Kids Trip to Branson & Date Night

Nonna and Papaw took all three kiddos to Branson to a Indoor Waterpark/Hotel and of course Silver Dollar City!

 Kids' room was bunk style and they loved it!

 If you look closely in this picture Jackson is not looking at the camera...but busy doing something.

 This was taken right afterwards...notice the grimace! He had stuck his finger in an empty bulb hole and ELECTROCUTED himself! He had two burn marks where the current went through his body! Oh the boy. He didn't want to get in trouble but he was hurting! The park was nice enough to "reward" him for his curiosity with ice cream to smooth over anything from coming of it.

It made up for it! And he was fine and thankfully/hopefully learned his lesson on sticking his fingers places!

 They love going to Branson with my parents! And this was no different except better because it was so fun in the water in the winter! 

 All the while they were there Jeff and I were busy with Matt and Brittany's Wedding festivities, but we did sneak in a date! Dinner and a movie (The Odd Life of Timothy Green (which I loved)) and a trip to walk around the newly opened Reasors. We are old officially. But I loved every minute.

Fun in the Leaves

One day while I was gone, Jeff and the kids piled up a massive pile of leaves from our yard. We had so much fun last year doing it around this same time we felt it was necessary (both for the raking up and for the fun)!

 Love these people so very much!!!!

"7" Month 1 Ending/Beginning of Month 2

At precisely Midnight on the 7th of November I most definitely had a caramel covered apple! Definitely felt sick afterward but it was so worth it! :)

 I lost about 10 pounds from Month 1 but after eating normally for 9 days I'd about gained it all back! :(

 November 7th started Month 2: Clothing.

Jeff took a picture of his clothing that he had for the month. 

Pair of Khaki Cargo Shorts

Pair of Jeans

Pair of Athletic Shorts

NorthFace Jacket

Black Polo

Hurley TShirt

Watch DOGS Tshirt

Tennis shoes and flip flops

I chose:

Pair of Jeans

Pair of Running/Yoga Pants

NorthFace Jacket

Blue Bixby TShirt

Black E Women Tshirt

LongSleeved Blue Barnabas Tshirt

Black nice Long Sleeved Blouse

Running shoes and Crocheted Toms

It wasn't hard for me to do this month, just inconvenient at times. I made two exceptions, as we spent several days at Great Wolf Lodge and I needed a swimsuit. But considering any bras, underwear, and socks were free I threw in swimsuit since I'd never wear it out in public alone, except for the pool. And then I was summoned to court for CPO (unexpectedly) and needed to be in nice Business wear...so for a few hours one day I had on slacks, formal blouse, and heels, and even donned jewelry which was forbidden during the month as well as accessories. Again, though, it was nice. I didn't have to think about anything I was going to wear. When we packed for vacation we took the smallest suitcase EVER and we packed EVERYTHING we could! ;) It showed me I didn't need to have even a fraction of the amount of clothing that I owned. It really is disgusting how much I own! I don't have a job everyday (other than Mommy and CPO, which rarely calls for anything other than my norm) and so it was a blessing to get to clean out my closet and give to others who may be in need!

"7" Month 1: Food

Jeff and I are doing an experiment for the next 7 months based on Jen Hatmaker's, "7, an experiential mutiny against excess." The first month is food. It was the month I was most dreading because I knew it would be so terribly hard for me. It proved true. But I learned that I have a strong dedication and commitment when I say I will do something. It was challenging for sure and harder in some moments than others. We had to choose 7 food items (singular in ingredient) to eat (in addition to water only to drink, salt/pepper and olive oil only to use as seasoning). 

My list included:

Chicken

 Broccoli

Eggs

Apples

Carrots

Black Beans

Whole Wheat Bread

Jeff's list included:

Chicken

Broccoli

Peppers

Potatoes

Eggs

Apples

Whole Wheat Bread

There were about 30 people interested in doing 7 with us and for various reasons, by the end of the month only about 5 people actually made it. I lost about 10 pounds in the month and felt great physically although my clothes were falling off of me! I learned so much about myself both good and bad, in that food is SUCH A HUGE part of day and it shouldn't be. I've bought into the culture here that we "live to eat" instead of "eating to live." My choices are endless and I complain about things I eat a lot. When my choices were few, it made me so thankful for what I do have and really thankful that I had SEVEN things to choose from when there are so many that have NOTHING but the dirt we walk around on to mix with salt and water. Perspective is everything. My perspective was WAY OFF. Denying myself things I really wanted was not fun, but it's a discipline I need to get better at.  I can't say (post completing the month) that I am eating better or denying myself much these days in terms of what goes in my mouth, but I am so thankful for the experience and I learned so much from it. God really taught me so many valuable things during that month! I recommend this to all! Here are so random pics of our meals.

 I ate more apples than I thought possible. It was the only thing sweet in my list and I was creative with my eating. It's amazing how many things you can do with food when you have to!

Creighton's Birthday #6

 Creighton's birthday landed on a Saturday. Even though we already had her party we always try to celebrate the actual birthday in unique ways. Apparently it pays to have a weekend actual birthday day! We had a blast and it was a PACKED day!

 A bike and a fish were on the TOP of her list for her birthday! Grandma Debbie got the fish and Grammy got her a very nice bike that she LOVES. It's very girly and pink! And she's so fast on it! She named the fish Brayton (after new cousin Brayton).

 First picture as a 6 year old!

 Birthday breakfast! They fancied it up being that it was her birthday and all! And special treat Grandma Debbie and Papa John were there for breakfast!

Shortly after breakfast Jackson and I went to another birthday party for 2 kids in his class while Creighton picked to go swimming with Charleigh and Daddy! They had a ton of fun!

 For our crazy packed evening, Creighton got to pick all that we did! One of her favorite restaurants is HuHot where she always orders (several) bowls of the same concoction: black beans, mild sausage and noodles...After dinner we celebrated at Baskin Robbins for dessert! She requested a cookie cake and I had already purchased that so we had both (well everyone else did, Mom and Dad weren't allowed (Month 1 of the 7) any of it :( and that wasn't very fun, but oh well). Nonna and Papaw joined us for all the festivities!

After dinner and dessert it was requested we go to Chuck E. Cheese where we had free tokens from the girls' birthdays to use! I didn't get any pics of Creighton but I snapped a few of Charleigh who LOVES Chuck E. Cheeses. Every time we go we somehow make bank for free. That's my kind of good time!

 One last final hoorah! (really late by this point in the night) I ordered a long time ago 6 floating lanterns for Creighton because she really wanted them so bad (from Tangled). I found a great deal (groupon) and ordered them immediately!  It took us a little while to get it going, but it was pretty awesome! And a great way to end her birthday and celebrate this sweet little girl of ours!

It floated about a mile or so. We watched and followed it in the car until it was down safely with no fire! :)

Creighton Teal,
I love you with a deep passionate love that I hope one day you'll understand. You and I, we are so very much alike it actually is painful for me to see. Unfortunately you inherited all of my bad qualities, things I despise about myself I see already in your young character. I am thankful that I can understand you better and that I can help you deal with these things now instead of when you're in your thirties. You are amazing and you have MANY gifts that are great things and will help you along your journey in life. You also inherited some great qualities and those will shine bright and you will be successful in just about everything you attempt in life. You can do and be and become ANYTHING you could ever dream of. You have so much power, so much determination, and such strength. There will be moments that life has got you down, but you MUST push through. You must find a way to rise to the top of the problem. It scares me, tremendously, that I see so much of me in you. It actually is making me appreciate you more, and myself too. Thank you. Thank you for being exactly who you are, who you're suppose to be, for you and for me. God doesn't make mistakes. You are a one of kind in that you are Creighton, and you are not me (although like I said you resemble me so very very much). But you were created with a master plan in mind. He designed you intimately to be uniquely you. There is joy and tenderness, and compassion, and love in you! You will find all of these things in life because they are within you. You can be tomboy, you can be girlie-girl, and you can be a perfect mixture of both. You're precious and beautifully and wonderful intelligent. You love to write and read, and talk! Boy, ever, do you love to talk and sing. You are always always doing, moving, dancing, running, trotting, signing, talking or sleeping. If you are awake though, you are on the go. You exhaust me with all your energy, and yet I love it about you at the same time. You still really love horses! You love the color pink and have left purple behind in the dust. You are becoming your own person and I am so glad. You are incredibly sensitive and love deeply...it just sometimes look strange to others. :) You rarely slow down long enough to have deep conversations or cuddle anymore, but I love it when you do. I love to hear and see your imagination that thrills me to no end! You are extremely creative. You amaze me with your art, your dancing, your athletic ability, your creativity, and your motor skills! You are riding a bike (a 20" huge bike) like you've been riding for years! You're fast, you're loud, you're YOU. I love everything about you...I'll take the good the bad and the ugly. God has big plans for you little one. I cannot wait to see how it all unfolds. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be your Mommy! I love you. Happy Birthday!

The Berg Garden

We had wanted to do a garden for some time, then one day in the middle of a busy couple weeks Jeff took the kids and went to Lowes on Saturday morning and upon returning the Berg Family garden began!!

We decided to make raised beds so we could start with "ideal" soil and zero weeds.  Found a place along the fence line in the backyard where sun we hit it every morning but not the entire day.  The beds are 4' by 8' so we could reach the center no matter where we were standing (Using two 8' treated 2by12s, giving us a chance for corn).

 Jeff also decided to go super organic by setting up trash cans to collect rain water and starting two separate compost bins (using chicken wire for ventilation of the compost and contained in a wood housing made from scraps).  Note: the trash cans need lids had two different instances of birds falling into the water and dying... Gross (No picture, you're welcome)!

After rotating the soil, planting our new seeds (from Conrad's) and watering... We waited!!
But it wasn't too long before we saw a sprout...

AND then an EXPLOSION

My most favorite part of each day was going out in the afternoon and weeding, watering and especially reaping our harvest.  The kids loved collecting all the cucumbers in their buckets (we ended up filling several 5-gallon buckets of just cucumbers)

Our first official meal with all 'Berg Garden' goods (we traded some of our lettuce and cucumbers for some farm fresh eggs and a whole chicken another friend has been raising)!!

The Berg Garden is now a staple and we can't wait to add two more beds this year and feeding our family and others (Not too mention use our "Black Gold", compost from the whole year)... Stay tuned!!

Time With Charleigh

I pulled Charleigh out of Mother's Day Out earlier in October and after almost a month am realizing it was the best decision I ever made. I love spending time with this little girl. She amazes me each day. She is a happy, brilliant, loving little girl! She makes my heart happy and puts a smile on my face!

We are enjoying the nice fall weather! This girl LOVES being outside!