camping adventures number 3

another week has gone by living the life of luxury in our camper over at hungry horse. wow do those weeks fly so quickly! the boys and i had an amazing time together playing at parks, digging holes, going for walks/bike rides, going swimming, and bonding in the air conditioned bliss of the camper.

most notable in this last trip may have been the crazy number of mosquitoes. seriously, they were everywhere and in ridiculous numbers. after night one, bear had at least 20 bites on his forehead/hairline. oh the poor baby. somehow i lack the knack for applying sunblock and bugspray without getting it in my boys' eyes because they frequently needed breaks in the camper to allow for healing in the stinging eye department. so sorry boys. they were fighters though when it came time to lube up! though it seems impossible to believe, i think we may have gotten sort of used to the bugs by the end of the trip, or maybe the mosquitoes focused on the fresh blood of new campers. thank you hungry horse for the fogging that happened only twice, but did provide some relief. i literally stood up in the fog and tried to bathe my whole body in the repellent.

hungry horse features a delightful collection of two pools, wading and regular. after max's excellent experience with swim lessons, he was a master at jumping in and getting his face wet. brad and i spent many an evening catching boy after boy and assisting them to the side. bear will not wait for the ready go, he merely stands on the edge screaming "jump" and "mom where are you" and then plunges in. a couple times i just really could not get there fast enough, and desiring to put a little fear into the wild man, i let him go under...far. this scare tactic resulted only in more jumps and no fear.

the campground is apparently utilizing a new chemical system for their pools. a side effect of this alteration is a salty taste of water. let me just be frank, the pool tasted like sweat. and with all the bathers, who were really hot in the 90 degree weather, i had a real difficult time convincing my gag reflex that the taste was in fact chemical and not sweat from gross strangers. eew.

one more fun fact, then i must get groceries as the boys are currently eating blow pop suckers for breakfast... maxer met a new friend. friends are what make camping especially enjoyable, the community of peeps you adore doing life together all day every day. love it. so maxer typically stays and plays only with the peeps he knows. however, little nathan became a fast friend with his john deere dump truck and all. at first they did not so much play together as take turns playing with the dump truck. but before the day was out, nathan could be found huddled by us at our camper playing in the mud. hooray to max for making friends with a boy.

now the need to depart from the internet is great: maxer is pooping, bear lost his sucker, and both are pleading to go camping again in a few minutes. welcome home!!

27

i love birthdays. especially my own. i know i should be mature enough or humble enough to at least act like i dont so enjoy celebrating me, but i really adore my birthday. so yesterday was such a beautiful day of turning 27. so far, i love being 27. though it is frightening close to 30, i feel good about this current age and state of life.

my man and boys ensured that my birthday was super special. brad brought me mcdonalds in bed for breakfast. what a combo, it literally does not get better in my world. i so consider mcdonalds my fave restaurant and i consider bed my fave place to be :)

the boys and i got to play all day together, outside and inside. they were darling and fun and i remained focused on them and not so much the house. swim lessons went well, and i certainly find the other mama's there simply fabulous, their company is just so welcome.

brad whisked the boys and i to logans for dinner during which the boys threw peanut shells with gusto and even ate a few bites of their nuggets and fries. i indulged in cherry coke, catfish, and a sweet potato. delish. we then ventured to kohls where i purchased a baby girl and baby boy outfit for the impending arrival of this rib-expanding little precious, as well as a slip n slide for the boys. after that, we headed to tractor supply to purchase some wood pellets for the winter, and finished the evening at coldstone creamery.

thank you to my sweet family for making my day so special. the good news is the best parts of my birthday continue every day, i get to spend most of my time with the peeps i love the most in the world.

the gifts of motherhood

i love my kids. seriously, unconditionally, fully. i dole out numerous hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement/adoration to my two presh boys. they know they are loved.



good news, they love me back! lots. i do get plenty of hugs and kisses, but i also get some very beautiful gifts from time to time.



with the summer weather and plethora of flowers available, the boys remember their mama and often pick some pretty bouquets for me. dandelions, daisies, even flowers purposely planted in flowerpots are all fair game to these thoughtful sons of mine. they both get this look of pride and accomplishment as they walk over to me with hands full. max always bellows, "mom, i got a surprise for you!" as he runs toward me hands hidden behind his back. when i tell him what a nice boy he is and how very much i love him he answers "yes". weston's method is to find a flower, pick it, and then repeat the word flower, flower, flower, until he reaches me with outstretched hands. thank you bear!



my most recent treasure prompted this post. maxer comes downstairs this morning and presents me with... a drawer knob. the part that you pull to open up a drawer. this came off of one of the drawers in the playroom where it was operating properly. so he must have spotted the knob, dismantled it, and somehow thought of me in the process. after his presentation i sweetly asked him what he thought it was. he did not speak, but continued smiling the smile of satisfaction. i must have just set it down on the nearest surface and went on with my day, for not to long later, maxer comes to me again holding the knob and saying "here mom, this is for you".



currently i am displaying the knob on my counter and cherishing this gift. so random, yet heartfelt and appreciated nonetheless.



one of my very fave parts of motherhood are the many blessings i receive from my boys, not the least of which is a knob.

because we are boys

one of our fave things about farm life is the ability to frequently utilize the mule. warm weather just increases the opportunity to cruise around the farm and surrounding areas in search of good corn, to check on water levels, and my personal fave, to visit with neighbors. the boys adore riding around and request such adventures often. last night we headed out after supper to witness the first corn plant to tassel in our fields. way exciting and way early, the first of july! as we were bumping along the grass waterways, we also spotted two deer! maxer was completely impressed and bear even spotted them as they ran away.

we wrapped up our expedition by doing a little mud running in the yard, getting ever closer to being forever stuck in a large pit of nasty mud. both, i mean all three, boys were yelling with delight and remarking on the coolness watching hunks of mud fling up and over and on the mule and its occupants. all the while, bear possessed this tendency to pick brad's arm hair while brad was driving the mule, so funny. though i was enjoying being all together as a fam, the jostling and dirt and bumping were not really working for me after a while. i had one arm encircling my belly for added support and the other gripping the mule for dear life.

after about the 15th pass i said to brad, "why are we doing this?"

he responded, "because we are boys. and it's awesome!"

i dismounted the mule and opted for a lawn chair from which to watch my boys play in the mud. brad was right. it was awesome. :)

8 months preggers

well, here we are, me and baby for surely not to be named russell. yeah, the space is getting a little cramped, but all is well. the quality of the pic is not great due to the fact that brad was online attempting to find a motor home we can rent in order to get to florida next winter without going bankrupt from the price of airline tickets, or going insane from three children and two us in the veen. anywho, here is another picture he took as i was attempting to grab the camera out of his hands. warning, it may be hard to look at the extreme size of the belly. 8 more weeks to go. whoa.

my last dr appt sandy had the boys so sonya and i got along much better without that distraction. i gained 0 pounds, so that gave us a conversation focus. no worries really, just not what we'd like to see. i feel the babe is taking from my legs as they seem to be appearing more and more chicken like as the summer progresses. also, i am measuring small which is again not really a concern as i did the same with both boys. as dr taylor said, we dont need me to have a 10 lb child because then it would probably never come out.

thinking about the fact that i have 8 weeks to go in this pregnancy makes me relieved and concerned simultaneously. i am relieved that the discomforts have an end in sight and the countdown is on for meeting this precious child. i long to be a complete fam of five and stop being pregnant with the emotions and the aches and the heartburn and whatnot. i do not feel at all prepared for the birth of baby however. no place is ready for the babe to sleep as wes is still in the nursery and the upstairs toy room is still in complete disarray. still waiting for the nesting instinct to overcome the exhaustion in order to get some work done in that aspect. expecting baby also makes me severely insecure about my current mommying. i feel i am not excelling enough to bring another child into the mix. this emotion is a mix of pregnancy hormones, swim lesson sadness from maxer, and my general lack of confidence in my own abilities as a mom. i know is sure could not love my babies more, but just not sure i am great at raising them all the time. i mean, this is a huge undertaking and i want to do right by them in every single circumstance. the most important objective i desire to teach my children, living to glorify god, is perhaps the most difficult. thank you jesus i can rely on your love and strength and guidance for this most important duty. i pray i may seek after him so passionately that my boys have an example to follow and my confidence and security may be found in jesus alone.

okay, so there ya go. off to empty the dishwasher. this i can handle ;)

happy fathers day

my sons are blessed with an amazing daddy.

bradley is a beautiful example of how to be a godly man, i am so grateful my boys can watch him to learn by his model. thus, i have written an ode to brad:

you are a fabulous daddy to our sons

you teach them about golf, and shooting squirrels with guns

they are learning more from you

with each experience that is new

you work so hard every day

so on this farm we can stay

living a life full of joys

playing each day with our boys

maxer and bear love you so very much

they seem to always prefer daddy's touch

when we see your truck drive in at 4

our excitement urges us to the door

to welcome home our fave man

you love us so well as only you can!

please note: this post is a little late as i had writer's block yesterday while attempting to get discounted drugs at perrigo with shoeless children while brad was out golfing with brian zoet BEFORE golf league claiming the event was "work related". trust me, the only relation to work was that they work together, and then golf together. however, i have completely moved past any and all resentment and the poem proves it :) love you brad

pool day

friday was hot hot hot. determined to get outside and enjoy the sultry weather we had been waiting all winter long for, the boys and i headed to our "park". after swinging for tens of minutes, it quickly became evident the mama was the one working hard in the sun while the boys were enjoying the breeze on their swings. new plan: kiddie pool. filling the pool became another challenge as every time i would sneak into the house to quickly get snacks, or clean up something or other, or get a little warm water for the pool, max and wes quickly pointed the hose at another target, saturating the already super wet ground and leaving the pool relatively empty. auntie kels called during lunch and a plan was set in motion to spend some time at the dykstra's pool. perfect!

the boys were delighted with the idea and quickly (about a 30 minute process) suited up and loaded into the veen. kels greeted us at dykstra's and we headed right for the water. it was amazingly refreshing. perhaps the best feature was the frog we found swimming in the pool. oh maxer was beyond excited. the giggles, and whoops, and hollers that he emitted while shooting the froggy down with water or scooping it out and slamming it back into the pool were precious. though these antics could be considered animal cruelty, kels and i were less interested in the frog's well-being and more interested in maxwell's excitement.

bear focused primarily on snacks and rides on the noodle and the tube. he did assist maxer with locating and screeching about the froggy. quite the co-conspirator this little one!

thank you so much to the dykstra's for allowing us this fun break from the summer heat. the pool felt delicous and the company was fab!