Scuva Diving

We have had a good week. I got to spend some quality time relaxing with Justin last weekend. I went to see Mamma Mia this week- BY MY SELF! At Justin's suggestion! What?! Yes, quite a big deal. Mamma Mia was cute, not great but it was great to be by myself at the movies. I have been singing Abba songs ever since. Went to the pottery painting place with Brady to paint something for Nana & Papa's anniversary. Went to my mother-in-laws. All in all a very good week. Tomorrow is Brady's open house at school. he starts on Wednesday. he is excited & so am I.

Brady is so funny. His imagination has been working over time. His latest interest is "Scuva Diving." Last week he asked me if Santa could bring him a "Deep Diver Dress" so that he could be a deep diver. I asked him if he meant a Scuba suit- yes, a Scuva suit. I told him I thought he might have to wait until he is older to go scuba diving. he said ok and has settled for pretending. He jumps off the couch/boat and swims around the living room. He also sits on the footboard of my bed and counts to 3 holds his nose and flips over backwards onto the bed like he is flipping over the side of the boat. He says that he is diving in a cave and needs a flash light to see sparkly things and fish under the water. Tonight he put a shirt on his head and said it was his scuva suit. i don't really get it but I don't have to- he gets it. I took some pictures and will add them later.

One of Those Days

I woke up cranky so I think I had the law of attraction working against me today. I woke up thinking," I can't do this again today, I need a change." Not anything drastic of course. My life is beautiful, my children are beautiful. But some days, and they aren't that often, I just can't wash another dish or do another load of laundry or try to entertain or teach anybody anything . That was today. The kind of change I mean is to have a day to hang out & relax with Justin, pay bills without breaking into a cold sweat, a vacation.You know what I mean.

Then I began to go through bills. You can guess how that went. Then I got the mail. Again, not so good. So I went in the bathroom, turned the fan on, locked the door, called my sister and wailed. Sobbed. Then both of the boys were banging on the bathroom door and crying.I opened the door to tell them to give me a minute and when I shut the door (hard)I slammed poor Brady's pinky in the door. I have never felt so sick. He was screaming and I just held him so hard and sobbed some more. Once he calmed down, I couldn't, he kept telling me to take a breath. That's what I tell him when he is worked up. I just felt so bad. At first, I thought it might be broken. But we went to Monkey Joe's and he forgot all about it and had a great time. Tonight I was telling Justin about Brady's finger, I said, "And like a bad Mommy I slammed your finger in the door." Brady said,"Mommy I told you it was okay." He is such a sweet, sweet boy.

Having a fun afternoon with him and Bowie made me forget my crankiness and made me glad that I get to be with them everyday. A lot of mom's don't get the privilege to be with there children everyday. I hope that I can until they are in school.

Silly mommy.

Twilight

I just finished reading Twilight. Yes, I am 35 years old and I read Twilight. And I loved it! It immediately draws you in and I couldn't stop. It is 498 pages, I read it in less than 24 hours. I have always loved vampire stories. Lost Boys in middle school, Anne Rice in high school, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and embarrassingly enough I loved the Angel series too. This does not disappoint. Sure it revolves around a high school girls first love but who can't relate to that. Although, I don't believe any of my boyfriends were vampires. Well...maybe...just kidding.


We had a really good weekend. The boys and I went & picked pears on Saturday morning. That afternoon I canned pears and began making some pear butter. Kelli & the kids came to spend the night on Saturday night. Keelin and Brady were 2 peas in a pod as usual and the Kinsey and Bowie are the new peas in their own pod. They played so well together for being babies. And they kept kissing each other. So cute! Kelli, Justin & I played Farkle- I won. Sunday morning Justin made biscuits, eggs, sausage, bacon, hashbrowns and I made sausage gravy. His biscuits are so good. We ate them with the new pear butter that I made. It is soooo yummy. Then Sunday afternoon we went to the hospital to see Cristen, Justin's cousin, who had just had her baby. Didn't get to see the baby. He was a little early and had to be in the NICU. He will be fine. He is a big baby, 8 lbs 9 oz. Then Sunday evening we met some friends of Justin's from high school at the park for a hot dog dinner. He reconnected with them through Facebook. I am so addicted- that is another post entirely. That was nice & their kids and ours played well together. But the highlight of Brady's weekend was getting to go fishing for catfish with Daddy and Uncle Theron. They did not get home until midnight.

Lament For The End Of Summer

This time every year I begin to panic. Summer is almost over! Summer and Spring are most favorite seasons. The heat can be horrible especially for my husband who works mostly outside or in un-air-conditioned places with an un- air-conditioned truck. However, the summer means green grass, green trees, flowers, fruit, vegetables, swimming, beach trips. At this time of year I begin to think, " I may not see the ocean again this year." And I try to calm myself by thinking, "You have seen it twice this year already which is more than most and the year is not over yet." My sisters think I am crazy. Kelli's family is the Addams Family. They like cold, grey, rainy days. I like a good summer thunderstorm too but I need to know that the sun will shine later in the day or at least by tomorrow. And Erin is a wilting flower in the heat. Yesterday I went out to pick vegetables in the garden and this picture is what I got (and a bunch of ant bites). While I am thankful for what I was able to pick it is a fraction of what I could pick a month ago. Another sign that summer will be over soon. Fall has it's perks- Halloween, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, crisp evening air. But the leaves after the leaves fall it is so grey. Grey trees, grey sky, brown grass and cold days. This year we are going to plant a fall garden. Maybe that will show me that fall has more to offer.

I went a little canning crazy yesterday. I canned roasted tomatoes, tomoto-basil jam (yummy), green tomato-strawberry jam(mock strawberry made with green tomatoes), and corn cob jam. Not sure if I will make this one again. The reviews on recipezaar.com said that it tasted like honey and apples. I think that is a stretch. More like sweet jelly with very little else going on. It is a novelty though or proof that I have a canning maddness. Tomorrow I am going to pick pears. So I have been looking for pear jam/jelly/preserve recipes. I found one that I want to try with red zinfandel wine & bay leaves. We will see. Of course I will make something more traditional too in case it is disgusting.

Tomato with a yellow star

Went to the gym yesterday & today. Yippee! Ran for 20 minutes straight! Usually I walk a song run a song but today I decided to push it and I would have kept going except for the cramp in my hamstring. I was afraid that I might cramp up and fall off the treadmill. Not a pretty thought. I also went to my knitting group. I finished a really crazy looking, long wash cloth. My first finished project. So even if it is weird, it is mine!

Yesterday Brady, Bowie & I met mom to get Bowie's 1 year old picture taken (he is 15 months old). He has never had his picture professionally taken. He was such a ham. He was posing, laughing, rolling around. He was very fascinated with the camera. I cannot wait to get the pictures back. After pictures we looked around at the awesome sales and then went to lunch. Both of the boys were so good even though they were forced to look at clothes. Brady likes looking at clothes for himself and Bowie. He also picks out fluffy, sparkly pink things he thinks his cousins will like. And he is usually spot on with what they would like. Most of all he loves to pick out cars or monster truck with his nana and mim. First thing he asked mom/ nana was if she had a treat for him. So spoiled. But mom insists that that is her job to spoil him. I hate that he expects presents from his grandmothers but I think they like it. So what do you do. But I do love how much he enjoys his new cars & trucks. You would think after hundreds, and I mean hundreds, of matchbox cars he would get bored but no way. Bowie of course was pleasant as always. He is so sweet. They were so cute together when they were getting their picture taken. Brady would do something and then Bowie would copy him and usually they would just end up rolling around on the floor laughing.

After our big day the boys were very tired. They napped on the way home but once we got home they didn't want to sleep. But they played all afternoon. We ended the day with some books. Mommy read one and Daddy read the new favorite, Clifford's Halloween.

I went to the gym again today. Yay! I ran/walked, did the elliptical and then the circuit class. I am feel the motivation creeping back in. Again YAY! I have met a new friend at the gym and we exercised together today and we are planning to the rest of the week. We are also going to have a bet. We haven't laid out the rules yet but the loser has to do something for the winner. She doesn't like to cook so she thinks cooking a meal for me is what she would do if she is the loser. I don't mind cooking so we will have to see.

It is really hard to make friends. Most of my friends I have known for ever and met before I was married or had kids and it was easy. But now when ever you meet some one new it is so different than when you were a kid or single. I have moved kind of far from my sisters and best friend. It is not really convenient to get together. Since we moved here I have been hoping to meet some good girlfirends that I can do stuff with. For a while I was like one of those girls that tries to make every boy they meet into the potential "one." I would meet people and get so excited and hope that maybe we could become friends. Sounds kind of weird now that I am saying it but it is true. And because I was being desperate I have put up with people I shouldn't have. I have met one friend who lives near me & we really click. But her schedule and my schedule never seem to work out. So anyway, I have decided to just relax, and if I meet friends then great. And I have met a new gym friend. Gosh, I sound like a big dork. Maybe I am, oh well.

I have to get some cleaning done (ugh!) and if I have time I would like to make some more pepper jelly. We have peppers coming out of our ears. Everyday I go out to the garden I pick 30 or so from one plant. I think I need to go back out today. The eggplants should be ready and some more greenbeans should be ready too. We have very little growing right now. It has gotten so hot and everything is slowing down. We had zuchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, 3 kinds of peppers, corn, tomatoes, green beans and potatoes. I am starting to think about my fall garden. I haven't ever had a fall garden but I am excited. I am not sure if there will be anything to can but I can freeze too:)

Like Shannon said, "I am here, now what?"

Okay, after much prodding from my sisters I have created my blog. I don't really have a whole lot going on right now but here I am.

Like the title of my blog says, I have a beautiful life. My children and husband are healthy, I have a wonderful family, we have a home, food to eat, clothes to wear, a car to drive, work to do (most of the time) the list goes on and on.

This week I have set a goal for myself to go to the gym at least 5 days. I went today so I am on the right path. I joined the gym in February and it has been the best thing for me. I could leave the kids in childcare and begin to transform my body at the same time. It is amazing what a little work in the gym can do.For a while I was addicted- HAD TO GO! Not so much anymore. With the lack of routine the summer brings and everyone in my family alternating being sick I have gotten out of the habit. I have maintained a 2-3 day a week exercise schedule so jumping back in to 5-6 days won't be a stretch.

I know this is going to be a good week for everyone I know. We need it & deserve it. Kelli's husband Shawn went to the doctor today and got some good news that he does have Bell's Palsy and not something worse. Kinsey's rash is going away. Amanda's (my sister in law)husband seems to be recovering from the virus that enlarged his heart. Justin's aunt should be getting better and the other aunt should be recovering from her surgery. My boys are over their virus-funk. Justin has work to carry him through the next month.

I am also planning to can a bunch this week. Kelli & Erin think I have lost my mind and Danna (my mother in law) says I am transforming into her 80 year old mother. I have canning fever! I have canned strawberry jam (that is what started the maddness), pickles, sweet pickles, fig preserves, peach fig jam, raspberry fig jam, tomato basil jam (my favorite), pepper jelly, pickled peppers, squash relish, piclke relish,salsa, tomatoes, pepper sauce. I am going to make more pepper jelly, tomato basil jam, tomatoes and corn cob jelly. Sounds crazy but they say it tastes like honey. I'll let you know how it turns out.