First Beach Day

Last week we took a little 'break' from our school work and went to the beach! It was a beautiful, warm day and we thought we should take advantage of it. I was a silly, knucklehead who didn't apply sunscreen on myself and have been in burnt agony ever since .... but the kids and hubs were well covered and all in all we had a wonderful day!

The girls totin' all the gear down to the beach ...

The water is still FREEZING, but my little fish don't care and went right in! I love how they were holding hands!


Having a healthy snack for an energy boost!
Who needs to go to the spa when you can have a Seaweed wrap for FREE at the beach??!!

Farm Day!

Our homeschool science co-op enjoyed a lovely day at a local farm recently. The weather was just gorgeous and we had a picnic, then explored the animals and then enjoyed farm fresh ice cream!

I recently got a new camera and have been playing around with it .... the day at the farm gave me lots of opportunities to try it out ...

Here is the farm cat, in hot pursuit of a mouse!

The kids all enjoyed feeding the cows, they giggled when the cow's big tongue would touch their hands!
This is my oldest in the pink shirt feeding the cow ...
We heard they had some baby sheep, but they were not out that day ... instead we saw this Mama sheep {I have no idea if she was really the Mama, or a she for that matter, I'm just calling 'her' that!}
My youngest feeding the cow ...
A big 'ol bull, we DID NOT let the kids feed that one!
They had 3 little pigs! And believe me, it's a wonder that I got this good of a picture while trying to plug my nose while I snapped away!

I love how this picture turned out! A big {missing teeth} grin!
Checking out the bull ..... from a safe distance!
They also have gorgeous greenhouses!
Wow, all 4 animals got together to pose for me!

Homeschool Zoo trip!

With our weather improving almost daily we have been on quite a few outdoor field trips over the past month. We've been to our local zoo twice and even bought a yearly pass so we can go back as often as we like.

The one day we went with our homeschool science co-op class. There are 7 families in our group and because it was a cloudy Monday we had the whole zoo to ourselves! There were only a small handful of other people there ... it was wonderful!


This very confident Flamingo kept pacing back and forth right next to the kids' faces!
We went into the elephant pavilion to watch the elephants be fed and bathed - it was very interesting!
The baby Giraffe that was just born about 6 months ago .... this is always my favorite animal - they are so majestic! God is an amazing Creator, isn't He??

A lovely Mother's Day

Mother's day actually starts {for me} about 4-5 days before the actual day. That is because my part time job is working at a florist and Mother's Day is one of the busiest times of the year!

Here are some photos of a couple arrangements I made ....

On the actual day of Mother's day we had a lovely cookout with my Mom and Bob's parents here to share the day with us. I am so blessed to be the Mommy of these two beautiful little girls! I know I've revealed to you that I haven't always been the best Mom, but I thank God that He's still working on me and that His forgiveness and grace abounds! These two sweet girls are our greatest blessings and I am so thankful for them!
I'm also truly blessed to be the daughter and daughter-in-law to these two wonderful ladies. I feel like I am the person that I am because I've grown into a combination of these two amazing women. They both inspire me, encourage me and support me in a million different ways. I have two very Godly women to look up to and admire!

I am so blessed!!

In Loving Memory ...

of my sweet Aunt Linda, who died of breast cancer in her early 50's ... she was a wonderful Aunt to me and all my cousins, she was my Mom's sister that she loved so much, and she will forever be missed. I will always remember going to her house and loving the warm, cozy, country decor, the gorgeous gardens and the welcoming feeling you got there.

On Mother's Day weekend my Mom and I were a part of a 4k walk for breast cancer research. It was an amazing event with thousands of men, women and children showing up to give there support. I know this is something we will take part in again. It was a blessing to share the day with my Mom.


For my Aunt Linda .... until we meet again in heaven someday.

Bouncy Fun!

My kids have been fortunate lately to be at a couple of events where they had some of those large bouncy houses or bouncy slides. The girls were thrilled and always have the best time. I love in the first picture how they held each other's hand to go down together! Cute!

Why didn't they have anything like this when I was a kid????


woohoo, catchin' air!
crazy girl!

Take me out to the ball game ...

I always seem to be playing catch up! Must be because our schedule has been insanely busy lately! We've had so much going on ... good things, fun things, but I've had very little time to keep up with my blog! Sorry!

I'm about to unleash on you several blogs in a row, so be prepared!

Anyway, we've been to a couple of Friday night baseball games lately. The minor league park near us is wonderful, very family friendly, inexpensive and fun! The first night we went it was a little rainy and cool, but the next time was sunny and lovely. The kids always have a blast. Yes, my youngest wore the same sweatshirt at both games, can you tell it's her favorite?






{Just as a side note ... we are totally not GAP snobs ... all 3 of us got our GAP sweatshirts at consignment shops for a fraction of what they would have cost brand new and they are all in like-new condition! Love those kind of bargains!}

All About You - Letter K

One of my fave homeschooling websites {The Heart of the Matter} is hosting the ABC's of you and I haven't jumped in until today when I saw it was the letter K! Yay for K!

Here are some things about me ... all starting with the wonderful letter K ...

Kathy or Kathryn {my name!}
Kitchen {I'm in the process of redecorating it right now!}
Kindergarten {the grade I always wanted to teach and am priveleged to be teaching my youngest right now}
Keeper {of special mementos from my hubby and children}
Killer {of mosquitos and spiders - sorry!}
Kin {to many very special people}
Knowledge {I may not know much, but am always seeking to learn and grow more}

Time

Time passes by all too quickly. I know this, and yet I don't always live my life reflecting this knowledge. I had what I would consider one of my biggest wake-up calls since becoming a Mom the other day. I hope you don't mind as I share my heart.

We don't have a lot of video of our kids. We have loads of pictures, but not much video. I'm trying to be better about using the video camera I got last year ... but as far as the girls baby and toddler years we had a very old video recorder and just didn't pull it out very much.

Anyway, the other day we were looking for a particular video {from an event that happened prior to our kids being born} and happened to stumble upon some video of the girls as babies and toddlers. At first I was enjoying watching how small they were, their cute little voices and giggles and just watching in utter amazement that they ever really were that small!

But I soon began to get emotional. It started with a video of my oldest getting upset about something and crying/fussing on the camera. My heart began to hurt because all I could picture was that at the time I probably blew her off as having 'another tantrum' and yet watching it on camera I wished with all my heart that I could reach through that TV screen and wrap my arms around that little toddler again. But I couldn't. Time had taken those toddler years away from me. Time had moved on. Past the baby stage, past the toddler stage, even past the pre-school stage.

The more I watched the more I began to feel extreme guilt and remorse. My heart hurt and I sobbed until I had a headache and puffy eyes. The hardest I've cried in a very long time. Here were these two beautiful, funny, sweet little toddlers ... and yet all my mind could remember was how I felt and how I acted during those early years. I was often frustrated, annoyed, impatient, overtired, angry and generally not a very good Mom. I would yell and scream at the girls for being too messy, for fighting with each other, for taking too long to get dressed, etc, etc, etc. Even as I type these words I have such guilt and remorse over my actions. I know we had good moments too ... but at that moment while watching those videos all I could think was how I wasted away those early years and didn't appreciate the time and now I could never get them back.

My girls will never be toddlers again. They will never need me to fill their sippy cups or change their clothes or help them get buckled in their seatbelts again. I can't go back to that time. It's gone forever and I can't have a 'do-over'.

I know that I'm a better Mom nowadays. I have prayed for wisdom and patience and guidance for the last couple of years and the Lord has been incredibly gracious to me. I still have my moments when I lose it and get angry. I'm still a sinner, every day. I'm thankful that I'm forgiven, and yet the sadness over that loss of time still haunts me.

I guess I chose to share this because I really want to encourage other Moms out there. I know there are so many times you just feel like you can't take one more minute and you're just going to lose it. But I encourage you to hang in there. The time will pass so quickly and before you know it you will be where I am and wonder where the time has gone. My oldest is almost 8 ... I can't believe that she has been a part of our lives for 8 years already! In another 8 years she'll be 16 and more independent than ever.

Don't waste another moment of time.
Love on your kids today.
Be patient with them.
Don't yell and scream.
Yes, they make mistakes. But they're just little children - they aren't adults.
They don't understand the value of a clean house or instinctively know how to share their toys with everyone.
They will test your patience!
They will frustrate you!
But how you respond will tell them a lot about Christ. If you claim to have Christ in your life {like I do} yet act as though you don't {like I did} your kids will wonder what to believe - your words or your actions. As the saying goes - You have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Our children do not require lavish gifts or costly items - what they need most is our time.
Here is a list of Seven Gifts Which Do Not Cost a Cent:

1. The gift of listening - But you must really listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response ... just listen. {I am SO guilty of 'planning my response' and have yelled at my kids for things that I didn't even give them the chance to finish explaining.}

2. The gift of affection - with appropriate hugs, kisses, snuggling, pats on the back and handholding. These small actions demonstrate love in a powerful way.

3. The gift of laughter - share amusing stories, humorous cartoons, jokes, etc. Laughter establishes a bond between people and if one of the most effective medicines I know.

4. The gift of a handwritten note - kind words change lives and last a lifetime.

5. The gift of a compliment - a simple, kind and sincere remark can change how a person feels about him/herself.

6. The gift of a favor - the simplest things like getting a glass of juice for your child or putting away hubby's shoes for him may not seem like much but demonstrate kindness to others in a big way.

7. The gift of a cheerful disposition - the easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone. look him/her in the eye and speak kindly, from the heart with sincerity. {Proverbs 15:13 A Happy heart makes the face cheerful.}

I hope that somehow I have managed to encourage you. I have a lot of regret and guilt and sadness over things I cannot change and time that cannot be given back. And I truly hope and pray that you won't have to go through the same thing. I'm thankful for forgiveness from a loving God ... and also forgiveness from my sweet girls who have no idea how much I love them. Watching those videos was just the wake up call I needed. There is no time to lose. I need to cherish every day and make the most of the time we are given.

Show and Tell

Well not so much show ... but lots of tell. Today's the day! The day we all have to share how much we've gotten done for the Project Procrastinator's Party! And if you've wondered why my blog has been so terribly neglected over the last 2 weeks you're about to see why! I have been busy, busy, busy!

I was not able to complete everything on my list and you'll see why ... but I'm happy to say that I was able to get some other stuff done that wasn't on my list. All in all it's been a very busy and productive two weeks. In fact ... I'm downright exhausted!

OK, here goes ...

* Finish painting garden fence and install it {Painting is done/it's not installed yet}

* Put together presentation board for science class {Not done}

* Finish priming kitchen walls {DONE!}

* Paint kitchen walls {DONE!}

* Take stuff to Goodwill {TWO vanloads! DONE!}

* Plant bulbs in the garden {They have not arrived yet so not done}

* Hang white cabinet in bathroom {DONE!}

* Bring finished curtains to church {DONE!}

* Hang stuff in master bedroom {Not done}

* Clean out girls closet/toys and donate stuff {DONE!}

* Put away all Easter decor and put out summer stuff {Half done - Easter stuff is put away but summer stuff isn't put out yet.}

Also completed:

*4 days of working at the flower shop for Mother's day

*4K walk for breast cancer with my Mom

*Repainted all trim, doors and wainscotting in kitchen

*Painted new island in kitchen

*Put all new shelf paper in kitchen cabinets

*Am about halfway done painting kitchen cabinets black {more to come on that soon}

*Bought new cabinet handles for kitchen cabinets and drawers

*Cleaned out and organized the large storage closet downstairs

*Delivered items to ladies at church who I was giving things to

*Planted flowers in the gardens

*Shopped for all the summer clothes that the kids and I will need for the cruise and for summertime

And of course all the other stuff that comes with being a wife and Mom ... homeschooling, laundry, driving to the girls activities, food shopping, etc, etc, etc.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures {again} for all these tasks. If you don't mind being patient with me I plan to do a full house update with photos over the next few weeks {or months if life stays this busy!}. I really want to totally complete certain projects {such as my kitchen} before I post any photos. I promise it will be worth the wait!

Hop on over here to The Inspired Room to see what others have completed at this Party!