John Deer

What I learned while mowing the grass. Which I never do. But since the Grandfolks have been out of town for about two weeks now we thought we would be nice and take care of it. It was my idea. Have I mentioned that I'm a pro when it comes to bad ideas! Well, it wasn't THAT bad of an idea...we WERE doing something nice for the Grandfolks but I didn't realize the work it took!

On to lessons learned...

1. When Papa Bear tells you to ride the John Deer that is about twelve years old, and he rolls out on the newer mower, you know you're in for a good ride. (can you hear the sarcasm?)

2. John Deer thought it would be fun to have everything automatically shut off when not enough pressure is applied to the seat. A really good idea for safety reasons, but VERY comical when the rider of the Deer is just a few pounds heavier than a 13 year old.

3. When mowing around and under a tree one should always 'duck' or risk getting smacked in the face by said tree. Not that I wasn't ducking...

4. Tree stumps will throw you off balance.

5. Watch out for the ditch.

6. Be sure to wear a sports bra...especially if the yard is a bumpy one.

7. When mowing make sure you point the spraying of grass clippings in the OPPOSITE direction that you are going. Too many clumps of clippings under the thing can cause some blockage.

8. Use the reverse.

9. Always check to see if the blade is down before you think you are actually cutting the grass!

10. If you see a snake-run it over. No matter what size. It's still a snake.

11. If you think you're not good at mowing the grass...you probably really aren't good! haha

As the summer continues I am sure I will be adding more mowing lessons. But take what you learned today and apply it next time YOU cut the grass! Just be sure that stinking seat has enough weight keeping it down!

Six

June 17th, 2003 at 4:20am I gave birth to my first son, Ryan Thomas.

Ryan,
In case you ever read this, this ones for YOU! I love you. I miss you. Not a day goes by where you are not on my mind. I pray for you. I long for you. I talk about you a lot. But I miss you more. I've missed out on most everything in your life and I hope to one day make up for that. You know, I grew up without my Dad around, just like you are growing up without your own Mom, and it hurt. So I know exactly how you will feel one day. That day you realize that your real Mom is not there with you. That she is another state. With other children. Without you. I never get to see your sweet face. Hold you, hug you. I just want to wrap my arms around you. To touch the top of you head, all that hair. I bet it's kind of crazy just like your Dad's.

One day, my son, we will be reunited. I will hug you like never before. I will wish you Happy Birthday over and over again, how ever old you are is how many times I will say it. If not more. I can't believe you are six already. SIX! Wow, first grade. A real big boy now, you are.

Happy Birthday Ryan. I love you. Forever and always!

Love,
Mom

This man

...is the best. He certainly deserves a lot more than a few quick words. I may not have grown up with him around, he may have seen me grow up in pictures, heard my voice quickly change from the squeaky four year old to the older version of a squeaky daughter but he is MY DAD and I LOVE him!

Meet MY DAD!

Nope, not me

I am joining in on the fun over at MckMama's. A blog carnival created and hosted by MckMama, where mothers, wives, and other bloggers from computers around the world deny doing the things that they did during the week. A sort of confession-type therapy, only we're not really confessing are we? Well you might be, but I'm not. Nope, NOT me!

And I so totally did NOT steal pretty much that whole paragraph from another fellow blogger. Thanks, I totally do NOT (well of course we know I really do!) owe ya! haha

I did NOT think about blogging all week long. NOT one little bit. Nope, I NEVER do that. I also did not wish that I had taken my camera with me everywhere this week to NOT take pictures of some pretty cool and pretty funny things that I could have NOT blogged about.

I did NOT put Bear to bed without a routine bed-time-bath even though he really needed it. And it was NOT because Mama Bear really needed some big girl time. Nope, most certainly did NOT do that.

I did NOT totally forget to feed Baby Bear some yummy porridge then wonder why he was crabby. I mean, who would ever forget something like that. NOT me! Nope, NOT me.

I did NOT step on the toes of a good friend of mine and ultimately hurt her feelings. And I most certainly do NOT feel like the biggest heel ever.

I did NOT forget to do my Fireproof homework from last week. Nor did I forget to do it the week before that either. NOT ME!

And I did NOT, under any circumstance do something nice for my husband this week. (this one is NOT a confession, rather a pathetic brag that I was nice to Papa Bear after NOT being mean for three days straight!) Like I was saying, I did NOT get him a special brownie from McDonalds and NOT get myself one for a change. And of course he did NOT ask me if I got it for free...since I was being so nice! He didn't live it up either.

I am NOT posting this without any pictures...because, if you remember correctly, I did NOT forget my camera while out and about this week.

Crazy in love

If there's one thing I've learned since getting married and having kids it's that love and discipline are both VERY important. Sounds odd...but it's the complete, Gods honest truth. Without both things the household can-and probably will-become a jumbled mess. And sometimes that jumbled mess can turn into a total disaster.

After a rough week here at home with the Bears, and Papa Bear-don't worry, Mama Bear is not excluded-I've decided that it's time to set some rules. Children need boundaries. They need tough love. We all need to be respected and loved. As a married couple Papa Bear and I have learned about the 'Crazy Cycle.' Really simple concept...really hard to swallow! Essentially if act out of disrespect he reacts without love and it just goes 'round and 'round. The same thing can be applied to children.

You'd think that after being married for almost five years (Papa Bear...it's July 14th!) the hubs and I would have a great working relationship and know EXACTLY what we each need to be happy and feel loved/respected. Truth is...we don't. We know some, but not all.

And same with the kids. One would think that after knowing your kid for two years (and then some) we would know exactly what he craves, what discipline techniques work and what don't. How he likes his milk and so on. We know the basics but it's time we dig deeper.

Um, wow. So I just confessed that my family is a little out of touch with one another. Yep, it happens. But it's not the end of the world.

Time for Mama and Papa Bear to have an 'upper management' meeting and set some rules and goals. For us. For the children.

Nothing too crazy. I think we just need a daily reminder to be the family that we desire to be. As soon as I got this idea I went straight to my trusty friend-Professor Google. While he and I talked I learned a few tips that are essential in creating family rules...

Make the rules age appropriate for your kids.

Make sure Mom and Dad both agree on the rules.

Keep the list as short as possible … too many rules, too much to remember.

Keep the rules positive and no finger pointing. (instead of 'no yelling' try 'we all talk sweet to each other.')

and lastly

Figure out if your family needs an incentive to follow the rules weather it be stickers, treats, time on the video games or computer, a special outing...the list can go on and on. What works for little Jack may not work for his sister Jill.

I don't have any fancy rules set up just yet because I am waiting for Papa Bear to get home so we can discuss them together. But when I do, don't worry, I will bore you with them. I'm hoping to make them look fun and pretty and possibly put them on the wall somewhere. May even show you that!!

Watch out summer

It sure was a great way to start out the month of June! The bear cubs and I went to a dear friends house today and had a BLAST playing outside! Five boys total...four that can run around and make quite the mud hole! We managed to stay out of the mud for the most part today going from the pool to the play-set to the slip n' slide!

Baby Bear wanted to play with the big kids in a bad way but he had to settle for the saucer thing (saucer thing= super very technical and fancy word for what it's really called...which I forgot!) and the swing!

I could feel the heat today and apparently Bear thought he would 'fight the fire' and cool things down...yea, didn't work. But I did get a couple great pictures of him trying.


Between fighting 'fires' and playing in the pool Bear thought he would try out some other future career moves. You see, first option is the fireman.

If that falls through then there is always the chance to try out for worlds strongest man.

How about male model?

No?! He does seem to be more of a rough and tough kind of guy...how about a mechanic?

All of which he would be great at...dontcha think!?

Fun with photos

Not much to say today. Just some cool pictures I've had fun editing!

Some are awesome, some not so good and some are just crazy!

Enjoy