A Family Visit to The East Coast

The thing about most of your family living on the East Coast is that it's BIG vacation when you make it out there! We get to see SO many loved one all at once!

Motorhome living

The trips was divided into 3 legs. We flew across the US and rented a motorhome for 2 legs and stayed at family's house for the 3rd leg.

Flight on the way there.

 All 3 kids did great on the flights. We had a 2 hour layover, which had planned. We like the option to get out of the plane and let the kids run. It works great every time! I made the kids all kinds of little "to-dos." Capri slept most of the time in the air!

The many faces of Capri Renee.

The first leg was to my grandparents! We went to the Apple Cider Mill to see cinder and donuts being made! We watch bees making honey and played on an old tractor.

The next day we went to the Ben and Jerry's factory!
The picture with Heidi-Rae and my grandmother (her namesake) is so dear to my heart! My grandmother's name is Raelene. <3

My grandparents 50th wedding anniversary!
Look at the whole family!
And look at how in love they STILL are!!
Inspiring!

There is a fun creek and waterfall behind the place the party was. Jeremy was insisting on going swimming.
Bobby (what a great Daddy) went in with him. The water was FREEZING!!
Jeremy only jumped once! 

The 2nd leg was to see my dad and his family!

We went on a harbor cruise.
Its was beautiful! 

We went to see my cousin's wife and her girls.
My dad is a bus driver!
He took Jeremy on his route with him!
What a treat!

The 3rd leg was to see more family in Boston! We dropped the motorhome off, grabbed Gigi, and headed to Boston in a rented minivan! 

A beach day! Fun on a carousel!

Heading Home
One last Dunkin Donuts before heading West
Capri getting a ride
Our sweet friend were housesitting... They made a banner and dinner for us!
The kids were happy to be home, snuggling!
Capri sleeping on the plane!

Confessions of a "Crunchy" Mama

Daddy made capes out of the paper on the examine table while at the doctor's office.

A while back I wrote a post titled Confessions of a Mom of 3. Kids make things tough! Weather you have one or ten! They have a beautiful way of making life chaotic.
When people ask me, "How life is with 3 kids?'
I always answer, "Beautifully chaotic."
There are moments I dearly love it, would't change it a thing and I want to pull my hair out, all in the same breath!
Even when they are all peacefully sleeping (insert time stamp) there is a mile long list that keeps me busy! For instance, that pile of laundry glaring at me this very moment!

I try to be as "Crunchy" (<-- My husband's favorite # for me) as I can. But, Geez, it can make you go crazy! It seems like everything on Earth is bad for you or will cause cancer but don't even think about moving to Saturn because they are like 5x worse for your health and probably have some weird invasion of a super fly that will make frogs grow from your armpits.... with. no. cure!
That's exactly how your brain starts swimming if you read too much and believe it all! You head gets dizzy and you have to take a break from any "Granola" reading for awhile..... Does anyone else feel this way? (Thanks, Mama in the back that was up all night nursing, lays her head to go to sleep and the 3 year old starts throwing up! I heard you faintly say, "Amen." I knew I couldn't be alone in this!)

While I do my best, I let myself slide on quite a few, because, well, I need to keep my sanity!

**You are now entering a Judgement Free Zone!!(JFZ)***

1. I, occasionally, more often then not, indulge in Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I may or may not be sneaking bites as I type...... JFZ....
2. Most days I use a homemade deodorant. Some days, its JUST easier to put my Dove on. Some days, I don't have the extra 3 seconds to put my organic stuff on. Some days, I don't want to! 
3. Organic meat is too expensive at the stores. We have bought a pig and cow. But, aside from that, we eat regular meat. GASP
4. I have tried many, many different organic shampoo and conditioner combos .... None of them stand up to my chemically infused salon stuff. I like my hair to be dry (not greasy) for al least 2 days in a row. I don't have time to take a shower more often then that! Reference my first confessions post.... 5 days! Yuck!
5. Uncrustables are one of my favorite (sometimes, lifesaving) foods! They are so easy, convenient, and TASTY! 
6. We use Tylenol and Motrin to help fevers. Although. I've dabbled in Essential Oils, I loose patience for them to work when i am looking at how miserables my babies are and I just want them to feel better. In my mind, I know the meds will give them relief in 20 minutes, not usually the case for EOs. (At this point, I'd like to remind you of the JFZ)
7. We use disposable toilet paper, paper towels and tampons. . . The Earth hates us. 
8. We looooove Skippy Peanut Butter! Tried all the natural stuff ..... no bueno.
9. The kids eat off plastic plates and bowls. They are reusable and we do not microwave them... but we do...
10. We use the microwave. 
11. Wine.... do they even make organic wine? I'm sure they do. I have never searched it out. But I am quite happy with my favs that are not.

There you have it. The ugly side of a 1/2 and 1/2 Crunchy Mama. There is more that can be added to my list but the laundry is screaming at me by this point!

While I still have you, let's just keep the Judgment Free Zone going for, 

oh, I don't know....The rest of our lives! 

We need to support each other crunchy, granola, natural or not at all!

 

This photo is just too precious not to share! 

Praying for our school day.

Roadtrip to Arizona!

Heidi didn't get the 'funny face' memo.

We took a road trip to Arizona to visit a long time friend: Gimbo.
Rewind 15(ish) years ago:
Her family calls her all different names. . . Emily, Ashley, AshleyJane, AJ. I got confused. So, I came up with a random name to call her: Gimbo. She calls me Bobby. Then I married a Bobby! That got confusing! So, I am Bobby #1 and he is Bobby #2. . . .

Back to real time:
I haven't seen her in ages! She and her husband just moved back from Germany (he's in the Airforce.) And the are due to have their first baby in May! They bought a house that needs some work. Bobby has some skills in the construction department! It was such a great trip! We went to some great places while the guys worked! The nights we filled with fun games!

We got to celebrate the 27th week of pregnancy with them!

On the way, we met my sister and her kids at Chick-Fil-A. We had a fun visit with them.

Our first stop was a super cool kids museum! We had a blast! I mean, it was so much fun! There were things for all ages. . . Including adults!

Top Left: Large domino-type blocks. We made a domino line all the way around the room!
Top Right; Heidi-Rae climbing up the indoor slide
Middle Left: I love being a Mommy!
Middle Right: They had an entire room set up like a grocery store and house.
The kids really enjoying 'shopping' for dinner and taking it home to 'cook'!
Bottom Row: Playing on the indoor playground.

This was the "Hero" Room
A fire engine, ambulance and police bike to ride and play on

This was our favorite part!
There was air blowing through the tubes.
They had balls and scarves to put in at different places.
You could change the route it was taking by switching a door
and then it spit the ball or scarf out in different spots.
WAY COOL!

 We took a visit to a Framer's Market and a short hike up to the top of the "A."
4 adults, 3 kids and we FORGOT Jeremy's shoes! There was a store nearby that sold Moccasins! Red, no less! It was a fun adventure!

WE went to a nearby park and fed the ducks!

Every kids LOVES the swings!

The serious family photo!

Capri 3 Years Old

This little girl is a HAM! She loves to perform for everyone! She loves to be in a crowd/ Frozen is her favorite movie, right now. She loves to be silly and crack us up. Her compassion for other people astounds us. We love to watch her learn new things, she is intent on having a full understanding. A simple answer will not do, if she doesn't fully comprehend it. Our little sassy pants is learning how to control her sass. It's a delicate teaching time for us and her!

With turning 3 comes BIG things like

Going to the dentist

She loves to snuggle! She loves to read books, do school work, pretend play, ride her bike, drive her quad, and help with the chickens. She loves to eat, just about everything. She will try just about everything.

This girl has a the biggest heart! We are really enjoying watching her grow out of the toddler stage and into the preschool stage!

She 'Bedazzled' the fridge!

She found lipstick in Sierra's room.

Little Miss Accessorize found a piece of caution tape and used it as a belt!

Heidi-Rae 15 months

This girl keeps us on our feet! She loves to climb EVERYTHING!
We have had to curve her screaming!
She loves her Mommy! I may have a Mommy's girl for life (knock on wood.)
She loves every new sign we teach her. She is so excited to learn and use it! It's really fun to watch.
Little Miss loves to sing! Her favorite (because she has a bing sister) is Let it Go!
Daddy loves coffee. So does Heidi-Rae. With the other 2, I would have stopped it but, I don't have time! He only gives her a few little sips. And, what's more, he drinks it black! It's not even sweet!
Heidi can read emotions like no other baby I have seen. She watches the room, she watches people. She feels sadness when she sees someone sad, she is happy when she sees them laughing. It's amazing to watch!
She also, loves to nurse! We are down to about 4 times a day but I don't see her letting it go anytime soon! Which, warms my mommy heart!

I love knowing she is my last baby and getting to really absorb her growing up.

Bye, Bye 7 year itch

Everyone says, " Oh you are in the 7 year itch of marriage." What is that even supposed to mean? Well, we made it through! And can kiss that saying goodbye!

2007                                     2015

Each year one of us plans our anniversary getaway. We make our anniversary a big deal each year. Bobby plans the odd years, I plan the even years. One of the nights we get dressed up in our wedding attire and go out to a nice dinner! I love this tradition! This year, Bobby planned a night at Pachanga (local casino) and great dinner at the steakhouse. We spent the day together, just got to Pachanga and I realized I forgot to bring my breast pump! I was so upset! We changed our dinner reservations and drove home to get it. Thankfully, it was a quick turn around (it took about 1.5 hours). We made it in time to get checked in, ready and to dinner. While checking in, the woman upgraded us to a suite! IT was on a privileged floor that you needed the key in the elevator! It was posted in the room that they charged $3500 PER NIGHT!! It was so nice!
We had a great dinner, learned a few new card games and slept in! Oh yes, and had breakfast delivered in bed! It was some much needed time with each other!

Love this picture!
My fruity, pretty drink and girly ring!
Bobby's manly, stud drink and handsome ring!

I love marriage.
I love being married to my best friend.
I love the challenges we face, united as one.
I love the victories we get to celebrate.
I love missing you each and every night you works.
I love the struggles we walk through, side by side.
I love the family we have growing (much too fast).
I love the home we have made for our family.
I love the trials we lean on each other through.
I love YOU.
I thank God that you came into my life.
I thank God that you are a great father.
I thank God that you put my needs above your own.
I thank God that you work so hard to provide for our family.
I thank God that you accept your short comings and fix them.
I thank God that you listen to my opinion.
I thank God that you have a passion for marriage.
I thank God that you love me.
I thank God that you speak your mind.
I thank God for YOU!

Cheers to so many more years!

The final decision!

It's pretty much impossible to get all 3 looking AND smiling!
I've resolved to taking what I can get! 

That picture is our complete family, as of now. Unless God has a sense of humor or drops a baby that needs a home into our lap. Which you never know what He is up to! The possibility is not out of the question.

We made the final decision! It's in the best interest of our family for Bobby to get a vasectomy. The emotional, reality that I do not carry babies well, lead to it. Thankfully, all our children survived and so did I. But each pregnancy is getting harder and each baby tries to come earlier. So we may not be so blessed next time. It's hard to feel complete when we WANT to have more babies. But the WANT and NEED of our family are completely different.

We are focused on the 3 little cuties in that picture! We are going to make the best life for them with the goal of making them in to great adults that love God and other people.