Strawberry Jam time!!

It is Spring time!! Spring means berries and berries means homemade jam! We took a trip on April 21, after Soccer games were over, with Uncle Daniel, Aunt Devan, and "Uncle" Josh to Southern Belle Farms to pick our strawberries.

As usual, I was the one taking all of the pictures so there are none of me. Now that the picking is done it is time to wash and cut. I have some wonderful helpers to help cut and taste test the strawberries to make sure they are good.

Lots of cutting to be done!

4lbs of strawberries cut and ready to go!

The day in the life of a mom with 3 kids.

Monday Morning
6:00 Alarm goes off for the first time. Hit snooze!
6:09 Alarm goes off for the second time. Hit snooze!
6:18 Alarm goes off for the third time. Reach over and grab cell phone so the bright light will help me wake up. Play on facebook for a few minutes and see if it is my turn to play words with friends or draw something.
6:27 Alarm goes off for the forth time. Roll out of bed to go wake up Lynley. Stumble in the dark so I don't wake up Jason yet and walk in another dark room as quietly as I can so I don't wake up Kendall.
6:30 Fix Lynley breakfast, take my vitamins, and chug my first glass of water.
While Lynley eats breakfast I pick out her clothes, pack her lunch, pack her a snack, make sure all of her school stuff is in her bag, and turn on the straighter so it can be heating up to fix her hair later. In the meantime Jason wakes up and gets in the shower and Kendall wakes up and wants to snuggle. No time for snuggling right now because I have to make sure Lynley stays on time.
6:45 Tell Lynley to stop playing and eat so she is not late.
7:00 Tell Lynley breakfast time is up, go brush your teeth.
7:15 Ask Lynley why it is taking to long to brush her teeth?!?!?!
7:20 She is finally done brushing teeth! Tell Jason goodbye. Get Lynley dressed and fix her hair.
7:30 Wake Dylan up and get all 3 kids in the cold car to take Lynley to school.
7:40 Sit in the car in the driveway for a few minutes so I can drag out going in the house and getting things going for as long as I can!
7:45 Kendall tells me she is tired of sitting in the car and she is hungry. Go inside and sit Dylan down, he starts to scream. Fix breakfast, Dylan still screaming...wait now I smell something and it does not smell like food, GWOSS!!! Stop breakfast to change my smelly man. Sit him back down, he proceeds to start screaming again. Hurry with a milk cup so maybe I can fix a breakfast that would take a normal person 5 minutes and I have been trying to get it done for 20 minutes. Feed my children that act like they are starving.
9:00 Clean up breakfast stuff and try to keep Dylan out of the cat food...crap he found a piece that I missed!
9:30 Sit in the floor and play, sing, read books with the kiddos with SPROUT on the tv. Drink my 2nd glass of water.
10:00 "Mommy I am hungry. Can I have a snack?" What I want to say "Gesh, if you would have finished your breakfast that took me forever to cook we would not be having this conversation." My real response "You can either finish your breakfast or you have to wait until lunch."
10:30 Get Dylan cleaned up, change his diaper, change his clothes, give him paci and blanket, lay him down for a nap. I jump in the shower because this is the ONLY time I have during the day to shower. Turn Kbear on some cartoons and make sure all of the doors are locked.
11:00 After being interrupted a ton of times because Kendall has to go potty and because she wants to get in with me (I tell her no of course) I am finally done. Get out, get dressed, dry my hair, brush my teeth, do my make-up. Man I feel so much better!
11:30 Start figuring out what in the world are we going to do for lunch. Decide to put that off for a bit and sit on the couch and play on facebook, atlantamommas, check on friends blogs, see if it is my go on any games.
12:00 Gesh, have I really wasted 30 minutes on the computer and now it is lunch time and I have no idea what I am going to fix??? Finally decide on a lean cuisine for me, ham and cheese sandwich and some yogurt for Kendall and same for Dylan when he wakes up. Play on the computer some more while I eat my lunch that is not going to fill me up, but I won't eat anything else because that had so many calories and so much sodium...one day I will learn to fix something different.
12:30 Another 30 minutes wasted on the computer! Close the computer so I won't be tempted by it any more!!! Get a load of laundry going, unload the dishwasher, reload it. Think about how in the world we can go through so much laundry, dishes, and trash in one day...didn't I just do all of this yesterday??? Crap I have only had 2 glasses of water and I have to get my 8 in...chug my 3rd glass of water.
1:00 Go check on Dylan...he is standing in his jumping in his bed and gives me the biggest and cutest smile when I walk in! Get him up, change his diaper, and feed him lunch.
2:00 Time to go get Lynley. Make sure both kids have a drink cup and I have a glass of water, both have their blankets, Dylan has his paci, and Kbear has a toy or a book. Finally make it out the door at 2:15.
2:25 Arrive at car line and have a few minutes to just chill. Kbear usually falls asleep in the car and Dylan talks to himself.
2:35 Car line finally starts moving! Pick up Lynley and we talk about her day.
2:45 Arrive home. Check mail, bill, junk, bill, junk, bill...something I don't recognize...oh wait it is just more junk. We stay outside and play for a bit because it is to pretty to sit inside a messy home!
3:30 Girls come in for a snack, I sit Dylan down to play and I realize I have not even thought about dinner. Start looking through cabinets, fridge and freezer, find something that sounds good and that everyone will eat. Start prepping for it.
4:00 "Lynley, turn off the tv. It is homework time." This is not a chore, she does not mind homework! While she does homework I cook and Kendall is usually helping one of us while Dylan is figuring out what he can get in.
5:15 Head out for Soccer on Mondays. No time to eat before hand! Soccer from 5:45 until 6:45. Come home, get kids in pjs, and eat as a family.
7:15 Time to read!
8:00 Lights out!
8:15 BE QUIET AND GO TO SLEEP!!!
8:30 All is quiet in the Towns house and now time to clean up after dinner. Oh wait, I have a load of laundry in the washer...swap it over to the dryer. Crap, I did not have time to sweep or vacuum! Sweep the kitchen, pick up toys from the living room, vacuum the rug. "Oh, Jason that trash really stinks, please take it out!."
9:30 I am BEAT!!! Lets go to bed!

6:00 It starts all over again, but this time Lynley has to have a bath so no phone time and no snooze time!


I love my life!! It is busy, but full of smiles, laughter, hugs, kisses, tears, prayers, gray hairs, friends, family, books, toys, and just pure joyfulness.

I thank God everyday for giving me such a wonderful husband. Someone who is so understanding when I am in pjs some days when he comes home because my day was so hectic. Someone who is so understanding when the same bowl he ate breakfast out of is still sitting on the table because my babies asked me to take them for a walk or read them an extra book. Someone who is willing to cook dinner on days that I did not even have a second to myself because a kid did not feel good. Someone who loves me with or without make-up on. Someone who never judges me and I never have to make excuses to because he totally understands.

(By the way, this blog took me 3 hours to type up. I don't get to just sit in front of the computer and blog all day whenever I want. I have to do a few minutes here and a few minutes there.)

100 reasons you should work out today...

Because it makes you feel confident
Because it helps you get stronger
Because exercise helps combat depression
Because you'll feel proud of yourself
Because you have goals you want to reach
Because you'll feel bad if you don't
Because you want to move forward, not backward
Because it burns more calories than not working out
Because it improves your heart health
Because you want a great butt
Because it prevents diabetes
Because you want to be a good example to your kids
Because you want to feel good in your clothes
Because it reduces your risk of cancer
Because your body was made to move
Because you want to be an athlete
Because you want to look better
Because it lifts your mood
Because you want to stand taller
Because it reduces back pain
Because it feels good
Because it makes you feel accomplished
Because you spend most of your day on your butt
Because swimsuit season is always coming
Because strong is the new skinny
Because dieting only works so much
Because it strengthens your bones, too
Because it helps you lose weight
Because it allows you to eat more food
Because it's the best way to spend "me" time
Because it helps you de-stress
Because it's cheaper than therapy
Because you want a strong core
Because you want to take care for yourself
Because you take pride in your body
Because it strengthens your legs
Because it helps your clothes fit better
Because you want to push yourself
Because you are capable of more than you ever imagined
Because moving your body feels good
Because it keeps your mind sharp
Because it helps you beat belly bloat
Because it helps you sleep better at night
Because it gives you energy
Because you want to stay healthy as you age
Because you want to look younger
Because you want toned arms
Because it improves your balance
Because it burns off last night's dessert
Because it boosts your immune system
Because sweat is sexy
Because you want to live longer
Because you want to get better at your game
Because you want to catch someone's eye
Because exercisers earn more money
Because you're more likely to eat better when you exercise
Because you want to shave time off your running pace
Because you want to breathe easier
Because you want to see the scale drop
Because exercise improves your sex life
Because you are worth it
Because being fit makes everything in life better
Because you promised yourself that you would
Because you deserve a better life
Because it'll help you drink more water
Because you want to do real push-ups
Because it reduces your health care costs
Because you'll miss fewer days of work
Because you want to create a new future for yourself
Because it'll help you like what you see in the mirror
Because it'll makes clothing shopping more fun
Because you want to look and feel incredible
Because exercising can be fun
Because it'll give your skin a glow
Because it's a good way to spend time with your friends
Because it'll help you prevent the middle-age spread
Because it reduces your blood pressure
Because you don't want to let yourself go
Because you don't want to squeeze into an airplane or rollercoaster seat
Because it strengthens your spirit
Because it's a cheap way to entertain yourself
Because you'll be able to reward yourself
Because you need a reason to wear those new workout clothes
Because you're tired of being tired
Because not working out is not going to get you very far
Because it's a great way to spend time outside
Because you made a commitment to yourself
Because you're tired of starting over
Because there will always be another wedding, vacation or reunion
Because you're not a quitter
Because it improves your cholesterol
Because it boosts your metabolism
Because it prevents age-related muscle loss
Because if you can do this, you can do anything
Because a fit body is a healthy body
Because it beats sitting on the couch
Because everyone has at least 10 minutes to spare
Because you want to be stronger than your excuses
Because not working out isn't working out for you
Because the only workout you ever regret is the one you skip