House before pics

Living Room

Kitchen in bad lighting!

Kids Bath

Master Bath
These are your sneak peeks for now! If you want to see the rest you have to come and visit us after we move in. We are hoping to move in on Sunday, October 5th. I'll post more pics of the things we have changed once we move in.

I've developed a terrible cold and don't have much of a voice left, so I am going to turn in early and probably won't post again for awhile...too busy with house issues!

Coming soon...

to this blog is ..........

VIDEO BLOGGING!

I am so excited! Ever since the introduction of the Flip hand held video camcorder, I have wanted one. My kids do stuff that I would love to have on video, but getting out the old camcorder just isn't very efficient. By the time I get it out, the moment is over. Plus it is old enough that it's not digital, bummer!

Anyways, I saw a video post on another blog and thought it was a great! It was so much better than just reading about the event! So yesterday I was home alone, without children, channel surfing when I paused a moment on QVC and guess what they had on! This

It's even pink! I just couldn't resist ordering it, since it came with a 2 gig memory card and was way cheaper than I had seen elsewhere on the internet. Unfortunately I was a little too late ordering and they had to put me on advance order. Which means I have to wait until October 24th to get this little gem, but I am super excited! I am already making a mental list of the things I want to video blog!

Now, those of you who are able need to come to our City wide garage sale on October 4th and purchase things from our garage/moving sale, so that I can pay for this bad boy! The sale will be at mom's and we are going to have a TON of stuff! I am getting rid of everything that didn't pass the like/love test! I only kept the things I love and the stuff I simply liked, well it's at mom's waiting on someone to come along who will love it! I am even getting rid of all my kids clothes, excess toys, baby gear, etc.! I know, this is probably a bad idea, but it's what I feel is the right thing to do for now. There is also going to be lots of home decor items, dishes, mom has a chair she wants to sell....anyways, come and support my future video blog!

Parades & Outdoor fun

The sweet smell of victory was ours this afternoon as we took second place in the vehicle category of our homecoming parade. This is great considering that I came up with the idea last night at 9:30. Preston and I were trying to think of something we could do, using things we already had at home. I realized that everyone had some type of camo clothing and we of course have enough deer antlers to start our own business selling them. "Hunting down a T-Wolf Victory" became our slogan! The kids had a great time and I felt like we had a lesson in participation and school spirit! We even made $5, which made our profit $4.05 (we had to spend .95 to get the posterboard!)
Several people asked me if I sewed the lace on CJ's camo, and even though I do own a sewing machine now, no I did not. Grandma Betty bought them for her and she is finally big enough to wear them!
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One thing we love about fall is the weather! Much like spring we are back outside, most of the time half dressed, soaking up the sunshine. The kids love the trampoline!



This next picture is CJ's baby. She sat here the whole time the kids jumped. When I asked Cambree why she was in the booster in the back of the gator, she replied, "She in her carseat." Smart girl! Too bad baby wasn't buckled in! Fortunately, no accidents occurred and she made it back in safely!

Have a great weekend and create some outdoor fun of your own!

Paint Party

If any of you are still reading my blog, I am having a paint party at our new house September 27th. We are aiming to move on Oct 5th and in order to do that we need to get a TON of stuff done in a week. There will be food, drink and supplies. All you need to do is show up in your painting clothes! Call or email me and I will send you more details!

Also, as mentioned above we are aiming for a move in date of Oct 5th and would gladly accept any help offered that day as well.

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I love this picture I got awhile back of Cambree wearing her bracelet! I should have blogged earlier, because I don't remember the occassion, but I think it was a day that she wanted to wear a dress and have her hair done. I took full advantage of it, because those days don't happen too often! Only wish her little fingernails had been painted because I love that! We painted them the other day and she picked out different colors for her fingers and toes. What a funny girl!

House Update

For those of you who have been wondering, we getting closer to our closing date. If all things go as planned, we will be closing September 26th! Less than two weeks now. Yeah!

Part of the deal was they had to finish a bathroom re-model they had started and since they have already moved, they only have weekends to get it done. They have been here the last two weekends and have one more before closing. We will have to paint it, but it will be nice to have a nice, new bathroom to move into!

Our other "concern" is the fact that they didn't have abstracts on the back lots and therefore couldn't get title insurance, so we have been suckered into paying for half of that....we have to have it to get our mortgage! Don't you just love things like this? It is about to drive me nuts!

But the good news is, things are moving along and we can take a big relaxing breath in a couple of months. Matter of fact, Jeremy will be helping with the cattle sale in about 8 weeks and once that is over, we will be able to completely move on from this stage in our lives!
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In other news, I have a great story about Preston and his best friend Kirsten. We were at the high school football game Friday night when Kirsten showed up and sat with us. Preston had worn his OU cap to the game and Kirsten immediately picked it up and asked, "Is this hat boomer sooner?" Preston said, "yes, want to wear it?" She replied, "Sure, can I go show my mom?" (Sidenote: Mom gradutated from KSU as did all brothers and sisters and entire family are BIG KSU fans...sort of like we are with OU).

She comes back and Preston starts telling her that OU players are bigger than the Timberwolf players because they are college and he is going to be OU when he goes to college. Kirsten agrees, "Yeah I want to go there too, but I can't play football since I am a girl, so I will have to be a cheerleader." So here we are on the verge of them both turning 5 and they have their future planned! It was too funny to sit and listen to them talk!

But the funniest part of the evening came when I told the kids I needed to use the restroom and asked if either of them did. Yep, they did, so I said let's go. We were sitting about halfway up and Emily (K's mom) was all the way at the top. Kirsten goes to the end of the bench, cups her hands around her mouth and in her loudest outside voice says, " Mom I have to go pee! Can I go?" I immediately try to quite her, but man can she talk fast. I waved to mom and told her that I had it covered and of course we all got tickled (and by all, I mean anyone sitting between the two of us!).

It was decided on Friday that the Hackney's cannot move and neither can we, because the kids won't know what to do without each other! I think it's great that Preston has found a good friend already and what makes it even better is that I actually like her too!

The winner is...

Melissa said...
Well...I've had a lot of people tell me where to stick it..but I will refrain from sharing those.
I say you get three big pumpkins and stick one in each, group them together and put some leaves or gourds around the base. :)

She's the only one who left a comment, so it made this job easy! I am going to send you some fall goodies...hope you like them!

FALL! drawing

Last night was sort of a downer of a night...this house buying thing and dealing with a certain someone in our community is about to drive me over the edge!

So today I decided that I was going to work on something that brings me joy and that I could get excited about. I came across this "BOO" wall hanging as I was cleaning out one of my closets and so I set it aside for just the purpose of a distraction! I had no idea I would need one this soon! Anyways I took it apart and painted it, decoupaged it and while I was waiting for it to dry decided that I wasn't going to wire it back together, but put it on dowels and then put it in a flower pot and cover with mini pumpkins or candy.

Leave your ideas for where to stick it (LOL) in the comments and on Friday evening I will draw a random winner and send them something fallish!

Such sweet brotherly love

We just got home from picking Preston up at school and I had to blog what happened before I forgot.

After CJ got out of the car, PD noticed she was wearing her jammies (this I will elaborate on later) and asked me why she had them on. I said that she had thrown a fit earlier and put them thinking she would get her paci. The kids then have this conversation:

PD: Did you have a good nap Crambree?
CJ: Uh-huh

PD: Do you want me to read my library book to you?

CJ: Uh-huh

Then this took place and I snatched up my camera and got this picture before they could finish!
It was just what I needed after CJ threw a fit for almost 45 minutes because I had to help her get her juice pouch open. She was so mad that she went to her room and put her jammies on! The only reason she quit throwing a fit was because we had to go to the school and get PD off the bus. She finally stopped when she saw the busses coming! Jeremy took her to go move some cows! Whew!

Labor Day Vacation

Okay, so enough time has passed that I feel I can relay the actual events of our chaotic Labor day getaway. I know most of you have seen National Lampoon's and the Griswald family....well we turned into that family on our journey to Pitkin. And I can easily put the blame on Rodney, because when we went through Coolidge, KS he just HAD to mention that this was the town where the Griswald's grandma died. This is the moment things started to head south!

Up to this point in the day the weather had been cool and we hadn't needed the a/c, but it was getting towards late morning and I was starting to get warm. So I asked if we could turn the a/c on. I waited patiently for a few minutes and it seemed to be blowing nothing but warm air. We all debated whether or not hot air was actually blowing from the vents. After going through Syracuse with the windows down and realizing how much cooler it was outside than inside, it was decided that indeed the a/c was blowing hot air and we would be riding with windows down. I was okay with that because the weather was nice and I knew that if we stopped to check things out, we might never get to Pitkin. Just ask anyone who has done a mechanical repair with Rodney....it takes a long time! Sorry, but that's a fact Rodney (I am sure Janis and Janelle will back me up here).

Finally around noon it was time for our lunch stop. And of course, Rodney just couldn't leave it alone and had to pop the hood and take a look, make a phone call to the neighbor back home, and finally make it inside to eat. Luckily at this point, he decided not to do anything and on we went to Pitkin. Or so I thought. Before we reached La Junta Rodney had decided to stop and buy some sort of test light to test something (I will admit that I am no mechanic). Upon testing, decided to by-pass something and off we went a short thirty minutes later. We had barely made it to rocky ford when something started to smell hot. At first the guys decided it wasn't our car, but something else in town we were smelling. Shortly out of town, the decision is made to pull over and check to see if in fact was us who was stinking! You guessed it, it was us!

Some other mechanical repair/adjustment was made and off we went once again. Now things would have been just fine had we not stopped at Salida to get a few groceries. This is the point where things completely fell apart and the vacation turned crazy! While Janis was in getting the food, Rodney decided to once again pop the hood and check things out. Next thing we know, Rodney is heading across the parking lot to the Checkers auto parts store. An hour later, Janis returns from the store and Rodney is still missing at the auto parts store. I am starting to realize that this is not looking good! I mean this is looking BAD! Rodney eventually appears from the store only to head back into Wal-mart for tools! We're sunk now! It is going to be midnight before we get to Pitkin...is what I thought to myself....had I only known!

To make this story a little shorter....it was decided that we shouldn't be driving any more with the a/c compressor the way it was. So we had a decision to make. Try and make it over Monarch and to Pitkin, then get a part at Gunnison...which by the way, if the parts goes out, the car completely shuts down and we have no lights and no brakes. I immediately decided that the kids and I are not, under any circumstances, going over the pass with the possibility of no lights or brakes. Jeremy on the other-hand plays the part of the super hero/idot and says that we can do whatever we want, but he is going to get to Pitkin tonight! That instantly made me mad....that's another story though, but I am sure you other moms and wives can relate!

We ended up spending the night in Salida, renting a car and driving back to Canon City to get replacement part, installing it and finally getting to the cabin around 3 on Saturday. We spend some time at the fish hatchery, at the kids pond and took a short four-wheeler ride before coming back to the cabin and roasting hot dogs and making smores. Sunday we took the kids up to Alpine Tunnel, but on the way back down it started raining and we didn't get to ride any more.

When we got back to the cabin Jeremy noticed that one of the Suburban tires looked low and so it was decided that the tire should be changed before we headed home. We spent 20 minutes Monday morning before we left trying to get the tire pressure adjusted just right. It was all for nothing, because between Pueblo and La Junta the spare tire blew the tread! So the guys put the original tire back on and we drove slow to La Junta, where we had new tires put on!

So what should have been about a nine hour drive out and 9 hour drive back turned into 45 hours on the road! Needless to say, I was a little grumpy by the time we got back to town and just ready to get into my own bed and rest. We all went with the thought that our time away would be relaxing and restful, but it was at best a change from our normal routine! The kids handled it well considering their amount of time in the car and the hot, windy weather in the car.

Click here to see some photos from our vacation!

We are still alive!

I know it's been a long time since I posted, but our lives have just been super busy lately. We went on a short trip to Pitkin over Labor day (which I will blog about hopefully tomorrow, because it is a story worth telling), had lots of things to do last week and spent part of this weekend visiting Jeremy's grandpa in the hospital. I would appreciate your prayers for him, he is not doing very well. He lives in Elkhart and we sure wish it was closer. It is a wonderful place and I joked with my father-in-law this weekend that it was much too nice for him, so don't get his hopes up that we will put him there!

It always amazes me how well my kids do when we are at hospitals or nursing homes. I always wonder will they be afraid of the way Papa looks or the people we see, but they are totally fine with everything. They love to visit the nursing home residents as much as they (the residents) enjoy seeing the kids.

Anyways, I did have a couple of photo sessions in the past few weeks and managed to get a couple of sneak peaks up on my other blog. Check them out if you have a minute and give me some honest feedback in the comments. I am still looking for 2-3 more people to let me do a session for them...no creative fees charged for these! Let me know if you are interested!

The kids are outside enjoying the nice weather and last I had looked Cambree Jane was naked as a jaybird. I did make her put her panties back on, but I am fairly positive that only lasted as long as it took for me to turn my back! For those of you who haven't heard, we bought a house here in Coldwater and will be moving soon. One great thing about the new house is the privacy fence! At least then the whole neigbborhood won't wonder if we are raising our children as nudists! I should go get them and put them in the tub!

School Update

I never got around last week to posting photos of Preston from his first day of school. It was fun because I got to be at the school, in his room, when he got off the bus and he didn't know I would be there. He thought I would be in my classroom, but I had a break, so I went down to suprise him and take some pictures of him. After about 3 tries, I finally got a pretty good picture of him and his teacher Mrs. Hoffman.

For those of you who don't know, Mrs. Hoffman was my band teacher from 5th grade through my sophomore year in high school. That's when she took time to finish getting her early elementary degree and is now teaching preschool! Preston thinks it's pretty neat that we had the same teacher, but Mrs. Hoffman thinks it ages her!

I had a good time teaching the first grade, but I had to quit a day early because I got a touch of the bug that has been going around. Thankfully it didn't last long and I was still able to go on vacation, but now that I look back on the weekend, it may have been better to have been at home sick! There will be more about vacation coming soon. I need to get some photo editing done from the two sessions I have had...you can check out a couple of sneek peaks here. There will be more here throughout the weekend as well.

Junior high volleyball and football start tomorrow with our first game at Spearville. High school plays at Hutchinson on Friday....probably won't be going to that one since it is so far away, but I am looking forward to getting back into fall sports and watching our kids play!

Have a great post-Labor day weekend!