WHY!!!

Why do grandparents have to get old? I was lucky enough to have great grandparents growing up. They were not just great, they made me who I am today. They taught me values, and to put God first in everything I do. They showed me what marriage and parenting is all about. I have always been closest to my Maw maw and Pa Paw (my Dad's parents). My Maw maw passed away I think in 2001 (I am really bad with dates, especially dates I don't like to remember). My Maw maw had the greastest impact on my life. She taught me how to cook, make clothes out of leaves, shuck corn, pick peas and on and on and on. The greatest things she taught me were how to be a woman that loves God, a godly wife and mother, and taking care of people who need it. She taught me how to be a strong woman, and I am so thankful for that. She also taught me how to play games like spinner, uno, and so on. What a great woman she was! The greatest gift she ever gave me, one of my greatest posessions to this day, Is a letter she wrote me when I was born. She wanted me to know her dreams for me in case she was not around to tell me herself. Thank God she was around to tell me and show me herself. I missed her on my wedding day, and I missed her when my kids were born, but I know 100% that I will be with her again one day.
All of this to say, my Paw paw is reaching the end as well. I am going to see him this weekend. It is hard watching him get older, but in a way I am happy for him. He was ready to go to Heaven the minute my maw maw did. He has not taken his wedding ring off and tells people that she was the only woman he will ever love. He is commited to her forever! What an amazing example of the word covenant! I feel lucky to have witnessed longevity in a marriage. Not to say they had a perfect marriage, but they did love each other very much, and it showed. My Paw paw is such an amazing man of God, and he wanted all of us to grow up to follow God. He wrote me a letter as well, and I will have it forever!! I remember getting so excited as a kid to go see them. My paw paw taught my brother and I how to farm, catch lizards, collect and make honey, shoot guns. Actually he would catch lots of animals for us, and he passed that down to my dad who would catch crazy animals for us. He would take us on rides on his four wheeler for hours. We would go exploring in the woods and he would show us different kinds of plants and catch bugs for us. He made us all kids of stuff out of wood in his workshop. The greatest times were going places in their moterhome. I thought it was the coolest thing ever to go in the moterhome. Oh he taught us how to fish, I mean my dad helped with that too :) Oh and he could tell us stories for hours, and the funny thing is most of them were very interesting! I can't wait to see him this weekend. The greatest thing for me to think about is the fact that my paw paw got to meet Mike and my kids, and when he sees my maw maw he can tell her all about them. They can create a huge farm in heaven together, and I can't wait to see them again!

Visitors!

My aunt, cousins, and cousins kids came to visit. I was a great time. My cousin has two little boys. Grant is a little older than Scarlett, but they had so much fun together, and Rhett is Owens age. My kids were worn out every evening!!! I think the best part was we got a girls night out, and we had a blast. The worst part was...THAT I DID NOT TAKE ONE PICTURE!!!!! what is wrong with me?! My mom said she took a bunch of pictures, so THANK GOD! I don't get to see these cousins very much, so we I do I must take advantage of picture time. We have great pictures of all of our kids together from a year and a half ago, but not this year. In my defense, I was planning on taking some pictures the last day they were here, but poor little Grant got sick, and was quarintined. Oh and Congrats to Amanda for making the long trip here with the boys!

4th of Ju-lizzle

Crazy Remunds watching fireworks.

I do not know what Owen is saying, but it looks funny!

Here are Scarlett and Owen aka ice smugglers! They kept eating the ice from the beverage bucket.

Owen likes to stand like an old man these days.

Pictures Galore!

Finally here are some pictures of our trip to California. I had to go through over 800 pictures, and finally I got it done, so I was able to post some of them.

Some new venting for you!

Last time I vented on here, I got such a good response, I thought I would try it again. We have owned River's Edge(our sandwich shop) for the past 4 1/2 years. Mike works seven days a week in the summer, and gets Wednesdays off during the rest of the year. I get weekends off with my job, so that leaves a total of 0 days Mike and I have off at the same time. We have Thanksgiving day and Christmas day off together, and those are the only two days out of the year we have off together. If we want a day off together, we have to go on vacation (wich MIGHT happen once a year) or I have to take off work on a Wednesday. Our kids literally do not know what it is like to have weekends with both of their parents. I know that this is not incredibly abnormal, but I am sick of it. I am so sick of it, I have thought about just shutting the doors to the restaurant, and taking a loss. I would sell everything we own just to have 1 day out of the week where we can hang out as a family. Running your own business is not for everyone, and it is really not for us anymore. So we are trying to sell the restaurant! We are choosing our family's happiness over ANYTHING else, and it feels good. I know God will provide a way out for us, and that feels even better! This weight that has been on my shoulders for the past 4 years is going to be lifted off, and I can not wait! I am ready to laugh with my husband again and not talk about how much we made in a day, what bills need to be paid, what food needs to be ordered, who will be working, who called in sick, the list is never ending. The only thing about River's edge I am not sick of, surprisngly, is the food. Happy days, HERE WE COME!!!!

oh and...

Speaking of the school thing, I am pretty sure Scarlett will be just fine. We ordered a butterfly habitat online a few weeks ago and we got some live larvae, and we have been watching the metomorphosis process. Let me back up...on miss Spiders Sunny Patch Friends, the bug kids found a caterpillar. The caterpillar kept growing and eventually turned into a butterfly. This has sparked a few conversations about how caterpillars turn into butterfly's. So I just thought, what better way to show them, than by getting the catterpillar's themselves. Okay, this morning, the caterpillars were starting to "pupate"...(I think), so I said to Scarlett, "Look Scarlett! They are starting to build their cacoons!" She looked at me and said, "thats nice mom but it is called a chrysalis." Once again thank you to my daughter for knowing more than I do. And thank you miss spider for tryiong to make parents look like uneducated fools.:)

To homeschool or not to homeschool...

I have a little venting to do. I live in a town with very closeminded people who have an opinion about everything. We go to a church that we do not love, but it is good for the kids. We own a business in a struggling economy. Times are tough! Because of this, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on what are the important things in life. FAMILY! It is the most important thing in life. Raising a family that loves God and loves eachother. Nothing else needs to matter. I am really hating the direction this country is heading, and it really makes me scared for my kids. So I am really trying to decide whether or not I will home shcool. I am a firm beiever that kids learn at home, and it is up to the parents to teach their own kids. The problem is that parents are really dropping the ball on that. They are teaching their kids the ways of the world, and this is the problem we face. Our country was founded on CHRISTIAN Beliefs!!!!! People can argue that all they want, but the fact remains that this country has been and always will be in GOD'S hands. I don't want my kids going to school learning about the separation of church and state. I don't want them to think that because suzie has two mommies it is okay! I don't want my kids to be told that, we, the people are destroying the earth. I don't want them to think that public affection to your parents is gross! WE KISS AND HUG AND IT IS NORMAL! I will be kissing and hugging my family til the day I die! So get used to it AMERICA! I don't want them to be punished for opposing evolution and then being in trouble for stating their belief in God. I am in college, and last semester I was told if I stated anymore of my christian beliefs in regards to science, I would not get credit. Boy did this teacher not know who he was challenging! My sister in law is a high school teacher, and it is a rule at her school that is a child does not turn in an assignment, the teacher is not allowed to give them a zero. It might hurt their morale. I will tell you one thing, if one of my kids does not turn in an assignment, they better get a zero and have to work their little butts off to bring the grade back up. I want my kids to work hard for what they have! I want them to know that there are winners and losers in life, and if you want to be a winner you have to work for it. I have always said I was not cut out for homeschooling, but I don't know if I have a choice these days. Our local high school is going to have uniforms next year, and it has caused a huge debate in town. PARENTS are saying, "you can't do this to the kids, because the way they dress is how they express their individuality." This is so sad to me, the way a person dresses should never define them. Plus when you are in high school, you dress like all of your friends, so how is that being an indiviual?! I will be a public schools worst nightmare! So I am thinking about homeschooling. I still have a while before I am set on my decsion.

Fourth of July...

Was GREAT! The only downside to my fourth of July is that, as usual, Mike has to work. I took naps with the kids, my Dad and Step-mom came to see us, we went to a parade, saw fireworks twice, and went to a rodeo. (My first rodeo, and not my last) The rodeo was actually really fun. Mike and Owen had to leave early, but Scarlett and I had so much fun! Owen can never stay out late, because he is determined to be in his bed by eight, no matter what we are doing. Owen got his first look at fireworks and he was in AWE! He loved the fireforks. My parents, Mike, the kids, me, and some other friends and family, went to the top of this mountian here, and watched the fireworks. There were a lot of people up on this mountain, and our group was the loudest, because we all were laughing at what Owen kept saying. He would stop his feet and say, "OH GOSH!" and "OH DUDE!" and he was screaming. It was so funny. It was such a fun weekend with family and friends, probably my best 4th of July yet. It is sooooo awesome when your kids start getting old enough to enjoy things with you. I have tons of pictures and I promise I will post them soon.

Oh, at the parade, I stupidly decided to take Salmon. I will say, it is physically impossible to take two small children and a dog to a parade, and watch all three correctly. I was trying to hold on to Salmon's leash and keep my kids from running out into the traffic. Then I finally my Dad tied Salmon's leash to the bumper of a truck we were sitting on. There were 5 really cute kids sitting with us, and people kept stopping to comment on how cute Salmon was. WHAT! This is not something that makes mother's happy...FYI. Then some lady walks over to us with a bottle of water and says, "when was the last time you gave the puppy water? He looks thirsty!" Then she bent down and tried to make Salmon drink out of her hand, but he would not do it. He started licking it up off the ground. Then she says, "hummm, that is wierd, he won't drink it out of my hand, he wants it off the ground." She procededs to pour the water on the ground creating a large muddy puddle. The whole time I am thinking, "Duh lady, he is not thirsty, I gave him water before I left, and I have to pay attention to my kids!" Then Salmon decides it would great fun to roll around in the mud! So I would like to thank that lady for not using her brain, and getting mud on my dog.

Also at the parade, Scarlett took her easter basket to put candy in it. She was prepared, let me tell you. She set the basket by the door the night before, because she did not want to forget it. At the parade, she got a ton of candy! When Owen would get a piece of candy, he would just throw it back to the people in the parade. On our way home I took Scarlett's basket away from her because she did not need any more candy. She threw a fit, so I took her canday away for the rest of the day, and told her that if she kept whining about it, I would trow the rest of the candy in the trash.(Some might think this is harsh, but trust me, it is necessary sometimes) Later that afternoon, she came into my room and said(in these words exactly) "Mom lets just say that tomorrow maybe I wanted a piece of candy. Not today, but tomorrow, where would I find the candy basket?" I said "Nice try little lady, but I am not going to tell you where the candy is." This lead to another melt down, and candy was thrown away. Poor Scarlett!