First Ponytail

Lindsey's hair is now long enough to pull into a little curly-q of a ponytail. of course i had to pull and pull and smooth it to get it in the tiny rubber band.

And here she is soooo very proud of it:

Such a milestone in a little girls life!!

Maybe it's more exciting for Mommy than for her.

Another Easy Valentine Idea

This is what the kids made for their teachers.


Just a tube of hand lotion, cut-outs of the kids' hands, and sticky dots to adhere the hands to the lotion.


The front:

It says , "You deserve a hand!"

And on the back:

The To and From label.

I think the teachers will appreciate this Valentine.

Valentine Bookmarks

These are the Valentines that Kaycie has been working on. I saw this idea in Family Fun magazine and loved it.

Very easy and they are usable!

Bookmarks made from an old calendar.

Pretty self-explanatory how to make them.

Snow Surprise

I don't watch the news. Never have.

So this morning after taking the kids to school, imagine my surprise when it started to snow. Now here it is 10:00 and it's still snowing!

Right now, looking out my back door:

And in just the 5-10 minutes since I took these pictures, the gaps between the deck boards are not visible anymore.

Flakes the size of Lindsey's palms are floating down in huge amounts.

Needless to say, I didn't go to my quilting group this morning. I figured I'd better stick close to home (and school) just in case!

Did you all know this was coming or are there others out there surprised this morning?

Almost 15 Years!

In May it will be 15 years married to this man!

Ken and I were just talking about that the other day and it made me think of our 10 year anniversary. We took a cruise to Mexico and had so much fun together.

I began to look at the pictures from that trip. It was the first time I had left our kids for more than one night at a time. But we had a great vacation with each other.
To be able to laugh, joke, snuggle, and just enjoy each other was so wonderful!
No time schedule, no body needing a nap (except Ken), no baby needing nursing, no diapers to change. It was sooo weird for me! But much needed.


I can't even begin to describe how beautiful it is out on the ocean. The water is amazing, a color i can't put into words. It was so calming and peaceful.



I would love to go on another cruise, especially to Alaska. Or maybe the Panama cruise.



The ship was great. The staff was helpful and friendly. We were spoiled like we've never been spoiled before.

Two small town country kids on a huge elegant ship. How crazy it seemed to us at the time!


I appreciate this man so much.
How hard he works so that I can be a full-time Mommy. How he loves us, and provides everything we need.

God has blessed me.



I took this picture cracking up because here is my 285 pound, 6 ft. 3 inch hubby wearing this little orange life jacket. It did look pretty ridiculous. We had to go through an emergency plan before the ship could leave port.


We haven't made plans for our 15th anniversary. Not sure what we'll do.

But I do look forward to the big 20 year (which we already have planned what we are going to do: we are going to Savannah, Georgia. My husband loves Paula Deen, so we plan on eating at her restaurant and hopefully meeting her!)


Sometimes I need to take a step back and recall why I love him. What made me fall in love with this man? There are so many reasons that when I think on those, the negatives or frustrations don't seem so important.

I know that God has a wonderful plan for my family.
I know that He placed us together at just the right time.
I know that He will fulfill His promises to me. When?
I don't know. I need to wait on the Lord.
In His timing is His perfect will.


"Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27: 14


"Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved." Psalm 62: 1 & 2

Answer to a Question

So in answer to a question about my previous post...........
here are the kids' reactions to the elk bone, straight from their mouths........

Ryan - "Nasty!" (as he was gagging)
Kyle - "that is the awesomest thing i've seen!"
Kaycie- "eww... what is that?!"
Lindsey - "uckuckuckuck!" (that's baby talk for "that is gross!")

If You Have a Weak Stomach, Don't Look!

The face of innocence, right?.....

Wrong!!!.....................

Look what she brought me after a little tromp through the fields out back.............

Thanks so much, McKenzie! I've always wanted an elk bone/hoof on my porch!

Time for New Jogging Shoes

I'm actually working on one of my goals for 2009, to say "bye-bye" to those 10-12 lbs hangin on after having Lindsey!


Here is my new workout partner:

bought for $150 from my Dad. They had it for 2 years and used it only 4-5 times. Not a fancy one, but it does the job!

I guess it's time to get some new jogging shoes. Mine are old and yucky but for me to go shoe shopping is like pull-my-tooth-out-with-tweezers enjoyable. I dislike shoe shopping!

And here is where it gets really CRAZY!

I'm actually going to put a picture of myself on here!. Just got done with 1.5 miles (3/4 mile of jogging, 3/4 mile of fast walking). Glistening forehead and all!!

I'm gonna start slow and small and just work my way up to more distance.

It's not much but I feel good... I'm happy!

IT'S A START!

UPDATE: i couldn't stay off the thing and ended up doing another .5 mile. Total for the day= 2 miles!

Kaycie's Quilt - Front/Back

Kaycie has finally finished the front of her quilt. She did ALL the sewing for the front! (7 YEARS OLD!!)

I put together the back. She picked out the red flannel for the back but we didn't have enough so i put together 2 strips of left over squares to widen it to fit.

Here's the front:

And here is the back. It got all wrinkled when I flipped it over and for some reason it looks orangy-red but it's not. It's just a deep red. :

Now it's ready to get quilted. yeah! She will be so excited when she gets home from school to see that I have the back done.

Joys of Having a Busy Baby...

Anybody else out there...

Ever have to clean up soggy raisin bran out of the bottom of the dishwasher?

Have to pick up a whole package of printer paper off the floor?

Have to pick out nasty cheerios from the heating vents?

Ever walk into the bathroom only to find 2 whole rolls of toilet paper unrolled all over?

Find a bottle of lotion squeezed out onto their bed?

Find curdled milk cups hidden away in a corner of the closet (all stacked up neatly on the back shelf)?

I'm curious... is it just my home or are there other busy little-one's terrorizing homes across the world?

Or is it just my home....

Where in the morning, a cuddly, warm baby with rosy cheeks climbs onto my bed and lays her sweet head on my head?

Where pink little lips pucker up and say , "nigh-nigh"? (interpret: night-night)

Where I get to cuddle and rub noses with the sweetest little baby on earth?...

I love having a busy baby!!