alphabitty moments - the letter N

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments where we stop and remember the little things of childhood! These are not the milestones or the well documented events like holidays or birthdays, but the every day things, events, and emotions that might be forgotten as our kid's interests and abilities develop.

This week I'm on the letter N, though I know we got off track there for a while so link up whatever day you are on or if you want to jump on board in the middle of the alphabet you are welcome to! When we get to the end of the alphabet I always start over again!

This time around N is for:



Both of the kids love the outdoors and all God's creatures. Sam is especially observant and shows no fear in picking up frogs, worms, butterflies, bugs, and whatever else he can find.
This wasn't the first time he brought home a turtle. The first one he named Yertle. This one he named Brianna.

What N moment do YOU want to remember?

fun in the sun

UPDATE FROM THE BEACH…

IT IS SO WINDY HERE THAT JULIA CANNOT KEEP HER SUN HAT ON. GOOD THING I KEEP SUNSCEEN IN THE SWIM BAG. YOU SEE, I AM NOT ANTI SUNSCREEN. I AM FOR PROTECTING KIDS. ONE OF THE WAYS OUR FAMILY CHOOSES TO PROTECT OUR KIDS BY MAKING SURE THAT THE PRODUCTS WE PUT ON AND IN OUR KIDS ARE DOING MORE GOOD THAN HARM.

JEN ADDED A GREAT LINK IN HER COMMENT ON THIS POST OF A PLACE TO CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR SUNSCREEN IS SAFE. WE WAIT ALL WINTER LONG TO SOAK UP SOME NATURAL VITAMIN D, SOMETHING CONVENTIONAL SUNSCREENS BLOCK. IF YOU HAVE FOUND A GREAT SITE THAT PROVIDES GOOD INFO ON SUNSCREEN PLEASE SHARE!

AND NOW I AM GOING TO GO JOIN MY KIDDOS IN A SEARCH FOR THE MISSING TORPEDO!

We've spent the last couple of Sundays at the beach. It's not even Memorial Day yet! It's always more fun when friends come over to splash in our lake and at the rate we're going, Sam and Julia are going to be as blonde as Brianna by the end of summer!






We do use sun hats during the dangerous parts of the day (11-3) but avoid sunscreen and it's harmful ingredients as much as possible. The kids start off the season with very fair skin but we slowly build up to longer stretches in the sun as they tan. I'm not saying I won't use sunscreen ever again - typically I only pull it out early on in the season when they will be exposed for longer than 1 hour between 11-3.


What methods do you use for sun protection?

What are winters made of?

What are your winters made of? (If you do a post about it will you come back and let me know? I may be 375 posts behind in my Google Reader, but I can make time to click over from a comment.)

Wordless Wednesday - Best Buds

They go way back....as far back as a five and four year old can...

Alphabitty Moments - The Letter B

Welcome to round two of Alphabitty Moments! I created this carnival as a way to record the little things my kids do. The special occasions get enough attention in photographs, blog posts, and storytelling. These keepsake book pages are meant to take a closer look at the ordinary and every day moments of childhood. Some day we will look back on all the little things and realize they were really the big things.

For more information on the roots of Alphabitty Moments click here. As far as participating, it's pretty simple: Each week (usually Thursdays) post a word that begins with the letter of the week and a corresponding photograph. (creating scrapbook pages is optional. I used Blurb.com for the last book, but am using mixbook.com for this round.

Need more inspiration? This link will take you through all my posts from our previous trip through the alphabet. One thing I'm going to do differently with my mixbook is to do one letter on one page instead of a two page spread. It will save me money and it will encourage me to create pages that are a bit more cohesive.

Julia's page:
This week, B is for Beauty shop. When Julia says it it's more like bouy shop, but that makes it all that much cuter. I sit on the floor with a towel wrapped around my shoulders and she works her magic with bows, a squirt bottle and a (sharp) comb. It brings back memories of combing my dad's hair when I was a kid with a little black comb that I would stick in the a cup of water to get wet. I wonder how many times I stabbed him over the years! Getting poked with the comb every once in a while is WAY better than getting water sprayed in my ears. Not that I would know.

Today was the first day of school for Sam and therefore the first day of mother/daughter bonding time. I can't think of any other way that I'd like to spend the morning with my daughter.

Sam's page:
Off and on for the past three years Brianna has been coming to our house while her parents were at work and/or school. She is a huge part of Sam and Julia's childhood. I know this book is about the little things, but I can't help but record this very special friendship Sam shares with his friend Bea. I want Sam to be able to look back years from now and see how little he was when his friendship with Brianna began.
Now it's your turn...What little moment do you want to remember for the letter B?



And now for the winner of the prize from last week.....the random number generator chose one of the tweets that went out mentioning #alphabittymoments. Congratulations go out to Mommy Bear over at the Bear Bunch. Rather fitting don't ya think? Mommy Bear would you leave me comment telling me which letters would be appropriate for you family so I can send you a special alphabet related prize?

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It's 6:30pm. Do you know where your kids are?

Mine are in bed. Sound asleep.

We are deep in the trenches of cutting out naps and it's rough going. Usually a skipped nap, an early morning, or a middle of the night waking is enough to throw them off, but lately, we've been hit with a triple whammy.

They're exhausted. I'm exhausted.

We'll get through it.

Today my coping mechanism of choice was to take them to the beach. I know this probably doesn't work for many people due to the ramifications of having to bring extremely overtired children home from the beach and all that that process entails, but for us, it works like a charm - especially when friends join us.

Bea, Sam, and Julia wore themselves out tonight while the adults and Caden sat and chatted in the grass.

The 30 second drive home was over before we kneew it and once I manage to get the kids into their PJ's they were asleep before I can figure out where I set my cell phone down. I logged onto my computer to read my emails, check in with twitter, and send out a tweet myself. It was going to say something like this: "It's 6:30pm and BOTH my kids are ASLEEP....blah blah blah....

I haven't had time to blog very much in the past few weeks and I'm sad that some of our family memories won't be recorded like they usually are. Don't get me wrong, I like twitter. I like the challenge of getting my point across in a mere 140 characters. But unless I plan to print out my tweets, I need to take a minute every once in a while and write about life in Bear Country.

I find it ironic that I'm gone for days on end and I come back to find new readers. (Welcome!) I'm usually not such a slacker. I hope you'll stick around long enough to give me a chance to show you some of the pictures I've been taking recently. There are 1,000 of them. (Hence the reason I don't have time to blog.) Between wedding albums (Hi Carrie B!) photo shoots, park stuff, and well....LIFE. I'm finding it harder and harder to find time to blog.

For the first time ever the kids will be in school at the same time so in mid-September I will have two whole hours to myself one day a week. My plan is to walk the trails in my old neighborhood and blog my heart out in a coffee shop. ME time - guilt free!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited? :)

So when a new post drought hits next go on over to the Forest Forum (left side bar) and see what's everyone is talking about there. Feel free to start a topic of your own too! Don't forget to comment under the meet and great thread in order to be entered in the cookbook drawing!

I have apples that need to be peeled before the spoil and a sneak peak to post from Friday's photo shoot.....Happy Monday Everyone!

Alphabitty Moments - the letter X

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments! If you are new to this fun carnival you can click on the logo to the left for more details. (In 4 weeks we'll be back at the letter A and would love to have you join us!)

This week I chose eXtra kids for my X word(s) because while I don't run a daycare anymore, my kids will always be impacted by the three years that I did or at least I think they will based on that birth order book I read once. You see, Sam came to work with me from the time he was 4 weeks old. I watched my two cousins for 50 hours a week. That made Sam the youngest of three as Elsie was 5 when he was born and Porter was 2.

Then I started watching Brianna in our home when she was 3 months old. Sam was the oldest of two until Julia was born. Three months later, Grant joined our crew and Sam became the oldest of 4 and Julia had a twin 4 days a week. (Grant is 3 days younger than Julia.) Two years later I started watching Caden, giving Julia a chance to be older than someone.

Would I have prefered to stay home with just my two kids? Of course, but this was the best option for us and I'd like to think that Sam and Julia are more laid back and flexible because of the varied dynamics of our home those early years. PapaBear has been friends with Brianna and Caden's dad since childhood and we are grateful that second generation friendships have been cemented early on.


I'm looking forward to seeing the creative X words you all come up with this week! It was a HARD letter for me!

I Heart Faces - My friend and I

When I saw the category for this week's I Heart Faces contest I knew right away which picture I would enter. I've taken a few of these over the years. I've been babysitting Brianna off and on since she was 3 months old so she and my Sam are the best of friends. In January I did a couple of photo sessions for Brianna and her baby brother, Caden and when Sam wanted his picture taken with Bea, I wasn't going to argue. I'm looking forward to when Julia and Caden can play together as well as the two older ones. Right now, Julia is odd man out and has been struggling to find her place in the group.

To see more entries click on the button below...

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Random picture challenge #3

This week Brittany picked:
February 2009 - first photo of something other than my kids...

So who's piggies are these?


They are Brianna's painted piggies. I've been babysitting Bea off and on since she was three months old and recently started watching her baby brother, Caden.
I've yet to paint Julia's nails so it was fun for me to photograph Brianna's.

Head over to 4 Little Men & Girly Twins to see other entries and to join in yourself...

"Dust Angels"

I should probably be insulted at PapaBear's name for what the kids were making last Monday, but I couldn't help but laugh.
Sad thing is that it was an accurate statement.

This little piggy...

...went to market.



These little piggies stayed home.


All these little piggies ate roast beef,


and these little piggies had none.


And these little piggies cried, "wee, wee, wee"


all the way home.

TGIF

We went to the Children's Museum today because our membership expires at the end of the month. There were many reasons we should have stayed home...save gas money, spend time job searching, I could get some design work done... but getting in free (except for $9 for parking and $5 at McDonald's) was too hard to pass up when it costs $40 (with parking, admission, and a snack) for our family to go without a membership.

We made the most of it by arriving at 10am and not leaving until 5:30pm. Now to make up for it, I'm saving time by posting a couple pictures from our visit the day Stellan was born instead of taking the time to upload todays images. The kids enjoyed the same things today as last time so not much has changed.





Now if you'll excuse me while I take some cold medicine, get to work on editing portraits of these cuties, send off some sample book layouts, upload 500 photos from a client's Picasa Web album, and continue the final edits of a 235 page Blurb book...


Have a great weekend everyone and if you haven't weighed in on my last post, feel free! It's great to hear from you.

Wordless Wednesday - Photographer for hire

I swear I had this picture picked out before PapaBear called me a few minutes ago to tell me that he lost his job. Tomorrow is his last day. Even if they hadn't laid off all the temps, the plant is going to three days a week which wouldn't be enough hours to support our family.

I'm pretty shell shocked at the moment, but when the reality sinks in, we'll be clinging to these verses from Philippians 4:6-7, 11-13:

Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus....Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strenght I need.

Baby Boom

The October baby boom is in full swing:
Brianna has a new baby brother named Caden Scott. (October 14th)


My best friend from high school is due with her third girl today.
Heather missed an October birthday for her son, Isaac, by one day.
Joy and Chris had a baby girl, Evie late in September.
Stellan will join the ranks next week.
No wonder baby fever is hitting me hard right now!

There's reason to celebrate

Our families came over this weekend to spend some time enjoying the beautiful Fall colors and to celebrate October birthdays. Kara's birthday is today, my mom's is the 26th, and it feels like Sam and Julia have been celebrating their birthdays all month.

My other sister, Katie, is holding Lily. Look how big she's gotten!

For $8 I was able to create a theme for the parties using crayon candles, colored sprinkles, balloons anchored with boxes of crayons, and if the kids ran out of things to do I was going to roll out craft paper so they could color in the garage. That never happened though. They were happy to either run around or play with Sam's new race car toys.

The kids took turns blowing out candles on the cake.



The balloons were a hit - especially when the kids were allowed to run around the yard with them.



It was two days of fun, family, and friends. Sam found the perfect way to end the weekend was to lounge in his new hammock


and roast marshmallows over the fire.


We had another reason to celebrate. This is the very last camper pulling out of the campground for the year. We'll now enjoy some quiet time before the snow flies and the cross country ski season begins.

Bye bye Bea

While Brianna's dad is off for the summer and while we acclimate to being on call 24/7 at the park we live in, Bea won't be coming to our house on Tuesdays and Wednesdays like she has been for the past (I can't remember the number) months.
We'll miss her sweet disposition, her chattering, the excuse to have six baby dolls in the house, her pigtails, her dancing, and most of all the ease in which she fit in with Sam and Julia.

As if...

...I didn't have enough on my plate this morning caring for three children while suffering from a terrible head cold after a fitful night sleep on the couch (Brian's sick too and snoring liking a bear.) Anyway, as if I didn't have enough to deal with, I decided at the last second to open my garage sale a day early all on my own. The rumor is that snow is on its way for Friday. S.N.O.W! For Pete's sake!!! Today it was sunny and 77 - perfect for selling stuff even if I had to keep an eye on the munchkins at the same time. Brianna's dad arrived in time for me to feed the kids lunch and put everyone down for naps. Then he and I rearranged everything so it will fit in the garage. I am sooo thankful we sold enough last weekend that things fit good this week.
As tired as I am tonight after a really long day, I'm excited for the bargains I'll find when I do a little shopping of my own first thing in the morning. I did a little shopping already and scored a dryer for the new house, some bar stools for the kitchen, and 4 pair of pants for Sam. I love garage sale season!

M.I.A

The Easter Bunny may be missing from these photos but you only need to look at Sam to know exactly where he's standing.



Julia much preferred the stuffed variety anyway.


It doesn't get much sweeter than this.


Bea and Sam continued to hold hands in line at Dairy Queen.



A sight I won't soon forget.