Eight Years Ago...........

June 30, 2000Happy Anniversary to Us!

We're just DUCKY!!!

I love these summer days. The heat, playing outside in the water, eating our ice pops.....

At the end of the day these kids are pooped out. We love to wind down to a nice tubbie and a few good books, then off to Dream Land!! Ahh, to be a kid again...

Ice Pops......

Ever since I can remember Ice Pops and Summer go hand and hand.

I'm done...

Ok, so I know it's not super fancy, but it's a change. I was just so tired of the old one. I really don't have time to be super creative(gee, I wonder why?), and I really don't want to spend money on someone else designing a header for me, I think this is just fine. What do you all think?

Some changes.....

Please excuse our appearance. I'm getting so bored with my header and colors. So, I'll be playing around a bit, here and there, when I have the time. So it may get a little messy along the way, but I hope to have something fresh and new in a few days.........

Just a few pretty pics......

Miss Ava fresh out of the tubbie, patiently waiting her turn for lotion and jammies.
Just a pretty lilly from my garden. Oh, how I have been enjoying it this year. It's been 3 years since I've done anything with them and I am thrilled to death this year to have the time, now that the kiddos are a little older. Landon shows the most interest in it, and likes to hand me the flowers while I'm planting. I like to think that I was born with a green thumb (Thanks Dad, and my Grandma S.). I hope to pass the love of gardening on to at least one of my children.

Choo Choo needs a scrubbin'

For weeks I've been saying we need to clean that wagon. Well, today was the day. Daddy got home just in time to help out. Landon was thrilled to begin the task while Ava and Chase were more interested in playing with the soapy water. As you can see, Ava thought she needed a bath more than the wagon. These kids love this wagon. I took them today with it to a local nursery to buy more flowers. We get lots of stares with it, but I don't mind. I call it Mommy's Freedom Wagon. It allows me to get out of the house with them, and it's something that they enjoy. It's not practical for all places, but it was great today. I was able to pull them along and push the flower cart. Yipee!!

Our Daily walks........

I have come to realize that the walking I do, to keep me in shape, is more for my mind than it is my body. It gives me time to reflect and prepare for the day. Time to slow down from the madness of the morning just to get everyone in the car. Time to remind myself how fortunate that I am. I have my health, a wonderful family and the chance to raise three beautiful beings that I thought would never exist. I am blessed.

Today was such a beautiful day. It was warm, there was a slight breeze, and the sun was shining. The sights and smells of summer take me back to a much simpler time. I love being outside, smelling the fresh air enjoying what nature has given us. I love that I have my children with me, we can talk about all of the things that we see.....like the squeeells(aka squirrels per Ava), the cowds(aka clouds per Chase), the boats on the river, the birds and Landon loves the construction vehicles at the main entrance to the park where we walk. On our walks we also hear the trains passing at the bottom of the hill. We never see them, just hear them. Today we were done w/ our walk just in time to drive down to the tracks to see the train. I was so excited for the kids to see it. They were so excited, yet didn't know what to make of it. I was the fool sitting there almost in tears because I finally got to show my kids the train that they always hear. I was stupidly emotional about it. How silly. Anyhow.........here are just a few pics from today.

PS. Just to add that I'm so fortunate that the kids still love going for walks in their stroller. They don't love it as much when out shopping or other things. I don't mind that, just as long as I can still go for my walks. I know that alot of kids this age, won't sit in theirs and just want to be free.

Monday Madness..........

Today was Madness........Literally!! I had my sister's two boys along with my three. It was hectic, but I survived. My sister's two boys really are good kids, Peyton is on the far right, and Carter is the blonde in the middle. But get all of them together, and it's enough to make me want to start drinking before noon (not really but I had to add that for the full affect!) How anyone does this for a living is beyond me. It was a challenge being that we couldn't go out due to rain. I couldn't wait to get them fed and then down for a nap. I took this picture mid morning. I gave them all gold fish and put Bob the Builder on. C'mon.....did you really think that they arranged this all on their own. FOOD and TV two of my best babysitters! (he he)

We Love a Rainy Day...

Sunday Morning we had breakfast, played some, then decided to take the kids outside to play before the rain came. I was going to go for my walk, and Daddy was going to stay behind. However, Mother Nature had other plans....no sooner did we get the kiddos changed into their "Water Attire", the rain came. They were so disappointed (as were we, thinking what the heck are we going to do with them now!!) The boys really wanted to play outside, so I made the executive decision to let them go out anyway. There was no thunder and no lightning so what the heck was the harm. It didn't really rain all that hard and for the most part, the boys hung out in the garden area, under the Japenese Maples'. They were so cute, I didn't really capture the expressions on their faces all that well, I had to use the point and shoot, and I was trying not to get it wet. Scott thought I was crazy, he's a little uptight sometimes, but he quickly understood after watching them. As you can see by the picture below that Ava wasn't interested at all. She sat on the steps with Daddy and played her "Princess" role. She doesn't know what she was missing. I can't wait to play in the rain again!!

Three Wheelin' and Pizza!

Saturday we had the family over to celebrate Grandma B's birthday. We had Pizza, then of course Straw-bee (as Landon pronounces it) Shortcake. Grandma loves to have all the kiddos together. We were minus one, as the oldest grandchild is a teenager, and well what teenager do you know wants to hang out with 6 kids 7 and under on a Saturday night? So he is excused, as we all understand. Anyhow.... Pizza is always a hit and then outside to play. The trio is trying out the tricycle. The boys like it but only Landon really gets the idea of how to make it go. So Happy Birthday Grandma. We Love you!!

Strawberries anyone?

Today we went strawberry picking with Grandma B. , Aunt R, and cousins T. and C.. It was a beautiful day and we got some great berries. Landon and Ava love strawberries, Chase, not so much. They all had fun. They didn't really pick much, Landon and Ava ate their share while Chase just had fun being out with everyone. I love getting the kids out for things like this when I can. I picked 10lbs for our house and all together we had around 30lbs of strawberries Between the families. So, with that said, we'll be having lots of strawberry shortcake, and I'm thinking of attempting to make jam tomorrow. My girlfriend also told me about a great Strawberry Spinach Salad recipe. Sounds yummy. We brought a few pounds up to Oma tonight, she was delighted to see the kids. Well, I'm off to find a few more ways to use these strawberries. If anyone has any good recipe's for anything, please share!!

Father's Day Gifts....

I put together this collage for Scott. It's 11x14. I thought it was nice. He also got some new shirts and shorts and some socks.

I did this collage for my father. The kids love his John Deere.
He loved it.

Father's Day and a New Picnic table.........

The kids bringing Daddy his gifts.
The kids bringing Pop his gifts.
The boys helping Daddy put the table together.

Taa DAAAA!! The kiddos enjoying their Sunday Cinnamon Twists at their new picnic table from Grandma and Pop.

Lake House Pics.................

Isn't he adorable.....

My nephew, Carter.

The Heat is On!!!!!

Summer is here and so is the heat. This weekend the temperatures soared into the high 90's. It was hot and the air was heavy. I ventured out w/ my friend Jamie and the kiddos to Toys R Us for some much needed water toys. I really just wanted to get the Step 2 sand and water table w/ the umbrella, but they sold the last one about a half hour before I got there. No big deal, I just bought them a smaller one, it worked just the same. Not sure if I'll even bother with the bigger one. I'll have to think on it. We bought a sprinkler and some lawn chairs, and I also picked up a picnic table w/ seating on all 4 sides w/ an umbrella, for my parents Lake House for all the grandchildren. That should work out well. As you can see from the pics below, the kids had so much fun. Even the Dog took a dip in the pool. My sister came over on Sunday w/ her two boys and we were out there from about 10am - 1:30pm. Landon and Peyton play so well together, Chase joins in when he feels like it and Ava, well for the most part, she sat on the sidelines today with Aunt Randi. For those that do not know, my sister Randi is pregnant, and very tired, so she takes it easy in this heat. Every year since their first, I look forward to the next year being easier and more fun with the trio. I am hoping that this year holds true. So far, so good. Time will tell.