What Happens in Iowa

Is tons of FUN!

Saturday afternoon after we had a chance to get out of the car, have lunch, stretch our legs and the babies took naps, Aunt Janelle took the kids and the Aunts to a sprinkler park.


My kids had never been to one before, so when we got there they weren't quite sure what to do. Luckily a couple of neighborhood kids where there and showed them how it worked. Push the button and water sprays out of the "sprinkler" for minutes of endless fun!



Jordyn loved it too! Even though it sort of looks like she didn't. She even wore Cambree's flip-flops through the water...they were on the wrong feet; so cute!



The next morning we all got up and had a delicious breakfast and then headed to Bass Pro Shop to do a little bowling. Their bowling alley is AWESOME! The balls are returned out of alligator mouths. Uncle Jeff was by far the best bowler.



But, before we got to go bowling we had to spend an HOUR in Bass Pro. Why? Because when Aunt Janelle called to see about the bowling they told her they opened at 10:00; only when we got there we found out it was 11:00. So we played a racing game as well as did some shooting at the shooting range. {It's not "live" shooting.}

The pictures below are probably only funny if you were there, so let me let you in on the funny!


About 30 minutes before this was taken {courtesy of Aunt Janelle} the kids were playing outside while the adults finished up our meal. Jeff finished first and headed outside with Jordyn to play with the big kids. Preston comes running in..."Jace...and...Cambree...got...stung...by...BEES!!!" We turn to look out the sun room windows and Uncle Jeff is carrying Jace, Cambree AND Jordyn all while trying to climb over the baby gate used to keep the dog up on the deck.

So, long story short, we get the kids taken care of and Uncle Jeff {Aunt Janelle swears he has ADD} heads out to Target to get some spray for the wasps, not bees. Aunt Janelle had seen them earlier in the afternoon, but had forgotten to tell Uncle Jeff.



So, the best part of the night was when Janelle comes to the bathroom where I am giving 3 of 5 kids baths and says, "Where is your camera? The guys are in full body armor outside taking care of the wasps." She had my curiosity piqued needless to say! I cracked up when I say these while downloading.

And speaking of crack...this is what happens to you if you ask your husband to take a picture of the kids in the bathtub.

Hmmm? Do you see any kids in this picture? AND don't you think I am brave to put a picture of my REAR on my blog?! All for a good laugh!

We Interrupt this Program

To show you the MOST adorable cowboy bedroom!

This post is really for Megan, who is expecting her own little cowboy is less than a month. So Megan, I know Cowboy Snyder already has his crib set-up, but he is going to be a big boy in the blink of an eye and I think he would ADORE a bed like this. I mean, what cowboy, or cowgirl for that matter, wouldn't?

You can see the original post here at Design Dazzle.  She has a couple of other cute cowboy related things there as well.

Cambree is thinking that she wants to have a Cowgirl birthday party for her "5 Party" and I am thinking this would be the most adorable decoration....possibly a food table? 

Hmmm....Russ help me out here?  Can you build me one of these?

Iowa Here We Come

Oh faithful GPS, take us where we want to go!

Stop in Pratt at Taco Bell for a quick bite to eat and then back on the road.  Don't you feel sorry for Jeremy?  Poor guy, the kids just won't leave him alone in the evenings!

Playing her new DS in the dark, late at night while her Dad continued to drive on!

Would you just check out those baby blue eyes and his hair...who would have thought we would have a strawberry blonde.  I sure wish it would stay this way forever.  Plus, I love some natural light flooding into the motel room!

Breakfast at the hotel.  It was actually the best hotel breakfast I have EVER seen.  Many options, including a little girls favorite breakfast...Pop-tarts!

Some DS time Saturday morning as we trekked from K.C. to Des Moines.  Only three more hours and we will get to see our cousins!  YAY!

Party Picks!

Look at a couple of the things I just ordered for Westynn's party!

Fun Fringe in Red and Turquoise! Don't know for sure what I will do with this, but TOO cute not to have!

Tilt-a-Whirl Cupcake Liners!  I have decided to do a Smash Cake for Westynn and cupcakes for everyone else.  So much faster and easier.  Now I just have to come up with a cute Cupcakes Topper to go with these delightful liners!!

Images courtesy of Bake It Pretty.  I LOVE this site!

Toot, Toot

Today I am tooting my own horn!

Why? You ask?

Because I am on day two of single parenting and I need to feel good and whole again.  At the end of this long day there is no one here to toot my horn for me, except for you, my faithful blog followers!! {Oh, I just got a good laugh out of that one.}

Here's the breakdown of ALL that was accomplished today {in no particular order}:


washed sheets and made Westynn's bed
washed sheets and made Preston's bed
washed sheets and made Cambree's bed
washed sheets and made J&S's bed
{The above amounted to three loads of laundry!...All washed AND dried AND put back on the beds...I think it is some sort of record for me}
took kids to the new babysitters to meet her and check out the new place
gathered all the trash and took it to the curb for our delightful trash truck to come and haul off
broke into mom's hairdressers's van to check out a bedroom dresser {okay, I had her permission, but I still felt a little odd doing it on main street}
cleaned up cambree's room to make room for said dresser
cleaned J & S bathroom {FYI: Kaboom is AWESOME for your bathroom fixtures, makes them sparkle and shine!!)
hauled dresser out of mom's hairdresser's van and into cambree's room into the new clean corner
fixed lunch and fed to C & W
cleaned up kitchen
dropped Preston off at basketball camp
picked Preston up from basketball camp
re-heated lunch for Preston
top-stitched a boat load of apron straps
chatted with Traci for a few minutes after she came by
took three kids to swimming pool
helped Preston dive from the diving board
CRACKED up at Cambree...she did a FLIP off the diving board.  Might be the cutest thing I have ever seen at the pool!
fixed supper and fed kids
headed to get icee's...they were closed so we got floats
went to park to eat floats and play
gave baths
setlled a fight over the towels for the pool...I took the scooby doo towel!
took a shower
put kids to bed
trying to wrap my brain around the woman on t.v. who is demanding $7500 per month from her soon to be ex-husband...he is offering $6000 and she says that $7500 is "barely going to cover the things we really need."  Are you freaking kidding me?  She needs to come to our house and see just what $6000 a month can really do!

Okay, I feel much better now.  Don't you?  Don't you feel sorry for me?  No, really, you shouldn't.  While the day was exhausting, it was also EXTREMELY fulfilling.  This is my last week at home with the kids for the summer.  Monday morning means back to the daily grind for me.  And even though Jeremy is away getting bankers smarts and the day was long, I am going to go to bed feeling pretty good about it all.

My to-do list for tomorrow is no shorter than today's, but at least I know I will get at least one or two things marked off tomorrow as well.  I have some pictures and stories from vay-cay that I want to share here...maybe tomorrow I will squeeze it in! :)

Here's a little sneak peek at one of our great stories from our trip to Iowa...

Cute Dessert and some Insight

See these cute cookies and cupcakes?

Have you been to a party or gathering where something like this has been on the table?

What do you do?

Eat one?

Leave them alone?

Are they just for decoration?
Are we supposed to eat them?

Let me shed some light on this tricky situation for you. Your hostess has either
A. Spent a LOT of time and energy on these cute treats
OR
B. Spent a LOT of money to have someone else spend a LOT of time and energy to make these cute treats

That being said,

PLEASE EAT THEM!!

For the LOVE of all that is holy and sweet, you are insulting the baker/hostess by just leaving them on the plate!!

Take one and enjoy eating a CUTE and DELICIOUS treat.

And you can trust me here...

I have spent a great deal of time on all of the above requested treats and sadly watched as most of them went into the garbage...it is a very disheartening, irritating moment to watch it all "go down the tube."

So there, that's the answer to one of your most daunting questions! Seriously, I know you have all been on edge waiting to know the answer.

Happy Monday!

Updated 10th photo

Okay, here is how we look after TEN years of marriage! LOL!!  I SOOOO wish I had a wedding picture to share right now.  It is amazing how young and immature we look in it.  Not that I think we look old here, but we definitely seem to have a few years under our belts!

Jeff took this picture of us before he chauffeured us to downtown Des Moines to 801 Chophouse.  

It is a steakhouse.

It is expensive.  Our total bill was $136.15.

We have NEVER spent that much on a meal in ten years of marriage. 

20 years is when we will probably do it again.

I had a NY strip.  Jeremy had a Filet Mignon.  Mine was more tender.  His was more flavorful.

We shared Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Fried Zuccini and he had Sauted Mushrooms. 

The waiter brought us two glasses of wine.  I gagged.  Jeremy gagged it down.  It was $14 per glass.  We WON'T do that again!

Dessert was the best part.  I had New York Cheesecake and Jeremy had Chocolate Lava Cake.  Jeremy devoured his.  I savored mine.  Jeremy devoured what I wasn't able to finish.

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Janelle entertained the kiddos so we could enjoy the meal.  It was NICE! THanks, J & J!! We owe you one.

{I wish I had pictures of the restaurant and the meal, but I didn't want to haul my big camera  in...it was that type of place.  AND I figured it would be too dark to get a decent picture without a flash and I was right.  You will just have to use a little imagination!}

Shower Gift

I just had to share how cute this shower gift turned out.  At least I think so.  I wasn't able to attend the shower, so I hope the recipient liked it!

The top left picture is how I wrapped it and there is a close up of the tag on the right side.  The very middle is a picture of the diaper clutch {that's a bad description, it's really a little too big to be a clutch} and then at the top you can see that it will fit a wipes case, a couple of diapers and the changing pad I made.  The changing pad is terry cloth on one side and the cute cowboy fabric on the other.  It rolls up and secures with Velcro...you can see it in the bottom middles pic.  The bottom left picture is the burp clothes that I made, in a coordination cowboy print.

So there you go...obviously these are for the baby boy of a ranch couple!!  Wouldn't these also be adorable in a cute pink girly fabrics?? I can't wait to make a "girly" version!

3,650

 {updated picture to be added after this weekend!}

That's the number of days {approximately} that i have been married to Mr. Stapleton

July 8, 2000
It was 108 degrees outside. 
The church air conditioner was running non-stop to cool the building holding the 300+ guests that joined us that day.

ALL of the food for the reception dinner was prepared by my Grandma Loretta and my mom.  I heard it was delicious...Jeremy and I never had a chance to sit and eat.

For months leading up to the wedding the house was covered with all things purple!

My Grandma had the MOST fun that day...even though I was the one getting married! 

We left the church in a horse drawn carriage & proceeded to sweat buckets in the heat, LOL!

Since that hot, steamy day in july we have spent 87,600 hours being husband and wife.  That's 5,256,000 minutes.  WOW, that's a lot of marital bliss.

Jeremy has driven me to the hospital, in labor, three times.  Twice in the middle of the night!

We have moved four times.

Jeremy has had three jobs, I have had three jobs!

We have purchased four vehicles.

Two houses have been "ours."

I am one lucky girl that's for sure!  Jeremy does his best to always make sure that I am happy...AND I try to make it easy for him! 

He is a great dad...always playing with the kids and spoiling them.  He makes me be the bad guy.

Here's the words from the card he brought me today:

"For my wife on our anniversary

I wish i could write a book with a special chapter on each of the reasons why my life is warmer, brighter, better, and a thousand times more fun because of you.

But there will never be pages enough or words enough, so let me try to fit all those good feelings into the three things I most want to tell you.

I love you more than ever.

I'm more thankful for you every day we're together.

And I hope you're as happy to have me in your life as I'll always be to have you in mine."

And those words pretty much sum up EXACTLY how I feel about him as well!!

Happy 10th Anniversary, Jeremy Dean!  I love you more now than I ever could have dreamed possible 10 years ago.

Happy 4th!

from my patriots to yours!

{And on a side-note, WHY is it so difficult to get  my very own flesh and blood to take a decent picture?!!}

Fun In The Sun

It is only about 6 weeks until little Westynn Cole will celebrate his first birthday!
Where has the first year gone?

Wasn't it just yesterday that I looked like this?

And he looked like this?

Now he looks like this

Such a big boy sitting in an umbrella stoller eating a graham cracker!

So what does that have to do with Fun In The Sun?
Well I finally get to plan a birthday party for the summer season!!
To say I am excited about this is an understatement. 
When I first found out Westynn would be born in August, my first thought was, Yay a summer birthday party!!

I have been working on the details of the party while I am home on summer break and I just can't wait any longer to share with you.
Here is a portion of the invite...details have been left off so that family members will still be somewhat entertained/surprised when they get them in the mail.

There are sprinklers and slip-n-slides and pools and all sorts of fun WATER things planned for the party!
I hope to share more details of the party prep as they start coming together.