I'll probably regret this...

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But, it's Friday. And I have a million things to do. And an impending school year breathing down my neck. And mountains of laundry STILL from vacation. And dishes in the kitchen sink. And a messy house.

So, what's a girl to do? Why, make silly movies on her iPad of course! 

And FYI, there's a fan blowing on us (not good for sound quality).

And we are flopped on our tummies on my bed (not good for keeping both faces in the frame of the movie). 

So, with apologies to Adele and Taylor Swift....from the depths of procrastination....

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some things you might like

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On Monday evening, we packed up the kids and headed out to our town's 4th of July parade. I admit, this is the first town parade we've attended since we moved here. Generally, our 4th weekend is overrun with a lot of family in town, but this weekend was a quieter one. So we had the chance to make our own fun. I swear these parades make you kinda fall in love with your little town. It also gives you the chance to become acquainted with every dance group and baton-twirling troupe your town has to offer. Though personally, I found the cloggers to be where it's at. 

in twos

I also spent some time catching up online and on pinterest over the weekend....here are a few lovely things you might enjoy:

Amanda's post this morning : Yes, I LOVE the chair. But I so get that last paragraph, about the need to just make, even when there are so many other "musts" awaiting your time. 

(In)courage : 16 Ways to Find Personal Rest : I really need to be better about number 6. Finding a babysitter. I really don't have a babysitter for my children outside of family....can you believe it? I could use a good, trustworthy babysitter. 

they get me every time

I am absolutely ADDICTED to making these bracelets. They are so fun. If you can finger knit (or even if you can't), you'll love these. I have since passed my addiction on to the girls. 

Homemade mozzarella. Enough said.

Choose a chore. I'm always looking for ways to keep it interesting.

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DIY Blue Glass Canning Jars. This is a drop everything and try it craft. 

Love this ring. Thinking it might get caught on everything, but still love it. 

Isn't this the truth??

This is wedding weekend. I'm thinking of wearing my hair in something like this. Thoughts?

And one more good thing that I don't want to forget....yesterday afternoon as Emma was flying out the door to go to the barn she said to me, "Oh, Mom. My room isn't as messy as it looks. I'm just airing out my clothes. Bye!!" 

If that's what "airing out" looks like, than apparently my whole house is "airing out"....off to find some order in the madness. 

Have any goodness to share? Leave it in the comments, if you please!

Happy Wednesday, friends!

 

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someday is here

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someday is here

I hope my mother will weigh in on this, but seriously, can we discuss this picture? I found it when I was going through oldies recently.

This picture was taken at a 4-H meeting that was being held at our farm. The memory still fresh in my brain.

There were people present. People outside of our family. I was in public!

I was standing in front of the 4-H club, seething with jealousy that I wasn't old enough to be a member like my brother and sisters.

I knew I needed a way to be part of the night, to draw some of that focus back to me. I needed drama. What I needed was an attention-grabbing demonstration. I remember the topic I settled on had something to do with how to (ahem), remove a horse's head. (My eldest daughter might disown me if she caught wind of this.)

I remember that stainless steel bowl was full of grass, to serve as a distraction for the horse before head removal.

And of course, one needs a knife to handle this job. A butter knife, of course.

I remember gathering the supplies in the kitchen snickering under my breath at what a comedic genius I was. This was gonna be good!

But mom, can we discuss my outift? The tube top? With my white baby belly hanging out? Were you done fighting battles for the day? Did I sneak off and put it on without your knowledge? Was it so hot that night that you were concerned I might sweat through a normal-sized tshirt that covered more than my upper torso?

I was definitely getting attention. I'm thinking it was for the shirt, not the morbid demonstration.

Funny thing is, I find myself in the trenches of this battle, too. Maybe not tube tops, but I've been known to be seen in public with small children in striped skorts pulled up over jeans with polkda-dot tshirts and wool sweaters. Ballet tutus. Tall black rubber barn boots on the hottest dog days of summer. Children who look like they've been pulled from the pages of a Little House story versus the 21st century.

I can hear the "someday you'll understand" refrain in my head. And I smile at my 6 year-old self. And I give a knowing nod to my mother. Someday is here.

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saying it out loud

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a promise

I like to think that I'm pretty honest on this blog. That while I may be guilty of moving the camera ever-so-slightly to hide the toy-strewn floor or blurring just enough so you don't see gargantuan laundry piles, I'm pretty open. At least I hope that's how this place feels. 

With that in mind, I decided over the weekend that it's time to keep that trend going and share a goal that I'm forcing myself to say out loud.

In just a few short weeks, 48 days, to be exact (right, Mags?) I will be a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding. Now I thought that after giving birth to a certain number of children or reaching a certain age, one became exempt from bridesmaid duties, but alas, here I am, happily and proudly standing up in my dear cousin's wedding.

My cousin will be having a beautiful, straight-from-the-pages-of-a-magazine-without-even-trying wedding on my grandparents' farm. (Basically, she's having the wedding I've always dreamed of, but that's another story....) And I am excited to be a part of it.

Of course the first thing one thinks of when asked to be in a wedding is "What will I wear?" and then the second thing they (most likely) think of is how many pounds they plan to shed before the big day. 

And for awhile there, I was really on a roll. Around the holidays I signed up for a "body conversion" class that got me moving in the right direction. The momentum kept up, I loved escaping to the gym to exercise and for the first time in my adult life I was actually enjoying it. 

But, the past month, life has granted me plenty of excuses not to "get in there". Dan working late. Tired kids. Tired me. Work left to be done at the end of the day. 4-H meetings. blah. blah. blah. Really. Those things are always there, it's just a question of whether or not I allow them to get in the way of what I need to do. 

So, I've obviously let go of the fact that I will not be 20 or 30 pounds slimmer come bridesmaid day. But I do know, for the sake of my self-esteem and confidence and general well-being and outlook on everything, I need to get back in there. I need to be moving in the right direction again. 

And so, I'm saying it out loud. Ugh. Here goes:

Between now and the wedding (and beyond) my goal is to GO to the gym to work out a minimum of three times per week.

It's the getting there that's getting me. But now, I've said my goal out loud. Which means that other people know what I'm striving for. And that's good. I need that.

There is so much I could write here about this topic, but for now, I think I'll keep it to the nuts and bolts of my goal. 

Wanna join me? You don't have to sign on to three nights of workouts each week, but maybe there's some other thing that's nagging you, that needs to be done or picked back up again or dealt with. Maybe saying it out loud will help you make it happen.

As always, thanks for listening friends....(I hope I don't delete this in the morning...... :)

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the wisdom of youth

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Driving in the car....when I get to eavesdrop on all the good sisterly conversations....

Emma: Mary. When you get older and have a boyfriend do not carve your initials into a tree or spray paint your names on a bridge. Because if the police catch you, you'll go to jail.

Emma: Oh. And Mary. Don't have a boyfriend whose pants fall down.

Emma: Oh. And don't have a boyfriend who has a mohawk. Or pierced ears. Or a pierced nose.

Emma: And don't marry someone who is incredibly romantic. Because that gets annoying after awhile.

Mary: Well. I'm going to marry someone who looks just like Daddy and acts just like Daddy. 

Mary(Later....after giving all this advice much contemplation....): And, it really doesn't matter  what the person looks like, it just matters if they're nice to you and how they treat you.

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