Grey hairs and summer

As I work through the summer, my kids stay at home with little to do besides chores. We were blessed as a family to get a year membership to the Apple Athletic Club. This has been such a huge blessing. I use it as bribery and when there is nothing to do...APPLE!! Date night for John and I now includes APPLE!! If its a hot summer day...APPLE!! Summer is going fast. School is around the bend. Madison will be a sophmore, not sure I really like that idea. Thomas, 7th grade and year 2 of precussion here we come. Cali Ann, 4th grade! I can't even believe that. Then the baby...Bryan full time officially...1st grade :( Man are we getting old. I have 2 grey hairs in my bangs and I don't want to pluck them out. I have worked hard for them. It's been a hellish 3 years and then when I finally feel like we have hit a plateau.....2 grey hairs. I have grown out all of my artificial color and am all natural. For some odd reason I feel this "duty" to show my natural hair. I have spent years covering it all up and now....it's all natural. This week I am having lasik surgery which will help me not feel so old grabbing my glasses all the time. I shouldn't say all the time because I grab them when I wake up and take them off when I lay down. There is no taking them off during the day. I can't see my hand in front of me if it's an arm lengths away. I have super bad eye sight. This is the year of procedures for our family. I can't wait until Thursday. I am super nervous, but so excited. I can't wear any make up 3 days before and 5 days after. Sooooo, to go along with my all natural curly greying hair, I now have no make up on for 8 days!! My sweet husband says I am so pretty without all that stuff, but when I look in the mirror I feel like a washed out palette. I guess I have to look forward to the surgery and then being able to wear makeup again!!

Reading the last post has me so excited for tomorrow!! I get to dig holes and water my plants. I feel so bad that they have been sitting for a week, but the weather here just hasn't been good. If you have ever wondered what the weather in Rigby, ID is.....windy.......usually windy. As a matter of fact, I just got my haircut thinking "oh this will be soooo good because less hair to deal with". Well, I was wrong the problem is now my hair flies into my face and I have no way of "pinning" it back. I'm glad it's short though. Sorry for the diversion, back to my plants. My raspberries are starting to pop green on the sticks and my grape is still looking like a halloween tree. After this weekend, when they are in the ground and staked up properly.....GREATNESS will occur. We are going to till the garden, plant the peas and carrots!! My kids are going to be weeding the front flower beds getting them ready for bark. There will be bees humming, birds chirping and it will seem as if Snow White was singing "just whistle while you work". I wonder if my children will be singing while they work. I just might get the BAR B QUE warmed up this weekend. I don't have to work (thank goodness). That is a whole different subject. May the peace of spring be with you on the coming Saturday.

Grapes and Raspberries

Can I just tell you how EXCITED I am for monday night. My sweet hubby bought me 10 raspberry plants, and a grape vine to plant! I have wanted to plant these for a couple of years, but didn't ever get around to it. This year after a very busy Saturday, I told him I wanted to go get some starts. Now on the ditch bank about a mile from my house, I could have gone and dug up some "free" raspberries. Sometimes it's worth buying things already prepared. I really didn't want to find them, dig them up, transport them, and then get stuck with the thorns the whole time. Instead we drove up to Rexburg to Treehouse nursery. It's family owned, small, but very helpful. They didn't have any. Sooooo the hubs drove to Lone Pine Nursery, they have a beautiful nursery, but NO RASPBERRIES! (they are coming next week or two) I had told him earlier that Town and Country nursery in Idaho Falls was advertising bare root plants. We drove down there and HOLY COW! What an amazing nursery. I could have spent all day, no joking, all day at Town and Country. They had the plants, and a freakin flyer for those of us that are newbies!!!!! I am totally going back. I am so excited to plant these bare roots and watch how beautiful they are going to be!

Then, while we were looking around, there were grapes!! I have been reading about grapes and I want to plant the vines along our pasture fence. We got a grape vine too!! Bare root of course, but I can't wait to talk to these little plants and encourage them along :)

This is what I hope for them to look like:

Grape vine:

Raspberries:

Wish me luck

Science Fair - 3 down, 1 to go!

Part of being a mother is the 3rd grade science fair. My first brilliant child wanted to have the science of bones. We included a femur bone from a cow, with a cross section, a HUGE trifold poster board and a report cover for the neatly typed presentation. My second brilliant child, who is a boy decided he wanted to do a project on solar energy. After many hours of trying to find the correct components to make said solar energy box, we went to Hobby Town. We purchased a "solar energy kit". He wanted to make his own poster, and mount the report to it. Here is where my "motherly" instinct comes in. It drove me nuts to have a poster whose margins were totally skiwampus. I took a deep cleansing breath and cringed when he mounted letters and report, they weren't straight. He loved it and so in turn, I LOVED IT! My third brilliant child, a girl, didn't want to do her project on bones or solar energy. She wanted to show how flowers grow (picture me with my not happy face). I knew we would have to start early and take care of said "flowers". Well, my most not shining moment as a mother came when, with 2 weeks before the science fair, my brilliant child gave me the puppy dog eyes and begged to get a start on it. We started with water beads, pebbles, fine sand, and then mud/sand from school. She was so excited to be caring for these little seeds (which were green bean seeds). I would check on them every other day. Out of 4 different "soils" only one seed sprouted. She learned that seeds will rot, and not sprout if you over water them. Today was the day, she took to 4 flower pots, and the poster to school. I haven't been able to talk to her yet, but I am sure it all turned out good. Now we have 3 years until the next science fair!

One one hand I cannot wait to get past this part of helping with projects, posters, experiments, and assignments. One the other hand, when the day comes that my children no longer need me for all of the things that means they have been raised. I was so excited to cut out the title, the flowers, leaves, and name out on my Cricut. I was excited to see how she arranged everything. She, like my 2nd did not glue the report on straight. She did however draw a cute sun on the poster board.

Kandice Stewart Photo: Lots of Lovin' GIVEAWAY!!!

Kandice Stewart Photo: Lots of Lovin' GIVEAWAY!!!: Soo... I was thinking today... I need to do a giveaway !  Yes, you heard me!   Being that this month is all about L. O .V.E. and gets me ...

Love day is approaching

I am excited for St. Valentines Day this year. Why you ask?? That is a good question! I guess lately I have been having so much fun with my kids growing up. Their different personalities shining through is so fun to behold. Madison is getting so excited to start drivers ed. She is starting to see the struggles teenagers are having. Thomas bless is soul is such a sweet boy. He is getting taller and now can rest his head on my shoulder instead of my armpit. Cali is getting more personality and again, getting taller. Bryan is getting taller too. He has come so far and it's neat to see the journey he is embarking on with his disability. We are embracing and getting used to explaining his delays. I have started the whole process for applying for the Katie Beckett grant. This is lengthy and lots of test are involved. We had the pshyc test, the home visit, now next week SIBAR here we come. I hate this freakin test. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed becuase we really need him to qualify so he can get services. If Bryan doesn't qualify then there is no program that can help with the costs of therapy. We have applied for medicaid numerous times. Because we have qualifiable insurance, he doesn't get it. Blah, Blah, Blah. Maybe I should speak a different language, get fired, start smokin crank and then he will qualify?? Nawww, I have integrity in myself, my children, and my family. I should not get on this soap box. I graciously am stepping off and will look to the day I get to buy heart pizza from papa murphys. Plan a heart attack for the family, make a heart cheesecake, red punch, and a comfortable dinner. I can't wait!!

New Years is approching

Whew! I don't know about you, but I am sooo glad that Christmas is over. I do enjoy this time of year, but for some reason the stress of not being able to get my kids what they want has weighed on me this year. Normally, it doesn't, but this year......I have been very heavy hearted. I look forward to their faces and smiles on Christmas day, but I just didn' feel that this year I would get them. I tried to find things they would enjoy within our budget. I finally just gave up and accepted the disappointment I thought I would feel. Christmas morning came and all I got was smiles, words of appreciation, surprise, and tons of love from our kids. I truly have the best kids in the world. Bryan and Thomas apparently had been awake for awhile, but just sat at the fireplace reading books waiting for us to come down. Since I had to work on Christmas day, we got up and downstairs at about 7:30. I saw the two boys sitting there and my heart just filled with joy because they were so pleased to just fill the spirit of home instead of the mayhem that seems to come with "Christmas day". We got the girls down and all 4 kids just waited by their trees patiently. I have the best kids. Did I mention...not any presents were wrapped, so it was all out there to see and no one touched a thing!! How blessed I was on Christmas morning to have 4 children who were so awesome and grateful for what they received. Now, the day after, they are still great!! I feel so blessed, truly. I have great family, great husband, great job, great home, great church members, great extended family....BLESSED I TELL YOU, BLESSED!