Full Fourth of July weekend!

We had a very full Fourth of July weekend!  We had plans every day.  The weather was kind of so-so.  The sun didn't shine and it wasn't overly warm for July, but at least we weren't sweating, right?!

Saturday we headed to my dad's.  The plan was to take the boat out on Lake Red Rock.  Mother Nature?  She thought rain was needed, so we were stuck inside.  My dad and Linda volunteered to take the kids to "Finding Dory," so Aaron and I got some peace and quiet.  Aaron took a nap, I worked on a couple of stories for the paper and watched a "Fixer Upper," marathon.  Excitement, I tell you. 

I did read a little bit, enjoyed a hot cup of coffee and my first strawberry short cake of the season while the kiddos were at the movie.  

 

Late afternoon the rain stopped and we were able to sit outside.  For supper, we just grilled hot dogs and made s'mores.  Also, please note the shirt my dad is wearing below.  Back to state in '98.  Haha.  I had to give him a hard time about wearing such a new shirt!

Jenna has been wrestling with a tooth for awhile.  I have been telling her she will lose it when she least expects it and sure enough, she did.  All it took was a bite into a hot dog. 

What you can't hear when you look at this picture of Blake is the John Phillip Sousa CD being played on my dad's speaker system.  That's right, Blake was directing his imaginary band while listening to "Stars and Stripes Forever." This kid LOVES bands.

We finished the night by sitting outside by the fire pit.  Jenna and I are kind of obsessed with the sky.  We love pretty clouds.  We love pretty sunrises and sunsets.  I spotted this and told Jenna we had to grab the camera and take a picture of this sky party.  Seriously, I'm in awe.  Absolutely no editing done to this photo.  Wow. 

  

 On Saturday we were invited out to our friend's house in the afternoon.  Despite the cooler temps, the kiddos (and daddy!)  got into their pool and went swimming.  You know kids, they don't care how cold it is!

To end the night we got into a very intense game of whiffle ball.  It started with the kids and then slowly more and more adults joined in.  It was so much fun!  I kept thinking - this is my childhood!  This is how you learn to play the game!  It was competitive and fun and I am sad to say I wasn't on the winning team, but it was a good workout. ;)

On the 4th of July we went to the Ames parade in the morning.  Being born and raised in Armstrong, Iowa means you have to go to a parade on the 4th.  Am I right?! 

Monday afternoon we headed home and Aaron got to work on the smoker.  He prepped the meat and got the coals and wood chips ready to smoke ribs and pork loin.  I'm not sure if you know this about my hubby, but he smokes the most delicious meat.  Seriously, his ribs are to die for!

We had a few people over to join us for supper and played bags and ladder golf.  I learned I cannot win at either. ;)  Don't be my partner, trust me on that.

      

We finished the night with a fire, s'mores (yes more of them!) and some sparklers. 

It wasn't quite dark yet when we did sparklers, but it had been an eventful three days and this mama was tired.

It was a good long holiday weekend.  Fourth of July is honestly one of my favorites.  I'm trying not to think about how the 4th is over and we're now on the backside of summer.  Nope.  I'm thinking about more time outside, more ice cream, more nights by the fire, more family time.  More FUN!

Fri-YAYS!

I thought I would post some good stuff that happened at our house this week.  I'm calling them Fri-YAYS!  It was a busy, crazy week, but there was good stuff too.  Here goes:

1. Aaron finished up his three week long/three days per week classes at UNI.  He had to be up in Cedar Falls by 7:15 AM and was there until 12:30 PM.  It was especially tough because he was juggling travel and homework and getting home from umpiring at 11 PM at night.  Lack of sleep, much?!  He is officially done with the trek.  Now, he just gets to take online classes and can stay put!  Yay for more time with dad! :)

2. I finished this book, "The Rumor."  It was a fast read and I highly recommend it.  Are you from a small town?  Do you know how quickly rumors can spread (albeit incorrectly a lot of the time)?  You will appreciate this book.

3.  Jenna won two county ball tournament games this week!  We play again July 5th.  I love getting to coach and get to know and teach these girls a sport I love.  Hopefully Miss Jenna can keep pitching the way that she has.  Her hard work is paying off. :)

4. Children of the 90s, you will thank me for this.  My favorite station to listen to on Pandora is Summer Hits of the 90s.  I love listening to songs that take me back to middle and high school.  Who doesn't need a little Matchbox 20 or Hootie and the Blowfish every now and again?!  You're welcome.

5. Yay for summer and all of its laid back glory.  I love it.  I love eating late and scrounging something together.  I love having living room or outside picnics.  The other nite we got home from Jenna's game, made frozen pizza and laughed a ton while watching, "The Middle."  BONUS:  Blake ate two whole pieces of pizza and didn't spit out a single bite!  PROGRESS. 

6. Speaking of Blake, he had labs today and all the labs we've gotten back so far were all within range.  Praise the Lord for that good news to kick-off our long weekend!  I love that kid and I love that rock star kidney of his.

We have a busy weekend planned and are looking forward to spending time with family and friends.  I hope you all have a great, long holiday weekend too!

Rose Festival 2016

The last week or two I have found myself thinking, I should blog about that! Or, I should write that down and do a blog about it. So tonite, I'm finally sitting down with my feet up with the whole fam damily and we are watching the Olympic trials for swimming and here I am.  Actually (surprisingly) getting back to the blog.

The third weekend in June is always our town's big festival, called Rose Festival.  It starts on Thursday and runs through Sunday.  We live in the Rose Capital of Iowa in case you didn't know. :)  It's a busy, busy time for me especially working at the paper, so Grandma and Grandpa Burdorf are always nice enough to come down and help out.

Thursday nite you could go uptown and eat pizza, get a root beer float and decorate the sidewalks with sidewalk chalk for the weekend.  Oh!  And you were supposed to ride your bike uptown too - motorcycle or the kind you pedal.  I thought the sidewalk chalk idea was so neat.  It didn't rain so the sidewalks stayed decorated for the duration.

 They had tons of stuff going on, from the Rose Queen pageant (yes, that's a thing here and a big deal to be the Rose Queen).  I always have to take photos for the paper and I'm always a nervous wreck for the girls.

Bowen loved the petting zoo too. Not pictured, the creepy llamas....

 Saturday morning means the Rose Festival 5K!  Aaron has been in charge of it for the Athletic Boosters for the past four or five years.  The kids and I, along with Grandma Linda, man the water station and the kids make cute/funny signs for the runners/walkers.  Grandpa Frank also had to help man a corner to stop traffic. 

 The four kiddos were asked to be on our church's float during the parade.  It was SO weird to not have the kids with us during the parade!  There were something like 140 entries, so the kids did catch the end of the parade and we still got way too much candy in that short amount of time.

 Put this in the top five things that our family loves.  The Rose Festival board started this last year- they bring in the mascots from the state's universities.  I know, sooooo cool!  Here's our outcast child.  He stands alone and puts up with all the crap his siblings throw at him.  And, let me tell you, it's A LOT.

 The three smartest children I have. Haha.  Kidding Bowen, kidding.

 And, because Aaron is finishing up his master's at UNI, he needed a picture too. :)

They had little trains that the kids could drive and I'm pretty sure the boys could have stayed there all day.  They thought that was pretty neat.

 In the past, a carnival has been on Main Street, but this year, they had a ton of inflatables, mini golf, laser tag and more.  Blake was about two inches too short for the big trikes.

 

 Sunday wraps-up with another family favorite, the water ball fights.  We have always watched, but never participated.  This year, the kids joined in the fun.  They were divided into different age groups. 

 Blake and Bowen

 Brody, the thinker, with his goggles so he could actually see something.

 Jenna, not so much...

 And then this happened.  My friend came over and asked if I'd "be the fourth" for their team in the women's division.  NONE of us had ever done it before.  We went up against actual firefighters in the first round and we got beat quickly. 

 The second round lasted a little bit longer, but we still lost.  It was still a ton of fun and I'm glad I did it!

 And, last but not least, I have to bring this up.  Five, yes FIVE, years ago this Rose Festival was when we got to bring Blakers home from the hospital for the very first time after a very long 70 day stay. We got home from the hospital and loaded up the twins and went uptown. That was the first nite we had to hook-up Blake to his dialysis machine on our own.  We were nervous wrecks!

 Don't those turkeys look so much alike?!  Blake is on the left and Bowen on the right.  The funny thing is I didn't even think they looked alike when they were born.  Ha! 

 

Every year, I take a picture of the boys because Rose Festival is so special to us!

The way I see it....

 Being a Mom

Mother’s Day is Sunday.  Have you thought about it?  Have something planned?  I was just thinking about what to get my mom yesterday.  I’m always very last minute though.  I try to be better about planning, but it never happens.  

What can you say about your mom?  What can you say about being a mom?  It’s hard and awesome all at the same time.  When you think about everything you do as a mom, it kind of overwhelms you.  We do all the things, as I like to say.

You know what I think is a really crappy thing this day and age when it comes to being a mom?  Pinterest.  Social media in general.  You go on there and if you’re like me, you browse things and then tend to finish up feeling less than adequate. I don’t do super cute crafts.  I don’t cut their sandwiches into cute shapes, like hearts or dinosaurs for their lunches.  I just don’t have the time or ambition at this stage of the game.

Me?  I’m thrilled my kids and I made it through another day.  Honestly?  Some days I have to do my mental check list on when the last time my kids took a shower.  Was it yesterday or two days ago?!

 

Sometimes, when we’re really busy with ball practices, I’ll make a crockput full of chicken for tacos and nachos at the beginning of the week.  It’s been overheard at my house being said, “Are we having chicken nachos again?”  I smile and respond that they aren’t starving so they will eat it because it’s 7:30 PM and I have no other plan.  

Even though some days are easier than others, isn’t it safe to say that we are all unique in our own way?  Me?  I’m not a dance mom. I could never be one, it’s not my thing.  I’m not a mom that’s going to teach my kids to sew or knit.  These are not bad things, they just aren’t my things.

Me?  I’m all about cooking and baking with my kids.  I like to rock out to crazy music and have dance parties in the kitchen.  I can teach them how to throw a baseball or softball or teach them post moves in basketball.  I love being outside with them and going on nature walks.  

I  think we put so much pressure on ourselves as moms to do it all and be everything to everybody and it’s just not possible.  It’s ok that I can’t sew.  It’s ok that you despise baseball.  We are who we are.  It doesn’t make one of us better than the other.

We are moms, who are continually thinking that we are are screwing our kids up every single day (or maybe that’s just me?).  That we are being too easy on them.  Too hard on them.  Expecting too much.  Expecting too little.  

The best thing about being a mom?  Our kids love us.  They do.  Even when they roll their eyes or stomp up the stairs or act like you’ve asked the world of them when you want them unload the dryer.  So all you moms out there, keep doing the best you can.  That’s all you can do and your kids will love you for that reason and that reason alone.

 I know I always share this quote around Mother’s Day, but it’s my favorite and a great reminder.  “There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to 

be a good one.” 

 Happy, Happy Mother’s Day to all you mamas out there, but that’s just the way I see it. 

Recovery mode

We are in recovery mode this week at our house.  Last week was no fun at all. 

At the beginning of the week, I got a call from school that Bowen's lymph nodes were huge.  I picked him up, did a double-take because they WERE huge and called the doctor right away.  We were able to be squeezed in at 4 PM in Ames and the doctor then did a double-take at how big his neck was.

Long story short - positive for strep AND mono.  Now, this would be not awesome under any circumstances, but when you have an immuno-suppressed child, YIKES.  Keeping Blake as healthy as can be is a chore.  He doesn't get it and gets in Bowen's face and wants to take a bite of things he's eating and there I am freaking out like a crazy person - "Put that down right now!!! You're going to get sick!"

Bowen was home the rest of the week and the boys' birthdays were on Friday.  Friday morning about 2 AM Blake woke us up with a, "My belly hurts!"  That was followed up with some throwing up and rubbing his back while he puked in a bowl.  Good times.

Friday was miserable. Blake kept saying his belly hurt and had a hard time keeping anything down.  It's scary because he can't get dehydrated because that kidney needs to stay happy.  Blake just wanted to cuddle.  Both boys wanted to sleep.  I felt so terrible they turned the big five and there they were....sick.  I told them they got a redo.

Tuesday morning I took Jenna and Brody in for check-ups since they hadn't been for awhile.  I asked Dr. Nau to take a quick peak at Blake's eyes and sure enough - pink eye.  I was like, seriously?!

So, more medicine and another trip to the pharmacy.

**Knock on wood**  Things seem to be on the up and up.  That's a hard thing about big families.  If one person is sick, it's hard to keep it away from everybody else.

I'm praying the sunshine and fresh air works its magic and we can be done with this.  I am thankful though because we did have a very good winter with staying healthy!

Brody's debut!

Brody FINALLY got to make his first pitching debut last Sunday.  He's been waiting for this day for awhile.  Previously, he has only played t-ball and Sunday was the real deal.  No coach pitch, entirely player pitch.  That's kind of a lot in second grade I think, but we just roll with the rules.  

Brody, as my mom would say, was like a fart on a hot tin skillet Sunday morning.  He had his uniform, belt and all the things laying out for over a week.  This kid loves, loves, loves baseball.  

Aaron, I mean Coach Dad, let the kids pitch an inning at a time.  Brody pitched second in the first game and in typical fashion, I was a nervous wreck.  What is it about your child pitching that makes your stomach do flip-flops?!  I'm the same way with Jenna.  

Anyway, Brody did ok the first game and found his control even better the second game.  After the game I told him I was proud of him and the kid was just smiling from ear to ear!

I was able to get some pictures of his very first go-around.  

We'll just keep working at it and I'll keep my fingers crossed he keeps lovin' it!