Our Life with 3 Daughters

Thankfulness

2011-12-01T15:41:00.000-06:00

The last few years, I've done a daily Thankful post on Facebook for the month of November. I have so much to be thankful for and am truly blessed in my life. I feel like all too often, we get caught up with life and sometimes what we don't have, and forget to focus on what we do have. I tried to post something each day (though I missed some because I'm seldom on the computer on a weekend) that I was thankful for, some days I posted two. Some of those things were serious, some were funny, some were weird. Here is the list, copied from Facebook:

Today I'm thankful for chocolate.

Today I'm thankful that after almost 15 yrs together, and lots of ups and downs, I still love Andy like crazy.

I'm thankful that not all of my dreams come true--last night's was strange, irritating, and quite frankly, it pissed me off.

I'm thankful that I am the mom to 3 beautiful, intelligent, funny, exasperating, dramatic, loving, crazy girls. I love you bigger than the universe, Alayna, Lilly and Mikayla!

Today I'm thankful for craft fairs and time with friends.

I'm thankful for all 4 of my wonderful, loving Grandparents. 3 of them have gone on to a better place, and one remains here on earth. However, today I'm especially thinking of my Grampa L. It's very fitting that today we celebrate All Saints Sunday on the first birthday we will have without him. Happy Birthday, Grampa!

Today, I'm thankful that I don't forget my contacts in my eyes every night! I totally forgot about them last night and woke up with itchy, red, goopy eyes and had to literally peel them off my eyeballs this morning! Ack!

I'm thankful for music. I love just about every kind, and listen to a wide variety on a regular basis. I've always got something playing or in my head. It plain makes me happy

I'm thankful my dishwasher at least gets the dishes clean, because it sure isn't "QuietGuard" like it says it should be. It's only 3 yrs old and SO loud.

I'm thankful for great friends and lasting friendships.

I'm thankful for my freedom and for those who fight, or have fought, to maintain those freedoms.

I’m thankful for my parents. Thank you, Mom, for asking me if you could have the kids tonight. They will have a blast, and I REALLY needed a date night to get my mind off of a stressful week.

I'm thankful for fun socks. I can be having a crappy day or wearing the most blah outfit, but having colorful, funky socks just makes it all better.

I'm thankful I'm seldom sick (our whole family, actually). Last night was tough with my body aches and sore throat. :-(

Today, I'm thankful for 9-0!!!

I'm thankful my dishwasher is fixed and QUIET again! Woohoo! Had a local repairman come.

I'm thankful for a sturdy, warm house as we head into the winter months. I realize many are not so lucky.

I'm thankful for great books and movies that I can escape into. Tonight...it shall be Breaking Dawn. :-)

Thankful for naps.

I'm thankful for our local dairy co-op! Just a few miles down the road, I can buy all my milk, cheese and butter, knowing that it comes from local farmers. And the cheese is PHENOMENAL

I'm thankful for our little country church and all who worship there. We truly are like a big family.

I'm thankful for traditions.

I'm thankful for our wonderful pets, who bring us such joy--Sunny and Marley (dogs); Coonie, Sid, Mulan and Sleeping Beauty (aka Squirrel--all outdoor cats); and Belle, Chief, Bingo and Chloe (horses).

I'm thankful for warm, fuzzy jammies...and so are my kids! They had pajama day at school yesterday and thought it was the best thing ever!

I'm thankful for a day to slow down and reflect on all the blessings in our lives. As an aside, I'm also thankful that Urgent Care is open today--Mikayla's been up since 3 with an ear infection. I'm going on 4 hrs awake already at 7am...

I'm thankful for a great day with great friends.

I'm thankful for such a fun, busy, great weekend that I had no time to update my status!

I'm thankful my headache is gone, after about 20 hrs of it's wonderful presence.

I'm thankful for the elderly couple up the road, who every year put out a great lighting display for Christmas. My girls just LOVE going by there several times a week to look at the lights. I just made them a card to thank them for the lights and let them know how much we appreciate it! Now, we're going to drive by the house and get their address so I can send it (and hope the post office will give me their last name, so I can address it properly. We don't know them at all!)

October

2011-11-07T09:59:00.000-06:00

October was one of those months that felt like I went to bed on Monday and woke up on Friday. We were so busy the entire month that it was hard to keep track of the days. A lot of things happened, a lot of time passed. And I was going to try to keep up with the blog better. Ugh. Oh well, here is a photo recap of the month.

Lilly turned 7 on the 7th, which means it was her golden birthday! She had 7 friends over for a party that included lots of outside play, a horse pinata, supper and cake. They all had a blast! (Marley also celebrated a birthday in Oct and it was her golden birthday, too! 3 on the 3rd!)

Lilly lost her first tooth on the top--literally lost it! She doesn't like to pull her own teeth and will get them super loose, then have Dad pull them. Unfortunately, he tied it with floss and when he made the knot tight to sever the last bit of whatever holding the tooth in, the tooth flew across the room! Oops! That was Friday and when we got to church Sunday, her best friend had lost the same tooth the night before!

Alayna got an award through 4H for being the junior beef showmanship champion for the county. She accepted the award in front of an auditorium of people and also has her name engraved on a plaque that hangs in the county 4H office.

Alayna also got her braces off! :-)

They girls didn't have school for a Wed-Fri in October, so we went on a mini-vacation to get some quality family time that had been lacking with all the busy-ness of the last several weeks. We headed out Thursday morning for drive up to Ashland and around to Superior, where we stayed for the night. We met up with our friends in Duluth for a visit to Enger Park and dinner. Friday morning we woke up early to drive to Ely, MN, in the hopes of seeing a moose. We didn't see one, but we still had a lot of fun driving around, checking out the shops, and playing at the park. When we got back to Duluth, we did some shopping and then went swimming at the hotel. Saturday morning my friend met us at the hotel with coffee for a visit, and we headed home late morning. It was so nice to get some great family time!

The last weekend of October, we finally got our project day in! We re-shingled our roof, put concrete in the barn, replaced my cracked picture window and cut down a tree in the yard that leaned toward the house. It was so great to have everyone here, helping out and volunteering their time. Thank you to everyone!

Of course, we ended the month with Halloween. I don't know what's up with the picture, but I can't change it now. Ugh. Anyway, Mikayla was Belle, Lilly was Jasmine and Alayna was a punk-rocker. The girls had a lot of fun and got WAY too much candy, but that's okay. They already have plans for next year. :-)

Girls Only!

2011-10-03T09:52:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all the storms this summer and it being a normal fall, Daddy is now busy every weekend for about 2 months. He's either shingling houses, doing farm work or putting up grain bins. *sigh* The girls and I just keep holding on, trying to find fun things to do and hoping Daddy will be done early on Sundays (which most Sundays he's been home around noon). A few weeks ago, we decided to head to Duluth for the day. I'm so glad that we did!

It was such a fun, beautiful day. Duluth is usually cool, since it sits on the SW corner of Lake Superior, but it was in the 70s that day! We have a family pass to the Minnesota Zoo, and it gives us reciprocity to the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth. We started the day there, looking at all the fun animals and walking around the grounds, which include a great little hiking trail to a river and waterfall!

After the zoo, we ate our picnic lunch in the park next door. The girls had a good time playing on the playground equipment once done eating, and I was attempting to keep my cool with all the seagulls that were invading my territory, hoping for some leftovers from our lunch. I don't do well with wild birds that get too close.

When we were done playing, we headed to Enger Park. Duluth is right on Lake Superior, and part of the city is at lake level while the rest rises above the city on a huge hill. Enger Park is at the top of the hill and has a tall observation tower that you can climb. At the top of the hill you can see for miles, but from the top of the tower it seems like you can see for days! It's always a favorite place to visit in Duluth. When we were there, there was one wedding party just leaving in limos, another was just arriving, and another party was taking pics overlooking the city. The girls thought that was pretty cool to see all the brides and bridesmaids in their pretty dresses!

View from atop the tower (zoomed in quite a bit)

View from the cliffs the tower is on (zoomed in quite a bit)

We were going to go into Canal Park, but I had checked with a friend and there weren't any ships coming into or leaving port for quite awhile. So we just decided to head home. We stopped for ice cream on the way home and then sang silly songs the majority of the drive home. It was a great Girls Only day!

Our Youngest, Biggest Baby!

2011-10-03T09:22:00.000-05:00

My youngest, biggest baby turns 3 today! Marley has been such a wonderful dog. I had wanted a Great Dane since I was about 10, so when Andy and the girls surprised me with tiny, itty bitty Marley almost 3 years ago, I was over the moon! I am so in love with this dog. She is gentle, she's fun, she's well behaved, she loves to play, she is protective of her family, she's smart as a whip, she's pretty...she also leaves piles in the yard the size of my foot, has some separation anxiety from me if I leave her too much (read--chews toilet paper) and drools all over right after she's been eating or drinking. But we love her and life wouldn't be the same without her! Happy (golden) Birthday, Marley!! We love you!

Rain and Bows

2011-09-13T11:21:00.000-05:00

Mikayla is still having quite a bit of storm anxiety. She is especially worried if it gets really windy or rains. However, I think we've hit a turning point. All summer since the accident, she's been terrified of storms. She cries, shakes, goes pale, almost hyper ventilates...it's extremely heart breaking as her parents, for us to not be able to help her and have to see her like that. We have been teaching her to take deep breaths, snuggle a special blanket or toy (or person), say a prayer asking for help to get through the storm. It seems to work sometimes, not so much other times.

While camping Labor Day weekend, a quick "storm" blew up on Sunday afternoon. We were outside and could see the entire cloud, surrounded by sunlight. It would be here and gone within 10 minutes. As adults, we knew that. But we couldn't explain that to Mikayla. As the first raindrops started to fall, she started crying and ran to the camper. I was just coming out after preparing dinner and I talked her into sitting under the canopy with everyone else. She was scared, but she agreed. We sat there while it rained for about 10 minutes--no wind, no thunder, no lightning. The whole time, we made a big deal out of how brave she was being and how it was almost over. Then, the rain stopped and this showed up:

It was perfect! We could see the entire rainbow, plus the majority of a lighter, double rainbow above it. Most of us had never seen such a bright rainbow, with colors so vivid we could even make out the purple! Mikayla was convinced the rainbow was just for her, for being so brave. We told her that rainbows only come out after the rain, and that there was no other way they could be in the sky. Only after rain can they shine like that. It was just what she needed! Now we hope that the memory remains for the next storm--we haven't had rain in over a week, which for this summer is just a crazy long amount of time.

School's Cool

2011-09-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

The girls have started school and for the first time ever, all 3 of my girls are in school on a regular basis. Alayna and Lilly go every day, obviously, but Mikayla goes on the "days that start with T". So far, they are all loving their classes and teachers. Each day, they come home full of stories about things they've learned or friends they've made. They love showing off their projects, especially Mikayla--everything is so new to her.

For me, it's an adjustment. It always seems so quiet and lonely with the girls gone back to school after a summer full of their giggles, stories and attitude. But I've never been away from Mikayla on a regular basis like this. I know I'll survive, I did with the older girls, but the fact that she's my baby does weigh a little heavier. But she is so ready. She has been wanting to go to school for years. She knows her letters and her colors and shapes. She can write her name. She's ready, so I have to be, too. (thankfully I have my daycare kiddos to keep me busy during the day!)

Alayna is in 5th grade, Lilly in 1st and Mikayla in pre-Kindergarten (4K)

Mikayla got a little excited when she saw the bus (she's jumping and screaming)

Waiting for the bus--it drives by, turns around and comes back so they don't have to cross the road

Mikayla is on her way to her first ever day of school!

It's September...the start of my favorite time of year!

2011-09-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

It's September, which is the start of my favorite time of year: Fall. Autumn. Whatever you call the glorious season between summer and winter. This is my time. I love the colors, the smells, the temperatures, the sports, the activities...I love it all. There is nothing better than jeans, a sweatshirt, shoes or boots and a bonfire or football game or horseback ride through colored trees. I LOVE this time of year. Apples, pumpkins, corn, scarecrows, school...

HELLO FALL!!! I've missed you!

Grampa

2011-08-15T07:27:00.000-05:00

I have been very fortunate in my life to have known not only all 4 of my grandparents (all into adulthood, no less) but also my Great-Gramma. I know several people who have never known a grandparent, or maybe only 1 or 2 for a short time. My life has been so full of family and love from day one. Unfortunately, as time goes on, people get older. My Great-Gramma passed away when I was about 10, dad's mom passed away in fall of 2001 and my mom's dad passed away in early 2005. Now, my dad's dad has also passed away.

Grampa and I have always had a great relationship. As a child, I remember anxiously waiting for him to get home from work at the saw-mill when Gramma would watch us so he would play with us. There were always puzzles to work on their huge dinning room table. Grampa would always have a smile and a playful joke or story to tell us. When we would go to Great-Gramma's house, Grampa and I would "race" eachother on the sidewalk in front of her house--me about 6-10 yrs old and Grampa in his late 50s. He was always one of the biggest men I knew, he seemed so tall and commanding. When I was older, he'd always ask about school, or my horse, or my job. Once I had the girls, he was quickly one of their favorite people. They loved seeing Great Grampa, who would always greet them with a big smile, a huge hug and listen intently when they told him all the random things that kids do. At his 80th birthday party just last year, he was running with the girls in the church basement, as they pretended that the nursery was full of spiders, bats and dinosaurs. He lived on his own until just a few short weeks ago. He's always been so strong and healthy and lively.

And now he's gone. Grampa battled cancer early this year and we all thought he'd beat it, though we were apparently wrong. The cancer resurfaced in July and he lost his battle yesterday.

Grampa--We love you and will miss you dearly, but we know that you are back with Gramma. Just like I know Gramma is always with us, I know you will be too. And when I smell woodsmoke or sawdust, I will forever think of you. Thank you for all the years, memories and love.

Fore!!

2011-08-08T11:37:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure which fore/four/for is used in golf, but we're going to pretend it's FORE because that's what I want to use because we went golfing!

This past week has been a very long one. Andy worked 10-12 hours each day, not including his 1.5 hr commute each way, and 6 hours on Saturday. I had extra daycare kids because my very good friend Karla had her baby, so I watched our friend's girls that Karla also watches. We had late evenings and early mornings with extra kids and no Daddy. Our family was in some desperate need for family time.

We started the day yesterday with church. Not only was it great to see our new pastor in action, but the lessons and sermon were all about storms and how God is with us through them and will always be there for us. Yeah, we needed that. Mikayla was very talkative during the Children's sermon, relating how we need the rain for plants to grow, not all storms are bad, the lightning makes the grass green and the thunder is God bowling and/or telling us he's there. Oh yeah, she's been listening to us while we try to calm her and her recent storm anxiety.

After church we came home to nap, clean and hang out to watch the Brewers game. Then we brought the rest of our calves (8 of them) over to Andy's parent's house so we can make some improvements to the barn and hopefully get it cleaned and dried out (darn rain, again!). When we got home, we headed in to town for dinner and mini-golfing!

We had a lot of fun. Mikayla was starting to get the hang of it after the first few holes--it was hard for her to see us stand one way and then have it feel uncomfortable for her to stand the same way. Andy and I are both right handed and Mikayla is left, but we tried our best to help her and by the end of the evening she was able to hit the ball pretty well. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. Alayna and Lilly had a great time golfing and were old pros--Alayna even got a hole in one! After we were done, we had dinner at Dairy Queen, one of the girls' favorite places on earth! It was a great, low-key day that we all needed to recharge for this week.

It's another girl!

2011-08-08T11:03:00.000-05:00

One of my closest and oldest friends, Karla, recently had her third baby--a little girl they named Lydia. She is just cute enough to eat and has those adorably smooshy baby cheeks you just want to kiss all day. When we went to visit in the hospital, we were all shocked to see this baby who in the face looked so much like her older sisters, but had long, jet-black hair! Both older sisters were almost bald for quite awhile (into the second year for the middle one!) and they have almost white-blond hair! Lydia looks like such a contrast but I just love it and her. I am so excited for their family and the new addition!

Congratulations Karla and family! Lydia is just perfect in every way!

4H, Fair and Fun

2011-08-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

This past week/end was our county fair. It's something that we all look forward to each year. The girls do projects and work with their animals, us adults help them and get things like decorations for the barn ready This year our house was command central for new barn decorations for 4 nights before we were finished with the new decs--red lattice cut and framed with white boards and a wooden 4-leaf clover on each panel. They were a lot of work but looked great! And I neglected to get a picture. :-( Anyway, it's a lot of work for everyone, but we all love the fair and it's so worth it.

ALAYNA took a lot of projects this year. She didn't get her photography done, but she made a pillow, bulletin board, jewelry (bracelet and matching earrings) knit a scarf, made chocolate chip cookies. She also showed 3 calves and her horse. Alayna was a busy girl, but she did a great job and we're so proud of her!

Judging her blue ribbon cookies

her blue ribbon jewelry

Alayna and Chloe--they got 1st blue and a trophy in Showmanship, 1 red and 1 white

Judging her pillow (red), bulletin board (blue) and knitting (white)

Alayna showing her beef cross bred steer calf, Doof (blue in fitting and grooming, red in finishing, and first blue and trophy in showmanship--my camera died so I don't have pics of this but others took lots of pics for me!) ((I don't know why this is on it's side and not rotating...grrr))

Showing Ferb, her jersey steer calf (1st red)

Showing her cross bred heifer calf, Isabella (against another in our club--she got 2nd blue)

LILLY is a Cloverbud, which means that she's a junior 4H member. (The youngest 4H kids are Cloverbuds from K-2 grade. They have a set catalog of projects they can do for their age but cannot show animals. They get participation ribbons but aren't actually judged and don't get premiums. The summer after 3 grade they are an Explorer, which means they can bring a few more projects and 1 animal exhibit. Explorers are judged, but not as strictly as older ages, and they can get premiums, though they have a set project catalog as well. After 4 grade, they are a full 4H member and can bring up to 23 projects total.) She brought a plate of 3 cookies, 2 key chains she made in the arts and crafts division, and a drawing of an International tractor in a corn field. She did so well with her little interview from the "judge" asking her about her projects. We all had to laugh when the judge asked how she knew when the cookies were done and Lilly responded, "When it dings." She also showed Alayna's calf, Doof, for Little Britches. Little Britches is for kids too young to show an animal, so they can show an animal by leading them in the arena and answering questions about the animal to a judge. They ask things like how old the animal is, what it eats, etc. The kids all get a participation ribbon and a free root beer float at a stand on the fairgrounds.

MIKAYLA isn't in school yet, so she's not able to bring projects to the fair. However, she is able to show in Little Britches, so she showed Alayna's heifer, Isabella. She was so excited to show and did a great job. She had all her information down perfectly and was very confident in answering her questions and leading the calf. Even when Isabella got a little stubborn, Mikayla threw her entire 37 lbs into it and got her going again.

It was a great fair. We are all exhausted, but it was a very busy week. We were at the fair from Wednesday afternoon to Sunday evening, with each day in the 80/90s and high humidity. We had some storms on Saturday, including a particularly fast forming one in the morning that took us all by surprise and was horrible for Mikayla, but we all survived. It was her worst reaction yet and since we were in the barn, almost our entire beef/dairy crew from our club witnessed it. Needless to say, few people adult and kid alike had dry eyes. It broke my heart and we're praying that this stormy summer is soon over and the time winter affords us helps her to forget and get over her fears. But besides that moment, it was a very fun and successful fair for the whole family! Oh, and we bought a new camper last Friday and it was GREAT!

So Much

2011-07-21T10:32:00.000-05:00

I seem to be getting into the habit of not posting for awhile, then writing a catch-up post and posting consistently for about a month, then falling out of posting again. Rinse, repeat. I hate that it's been happening but some days I am just so busy. Other days, I just honestly don't feel like doing anything with the blog. Other days, like most this recent dry spell, I just don't feel like hashing everything out. But here goes--here's a recap of the good, bad and ugly that has happened since my last post. There is just so much.

*In May we had a hail storm that totalled Andy's car, almost totalled the Durango and camper, caused damage to the truck and resulted in us needing a new roof on the house/garage and our shed.

*2 days after buying Andy's car back from the insurance company, something in the transmission broke. We decided that at just over 300,000 miles, it was time to just let Rhonda the Honda go. We retired the old girl and bought a new commuter car for Andy. Then only a week later, the Durango (which we were only driving sporadically anyway) started having some issues in the rear-end. Sigh.

*School ended for the girls and we started our summer non-routine of storytime, extra kids, sleeping in, playdates, softball games, 4H functions...

*Alayna attended a week of horse camp through 4H at the fairgrounds. I went along as an additional adult to help with classes, workshops, food prep...basically whatever was needed. Alayna and Chloe worked well together and had a great time. The only downfall was literal--Chloe tripped while Alayna was working with her in the arena and they both went down. Thankfully, they were okay and got right back up, Alayna got right back on, and they finished their lesson.

*We participated with a group of our friends and their kids in the Kiddie Parade for the local town festival. The kids got second or third (I honestly don't remember...it seems eons ago) for their entry. All the kids (22 of them from 9 moms!) were dressed as various farm animals, with strollers and wagons for the younger kids decorated as a barn, tractor, field, etc. It was so much fun for everyone involved!

*We went to Milwaukee with our good friends for a weekend in late June. We were just 40 miles from the city when we hit a ridge in the road from construction and broke a motor mount...on Andy's new-to-us car. The next morning we discussed what to do. We still had some of our insurance money, since the Durango wasn't worth fixing and Andy could re-roof the house himself, and we'd talked about buying a new SUV this fall or coming spring. We decided to look for a new vehicle and if we found one, great. If not, we'd get a rental to drive home since our car wouldn't be ready until Tuesday. We got a great deal on an Expedition, a steal really for the shape/year/mileage (perfect condition, 2004, 80K miles) and drove that home. Our friends were staying until Tuesday anyway and drove the car home with them.

*While in Milwaukee, we went to the Brewers and Twins game. They are our 2 favorite teams, one being NL and the other AL. The only time we don't cheer for the Twins is if they are playing the Brewers, our overall #1 baseball team. The Brewers whomped the Twins!

*July 1 we were heading out to go camping for Fourth of July weekend. We left the house at 7, after a severe thunderstorm warning had expired by 30 mins and not left a drop of rain (it went north of us) or any wind at our house. We got only 3 miles from home when we saw a wall cloud, and the wind went from nothing to breaking trees. We got to a T intersection and turned around to head back home, since we knew we were at the front of the storm. We went about a mile back towards home before the wind caught up to us again. We attempted to make it to our neighbor's parents' house but the wind actually caught our camper and blew it over while we were driving, pulling the truck over with it. It was the most awful thing ever, hearing the girls scream like that. But thank God, we were all buckled up and safe--not a scratch on us. The dogs were in the back of the truck and were okay, too. After we waited out the worst of the wind still in the truck, Andy then pulled us all out straight up through the driver's window and we ran to a house across the field. The next 2 days were spent going through and cleaning up our camper, now with only 1 wall standing. Obviously, insurance totalled the camper and truck. Ironically enough, our lawn-mower trailer was hooked to our camper and that never moved--it was on it's wheels and the straps never loosened, the mowers never moved an inch on that trailer. 100+ mph straight line winds swept through the area without any warning, causing severe damage to homes, trees, buildings, and taking the lives of 2 people. A picture of our truck and camper on their sides was the top picture on the front page of the newspaper that covers our 2 area counties that week. We never wanted to be on the front page for something like that.

*In the midst of everything, Andy and I celebrated our 30th birthdays. To us, turning 30 wasn't a big deal like it is to some people. We didn't have panic attacks or go out and do something that could be construed as an early mid-life crisis. We just celebrated them low-key and moved on with life.

*Alayna and Lilly have been busy getting things ready for the county fair, which is coming up very quickly. The are both bringing calves and cookies. Lilly is also doing a report/poster on birds and a drawing. Alayna is adding her horse, jewelry, photography, knitting, a pillow, and a bulletin board to her cookies and calves. It is Alayna's first year as a full 4H member, so she can bring and do a lot more than Lilly, who is a Cloverbud, or junior 4H member.

*We've been dealing with some major storm anxiety with Mikayla. She's now realized that the little box on the bottom of the tv screen means that somewhere near us, there is severe weather. She is terrified of storms, where before she liked them, and will shake, break out in a cold sweat and sob if she thinks there is going to be one. We have been working through it with her and she was getting better, but the other night we were at Andy's parents' house and there was a tornado warning, so we had to seek shelter. That started her fears again and now she doesn't want to leave the house in the evening, convinced that it means it will storm if we leave. It's heart-breaking to see her like that.

*The storm that triggered the tornado warning while we were at my in-laws' house caused one of their big pine trees to fall over. It also produced lightning that hit a different tree in their pasture and killed 9 cattle (5 cows, 2 heifers and 2 calves) who were seeking shelter and shade under the tree. So sad.

*Alayna is coming home tomorrow from a week at Bible camp with her best friend. They were so excited to spend the week together, and I can't wait to hear all about it! We've missed her so much!

*This past week has been the hottest week in a very long time in our area. Our actual air temps were above 95 for 6 days in a row, with dew points in the 70s and 80s causing 110+ heat indexes. We broke records for the highest recorded dew point and heat index. I loathe heat and humidity.

So that's the quick but not so quick recap of everything that's been going on. Of course, in the middle of it all, I'm still doing daycare, Andy's still working, we're still running here and there for everything under the sun. Needless to say, I'm done with this summer. I've had enough and just need things to settle down, cool down and be plain and boring for awhile.

Camping Kick-off 2011

2011-05-31T09:05:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was our first camping weekend of 2011, and our first camping weekend with our new camper! We were all so excited to get out there and play, relax, hang out...just have fun. I was especially excited to be able to pack as the week went, slowing bringing things out to the camper and putting them in their place vs the huge pile that would sit in my living room, then be crammed around people, pets and lawnmowers to get to where we were going.

This Memorial Day weekend, we didn't go to our normal spot because Andy's cousin Bob had to work. So all the usuals headed to his other cousin Chris's land to camp. We laughed, we ate, we played, we rode mowers, we got rained on, we missed Bob and Shannon, we rode the zip-line...it was a great weekend. And that camper lived up to it's promise! I loved having a place for everything and plenty of room for us and our stuff.

The only time I remembered to take my camera out of the camper? When we all were taking turns on the zip-line that Chris, Will, Andy and Kurt put up in the woods. The kids had so much fun playing on it and flying from one end to the other (and maybe us adults did, too...)

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T19:45:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor the men and women who have sacrificed their time and their lives to keep all of America safe. I know I couldn't do it, so I am every thankful to those who do--not only the soldiers, but their family and friends, who sacrifice their time with their loved one in order for us to be safe.

To everyone out there who has given of their time, talents, family, friends for our freedom....

THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

A Day All About ME! (and all the other Moms out there)

2011-05-24T09:42:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year! I've been meaning to post these pics for awhile, but honestly I forgot until my friend Lexey posted on her blog (thanks Lex!). I posted earlier about how I was woken to Sunny and her run-in with some fishing lures, but nothing about my great gifts and love! Alayna was trying to surprise me with breakfast in bed, but we didn't have enough milk for pancakes and only 1 egg (yeah...I needed to grocery shop) Instead, we all had toast with peanut butter and raspberry jelly or cereal, and I opened my wonderful, thoughtful gifts from the girls. They are truly the best kids I could have asked for to make me a Mommy. Every day I am so thankful for having them in my life!

This first series of photos is from a book Lilly made for me at school. She also made the handprint plaque. Then it's a card that Alayna made, with coupons for me to redeem. I didn't take a pic of my other gift, but it's the entire series of Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman on DVD, including the 2 movies they made. I have loved that show since it was on TV and watch re-runs on GMC all the time. The girls have really gotten into watching it with me, so we're going to start from episode 1 and watch in sequence all the way to the end.

(Anyone want to teach me how to do those cool collages that I see on other blogs? I didn't want to do them all in a row because that would be forever long...)

Lilly's Book reads: Happy Mother's Day. My mom is the most wonderful mom in the word! Her name is Candy. She's pretty as a prinses. She is 29 years old. She weighs 90 pounds and is 30 tall. She has blue eyes and brown hair. Her favorite food is guockamoly. In the good old days when she was little, she used to rid hoersis. I think Mom is funny when she goes cross eyed. But I know she's really angry when I don't lisin. I wouldn't trade my Mom for lots of candy. I love my Mom because I love her and she loves me. Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Love, Lilly. (She also made me a card that says To: Mommy from: Lilly. I love you a lot! Happy Mothers Day! And you are the best mom in the world! But it won't post pics of that for some reason)

Alayna's card reads: Happy Mother's Day. You are the best mom in the world. Love: Alayna This flower coupon is good for: cleaning the living room, a daughter/mom movie night, and breakfast in bed.

It's finally here!

2011-05-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

Almost 2 months after Spring's official arrival, I think it's finally here. We had snow and cold all through April and even into May. Today, May 19, is only our 3rd or 4th 70 of the year. Last year, my flowering crab tree was completely bloomed on May 2 (and I have pics to prove it) Today it is budding, and it should be bloomed this weekend. If we're lucky. But there are other signs that spring is finally here. For one, the grass is green and has already been mowed once. Our pear and apple trees we planted last year are starting to bloom. The birds, frogs and coyotes are singing us songs all hours of the day. Tractors are out in the fields, though most need duals to not sink into the still wet earth. We have slept with the bedroom window open the last few nights. Our first thunderstorms have come and gone, leaving some hail damage that we need to take care of. The wood/deer ticks are out like crazy. Softball season has begun (and the team is 3-0!). We grilled and ate dinner on our screen porch the other night. Bears, eagles, swans, and other critters have been sighted. The trees are about 40% green. Our lawn is filled with "daddy-lions," and "mommy lions" (simple May flowers) have been found in the woods. A hummingbird has been seen buzzing our azalea bush. I have 2 tiny blooms on my lilac bush. My peonies are starting to peek out of the ground.

It must truly be spring. Finally. Welcome, Spring! We have waited a long time for you!

Pear blossoms

Mr. Toad (whom Marley took quite an interest in!)

It's 4H Time!

2011-05-17T08:19:00.001-05:00

Sunday was the first 4H horse project clinic that Alayna attended this year. It was a safety clinic and also a clinic for beginning or intermediate riders. She and Chloe did fantastic! Last year, there were some issues with Chloe's behavior, which we eventually discovered were due to her feet having some problems. This year, though, Chloe was on her best behavior. Of course, Alayna is also doing so much better with her commands. She is more confident in her abilities and what she needs to do, so she is giving clear commands that Chloe cannot confuse. Together with strong feet and therefore no pain and a better attitude, Chloe and Alayna did amazing! We are so proud of how far they've both come!

Shaun & Anna

2011-05-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Andy and I spent 2 nights away from home and the girls--he was in a wedding for our friend Shaun. It was a great time. Of course, whenever we are away from the girls, it's hard. We enjoy our time to just hang out and not have to watch and worry over them as much. But we're still parents. We still wonder what they are doing, how things are going, call to wish them goodnight, feel guilty about enjoying our time away from them...We know we have to get away every so often, but it's still hard.

Anyway, back to the wedding. Andy and Shaun have been friends since toddlerhood, maybe even sooner. Shaun was in our wedding and we try to get together whenever we can, but it's hard with kids and families. His wife, Anna, is such a fun, great person. I can't wish them anything less than all the happiness in the world!

Dogfish

2011-05-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

When we woke up yesterday, we were informed that Sunny had fishhooks stuck to her. Andy and I were obviously tired and just waking, so we thought we heard Alayna wrong. Then Lilly came running into our room and said, "Sunny has a huge fish hook on her side!"

Yes, our dog somehow got caught in some fishing lures overnight. When we looked at her, it was quite a pathetic sight. Two large rapalla-style lures were stuck to her side near her back leg and a lone treble hook was stuck in her lip. How? We have no idea. Nor do we know where they came from. If only dogs could talk.

We laid Sunny down in the yard and went at her with a pair of pliers. Luckily, the smaller lure was only tangled in her hair and stuck on the larger lure. And of the 3 hooks (actually nine) on the larger lure, only one was stuck through her skin. Andy was able to cut the hook and since it was just barely piercing the skin with the barb out, he was able to pull it through with no problem. The hook in her lip, however, was harder to remove. Only one "hook" of the 3 was poking her, but that one wasn't poking through the skin. Since the hooks are barbed, you do more damage trying to pull them back out then push them through. So I was laying across Sunny, petting and talking to her, while Andy tried to force it through her lip as carefully as possible. Finally, after about 20 mins he was able to poke it through and pull it out.

Sunny was such a trooper! She laid so nice and still while we worked on her, never trying to get up or even move. She only whimpered a little when Andy was working on her lip (I was trying not to cry, too) and when we were done she jumped up and covered us with kisses, like she was thanking us for our help. I'm sure she was glad to be free!

The hook on the left was in her lip, the center hook of the larger lure was in her side,

and the bottom lure was just tangled with her hair and the other lure

When we came in the house, the girls were all concerned about Sunny and how she was doing. They ran out to give her hugs and kisses, and tell her not to do that again. Then Mikayla asked me, "Mommy, why did the fishes attack Sunny in the night?!" We don't know how or what happened, so maybe she's on to something. But Lilly had another idea. "I don't think the fish attacked Sunny, but we should attack them and go fishing!" Maybe we will. I just hope these lures don't catch another Dogfish.

*I posted a few times this weekend, so be sure to check them out below!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! I wanted to take a moment to tell you all about the mothers in my life...

First, my mom Paula. She's an amazing woman who is always there for us, no matter what it is we need. She's kind of crazy like me, and that's why we work so well together. She has taught me how to be a better mom with everything she has done for me in the past and the present. When I need advice about something, she's the first person I call. She never judges me (or at least makes me feel judged). And when I don't need advice or just want to vent, she understands and lets me figure things out on my own or just get it off my chest.

My Gramma C is another mother in my life who has always been there for me.  She has always made sure to have time for her grandkids, whether we were 4, 14 or 24. When I was finishing college and had baby Alayna to find daytime care for, she was the first to volunteer her time to me. It was such a blessing to know that our little girl was being cared for by someone we loved and who loved her as well (and her fee of "bring me to breakfast every so often" was perfect for a college student and her hubby who worked barely above minimum wage at the time!)

My Gramma L is no longer here on earth, but I know she helped shape me in my own journey as a mother.   When I was younger, we spent a lot of time at her house and she was always patient with us when we helped make cookies or dinner. On New Year's Eve, she'd let us cut up page after page of newspaper into tiny pieces and throw them as confetti, telling us a mess can easily be cleaned up after having some fun. She was also a tiny woman with a huge giggle who could surprise you with things like a homemade meal from seemingly nowhere, or her abilities to shoot a woodchuck in one shot from quite a distance--through the open bathroom window. My only regret is that she passed away when Alayna was only 8 months old, so none of my girls got to know her.

My mother-in-law Lynn is not the typical "monster-in-law." She is my husband's mother, but she's also like a second mother to me. She and I get along great and though we have differences in some ways, we never let that come between us. I feel just as comfortable spending a day with her as I do my own mom. She is always there when we need her, for a recipe or advice or help with the girls. She lets me be me in all my quirkiness and just laughs when my crazy ideas come flowing out. I am so thankful for all she did to raise her son, who is the perfect man for me.

I have a huge network of aunts and friends who are amazing moms. They have all taught me something about motherhood--from craft ideas to tips for medicine taking to discipline plans and everything in between. Each person brings something new, important and different to the table.

My life is infinitely better for all the moms in it. I love and thank you all!

American Cancer Society Walk

2011-05-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

This morning, our family participated in the American Cancer Society Walk/Run in our community. We woke up early, donned our matching shirts, grabbed the dogs and drove to the school. We have done so for the past few years, but this year it was closer to my heart.

I have been blessed with incredibly healthy people in my life. At almost 30, I haven't had a lot of personal connections to cancer. There has been the other parent I kinda-sorta know, the friend of a friend, or the person I know of but don't know personally. Not many people I love had been touched by it, and I am ever so thankful for that. But in the past 2 years, that has changed. Andy's cousin's little girl was diagnosed with Leukemia in June of 2009 at almost 3 years old. We are very close with them, and that was so hard to watch what they all went though. Karli is now doing well and being a typical 4-year-old, but she still has a long way to go. My mom's dear cousin Anna Mae battled breast cancer recently. She's also doing well and living life to it's fullest, staying healthy and active. And this winter, my Grampa was diagnosed with bladder cancer. After surgery, he's doing remarkably well and everyone has commented on how great he looks, how much energy he has, etc. We're so hopeful for everyone's recovery and that they all continue to feel and do well.

There is so much that we can do to help those with cancer. We can pray, bring meals, do laundry, transport to appointments, and other things that directly affect the person or family of those who are battling this horrible disease. But we can also do things like participate in walks, runs, fundraisers...things to bring attention and money to the cause, to help find a cure, pinpoint a cause or develop new screening tests. There is so much that can still be done to help everyone affected by cancer! Please, consider donating your time or money to the effort to stop cancer and celebrate more birthdays.

Call me Gramma

2011-05-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

With three daughters, this post is something that surprises me greatly and will probably surprise many of you, as well. I am just now becoming a Gramma. Alayna and Lilly never really had a desire for children when they were younger, but Mikayla already has 3--their names are Toni and Brianna (they are twins but about 20 yrs apart and one with blue, one with green eyes) and their baby brother Chip. Yes, Mikayla is the only one of our girls to really get into playing with dolls.

It probably started about a year ago at my parents' house. The girls were there overnight and Mikayla needed a toy to snuggle. Mom brought out my old Cabbage Patch Doll, Toni Roni Macaroni, and it was love. Since that day, Toni has gone along on several day trips, outings, overnights and playdates, and she's even received birthday and Christmas presents. Then this fall, Mikayla found a Cabbage Patch Doll that Alayna had received as a toddler that was identical to Toni, but with blue eyes and about 20 yrs newer. She was buried on the top shelf of Alayna's closet and forgotten (I told you, she and Lilly never got into dolls for more than occasional play) Well, Brianna soon became Toni's twin sister and together, they went everywhere. Even more recently, Mikayla has become attached to another Cabbage Patch Doll, this one an itty bitty baby, whom she calls Chip after the little boy/cup in Beauty and the Beast.

The imaginative play she enacts with these dolls is adorable! I must watch them every now and then so that she can go to work, or on a date with her husband. Sometimes they just want Gramma, too, and cry for me even when Mommy Mikayla is right there. And the other day, Mikayla came to me just exhausted and sad because the girls were throwing up all over their clothes and blankets, and she had to tell me she just couldn't make it to my wedding with Daddy. Then I heard them "puking" while Mikayla shushed and rocked them, telling them they were okay but asking them to please stop puking so she could wash laundry. She's a pretty good Momma.

Brianna, Mikayla, Chip and Toni

(Mikayla said her husband was at work, so he couldn't get in the picture)

It's a big day in history

2011-05-02T09:34:00.000-05:00

Today is a very big day in history. Late last night, it was announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US forces conducting a raid on his compound in Pakistan. President Obama broke into coverage with a live announcement, though for many people, the news didn't become apparent until this morning. I know I was shocked when I woke up and turned on the tv to watch the weather, but instead heard bin Laden was dead.

My feelings about this news? Shock, relief, disbelief, fear and sadness. That's right, no joy. Don't get me wrong, I am relieved that bin Laden no longer is a threat to the American people, or any others in the world, who felt and believed differently than him. I am relieved that he is no longer spreading evil across this world. I am glad that none of the American troops were killed during the firefight that broke out. But I am also realistic. Bin Laden had many, many followers and while he was the head of al Qaeda, he wasn't the only person in the regime. There are others who are also powerful and may now seek revenge for his death. I am scared that his death may cause more unrest and turmoil. And there's part of me that is also doubtful--for years we've heard that he's been sighted or captured or found, only to be told later that it was a look alike, or we were moments too late, or it was planted evidence or information to mislead us. I have a hard time believing that he's really gone, and I probably will feel this way until they get the DNA testing back to prove that it was, in fact, bin Laden who was killed.

Part of me also feels sad. As evil and horrible of a person as bin Laden was, I still feel some sadness at his passing. He was human. He was some one's son, husband, brother, father. I cannot rejoice at the death of any human, no matter how evil his actions. He still has people who love and mourn him now that he's gone. He was still someone who his parents dreamed would be a good person, make the right choices, have a good life. As a mother, I cannot imagine how I would feel if people were rejoicing the death of my child, no matter what she did.

2-Wheelin' Around

2011-04-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

Poor Lilly has been trying to learn to ride her bike without training wheels since late last summer. She was starting to get the hang of it, then broke her arm and was unable to ride for 7 weeks. When her cast was removed in October, she again tried to ride with two-wheels. She would do okay, but wouldn't pedal hard enough to keep going. So we moved her to the grass, where she couldn't just coast. It worked, but she couldn't go more than about 30' by herself and we still had to push her off to start. Well, we had snow the first weekend in November and it didn't leave (as I type, we are getting snow...on April 28...) But we have had a few good days here and there this spring. Lilly was doing quite well again and then...her stitches. Since she was still learning, and learning means wipe-outs, I wasn't about to let her ride with the stitches in.

Finally, on Monday, it was nice, there wasn't snow on the ground or rain in the sky, and we had no plans for the evening. Lilly put on her helmet, walked her bike to the grass and said, "I'm ready Mom!" I pushed her off once and that was it. She rode the entire length of the front yard, made a turn (her first successfully) at the end and rode back to me. Then she pushed herself off and did it again. After a few times, she asked if she could go in the driveway. She's a pro! It just clicked and she's doing so great now!

We are so proud of her!

Hoppy Easter!

2011-04-28T08:58:00.000-05:00

We hope you had a great Easter celebrating that Jesus rose from the dead! We had a wonderful day. It started with our egg and basket search, then church service, then we hosted Easter dinner for my mom's side of the family. We ended the day with a nice afternoon walk and family movie night viewing of "Tangled."

Let's go camping!

2011-04-26T08:50:00.000-05:00

This spring, we were able to pay off several bills and what's better to do when you pay something off than buy something new?! I know, not the best strategy, but it's what we did. Thankfully, our new payment is going to be less than what we were paying for the others combined. So we're still ahead, and with a new toy, too.

We bought a camper. We've been wanting one for awhile and finally took the plunge. I love to tent camp, but Andy's not a fan of it. And during horse camp and the fair, we stay at the fairgrounds and have had to borrow a camper from family for those 2 weeks. So it's something that has been on our minds for years. This spring, when we paid off those bills, we started to look at campers. Since it wasn't something we needed, we were willing to wait until we found just what we wanted. Andy insisted on it being a 5th wheel, I insisted it have bunks for the kids so we didn't have to mess around with converting tables and couches several times a day. We found our ideal camper, in our price range, on about day 2. Seriously. We hemmed and hawed, looked at a bunch more on-line, and kept going back to this particular model. It was ours a week later.

The whole time, we didn't tell the girls anything. My parents had taken them overnight for a visit with family friends, so that day Andy and I went to see the camper in person and put down our deposit. When he pulled in the driveway with it a few days later, the girls were so excited. "Is that a camper? Whose is it? Is it OURS? Do we have a CAMPER?!" It was a school night, so they were disappointed we couldn't sleep in it right away. But that weekend (after the play on Saturday night) we stayed in the camper for the first time. So far, we love it.

(I don't know why this won't rotate)

Let's Play Cinderella

2011-04-25T16:20:00.002-05:00

What I didn't mention in my post about Lilly's foot was our guilt that night. Not the guilt over Lilly getting hurt (though we felt badly) but the guilt over poor Alayna. See, she was in a school play that night and it was her first time ever performing something like that. And we missed it. Thankfully, Alayna is old enough that she understood Lilly needed us more at that time. And super thankfully, there was another performance the next night!

The play was "Cinderella", though it was adapted and set in the 1950's. It was really cute--Cinderella was going to a sock-hop instead of a ball and she sang in a lip-sync contest instead of dancing with the prince. Alayna was one of the Chicks, a group of girls that followed the cool guys around and were friends with Cinderella. She did a great job and we were so glad that we caught the Saturday night show!

You Put Your Right Foot In...

2011-04-25T09:20:00.000-05:00

Our weather has been crazy, going back and forth between snow and 60 for the last few weeks. But a little over two weeks ago, it was a nice 60 degree day and Lilly was playing barefoot outside at her friend's house. They were running around and decided to play with rocks. Somehow, in the middle of their rock play, a boulder fell onto Lilly's foot just right...and split it open. We were just getting ready to head into town when we got the phone call:

"Candy, this is ____. Lilly was playing outside and somehow a rock fell on her foot and split it open. We didn't think it was that bad, but after we cleaned it up, we thought we'd better call. I think she needs stitches. I am SO sorry!"

After assuring her it happens and we weren't upset, we got in the truck and drove over to check it out. It took us about 2 seconds to agree with their assessment and we gathered her things to bring her to the hospital. Her friend wanted to come along to the hospital, so we loaded everyone and started the drive.

To keep Lilly's mind off her foot, we made the 40 min drive as fun as possible. We sang songs, told silly stories, talked about school and found ABCs on road signs. When we got to the hospital, they gave us a big exam room so everyone could be with Miss Lilly. We all guessed how many stitches she'd need and Daddy won with a guess of 5--she needed 6! His prize was to carry Lilly from the hospital and pay for our supper at McDonalds! haha

On the way home, Lilly wanted to continue her sleep-over and we told her that was fine. However, once we were closer to home she decided she wanted to come home with us. We dropped her friend off, again assured our friends that all was fine and went home.

Lilly was such a trooper the whole time! She was great about letting us take care of her foot and always made sure to be extra careful with it. She had her stitches in for 12 days and had them removed this past Wednesday. The doc said all looked well.

He has risen...and so have we!

2011-04-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

OKay, so I'm not in any way likening myself to Jesus--just wanted to get that out there right off. But yesterday was Easter, which celebrates the fact that Jesus died and was raised from the dead 3 days later. Well, this blog is kinda being raised from the dead. I hope. I've been so horrible with blogging and I really miss it, but things have been so crazy. But I'm going to make a point of blogging more because I enjoy and I know my readers enjoy it, too. So let's hope I keep things going this time.

I'm not going to do a huge update post, but a few individual posts over the next few days. So be on the look-out, if you are still out there!

Spring Snow

2011-03-24T08:42:00.000-05:00

Unless my calendar is wrong, we are now officially in the season known as Spring. Spring is when snow melts, grass and leaves grow, flowers bloom and the temperature starts to warm...right? Now I know I live in Wisconsin and therefore anything can happen with the weather, but I've decided that this year is completely unfair.

We got snow yesterday. Like a foot. 12" of snow. On March 23. Snow in March is not that unusual of a thing for us--last year we even had a dusting of snow in May. But this year seemed like it was going to follow the calendar. We were in the 50s a week ago and our snow was about 75% gone. I could actually see more grass than snow in my yard. The birds were here and singing and all was well. Then we got dumped on and the temp isn't supposed to go above 35 for the next 5 days. *sigh* I'm just done with it all.

March 23 was the first snow day of the year for our school district. Even with all the snow we got this winter, it all fell either on weekends or pre-arranged days off. So the girls and I made the best of it--we played games, did art projects, painted nails, did "make-up-overs" as Mikayla calls them, ate cake for dessert after lunch and just hung around the house. I didn't take a single picture, but meant to. Oh well.

Presto Change-O

2011-03-22T08:49:00.000-05:00

See how much of a face-lift our kitchen has had? We replaced the refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, microwave, floor, and 2 light fixtures (on the ceiling and above the sink). We removed some wall-paper, painted, added vinyl wall lettering, and took the doors off the peninsula cupboards. Now to finish removing the old wall-paper, get new counter-tops, put up a back-splash, replace the door/drawer pulls...

Tell me, how many of you have a fridge like mine? I know they say that a clean fridge door can make the room seem bigger and cleaner, but I have 3 kids and do daycare. I will not get rid of the ABC magnets that keep them occupied while I cook. And my HUGE dry-erase calendar? I live and breathe by that thing.

Current, Complete and Consistent Kitchen

2011-03-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, we've lived in our house for just over 6 years. When we moved in, we had to buy a refrigerator but the rest of the appliances were there. They were functional, but nothing to look at, and nothing that had any bells or whistles. The oven was black with a white top, the dishwasher was white and we had bought a black fridge with the intention of going all black in the kitchen someday. The appliances worked most of the time and, in the case of the stove, was original to the house when built in 1979.

(we've made so many more updates to this kitchen, including removing the cupboards doors above the peninsula, peeling wall-paper, new pendant light above sink, new fixture on ceiling, vinyl wall writing above cupboards, etc)

First thing we replaced? The stove. I got a beautiful flat cooktop and an oven that was considerably larger than the old one. Not only that, but all the burners work on the new stove! The next thing to be replaced was the dishwasher. The old one didn't get our dishes clean and was horrendously loud. In the meantime our microwave also died and was replaced it with a nice, new and sleek model. All that was left was the range hood. The disgusting, grease-laden, impossible to get clean, white, loud and inefficient range hood. (and I don't know how many times I gouged my forehead on those sharp corners!)

Take a look at that beauty! Not only does my kitchen now look consistent and current, but it's also quiet! The old fan was so loud that I couldn't hear conversations at the kitchen table if I was cooking. And the fan was so permanently gross and greasy that I had to always use it on high for it to be effective--and that's using the term mildly. It did the bare minimum of sucking out the steam and stank from my cooking. But this new one...oh it works so great and so quiet and looks so good. And the filters can go in my dishwasher!! How awesome is that? My old filters I would soak in hot, soapy water for an hour and then scrub with an old toothbrush--all to get them as clean as possible which was about 25% clean. Ugh. So happy to see him gone!! Not to finish removing the old wall-paper, get new counter-tops, put up a back-splash...

We're Baaa-aaack

2011-03-01T09:17:00.000-06:00

Did you miss me? Yeah, I know it's been awhile...again. But the last few weeks have been busy. At first, I was busy doing tons of laundry, cleaning and packing for our trip. Then we were gone for 8 days on our trip. Then we were home and had to unpack, settle in, buy groceries, etc. But we had such a good time!

We flew out on Friday morning and landed in Orlando around noon (after a slight medical emergency on board). There were 10 of us--my 5, my parents, my in-laws and sister-in-law. We met my sister at the airport, who had flown in from VA. It was great to see her for the first time in over a year! We had rented a house but couldn't get in it until after 4:00, so we got our rental vehicles and headed to Cocoa Beach. It was the first time to the ocean for our family. We had a great time playing in the sand and waves. Mikayla didn't like the water (it's yucky!) but she really enjoyed playing in the sand on "Coconut Beach." After the beach we checked into our rental house and then went grocery shopping.

Day 2 was spent at Animal Kingdom, but before we got there I had to buy a new camera--mine crapped out after the beach when I plugged it in to charge. Of well. We got the new camera and headed to the park. We had so much fun walking around and looking at all the various animals, many of which (hippos, rhinos, elephants...) aren't even found in zoos around home. We went on a few rides, including Lilly's favorite roller-coaster "Expedition Everest." We also sat in on "It's Tough to be a Bug" in 3D by the Bug's Life crew, but Mikayla did not like that at all.

Day 3 (Sunday) started with waking up and looking out the window to about 10 hot air balloons flying over our neighborhood. The girls thought that was really cool. Then we headed to Magic Kingdom. We got to meet Cinderella and Ariel, went on a bunch of rides (including Space Mtn and Big Thunder, which the big girls loved) and sat in on Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. The Laugh Floor was really funny and they even picked on us and our matching shirts, particularly singling out Grampa Bill. We watched the Celebration Parade and ended the day with ice cream and fireworks over the castle.

Day 4 we went to Hollywood Studios. It was our first day of meeting a lot of characters--Buzz, Woody, Green Army Man, Mickey, Lotso, Frozone, Mr. Incredible, Mater and Lightning McQueen. We also saw Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid plays. The girls each bought some souvenirs and we went on the Rock-n-Rollercoaster, which went 0-80 in about 2 seconds and went upside down! Alayna didn't know what to think of it but Lilly, our thrill-seeker, loved it. For dinner we went to Ponderosa Steakhouse and came back to the house to find out we'd missed out on 12" of fresh snow back here at home. Oh darn.

Day 5 was the day to say goodbye to Bill, Lynn and Alicia. They didn't get to stay the whole time, so after saying good-bye to them and getting them off to the airport, the rest of us headed to Epcot. We were able to meet Daisy, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Snow White, Mulan and Marie from Aristocats. While in line to meet some of the characters, we started chatting with a family that commented on our Packer jerseys (we were all wearing jersey's but my sister) The daughter said she cheered for the Packers in the Super Bowl since the Panthers weren't in it. Turns out it was Thomas Davis and his family--he plays for the Panthers! After that we did the Nemo ride and looked at all the aquariums while Gramma Paula took a survey and received $150 to spend at the parks! When she returned, we watched Turtle Talk with Crush and we completely recommend that. It was hilarious. Then we started the country tours and had some Italian gelato. We ended the day with the ride that goes through the "big golf ball" and all the girls really liked that.

Day 6 we went back to Magic Kingdom. The first thing we did was go back to meet the princesses because Belle was on duty. Belle (Yellow Belle, to be exact) is Mikayla's favorite princess and she was so excited to meet her that she was shaking! It was too cute. We also met Aurora/Sleeping Beauty. We did a few of the rides we didn't have time for the other day, like Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, rode the train around the park and finally, Splash Mountain. Mikayla was so happy to make the height requirement (barely!) and loved the whole "roller-coaster" ride, keeping her arms up the whole time!

Day 7 was our last full day in Florida. We took our time in the morning and then headed back to Cocoa Beach. We played in the sand and water for a few hours, then anxiously waited for 4:50...when Discovery was going launch. We were able to watch it launch and it was so cool. The blast was VERY bright and it went so fast you almost could have missed it. But we can now say that we watched Discovery launch for the last time in person. Since the beaches were so crowded, the normally 45 min drive back to the house took 3 hours! We got back to the house and got everything packed up to go home the next morning.

Day 8 was time to go home. We gathered everything, did a quick tidy of the house and headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed almost an hour, but we finally were put at a new gate and given our seating assignments. It was hard to say good-bye to my sister, who had a flight later than us back to VA. Our flight was uneventful and we landed safely at MSP. Mikayla slept for about 2 hrs of the 3 hr flight, even sleeping through landing!

We had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful family! I took about 450 pictures--actually, I probably took about 550 but each night I would go through my camera and delete the blurry or bad pics from the day. I came home with about 450 on my camera. I uploaded a whole bunch to FaceBook and honestly don't want to go through that again. SO...if you want to see the pics, just let me know. I can send you a link to my album on FB, even if you aren't on FB, and you can view the 125 I put on there.

Way to go Packers!

2011-02-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

Oh...what to say? I don't have much to say, I guess, other than

THE GREEN BAY PACKERS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!!

I was so stressed out during that darn game. I was screaming, yelling, stomping, cheering, jumping...you name it, I did it. I was hoarse by the end of the night but I didn't care. The Pack was on top again. Oh what a day!

Until next year, Football.

C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N

2011-01-27T08:12:00.002-06:00

Alayna came home from school on Tuesday so excited that she was jumping out of her skin. She could barely take off her snow boots, hat, mittens and coat fast enough to tell me what she was so excited about.

"MOM!! We had the 4th grade spelling bee today and not only am I my class champion, but I'm the champion of the whole 4th grade!!!!" She was a little excited, but so were we. Last year, she was 2nd and so bummed, because she knew how to spell the last word correctly, just got ahead of herself and there's no going back to correct. This year, she made sure to take her time. I was so proud of her that she remembered to think it through, especially since I didn't even know it was time for the spelling bee (she kinda forgot to bring the study sheet home over the weekend) She doesn't get to go on to competition at district until next year, in 5th grade, but it's still awesome.

I remember when I was in the spelling bee. It was down to myself and my friend Sarah. I got the word "diarrhea" and missed the second R. She got the word "pneumonia" and spelled it correctly, so she won. I was so frustrated because I knew her word. But you know what? I don't think I've ever misspelled either of those words ever again!

Great job, Alayna! We're so proud of you!

Super Bowl Baby!!

2011-01-24T07:55:00.000-06:00

As you know, I am a HUGE Packers fan. I love football in general, but the Packers have always been my favorite team. We all have our shirts and hats and Mikayla even has a pair of Packer socks. And now, they're going to the Super Bowl!!

My favorite player ever for the Packers was Gilbert Brown. He was a big beast of a guy who would pretend to be a "Gravedigger" when he'd make an important tackle or sacked the QB. He's been retired for several years now, but he still does appearances for the team. I had my jersey Brown jersey on, cheering for the team, when BJ Raji intercepted the ball and then ran it back for a touchdown. He did a little dance afterwards and let me tell you...he moved up a little closer to Gilbert in my heart. I love the big guys when it comes to football and Raji's little dance reminded me of Gilbert so much!

So what will you be doing on Feb 6th? I'll be cheering on MY PACKERS in the SUPER BOWL!!!!!

Basketball--Part 2

2011-01-17T08:10:00.000-06:00

Saturday was the start of Alayna's second round of basketball for the year. Earlier, she played in "tournaments" with 3 games and 30 minutes of play but no score or fouls called. It was simply to get them some experience and confidence with playing and handling the ball. This past Saturday, however, was the start of real play--called fouls, scores, etc. All the girls were so excited!

The tournament was about 45 minutes away, so we were there bright and early for a 10 am game. Their first game ended up with a loss 14-18 (if I remember correctly), their second game was a win 20-4 (I think) and their last game was a loss 14-18 again. All in all, it was a good showing for their first time! They ended up third, and everyone got a ribbon. They were pretty excited. We now have basketball again for the next several Saturdays, but it's okay. We like to watch and cheer the team on, and Alayna loves to play. She's really doing a great job and has improved greatly!

Yesterday, a handful of the girls from the 4th and 5th grade teams went to a basketball clinic at a University about 2 hrs away. They were able to do drills and stations with the coaches and players for the women's basketball team, plus got a signed t-shirt and poster. Alayna came home so tired but with all sorts of stories of things she did and learned. Yay for basketball!

Swim Lessons

2011-01-17T08:03:00.000-06:00

Today is Day #2 of swimming lessons for Mikayla and Lilly. They both are so excited and can't wait. Since we live in the middle of nowhere, there weren't any lessons within 30 miles that were held in the winter. After some talk (for several years) there are now finally lessons available at the area motel! Every Monday the girls go for the next 7 weeks. I am just as excited as they are.

I'll be sure to get some pics tonight (I missed last week--their first lesson--because of a migraine. It killed me to not be there!) I guess Lilly did awesome last week, and Mikayla did very well...as long as she stayed in the pool. She apparently would do what was asked, then run to make sure my mom (who took them b/c Andy was working) saw everything she did. We're going to work on that tonight.

Double-Digits!!

2011-01-07T10:25:00.002-06:00

Alayna is now in the Double-Digit age club. It's crazy to think that Andy and I have been parents for 10 years now! I remember taking her home from the hospital and being so worried about everything. I remember just watching her sleep and not wanting to put her down. I remember how everything she did just enchanted us. She taught us how to be parents and I think she did a pretty good job.

Happy Birthday, Mikayla!

2011-01-03T08:25:00.002-06:00

Mikayla celebrated her fourth birthday last week. It's so strange to say that she's now 4. When they are still 3, it's easy to pretend that they are still a baby or at the very least, a toddler. But at 4, they seem so much older. There's a certain "aura" about 4 that means the 4-year-old is now big and mature and old.

Mikayla could hardly wait for Christmas because she knew her birthday was right after it. Every day she'd ask, "Is it my birfday yet?!" When it finally was, the first thing she said in the morning was, "Good morning Mommy, aren't you going to say Happy Birfday Mikayla?" She makes us laugh so hard every day!

Happy Birthday, big 4-year-old Mikayla!

Christmas was here

2010-12-30T09:49:00.002-06:00

Christmas was last week, in case you didn't know. We had a crazy busy few days, like normal, but it's always so fun and well worth the lack of sleep and minor temper tantrums that may appear.

It started off with our daycare Christmas party on Thursday. I had all my daycare kids here and we made ornaments, watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", had a dance party and played freeze dance (both with Christmas music), baked some cookies for them to take home, had lunch, read a few stories and then opened up presents...all before 2:00 when they were all picked up so I could go to a funeral in the cities. Whew, it was a crazy day (and I didn't even tell you about having to pick up Lilly from school because she threw up. Twice.).

Christmas Eve started out with sleeping in until 8:00!! It felt like a Christmas miracle, I tell you. And everyone was healthy and feeling great! We had a few screaming sessions that resulted in children finally helping clean the house so that it was presentable when our company came around 9:15. Since the house was now clean, we could all be happy the rest of the day...which we honestly were. My parents, Andy's parents and Andy's sister all came over for brunch and the present presentation. Together we prepared eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, sausage and toast. It took about an hour and it was all gone in 4 minutes. Then we opened presents from my parents and the girls didn't catch on that there were only a few presents from one set of grandparents, but not the other. Or that all the presents had a theme...like princesses, Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse...you see where I'm going here? They finally figured it out when a calendar with a countdown was opened.

We're going to Disney World. Yep, my parents and Andy's parents are taking us all to Disney World--all 11 of us (my 5, my parents, my sister, Andy's parents and Andy's sister) It should be crazy, stressful, and a whole lotta fun!

After presents, we got ready for church and headed out. I managed another Christmas miracle by getting a picture in front of the tree at church with my girls and my 2 close friends' 5 kids all looking at the camera, smiling, and looking great! One picture and they all scattered. It really was a miracle. Then we went to dinner at a family friend's house, where Mikayla chewed her turkey for so long she turned it into paste and gagged herself...all over my shirt. Greatness. Mikayla, of course, was just fine and played hard the rest of the night. After dinner, we went over to Andy's parents' house and opened up some presents there before heading home with 3 very sleepy girls.

Christmas morning was our third and final Christmas miracle--the girls slept in until 8:15! It was crazy to wake up and have the sun up already, especially on Christmas morning when the girls were chomping at the bit the night before and telling us they would be up at 6. We opened presents and then raced to my parents' house for our family gathering with all her siblings and family. Sunday was spent at Andy's cousin's house for that side of the family's gathering.

Very busy, very fun, very crazy. I would post pictures but for some reason, it's not working right now. *sigh*

Cards Schmards

2010-12-20T10:40:00.003-06:00

So if you remember my earlier post about our Christmas card fiasco, here's Part 2.

They're still messed up. Yep, I did everything they told me to do and they assured me that the print preview is exactly how it prints. The print preview was perfect, so I printed them and then waited. 13 days. We got them in the mail on Saturday and we gained about 1/2 of a letter on the end of each line. I was so upset because now it's just too late to do new cards. They'll just have to make do. Ugh.

Oh, and my Christmas letter was being printed when my ink ran out. In the middle of Lilly's synopsis. So I need to find a way to e-mail the letter to someone, have them print it, then get them copied and sent all before this weekend.

If you're on my normal card list, don't count on it. You'll probably get them more around New Year's, but that's okay. I'll post it here after I've sent them in the mail. At this point, I'm about to say cards schmards.

Programs

2010-12-14T08:07:00.000-06:00

This past Thursday, the girls had their program at the school. Lilly's class was up first and for Kindergartners, they did a great job! Usually, you can't really understand what they are singing but they are so darn cute you don't care. But this year we could understand every word! Lilly was the last person on the top left row.

The program progressed through 1-3 grades, then Alayna's 4th grade class came out to do a little play. Alayna was an elf and had 2 speaking lines. She did a great job saying her lines and dancing across stage.

This Sunday was our Sunday school program at church, despite the snow and cold. My mom wrote the program again this year and did a great job! The kids put on a news broadcast like what would have been seen on that first Christmas. There was a traffic report, saying how busy the roads were because of everyone coming into town for the census and even included funny tidbits like a "camel down on I-95" and a horse that "threw a shoe on the Bethlehem Bypass." We also had a weather report, which stated that the skies were unusually clear and one could see for miles. Then the anchor (Alayna) reported on the census before breaking news came in about a strange, star-like light high in the skies over Bethlehem. The roving reporter (Lilly) was on the scene to investigate. She interviewed several people in the crowd to see if anyone knew what the light was. Then our traffic reporter interviewed a shepherd who said angels appeared to her on the hills! After some further investigation and an interview with a local inn-keeper, reporter Lilly found the newborn Baby Jesus in the hay. It was such a cute program and my mom did a great job writing it! The only thing that would have been better is if our church had a few more kids so that each child didn't have multiple roles. But all in all, it was a great success!!

Snow My Goodness!

2010-12-13T09:44:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we got socked with a good ol' fashioned snowstorm. We haven't had snow like this since the Halloween blizzard of 1991. I remember the blizzard fondly, as I was attempting to Trick-or-Treat with my friend Katie, even though we were getting almost too old to ToT. Instead, we just hit up her neighbors and then watched movies all night while eating the candy that her parents didn't get to hand out because no one came to their house.

Anyway, the meteorologists started out the week by saying there was a chance of snow Friday or Saturday. Then by Wednesday it progressed to a "snow event" on Saturday that could make travel difficult. By Friday it was forecasted that we were to get 10-16" of snow and then 35 mph winds immediately following the snow, causing white-out and blizzard-like conditions. Of course, we then had to run a child to Urgent Care (Lilly has strep throat) and stop at Wal-Mart for a few groceries. You know, both of those being things you just love to have to do the night before a huge snowstorm. Urgent Care wasn't too busy, but Wal-Mart was crazy busy and out of almost every thing.

So we get home about 8pm and are starting to think the meteorologists don't know anything because it's not snowing yet. Sure, we had seen the clouds coming in earlier...

but that didn't mean it was going to be as bad as they said it was.

We were wrong. By noon Saturday we had over 10" of new snow--on top of the 10" or so we already had on the ground--and the wind was whipping like crazy. At times, you couldn't tell if it was still snowing or just blowing. By the time it was said and done, Andy figured we got about 12" of new snow. However, there are parts of the yard with hardly any new snow, and other parts with 4' snow drifts. But we were good. We were hunkered down in the house with snacks, movies, hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps and whipped cream for Mom & Dad...all was good.

Until we had to go feed the animals. That wasn't very fun. Andy is about 7" taller than I am, so I had to remind him to take little steps so I could walk in his footprints. I immediately sank in the snow past the tops of my boots (brrr) so it didn't matter if I was in his prints or not. The dogs were dragging their bellies (even Marley!) and the cats wouldn't come out of the barn for fear of being lost. We haven't seen them out of the barn yet. It was crazy, but it was fun, too. Who doesn't love a good snowstorm like that?!

Our deep footprints

The 2 divots in the upper R and lower L corners are from Marley jumping. They are 10' apart! haha

Our long, cold walk to the barn (which isn't far from the house at all!)

The snow against the door from inside the barn.

So who wants to come visit? Things today are back to normal, the girls had school on time (even though it was -13 at bus-time) and the roads are open. Any takers? We have lots of hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps!

Christmas Cards

2010-12-07T08:47:00.002-06:00

I have gotten in the habit of making our own Christmas cards on PhotoShop. A friend taught me how to do it a few years ago and not only is it pretty easy, but then I can have them look just how I want it. I don't have to adjust anything to fit a template, or deal with wording that is okay but not quite what I wanted. I can do as I please.

Yesterday I got our cards in the mail. I set the size to 4x6 on PhotoShop and then print them as photo prints from an on-line site--it's cheaper that way and works great. Until this year. Apparently 4x6 isn't quite 4x6, but more like 3 15/16 x 5 7/8. Must be that "new math" everyone is talking about. So my cards came without the last letter on the last word in each line. Oh and the year for these cards is 201. Fun stuff. It's like a word puzzle (everyone who knows me know how much I like brain teasers and word/number puzzles) to figure out what it is I'm really trying to say. *sigh*

I spent almost an hour on chat this morning with Customer Service trying to figure this out. They said my digital photo size didn't match their digital photo size. I said, "I set the photo size to 4x6 when I created the file and I ordered 4x6 prints." But somehow that doesn't match. Thankfully, they worked with me and credited me not only for the prints, but also for new shipping. They gave me a few tips on how to correct it and it's supposedly all legit and good now. I guess I'll see in a few days when my new cards arrive.

So if you get a card in the mail and it's a fun word puzzle, there's a prize for those of you who can figure it all out! Okay, so there really isn't, but you can pretend there is cuz I'm nice like that.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-29T08:12:00.003-06:00

I love Thanksgiving. I love the family atmosphere, the wonderful food, the start of the "Holiday Season". But most of all, I love how it's a day dedicated to being thankful for what we have. All too often, we (and I'm including myself in that we) tend to focus on the things we don't have instead of those that we do.

Every year during the month of November, I post a daily (except for weekends, since I'm seldom on the computer Sat/Sun) thankful post on my Facebook status. I thought it would be fun to list them all in one place this year. So below, you will find just a fraction of the things I'm thankful for.

Candy...

*is thankful for a healthy family, as I know many who are dealing with sickness and disease or even the loss of a loved one.
*is thankful that I live in the United States of America, where I can voice my thoughts and opinions without fear of persecution. How do I voice those thoughts and opinions? One way is to get out and VOTE.
*is thankful for music and the ability to hear and enjoy it.
*is thankful for my Carhart jacket on cold mornings when I have to feed the calves and horses at 7 am and 25 degrees (or colder).
*is thankful for a hard-working husband, even if that trait is one I simultaneously love and don't love about him. ♥
*is thankful for a beautiful day spontaneously spent at the zoo with my girls and a great friend!
*is thankful for the roof over my head and all the things I have under that roof--even if they need to be cleaned or washed or thrown away--because it reminds me I'm more fortunate than many...and to count my blessings.
*is thankful Andy was feeling well enough (he stayed home from work b/c he's sick) to monitor nap-time so I could go for a 1.5 hr horseback ride on this beautiful, sunny November day that is 62 degrees--which is 20 above average!
*is thankful that I finally got off my butt this spring and went to the optometrist. Seeing things clearly again is amazing!
*is thankful for the great library we visit--it's a beautiful building, staffed with wonderful employees and volunteers, filled with fantastic books and opportunity, and visited by some pretty great people!
*is thankful for all the men and women who have served, or are currently serving, our country (including their families who sacrifice so much!) A special shout-out and thank you to my cousins Matt and Reed, who are both active duty right now.
*is thankful for where we live--I love Wisconsin and all the seasons and changes.
*is thankful for a great family day--a little shopping; then basketball tournament for Alayna; 8+ inches of fresh, wet snow that was a lot of fun to play in; a great snowy day dinner and then a family viewing of Grumpy Old Men, one of the best movies ever!
*is thankful the power came back on after about 2 hrs--it was getting cold in here!
*is thankful that Andy and I have the same weird, warped sense of humor--we make each other laugh all the time and that's such a huge blessing!
*is thankful for my girls, who bring me such joy, love, confusion, anxiety...but I wouldn't trade them for the world!
*is thankful that not all socks are toe-socks. :-P
*is thankful for the ability to read--it allows me to learn, grow, dream and escape. (I'm also thankful for writers and authors who allow me to do the above mentioned things.)
*is thankful for new opportunities.
*is thankful that I don't have to be on the roads today, Day 2 of freezing rain and ice. Fun stuff.
*is thankful that Andy installed my new light above the kitchen sink. It hasn't even been quite a year since I bought it... ;-)
*is thankful that I found my Grampa's pocket-knife after 3 yrs!!!! My Gramma gave me one of his engraved knives after he passed away and I was certain I'd lost it for good. SO happy!
*is thankful for LIFE!
*is thankful it's time to decorate for Christmas!
*is thankful for the great 4H group that we belong to.
*is thankful for the likes of Mannheim Steamroller and TransSiberian Orchestra this time of year...and Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" cd...and all Christmas music, really.

Knock Knock Hello?!

2010-11-22T15:28:00.004-06:00

Is anyone still out there? I know, I know...It's been a long time since I updated. Over a month and a half. Ouch. We have been busy and while that's not an excuse, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

But I've been informed that people have missed our little family. And I've missed blogging. So I'm going to make a bigger effort to keep this thing caught up again. But in doing so, I'm going to do one update post right now, with some pics, and then we'll be off again on the daily what-nots.

So what's been happening since Lilly turned 6? Well, she had her friends over for a friend party. And she was able to officially join 4H as a Cloverbud. Alayna started basketball, which has kept us running at least 3x a week for after school practices and 5 Saturdays in a row for tournaments. We celebrated Halloween, where we dressed up as the 3 Blind Mice, the farmer and the farmer's wife (complete with a cardboard and aluminum foil carving knife) Mid-November brought us our first snowfall of the year--10" worth--and a great day in the snow. The snow is still around and today we are dealing with freezing rain on top of it. I started watching a new little girl for daycare and last week interviewed a new little boy who will start after Thanksgiving. I also found out one of my families has a brother who will need childcare for his son come January--so I feel very blessed to be keeping busy. Andy shot a very nice buck on opening day of deer season, and the head is in my freezer. Yes, I'm told it will get mounted. I can't really fight him much because he lets me do just about anything when it comes to decorating the house...

That's the last month in a nut-shell. Now here are some pics and we'll hopefully see you soon, same place and whatever time is convenient for you.

Alayna zooming by with the ball

Lilly wanted a big brownie instead of cake for her party

Halloween 2010

Snow!

They Say it's your Birthday

2010-10-07T09:19:00.002-05:00

Six years ago today, we welcomed this brown-eyed beauty into our lives. She made quite the statement as soon as she was born, and she's been doing so ever since. I cannot imagine our lives without our fun-loving, beautiful, creative, smart, sweet and loving Lilly-kins. She's one of a kind, and I'm so glad she's ours!

Happy Birthday Lilly! We love you as big as the universe!

Arm Yourselves

2010-09-29T09:42:00.004-05:00

So Miss Lilly has officially been cast free for a week now. She had it removed last Tuesday, after 4 weeks in the offending Vikings-purple-colored cast. She was so excited to be done with it and able to go about her life. But honestly, the cast didn't stop her. She still went on the monkey-bars (but only once, until our friend caught her and gently told her it wasn't a good idea!) and climbed trees and played just as she always does. In a way, I was glad she was going about life and not feeling sorry for herself. But I'm also a mom, so I was trying not to hover while she was playing and climbing, praying for her to not re-injure her arm.

Last Tuesday while at the clinic, our doctor was examining her newly exposed arm. When he declared Lilly fit and fine, she asked, "So I can climb trees and go on monkey bars all I want now?"

The doctor looked at me, now totally understanding why at 2 wks, when he said we could take the cast off and she could wear a brace but he was concerned about re-injury, we didn't bat an at leaving it on longer. "Well, maybe give it a day or two to get used to being an arm again, how about that?"

Lilly held up two fingers and counted off, "Today is Tuesday, so then on Thursday I can go on the monkey bars again?"

I love our doctor. He smiled and nodded, you could tell he was holding back a laugh. "Yes, on Thursday you can go on the monkey bars." Then he turned to me and said, "No offense, but hopefully we don't see you sooner than later!"

That Lilly girl of ours is so much fun. She told me just yesterday how much more fun she's having at recess now that she can climb and play like normal. She's also been working hard on her biking, being able to go about 20-30 feet with two-wheels before gently crashing. I'm sure that will be the next Lilly post--riding a 2-wheeler!

The Painting

2010-09-20T13:28:00.004-05:00

I've been spending a lot of time looking at this painting lately. That's my horse, Cookie, in the corner, and she's been gone a little over a year now. A long time ago (okay, in 1996) a good friend of mine painted this picture for me and it's hung in my house ever since. It was a wonderful surprise that I cherish now that she's gone.

I had worked in a small store that was part of a small resort near my house all through my teens. Every summer, I was in that store for several days a week. If I wasn't in the store working, I was riding my horse or other horses for the trail-riding business my aunt ran as part of the resort. It was a dream summer job, let me tell you!

The resort catered mostly to people who had seasonal campers, and Bob was one of those campers. He was an older, retired man who loved to fish. His wife would leave him at the camper for the week, then come up on the weekend. He would get up each day at dawn to go fishing, then come in and have nothing to do the rest of the day until it was time to go back out fishing around supper time. Bob would visit me in the store every day, sometimes for hours, just to talk and visit. He told me about his family, his old job as a mail carrier, the best fishing spots...I would tell him about my boyfriend, my horse, my plans for after high school. We would just talk.

One thing I knew about Bob was that he was an amazing artist. When he wasn't talking or fishing, he was painting. On my last day of work at the resort for the summer of 1996, Bob presented me with the painting above. He had worked on it throughout the summer, having taken pictures of Cookie while I worked (I would ride her the 2 miles to and from work each day) He knew I loved rivers, autumn and old buildings, so the combination of the picture was perfect. The thought was amazing and so touched my heart.

Now that Cookie is no longer alive, I love this picture even more. I see it and I think of her and how so many people misjudged her. We were a perfect pair for almost 20 years. I miss her every time I look into the pasture and see the other horses, but not her. Then I look at the painting that hangs above my couch and it makes me feel better.

Happy Anniversary to me...oh, and Andy too!

2010-09-14T07:38:00.000-05:00

Today is our anniversary. We've been together forever, but it was on this date that we made it official and became man and wife. There are lots of obvious ways that Andy lets me know he loves me--he provides for our family, he doesn't cheat and lie, he simply tells me that he loves me. But there are other ways he tells me, too, without using words.

So, happy anniversary to the man who:

*gets my toothbrush ready, sets out a vitamin, and fills a cup of water for me every so often when he goes to bed before me. They are all lined up on the counter, one little way to make my night run smoother.

*sometimes brings me home an extra treat if he stops at the store.

*kills spiders that are climbing on the ceiling since I can't reach them.

*has just as crazy and stupid a sense of humor as I do.

*will watch football, baseball, Grey's Anatomy or The Bachelor with me in bed.

*lets me snuggle up to him and warm my cold feet on his legs.

*always makes sure my fun mower is running in tip-top shape so I don't have to worry about breakdowns while camping.

*usually makes sure to shut off his alarm clock right away and moves about the house like a little mouse in the mornings, since he's awake 2.5 hrs before me.

*will try anything I make, but isn't scared to tell me if it's bad, or needs more salt, or is too spicy. And when he loves it, he makes sure to let me know, too!

*shares my random taste in music and appreciates that you can skip around from classic country to 90s hip-hop to hard rock and back again.

*thinks just like me and will finish my sentences.

*calls me during the day just to talk while he's on break from work.

*is honest if something I'm wearing doesn't look right, but when it does look right, he tells me I'm hot.

*is an amazing husband and father!

I love you, Andy!

Ode to Fall

2010-09-13T10:05:00.004-05:00

If you know me, you know that I LOVE fall. It's my favorite time of year by far. Since I'm feeling silly, I thought I'd write a little song about it. Enjoy!

(to the tune of "My Favorite Things")

Apples and pumpkins and yummy fall goodies
Having to put on your jeans, socks and hoodies
Hayrides, bon-fires, trail-rides snake like a string
These are a few of my favorite things.

Football's in session and we love the Packers
Chili and "hot-dish", homemade soup with crackers
Watching the birds fly south on tired wings
These are a few of my favorite things

When it's 90, or below 3, or I'm feeling "S.A.D." (Seasonal Affective Disorder)
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad!

Leaves turning yellow and orange and red,
Having to put more covers on the bed,
Smoke from the wood-stove and temps are cooling
These are a few of my favorite things.

Kids dressed in costumes and looking for treats,
Scarecrows and corn bundles line all the streets,
Hunting and scouting and Thanksgiving,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When it's 90, or below 3, or I'm feeling "S.A.D."
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel... so... bad!

No More 4K, but 4 & K!

2010-09-03T07:46:00.002-05:00

The girls started school this week, Alayna in 4th grade and Lilly in Kindergarten. They were both very ready to go back, and honestly, so was I. By the end of the summer, it's been a little too much time with everyone together and the bickering is more often and louder and everything not good. We were all ready for it to be back to school time!

Alayna has had quite the change over the summer! Her teeth have moved considerably with her braces. They are not only straight, but almost lined up and touching like 2 front teeth should be. She also had quite a growth spurt and grew about 2.5" since the end of school. It made for a huge wardrobe change, but we made it work. She's now 4'9" and quickly creeping up on her Gramma for height!

Lilly also had a huge summer and she's more than ready for Kindergarten! She's 4 foot even now and continues to color and do art whenever she can. Her lost tooth and broken arm add lots of fun questions for people to ask when we meet them in the store or at the school for Open House. Her most anticipated part of starting school is getting to go every day!

Mikayla looks a little upset in this picture, but she's not. She's actually in the middle of making a silly face at me (go figure, right?)

She was quite fine with sending the girls off, only needing her "bap-cack" for the picture. As soon as the big girls were on the bus, she clapped her hands and said, "Mommy, let's go eat some brefast, just us two! Then we can play a game!"

Fair-ly Late Post

2010-09-02T13:24:00.005-05:00

Finally! I have some fair pictures! This year, Alayna was an Explorer, which is kind of like being in 4H Junior High. She was able to bring more projects, including 1 animal besides Little Britches, and had to fill out a record book, but she still had some limitations on what she could do. Next year, she's a full-fledged 4H'er and can do what she wants. This year, she brought a plate of 3 cookies that she baked herself (she was so proud!), a sequence of 3 pictures of our crab apple tree in various stages of bloom, a birdhouse she built with my dad's help, and an informational book about Manatees. I neglected to get a picture of her with her items, but she did a great job. This is the first year she also gets ribbons for placing, instead of just participating and she got all Blues! Great job, Alayna!

Alayna also was able to show her horse, Chloe, for the first time. She showed in Showmanship, Equitation, Western Pleasure and Horse Judging. Chloe was a little anxious with all the horses and not listening too well, but they did a great job. She got one red, 2 white and 1 pink ribbon. Alayna was very pleased with her first year showing horse, and we were so proud of her!

Both Lilly & Alayna showed a calf for Little Britches on Sunday morning. They worked with their calves over the summer and spent a lot of time getting them to lead, being used to getting handled and washed, etc. Lilly's calf was Crash and Alayna's was Eddie, both named after the crazy possum duo from Ice Age 2 & 3, which are favorite movies in our household.

Lilly in the show-ring
Alayna in the show-ring

Next year, we'll be even busier because Lilly will be a Cloverbud and able to bring some projects to the fair, and Alayna will be a regular 4H participant. She's already thinking about things she wants to bring! As for me, I usually bring a photo or two for the Open class, not because I want to win but because an exhibitor's pass is cheaper than a traditional season pass. Scandalous, I know. But, this year I actually got third place with this photo!

Sorry to Break it to You

2010-08-25T14:09:00.003-05:00

I know, I still owe pictures from the fair, but I'm still going through them and making them suitable for this public forum (ie: taking out last names on things, county name, etc. Can't be too careful) But I wanted to put this on here in the meantime, since poor Bloggy has been ignored.

About a week and a half ago, I went on a scrapbooking weekend with some friends. It was so nice to get away for a few days and relax, work on my books and just rejuvenate. I talked with Andy and the girls each day (I was gone Thurs night to Sun) and they all assured me everything was fine. Then I got home. Andy didn't want to worry me with small details, so he didn't mention a few things until I came home.

1) Alayna had a mishap with a screw driver and had a small hole in the palm of her hand. He assured me that antibacterial cream and a band-aid were immediately applied. She looked fine and said it was fine, so I was good with that.

2) Mikayla had a bloody nose just a few hours before I arrived home, the result of her face and the carseat that was being removed from the car crashing together. Again, she seemed fine and all was good.

3) Lilly fell on her arm at an odd angle Saturday night while at a wedding dance. She cried and didn't use it for awhile, but Andy and a chiropractor at the dance took a look at her arm and she seemed fine. Then she fell on the arm again right before I got home, but again, besides some swelling she was fine.

Yeah, well, then Lilly fell on her arm again the next Wednesday, causing it to swell again. It started to worry me then, but she continued to use her arm and not complain about any pain or soreness. The week passed and she continued to seem fine, besides some slight swelling in her arm. The older girls had appointments scheduled yesterday for their school physicals, so I asked the doctor to take a look. He called for x-rays and brought Lilly in to take a look.

"Well, I don't know if it happened the first, second or third time she fell," the doctor said when he came back in, "but it's broken." He said the pain wasn't too bad because the bones were in-line and not misaligned, which causes more pain. We felt awful, but he said it was nothing to worry about and she'd be fine after a few weeks in a cast. The only color they had?

Yes, purple. She was bummed there wasn't orange, and then she was really bummed that people may think she's a MN Vikings fan! She said we'll have to get a Green Bay sticker to show how she really feels. That's our girl--a klutz and a Packer fan!

She's such a loser!!

2010-08-16T09:38:00.002-05:00

Lilly has had two loose teeth for a few weeks now. One of them became VERY loose last weekend when she was eating corn on the cob at our friends' cabin. Her eyes flew open and she exclaimed that she broke her teeth! In reality, one of those teeth just became much more loose.

Since that night, she's gone back and forth between nervous and excited for that tooth to be gone. She'd want us to wiggle it, then twist it, then run away in fear, then come back for more. Finally, last night, she decided she wanted Daddy to pull it when we realized her big tooth was already about 1/3 of the way in behind the baby tooth.

Daddy innocently wiggled the tooth a few times, and when she wasn't expecting it, he just yanked and out it came! It was so quick that Lilly didn't do anything for about 10 seconds--we think she was too shocked that it was out. Then she got a huge smile and ran to look in the mirror. After examining her new look, she had to call her Grammas and Grampas and Aunties. She was so excited! The tooth went under her pillow and this morning she reported that she got $2 in quarters from the Tooth Fairy.

She has another loose tooth, the one next to her gap. She's already planning on when and how that one will come out. She says she wants to pull it out this time, unless Daddy wants to. We'll see.

Drama Drama Don't Need a Llama

2010-08-03T10:21:00.004-05:00

While I'm still going through pictures and getting things put back in order from our crazy few weeks, I thought you'd all appreciate this story. I did not appreciate it while it was happening just a few moments ago.

Anyone who knows Mikayla, knows that she's quite a spit-fire. We always say that she has every bit of attitude, stubbornness and spunk that Lilly and Alayna didn't get. While the older two girls are usually quite calm and level-headed, even as small children, Mikayla has always been high-maintenance.

Today is one of those hot, nasty, disgusting summer days all sane people hate. The summers here in WI are usually nice and pleasant, but we always get a few days of heat and humidity. Well, today is 90 with dew points in the 70s, or "oppressive" as the weathermen call it. Yummy. My house smells like sweaty kids (you know that smell) and a hint of last night's Chinese take-out. Appetizing, I tell you.

So anyway, the kids are sticky messes and their hair is smashed into their faces. I asked Mikayla if she wanted a pony-tail to help her cool down. She said yes and turned around for me to put it in. I combed her hair and put the pony-tail in, just like she agreed to. Then she Flipped. Out.

"I don't want a pony! I want my hair down!" she wailed while pulling the pony-tail partially out of her hair. I told her that the pony looked pretty and would keep her from getting so hot. Well, that was the wrong thing to say, apparently. She went into full melt-down mode and threw herself onto the floor. Now, remember how I said I've been either super busy or gone for the last 2 weeks, including the last 5 days staying at the county fair? Our floor hasn't been vacuumed since we came home and dumped all of our stuff all over. The crying and sweating child got off the floor with dirt and dog hair stuck all over her face and a ponytail only holding half of her hair. She marched into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and came right back out with a horrified look on her face. I wanted to laugh and cry.

"Mommy," she sobbed, "I sorry I tooked my pony out. Please put it back in so it's pretty!"

I washed up her face, re-combed her hair and put the ponytail back in. Then she went into the bathroom, still hiccuping a little from her fit, and proclaimed herself pretty after gazing into the mirror for 5 minutes. She's now happily playing ponies, with an adorable ponytail sticking out of her head that kind of looks like a horn...interesting.

Falling Behind

2010-08-02T09:07:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weeks have been super busy. We had the big county fair, so our time was spent getting ready for it and then participating in it. I have some pics to share, but right now I'm tired and can't find the camera. Just wanted to let you all know I haven't forgotten about you!

I love my clothesline!

2010-07-15T14:40:00.002-05:00

Yes, I love my clothesline.

She's a real work-horse around here from May-October, if I can squeeze that much time out of her.

She saves me money, she saves energy and she gets my clothes smelling much better than the artificial dryer sheets.

I don't know what I'd do without her.

And yes, she's a she.

The End.

A Not So Happy Birthday

2010-07-12T08:20:00.002-05:00

Andy ended up having a not-so-happy Birthday weekend. It all started with a light stomachache on Friday, more of a blah feeling than anything. By Friday night he was up all night with a fever, sweats, horrible headache and stomachache. But on Saturday morning, his birthday, he was feeling better. We had a breakfast of eggs and bacon, his request, and then sat around the house for a bit. That's when he started to feel nasty again. He slept off and on most of the day, his main problem being a headache. He pumped the water and Gatorade into his body, and felt much better by late afternoon.

We went to the rodeo and had a lot of fun. He felt fine the whole time and when we left, he even commented that he felt the best he had since Friday morning. We were both so relieved that he was feeling better. He slept great on Saturday night, woke up feeling fine on Sunday but with a slight headache and back ache, which he always gets if he lays around too much. He headed to his parents to help hay before it rained, and I went to church. We no more than got home from church and settled for a nap when the phone rang.

Andy was miserable, not even able to get up from the couch comfortably. He said he needed to go to the doctor, which for him means he's BAD. So my mom came and watched the girls, I picked him up at his parents' house and down we went to Urgent Care. His entire head was beat red, he was sweating like crazy and covered head-to-toe in a blanket because he felt like he was freezing.

At Urgent Care, the first thing they asked was when we pulled the tick off of him. When we informed the nurse--and later the doctor--that we'd never found a tick or rash, they were both surprised but said he's showing classic symptoms for either Lyme's Disease or Ehrlichiosis. His blood pressure was super high, his temp was over 102, and his head was pounding. They sent him home with 2 wks of antibiotics and strict instructions to come back if he wasn't feeling better in 2 days or if new symptoms showed up.

Poor guy is absolutely miserable. He can't eat anything without upsetting his stomach, he goes from feverish to fine and back in minutes, his head pounds to the point that I can see his pulse at his temple...he's not good. And everyone says that's exactly how they were, or their brother, or their aunt. So let's hope these meds work and he's feeling better soon. We all need that.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-07-10T07:43:00.000-05:00

Today is Andy's birthday. There aren't many days that are all about him. He's the type of guy who is always working, always doing something to help someone else. He seldom sits still or rests his brain. He's always on the go doing things for others.

But today is his day. We got him a present, we made him some breakfast, the girls made him cards and tonight, he and I are going to the rodeo while the girls go to Camp Gramma. Should be a good day and a good way to show Daddy that we're glad he's ours.

Do you Twilight?

2010-06-29T08:12:00.000-05:00

I do. I resisted for a long time, I really did. My cousin would bring them up to me, knowing how I love to read.

Cousin: You should read them, Candy! They are so good.

Me: I'm not going to read them.

C: Why not? You read Harry Potter right?

Me: Yes, and I loved Harry Potter. But that's different.

C: How do you know?

Me: I am NOT reading a teenage vampire love story!

That would end the conversation until the next time I saw her, and she'd start back in. I love her to death, or I probably would have strangled her. After a few months, she backed down and we both forgot about it. I would see and hear people talking about "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn" but I had no idea that it all meant Twilight and would still ignore it.

Fast forward to last summer. One of my daycare moms and I always talk books. I mentioned one day when she picked up her kids that I was between books. The next morning, there was a large, hard cover book in the diaper bag with a Post-It note on the front.

"Candy, Read this. Honestly, just give it a try and if you don't like it after a few chapters, give it back to me."

I looked under the Post-It and saw it was Twilight. *sigh* Another person trying to convert me. That book sat on my desk for 4 days before I finally gave in and read some of it. I told myself I'd read 2 chapters that day and see how I felt. I read 200+ pages. Yes, in one day. With 6 kids around me. Lets say nap times and movies were my dear friends for 7 days. That's how long it took me to read all 4 books, totalling over 1700 pages. I couldn't get enough of them and I felt so lost when I finished the last book! No more Edward or Bella or Jacob! What?!

I rented the movie and LOVED it. Andy watched it with me and said that it was much better than he thought it would be, considering how I went on about it before I read them, how I acted while reading them (absent, basically) and how I went on after reading them. He admitted that he actually liked it and would probably see the other movies, too.

New Moon came out last November and while I didn't see the midnight show, I did see a special fund-raising screening that our library did only a day after it opened. It was for women only and had prizes, gift bags, etc with the whole theater open just for us. I went with my two girlfriends and we were giddy, I tell you. We couldn't contain ourselves. The screening was at 10:00 and afterwards we went to Subway. While at Subway, we decided to see the 1:00 show as well! (Honestly, it was opening deer season and all our husbands were hunting and the kids were with sitters. What else was there to do?) I even talked Andy into seeing it with me the night before Thanksgiving. So yep, I saw New Moon 3 times in the theater. LOVED it.

Eclipse, the third part, opens tomorrow. I have my ticket for tonight (or tomorrow morning, however you want to look at it) at midnight. I cannot wait. I've been listening to the soundtrack, trying to see if I can pinpoint parts of the book with certain songs for the corresponding movie scenes. I've been watching the trailers on-line and I stop everything when I see one on tv. I am obsessed I tell you. I need an intervention. But it's soooo good!

Now I'm the one that says, "Really, you should just read them. They're excellent." I converted a few people, and my copies of Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are both out on loan right now. If you haven't read them, you should. Really truly. They are amazing.

Only a few hours to go...counting...counting...getting closer...

Camping Etiquette 101

2010-06-28T07:12:00.002-05:00

We went camping with our very good friends this weekend. It was a lot of fun, even with the storms at night and incredibly annoying neighbors. We spent our time eating, hiking, riding bike, swimming, playing cards and super-heroes, and complaining about our camp neighbors. It was a good time that prompted this post in my head. I give you...Camping Etiquette 101

1) When park quiet hours start at 11 pm, please don't drive in at 1 am with your radio blaring rap-crap, windows open, talking above the radio. I'll just say that it's a good thing it only woke me, not the kids.

2) I know I'm going to sound like an old fuddy-duddy when I say this BUT...quiet hours start at 11 pm. That does not mean that you can still party and swear--loudly--as long as you stay at your campsite. That means that the radio is turned down, the voices stay at a talk or quieter, and you try to keep noise to a minimum. I do not care to know that your friend is a "#$@#(*& idiot for taking back her boyfriend."

3) When you are leaving the park at 5 am (we're assuming to sneak out before the ranger finds out you stayed with friends without paying--maybe the car that came in so late perhaps?) please know how to drive a manual transmission if that is your vehicle of choice. Revving the engine to the point of waking myself, my husband (which is like waking the dead!) and our middle daughter, then killing it, then revving again and taking off in the wrong direction on a one-way street is not cool or funny or quiet.

We are pretty sure 1-3 apply to a group of college-aged kids a few sites down from us. I know, I sound like such a prude but honestly. The next few pointers are for the people directly behind us. Here is a little map for your viewing pleasure. It's crude, but gets the point across. We are in site X, they are in site Y, restrooms are R, TT means some trees, and __ is the street, which looped around in a 1-lane, 1-way circle.

__ Y TT X __ R

4) If you have to go to the bathroom and it's across another site that does not belong to you for the weekend, please at least walk to the edge of the site to get to the restrooms. It is not appropriate to walk directly through the middle of someone else's site, when 10' to the right will take you only 1 second longer and around the edge of our site and behind our vehicles. The invisible tripping rope almost got erected for the weekend.

4 (b) Pertaining to #4, when your child has to go to the restroom at 5:30 am...take them. Do not come halfway into another site (ours) and then stand a few feet from the tent door to watch your child walk across the street, then yell at her to not have an accident and to hurry up because she's hesitating going to pit toilets by herself in the semi-darkness at 4 years old. I'm 29 years old and I don't like going by myself to pit toilets in the semi-darkness.

5) If you have a small child that does nothing but cry (and by that, I mean scream) you may want to consider a sound-proof camper vs a tent, or not camping until the child is older and able to properly vent and relate his frustrations. Trust me, it's better for everyone.

6) If said small child needs a nap, please don't just throw him in the pack-n-play in the tent and walk away. I understand that sometimes they just need to cry it out. I get it, I've been there. But never in a million years would I subject an entire campground of mostly tents to my child's blood-curdling screams for 10-15 mins each at every nap (2 a day) and a good 30 min at bedtime. At least sit in the tent with him or something. And if you can't do that, maybe wait until baby has gotten the hang of going to sleep on his own before you go camping. Just saying.

7) Please be considerate of general situations around you. If your entire family is awake at 6:00 am but you see no one else in the campground moving about, please do what you can to keep quiet. I understand with kids it's sometimes hard. But honestly, besides Baby Screamy McScreamerson, the person I heard the most all weekend was Mommy Talks with a Bullhorn. She either has a severe hearing problem or has been struck with the spell from Harry Potter to amplify your voice for Quidditch matches.

I am very proud of myself that I didn't make a scene or even say something to this family. I probably should have, but I knew if I started I wouldn't have stopped until the rangers were called and people were crying and we were all banned from the State Park system for a few years. So I kept quiet. But, if you ever find yourself camping next to a family with a blue Caravan and three children named Kenzie, Ben and Adam...RUN!!! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Just get the heck out of Dodge.

Horse Camp

2010-06-24T08:22:00.005-05:00

Last week, my mom watched the girls and did daycare for me while Alayna and I went to Horse Camp. It was through the 4H and such a great experience for Alayna! She was able to ride for several hours a day, with sessions including Trail Class (getting your horse familiar with various "scary" things they may encounter on a trail-ride) showmanship, games, etc. Mixed in with the riding sessions were horseless sessions about caring for your horse, judging horses, general veterinary care, etc. She had a blast. While she was doing all that, I was relaxing in our borrowed camper, helping prepare meals for 100+ people and watching what I could of her riding sessions. We both had a great time and are ready for next year!

Alayna and her horse, Chloe

Trying to get Chloe to walk over a tarp. They circled several times before she finally did it!
Coming off the bridge in the trail class

Alayna during Horse Bowl (quiz bowl with horsey questions)

Alayna got 2nd place and a silver medal for her age group (23 kids) in horse judging!

**I have posted more today in a bit of blog-keeping, so look below for more of what's been happening!

Look What Mikayla learned!

2010-06-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

She doesn't have the legs down yet, but she gets the job done with her arms! She'll be our little body-builder if she keeps it up and soon pass Daddy up in the guns (bicep) department! Mikayla is so happy to be able to swing on her own, and we are so happy to not have to push her constantly.

Brace-Face

2010-06-24T08:12:00.000-05:00

Alayna got two brackets put on her front teeth a few weeks ago. This picture is even old compared to how she looks now. It's amazing how quickly things can change. Her expander (the pink things you see on her molars) was turned nightly for a month, slowly expanding her upper jaw to make room for all her teeth. The expander is now just holding space for a little while longer, to make sure that her jaw doesn't move right back. She has the two front brackets to pull her front teeth together in order to allow room for her missing tooth to finally move in. Well, it has and is now peeking through her gum...9+ months after she lost it.

She's no longer our Snaggle Tooth! The snaggleness is gone and she's really looking great with her teeth in some semblance of order. Like I've mentioned before, I know what she's going through and how much better it feels in the long run to have nice, straight teeth. And I keep reminding her of that when she complains of not being able to eat caramels, or chew gum, or have chewy candy. I can't wait to show the completion pics!

Dog Lovers, Read Up

2010-06-11T07:39:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you pay attention to the links list on my side-bar, but I just added a new book that I read while camping over Memorial Weekend. My mom had read it for her book club and immediately told me I had to read it. She knew I'd love it, and I did.

"The Art of Racing in the Rain" is a book that I think everyone should read and will enjoy, but especially animal and dog lovers. It's the typical book review of "I laughed, I cried, I rejoiced..." it's all true.

Seriously, you need to read this book. It's told from a dog's point of view, as he looks over his life while he's in the process of dying. Not only will you never look at your pets the same way, but you will also stop at least once and marvel at the intelligence and depth of some of the dog's statements. Honestly, you forget that it's really a person writing from the dog's point of view. Fab.U.Lous. It's in my top 10 of favorite books ever read, I think. And I've read a LOT of books. So if you're looking for an easy read that will touch your heart and make you think, this is it. For realz.

We have a graduate on our hands!

2010-06-10T08:51:00.004-05:00

Lilly flashing us the "I Love You" sign

Lilly graduated from her 4K program last week. It was so cute to see her up there with her class, performing their little program and accepting their diplomas. She is so sad to not see her friends for the summer, but she Can. Not. Wait. to start kindergarten! Congrats Lilly!

Mountains of Pics

2010-06-10T08:01:00.005-05:00

Or should that be pics of mountains? Either way, it's applicable. I have a mountain of pictures to share in this post, so sit back and enjoy. I also have a legitimate excuse for not blogging for almost 2 wks. First we went camping Memorial Weekend. I forgot my camera, but it was a great time. We came home late Monday afternoon, scrambled to do laundry and mow the lawn and put things away. Tuesday was a regular day. Wednesday Andy and I...

...went on vacation! We bought a truck down in Phoenix, AZ, so we flew out and drove it home. It was Andy's first time on a plane, his first time seeing the mountains, first time seeing a lot of things. It was only my second time with most everything on the trip, with a few firsts for me as well. We had a great time.

We started in Phoenix, landing early Wednesday morning. We got checked into our hotel, which was right by the University of Phoenix Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. We walked to a local outdoor mall, did some shopping and ate some fabulous scones. Then we hung out at the hotel, took a nap and went back to the shopping center for a late lunch/early dinner. That night we met with some friends of mine for drinks and some wonderful garlic french fries!

Thursday morning we hung out at the hotel's outdoor pool, and basically marvelled at the 87 degree temp at 9 am. The truck was delivered to us shortly before noon, so we headed to Sam's Club to buy some groceries and a cooler for the drive home. Then we were on the road. We went northeast out of Phoenix, towards Holbrook AZ, where we hooked up with I-40. We took I-40 to Gallup, NM, then headed north to Durango, CO. We saw so many beautiful sites, with some pretty funny ones sprinkled in (like the people who were pulling a U-Haul with a Ford Ranger and looked completely perplexed that they jack-knifed on the winding roads!) We decided to stay in Durango for Thursday night.

Friday morning we were up with the sun, so we headed out early. We drove through the mountains, which were amazing. At times we were on very steep grades or super sharp corners, there was still snow in the higher elevations, and the traffic was very limited. We loved it all! We met up with I-25 in Colorado Springs, then took that north through Denver and exited onto Hwy 85 just north of Cheyenne, WY. Hwy 85 was quite the road, with very limited gas stations and towns, almost costing us an empty fuel tank! Thankfully we made it to a station and eventually to Custer State Park in South Dakota, where we had a campsite for Friday night.

Saturday morning we were again up quite early, so we packed things up and headed off on the wildlife loop through the southern part of the park. We saw buffalo, pronghorns, "wild" burros (they were once domesticated, then released into the park) and lots of turkeys. Both Andy and I were hoping for an elk or mountain sheep sighting throughout the entire trip, but between Custer and the mountains, all we saw were signs warning to be cautious for each. After the wildlife loop, we did Needles Highway and continued on to Mount Rushmore. We got to Mount Rushmore shortly before 8 am, so we had the entire place to just Andy and I and another couple in their mid-50s. By the time we left 20 mins later, there were probably 100 people milling around! In Rapid City we got onto I-90 until Wall, SD. Of course, we had to stop at Wall Drug, then drove through the Badlands before again getting on I-90 to head east into Minnesota. We made it as far as Andy's cousin's house in the southern Metro, where we stayed the night. We debated heading home, but from that point on we would have been in different vehicles (Andy's car stayed there when we came down for the flight) and not able to keep one another awake.

Sunday morning we were up about 8 and left to meet my mom and the girls after church. It was so nice to be with the girls and see how excited they were to see us! They loved the truck and immediately began asking when they could ride in it. So we loaded them up and headed home. When we got home, the dogs didn't know what to do! They saw Andy's car, with me driving, following that unfamiliar truck into the driveway, so they kept looking back and forth, not knowing it they should bark or not. They decided not to bark, until Andy opened the truck door. Then both started barking wildly, until they realized it was Andy. They tucked their tails, dropped their heads and looked incredibly sheepish for barking at their dad! It was too cute. As soon as we said hello to them, they started jumping up and down, and Marley did 3 hot-laps around the house. I think they were excited to see us, too.

All in all, we had a great trip. It was our first vacation away from the girls, so it was different and nice, but we were very glad to be home, too. We're already planning when we can do it again...this time with 3 girls in the backseat.

View from the plane

Heading north out of Phoenix

Cactus-we've never seen them before!

Sunset in New Mexico

Mountains outside of Durango, CO

Somewhere near Silverton, CO

Awww, this was so amazing

The view and the road

The view, with a sign saying how steep it was

Storms over Eastern WY

Burros in Custer State Park

Momma & Baby Pronghorn

Oh give me a home, where the Buffalo roam!

Tatanka

Andy and the truck on Needles Highway

One of the tunnels on Needles, 8'4" wide

Suck it in!!

Mount Rushmore, in case you didn't know

Badlands

The Badlands were near the top of the trip for Andy

Baby Bellies

2010-05-28T07:43:00.002-05:00

One of Mikayla's good friends is expecting a baby brother in a few weeks. Mikayla has always been a big lover of babies--both real and plastic--but I think she's finally old enough to realize that the baby is actually in the big belly. When one of my best friends had a baby in November, I don't think it was all put together. But now, being 7 months older, she's made the connection.

At story time the other day, she was asking her friend's mom all about her tummy and the baby. She came home and pretended she had a baby in her belly. Lilly also had a baby in her belly, according to Mikayla. And the other day she mentioned to Gramma that she was in Daddy's belly when he was a Mommy...think about that one for awhile.

So yesterday after nap time, Mikayla was snuggling with me until she was fully awake. She sat up and looked at me for a long time, then asked, "Mommy, do you have 2 babies in your tummy?"

Now I'll be honest, I was a little offended. I know she didn't mean it like it sounded, but as a woman you automatically think she's calling you fat. And I'm not, but I was beginning to wonder if I'd let myself slip and not realized it. "No, Mommy is not having any babies. Why?"

She got a funny, confused look on her face. "But you have 2 big bellies!"

When I followed her gaze, I realized where she was looking. "No honey, those aren't part of my tummy. My tummy is under them...."

That's Our Girl!!

2010-05-21T07:43:00.003-05:00

I had to make a grocery shopping excursion last night. It was one of those that we needed a few things, but there were several things that were on the cusp. "We could use some bread." "We only have a few eggs left." You know how it goes. And since I was going to make it a big trip, I decided to add in our camping list for next weekend, too. Why not? It'll save me time next week.

As we were getting ready to go, Alayna ran upstairs to grab her purse. She's quite the saver and has some money left over from her basketball cookie dough sales incentive back in December. She was determined to find a special something for the upcoming summer. Well, Lilly heard that and decided, for the first time, that she also wanted to bring some of her money she's saved up. She asked if it was okay, I told her it was, and she ran up to her room.

"I got the one with a 5, is that okay?" she asked.

When we got to the store, she was scouring the racks, looking for that perfect thing she could buy with her own money. Alayna quickly found herself a pair of black flip-flops with a 2" heel for $8. Lilly didn't want shoes, she didn't want a new shirt. She wasn't sure what she wanted.

I finished my shopping and we were headed to the check-out line when Lilly said, "Wait! I see it!"

She ran to the rack, grabbed her purchase, and we headed to the check-out. Lilly waited patiently in line ahead of me, nervous but excited to make her first exchange by herself. She put the prize on the conveyor belt, waited until the clerk said the total, then handed over her $5 bill. She waited anxiously for her change, accepted that and her bag, said thank you and then helped me finish unloading the cart.

I was so proud of her! She was very grown-up and professional, remembering her manners and to speak clearly and loudly. I was also proud of her choice for that very first purchase: King-sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. They are one of mine and Andy's favorites. Yum. And she even told me, "Mommy, I won't eat these all at once. Just one at a time so I don't get a belly-ache." Is she really that old and mature already?!

We're gonna get you!

2010-05-17T08:27:00.005-05:00

Something has been visiting us for the past few weeks. And it's getting old.

It all started earlier this spring. Every so often, the grain bins in the barn would be knocked over when we'd go out to feed the animals. We didn't know what was doing it, so we assumed it was our dog, Sunny, for some reason. Shortly after the first time, the bins were bungee tied to the wall and their covers were securely snapped in place. Then it happened again, with the huge 33 gallon bin knocked over while 2/3 full. Hmmmm, maybe it's not the dog. As a matter of fact, I remember her barking in the middle of the night...

The bins were re-secured, with some extra reinforcements, and we set up a live trap. That first night we caught...a cat. Poor Coonie was so upset and didn't talk to us for a day. He's since recovered, but there's still something getting into our grain bins. It was in there 3 or 4 nights last week. We honestly have no idea what it is. We're assuming raccoon(s) but there's a very real possibility it's also a small bear recently kicked out of mom's den. And it could still be the dog, though we've never seen her have a desire to eat the grain any other time. It's driving us crazy and costing us money.

I got a brainiac idea and asked Andy's cousin if we could borrow their trail-camera. They came over for a family play date and the men set up the camera. We were certain we'd catch the bugger, if not in the trap, at least on camera so we knew what we were dealing with.

Well, it didn't quite work that way...

I know the pics are hard to make out, but take a look at a couple details with me. In the first photo, it shows the time as 0:35, which means 12:35 am. The live trap is nicely situated right next the bags of grain (which the critter thankfully hasn't touched!) The camera flashes and still doesn't get a pic of whatever it is. 5 mins later, at 12:40, (the soonest the camera will take a pic) it takes another shot and you see that when the camera flashed the first time, it apparently scared the animal, causing the live trap to go rolling across the barn. Each time, no animal is in the picture that's obvious. If you look closely, it looks like there may be a leg on the left edge of the photo--a yellowish leg (which may account for the huge white spot in the center) But even if it is Sunny in that photo, since it's the second pic and taken 5 mins later, I don't immediately deduce it was her that knocked things over. After all, this is her property and she's very protective. If she heard a noise that she didn't make and wasn't normal, she most certainly would go investigate. Grrrr It's motion activated, so something caused the camera to take the photos. Grrrr Obviously, it was also too close to the area since it's all so bright and distorted from the flash (and they aren't meant for indoor photos, but I. Don't. Care.) Grrrr

So we still have some work to do. The visitor didn't strike last night, so maybe the flash scared it off for awhile. We can hope. But just in case, the trap is set and the camera is in (a new) place.

So, I'm beginning to suck at this

2010-05-12T08:41:00.002-05:00

I'm beginning to suck at this blogging business. I do really well, then life gets in the way and before I know it, it's been over a week since I last blogged. Then I do really well for a few weeks, and I miss a week or two again. I suppose it could be looked at as a good thing--that life is keeping us busy enough that I don't have excess computer time. But sometimes, that's not the case. I still have that time, I just use it to read a book, or check FaceBook, or play games. Then I get yelled at for not updating the blog, which sometimes I admit just simply gets forgotten. I promise I'll make a better effort....

So, the last 2 weeks have been pretty busy. Alayna had 4H and is starting to figure out what she'll be bringing to the fair. She also got her expander put in, so we spend a lot of time picking food out of the crevices (yummy, huh?) Her homework is increasing a bit, as the class works on end of the year projects. She informed me just yesterday that there are 16 days left of school, then she'll be a fourth-grader.

Lilly has also been wrapping up her school year in 4K. She's really doing well with her reading and can read entire beginner books by herself. She doesn't spend a lot of time reading because her true love is art--she's constantly drawing pictures of the family, animals, etc, or coloring in her various coloring books. She does such a great job of staying within the lines and using lots of color, but in ways that make sense. She's definitely our little artist.

Mikayla is still learning tons each day. She's starting to recognize the letters and numbers, and her new favorite show on tv is Team Umizoomi, which is on Nick Jr. It's all about using math to solve problems. We don't watch a lot of tv during the day, but this is a fast favorite. Of course, she's still singing all. the. time. She sings songs from the radio, songs we've taught her, songs she makes up. She's always singing about something.

Our entire family was recently involved in our church fundraiser. For the second year, we've had a large musical production of Broadway tunes. This year, we not only performed at our church, but we were asked to perform at another church as well! The second show was this past weekend. I do the job of "key grip", or sound during the show, and Andy helps control things behind the scenes, like helping people keep track of time, controlling the kids, etc. All 3 girls sang "Do Re Mi" with the children's chorus during an ensemble from "Sound of Music." Lilly and Alayna were also little bride's for Grampa's solo of "Sunrise, Sunset" and Alayna played the role of Alphaba (the young wicked witch) for our friend's rendition of "Popular" from "Wicked." The whole event was so wonderful and lots of fun. I even got in on a little fun, by being a bit of a hussy while the men's chorus sang "Watching All the Girls Go By."

Andy and I are status quo, keeping everything running and going as it should. We have planned a trip for early this summer, so that will be a great time to unwind and get some time together. And when we get home, it'll be busier than ever with camps and visits and everything else ramping up. Such is life, right?

So, if you're still checking in--Thank You! I promise I'll try to at least get little blurbs on here to show that we are still alive and well. I know for some of you, this is the easiest and best way to keep up with our family!

Mommy, Where's Jesus?

2010-04-28T15:18:00.003-05:00

The other day, I heard about a website that you can play the original Super Mario Brothers on. I loved that game as a kid, but we didn't have a Nintendo. I would play at friends' houses or sometimes we'd rent one from the video store. I loved it. So when I found out I could play on-line, I thought I'd try it out. Of course, the kids wanted to play, too.

Lilly was playing it this afternoon and she hit one of the blocks that a vine pops out of. You climb up the vine and into the clouds, kinda like Jack in the Beanstalk. When Lilly was playing and got into the clouds, she goes, "Mommy, where's Mario's Jesus? He's supposed to be up in heaven!"

Let me tell you, it made this momma proud to hear her ask that question!

I'm Hungry...

2010-04-27T09:26:00.001-05:00

The other day, I sat down to write a blog post, and my stomach started growling. "Hmm, why am I hungry? I ate breakfast," I thought to myself. So I started thinking about my morning, trying to figure it all out. Then I realized why I was hungry.

First off, I folded laundry while waiting for the girls to get on the bus. They were watching out the window, while I sorted the clothes and paired the socks. The bus came into view, so I gave out hugs and kisses, wished them a good day, and watched while they walked down the driveway. Then Mikayla and I got ready to eat breakfast. I got us each a bowl and our respective cereal choices, and set them on the table. I went to the drawer and found only one clean spoon. I gave it to Mikayla, poured her milk, and went to get one for myself from the dishwasher.

The dishwasher was clean and next to it, a sink full of dishes that showed our crazy last few days of eat and run. So I unloaded the dishwasher and started to reload. When the sink was empty, I started the washer again and wiped the counter.

Then the phone rang. I went into the living room to answer the phone, and while I talked, I finished folding the laundry from earlier. Then I ran them upstairs and put them in everyone's rooms, to wait for their owners to come home and put them away. While I was at it, I gathered a new load to wash. I checked on Mikayla, who was now done with breakfast and playing ponies, then headed to the basement to start the load. I fished the wet towels out of the washer, started the new load, then asked Mikayla if she wanted to go outside and help me hang the towels on the line.

Outside we went. We hung the towels on the line, the whole time being watched and "talked to" by the animals. I hung up the last towel, then we headed to the barn to water the horses and calves. We visited with them, pet the cats, threw the ball for the dogs and finally the water was full. We headed inside the house.

I fed the dogs, and in doing so tripped over a pair of shoes. So I straightened up the shoes, hung up some jackets in the closet, and gathered the mail that had been brought in yesterday but left on the entryway bench. I brought the mail to the kitchen, where I sorted what was worth it's while and what wasn't. I made a pile for keep and a pile to throw out. I went to throw away the envelopes and papers, and found the garbage bag to be full. I tied the bag, replaced it with a new one, and put the full bag in the garage.

When I came in, Mikayla was asking me to help her turn on the music so she could sing and dance to "Tayer Swiff." I followed her to the family room, where we danced and sang for awhile, before the phone rang again. It was Andy, asking me to find him a note he'd written some information on. I found the note on the coffee table in the living room, next to some other random sheets of paper. I grabbed the note and stuck it to the fridge. I turned and saw the table, with a lonely bowl sitting on it. I put the bowl away after making sure it was clean, not yet realizing why it was there.

Then I wiped the table and did a quick sweep to clean up the cereal Mikayla had dropped. I went down to the family room and watched while Mikayla danced and the computer booted up. I checked my e-mail, went to Facebook and finally came here to post about something completely different than this. Then my stomach growled REALLY loudly.

I hadn't eaten breakfast. I hadn't had anything to eat since the previous night's dinner. I was starving, but really, it was almost lunch time so I wasn't about to eat yet.

Andy wonders why there are days where I get tons done, but not much of anything, if that makes sense. This particular day I didn't have any extra daycare kids, either. Some of those days are like total pin-ball machine marathons. Please tell me I'm not the only one that has days like this?!

The Orange Beast

2010-04-26T08:34:00.004-05:00

A long time ago, back before Andy and I were married or had kids, he traded his dad a horse for a truck. His sister really wanted the horse, Andy had out-grown her, my father-in-law had a truck Andy wanted, and it wasn't needed by my FIL. It was win-win.

Except the truck wasn't quite ready for the road. It was a '78 Ford that had seen better days. We spent countless hours together, sanding paint off the body until we had it down to the steel. Then we brought it to a neighbor, who did some minor body work and prepped it for paint. Andy and I, in the meantime, poured over paint samples and colors, finally deciding on a color called "General Lee Orange." Yes, like from Dukes of Hazzards. The neighbor and Andy primed the truck, then painted several layers in order to have the orange be bright and shiny.

After the paint job, it was time for all the other stuff. Andy went through the motor and all the other mechanical stuff, while I cleaned and detailed inside the cab. I scrubbed and cleaned and vaccuumed. We bought a seat cover and floor mats. Andy made a custom tailgate and running boards. He installed a cd player, speakers and amp. We looked at tons of tires before he bought the ones he has on there. He brought it to a garage and had dual-exhaust installed. This truck was our project and it took a long time to get it right.

Once it was all done, we drove it everywhere. We drove it for our wedding, our friends' weddings, date nights, whenever. It wasn't our primary vehicle, but it was one we loved to drive. We didn't drive it in the winter because of the road salt, but it was ready and waiting in case the roads were snowy and icy when I went into labor with Alayna (January in WI is never predictable) I always laughed when I would drive it by myself, because guys would do double-takes when they realized it was a woman driving that big, loud, flashy truck. Eventually, Alayna told us that when she got her license this would be her truck.

Then something happened. We had another baby and no longer fit in the truck as a family. We also bought a house. The truck was driven less and less, and before we knew it we hadn't driven it in almost five years. Until this past weekend.

Our friends were getting married and the girls were all going to be staying with other people, so just Andy and I were going to the wedding. We decided just last week that we'd take the truck. So while I registered and insured it for the first time in years, Andy went through and made sure all the fluids were good, the tires inflated, the lights working. He brought it home from storage at his parents' and we scrubbed all the dirt and mud and bird crap off. He replaced a U-joint and I again cleaned and detailed the cab. The girls loved it, especially Lilly and Mikayla, who'd never really seen or known "Daddy's Monster truck." Alayna immediately reminded us that it was her truck for when she got her license. We couldn't believe she remembered that comment from when she was 3!

It was finally in good condition again and we drove it to the wedding. We both agreed it felt great to be driving the truck again, cruising down the road. It still needs a little work, as some of the wires were apparently a snack from some wayward mice, but it works, looks great and we were driving it again. I think we'll drive it more often now, when we don't have the kids and it's just Andy and I.

*In this pic, Andy's driven it up on a stump. But the truck is very tall, as you can see from Alayna's height (and she's on the down-side). To put it into perspective, my MIL is 5'2" and she rode with us for part of the day on Saturday. She had to use a 5-gallon pail, turned upside down, as a stool to get to the running board. It was quite comical!

**I posted earlier today, too, so check it out!

Singing in the Spring

2010-04-26T08:23:00.003-05:00

Alayna's spring program was this past week. The kids all sang various songs that represented spring or other countries. It was a very cute program, from the little Kindergartners up to the 4th graders who were almost too cool for what they had to do. Alayna was part of an international choir, that sang a song called "Go For the Gold" during the school's closing ceremonies for the Olympics. She also had a narration part before the first grade sang, then sang 2 songs with her third grade class. She did a great job with her singing, but especially her reading. She read loud and clear, which some of the other students did not. She has such poise. She's in the picture below, pretty much center.

In other concert news, Mikayla almost stole the show from all the kids performing. It started before we were even in the school. We were walking up to the door, with two little old ladies in front of us. Mikayla heard a little scream and immediately asked what that noise was. I told her I didn't know and she goes, "I fink it was a child, or a kid!" The ladies started laughing and had to turn around to see who made such an observation! Then during the program, one of the Special Education students was making some throat noises. Mikayla heard the noise and again, asked what it was. When I said it was just someone making a noise, she piped up with, "I fink there's a sheep in here!" (and she's right, it sounded like a sheep baa'ing) Then the student made the noise again and Mikayla commented, "Or maybe it's a coyote...or fox!" All the people around us were laughing, as Mikayla is ever so quiet. A few minutes went by without incident, then a baby started crying. Almost as loud as her "only talking, not yet yelling" voice can go, she proclaimed, "Someone's crabby!" Ah, always fun with that little girl.

Horse Expo

2010-04-22T09:22:00.003-05:00

Every year, we go to the MN Horse Expo at the MN State Fairgrounds. It's something the entire family looks forward to. The barns are filled with horses for breed demonstrations, competitions and advertising for stables. There are booths everywhere to sell and advertise anything horse-related, from grooming supplies to riding apparel to barns and trailers. It's horse heaven.

Tomorrow is the big day. We usually go on Saturday, but we have a wedding this year, so we decided to pull Alayna from school. She has no problems in any of her classes, so we feel confident that it will be fine to take her out for a day of family fun. We all love to wander the grounds and see everything. We also have quite a list of items to look at and purchase this year. Should be fun!

Ball Battle

2010-04-16T07:57:00.004-05:00

The pictures that I have to help illustrate this story are a little hard to see. But I'll tell you, it's a very funny story. I'm sure it's much funnier to have witnessed it, like we did, but in pictures it works okay, too.

Chief, our 3 year old gelding, is a very curious horse. He's always the first to check out if something is making funny noise, but he'll act very nonchalant about it. Almost like a teenager. Anyway, we were throwing the tennis ball for the dogs the other day and Andy threw it to land near the horses. Chief immediately checked it out. Marley wouldn't even think about it, because she's tall enough to get zapped by the electric strands. Sunny, on the other hand, is not only short enough to fit under the fence but she's the real ball fiend. She was going crazy trying to get to the ball, but Chief wouldn't let her. Chief would stand over the ball, acting like he didn't care, but as soon as Sunny would try to sneak in, Chief would do a little charge in Sunny's direction. This went on for over an hour. Sunny would finally make it in to get the ball, then Andy would throw it back in the general direction and the stand-off would begin again. And for the record, as long as the ball is not involved, they get along just fine! Cheap afternoon humor in our house, I'm telling you!

It's hard to see, but the ball is very dirty and to the left of Chief

Checking out Sunny after she got the ball one time

Sunny sneaking away, with Chief on her tail

We are such dorks. But our animals give our entire family such pleasure, from the big horses down to the little cats. We could, and do, play with them all for hours.

"BRACE" Yourselves!

2010-04-08T07:45:00.004-05:00

I was really trying to find a more recent picture of Alayna's smile that shows her teeth. She has a fantastic snaggle-smile right now. Some of those gaps have been filled with huge, crooked teeth. Teeth in front of teeth, some sideways, some only partially in because there simply isn't room for them to grow any further. I had almost the exact same smile and tooth configuration as Alayna does now--it's all because of me. And it's all about to change.

Yesterday we had her first orthodontist consult. While examining her mouth, the doctor used phrases like "severe crowding" and "5mm off center" to describe the shape of her mouth. No surprises there. They recommended pulling a baby tooth to allow the other teeth to shift, and putting in spaces and a "space saver" on the bottom. On the top she'll get an expander, to slowly expand her jaw and hopefully help the teeth to shift into place somewhat on their own once there's some room. She'll also need top braces on the front four teeth to help them pull into line. All this is what they are calling "Phase 1" and hopefully we won't need a Phase 2, or at least not a real in depth Phase 2. That's what the doc said. Let's hope it's true.

Having lived through this myself, I know what my poor baby girl is going through. I know that she'll have days that it hurts to eat anything. I know that she'll want gum or taffy or caramel so bad some days that it just doesn't seem fair. But in the long run, it's so worth it. She'll thank us for giving her a nice smile that will only help her self confidence. But until then, when all it does is hurt...Wish us luck.

That Darn Kitchen

2010-04-06T14:47:00.005-05:00

Ever since we moved into this house 5 1/2 years ago, we've been slowly changing, updating and making things our own. The kitchen was the biggest eye sore...and the one that's taken the longest--and most money--to remedy. And it's still not done. But, we're getting there.

First off, it was wall-papered in that 1979 vinyl stuff specifically for kitchens. It's great because it's waterproof. It's horrible because...it's waterproof. So I have to painstakingly peel tiny bits of vinyl off before I even get to the paper part that water and other solutions will soften in order to be removed. The entire kitchen was covered in it, from the half-wall above the table, to the walls on each side, the soffets above the cupboards and the back splash area. It's still covered in much more than I care to admit or look at. But it takes time, time I rarely have.

So we've done quicker fix things. Like replacing light fixtures, painting where the paper has been peeled, replacing every appliance (not all at once, thankfully) putting down wood floors over the scarred linoleum, removing the doors on our peninsula cupboards to allow light into the main kitchen area, window mis-treatments, etc. It's still a work in progress, but we've come a long way, no?

Before

After

After that

And after that (though we've since replaced that light fixture)

You can see the semi-peeled paper in the back splash area. That will hopefully be fully peeled soon, or covered up with a back splash. We also need a new range-hood. And eventually, I want new counter tops. We bought a new pendant light to put above the sink, but the current light that's hidden behind the trim piece is a square cut into the drywall, while the pendant hangs from a circular base. So Andy has some work to do before it gets put up. But nothing big, and the changes are quite dramatic if you look at the initial before photo.

Then there's the eating area. It's a nice area, but it has a railing down to the family room and a half wall on the upper half. The wall is quite a large expanse and when we first moved in, it needed something but I didn't have much. So I stuck these postage stamps there to fill a little bit of space (after, of course, we peeled and painted).

Okay, so they aren't really postage stamps, but it looks like it, right? Shortly after this picture was taken I found a beautiful print that had my basic kitchen color scheme and hung that in the middle with the small rooster prints on the sides. It stayed like that for a long time, though I was never really happy with it. Then I started reading The Nester and The Lettered Cottage, which are both fantastic home blogs. The Nester encourages everyone that their house doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. And that sometimes, you have to do something and live with it for awhile to be sure if you really do, or don't, like it. Layla at The Lettered Cottage is documenting her entire house remodel and decorating, flaws and all, while throwing in fantastic decorating tips and tricks for the average person. Both women concentrate on using things that you already have, re-purposing, being thrifty for those things you don't have and thinking a little outside the box. In other words, they bring decorating down to something the average mom and wife can do.

Layla showed a picture on her blog once that really caught my eye. She had done a virtual design for someone and put EAT on their wall in big, black cut-out letters. I couldn't get it out of my mind and thought it would be great for our wall above the table. But in our house, and our family, things are a little better if left rustic. So one day, I went out to the garage and dug up some of Andy's scrap pieces of wood. I hauled out the circular saw and eyeballed my measurements, cutting the pieces to approximate lengths. The lengths are close, but not exact, the wood isn't sanded, some pieces have knots, some have nicks. I didn't care. I glued and screwed them together and put them on the wall the next day. They aren't perfect, and at first I didn't like it much. But I listened to The Nester's advice and left it up there to see if it would grow on me. And it did. Now I like it. A lot. And I get a lot of compliments on it, too.

I haven't decided yet if I need something more on the sides or not. But this is perfect for our family--simple, strong, a little rustic, a little odd. It works for us.

BTW: I've been doing some blog-keeping today, so be sure to check below for horsey and Easter posts of the girls!

Does the H in 4H stand for Horse?

2010-04-06T14:01:00.003-05:00

Alayna has anxiously been awaiting this year in 4H--the first year she can be involved in the horse project. She's been working with her horse, Chloe, at home 2-4 times a week and she's been doing so well. The first few times, she wasn't comfortable with me letting go of the lead-rope. Now, I don't even lead her at all. She and Chloe are both getting more comfortable with one another--Alayna's learning to properly tell Chloe what she wants, without confusing her or hurting her (even though that's all inadvertent) and Chloe's learning that she can't get away with things when Alayna's on her back. They are learning a mutual respect of one another, which is exactly what you want between a horse and rider.

This past Friday was the first beginner's clinic of the year. A stable that helps the 4H project devoted Friday to first- and second-year horse members, so they could have a dedicated time to get comfortable with their horses, the grounds, and riding without the presence of the more experienced riders. Alayna did a fantastic job. She was one of only two students who didn't need extra help during the night, and she also kept Chloe in control when another horse got spooked right in front of her. Alayna also did a great job of reminding Chloe who was boss when Chloe saw where the gate was at the end of the session--she decided she was done but Alayna kept her going past the gate 3 times before they left.

Andy and I couldn't be more proud of how well she did not only on Friday night, but how well she's done with all her work with Chloe. Together they are shaping up to be quite a team.

Alayna and Chloe go trotting by

Easter in Review

2010-04-06T13:40:00.004-05:00

Our Easter started on Saturday morning with a craft. A few weeks ago, I found a Foamies Easter Egg Wreath kit. It included two wreath forms, dozens of foam eggs in all different colors, and various shapes and fun things to decorate the eggs with. The girls loved. We made a beautiful wreath for on the door, and the girls also decorated individual eggs for their teachers, friends and family. It was a hit!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for the egg and basket hunt before church. Alayna and Lilly each got new bike helmets and Mikayla got a pink soccer ball. Of course, modeling had to commence immediately after finding their baskets!

Church followed a hasty breakfast, then we came home to host the holiday meal for my side of the family. There were 17 of us here for ham, cheesy hash browns, buns and various salads. Then the guys hid 74 plastic eggs filled with candy around the yard for the little ones. Lots of fun to search for the eggs!

Have you Filled Out Your Form?

2010-03-27T08:07:00.004-05:00

I am now an official Federal employee. Yep, I signed up to work for the 2010 Census. I spent the last 3 days in training, learning about confidentiality procedures, the forms, and all the background stuff the ordinary person doesn't see. It's been interesting.

I'll be starting work sometime in the next week, working random hours to fit my schedule. I hope it's a rewarding experience. If nothing, it's some extra money and who doesn't need that, right? If you're in the area, they are still looking for people! And they may still be looking for people in other areas as well, I'm not sure. But for now, I need to go organize all my supplies and get things in some semblance of order. Fun stuff, I tell you. Fun stuff!

We love Como Zoo!

2010-03-27T07:53:00.000-05:00

For those of you who aren't somewhat local, Como Zoo is in St Paul. It's open 365 days a year and is affiliated with a large park system and conservatory, plus a small amusement park in the summer. Oh, and it's all free (except for the rides). They ask for a free-will donation when you walk through the doors, but if you have nothing to give you are still allowed in. It's worth every penny you do, or don't, spend and then some.

Como is a rather small zoo. You can walk through the entire thing in about 1-2 hrs without rushing. It has an Ape Building with about 5 different species, including little Tamarins -- which we all love and refer to as the "Little Old Men Monkeys" -- and going up to large Gorillas. There is a large cat building, which houses lions, tigers and leopards, and next to that is an enclosure for 2 grey wolves (which I see plenty at home, thankyouverymuch). There is a nice central building for African hooved animals--giraffes, zebras, various deer--and then an aquatics building with penguins, puffins, lots of fish, seals and sea lions, and polar bears (which will open their new exhibit later this spring). Scattered around the way are also bison, long-horned sheep, caribou, various bird and waterfowl species, and giant tortoises. Attached to the zoo is a large conservatory with tons of exotic flowers, trees and plants. There is also a newer exhibit, the rain forest. In here you are able to walk amongst the tall trees and see some of the rain forest inhabitants, like a huge anaconda snake, tarantula, and 3-toed sloth (Alayna's favorite).

Again, this zoo is not huge, but it's so much fun for the whole family. You don't have to make a huge time commitment to go there, it's not hard on the wallet, and the animals are pretty close and easily visible. We love it. Which is why we went there again this past weekend. We had a prior engagement with our 4H club that was going to be as far south as the cities but just a bit further east. This commitment, while important, was only for about an hour total. We couldn't drive all that way for such a short time, then turn around and come home. See, Como was the perfect choice!

I took some pictures, but they'll look like any other zoo picture. The big cats and wolves were actually out and active, because it was a cool day--usually we're there in summer and it's so warm they're rather lazy. But because it was a cool day, the giraffes and zebras were kept inside their barn, where we were able to see them but it wasn't as great as when they're outside. All the apes were indoors instead of in their outside pens, and the tortoise was nowhere to be found, probably nicely tucked into a warm room.

We go to Como 2-3 times a year, if not more. And if you're in the St Paul area with an hour or two to kill, we totally recommend Como!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

2010-03-26T18:44:00.000-05:00

Today is my parent's wedding anniversary! They've been together, for better or worse, for over 33 years! So Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! We all love you!

Ferrets, Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

2010-03-22T10:12:00.002-05:00

I have been having some bizarre dreams lately. First off, let me tell you that I'm one of those people that has dreams like movies. They are full of detail and I can recall them like I watched them on my tv--what people said, what they wore, etc. It's funny to relate them to Andy, who will then be like, "I had a dream we were camping." That's all he remembers and recalls.

Anyway, the last three nights I've had bizarrely intense dreams. Not scary, per se, but suspenseful and intense. They've involved things like bears chasing us, tigers lose in the campground when all we have is a basic tent for protection, ferrets chasing rats through my house to prevent the rats from chewing on our toes...I told you, bizarre and intense.

Now, I'm not one to analyze my dreams and try to derive some inner meaning from my subconscious movie reel. I usually laugh them off and go about my day. But this has been 3 nights in a row now. I'm not waking from them, but I don't think I'm sleeping well, either. Andy said I was kicking him the other night, and my legs were churning like I was running (that was the bear night) I've been waking up feeling exhausted and spent, sometimes so warm that I am in a sweat or need to throw off the covers. I even took a 3-hr nap yesterday that felt like it was about 10 minutes, and I woke up drooling like crazy because I was sleeping so hard. That's not like me, people--the drooling or the super long nap.

So if you think of it, do you wanna send me some nice sleepy dust? Please? I could really use a good night's sleep without crazy, intense, drama-riddled dreams. Thanks a million.

K is for Kindergarten

2010-03-19T11:07:00.002-05:00

It's official--Lilly will be going to Kindergarten in the fall. We recently had her orientation and sign-up, though there wasn't much to do since she's currently enrolled in the school's 4K program. Her teacher told me about the screening they did at school, and Lilly's doing great! She got 50 out of 50 on her screening, which tested things like her knowledge of shapes, colors, spatial relations (above/under, before/after, etc) and basic understanding of word and letter concepts. We all expected her to do well on the screening, since she's known all of those things for months, including knowing and writing all her letters and numbers, and reading beginning words like spot, cat, that, hop...

Signing her up for Kindergarten made it all seem more real. Yes, she's been going to school 2 days a week since September. And yes, she was 5 years old in October. But Kindergarten is so official. It's that first real year of school. She's still my little girl, but she's my big little girl, now. She's reading and writing and making friends and learning basic math. We're so very proud of her!

Anonymous No More

2010-03-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone. I know some of you comment anonymously here on my blog because you don't have an account with Blogger. But you know what? You don't have to have a Blogger account. You could have a google account, or an Open ID. Why am I talking about this? Because I've decided to disable anonymous commenting abilities. I hate to do it, but I'm getting a lot of SPAM comments about things I don't need and don't belong here on a family blog. Like male enhancement products, toys of the very-much-adult variety, and random links for sites I cannot verify are safe.

So please, take a moment to create an account. All you have to do is provide an e-mail address, a sign-in name (you could even make it something like Gramma P instead of a name) and a password. That's it. I literally takes seconds. I love hearing all that everyone has to say on my blog, but the SPAM is getting in the way and making it difficult. I don't want to hear what they have to say.

**I've posted a few times today, so look below!

Mikayla's Big Weekend

2010-03-15T07:47:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, my mom, the girls and I went shopping for Easter dresses. We headed to a mall and found perfect dresses. Then we decided it was time for a certain 3-year-old to get her ears pierced.

She's been wanting them done forever, so she could be just like her big sisters. We used it as motivation to help her quit sucking her thumb. Her poor thumb was so cracked and wrinkly all the time, not to mention the simple irritation on our part to see that thumb constantly in her mouth. So we told her she could get earrings when she stopped sucking her thumb. Well, it took a few months (this was at her birthday in December) She'd find herself with her thumb in her mouth, take it out and tell herself "No!" Or we'd catch her and simply say earrings, and that thumb would fly out of her mouth. So finally, we decided this weekend was it. She could get the beloved earrings. She cried, saying the "snipper" hurt when it put in her pretties, but that was quickly forgotten with a sticker, a sucker, and a look at herself in the mirror. Then all was good. And so far, she's been good about letting me clean them, as well!

Yesterday (Sunday) was an absolutely gorgeous day. Not only was it sunny and dry for the first time in over a week, but it was 62 degrees!! We broke a record high for the date. Obviously, as soon as we got home from church we hunkered down in the house. Or not. Maybe we spent the entire afternoon outside playing basketball, riding bike, swinging and sliding on the play sets, picking up a winter's worth of dog crap from the yard...all those fun things you do on the first real nice day of the year.

Mikayla had another milestone yesterday--she figured out how to pedal her tricycle! She was really close at the end of last year, but she just couldn't get things going and figured out on her own. This year, she didn't even try. She just got on, pedaled and went sailing across the driveway. She stopped and yelled, "I did it! I rided my bike myself!!" Then she had to show everyone she could pedal like a big girl and even went so far as to say it was because of her earrings.

After spending some time on the driveway, we headed to the backyard. Mikayla hopped on the PowerWheels Gator and decided to go for a drive. She worked on her steering and I think she's finally getting the hang of it! Then she wanted to go for a horsey ride, so we did that, too. See?

Now don't get me wrong, the other girls were about, too. Lilly was steadily practicing with her bike, trying to get the hang of no training wheels. She didn't master it yesterday, but she's getting closer. She's set herself a goal of no training wheels or help by summertime. It's so cute to see her lose her balance and catch herself, straighten her shoulders and say, "Let's try again." I have no doubt she'll be riding along in no time! Alayna was zooming around on her bike, sometimes trying to show Lilly what to do and other times just riding past her. She also helped Daddy move some things around with the aid of the lawn-mower, expertly driving and pulling downed trees and brush into the burn pile. All in all, it was a great weekend!

New Ride

2010-03-09T07:47:00.000-06:00

For the girls' Christmas when they were 3 (or were about to turn 3), Andy's parents have bought them each a PowerWheels. Alayna got a 2-passenger Gator like the one on their farm, and Lilly got a lawn-mower like our big mowers we go camping with. This year was Mikayla's 3-year-old Christmas (technically it wasn't, but she turned 3 only days after) so it was her turn. They bought her a Ford truck that will hold 2 people and has a small box in the back to carry her heavy loads. With the driveway almost clear of snow and ice, we were finally able to take it out for her first test drive! She was so excited!

Daddy's first time rescuing her from being stuck

Lilly had to help her steer a couple of times

Lilly gets a try at driving the truck

I'm sure it won't be long and Mikayla will be a pro at driving the truck all over the place. Then we'll have a real caravan through our trails of Alayna's lawn-mower (she's outgrown her Gator and has her own lawn-mower now--minus the deck of course) Lilly's PowerWheels Mower and Mikayla's truck.

2010 Family Winter Olympics

2010-03-08T08:42:00.004-06:00

We've been meaning to do our family Olympics for the last month. Since there just isn't enough time to do it on a weekday after school and work, we had to plan it for a weekend. Well, the first two weekends of the actual Olympics were just too cold, and the final weekend I was gone. So we had to do them this weekend if we were going to do them at all. So we did our family Olympics--in 47 degree, snow-melting weather. It made for a challenge, but also pleasant conditions to be outside!

Event #1: Snow Angel Contest. This event was judged on style, performance and overall appearance. Alayna's angel is the first one shown. She received a score of 17.9. Mommy marked her down a few points because of the obvious butt print.

Mikayla's angel scored a total of 17.3 points. She had great form and a wonderful giggle while executing her performance, but the legs span lacked a little bit.

Lilly's angel scored a 17.9 as well, tying her for gold with Alayna. Her angel didn't have the obvious butt-print, but did lack a little in the leg span.

Final Snow Angel standings: Gold-Lilly and Alayna Silver-Mikayla

The next event was the target portion of the Biathlon. The girls threw 3 ice cubes at a target drawn in the snow with food coloring; a cube in the blue was worth 2 pts, green was worth 1 pt. I forgot to take pictures of this entire event, but did catch a picture of Mikayla throwing her ice cube (which if you look closely is against Lilly's snow pants in the picture below) She eventually got it in the green circle for 1 pt.

Below is the final target shot--1 ice cube in blue, worth 2 pts for Lilly; 1 ice cube in green, worth 1 pt for Mikayla.

Final standing in the Ice Cube Throw event: Gold-Lilly Silver-Mikayla Bronze-Alayna

The next event was the sled race. Daddy made a snow track with the snowmobile, and the girls pulled the sled around the track in a timed event. Alayna pulled Lilly and Mikayla, Lilly pulled Mikayla and Mikayla pulled an empty sled.

(The horses liked spectating at this event)

Final Sled Race Standings: Gold-Alayna Silver-Lilly Bronze-Mikayla

The final event of the games was a Hockey skills test. Each of the girls had 5 chances to make as many goals as they could. Alayna had to stay back 12 feet, Lilly 9 and Mikayla 6.

Final Hockey Skills Event standings: Gold-Lilly Silver-Mikayla Bronze-Alayna

The total medal count for the day was 4 medals for each of the girls! They were all great sports and wonderfully skilled athletes. Until we meet again in 2012...

Olympics

2010-03-01T08:52:00.004-06:00

I was able to get away this weekend for some long-overdue scrapping. It was fabulous. I had a crazy week, so having 2.5 days to do as I please and not worry about much was heavenly. I got a lot done, some good girlfriend time, and lots of chatting and gossip. I give major props to Andy, who dealt with a puking Mikayla (though she only threw up once) without calling me to come home when I was only 10 mins away. He admitted he didn't want to ruin my weekend because she seemed fine and I don't get away much at all. Awwwww. When I got home yesterday, we were going to do our family Olympics but we all took super long naps and woke up when it was getting dark out. So that will have to wait for another time. Oh well.

And speaking of the Olympics, that's partly the reason for my lack of posting again lately. We all love the Olympics, especially the Winter Games. Every afternoon and evening, if we weren't running places, we were parked in front of the tv watching skiing, skating, snowboarding, curling, hockey...any and all of it. They are so great, but I'm glad they're done. They really take a lot out of me when I can't miss anything, so I go to bed much later than normal.

Anywho, this post is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but I felt the need to post something, anything, to get me back into the posting mood. Hopefully I'll soon have some fun pictures of our family Olympics. I have it all planned out, it's just finding the time to do it. Some day...

Every Night...

2010-02-18T10:35:00.005-06:00

...we go out to the barn and feed our funny-farm full of animals. They always seem to know the difference between someone closing the house door to leave vs. closing the door to come out to the barn. Maybe they hear our boots, maybe they are psychic. I don't know. But the animals can tell the difference and get all lined up. So for my "city" friends, I'll give you a pictorial account of our nightly chores. *All these pics were taken the evening of Feb 15.

First off, the dogs can hardly wait to get outside and run and play in the snow while we're out feeding everyone.

When we enter the barn, we are greeted by the cats. We have 6 cats and they all come out of hiding once the barn door opens. We never know where to find them. Sometimes, they're in the rafters... (this is one of the 3 identical black cats. They are named Blackie, Midnight and Kitty, but we can't tell them apart)
...or waiting for us on the fence separating the calves and horses...(Sid, our newest addition. She's kind of an idiot, but really sweet, so we named her after Sid the Sloth from the Ice Age movies)

This is Coonie, the stray that showed up hungry and scared on our back porch this summer as a kitten. He's certainly not hungry or scared anymore and is our most friendly cat.

Another of the black cats, nestled on the stack of hay bales.

The third black cat, sitting on the other side of the barn in the rafters on top of some spare plywood. I didn't get a picture of Stormy, our gray cat who is very crabby, moody and skittish. She will let us pet her, but it's never her idea and she doesn't like it. Typical cat.

As soon as the calves notice we're in the barn, they come running. We have 12 bull calves at our house right now, so we feed them in 3 different bays of feeders. They stink and are noisy, but what can I do. I have to compromise with my husband. And like he always tells me, I'll like them in a few months once they are fed out and sold...

Once the calves are fed and the water is full, we feed the horses. This little lady is Belle. She's one of the new horses we just got a few weeks ago. Belle is a 1.5 year old Quarter Horse/Arabian cross. She's so friendly and curious for her age!

And here's Bingo. He's the other new horse, a Morgan gelding. He's also super friendly and kind of takes on the fatherly role of the horses. We're so glad that they get along with Chloe & Chief as well as they do!

And of course, Chloe and Chief are waiting for some grain, too. Alayna is anxious to start riding Chloe again this spring and I'm hoping to train Chief this summer. Wish me luck!

Chief is watching the cats come trailing behind us.

We went out to check on the round bales we have in the pastures for the horses and calves. Whenever we walk into either pasture, the cats and dogs always follow us. It's pretty funny to see a train of animals following us around. Can you find the 2 cats in our bonfire pile for next summer?

Down by the Bay

2010-02-15T08:59:00.003-06:00

Here are the musical stylings of Miss Mikayla. She'll be signing autographs when she learns how to write her name...

I posted earlier today, too, a big update...

So this is the deal

2010-02-15T08:32:00.004-06:00

We've been crazy busy lately. I know that we are always busy and have lots of stuff going on, but lately it seems like I meet myself coming as I'm going. I actually had a moment of panic last week because I thought it was Wednesday and we'd missed an appointment, but it was actually only Monday. Yeah, I told you so.

So here are some random picture updates of what we've been up to...

Marley isn't allowed to be on the furniture, so this is her way of compromising...
We had a belated birthday celebration for Mikayla. Since it was her 3rd b-day, she got Power-Wheels from Gramma and Grampa like her older sisters.

My sorry, last-minute attempt at a CandyLand-esque cake for the birthday girl

Mikayla gets ready for a fashion show

Sunny got cold during a snowy day inside

Mikayla settled in reading books

What these pictures don't show are all the other things that have gone on. Alayna hosted her first sleep-over with more than one friend. She also attended her first sleep-over. The second quarter at school finished up and she got all A's on her report card. We're very proud of all the hard work that she does each day in school. She also found out that she'll be able to go to 4H Horse Camp this summer, as well as sleep-over bible camp! She can hardly wait for summer and time spent playing outside, riding bike and horse, camps and camping and the fair!

Lilly has been doing great with her reading. She's always been more artistically and mathematically inclined, so we haven't pushed reading until she approached us. Personally, I think the catalyst was when I volunteered at the school the other day and one girl in her class read me a beginner's book. That night Lilly brought me a book and said, "Let's work on reading." Since then she's done really well with her beginning words and sounding out harder words. Of course, she's still always drawing and coloring and practicing her numbers. She will also randomly spout off things like, "Mom, did you know 3 plus 3 is 6?" or "Dad, what's 10 plus 5? It's 15, right?" She can't wait for summer and camping, but she also has a new goal for the summer. She says that this summer she'll learn to ride with 2 wheels like Alayna.

Mikayla is growing like a weed and keeping us all on our toes. She's always in motion, trying to be like the big girls. She "reads" stories to her friends and toys, she changes her clothes 2-3x daily if I'm not paying attention, and her outrageous imagination has me constantly thinking, "I need to remember she said/did that!" She still loves her animals so much and is often found laying on the floor, snuggled with the dogs.

Andy and I are good and busy, too. He's constantly helping this person or that with whatever they need. Then he races home to watch the kids while I try to hit the gym or go to a meeting. I was nominated vice-chair of our school's PTA-like group, and we all just completed a very successful musical fundraiser for our church. In addition to all that, we've added another cat to our menagerie and 2 more horses (post about them to follow when I find time to take pics of them)

So yeah, we've been busy. But that's life with 3 kids. Hopefully this helped fill the void for awhile and I'll be back to posting regularly soon. I miss posting, but some days it's all I can do to make a nutritious meal for the family. But that's okay, because we're all healthy and happy. That's what really matters.

I's gots me RED on

2010-02-05T07:43:00.002-06:00

Are you wearing red today? I am. Wanna know why?

Today is National Wear Red Day. Heart disease is the #1 health threat for women, but few people recognize that and think the #1 is breast cancer or other types of cancer. The worst thing is, heart disease can often be a silent danger. The person with heart problems may not realize it until it's too late.

I lost my gramma 8 1/2 yrs ago to a massive heart attack on Sept 9, 2001. I was floored and had no idea that gramma was at risk. Maybe she didn't know herself. Looking back, she had some risk factors but nothing that put up the huge red flag. Now I wish that we'd all noticed something, some way, to help her so that wouldn't have happened. She only knew Alayna for about 9 months, and never got to meet Lilly and Mikayla. She didn't get to come to my wedding. She didn't get to see her other grandchildren graduate from high school, or her own children celebrate milestone birthdays and anniversaries. I miss her with every holiday and family gathering we have.

So please, support the National Heart Association. Please look at your own health and see ways that you can improve your life and decrease your personal risk for health disease. Be evaluated by your doctor to determine if you have any risk factors. Be proactive about your health and your life. You owe it to yourself and those that love you.

Today

2010-01-25T08:49:00.002-06:00

Today is the start of a new schedule for me. Actually, the new schedule started 2 weeks ago, but due to illness it wasn't fully implemented until today. I now have 2 days off every week--Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It's so nice. Granted, my M-Th-F can get pretty hectic, but it's worth it. Oh, so worth it!

Tuesdays Lilly is in school, so I only have Mikayla home with me. I have been able to start volunteering at the school Tuesday morning, something I've wanted to do since Alayna started K, but I haven't had any set days off to commit. Now I do. I volunteer in Alayna's room first thing in the morning, then get to Lilly's class around 9:30 to help with centers and library. I come home around 11 to an afternoon with only Mikayla. I love that I'm able to dedicate some time to each of the girls as individuals!

Wednesdays we still go to storytime at the library, where I help organize the various monthly themes and activities. I also read once a month. It's been a strange, and nice, change to only have my own kids along for storytime, to not have to add extra carseats to the vehicle and only have 2 kids to get across the street instead of 4!

So needless to say, my posting should be back on track. Things are calming down now that the holidays and birthdays are all over. However, my posting will probably be more regular on Tuesday and Wednesdays, when I don't have a small army on my hands.

A Story

2010-01-15T08:36:00.003-06:00

Once upon a time, a family had 3 little girls. They were very busy with work and church meetings and 4H and school things. They sometimes didn't have time to go to the bathroom, let alone blog or check things on-line. Eventually it will all slow down a little bit and then they'll be back. The End.

9 Years Ago, We Became Parents

2010-01-06T07:50:00.005-06:00

Nine years ago today, at just after 9am, Andy and I became parents to a beautiful little girl we named Alayna. Over the years, she has amazed us with her intelligence, compassion and beauty. Even now, 9 yrs later and with almost the same smile (teeth missing), she continues to amaze us with all those things and more. She taught us how to be parents. She's the oldest, the one that has life so unfair, but yet loves her little sisters and basks in the joys of things she gets to do that the others don't.

Happy Birthday, Alayna! We love you and are so very proud of the

person you are and the person you are becoming!

Alayna at about 6 months

Alayna at 2 yrs

Alayna at 6

Alayna at 8

Alayna at almost 9 on Christmas Eve

**I don't have as many pics of her on the computer for the earlier years, since there weren't much for everyday digital cameras back then. What I have has been scanned...