So Happy Together

Girls weekend!

2012-02-13T14:15:00.001-06:00

01.27.2012 Girls Weekend, a set on Flickr.

The last weekend in January Cambree and I met my BFF Melissa and her 6 year old daughter in Wichita for a little Mother-Daughter Girls weekend.

Traditionally, Melissa and I have met in Wichita for a weekend of scrapbooking, shopping, catching up and relaxing. This year though we threw the little girls into the mix and boy was it a BLAST!

We met up on Friday afternoon at the Intrust Bank Arena for Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales. It was our Christmas gift to Melissa and Harper. And let me just tell you that this show did NOT disappoint! It was fantastic...we sang along, oohed and aahed, had overpriced snacks and laughed and giggled through the entire show.

Then we headed back to our hotel, the Drury Broadview Hotel. I totally give this hotel a 5 star rating. Everything about it was exceptional. We enjoyed a dinner there in the hotel with our complimentary "Kickback" in the lounge and then hit the pool for some splashing around. One thing I have to share is that while we were sitting in the hotel lobby trying to decide what our evening game plan was going to be {2 type A personalities at work here} Harper said the funniest thing...."I could do appetizers for dinner. I mean I am okay with just dessert." She thought appetizers were a type of dessert and that was all we were going to have to eat! My kind of girl!!!

Saturday morning we got up Bright and early {too early for the momma's} hit the free breakfast buffet and headed out to do a little shopping. We hit up Target, Hobby Lobby and a great little antique shop where I scored two Pyrex bowls. One is a pattern I had never seen before. Hobby Lobby was our favorite stop, because there we got to load up on craft supplies to make our valentine's! It was so much fun to be in there with 2 other creative girls!! I loved hearing all of the comments that Cambree and Harper made.

Then it was lunch at Spangles...sadly no pictures here. What were we thinking Melissa? Next year we must take our picture with Marilyn or Elvis!! Back to the hotel to get crackin' on those valentines!

The girls did a great job of finishing them up before they started hounding us about heading down to the pool. Cambree and I scored the idea for her valentine's off of Pinterest...where else?! I think they turned out super cute and with the use of the Cricut to cut out all those hearts it was a breeze. The hardest part was getting all those googly eyes to stay on!

Back to the pool to splash around and enjoy the hot tub. We did remember the camera for that one and did a little group photo shoot! It was fun to be the only ones down there...well except for that creepy guy in the background, LOL!!

A quick change back into our clothes, more appetizers, another hobby lobby run, more swimming, and another craft project we found on Pinterest before heading to bed that night! Whew it was a long day, but it was so much fun!

Sunday morning it was time to pack up all our crafty things, stuff the dirty laundry back in the suitcases and head back home. But before Cambree and I could leave town we had a few errands to run for the new house....paint, tile, lights....we came home LOADED down in the suburban. Every inch of storage space, and then some, was full!

It was such a great time....I am already looking forward to doing it again. Maybe once a year isn't enough?!!

Seeing the light

2012-02-12T21:21:00.002-06:00

...at the end of the tunnel that is!

If you are tired of seeing pictures of the house or reading about the progress, click to another page NOW! What follows is an TON of photos of the house and as many words as my weary eyes can manage.

I am Soooooo in LoVe with the house that i don't even know where to start showing you things!

Let's start in the basement and work our way up...

The basement bath

Don't you just love the look of the trough sink? I DO!!

Floors, vanity, mirror, shower, lights are all in! All this room lacks is the toilet and trim.

This bath will be the one we use when we are downstairs in the family room, while I am crafting and the main bath the boys will use to shower and get ready as they grow up.

The craft/play room!

looking from the family room towards the bedrooms...

This room is not photographing well since there is absolutely no natural light. It is NOT that baby blue color, but a turquoise. I probably could have gotten a more accurate color if I had wanted to....but there was TOO much wonderfulness to look at upstairs. Don't worry, we'll get there!!

Opposite view...from the bedrooms towards the family room...

I have laid awake at night thinking about all the fabulous creations that are going to come from this room and all the games and fun the kids are going to have in here with me. The plan is for them to have an area set up on the left side of the picture above and I will occupy the right side.

You can kind of see our reading nook in this picture. It's under the stairs...behind that ladder.

Here's a better peak.

The kids didn't get a lot of say in the house planning process, but one thing Preston asked for was a reading nook. NO WAY was I going to tell him no!! I got right on pinterest and started looking at reading nooks and knew right away that under the stairs was going to be the perfect place.

I have visions of the three of them cuddled up in that little nook reading...Preston maybe a Hank the Cowdog or 39 Clues book, Cambree with a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, and Westynn with a Little Golden Book....okay, so they will probably end up with video games in there, but a mother can dream right?!

Up next, the storage room!

A MUST-HAVE on my list when we were designing and planning and I will admit that this one does NOT disappoint. It is 17x8 and I am already dreaming of all the party planning totes that will be neatly organized and ready to pull out at a moments notice for some grand entertaining. My Christmas decorations will be safely stored INDOORS where they will remain dust free and DRY {there were issues this year when we pulled them out of the storage shed}. AND i won't have to walk outside on a dark, snowy, windy night to grab a package of hamburger for dinner....

The basement family room...

There isn't anything really spectacular about this room. It will seem a lot more exciting after we move in. This is the ONE room in the house that Jeremy has had complete control over. I have let him make all of the decisions. Even when he asked me to give opinions I sweetly reminded him that I had made 98% of the decisions for the rest of the house and he was responsible for this one.

{Don't tell him, but I think he has done a great job. However, it has taken him much longer to make those decisions...he's more of a thinker than I am. I pick something I like and just go with it. I know I can make it work....He stresses a lot more}

Up the stairs we go.......

And there are a lot of them!!

The master bath

This bathroom sits right off our master bedroom. I am standing in the doorway for the first picture. It is painted the same color as the bedroom; which again, is more green than it looks.

I have to tell you about the shower. It is an Onyx shower and I was VERY hesitant at first. I thought that i wanted a tiled shower....like we have now. But Kelsey kept pushing this style of shower and from the internet site I was not impressed. He assured me that if I saw one in person I would change my mind. So we made a trip to Pratt one day to the Home Lumber store there and looked at their displays. 20 minutes later we had picked out the color that we wanted and I was 100% sold on the Onyx shower. No grout to clean or maintain and this is GREAT looking shower. It's not completely finished yet. There are 2 corner caddies that go in and some trim. BUT with the tankless water heater and this beautiful shower, I may never get out!!

I am also really looking forward to taking a nice big bath! I can't remember the last time I have had a relaxing bubble bath.

And that vanity...it's gonna be a booger to keep dust free, but I sure do love it. I still need to get mirrors for this room. I have found some I like, but I need to get back to Wichita to pick them up {hopefully they are still there}.

Upstairs Kids Bath

the floor....this runs a close race with the kitchen for the thing I love the MOST in the house.

I love the pattern and the charcoal grout. It was a tough decision...white, black, gray...but I went with the charcoal gray and I am so happy that I did. I don't think I would have liked the others at all now that I have seen this.

The light fixtures in this bathroom and the master bath are the same and all the bathroom faucets and counters are the same. It was a LOT easier to just pick one style and go with it across the board. I am very happy with that decision. The only difference was that the double bowl sink in the master didn't come in a trough style so they are round instead.

This mirror is part of the bath collection that goes with the vanity. It is actually upside down right now...but that's how it is going to be hung on the wall. It didn't work with the light fixtures and the outlets. But once we turned it upside down it worked perfectly and I actually like it better this way.

The GREAT room....and great it is!!!!

{Get ready for picture overload}

I will do a entire kitchen post one of these days, but for now let me just tell you that I LOVE it! I can't wait to cook and bake and entertain in it. I still have to pick out the granite counter tops and order the back splash. Once it is all here it is going to be FABULOUS!!!! I can't wait.

Here's the cute help...

A new view from the front. The rock is on the front now....the tires, 2x4's, fence posts, pallets and who knows what other junk is still on the roof!!

If you made it all the way through this post...CONGRATS! Let me know what you think....as long as you like it :).

House 2012

2012-02-05T16:01:00.000-06:00

Here's some pictures of how the house looked the first month of 2012.

I am happy to report that everything is getting a happy paint job this weekend and will be ready for floors to start going in on Monday!

KICK!!

2012-01-25T20:11:00.001-06:00

Fall Dove Hunting

2012-01-25T20:10:00.000-06:00

I know this was a LONG time ago, but I have been getting all my photos uploaded to my Flickr account and I came across these in my September folder.

We didn't get to take any dove that evening. Probably because we were a little too noisy and moved around a bit much. Oh well, it was a fun time and looking at these pictures brought back some fond memories!

Progess...Slow and Painful

2012-01-03T20:08:00.001-06:00

Progress at the house has been slow and painful over the past few months. When you see the pictures you are going to think that a LOT has been done....what you have to remember is that is has been a LONG time since I updated the blog. This progress has seemed to take much longer than it should.

I have days where it doesn't get to me and days when I was to just SCREAM at the frustration. Alas, I suppose that is how it goes for everyone during this process.

Okay, here goes the update...

LOTS of wires being put in

Packaging materials and trash is everywhere

Garage doors are in

Upstairs bath/shower is in (you have to look closely)

Bedrooms have drywall

Kitchen bar is framed up

Vaulted ceiling is drywalled

There is actually more drywall up now and it makes the house look a lot different; easier to picture each individual room since you can't see through them, lol!

I promise to update the blog soon with family pictures and stories....cause our house isn't the only thing happening in our lives, just the most time consuming! And seems to be what people want to know about these days.

Hope everyone has a joyous 2012 full of abundant blessings!!

"Then he will give you rain for the seed you will plant in the ground. And He will give you bread from the grain from the ground. It will be good, and more than you need. In that day your cattle will eat in a large field."
Isaiah 30:23

Russ & Cami

2011-12-08T11:54:00.001-06:00

The older I get, the more appreciation I have for my brother. He has turned into quite the craftsman, building most anything he can dream up. Russ also grew into the role of "Uncle" quite well. I think it was hard for him at first. 8 years ago he was still in college, living the good life, and it's hard to see the value in your sister's measly family at that stage in life. But now, several years and a niece and 2 nephews later, he has grown up into Uncle Russ.

My kids adore him! He wrestles with them, plays the Wii with them, reads to them and is just plain SILLY! That's the best part of being an aunt or an uncle...you get to be the silly one and not always have to be responsible and a "meanie."

He does spontaneous things, like take them home from our Annual Frazier Thanksgiving in "Miss Daisy" (aka my parents mid-life crisis car)

That girl in the front seat...that's Cami. She is Russ's girlfriend and not only do I adore her, but so do the kids. She is a wonderful person and is as beautiful inside as she is outside. I sure hope she sticks around (hint, hint RUSS!!)

House - November Update

2011-12-08T09:15:00.001-06:00

Here's another little house update for you. I know it has been awhile, but it has felt like things were sort of stalled out and there wasn't a lot of interesting things to share. Now it looks like a house from the outside and progress is being made on the inside, so while I can't say that I see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, I can see that we are making the final turn.Here's another look at the plan that we chose and how our house is "supposed" to look.

Here is how the house actually turned out. The biggest differences are that we extended the garage, carried the porch all the way across the front, and did without the dormers. The garage is also wider, so the double doors just made more sense. The dormers were purely decorative, so we opted to save the expense of those and use that money in other places.

This is the back side of the house. The master bedroom and bathroom are on the right, you can see the patio doors and picture window under the deck roof, and the west bedroom window is on the left.

We had an unfortunate thing happen over the Thanksgiving weekend. The wind gusts here were so bad that it blew a LOT of the shingle off the roof. They had only been on about 2 weeks, but the temperatures hadn't been high enough for them to seal, so when the wind came up on top of that hill, the shingles just blew right off. They have been fixed, but I haven't been out to get a new picture. I believe all of the siding is also on this side of the house now. I will be there tomorrow sometime, so hopefully I will have a new picture to post.

This final picture is our back deck. This isn't the best picture and it isn't completely finished yet, but I just had to share. This is CONCRETE!!

When we were having the discussion about saving money, I knew that one HUGE chunk was going to be our massive back deck. I had seen pictures of stamped, stained concrete on Pinterest and thought that it looked really awesome. So I asked Kelsey about doing this and he told us that in fact it would save quite a bit of money to go this route vs. the composite decking we were looking at. I am not going to say that it was super easy, because we had to choose almost everything from pictures in magazines or the internet; like the style and pattern of the stamp and the color of the concrete dye.In the end it turned out Amazing and I can't wait to be able to enjoy it in the spring. Kelsey admitted, after it was done, that he was really nervous about doing it and didn't get much sleep the night before. He had never done it before and I told him that it is okay to try new things!! I don't think he or Jeremy had much faith in me when I made this suggestions, but so far the outcome has FAR outweighed the risk involved with trying it. In the picture above it still needs a couple coats of sealant to protect it and make it all shiny, but that couldn't be applied until after the curing period.

Work has moved to the inside of the house now, so I have been told. I am anxious to go out tomorrow and see all the work involved. Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks since I have been there and 3 weeks since I was there to pick out the placement for the light switches and electric outlets. That doesn't sound like it would be that hard of a job, but believe me, IT IS!!

I am starting to get the itch to pack boxes and prepare to move!! We only have a few decisions left to make and then it is just a matter of getting everything installed and hooked up. I have told myself from the beginning that I would wait until after Christmas to start packing and getting things ready and SO FAR I have done a pretty good job of that. But, I know that once the holidays are over and it is time to start packing away the Christmas decorations I am going to be so anxious!

Preston Turns 8 - part 2

2011-11-04T19:30:00.002-05:00

It was a hard decision this year. What type of party to have?!

Preston waffled back and forth between several things before finally deciding {maybe with a little coaxing} on LEGOS!

I was excited because I had seen several ideas floating around on the internet via Pinterest for C.U.T.E party ideas! Have I mentioned my adoring love for Pinterest and the Internet?!

Since this was the 8th year of big, themed parties, I decided to scale this one back just a bit and focus on one small area of the house and to limit the number of friends that I let P invite. It sounds really harsh, but it made for a much LESS stressed out mama on party day!

The first thing I couldn't wait to make were the party favor bags! I saw this idea and thought it was PERFECT! My bags were much smaller, but I think they turned out just as cute! A special thanks to my friend Lindsay who bailed me out when I ran into a problem...I didn't have any pop-dots! She came to the rescue and helped me out!

I also googled LEGO fonts and found the one that I used to make the "PRESTON" banner. I printed it out in size 500 on white cardstock then cut it out and added it to 6x6 pieces of blue and red cardstock. Then I threaded them together with yellow string. The lego men on the end with the #8 I also found on the internet. I printed the HUGE LEGO head out and just cut it out and taped it on the wall. The LEGO bricks that I stacked the goodie bags on are just Capri Sun and Kool-Aid Jammers boxes that I wrapped in Dollar General wrapping paper.

Preston isn't a fan of cake or cupcakes, but I knew that a lot of his guests were, so I made a few for them and some sugar cookies for the birthday boy. My mom has a cupcake pan that is square so I used that to make the cupcakes, frosted them with Lego colors and added M&M's.

Same story, second verse for the cookies. Only for them I used a pizza cutter after rolling out the dough to make a variety of different square and rectangle shapes.

I had a couple of LEGO themed games planned and the kids obliged me for a minute. They were really having fun just playing though.

The first game was to see how many LEGOS they could pick up with a straw and put on their plate. It was a LOT harder than it looked, but they got the hang of it pretty quick. It was definitely a game that had them thinking strategy...

Sometimes they sucked so hard, they LEGOS had a hard time coming off the straw!

Looks like Kirstin had the most suction power! Look how BIG that LEGO is!!

The second game was to see who could build the tallest tower in 1 minute. Jasper had quite a strategy for his tower.

When time was up we set them up on the table to see how they compared. The birthday boy was happy to see that his tower was the tallest!

Cambree's tower had a bathroom on the top...she told me so!

Dear Preston,

I have a hard time believing that I have been a Mama for 8 years now. You are definitely doing your part to keep me young! A love of reading has developed and nothing makes me happier than to see you sitting on the couch or in the chair reading a chapter book! I also really love seeing you read to your brother and sister. I know you are creating memories that the 3 of you will cherish when you get older.

You are learning what it means to be a loyal friend. Though it's a struggle some days, you are learning what it means to "have" someone's back. You are also starting to step out of your shell a little concerning your faith. I have heard you on more than one occassion talk to your friends about Jesus. That warms my heart. While I know there is so much more I should be doing to grow your faith, you are obviously taking it in and making it a part of who you are. Your heart is still soft and you don't like to see others hurt or upset.

However, you do have a very competitive spirit and you don't like to be on the loosing end of anything! Being a good sport is something we work very hard on. You are already talking about college and what sport you want to play when you get there. I am NO where near ready to send you off to college, but I am proud that you are thinking about your future!

I hope that your 8th year is one of great blessings and great accomplishments for you! You are turning into the young man that God desires you to be. Always keep Him in your heart and you will achieve great and wonderful things! I love you more than you will ever understand!

Love,

Mama

Preston Turns 8 - day 1

2011-11-04T13:20:00.001-05:00

Preston turned 8 years old on October 18th.I know, I am terrible late with this post or set of posts. BUT, I was busy planning and executing all the details of this birthday!Better late than never, right?!

The morning started with phone calls from grandparents! I can't remember, but I think this might have been Papa Rusty on the phone. If i recall correctly I heard Preston telling him something about a 4-wheeler! Oh my!!

As tradition would have it, we woke up early on the actual DAY of his birth to enjoy a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls. This year the night before Preston asked me to have a "surprise" drink for him the next morning. I chuckled a little and said I would see what I could come up with. After a little thinking I thought that a little Sparkling Grape Juice would be the perfect birthday morning surprise drink! If you have ever heard the story about our 7 person "romantic" dinner at the hospital when Westynn was born....this choice of beverage will make you smile...just like it did us!

The birthday boy and his yummy breakfast goodies!

We sang happy birthday ~ and Preston did the birthday dance!

EVERYONE loves birthday mornings!!

I made Preston take a picture with both Jeremy and me. I don't think either one of the guys was thrilled with my request :)

I, on the other hand, don't get many chances to have a picture with Preston, so I was loving it!

Preston also took brownie cookies and juice pouches to share with his classmates that day. We decided to wait and have his party later in the month when his cousins and aunt and uncle would be here to help him celebrate. They live in Houston and we hadn't seen them since February, so having them here for the party was a BIG deal. I'll do another post on the LEGO party!!

State Fair 2011

2011-10-08T19:07:00.001-05:00

WOW, this post is REALLY late, but we had such a good time at the State Fair that I had to share.

Cambree, Preston and I did this bungy, trampoline thing...not sure what it is called exactly. Once I got over the stomach rolling, it was actually quite fun! I even managed to do a couple of back flips!!

What's the best part about the fair?

PRONTO PUPS!!!

Grandma Robin doesn't agree, so we made her take the photo :)

Nom - Nom!!

Is it bad if I drug my whole family to the fair JUST so I could eat a greasy corn dog?

I didn't think so either!

We had a great time at the John Deere exhibit. We tried out all of the different Gators and other small equipment. I was more than a little disappointed to see that they still do not offer Gators in PINK!

The combines are MASSIVE. Here's the three kids in the wheel!!

Westynn loved climbing all over them!

Papa helped C & W up on the combine so we could take a picture and see just how HUGE these machines are!

Cambree and Jeremy had ice cream from the K-State dairy barn. She sure enjoyed the Chocolate!! Isn't she adorable in that hat?!

Westynn wasn't big enough for any of the Midway rides, so he took turns hanging out with Papa and Dad.

I know you are going to think this is staged...but totally not the case! I just happened to look down and catch them standing like this. They were contemplating the ride that goes up and then drops you back down. At first Preston was NOT going to ride that {he is NOT the thrill seeker of the family}, but his adventurous sister finally talked him into it.

See how happy she is and how still unsure Preston looks?

Don't worry, he got off and declared, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!"

And they rode at least 3 more times!!

Westynn gets so many compliments on his hat and he looks ADORABLE wearing it!

He was exhausted by the time we left to head home. Jeremy had a small argument with him about going to sleep with food in his mouth. I told Jeremy to just stick his finger in there and flick it out while he was crying. CHICKEN, he wouldn't do it! They finally got it all settled and Westynn slept with what we call his "mad face."

All in all the State Fair 2011 was a lot of fun and we are ready to do it again next year!

House Update

2011-10-08T17:19:00.000-05:00

There has been lots of activity at the house over the last month and I have had more than one request from my family members far away to get pictures up. So, here you go!

These first pictures are from September 30th. The next step after putting on the floor is to frame it up! They started with the exterior walls so that Jeremy and I could make the final decisions about doors and windows. We went out on a Monday evening and things went pretty well. We only changed one thing...the ENTIRE west side of the living room/kitchen area!

The original house plan called for a breakfast nook, which I was so very excited about. If you follow me on Pinterest you might have seen several of the things I pinned relating to my breakfast nook. Here comes the BUT...

But, once they had the walls up and the kitchen lined out on the floor it just looked to me like it was going to be too cramped. SO, I wondered what would happen if we scrapped the breakfast nook all together, moved the patio doors over and created one GINORMOUS window. It only took Jeremy about an hour to wrap his head around the change {he's not a HUGE fan of change if you don't know him very well}!! There were definitely some tense moments and I am fully confident that Kelsey can add marriage counselor to his resume now! I was on the brink of tears at one point and he managed to talk me down off the ledge, LOL!

By Friday they had all the newly agreed upon changes made and the wall was up and ready for final approval. One look at this...

and I had absolutely NO doubt that I had made the right decision! This view is amazing at sunset!! There will be a covered deck out this window, but I don't think it will interfere with the view, especially if you are sitting down. Well, that wasn't the end of the decision making regarding that window. Once we checked with our window company, we were told that the largest they could get in the line of windows we had chosen was 8 ft and this was supposed to be 9 ft. We could get a 9 ft window in a different line, but it was going to cost $550 more...JUST for 12 inches!! That came out to about $45 per inch...and somehow the logical side of me won out and ultimately we decided that we probably wouldn't notice those 6 inches off either side once the window was in and we are living there. WHEW!! I think we FINALLY made it through all of the window decisions!!!

Cambree and Westynn help Jeremy place the tape measure so that we can decide where to put the opening that leads to the 2 upstairs bedroom and the bathroom. Sounds like an easy decision to make, but NOT the case. There are a LOT of factors that play into it. I won't bore you with all the details, but we managed to make the decision...sort of?!

Here's the view of the house looking east. The front door is on the far left. The dining room window is in the middle and on the left you can look through the kitchen window and see the other dining room window. I know, a little confusing, but it will make more sense once you see it from the outside.

This picture cracks me up...I imagine the guys were THRILLED to finally have electricity so they could have a hot lunch!!

Jeremy and Kelsey discuss the options for the railing on the basement stairs. Who knew there were so many? I left them to hash this out because this is part of "Jeremy's Room" and I wanted to make sure that it fits with his vision for the room. {Once they had made a decision, I made sure that it was the same one I would have made...but at least this way Jeremy thinks he is getting some say in things, lol!)

I drug my parents out to the house this time, because they hadn't seen it since it was just basement walls. I bet my mom said a hundred times, "This is going to be SO nice." It was fun having them there...they are excited for us and it is fun to take people like that out to see it. The best part was showing her my {our} master closet and it's two entrances and she said, "OH MY GOSH!" Loved that moment!!

Below you can see the stem wall of the garage {Preston is leaning on it}. Kelsey was busy this day filling it with sand and getting it leveled out so that the floor can be poured and the garage walls framed up.

The next set of picture are from yesterday, October 7th. The garage floor and porch stem walls were poured this week. That's about the only progress that was made because the gold ol' Kansas wind was back in full force this week. We had gusts of over 50 mph and for some CRAZY reason the boys didn't think they wanted to try and put up framework or trusses in that....whatev'!!

The parts you can see inside the house are our master bedroom, master bath and the most fantastic master closet...which I might have already mentioned! There's also a pantry closet but it's hard to see unless you know what you are looking for. The basement stairs can also be seen if you look closely....sort of Where's Waldo?!

Here's an example of the havoc those winds have created...our basement could now pass for having dirt floors!

This is a view of the west side. The far left window is the west bedroom, the large window is the living room, the next large opening {Jeremy is standing in it} is the patio doors, the two higher windows are the master bedroom {designed to fit on either side of our bed and right above our nightstands} and the window on the far right is the master bath {which is right over the tub}.

This is the front of the house. The Front door on the right and the dining room window on the left. I love how you can see completely through the house from the front or the back!

Kitchen window on the right, laundry window on the left.

The trusses are here, ready and waiting for the wretched wind to die down! I CANNOT WAIT to see what the house looks like with these bad boys on it!

This is the view of the house from the first cattle guard. Hopefully now that it has rained, we will be able to get the road built!

If you have ever wondered what it is like to work with a contractor...here's the best evidence

I was really wishing I would have had something to add PU underneath this...but I guess next time I will just go prepared!! Kelsey must have forgotten that I know where he lives. Wonder how he would feel about a little Crimson and Cream spray painted in his yard?!!

Brena

2011-10-08T15:33:00.002-05:00

No More Hole in the Ground

2011-09-25T20:08:00.002-05:00

We no longer have a big ol' hole in the ground!

It's not that much different than before....but it will be in a week or so.

In recent days the sub floor of the ground level has been put in place. Which also means that the basement is covered.

The framework for the stairs went it in.

The footings for the porches and garage have been poured.

Westynn got to work...throwing the scrap pieces of wood!

Edwin and Brett put the stairs down into the basement.

Brett got LOTS of supervision while he leveled the stairs and secured them! :)

Rod and Janis came over to see the progress.

I tried to get a "good" picture of me and the kids ON the house...apparently this is as good as it gets!

That's okay...I love it and them and us just the way we are!!

I think it will be fun to take a picture of us in this same spot once the house is finished.

2011-09-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

We had a little impromptu photo session this morning before Sunday School. It's pretty obvious who was the most into it and who wouldn't stand still for a minute!

They turned out pretty cute....but I was so mad at myself for not checking my camera before shooting away. My ISO was up too high and they are grainy...oh well! These kiddos are cute, even with the grain!

I sure to LOVE these kids and they are growing up way too fast!!

Shedding Tears

2011-09-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

I just shed my first set of tears over a house decision.

Cut me some slack! It was a MAJOR decision...a permanent one!

It's over now.

I feel tired, but I know that somehow the right decisions will be made.

However, it might involve sleepless nights, more tears and more printer ink than I care to think about!! (Printing lots of inspiration photos these day!)

Let me get on my soapbox for a moment.

Don't take your windows for granted. They may not be anything fancy or glamorous, but at one point someone had to make the grueling decision about:

*What rooms need windows

*How wide they should be

*How tall they should be

*If they should be picture, double hung, single hung, casement

*Grids or no grids

*Grid pattern if one is needed

*How far from the floor to put them

*How far from the ceiling to put them

*One big window or a more smaller windows

*Which color the interior should be

*Which color the exterior should be

*Vinyl, wood, aluminum

I am sure you look at your windows and you can think of something you like/don't like about them. I will never EVER look at windows the same again in my life. Why is this so stressful? For one thing I will have to look out these windows every day for the rest of my life....I don't want to look at them and think, "man I wish I would have done that differently." Carpet colors can be changed, paint re-done...Windows are PERMANENT.

NEVER changing. Yes, they may eventually need replaced, but when that time come you are pretty much stuck with the same size and placement.

UGH!

Please, please thank your windows for all they do for you! And go easy on the guy or gal who had to make all the hard decisions!!

Mr. Fix It

2011-09-10T21:35:00.001-05:00

It seems nearly impossible that my "baby"turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. I suppose that I have waited so long to blog about it, because you know the old saying, "It's not really true until you blog about it." Okay, so that's not an old saying, just one I borrowed from a fellow blogger, Megan.

As is our Stapleton Family tradition...cinnamon rolls on the morning of the "real" birthday. For Westynn it was a Friday and I was happy 'cause that meant I didn't have to get up at 4:00 am to let the rolls rise!

He was a little gun-shy with the candle, because just moments before this picture he had put out the candle with his fingers...OOPS!

Then on Saturday we had the house all spiffed up and ready for Westynn's big party day.

His most fabulous daycare provider, Stacy, gave him a Melissa and Doug tool set and I was very willing to let him open it early that day so I could get the last minute things done for the party. He was super pumped about the "amma" aka hammer.

The birthday boy enjoyed his "do it yourself" lunch of a sandwich and chips!

Busting out the tools to work on the car! At one point during the day my kids and a couple of their friends were trying to take the car apart piece by piece. Thankfully the mother's were there to coral this activity. The dads? They were just watching!!

Westynn came in and saw his workbench, his eyes lit up, and he quickly got right up on top and had a seat!

Then he got out his pliers and started a new project!

I had to post this next picture, because Jeremy's face is TOO funny! My dad got him a baseball tee and bat and Westynn went right to swinging the bat!

Wearing his new camo OU hat and working the power tools!

Finally, a pair of pliers, just like Papa Rodney! Well almost, these are plastic.

A new bike from Papa Rusty and Jennifer. By the time the weather warms up in the spring, he will be just the right height to pedal his new bike.

The cupcakes had chocolate hammers on them and when the candles were lit, they melted the top right off the hammer! Westynn couldn't believe his 'amma' fell off.

Then his dad made him laugh and all was right with the world again!

Westynn and Uncle Russ, the superb builder of the workbench.

The bike had to have a few adjustments. The seat that came on the bike was still a little high even after it was at it's lowest point. So, Papa Rusty and Dad came to the rescue and put the seat from Preston's old bike on Westynn's new bike and Wa-La...problem solved!

And now here's my letter to my baby on his 2nd birthday:

Dear Mr. Westynn,

Not a day goes by that I am not extremely thankful that you are my baby, my boy! Having you made me believe 100% that only God knows what is best for our lives. He knew, even when I didn't, that my life was missing something. He planned you from the moment time began and he planned for me to be your mother. What an amazing gift I have been given.

Seeing your eyes light up, your snaggle toothed little grin and hearing you say "Mama" makes my heart so full that it feels like it should burst from my chest. It seems that from the moment you turned 2 on August 19th, you morphed from baby boy to little boy! You even managed to sneak from your crib on Sunday the 21st!

You have started talking so much and you repeat just about everything you hear. Anything round that can be thrown, kicked, or hit finds it's way into your hands. You are quite frequently seen carrying a football around like a running back. Kicking the football is a newly acquired skill and it is a hoot to watch you kick! Some kids carry around stuffed animals or dolls, but not you! A wrench is your comfort item. You ask for it each morning when you wake up, you carry it in the car on the way to Ms. Stacy's and you immediately ask for it when I pick you up. Just try to take it from you...you get a deathlike, ninja grip on that thing! It makes me nervous, but at the same time I think it is so perfectly you!

While my heart breaks a little each day knowing that time is going too quickly and I am losing my baby, I am also so thrilled to watch you grow and thrive. I love you Westynn Cole!!

Mama

CheerLeader!

2011-09-10T19:30:00.002-05:00

This year as a Kindergartner, Cambree got to attend the Mini Cheer Camp put on by the SCHS Cheerleaders and their awesome Coaches, AJ and Jaymi.

Cambree was SO excited to go and had her suitcase packed and ready to go early that week. Camp started Thursday evening at 6:00 and lasted until Friday at noon. They got to spend the night at the high school...VERY COOL!

Proud to be a FUTURE Timberwolf Cheerleader!!

Friday when it was time for the parents to pick up the girls, we met them at the football field and they put on a little exhibition for us. You could tell there were some VERY tired girls out there! There's Cambree's friend and classmate, Molly, in the pink!

I don't remember what they were yelling...something about feet together, hands at your sides...but it was so funny to watch these little girls yelling for all they are worth. ADORABLE!

Later that night at the High School football game, the girls got dressed in their matching outfits and put on one of the best halftime shows I have ever seen! They divided the girls into two smaller groups and each group learned 2 chants and a routine and the entire group of 50+ girls did a group cheer together.

My pictures from that night didn't turn out superb...blurry a lot of them because it was so dark and they were moving so fast. I do have a little video, but I haven't gotten it put on YouTube yet.

During the first half of the game, the girls all sat together in the stands. Here's Cambree and her 1st grade BFF, Kailey! Sweet girls...even if Kailey is a burnt orange fan!!

How is it possible that MY daughter is now old enough to attend the Cheer Camp that I used to help with as a CHS cheerleader? Another one of those things that makes my heart smile!!!!!!!

Does This Make My Bathroom Look Small?

2011-08-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

HA! What a creative title! Are you impressed? Ya know, like 'Does this make my butt look big'?

We got basement framing this past week and I have been trying to decide if I think it looks bigger or smaller. The only real issue I had was the bathroom....it looks WAY smaller in real life than I have pictured it in my head. The other rooms all look okay. You see what you think.

Looking from the south to the north. You can see the two basement bedrooms.

Here's the safe room. It's going to be so nice to have a safe place to go when the storms roll through. There are braces in the door frame, because the walls still need to be poured with concrete.

Our bedrooms have window wells now. Only thing left to do now is to figure out something to go inside them, so that if an escape is ever necessary, we can do it quickly and easily.

Those two electric poles are new! Won't be long now and our house will have electricity. Kelsey will run underground wire from the closest pole to the house.

Here's that SMALLISH looking bathroom! I have choosing to just have faith and since Kelsey and Brett have assured me that it is big enough, we are going to go with that!

It's a very surreal feeling to be out at the new house.

It's peaceful.

It's beautiful.

It's calming.

It's everything I never knew I wanted.

I was here this particular morning about 9:00 am. I just kept thinking how awesome it is going to be to sit on the front porch and watch the sun come up...or sit on the back deck and watch the deer graze the wheat pasture before heading off to bed down for the day.

We won't be in it in time to enjoy the crisp fall mornings and evenings, but hopefully spring will find up perched in our hew home!

Hot Summer Days

2011-08-26T23:16:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post these pictures before the weather turns and summer seems like a distant memory. This HOT summer found us spending quite a few evenings outside cooling off.

Just how do you do that when you are young and free? Why, you take off your shirt, pop the top on a cold beer and turn the water hose on your self and your siblings!!

**Don't worry, Jeremy drank the Bud Light BEFORE we turned Westynn loose with the can! However, once he had it, he wasn't letting it go! He kept filling it up with water and then pouring it out in the flowers!**

Back 2 School

2011-08-15T22:04:00.001-05:00

WARNING: HEAVY ON PHOTOS!

Tablescape for our Back 2 School dinner with the Grandparents.

I try to use their school supplies to decorate with. The kids LOVE seeing all their stuff out.

A cute little printable that I found on Pinterest. A quick shot of yellow spray paint to a $3 frame from Dollar General and ta-da...CUTE artwork!

Caught in the act! Trying to take my picture....ha!

Little pink backpack loaded up with supplies, a blanket and pillow for resting....just what a girl needs to start KINDERGARTEN!

Second Graders got to School in SOONER style!

My little poser! It is SO much fun to take her pictures right now.

This guy make me think that plucking all the hairs from my head one by one would be more enjoyable! He HATES having his picture taken.

Hard to believe I have reached the point where I have more than one kid in school FULL-TIME! They can just stop growing now. I tell them this all the time, but the refuse to listen to me.

Unloading all those supplies into the BIG second grade desk....when did 2nd grade desks get so much larger than the ones in 1st grade? Maybe it's just me! Preston didn't seem to notice.

Kindergartner's have cubbies for their things.

I told her to sit down at her table and make a school face...HAHAHAHA! LOVE it!

This is her posing face.

Cambree with Mrs. Jackson, her kindergarten teacher. What a cute monkey!

Mrs. Kay, the second grade teacher, with Preston.

It won't be long and I will have 3 kiddos in school. I am refusing to think about it though. Because, that just makes me want to have more babies, so that I always have someone at home!

Preston and Cambree you guys are going to have a great year! I am so proud to be your mama and I know you are going to have great achievements this year.

Basement Bath

2011-08-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

Well we had to choose a shower for the basement bath this week.

Okay, we are still in the "thinking" about it stage!

Since it is the basement bathroom, it won't get a lot of daily use right now, but hopefully will be the "boys" bathroom once they are a little older. We decided on a smaller shower, 36 x 36, and it looks like we are going to have room for a 30" or 36" vanity. Obviously, we will also have a toilet!

Below is a rough, rough floor

plan of our basement bathroom. This is NOT to scale, but it gives an idea of how things will be laid out.

I had two things that were critical in the design of all the bathrooms.
1) I don't want to step out of the shower and be standing right by the toilet. For some reason that just grosses me out. Not that our toilets are that disgusting, but I just don't like it.
2) I don't want to be able to see the toilet if the bathroom door is open. Not a huge thing, but if we could work it out, then all the better.

Lucky for me, Jeremy and Kelsey were very accommodating to my needs! HA! Actually they were. They talked it all through and we managed to work it all out. In the picture above you step out of the shower towards the vanity and the door swings in towards the wall, opposite the vanity.

Click on the link below and you can see my Pinterest board for the basement bath and see some of the things I have picked out for it. Of course, these choices aren't set in stone, but I am pretty confident that most of them will remain the same.

Basement Bath Pin Board

I will probably use the shower curtain that we have in our master bathroom now downstairs. It has greens and turquoises in it. Right now the bathroom is painted green, but I don't know if I will do that downstairs or not. I might try to keep it more neutral so that I can switch out the accessories more easily! Don't tell Jeremy....he will consider that an evil plan!

Well, only 999,999 more decisions to make!! Next up...WINDOWS!

The Walls Came...

2011-08-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

...NOT tumblin' down! Rather, they went up, up, up!!

Kind of weird to see all those foam blocks put together Lego style and filled with concrete!

Jeremy said it was really windy and the west {left} wall kept blowing around before they got it poured and leveled. YIKES...probably a good thing I had to work this time around.

The walls took 6 trucks....WOW!

Twice as much as the floor or footings.

So far, 12 trucks have made the long trek from Pratt to 4384 U Street, Mullinville KS!!

That's a whole lotta concrete!!

We have a floor!

2011-08-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

This past Friday we got basement floors! The kids and I headed out to the house to watch since Kelsey told us it was pretty neat to watch.

The kids didn't think it was near as much fun as exploring and climbing the dirt piles, so they did that while I watched and took pictures.

Cement started flowing in the northeast corner and there was NO turning back!

Jeremy helped...:)

He really did get those big ol' boots dirty and broke a sweat! Kind of neat to think that when the house is finished, his hard labor made part of it happen....how many people can say that?

Lots of raking and direction giving to the cement boom operator. It was pretty neat because he had this little remote control box that he used to move the cement from the truck to the basement and then navigate the boom over the floor. Kelsey and Brett did a great job of giving him direction and making sure that things didn't move too fast or too slow.

After each truck was finished {there were 3} they would have to vibrate the cement to get it smooth.

Here's the boom. It was so tall that Janis said she could see it from their house. It must have intrigued them, cause the showed up about 20 minutes before they were done. I was actually standing quite far away in the photo below...the old homestead for those of you who have been there...and still couldn't get the entire thing in the frame!

Below is one of my favorite pictures from the day.

And here's the final product! No sooner was the last piece of concrete poured and it started to rain!

I couldn't help but ask Kelsey about the rain and how much was too much....and what happens it if rains too much....and he politely tried to put me off and then I asked, "Should I just not worry about it." He replied, "That would be great!" HA!

The basement sort of looks like a jigsaw puzzle right now....don't you think?

Tomorrow it is basement walls and then after that framing the basement! I hope that by the end of the month we are seeing some "above" ground progress. :)

Celebrating my Town of Birth

2011-08-07T17:13:00.000-05:00

A fact most people probably don't know about me is that I was born in a rinky-dink little town in Texas.

That's right, I am a Texan by birth!

My parents lived in Amherst, Texas on May 29th 1981. Amherst is where my Great-Great Grandmother, Bertha Thompson, my Great-Grandparents Joe & Hattie Brandstatt, my Great Aunt, Marie Sawyer, my Great Aunt and Uncle, Marilyn and Glynn Brandstatt and numerous cousins lived {and some of them still live today}.

Here's the Google version of where Amherst is:

View Larger Map
It's in the panhandle of Texas...about a 6 hour drive from Coldwater.

Each year on the last weekend of July the town has a "celebration" and my family has sort of adopted this time as our own little family reunion. It has been so much fun getting re-acquainted with my Dad's side of the family and introducing them to my kids. The last time we went Cambree was about Westynn's age. I sure hope it isn't that long before we are back again!!

I am going to keep the rest of this post relatively short because it is HEAVY on pictures!

Preston and Gavin (Clinton and Connie's middle son) on their bikes ready for the parade!

Me and Westynn hanging out on Main Street waiting for the parade to start!

My Brodie and his girl, Krisit! They are getting married...how is it that my cousins are old enough to be getting married?

Biker babe in the parade!! She rocked it riding with Papa Rusty in the big parade.

My Great Uncle Glynn Brandstatt. My Grandma Betty's brother.

Here come's Preston!

Westynn caught a ball from the cheerleaders parade float...he was THRILLED!!

Me and the girl!!

The boys crashed our photo...only to give goofy grins!

Jeremy and I...Cambree took this!

Westynn thinks he is one HOT SHOT sitting on the tractor for the tractor pull.

There she goes pulling with all her might!

Preston pulled and pulled.....until the upped the weight to 80 lbs....almost double his size!

Papa Rusty and the two big kids!

I got caught busting a move on the volleyball court. I am sure our losing had NOTHING to do with the fact that I spent more time dancing that playing :).

Brodie tickled Cambree until she was red in the face....and she LOVED every minute of it! This girls loves those Reed boys!

A secret with Noah!

Papa Rust serves it up at volleyball.

Grandma Betty got all tuckered out from riding the Class of '51-'52 float in the parade!

Cambree loves Larry!

Noah digs into the dish where all the ice cream paddles were placed! I didn't think we were going to get him out of there!

Mmmmm! That's good ice cream!

It was a FAB.U.LOUS weekend and I am already looking forward to next year!

Friends in Summer

2011-08-05T14:05:00.003-05:00

Back in July, our friends the Barlow's came for a visit. We took them to the lake to enjoy our boat and the water since it was so HOT outside! Here's some of my favorite pictures from that afternoon.

They spent the night and the next afternoon we sent them to Bob Knoll Basketball Camp. Here the oldest three are after we altered their camp shirts to fit them!!

The picture below is a sure sign of having friends at our house....LOTS of drink cups on the table.

Thanks Barlow's for coming to KS for a visit! We loved having you and we can't wait to see you again!!

Dribble, Pass, Shoot

2011-08-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again! Time for Bob Knoll Basketball Camp!!!

This year was extra exciting, because Cambree Jane got to attend as well. It was actually quite nice since they attended the same session.

CJ was PUMPED to head out the first day!!

Look at that form already....she is going to be a natural! I think my heart just skipped a beat when I saw this photo. SQUEAL!! Love this!

She can hustle up and down the court dribbling the ball too! Oh, you have no idea how it warms my heart to watch MY DAUGHTER loving the same thing that I have so much passion for.

She also was awarded "smallest camper." You forget how tiny she is until she gets out there with all the older kids.

Preston is on his third year of camp and he is making leaps and bounds each year. It is amazing to see the improvement from his first year.

I think he is even starting to like the game a little bit. Either that, or he was really putting on a show for me and my camera!

He is definitely best at dribbling up and down the court and he LOVES to do that!

It was another great year of CAMP and I am so thankful to have this camp come to own town once again.

4015

2011-08-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

That is the approximate number of days that Jeremy & I have been married!!

I was 19.
He was 23.

Too young perhaps? Who knows. I wouldn't go back and trade it. We had the great privilege of spending 3 years together, married, before having kids. I think it helped us so much.

That being said, after 3 kids and 11 years, we don't pass up many opportunities to spend time alone together. We went to Wichita in July to celebrate our 4015 days together and we had a pretty good time!

I have come to realize we don't have near enough pictures of the 2 of us together! Time to make a change and get in front of {or beside} that lens!

Jeremy doesn't necessarily agree with me. :)

We went to a car show that was downtown right outside our hotel. It was one of the biggest shows I have ever seen and some of the things we saw were incredible. We both kept falling in love with all the Chevrolet Chevelle's and Camaro's that were displayed there. I love the picture above...and happen to think it would look awesome in a large print and framed on someone's wall....anybody?

This is probably as close as I will ever get to a Ferarri...my reflection in one! I was afraid to breathe standing this close.

We also had the pleasure of witnessing what should be considered the WORST Elvis impersonator ever!! He was awful...we just stood and laughed at him. I think a few people actually thought he was good. We had a hard time trying to decide if he was trying to be bad and get a laugh or if he really thought he was good. The jury's still out on that one!

It was a short, fast weekend, but one that felt so good and was much needed. It's amazing what a little one on one quiet time will do for ya!

Footings

2011-07-28T08:55:00.004-05:00

Building a house means that I am learning LOTS of new things. I had absolutely NO IDEA all of the things that went into it. I thought that once the basement had been dug out they would just start setting the foam blocks in.

Boy was I wrong! First they had to stake it all out again inside the hole and then trench part of it out, to make room for the basement footings.

What are basement footings? Basically, it is like a ledge or a shelf that the blocks will sit on. Three trucks came out on Monday morning and poured the footings. I sent the camera with Jeremy since I had to go back to work. He did a great job capturing this stage of the process.

NOW, the blocks can go in! It might start looking like a real house...

The Man's Work Is Never Done

2011-07-27T06:53:00.000-05:00

It's amazing; he has watched me do this enough times that he knows right where everything goes and if he can't reach it, he just puts it on the counter in front of the cabinet. SO CUTE!!

Of course, this is what my silverware drawer looks like when he is done!

Personalization

2011-07-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

THE SCHOOL SUPPLIES ARE OUT!!

I know, I am 30 years old and that is not supposed to be a big deal to me. BUT, that is when all the cute notebooks, binders, folders, etc are on the shelves.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I might have a small addiction to ADORABLE paper products! I picked up a couple of cute notebooks the other day at Wal-mart. They were cute enough on their own.

However, I knew that I could make them even MORE wonderful! First of all, I took the larger one and drew grids on every 10th page to create a calendar.

It's not perfect, but it is going to be functional. After trying planner upon planner, I finally realized EXACTLY what I need was basically a notebook with a calendar. I am not a daily planner, but I like to see my month-at-a-glance. I looked and looked for something cute out there, but nothing fit the bill. I figured for $2.97 I could make this work!

I debated about making something up on the computer and printing it out and gluing it to the paper, but I decided that perfection was not goal here, function was. So, I sat down with my handy jar of colored Sharpies and a ruler and went to town making my calendars. I also know that being a list maker, I wanted plenty of room to make lists and to plan events. I have just that in my new planner. I also added tabs to locate the months....'cause I am OCD like that!

Then as I sat looking at the polka dot cover I had a brilliant realization that my Silhouette machine could make an incredibly cute monogram for the front. You know, just in case some other crazy woman had hacked a Wal-mart notebook into a planner JUST LIKE MINE, I would be able to distinguish mine!

Come on, this is CUTE!

I also have the smaller version of this notebook that I plan to take with me to school and use there. Cambree Jane got a smaller one as well. We added a couple of monograms to our notebooks and we are two ECSTATIC ladies!

So, don't settle for "off the shelf" when you can personalize it!

I am now thinking that these would make cute gifts {the notebook with the monogram...not all the crazy junk inside}! What do you think? Would you like getting a personalized notebook?

Quiet Time

2011-07-25T09:50:00.003-05:00

Do you moms and dads {ha! like there are any of those reading this} ever have moments when you stop dead in your tracks and realize that it has been WAY TOO QUIET for WAY TOO LONG?

I hate it when that happens! Especially when this is the result...

Yes, that is every SINGLE roll of toilet paper that was stored under the sink now on the bathroom floor.

Oh, but that isn't the best part.

EVERY.SINGLE. ROLL had been first put into the toilet and THEN thrown onto the floor!

AWESOME!

Go back up to that first picture....notice the little pieces of toilet paper that have been torn off the roll and are laying on the floor? That is what DIDN'T make it into the toilet from the roll that was on the paper holder. The rest of the paper....You guessed it, IN the toilet!

ARGH! Will I never learn to tune into the silence a little sooner?

{Sidenote: I have to add to this story; once I saw what was happening in the bathroom I said the name of the little person responsible and then I walked away and I heard another little person say, "I bet she's going to get her camera!" LOVE IT!}

When Life Gives You Lemons...

2011-07-24T09:36:00.001-05:00

...make the "SOUR" face!!

I know it's a little fuzzy, but I just couldn't delete it!

It makes me smile every time I see it!

Why was she eating a lemon? The big kids swear that they like them. Actually, Preston does. I think Cambree just eats them because he does!

I have been drinking A LOT of iced tea this summer and I started getting some lemons and cutting them into slices and keeping them in a small mason jar in the fridge so they could be added to my tea. I don't know what it is about this little jar...

but it makes adding lemon so much more fun!

I was adding another lemon to the jar, when out of the woodwork the kids appeared begging me to let them have a piece. So I cut one in half and grabbed the camera!

It was worth it to capture that face!

Big 'Ol Hole

2011-07-20T13:27:00.000-05:00

The day finally arrived!

I have been waiting MONTHS for our house to finally start and the first step was digging the basement. We found out on Wednesday that they would be there early the next morning to start the digging.

I decided it would be fun to have something special for breakfast. I mixed together some cinnamon rolls the night before so that all I would have to do on Thursday morning was bake them and then head out to the homestead. Well, my grand plan didn't work quite the way I had hoped and I have to get creative in order for the rolls to rise! Let's just say that I WILL NOT be using that "internet" tip any more!!

When we got out to the ranch the excavator was still on the trailer; it was very exciting & NOISY to watch it come down. At one point, it even looked like it might just tip right over!

That excavator can MOVE though, we barely had time to snap the family photo below before he started digging. In fact, Randy {the excavator operator} had to stop and wait for Rodney to get out of the way!!

Okay, maybe not our BEST family photo...but at least we got one! {Just for the record I had a really great, cute idea in my head of what I thought would have been the perfect family photo, but it got shot down by the rest of the family...I got this one instead.}

We scampered out of the way and just moments later the first GIANT scoop of dirt was being moved!

As soon as the dirt starting flying, we ate our breakfast out of the back of the suburban and watched some more.

Westynn was looking UNDER the barb wire fence to see what was happening. CRACKED me up!

It wasn't long before the kids were ready to head out "exploring." Jeremy was happy to oblige them while I stayed back at the suburban to take more pictures and just soak in the experience.

Jeremy's dad, Rodney, came out to watch too. Or maybe it was to supervise, I am still unsure!!

There was a lot of in and out of the hole for Kelsey and his measuring stick.

Jeremy even managed to pick up a shovel and do a little digging of his own! HA!

It didn't take long for our little handyman to want in on the action. He tried and tried to dig up this post, but the ground is just too dry and while he has some guns, it just wasn't enough!!

After about an hour and a half, it was getting pretty repetitive and less exciting so we decided to call it a day and head home to our a/c! But before we left I wanted a pic of the kids sitting on one of the GIANT dirt piles. Once again, lack of cooperation resulted in this picture. I am officially throwing in the towel where family/sibling photos are concerned!

Here's the best shot I could get of the entire basement. Since it is an odd shape it was hard to get a shot of the whole thing. I climbed to the top of the dirt pile and tried, but it still wasn't high enough! There is more of the basement off to the left. It's like a big rectangle and a big square connected together. Hard to explain in words...so I will quite trying now.

I have thought about what I would type in this post for several days and now that I am finally sitting down to write it, I have NO idea what to say. There were a lot of emotions that day. Excitement. Nervousness. Surreal. Frightened. Joyful. Thankful. I wanted to be able to express on my blog all the things that went through my mind. But, here I am typing away and I've got nothing!

Maybe it's just the mood I'm in...the words aren't coming to me. Hopefully all of my house posts don't end up being this boring!!

9 ft under

2011-07-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

I am going to leave you with this for now. I have MANY pictures to finish editing and then I will be back with the whole story!!

Recipe Binder

2011-07-12T14:23:00.001-05:00

One of the things that has been on my "To-Do" list for quite some time is to get a cover and some divider pages made for my little recipe binder. With my LOVE of the internet and Pinterest, I am gathering quite a collection of DELICIOUS eats and a growing "to try" file! The only problem was that all those recipes were getting OUT of CONTROL!

Before school was out I spent about an hour one Saturday going through it all:
sorting it into categories
throwing away the things that just weren't going to happen
reprinting the recipes that had food on them
putting them all into page protectors {ah....one of my first true loves I think}

Then I just put it back in the cabinet with the thought that one day when it was peaceful and quiet I would sit down with my computer and make some adorable little dividers and a fancy schmancy cover.

Enter Summer Break 2011! I need things to do to occupy my days and to keep from driving everyone around me NUTS while I wait and wait and wait for the house to actually start. What better time to get crackin' on this Recipe Binder "to do"!

Here's my cover:

I used the digital scrapbooking kit "Mom's Kitchen" by Crisdam Designs. You can get it here.

I printed it out and put it in the front of my binder...here it is in my binder.

It sure makes me smile to pull this organized recipe binder out of the cabinet now. Actually, it probably spends more time out being used than put away!

I also made some dividers. Here they are:

and in a page protector in my binder

And then, because I just couldn't stop myself, I went ahead and re-typed some of my favorite recipes that were just TOO tiny for me to read {I am getting old ya know!}. Plus, these recipes are much more FUN to use now. Here's one:

I was even a good girl and gave credit where credit was due on all of my "new" recipe pages!

So, there is one project marked "DONE" off the ol' "To Do" List!

And, I must say, It Feels Pretty Darn Good!

Guess What We Just Did

2011-07-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

Here's a few clues:
1. It was HOT out.

2. Involved stakes, string, a measuring tape.

3. Took A LOT longer than I anticipated.

4. Is making me have feelings that I cannot describe...mixed emotions maybe?

5. Jeremy was there too.

6. When we were finished, we pulled up all those stakes and wrapped all that string back up.

So, any guesses?

Question of the Day?

2011-07-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

Telling the kids they can't go to the pool if they don't start behaving.

Who is really being punished in this situation? Mom or kids?

Right now I am leaning toward MOM!!

Thoughts on Dating

2011-07-07T22:36:00.000-05:00

The last Saturday in June we took the "big" kids to see Kung Fu Panda 2.

Cute movie...Can't wait for it to come out on DVD! Definitely getting it. LOVED IT!

On to the dating discussion.

The kids had to take baths before we went and I let Preston chose his own clothes to wear {I am trying to teach him more responsibility} and he picked an OU t-shirt, tucked into some hand-me-down jeans that he LOVES, belt, Broken Arrow ball cap and boots. He looked MIGHTY handsome.

As usual, we had to wait on Jeremy to make it to the car. We parked out front and sat in the A/C while Jeremy combed and primped one final time before joining us. While we were waiting, Preston and I had the following conversation...one I want to ALWAYS remember!!

P: Mom, when I get old enough to go on a date this is what I am going to wear.
Mom: Well you look pretty nice. I might consider not wearing the ball cap though.
P: Why not? What's wrong with wearing a hat?
Mom: There is nothing wrong with it, but it's more respectful of the young lady you are on the date with if you don't wear a hat.
P: Oh.
Mom: So, where are you going to go on this date of yours?
P: Probably a movie.

P: Or Wal-mart. Girls like Wal-mart.

I laughed out loud.

P: What? Girls do like Wal-mart.
Mom: You're right, we do!

LOVE this boy. So irresponsible at times that I want to SCREAM, yet so smart!!

Food, Food, Fun and Freedom

2011-07-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

There is NO better way to celebrate the 4th of July than with a family picnic, playin' in the sprinkler, some burgers hot off the grill and a good "dismount" from the tube at the lake!

We did all of that this holiday weekend!
Sunday we headed over to Jeremy's Grandma's house in Sublette to have a picnic with his Aunts and Uncles. The kids were a little worried about not having anyone to play with since they were the only kids there, so we took their swimsuits and a couple of fun sprinkler toys and they had a BLAST!

This girl had some HILARIOUS faces with her goggles! Kept us adults laughing the whole time.

Preston refused to take his flip flops off and run in the grass...is that a sign that we haven't watered our yard enough when the kids think everyone's grass is "pokey"???

Westynn was already tired and getting grumpy at this point, but Grandma Janis is a softy and she ran through the sprinkler with him so he could cool off! I warned her that the evidence might show up on the blog!!

You wouldn't be able to tell from this next picture that he was OBVIOUSLY missing his nap time! The smiles didn't last all afternoon though. As soon as we got in the car to head home he CRASHED!

Preston wanted to take a picture of me running through the sprinkler...and since i am all about encouraging my kiddos to love photography and making memories I obliged. PLUS, it was hot out and the sprinkler was beckoning me to run through it! I was secretly hoping his first attempt wouldn't work out and I could do it again, LOL!

On Monday, Jeremy built fence in the morning while it was nice and cool and the kids and I just hung out at the house...like any other summer day! But, once he got home we grilled some more burgers, chowed down and headed out to the lake for a little cooling off.

I LOVE watching the kids ride the tube. The last time we were it was a little windier and the water kept spraying us all in the face, so we {the kids} decided they needed goggles for the next time. SO FUNNY!

Jeremy, Westynn and I even got in on the action. Westynn loves the tube as much as the older two, and I think he would go just as fast as them if we would let him. HOWEVER, for safety's sake, we keep it pretty slow and I have to admit that it is more RELAXING than it is FUN. Good times for sure!

Welp, that's how we spent our weekend!

Here's to America the Beautiful....HOME of the FREE and LAND of the BRAVE!

A Glimpse of Summer

2011-07-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

We have NO vacation planned this summer. Sitting around waiting for the house to begin is the highlight of our summer...and so far has been quite disappointing!

Ball and swimming lessons are completed, so it is finally starting to feel like what I think summer should, RELAXING! In order to keep from getting down about the status of the house, I am trying to keep myself busy with the kids and projects around the house.

I thought it might be fun to document a week of our summer life.

On Monday:
Westynn and Mama jumped on the trampoline in the morning.

Mama washed all the swimsuits and towels and hung them out to dry. Monday is a good day for this since the pool is closed!

There was a little dress up session that went down.

Then, while everyone was in costume, we had a dance party. Preston LOVES to bust a move...and I find it highly entertaining to watch him bust his moves!

On Tuesday:
There was more pretend play going on. The big kids were playing "Mom and Dad." I don't know what example she is following here!

Note the tattoo on her right bicep!!

We went to the swimming pool and the big kids enjoyed the cool water and performing their tricks for the camera! I just ADORE pictures from the pool...they always end up being my favorites from summer. Westynn also hammed it up for the camera!

This picture is my FAVORITE one in my June folder currently!!

On Wednesday:
The kids went to the ranch and spent the day with Grandma Janis who was on call at the hospital. There are no photos! I spent the day browsing Pinterest {my newest addiction}, taking a long, slow, hot shower WITHOUT interruption, quick trip to Woodward to get Jeremy some new work shirts, repaired Cambree's quilt, finished up an apron and camera strap, made Cambree a coverup for the swimming pool, and enjoyed the QUIET!! I forget how noisy this house is on a daily basis!

On Thursday:

We dumped all the cars out of the bin and drove them around for hours! Westynn says, "beep, beep" as he drives around...SO CUTE!

We watched a movie while Westynn was napping. Okay, here's the honest truth...this happens almost DAILY during the summer. Especially when it is over 100 degrees outside!

We hit the pool again after naptime. No pictures though. I am really trying hard NOT to take so many photos of the same things; like swimming at the pool!

On Friday:

We drove the trucks around again.

Reason #231 that I {heart} being an adult! I can eat ice cream for lunch! Yep, I said for lunch. It wasn't the wisest decision perhaps, but it sure was a delicious one!

Cambree and I worked on some projects. It's just the way we role around here! Cambree did hers with crazy hair and shirtless...I will just leaving you wondering what my clothes and hair looked like! HA!

I'll share with you in another post what my project is all about.

That's how our week went. It was a fast one though...TOO quickly for what is supposed to be summer!

Have a SAFE and HAPPY July 4th...and don't forget what this holiday is all about...FREEDOM!!

Let it RING!

Disappointment

2011-06-30T21:09:00.001-05:00

I am taking a brief moment here to let you know that I am tired, oh so tired, of only feeling disappointment this month. Each day I wake up hopeful that ONE thing will go the way I expect/want it to. I don't know that I can remain hopeful any longer.

I am throwing up the white flag...I surrender. You WIN!

Thank you for letting me have my moment ~ hopefully it helps!

Here's a clever idea ~ from Pinterest! Because it has changed my life, remember?


Chicy Creations

2011-06-30T13:51:00.002-05:00

Have you heard of Pinterest?

If you haven't, then you have been missing out!! Especially, if you are a lover of browsing the internet for great ideas...Like I AM! I admit it. I could easily live without television, but the minute you take away my ability to browse the internet, I will have to enter extensive rehab!

The WWW is where I go when I need an idea or inspiration for a project or a party. I USED to have my bookmarks clogged with sites that I wanted to remember...some of them bookmarked just for one thing. And my hard drive was getting bogged down with images I had saved, but then couldn't remember where I saved them from.

 has changed ALL that! 

Pinterest is one of those "why didn't I think of that" things. It is simply a place where you "Pin" your images/websites to and it does all of the saving and remembering for you. The best part is that you can organize your pins onto "boards" to help keep them organized. I currently have 20 boards! That sounds like a lot, but I have a separate board for each of the rooms in the new house, so I can keep them super organized.

Now I just "pin" an image to one of my boards and Pinterest automatically connects the picture with the website it came from. So now when I have something to share with you on the good ol' blog, I can! Because Pinterest will tell me where the source is!! YAY for better blogging!

Here's a screen shot of one of my boards, "Favorite Places and Spaces."

If you look closely, you will see that I even have 2 tabs of Pinterest going! I LOVE it that much!

You do need to have an invitation to join. I don't know why, but I would be MORE than ecstatic to send you one. Just leave me a comment with your email address and I will get you on your way to your own Pinterest addiction.

All of my boards can be found on My Pinterest page. Click the link and see what fun I have been having! If you join Pinterest, you can even become a follower of my boards and see all the new things I pin...and I pin Daily!!

4384 U Street

2011-06-23T13:48:00.002-05:00

Well, we officially have a new address...even though we won't actually live there for quite awhile yet.

It's one of my goals {okay, more like one of the things that keeps me up at night} to document the whole process of building a house. Here's the background on how we choose the spot we did. This is going to give you a real glimpse into how big of tight-wads we are...I like to think of it as practical. Also, how much I value history and what "used" to be.

The first picture is from way down south looking north towards where the house will be. The house will sit roughly where the arrow is pointing.

Well now that you have taken a little photo tour of the "site" here's a little additional background into the thought process of choosing a sight. You might have noticed above that I mentioned the original homestead to the ranch used to be on this same hill. That's a selling point to me...it really doesn't mean a whole lot to Jeremy. There are things I wish I knew more about...like what this house looked like in it's "prime" and what life was like back then. Why did they move? Where did they go?

On to Jeremy's reasons for choosing this place. There is already electricity, as well as a water well, both within a matter of yards. This will mean major cost savings in the long run. Not having to run electric or water lines for miles will mean more money for the house...which also means that I saw the value of this location. Ultimately, this will mean more money to spend on fun things like light fixtures and cabinet hardware...BONUS!

We had our final meeting with our builder just to finalize all the details of the plan. I wasn't expecting to make many changes...we have been over this plan for MONTHS!! But, we did manage to find a few things to think about. Little things like where to place the doorway to the hall that leads to the upstairs bedrooms, where to place the toilet in the upstairs bathroom, whether or not to put a column in the dining room, and a few other things as well. The good news is that we can wait until framing to make most of these decisions since the visual will help. Kelsey even told us that it was good that we were expecting to wait to make some of these changes and that we are know there might be more.

Now that we are SO close to the whole process starting I am getting really anxious! It seems like we have been planning this house for a really LONG time. It has been 9 months and you women out there know how long that can SEEM!!

With that being said, I am trying not to get too overly optimistic about actuallly seeing progress when we have been told we will. I have already realized that nothing goes as you expect it to and for the most part you just have to sit back and ride the ride. I will be honest, this is not one of my strengths, and I find it very difficult to just hang back and wait for things to happen. LOTS of time in prayer has already been spent, with much more to come I have no doubt!

On a more positive note, we have gotten our first major decision made. Due to the recent tornado in Joplin the price of roof shingles is going to increase dramatically. With that knowledge we were advised to go ahead and place our order, even though we won't actually need them for weeks. We ended up going with TAMKO, Rustic Redwood.

The hope is that it coordinates with the color we "think" we want on the siding! I have faith that we made the right decision, but I would say that Jeremy was less sure. We narrowed it down to two very, VERY close choices. So close, in fact that I really wouldn't have cared which one we got.

Here's a little reminder of the original house plan. A couple things will look different.

1. No dormers.
2. South side of the garage {the side opposite the house} will slope down. It's kind of hard to describe.
3. The garage will be wider and longer.
4. There a couple of other small things, but it is hard to see them from this little picture, so I won't try to describe them.

If you are curious, here is the original floorplan. You guessed it, it has also been modified, but I am not going to go into all the changes there! {I think if you click on the picture it will get bigger}. The major thing is that we will have a basement underneath. That was not part of the original plan, so we had to sketch that out on our own. I will have to scan that in so you can see it...but that's a chore for another post!

{*Edited: I removed the floorplan. My senses got the best of me and I decided that having our specific floorplan out there for everyone to see might not be the wisest idea. I'll invite you over when it is finished and you can see it for yourself!}

Well, there you have it! The first post in a whole series I am tagging "4384". Look for more in the coming weeks {HOPEFULLY!}

A High Flyin Weekend

2011-06-14T12:28:00.000-05:00

The big kids took their first helicopter rides on Saturday!!

PRESTON:

CAMBREE:

The Graduate

2011-06-09T15:11:00.000-05:00

On Cambree Jane's last day of Pre-K this year her teacher, Mrs. Hoffman, held a Parent's Day. It was a lot of fun to see the kids in action.

They read a story to us...

...in which all the kids participated with words and actions! ADORABLE!

Then they divided into groups and did a sort of Poem/Story for each of the seasons. Cambree was in the little turkey's group...appropriate don't ya think?

See her gobbler?

They counted together as a class to 100...IMPRESSIVE!!

They also did a lummy stick performance. Do any of you remember doing this with Mrs. Deewall in vocal class? I do...even this same routine. WOW!

After that exhausting exercise, we all moved to the school aduitorium where we did a craft...well we got to "watch" the craft queen put hers together, because she definitely did NOT need our help!

THEN we had ice cream sundaes. YUMM-O!
{well shoot, somewhere I have a picture of C eating her ice cream with a friend, but it must not have uploaded to my Flickr account. Well, it was GOOD!}

Finally, all the kiddos got up on the stage to receive their Preschool Diplomas from Mrs. Hoffman before being dismissed an hour earlier than all the other kids. BONUS!

NOW, this next photo is out of sequence. I know that. It should have went up in the part about moving to the auditorium, but it needed to be all alone. It is that sort of picture. One of those that probably means nothing to most of you, but one that makes this mother's heart just melt.

First of all you have to know Cambree and understand that she absolutely worships the ground that her grandparents walk on...ALL of them! Call me crazy, but I think each of them is just as crazy about her. She is a little love bug. Always holding someone's hand, tending to their needs, filling their hearts with joy; that's who she is. So, I guess I shouldn't really have been that suprised when I looked up and saw this walking up the ramp to the auditorium...

There you have it! Cambree Jane is all 'graduated' and ready to head to the other end of the building for the big, exciting world of Kindergarten. I think SHE is ready, but I am not sure I am ready to have 2 full time students. That just makes me that much older; and I am finding out {from Preston}that much 'less' wise.

She will thrive. She will wiggle her way into the hearts of her teachers. She will learn to read, write in cursive, add, subtract...and so many other things.

My heart will continue to swell with love and pride for this little jewel. CONGRATULATIONS Cambree Jane! You are going to ROCK kindergarten next year!

I turned 3-0!!

2011-06-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

Betcha can't tell which one of these lovely ladies is me? My mom looks just as young as I am...or I look just as old as she is. Hmmm, wonder which it is?

She helped me throw a fantastic 30th party for a few friends. We had the big shindig at her house and it was SO MUCH FUN!

Here are a few pictures of the decorations...which were kept to a minimum, because we had an "Accessory Swap" and I wanted all the accessories to take center stage.

A Taco Bar was the meal for the evening and I think it was a BIG hit will all those who attended!

After we ate, we started our "Swap"! Here's how it worked:

Each attendee brought with them accessories from their closet that they no longer liked or wore. Preferrably something that was still in style and still functional. Then we all drew numbers to see which order we would shop in. As each number was up, that person would go in and "shop" for their new piece and then bring it out on the deck to show us...where they got a lot of Ohhh's and Ahhh's and applause. IT WAS THE MOST FUN!!

We ended up going three full rounds and then just let everyone pick from what was left...if there was something they wanted they took it, if they had all they wanted they just left what was there. We really didn't have much left when it was all said and done.

One of the rules that I forgot to mention was that they were not allowed to "shop" from my mom's house. Here Lindsay tried to "swap" my mom's current bag...I MIGHT have been in on it too, but it was pretty funny to see mom's face when Mom saw what she had "picked"!!!

After shopping we had the most delicious pink cupcakes with black edible glitter...Happy Birthday to ME!!

This party was one of the most fun I have ever been to {and it has nothing to do with the fact that it was FOR me!}. I heard lots of great things from the ladies who attended as well. It was deemed a huge success! My favorite comment of the night came from April who said, "This is the best party! It's not even my birthday and I am going home with stuff!" That right there made my whole night.

I guess I should have taken a picture of all the things I got from the swap, but I guess you will just have to settle for me telling you. I got a necklace, a scarf, a pin/hair accessory, and a purple beaded bracelet. I LOVE IT ALL!

A huge thank you to my mother, who I couldn't have done this party without! She cleaned her entire house and helped me get ready for it! Plus she "hosted" the whole evening and I just got to enjoy being with my friends.

Another HUGE thank you to this man. Jene busted his rear getting the roof put on the deck so we would have some shade to enjoy during the evening. He also wired and hung that FAB.U.LOUS chandelier above the picnic table outside. I really wish I would have taken a picture of it lit up...before all the bugs crawled in it!

YOU GUYS ROCK!!

This party was a few weeks before my "actual" birthday. Last weekend we went to Ardmore to spend the weekend at the lake with my dad and Jennifer. I will do another post about that!

In the meantime, 30 has STUNK!! Allergies have bothered me, bout with a stomach bug, and now a ROTTEN summer cold. What I wouldn't give to go back to my 20's!! LOL!!

Rolla Rena

2011-05-27T22:42:00.000-05:00

Before school was out Preston's First Grade Class went on their field trip. They traveled by school bus to Pratt, where they went roller skating {the majority of them for the first time} at Rolla Rena Skating, had lunch and played at Lemon Park and then got a tour and demonstration at the fire department.

Here's the class, hanging on for dear life, as they await instructions from the Rolla Rena owner.

To help the kids learn how to skate they had these awesome "walker" things! Some kids really got the hang of it quick with these...others did not. You judge for yourself whether or not Preston was one of them!

He did eventually get brave enough to try it without the "walker."
\

After this....he went right back to the "walker."

I was too far away to hear the conversation between Preston and Kirstin, but I imagine it went something like this...
P: Are you having fun?
K: I don't know. Are you?
P: Not really. Wanna go sit down?
K: Um, sure I guess!

Not long after this I saw them sitting at one of the booths just talking...resting...talking...NOT SKATING!!

After lunch and some free time at the park, it was off to the Fire Department. Where low and behold we knew the fireman. His name is Carl Abbott and he is the husband of one of the ladies that Jeremy used to work with at the Vet Clinic in Ashland when he first started there. I was pretty certain I recognized him when we were there, but didn't have the guts to ask him if his wife's name was Leslie. I waited until I got home and asked Jeremy if that is who it was, :)

He and his Captain told the kids all about fire safety and what to do if you are ever in a fire. They even let one of the kids try on the fire suit...it was pretty comical. Then they took everyone out side and gave them a tour of all the things they carry on one of their rigs. Below, the captain is showing the kids what a fire fighter with a breathing apparatus looks like and even talking with it on, so that they wouldn't be afraid of one if they are ever in a fire. Pretty cool stuff!!

Here's the whole ORNERY first grade class before we got on the HOT bus and headed back to Protection! This is a great group of kids and one I have kind of adopted as my own! This is the future class of 2022 {I think!}!!!

Turkey # Uno

2011-05-13T21:50:00.000-05:00

He did it!

Preston shot his first turkey this afternoon.

Jack had absolutely NOTHING to do with the turkey hunt, but he was INSISTING on being in the photos. He thinks he is a hunting dog...but we all know better!

Then he talked to Jace on the phone and told him all about the turkey!

Then we left Papa and Cambree to clean the turkey and Preston and I went to town to our first t-ball practice.

She Flips!

2011-05-13T14:35:00.000-05:00

I just can't help it...I giggle every time I look at these!!

Or watch this

P.s. The crying baby is just Westynn. He's mad because I won't let him on the trampoline with a hammer...I know, bad Mom!

Snapshots of April

2011-05-04T22:29:00.000-05:00

Here's a few of my favorite candid shots from April that haven't made it to the blog yet.

This is his new thing when I bust out the camera..."Eese!" The photographer in me cringes...the momma in me melts!

Can't let Westynn have ALL the fun!

Hmmm, I just ate 17 hot wings? Wonder if that's why I feel funny?

A closer look at that pile of wings...this makes me smile every time I look at it. Only a mom could find anything remotely interesting about this picture. BUT it is SO Preston!

"NO!" Finally he talks...too bad this has to be his favorite phrase. I believe he was directing this "no" at the dogs. {the green stuff ALL OVER him is the new colored bubbles from Crayola...don't worry they are washable and my kids loved them.}

Mark. Set. Go!! Westynn is finally big and brave enough to go down the big slide....WHEEEEE!!

Cambree finished up Gymnastics/Cheer at the end of the month. She made LOTS of improvements this year. It makes me a little sad to think that she will be "graduating" up to the next class. She deserves it though...she's great!

Thankful Thought #3

2011-05-04T22:16:00.000-05:00

These two are best buds...and I am so thankful Preston has a best friend! Especially someone like Kirstin. I see them walking down the hall together quite often at school...I LOVE IT!

ps. this picture CRACKS ME UP! preston's shirt...the look she is giving him...just imagine this 20 years from now...oh my!

Our Easter in Pictures

2011-04-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

We dyed Easter Eggs...

We went to the City Park for the Easter Egg Hunt...

We got dressed up and went to church...

We came home and took pictures with Grandparents...

{this is Jeremy's grandma, Alda Mae Stapleton}

We had a DE.LIC.IOUS dinner...

Then I talked Jeremy into taking some pictures...

As you can see...he did NOT take it seriously...and we had a good laugh!

Easter is about SO MUCH more than all of this! I have to say that as I mature and grow in my faith, Easter has come to mean more to me. I really enjoyed our church and Sunday School classes this season. Praise God that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our RISEN savior!!

SPRING!!

2011-04-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

Sometimes there are posts that just don't need words...this is one of them!

Sweet Prayer

2011-04-06T16:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took Westynn to Hutchinson for a doctor's appointment. I made the mistake of wearing flats {they were super cute shoes though}. By the time we got home and it was time to start winding down I got a REALLY bad cramp in my foot. It was so painful that I was curled up on the couch trying not to cry.

Preston and Cambree wanted to take such great care of me though. Cambree offered to rub my leg and get me a drink of water. Preston covered me up with a blanket, tucked me in and offered to get me a pillow. They had me all situated on the couch and we were watching the ballgame.

Preston comes over and says to me, "Mom, do you want me to pray for you?"

I said, "Absolutely."

So, we bowed our heads and gathered our hands and I waited for him to start. He looked up at me and I said to him, "Go head, you can do this one." What came next just melted my heart.

"Dear God,
Please make my mom feel better and me and Cambree so we can go to school tomorrow and play with our friends.
Amen"

I have really been working on Preston and Cambree to start saying more prayers, instead of letting me do all the talking. It was so nice to finally see him taking control of it. I thought it was an awesome prayer. I think God heard him too, because this morning we were all feeling better! No more foot cramps for me and no more fevers and headaches for Preston and Cambree!

Praise God!

Scrapbook Love

2011-04-02T18:16:00.000-05:00

Here's what I do on a Saturday afternoon when the kids are at the ranch and I am caught up {mostly} on housework. All while watching HGTV!!

Now I am off to make Marlboro Man Sandwiches...for myself! I have had the meat out for 2 days and it needs to be dealt with. There may, or may not, be leftovers tomorrow!! :)

Go Ahead

2011-04-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

Last night we {Jeremy & I} gave the "go-ahead" to our builder to order our framing materials!!

It's a LOT exciting!!

It's a little bit nerve envoking!!

It means things are moving forward and no longer just in the "talking" stage!!

It means we are going to have to write a check for these materials soon!!

I CAN'T WAIT!!

Ta-Ta Treats

2011-03-31T21:38:00.000-05:00

***DISCLAIMER*** This post features a fun, unique cupcake...read at your own risk!

On Monday I got a facebook message from Charisse asking me how busy I was this week and if I could possibly do her a favor. The favor? Make a dozen or 6 "pairs" of booby cupcakes! Some friends of hers here in Coldwater were getting mammograms this afternoon and since she couldn't be here with them, she wanted to have a treat waiting for them at the hospital! What a sweet friend!

I admit...at first I thought, "How the heck do you make a booby cupcake?"

Then I turned to my faithful, trusty friend, Google! Google showed me many forms of booby cupcakes, for a multitude of causes. And I decided that I was definitely up for the challenge, so I asked her when and where they needed to be.

So, here they are in all their glory!

Here's to the ta ta's!!

Thankful Thought #2

2011-03-23T21:19:00.000-05:00

Today I am thankful for this guy.

He takes such good care of us.
He keeps me grounded.
He makes me laugh.
He loves me more than I deserve.
He puts up with me...that is almost worthy of sainthood!
He is adored by his kids. And he adores them too!

It's easy to get caught up in the details of everyday life.
It's easy to take for granted all that we have and the people in our lives.
It's easy to assume that he will always be around to take care of us, to love us, to love him, to make me laugh, to hold me when I cry.

Today we attended the funeral of a friend. A 34 year old cowboy with a wife, a 7 year old and a 5 year old. Sort of makes you realize that it can all be taken away...whether it is over the course of months or years or it could all be taken away before I finish writing this.

Either way, when life starts to creep in and make me wish for more I hope I can stop and remember to be so thankful for all that I have right now.

Our Best Bites

2011-03-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of the blog Our Best Bites?

If not, WHERE have you been? You obviously are NOT blogging enough!!

Go there...RIGHT NOW!

Your life and waistline will never be the same.

Be sure you have paper and ink in your printer...you are gonna want to print some recipes.

They have a new cookbook

Doesn't it look delightful?

It is definitely going on my 30th birthday wish list!!

Cambree's Guest Reader

2011-03-18T11:19:00.000-05:00

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's birthday...but I am sure you already knew that, right?

In Bridges to Learning Preschool this is BIG stuff. So big in fact, they invite all the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles in to read to the class anytime during the WEEK of the birthday!

Preferably a Dr. Seuss book {which I figured out AFTER Preston's first year of preschool...I let him choose a book like the note said...only it wasn't Dr. Seuss...oops!}.

Cambree asked Grandma Robin to come over and read Horton Hears A Who to her class. Grandma happily accepted her request.

Here are the gals while the rest of the class finished up snack and made their way to the reading corner.

A little practice...

Grandma is a good reader...she holds the book where ALL the little students can see the wonderful pictures.

Cambree listened very intently as Grandma read, "A person's a person, no matter how small."

My favorite picture of the whole afternoon!

Thanks Grandma R for coming to Cambree's school to read a story!

Thankful Thought

2011-03-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

I thought I would try something new...a thankful thought...whenever they hit me, whatever they are.

Here's thankful thought #1.

Westynn Cole Stapleton.

My heart walking outside my body.

Chubby, adorable balm for my soul.

Woke up one morning this week a boy, no longer a baby.

Spending a week with him...wishing each moment would last MUCH longer.

THANK YOU LORD....for this little piece of heaven on earth!!

Today I...

2011-03-16T21:43:00.001-05:00

*showered and dressed
*fed breakfast to C & W
*ate my own breakfast
*convinced P & C to dress and brush teeth BEFORE noon!
*dressed W
*took kids for haircuts; P & C today
*watched kids show off new hairdo's to Grandma R at the bank
*went to store
*cleaned P & W room...sorted toys to go to consignment sale
*fixed lunch
*put W down for nap
*sent P & C outside to play
*traded 1 girl for 2 dogs
*browned 21 lbs of hamburger...got a facial in the process
*hung, sorted and tagged 50 sets of clothes for sale
*tagged toys for sale
*spent 3 hours with boys doing yardwork...cleaning out flower beds, raking leaves, picking up 1 BILLION teeny, tiny pieces of toys Oscar has chewed up
*took 2nd shower
*welcomed husband and daughter home 10 minutes after completing shower...only to have husband say, "I came home early to get stuff done around here."
*pulled hair back, put shoes on, went BACK outside for another hour and a half of yard work...YES our yard was that BAD!!
*unloaded 2 pickups full of leaves and other yard junk
*ordered pizza...AWW sweet relief at the end of the day!

I am EXHAUSTED!! But Preston has already told me, "Mom, tomorrow let's clean the house so that it looks like it did when we had Cambree's party!"

I hope he knows that my life insurance policies aren't THAT great, 'cause I am convinced he is trying to kill me!!

First Grade Authors

2011-03-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

From time to time Mrs. Snyder has her class write books. Usually they are a spin off one of the books they have recently read in class.

Last week they read lots of Dr. Seuss books since March 2nd is his birthday.

They also put together a book. Then they send it home with each kid, so they can share it with their families.

Preston brought the book home last night. I went out to feed the dogs. I hear the back door open. Cambree yells, "Momma, Cody drew you with big boobies."

I tell her to go back inside and she can tell me when I get back in. I am HOPING beyond all hopes that the cold, drizzly weather has most of our neighbors indoors and no one has heard my daughter talking about my boobies!!

Once I get inside I ask her what she is talking about...Preston shows me the book!

That's me sitting at my computer!

I think the other person in the first picture must be Mr. Jellison.

If you need help the page says:
"I saw a cumpowter in office and to think I saw it on South Central Street!"

The italics are what the student, Cody, wrote.

And, technically, I think those are my arms...not my boobies!

Ah, these are the reasons I LOVE my job! How many of you get written and drawn about in books?

One Week Ago

2011-03-07T20:09:00.000-06:00

Last Monday was Jeremy's last day at People's Bank as a Loan Officer.

Over the past 2 and a half years, the kids and I had developed a habit of heading to the bank on Friday mornings to see Daddy and to get some popcorn!

Here's a picture of our last Friday at the bank to see Dad.

Thanks to Grandma Robin for insisting I get in the picture...even though I didn't fix my hair or apply make-up! Of course, we can still head to the bank on Friday's to see Grandma and get our popcorn!

Jeremy has been working with his dad and the other red-headed women in his life for a week now. The transition isn't quite what I thought it would be...good or bad. Just different. There's still some adjusting to be done, but overall it has been a good move. Jeremy has definitely been more relaxed and that is a good thing.

However, it is very apparent that we are ALL anxious to get the ball rolling on our house and get moved to the ranch. It's looking like the end of June, beginning of July before things will get going. Seems like ages away, but I suppose it will be here sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I guess we have several more months to change things, LOL!

Pony Party - The Details

2011-03-04T19:48:00.000-06:00

Let's start with the party decor..

The birthday treat station...PLEASE, please forgive the sherbet upside down in that big glass container! I was scurrying around putting together the last minute touches when kids started showing up. I wanted to be sure and get a picture of this before it was destroyed and the sherbet was too frozen and wouldn't come out of the container.

What's a party planning diva do? She takes the picture anyways and begs forgiveness later! Trust me, the punch was the perfect touch and DEL.I.CIOUS too!

Here's some close-ups of what was on that table.

Ooooh, Yummy cupcake tower! Pink Buttercream frosting swirled on a basic, butter recipe cake...(insert sound of licking lip!!)

These might have been the biggest hit of the party...well at least food wise. AND they were so very super simple! Strawberry marshmallows, on Popsicle sticks, dipped in vanilla almond bark, and covered with what else? PINK SPRINKLES!!

This next treat needs a better picture...maybe even it's own dedicated blog post. Caramel corn!! I came across this recipe in a magazine and I thought it would be the perfect touch for a Cowgirl party...and it was! At least with the adults...I think Grandma Robin might have even stuck one of the extra bags in her pocket before she disappeared after the party!

We also had a "Waterin' Hole" with IBC Root Beer and some ice cold H2O. The original plan was to let the kids have a R.B. during cake time if they desired, but after only a few very brief moments I realized this was going to be SUGAR overload to the max. And since we still had a good hour and twenty minutes of party left, I made the most important decision of the ENTIRE day...each kid would take their ICE COLD ROOT BEER home with them...to enjoy in the comfort of their own home. Parents of children who attended, YOU ARE WELCOME! A huge hit I believe though. In fact, one little girl told her mother upon arriving home, "Look Mom, Sara gave us beer!"

Here's where all that cake eatin' took place! I have to say that I just LOVED the way this table turned out. We had about 15 kids here total, including friends, cousins, and semi-cousins and brothers. We don't have near that many chairs for our table, but lucky for us, my brother built a picnic table with benches for my mom. So, those benches were the perfect solution to getting most of those kids around our table!

Place Settings...You know, out on the trail, real cowgirls and cowboys would eat out of tin plates. So I thought that we should too...nothing else would be right. These are just disposable pie plates, paper napkins I got on clearance at walmart several years ago and stamped a boot on with purple ink, plastic forks and spoons tied together with a piece of pink gingham fabric, a cupcake liner filled with caramel corn, a ball jar for a cup, and a straw tied with a piece of purple gingham fabric. These little details are what really make the party something special!!

One more close-up. This one is because I want to share with you the little paper cups that I put the ice cream in. Molly had gobbled her ice cream up before I took this picture, but you still get the idea. This was a huge time saver on party day. I scooped the ice cream out earlier in the day and put the cups on a baking sheet in the freezer. When it was time for cake and ice cream we just pulled them out and put them on the plates.

Party Favors...straight from Bakerella. Well the recipe anyways, I put them together!

Party Favors Up Close

Here comes the Star of the party...PANCAKE the Pony!!

When I started talking about Cambree's party at school, our friend Jaymi so graciously offered to bring her daughter's pony over to the party. Jaymi's daughter Bretlynn is 8 months old and not quite ready to ride this pony yet, so it was very nice of them to share Pancake with us!

Cambree LOVED riding the pony and she can't wait for us to move to the ranch now so she can get her own pony!

In fact, ALL the kids loved Pancake! It was cold on party day, but that didn't stop the kiddos from riding 'round and 'round the front yard. But eventually it was too cold to stay out any longer and the party was about to wind down.

We can't forget the requested pony cake. It didn't turn out exactly like the example, but I still think it turned out pretty cute!

Now, before I end this incredibly long post, here are a few more of my favorite shots from the party!

Turnin' 5!

2011-02-27T13:38:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
to the most fabulous pink and purple "cowgel" in town!!

We sure do love you bunches Miss Cambree Jane!!

(longer post with party details later in the week)

'Round These Here Parts

2011-02-19T21:32:00.000-06:00

Here's a little of what we have been up to lately

1. Re-organizing kitchen cabinets on one of our snow days.

*I know I have an excessive amount of cupcake liners and sprinkles, sugars and decorations! My mom fuels this by constantly buying this stuff for me...and always expecting food in return!! But that's okay, because we LOVE to bake 'Round These Here Parts! See those sugar cookies in the bottom right corner...YUM!!

2. Getting to spend some extra time with this CUTIE PATOOTIE!!

*While snow days don't do much for my paycheck, they sure do tremendous amounts for filling my heart with joy. I could definitely spend a lot more time 'Round These Here Parts hangin' with this guy.

3. Chillin' with our BFF Bretlynn!

*Okay, I don't know if she knows she is our BFF, but she is! We wanted to keep her. Westynn tried to love on her several times, but the fact that he is three times her size didn't help the situation. We LOVE having visitors 'Round These Here Parts!

4. Playin' a game of football!

* These exceptionally warm February days have found us outside many evenings. Preston loves nothing more than to play football 'Round These Here Parts.

5. Bike Riding

*I just squealed when I saw this picture on my memory card! It's not anything extraordinary as far as pictures go, but it is such a perfect portrait of my girl at this point in her life! I would love to just bottle her up and keep her just like she is right now 'Round These Here Parts.

6. Bonus Material

* I told you we love visitors 'Round These Here Parts didn't I? We especially love them when they are tiny, smell good, give big grins and are so gosh darn adorable! I sure hope we didn't scare her mom and dad off from asking us to watch her again. I may have even volunteered to quit my job and keep this little darling if the need ever arose!

Thanks to all of you who left a comment on my last post. Looking back I could have had SO much more to write if I had simply waited another day! After the events of the last week, and especially yesterday, I have no doubt that a war has been waged against me. This isn't the first time I have felt this way in my life. And I am positive that it will not be the last. I guess the key to overcoming this is realizing when it is happening and turning to God to help me through it. I will not be defeated!! And neither will my God, who has promised to be faithful to me in all circumstances.

"You are happy when people act and talk in a bad way to you and make it very hard for you and tell bad things and lies about you because you trust in Me. Be glad and full of joy because your pay will be much in heaven. They made it very hard for the early preachers who lived a long time before you." Matthew 5:11-12

I admit, the last thing I felt was HAPPY when I found out that someone has been telling lies about me. I was not GLAD or FULL OF JOY. I was angry and hurt...okay, angry might just be touching the surface of how I really felt! But it has brought me to my knees and forced me to spend a lot more time in prayer and more time searching for words of comfort in the Bible (or my handy new Bible Promises book!).

I can say now that I have HOPE! I am HAPPY...just thinking about the pay that will be waiting for me in heaven is enough to put a smile on my face. Want to know something else? Each time I see this person(s) I will just smile and think of the joy I will experience in heaven...(and only slightly about the fact that they will have to answer for what they have done!)

"Great riches are in the house of those who are right with God, but trouble is what the sinful will receive." Proverbs 15:6