The Graber Gab

Moving on Up!

2012-02-19T16:05:00.004-05:00

DH is selling his baby.

He has a new baby in his sights of course!

So, tell your hubbies...

2004 John Deere X485 Mower

25hp, liquid cooled, fuel injected

62in deck, 477.5hr

$4750

Cole is 1-4!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-18T21:37:00.000-05:00

Today my nephew COLE turned the big Fourteen.

Love that kid so much

even if he is a Case Fan. He'll love JD some day!

Aunt Christine had all the goodies to make monster trucks

and all the kids, including me...loved it!

Happy 14th birthday Cole Willie

love you!

John 3:16 party

2012-02-17T06:54:00.000-05:00

We had a fun John 3:16 party at Discovery Club Wednesday night.

I had a lot of fun planning the evening's events!

We started with a small snack (because we have snacks with all the grades at the end of the evening).

We used the cups for puff popcorn...I've got some picky ones but the all ate it!

The loved the balloons.

I orginally wanted the larger ones to tie to the back of each chair, but they all said I love you..

and at this age they are reading everything! So I stuck with Happy Valentines Day!

I also asked {wink} if I could have the bases they were displayed in, yep!

Those pink heart cover the big yellow $1 sign quite nicely!

I introduced our theme verse

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son...

We talked about it's meaning.

We discussed that we celebrate Valentine's Day because God first loved us

and it is our chance to pass it on...

And then we played a little version of pass the heart on.

Pass the heart until the music stops, if you are left with it when the music stops

you're out for that round!

Tons. of . Giggles.

The out cast members and DH with the music(he came along for party night)

And we were thrilled to have cousin Drew tonight!

In the next activity I sent the kids to the room next door to retreive a pink heart

with one word of the bible verse on it.

They brought it back into our room and then we assembled and reviewed our verse again.

We completed 2 more activities including this letter matching John 3:16 printable

and a coloring page.

Mr. Joey G also had a little party in his room tonight and the took

these valentines to share. I might work on this a little for next year

and make the tags a little more creative, but he loved them anyway!

Vtine school party!

2012-02-15T21:25:00.001-05:00

My boys were good to me this year getting me very pretty flowers, a nice card signed by all

and some chocolates...yummy. The best part is just how proud the boys are

I took my peeps at work salad for lunch yesterday, talk about yum!

It might be safe to say that I enjoyed giving a small valentine gift to each boy

as much as I enjoyed Christmas. Joe had preschool in the morning so I got out my mom's red table cloth

and arranged the table to be very festive.

It seems like the boys anticipated the gifts on Christmas, but for Valentine's they were

totally surprised. Joe got a Crayola tracing desk.

We were able to go to Sam's classroom party.

This was my 1st opportunity to see Sam interact with his classmates (aside from drop off).

He handed out Valentines knowing each one's name. He really enjoyed himself.

I get updates on his conduct and grades, but sometime wonder about his social skills.

It was fun to watch him interact with his classmates yesterday.

His teacher got them these puppies...our new favorite item at home!

Sam received an ISPY game that we played together last night.

My nephew and his awesome vtine box

The dragon box has become the puppy's home!

Special thanks for Grandma and Grandpa who watched the boys for a couple hours last night so we could go out to dinner. We had a good time catching up with my brother and his wife.

Valentines 2012

2012-02-14T16:10:00.001-05:00

I found these Starburst a few weeks ago at Target for a great value.

I wanted to make sure there was plenty of room for printing practice.

I set the boys to work.

Joe brought home some super star valentines...

I mustache you a question...will you be my valentine?

Rocket Valentine Box

2012-02-13T21:24:00.001-05:00

Even though Joe's preschool didn't need a valentine box,

we worked hard to create this rocket box.

We covered and oatmeal can with paper and used all the parts of the corn pops box.

We decorated with stickers

and had one pleased little boy!

Dragon Valentine Box!

2012-02-13T21:07:00.002-05:00

I left this picture last week for a teaser of our most recent project.

Sam wanted to make a dragon valentine box.

A valentine box decorated with stickers, no, not my boy...

only a dragon box would do.

So we enlisted the help of the engineer around here

And we began slicing and dicing the boxes I had collected from work

and once upon a time (can't believe I forgot the inbetween photos)...

our boxes turned from a box looking creature into something the resembled

a crocodile and then finally...

a dragon

We had a lot of family fun making Sam's dragon valentine box.

His smiles were well worth it!!!

Rx mama

2012-02-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

I love being a pharmacist.

I do really, I did work hard thru a lot of years of school

to learn all the drug stuff.

I think I might have missed some of that crazy college stuff because I studied a lot.

But there was so much more to learn when I graduated.

I worked as a retail pharmacist part time for a year while I finished my doctorate,

and thought that wasn't enough...

I changed to the world of clinical pharmacy, ran my own lipid and INR clinic,

loved that part but there was some office work with formularies that got me down.

Come to find out I liked the clinics and offered shifts in the clinic pharmacies whenever possible...

left me realizing that my heart was in retail pharmacy.

So back to retail pharmacy it was, been there for a few (ahem 10 years, yikes)and still lovin' it.

I've been with WB for almost all 10 of those, wouldn't change it.

Like I said there was a lot to learn, certainly still is!

But amongst my favorite things I have learned is that what our patients really

want is someone to rely on, to show them compassion and service,

a consistent face month after month so that 2 years down the road I will

remember that cream they tried that didn't work and we will move forward

and try another and if I'm really good I will remember to ask about their recent vacation

that they didn't take me on...ha!

The best part about working my way to being a manager

is all the people I have worked with along the way.

There will always be challenges with managing different personalities but when

they all mesh together you can come up with something great.

That something great has lead my coworkers and I to be TIGER team champions for 2011.

Tiger teams is something our company created to celebrate accomplishments of our different departments.

I was excited to show our team we had been selected for 2011 so Sammy took

this picture of me so I could text my coworkers!

But the best part of this award...

the best part hands down

is sharing it with my boys.

They were so proud of my trophy.

Sam admired it and said that he didn't know moms could get trophies.

*Smile* Melt my heart. He really is proud.

But, here come the mom guilt...

I'm also sad because there are days that dedication at work

turns into exhaustion at home.

Giving all.day.long. at work to others needs leaves me a little selfish at home.

{Sigh}

Somedays I get short with them, sigh out loud (ergh) when they ask for the 15th drink of the night.

DH is sooooo much better at that than I am, wish I had his patience.

Seeing situations at work that are desperate or sad also makes me a better mom,

they make me come home energized and ready to hug their necks a little tighter.

Being a working mom is just a part of who I am. I think I would love to stay at home,

but I have never done that. I must admit it has made transitions to prescool and kindergarten

seamless for us, we are able to leave them with others {always family cause we are lucky like that}.

Truth is, I would miss the relationships I have made with coworkers and patients.

I look forward to counseling patients, sharing coworkers joys, and showing my

boys that mama is a successful pharmacist.

Seeing Clearer

2012-02-11T13:33:00.000-05:00

I really didn't think this boy could get much cuter...

but he proved me wrong.

Oh how handsome he is with his new glasses. He is very happy with them.

He has been responsible so far and tells us when he needs a break.

So excited for all the things that have been fuzzy to be clear again!

We've been tracking his need for glasses for a little over a year and this seemed to be the best time.

Grandma took him yesterday to pick up the glasses and he stopped by work to show me.

Such a proud moment!

Love you buddy, so glad you are seeing clearer!

Drew is SIX!

2012-02-11T08:22:00.001-05:00

We had a great time last night at

my nephew Drew's 6th birthday!

Happy Birthday Andrew Strawn Walker!

Love you bunches!

The Package Arrived!

2012-02-09T21:08:00.001-05:00

The package arrived, with the best kind of goodies ever!

Notes from each boys, a little moola, quarters for laundry and I left some chocolates

so that she wouldn't be too disappointed!

And our latest project started Monday night...stay tuned!

Biddy Ball

2012-02-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

Sam is still loving basketball on Sundays.

His basketball at home has remained inside all winter, and it bounces a lot!

I love how hard he tries at everything he tries.

He enjoys it to the fullest.

Love that.

Got to watch my nephew Drew today too!

Somebody is getting a package

2012-02-06T21:40:00.000-05:00

Bet you can't guess what is in it?

Friday Night Bingo

2012-02-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

We had an impromptu friday night bingo party.

Blake was home from college and brought the boys these valentine buckets.

They were e-x-c-i-t-e-d about them! Those notebooks are empty now

b/c they love little paper books all of their own!

I must say the DH is an awesome bingo caller and came up with some great game ideas to mix it up a little.

Cheese overload! We had the most random menu b/c we had planned to eat at home and so had scott and chris's family...but we just combined it all, in addition to this goodness we had tacos, see seriously random! LOL

I sent Allison to the dollar store to get some awesome prizes for the winners.

Beef jerky and lotto tickets were the big hits!

This was a GREAT game for my kindergartner, he was really good at knowing all the numbers

Can you tell who was the entertainment for the evening???

Great Friday night!!

Added some Red

2012-02-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

I added some festivity to our home today.

I wasn't feeling the winter scene any longer, since we haven't had any snow to speak of

And I found this at the local thrift store to spark some ideas

And it looks like Sam's teacher has found her Valentine sticker stash too!

Warm Play Day

2012-02-03T06:47:00.001-05:00

We have been enjoying the unseasonably warm temps.

Sam has been practicing his basketball bouncing skills nearly everyday outside,

today I decided to use my day off to enjoy the park after school.

They ran and play and others had the same idea, so they made some friends!

It was still a little wet in areas, my mind cringes at those school

shoes in the mud. But their squeals were well worth it!

A nice lady in a car across the way gave each of the boys a treat.

I don't know who she was, Joe sweetly said thank you over and over again,

and the really enjoyed their DQ starkiss.

Kindness of a stranger really touched my heart today!

Sleepy Little Groundhog

2012-02-02T06:41:00.002-05:00

Up through the ground,

Creep, creep, creep

The sleepy little groundhog

Peek-peek-peeks,

If he sees his shadow

And the sun is bright,

He jumps down his hole

And ducks out of sight!

Up through the ground,

Creep, creep, creep

The sleepy little groundhog

Peek-peek-peeks.

If there is no shadow

And the clouds hide the sun,

He jumps out of his hole

And he's ready for fun!

happy groundhog day!

Thankful

2012-02-01T06:45:00.001-05:00

I was tucking the boys in bed last night

during bedtime routine.

Sam was complaining about his scrapped knee from a fall at school.

It happenend when we were heading into school

and it nearly broke his heart.

I think he was a tad embarrased, a little miffed at Joe for 'tripping' him,

and it hurt. It took him a while to settle down and be ready for school again.

I am so thankful that I have a few extra minutes in the morning at drop off

to soothe those tough times. 

Joe just doesn't like bedtime at all, unless it involves sleeping with someone else

anyone really, just not alone.

His fears come out, mostly about the dark. He's really social, during the day

when it is just he and I at home, he nearly trips me all day following where I go.

And the same goes for nighttime, he tries to talk Sam into sleeping in his bed...

sometimes Sam agrees, but mostly he likes his own bed.

I am so thankful that DH has the patience to allow him a trip out of the bedroom for reassurance.

It's like clockwork, generally 10 minutes after I leave the room,

he peeks his head out the door and waits for DH's invitation for a little lap cuddle time.

They have a routine, just 3 minutes Joe will say.

And when I get that one last peek at my precious boys just before I go to bed...

I am so thankful that they are ours, they are resting comfortably on full bellies

in warm jammies, that they are healthly happy and surrounded by love.

January (aside from our fun trip) was full of everyday routine. No snow, not a lot of extra activities...

not a lot of pictures, and posting was hard! But, I don't want to forget

that everyday routine with sweet kiddos in my arms is what I prayed for, for so long.

Love these sweet babes!

Missing these days!

2012-01-26T12:57:00.000-05:00

Downloading my phone pics today to shutterfly, long overdue.

I found these pics...missing these warm days.

It's cold and dreary today.

We've all had a head cold, DH is coming home early to rest.
I've got the meds ready...

we are looking forward to these sunny days again!

Lovin Legos

2012-01-26T10:44:00.003-05:00

My boys, all 3 of them, are loving legos.

Fun Monday

2012-01-26T09:48:00.000-05:00

We had a fun monday,

not a word we used with monday much.

One extra day off work left mama with a full day with Joe

and we picked up Sam for lunch.

He chose DQ

And during homework time Joe surprised Sam by

reading him 2 books.

Aunt Jill has been working with Joe's speech

using Tucker signs and he loves it.

Sam was so surprised and he really

encouraged Joe, it was so cute.

Joe's speech has improved so much in the 6 months since Jill

started working with him, his last reassessment showed that

he now scores on the charts (yipee for small vicotories) still

have a way to go, but so proud of my boy!

We had a great time!

2012-01-22T02:13:00.001-05:00

We really did have a great time!

Thankful for the opportunity to get away.

Loved the time with friends

and dear hubby!

Had some great eats, great shopping, sightseeing, and spa day!

Ready for those sweet boys, tomorrow I pray they are in my arms again!

Away for a day!

2012-01-20T11:57:00.000-05:00

The DHs and I are on a short trip away with some friends.

The place we are staying is full of memories for us because we

stayed here on our 1st anniversary trip.

The decor is modern, trendy, inspiring.

The views from our windows (we scored a corner room)

are amazing. There is tons to see and do.

We were up almost 24 hours yesterday due to the time change...

we had an amazing dinner at The Range Steakhouse

followed by tickets to see Cirque du Soleil Love.

So it was worth missing some sleep and was a great performance

of the classic Beatles songs!

But...I miss my boys.

It started yesterday when they served Plane cookies on the airplane.

They were so stinking cute and the boys would have loved them

so DH asked for 2 more bags to take home to them...score!!

JoeyD is home with a cold getting loved on by Gma.

and SammySosa really wasn't ready for us to leave.

Looking forward to having them in my arms again.

Praying for gpa great

2012-01-15T20:47:00.001-05:00

Today after church, we went to visit gpa great (graber)

he has been under the weather and was having some tests in eville.

I love how the boys ran to him and gave him kisses as we left.

We had a big group and headed to the lounge, I'm sure by the time

we left we had gpa worn out.

We hope he comes home early this week.

Wishing and praying you back to the farm gpa!

Saturday Morning Memories

2012-01-14T14:43:00.002-05:00

Found this yummy receipe here...

8 minute cinnamon rolls

and we had most {wink} of the ingredients at home.

Wink b/c most is always my story, but whatever we make it work!

I didn't have crecent rolls so we used biscuits instead and I didn't have a mini cupcake pan but...

you get the idea!

What I did have was a great big helper...

these babies are not on DH and I's eating plan

but making Saturday Morning Memories

cannot be put on delay...

and memories did we ever make. They were a huge hit!

Ultimate Fort

2012-01-14T08:17:00.000-05:00

12.11.11

This smile was created after much hard work

by the sweet boy below...

Because this is what he had created back on that December day...

{insert real life...}

I wish I shared his excitement that day,

afterall DH and I had taught him how to make awsome forts before.

And I did share the excitement for him,

but inside {after I got home from a long day at work}

all I saw was a mess in my living room...

So I decided to try a picture by the soft light of the Christmas tree...

uh, nope still a mess.

But then I got over it, I mean no one was hurt or no permanent mess was made

granted every pillow and blanket that we own had been collected to built such a fort.

So much so that DH and I had to beg for our bed pillows to go bed that night.

And no one else was welcome, especially little bro, until there was some prodding (or slight threats...)

And after all that hard work.

A long winter's nap was in order!

Winter Tennis

2012-01-12T21:04:00.000-05:00

Sam's favorite thing to do when we go to grandma and grandpa's house is

to play with their tennis raquet and badmitton set. Grandma decided to get

Sam his first raquet for his birthday!

So he headed to the garage on this chilly winter day

And played tennis with DH.

They loved it. Laughed out loud!

Can't wait to see his mean tennis skills this spring!

Rules for mothers of sons...

2012-01-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

Rules for mother of sons...

A friend of sons posted this on facebook and I love it. It could take days to digest. Days to remember all of its suggestions. Proud to say that I practice some, maybe not all, but when you follow your heart the things that are important come naturally!

I'd like to add one more to the list...

1. Make time for individual dates

This month my indivdual dates came in the form of quick stops for food which is kinda funny since D and I have really been watching our eats, but sometimes we don't even leave our home,

we just make time for each other

Dates allow for good conversation and a chance for mom to teach manners like opening the door.

12.29.11

12.11.11

We love boggle!

2012-01-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

We've been playing boggle jr.

It is suited for both the boys. It has a lot of features that are perfect at this age!

We practice taking turns, identifying letters and pictures, spelling words, memory work

and of course quality family time.

Putting boggle jr on our favorites list!

New Year's Questions 2012

2012-01-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

DH and I had some fun the last few minutes listening to these answers. I chuckle to myself now just thinking about them, what a great way to start each new year. So thankful for the blessings these sweet boys are in our lives!

Favorites:

cereal

Sam - Octopus, Flecks

Joe - Muffins, not really cereal, but that's his favorite breakfast!

vegetable
Sam - Corn

Joe - Nofing, french fries
drink
Sam - Gatorade (who knew?)

Joe - Nofing (Sprite)
toy
Sam- Superman

Joe -Batman

TV Show

Sam - Charlie Brown

Joe - Mickey Mouse
game

Sam -Mario (I knew the DS would come up somewhere.LOL)

Joe - Toy Story Yatzee

book

Sam - Rollie Ollie

Joe - Manny

restaurant

Sam -Mr Gatti games

Joe - the games

holiday

Sam - December (that would cover his birthday and christmas)

Joe - Christmas

animal

Sam - Zebra

Joe - Tigers and Monkeys

If you could change your name, what would you choose?

Sam - I can't do that!

Joe - Francesico Joey

What do you love about each person in our family?

Sam about daddy- basketball, mommy-making potatoes, i am going to marry her, joey - playing cars

Joe about daddy - his bed, mommy - your puter (computer), sam - his DS

Where would you like to go on vacation this year?

Sam - the condo
Joe - I don't know, are we going right now? after school? what is after this day? mommy can I have muffins?

What are some of your wishes for this year?

Sam - the stars
Joe - Nofing, I wish for God...

He is 6 years and 6 days.

2011-12-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

When I look at this picture it reminds me just how fast my sweet 7 month old turned

into this sensitive 6 year old.

Today he is 6 years and 6 days old.

I am so proud to be his mama

to be the one he still turns to to heal his wounds.

He has turned from a chubby snuggly baby into strong active boy.

It seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.

We celebrated him earlier in the month at a bowling party,

but we still honored his special day December 25

Mama and Daddy bought his favorite white doughnuts...

and he got 6 topped with is favorite- Charlie Brown Christmas

and Grandma made him a very special Snowman cake...

Love you Christmas Day Baby!

2011

2011-12-31T13:09:00.001-05:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Sam's favorite thing of the year: Kindergarten

Joe's favorite thing of the year: When daddy mows {huh?}

What a wonderful year it has been, full of blessings and good times.
I love watching these boys grow, learn, become best friends.
I love being their mom and DH's wife.
Looking forward to 2012!

We made a Big Splash!

2011-12-30T16:03:00.000-05:00

We had a lot of fun at Big Splash the past couple of days.

We went with our Graber cousins and Gma!

What a fun (and tiring) time! Great way to ring in the New Year!

I know, I know he is sooooo cute (ha)

Scrumptious and Messy...who can resist a white doughnut?!?

No Girls Allowed!

2011-12-30T15:43:00.000-05:00

The boys had a "no girls" {except me} allowed sleepover with friends on Tuesday night!

What is Christmas Break for anyway?!? They had spent their first ever non family sleepover night at Isaac and Koen house a week before Christmas and asked to have them to our house too!

Cousin Drew rounded out the group!

It's not like me to only have 3 pictures of such a fun event...but

let's face it...i'm also not used to corralling 5 boys ages 6 to 4!

Lots of fun,

loud, rough, boy kind of fun!

Leave me a note!!!!

2011-12-28T16:38:00.002-05:00

Boo! I lost my blog list, please leave me a message if u were on my list before, or should have been on my list (HA)! Ugh formatting changes....

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-26T14:27:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas day was full and fun.

We awakened to 2 sleeping boys, couldn't wait for them to rise!

They were excited with all that appeared Christmas morning!

Their stocking were full of coloring books, vitamins, toothpaste and superhero undies!

And then they found a very special note left for them sending

them on a photo scavenger hunt for their present...

They found Nintendo DS consoles at the end and we had 2 very

happy boys!

We headed over to my brother's house to enjoy brunch

egg casserole, choc chip pancakes, ham and sausage

Sam was showing uncle Scott his new DS, he was attached to this all day...gonna

have to ween him off of it.

It was a discussion long before we bought it if it was the right choice for us.

We are planning on some time limits, for now we are allowing him to enjoy it's newness!

After celebrating with my family including a rousing round of apples to apples,

we headed to dan's parents, grandmas and grandpa's house.

Look at my sweet Christmas day baby boy!

Christmas at Grandmas is always special.

We talked the Christmas story,

we fellowshiped over a yummy meal,

we enjoyed special gifts that she chose for each one.

What a wonderful time of year to celebrate our Savior's birth!

So blessed by this year and all the joy it brought.

My heart is full!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas celebrations are the same from year to year, for that I am so glad.

We all gather at my grandparents home, It is the only Christmas Eve I have known,

as well as my brothers and all my cousins.

We all still gather for the same traditions of grandma's noodles, turkey, ham aunt mary's dirt pudding and cherry delight and aunt Ilene's deviled eggs (I had 2 this year, wink), when everyone arrives from Christmas eve masses, Blake reads the Christmas story to the great grands...

And then the furry begins.

Joe is getting help from cousin Ava

These girls were the entertainment for the evening, darling!

And then we played (I watched) a bucking bronco game

DH wants everyone to know that he and Sam were the champs...

We came home just in time to set out cookies and milk for Santa

and leave a personal note...

it says this goes to santa {of course!}

And Joe just wrote his name on his letters to Santa!

We put out reindeer food for Santa's reindeer

And we read Twas the night before Christmas

Snuggled the kids in the bed and we set off to be an elves...

Christmas with Gpa Great

2011-12-24T07:46:00.002-05:00

We enjoyed Christmas with the Grabers' last night at Gpa greats' house.

We had yummy pizza, salads, and dessert.

Val brought pinecone reindeers to make.

Rook was played. {of course}

And gma brought kerplunk

And these boys did a skit.

Great times, love that this family is growing up together!

We've been creating Christmas fun!

2011-12-24T07:35:00.000-05:00

Oh, it's finally here.

Waiting for my babes to wake up this Christmas Eve morning...

I work a few hours this morning, then we will celebrate

Our Dear Savior's Birth!

Cinnamon Ornaments Goodness!

2011-12-24T07:06:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of hanging out afterschool last week with the sweets...Jaelyn Drew Sam And Joe.

And we had fun making cinnamon ornaments.

Perfect hands on craft for the group!

J-bird and I just kept smelling the mix, yummo!

Awesome Kindergarten Party.

2011-12-23T11:50:00.000-05:00

Sam had a great kindergarten party,

{as reported by his awesome cousin Blake}

She sent these pics and am I ever glad.

I had to work and miss the party (sniff)

but Blake came to the rescue so glad for that.

She went to Sam's Santa workshop that Mrs. Kidwell organized for the morning.

They had stations where they made crafts, hats, necklaces, so much fun stuff!

And then grandma came to join Sam for his lunch party where they ate Wendy's Happy Meals.

They had a small gift exchange and Sam was excited with his Star Wars figures, he thinks they are superheros since we haven't seen Star Wars, he keeps telling me they are good guys.

In the afternoon, the entire school went to the auditorium to watch Beethoven Christmas...

Last night we went the the Lion & Hatchet game, go Lions, great victory!

Wow what a day!

Sam and Drew - Cousins at the Chrismtas Party!

Christmas Program 2011

2011-12-19T11:03:00.000-05:00

The boys had a small part in our Christmas Program at Church last night.

We had anticipated it for a couple of weeks.

We decorated our letters and tied a string on.

We memorized and rehearsed our lines.

We attended practice last week (where I snapped these pics)

We had a very full weekend.

I chose full beacause it sounds nicer than busy, doesn't it?

Work/School, dinner at LB with family on friday night, and then homecoming game to watch Mo cheer

followed by and inpromtu invitation for the boys to spend the night at friends house.

Their first ever non family sleep over and they had a blast.

I worked Sat and DH picked up boys fed them lunch and mandated a quick nap.

We enjoyed French Lick lights and and ice cream treat for boys that night.

Yesterday began with church, sunday school, lunch at home, biddy ball practice, decorating cookies at Aunt Polly's, and then back to church for program practice that went great...

and then it happened

45 minute break {insert bad idea for Joe the little man}

So, you can imagine that the sweet smile, the eagerness to perform his part had disappeared.

He fell asleep on Uncle Scott who along with his fam, gma and gpa and aunt polly had all come to see the

boys perform...and we tried to time it just right.

We pulled out all the stops when we woke him: chewies, tickles, bribes, {small gentle threats}

and when his turn came, he whimpered,

took his letters and trotted to the stage with the other kids in his group.

Pretty sure I did not breathe.

Nervous for Sam, who did a great job with his letter U

and anticipating for Joe, I prayed for him that he could pull it together.

But it did not happen.

He whimpered on stage, Sam looked at him and then out at us.

When his turn came and the microphone was in front on him, he let out the most pitiful

blubber. Poor guy.

Thankfully the coordinator, Wanda explained for him and finished his part.

We had snacks at home afterward and he said the part for all those that were here.

Still proud of these sweeties.

We will have to chalk this one up to another one of our...

if we had only known...

moments

Walker Cookie Cousins 2011

2011-12-19T10:21:00.000-05:00

Today was the annual Walker Cookie Cousins Party

Aunt Polly begins baking cookies for her great nieces and nephews at 9am, she

makes snacks at tells everyone to come anytime in the afternoon.

As not to limit the number of cookies each child gets to decorate, she bakes as many as it takes.

Seriously! Ha ha!

No limit on icing color, sprinkles, etc.

It is a sprinkle extravaganza.

Every year the boys look forward to it, Sam wanted to skip biddy ball

to make sure he got to go to Aunt Polly's house!

Biddy Ball

2011-12-19T08:50:00.001-05:00

Sam and Drew

Age 5...almost age 6 for both of them!

They certainly have the look to play for the Loogootee Lions...

I love that Sam wants to try every new adventure.

I was a much more shy as a child, afraid I would not be good.

It makes me so proud of him and his willingness to try,

to join his friends at biddy ball.

The Big Lights

2011-12-17T21:18:00.000-05:00

Big beautiful breathing taking light displays.

French Lick and Wst Baden Hotels

12.17.11

Preschool Christmas for Joey D

2011-12-15T22:03:00.001-05:00

Joe wasn't so sure he wanted to visit with Santa today at preschool

But he wanted to get his hands on that reindeer and that was part of the deal.

Once on his lap he was fine and even gave Santa high 5.

I heart this.

Joe's cousin Ella was so very funny today. She had all of us in stitches

Love. this. girl.

The boys singing were very funny. We heard Jingle Bells, Rudolph, and We wish you a merry christmas...

Joe loved his 1st half of preschool, looking forward to each morning.

Holiday Happenings

2011-12-11T19:20:00.001-05:00

Friday night after work the boys and I drove to Jasper to get a couple of gifts

and cross some more folks off the list. Sam was thrilled to have found ear muffs, he has

been looking for weeks! I intended to put them in his stocking, but they made

him so happy I gave in!

Saturday we snuggled in our living room while DH worked at the farm.

We watched Tangled and made out our Christmas cards...I had

some help on the stamping so if yours has a crooked stamp...

and then we treked to our local post office to mail them!

Today we enjoyed baptism service at our church Mi Pueblo for lunch and then

went to the Loogootee Christmas parade and church for their Christmas program next week.

My handsome nephew Cole

And Cheerleading niece Morgan

My favorite float

And the boys favorite float!

What a great weekend! I work a lot of days between now and Christmas...they are gonna fly by.

This has been a great holiday season, the anticipation that fills the boys with cheer and Snuggling on the couch

in the glow of the Christmas tree, love the holidays!

Our ornaments 2011

2011-12-09T06:34:00.001-05:00

Hot Wheels in Jammies

2011-12-05T20:59:00.001-05:00

Sam got 2 new hot wheels sets, they are perfect for jammy play!

Party 6!!

2011-12-04T20:09:00.001-05:00

Saturday this boy celebrated big time

and

we celebrated right along with him!

Six years old.

I dreamed about days like these, celebrating the milestones.

So blessed those dreams are a reality now!

We've been talking 6th birthday since Joe's birthday in August!

We talked over dinosaurs, Cars, and settled on bowling.

I must admist it the easiest party to date for me, plenty of time

to chat with all the friends and family that gathered.

But, if we are being honest, I cringed b/c I knew due to the dimly lit bowling alley...

I wouldnt havegreat photos to remember the squeals and smiles.

(Isn't that silly!)

And despite the lack of quality in these grainy pics,

I must admint that the squeals are still present.

Lots of kids, lots of fun!

We took a break from bowling to play pin the tail on the donkey

our blindfold broke, so I made great use of my scarf!

And the big kids had fun too!

Grandma made a very special cake.

Sam requested chocolate this year, that was a first.

So proud of our Christmas day baby.

And I'll be glad to keep you 5 for a few more weeks!

So happy that you loved your party, the one just for you, big stuff!

Birthday Party Day!

2011-12-03T16:47:00.001-05:00

Today a very special boy had these balloons waiting on him when he woke up

because today was his birthday party day!

And bet you can't guess what we did...

so much fun, so worn out

from a fun but full weekend...last night was Dan's work christmas party and tonight is mine...headed off

to get ready!

The Santa Hats

2011-12-01T20:39:00.001-05:00

11.30.11

11.24.11

11.30.11

12.1.11

The Santa Hats are becoming a familiar site around here.

(A welcome and very festive site, wink)

Acorn Cookies

2011-12-01T20:27:00.001-05:00

The boys and I made these acorn cookies to take for Thanksgiving.

So simple, the original receipe called for peanut butter chips on the top, but

we have a peanut allergy in the family, so we used chocolate instead.

They were easy for the boys to help with and a big hit!

It's Da Zoom

2011-12-01T06:37:00.001-05:00

I have a new camera!!

My screen on my last point and shoot was going out and the shutter is almost beyond repair.

My extended warranty (the one I insist on b/c clumsy me sometimes need that) was up...

so the search for its replacment began.

DH agreed it could be my Christmas gift.

I asked my techy cousin Jessica Parker for her help and I borrowed the lasted Consumer Reports

from SIL Jill and decided between getting me an uber impresserive DSLR or sticking with my point and shoot. In the end, I found a great compromise!

I love me some Cannon b/c I know the features, had looked at PowerShot SX230HS on amazon,

and then was shopping at Target and got to see it.

It is bigger than my last point and shoot but still portable and check out this zoom.

LOVE!!!!!!

I was sitting here and got these shots.

It also allows for some adjustments...I'll be learning those! So excited about my new camera

and all the details I can capture!

Finn McMissile and Francesico

2011-11-29T21:21:00.001-05:00

Meet Francesico

And Finn McMissle

Our current obsession right now. We have set aside trains for now.

We play Cars2, not Cars, Cars2 of course.

We recite movie lines, we race, we laugh

and often fight.

I love it when these boys play together, for hours on end, love that.

Glow

2011-11-25T21:34:00.001-05:00

Today, the sweeties and I stayed home and filled our home with Christmas cheer.

We spent most of the day (off and on) putting up decorations inside and out.

I shopped online for a few items, but am happy with the decison not

to battle the crowds and shop...

its back to work tomorrow, so one more day relaxing was great!!

I have to mention Joe's jammies, LOL, he has several matching

sets...but everytime this 2 pieces are clean he wears them.

DH calls the pants that are really short his manpris.

After decorating the tree Sam asked if we could turn off all the lights to see the glow...you bet!

He kept saying this is my best decorating ever...

This morning watching the train.

Oh, and my kids did get dressed today, but spent more time in their jammies then out of them!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

We had a very laid back, family style, consumed some carbs, gave thanks kind of day.

Gather

2011-11-24T08:07:00.000-05:00

Just gather and give thanks.

What better way is there to celebrate our many blessings?

Enjoy your family today. I am going to!

Wonderlab 2

2011-11-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

I have had a couple of days off work this week already and have two more to go...crazy great!

So after Joe and I worked around the house and finished laundry yesterday and picked up Sam from school,

we planned a fun day together today.

We headed to one of our favorite spots, Wonderlab in Bloomington.

Sam loves to climb in this area, so safe but goes up 3 stories!

These peg areas are Joe's favorite, he loves them

Love this.

And this.

I love making memories like this, love enjoying new things with these two, love watching them learn and explore new things, not to mention, I love to play too.

Fun with Gymnastics

2011-11-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

We went to a fun birthday party on Sunday afternoon for our friends

Kyleigh & Breanna. They turned 7 and 5, wow!

Our boys have grown up with these girls, love that...

The parachute was the highlight of the party

especially since they disappeared...

For balance beam they paired off...love this.

The boys had a great time at this party and it was fun watching them

Happy Birthday Kyleigh and Breanna!!!

Indy Shoppin' and Gamin'

2011-11-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

We counted down the days until we could go to the hotel in Indy to visit Blake.

We drove up to Muncie and brought Blake back from college and spent the rest of the weekend

relaxing with family.

We shopped all day on Saturday and crossed off some Christmas lists!!!

The boys headed back to the hotel for some naps and swimming

then we all met up to

Enjoy dinner and gaming at Dave and Busters.

We had a seriously full and very fun, gotta do it again, kind of weekend.

Sad to see it come to an end, happy to celebrate thanksgiving with family this weekend.

Love the holiday season !!

Fuzzy Magnetic Fun!

2011-11-15T06:49:00.000-05:00

Seriously easy fuzzy magnetic fun!

You might see these again...looking for a fun birthday party treat for our guests,

I think I might have found the parting gift!!!

Have you seen the turkey?

2011-11-13T20:57:00.001-05:00

We've had some fun making pumpkins and turkeys incognito!

Sam brought home some family projects...

We made our pumpkin into superman from a recycled birthday gift bag

And then we hid our turkey behind some snowballs!

I love love love it when he practices his letters, doing great on his last name!

Unfortunately, Sam was not feeling great today, so about 10 mintues after we finished the project

he slept for 3 hours...poor guy!

5x7 Folded Card

2011-11-13T16:51:00.001-05:00

Rough Edge 5x7 folded card

Invitations, announcements and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Learning the Letter F

2011-11-13T12:27:00.000-05:00

This week brought the Letter F

for Joe at preschool

and

Sam in Kindergarten.

We celebrated learning togther with our meal!

Pinterest Home Evening...

2011-11-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

For all you pinterest pros out there...I am just getting started

but already had a few I wanted to try...so tonight

the boys (all 3 of them) were my test subjects~

I was off work today because I have a manager meeting tomorrow

on my normal day off and my awesome partner is working extra so I could have a day off,

awesome, eh???

Joe and I hung out at home all day, could have run to Walmart, but really didn't feel like it

so Ill put that of for another day. We finished some projects around here

and headed to pick up Sam from school.

Our first Pinterest project was a science experiment

Volcanos

http://pinterest.com/pin/458680435/

And then we ate some yummy lettuce taco wraps...that is where the 3rd guy (DH)

got in on the action...and the 4 of us cleaned them up!

Turkey Lettuce Wraps!

We are currently enjoying the squeals of 2 boys playing

Balloon Pong. LOL

Such a simple concept, but so much fun!

We used paper plates on hand and plastic knives with

sharp edge taped securely to the back of the plate. Still

having fun as I type!!!

I am already loving Pinterest! What a great place to organize

all those ideas I may or may not get around to doing!!!!

For now, I'll mark these 3 a success!

Just Joey...

2011-11-09T06:49:00.000-05:00

Just joey and I.

We had lunch yesterday after I picked him up from preschool.

We giggled when he said, when daddy's not along we can get cheese (the ooey gooey goodness).

He enjoyed a sprite instead of water.

It was just a special time.

We talked about his letter which he could not name but could tell me how to make

we came up with F, we shall see if we got that right on Thursday.

My two boys are so very different, love that.

School Paper Saver!

2011-11-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

Go Here for Serious Organizing Genius!!!

We {particularly me} are loving our new paper saver system!

I read about I Heart Organizing's system months ago...what has taken me so long!?!

Anywho...I took advantage of her very generous printables...

but with a little twist. I was so anxious to get going and did not have

either address labels or a color printer, the boys and I made them work anyway!

The finished boxes with a little creavtive label love...

Our work in progress Saturday morning

Since the papers were black and white, I had the boys help me color

them just perfectly. I love to include them whenever possible!

My first assembled file! Sam - Year One Preschool.

And now precious drawings and projects like this have a great home!

So happy with the result!

And at the rate I am saving we are going to have to add a tub for each kid eventually,

but I would rather keep a little extra now and toss later...

I also made comments on a few of the papers (back) so that I would remember

the special story and why it was a keeper!!!

So far so good, I 've been limiting the number if any papers that get added each week, if I am not sure

I add it to the top of the box and decide when I go back to add more...

the rest is recycle!

K so far...

2011-11-08T07:03:00.000-05:00

Sam is loving Kindergarten so far...

our daily routine is going very well.

It is not nearly as hard to motivate him in the morning ...

the times that he is home, he runs to his toys.

Doesn't spend time asking what to do next...

and loves to play with his brother.

They are really into Cars Cars2 and Hot Wheels

right now, the trains rarely come out{sniff}

He did great the first 9 weeks, looks forward to everyday..love that.

Can't wait to see how the rest of this school year goes.

10 minute scarf!!!!

2011-11-05T08:50:00.000-04:00

When I saw this idea, I had to try it...

and a trip to the thrift store, and a laundry cyle, and 10 minutes later...

I had a new scarf...swoon.

It was fun and easy and you can do it too!

I started with an XL men's shirt. It makes a long loop that can be

doubled or worn as a long strand.

Cut off the hem. (Save it we will use all the parts of this shirt!)

Cut the shirt into strips up to the arms.

Don't measure, no need, wide or narrow, whatever you like!!!

And then you need a super cute assistant to help you s-t-r-e-t-c-h the strips.

I'll let you borrow my assistant if you ask nicely. He is very sweet although

his 4 year old self doesn't stay on task very well!

As you stretch them the edges will roll, part of the charm.

Use the hem wrap around a small section to keep all the loops together,

tie to secure.

Had the flower at home, it is a pin so you can change the look!

Comfy not itchy like some scarfs!

Scooter crowns!

2011-11-03T21:49:00.000-04:00

Every Wednesday night I get to hang with this group.

Last night was smaller than usual, but a great bunch so much fun.

I am so thankful that Sam has a sweet bunch of kids at church

that are his age.

We made crowns last night as we learned about King Saul & David from the book of Samuel.

And then we played a game called

Ping Pong King David.

I put a small ball in the middle of the table and with straws they

were to keep King David on the table...warning King David if he

was going to fall off the table.

We are focusing on being a friend this unit.

Tons of giggles!

Our memory verse: Philllipians 1:3 I thank my God everytime I remember you!

Trick or Treat 2011

2011-11-01T21:57:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon Jill and I headed out to trick or treat

with an 80s girls (her tights were awesome, they were printed with words...like totally, gag me with a spoon) 2 red power rangers, a boxer and a firefighters.

It was an eventful couple of hours as trick or treating often is!

We adults were worn out and kids had buckets full of candy~

that defines trick or treating sucess!

Carvin' Pumpkins

2011-10-30T21:43:00.000-04:00

We spent friday night pumpkin carving.

The boys loved it, enjoyed creating their faces, digging out the guts

and especially lightening them up!

Daddy and Joe worked together mostly

while Sam and I dug out guts together!

We started just as the St. Louis Cardinals were beginning

game 7 of the WORLD SERIES.

Proud to report they are now CHAMPIONS 2011~

Oh what fun!

Mechanic anyone?

2011-10-28T13:06:00.001-04:00

Anyone for a mechanic?

P.S. The bike is not broken

I have no idea what the hats were all about.

Lions-Cards Fans!

2011-10-28T08:49:00.000-04:00

We are rooting for two our our favorite teams this weekend!

Go Loogootee Lion Volleyball!

Great regional win...we believe...capture the semi-state title!

and

How about those St. Louis Cardinals!!!!

Walk off home run, bottom of the 13th...

Let's capture the WORLD SERIES title 2011

Preschool Halloween III

2011-10-27T21:06:00.000-04:00

Today was a special day for our little boxer.

He was excited to go to preschool and wear his new costume.

All smiles and so cute when it was time to sing their Halloween songs.

He also lead the Halloween parade!

Koen kept calling Joe his sidekick. Koen thought Joe would wear Batman costume, but

this mama didn't get the memo..bummer...sorry Koey man!

Joe and his best Preschool buddies..Koen and AJ.

I'm a little bummed that these boys are both a year older than Joe, I am sure

that God will provide Joe some sweet boys his age to pal with, but he sure likes these boys too!

Happy Birthday DH

2011-10-25T16:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday DH!!!!

Here's to a St. Louis World Series win...

(and we could throw in a Loogootee Lion volleyball

regional title)

Choosing Well...

2011-10-25T06:16:00.000-04:00

“A wise person chooses the right road…” Ecclesiastes 10:2a (NLT)

Daily devotion for today could have been written for me! Don't you love it when your devotions hit home like that? It is reassuring that we serve a God that allows us to choose well.

T.P. pretzels...

2011-10-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

We set out to make mummy pretzels...we ended up with a unique creation T.P pretzels (as in toilet paper, cause they kinda look like the mess left if you get TP'd).

We did everything right, I had the cute assistant who lined up all the pretzels

while I made the cute halloween basket (from supplies on hand)

and melted the chocolate...

But then when we went to pour it (or drizzle it from a notched out corner of a ziplock)...even added a little oil..it would not drizzle. Grrr, and to top it off we couldn't put the eyes on fast enough and they fell to the middle

It was and epic fail

except this one.

Just right.

But anyway it was LOL for us and then we decided to add some milk chocolate to the yummy goodness

and not tell anyone about our mess up...until we thought of a funny name for them.

So enter our TP'd pretzels!

Oh and we're not closing up the pharmacy anytime soon to start our dessert shop {boo}

Fall Break - Day 4&5

2011-10-17T21:33:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed a spirit filled church service yesterday morning and

a yummy lunch at Grandma's house. Grandpa got out the kites in the afternoon

for the grandkids to fly. It was perfecly windy and their freshly farmed wide open fields

were perfect for flying!

Dryce made a homemade kite from string and paper, it would whip around behind him.

We lost one kite when the line it was flying on snapped, the wind carried it across

the highway and into a tree.

We hung out at home last night and played Sorry! and Sorry!Sliders and watched Charlie Brown, The Great Pumpkin.

Had a full and fun day it Evansville today with my boys, Blake and Polly, Morgan and her friend Sarah.

What a full fun break, just what this mama needed, time off work, but at home.

Now I must go back to work to rest up!

Fall Break-Day 3

2011-10-17T21:13:00.000-04:00

What a great day! So full of friends, family, {shopping} and fun!

I was invited to Covered Bridge (with Kia) and dearly wanted to go, but DH was farming

and that meant leaving my 2 sweeties all day and part of the evening...so I opted to stay closer

and went to the craft fair at Jasper. It had been 5 years or more since I've been to either, so we had

a lot of fun at the craft fair, I heard some say it was small, but had enough for us to see!

We ate lunch at Norm's, it was yummy fresh wraps salads...DH would call that fru, fru.

While my skinny peeps dined on ice cream and cookies from the Jasper Bakery next door, I enjoyed my peach mango tea. My latest obession...yummy!

And who do I know that would buy 7 cookies and taste each one...then decide to go back for 5 more.

Yes, she is the one. Allison is crazy I tell ya, crazy, but I love it...gonna be like that one day!

And A and I tried to make mummy pretzels...it was an EPIC fail, more on that later.

My babies spent all day with DH and Gma and Gpa at the farm. Know they had a great time, but Im sad I don't have any farming pictures this fall.

We headed to a family party at my cousin's house. I took my 2 superheros while DH finished farming.

This girl is a complete hoot. Has a 'touch' of her Grandma Ilene in her I think.

Loved it Kendall!

Ethan and Morgan

My favorite part of the night was my Aunt Cindy and her granddaughter Ella singing

Dust on the Bible. It was sooooo sweet.

And then the teens started to teach some dance moves

including "The Bernie"...Aunt Ilene was awesome at it, told ya i knew where Kendall got it!

Seriously had a great day. So much fun.

Fall Break - Day2

2011-10-16T21:48:00.000-04:00

We met our friend and aaamazhing photographer Shelly for some fall farm pics.

I just snapped a couple from the sidelines to add to my blog.

I am hoping to get some sweet shots, the boys really did well, had fun with all the probs (ie, tractors, combines, corn) at the farm!

We met DH in Odon for lunch, it was super windy, but the boys didn't mind and played at the park awhile. I'm sure it is the angle, but Mr Joe looks so tiny here, love it! Wish he were so small again!

We drove over I69 or actually on it on the way to daddy's store. He let each of the boys choose a toy, sweet green John Deere toys, made some happy boys!

Since blogger is kinda giving me fits, I decided not to wrestle the order of the upload and leave these sweet pics

Snuck in a quick craft. It was bead work, Sam was superpatient making his spider, but

I must admit I was lucky to make most of Joe's bat!

We topped our night off at the movies.

Grandma joined the boys in Dolphin Tale, while DH and I saw Courageous. Super good movie, would love to see it again, very thought and heart provoking!

Fall Break Day1

2011-10-13T21:36:00.000-04:00

With a little trade and one vacation day, I'm enjoying 5 days off~whoop whoop!

I stopped by work today and my partner Maura was a little worried about

about how a couple of situations had gone, and {not seriously} joked about being fired.

LOL, I told her I like my days off way to much to do that! We both chuckled!

Sam had school today but is off Friday and Monday, but Joe and I were home today.

We dropped off Sam at school and went to Jill's for speech.

We headed home and continued our organizing streak.

It involved recycling these muffin boxes into craft supply storage.

Then the big brave man and I headed to his 1st dental visit. We have been trying to accomplish this since he was 3&1/2 but kept having to change the appointment.

He kept telling me, I'm not afraid of the dentist. And he did great!

We picked up Sam and folded the mound of clean laundry. Joe is still my big laundry helper.

He 'folds' and sorts all the underwear and kids' jammies. Such a big help!

We started off our staycation right by eating at Mi Pueblo tonight!
It tried a grilled chicken salad it was my favorite meal there ever!

Sam asked to have his picture taken with this wagon, love my little picture takers~

Stay tuned for more staycation fun!

S-peech

2011-10-11T21:53:00.001-04:00

Joe and Aunt Jill (J-eel) according to Joe work very hard 2 days a week

to improve Joe's speech. We practice cards in between.

DH was giving Joe his s-blend cards (sofa, speech, sun). He has to say the word and then also

get it in a short sentence.

He seriously tires so hard. He can always get the word when it is modeled for him, but it comes in two syllables (normal right now). Sun would be s-un.

But, he has already improved other areas ... he was dropping his final sounds

...and no longer has a brother named dam. Yep, Sam has been dam for years now!

Nonetheless, during this particular session, looking a card for sofa..

Joe said....Sssssss-ouch (Couch). LOL. We all enjoyed that one!

We are so lucky to have a speech pathologist in our family, thanks for all your time

and love for Joe, Aunt Jeel.

While the boys were away...

2011-10-11T21:32:00.000-04:00

While Joe was away...

Been working on getting this place ready for winter!

Finishing up those last projects before the weather turns too cold

to do the outside stuff!

I was texting Blake today and she asked what I

was going to do for 2 hours while Joe was at preschool...

I was already 1/2 hour into cleaning out the back garage.

I would share some pics but neither the before or the after

are really much to write home about {at least compared to the pics in blogland}

and I didn't take any...ha! This garage will be messy again before it is nice

because we are still finishing insulation and plywood, but it is much nicer than before,

and we finally moved all our pool chemicals to this space.

I finished up just in time to pick up Joe from school and later we hauled

a truckload to the dumpster!

While Sam was away...

Joe and I set up this shelf system.

I read the directions and it said 2 people so I figured we made a great team!

All I needed was a rubber mallet (haha, long ol time joke with my brothers).

We turned this...

Into this...

And now I have a space in the basement for all my

out of season decorating stuff, and my thrifted finds that

I want to remake someday.

Since that turned out ok, like it was still standing,

we made the second set of shelves and they are proudly waiting on

some of craft stuff that will make it's way down here!

I'm loving these shelves that I found at Kmart...64 dollars total holds up to 1800lbs?

And I put them both together and organized in less than 2 hours!

I love picking up my babes from school, so I headed to get Sam and tackled the laundry!

Swimming in the Tub!

2011-10-10T21:40:00.000-04:00

Love that smile!

The pool is closed so we've switched to swimming in the hot tub.

It's more relaxing in the the tub without 2 fish, but not near as exciting!

Someone is waiting...

2011-10-09T21:02:00.001-04:00

on the tooth fairy tonight!

Big Saturday

2011-10-09T20:55:00.000-04:00

Saturday afternoon we went to see ImaginOcean at the Jasper Arts Center.

It was a really neat puppet prodution done in the dark using black light and glow paint.

It was really quite incredible, I researched it a bit online before

and saw a youtube video of them practicing so it might have been

even more impressive for me than the kids!

There was nothing scary about it, but it was dark and very loud

so bedtime (especially without DH who was still farming) was bit of a challenge last night!

We arrived early, such perfect time to take a couple of pictures.

Or so I thought.

A little more of a grimace than a smile, lol!

Both of my boys have some great photography skills! Allison was over Friday night and saw all of our childhood photos and now knows why I take so many pics, but my mom always had me take pics and started me early encouraging it, so I do the same with the boys.

This was Sam's appreciation of taking pics, not so much.

Sweet little man can turn on the charm if he's bribed...

And then we went to the Allen girls hayride/fall party last night and it was so fun! They had bounce houses for the kids but this is the only picture I took because the kids were occupied. This left time for this mama to chat with some friends and catch up! We stayed until after dark.

Sam said, that was a great party, i liked all the things.

Giant Outdoor Checkers!

2011-10-08T13:22:00.000-04:00

I'm sure I saw this idea on the internet, but I didn't save the link!

I knew it would be perfect for our upcoming youth church campout

so I set out to make it happen (back in July, hence the beautiful sushine!)

I found these perfect sized frisbees at the dollar store and picked up 26 (1 extra of each)

And then my personal assistants/human tape measure and friends

Blake (on the phone) and Allison helped me visualize if the tarp they had

would be the right size. It would be just right!

I called accountant husband who crunched the numbers and told me the dimensions of

each square (rectangle, shhhh don't tell). But then just before I started, I decided to measure.

And it was well off their 9x12 listed on the package so we refigured our squares.

I used this carboard template to lay around where I was not painting.

(it resembled a picture frame and I painted the middle)

and then I started spraying...

Started with 2 cans of black paint

but ended up using 6 cans!

And left it in the sun to dry while we took a swim.

It was sooooo super hot when we made this stinker

that we didn't play with it for a couple of weeks.

I was beginning to wonder if all the work was for nothing!

But, it turned out great...

And up close, it is certainly no beauty, but it really has a 'rustic' vibe going on!

We have used it several times and the teens it was intended to enterain thought it was a hoot!

Saturday Morning Races!

2011-10-08T09:17:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Saturday morning races at our house!

It has been a long time since we've been home on a Saturday morning, any morning to be exact.

I have a feeling that the jammies are gonna be on for awhile, much needed!

My friend Allison helped me clean out the front garage last night, got a truck load of trash!

Also, lined up a couple of projects for the winter. Things that are left from my parents' home.

I want to sort my mom's tins and also our childhood photos.

But in the meantime, I'll tell you about it here (ha) and watch my boys

race on their yard sale score...a smartcycle for $10!

It has provided several fun moments

since Thursday night.