I had a birthday.

And really, that pretty much sums it up. Do you remember when you just could NOT WAIT for that day to come? I have to admit, I've had some REALLY GOOD birthdays. 16 was FANTASTIC. 21 was FUN!!! 30 was FABULOUS. I wonder then, do they just get better? And then I realize, it's not the birthdays that get better, everything else just does, and birthdays are a really great time to think about all the good things in your life. You know, life is good. I've got nothin' to complain about. Except that nagging craft room that is begging to be organized. And the car that screams: VACUUM ME every time I get in. You know, I cannot hear either of them when I am having margaritas with my friends....

Lighting...bugs

This video is for my favorite person, you know who you are. I tried to capture your favorite things in corn country...besides me of course. The crackling in the background is our fire... I love you!

Fighting Childhood Obesity....One Clean Carpet At a Time

It's true. Clean Carpet = Healthier Kids. Why? you may ask? I'll tell ya. (never one for a SHORT story...) Fathers Day weekend we picked out a new recliner for my man. Elle and I really wanted the leather one, but he chose something else. She was completely confused. Why don't we just get the chair, and surprise him? She did not think that letting him pick it out himself was as fun. And, I have to admit, I like the one we chose better, BUT, it was a gift for HIM. THE NEXT DAY: While he is trying out different chairs and looking at swatches, I am wandering around the store..I had checked out all the recliners the day before. I came across this lovely little "Chair and a Half". Sat myself down, and reclined a bit. I motioned to my friend Teresa to come on over. And yup, we both fit. I have been coveting a "Chair and a Half" every since my other friend Rachel told me how great it was to be able to sit in a comfy recliner, breastfeed her baby and still have room to read to her 2 year old. And guess what? in December that is what I am going to be doing... 90% of my time. By now, my man has chose his chair, swatch color, and has come looking for me. Thinks its a bit ridiculous that two grown women are sitting in the same chair, in a store full of CHAIRS. He then notices that the matching sofa reclines as well, and that both pieces are on SALE! So, then we fall into the whole: "do you want them?" "I don't know, do YOU?" Mind you, this entire time we have our stimulus check just burning a hole in our checkbook. We paid for 3 new pieces of furniture. I then realize there is NO WAY I am going to put my new furniture on our very, very dirty carpet. One short phone call later, I have an appointment for the carpet cleaner. You would not believe how FABULOUS it looks. The carpet has returned to its original splendor. The new furniture looks great, and we all love to sit in it. So much, that all of us have been sleeping in it too. Now that you have suffered through this long story, you may be asking, so what does this have to do with childhood obesity? My children are no longer allowed to eat in the living room. If I was completely shocked at how great the carpet looks, I am even more shocked at how it has cut down on our snacking.


Although, I have to admit, my children are very smart. They have figured out how to get around the no food/drink rule. You just set up a chair in the dining room, (on the hard wood) and turn up the volume on the t.v. They also realize that sitting in the dining room is not as good as sitting on the comfy new couch... But look how cute they are..sharing a chair. That also equates lazy. They'd rather share then set up TWO chairs. Don't give me any crap. We are fighting childhood obesity one rule at a time.

MY MOMMY HAS A BABY IN HER TUMMY

If you haven't heard it already....my son has been shouting it from the rooftops. It is official. I am 16 weeks, and so far everything looks good. The kids are really excited, especially after our dissapointing news in December. My son has decided that EVERYONE wants it to be a boy, and his name will be "Evan", and in the off chance that it is a girl, "Hannah". Not bad choices, I must say.



After seeing some disturbing images of their father "crank a calf out",



my son says: "You are going to have to push really hard to get our baby out Mom".



me: "I know"



son: "What are you going to do if the baby is to big?"



me: " The Dr. will cut open my tummy and take the baby out." ....."Daddy is NOT going to crank it out."



son: "does she have a special no hurting knife?"



me: "No, Mommy will take some medicine and it will not hurt". "And, I'll take the medicine if it starts to hurt anyway".







He was satisfied.

The Baby's first photos. 10 weeks gestation. Hard to tell head, butt, arms, legs, but, all we cared about was the beating heart....

And look at the cute card from miss P.

There is absolutley, posotivley, no good reason that a pregnant woman should not wear cute shoes. Is there an AMEN?

Josephine

Gosh. It's been awhile. Not that I have much to tell...but I'll try to update you on a few highlights over the last week.



Josephine, aka "Josi" our German exchange student went home on Monday, June 16th. It was a very interesting year, and I think she was very happy to go home.

This is Josi and Elizabeth in California. Well...she looked happier in the thumbnail....

Places Josi visited while in the States: California, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Washington D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, and she lived in Indiana. Woo Hoo! For 11 months, I thinks that is pretty good!

Weekend in the Ozarks

We loaded up the mini-van with the kids, snacks, movies and bug spray last Wednesday and headed to my parents in the Ozark Mountains ... here are few of the highlights.

Everyone helped with the mulch...


We killed a snake. Before it could kill us....





Target practice. Yes, we had a very serious talk on gun safety before AND after.





Does it look like Papa likes to give the rides as much as they like to get them??





The tire swing was a real hit with everyone except Mommy, who's arms are not strong enough to give all the turns they wanted, or the brain power to solve all the argument on who's turn it really was, or the ears deaf enough to ignore all the crying that ensued...









Some pics of our property...the loggers are there now, getting about half of it logged for pasture. The back half is still going to be fairly dense woods so that we can mushroom hunt, hike, look for snakes....




Bea drinking the river water from a little shell. Everything is a tea party.



Jumping off the bluff, Elle loved it, Bea wanted to be caught, and Will, well, he's a bit like his Mother, "I slide in".




We all had a wonderful time in the Buffalo River until we saw the water moccasin, and yeah, pretty much done with it then.
But we were good parents and went ahead and let the kids swim after the snake sighting.


Getting measured on "The Post".

A Ferry Ride!

After a flat tire, a long trip to Wal-Mart, a stomach-renching ride, we made it to Uncle Cowboy's house, and my BEAUTIFUL niece! She does not know it yet, but I am her favorite Auntie. She doesn't really have a choice...

"I DO"

We attended Cousin Lee's Wedding over the weekend. Elizabeth was very excited to participate in the festivities.






Although, this photo was taken AFTER she fell off of the skateboard and no longer wanted to go to the wedding at all. It was also taken after the ceremony, and Lee was fairly certain he didn't want to be there either.

You know me, the basis of a good wedding is,

A: someone hesitates when saying the vows. ( a little drama always spices up the occasion) There was no hesitating with the vows....

B: Good food and plenty of it. I could have stood a little more variety, and definitely MORE.

1. and if the cake is bad, the whole day is wasted. Fortunately, the cake was excellent, even the chocolate, and the espresso ice cream....deeelish! WHEW! Once again, the cake saved the day!

Ok, more important things.....

Look how HANDSOME! I am a bit biased...but hey. I think I even got a wee bit choked up when the gentlemen walked in...I was so proud. I choked up a bit more when the groom looked at his Father and grinned so big... and I am sure there was a big tear rolling down my face when the groom hugged his Dad after the ceremony and cried. awww. I love it when men cry from happiness. And I love that our Lee has just grown into such a wonderful young man. Aren't they so HANDSOME!

Oh, and look at these little urchins I ran into...... cute huh!

So, Congratulations to Lee and Josi, who I am sure are having a blast on that tropical island...

"He NEEDS me"

My baby boy has graduated. From Kindergarten. I cried anyway. You know, I told his teacher on his first day, "I'm worried. He NEEDS me." She laughed. She's the mother of girls. She has no idea. But really. I've talked with my friends who have sons. They all agree. They love their daughters, but those boys...they NEED us. And really, when it comes down to it, don't we all just want someone to NEED us? Now, to clarify, it is much different when those "Big" boys "need" us to make them dinner, do their laundry, renew their Sports Illustrated subscriptions. Somehow when our little boys "NEED" us to snuggle with them, "NEED" us to tell them they did a good job on the soccer field, "NEED" us to tell them what those little round things are "down there". I pray to God, that he always comes to me for the things he needs. And to please God, don't let him tell anyone what those little round things are for.

First things First....

My boys lost the Western Conference finals. I am still very proud of them. I think what I love the most is that not a single one of those boys blame anyone else but themselves. None of that trash talk. They always compliment the opposing team, and take responsibility for themselves. I am sure that my second husband will totally over this loss by the time we get together. Yes. I am happily married. But EVERYONE should have a plan b. A side note, if you are interested in this man I plan to marry, you can check out his website: www.slamduncan.com