Being a Mother

Years ago, soon after I had my first baby, Ethan's uncle asked me what surprised me most about being a mother.

I had to think about it.  With three older sibling who all had kids, I had had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Then I realized there was one thing I had not expected that had, indeed, surprised me.

I replied, "I'm surprised how much I like it."

I feel very blessed to be a mother.

Nehalem Bay State Park

We headed to the beach again this last weekend.  This time we went to Nehalem Bay State Park.

This is a great beach for playing in the sand.  The kids had a blast in the water and then had even more of a blast rolling, sliding, jumping, tumbling down sand dunes.

My Brain Is Where?

Apparently I need to do a school unit on the body.  Here's a recent conversation I had with Libby while I was putting her shoes on:

Libby (chanting): Your brain is your crotch.  Your crotch is your brain.  Your brain is your crotch.  Your crotch is your brain.

Me:  Stop it.  Why are you singing that?

Libby: Because it is!

Me:  Uh, no it's not.  Your brain is up in your head. 

Libby:  No!  Your brain is down here in your pee-pee parts! 

Me:  No, that's not true.

Libby:  IT'S REAL!

Then she ran off to play.  

I guess it's time to pull out the body book.

All the Handsome Boys

Conversation with Libby:

Libby: Mom, I said I like that boy and I'm going to marry him.

Me: What?  Which boy?

Libby:  The handsome boy.

Me: What handsome boy?  Where?  In a book?  On a show?  A boy you know?

Libby:  ALL the handsome boys!

Me: Yikes.

The teenage years with this girl could be scary.

It Makes Me Smile

It's been a while since I did one of these posts.  Here's what made me smile the week of April 28:

• Seeing Libby transform from one of my most difficult children to one of my best.  She has her moments, any incredibly passionate person does, but for the most part she is now very helpful and quick to obey.
• This conversation with Linkies:
• Me: Hey, Linkies . . .
• Lincoln: What?
• Me: I love you.
• Lincoln: I love the whole uniberse!
• Flowers for my anniversary.  It's been ten years!
• Watching as Heavenly Father answers prayers.
• Breakfast outside:

I Never Finish Anyth

I saw this on Pinterest:

Do you ever feel like that?  I do.  Often.  Do you ever get sick of feeling that way?  I do.  Often!

I have been overweight for almost nine years.  This is not my first attempt at losing weight and it makes me think, "I never finish anything!"

I've had successful moments before.  Over a year ago I lost 15 pounds.  But then I started gaining it back around the time Ethan graduated and was looking for work.  And not finding work.  The longer we went without work, the more I gained.  I gained twice what I had previously lost.  Clearly I am a stress eater.

In the past, anytime I would start to think about losing weight I would get nervous and even scared.  Why?  Because of that nasty "I never finish anything" attitude.  I even felt it when I started my most recent weight-loss journey last summer.  But I don't feel it any more.

What's different this time?

I think the biggest difference now, is that I am no longer afraid to make the sacrifices required to achieve the results I want.  I can do it now.  Yes, I still stumble.  I still make mistakes.  But that reminds me of another reason it's different this time:

This time, I recognize it is a journey, not a destination.  It is a way of life, not brief experience.

Mistakes happen, but that doesn't mean you give up.  You don't have to start over, just keep going.

I'm looking to make a life change, not just "diet" or only exercise until I reach my weigh-loss goal.  Despite the hiccups, I'm never starting again, because I'm never going to stop again.  This is it.

Getting fit may take me a while but that doesn't scare me, because I know that this time is different.  This time is for real.  This time I mean it.

I also saw this on Pinterest:

By the way, I've lost 12 pounds.

Eagle Fern Park

We were able to get out and about this last weekend.  We made our way to Eagle Fern Park where we walked over a suspension bridge, dipped our toes into the very cold Eagle Creek, tried our hand at trapping crayfish, and had a great time.

The kids loved feeling the bridge bounce as they went across.

Eagle Creek

Throwing rocks in the water - a favorite pass time.

We enjoyed walking through the beautiful forest.

Oregon countryside.

We are new to crawdad trapping and weren't having any luck.  Someone we bumped into on the trail suggested we head over to the Clackamas River, which we did.  It was getting late so we only left the trap in for 30 minutes.  We caught one little crawdad.  The kids were ecstatic.  Here's a picture of our small haul:

We've since learned that the best way to catch them is to leave the trap out over night.  Apparently those little crawdads tend to be more active during that time.  I guess that means we'll have to go camping to try again!