the doodlebug.

As I'm putting Roz to bed: "Roz you smell so good!" (I was referring to the new fabric softener I washed our clothes with). "I know mom, I just putted hanitizer on!" (hand. sanitizer)

July has been good to us - what fun month of birthday parties, grilling and bonfires. Roz had her birthday backyard pool party last weekend! I admit I went overboard with buying a pinata and water balloons and nervously fluttering around the house the morning of her party concerned about other parents thoughts on our house (a thought that never seems to leave my mind, I know we have a nice clean home, nevertheless...)

Pictures from her party:



I think my favorite thing about Roz are our bedtime conversations about God and Grandma Boots - she picks up on a lot I didn't realize. She tells me about her prayers and asks the sweetest questions. This is why five is fun, of course she can be a stinker 9 times out of 10, but she's getting to an age that we get to watch her really begin to learn and show interest in different things.


July also brought an end to t-ball (gosh that was fun!), lots of birthday parties (two this weekend) and farmer's markets.




Just wanted to check in and …

Temps in the 90's didn't get us down this weekend! My girl had a game Friday night, it continues to surprise me how good all the kids seem to listen (except when they're all at first base and don't realize every time the ball is coming their way!). My sister in law (bless her heart) took the kids to get dinner and ice cream while I ran to get groceries and Johnny ran the other direction to Urgent Care to get an ear infection cleared up.

Saturday morning started with bible study - goodness I love this time and those ladies! I was thrilled to hear they decided to do another short four week study between summer and fall sessions. It takes a lot for me to focus on the Word and really understand how to comprehend the bible, but I'm learning and really enjoying it. A quick trip to the farmers market and then a good friend's baby shower was our morning. Later that afternoon Johnny took the kids to Zeb and Rachel's and I got some much needed alone time to which I u…

As I was driving home tonight, exhausted from an already busy week, my eyes were caught by square bales (you never see square ones anymore!) in a field and it took me back to my childhood spending so many summer days with my grandparents on the farm. I remember seeing round hay bales for the first time and being amazed there was something besides those small square ones! Both Johnny and I grew up in rural Monticello (although not meeting until high school - oh, Catholic school boys!) on our grandparents farms.

There's just something so quintessential and special about small town, Iowa life. Some of you might know we nearly moved to the big city of Cedar Rapids/Marion area based on a new job Johnny accepted. At the eleventh hour (after searching homes online that afternoon) he decided it wasn't the best move for us and bless their heart, Spahn and Rose wanted to keep him (who wouldn't, right?). So, after imagining big school life for our kids we now are staying put in Monti…

Want to know my biggest beef right now? We canceled cable and I'm watching Pretty Little Liars on Netflix (seriously, what is the draw to this show? Too bad I won't be watching the 151 episodes!). Anyways, that was just the thought top of mind I thought I'd share!

1. This spring is just flying by. We spent a portion of the evening riding bikes up and down our street, it was so nice out! Anyone could tell the kids had been outside all day with their dirty clothes and dirt streaked faces. I lured them to the bathtub saying they could wash their rocks - worked like a charm. Except for the rocks in the bathtub part.

2. Want to know how to break your mother's heart? BEG her to come to school lunch and then completely ignore her when she's there except to whisper "PLEASE Mom, DON'T come to recess with me." In all seriousness, Roz is 4 and already concerned about these things and I don't know what caused it or how to get her to not be so self conscious. …

Milestone moment: we got rid of cable! Although I'm surviving, I already know I'll miss Fixer Upper on rerun on the DVR. Maybe Netflix will start running it? I can only hope! I do think without the distraction of all the channels we had (and that we paid $85 a month for - yikes) that maybe I'll find a series to watch on Netflix. This evening as the storm began rolling in and the windows were open, we had the Cubs game on. It was a nice change of pace, let alone the fewer options the kids have now! Side note: along with cancelling cable, we also paid off a BIG chunk remaining on my student loan and now just have a bit left that we plan to pay by the end of this year!

This weekend the kids Roz ran in a kids track meet, although she required a bit of coaxing, she did pretty good! I mean, out of three races, she only fell in two :)


The rest of the weekend was a blur: Roz nearly broke her pinky finger, Johnny's truck was broken into and we took a trip to urgent care for an …