Moments 07.2016

Life with my tribe:

4th of July! We had an amazing day! We had a blast exploring the zoo and spent time with good friends in the evening! I seriously love my kids so much…watching them explore places like the zoo is SO much fun!

Hilarious story: I had a discussion about cannibalism with my children while we were grocery shopping. Yes. You heard me correctly. It went a little something like this…

I pick up some ground beef and put it in the cart. With a seriously concerned look on his face and frantic tone in his voice, Gabe says (while moving his arms up and down), “MOM!! We can’t eat killed meat!”

Me: Gabe, all the meat you’ve ever eaten has been killed. You don’t want to eat live meat, trust me.

Gabe: But MOM! We can’t eat killed meat we just can’t.

Me: What do you want to do? Go up to a cow in a field and take a bite and call it dinner? I promise Gabe, all the meat people eat comes from animals that have been killed.

Bethany: (chiming in) Yeah! Like pigs for bacon, cows for steak…and people!

(umm what in the world did my daughter just say?!?!)

Me:  Bethany, we don’t eat people! That is wrong and very gross! It’s called cannibalism!

Bethany: What’s cannibalism? Why don’t we eat people?

(what did I get myself into here)?!

Me:  Cannibalism is when people eat other people. Honey, no normal person would ever think of eating another human being. It is wrong. We are supposed to love people, not eat them. Plus, it’s against the law!

Bethany: But why mom?

(how do you explain this to a 5 year old and a 3 year old?) 

Me: Because it is illegal, you will go to jail. Plus it’s weird to talk about so lets think of other types of meat that we eat that aren’t people.

Gabe: Chicken.

We have a WALKER! I can’t even TELL you how excited I am that I get to say these words…my baby is walking! Now let’s get something straight…I am never in a hurry for my babies to move. Seriously, Bethany didn’t crawl until she was 10 months old and I was not upset about it! There’s something so nice about putting your baby down and knowing he or she won’t can’t move. However, Naomi has been crawling since she was 9 months old, and she has such sensitive little skin that if she crawls around without long pants on for too long she gets rug burn! {*tears*} Once summer hit I was so ready for the walking to begin so she could wear shorts!

Naomi started walking later than my other two kids! Both Bethany and Gabe took off walking two weeks after their first Birthday! Namoi just got the hang of it last week, and she’s almost 14 months old! Any who…you try snapping a clear pic of that cute little blur! Impossible.

We have a TALKER! Naomi officially says “Momma” and “Dadda!” I am one of those super skeptical parents who refuses to claim that my child said their first word until I’m 1.5 million percent sure. But it’s definitely real…Naomi points to us and says our names (insert heart melting)! She also just started saying “this” and pointing at things. So. Stinkin’. Cute.

How does she compare with my other two kids? Well, Bethany was singing every stanza of the song “Amazing Grace” by the time she was 18 months old (seriously that kid is unreal), and Gabe could only say 3 words at the same age. Naomi is a happy medium between the two! 🙂

Pool Daze: We have an amazing pool in our community that we play in at least once every day! I grew up as a swimmer, lifeguard, swim team coach, and snack bar worker extraordinaire…so I want to instill the same love for the water into my kids! It hasn’t been difficult…they could jump,  splash and swim all day long…so that’s just what we do! Again…try snapping a good pic of three kids ages 5 and under at the pool without making a scene! #reallifepeople

Kids Camp: Every summer our church puts on a free, week-long camp for kids in the community! A team from our home church in Chicago comes out to help and we have a total and absolute blast! I was excited to get to be more involved this year (because last year I had a brand new sweet baby to take care of)! I was the snack lady (of course) and had TONS of fun coming up with ideas! Every day a different character from the Old Testament came through a time machine and told the kids about their life and how they point to Jesus! So…I made snacks to match every day! Day 1 was moses parting the Red sea:

Day 2 we served Fruit Snacks (jewels) and pretzel sticks (scepters) for Queen Ester! Day 3 we met Jonah and made banana whales! Day 5 was everyone’s favorite (of course) “mud and dirt” (i.e. crushed Oreos and chocolate pudding) for Ruth (because she worked Boaz’s land). Let’s just say I was way grateful for my food processor after using it to crush 300 Oreos! ???? The last day we made string cheese slingshots (with raisin stones) for the story of David and Goliath! Phew! It was a lot of work feeding 125 people every day, but so SO fun!

 

Around our house:

The next project I want to share with you is this adorable picnic table my husband built! We wanted to have a fun place for the kids to play and for us to eat outside (#lesscleaningthefloor)! I absolutely love this table and we spend many hours out here every day!

Our Garden:

Ok, I’m a little sad to report that our garden isn’t doing as well as we hoped! We are getting tomatoes, and a few snap peas but other than that we’re still just waiting (waiting on the world to change). If you have ANY gardening tips (or ideas as to why this wouldn’t be working) please drop me a line!

The first year we did a garden here in Utah it was at a community plot and we had an amazing yield! Seriously we got so much produce I was set for a year! I’m grateful to be seeing some blossoms on our zucchini plant…but everything else looks pretty blah!

 

Hiking! Seriously, living in Utah has been so amazing. I love hiking with my kids! This was the first time I took them to this lake alone and I feel totally empowered! We’re going hiking all the time now, no excuses! Not a bad place to eat snacks…right?

 

A few of my favorite things…

Lucy Zen Seeker’s Tunic! This is my favorite tank top in the world! I like my workout clothes to be loose-fitting without looking frumpy (LOL) and this tank top totally delivers! I’ve worn it on almost every hike I’ve taken this summer…including this hike in Park City with my hubby to celebrate 9 years of marital bliss! 😉 (More on that to come)!

Gilmore Girls!!!! I am seriously beyond excited for the Gilmore Girls Revival (like more excited than any 30 year old person should be)! I am dying! My husband and I started watching all the episodes from S1E1 and I look forward to our little GG cuddle session every single night! Thank you Netflix. I love you. Did you see these pics?!?! AHH! I’m rooting for Logan! And Loreli and Luke better be married with babies in the first episode! #teamlogan #theyreold!

These sandals! Sanuk Yoga Slig 2 Flip-Flops! I am in L-O-V-E with these! They are so comfy and cute!

Homeschool

It’s time to start planning homeschool! I already know I’m using this curriculum for Gabe’s first year of preschool. However, I have ZERO idea what I am going to do with Bethany for first grade! We did My Father’s World Kindergarten and I can’t say I was in love with it. So ..if any of you homeschool mommas out there have any first grade curriculum suggestions (for a kid whose an exceptional reader) please drop me a line! I have spent hours (and hours) researching curriculum and I can’t make up my mind!

Well that’s all she wrote! How was your July? What was a highlight for you from the past month? What are you looking forward to in August? 

If you want to stay connected or you make something from JoyFoodSunshine I would love to see your creations! #joyfoodsunshine

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