Blattman Chronicles

I am a lover of shoes. I was shopping a while back and found these. I couldn’t pass them up. Will laughed, shook his head and gave me a “Really?!” look.  I promised him I would only wear them if the entire rest of my outfit was very plain and neutral.  So I have this problem of wanting my own things.  Let me explain.  I don’t like having things that the masses have.   I guess I’m not fond of lemmings…if you will.  Anyway, I digress, I don’t choose things to be loud, to be obnoxious or to make a statement.  I think I pick things because I just like them and I think they’re fun.  I suppose that some people might say that I am quietly rebelling… I might agree, except I don’t have any reason to rebel or anything to from.  Just like Booth needs his crazy socks and flashy belt buckles, I need my shoes.

My children have become much more independent as of late. They have actually made my life a lot easier. It’s nice to get up in the morning and they have already gotten themselves dressed and sometimes even fed.  This morning I helped Annie out with her first round of Cheerios.  She decided that she would try her hand at the second round.  Needless to say ALL of the Cheerios from the box are no longer in the box.  I know it’s a shocking reality.  A large portion of them made it into her bowl and the remainder found rest on the table or my floor.  As I fell upon the scene, I was actually shocked at my first emotional response.  I was impressed…IMPRESSED that she managed to fit so many of the Cheerios perfectly in the bowl.  Annie must have anticipated a different response from me because she looked at me and said, “Mommy, I’m so sorry.  Sorry, Mommy.  I will clean it up.”  Of course that just melted me and we picked up the stray Cheerios together.  I think I’m making parental progress…babysteps.

Ward campouts always lead one to the most unique expereinces.  This year our campground was nestled on the top of a little hill in Escondido.  This was the view from the campsite.  Even though we were just down the road from civilization, we still had a good time.

What can I say?  Our idea of late night fun is thanks to many years of me practicing writing my name backward on shower door fog.  Oh the joy of glowsticks – appropriate for all ages!

I do believe my kids took the prize for dirtiest looking orphan children.  The dirt ring in my bathtub can bear testament of that.  Either way, the trip was filled with skits, dirt, Eucalyptus smoked marshmallows, peach and cherry cobbler, glowsticks (thanks to Buzz), breakfast burritos, disc golf, paddle boat and a little bit of horseshoes.  On a sidenote: Paddle boating yields very little results for the amount of energy invested, especially when Hudson got to steer.  We zigged and zagged our way around the lake.  Annie tried to help by dangling her kicking feet off the back of the boat to help speed things along – to no avail.  Thank goodness the paddleboat showdown between the Bradley’s and Wetzger’s never quite came to a head.                      Classification fo this ward campout…success!