Haven in the Woods

Every so often we are invited up north to this wonderful piece of property owned by our friends parents. It's so nice to get out of the heat and somewhere a little cooler. The boys have a blast while we we are there. It is like a huge playground to them. It is so relaxing and I love stepping out of our trailer and inhaling the fresh air and pine tree smell! So great! There are endless things to do outside.

They have this swing...





There are pinecones to gather...



There is plenty of open grassy areas to play a game of wiffle ball...



A small pond for throwing rocks and catching glimpses of little water snakes...






Plenty of woods for an awesome hike with friends to an even bigger "pond"...





And this awesome "fort" out in the woods behind the cabins that the kids found and "worked" on all day...





And of course ample opportunities for me to have many spectacular photo shoots...







Ok so maybe they aren't super spectacular, but they are fun for me! And what better place to take pictures of my kiddos? Can you tell which two kids were the cooperative ones with mommy's photo shoots?? :)



With all these things to do there is one thing that is my absolute favorite...







I LOVE sitting around a campfire roasting hotdogs and marshmallows with my family and friends! I could sit all day and roast marshmallows, trying to get the perfect marshmallow that is warm and gooey all the way through but NOT burnt. I despise burnt marshmallows, how can you people eat them??

If we get bored of the outdoor activities (but seriously how could we) we can head to our trailer to relax, take a nap or the boys and I will play a fun game of Yahtzee, Uno, Phase 10 or 500 Rummy!

We are so blessed to have friends who enjoy our company enough to invite us with them to this haven in the woods. I always feel so relaxed when I am there, away from the worries and chaos of home, and in to the great outdoors with fresh air and pinecones and roasted marshmallows.

Inspiring

As I have started this blogging journey I find myself visiting blog after blog and being awed and inspired by what I find there. I love seeing what other people are doing and how they are living their lives. It's so fun to get a small glimpse in to their worlds.

I found this blog that I won't put a link to because I don't know the person. But she has truly inspired me. She is a mom of triplets who almost died after having them. Today she posted about being yourself, her blog title was "Be You". This really hit home with me as I lately seem to find that I am comparing myself to other moms or my family to other families.

She talks about another family whose small kids were so athletic and could do amazing things and were always ahead of what her kids were doing and she felt amazed at this Mom's ability to teach her kids. This mother said that this was her thing, she grew up being athletic and it was something she was good at teaching her kids. The mom of triplets said that teaching her kids athletically was not her thing at all but that she was gifted when it came to teaching her kids life lessons.

It made me remember that God has given each of us individual and special gifts and that NO ONE can do it all. I may not be the mom that homeschools, or makes a perfect meal every night or has a spotless house all the time but I am ok with that. I respect those women and I realize that their gifts are not better or worse than mine but just different than mine. I know my assumptions about other families are completely inaccurate sometimes. I will think to myself "She is the perfect mom, her kids are just perfectly well behaved" but then I spend some time with her and her kids and see for myself that those kids aren't so perfect and that they fight and whine and complain just like mine do! : ) It's then that I realize that Satan is using my insecurities to make me feel inferior and worthless and to envy others.

"Let's go ahead & be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't."
Romans 12:6 (The Message)

I love this..."lets be what we were made to be"....God has made us who we are and his design is unique for us. The awesome thing is that we all need each other and God has placed us in a community to inspire and compliment each other with the gifts and abilities He has given each of us.

I pray that I can learn to appreciate the gifts God has given others and that I can BE who I am without enviously or pridefully comparing to another.

Things I love

I love God. I love grass. I love ice cream. I love being a nurse. I love friends that are true. I love my kids. I love camping. I love sleeping. I love brownies. I love lazy days. I love Mountain Dew. I love taking pictures. I love that I'm loving cooking. I love homemade gifts. I love how my son mispronounces words. I love the feeling of getting out of debt. I love watching my kids do things they love. I love my mom. I love cherry cheesecake. I love finding a good deal. I love naps. I love a good steak. I love my family. I love the ocean. I love rain and it's fragrance. I love doing puzzles. I love spontaneous "I love you's" from my kids. I love the woods and the smell of pine trees. I love chocolate chip cookies. I love getting put on call from work and not getting called in. I love when all the laundry is done. I love playing games. I love girls nights out. I love yellow roses with orange tips. I love awesome co-workers. I love planting flowers. I love when I can keep the flowers I plant alive. I love thunderstorms. I love finding what I want is on sale. I love a clean house. I love the funny things kids say. I love kisses from my kids. I I love plants in the house. I love card games. I love my husband. I love that God continually loves me no matter what. I love my cousins. I love snuggling. I love sleeping in. I love roasting marshmallows. I love how God works in mysterious ways. I love being a mommy. I love swimming. I love getting real mail. I love cool days. I love laughing so hard I cry. I love reading. I love clean cool sheets. I love my sons long eyelashes. I love Sleepytime tea. I love when I am able to witness healing. I love that my husband is also a nurse. I love daisies. I love being called mama. I love feeling productive. I love a truly good movie. I love an empty checkout lane at the store. I love starry nights. I love you if you actually read all of this. : )

I'm singing in the rain

The Story of The "Anginator"

Many of you who know me well know that I have this nickname...



I was given this nickname many years ago when I was working as a youth leader for the youth group at our church. One of the other youth leaders came up with it. I'm not even sure who it was or exactly why I received this nickname (I don't think I was acting like the terminator, but I WAS spending most of my free time with junior high and high schoolers, so who knows) but it stuck, and I still have this nickname today mostly because of the license plate above!

This license plate was given to me by a friend for my 23rd birthday. This friend was very sneaky and even went to the MVD and arranged it all and paid the special fee and I got this in the mail and it has been on my vehicle ever since.

Some people think that "Anginator" has something to do with Nate and I as a couple. Probably due to this...



But we both had these nicknames all to ourselves long before we were even dating. But it is pretty cool that "Anginator" sounds like it combines both our names. Like Ang 'n' Nate(r). Get it? Well for those of you who wondered about the story of The Anginator....there you go!

First day of swim lessons

Derek had his first ever swimming lesson today. Well other than the lessons daddy and mommy have been trying to give him on our own while at the pool! But today he had official teachers and lifeguards to teach him. It was an entertaining morning watching all the little ones learn to swim.



Derek's friend Alek was also having swim lessons today. I tried to have them pose nicely in front of the pool to get a picture before lessons started but sometimes getting kids to sit still for a picture and smile is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole! They were both so excited they couldn't stand still.




Swim lessons went really well for Derek even though he was the smallest kid in his group and couldn't touch the bottom of the pool. However, he doesn't have a very long attention span so I was many times hearing his teachers say "Derek are you paying attention?". I thought at first he might be moved to a lower level of swimming class but he caught on and did what the teachers said and had a lot of fun. His main teacher was hilarious and really good with the kids!






Derek was disappointed when the lesson was over. He wanted to stay at the pool and swim. I tried to make him understand that he would be coming back every morning for the next week and a half!



Good job Derek, you will be a little swimming fish before long!

The Last 20

This year I decided to celebrate my birthday the day before my actual birthday. To celebrate the last day of my 20's. Well actually I did it because I was leaving out of town the morning of my birthday but it sounds more fun to say I did it on purpose. It was a fun night out with friends. Little man stayed the night at Grammy's house so Nate and I could have the night free to do whatever my heart desired.



We went to a yummy steakhouse in town that in my opinion has the best steak and baked potato ever! I love it! It worked out perfect for us because we also had just been given a gift card to this restaurant!



After dinner, because it was my birthday, I got to decide what we did for the rest of the night. Everyone had babysitters so we had the evening free. Much to the guys dismay we all went to see the movie Eclipse. I think they enjoyed it more than they let on, but of course they couldn't admit it to us! The girls had fun though, apart from the noisy kids and people who just couldn't stay in their seats. The seats were also very creaky because we went to the old theatre in town, so anytime someone moved or got up you would hear, creeeak, creeeak. It made for an entertaining movie experience for sure!



My friend Melanie made me a cherry cheesecake (one of my favorites!) for my birthday dessert so after the movie we all headed over to our place to dig in. It was very scrumptious! Doesn't it look yummy? Thanks Melanie, Rodney, Brian, Kristy and Nate for a wonderful "Last day of my 20's" celebration!

And thank you to the babysitters who took the kids for the night so the adults could go play!