Visions of Dutch Ovens and Pie Irons Dance in My Head....

There is about a million things I should be doing right now. I just heard the dryer buzz, telling me that yet another load is ready to be added to the "need to fold" pile (and maybe even get folded!) There are a few dishes that should be washed and a huge paper due Monday that I haven't even started, but here I am-googling "campfire cooking" and checking out Dutch ovens and Pie Irons. There is some amazing stuff you can make in those things!
I do believe that the camping bug has officially bitten! I am so pumped to go camping, I can hardly wait. There are times that I doubt my sanity in this excitement because when we camp, we sleep in a tent in all kinds of weather with our 3 little hooligans all under 5! But, crazy as it may seem, I am completely ok with that. It is true that I have never camped when it was brutally hot, so that might change my opinion, but I kind of like sleeping in the fresh air. I never have a problem getting the kids to sleep because they have so much fun during the day, they are tuckered out and ready for some shut eye.
In the past we have stayed in a cabin, or borrowed a tent, but this year, we are buying our own equipment, so I am looking forward to using it more once! Growing up, we went camping every year for our vacation, and I really enjoyed it (most of the time). We tease my dad that he wants to be a hermit because when he goes on vacation he likes to "get away"-literally. We wouldn't go to fun places that had lots of activities and fun stuff to do-we would go to places like Wyoming...up in a mountain...with no showers or flush toilets...and VERY few people. That's what he liked, so that's what we did! Granted, I was far from thrilled at the time (pretty sure I wouldn't be thrilled with those accomodations NOW) but I have to give him credit. It was very relaxing-sitting by a fire reading a book (it's cold in the mountains!), eating food cooked on a fire, my dad's ghost stories (he's VERY good at them, but that's a story for another time) and then curling up in a warm sleeping bag, drifting off to sleep to a medley that only nature can provide. We had some fun times that I will always remember.
That's why I'm excited. Camping definitely isn't my idea of a perfect vacation but when I see my kids covered from head to toe in dirt, grinning from ear to ear, and then asking as we pull out of the driveway of the campground how long it is until we go again, it makes it all worth it. THEY are worth every bug bite and sunburn, every long hour it takes to pack and unpack, every second of planning and preparation. The fact that they have been ready since Winter to go camping and the fact that they haven't stopped asking if it's almost July since they heard me make the reservation. I see them outside with a little pile of sticks they picked up, pretending it's a campfire. I smile when I hear Darren say "Marshmallow" every time he hears the word camping. So I will sleep in a tent in the middle of July and forgo conveniences because I love them and I love to see them happy. THEY are why I'm pumped! :)

Here is why I do it!

25 Random Things

So I have been browsing on Facebook lately and I LOVE to read "25 Random Things About Me" that people posted. I never did one back when that was the thing to do, so you, my lucky loyal followers, are blessed to be reading (drumroll, please)......

25 RAMDOM THINGS ABOUT ME!!!!

1. I do not have OCD like another member of my family (ahem, TRAVIS) but I do have a couple tendencies. They are as follows:
a.)My money in my wallet (when there is some there! :)) has to be all facing the same way, in numerical order, smallest to biggest.
b.)towels and washclothes all have to be facing the same way and showing the "nice" sides.
c.)I hate it when things don't match such as bottles (the ring has to be the same color as the bottle, etc) and sippy cups (each cup has it's own lid-do not mix and match)
2. My name is spelled with an "i" at the end so as to be different from a lamp.
3. When I get stressed, I power rock in our recliner. If it's really bad, I can do it for a couple of hours at night. Sometimes I have to put the blanket over my head. Don't even talk to me if there is a blanket over my head.
4. I hate decorating. There-I said it! Anyone who has seen my house, this is not a surprise. My walls are bare, except for the ones Andrea has decorated for me. I think this is because I am not artistic in the least and I get so stressed about it not looking good that I just don't do it!
5. I have the DVR programed to record "Jonas". It's a show about the Jonas Brothers. It's such a teenage girl show, but I love it. I don't know any of their songs at all-not even a title of one-but I still like their show.
6. I've never had a pedicure.
7. I really do not like cooked carrots, but I eat them because I want my kids to do the same.
8. I had a dream about Sam before I started dating him. I told God I was done with men-HA HA I was like, 18-dumb girl! :)
9. I hate fingernails. My kids get theirs clipped all the time because it drives me crazy.
10. I love to decorate cake. Sam gave me a kit last year for my birthday and Ellie and I love to use it.
11. I want to learn how to tap dance.
12. I have a slight pillow obsession. I take it with me whenever I travel and no one is allowed to touch it or breathe on it. Seriously! I don't even let Sam sleep on it. I trace it back to when Trav and I had to share a bed-his head smelled funny.
13. I would rank Berenstien Bears very close to the top of my all time favorite books list.
14. I really do not like popsicles.
15. I had 2 goals in my life-to be a football cheerleader and have a job where I could run stuff over the beeper thing. I am happy to report, I met both goals by the time I was 17! :) (I do have new goals now....) FYI-I still do love to run stuff over the beeper thing. Self checkout anyone????
16. I changed the spelling of my son's name because I saw a football player on TV that I thought was good looking...so Darin became Darren! :)
17. Even though I am not pregnant, I still cry sometimes when I see touching commercial on TV or things like Extreme Makeover:Home Edition.

DUDE! This is harder than I thought....I'm only on 17!
18. Movies scare me. They always have. My poor husband doesn't get to watch anything remotely scary or even too dramatic. I have to leave the room when the scary parts come on.
19. I always said I refused to have an odd number of children. Then Claire Bear came along.....
20. I love it that Ellie is a girly girl and that Darren is all boy. Claire is just mischevious.

COME ON! 5 MORE! YOU CAN DO IT! Hmmmmm.....
21. My son does not drink from pink sippy cups or use pink plates. My girls do not drink from blue sippy cups or use truck plates. Wierd, I know. And what's even wierder is that I don't have anything against it! It doesn't bother me in the least if someone else's kids do it or even if someone else gives it to my kids that way, but I just can't!
22. I hate dusting. That is the first job I am giving to my kids. They do it a little now, but I still have to do it after they do. But I am longing for the day.....
23. I have a group of moles on the back of my leg that look like 2 eyes and a nose. If I would ever get a tattoo ( I NEVER would, but run with me on this) I would just tattoo a little mouth under it and make a smiley face. How cute would that be?
24. I would love to write a children's book someday. I just don't have a clue about what.
25. Daffodils are my favorite flower and when our garden blooms, my children bring me handfuls of them! :)

TA DA!!!! Wow, that was harder than I thought!

It is now almost midnight and I have successfully procrastinated going to bed for several hours. I should probably think about heading there now and see if I can think of some more random stuff to share with you all.....

One Simple Reason....

Yes, I am still alive-I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. There has been a lack of posts for one simple reason-barf. A couple weeks ago, all 3 kiddos had a HORRIBLE stomach flu-stuff coming out all over if you get my drift. Then to top it off, Sam had to be gone for a couple of days right in the middle of it-although I am pretty sure that he planned it that way to avoid the barfing! Actually that's not true and I shouldn't even joke about it. Sam is superdad anyway, and when there is barf involved, he is even better. Knock on wood, I haven't had to clean up barf off the floor yet. I honestly believe that God knows that I CANNOT handle barf, and Sam has always been home when the kids get sick. I can do the clothes and clean up the kids, but anything major makes me heave. Once again, I am reminded that God has given me the gift of someone who is strong where I am weak!

So, back to lack of posting...I can hear you saying that you understand sick kids=no time for blogging, but since all 3 of them were sick, I seriously got nothing done and then things were stacking, and Stacking and STACKING!!!!! You know those weeks where you wish there were about 4 of you and then maybe you could actually make a dent in the stuff that needs to be done? I have had a couple of those in row! :) However, I am happy to report that things are getting caught back up a little. Claire still can't tolerate any milk and very little to no milk products (pizza with no cheese anyone?) otherwise she gets terrible tummy aches and blow out diapers, but we are working on it. Her pediatrician says that's normal after being as sick as she was, and my little milkaholic is adjusting to soy milk for the time being.

My Elliegirl, not feeling so hot, barf bucket never far away

During my time of trial and barf, a friend sent me a hillarious "barf story" about her daughter and it made me laugh, which was EXACTLY what I needed. So, in honor of her and in honor of my lovely week, if you have a funny barf (or any illness) story (something funny or sweet that was said while sick, etc-I realize sickness in itself isn't funny), post it in my comments section or send me an e-mail and with your permission, maybe in the future when the flu is rampant again (or maybe when we all need a good laugh!) I will post them to remind us all that laughter really is a pretty great medicine!

BUSTED!

While Mommy was busy helping Ellie keep it in the bucket, Little Mr. Hooligan (who was definitely on the mend as you can see) manuvered a chair to where he could reach the M & Ms (a fav for both of them!) and would eat one, and share one with Little Miss Hooligan (not so much on the mend, but obviously enough to climb into that chair and snarf down candy!), and then repeat, and repeat, and repeat! When I came around the corner, they both shoved a whole handful in their mouth-they looked like chipmunks! They thought they were pretty clever!

Silver Lining: At least he was sharing.....

Have a wonderful (and barf free!) weekend! :)

Our Weekend to Remember!

Last weekend, Sam and I left the kiddos in the very capable hands of Grandma and Papa Brandt, and headed to Des Moines for a Family Life Marriage Conference called "A Weekend to Remember". I have confessed to Sam and will admit publicly now that deep in my heart, I was thinking that this would be a fun weekend away from home and Sam might learn a few things about how to be a better husband-to put it in their terms, I was bringing Sam there to fix him. Instead, God convicted ME and opened my eyes to so many truths that I wasn't living. If you would humor me, I would like to share with you a few of the things that I learned that I think will change my life:

1. I was created by God to be the perfect partner to my Sam. When God was creating me, He gave me gifts to compliment my husband and weaknesses where Sam is strong. The same holds true for Sam. We were created to compliment each other. Pretty awesome if you stop to think about it!

2. Expectations without communication leads to conflict! My husband is not a mind reader! :)

3. I need to reject our cultures pattern of 50/50 performance relationship, where I only do my part if I feel he is doing his. Very hard for me to do, but I am loving the results!

4. Sam and I have completely different communication styles-'nough said! :) However, one thing that I have been trying to take to heart is "Always respond to emotion with emotion, and fact with fact". They gave the example of a man commenting to his wife that they had gone over budget and his wife flies off the handle and starts crying about how he doesn't love her and is always yelling at her about money. That's responding to fact with emotion. FYI, it works well with Ellie too! :)

5. My priorities need to be in the Godly order of God, my husband, and then my kids.

There was so many other things that I'm not putting here, but it really was an awesome weekend. It was so much fun to spend time with Sam without all the distractions of home. We laughed more than we have in a long time, had plenty of time to talk, had a LOT of honest discussions, and even shed a few tears (ok, that was me...not Sam! :)). It was wonderful to be ME for a whole weekend. I adore my children, but sometimes it's hard to be someone's mommy all the time, and having a chance to have a break from it all was so nice. Sam was so great about the whole thing-I know this definitely wasn't his cup of tea, but he did it because he knew I wanted to. Sam is definitely my gift from God and I am so glad I had the opportunity to be reminded of it yet again. Love ya Babe! :)

What I Miss About Toddler MomLife - FamilyLife MomLife Today

I just read this and it brought tears to my eyes. It's so true and even though at times I do long for those things, I know this little stage goes by so fast and someday, I'm going to long for it again. Toddler Moms-this is a must read!
Love,
Tiff

What I Miss About Toddler MomLife - FamilyLife MomLife Today

Oh My Little Claire Bear

You know, God is showing me again that HIS plan is the best of all. This little peanut here is living proof of that. I think most people know that she was our little surprise baby (notice I didn't say mistake baby-she was NEVER that). She is definitely my most challenging child as well, but there are things about this little girl that I have come to admire. She is the most determined person I have ever met. If she really wants something (mostly toothbrushes out of the bathroom drawer) she will do whatever she can to get it. The SECOND she hears that bathroom door open she is there in a flash-you would be amazed at how fast this little person can move! And she has gotten in trouble so many times I lose track, but she knows what she wants and she is going to do whatever it takes to get it.

She is always observing and watching. She loves to watch her older sister and brother, and I'm sure right now in this pic, she is thinking "MAN, I wish I was out there with them!!"

Claire Bear is my little sweet tooth girl! Her second word, only after Daddy, is "cookie"! She adores her daddy and has a special little smile that she gives him that melts him to a big pile of daddiness. He would never admit it because he's too manly...ok, he probably would admit it. :) She usually gives him that "squishy face" smile when he's eating dessert, and he can't resist sharing! :)

"What? You talkin' to ME? I've just been kickin' it here with Pops...chillin' in my John Deere hat! I have NO idea how all those toothbrushes got out of there!"

And the girl can accesorize! She LOVES hats! Or if no hat can be found and a daddy is available for some assistance, tights work just as well! Seriously, she thought she was SOOOO funny with those on her head-it was hillarious.

And no matter how much grief she gives me (and it's A LOT, trust me!) she can ALWAYS make me smile. Her smile and her laughter are so contagious, that you would have to have a heart of stone to resist smiling along with her. And Lord knows, when it comes to that little sweetie, my heart is anything but stone.

Everybody's Right Where They're Supposed to Be

Daddy has been gone the last few days for work. He left for Texas on Sunday night and was supposed to come home last night and put Ellie in bed, but due to technical difficulties in Texas and fog in Cedar Rapids he had to stay last night too. Ellie really doesn't like it when her Daddy leaves. One night is tolerable, but the second night (and an unexpected one at that) seems to make her wierd. She doesn't go to bed very good and gets really tired. So, today was that second day! Luckily, we had planned to go play with Kaci and Seth at their grandparents house, so that fun diversion helped too. Then, to all of our great delight, Daddy's car was in the garage when we got home! We were all so glad to see him! Ellie of course crawled right up on Daddy's lap and out of the blue, she took a deep breath and said "Whew, everybody is right where they're supposed to be"! :) Sam and I looked at each other and I just smiled. My thoughts exactly Baby Girl, my thoughts exactly.