Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Summer Vacation...

The boys are getting a good dose of summer vacation today: they have been completely lazy! Scooby Doo is playing and the DS games are in full force. I do have to give them credit. They have been swapping the washer and dryer out for me today, putting away the folded laundry, and they have picked up after their sister this morning. They also took care of Daisy this morning, too! Other than that, they have been bums today.

We have needed a day like this for a long time. We, like so many, are in constant motion. If we can't go somewhere, do something, or have something scheduled, then life can't be happening, right? It feels like we have been in hyper drive as school has winded down. I was so thankful to be able to really look at what I wanted to do today and get to decide that we would just STAY HOME! I haven't even stepped out of the door today. It has been so nice just to be indoors and getting things caught up!

It is nice just to take the time to slow down! So many times we run the race so focused on the finish line, that we forget to enjoy the journey. I had become so focused on school getting out and being over with that nothing else had seemed to matter. Some of that comes from having small kiddos and having to be the one to stay on track. But most of it came from the fact that I just wanted it over and done with. When we start at the beginning only looking forward to the end we miss out on all the things in between.

It is my hope that each of you stops and smells the roses as the old adage goes! And that you can find joy in the middle parts of life!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

11 Years...

What a day 11 years ago was. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The sky was clear. The wind was blowing. The sun was shining. It was very warm. I know we reached 100 degrees that day. It was a day that will be etched in my memory forever, even though there are parts of that day that I can only remember by video. Strange, huh? It was the day I married my best friend! Happy Anniversary, Kevin! I love you, and truly deep within my soul know that you are my best friend and the man that I am supposed to walk this journey of life with.

The day I married Kevin was truly the beginning of a wonderful, sometimes scary, journey that we would take together. The scary part must have started right from the beginning. I still to this day can't remember my wedding ceremony. I remember talking with him that morning. I remember getting ready. I remember being at the back of the church with my Dad. And then somewhere in there, my brain went blank. I know I was there; I have a video and a marriage license to prove it. Honestly, I think I was so overwhelmed that my brain had to turn it off in order to get through it. I haven't been able to remember our wedding ceremony since the day after we got married. I woke up the next morning and couldn't remember it then either. Weird I know:)

Thankfully, the "turning off" of my brain hasn't happened since. There have been many ups and downs on our journey, and I am glad that I can remember each one of them. They have brought us to this point in our life. While there are things I wish we could have done differently, I know each of them happened for a reason. It has made us a stronger couple and family. It has brought us to a point where we can look back on them and see the reason it had to happen. We can see the life lesson out of it. And we know there are many more life lessons to come.

There are still many firsts out there around the bend. That is the joy of having small children. You get to live their firsts out with them. And you get to live there endings out too. It dawned on me this morning that people see Kinsley for the little stinker a 2 year old can be. And I was convinced the boys were never this bad. They were; they had to be. We just didn't take them anywhere. They didn't have school activities to attend or Mother's Day Out. I got the joy, heartache and laughter all to myself when they did mischievous things. The world gets the joy of witnessing Kinsley!

I wish each of you a beautiful, albeit cool and rainy Saturday. May you find the joy and blessings of today in the simple things in life!

Monday, May 10, 2010

School's Out...

Almost anyways! The boys are on the home stretch. They have this week, and then they are out on Summer Break. Damon keeps telling everyone he is almost a Second Grader:) Hard to believe that they are almost that age. I can vividly remember sending them to school the first day...It is hard to believe that was almost three years ago!

Kinsley has this week and next left at Mother's Day Out. She loves going to the Methodist Church for that. She calls it "my ool". She was so excited to go this morning and I love that she gladly goes in and doesn't cry when it is time to be dropped off. She has grown up quite a bit in the last nine months!

I survived turning 30 last week! Actually, it was a very pleasant time around here. I had dreaded it so long, that I think my body and brain were spent just enough to enjoy it! It was a very simplistic week, but yet very meaningful. I love those kinds of times! Mother's Day was much the same! I have spent each of the kids' birthdays always in retrospective about the year that is gone and in thinking about the year ahead, but rarely ever do that for myself. Turning 30 made me take a serious look at where I am at in life, where I have been, and where I am headed. It was a GREAT thing!

Kevin is staying busy. He spent the better part of the last week and half getting our soybean crop in the ground. He lacks 30 acres from being done, which is a relief! I don't think my arms and legs could take much more lifting of bags and buckets of soybeans into the drill:) He is enjoying his job with ProAg too! I can see changes in his life and really like what I see. He has more responsibilities now, but yet makes more time for the kids and me. I can't explain it, but he seems more relaxed, less on edge, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying life. It is definitely a good thing for all of us.

Life is crazy and hectic, but yet it is enjoyable. We are truly loving life right now! Maybe 30 won't be so bad after all!!!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Saturday at our house...

It is wild and crazy here already! For one, I am posting to our blog again and the week isn't even up yet...Amazing I know!

It seems like everyone has been bleeding this morning too...okay, not everyone, but I do feel like I have gotten to play nurse a lot this morning. Kinsley woke up with her first bloody nose. She likes to pick her nose, so it has been a constant struggle to keep it from bleeding this morning.

Then, Kevin decided the best way to get into Dayquil this morning was to use a 10" knife. He took the top couple of layers right off of his index finger. It was pretty nasty, to say the least. Lesson learned...Scissors or fingers are the best way to open the child proof packaging medicine comes in!

It is raining off and on here this morning. I can't believe the way our weather has been. I am not missing the 90 degree heat that has usually already occurred for a day or two by the time we reach May 1st, but the upper 70s, low 80s would be nice. It seems like we have spent much more time in the 60s recently! I am so ready for warm weather! I even enjoy the extreme heat we get here during the middle of the summer...They made air conditioning for a reason, right?

Kevin made it home safely from Kansas City on Thursday. When he started traveling a couple of months ago, it was hard on our family. But like everything else, we are adjusting to him being gone. I didn't think it any of us would get used to him being gone for 4 to 5 days at a time, but we all did pretty good with it this time. Kinsley was the only one that had an outburst about it, but she is 2 and doesn't understand. The boys were like old pros at it. It made the week go by much better.

The boys have TEN DAYS of school left. It is so hard to believe! The years truly do fly faster the older the kids get. I can't believe we are almost the proud parents of second graders. That makes me feel even older than the yucky fact of turning 30 on Wednesday! I know I am going to blink and they are going to be seniors in high school. It seems unbelievable, but I know it will happen just that fast!

Since life is flying right on by, I guess I should get back to living it! We thank you for checking in on us and our happenings, and wish everyone a great weekend and first week of May! Until next time....

Monday, April 26, 2010

Almost 30?!?!?!?

In honor of this lovely time in my life, I decided the blog needed to be updated! How awful that I haven't posted here since last year.

I have tried a new blog and didn't keep it up. I have went crazy wild with Facebook and love it. But I still miss coming here and unloading my thoughts on this great forum. Whether anyone reads it or not, it is a great place for me to be able to unwind and share what is going on in our small nook of the world.

So much has changed in the last year. The kids are growing lighting quick. I can't believe the boys are weeks away from being done with First Grade! When did that happen? How did they go from being able to crawl to learning to read everything, everywhere we go? And Kinsley isn't staying far behind. She does her best to keep up with them, and reminds me she can too all the time, whether she can or not! Having a daughter is everything I could have ever hoped for and so much more! She is definitely my girlie girl who also loves dirt and "ohside". It is amazing being a Mom to 3 very different, but each equally special children.

Kevin is working for ProAg Management, an Insurance Company. He is working as a crop adjuster. He loves it. He gets to travel, meet new people and is learning so many new things. It is SO GOOD for him to expand his horizon, and I couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity for him! He continues to farm and spray too. He is a very busy man, but he is very committed to his family too! The best of both worlds really!

As for me, I have made many life altering decisions in the last three months. I have went on a rollercoaster ride of what to do with my life pretty much since the moment the doctor announced we would be welcoming twins into our family. You name it, I have tried to do it. In thinking about things though and in talking with Kevin, I have decided I am right where I need to be at in life. God has so blessed us with a nice home, a beautiful, healthy family, and with each other. I love being out here on our farm, raising our children. Is it always roses and rainbows? Well, anyone who has ever farmed, knows the answer to that. But it is like our Sunday School teacher said a couple of weeks ago: It isn't a get rich kinda of occupation, but a lifestyle choice. He is so right! Awesome comment, Carl!!!

I have been a stay at home mom for seven and half years. I have loved every minute but I don't think I have fully embraced being that. It has always been looking towards the kids going to school and me resuming my life...HAHAHA! For the first time, I am truly embracing being a MOM FULL TIME and a wife, and being the greatest farm help money could buy for Kevin (LOL)! Although, I tease him all the time, he could never replace me, and he knows it! Actually, I love helping him on the farm! It is never boring, and we get to spend time together that we wouldn't have otherwise!

Another big change we have made is that we are attending a new church that we LOVE! We started attending the First Baptist Church in Kingfisher in January. According to Kevin, we do the insane thing of going to early service at 8:15 in the morning, but I love it. It starts our Sunday in the best possible way. We also have a great Sunday School Couples Class that we both enjoy! Carl and Carrie Storm teach it and we are so thankful they invited us to their class! The boys love their Sunday School program and Kinsley runs to the nursery where she spends the entire morning. Each of us has adjusted so well, and we are so thankful for such a beautiful, friendly place to worship the Lord.

Other than that, I look forward to telling all of my crazy, funny, sometimes enlightening stories about our family on here again! It is my goal to post each week, and to do better about posting updated photos of the kiddos. When I transferred pics today, I had 700+ photos dating back past Thanksgiving (Great job, MOM:) ) And yes, a week from Wednesday, I will leave my 20s behind and join Kevin as a 30 something....I am just so excited about that, NOT!!!! Have a great last week in April!!!!