A day at the beach!

A day at the beach! I love going to the beach with the kids. We have a really nice beach just 15 minutes away from our house. We met a handful of friends last week and had a really good time relaxing! Katelyn's picture above explains it all! Can't wait to go back! and thank you Erin for capturing some great pictures of my kiddos!

My summer bucket list!

So we all have some sort of bucket list...somewhere that we would like to go, something that we would like to do etc. Summer is my favorite time of year. Probably because it easier to take the kiddos outside and I don't have to bundle them all up. As summer exits every year I always have regrets of...I should have done this, I should have done that...maybe next year. Once again this summer I have a bucket list of things that I would like to do before the cold weather hits us again. Yes, it means that we are busy...but this summer I don't want to have any regrets. I am sure I am forgetting about something, but maybe this list will help me check things off!

What is on your bucket list?

Trago-- finally!

Trago Sprayground! Finally! I love Trago! I love Trago because it is free and you really don't have to worry about your kids drowning because there is no standing water. We could spend all day there....but I get kind of tired....and so do the kiddos. We headed there this morning to play and had a nice picnic. Here are a few pictures of the kids having fun! This was Easton first time being able to play at a sprayground. Last year he got to go, but was pretty limited since he was just a newborn. Friday....the beach with friends!! Can't wait!

Easton trying to figure out if he just puts his hand in the hole, will water come up?

Easton taking a breather....he had such a good time running around!

Jocelyn & Easton

Katelyn

Finding time....

As a mom of three, sometimes I find it very difficult to just sit down and relax. I would love to sit down and read an entire book or watch a movie during the day, but I am having trouble finding time to do that. Having kids is a lot of work. Keeping up the house is a lot of work. Making sure everything around here is in order is a lot of work. I like to get out and do things with the kids during the day and then try to play catch up when we get home.

My goal, however is to every day read the Bible at the minimum of 15 minutes. Sometimes it is longer, but I try for at least the minimum. It is kind of like the exercising excuse that we hear all of the time—yes you hear it from me…when do I have time to do that..I am so busy!

The Bible is such an important book that can help guide us in our decisions of our everyday life. It can help you with how your family should function or your relationship with your husband. It can give you peace about how you are living your life or give you something to pray about if it is something you need to work on. It gives you guidance on how to raise and discipline your kids. It tells you how you can have eternal life in heaven.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

I know so many people who are avid readers…reading several books every week…but when is the last time they picked up the Bible and read it?

^{John 14:23} Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."

Finding a time that is good for you:

If you don't currently read or feel you don't have the time, find just 15 minutes. Maybe it is when you wake up and are eating breakfast or right before you go to bed. Maybe you can buy a Bible on CD and listen to it in the car. Maybe it could be during your kid's nap times- if you have kids and they nap. My ideal time is in the evenings right after Easton gets up from his nap. I make him practice his quiet time during that time.

Where to begin?

(these are just my opinions…there are many ways to begin)

If you have never read the Bible outside of church or on own your, it can be difficult to figure out where to begin. First of all, buy a Bible if you don't have one.

• If at church, the person who speaks is focusing on a certain area of scripture, start off by reading more into what they talked about.
• Join a bible study. There are many churches that have Bible studies on weeknights. I caution you against booklet studies (if they don’t relate to the Bible). Make sure they are actually focusing on the bible and not the opinion of an author. Anyone can write a book.
• Find a devotional book. Sometimes devotional books give stories about real life situations and then point you in the direction of where to read.
• Consider “Our Daily Bread”. Currently that is what I read. It gives a little story—like a devotion—and then points you to a piece of scripture that relates to the story. Sometimes it is only a few verses, but it is always nice to just keep reading! Then if I have time I read what we talked about in church, to just review.
• Find a Bible study blog if you don’t have time to go to an actual Bible study. There are many people that write blogs that give you direction of where to read on a daily or weekly basis.
• If you have kids, read to them each day before they go bed or if you have a designated story time..or during a meal…who doesn’t eat faster than their kids? Mine sometimes eat like snails!
• Just pick up the Bible and read it front to back like a normal book.
• Pray that you can church that focuses on the Bible if you are not attending one.
• Just pray in general that the Lord will give you guidance as you start to read it.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Any other ideas on where to begin?

(Picture below—Easton—I do his mat time during my quiet time. He is required to sit there quietly and play with toys. This is supposed to translate to being quite at church, however he hasn’t translated that it is the same thing at church. He is usually hungry, tired, or cranky during church, which makes it kind of hard. One of these days he will get the point)

Official rules of how to raise a family?

I was talking to an out of town friend from Missouri the other day and we were discussing relationships between our mothers, sisters, and other family members. My friend receives constant criticism from her family about how her kids are being raised. She is scrutinized for simple little decisions that she has made. Her extended family believes that the way they do things, should be the way she does things. Now don’t get me wrong, there are things that the bible says regarding how we should live our lives and how we should raise our families. For example, if a believer is in fornication…then that should be dealt with; if a believer is involved with covetous behavior, drunkenness etc. that should be dealt with. There are tons and tons of things that the bible gives us direction in how we should live our lives (read it…it is in thereJ). I get that people have their own opinions on how kids should be raised. I have my own. I give advice when people are looking for advice…but I try to always say…”here is what I have tried….it either worked well or didn’t.” But where do people…even our own flesh and blood…think that the way they think things should be done…is the only and right way?

For example..what are the appropriate ages to have birthday parties with friends? I had Jocelyn’s first friend’s party when she was four. Was I wrong? I invite family over for their 1^st birthday and go all out? Am I wrong for doing that?

When should kids be potty trained? I waited until my kids were between 2-2 1/2 years old or when they are ready. Did I wait too late? Should I start before they are 18 months like a lot of people suggest?

Do kids have to play sports? Are we wrong for not signing my 4 year old up for a sport? Are we wrong for never signing up our kids to organized sports?

Are we wrong for not starting a college fund for our kids?

Going back to my friend who is frustrated by constantly getting criticized from her family… as far as I can tell her teenagers have their heads on straight. Maybe they don’t choose to go to schools that their other families members have desired for them. Maybe they aren’t choosing the desired “family” career path. Maybe they aren’t working in the jobs that their family would like them to. I could go on.

But where is the official rule book outlining all of my questions above? There are no official rules out there about these things (except with matters concerning things in the Bible). The official ruling should be with the parents…ok…here I go spilling out my advice….if the parents don’t want their child to work somewhere, the parents should have the say so. If their child doesn’t want go to college, should that family be criticized? In my opinion, I think family members should sometimes just keep their mouths shut and let the parents do the child raising…unless the child is in danger or straying away from the Bible and the parents aren’t taking note. Off my soap box now….but please pray for my friends family….maybe they will chill a bit and just let her family be.

What does Sean do all day anyways?

For those of you with kids...have you ever gotten that question of what daddy does all day? My girls are constantly asking what their daddy is doing and where is he? Right now Sean is the plant manager at a plastics molding place called Lenco PMC. It is in Waverly, Nebraska about 25 minutes away from our house. He overseas the manufacturing of whatever plastic contracts his company gets. He meets with their customers, decides on pricing and purchasing, and overseas over a hundred employees.
They make all sorts of plastics things.... it seems like every time I turn around they are making something new. Some things include DVD/CD jewel cases, convenience store bottle shelves (as seen in a picture from our fridge holding our water), lids for finger nail polishes, make-up containers, trash cans, spice containers, cups, handy dandy flies swaters-- (as seen in the picture below--yes that is a little scooper to scoop the fly up and pinchers:))...the list goes on...if it is plastic, they can make it.
If I could secretly follow Sean around for a day I would. He tells me story after story about what goes on during the day...some very interesting things. It hasn't been my favorite job for him...but it is a job and we will take it. I still like his old job at Irwin...basically because of the nice discounts we got on Little Tykes, Graco, Rubbermaid, and Calphalon and they had really nice company parties. No discounts here on products and the company parties are getting better.

My secret obsession....

I have this secret little obsession. If you have been to our house, my little obsession is quiet evident. While I don't think I have overdone it...some people may disagree...but I really don't like decorating...or dusting knick-knacks. Sean has picked out most of our pictures and decorations in our house. He just has a better eye for that...but one thing I have gotten to do is decorate with Uppercase Living. That is one reason why I am a demonstrator for it-- I get an ok discount, but I also get to keep up to date with all of the new expressions that come out. I believe that I am almost done...well almost...still need to figure out what this baby is and then I will get his/her name for wherever he/she will be sleeping. I have redone areas a few times, because rooming situations have changed with the kids...they come down really easily. I have some still waiting in my storage cabinets to put up once we redo other rooms...can't wait!

I have been a demonstrator for a little over 2 years now. I really like being a demonstrator. The extra money is nice...however the expenses of keeping the business are getting kind of high. Catalog prices kill me--thank goodness most people have computers and can see the entire catalog--and more online! It has become difficult to have parties...love having them though...but I have to space having parties with other events going on...have these kids you know and they aren't old enough to stay home by themselves yet.

My website is: http://jmcgee.uppercaseliving.net

Below are pictures of my secret little obsession in our house!:)

Freezer cooking!

My motivation to cook these days has been extremely low. It might be because the busy days of summer are starting and we are doing more outside activities. It might be because I have my on and off days of being nauseous from being pregnant. Whatever it is, cooking is not my favorite thing to do. Well we have to eat and unfortunately PB & J sandwiches for every meal are probably not my husbands first choice. My choice would be to eat out every night, but I am sure our waist bands would suffer. Anyways, last week my husband was out of town and I had an open night were I could serve an easy kid friendly meal. I decided to take advantage of the afternoon while my kids were napping and do a freezer cooking marathon. I have done this once before, but never in one afternoon. The last time I did this I was due with Easton and I just doubled recipes for a few weeks and slowly built up our freezer. I knew that this week would be extremely busy with vacation Bible school every night (picture below)

and I wouldn't have time to cook actual meals and have them ready for when Sean comes home, so the timing was perfect for this marathon. So I did it...I chose easy family favorites-- and cooked away. I boiled and cut up a lot of chicken and I browned a lot of hamburger and sausage. Once these things were prepared it seemed like it was easy sailing and I could start putting the actual dishes together. In the end I made 10 easy meals: lasagna, barbecue chicken sandwich meat, pizza, spaghetti pizza, beef enchiladas, chicken noodle soup, tortilla soup, sloppy joes, italian meatloaves, and chicken pot pie. Now the key is to remember to thaw things out in a timely manner to be ready to cook before we leave for VBS:)

Here is a picture of a few of the dishes..still working on the others.

So if you have a busy week coming up, maybe a lot of ball games, a baby due, family coming in town, or just don't feel like cooking every night, give it a try!:)

An anniversary surprise for Sean!

So I am not good with surprising Sean. I tell him just about everything. This was my chance to prove to myself that I could truly surprise him. He took many guesses...he actually guessed the surprise correctly, but I didn't tell him if he was right or not. A few months ago, I was chatting with my friend Sarah and she put a little birdy in my ear about a silent auction that the Lincoln Journal Star has and how her husband's aviation place has discovery flights posted. I was super excited! That would make the perfect gift for Sean. Back in the day (as I say) ok just a mere 20 years ago Sean had over 200 hours of flight time on record, but couldn't afford to keep up the hobby once he started college. I thought he would like to relive some memories of his past. I told him the surprise over dinner before we headed off. He thought it would be a nice thing to do-- yeah!! So we took a flight around Lincoln. It was the perfect night for it. Clear weather and we could see for miles! One of my friends even saw us! (ok I texted her to go outside when we were flying over our house..but hey she saw the plane and maybe Easton did too--not sure!) I was hoping that the pilot would let Sean fly and she let him taxi on the runway, but that was it...bummer! She said she lets people fly...oh well. We both had a nice night "above" the town...and it was nice to be away from all of the kiddos:)

Oh rainy days!

Rainy, dreary, dark days! It seems like we have had quiet a few of these in the past few months. Unless we already have something planned to do, I am not the type of person to drag all of the kiddos out in the rain. I try to be creative with how we spend our time when we are cooped up inside. Cartoons would be an easy (quiet) choice for me, however my girls LOVE to do arts and crafts. They also like to play games or do anything that involves building. Are you bored on rainy days like these....try some of these activities.

Finger painting! Yes messy....but my girls love it!! They don't really make any pictures as they would with crayons or markers, but it is such a fun activity for them!

Sorting colors and making trains....my kids love trains...not sure what kid out there doesn't. We started off by sorting the little counting blocks and then made a train stretching from our front door to our back door.

Arts and crafts...this was supposed to be a manger...
Building blocks

And puzzles...both girls love puzzles...we could do them all day! This one was Katelyn's...

Painting

Wedgits...ever heard of them?....my kids...including Easton love them! They have the hard plastic kind or the plastic that you can squeeze for little babies.

Roca Berry Farm!

I have been wanting to take the kids to Roca Berry Farm for the past couple of years to pick strawberries. Last year Jocelyn was in the Grand Canyon and things just didn't work out. They open up their berry season only a few weeks at the beginning of the summer. So this year we FINALLY got to go. We met several friends there and picked away. My girls did most of our picking as I had my hands full with Easton eating the strawberries and mud. They did a pretty good job at picking and we ended up with 12 lbs of strawberries. They also enjoyed munching on probably about 5 lbs while they were supposed to be picking! What a fun, fun activity to do with friends!! We are hoping to make some jams, smoothies, and

Jocelyn munching away

Katelyn munching

A few of my friends girls with mine

Jocelyn being a good picker!

Easton enjoying the strawberries and mud
Easton afterwards...he was such a mess!The girls and I with our strawberries

Our strawberries next to a friends basket of strawberries...her's are much redder...but I figured someone had to take the one with blemishes!:)