Culvers & a Crow

Trying to get along

2012-01-20T15:35:00.001-05:00

Daisy hasn't been exactly thrilled that I brought home a puppy! After the first night of getting up with me every couple hours to let Roxi potty, daisy thought twice and stayed in bed the next night, who can blame her. Now Roxi has been trying and trying for weeks to snuggle up to Daisy, merely lay with in 5 inches of her and even play with her but daisy would have nothing of any of it. Daisy would get up and move or just leave the room. I had a talk with her about being kind of snobby but it didn't help. My picture below didn't load in the order I wanted so the last picture is from a couple day of getting Roxi. Notice the had in the picture trying to hold Daisy next to Roxi. Pathetic really :). Well the picture of them playing tug a war with the deer head was from earlier this week and the one with the rope was from this morning. They have played together all day today. I even caught them biting on the deer together and Roxi was laying down do Daisy as she was tugging, pulled Roxi around the family room. Very funny and cute. Daisy still won't let Roxi cuddle or lay with in 2 feet of her but it's nice to see my girls getting along better.

Madi turns 6!

2012-01-09T15:23:00.001-05:00

Saturday was Madi's birthday, a day she's been looking forward to since April when she found out she couldn't play laser tag with Grandpa Rob, her daddy and I as well as her brothers and sisters. 6 was the magic age you had to be so since that day she's been in pure anticipation to reach such a privileged age. Well, the day came and at 4AM she got sick. :( She spent her 6th birthday fighting a stomach bug. She was so sad that her day had come and she was sick. I don't blame her! Well, her taco dinner and Jessie cake got put on hold since non of it sounded good and she really couldn't eat anyhow. Sunday afternoon she was feeling quite a bit better and asked if we could celebrate and do we did. She still couldn't eat much but enjoyed what little she had.
Once again, another year older and my baby is stepping further away from being a baby. This makes me sad still, especially with starting school. I do however enjoy watching her bloom. I love to see her mind expand, she so smart its exciting. I enjoy seeing her littler sense of humor develop, especially when she pulling her daddy's leg. All in all even though I long for the days of having her at home, I look forward to seeing God's plan for her unfold.
Love you my sweet baby girl!!!!

A few things from Christmas break

2012-01-01T20:21:00.001-05:00

Over Christmas break we made a ginger bread house together, made and decorated ginger bread cookies.
Then we played a trick on the kids. They've been naughty lately do I told them coal and sticks was what they were getting in their stockings. Well Christmas eve day, we let them get into their stockings and what did they find but sticks, coal and a bath scrubby to clean up their act. :) Dakotah the whole time told me it would never happen and his look was priceless. He looked at me like "oh snap, she wasn't joking and this totally stinks!". Madi threw her coal and asked why she got it cause she hadn't been bad which was true but still had to include her in the joke. They enjoyed their coal gum and wondered the rest of the day if they would get any more in their stocking to go through in the morning, that was better than what they just found. It's so fun being parents.

A few of my biggest cheerleaders

2012-01-01T20:12:00.001-05:00

My kiddos praised me so much and cheered me on during my hunting season and when I got my buck, it was even more of a cheer coming from them. They were all do excited not only for me but to see a buck in the back of big blue (our truck) again. They were all also so ready to have their own picture taken with momma's trophy.

The results of my first hunting season.

2012-01-01T20:06:00.001-05:00

The last night of shot gun season Colby and I went out hunting and with only about 10 minutes to go we saw 20 deer come out about 350 yds away. I told Colby to enjoy seeing them cause that was it. With that I turned to look at him as I was finishing what I was saying a spotted a deer out the other side of the barn we were in. I told Colby not to move but he was in my way to get into position to shoot so I told him to move but slowly and quietly. With that he moved and plugged his ears, he knew what it was coming to. I got into position and took my shot. After shooting, I saw my deer jump and kick hard before running off. Colby and I headed next door to our church, sat through evening service and then Rodney, Colby and I headed out to find my deer and that we did. I was thrilled when we found it right where I told Rodney it ran too.
Now after much more hunting with my husband and not having much chance at anymore shots, Colby and I headed back to the barn for the entire last week of muzzleloader season. Well, I had one chance on a buck but felt he was too far however Rodney got a doe that night. Then I took a shot at a doe but missed (she was a lot further than I had thought). Well, it came down to the last night of muzzleloader season, of my first hunting season. Colby and I see a buck come out with 10 minutes left but at 350 yds. Again, enjoy it cause it basically over (that's what I told Colby) with that, again I turn to him and what happens but I see a deer in the same spot I saw my first one only this time I lean forward to see if there's more with this one and there was 2 more. I told Colby I was going to the back of the barn (closer shot) to go tag one of these deer. I get back there and choose the biggest one which I thought was a doe. It was that time of night (dusk) when it's hard to see clearly. I crouch down and half way through, it pops its head up so I freeze and look away. After holding my position and my legs burning for a minute, the deer puts its head back down to eat. I finish getting into position and fuss with the scope and getting it into my cross hairs. After I get it, I take a breath, let it out slowly and at the bottom of my breath I pull the trigger but at the same nano second I pull, the deer pops its head up again and it dawns on me that I just saw a rack! It run like they do and I watch where it goes till I can't see anymore. Then I turn to Colby and tell him it's a buck then I proceed to cry! I cant believe I could have just got my buck!!!! After an hour of tracking and frustration, loosing blood trails, doing circles, etc. we find my deer and he is beautiful! I squeal with utter excitement and can't believe it really happened, I really got my buck in the last 2 minutes of my first hunting season.
I am do thrilled to have had a season like I have and to have had so much time with 2 of my favorite men, my hubby and my first born. Next year I'm hoping he tags his first deer and that I'm there with him like he was with me for both of mine. :)

Halloween Fun

2012-01-01T19:42:00.001-05:00

The pictures of the food were from our Halloween/Autumns birthday party with the Lawson's. It was a fun time!
Then Papa came to visit us for a week in October and happened to be with us for Halloween. He dressed up with us and went out trick or treating. The pumpkins this year rocked! The owl was Madi's, buck was Colby's, storm trooper was Dakotah's, the cat Autumns and the basic pumpkin was mine.

Bathroom redo before

2011-12-30T18:15:00.001-05:00

After being in the house almost two years and really just choosing to decorate the upstairs bath in a rushed time frame when we were moving, I decided it needed a redo. Rodney and I tossed around some ideas and he knows I like country/primitive and we happened to stumble across some out house theme bathroom stuff and Rodney loved that theme so I went hunting for stuff to go along with that. It called for a trip to two of my fav stores, kitchens plus and treasured dreams cottage. I love how it turned out and it feels so cozy and actually fits in with the rest of our house now. The shelf above the toilet actually has some super cute accessories like a rusty lantern, some stars, a canning jar with an old candle in it and some berry wreaths. It matches a lot of the items in the boarder. I also added a wall sticker on one wall that lists some bathroom rules. Love it!

Dakotah the Weeblo

2011-12-30T18:07:00.001-05:00

Dakotah joined scouts this year and has really been enjoying it. This is his first awards evening and it was fun to go and cheer him on as he received the awards he earned. He even got to have his dad present one of his badges to him.

Our first year hunting

2011-12-30T18:02:00.001-05:00

This is mine and Colby's first year hunting. Colby wasn't able to get a shot but next year he will. I enjoyed a lot of time with my husband in a tree stand.

Colby's 11

2011-12-27T23:59:00.001-05:00

I can't believe my first born turned 11! Time flies by way too fast! Well with 11 he decided he wanted a hunting cake and he wanted to put it together so I laid down the frosting base/grass and he piped a river (filled in lines I drew for him) then places his hunting figures. I think it turned out great.
He was excited to receive a new big bike from his dad and stepmom for his birthday since this year we let him ride to school. He was so funny the first morning he took off for school on it and rode like he was the "hot stuff" of the neighborhood. What a boy :)!

Madi's first field trip

2011-12-27T23:53:00.001-05:00

Well as we know, Madi started kindergarten and it was rough on the two of us till I started volunteering in her classroom once a week and we got to go on her first field trip together.
We went to the apple orchard and had a fabulous time. I look forward to many more filed trips with her and now with my other monkeys too.

Colby and the colts 2011

2011-12-27T23:49:00.001-05:00

Well, another year of Colby playing football and I have to say his game has improved dramatically. When he started football years ago he had dreams of being quarter back but as the years have gone on he has had short spurts of quarterbacking and it's just not his thing. This year his coach decided he would work the whole season turning Colby into a defensive end and Colby took the challenge and ended the season with some "jump out of your chair exciting" tackles. It was exhilarating to watch him. Although they never won a game it was still exciting.

15

2011-12-27T23:43:00.001-05:00

Bre turned 15 this year and we celebrated the best way our family does, swimming in the pond and fishing along with some really good food.
I've been blessed to watch this young lady grow over the last 8 year and blossom. I look forward to seeing all God had in store for her.

World Pulse Festival 2011

2011-12-27T23:39:00.001-05:00

We made it to WPF this year and what an adventure. We got to enjoy Group 1 Crew and Third Day but just before the News Boys were to come on stage a big storm rolled in and they sent everyone to their cars where we hung out. We checked weather on our phones, chatted and Colby played frisbee with Madelyn. All in all the concert canceled without the last act going on stage but better to be safe than sorry. It was a great day and I was excited to take Colby for his first time.

First day of school

2011-12-23T09:42:00.001-05:00

This is the year Madi started school. She as super excited to go and a tad but nervous. Mommy was excited for her and beyond that, not a happy camper. Rodney worked from home that day for moral support. I needed it! After she said bye and went to class, I bawled like a baby. He took me to lunch, I cried some more. I so anticipated the bus coming home that day. It took probably about a week until Madi had a little melt down about not being home anymore (I wasn't about to tell her I've been melting down all week). It took me about 2 weeks before I felt "stable" again. After 11 years of being home with a kiddo, this was a tough adjustment.
Now I go help in her class every Wednesday and it's the highlight of my week. We both still have rough times of being apart but we are doing better.

Thanks to my sister CJ, I can blog on my phone!

2011-12-23T09:29:00.001-05:00

So I went to check Facebook this morning and my sister had comment on my picture last night and then asked if I had downloaded the blogger app. "What! There's a blogger app? Are you serious?!?" Yep, there sure is and I'm excited about it since I've slowed down blogging cause my pics are on my phone. This is going to rock!

A few fun new things

2011-09-03T22:33:00.000-04:00

I was on one of my many browses through the Crow's Nest in town (I LOVE that store) and saw this cabinet, then saw the price and thought to myself "this will be mine". I then texted a picture to my husband to show it to him and explained what I would use it for if we had it. Told him the price, he told me to come down $10 from the price and if they would we could buy it. We brought it home a few days later. I love it and it fit in this corner perfect. It now holds, on top, all the canned goods I've been canning which is much more than whats in this picture now and the bottom holds all my canning tools/supplies. I have also done the decorations on top a bit different. I love this piece! I have also sat at the counter of it and peeled my apples. It is just so functional

During a different Crow's Nest trip, I found this super cute reproductive vintage looking marshmallow tin and for only $2. I knew right off it would hold my sugar perfect.

Madi's cheer camp

2011-09-03T22:25:00.000-04:00

Madi picked cheer camp to be in this summer and the last day of cheer camp they had the girls cheer at the boys basketball camp game (which Dakotah was in). It was so cute to watch.

Laundry room make over

2011-09-03T22:19:00.000-04:00

When Rodney was out of town at the end of July, I needed something to keep me busy (like 4 kids home with me all day wasn't enough), so I decided it was time for another room make over. After this room and aside from the 2 kids rooms upstairs, I only have the living room left to make over. I had bought this color "Honey" when we first bought the house to use in the family room but decided on something else at the last minute so it's just been sitting in the garage the past year and a half begging to be use. I only had a gallon so it was perfect for this hallway/laundry room space. I wish I would have taken before pictures but I always forget to do that.

This is when I just wasn't sure of the color and really not sure if I wanted to continue it down the hallway.

I ended up really liking the color when I woke up the next morning and went down to look at it with fresh eyes. After I fell in love, I finished up the hallway and then the day after that began the decorating.

My friend Christine gave me a piece of her wallpaper boarder that she had left over after putting it up in her laundry room so I "fussy cutted" it and made myself to pieces of art work.

The cornice board above the window was there before and is actually a hunter green, but when we first moved in I took it down and stapled on my laundry room fabric I had so that went back up along with the bonnets one of which I made and the other is a family heirloom.

Got up my family heirloom wash board, my art work my aunt bought me when she came to visit me and a few other fun things. I found my round basket at Joann's on clearance for $1.97. I saw it and knew it needed to go in my laundry room but didn't quite know what for. It now holds my stain remover and liquid fabric softener.

In this laundry room everything has it's place and I made the absolute best of the space I have. This room is so small but one that I use just as much as the kitchen with the size of family I have so I have to have it organized and space used wisely. I have accomplished that and I'm excited about it.

Out Door Movie, Church style

2011-09-03T22:02:00.000-04:00

In July our church had a movie night out doors. We watched the Narnia 1 and it was a blast. It was a fun alternative to the drive in only not having to worry about wether your car would start up when it was time to head home.

Goofy Girls

2011-07-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when two little girls get a hold of thier big sister's hat. Goof balls!

Fourth of July weekend 2011

2011-07-20T21:26:00.000-04:00

We had a pretty good Fourth weekend. I made a yummy lemon aide cake which I turned into a flag cake (this picture was taken the other way I do know the blue field goes on the left and it did) like I usually do every year. It was yummy, so yummy the hubby requested it for his birthday in August.

The kids and I got busy making tin can wind socks to decorate our back patio since it's where we planned to spend most our weekend.

Rodney took the kids fishing Saturday and they came back with dinner. Bre caught all the bass herself and the rest of the kids caught the blue gill along with Rodney.

Rodney came home, cleaned them and fried them up and it was a fabulous meal!

We then after dinner headed to Marion to see the first 2 of 3 fire works shows we would see through the weekend, the third was in Wabash on Monday. Oh and I must mention, I didn't manage to catch any on film but there was crazy horizontal lightning through out this whole fire works show.

We hung out Sunday night around the fire pit out back, roasting hot dogs as well as marshmallows and then woke up Monday morning to head right back out to the fire pit where breakfast was cooked for us over the fire. It was super yummy.

We headed to the reservoir to play in the water and sand. Dakotah was busy digging a hole very deep.

Rodney goofing off after the fireworks on Monday playing with the kid's glow bracelets.

Drive in Fun and Soft ball Champs!

2011-07-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

The Friday before Colby was going to leave us for about a month, we decided to go to the drive in for Cars 2 and Pirates 4.So we get settled in for our family night at the drive in and I was "checking in" on facebook and then a few minutes later see my friend Winter respond that they were on their way out as well. YAY! So we ended up parked next to each other and instantly the vehicles were divided between the boys and the girls.

This is the boys clowning around and.....

this is the girls trying to give the boys a run for their money.

They were waiting patiently.

Rachel didn't make it very far into the first movie.
The week after Colby left it was tourney time for soft ball and we headed out to the Field of Dreams to watch every night until it was over and Bre's team won for the fourth year in a row. Good job ladies!

Colby's black eye

2011-07-17T23:38:00.000-04:00

The week before Colby was due to leave to go spend time with his father, Autumn had gymnastics camp and so the other 3 kiddos went swimming. Well Tuesday while swimming I was watching Madi and then notice this little boy rubbing the back of his head saying to his mom it hurt. I look for my other kids, find Dakotah who was having fun then find Colby who is holding his eye brow and then dunking his face in water then trying to shake it off. I ask him if he's ok cause I notice he won't let go of his eye. He takes his hand of while walking towards me and starts to cry that he's hurt. Well YEA! I could see the goose egg on his eye brow from across the pool. When he finally gets to me, his eye is swelled shut. The life guard got an ice pack which helped at least get his eye to go down enough to open. He cried only the amount of time it took to get to me and that's it. The little boy apparently had thrown him self back ward not realizing Colby was behind him and cracked him right in the eye.

Finally opened after the ice pack. I took him to the eye doctor later who said he most likely suffered an orbital fracture but there was nothing they could do so no xrays but he checked everything out with the eye internally which came back good. So he cracks his eye and no more than maybe a minute of crying, seriously!

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

This is Saturday before he left with his dad. I didn't get to see it after this point so I'm not sure how long it took for the color to completely go away but boy did he have some color! What a trooper!

5K 2011

2011-07-17T23:24:00.000-04:00

This year's 5K is a very memorable one, although Rodney didn't get the chance to run it was still a great time. On top of the "fun run" this year the YMCA hosted a "tot-trot" in which Madi ran.

Starting line and off they go....

here she comes to the finish (she's behind the girl in the frilly skirt).

So proud!

Next was Dakotah's second time to run the mile fun run and he had a goal to beat 10 minutes for McDonalds and Autumn decided to run as well.

Dakotah ended up not only reaching his goal, but making it in under 10 minutes.

Autumn came running in crying cause her side hurt but boy she stuck with it! She did great.

Colby up in the crowd getting ready to start his very first 5K, yep he decided this year after doing the fun run last year, that he was big enough to run a 5K and that he did. He trained for weeks off and on, his gola to reach was to do it in 30 minutes and I told him it would be crazy if he beat Rodney's 28:59 time from last year. Well, he kicked butt in this race! He ran the entire thing and he blew the goal of 30 minutes out of the water! He did so great, he came in at 26:44 beating Rodney's time from last year. Rodney says he needs to start training to beat Colby next year. Love the family competition.

Exhausted but so stoked about how well he did.

He even won a medal for 2nd place in his age category for boys.

I walked/ran it, not as good as last year coming in about 3 minutes longer but I did it and that's all I wanted to do. It was a great day.

La Fontaine Days

2011-07-17T23:05:00.000-04:00

This year the kids and I set out early Friday morning to hit up the rummages around town in honnor of La Fontaine days. The kids had so much fun and ended up finding so many more bargains than I did. Every ones loot all in a big pile.

After rummaging and some dinner we headed down town to listen to some music and it was a lot of fun. Madi wanted to dance so bad but didn't get up the nerve to do so till the last song.

She had so much fun doing it though and had we not needed to be up so early the next morning for the 5K I would have stayed for the next band.

Good times with my kids and look forward to next years festivities.

Small town fun!

2011-06-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

Today was the last day of VBS at the church right in the middle of our little town. Well, they sure know how to end a VBS! First because they achieved the goal of having 50 kids show up, they got to watch one of the leaders get his hair shaved off, then another leader allowed a kid form each class to throw a pie in her face all this was going on while they served up ice cream with blueberries and whip cream. However.....the ending was the best, the small town fire department drove 2 of their trucks up, parked at one end of the road and hosed the kids down for almost an hour as they ran around like crazy screaming in delight! My kids have never got to do this so they had no idea what to expect but they sure acted like they'd been doing it for years. It was so much fun to watch my kids enjoy this to the fullest of their hearts. They were shivering when done and tired, but wouldn't have traded it for anything else!

In this pis above from left to right you can see Colby, Autumn, and Dakotah.

In this pic, my little Madi bug going silly!

Strawberries!

2011-06-16T10:06:00.000-04:00

We planted strawberries this year but not enough to accomplish what I want to which is a nice supply of jam. I took my kids with me on Monday to a local farm to pick berries. I had never done this so I had no idea what to expect. We arrived an hour after they opened and it was already very busy. The farmers daughter handed us our flats and guided us out to our 2 rows for picking. After she left my kids and I went to town on picking every red berry that we could find and when all was said and done we left with 21lbs. of berries. They smelled so sweet and yummy!

Colby was so diligent in his picking that he managed to find himself a heart shaped berry.

We didn't manage to make it through our entire 2 rows but about 3/4 the way. Our boxes ran out of room! :)

When we got home with our bounty, we started in on one flat, cutting, washing and slicing. It was a lot of berries and would have taken me forever to accomplish so I was quite happy that I could trust Colby now with a knife and he helped me cut them all up, both flats.

Our second flat was cut, washed and then put in freezer bags for more jamming at a later date.

Colby continued to help me as did the other children, but Colby stayed with me through the entire process. He helped mash after Madi was done with it, he helped me ladle it all into jars and he helped get the lids and rings out of the water.

I love the color when it all starts to boil, such a deep red!

The fruits of our labor, 9 pints of strawberry jam and one very happy husband which leaves me very happy and content. :) I also enjoyed how my son worked right along side me through the whole thing and how he felt some accomplishment as well. Such a good boy and a sweet time!

Some more wedding pictures

2011-05-29T20:39:00.001-04:00

Ok, so my grandpa sent me some pictures he took of the wedding and so I'm going to share them with all of you.

This is my Uncle Joe playing and singing while guests were arriving.

This is my Uncle John and Tom before the wedding began.

I love the look of anticipation on Tom's face. Dakotah and I at this point were walking down the stairs/isle so I'm sure he was getting super excited for his beautiful bride to come down next.

The kiss! :)

Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid! The shawl around my mom was put around her durring their ceremony. It's a tartan and is the Kincaid clan colors and Tom put it around her to signify her becoming part of the Kincaid clan. It was cool!

My Aunt Marlene and my Oma (in the red). My Oma wore her red cape to cover up her big rods in her wrist.

It seems to be so difficult to get this many people to look at the camera all at once so you get what looks like me scolding my kids :).

Once again, asking a lot of this many people to look all at once but this one is of the couple and their kids which I need my family to fill in my mom's side or I'd be a loner :).

My Oma's favorite song is Brown Eyed Girl so we requested it for her, I wheeled her out on the dance floor and we all danced around her while she shimmied in her chair and sang her song. It was one of the high lights of the night for me!

This is 4 of the 5 of my Oma's kids. Left to right: Uncle Joh (5), Aunt Marlene(1), my momma(4) and Uncle Joe(3).

The first dance. I LOVE how happy and intimate my mom looks in this picture. She was beaming and at the same time passionate. I'm sure there will be more to come once the photographer gets us our picture cd. I heard from her there are lots of great ones of my family, apparently we were the most popular and entertaining of the evening. :)

Just a few from the wedding

2011-05-20T23:46:00.000-04:00

I have just a few from the wedding but get the pictures in about 8 weeks so there will be more to come.

The guys getting ready.

The stunning bride.

The man to marry them (a.k.a. my Uncle John/ mom's younger brother).

My handsome boys.

A peak at the ceremony.

The first dance.

The wedding party's dance. I loved this opportunity to dance with my guy!

The bouquet toss.

The mad dash for that bouquet.

The garter.

The garter toss.

The not so much of a mad dash for the garter.
It was a beautiful ceremony and a great reception. We had so much fun and I'm blessed to have been a part of it all!

Boys day out and Girl's pre wedding morning

2011-05-20T23:35:00.000-04:00

Saturday after rehearsal the guys went off to a baseball game while the girls had a bridal shower (sorry no pics of the shower, I was too busy catching up with family). It was bat day so the guys got there early, got full size bats (not the dinky ones they usually give out) and hung out enjoying themselves.

Papa (Tom) getting a feel for a new Camaro and thinking it could due for him and mom.

My boys and the A's mascot.

Dakotah, Conner (my new littlest brother) and Colby, excited they got a foul ball.

Luke (my other little brother, the older one) enjoying some good park food.

Dakotah with the catch of the day. He didn't catch it but a guy in their group did and gave it to him which made him s excited.

Saturday night my girls and I stayed in a hotel with my mom so we could wake up and have the room for ALL us girls to get ready in. I was so excited we did this. My girls got to experience room service for the first time and watched as all us gals ran around getting our hair and make up done and they got to have their hair done too thanks to Olivia.

I love this picture, asking the bride how shes doing this morning of her wedding. :)

Madi and Auntie Mackenna (my new youngest sister) resting between make up and hair

The bride getting her hair done beautifully.

Caitlin (my older new younger sister) getting her make up done.
It was a great morning! Relaxed and so fun!

San Francisco (a lengthy one in pictures)

2011-05-20T23:19:00.000-04:00

Thursday of our vacation in California we went and ran around San Francisco. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time to take my family to one of my fondest places growing up. We had a blast at Fisherman's Wharf and mostly at Pier 39. We saw the sea lions, looked out at Alcatraz, the kids rode the carousel I rode when I was a child, we ate at Bubba Gumps, we goofed around, went to Pier 45 to look at the old naval sub and ship, we could see Coit Tower from there, then headed down to the Golden Gate bridge where we were able to walk down to Fort Point (part of the old base), walk out onto a dock, and play in the sand on a little beach area where my husband managed to miss judge a wave and soaked his shoes. It was a wonderful day and after all the walking we jumped in the car, drove past Lumbard St. which we couldn't stop to get a good look at the crooked street, then I showed the kids and Rodney where my Grammy used to live and I would visit many weekends as a child, then we drove in the heart of down town where the kids were able to knock their heads back and look up at real sky scrapers! It was great!

The Patchwork Skirt

2011-05-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

I came upon this really great tutorial for a patch work skirt for little girls and knew I wanted to make one NOW! I started immediately on one for Madi and got it done in a couple hours from very start to finish. I loved it! I left off the bow/sash part and did the waist a bit different which resulted in few cuts of fabric. Once I was done it was time to test it out and thankfully we were having one of our very few sunny days. Madi in her new very favorite skirt ran out side and started testing it out.

She's so stinkin cute!

Nothing like taking a closer look at the flowers.

Oh and this skirt is totally "twirl" approved! :)

Quilts

2011-04-26T12:24:00.000-04:00

I have been working on quite a lot of quilts but mostly quilts my Oma has made and I'm just free motion quilting them for her. I won't post pics of those quilts cause they aren't ones I've made and I haven't taken any close ups of my quilting on them. Any who, the first quilt "Tom's Tumbling T's", is one my mom asked me to make for Tom for Christmas. It was a pretty simple pattern and I enjoyed doing this one. My mom just went through my fabric stash and pick fabrics so it has a very scrappy look to it which I love. She did buy one piece of fabric that had all the divisions of the police department on it to be a part of the T's and police car back fabric for the backing. Tom's a police officer by the way :). It turned out really nice and I just stitched in the ditch to outline the blocks. Oh it was huge too!

The second one is for my soon to be born niece or nephew of whom I have named corn muffin until baby is born and we know it's name. There's more to the name but it's only for Aunt Coco and corn muffin's momma to giggle about. Not knowing what corn muffin is going to be was so hard for me when it came time to make my goodies. I am so built to design based off the person or the sex of a baby so this was stretching my comfort zone but so worth it. I think it kind of ended up leaning way more towards the boy side but I love how it turned out and figured baby isn't really going to care what color it is. I love the jungle theme and was kind of inspired by it not only when my 5 year old saw the fabric and lead me to it but also because corn muffin's momma was painting a mural at a church which had lots of animals in it and it just spoke to me.

Not sure there will be too many of my quilts to share this year since my Oma has a goal that is pretty productive over the next couple years, but what I do get done will be exciting to share with you all. I might even start taking close ups of my free motion so you can see what I DO work on. :)

Easter Sunday

2011-04-26T12:09:00.000-04:00

We had a great Easter weekend with family in town and Sunday was such a wonderful day. The kid's Great Grandma hid eggs in the back yard for the kids to find and then the kids got the chance to whack the pinata. I had all good intentions of making a chick pinata this year but the first one caved in so I got behind and in my massive rush to get it done I settled for the "golden egg" that has the best prize in it of all.

My girls skipping through the back yard with baskets, it cracks me up how naturally it seems for them.

And the boys trying so hard to find eggs as well, grandpa hid them very well!

Miss Maid taking her turn at the pinata.

Autumn was next.

Dakotah trying his hardest to be the one to crack the egg which he did put a good dent in it.

Then Colby who managed to smack it off it's rope (which happened to Autumn as well) which then lead to dad just smashing it on the ground. This years pinata just didn't want to stay in the tree on it's rope this year.

Daisy enjoying her Easter treat, what was left on the ham bone.

Play Date Fun

2011-04-26T11:57:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday the Mahan ladies came over for a play date in which they enjoyed playing upstairs in the girl's room, watching some TV and dying eggs. Madi requested that they get to enjoy this together and I was all about it. I'm glad I did it cause it actually was all the dying that went on in this house this year. The other kids haven't mentioned anything about it so hopefully they really haven't noticed. ;)

Something was sure cracking her up!

Precious moments that mommas get to have with their little ones while their home!

I could not get a picture of her looking at the camera for nothing! Jennifer managed to get one but it's on my phone so it won't be making this post.

April Fools Day

2011-04-08T16:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, normally I'm not that ornery....really, I'm not! However this year seemed to spark something in me when I was presented with the perfect opportunity to play a trick on my kids. The school schedule called for the first day of spring break to start on Friday April 1, April Fool's day. It hit me so fast that I had to find a way to make the kids think they had to go to school still but didnt quite have all the details sorted until I unloaded my idea on my husband. He had the thought of a letter sent to the teachers that they could get to them. Genius! So I typed up this nice "official" letter stating that due to a miscalculation of snow days/ make up days they had to have school on April first for a make up day. I then wrote a note to the teachers explaining my mischevious plan and my need of their help. I asked that they would take the letter and put it in their homework folders to take home on Thursday, the day they thought wa their last. I sent the letters in sealed envelopes Thursday morning and told my kids how important it was to get it to their teachers. The teachers are fabulous! They went above and beyond and copied my letter onto official school letter head paper and put them into the kid's folders as asked. My kids came home, emptied thier folders as normal and the grumbles startes as my 10 year old read the letter. "How could it be? It's not fare! I'm so mad!" It was so hard to not smile or laugh and have to play the part of "that stinks, well they have to do what needs to be done so you aren't in school longer into the summer". Hee Hee! They went to bed at school night time, got up at school morning time, went through the whole normal routine and headed out to the road to wait fo the bus. My husband, 5 year old and I went to the garage and waited in the van for about 5 minutes or so and when we noticed my 10 year old start to get worried they missed the bus, we drove up the driveway and told them we would take them to school on our way to run errands. We pulled into the parking lot at the school where they started to notice that teachers vehicles weren't there and yelled "April Fools"! It was great! They couldn't believe we had tricked them and how good we got them. I loved it! If it hadn't been for the fact I had to play it off, I would have had my camera with me to capture their faces. Well, after that we let them in on the rest of our plan which was breakfast at IHOP. I fed them so little for breakfast before school they were probably wondering what was wrong with me and probably so happy to hear they got to go eat now.

Good times, but it didn't stop there. I seriously have no idea what got into me this year but next year, I'm so watching my back!
Almost every Friday night is Fabulous Friday Dessert, this is not out of the ordinary for me to try new desserts. I decided to make this scrumptious looking sponge cake with vanillay frosting and sprinkles at that. After dinner I asked my husband to help me dish up dessert cause I was tired after a busy day working in the yard with the kids. He asked what he could do and I handed him a knife and told him to cut everyone a piece of cake. The kids all gathered around (only the 10 and 5 year old knew what was up) waiting in anticipation for their cake or in 2 of their cases, for dad's reaction when he cut the cake and found out that it was.........

really a "sponge" cake. My husband gently pressed the knife into the cake and when it pressed back at him he was like "what?". So he decided on the "saw" method of cutting and then it hit him as he was sawing and I was finally laughing so hard I was crying as well as about to pee my pants! It was GREAT! The kids laughed too when they figured out what was going on.

What a good sport!

Guest room/Rodney's den redo

2011-04-08T16:25:00.000-04:00

We have guests coming for Easter and I was tired of the taxi cab yellow we let our teenager pick out for this room when we moved in. I was so excited when Rodney told me I could have at it in this room and redo it. Walmart had this cute plaid wall paper boarder that I fell in love with, on clearance so I bought it as my inspiration. This room is kind of hard to take pictures of so all I got was one shot before and after of the same corner.

Good bye needing to wear my sunglasses at night and......

hello peaceful, inviting and so pretty new look. I have since these pictures were taken, made a bed skirt, hung up some pieces of art that were painted by my grandfathers as well as a wall hanging I stitched all last year and finished at my retreat this February. This is such a better look and such a nice room. Rodney, when we don't have guests, gets to escape to this room and shut the door to do all his school work. It is being used a lot more efficiently now.

Bathroom redo

2011-03-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

I have family coming to visit for Easter and have been wanting to get our little bathroom down stairs painted and freshened up since we moved in but with painting all the necessary rooms before we could move in, I reached burn out quickly so about a year and a half later, I'm back at it. I wish I had before pictures but I don't. It was a dingy light gray color and just did absolutely nothing for the room. It was the unloved bathroom. After a much brighter creamy beige which in such a small room has a more light coffee color (which I love) and some accessories pulled from various spots in our home and brought together in one happy place all together, it looks great. It's warm, bright and inviting.

Rainbow cup cakes = Fabulous Friday Dessert's od to St. Patty's Day

2011-03-29T21:15:00.000-04:00

So I've stayed fairly consistent with having something yummy to eat for Fabulous Friday's Dessert this year and was so excited when I found this gem of a recipe. It was a lot of fun to make with Madi and she was a super help. Everyone enjoyed them and thought it was so cool that you could see all the colors. These cupcakes don't get just frosting either, they get a whip cream cloud right on top.

Annual Family Date 2011

2011-02-19T20:59:00.000-05:00

As per tradition (at least for now the last 3 years) we celebrated our family date day today. Being a big family, we don't have many opportunities to do outings let alone BIG ones but once a year (around this time) we all go out for a date. This date includes something fun and special for the kids plus going out to eat. This year we had decided to plan something different from the usual and were gearing up for a free day at the Children's Museum in Indy on Presidents day, Arcade time at the mall in Indy and food complete with one night in a hotel (our kids think they are royalty when they stay in a hotel cause they've done it maybe 3 times their whole lives). Well that was a fabulous plan until the blizzard of 2011 hit and caused 3 snow days which took out our chances of our Indy trip SO, we went to the default but not completely. Instead of eating at the mall we chose to go to Chuck e cheeses this time. 3 of our 5 kiddos have never been so this was super exciting. This afternoon we headed up to Fort Wayne and straight to Build a Bear where not only did the kids build their bears, we built 3 extra ones for some special kiddos in our lives (we get to give them their bears tomorrow after church, SO excited!).

Waiting to be stuffed.

Youngest goes first! Madi picked a super cute St. Patty's bear.

Autumn and her cute pink rocker bear that she named Chasse.

The boys getting theirs stuffed and sewn up. Colby got to make one of the extra ones today which he was happy to do.

This horse id for someone special made with lots of love. Colby picked the rockin boy bear for himself.

Miss Bre and her monkey which you can't really see but he's cute!

Rodney showing how tough men make teddy bears, LOL! He chose to make one of the special bears and I made the third one but no pictures were taken of me making it. After Build a Bear, it was off to.....the potty, ok then the carousel. :)

Waiting in line for the carousel. I love this part and yes, my hair is different. I got a perm that I had wanted to be a wave and so I now have very curly/poofy hair. Husband likes, half the kids do too and the other half are so so. I myself am so so still. After our endeavours at the mall we headed to Chuck e Cheeses but I unfortunately didn't get pics except the one below because I was running around playing games, winning tickets and cashing them in. :)

The kids got to watch Chucke come out and dance before we left. After that, it was about dinner time but really, who's hungry after all that soda and pizza, so off to have ice cream for dinner we went. LOVE this day, I drop the strict mommyness and live on the edge.

Miss Madi loving/lickin her ice cream.

The boys enjoying their dinner.

Dad scarfing down his dinner and the girls in the back ground. Yes, I enjoyed ice cream too but wasn't giving up the camera for these guys to take crazy pics of me eating like I did of them. :)
I love to let loose on this day and just enjoy being a kid, I mean watching my kids have a blast. I'm exhausted and spent what little bit of last energy I had to post this so now off to curl up on the couch and doze. :)

Snow day 3

2011-02-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

Well, yet another snow day today and being someone who lives only 2 minutes away from school I think they would have been fine going to school today however I have a feeling all the kids that live furthur out in the country would have had a much harder time getting to school. It's hard being cooped up with 4 kiddos and now for 3 days straight. We had to get a bit more creative today and thanks to my friend who sent me a recipe for snow ice cream, we had a fabulous lunch! Lil smokies in cresents, cake cookie sandwiches and snow ice cream. YUM!

The boys did a great job fetching me a gallon of snow.

After stirring in the sugar and vanilla I stirred in the milk and it started to look like mashed potatoes.

How could you go wrong with this?! I think it's time for a nap now that I'm finished! :)

Snow day 2

2011-02-02T14:23:00.000-05:00

After making it through day one, the sleet started in pretty heavy around 3 in the afternoon. My husband got home safe and we hunkered down for the night, praying we wouldn't loose our power. We enjoyed movies, hanging out and not really doing much else or having any other kind of agenda. This morning when we woke up everything looked pretty good, no ice accumulation, just more snow. Our big Tonka truck almost buried in the back yard was a sight to see.

The hubby headed out to plow out our drive way so he can go to work tomorrow. They called a level one emergency for our county so he got to stay home and have a snow day with us.

He's so cute and such a good man!

It sure could have been worse! It's so pretty to look at. It's still snowing today so i have a feeling the kids will at least have a 2 hour delay tomorrow if not another snow day. We'll see though.

Snow day 1

2011-02-02T14:15:00.000-05:00

Well, with the Blizzard of 2011 (as the news was calling it) we ended up with a snow day only after one night of snow accumulating only about 3-4 inches and the worst was still yet to come. I ran into a recipe for "snow pancakes" here and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to make them. Well that day came yesterday and in honor of it not only being snowy, but also the first day of February I made pink heart shaped snow pancakes. The kids loved them and it was fun.

Crazy Hair Night at Pioneer Clubs

2011-02-02T14:10:00.000-05:00

We had crazy hair night at Pionner Clubs on the 25th at church and my girls and I are always up for crazy hair night. My mom was in town so she actually had the joy of doing all 3 of our hair. I tackled Dakotah and managed to get about 5 pony tail holders in his hair and he looked pretty funny but of coarse he took them out which I don't blame him since he had to go to basket ball practice first. It was fun and crazy!

Fun in the snow!

2011-02-02T14:04:00.002-05:00

Hanging Out with Grandpa Tom

2011-02-02T13:59:00.000-05:00

The kids took quite nicely to meeting Grandpa Tom! The boys hung out with him and had fun while the girls....

had him tip them around in a box. What fun and Tom is very good at being a grandpa for having to go from 0 to 60 in less than a minute in becoming a grandpa. ;)

30!

2011-02-02T13:56:00.000-05:00

30, I can't believe it's here! I don't feel any different and it didn't bother me in any way and my husband did a fantastic job of making it amazing! He started by letting me open my present early which was a Kitchen Aide Artisan mixer, LOVE IT! Then Friday night ofhe took me to Fort Wayne for dinner at Red Lobster (I've never been but man my 1 1/2 lb of crab was amazing), then we got to stay in a hotel for the night while our friends watched our kiddos. So nice to have time alone to giggle, hang out and talk with out kid interuption!

Saturday I got to open another present, season 8 & 9 of Little House on the Prairie. YAY! Now here is the crazy thing......he apparently was trying to keep me up super later Saturday night but I wasn't cooperating. I went to bed about 11 and he followed me. Well then he gets up to make tea cause he forgot to have some before bed. I in the mean time fall asleep. He comes barreling up the stairs and in a very concerned tone informs me that someone just pulled into our drive way (like someone was coming to break in). I freak out, he goes down stairs and I hear the screen door open and say "are you serious, they are actually going to try to come in our house?!". I then hear him open the door and start whispering to someone which at this moment i'm getting mad at him cause I'm freaked out. My mom comes up the stairs....SURPRISE! Her and Tom came into town to surprise me and spend my birthday with me. How exciting! Monday came (my official birthday) and my momma bought me a Strawberry Shortcake cake. It was yummy and such a great birthday! Sneaky man of mine, and momma!

Something smells funny!

2011-02-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

I love it when my kids are all getting along and playing some imagination filled game together! Well one night a couple weeks ago my kids were doing exactly that. I heard a lot of noise coming from my trash can though in my kitchen so I went to go check it out. I couldn't believe what I found! Miss Madi decided to hide out in the trash can with the bag in it even though you cant see it cause she pulled it down while climbing in. Crazy girl! Thankfully nothing got on her clothes although there was plenty that could have.

Madi turns 5!

2011-01-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

Good morning birthday girl! I can not believe she's 5! I'm having a bit of a hard time with it too since she is our last one. It also didn't help that I had to fill out Kindergarten pre registration forms 2 days before. I've had 5 awesome years at home with her and the last 2 have been just me and my girl. It's just going to be so hard to let her go but I know she is going to have so much fun and do so good in school.

My kids get to pick what they want me to make them for their birthday dinner so we had fettuchini alfredo with garlic bread. Then it was time to open presents.

She had been wanting her own Jessie doll for quite some time now and she thought she would get one for Christmas but I waited till her birthday. She fell in love!

Every girl needs a tiara for her birthday!

Snow girl gets a glittery #5 added to her.

So excited and bashful, I love it!

Madi fell fast asleep (snoring) with Jessie in front of the tv. She was birthday exhausted.

Making a snow girl cake with my girl

2011-01-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

Madi and I have been talking about a snow man cake for the last 3 years and this was the year. I made the cakes, frosted them, then Madi and I went at it in bringing life to this snow girl. First the eyes,

then the nose,

then the smile and scarf

finally the buttons, arms and a bow so we would know it was a snow girl.

This cake was super easy to make and so much fun to do with my girl.

Happy New Year and look what happens when you give kids a cry baby.....

2011-01-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

The very first pics of the very first day of 2011 are ones that crack me up! I told my kids to "go a head and try a cry baby, they are yummy". Well, to me they are yummy and I eat the things with out the crazy sour face or anything else. Well, my kiddos aren't used to that kind of intensity and I knew it would be a moment to capture with the camera. Madi was up first and I just LOVE this picture.

Next Dakotah, LOVE this face too!

Colby was last and he was thinking he could pull it off..... mister hot stuff, well he.....

had the funniest look cause the sourness made his eyes twitch and then....

it hit him BIG time. HA, LOVE it!

Thanks to my kiddos for being such good sports for mommy! What fun!

Christmas morning

2011-01-08T12:35:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning came and it came with a punch for me. I woke up so sick and really didn't even want to open presents. My kiddos on the other hand were raring to go. They first woke to their new bean bags from Baz and that was exciting enough but the crazy full tree was still calling.

So, dad handed out gifts and everyone dug into their piles of goodies.

Dakotah has not let go of his new blanket momma made him, I love how much he loves the things I make him.

Now for the big one for miss Madi, yep all of December she has been telling me she just knows shes getting a guitar. I would ask her what made her think that and she was just bound and determined.

It was so fun to watch her watching as dad opened the box for her. She even at one point covered her eyes and claimed that she couldn't stand to watch. It was so stinkin cute!

Sure enough she got her guitar and the excitement in this picture just gives me chills still. Look at her hands and how she was jumping. I love it!

Aunt Sweets sent these silly eye glass straws and the kids had a blast with them although they made a mess.

Playing in the snow

2011-01-08T12:18:00.000-05:00

Finally enough snow to play in and the kiddos were out in it. They were trying so hard to make a snow man, but this was NOT snow man snow, not wet enough!

Miss Madi got cold fast and so she came in and decided she wanted hot cocoa and to play with her new Barbie.

She's so cute and looks so much like I did when I was her age.

A new tradition hopefully

2011-01-08T12:13:00.000-05:00

This year I had the four younger ones draw names for a gift exchange. Having such a big family we have to put a limit on the gifting part of Christmas so we don't buy gifts for the kids from each other. This year they had some extra money for their good grades and wanted to buy gifts. Well, they all pitched in to give Madi some money so she could be a part of it too. I gave them a spending limit and then they picked names. After that they gave me what their idea was of what they wanted to buy. Well, the night before Colby was leaving for Arizona I let them have their own Christmas gift exchange. It was cute and fun and they all loved what they bought for each other.

Madi really had been wanting the Barbie from Toy Story 3 and flipped when she got it.

Colby was excited to have something crafty to do now. He also bought me a cute wreath and his dad a new fleece hat that he told me he could imagine dad acting goofy in when he wore it. Well, the first thing Rodney did when he put it on was......

act goofy! It brought a huge smile to Colby's face. Such a thoughtful, loving and sweet little boy I've been blessed with!

Now that they know, I can post about it ;)!

2011-01-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

Back in October I was roaming around blog land and stumbled on this fun little thing to do, "Booing". Well, I put together 2 little ghost buckets with yummy treats, bundled up my boys, explained to them what they had to do and off we drove to our targeted houses. Silently in the dark of the evening my boys and their dad got out of the van and walked down an alley and snuck to their targeted houses, dropped the treats on the door step, knocked on the door and ran for their lives. From a block away I could see my boys running off in the dark back towards dad. I went and picked them up and then we went home and laughed so hard about it. They had a blast as did I. Weeeelllll, the Christmas season came along and I found "Elfing"....."oh boooys, want to go elfing?" They were big eyed and so excited. This time it would be a bit more tricky, there was slippery snow on the ground. Back at it we went and they got it done with only one falling on their bum. I love doing such fun stuff with my kiddos and this one is definitely going to become a tradition. They never got caught however the targets figured it out. The kids don't know and I don't plan on telling them cause they get to much excitement out of thinking they are super sneaky booing elves.

Decorating the tree

2011-01-08T11:47:00.000-05:00

As is tradition in our house hold, mom pulled out the tree the day after Thanks Giving only to find that only maybe 1/4 of it actually lite up. What a bummer! Well, there was no new tree in the budget and not real sure there will be even next year so I went into my lights box in hopes that I actually had lights. Sure enough I had plenty of strands to make it work. I went at it stringing lights on the tree (not something I would consider on my list of fun things to do) and when I was done the tree looked so much better. After that the kids had at it. It is so much fun to sit back across the room and watch my 5 little ones decorate it up. It's also hard not to walk by the tree later and move things around but I'm getting better at letting it go. One day I will have to decorate it myself then I can have things where ever I want, until then let them have at it.

All done and they did a great job working together!

Another fun party at Linda's blog!

2010-11-23T15:39:00.000-05:00

I have been working all year on a stitchery pattern found on Prarie Flower Farm blog and I have enjoyed it so much. Now it's time to put it all together and Linda out did her self in creating as well as sharing this project with so many! If you would like to check it out and download the patterns your self as well as join the party then feel free to head on over. http://prairieflowerfarm.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-thank-you-and-it-is-time-for-party.html

An unplanned trip down south.

2010-11-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took a trip down to Madison that was unplanned. While Rodney was taking care of things, the kids and I headed down the the Ohio river to play at the park. The kids as you will see weren't too upset about missing school.

Colby is so strong being the king of the mountain.

My boys were "snipping" me. Ahhh, boys I tell ya!

Madi of coarse won't let any one do anything with out her showing she can keep up.

Autumn was busy running back and forth over the bridge until she almost fell.

After park time we headed down to the river to throw rocks in which the girls told the boys they would beat them to the water. The boys however took a short cut in an attempt to beat the girls and......

the victory dance for taking the short cut and beating the girls. Right in the middle of throwing rocks all of the sudden Madi starts bawling and yelling that she lost her bracelet in the river.
After getting her to explain the story to me, I look as hard as I can and sure enough about 12-15 feet out is Madi's blue beaded bracelet. As I claim to her that they are gone and we will have to find her a new bracelet Colby pleads with me to let him rescue the bracelet. I told him to find a long stick first which he couldn't and he continued to plead with me to just let him rescue it. I gave in, who am I to stop a boy from being a gentleman?! We hiked up his pant legs, took off his socks and shoes and off he went.

He didn't realize you are supposed to hold onto your pant legs as well as push your sleeves up before putting your hand in the water. OOPS!

What a hero! Madi was so excited and thankful and Colby, well he was now wet and cold. I took him up to the van and thankfully had packed jammies for everyone to change into if it was late. He got dry and warm. Chivalry isn't dead, at least in my boy it isn't!

Oh yes, this is out of order but in between the park and the river rock excursion, we crossed the bridge and went to Kentucky to take a picture just because we could and to say we did. We had a fun day in the beautiful weather. After all this, it was lunch time and Rodney was done taking care of business so we walked down Main St. and went to have lunch at Hinkles......YUM!

They have the best mini burgers I've ever had! Oh, and no Rodney wasn't having all 6 of these him self, only half were his and half mine.

Halloween

2010-11-13T09:34:00.000-05:00

Halloween seems to always be loads of fun for the kids and I. We have maybe only bought 1 costume which was for Dakotah, ever! We pretty much make up our costumes based off what we have at home. I did however hit up the 75% off carts this year for a few things that can become new items to pull with other things to make up next years costumes.

Colby opted to be a dragon by wearing his jammies. Good idea!

Autumn pulled many pieces to make up her ballet outfit and she was so cute.

My bumble bee beauties! Miss Madi always has to be like someone else in our family and she couldn't imitate mom's costume which is who she originally wanted to match so when Bre agreed to be a bee Madi was so excited cause we had a bee outfit for her as well. Theses bee outfits were given to me a long time ago so we've been saving them for someone to use for quite a while.

Dakotah's goal is to dress up as every Star Wars character he can through out his whole life so this year it's the storm trooper. I found a Darth Vader one in the 75% off cart so once again he will have a costume bought for him and can continue with his goal.

Now we come to mom/me. Every year I have no idea what I'll be and really only start thinking about it till the day of Halloween or trick or treating. Well this year I was thrown for a loop, no ideas except for a cheetah but I did that last year. All of the sudden 80's rocker came to mind and I remembered I had my wig from way back when I was like 13. Yep, I started going in a frenzy pulling things together and had a blast doing so.

We went trick or treating with our friends which Winter dressed up with me however our husbands didn't and usually don't so they are dressed as what they said is "party poopers".

Here is the crew minus Winter who is taking the picture. She was dressed 80's and looked awesome.

Nothing like candy that turns your tongue slim green.

A Quilt for my 10 year old

2010-11-13T09:11:00.000-05:00

I love making quilts and mostly for my kids! I think by the time they are old enough to venture off on their own they will have a nice stock pile of quilts. They wont all be big, mostly lap quilts but if they have something cozy to cuddle up under when they are no longer in the comforts of their parents home, that will make my mommy heart more content. This quilt I've been working on for about a year and finished it literally the day of Colby's party. I unfortunately got pneumonia so it was a push to get it finished. I have since only managed to get one quilt made from start to finish. I just haven't had it in me. I will post pics of that one after Christmas since it's a gift for someone.

This is the back of Colby's John Deere's.

This is the front. This is one of my favorite patterns to do! It is a quilt as you go and I love that part cause once your done, your done! I let Colby pick which direction he wanted his log cabins to flow since you can literally place these blocks in so many combinations to make up so many amazing and beautiful designs. He favored the diagonal look which turned out amazing. I wanted it a row longer, but being as this is a quilt I didn't buy any fabric for and used what was on hand, I wasn't about to go hunt down more fabric just to extend it. I'm sure there will be another quilt for him as he grows that I'll want to make.

Party over at Linda's house....what a sweet lady!

2010-08-10T21:47:00.000-04:00

As usual, Linda over at Prarie Flower Farm is being so kind and blessing us with a party at her blog. She has such wonderful items as a part of this give away. Not only that, but she shares amazing recipes, pictures, inspiration, her love for the LORD and encouragement. I urge you to go on over and take a look at Linda's blog and be inspired by what an amazing woman God has made her. Enjoy!

Who would have ever guessed??!!!!

2010-07-09T16:41:00.001-04:00

So this past Tuesday Madi was outside playing soccer with her brothers and then they came in with Madi just a crying away. So, as she is trying to tell me she hurt herself Colby starts to explain to me what happened and come to find out she was trying to show him how she could kick the ball and instead of kicking it she stepped on it and it rolled out from under her sending her flying. She fell back and landed on her hand and arm. After ice, wrapping and medicine I took her in yesterday and they sent us for x-rays. Yep, it was fractured.

A "buckle" fracture is what she has done. This picture of the x-ray isn't that great but you can still see where the bone has movement in it. So they sent us home until today when we headed to an orthopedist. We went in and he told us what kind of fracture and then said it needed to be casted. I was happy to hear that and happy it finally would be happening.

Here she is after I took off the ace wrap and waiting for the doctor.

The cotton wrap is on.

Then on went the cast. She was not so happy when the doctor pulled out an orange cast but then he decided it would be too big so he grabbed another one and after he set it down next to her she yelled out for me and showed me that it was her favorite color, baby blue.

Here she is ready to go home. She has been a trooper through it all and has dealt with the pain very well in my opinion. I would have never guessed it to be her to break a bone first, always had my guess on Dakotah and so did so many other people in our family. I think Miss Madi is going to keep us on our toes!

Our works of art....

2010-07-09T16:28:00.000-04:00

Here are a few pictures of our finished works of art. The shirt being held up is Jessica's but she wasn't there because she had went to church camp the day before. I LOVE how they all turned out.

Cool Blue Sunday

2010-07-09T16:22:00.000-04:00

Sunday after church and naps we headed to Chelsea and Jessica's grandma Bonnie's house to eat some yummy food and swim in their awesome pool. It felt so good!

Chelsea thrying to blow water out of the noodle.

Autumn stopping for a second to let Mimi take her picture.

A quick shot of D playing.

Miss Madi lounging around looking all cute!

Probably the only picture Mimi could get of Colby since he didn't stop moving the moment he got in the pool.

Hanging out with my man.

Miss Madi eating probably her second of the three cobbs of corn she had. My sweet little country girl!

Tye Dye tradition, year 2

2010-07-09T16:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, so last summer we tye dyed for the first time with Kim and her girl's and had so much fun we decided to make it tradtion every summer. When the kid's grow out of them then I'm going to turn them into a quilt for each kido. Well, I grabbed all the supplies hoping weather would be good while we were staying with Kim. YAY, it was! Saturday night before dinner and fireworks we went out back and went at it.

D and Dad working on D's. I was so excited dad got to be in on it this year, last year I just did on for him while he was at work.

Me working on Madi's

Colby also actually got to do it this year since he wasn't with us last year I did his and this year he got to enjoy it and that he did!

Miss Chelsea working on hers.

Jessica just twisted and wrapped hers in a random way all her own, very creative.

Miss Autumn working hard making sure she gets it the way she wants.

All of us except Aunt Mimi (Kim) who was taking all the pictures but she too tye dyed.

These 2 melt me!

2010-07-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday on the river was even hotter than Friday and humid this time so in other words it was miserable. We went down after visiting Granpda Culver a few hours and we only stay a few hours before heading back to Kim's house. It was just way too hot. I didn't get much pictures except of Miss Madison winning the first heat of the weekend which was awesom to see. The two pictures I did get was....

of my man and

of my baby! These two melt me I tell ya!

Some fun on Main Street

2010-07-09T15:54:00.000-04:00

After walking up and down the river in Madison we headed to Main Street where our chairs were parked earlier in the day saving our prime spots for the parade. Kim brought us all hot dogs and chips with some grapes so we ate dinner, hung out, went into a shop or two and then sat and waited.

Here is Grandma Culver walking back with the kiddos.

Madi and Chelsea hanging out waiting for the parade to start.

Hanging with my man.

My boys, so cute!

Autumn getting more excited about the parade starting as we start to hear the sirens.

My baby didnt make it! Daddy is too cozy and she was too wore out.

Our favorite from the parade, the Miss Madison Oh Boy Oberto hydro boat who ended up winning the Madison Regatta that weekend. WHOO!!!!

A little fun at the park on the river.

2010-07-09T15:38:00.000-04:00

Friday (the weekend of the 4th) we spent the day on the river watching the boats test, walking up and down seeing the little booths and then once at the end of the river walk we stopped to play at the park before walking back. It was hot but fun!

Culver/Crow network cake challenge!

2010-06-28T20:08:00.003-04:00

Autumn got a cake decorating thingy like an easy bake oven for cake decorating, not too long ago. Well she's been wanting to decorate some cakes so Rodney made some cup cakes the other day and then tonight after dinner we pulled everything out and set it on the table. I pulled out all my sprinkles and frosting for the other kids too, then we had our own "challenge". We set the timer for about 40 minutes and away they went.

Here is Autumn's contraption to decorate.

Dad was the judge and here is Madi having him taste hers trying to "butter" him up to win.

Here are all of the entries. Dakotah's is the stacked ones, then Autumn's, then Madi's and Colby's are the two stuck side by side in the front. Rodney made one too which is sitting in the back of the line of entries. So he judged them and decided that Autumn went against rules (she had help), Madi was trying to butter up the judge so that left the boy's entries and he concluded that there was a tie between them.

Here are the winners entries.
This was so much fun! What a messy good time.

A new book sure to inspire a summer full of goodness!

2010-06-08T15:13:00.002-04:00

I got an email the other morning and headed on over to the very first blog I ever started to follow to find out what all the excitement was about. Over at Sugar Pie Farm House Aunt Ruthie's new e-book has been released and is packed full of tips, recipes and all sorts of fun photos sure to inspire any ones summer. I am waiting patiently until I may be able to join in on the fun of this book. I encourage any one who reads my blog to hop on over and take a look at the preview she has posted up on her blog. Also if you take a look at an older post you'll have a chance to take a peek at her new bundle of grandson joy! Thanks Aunt Ruthie for being inspiring and uplifting to this homemaker and sharing your love for our Lord!

The ZOO

2010-06-06T12:39:00.003-04:00

Saturday morning we headed to the Zoo to spend about an hour roaming around. Well, it actually turned into 3 hours of fun. It started to get hot so we let the kids (Colby didnt) run around the water spot to get wet for the remainder of our walk through the zoo so they wouldnt get so hot. We really enjoyed the farm part of the zoo where we pet some goats, milked a fake cow, climbed all over a tractor, saw an enormous horse and a chicken with a mohawk. This zoo is such a great one. I have enjoyed it every time I've been. We ended our time with a ride on the merry go round which is one of our favorite things to do.

Rawhide....

2010-06-06T12:23:00.003-04:00

Friday night we went to a cute little cowboy town place called Rawhide. It's like a cowboy main street with all kinds of shops, buggies, stagecoaches and other stuff. First we walked around a bit and went into a few shops to browse. After wards we went into the resturant and sat down to order up some yummy food. While we waited for our food there was a band there that was singing some good ol country songs and there was a dance floor right in front of them. It took a while but then the kids finally got up and danced the time away that they had to wait for food. It was so much fun to watch them all.

"HELP!!! Mom's sending us away". I thought this was a funny photo opp.

We love some good saspirilla! We had it all around (well for the kids and I).

My boys!

My dad and my grandma.

My girls!

Fun little buggy that reminded them all of "Little House on the Prairie" so I had to take their pic.

Park Play and some Aunties

2010-06-06T12:18:00.002-04:00

In the middle of the night Thursday night Colby's fever had finally broke!!!! We made some plans to meet up with 2 of his aunts at a park and have some lunch together as well as play time with his cousins. I didnt take very many pictures because I was enjoying my time so much chatting with Melynda, Edward and Brittany. It's been a long time so it was very nice. The few shots I got of my kids playing I took before the rest of the crew showed up. Colby didnt play much since it was hot and he was still worn out from being sick. He did great though and enjoyed chatting as well.

Colby with his Aunts.

Swimming Fun

2010-06-06T11:57:00.003-04:00

Of coarse when you go to AZ you know your going to do some swimming. That was like the first thing the kids wanted to do and did. They had so much fun. We never made it over to Aunt Marilyn's to swim in her big pool because Colby was sick the majority of the time but Grammy bought the kids a pool for her back yard which was enough to keep the kids quite happy!Afterwards, Grammy brought out the popsicles and Colby came to sit out for a little while. Even Grandpa came and sat out with us as soon as he came home from work.

The Kindergarten Graduate

2010-06-06T11:52:00.002-04:00

Autumn missed her Kindergarten graduation due to us flying to AZ. It was the very same day we jumped on a plane, so I called a head and asked my mom to buy her a cake. I bought her a card and had everyone sign it then we ate a great dinner and then the cake. We sang "happy graduation" to her and then had some fun with glow jewelry. It was a good little celebration that I think helped her not really care that she didn't make it to her graduation.

Congratulations to the Graduate!

2010-06-06T11:31:00.003-04:00

The kids and I were blessed to have the opportunity to fly down to AZ to watch RJ (my "baby"/6ft4in brother) graduate from high school. It was an awesome experience. When we showed up, found our seats and waited the kids were in awe that I had gone to this very school about 11 years ago and graduated from there myself. It was so neat to be able to show them as well. As we were waiting we were snapping some pictures, having some laughs and maybe even the occasional tear that tried to sneak out. It was hot but not as hot as when I had graduated. His class was somewhere in the 600's and mine you ask, well somewhere in the upper 800's. YIKES!

The graduate before heading to the school.

Grandpa (my dad) being silly while we wait.

Headed to his seat (he is the extremely tall one)

Receiving his diploma (such an awesome moment!)

The cap toss up!

RJ and Brianna after their graduation. Such a sweet girl and cute couple! We like her a lot!

Me and my brother. I so love this boy!

The graduate with his proud parents.
Good job RJ! You did great the last 4 years and have no closed this chapter on your life just to open the very next one. I pray that college will be an adventure that finds you learning amazing things, reaching your goals and dreams and taking you right down the road God has intended for you. I love you very much and I'm very proud of you and to be your sister.

Field Trip Fun

2010-05-22T18:10:00.003-04:00

I got to go on my first field trip with Colby this past Thursday. Now I have been on plenty of field trips with Dakotah and some with Autumn but never have I got to hang out with Colby. Well, I picked a good one to go on. We basically got to go on a mini tour of our little town of Wabash. We started at the history museum where I learned a few interesting things I never knew or would have guessed. After that it was off to the city park for some lunch and some play time. Thankfully after 3 weeks of rain it was like our only really nice day before the next round of rain came in. Once we were all played out at the park we headed to the old Eagles Theater, then Modoc's (our coffee shop with a interestingly fun history) and last the Honeywell Center where we got to go up on the huge stage and behind it as well. Colby and I had a lot of fun together and I look forward to some more trips with him.

Colby listening to the interesting "language" the train station people have with the conductors (museum exibit).

Colby taking a nice little virtual tour around the reservoir and our neighborhood of LaFontaine right from the museum.

Playing at the park.

Mom's famous pictures she takes herself with others. Good times!!!!

Precious Moments!

2010-05-22T18:04:00.002-04:00

So last night as I was talking on the computer with my husband I looked over at my 4 year old who had already been dozing off and when I asked her to move to the couch (easier on my back to pick her up from there as opposed to the floor) she insisted that she needed to have her cookies before she fell asleep. I let her go get them and she crawled back onto the couch and began to eat. Well, I looked over and found her totally asleep with all but half of one of her three cookies sitting on the table. She was so tired that even cookies couldn't keep her going. It was so sweet looking how she was just sitting all cozy and out she went. I brought my laptop in front of her so that my husband could catch a glimpse too.

Another little Project

2010-05-22T17:57:00.003-04:00

I found this fun/useful little tutorial at this new blog I found called Skip to My Lou. Its a fun little luggage tag and with the mini vacation coming up, what better timing! Well, I whipped up a few today in between our events we had for our Saturday. I love them! Super cute, super fun and super useful. I even made one with airplane fabric for my son Colby who travel quite a bit.

Here is the "front" or address side and....

here is the "back" or fun fabric side.

Mother/Daughter Banquet

2010-05-22T07:53:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday was our banquet at church and it was the first one I got to have all my girls with me. The theme was APRONs and I so enjoyed it. The tables were adorned with blue and white Ball canning jars, old fashion coffee grinders and other kitchen utensils along with wash boards, ironing boards and irons. It was right up my alley and it felt so cozy especially because there were BEAUTIFUL quilts around and fancy aprons. The food was yummy, the company was very enjoyable and the devotional/presentation was so nice to watch. It was a blessed evening with all my girls!

A New Family

2010-05-21T22:27:00.004-04:00

I was putting up the fence around my garden the other day and saw a robin swoop out of one of my apple trees and head to another tree across the yard. I looked closer to the apple tree and noticed a nest so of coarse I got curious and got my step stool out and held my camera way out (I couldn't actually see into the nest) and snapped a picture in hopes of finding something inside. When I got off the stool and looked at my picture, sure enough there before me was one of the most beautiful colors known to spring. 3 little eggs smiling back at the camera and I was so ecstatic. I ran in to show Rodney and now I can't wait until they hatch and I listen to them call out for their mama while I'm in my garden. I might even share some of my worms with them. ;)

Our tribute....

2010-05-21T22:15:00.003-04:00

Sooo.....we (me mostly but also the kids) have got hooked on Little House on the Prairie. I had never seen it and my friends have now lent us seasons 1-3. We will be asking for 4 when summer break begins. Well, we have fallen in love, especially me and the girls. I wanted a bonnet for when I am out this summer working in my garden. Well that led to the girls wanting one as well. When my Oma was visiting a few weeks ago we went to Joanns for some of her projects and while there we looked up bonnet patterns and she bought the adult and kids ones for me. I started mine a few day ago and finished it today (I don't have pics yet) and then decided to knock out the girl's at the same time later this afternoon. Once I was done and gave them their bonnets they played in them the rest of the evening. They were pretending they were in Little House and acting it out and then they asked if we could go in the garden now (it was thunder, lightening and pouring rain at the time and did the rest of this evening), "um NO". I look forward to the many mornings we will be spending out in our garden though wearing our bonnets.

Miss Madi

Miss Autumn

The goofy girls together

Another Fab Give Away....

2010-05-19T22:23:00.001-04:00

There is another fabulous give away over at Prairie Flower Farm so go on over, check it out and try for your chance to win. Also keep on reading her posts to see all the new little ones running around her farm. Madi and I so wish we could go visit!

4 generations

2010-05-13T13:02:00.003-04:00

Back left to right: Oma the Great grandma (my grandma), Anne the grandma (my momma), Me (the mom) and in front, Madi. 4 generations all together for the first time.

5 wonderful years

2010-05-10T19:40:00.002-04:00

5 years ago this past Thursday I married a man that I loved dearly. Now as our anniversary passes I get to look back and see how far that man has come all thanks to our Heavenly Father. I have come quite a ways as well but more exciting is how far our marriage has come and has been blessed. I had all intentions of surprising Rodney with a vowel renewal Thursday evening but due to medical issues it had to be canceled. Well....thanks to my wonderful Pastor who knew how important this was to me, we planned for a second go round only this time his idea was at the end of church in front of not only my family who was visiting, but our entire church family as well. I was STOKED!!!!! So Sunday came, our two oldest children became members of our church, the mothers were honored and then I started to get nervous. HA, if only he knew why I was being so jumpy. Our Pastor began to describe how long ago and where we were married then how we came to know Jesus and how we were supposed to surprise him but it didn't happen. At this point I leaned over and whispered to him "oh by the way...surprise!". He called us up on stage and when we got up there our Pastor called up our small group members (our very near and dear to us) while they were coming up Rodney whispered to me that I was ornery. With a very pleased smile I said "yes I am!". With my mom and grandma as well as our 2 oldest standing next to us and being surrounded by our friends and family, we renewed our commitment to each other.....only this time in God's house and with His sweet blessing! It was amazing! I've been told someone took pictures and when I receive those I'll post them but all I have is some beautiful pictures my mom took when we got back to the house.

5 years and 5 beautiful kids! I am so blessed!

...and this is how we really feel ;)! It's quite blurry but I just love this picture. I'm hoping a friend of mine can clean it up for me cause it's super special.

Be Still.....

2010-04-28T19:23:00.002-04:00

"Be still, Sit still, Don't move so much, Control yourself", these are phrases often to come out of mine and my husband's mouths when talking to our 8 year old who really doesn't "be still". We are in a bit of a difficult time with him at the moment and as parents we are doing everything we think is right or we can even think to do. It's so hard at times and you just want the best for your kids, you just want them to "get it". Well, I'm sure many years from now we will look back on this and be happy that the Lord lead us through this tough time as well as many more that are to come. Well, our kids were all out playing and running around the yard. Come to find out they were playing a game of hide and seek. My husband and I happened to walk by the kitchen window and this view of our son caught our eye. We stopped and watched him for about 5 minutes. I kid you not, he moved only twice when he popped up to see if the seeker was coming. I soaked in this beautiful sight of my son being still, even if it took trying his hardest not to be the first to be found. He CAN do it! I love this image and it will be one I will try keep very clear in my mind when I start to get frustrated.

A chance to win...

2010-04-26T17:02:00.002-04:00

My blogger friend Linda is having a drawing over at her blog for Beth Moore's new book. Linda had the opportunity to get away with her daughters to see Beth speak on this subject and they really enjoyed themselves. I have struggled with insecurities since I could remember. It has been insecurities over many things through the many years but one thing stays the same, having insecurities. I think as women this is our biggest struggle and as women we should band together to pray each other through these issues. If anyone has an insecurity or anything they would like me to pray for on their behalf just let me know and I would be more than happy to.

A new yard friend

2010-04-15T21:14:00.002-04:00

As I was mowing along today I caught out of the corner of my eye something moving around a tree I was going around. I looked and oh boy it was a frog. Now I'm no expert but I think this guy is a frog because we have toads around our yard a lot and they seem to be way smaller, all brown and very round. This guy has quite a bit of green, is longer, slimmer and his nose seems to be kind of pointy on top of the fact that he is much bigger than our toad friends. After I finished up my swipes around the tree I informed the kids and they all ran and hung out with him for a while "petting" him with sticks and seeing who was brave enough to touch him. I think 3 of the kids said they actually touched him. I think Miss Madi was the only one who didn't although I find it hard to believe Autumn did.

I have wanted one of these for quite a long time.

2010-04-14T21:34:00.003-04:00

I have admired grapevine trees on many people porches for quite a long time and have really wanted to have one of my own however I really wasn't to excited or willing to pay the expensive prices for one. Patience pays off I tell you! My girlfriend Christine gave me a call this past weekend to let me know of some grapevine that she was being given and invited me to take some. I was besides myself! Monday after I picked up the kids from school we all headed to her house to pull the vines from a pile of of sticks, shrubs and more yard stuff. While most of the kids were entertained with trying to pull Christine's weeds, we wrapped up the vines into bungles and loaded some in her truck to take to my house. I had all intentions of starting my project Tuesday but after getting the vines home, the kid's homework done and dinner, I was out the back door and to work I went.

Here is a few bundles of my treasure!

My sweet Colby was kind enough to snap a picture of me at work.

So close and I ran out of grapevine. I was very bummed! Christine checked up on me the next day and when I told her she insisted I come grab some more bundles and that I did.

This is my finished tree. He looks like he leans and has a bit of a look like he is twisted, and this is all what I LOVE about him. He now proudly sits upon my porch and I am so excited! Can't wait to help Christine with hers.

A Gem of a Discovery!

2010-04-14T21:17:00.004-04:00

So today it was a beautiful day and I wasn't about to let the sun march on through the day without me....and Madi. We spent some time out in the back yard this afternoon before we had to pick the kids up from school. Well, as we were on what we were calling our "yard walk" (I was in search for a tree that would provide me with a branch strong enough to hold my free porch swing I got the other day which I'll post about after I finish it), we came upon this patch that I've been looking at for weeks wondering what in the world is all growing in it. Now since we moved in this house in November, plants were on their way out so all growth is new to us. The other day as I was mowing I was going to mow over this patch that just looks like a heap of nothing but I didn't. I am so glad i didn't! As I was looking and walking by my eye caught the sight of something long, green and yummy looking! Sure enough it is Asparagus! I am so besides myself it's crazy. I only saw one but it's huge. Later when all the kids were out side I decided to show them too and then I found 7 more so I ran to call my Oma and as I was talking to her and cleaning out anything that looked dead from the bed I found I think about 20 or so all together. After an hour of googling on the subject I am ready to go harvest the ones that are ready and I'm going to go off faith that this Asparagus bed has been established long enough for me to do so.

I love being a country girl!!!

A sweet give away!

2010-04-13T17:05:00.002-04:00

Audrey's Give Away blog is having a Gooseberry Patch cookbook give away. Jump on over to put in your entries for your chance to win.

A fun little freebie over at Prairie Flower Farm

2010-04-13T11:46:00.002-04:00

I popped in at one of my favorite blogs that I frequent every day to find a mighty little surprise of a give away! If you too would like to have the blessing of enjoying this freebie then by all means pop on over to Linda's blog. This little guy below is the first of four in a fun wall hanging that I can't wait to hang in my house (just need to find the right spot or nails on my walls. My husband teases me that if there is a nail in our wall I will find something to put on it. I don't think I'm THAT bad....ok well, maybe a little ;). Enjoy and make sure to give Linda thanks.

A new Easter tradition for the Culver/Crow household?!?!

2010-04-04T14:55:00.005-04:00

So after my mind drifted away on the thought of what to do different this year for Easter, I was lead to the idea of a pinata. All of the sudden it had dawned on my that none of our 4 younger kids have ever had a pinata or been around for one so why not. My search began for an Easter themed pinata at Walmart which I had found and egg one but was not happy or willing to spend $15 on something my kids were going to smash to smithereens. Then I hit up google to find out how to make one myself. An egg shape couldn't be that hard after all. So I found what I needed then got to work. For 3 days I laid down layers of newspaper on my egg shaped balloon and then yesterday while trying to doze off for a nap I had the idea pop into my head to stick Easter grass all over it instead of just painting it. That is exactly what I did after my nap. I had a huge bag full of left over grass from years past baskets. Seriously what did I need to save it all for? Well now it had a purpose. I was so excited once I had finished!

Here is the first layer going on...

Here's what it looked like when I finished. I was so happy with how it turned out!

This has got to be the biggest egg I've seen hidden in the grass! We were getting it ready to hang.

Now that it's all hung up and looking pretty in the breeze, it's time to train the kids on what to do.

Youngest first, blind folded and one good whack. She was excited and nervous. It was cute!

Autumn was up next but she got turned around a few times before we let her have a whack.

Now we started off with one whack each so that it would give them all a chance figuring if we didn't Colby might get left out since the boys are stronger and Dakotah got to go before him. Glasses off, turned 8 times (per his request) and away he went.

Colby's turn! He was turned around as well and we all were cracking up at this point watching the dizzy person walk towards the pinata.

Ok, so everyone got a chance, YAY (I was glad about that). Now to take off the blind folds and give 3 whacks. I didn't get a picture of Madi but she enjoyed it. Here is Autumn trying her hardest on her turn.

Dakotah was up next and got in three really good whacks that I would say "injured" the pinata but it still held strong.

Colby got another chance and of coarse dad couldn't make it easy on him and had to play games raising it up as he would swing. It was so funny.

Eventually though the tough pinata met it's match when we told Colby to really whack it and he did. The candy spilled out, they grabbed their baskets and began to collect their goodies. The entire time they were collecting candy all I heard was how cool it was, fun it was, awesome it was and that we should do it again next year.
I would love to do it for them again! Nothing like watching your kiddos smash your labor of love to smithereens! It ROCKED!

The Promise

2010-04-01T11:44:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday we had our Easter Pageant called The Promise. Colby and Rodney were in it and after weeks of practices and rehearsals the night finally came. I think Colby was a bit nervous even if he didn't admit it and I know Rodney was. I snuck back into the "dressing area" before the performance to snap a quick picture of my little man ready to play his part.

He looks so cute! He was a shepherd for one scene and a villager the rest of the play.

This here is one of the prophets (my hubby playing one of his parts).

This is a group of villagers talking in anticipation of Jesus' arrival.

This is the villagers celebrating in Jesus' baptism. This play has such moving scenes and I found myself in tears during many of them!

I'm quite fond of the fisherman/disciple in blue (Rodney's other part).

Palm Sunday and the villagers singing Jehovah (such a great song). I love this picture of Colby even though his eyes are shiny because if you look close you see his foot up while he was playing his tambourine. This shows me he was really getting into it and enjoying his time in the play!

Yet another scene that leaves you in tears as Jesus brings the little girl (Aliea) back to life.

The disciples at the last supper.

The end where the villagers and everyone else is waiting for Jesus after his resurrection to sing and praise that our Lord has risen!

This pageant is awesome and I enjoyed it again this year. Colby informed me he wants to be in it again when they do it in 2 years. What an awesome display of our Saviors birth, life, death and resurrection. AMEN!!!!!!

A little baking with my girl!

2010-04-01T11:38:00.003-04:00

In anticipation of my uncle coming to visit after not seeing him for about 9 years, Madi and I decided to bake a blackberry pie and a couple loaves of peach bread from our peaches and berries from the farm house we used to live in. She was such a great helper and it was so much fun. I am cherishing every moment with her while she's home because school is so close and then it will be days with no kiddos home. I haven't been with out a kiddo in 9 years so it's a bit intimidating.
Back to the fun....we had a great time visiting with my uncle. He had only met Colby and that was when he was 6 months old, so it was probably a big surprise to meet all 5 of my kiddos. We enjoyed a great meal, some yummy pie and good conversation. I was happy to have had the opportunity to host him and his fiance.

Enjoying the Weather

2010-04-01T11:22:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago we had our first break of nice spring like weather even though it was still winter. We of coarse took advantage of this weather and spent as much time as possible outside playing and working. Madi and I one day decided to head out to clean up our flower beds. Now we moved in in November so we aren't sure what our yard has to offer but we are very excited to find out.
First we headed up to the front of the yard and raked out leaves and dead parts of plants. I also was having an issue with the bed around the mail box not having any definition really, it just ran into the grass. Well, nothing a bunch of rocks found in various places around our yard wouldn't cure.

I just love how it turned out and the definition it has now as it's own lovely place. Looking forward to seeing the yellow flowers that are a part of the plant around the mail box (I found a plant steak in one of the plants). Madi and i also planted some Daisy seeds (today since it's so warm and nice), hope they come up.

Next, there was a bed in the back right outside our slider door that also just blended into the grass. We had a pile of bricks used to build our house, way out in our back yard so I hauled them up in the wheel barrow, dug a trench around the bed and laid my bricks in then filled in any spaces I needed to. This picture was taken when I was about half done. It turned out great! In the last week we have found some very interesting things starting to grow that I have no clue what they are. More surprises!

The next two pictures are 2 more beds in our back yard. The first one I still haven't put in a boarder but yet again, it needs it and I want one. More bricks will be coming up from the back but I'll have to get my boys to help me. They are so strong and this mama's back will go out if I push it too much. The other bed has a boarder (yeay, less work). Both beds have plants in them that I am waiting with delight to see what they have to offer. One bed has roses I know for sure and I'm happy my grandma will be here next month to give me some yard lessons.

We are loving our spring weather and so much so that today we get to have all the windows opened to bring in that fresh clean spring air smell into my house, as well as in my laundry that I hung out this morning. Love that smell! I will post pictures of all the beds as they bloom into what ever they are.

Eye of the Tiger

2010-03-24T14:24:00.004-04:00

Ok, so for those who don't know, our Pioneer Club "snacking" after award events usually consist of many yummy sweet treats. Now there is the occasional healthy treat as well like apple slices and a veggie/dip tray but mostly it consist of delicious cookies, cupcakes, cookies, marshmallows, cookies, jello and did I mention....cookies. Now after you feed such items to children and then allow a small block of time to pass after ingesting such treats then decide to leave the event which involves sticking them in a vehicle all packed in together, you end up with a van full of sugar rushing children who can not control them selves! The funniest part is when Eye of the Tiger comes on the CD player and they all SHOUT the words and dance profusely so much so that the van shakes to the point that you at first think something is wrong with it till it dawns on you it is the zoo full of monkeys you have stashed in the back. Yes, our trip home last night was one for the books or in this case, the blog!

Pioner Club Awards Night

2010-03-24T14:14:00.003-04:00

Last night was our final Pioneer club award night. Madi was anticipating it for two days and was so worked up with excitement. Scooters were the first group up which is Madi and Autumn's class. After saying their memory verses (Psalms 119:105 and Ephisians 6:2) they were called up one by one to receive their awards. Madi was so excited that she skipped and jumped back to her spot in line and I almost thought she would yell how excited she was. I enjoyed being a helper in this class this year, it was fun and a great time to share with my girls.
Next up was the Voyagers which is Dakotah's class and the same went for them, memory verses and then awards. After them was the oldest group, the Pathfinders/Colby's calss. They also recited their memory verses then received their awards. The last few weeks this class was in the kitchen baking so they earned a baking award which Colby was looking forward to.
After a devotion from Brenda our youth cordinator we headed into our fellowship hall to snack on some yummy finger foods. In all it was a great evening and I enjoyed watching my kiddos receive the awards they work hard to earn.

A bit more birthday fun

2010-03-24T14:08:00.003-04:00

Saturday was the day we officially celebrated Dakotah's 8th birthday with the "cake" and presents. He had wanted a death star cake but since the idea of him even getting a party was up in the air until about a week prior it left no time for us to order the cake pan and then make it. Walmart did a fantastic job of keeping me on the star wars track though. The figures light sabers even light up when you push a button. I only have these two pictures since I became too busy enjoying watching him. Once my friend Winter sends me a particular picture I will share it with you all so you can see what happens after a soon to be 8 year old talks up such a big game for about a year of how he thinks he will smash his face into his cake when his day comes. Very fun!!!! Stay tuned....