Conversation at Supper

Isabella: "Mommy, did the doctor take your blood pressure yesterday?"

Me: "Yes, she did."

Isabella: "Oh, mm hmm . . . what was it?"

Me: "It was 120 over 70."

Isabella: "Oh okay, I see."

I swear, sometimes the kid seems so grown up, then I am reminded of her "two-ness" when I hear something like I heard after supper. I was loading the dishwasher, and I overheard Monte in the bathroom saying, "AAHH, no we do not touch anything in the toilet." Ha! Good times.

Tales of the Sick

What a long week this has been. Lets see, I've had everything from a migraine with terrible nausea that laid me out cold in bed, dental work, which included the dentist accidentally cutting the inside of my cheek, a terrible cold, a fever, and to end the week today, I went to the doctor to find out I have an ear infection and sinus infection. But the bright side - it most definitely could be worse. These are all quite small things in the grand scheme of illnesses, and it made me so thankful for the good health I am usually blessed with, but still . . . did I say it's been a long week? Today is the first time I've been to the doctor for any type of illness in over ten years (not that I haven't been sick, just nothing bad enough to warrant a dr. visit)! So I guess I can't complain. And I am also SO thankful that it's me that's sick, and not Monte or Isabella. I've found that it's hard to be sick when you're a mom, Monte was great when he was here, but then there was this little thing called work that took him away from us! He had told Isabella one morning that I was sick, and that she should take care of me. So after he left she told me, "Mommy, lay in your bed, and I'll lay with you." And the little sweetheart actually did! We both fell asleep from about 10:00 to noon, it was great. And today I brought her with me to the doctor. I could tell the doctor thought it was weird that I had my kid with me, and she even made a comment about it, but sorry, that's how I roll. I'm a stay at home mom with no family in the area, where I go, she goes (usually). And while I have watched some of my friends' kids, Isabella has yet to go stay at any of their houses, I'm not quite sure how she would do. (Although I bet she would be fine, and I'm just paranoid.) And our dear friend and babysitter, Sister Mary Edwin, has moved away from us (which is a whole other post I've been meaning to get to).

Edited to add: I just remembered my great Shingles outbreak one summer during college and when I was pregnant, so I guess my statement about not having been to the doctor for an illness isn't entirely true. :)

Back from a vacation

We went camping with Monte's whole family at a lake, there were 16 of us all together. Monte, Isabella, and I stayed in a little cabin.

The cabin had a set of bunk beds, a double bed, and a little table, and that's it! Oh, and it did have air conditioning too. It didn't have a bathroom or sink, etc. You can imagine my dismay at using the public facilities and showers, but oh well, and I do have to say they were very clean. Thankfully we remembered (there was SO much to remember to bring) a little potty chair for Isabella, so she was spared from the public restrooms by either using her potty chair in the cabin or using Grandma and Grandpa's bathroom in their camper. And actually the cabin worked great, we were only in it to sleep, and it was nice and quiet in there for Isabella's naps. I brought monitors with, so I could enjoy the great outdoors while she was sleeping also. The weather was beautiful while we were there, low 80's and no wind, that doesn't happen very often lately. We had a great time! I laugh at the thought of my family doing this, there is no way they would "rough it" like this, give them a hotel any day.

There was a sort of incident on the beach on Saturday, there were kids there taking Isabella's and her cousins' toys. One little girl actually came and took Isabella's beach ball out of her hands and ran off with it as soon as we got there. Other kids came and took our nephews' big blow up sharks to ride on in the water and were using them out in the water themselves. After so long of listening to everyone in Monte's family talking about how terrible it was and that they wished someone would do something, I marched myself right into the water, very sternly (but at least somewhat politely . . . I think) told the unknown kids that these were not their toys, and they better hand them over to me. I gathered up all our toys, and that was the end of the toy stealing. Seriously, shy little ol' me, doing something like that. SO not something I would have done a few short years ago. And where were all these kids parents?? Who knows, some were standing right there, and of course not saying anything while witnessing what their kids were doing. Anyway, I guess I'll end that rant, but seriously, what's wrong with people!? These kids were not little, most of them were elementary age.

But other than that it was a great time, Isabella says her favorite part was riding in Grandpa's boat, although I know she liked it all. It was fun to see her so excited about everything.

Isabella walking on the beach with her Mama (grandma).

There was lots of running around.

Isabella was more than likely in heaven with all of the junk she ate, that she doesn't normally get at home.

At the beach.

Attempting to go in the water, this is about all the further she got before she changed her mind. I guess she's more of a pool kind of gal.

Playing catch with Daddy.

Soaking up the sun with Mama.

Roasting marshmallows.

This and That - Summer Days Version

(Pictures are in random order)

*We had a great 4th of July weekend with my family. We celebrated with my mom's side of the family, Isabella had so much fun with her cousins. Unfortunately, my camera battery died, so I didn't get any pictures. We thought we would put Isabella in her pajamas, and then make the 4 hour drive home on Saturday night. But our hyped up girl didn't fall asleep in the car until 10:20! That is insane, considering she's normally in bed at 7:30. She was so excited from all the festivities, she sang at the top of her lungs for an hour straight instead of calming down to go to sleep.


* Isabella was having "issues" with taking her nightly baths for about 2 weeks straight, it was not fun for any of us! She's normally pretty easy going and compliant that we haven't had to do much discipline-wise, but this definitely called for some action by us! So one night after her bath "fit" we sat her down and told her she wasn't allowed to use her swing set the whole next day, and wouldn't be allowed to use it again until she took a nice bath. And lo and behold it actually worked! The whole next day she talked about how she was going to take a nice bath so she could play on her swing set again. At one point in the day she asked me if she could just go look at her swing set, and told me she "really wished" she could play on it. Ever since then, she's been taking great baths again, and tells me almost everyday she's not going to be naughty in the bath anymore because she wants to keep her swing set.


* Monte had to get a 4 wheeler and GPS system for mapping out fields for work. I wasn't all that happy about the expense at first, but the company gives an incentive pay for everyday that he uses the 4 wheeler, that will more than pay for it. Still . . . I don't always see the big picture right away.

* Isabella must have forgotten that she LOVED going to the pool last year, because the first time I took her this summer she was terrified! After I spent a half hour trying to coax her in, she all the sudden proclaimed, "Can I jump in by myself?" Um, seriously??? I just spent a half hour sprinkling a couple of drops of water on your toes, while you whined about not wanting to go in, and now you want to jump in? And jump in she did! (I should add, I'm talking about the kiddy pool) Get over fear of water, check.

*We're going on a couple of vacations this summer, and I'm really looking forward to them. I'm sure as long as Isabella can get her sleep, and good naps, everything will go good.

She is not actually riding this bike, I got it at a garage sale, she likes to sit on it. She's working on mastering the trike right now, but has a ways to go.

*Isabella loves working in the garden, and in my flowers. She is actually quite the helper, she's good at picking weeds, and I'm all for it.

*It's been raining /storming almost every day lately. I'm SO ready for some sun and heat again.

*I've been spending less time on the computer, but instead of getting to bed at a decent time, I've been reading like crazy! I highly recommend any novel by Beverly Lewis.

*We've been enjoying some of our fresh garden produce. We have lettuce practically coming out our ears. I can't wait for my two favorites, though, tomatoes and cucumbers, and then there's canning . . .

Someone's ready for a vacation

BIG Bubbles!

Ahhh, they're attacking me!

A flowery post

When I was growing up, I would daydream about having a place of my own someday, and spending all sorts of time tending to a big, beautiful flower garden. While I don't actually have a flower garden, I do have all sorts of flowers around - in the landscaping, potted flowers, a flower bed, etc. I think a big flower garden will have to wait until I'm "retired" and have more time on my hands. For now, all this along with the vegetable garden is plenty! Our first summer in our home we spent tearing up the very overgrown landscaping and completely started over. Monte got his dad's loader and tore out trees, shrubs, etc. It was a lot of work, but work we both really enjoy. The following are a few of my favorites around the house. Pictured above is a bouquet of roses from my rose bushes.