Busy Summer

Hey all!

I cannot believe that it has been almost TWO months since I last posted on my blog. But I can tell you that life has been very busy since I last wrote. :) Why is it that at the beginning of every single summer I have such grandiose plans of relaxation, projects, and get-togethers and that every single summer I come to about this point in August and realize that I haven't gotten through many of my plans? Perhaps others face this same issue. And really, if that's my biggest worry of the day, I'm doing okay. I love summer! I love being outside with my family, enjoying fresh air and sunshine while trying to avoid the bees who seem to seek me out since I'm allergic to them. (Note: I finally got an E_pi- P_en this past year after knowing for 13 years that I was allergic to bees...so at least I have it on my person at all times in case of emergency!) We enjoy taking walks every night after supper in our neighborhood where we have nice trails and parks. It is really a blessing to have green grass and playgrounds to play on. There are so many places in the world that do not have this luxury, and we are grateful. I also love grilling in the summer. Now, this summer we haven't done very much grilling...not sure why, but it just hasn't happened a whole lot. So, intend to change that up this weekend with grilling some chicken and having salad along with it! Sounds yummy to me. And in our house, every day after lunch is a HUGE event for Bug who likes to go out and meet "Miss Mary," our mail delivery lady. We just met Miss Mary a few months ago when we happened to be outside one day as she brought our mail to the box. As we started visiting with her, she offered Bug a sucker from a little box she keeps in the mail truck. So of course, now Bug has to go out and meet Miss Mary every day to get her sucker. There are many days that we don't connect out there, but when we do, it's fun. I told Bug that we need to be nice to Miss Mary and just be her friend too, and that we shouldn't always expect to receive a sucker from her.

(This post is really random...just lots on my mind today...)

We took a LOVELY one week vacation in Do_or Cou_nty, W_is_consin at the end of July, and it was such a nice reprieve. I was sick for most of our vacation, but still was able to enjoy a good time with my family! We stayed in the town of Si_ster B_ay, and loved the condo that we rented. Some of our highlights included going swimming at the Nic_olet B_ay B_each in Pen-insula St_ate Pa_rk, hearing live concerts in the local towns at night (including one by a girl I grew up with), eating cherry pie, walking through a cherry orchard, attending the fish boil at the Vi_king G_rill, playing at different playgrounds and going for walks with the kids around the little towns, and watching the skunks roaming about underneath and around the deck at our condo. Yes, that's right, we had SKUNKS living under our deck!!!!! Crazy! There was a family of nine skunks and thankfully, a man brought some live traps and captured the skunks. This went on for several days, so the guy had to keep coming back to get the captured skunks and set up the trap for the next victim...yes, he had to euth_anize them because of state law, in case they were rabid. It was kind of sad, but apparently skunks are the highest carriers of rabies. Ew. Poor, cute skunkies. They really were cute. Bug and Buzz really loved seeing the skunks roaming about, through the window. Truly, it was a nice vacation, and we had such a good time together as a family. I'm so grateful that we could go away for awhile. It was refreshing for my soul. Erik and I had a good time visiting at night when the kids would go to sleep, and catching up on cable tv since we don't have that at home! We played cards one night too, and watched movies, and read books. It was great.

I'll try to post some pics soon...and tell more summer stories...

More pics...

Feel the Love!

Come on Buzz, let's tackle!

I LOVE my new hobby of climbing stairs!

Betcha can't catch me!

New Pictures of Kids!

Hey Ya'all! Here's some more recent pics of my two little darlins...Bug Girl has turned THREE!!! Her birthday was May 19. I'm hoping to post some pics of her fun Do_ra the Ex_plorer birthday parties. Buzz turns ONE next week, June 22nd! I can't believe how quickly they're growing. We're really enjoying being outside more lately. Buzz likes to ride in his little push car and Bug likes to draw on the sidewalk with chalk, as well as blow bubbles. And if I let him, Buzz will eat ANYTHING he finds on the ground. GROSS! The other night he was so sick from eating leaves and such that he threw up right before I put him to sleep. Poor kid! I hope he learns soon not to eat extraneous junk. Bug is really patient for the most part, and today she sat in the office with me while I was working on paper work and making appointments. She was working with stickers and pom poms and gluing them all to paper. Fun times!

I'm off to go make some dinner and wake up my kids...well, Bug never did nap today. Little stinker! But Buzz is sound asleep. He's such a good napper for me! Knock on wood, right? I hope he stays that way!

April Rose

Well, I was following a story about a little baby named April Rose and her mommy "B," only to find out a few days ago that the story was fake. Disappointing. Here's the news article about the girl who wrote the story on her blog. It's so sad, really. I'm praying for B and hoping that the Lord will heal her spirit and help her to move forward.

Singermama is back!

Blogging has not been a priority for me lately - did ya notice? Honestly I haven't missed it all that much. I've been much more into Face_book, reading other people's blogs, and just life itself to take the time to blog on my own blog. But ya'all, I'm back! :) Here are my random thoughts...

I'm practicing voice again as I'm preparing to do a recital in October with a colleague of mine who plays French horn. I think it will be a ton of fun! Recitals are such incredible experiences...they take TONS of work and dedication to prepare for, but they are so rewarding to do! My plan is to resurrect some music that I've done in the past so that I don't have to learn everything from scratch. And the fact that I get to share the program with my friend will help a LOT! Much less work for me.

Recently, I reopened my Be_th Mo_ore online Bible study through Life_way.com. They have online Bible studies!!! SO fun! And they're great for busy mamas, because let's face it, we rarely have moments to ourselves. So the fact that I can do my study in segments that only last about 10 minutes at a time is VERY convenient! Hooray! The one I'm doing is titled "Liv_ing Beyond Your_self." I'm very inspired so far. When I was in grad. school in Texas, I had the privilege of attending Be_th Mo_ore's Sunday school class at Ho_uston's Fi_rst Ba_ptist Ch_urch. That was an incredible year and a half of my life, being at that church and in that class. The Lord used that time to help me grow and learn much about Him. When I moved back to MN, I greatly missed being at that church and in Beth's class, but I also felt like it was a good season in my life that I would always be grateful for. And since then, I've been able to listen to some cd's from the class and read some of her books, and that has been nice to. And I've been reminded that it is good to learn from other teachers too! The Lord has blessed MANY teachers of His Word out there, and I'm thankful that we can learn from them. Every now and then though, it is nice to have me some Beth time. :) She not only makes me laugh hysterically with her southern ways, but she also has incredible insights into the Lord's Word, and I feel like God has gifted her immensely.

On another note, we've been very busy around this house lately. Three of the four of us have had our birthdays in the last few weeks - Erik turned 40, I turned 32, Bug Girl turned 3, and then in two weeks my Buzzy Boy will turn 1! And Erik and I had our five year wedding anniversary. Hallelujah! We made it through five years! I'm looking forward to so many more with my love.

Bug's birthday was fun. She had two parties - one with family and one with little friends, but both had the D_ora the Ex_plorer theme. VERY fun! Bug loves D_ora, and often requests D_ora videos. We had Enchilada Casserole as our main dish and everyone loved it. There were two pinatas - one for each day, and the kids went nuts and had so much fun!

Erik was supposed to have a surprise party for his birthday, but due to a few different reasons, it ended up not being a surprise. In the end, that was okay though, because I really needed his help getting ready for the party. There were approximately 80 people there and it was a ton of tun! We held the party up at the park near our home, and people from all areas of Erik's life were there - family, college, and of course, BSF. He spent MANY years in BSF, both as an attendee and as a leader, so it was much fun for him to reconnect with his "peops."

We've had a lot of illness in our home the last several months...colds, pneumonia, flu...and I think we're finally over it. At least I hope so! I'm really glad that we can have a reprieve from the illness. People who deal with chronic illness or disease of any sort must have a hard time without reprieve...I cannot imagine.

I must go and rest while kiddos are napping...chicken, wild rice, carrots, cream of mushroom soup and homemade chicken broth are brewing away in the cr_ock pot for dinner. I can't wait!

Kayleigh...

I've been praying for a family with a sweet baby girl named Kayleigh. Baby Kayleigh went to be with Jesus today, and my heart aches for her family. Here's the link to her blog.

Postpartum Depression

Incredible blog that I JUST now learned about! I have struggled with postpartum depression, and I just wish that I had known about this blog when I was going through some very dark days. It was especially difficult for me following the birth of my daughter three years ago. I definitely went through it again with the second birth, ten months ago when my son was born, but I feel that I got better much more quickly. For me, exercise and having enough help were KEY KEY KEY aspects of getting well again quickly. If you or someone you know is struggling with PPD, PLEASE get help...and know that you're not alone!

Here's the link to the awesome blog about PPD.