Pura Vida

Adam and I were very blessed to have the opportunity to run off to Costa Rica for a couple of days.  Adam had to go for work and so I tagged along and we went a couple of days early so we could see the country and have some fun.  I've been there before.  I studied Spanish there for six weeks and lived with a family while I attended the language academy.  We would go to school Monday-Thursday and on Friday-Sunday, we would take trips to see different things.  Adam picked a couple of things to go see and we went and re-visited some of my favorite places.  

Our first trip was to the Arenal Volcano and the hot springs at Tabacon.  We took a 3 hour bus trip down winding roads to get to our destination.  Once we got there, we had some lunch and then were given keys to a locker and some towels and we had about 5 hours to relax at the Tabacon Resort.  They have natural hot spring pools and waterfalls that you can go sit in and relax.  I was a little worried if Adam would enjoy this trip because I thought he would get bored.  But surprisingly, he enjoyed laying around and sitting in the hot springs.  It was so relaxing.  As the sun started to set, the clouds went away and we got a clear view of the volcano.

Arenal

One of the falls

Arenal

 Before we left, we slapped a will together because we now have quite a bit to take care of should something  happen to us.  We were last minute calling people, finding executors for the will and bothering everyone.  So as a thanks, Adam thought we should make a pin-up calendar of him at Costa Rica.  Unfortunately, we only got enough shots to make it through April.  So, if anyone is interested, I can get you a poster size print out.  You're welcome.

He gave me permission to post this.  I promise.

This is a view from our hotel in San Jose.  While we were there, we got to see the super moon every night.  It was beautiful!

 We took a tour of a coffee plantation at Cafe Britt outside of San Jose.  It was an excellent tour.  Adam has turned into quite the coffee lover and he enjoyed learning about coffee and seeing how it is harvested and turned into what we are drinking.  We highly recommend this tour!

Cafe Britt Coffee Plantation

Our last day there, we went white water rafting.  The Pacuare River is the perfect location to go rafting.  We went with Rio Tropicales and the guides are very professional and knowledgeable.  Rafting was my favorite thing that we did when I went to Costa Rica 9 years ago.  We went rafting in Jamaica and it was nothing compared to my experience in Costa Rica, so I was excited for Adam to go rafting.  

We only had one minor incident.  He and I sat on opposite sides of the raft in the back by the guide and we got to a rapid and he yelled, "get down!" which means you SHARE the space in the middle and crouch down.  Well, as soon as he yelled get down, Adam shifted his large frame towards me at the same time his side of the raft hit a large wave and popped up and so he slammed into me and sent me flying into the water.  They train you on what to do and they also have two men in kayaks there to save you.  (we had on life jackets and helmets)  My head kept going under water as I was being carried down the rapids and my body was slamming into rocks.  When I finally made it down the rapid, I was able to catch my breath and find a kayak to grab onto.  

You should have seen Adam's eyes when they pulled me back on the raft.

He felt horrible.  And it was only half his fault.  But from then on, he learned to "get down" on his side only.  I had a bruised ankle and bruised hip and Adam's arms were sore from "rowing harder than everybody else."  (Because it was a competition...)  

It was a lot of fun.  You get to see the rain forest and see a lot of wild life. We were both sore and tired after that trip, but it was totally worth it.  

There was only one bad thing about Costa Rica.  

We missed our kids. 

A lot.  

I mean, I really enjoyed sleeping in.  Eating hot meals, slowly.  Using the restroom...alone.  But it's almost like motherhood is a curse.  These kids drive me crazy and there are days where I long to rock myself in a dark, quiet room.  But then when I'm away from them, I think about them constantly.  It seems like everywhere we went, we saw kids our kids' ages.  There was even one night when I was missing the kids and I grabbed something out of our backpack and one of Kyle's snack puffs fell out of the bag.  I almost cried.  I love these kids.  

My mom was in town to watch them and luckily, Steve was staying at the house and was here every evening to help mom with the kids.  I will tell you more about that later.  

But it was so good to get home to the kids.  I came home on Monday evening and saw them the next morning.  Adam stayed in Costa Rica to work and came home on Thursday evening and saw them on Friday morning.  This was the longest Adam has ever been away from the kids (i.e. 9 nights).

Daddy's home!!

Hey!  Who's home??

Awww!  Daddy!!

The Ticos (Costa Ricans) say Pura Vida. (Pure Life) and in the airport the sign says it is the happiest country in the world.  I think it might be.  I highly recommend you go there.  It is a great country and they are very friendly to Americans. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.  I'm going to try and post a little more often.  No promises, though.



Love to all! Pin It Now!

My husband's not a babysitter

Nor is he a bumbling idiot.

I'm sick of movies, television, and just our culture today, portraying fathers in this manner.  There's movies about how incapable men are that stay at home with their kids, or sitcoms where the wife comes home and dad has messed up again with the kids.  Poor dad.  Doesn't know how to care of a child.  Shouldn't have left him home to "babysit."

Let's review what a babysitter does.  It's a very low-responsibility job that is short term.  You hand the kids off and are no longer on duty when mom comes home.

Is that what you want your husband to be?  Dads, do you really only want that short term, low-responsibility influence on your children the short time they are under your roof??

Adam drives me bananas on the weekends.  He gets up and dresses the kids.  For some reason, after I told him 3 times, he continues to put the green polo on Kyle, with little anchors on it, with shorts that belong to a different outfit!  And the girls...don't get me started.  He manages to find a shirt that I have shoved in the back of the drawer because it doesn't fit right, and he'll slap that shirt on them with some wild leggings and a black velvet skirt from a Christmas outfit.

Getting to church on the weekends also drives us both bananas.  It's close to impossible.  He stays at the breakfast table with the kids while I shower and get ready.  I will have laid out their outfits.  And what seems to be a 4 step process of getting the kids cleaned up, changed, and out the door turns into a 12 step process with lots of bumps in the road.  I can hear the chaos and fighting happening from my bathroom and I'm so tempted to come out and "fix" whatever problem is going on.  But I don't.

You see, dad has his strengths, too.  I spend more time with the kids.  I know their ins and outs.  I know how telling Aubrie to go use the restroom before we leave is better than asking her to.  I know that Emilie will not be capable of going and getting her shoes out of the closet even though they are laying on top of the shoe basket.  She's 2!  Her brain prevents her from doing simple functions like bending at the waist and reaching for a shoe!  It bothers me a little as I can hear dad trying to work it out from the other room.

Am I happy they are running him through the ringer?  Sort of.  But I'm more happy that I have a co-parent who battles through the weekends and fathers his children.

If I storm out of the bathroom and get on him about the shoes he picked to go with their outfits, not wiping the syrup off Emilie's cheeks, not telling Aubrie to use the bathroom and giving her the option by asking her...it would all kill his confidence.  I have the upper hand.  I know how these kids work.  I can sense Emilie's next melt down coming from a mile away.  But if I go get on dad, I'm killing his desire to keep battling.  I'm embarrassing him in front of the children.  I will make him withdraw and not want to be involved with the kids.  Pretty soon, I'll be getting myself ready for church, getting the kids ready for church, and dad's off watching sports center until we are all sitting in the car, ready to go.  Who cares if Emilie has syrup on her cheeks?  At least she smells good.  And who cares it took him 30 minutes to do something that I could have done in 10?

Dads are vital to our families.  Adam, and all men, encourages risk, spontaneity, pushing boundaries, and having courage.  What he brings to our family dynamic is just as crucial as my ability to nurse a baby, put meals on the table, and kiss ouchies.

Ephesians 5:28-29 says, "In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church"

I encourage you, moms and wives, to embrace your husband's strengths.  Cherish what he brings to the family.  Tell him this weekend how much you appreciate him.  Men love affirmation.  My girls get what they want from their daddy.  He listens to them, loves on them, buys them things...it's because they are always giving him affirmation.  They give him those googly eyes and say stuff like,  "Daddy is so strong!"  "Daddy, you come home after work, ok?  I miss you."  "Daddy is sooo funny!"

I know Adam is funny and strong.  But I assume he knows I think so.  I don't tell him all the time like his girls do.  But I need to.  I want to see him get that big head and puff his chest out as he parades his wreck of a family into church on Sunday.  Because he is a great dad.  And he deserves to know it.

Happy Father's Day!
(Especially to my daddy.  One of the best!) Pin It Now!

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  I definitely had a blast.  I'll share more after I share these delicious blueberry muffin recipe.  I found it on Pinterest, of course.  They are soooo good.  I had some buttermilk leftover from a salad dressing I made and I bought a large container of blueberries at Costco, so while searching for a blueberry muffin recipe, I came across this one that would use up my leftover buttermilk.  Perfect!  It's definitely a keeper and going in my recipe box.  I hope you like it, too!

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

from Heather's French Press blog

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 1/4 cup of melted butter
• 1 cup of blueberries tossed with 1/4 cup of flour topping
• 1/2 cup of four
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 4 tbsp cold butter

Instructions

• line muffin pans
• combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar
• add the egg, buttermilk, and butter
• mixing only until everything is damp
• gently stir in the blueberries
• spoon into the muffin pan
• make the topping:
• combine the flour/sugar and cut in the butter
• crumble into pea size pieces
• spoon onto muffin batter
• bake @375 for 20 - 25 minutes 
• Enjoy!

I enjoy Mother's Day more than my birthday!  I love being a mom and I take the job very seriously.  I soak up all the love I get for the hard work and sacrifices I make all year for my family.  I also enjoy giving that love to my mom and fellow moms.  It's the best day ever.  :)  

My weekend started with Adam, Kyle, and Aubrie getting up on Saturday and going to Chick-fil-a to get me some chicken minis for breakfast.  Emilie and I enjoyed sleeping in.  After breakfast, Adam ran to Lowes and bought an electric hedge trimmer and we trimmed the front hedges.  Our front beds have about 12 hedges of different kinds.  It's a task we always put off because it is so hard raking the leaves out of the beds without raking out all the mulch.  They look really good and I'm glad we did it.  That evening we went to Burger Up in Cool Springs and enjoyed delicious hamburgers.  On Sunday the children gave me their gifts and we went to church.  I wanted to eat at Carabbas but the food didn't taste that good because Kyle was so tired and was screaming and going boneless at the table.  Emilie decided she didn't want spaghetti and meatballs after all, and Aubrie needed my constant attention while she colored.  Constant.  Adam said that one day we'll enjoy a nice meal out.  :)  When we got home, Adam wanted to take a family picture.  We even got Petey involved, even though he's in trouble.  (He found my container with cilantro and emptied it and chewed up the pot.  Bad dog.)

The girls waiting for a table at the restaurant.

Tired Kyle who won't sleep.  He won't give the nursery workers at church a break, neither.  He shows up, screams as soon as we hand him over.  It's like he says, "Hey, watch this.  If I scream really loud, they'll let me leave the room and walk me around this place during the entire service."

My mother's day loot.  The kids picked their own gift bags.  The card was horrible but Adam said it is the one the kids wanted and Kyle started to melt down.  It says something like if I turn out weird, it's because I take after you, mom.  haha.  Adam takes the kids to Target and sets them loose.  I got a butter dish, a note pad, a trashy magazine, a black beaded necklace, and biscuit cutters.  Adam also got me some rain boots, but they didn't arrive on time.  He ordered them a while ago and when he called to check on the order and found out they wouldn't arrive on time, he told the lady on the phone that she single handedly ruined mother's day.  lol.

One more treat was that we found some wingback chairs for a steal on craigslist and we got them.  I had some that needed re-upholstered but these were way better and don't need fixed.  So if anyone is interested in a re-upholstering project, I've got two chairs for you!

 It rained on Friday and I enjoyed staying in with the kids all day and enjoying them.  They sure are a lot of fun!

Lastly and most importantly, I would like to wish my dear sweet mother a very Happy Mother's Day.  I love her oodles and I wish I got to see her more often.  She's made my experiences of becoming a mother...having a baby, recovering, raising the baby, having more babies....so memorable.  She's so encouraging and supportive of me.  She makes me look forward to being there for my girls when they start their families.  I love you madre.  Muchisimo!

Dad was bragging about all of mom's medals from running so we had her go put them on and show them off.   Never a dull moment at the Walker house.

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Hug a teacher!!

Today is laundry day.  I didn't always have one day devoted to laundry.  I did it as it accumulated or was needed.  The problem became that laundry became impossible.  I would get it done and it would lay in a pile at the end of the bed, begging to be folded.  Or I would start a load and forget about it until the next day and have to wash it again.  The task was becoming impossible.  Then a friend mentioned she had laundry day and I thought I would give it a try and it turned out to be amazing.  I hated having piles of laundry laying around all week long with laundry baskets in every room.  With laundry day, I got ALL the laundry done, folded, and put away for the rest of the week.  It made the house look tidier and eased my mind.  Also, it helps me remember to wash towels and sheets.  Some weeks I would look at the kids' beds and think, "whens the last time I changed her sheets?!"

Now the challenge is not getting caught up in a project or cleaning something else and forgetting to put clothes in the dryer and start a new load.  I'm so scattered sometimes.  I'll walk in the bathroom with the Windex to wash the mirrors, but see that Aubrie and Emilie have left toys in my bathroom so I'll pick them up and take them to the living room and start picking up other toys and realize that the toy box is too full and I need to take some toys back upstairs and then I get upstairs and realize I forgot to put extra toilet paper in the bathroom and....before you know it, I'm headed to brush my teeth at the end of the day and there's the Windex sitting on the counter and I never DID clean those mirrors.

I just listened to a radio broadcast on Focus on the Family about His Brain, Her Brain by Dr. Walt and Barb Larimore.  They talked about understanding the differences in how our brains are made for men and women and how to use that knowledge to strengthen your marriage.  They made some very interesting points that not only helps me understand Adam, but will help me when parenting Kyle.  Women can process up to 7 things at once and men can only process 1 thing at a time.  If the tv is on, and you're telling your husband about a school program that he needs to put in his calendar, well forget it.  He can't hear you.  I joked with Adam that he was anxious for me to hear this broadcast so he now has an excuse for not being a good listener, which I tell him ALL THE TIME.

We downloaded Focus on the Family's radio app from ITunes and we both try to listen to it and then discuss it.  I love that we do it together.  Some things appeal to us, some things don't.  Some things we agree with, other's we don't.  We get a lot of good out of the broadcasts and you might would enjoy it, too.  Every day we are reminded of how hard it is to raise children and not only that, but be mindful of each other and keep the foundation of this family strong, which is our marriage.  Divorce is ugly and has taken over so many couples.  Marriage constantly needs our attention and work.  Maybe you can get a chance to download the app or go online and listen to a broadcast here or there.  You might find something you like.  (or maybe not!)  :)

Man, it's been busy around here.  The girls went to their first dentist appointment this past month.  They both did very well.  We went to Dr. Buzz in Franklin.

 Super dad's schedule is a little more flexible and he's been able to stay home a little later in the morning and he makes time to make oatmeal for the girls.  What a great dad.  They like peanut butter oatmeal (which they call cowboy oatmeal because that's how Poppy makes it).

 I've been working out in the yard quite a bit.  Our garden looks good and the flower beds are beautiful.  I've drug the crew to Lowes and Home Depot several times for flowers and other supplies.  Last time I took them, the girls were dressed up in their old Halloween costumes and didn't want to take them off.  I figured, hey! lady bugs and bumble bees like flowers.  Why not?

They were so helpful!!!  (they are not helpful)

I know some of you are concerned about Petey.  I don't talk about the family dog much anymore.  He's fine.  Don't you worry. 

He's so lazy.  I'm constantly finding tennis balls at the back of the yard that we have thrown and he failed to retrieve while I'm mowing.  There is also the obese bunny that just saunters right up to our back door and looks for treats.  I'm going to have to put a fence around my garden.  We'll let Petey out and he ignores the bunny completely.  He's also chosey about what table scraps he wants.  Lazy dog.  

The other day I had Camp Kellie.  I had the Kindred boys (Teague and Trace) over after school and the kids had a blast playing outside.  

Trace seeks out this string of pearls every time he comes over.   It doesn't make dad very thrilled, but it's quite funny how he insists on wearing them.  We call them his power necklace.  It gives him super strength!  (aren't his eyelashes ridiculously long?!?!)

Handsome Teague.  He and Aubrie have gone to school together for 3 years!

 This next sequence of pictures we will call the many faces of Emilie.  She's still 2.  Won't potty train to save my life.  Sometimes she'll go and she likes to dial her dad up on the phone and yell at the top of her lungs that's she's gone in the potty for him and all his co-workers to hear.  She's so stubborn and has a mind of her own.  Right now she's big into thinking that things are scary.  She'll run into the room and yell, "AHH!  Something scared me!" or she won't sit in her chair during breakfast because there is something scary on her chair.  It's driving me nuts.

Emi and her pal.  Some nights she will only eat for him.  She'll say, "Dad?  Can I sit by YOUUU??!"

This is my little helper.  She's got the sweet tooth and you can bribe her with cookies or candy.  That's the only reason why she is potty trained.  She really is a lot of help.  Kyle will be fussing in his high chair and I'll be upstairs wrestling Emilie to get dressed and I can yell down and ask her to entertain Kyle and she will make him laugh or hand him his juice cup.  She's getting so big.  She's going to be 5 in February, and I know that is a ways away, but it's going so fast.  She's so bright and talented in many ways.  She's got the kindest heart.  

This guy right here is into table foods.  And I mean, all of it.  He eats pancakes, bacon, any kind of bread, chicken, turkey burgers, lasagna meat sauce and pasta, watermelon, cantelope, peas, cheese, hummus, bell peppers, avocados, sweet potato fries, bananas, tacos, beans, rice, and he can down a chick fil a kids meal faster than his sisters.  He'll mow that chicken down, suck up the applesauce, and be looking around for more.  After spending the last year or so negotiating with Emilie to eat and take one more bite, it is nice to have our own little Hoover Vacuum at the table.  :)

Look at this face!  Don't you want to eat it?!!

Here he is flirting with me while I'm ironing.  I can't get work done with this guy flirting with me!! He now says Mama and that is really all that matters.  He still isn't crawling.  He's just now getting on all 4s and rocking.  He can scooch backwards quite a ways.  It won't be long.  Watch out Pete!

Yesterday we had Funday Monday with Marcie and her sister Michelle.  We went to the adventure science center.  Katie and I like to make things exciting and ride together.  We pile 5 car seats into the Tahoe and drive down to Murfreesboro.  Having Higgs in the car is always an adventure for the girls!

Teague and Aubrie were so funny.  Michelle snapped this picture of them.  It's absolutely perfect.  Teague's legs are right and everything!  He's working on the car and Aubrie's checking on him.

I think Aubrie has a thing for guys in uniforms!  :)  

Thanks moms for all the fun.

I hope everyone else is enjoying this spring weather and having fun.  Mother's Day Out is almost over and we've got a busy summer ahead of us.  Don't forget that this week is teacher appreciation week!  Go hug and thank you kids' teacher!  They are amazing!  I found a cute idea on Pinterest and made some changes to come up with some baskets for the girls' teachers.  The note says:  Orange you glad it's almost summer? Too cute.  Love our teachers!  And you all!  Until next time...

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