Where have I been?

Where have I been?  Oh I have been busy.  Of course I have been doing my regular duties the cooking, the cleaning (which NEVER seems to end), the yard work (which I secretly love when I have time!), and trying to keep house from becoming a disaster area while trying to train for the 1/2 marathon this Saturday.  Nate really is my savior on days when I just want to stay in my pajamas and not clean a thing... which includes the dishes in the sink!  :-)  Here he is reading a story to the kids one night while mommy laid on the couch resting.  What a man I have!! 

I discovered why my laundry baskets are always overflowing.... little babies seem to find them as a playground. 

We were so lucky two weekends ago to be able to have my mom visit.  The kids anticipated her visit all week and counted down the days to see Grandma Judy.  She was able to see Bubba play in his flag football game on Sunday.   It was a bit chilly so mom, lil miss and I were only made it to half time before we watched from the car.  We were able to see though, that my running back son made his first touchdown!  Yeah, Bubba.  Nate was able to get it on video too!  Double Bonus.  I will share that soon even though the video is pretty shaky but you can see him run a route (or zig zag which I call it). 

We enjoyed the time with Grandma.  Lots of UNO games, tea parties, and cuddle time.  We can't wait to have her come again!!

Me and the girls have been spending days that we can outside in the yard.  I finished my garden last week adding an area for tomatoes, peppers, kohlrabi, basil, carrots, and onions.  I have only planted the kohlrabi and carrots but can't wait to plant the rest soon after the threat of frost is past.

I am lucky my girls love the outdoors and want to play outside in the backyard as mommy digs in the garden and pulls weeds. 

We've dusted off the kite and toy gator and they have gotten alot of use.  Lil Miss doesn't spend much time off the gator.  The older kids just drive her around the back yard avoiding major obstacles like the play set, Adirondack chairs and the occasional dog.  She just giggles the whole time.  She has only fallen off once when her crazy brother was at the wheel! 

I have spent much of my time lately collecting supplies for our next adventure.  Our dining room is filled with all the necessities for the camper.  Yes, the Schulte Family has purchased a "house on wheels".  Plan on seeing lots of posts this summer on our adventures camping around Iowa.  it will be quite the experience but Nate and I are both excited to share our love of the outdoors with the kids.  Campfires, hikes, recipes in the dutch oven... I can't wait. 

Besides the excitement of the camper last week, we also had a buzz of activity as we went to the eye Dr. and found out that both Gigi and Bubba needed glasses.  The whole experiences makes me tired just thinking of it.  First of all the kids HATE having their eyes dilated.  I was not aware of this until I was sitting there with an uncontrollable Gigi in my lap holding down her arms and legs so the tech could squeeze eye drops into her eyes.  Bubba was just as unnerved by the drops.  After waiting 20 minutes to have the drops work we were then told that the drops would have to be administered again because they didn't dilate the eye enough.  Bring on the tears and sobbing again!  We then wait our allotted time and get their eyes checked and take their prescriptions over to the glasses section to pick out some cute pairs of glasses.  Bubba all of sudden gets extremely tired and can hardly stand and starts to tell me that he is "blond".  I reassure him that he isn't "blond" he is bald.  But he insists.... "I'm blond, I'm blond!"  I finally translate this into he is BLIND.  The eye drops have made his vision so blurry that he can't see himself in the mirror to see how the different pairs look on him.  So mommy picks out his frames.  Gigi has big opinions on what she wants and picks out the cutest pair of frames with hearts on the sides and they are Purple AND Pink.  The transition to glasses has been easy for Gigi.  She keeps great care of her glasses and has them on most of the day.  At night she puts them on to read in bed because now that she has glasses she can read to mommy instead of the other way around.  :-)  Bubba on the other hand does a good job of wearing them when he remembers.  Typical Boy.  They sure do look adorable though.

 I also have been busy sewing away and creating more things.  I will be sure to post soon some projects that I have been working on.  I finished a dress for Lil Miss which she actually wore on Sunday and I am currently working on two quilts for the camper for the kid's room.  I am really enjoying the time on my sewing machine.  Who would have thought?  I know I have surprised Nate with my excitement over material and patterns.  But I guess, who knew.  Well, this busy mommy has a adventuresome toddler who insists on climbing out the open window in the office so I better go.  never a dull moment around here!