Bring Your Kids to Work Day(s)

One of the worst things about owning your own business is the sheer amount of work, time, and effort it takes to handle it all. From business calls to bidding projects, managing projects, employee troubles, bookwork, billing and collecting, cash-flow, and oh yeah... the actual work.

Sometimes it seems like a struggle between family and business. I don't want Leif to be too busy working and have regrets about missing out on the kids growing up. So we try to balance by including the kids whenever we can.

Of course, there are a few perks to business ownership. Off the top of my head:

• You stand to earn more money-- though it comes with a whole lot of risk and hard work. 
• Flexibility. Kind of. I guess the only one telling you that you cannot take a day of is yourself. This is why my husband only took one day off after our last baby was born. He simply couldn't allow himself any further paternity leave. He told me that Sunday night was actually a really bad time to have a baby... though he honestly felt really bad leaving me home with two toddlers and a baby only 32 hours post-partum.  I shall try to plan it over a weekend next time. Dang.

A couple days after Dax was born... now that's a handful of kids! HELP me! 

• Joyrides in an off-road dump truck at will. 
• That's all I can really think of.

So to summarize... if you cannot beat em, join em.

The closest to the Disneyland ride "Indiana Jones" that you can really replicate in North Dakota.

There is just so much going on in this picture.

Last Thursday. Naptime. Two kids snoozed in the car while Daddy showed Mommy and Dax how cool his new GPS-equipped bulldozer is. Now that is family time.

Dax loves riding in the Arctic Truck (off-road articulating dump truck.) 

These two were surprisingly unimpressed on their second off-road dump truck ride. Questions asked were "Can we go to the library now?" followed by "Can I play with your iPhone?" Really guys?

Tea Party and a Tantrum

The table was set with care.

The flowers she picked were set in the perfect spot.

The candle was lit as requested.

The markers were present, (just in case?)



The shoes by the door were all lined up, just so.



And oddly enough, an unopened box of diapers was put in the corner with a pink marker on top. I cannot explain that one...



The chairs were all pulled up to the table. She pushed the baby chair up to the end for Dax.

The piggy was sitting in his place.

Thor took his place, or what he thought was his place. He should have known better. 

 

 He willingly moved to the other side of the table.

Unfortunately, the sweet hostess didn't recover from the blow of her guest taking the wrong seat.

Dax looks at the her with a bit of concern.

Sometimes, hosting a great party is just too taxing.

 

New Every Morning

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3: 22-23

Also new every morning: a lovely jar full of "flowers" 

[leafy spurge, grass, and various flowering weeds]

from my sweet Maycee.

For some reason, it just reminded me of that verse. ♥

Mother's Day Lovin'

We had a nice, beautiful day today in which to enjoy the outdoors. I keep on getting reminded lately on how short life is and how truly fleeting material things are. 

There are few things in life that last, and fewer things that really matter at all when we are old enough to look back. Here are a few that are worth it; the true blessings in my life who are worthy of much time and effort! I only hope and pray that I do well with them as their mother. 

My Mom is my inspiration. [As cheesy as that sounds!] She is proof of how amazing God's grace is!

I LOVE YOU MOM!

Here are some late-night, random thoughts about my Mom.

My Mom was born and raised in California. She worked with Mexicans in orchards harvesting (fruit, almonds?) as a child/teenager. They called her "Blue Eyes." In Spanish.

She was saved at age 16 and radically changed. She is an example of grace and forgiveness, no matter what. It is such a powerful example for my life and one I am truly thankful for.

I want to be a good mom. I believe that truly comes from how I was raised.

I want my kids to have fun, because I had a fun childhood. It may have not been overly safe... but it was sure fun!

My Mom loves to work. I learned to enjoy work from an early age. Hard, sweaty, back-breaking work. I am not sure how she taught us that [though a few things come to mind!], but am determined to pass a good work ethic on to my kids.

 I am so proud of my Mom and thankful for her example in my life. I hope my kids can look back on their childhood the way I can look back on mine! Not that it was perfect-- because raising a family is a learning process. I believe it is often the mistakes and how we respond to them that shape us and give us character.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends out there!

A Stroller Ride and a Wish.

Maycee (3) finally convinced Dax (21 months) to get in a small stroller at Grandma's house. She buckled him and gave him a ride.

I said, "That's a nice baby you have in there!"

She said so cutely in her sweet low voice, "Yeah, but I wish it was a girl baby."

You think she wants a sister? ;)

I don't really blame her. I am hoping that she gets a sister too... but I just hope it won't be too disappointing for her if this little one is another boy!

We will find out in just 13 [short] weeks!

One of THOSE Days.

There are days that go something like this.

The peaceful days. The sunny days. The sweet-moment-filled days where everybody gets along and eats their lunches without complaining. The house is clean and there are fresh flowers on the table.

And then there are days that go more like this.

Thanks to my nephew, Briggs for the photo op.
[He may not be mine, but he was definitely under my care at this time!]

Holy cow, why is my kid running around naked? 

Where are the other two?

Why am I yelling so much?

HEY GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW AND PUT YOUR PANTS ON!

                                 

Or there is this. Gravel up the nose. Twenty minutes later, spaghetti up the face and smeared into hair.

And then I feel like curling up on the couch and just...

Our cat, Dwight. Isn't he precious. [That is sarcastic. I'm very jealous.]

So anyways, we had a day more like the latter!

I won't go into details. Except for this:

I hand-grated an entire block (1 Cup) of butter for a scrumptious Beef Pot Pie Crust. I put a lot of effort into this pot pie, because I was determined to make a good meal for my husband who would be home in time to let me go to my workout class tonight.

Two Things.

1) Husband didn't come home in time for my fitness class. In fact, he will not be home until midnight... so my sweet night out this week wasn't meant to be.

2) The kids were thrilled about the Pot Pie until they cut into it and realized that it wasn't an apple pie. I tried to prepare them for this. I told them while it was in the oven that it was steak and vegetables inside, not apples. Not cinnamon. They just wouldn't believe me. When they finally realized that I was serious, they were utterly disappointed that we were not having apple pie for dinner.

The only soul who did enjoy this pot pie -- besides myself-- was my dog. He smelled the t-bone steak remnants in the garbage while we were outside, and tore an entire garbage bag apart. All 110 pounds of him really can do some destruction in a hurry. I almost killed him.

But I was too busy trying to get the berry stains, dirty diapers, steak juices, and banana peels off my jute rug.

One of those days!

In the words of one of my Dr. Suess books: "Today is gone, today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." (And it is going to be better than today!)

Horsin' Around

Some adorable photos from my iPhone roll from this evening:

Lovely girl and a lovely horse!