thought to myself...i made quite a disgusting witches brew in my time if I remember correctly:)

At Target this morning, while I was distracted looking through the fresh basil trying to find the most "fresh" bunch, Adam swiped a whole green pepper. I did not notice until moving on to the next isle and sure enough Adam was chompin on the green pepper like it was an apple. I resisted the urge to scold and just smiled and said, "were you hungry Adam?"...he looked up with a smile took a bite of his green pepper and said "mmhmmm". He just now finished the whole pepper and looks very satisfied. Kaitlyn tried some and was not impressed as you can tell in this picture. Oh Adam...you are my cute little green pepper!

This Evening

We got a free pizza and watched a silly kids movie with the kids, to celebrate Joseph passing his second set of National Boards! My favorite thing in pretty much all the world is when my kids offer an "I Love you" without me first saying it. Tonight when I put Katie down to bed I went over to her bedside and she reached her arms up and smiled a big smile and said sincerely, "I love you" as we squeezed a nice big hug. mmmmmmmm so so so yummy those moments!

Hats off to my reliable husband who has never failed us or his tests. We LOVE YOU DADDY!

This Morning

Instead of getting fustrated that Adam always climbs in the back of the car and fools around when we are trying to get out...I climbed in with him and we played for a bit. He drove me to the grocery store and to get a drink. He also helped me send my packages at the post office this morning. What an awesome helper and buddy to have around!

Up too Late..

Reading old blog entries, I actually read all of my blog entries. Wow! Blog's are awesome. I did not realize that going back could be so much fun, and so eye opening. Time here in Iowa has become so blurry I can't remember the who, what's and when's. It was fun to have the memories saved. I feel so motivated now to keep posting and to do it more often. So, for the sake of blogging, here is the bitter truth about today...

It started out really good, well it could have been better if I had ran but Joseph had to be at school early and running with the stroller is not my cup of tea so I opted out on the running thing and headed straight to the shower. Mostly because I was super greasy from the day before when I was outside playing with the kids allllll dayyyy! We had a tub full of water out with all the bath toys and Kaitlyn had a few friends over. The kids got wet but it was so warm that within half hour the clothes were dry again it was nice. Kaitlyn made special watering holes for her horses and set them up all perfect. She kept turning on the hose and I was trying my hardest to practice my "positive parenting" techniques and not tell her "what to do" but help her decide it wasnt a good idea to "waste water":) It required creativity and a lot of patience but she got it and I didnt have to shout orders at her, which I HATE doing and hope this positive parenting thingy will help with. So yes I was greasy from the busy day before and was ready this morning for a nice shower. Got all gussied up and took Joseph to school. Kaitlyn left without her hair getting combed which made me feel a little uneasy but hey, I'm trying to get stress out of my life so I let it go. Later we went to the zoo, it finally opened after being "under construction" and closed for forever. The zoo was just not the same...it was like a woman at a salon..getting fixed up but not quite ready to be seen...which on a side note..don't ya hate looking in the mirror when your getting your hair done, something about the lighting in the salon's or maybe it's the tin foil in the hair or something, I always look away from the mirror cause it just bugs me...The zoo was fun, the friends we went with were fun, and the weather was perfect..oh and we got to see two turtle's mating. The kids had no idea but Tamara and I were laughing pretty hard. It was funny...beautiful...but so so funny!
After the zoo the day progressively got worse. I usually am not a sit around type person, it makes me feel anxious to be lazy...but today after getting home my plan was to clean. Ok so what did I do? I sat around and was lazy and low and behold I got so cranky. I get so anxious when things are not getting done and than to top it off my car dealership called me back about our non existent car warranty and gave me some blah blah blah blah answer which totally set me off. Whew, it was a bad moment for me. I felt a little out of body like I was going to like have to do a count off from 10 and at the end I was going to explode like a rocket up to the moon. So what does any girl do in this time of craziness...I called my husband. Yep and blew off some steam on him and he brought me back to reality and made me laugh and sigh...now I'm here typing this blog which no one will find intersting but me...ten years down the road when I get reflective again and read all my blog posts. Hello me, remember that day you about lost your mind and than got it back. Yeah that was great! I have resolved to care less and do more. That is do more of the things I love and that make me feel good inside and less of the stuff I feel like I have to do but don't! Tomorow I'm sending out two packages filled with crafty goodies I made for my Mom and Sister..now that is what I call feel good stuff:) Yeah!

Sayin Goodbye..Again...

Kaitlyn has had the most wonderful friend live just two doors down from us, but today our neighbors moving van came. I think our family is starting to get a little worn out from having to say goodbye to friends, specially those who are a part of your every day life. Kaitlyn's friend is always outside willing and ready to play. She has the most creative mind and is such a great example to Kaitlyn. Because her friend is a little older than her, Kaitlyn learns a lot from her and looks up to her in such a dear sweet way. I hate to say it, but some days I had to close the blinds just because I knew if Kaitlyn saw her friend outside, she would beg and plead and cry and beg some more to go out and play when I just couldn't. Some days I wish we could spend every waking moment outside but alas, I'm cursed with the clean gene and so have a really hard time going outside until the house is clean. It can be very fustrating to have this gene specially when you have two toddlers:) Anyways, back to Kaitlyn's friend. Today when I explained to Kaitlyn that her friend was moving, her little mouth started to frown and tears started to swell. This was like real true emotion I was dealing with here. Not a tantrum or a boo boo crying but real "I'm a girl and have emotions" tears. It was terrifying but extremely satisfying at the same time...scarry because, I knew I was entering into a whole new realm of parenting that I'm not sure I'm ready to deal with but also wonderful because my daughter is growing up into a beautiful young lady. I love her so much and am so proud of who she is becoming. She is so full of love and excitment, which is why I loved to watch her play with her friend. Her little character came out when she was with her friend and it was beautiful to watch. We are going to miss our neighbors, they were such a big part of the neighborhood, it won't be the same here without them. A lot less interesting for sure! We miss all our friends who have left Iowa and Palmer. We feel like we are next and thank goodness cause it's about dang time:) No really we just want to stop having to say goodbye and start having to say hello again for a while. I really hope someday soon we can settle down and nestle ourselves into a amazing community, throw down some roots...ya know...YEAH. I'm liking the sound of that.