I'm On a Roll Today!

I had a lot of time today to scrap! Yeah.

Updated Page

Although I really liked this page before, something seemed not quite right (or finished) about it, so I made a few changes and additions. What do you think? Better?

That's another thing I love about DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING. If I make a mistake or simply don't like where I put something, it's extremely easy to fix. I'm totally known for changing things A LOT so this works great for me.

Newest Pages...

It seems like I haven't done scrapbooking in forever, and for me it's always harder when I'm out of practice. Anyhow, here are my most recent pages... Even though they took forever, I LIKE THEM so I'm happy.

The Story of Tate & His Sunflowers...

It all started with a small packet of SUNFLOWER SEEDS...

I gave the seeds to Tate one day out of sheer desperation to entertain him. I told him to go plant them anywhere in the garden, thinking that it might keep him busy for a few minutes yet not expecting them to grow. Since there really wasn't any room left in the garden, he planted them amongst the herbs. Sure enough after almost no time, Tate's sunflowers started to grow. After they grew a couple feet tall, I decided to pull out the herbs that were surrounding the sunflowers and replant them closer together in another location.
Every day it seems, the sunflowers would grow a few more inches until they were taller than Tate and even taller than the wall.
Then one day, Tate checked on his sunflowers (a daily ritual of course) and proudly announced that the flowers had bloomed. He was so excited that he could hardly contain himself.
Now they are HUGE and beautiful, and Tate is counting down the days till he can eat the seeds from them.
THE END.

A Schedule at Last...

I've been feeling absolutely CRAZY lately, (dirty house, lots of guilt, no time to blog). It finally occured to me that I've been lacking a consistant schedule in my life. So yesterday morning (EARLY) before Tate woke up, I wrote out a basic daily schedule to follow. Life is already getting easier for me, our house is VERY CLEAN, I've had lots of time for Bryan & Tate so no more guilt there, meals are getting cooked, and it feels as though I'm putting in less time!!! It's really making a difference in my day and instead of dreading waking up, I'm actually excited! So here it is... OUR SCHEDULE:

6 AM - (Mom) Wakeup & Exercise

6:30 AM - (Mom) Scripture Study & Journal Writing

(I've decided that I really need to have my own personal time in the morning)

7 AM - Wakeup Tate & Eat Breakfast

7:30 AM - Great New Days for Tate which include:

(Morning Prayer, Make Bed, Potty, Family Prayer, Breakfast, Water, Brush Teeth, Read some Scripture Power Stories & Start a Load of Laundry). We use Tate's magnetic chore chart that I made for him, and I usually do it right along with him. Also, he marks them off when he's done with them. When we do laundry Tate always helps me by sorting the darks and lights and by taking the lint out of the dryer :) I also like to turn on some HAPPY music while we do chores in the morning.

8 AM - Empty Dishwasher (Tate's chore is to empty the silverware), Breakfast Dishes, Wipe down Kitchen, Take Garbage Out, Open Blinds in Family Room, etc.

8:30 AM - Playtime (M/W/F)-Walk around neighborhood, Park, Teaching Moments, or just playing with Toys. Possible Friend over?

Errands or Grocery Shopping (T/R) -If we are going to go on some sort of outing, then I prefer the mornings when it's still somewhat bearable outside

9:30 AM - Weekly Zone Chore (I love doing FLYLADY and it's great to focus in on a particular room the entire week). I always get Tate involved in whatever I'm cleaning.

10 AM - Morning Snack and Dinner Prep (If there is any... preparation that is.)
Do I have any baking that needs to get done? I always keep my freezer stocked with whole wheat bread & chocolate chip cookies

11 AM - Playtime (Swimming & Shower Afterward)

12 Noon - Lunch Preparation, Eating, and Cleanup Kitchen

1 PM - Story Time (My goal for the summer is to start teaching Tate his letters so that he can learn to read)

1:30 PM - Quiet Time (Movie, Quiet Toys, or Nap)

3 PM - Snack Time and Dinner Preparation

3:30 PM - Craft/Music/Play Time

4 PM - Fold Laundry, Finish Dinner and Outdoor time for Tate if possible (If it's too hot, than more play time indoors) This seems to be the hardest time of the day for me because Tate is completely tired yet wanting to play with me and I'm still busy in the kitchen with dinner. I'm still trying to come up with some possible changes here. Is he too old for banging on pots & pans? Maybe I should just get him more involved in helping with dinner.

5:30 PM - Dinner Time, Cleanup Kitchen, & Start Dishwasher

6:15 PM - Family Time

6:45 PM - Family Scripture Study and Prayers

7 PM - Nightly Routine for Tate (Pajamas, Brush Teeth, Water, Potty, Story Time, Sing Song, Nightly Prayer)

7:30 PM - Bedtime for Tate & Free Time for Mom & Dad (Projects around the house, Dates, Movie, Blogging, etc.)

10 PM - Bedtime for Mom & Dad

Super-Manning Reunion...

We had a great time at our reunion in Strawberry this last weekend! We went to Tonto Natural Bridge.

Rode Horses

Rode Big Quads & Little Toy Quads

(Actually I didn't ride because after Bryan & I wrecked one a couple years ago I've been terrified of quads ever since-I'll have to share that story some time)

Went to the CRAWDAD HOLE and had much success.

Even Tate caught a little baby crawdad of which he held in his hand for a very very long time.

We boiled the crawdads & would you believe that I ate them and they were actually really good. We also did a ton of other fun things not pictured including canning MORE pickles, geocaching, having a family baseball game, going on another treasure hunt, visiting the oldest standing schoolhouse in AZ, and we even had a talent show/karaoke night. Bryan surprised me by singing "Forever & Ever Amen".

Bryan & Tate ended up going home Saturday night, and I stayed until Sunday afternoon until Joseph & Christina dropped me off at girls camp at Camp Lomia.
I SURVIVED girls camp & now I'm officially home again home again! Yeah...

Dare, Proof, & a Marshmallow

I dared Tate to swim around the perimeter of the pool, and he did it for a GIANT marshmallow! He's getting really good if I do say so myself.