Memorial Day

Our family had a great Memorial Day. In the morning we headed up to Bloomington, Idaho with Ross' sister, Lark. There we met up with Ross's parents, his grandmother, and the Nicholls family. Nigel was really happy to be around so much family. 

Ross mowed Grandma Lark's lawn. Nigel was whining and fussing, watching his dad out the window. He was a whole lot happier riding the lawn mower with Dad. He just loves to be where his dad is. 

Mowing the lawn isn't hard when you ride on the mower.

Nigel didn't want to leave the mower seat!

We all went to the Bloomington Cemetery to visit graves of deceased relatives. Nigel thought all the flowers were really cool.

Ross and Cathy at Ross' Great-Grandparents' grave.

"Hold me, Momma!"

Nigel checking out his Great-great-grandparents' grave.

Nigel at his Great-Grandpa Ben's grave. Grandma Lark's name is there, but she's still with us.

Having fun with Grandma Bateman!

Ross and Grandma Lark looking at Grandpa Ben's grave.

Smile, Nigel..... Or not.....

While Nigel took his afternoon nap, Ross and I went to see the Minnetonka Cave. It was a lot of fun.

These are the "Three Sisters"

These are the "Seven Dwarves"

These cool little stalactites are called soda straws.

There was tons of water dripping here. One of the tour members said, "It's like all the fat from lip-suction just got dumped here!" 

This is what happens when you touch cave creations. They turn all funky.

After we got back everyone chatted for a while before heading home. 

Nigel enjoyed looking out on the yard from the porch.

Nigel was so exhausted on the way home. What precious little thing.

One More Project

I crocheted this bag. It is going to be my 'project bag' to keep whatever I'm working on in. Then it's easy to take along when I travel this summer. Woo hoo! It took me about 5 hours to make. I did it over a few days though, not all at once. It was really fun to do and I like how it turned out!

Crafty Momma

Since losing my color guard job, I have been keeping busy with crafty things. It sure is a lot of fun. I'm finding that I really enjoy crocheting a whole lot. I learned how to read patterns from a lovely crocheting website and now I am unstoppable! Well, maybe not. We'll see. Here's pictures of everything I have made since being a full time mom.

First I had to finish crocheting this blanket for my niece, Rachel.

Next I pieced and hand quilted (with the help of my mother-in-law) this beautiful blanket for my cousin's baby.

Then I made another baby blanket.

Following that I made a snazzy winter hat. Used a loom for this one.

Then I crocheted my first hat. I was supposed to use a larger hook, but I didn't think it would matter. Apparently it does. So this is a baby hat.

And finally, I made yet another baby blanket. This style is just really simple to do and thus I've made three of them. Go me.

And that is what a crafty momma named Melanie has been up to in her spare time these past 5 months. More awesome crafts will be coming as I am finding some pretty awesome patterns on Pinterest. I'm excited to get crocheting!

Warmer Weather

Pretty much when the weather is warm, I am happy. Nigel is also happy with the warm weather. So that means lots of outside adventures! Here's a few pictures from things we've been doing this past week.

We went to the park. Ross and I sat on a blanket in the shade and read books for an hour. Nigel was entertained with the woodchips that entire time. He would put a handful on the bottom step of the playground then push them around until they all fell down into the holes on the step. Silly boy of mine!

Hey, Nigel! Having fun over there?

Me and my awesome husband!

Nigel sure was having fun over there. What a fun boy!

Nigel and I went on a walk to Gossner's to get cheese. It was really hot, but it was a great walk. We went about 3 miles total, there and back. Nigel thought this little pony was pretty awesome. We were really sweaty when we got back, but that's ok. It was a fun adventure. 

What on earth is that strange little creature?

When we're in the house, Nigel is getting into everything. He is finally learning not to touch Mom and Dad's books and only get out his. His favorite thing to do with his books is to pull them all off the shelf and make a huge mess. 

I have also been crocheting like crazy lately. Just doing stuff to keep my hands busy. I'll have to do another post with pictures of all the stuff I've done. Woo hoo!

Understanding Why

Contacted the Principal at MCHS a month ago to set up an appointment to figure out why I was fired in January. He replied a day later and said he'd check his schedule. And I haven't  heard from him since.
And thus I have concluded that there wasn't really a great reason for me to be fired. It has been a long, rough road and I've come to a few conclusions on my own.
If you read this article: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200411/nation-wimps you will understand how crazy parents are these days. Now, I love my son more than anything, but I love to sit and read a book while he does whatever the heck he wants. I need 'me' time. And Nigel bumps his head and roughs around and learns stuff. And I really believe that this is good for him. He's not in school yet, but I hope I'm not a crazy psycho parent arguing with teachers to get his grades up.
Working with the color guard I felt that if they wanted to be praised, the kids had to earn it. If they did terrible, I would tell them. I will not congratulate someone for failure. That just seems absolutely ridiculous to me. However, parents love to see their kids succeed. And these days, they want to see them succeed by doing nothing. And that is where my issues arose. Parents were not happy with me because I was hard on their kids. They went to administration and complained about me and how I worked until I was removed from the position. And they just taught their kids that if you hate your boss, you can get rid of them by complaining. There is no reason to learn to cooperate with different kinds of people, because life should be handed to you on a silver plate and you should do absolutely nothing to get there.
Yes, that is absolutely messed up. I understand that I have no control over how parents want to raise their kids and do everything for them. That's fine. I hope you still do everything for your kids when their 30 because they are really gonna freak out without Mommy there to hold their hands.
As much as it sucks, it's ok. I understand the worldly reason for me losing a job that I loved. I was teaching kids how to work and how to achieve things by working hard, something many kids don't learn these days. For my belief in that I lost my job. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I will not change who I am to make people happy. I am happy. And that is most important for me.
I have also come to realize the Spiritual reason for losing my job. I have been holding a lot of anger inside these past four months. Anger to people I thought were my friends, anger to people who lied to me, anger to the ones that fired me. I've been blocking out the one person I have been most angry at. Last week I realized I was really just angry at one person: my Heavenly Father. He is supposed to be a God of love, right? Then why the heck would he take away something that I love so much? Didn't he care about my happiness? If he really loved me, he wouldn't have done this to me.
And I finally realized why.
I haven't been in a Spiritual place for four long months. I was angry and grouchy and pretty much just no fun at all. I realized something needed to change. As soon as I let the Holy Spirit back into my life, I was able to receive inspiration from God the Father and learn the true reason for trials.
Humility. It sucks learning to have it. But learn it we must. I have learned, as Moses did, that man is nothing compared to God. Without my God, I am nothing. He gives me strength and with his help, I can accomplish amazing things. Knowing I cannot do things alone is hard to come to terms with. Yet here I am, relying heavily on my Lord and my God to help me forgive and move on with life. They have always been there for me, waiting for me to accept their help.
Family. Such an important part of my life that I was taking for granted. My husband is such a supportive man. He works so hard to support our family and to make Nigel and I comfortable. He is an amazing man. I am so happy that I met him and have him as a part of my life. Nigel is just as special to me. He is such a ray of sunshine every day. He has so much happy energy flowing through every inch of that little body.
I love my family more than anything else on this earth. I know that I am here to raise children in the true Gospel of Christ. I am excited for the day when Ross and I are ready to have another child. Being a mother is the most difficult thing I have ever done, but it is the most rewarding thing as well.
I know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Redeemer and without his help, I am lost.
Life is hard, but I can work through it. And I can feel the accomplishment of my hard work.
I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Bikes and Sprinklers

The bad  news is that our VW Beetle is not working. Again. Two weeks ago it wouldn't start, we got it fixed, and now it won't start again. For this cause Ross and I have been riding bikes wherever we need to go. Well, we've been riding a singular bike. We have two bicycles: one that is in good condition and one that is not. Seeing as we may be riding these bikes all over for the entire summer, we decided it would be a good idea to fix up the one that is not so healthy.

Yesterday Ross was working on studying for his finals and I went out with Nigel to work on the bike. I got it fixed up pretty good, if I do say so myself. And Nigel had so much fun being outside 'helping' me. 

Then Nigel noticed the neighbor's Barbie bike. Which is way cooler than a boring blue bike, naturally. So he went over and pushed it all over the place and had so much fun. He was entertained for almost half an hour. 

Nigel then noticed an even cooler bike. And went over to explore it. I wasn't fast enough with my camera to get him stroking it, but here he is looking at it. Crazy kid. 

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk. It was really windy. Nigel loves going on walks, he likes to watch the cars drive by and points at them as they pass. A little ways into our walk, the sprinklers came on on the park strip next to us. Shouldn't bother us, but then the wind picked up and blew all the water from the sprinklers right into Nigel and I. So I began to run. I ran pushing the stroller speedy quick out of the watery mess. I was soaked. We got to a safe spot and I came around to check on Nigel. Water was dripping out of his hair and all down his face. His little bottom lip was poking out. Poor little man. He was very distraught at his unexpected shower. I bundled him in a blanket and we continued on our merry way. 

Moral of these stories? Nigel loves bicycles but not sprinklers. Good to know for future reference.