Week 39- A bottled up good-bye

When I get stressed, 

I often find myself reaching a breaking point....

when I decide to stress myself out even more by trying to add "enjoyable" activities to my "stressful" to-do's.

 I think deep down I know that it will blow-up in my face in the end, creating an "ultimate" breaking point....

yet it happens far too often.

One day I'll learn.

Hence, our "bottled-up good-bye."

My first attempt at "clean" strawberry jam. A future must in this fall kitchen!!

Packing, de-junking, apartment searching, moving arrangements, being nauseous & ridiculously tired, along with the day-to-day of taking care of a toddler just weren't enough for me those last few weeks in Logan, I needed something more.

When reaching that initial breaking point, in a moment of spontaneity and effort to de-stress, Emelia and I found ourselves on a lovely, hot, afternoon walk. A walk that possibly turned into 4 miles round trip. And that very randomly (no sarcasm here) passed by a fruit stand...foolish me. 

I should have known this was a ridiculous idea from the look on the fruit-stand man's face...but, I proceeded anyway, and embraced my ridiculousness. Disclaimer: No child, stroller, or fruit was harmed on this 3/4 mile journey home, but it did result in a wicked arm workout for yours truly.

The fruits of my labor. Thanks mom for helping peel when you could! 

And...the "ultimate" breaking point. This picture is the only one I got of my lovely tomatoes...taken in a moment of trying to find humor in it all while choking back tears. Happy to say that ALL of my jars sealed and everything tastes fabulous.

Yes, somehow boxes did get packed amidst it all.

Thank you amazing friends and family. I couldn't have done it without you!

There is a little too much mischief to be found among the mess of packing a home. So grateful Grammie was eager to squeeze in as much Em time as possible before we made the move. Em did a good job of being mischievous at her house instead.

Good-bye Logan home. The friends and memories made here will be in our hearts forever!

Week 33-Stars

We were sad to have to turn down a camping trip with cousin Annie and her family.

So the next best thing was a spontaneous trip up the canyon Friday night to take our minds away from the stressors of real life.

Couper made a stellar fire as usual. And Jen, Jake, and friend were able to join us for tin foil dinners. (Ours were a bit untraditional but were made on a dime and turned out quite delicious.)

We realized we haven't spent nearly enough time this summer building campfires and staying up late talking about non-sense waiting for the last embers to fade away. Nature truly does have a way of centering you and helping you put life's choices and events into perspective. So grateful for God's creations.

Our nature girl loved searching for/chasing bugs, playing in the dirt, and gathering rocks with Aunt "Yenni" to throw in the river. One of my favorite things of the evening was watching Uncle Jake cuddle with her by the fire and talk about the stars. She's still talking about Yenni and Jake and the fun she had. So grateful for Em's aunties and uncles that love her so much.

Week 3-Final Count Down

It's the 'Final Count Down'

Remember making countdown-chains as a kid? A colorful, fun way to lead up to any event. Although, really there must be some hidden lessons with countdown-chains for children. Such as learning time; how long a day is, so that the adult can stop listening to, "Is it my birthday yet?" (Light bulb! Maybe we should make chains by the hour on long road trips so we can veto the nagging, "Are we there yet?!") Practicing the fine-motor involved with the making of the chain itself. Or, maybe just an overall lesson of patience.

Since I am still learning some of those things (well, mostly just the art of consistent patience) I still like to make the occasional infamous count-down chain.

Em and I made this chain Couper's first day of class. Since once of us has been in school at any point in our nine year of knowing each other, it seems appropriate. We decided to do one link per week to save the Rain Forests. Deep breath...it is Couper's LAST semester of college! He will be receiving his Masters degree in May! We are beside ourselves with an array of emotions. We're in for a grueling semester; ending with a bang that's for sure! Coup has some pretty time-sucking classes, and is working on the heart of his thesis. He is also traveling nearly every week with the Women's basketball team. His constant absence is already weighing on wife and baby but we are SO very proud of him! We are grateful for his work ethic, intelligence, patience, light-heartedness, etc. and love him very much! Way to go Couper-Daddy! We're excited to see you break the links off of this chain!

~     ~     ~

I decided I'm bringing back "Little Words Of Wisdom" to the best of my ability and memory.

Since I'm doing weekly posts anyway, hopefully it will be easier to document. I'm guessing most of the Wisdom's will come from the mouths of family, but I may include some anonymous students still as well if their Words are just too funny to keep to myself.

"Caterpillars"

Little W of W

*Do you know what a catapult is? That's what we're going to make today!

"Yeah! It's like a caterpillar!" --JoJo, 5

I may be slightly mis-quoting, but this is the muffled version I caught at the other end of the phone.
What are you doing out of bed? "I was saying my prayers..." Honey, we already said prayers, go to bed. "No, I was saying my prayers again and Jesus just helped me get to my feet!" --Ryder, 4

*What do you want to name your bunny puppet?

"Uh...RIBBIT! Ya, Ribbit." --Ryland, 2 1/2 in his deep, sure voice.

*"Be careful with Lilly because she is real." -Kalia, 5 

"She is not real!!" Choruses of the other children. It's okay, I used to pretend that my dolls and stuffed animals were real when I was younger too, it makes it more fun.

Hands on hips, foot stomp, enlarged eyes, completely offended and appalled. "Um, what?! I am NOT pretending. My Lilly is really REAL, really." 

I'm not one to compete with a child's imagination. 'She's real guys, be careful with her.'

TEAM BEAR

Those eyes!!

Logan Bear is my sweet little nephew of only 6 months.  He was born with a serious heart condition that wasn't detected until he was a couple of weeks old, but has since taken over and consumed his and his family's life. Baby Bear is still sub-13 pounds despite his momma's diligent efforts to help him gain weight; his heart is just working too hard to keep pumping for his little body to retain any of the calories. He is blessed with outstanding, faithful, and strong parents who have stood as rocks throughout all of the ups and downs that go with having a child with a heart problem.  

Recently things took a turn for the worst.  He is blessed to be surrounded by many loving family members and friends and thankfully, outstanding doctors.  He had open heart surgery on March 1, 2013 where the surgeon stitched up a valve to decrease leakage and with the hopes of increasing overall heart function and decreasing the chance for the need of a mechanical valve.  He was expected to need a few weeks recovery but went home only 6 days later! He is such a strong little Bear and amazes me all of the time. (Can't wait until he's no longer under quarantine and I can spend some time with him :) ).

Logan has been blessed through countless prayers and love but unfortunately needs financial blessings as well.  Logan's mom designed the Team Bear Logo you see on his shirt in hopes to one-day start a foundation to support babies with heart conditions.  Logan's aunt Natalie decided to get a head start and surprise Logan's family for Christmas with Team Bear hoodies.  These hoodies are to show love and support to Logan Bear and help financially support his family.  Hoodies are $30, long and short sleeve tees are $25, and all proceeds go to help pay for Baby Bear's medical bills.  If you aren't interested in buying a hoodie but are interested in helping, monetary donations are welcome as well!

Team Bear order forms give a more detailed summary of Logan's condition, find them here:

Order Team Bear hoodies or shirts here!

(When you click on the link it may tell you it's harmful to your computer. Just so you know it's just an online doc and should be just fine.)

NEXT ORDER GOES OUT MARCH 31st!!!

Email all order forms, donations, or questions to Natalie: quinnsquinns23@gmail.com.

I don't have a picture of Coup and me in our hoodies, but here is little Em supporting her cousin :).