America, the Beautiful!

4th of the July CelebrationC-man loved the sparklers!
We played bean bag toss after our picnic and C-man is looking on in his new cool tricky position on the swing.
MMMMMM......watermelon!
Miss-O's first BIG watermelon bite this summer!
Spitting the one black seed found in the seedless watermelon.

We were fortunate to have Kristi's boyfriend let us sit in front of his house which is also the parade route....Here we are hanging out at about 8:45....didn't know the parade started at 10:00! Bless Kristi who woke up at 5am to stake out our spots!
There's our neighbors riding in the Parade.
Waving and smiling for candy.....I did Miss-O's hair and Grandpa Mehmen said that she looked like a little fire-cracker and the pony tail is the fuse. She definitely is our fire-cracker!

Late Entry: June Activities

Some Undocumented June Activities.....

C-man at Safety City Graduation
C-man with his really good friend from Pre-school; Deylin



Here's Father's Day: Mom & Dad stayed overnight at the campground and then we celebrated a Father's Day Brunch at the Comfort Inn Suites, catered by the Machine Shed.
Here's all the Dads and their kids that were present at the brunch that day.














Poor C-man turned 5 and then he contracted the 5th Disease...so then, he has figured out that since he turned 5, he got the 5th Disease....next year, he'll be getting the 6th Disease.















The rule was that no friend birthday's unless he asked for one (C-man never knew about this) and guess what....he asked this year....so We decided just one friend and he picked Deylin and Chuck E Cheese's! They had a great time and Miss O and I had fun too!














C-man loved his Incredible Hulk hands that he got as a present.....

ADDTMD

This is the new projected disorder that I have diagnosed myself with.....what is it you ask????

Attention Deficit Due To Motherhood Disorder

I wake up in the morning and my intentions are to have breakfast, but before I can open the refrigerator, I smell a dirty diaper. So I change the dirty diaper and then notice the toys are all in Miss O's bed. SO I pick up the toys and put them in the toy container and put away the shoes and I notice how dirty the floors are...SO I go and get the broom and start sweeping the floor....and then I remember I was going to get some cereal for breakfast, so I stop and lean the broom on the wall.....when I look in the refrigerator for milk, Miss O comes and climbs in the refrigerator and starts to yell, "cheese! cheese!" So, I get the cheese out of the plastic and talk O out of the refrigerator and then forget my milk so I secretly open the door for milk and finally eat the cereal.........Next I'm notified that C-man is hungry and wants something to drink (note: they are usually fed breakfast by Daddy in the am) So I pour another milk and find a snack for C-man and think about the piles of laundry down in the basement.....I go down stairs and start a load of laundry and think that I should get a shower in before Lover goes to bed....then I'll hear the basement door open and down comes miss-O wanting to play in the toy room, so then we play together and I forget all about the shower and the laundry that needs to folded......finally, Miss-O wants to go upstairs and I'm on my way up and then I notice the broom leaning on the wall and begin to sweep again and I might be successful getting it done if I'm not interrupted by the phone ringing or the dog barking and going crazy because the mail man is here..Then I open up the mail and then decide I need to get the bills paid and during this time I'm getting the Mom bomb....you know, "Mom, I need help with this..." "Mom, can you get this for me?" "Mom, she's not sharing..." So then doing a ping pong match with the bills and satisfying the kids, I forgot I still have laundry to fold and that darn shower to take...........

So, I could go on about my typical scatter-brained mornings but I think you understand where I'm going with all of this......phew! It's amazing how busy the kids are and how hard it is when I want to get some housework complete and play with the kids at the same time......I usually shove off the housework and think that when the kids get older, I'll have enough time on my hands to get the cleaning done (we'll see anyways)..........

I love lists, but sometimes I don't know when the right time is to make up a list....and then if I have a productive day, I end up writing my tasks that were already complete and then check them off for the feel of gratification........

I find that making a list of meals for the week and groceries that I need works great...if I actually do it...if I don't then I start to use my creativity in the pantry finding lunches and suppers....pickles and raisin bran anyone????

I love reading about organization, I love watching HGTV when Mission Organization is on...but do I implement this in my house? I try but some how it unravels in a few months, usually due to noncompliance with a certain three other family members in the household!

Also, it has to do with my mood.....I have the most energy right after lunch.....and it varies during the month.....get close to good old PMS and I will either be a crazy nesting/organizing non-pregnant woman or I will be sluggish looking for comfort and non-stimuli woman.....just depends.......

So why am I so neurotic about wanting my house so neat anyway.....I want it to looked lived in right? My Grandma Mehmen always said, "there's a difference between dirty and clutter...." I don't have feces, fleas, urine, and garbage taking up space in my house...(I have actually seen this.....when I was a student nurse doing my home healthcare clinicals) It's just toys and mail that seem to pile up..............hmmmm.....sometimes I get so caught up on the clutter I wonder if that's what gets my head scattered, and those HGTV shows make their rooms so meticulous, and the magazines I see have these perfect rooms, they can really set some unrealistic expectations..............................that may be the cause of my neurosis....

well, I seem to be getting used to this ADDTMD but if anyone has any pointers I'm open to trying them out..........is there a cure for this disorder? Or at least a way of managing it so the signs and symptoms are not so intense???????

Random Pondering

I don't have any more pictures uploaded yet but will show the recent fourth of July pics soon....Mom and Dad came down and stayed overnight for a couple of nights. We showed them how our city celebrates the 4th and we also found out it is quite noisy with everyone setting off their own private fire-works, fire-crackers, etc. Our neighbors had a Karaoke party, we enjoyed a nice quiet picnic, playing with the kids, hanging out and relaxing, catching lightning bugs, doing poppers and sparklers and we enjoyed seeing two different fireworks displays in our own yard!



So, Miss O and I were shopping today and she was such a good shopper! I actually had time to wander through all the aisles in Target today without much conflict! She did get into my lipstick but the handy extra diaper I had in my purse helped cleaned her up....but I was thinking on my way out....a mother should always park by those designated areas for carts....it's very handy getting bags placed while child is still in the cart, park the cart and go to car.....voila!



Yeah, like I said these are very random thoughts tonight.......



This is aggravating me lately....people who only think about superficial things in their life (or themselves for that matter)....ugh! What a drag, don't these people know when they die their super-fantastic-wonderful-expensive things will not fit in their coffin, none the less, go to Heaven (or the other places; such as purgatory, hell) with them some day....come on people, wake up and think about the QUALITY of life, life is so short and fragile and it really is about relationships with family, friends, and enjoying simple things in life......



I see so many sick people in the last 8 years in my life to know that life is way too short.....some people get a new lease on life and make changes in their life, sometimes drastic changes....then there are people who's lives are slipping from them, this is when I realize that life is so fragile. Most older adults that I talk to are content with how their lives turned out, they'll say "I've lived a good life, my family is close and wonderful support for me, I've had many wonderful experiences, I'm ready to go." I've never heard a 90 year old say, "I've lived a good life, I had all these great expensive things.....etc."

I know I need to work on my relationships with my friends...it's amazing how life happens and all of a sudden it's a month and that phone call that I've been wanting to find the perfect time has not come.....I miss my marathon calls with my friend Jeanne, I miss talking with Char, shoot I don't know what she's up too, it's been a few years now.....what kind of friend am I? See, I feel bad about this but yet, they are still in my heart forever and I'll always love them even if distance is keeping us apart.

Then, there are friends who live near by and I need to make some time with them and/or get our children together.........sometimes, I get so engulfed in just getting by with our busy lives of working, finding time together as a family with our crazy nursing schedules and playing with the kids that the phone is the last thing that I want to touch,,,,,but duh,! That's how I have to contact these people.....ahhhhh I still have a phone phobia what's wrong with me?????????!!!!!

One reason I think, or at least I justify is that at the hospital I have a portable phone that rings constantly! One day, I would hang up and it would ring again.....four times in a row! That's when I want to take the phone and throw it out the window......or if I'm in the middle of this great pt. education and then my phone rings....ahhhh.....sometimes I'm assessing my patient and my phone or even their phone will ring....see why there might be some adversity towards it......

computers, emailing, I'm okay with

that's because I've always been a writer and can write novels (like tonight's entry) and the computer is not as invasive as the phone is in my work life.......I'm in control of the computer but the phone can interrupt at any moment, don't get me wrong I love the variety in my work life but it can get overwhelming.....

I'm now gathering that this may be more like random complaining rather than random pondering.....oh, well........

hmmmm........that is all that is on my mind, the other thing on my mind and that I should wind down and get ready for a night's sleep...........maybe make a phone call tomorrow and overcome my fear......of the dreaded phone!

Late Entry: C-man's Birthday Party in June

C-man wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Party and that is what he had.....a bit hard to discover the party decorations but we found them! I made the "turtle" cake even though he was not a ninja.....It was a lot of fun making his cake....and he loved it and that's all that matters.






Miss Emma and Miss O bond by blowing bubbles.....Emma would hold the wand and O would blow and the wind would blow the bubble right back into O's face.












C-man got a Mario shirt! How cool is that?! He's a big fan of Super Mario Brothers and I'm surprised he didn't have a Super Mario Brothers Birthday party, but I'm not complaining.....it would have been hard to make a Mario cake!
















C-man making a wish and blowing out the candles!














Miss O watching on with delight.(heh, heh!) She's so serious! .. However; she loved singing "Happy to you"

The kids loved getting together with all the cousins and playing mario kart or going outside and playing on the playground, playing dollies, or having a water balloon fight.....they all had a good time!

More Pictures from the Lake

This is Lake Washburn up in Outing, MN; Bear Paw Resort....we've been here before two years ago and C-man loved it then and he loved it even more...his sister took follow and loved it as well. The pictures below show the nature, the great outdoors that we enjoyed all week. We enjoyed the water, sand, and sun.....(not so much the mosquitoes, but at least I could wear Deet this year, last time I was pregnant and couldn't)





Lake Washburn at sun down..............................................The Bald Eagle sitting on her gigantic nest



Here's the Loon that makes the monkey noises at night....Miss O would hear them and ask, "do you hear the loon, do you hear the monkeys?"

C-man and Mommy taking a spin on the go-karts or what C called them Mario karts. He thought that I was a crazy driver after the race.

Dragonflies were very prevalent at the lakeshore........the last day we witnessed the life cycle of the dragon fly.......watching the nymphs crawl from the lake to the side of the beach railroad ties where they latched on and molted right there in front of us and then the brand new green dragon flies squeezed out of their shell and sat there for awhile then flew away....while the ants would start to carry away the molten shells.....it was very fascinating....we had biology lesson up close and personal!

Grandma's with their grandchildren there were 14 total children at the lake 9 years and younger!
Nice little fam picture....
Another family picture
AHR! thar me Matey! We went into Brainerd and did some mini-golfing and go-karting.....C was proud of himself he joined the "hole in one club" this year!


Miss Mar-Bear loved the water!
typical 5 yr old face these days.....
O loved, loved, loved the water, she had no fear!
C-man getting VERY comfortable in the water......