Summertime, What I Know For Sure & #iPPP

There's an air of love and of happiness. Oh wait that's the Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness. Yeah, it's Summer, Summer, Summertime. Sorry to go all old school Fresh Prince, but I love that song and he raps the truth.  Because we are all love and happiness up in here.

Sure, the kids fight, the house is a mess and all of that.  But who cares?  It's summer!  I love summertime.

Not to get all Byrds on you, but come on, just like Will Smith back in the day, they were right too.  To everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn, turn)and a time to every purpose, under Heaven.

A time for running through neighbors' sprinklers.

A time for sticking our feet in muddy rivers.

A time for hiding and seeking outside.

A time for monkey bars.

A time for lacrosse sticks and broomsticks to be swords, top hats and flags and wild imagination in the middle of the day just because.

I think they were chanting "for Narnia!"

A time for clover flower crowns.

A time for climbing mountains, chasing rainbows, jumping waves, soaking up the sun and looking up and grabbing every minute of wonder everywhere.

I love summertime, I know that for sure, always.

Here's what else I know for sure (this week):

• Giveaways are good and this one is really good.  All the pictures above were taken with my iPhone.  In fact, that's my go-to camera since it is ALWAYS with me.  In honor of living in the moment, loving it and capturing it on your iPhone, I'm giving away a quick-change camera lens for your iphone--the olloclip.  A lens that can make the awesome pics you already take on your iphone um, awesome-er.  It is a $70 lens and is perfect for capturing all the summer memories you are making.
  

  

  
  
  All you need to do is leave a comment here or like my Facebook page and leave a comment and you will be entered.  You have until next Thursday to leave comments and enter.  A winner will be chosen randomly and announced next Friday.
  
  

• Our obsession with RummiKub lives on.  It's such a fun, all-ages, any-season kind of game.  Perfect for my favorite place in the whole world, our front porch.

• I'm still loving Twitter.  If you want to come play, click here and follow along @AngelaYBlood.

• The little boys are in love with two books right now, actually we all are.  Here are two of our favs right now:

Pete the Cat is such a fun book about staying cool no matter what.  It's fun to read and a great message.  

Blackout is a perfect summertime book and a book about unplugging and spending time together as a family.  We all relate to this message, everyone from the 3-year-old to the 39-year-old in the family.

• I'm not so anti-technology for my boys when it gives them bonding moments like this one.

Checking baseball scores before lights out.

• Subscribe to my YouTube channel here, so you don't miss out on how-to videos like this one.  You know, where I tell you every way not to put on false eyelashes. Subscribe!

• Nature is scary.  My kids think I'm nuts, okay everyone does, but nature doesn't like me and I don't trust it.  We literally almost ran into this deer on a family walk after dinner the other night.  Look at the deer, there's no fear there, just a challenging, menacing stare.  

I was crying while taking this picture,
too afraid to move (no lie).

• Bitchy resting face is real and I have it.  Have you heard of this?  I laughed out loud after I read this and watched the video.  You must, especially if you are an aging woman who doesn't use Botox, watch this video.  Personally, I'm so glad there is a movement to accept "BRF." :)

Click here to read all about it.

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. What do you love about summer?  Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page (and don't forget you might win the super awesome iPhone lens).

  Please come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

I'm linking up today with my friends Greta from  Gfunkified.com and Sarah from SundaySpill.com for the #iPPP link up.  They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones.  
Check them out.

Oh yeah, and because it was a post full of music references, here you go:

Summer, Summer,Summertime

Drums please...

Turn, Turn, Turn
Bruce Springsteen style...

Not Giving Up

I was sitting downstairs, listening.  It was night time.  There was a knock at the door, muffled voices.  They were being quiet on purpose.  I felt nervous and confused.  

"We'll take good care of the dog," I could hear a woman saying.  And then quiet.  Nothing.

I cried before I knew what was really going on.  Then my mother came downstairs and told me people had come to take Smokie, our puppy.  "It was just too much, we couldn't take care of her," she told me lovingly searching my eyes for understanding.

"You gave away my dog?," I asked in shock.  I knew she was trouble, but my god, giving the dog away?  That's serious.  That's forever.  I was horrified, devastated, nervous and confused.  I felt guilty (I was an advanced 8-year-old and felt guilt and anxiety like a boss).

"How could you just....give up on him?," I begged for an answer through my tears.  "I'm sorry. I'll walk her more.  I'll play with her more.  I'll be better."

For the past 30 years, I've thought about that night every now and then with such sadness and judgement.  "How in the hell could my parents have done that?!" I thought.  I've thought that until we got our new puppy this spring.  And now, I have a whole lot more compassion for my parents.

Cosi is our puppy.  She does puppy things.  She chews on everything, she nips, she wants to play all.the.damn.time.  She sheds, she whines, she smells, she needs to go out a lot.   She's just being a puppy, a dog.

Being the only one home all the time and in charge of her along with the four kids has made me pretty grumpy.   I've texted my husband so many times saying "getting Cosi was the worst mistake of our lives" and "I'm not an animal person."  I've sworn more in front of my kids in the last three months than the last 11 years.  I do a lot of complaining.

After eating a 500 million berries that fell from a Mullberry tree we didn't realize we had in our backyard and getting an upset stomach (that's a nice way of saying she couldn't stop pooping), it was just too much for all of us.

"I put feelers out to give Cosi away," my frustrated, tired husband informed me.  "Someone wants her and they want to pick her up tonight at 6:30."

I was speechless.  It was 1982 all over again.  I was horrified, devastated, nervous and confused.  I cried.  "Oh my god, I'll walk her more, I'll play with her more, I'll be better," I told my husband through tears.  "I just complain to vent, I'll be better.  We can't...[sob, sniffle, sob]...give up on her."

JT and Cosi, best friends.

My mind raced. I wondered if I was doomed to repeat patterns, repeat history.  Shortly after my parents gave my dog away, they got divorced.  In my arrested emotional development's point of view (which arrested around the age of 12), they gave up on us.  Yeah, there it is, spoken like a true product of a broken home.  Waaaaa.  Was this how it all started?  With a really unruly puppy?  (There's that 12-year-old over simplification thing I do really well.)

I took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "We are not giving up on this puppy or us."  

Tim looked at me funny, like "us? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Okay, I didn't see this coming, but okay," he said.  "And hon, we're fine."  And then he hugged me. And we both made a plan to be more patient with Cosi and make more time for her.

The kids had overheard most of what happened.  They were all relieved that we weren't giving away their puppy.  I was relieved I didn't have to have that oh-so-memorable talk with them.  

"This is a good thing Mom," Peyton said to me.  "I mean, Youngbloods don't quit, isn't that our thing?"

Years ago, Tim had said that was our family motto in a moment of trying to be Super Hero/Motivating Coach/Hard Nose, Yet Loving Dad.  And I guess it sort of stuck.

This experience has made my compassion quadruple for people and families that have to give up their puppy because of life circumstances and whatever reasons.  It's not an easy decision and I can't/won't judge.  Sometimes people have to give up, let go, quit their jobs, their pets, their marriages.  Sometimes it is what has to happen.  Sometimes it is better, of course.

But it's not for us.  I am on a path to make my own mistakes, my own patterns, my own history with my own family and my own puppy--giving up ain't my story.

Whether Cosi likes it or not, she's part of this wacky gang.

Cosi can't leave, she has a buddy next door!

We're keeping her, but that doesn't mean she doesn't owe me an apology for the sh*t she chews up.  Here's what I have to say about that:

Wild Things on the Porch & Pinterest Poser Challenge

A couple weeks into summer and it's been all kinds of wonderful.  It's been sunny, lazy, playful, busy, fun and free.  And wild.  

Most of our time is spent on our front porch that I can't stop talking about.  And it is the space that I'm once again featuring in a Pinterest Poser Challenge.  I decided to make our porch more of a reflection of our playful, fun and free style.  So, I decorated.  I decorated with what I had in my house--paper, ribbon, kids' artwork, plywood, spray paint and of course, of course, ModPodge.  I probably never would've done this pre-Pinterest just because you know, Pinterest is great like that.  All ideas and inspiration and MacGyver-like crafting or maybe it's more like the mice in Cinderella when they make her dress.  Whatever, it's inspiring.  And ya'll, I'm no poser so here's how it went down.

My kids bring home a lot of papers from school, especially at the end of the year.  School has been out a couple weeks and I think I finally just got through  it all.  I think.  They bring home a lot of crap and a lot of stuff they worked really hard on and sometimes they bring home some really cool artwork.  Artwork that doesn't belong in a pile.  Artwork that should be displayed.  Artwork that symbolizes everything playful, fun and free and wild about childhood.  Artwork that helps tell our story.

This is JT's interpretation of a monster, a wild thing, from Maurice Sedak's Where the Wild Things Are.  

I love it so much.  It's incredibly appropriate coming from my wildest wild thing.  It must not, it cannot, get lost in one of my infamous countertop piles that I eventually put in a cabinet or a drawer only to be seen again months later when the cabinet or drawer is unable to be opened.

So I decorated the porch with this wild thing.  What better place to put this wild thing portrait than where my own little wild things, my own little monsters, have been gathering for every meal, every game, every family meeting and even story times this summer, THE front porch.  THE place for a good wild rumpus to start.  THE place to feel happy and safe, a place where the kids know they are loved best of all.

First I found some plywood and asked my fabulous Pinterest Poser assistant, aka my husband, to cut the wood.  I had just enough spray paint for the border.  

After the paint dried, I used a hefty coat of ModPodge all over the picture and on the cut plywood.  

We screwed in some old screws in the back, twisted some wire around and hung the masterpiece.  Aaaaahhhhh! Rumpus time.

From the moment people step onto our porch, they know what they are getting themselves into--a fun, playful,busy, happy, free kind of family.  A group of little monsters ready for a wild rumpus--not a poser in the bunch.

I also ModPodge-framed a beautiful work of art by Lucy and hung that on our porch too.  The kids are so proud that their artwork is displayed for us, but also anyone that walks by our front porch.

And hey, what about the flag banner I made from paper?

For over a year, I've coveted people's flag banners on Pinterest, Tumblr, Etsy and everywhere else. Here are a couple I love: 

I don't know why I haven't ordered one, but I know why I haven't sewed one, um because I'm no poser and I just don't sew, yet.  So last week, when JT's fever prohibited us from going anywhere but our porch, I got busy.  I pulled together the supplies I had in the craft cabinet and came up with this.  Scrapbook paper cut in large triangles, paper hole punched holes and ribbon threw each hole holding the banner together.  It took approximately eight minutes and done. Whimsical.  Fun.

It's not a long-term kind of decoration however.  It's the perfect banner for a party or if you don't mind the edges curling up a bit after a few days.  Especially on hot, muggy summer afternoons.

Have you made something from Pinterest lately?  Had any great successes? Or advice?  Or warning about a project that's a total waste of time? Do tell.

Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over on Facebook.  Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Door turned into Table- click here

Summer Wish List Chalkboard-click here

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie Sandwiches-click here

Painted Mason Jar Vases-click here

Cinco de Mayo Paper Flowers- click here

Earth Day Cupcakes- Click here

Nail Art-click here

Homemade Photo Booth Fun- click here

Fake Bangs- click here

DIY Subway Art- click here

Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover- click here

Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown- click here
The Smoothie-click here

The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway- click here

The chalk board-click here
Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here
The pumpkin address-click here
The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here

Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

Baseball Times A Million

It was a weekend full of baseball. And baseball and well, um, more baseball.  It was all baseball games times a million.  

It's a good thing we all kind of like baseball. 

It also happened to be the first really hot weekend of the year.

These two tried to find any patch of shade they could
at one of the very hot baseball games.

There was a little bit of pool time too.

But then it was back to baseball.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not the best sports mom or even a pretty good one.  I screw up practice times, get lost to the games and don't get overly competitive or buy any spirit wear.  But I'm very proud of my boys and everything they do.   

Wade can't wait to get a chance to be on a team someday. 

I enjoy spending time with Lucy during the games and watching her play with Wade. Notice I didn't say I enjoy spending time with Wade.  We're getting there and we have some good moments, but he can still be a little challenging at stuff like this.  He whines, he explores, he climbs, he cries and of course he wants to snuggle when it's 95 degrees.

Famous quote from Sandlot, but it works sometimes when I'm talking about little Wade.

Ask Lucy the score and she won't have any idea.
Ask Lucy where the concession stand is and she can give you very detailed directions.  

When I see my boys of summer all sweaty and happy and proud, it really is the best feeling.  When they make a great play and they puff out their chests while looking over at the crowd to make sure we (their dad) saw it, my heart is full.  Right now I don't get too worked up if they make mistakes or have bad games. I used to feel so badly for them, but now it's just part of the game.  

Oh no you didn't Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan, this quote is ahhhhhmazing and is good for baseball and parenting and well, yeah, everything in life.

To me that's what youth sports is all about, learning to feel proud of those winning moments, not braggy; learning to lose, without it ruining your life; learning to persevere in mega heat and to stay hydrated.  Honestly, all of these lessons are huge and I wish I would've learned them earlier, especially the stay hydrated lesson.

But mostly, I love that my boys love something so much.  They love it so much that after 59,304 hours of baseball this weekend, they went home and played catch in the backyard together. 

This is one our all-time favorite movies (Sandlot) and this scene is my favorite baseball scene in a movie.