Friends, Family, Festivals, Fireworks, Fun

Kate and Lincoln had fun riding some rides with Bryce at the festival that came to town.

Beth K was here for the week, we had a fun girls night and an afternoon of swimming, but none of the pictures I took were anything great, so I’ll spare you those photos. :)

Saturday we headed to the lake with Greg and Mary. Kate absolutely loved being the center of her aunt and uncle’s attention. Thanks Greg and Mary for all the attention you lavished on her!

Saturday eve we enjoyed a night at the ballpark, courtesy of CEFCU. It was HOT, but the kids enjoyed the endless supply of bottled water and popcorn. Lincoln took a real liking to Trent and hardly left his side. (Lincoln is not sunburned, he is just super hot). They had fireworks after the game that were really impressive.

Where is Lincoln?

This is where he was supposed to be (his bed)

This is where he was (his crib)

Happy Father’s Day!

I happen to think these 3 are pretty great.  Mike is a super dad and the highlight of the kids’ day (and mine too) is when Daddy gets home!

Lincoln has not been sleeping very well lately, hence he often turns up sleeping in random places and at random times. 

Turkey Festival Rides

Well, it’s been quite the week. I haven’t taken many pictures, aside from some pictures I took of Kate and Lincoln riding the carnival rides at the Turkey Festival. We had a pretty low-key week. Over the weekend, we had Paul and Nichole here, plus their 3 kiddos…I am sad to report that I did not take ANY pictures. It was great to have them here. Sunday afternoon we went to the Turkey Festival Parade, but I didn’t get my camera out because it was periodically raining. I hate when I get lazy and don’t take the time to get some pictures, because now I wish I had them and I remember a couple times thinking what a great picture something would be, but will be forced to remember it in my mind, which will last all of about 3 days. :)

One thing that I feel God has really been working with me on is my attitude. I try really hard to be the laid back Mom. Some of that comes easy because I am naturally more laid back than high strung. Some of that I’ve learned in the almost 4 years of being Kate’s Mom. She is so full of life and adventure that things like seeing her jump off a retaining wall or climb a swingset or jump down a half-flight of stairs barely even phase me. I would not know this is odd except for some of my friends who have more cautious children will occasionally react to something she is doing and I realize “hmmm….maybe I should be more concerned.” :) Anyway, my quest at laid-back-dom and just all around rolling with things better has been going really well…until…last Thursday. I’ve battled some intense back pain this pregnancy, which has led to an inability to sleep, which makes my story kind of come together like the perfect storm. Thursday is the day that I usually work at Kaiser Construction. This past Thursday, I worked from home because Lincoln had a horrible cold and an eye infection. It went really well until about 11:30. Then Lincoln got terribly grouchy. (The beginnings of the storm, tired mommy, grouchy toddler). I had to go to the shop for a little bit to finish up some things that I could not do from home, so I just took Kate and Lincoln with me. Around 2 we came home for naps and so that I could clean and mow for our weekend company. Well, the sick and grouchy toddler decided not to take a nap. (The storm is building.) No problem I think, he loves to watch Mike and I mow, he can just play outside. Lincoln doesn’t want to come outside, so I let him play inside. I mowed for about 20 minutes and came in to check on him. He was playing well and Kate was sleeping (very rare). I went back out to mow some more and the mower would not start. I tried and tried and tried to get it to start. No luck. It’s probably around 3:15 at this point and I called Mike to see if he could think of anything obvious I was not thinking of regarding the mower. He mentioned a few things, but none of them worked. I called my Dad and Brett and neither of them were near our house. So, by this time Kate is awake and Lincoln is awake (with no nap and sick and grouchy). I do not even know what happened next, but in the space of 15 minutes Kate, Lincoln, and Mommy were all crying. I put the kids in their rooms to cry it out and I went to my room and laid on the bed and cried. I was so frustrated that MY PLANS were not going the way I wanted them to go. I sent a text to a friend that said, “Having a bad day, everyone crying, even Mommy.” I then got up and called my Mom only to find she wasn’t home. But I had new resolve, I was going to go outside and try 10 more times to start the lawn mower. Would you believe that it started on the 10th time? It did. (When I went inside I discovered a text on my phone from my friend saying she was praying for me…could be her prayers started the mower). Kate didn’t want to come outside, so I let her watch a movie and Lincoln played nicely while I finished the grass. I calmed down or should I say God calmed me down as I mowed and my wonderful husband came home early to find things actually going well, much to his relief. We then ate supper and left for the Turkey Festival. As I look back at it I think “how stupid” just because Lincoln was grouchy and the grass wasn’t mowed and I was overtired, and the house was a disaster, and the kids were a wreck, was it really reason to completely lose it…No. But, hopefully I can learn from it and not go there the next time my plans just aren’t going the way I want them to. It was a good reminder to me that although I have come a LONG ways in 2010, I still have a LONG ways to go to be the Mom, the Wife, and the Christian that I want to be. So, I tell you that story, not so you feel sorry for me, but so that if you had to throw yourself on your bed and have a good cry, that you know you are not alone. I’m there with you, I don’t always make the right decision, say the right thing, handle disappointment and frustration with grace, but hopefully you can be encouraged to keep trying and maybe we’ll get it next time. :)

On a lighter note, here are some fun pictures of our ride night at the Turkey Festival.

First Boat Outing

I love this time of year!  Swimming, boating, walks, just all around being outside, I love it!  We took the boat out for the first time this past Saturday.  Jason, Ellie, and Jack joined us and we had a great time, even though the sun did not shine very much.  Kate went on the tube and proclaimed when she got back on the boat, “I wasn’t even scared!” 

Update #5

Just a short update, both Nic and John are home now and healing.  There is just something comforting about typing those words.  We are so thankful.  I am amazed when I think about what happened.  A little less than a year ago Nic was told he needed a kidney.  Less than a week ago, Nic and John were headed to Chicago to get ready for the transplant surgery, and now today they are both at home recovering.  I can barely comprehend it all.  Thanks again for all the support and prayers.