Harvesting

If the three days of torrential rains hadn't rendered the remainder of my garden a mud bog there would be carrots and tomatoes to add to this picture.

50lbs of potatoes and 20 pounds of onions.

 

The 25 apples did not make the picture.  I'd like to say they are already in pie form or something delectable like that but no, they are just chillin' in the fridge.

Lucky Seven - WILMA!!!!!!!!

I may be dating myself but remember the Flintstones? And Fred constantly bellowing

"WILMA!!!!!!!!" for one reason or another?  I do.  I don't remember much else about the show but that yell is imprinted in my mind.

 

I admit to raising my voice with my kids, especially Sierra. 

She has been known to be afflicted with sudden onsets of can't-hear-itis.  Flare ups typically occur when she takes something that her brother has and and she "needs" right that moment.  Or with any other sibling 'moments'!  Like she has this bizarre need to push him over for no reason.  (Ah, the love)  

After numerous attempts at asking/telling Sierra to stop/give it back with no avail my voice eventually must escalate to a much higher volume.  Sierra's ears eventually turn back on and she wails because I yelled at her and I attempt to explain that I tried speaking normally but since she didn't obey I assumed she couldn't hear me so I had to be loud.  My logic is lost on her most of the time.

 My vocal chords also work a bit harder when Sawyer is into something (99.0% of the time he's awake!). 

Strong "No's" and "Sawyers!" can often be heard throughout the day.

Two things have made me step back and analyze this tactic:

1.  Sierra has taken to hollering at Sawyer if he does something he shouldn't or that she doesn't want him to.  I tell her not to yell at him and I can tell by the look she gives me that she's thinking "You do."

2.  I heard a mom repeatedly disciplining her child recently and it was always in a very loud, firm voice that had an angry quality to it.  It was enough that Sierra was actually a little scared.  My thoughts were, "Do I sound like that?"  

(Now I don't know this mom or the situation(s) behind what was going on, I know only know how it came across to me.)

So I've been making a conscious effort to attempt a different approach.  It involves stopping what I am doing and going up to my child and getting down to their level and speaking to them.  If they continue to ignore me than a time-out is in order. 

It's surprisingly effective.  I still overcome the can't-hear-itis, and I don't feel like a rotten egg when the situation is dealt with!   

I don't want my kids to have imprinted memories of me hollering at them.

VI: Presenting.....

Pictures of my Wieners all dressed up!  

This is quite a change from the usual food and snot smeared Sawyer and the messy-haired Sierra who would wear PJ's 24/7 if I let her.

My little princess as: The Flower Girl.

The ivory dress is vintage from the later 1980's worn by my cousin (sister to the groom) when she was four.  Sierra's silky blond tresses were painstakingly curled by me while she was mesmerized by the TV.  She is also wearing a touch of Sweet Nectar lipstick.  (The tank top underneath, the leggings, socks and shoes aren't anything special but represent a part of Sierra's idiosyncrasies and they kept her warmer in the cool outdoor air.)

Here's a full view of the dress. 

Handsome little dude but that mischievous twinkle of trouble can't be masked no matter what he's dressed in!  Ironically, his little suit matched the groomsmen outfits to a T and Sawyer was not a member of the wedding party!  It was a complete fluke.

Ain't that a good-looking fam?

Mommy and her girl.

Day 5 - The Little Things.

I was going to quickly type a post for yesterday and totally lie and say that "somehow" it didn't post even though I swear I hit the "publish" button, but I then I thought, "why?"

The truth of the matter is, I completely forgot.

You may get a double whammy today - you may not!

 

Last night our church "care group" (a group of five couples who meet weekly to study the Bible) met and we challenged each other to 'find God' in the mundane, in the little things.   I confessed last night that despite what I've always believed to be a strong faith I haven't been giving God much though lately.  

 

(No, I'm not going to preach to you or anything but my faith is very real to me and I write about it from time to time.)

Since my mind is refocusing on God/the positive here are a couple of things I've already come up with:

Yesterday I horsed around with both my kids on our bed.  They love being tossed into the pillows and we had about fifteen minutes of pure fun.  At one point Sierra says to be "You are the most specialist Mommy ever!" My heart melted.  I am blessed to have two fantastic, healthy kids who I can play with.

I have gorgeous pink flowers blooming on a plant of mine - despite the fact that it is often forgotten and only gets water when the leaves are droopy!

I love the sunrise, and although the fact that I get to see it every morning means the days are getting shorter and winter is on its way I'm still enjoying its splendor.   The colours I get to peer at through bleary, sleep encrusted eyes while my two kids are hollering for TV, milk, breakfast etc really are quite lovely.  I'm sure God made sunrises beautiful because He knew mornings would be hard for many of us and that we needed something to cheer us first thing!  Not that I take the time to notice every day but....you get the point.

I'm curious to see how looking for the small blessings will impact my general attitude.  Simply thinking about it last night had my attitude doing a 180.

3 - Our Wieners.

It's late, I worked all day, went for a walk with my kids and husband, then walked again with my mom and now I'm tired and my creative juices are a little like molasses right now.

So I told you a bit of completely random and useless facts about me, how about my kids? Or as Trevor and I affectionately call them, our wieners.

OK.

Sierra is four, can't seem to do anything  by herself (nor allow me to do do anything alone) beyond sleeping because she's likely to keel over with sudden and intense loneliness  She has a ratty old bunny that goes EVERYWHERE with her and a blanket that shows just as much love but doesn't quite go everywhere.  She's Mommy's girl by far.  Her name was chosen in a round about way after GMC Sierra trucks.

Sawyer, nineteen months, will wander off and play alone all the time.  If it's too quiet I definitely have reason to be concerned.  He loves to chuck toys, sippy cups, toy strollers, shoes - ANYTHING - down the stairs and then look at me with a super concerned look on his face and say "Uh Oh!" His blanket is his "thing", no stuffed toy yet.  He is mommy's boy but leaning a little more to his dad lately.  His name was chosen out of a baby name book but when we used to watch the show Lost we did comment on the name (one of the characters was named Sawyer) and that we liked it.

Stay tuned for pictures - one of these days, I promise!

2/31 - Odds and Sods About Moi!

1. When I was in high school I wanted to marry a cowboy/farmer.  I ended up marrying a city boy, who grew up on an acreage near Vancouver, but a city boy none-the-less.  He thinks cowboys are ridiculous and that country music is a scourge to the industry!  I love him anyway and can't imagine being married to a cowboy/farmer now.

2. I believe that my birthday needs to be celebrated for at least a week every year.  I usually succeed and it's great!  This year happened to be a rare failure in that area.

3.  I think it's normal to have 17 pairs of glasses. (I know, I know, a benefit/hazard of my occupation)

4. Pickles and popcorn rock!   But not together or even at the same time.

5. I can still do a flip on the trampoline.

6.My heritage is as Mennonite and German as one can get yet I don't speak German or attend a Mennonite church anymore (not because I no longer believe the faith but because I thrive more under a different style of worship than the local Mennonite churches offer).  

I do still have regular affairs with their food though!

7. I enjoy "train wreck" TV shows, as Trevor has termed them, such as "Sister Wives" and "19 Kids and Counting."

8. My husband is a hockey fanatic.  I enjoy it once a week, not the three or four times per week his team plays.  I usually join in his excitement of the season starting, not this year.

9. I can't stand football.

10. I only have complete vision in one eye, and even that eye only sees well with correction.

1 of 31

I think I'm a sucker for punishment and stress.  

I've signed up for the NaBloWriMo - write a blog post a day for the month of October.  I have so much time these days I thought I'd give myself something to do.  You know, because I've been soooo bored.  

(insert sarcasm)  I have no idea what you're going to read from me or even how successful I'll be but here I go!

While putting away my 4 baskets of clean laundry this morning - a job I really dislike by the way.  I don't mind sorting or rotating or even folding the laundry but putting it away....sometimes the clean laundry sits folded in the baskets for over a week and then I have to start over.  Anyway, while I was completing this particular task (after only 3 days of sitting in the baskets by the way) I had an idea:

I would like to have a Halloween party.  

I want to invite tons of people, dress up, eat lots of food, and enjoy each other's company.  

I normally really dislike Halloween. I don't know why exactly, but it is generally my least favourite time of year.  Now that I have one kid who is totally into it and another likely to join her - I mean what kid wouldn't like it with all that free candy! - I suppose I should try and enjoy it for a change! 

I do love a good party....

Who would come?