missing summer time

Today I woke up to the SUN! It doesn't happen often here, but when it does, it tends to set the mood for the day! Unfortunatly, I have a sick little boy and a clingy little girl;o( Cooper is having some breathing issues (cold related) and Kylie has a runny nose! Instead of labeling today a "bad day", I have decided to pretend it is spring! Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but with the sun out and the tempature rising, it reminds me of what is to come! I love our house in the spring...all of the planting and gardening, kids running around in the yard, long walks, fresh country air, picking strawberries or raseberries, and FREEDOM!

Kylie will go up and down her slide for hours! This summer maybe Cooper can join her!

Our back deck we added last year! Cannot wait to eat outdoors again.

Zach relaxing in the hamock!

So all of you should come and join us this year! Bring some food and your bathing suits and relax with us! Hope you all enjoy a "spring day" with me today!!

Happy Wednesday Morning to you all!

Well it has been a long few nights here at the Riedl household. Cooper is teething and Kylie has decided that sleep is overrated! All attempts at easing his pain have failed...I guess all four molars and another tooth must hurt quite a bit! Anyways, due to waking up at 4 am, he has decided he needs a nap around lunch time (normal nap time is 1:00). On Monday he fell asleep with a piece of string cheese in his mouth and today he fell asleep again.

On another note, I have finally organized my kitchen drawers. For all of you who know me, this is a HUGE accomplishment! No more junk drawers and overflowing towels! I feel so much better about knowing exactly where everything is and not having so many unused things.

My baby had her 3rd birthday today! I really cannot believe how much time flys! Thought I would share some pictures of her Princess party with you all!
This is the princess cake that I made! It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would!



Kylie and Brilyn! These girls are truely BFF's! Not just because their mommy's are!! They played for hours together and really didn't have one fight!


Mommy's and their baby girls

My mini Cinderella! This is her new smile;o)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

My forever valentine!

My attempt at a picture of the two of them. Cooper loves eyes and faces!!!

Got one! They are even wearing matching fleeces!

Hope you all have a great day with the ones you love! Not sure how we are celebrating yet, but I am sure it will be fun!

xoxoxoxoxo

A cute story

Good Tuesday afternoon to you all! I have accomplished so much these last few days and am feeling more "together" than I usually do on Tuesday's! Anyways, I have a cute story for you.

Yesterday I was folding laundry when I noticed that Kylie was eatting all of the skin off of her apple. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I'm eatten da skin for Cooper". After a minute, I realized that she heard me tell her last week that Cooper cannot eat whole apples because he would choke on the skin. She proceeded to eat the skin off of the apple and gave it to her anxiously awaiting brother. She then asked me, "Can I get a new apple?". I said "not right now" and told her to share with her brother. I was expecting an outburst, but instead, she bent down and took a bite of the apple her brother was holding and laughed, "Cooper is sharing with me mom".

It melted my heart that she WANTED to share with her brother. I didn't need to say anything to her, she just did it! I love when our kids listen and apply the things we have taught them.

BRIBE PICTURE: this was taken in September! I love Kylie's expression!

I also wanted to include a cute video of Kylie and Cooper playing the drums together last week. Notice Kylie making up a song to sing in her pretend microphone!

Need to go chace a baby crawling up the stairs! Have a great week everyone!

The simple life

As you can see, I have changed the title of my page to "the simple life". I did this because this is what I strive for! I want life to be much less complex so I can sitback and enjoy it. As a mom, it is very easy to get caught up in the craziness of life and ignore the "little things". Over the years, I have attempted to "demodernize" my family so we don't get caught up in the "ways of the world". We use cloth diapers (saves MUCHO bucks), make a lot of our own bread, and buddle up in the house to save on heat costs. Now don't get me wrong, we love technology. Right now my kiddos are watching a movie and I am typing on the computer. My point is, if we are always trying to keep up with new technology or trends, we will be continually desiring something new. Why not just enjoy the things God has blessed you with!

Simplicity: is the property, condition, or quality of being simple or un-combined. It often denotes beauty, purity or clarity. Simple things are usually easier to explain and understand than complicated ones. Simplicity can mean freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. It may also refer to a simple living lifestyle!

My bread machine making some yummy pizza bread!

I do still have some ideas of ways we can make life simplier and will implementing these ways in the near future!

1. GARDEN! How easy is it to grow your own fruits and veggies!! We did do some last year, but with a new baby, it was difficult to do much. This year, I hope to have a HUGE garden full of peas, tomatoes, green peppers, zucchini, and lettuce. My husband also suggested growning pumpkins.
   
2. Compose bin. This is a great way to fertilze your garden and recycle. check out this website if you are interested... http://www.backyardgardener.com/compost/.
3. LESS TV! How many hours a day do we spend watching TV? I recently did a poll on my blog and most of you said you watch TV between 1 and 2 hours a day! I am guilty of this as well. Why not read a book or spend some time with you family. It's also really easy to use the TV as a babysitter. Kids need to get out and PLAY! Therefore, my kids ARE limited on their TV time too.
   

I also included a picture of a TIME SAVING product I have grown to love. It is the Shark and with small kids, this works great! My mom bought it for me not to long ago and I have used it daily to pick up all of the crumbs my kiddos leave behind.

Why do people Gossip?

Just a few thoughts about gossip.

1. Lately I have had A LOT of people gossiping to me about trivial things. Their excuse being, "you need to know these things about...". After listening to a lot of it and slightly engaging in it, I decided that their are NO circumstances when one should gossip. NOT even if they think it would somehow help the person they are gossiping to. I referred to the Bible and this is what it says about gossiping:

"...They learn how to waste their time, going from house to house. And they not only waist their time but also begin to gossip and busy themselves with other people's lives, saying things they should say." 1 Timothy 5:13

So there...it pretty much sums it up! It is a waste of time and I really want no part in it!

2. If you have something you need to say about someone....TELL THEM! It takes a bigger man to confront the person about your issue with them. By gossiping about it, you are engaging another person in a situation which they may or may not have formed an opinion on. Many women tend to agree with their gossiper while they are talking to her and can sometimes form judgments on people from their conversations. I HATE THIS! Can you imagine someone forming an opinion about you because someone else told them they had an issue with you!!! CRAZY! Remember...if you are gossiping about an issue you have with someone else, they might not even know it is an issue until you address it!

3. There is a difference in venting to someone about a problem and gossiping. We all have our select few people we go to when we have an issue. These are people we know will give us feedback, whether it be positive or negative. For me, these people are spiritually strong people who will guide me in making a smart decision about what to do. Gossiping is when you call EVERYONE and tell them how someone offended you or you want to share some juicy information you just heard about with everyone! Some of these people won't even give you any feedback and you just want them to agree with you!

Okay...so hopefully you will all take this as "food for thought" . Leave me some feedback...I love it!!

One of my select few!! Love you Jocelyn!

The origin of bugro2

So a few of you have asked if bugro2 had any significance...and YES it does. It really isn't anything too fancy, but I call Cooper "bug" and Kylie "roo". bugroo was already taken, so I dropped one "o". And as you all know...I have 2 kiddos! So thats the story!

One of my favorite pics of my babies! Cooper was 3 months, Kylie was just 2!

A few pics

Kylie's first official French braid. I am pretty impressed with myself for pulling it off! Oh and she was dressed up as snow white in case you were wondering about the outfit!










And some crafts I have been working on! The dress actually fits Kylie and she likes it!!! WOW! and the purse is what I talked about in a previous blog~










Thought I should add a pic of Cooper too;o)