A Day in our Life.......

Wordless Wednesday: A girl and her dog!!

2011-05-18T10:21:00.001-04:00

Trigger and Emily snoozing in our camper one morning while we made breakfast!

Summer Camping and Big Girl Bike!

2011-05-17T13:39:00.010-04:00

Riding bikes with her big Sister Hannah!

A few weeks ago we hauled our camper up north to Camp Cadillac in Cadillac! We are officially Seasonal Campers now! Looking forward to spending as much time as we can up north this summer camping, fishing, exploring, sitting around the campfire, eating good camp food and smores, swimming, making great memories and much more!

We ended up making a quick trip over Mother's Day weekend with the kids and hauled the bikes up to leave for the summer. Emily got a new bike for her 3rd birthday in November and has been practicing riding all winter long in our house and the garage! I am proud to say she is an expert bike rider now and rode her bike all over the campground. She does a pretty good job keeping up with the big kids. I am wondering when she will be asking us to take off her training wheels! :)

James is playing soccer this Spring!

2011-05-17T13:27:00.004-04:00

James is playing Spring Soccer right now. His team is doing really well this year. His Dad is coaching and doing a great job, you can see improvement in how James is playing compared to last fall! I actually really enjoy watching soccer. Here are a few photos from one of his earlier season games. Last weekend's game was super wet and I did not get my camera out.

Look what Emily has made lately!

2011-05-17T10:17:00.004-04:00

Here are a few of the cute crafts Emily has been making the last month! She loves preschool time and making and showing off her creations! I have some bug crafts from last week that I will get up soon.

Handprint Sunflowers

Rainy Day Umbrellas made with cupcake holders

Rainy Day Craft made by painting raindrops with her fingertips!

Bunny craft made out of heart shapes

Pretty painted Easter Eggs

Kite Craft

Look what I caught!!!!

2011-05-17T10:08:00.003-04:00

I did not grow up fishing, but my awesome hubby has gotten me "hooked" on it! He has always been great on introducing me to new adventures like fishing and hunting, snowmobiling, camping and kayaking! I love that we both enjoy doing these things together and with the kids! We are definitely an outdoor family. I love that man!!

Anyways, last week we grabbed the boat and headed to a local lake one evening. We were not having too much luck, but then I caught an 8 inch bass and then a few minutes later I snagged this big fellow! It is a 28 inch Northern Pike and it weighed almost 6 pounds! This is the biggest fish I have ever caught. I was so excited! It was a lot of work getting him to the side of the boat so Kyle could scoop him up with the net.

This is a really bad photo of me, but I had to have a picture with my fish, who was extremely slippery and slimy! I grabbed a towel to hold onto him because I am not a huge fan of slimy things! lol

Playing in the Rain

2011-05-17T09:57:00.003-04:00

Last week it was raining one evening and Emily wanted to play in it, so she put on all her cute raingear and headed out for some fun! She was really into posing for the camera, which does not happen that often. She was like a mini model! It was too cute.

More Beautiful You!!

2011-05-03T11:12:00.006-04:00

This is one of my favorite songs. It is called "More Beautiful You" by Jonny Diaz!

I love the message that it not only sends to our young girls and daughters but to us Mom's too! I know I need to hear this from time to time. Now days the world is teaching us that if we are not a size 0 and have certain features (that Hollywood has come up with) then we are not beautiful. You don't need a ton of makeup or need to show too much skin to be beautiful! We are all beautiful inside and out! We are all created by God and he loves us the way we are!

Listen to this song! It is so uplifting! :)

Remember, there could never be a more beautiful YOU!

Gotta love those spring flowers

2011-04-28T16:25:00.004-04:00

I am really enjoying my flowers that are starting to bloom in my flower beds! They make the gloomy days we have had lately seem a little bit brighter!

Go Kart Fun!

2011-04-28T16:05:00.006-04:00

The weather was finally nice enough to get the Go Karts out this past weekend. Kyle got them all ready and the kids had a blast! It was a little muddy, but the kids did not seem to mind. I think the boys took 3 showers on Saturday! lol And yes, we now officially have a track in our side yard!

On Sunday after the Easter egg hunt the kids were riding and my brother joined in with his 4 wheeler!

Hannah riding Brayden's Go Kart

James and his cousin Dorian riding on Sunday.

This is what happens when it is muddy! :)

I love my boots!

2011-04-28T11:05:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite photos right now! This is my youngest Emily and she loves her rainboots. She wears them everywhere, even with her Easter dress!

A few photos of Country Kids Daycare

2011-04-28T10:46:00.003-04:00

I took a few photos of the daycare room. We spend a lot of time playing, doing crafts, playing music,etc. in this room. It is nice to have a separate space that is kid proofed and I can shut the door at the end of the night and not feel the effects of the daycare scattered throughout my house. Emily loves it of course, she thinks it is her personal playroom! Actually all the kids hang out in here. I have tons of craft stuff and it comes in handy for school projects and holiday gatherings.

This is my craft and toy closet! I love having so much space for my craft items!

Look at our colorful eggs!

2011-04-28T09:46:00.005-04:00

The kids had fun dyeing Easter eggs last weekend. We almost forgot to do them on Saturday because we were busy playing outside!

Brayden

Emily

Hannah

James

The 3 older kids poured all the dye into 1 bowl and put an egg in it! Not so pretty! lol

Their pretty eggs!

Thankful Thursday! Spring

2011-04-21T13:00:00.002-04:00

SPRING IS HERE!!!

Yes I am yelling that! I am so ready for warmer weather and being outside without having to bundle up!

I have some daffodils blooming in my flower beds. Some days they look so cold, but I know it is a sign of Spring and warmer weather to come.

Meet the newest addition to our family!!

2011-04-21T11:00:00.007-04:00

No, we did not have another baby! We got a puppy! His name is Trigger and he is Weimaraner/German Shorthair Pointer and is super cute! He was born on Christmas Day 2010.

I was very reluctant on getting another dog. We have not had the best of luck with dogs the past few years. I also was not sure I wanted to have another indoor dog now that we have been remodeling our house! Made me nervous thinking about my beautiful cherry kitchen floor and a dog! Yikes.

We had been talking about the possibility of getting a dog the past couple months. Emily, actually all the kids, has really wanted a dog. Her cousin Marhea got a dog for her birthday and Emily has not stopped talking about getting a dog since. Actually she wanted 10 dogs, but we talked her down to 1! lol We knew we needed to finally get a dog when Emily started taking her invisible dog everywhere we went. Have you ever had to pull over to let your imaginary dog go potty when your shopping in Lansing? We almost had to one day because she was so determined that he needed to go potty!! Not only did we have an invisible dog, Emily started acting like a dog! She started trying to eat her snacks off the kitchen floor and even wanted me to pet her and feed her snacks to her like a dog! Silly girl.

We started looking for puppies online, looking for a breed that would fit our family. We had always had labs, but this time we wanted something different. We had pretty much decided on a German Shorthair Pointer or Weimaraner , when we happened to see a flyer at our local grocery store late one night. I grabbed a phone number and called the next day. Crazy thing is that the people that had the puppies was Kyle's Mom's cousin! We headed over that afternoon to see the 2 puppies that they still had and fell in love immediately! It was over. I was not leaving without a puppy. Emily was so happy. The older kids did not get to meet him till later that week because they were at their other Parent's house's. Everyone loves the newest addition to our family.

We are going to be installing an invisible fence around our 2 acres. This will be nice for him to be able to run and play outside without the worry of him running away, which is what happened to a previous dog we had.

He has adjusted well and is so laidback. I have never had a puppy so calm. He doesn't run to the door and jump all over people, which is a big no no for me.

We are very happy with our decision to add a dog to our family. Emily loves her new chore of feeding Trigger. I am loving that he is finally getting the fact that he needs to go outside to potty! Thank goodness we have not replaced our living room carpet yet!! A bpnus is that his breed have very short hair and don't shed as bad as other large dogs! YIPPEE!

Country Kids Daycare!!!

2011-04-21T10:38:00.007-04:00

Our Silly Bird craft made out of a paper plate and pipe cleaners! Silly

Our Bunny craft made out of heart shapes we did this week.

Here are the kites we made last week!

So far behind on posting. I need to add this blog to my weekly routine. I am spending less time on the computer and blogging because I started up an in-home daycare late last year. This allows me to stay home with Emily,but contribute to our family income! I actually love working with kids. I do lots of preschool activities with the older kids on a daily basis. Emily is learning and soaking up so much every day! It's amazing....

Sometimes it gets a little crazy around here but I think I have adjusted to being home all week. It is nice because I have an extra bedroom that we turned into the daycare room. We painted it bright sunshine yellow and Kyle built some shelves in the big closet for all the toys and my craft supplies. I will have to take some photos of the room to show you. It is nice to be able to shut the door at the end of my workday and not have the daycare spilling out into our family life in the evenings.

I recently started a facebook page for my daycare parents, friends and family. My daycare is called Country Kids Daycare. You can GO HERE to visit and see what we have been up to lately! I post photos of craft time and just cute shots of the kids. I would love for you to "like" the page if you are on facebook and want to follow along on this fun adventure in our life!

So that is one of the big things happening in our life. It's a good thing. Emily loves having friends come to play everyday and I love being home with her before she heads off to school! :)

Semi Wordless Wednesday: Fun in the SNOW!!

2011-03-02T07:29:00.006-05:00

It has been way to long since I blogged here. I am back and ready to get into the grove of posting regularly!

Here are a few photos of my 4 kids having fun in the snow in January when we went up north for a weekend!

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Wordless Wednesday: Cute little Indians!!

2010-10-20T07:53:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Kyle!

2010-10-01T07:47:00.003-04:00

Kyle and one of his deer from Fall of 2009!

Wishing my wonderful hubby Kyle a very happy birthday today. He is spending his morning out in the woods looking for that elusive big buck. Today is opening day of Bow Season in Michigan. Good Luck! I will be joining him later today, but first I need to get that homemade cheesecake made!

Give me a H, give me an A, give me a N, give me a N, give me an A, give me a H!!

2010-09-27T11:26:00.008-04:00

What's that spell? HANNAH! Hannah is our cheerleader and I finally got some good pics of her cheering over the weekend! She is so much fun to watch. Such a natural at it. :)

A new baby is born!!

2010-09-22T22:49:00.008-04:00

Jesse and his baby boy!

Congrats to our friends Sally & Jesse on the birth of their new baby boy Buster late last night! He is of course adorable and so much fun to cuddle with!! His stats are 9 lbs. and 22 inches long. Baby and Mommy are doing well. Looking forward to watching him grow and getting my baby fix when I need it! :)

All Emily could say on the way to the Hospital today was how she was going to hold him and rock him and sing "rock a bye baby"! So we get to the room and she would not hold him!! She did like him a lot and told us she would hold him when she got bigger!!

Fall means Football!

2010-09-15T08:27:00.008-04:00

Brayden is playing football again this fall and loving every minute of it! Kyle is helping coach his team this year and is enjoying the time spent on the field with the boys!

Last Saturday was their first game away at Olivet. The day started off cloudy, but I did not think it was going to rain until later in the day so we did not take any rain gear with us. Well, not to many minute's into the game it started to poor and continued to rain all through the game! They boys loved it and ended up winning the game. The people in the stands, well we were all soaked and looked like wet dogs!

I learned my lesson and will always have the umbrella and raincoats in the truck this fall!!

Hannah also had a game that day, but I left my camera in the truck since it was raining. I will post some photos of her very soon. She is of course the cutest cheerleader ever! :)

Keegan(Brayden's cousin) and Brayden after the game!

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Soccer Season!

2010-09-15T08:07:00.007-04:00

My oldest son James is playing soccer this fall and had his first game on Monday! Here are some photos of the game. He is in the blue #33! He looked good out there! They did not win, but played hard and had a lot of fun! :)

Wordless Wednesday: Canning Tomato's!

2010-09-01T19:02:00.006-04:00

I have been canning the tomatos from my garden the past couple weeks!

Happy 10th Birthday Brayden!

2010-08-26T14:18:00.005-04:00

Today Brayden turns 10! Time sure does fly by! You always have a huge smile on your face and are so laid back. We look forward to watching you change and grow.

Wordless Wednesday: Frog on Fence!

2010-08-25T14:22:00.005-04:00

Ok, this is an Almost Wordless Wednesday again!! I finally bought a new camera a couple weeks ago and have had a lot of fun learning how to use it (I still have a lot to learn!)! I got a Canon Rebel XS SLR. It takes amazing photos. I am having fun using the close up function. Here are a few photos I took of a frog on a fence next to our house! The frog let me get really close to him and I kept hoping that he was not going to jump on my head!! :)

Our Garden 2010

2010-08-04T11:33:00.009-04:00

We have always planted a garden since we lived in the country, but honestly it never did too well, due to lack of sun. We have a ton of trees around our house. Kyle's Grandpa Gruesbeck always had the best garden around every summer and I always loved driving by and admiring it (they live next door to us). Sadly, Grandpa passed away a couple years ago and him and his beautiful and tasty garden are dearly missed.

We were asked if we would like to plant our garden in "Grandpa's Garden" this summer. Of course we said yes! I just hoped that we would be able to keep up with it and do it justice!! I wanted to make him proud!

We planted Sweet Corn, Tomato's, Potato's, Onions, Green Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Green Beans, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Watermelon, Gourds, Pumpkins and Indian Corn! Everything is doing great. We have really made an effort to walk down every few nights to keep the weeds down. Now we are getting tons of fresh veggies! I can barely keep up with the green beans and zucchini! I love seeing the kids work together and enjoy spending time outside, while learning how to grow a garden. I have great memories myself of helping in our huge garden as a kid!

It is awesome to eat fresh veggies every day that we grew ourselves!

Here are some photos of our garden and the kids helping in it! These photos were taken a couple weeks ago. We now have red tomato's and the plants are a lot bigger than in these photos.

Wordless Wednesday: Fun in Lake Michigan at Sunset

2010-08-04T10:44:00.005-04:00

This is an Almost Wordless Wednesday! I have a hard time posting photos without saying any words!! :)

We spent 5 days at Silver Lake, Michigan last week camping. Here are some photos from our first night at Lake Michigan out on the Dune Beach. The sunset was beautiful, the water was warm and everyone had a blast playing in the water and in the sand!

Happy 10th Birthday Hannah!!

2010-07-23T10:15:00.013-04:00

10 years ago today, I would go into labor for my oldest daughter, Hannah! You have been such a blessing and are growing into such a great young lady! Your an awesome daughter and sister! We all love you Hannah. Happy 10th birthday Boo!

Here are a few photos of Hannah having fun since her last birthday!

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Boat Captains!

2010-07-14T10:50:00.011-04:00

The Ferry "Emerald Isle" that we rode on both ways!

Brayden pretending to turn us around to head back to the Island!! :) Uncle Mike is sitting next to Brayden!

Brayden getting some "help" from his cousin Keegan!

Emily wanted her Daddy to help her steer the boat!

Keegan and Brayden all smiles after hanging out in the wheel house with Uncle Mike!

We spent our 4th of July weekend on Beaver Island, MI this year for a Family Reunion on my hubby's side! Kyle's Aunt Kitty and Uncle Mike live on the Island. Uncle Mike is one of the Ferry Captain's for the Beaver Island Boat Company and on our way back to the mainland on Monday(it is about a 2 hour ferry ride, or 30 miles to Beaver Island) he let the kids (and us) visit him in the wheel house! The kids all got a turn driving the boat(not sure if that is the proper terminology or not)! I thought it was pretty cool and the kids thought it was AWESOME! You can see it on their faces! I will be posting more photos about our trip to Beaver Island soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Toes in the water!

2010-07-07T10:51:00.001-04:00

Emily putting her toes in Lake Michigan on Beaver Island over the 4th of July weekend!

Wordless Thursday! River Reflection!! ;)

2010-06-17T20:06:00.001-04:00

I love the reflection of my oldest James in the Manistee River! :)

Blogger was giving me problems posting photos yesterday, so I was not able to post my usual Wordless Wednesday! So I am posting today and calling it Wordless Thursday (does not sound quite as good)! Plus, as I continue to type this I realize it really isn't wordless! lol Oh Well. Can't say I did not try. Have a great night!

Isn't she a cutie??

2010-06-11T07:57:00.001-04:00

This is one of my new favorite photos right now!! I took this one night while planting our garden. I of course think she is adorable and she of course knows she is!!! :)

My new Pantry!!

2010-06-10T16:20:00.002-04:00

Kyle finished my pantry yesterday! Yippee! He made me some shelves from left over cherry boards that we did not use on our floor. They look awesome, are super sturdy and match my floor. I had a blast organizing everything (it is a sickness I have!! I love organizing cupboards and closets, etc.)!

Our Weekend trip to Traverse City

2010-06-10T14:52:00.011-04:00

Kyle and I spent last weekend in Traverse City for our 4th Anniversary! We normally plan a weekend getaway every year for our anniversary instead of big gifts. We would rather spend the money on getting away to reconnect and spend some quality couple time together! :)

We were able to find a pretty good package deal at a hotel. It was their Wine & Dine package and included 2 nights stay in a King Bed room with a whirlpool tub, 2 breakfasts, free wine tasting and bottle of wine of choice, $50 gift card to local restaurant, late check out of 1pm on Sunday and 2 free DVD rentals (we finally watched the Blind Side!! Such a great movie).

We had a great weekend. We arrived in TC around 6pm on Friday night. Thanks to my sister Julie for staying home with Emily for the weekend!! We had the best dinner ever on Saturday night at the Apache Trout Grill in TC on the bay. If you are ever in TC, I highly suggest stopping by. It is beautifully decorated in an outdoor/hunting lodge theme and overlooks the bay. We both ended up having the prime rib and crab leg meal. It seriously was the best prime rib and crab legs we have ever had! No lie!

It was nice to be able to stay up late and sleep in. We even took a nap on Saturday before dinner!

We spent most of Saturday driving up both Peninsula's, exploring and doing several wine tastings. We also checked out 2 lighthouses. The drive was beautiful.

It was one of our best weekends away and felt like a 2nd honeymoon! Thinking we might go back up next year since there is so much to do in the area.

Here are some of the pics I took while away!

We stayed for 2 nights at the Grand Beach Resort on Grand Traverse Bay!

The hotel was beautiful and very clean.

The beach was awesome!

Our Hotel Room 211

I love the nautical feel with blues and greens.

We had a King Bed with a huge Whirlpool Tub in our room!!

We went for our first Wine Tasting ever at Black Star Farms on the Leelanau Peninsula on Saturday!

Black Star Farms...So beautiful!! I love all the red barns!

The drive in was beautiful with all the grapevines on the hill.

Tasting Room! We both found a wine that we really love! We got to take home our wine glasses that we sampled our wine in.

They have a B&B on their property. So gorgeous. We would love to stay here sometime.

We visited 2 lighthouses....
Old Mission Lighthouse

Grand Traverse Lighthouse

Check out this cool miniature Grand Traverse Lighthouse made out of Lego's! Had to take a pic for my Lego loving boys!

Beautiful Grand Traverse Bay

I love rocky beaches...

Some more vineyards with the bay in the background! So beautiful

Memorial Weekend Fun!

2010-06-09T08:38:00.012-04:00

I have not been on the computer much lately. I have a hard time sitting still long enough when it is nice out! Since it is rainy and chilly this morning I thought I would do some updating on the blog.

We went camping in Grayling over Memorial Weekend this year! We had an absolute BLAST! The weather could not have been more beautiful. It was sunny and warm every day and we spent most of our time playing in the Manistee River! We camped at a Rustic State Forest Campground right on the river. The campground only had a few other people in it so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Normally the river is way to cold this time of the year to be in, but it was perfect and helped cool us off. Our friends Jesse and Sally, along with their daughter Lilly came along too!

Our family loves kayaking, but we only have 2 kayaks right now so that presents a problem sometimes if we don't rent extra ones! This weekend I had Kyle drop me along with 1(1 at a time) of the older kids off up river and we kayaked down to our campground. It is about an hour trip and it was great getting the one on one time with each of them over the weekend!

At night Kyle and Jesse did some fly fishing for trout on the river and the kids played in the river and we also did a scavenger hunt one night. Of course a great camping weekend would not be complete without smores and tonka pies!! Lots and lots of them! :)

Here are some of our photos from our awesome weekend!

We visited the Grayling Trout Hatchery on Saturday and fed the trout!

We Kayaked! A lot!!

We tried to stay dry when we went to the river the first night.....

but we just couldn't!! Had to go in the river in our clothes!!

We played on the sandbar and got muddy! :)

We looked for cool rocks in the river!

We ate yummy ice cream at Dairy Queen! :)

We posed for those obligatory photos for mom!! ;)

Isn't the Manistee River beautiful? It is one of our favorite places to be in Michigan!

Happy Anniversary to my hubby Kyle!

2010-06-03T08:25:00.007-04:00

4 years ago today we became husband and wife! You are my best friend and I love being your partner. I look forward to growing old together and creating more memories! Can't wait to get away to Traverse City this weekend!! :)

And we are off camping this Memorial Weekend!

2010-05-27T23:32:00.003-04:00

We are headed to Grayling to camp on the Manistee River tomorrow morning. Our camper is all loaded, food is ready, just have to pack the coolers in the a.m.! I am so looking forward to getting away from home and spending some quality time with my family.

I hope you all have a great long Holiday weekend.

Be safe and look for photos and details of our weekend next week!

Wordless Wednesdays - Because I am hot!!

2010-05-26T17:21:00.004-04:00

As Emily plays outside in the sprinkler and I think about joining her because it is so hot and humid, I thought I would share a photo from back in February! I don't like hot and humid!! I like summer without the sticky heat. This photo was taken during a huge snow storm we had!

Wordless Wednesdays - Shhhh, Emily's sleeping!

2010-05-19T08:21:00.002-04:00

Emily was so worn out one night, she crawled into our bed and crashed! I moved her to her own bed for the night, but not before I snapped this cute photo!

Check out our new Kitchen/Dining Room Floor!

2010-05-18T09:39:00.008-04:00

It has been awhile since I posted about our kitchen/dining room remodel. We were at a stand still for awhile after we got our cupboards and counter top installed. We have been waiting for our boards for our floor to dry before we could install them.

Last fall my hubby and his dad cut down some cherry logs and we decided to turn them into our floor! They cut the boards in January, but you have to wait for the wood to dry before you can install it. About a month ago we started cutting and planing (spelling?)the boards. A couple weeks ago we put it in the kiln to finish drying. Last week we ran it through the machine that makes the tongue and groove in the boards. We are very lucky that my father-in-law has his own wood shop and we were able to do all this ourselves! We saved thousands by making and installing the floor ourselves! It was actually fun to do it ourselves and see the progression of our boards. Well, last Thursday Kyle started installing the boards and we put polyurethane on it over the weekend. We are so happy with how it turned out. Now we are putting up the trim and doing some touch ups on the walls. I will post the finished photos as soon as we get it done!

Putting the laminate floor over the old 1970's linoleum before we put the new floor down! The kitchen is now located where our dining room was! We flipped it around and built a wall and tore one down! We built a new pantry, but we have to put permanent shelves up still. We have temporary redneck OSB board ones now! We are going to use some of the extra boards that we did not use from the floor to make the shelves!

Our boards in our garage waiting to be installed!

The boards all down before we applied the Polyurethane.

Applying the first coat of Polyurethane around Midnight on Saturday night!

Our Beautiful new flooring!

The wood will darken over the next year. I love the color and look of cherry.

More photos to come! I will try to post some more before and after photos of the completed kitchen/dining room!

Wordless Wednesdays - Making Cupcakes with my girls!

2010-05-12T08:57:00.002-04:00

Saturday night we made cupcakes for Mother's Day! They turned out super yummy and we had fun decorating them all different!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I attended a Mother's Day Tea with my Mom and Daughter, Hannah, at my mom's church. All three of us participated in the program. My mom read a personal tribute to my sister and I, in honor of daughters. I read a personal tribute to my mom, in honor of mothers and Hannah read a cute poem about grandmas! We were all very nervous, but it went well and I am glad we decided to participate! Below is what I wrote this week and read in front of about 75 ladies. I hope you enjoy your day!

I want to thank my mom for not making my sister Julie and I wear pink lace and bows today! I was never a big fan of those frilly dresses and lace. I was a tom boy growing up on a dairy farm and I liked to get dirty! ( I started out with this because my mom spoke about her love of dressing my sister and I in frilly, girly dresses with lace and bows!)

Since my mom made her thoughts personal it seems only fair that I do the same. I mean she did preach the "do onto others as you want done onto you" when I was growing up!

I came across a poem the other day that is titled " As I look back". I want to share it with all of you today. I am sure it applies for all of us daughters here today!

As I look back on my life
I find myself wondering...
Did I remember to thank you
for all that you have done for me?

For all of the times you were by my side
to help me celebrate my successes
and accept my defeats?

Or for teaching me the value of hard work,
good judgement, courage and honesty?

I wonder if I’ve ever thanked you for the simple things....
The laughter, smiles and quiet times we’ve shared?

If I have forgotten to express my gratitude
for all of the things,
I am thanking you now...
And I am hoping that you have known all along
how very much you are loved and appreciated!

I thought I would continue on with the theme of " As I look back" today.

As I look back.....
I realize that being a mom is not an easy task. I never truly realized this or completely understood and appreciated you until I became a mother myself. I am sure this is true for most of us Mothers here today. You never ever stop worrying or praying for your children. They slowly give you grey hair, but bring you so much joy. Being a mom is the hardest job in the world, but it is also the most rewarding!

As I look back.....
I think about all the great memories I have from growing up on a farm. One of the best things about this was that it allowed you to "work" from home! I was lucky to have you home everyday until the farm was sold when I was in high school. You got a job outside the home at the point and I came to realize that I missed having you there when I got home from school. I missed the 20 questions that you are so famous for! Yes, sometimes I did not want to play along, but I know that it was just your way of communicating and making sure you knew what was going on in my little world. This game is still played today and I find myself doing the same with my kids.

Growing up on a farm was a lot of fun. Besides caring for the animals, we always planted a huge garden every summer! I know all of us kids have fond memories of time spent in the garden with you, from planting the seeds to canning the finished product! I can still see you driving the tractor while us kids were on the hay wagon baling hay on those hot July days! There was also our annual fall bonfire and hay ride. You always planned a great party, right down to the cute homemade invitations. I see that side of you in me. I also love planning parties, hosting get togethers and being crafty. See you did rub off on me!

As I look back....
I am very thankful that you helped instill a love of adventure and travel in me. Even if it was just a day trip or we did not have a lot of money, we still explored. Whether it was a family trip or a trip with girl scouts, you made sure I got the most out of my adventure. You were the driving force behind me getting to go to Germany for 3 weeks as a Foreign Exchange Student in 8th grade. Money was tight then and we had recently dealt with the death of my brother Steve, but you never gave up on "Our" dream of me getting to go! This meant driving me around searching for pop cans on the side of the road to making sure I had all my paperwork done so I could apply for a scholarship. Going to Germany is one of the best things to happened to me as a teen and I want to thank you mom today for making that happen. I continue to enjoy traveling with my own family these days and I hope that I am creating memories with them that will last forever.

As I look back.....
I can tell you that growing up in a blended family of His, Hers and Ours has prepared me to be a mother of a blended family! I am the "Ours" and the youngest of 8 kids. You always treated the "His" kids as if they were your own. You made it work, even if it was not always easy. Now that I am a mom and step mom to 4 awesome kids I can see a lot of you in myself and that is a "good thing". It really is!

As I look back.....
I realize that I, along with the rest of my family, have been given a 2nd chance on having you around Mom. In early 2005, You became very sick and we were all called to the Hospital to say our final goodbyes. It is honestly the worst day in my life. I was glad to have that chance to say goodbye and to see how much my family and close friends loved you, but I was not ready for you to go. There were so many great stories told that night in the hospital waiting room. Prayer chains were started and lots of tears were shed. The doctors told us it would be a miracle for you to survive. You were on life support and your kidneys were shutting down. Driving home that night I was planning a funeral, a celebration of your life, in my head. I expected a call from the hospital overnight, but it never came! Praise the Lord! You made a full recovery. It took a couple months for you to come home and you had a ton of obstacles to overcome. Now, 5 years later, I am so happy to be able to spend time with you, chat on the phone for hours and see your love for my children. My youngest Emily loves her "Gram Gram" so much and whenever we drive by your house she thinks we need to stop!

I could go on and on today with great stories and memories about you Mom. I think I speak for all of your kids when I say that you are the greatest Mom and Grandma. You are so loved and I praise God daily that we were given more time to create more memories. I hope you are all thinking about your own memories of your mom.

As I look back...
I could not have asked for a better MOM!

Wordless Wednesdays - Look Mom! I caught a Fish!

2010-05-05T12:52:00.007-04:00

Emily throwing the fish she caught back in the water!

Hannah baited and took her own fish off the hook!

Brayden's fish is a little dirty since he dropped it, lol!

James caught 2 fish this day.

Wordless Wednesdays - Empire State Building!

2010-04-28T08:58:00.003-04:00

Keegan (cousin), Brayden and James spent a morning over Spring Break building the Empire State Building! It turned out great!

Spring Break Getaway Day 1 Continued....

2010-04-25T22:31:00.008-04:00

Here are some more photos from our Spring Break Getaway up north to Houghton Lake! After we had a picnic lunch at Higgins Lake we went back to Houghton Lake and visited a gift shop that had Indian Tee Pees and Totem Poles out front. We then stopped for ice cream, before the rain moved in. We finished our evening off with more water fun at the pool area and a very yummy dinner of pizza at the hotel restaurant! I did not get many photos in the pool area, partly because I was chasing Emily around and it was hot and steamy so my camera kept fogging up.

My 4 little Indians!

Hanging out in a Tee Pee!

Emily looking small

Hannah and her new "friend"

Emily enjoying an ice cream cone.

Brayden coming down the water slide

James' turn on the water slide!

Emily had a blast and went down the water slide at least 25 times!

Emily and Hannah sleeping after a fun day at play!

Wordless Wednesdays - Fishing fun!

2010-04-21T07:15:00.000-04:00

This is an Almost Wordless Wednesday!

We have been doing some fishing the last few evenings. This was Emily's first time and she has a new princess fishing pole (there is not a real hook on it!). The fish that we caught were pretty small but we had fun and enjoyed the beautiful spring evening. By the way, I caught the first fish this night and it ended up being the biggest! :)

Such a big girl.

She knows what she is doing!

Helping Daddy reel in a bass.

Kyle and Emily with their fish!

Brayden and one of the fish he caught!

Spring Break Getaway Day 1 at Higgins Lake

2010-04-20T11:38:00.006-04:00

We went up north to Houghton Lake for the weekend with the kids and Kyle's Sister Katy and her family. We stayed at a hotel that had a pool, water slide and lazy river. We were right on Houghton Lake. Friday night the weather was really cool, but by Saturday it started to warm up! We decided to head out and do stuff outdoors with kids for awhile on Saturday afternoon (we all needed a break from the pool).

We ended up going to the Higgins Lake State Campground for a picnic. The sun was shining and the park was empty! The kids had fun running around, checking out the lake and climbing on a fallen tree. There was also a playground. Here are some of the photos.

Look how clear the water is! We are hoping to go camping this summer at Higgins Lake!

When we drove up to the lake it almost looked like the water you would see in the Caribbean! This picture does not do it justice! It was so beautiful.

Having our picnic lunch

Emily loved the beach.

Hannah, Emily and their cousin Marhea had to put their toes in the water! brrrr

Brayden, Hannah and James doing the obligatory photo for their mom! :)

Hannah and Marhea

Look for more photos and details of our trip coming soon.......

Spring Flowers

2010-04-15T09:51:00.006-04:00

I got my 2 flower beds weeded earlier this week and have been enjoying the beautiful flowers that are blooming!

This flower bed was new last year and is still a work in progress. I will be adding more annuals and perennials soon! There are still more flowers popping up every day and I have 5 Hostas at the one end that are just starting to stick up through the dirt! It still needs some work. I will take more photos later this summer when it is full of beautiful flowers!

Wordless Wednesdays - Fun with Pringles!

2010-04-14T08:18:00.001-04:00

Part girl, part duck! ;)

Day Out With Thomas: The Celebration Tour 2010 is coming to Greenfield Village (Dearborn, MI) and a Giveaway!!

2010-04-13T15:11:00.005-04:00

I wanted to let everyone who is located in Michigan or within close proximity to Dearborn, MI, know about an awesome giveaway over on my other blog Money Saving Mama in Michigan! If you have a Thomas the Train fan in your house you won't want to miss out on entering this contest!

CLICK HERE to read all about Thomas the Train 2010 Tour and find out how to enter!

This giveaway ends on Friday (the 16th) morning at 8am EST, so don't delay!

Happy Easter to all

2010-04-04T10:20:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you enjoy your day with your family and enjoy all the yummy food. Remember why we are celebrating today.

He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

Keep it fresh! Tips to keeping food fresh...

2010-04-01T22:39:00.003-04:00

I found some tips in my handy mom's planner that I thought I would share with you.

Tips to keep food fresh:

*To keep bananas fresh longer cut off the tip of it instead of hanging them by it. The peel will still turn brown but the inside will stay fresh for twice as long!

*Do not refrigerate tomatoes as they ripen faster in the cold. (I need to quit doing that!)

*After you have washed and capped fresh strawberries, put them in a colander and pour boiling water over them. By doing so, you kill the bacteria that makes them get moldy and mushy. Afterwards, refrigerate as you normally would, and the berries should last a lot longer.

*Do not wash grapes until just before serving to prevent premature brown spots and spoilage.

*When you are only using half an onion make sure to save the half with the root. It will stay fresh longer!

*If homemade cookies have dried out and gotten hard, soften them by placing a slice of bread in the cookie jar or container overnight. The cookies will absorb moisture from the bread and will be soft and chewy again! (This works, I do it all the time)

*To prevent browning of prepared avocados, brush lightly with lemon juice.

Wordless Wednesdays - Goose Decoys, A girls best friend!

2010-03-31T16:29:00.004-04:00

Emily loves her Daddy's goose decoys. Today she carried them all over the yard and lined them up. She even tried to give one a drink out of her sippy cup!

Playing in the rain!

2010-03-28T17:00:00.005-04:00

Emily has been waiting for it to rain so she can use her new umbrella! So this afternoon she looked out the window and informed us that it was raining. She ran over and put on her new rain coat and boots and asked me for her umbrella! It wasn't raining very hard and was not to cold so I sent her outside to have some fun in the rain! She had a blast splashing in the puddles in our driveway. I of course had to grab my camera and capture some cute photos!

This will be my new kitchen flooring!

2010-03-25T20:54:00.003-04:00

I am way behind on posting photos of our nearly finished kitchen! I will take some tomorrow and get them up soon! :)

Anyways, these photos are of my wood floor! Well the boards that will become my new hard wood flooring!! Kyle and his dad cut down a cherry tree last fall and we are turning it into our new floor! I love the look of cherry and can't wait to see the finished product. We are currently waiting for the wood to finish drying, it takes a couple months. Then they will get it all cut so we can put it down and finish it. I will post some photos when it is done!

Wordless Wednesdays - Who needs pants?

2010-03-24T14:29:00.005-04:00

This is an Almost Wordless Wednesday!

We are working on potty training here at my house and I find it is just easier some days to let Emily go without pants in the house. Well one day she decided that she wanted to go outside and before I could get to her with some pants, she put her boots on and headed outside!

Fun Survery: Random things about me!

2010-03-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

I saw this fun survey over on One 2 Try and thought it would be fun! When your done reading mine, go ahead and join in on the fun!

*Where is your cell phone? On my desk
*Your Hair? Loving my shorter cut with highlights, plus I have an awesome new Flat Iron that makes my hair straight and smooth!
*Your Mother? Loving and supportive! A great gram gram!
*Your Father? A loving dad and wonderful Papa!
*Favorite Food? Mexican or cupcakes! :)
*Your Dream Last Night? I honestly don't remember...
*Your Favorite Drink? Diet Coke!!!!
*Your Dream/Goal? To raise happy and healthy kids, grow old with my hubby and best friend Kyle!
*What Room are you in? Living Room
*Your Hobby? Blogging, scrap booking
*Your Fear? worms, confined spaces
*Where do you want to be in 6 years? Where I am now, with some updates in our house
*Where were you last night? At home vegging on the couch
*Something that you aren’t? A Diva or high maintenance girl!
*Muffins? Love Blueberry!
*Wish List Item? Cabin Up North
*Where did you grow up? Michigan, lived here all my life
*Last thing you did? Laundry
*What are you wearing? Pj pants and t-shirt, so comfy!
*Your TV? Diego
*Your pets? One cat named Jake
*Friends? Love them.
*Your Life? Awesome
*Your Mood? Happy that the sun is shining
*Vehicle? Love my Yukon XL, it's my monster truck!
*Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
*Your favorite store? Target and then probably Kids Resale shops
*Your favorite color? Red
*When was the last time you laughed? This morning while listening to Emily and her cousin Kada play and giggle
*Last time you cried? Last week, had one of those missing my brother Howie moments, he passed away almost 10 years ago, way to young.
*Your best friend? My hubby
*One place that I go to over and over? The bathroom?? lol
*Favorite place to eat? Love Texas Roadhouse and The Olive Garden!

Now join in on the fun and let me know if you do this too so I can go read your answers!

Tag you're it! Tuesday Tag

2010-03-23T09:35:00.002-04:00

It's time for Tag Tuesday! Link up and play a game of tag. It's a great way to meet other bloggers and get more followers too!

CLICK HERE to visit Adventures of a Military Family of 8 and check out all the details! It is a fun way to get to know others and get some new followers!

Friday Follow! It's time to follow!

2010-03-19T08:49:00.003-04:00

Here's how YOU can join the celebration:

* Link up your blog name and URL using the MckLinky below. Only need to add on one blog to be seen on all the blog hops.

* Grab the Friday Follow and Sponsor buttons and include both on your Friday Follow blog post.

* Follow the Friday Follow hostesses listed in the first 3 slots.

* Follow as many other blogs on the linky as you'd like

* Take a moment to comment on the blogs telling them you're from Friday Follow

* Follow back when you get a new follower through Friday Follow

The list is new each week. The links do not carry over. Please link up each week for new participants to find your blogs. The list is only open to add your blog links on Fridays. It will be visible all week to visit the blogs listed.

As hostesses, we realize the time required to participate in Friday Follow. Due to the overwhelming number of entries each week, we understand everyone, including ourselves, may not be able to follow every blog. To keep it fun, follow what you can at your own pace. We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your continued participation!

Wordless Wednesdays - The best part about making Brownies!

2010-03-17T15:48:00.002-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T11:45:00.005-04:00

My husband's family is Irish (our last name is McNamara) so Emily is half Irish! This shirt is so fitting for her!

Looking all innocent!

Family Birthday Party!

2010-03-17T10:30:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, March 6th, my family on my Mom's side had a big "birthday party"! The premise of this party was that we celebrated every one's birthday all at once! We did not exchange presents, but we ate yummy food, decorated cupcakes and even sang happy birthday!

Getting everyone together at Christmas can be challenging so we did it in March after the busyness of the Holidays slowed down. It was nice to see everyone. Here are a few pics from the "Party"!

Wordless Wednesdays - Waiting for rain!

2010-03-10T23:54:00.005-05:00

This is an almost Wordless Wednesday! This is my 2 year old Emily so happy and excited today when she got a package from the UPS guy! She is all decked out in a new rain coat, rain boots and umbrella! I am doing a review for a company soon and they sent me all 3 items! I will be writing a review and hosting a giveaway for an umbrella over on Money Saving Mama in Michigan (My other blog)! She has been so excited all night and kept saying "it's suppose to rain soon". We told her she could go outside and play in the rain that we are expecting soon! Can't wait to get some cute photos of her playing outside!

Our Snowmobiling weekend!

2010-03-03T18:49:00.016-05:00

Last weekend we headed up north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to get one more snowmobile ride in before the snow melts! Kyle's sister Katy and her hubby Chuck went with us, which made it a cheaper weekend for everyone, since we were able to split the cost of gas and lodging!

We left on Friday around 2:30 in the afternoon and arrived at our cabin at about 9:30 that night. We traveled in snowy, messy roads the whole time, which slowed us down, but we got their safe!

We ended up renting a small (think Geico house small) cabin in Seney for only $50 a night! Can't beat the price and it was very clean and fully furnished. We all agreed that we would stay their again. When we go up north snowmobile we are not really looking for luxury, since we are hardly at the hotel.

Inside our small, but cute cabin.

See, I told you it was tiny!

We headed out on Saturday morning and spent the day out on the trails! They were beautiful as usual and actually not too busy. We rode from Seney to Christmas (yes it really is named Christmas, MI and it had street names like Holly lane and Candy Cane Lane). We ate lunch at a place called Foggy's. Food was great, service was probably the worst I have ever had. I was oh so lucky and actually found a noodle (I hope that is what it was, I decided not to inspect it to closely for fear that I might be sick) floating in the bottom of my diet coke! BARF! The waiter did not even apologize, just brought me another diet coke. Can we say no tip?!

Looking down a snowmobile trail.

We rode back to our cabin and hung our for awhile, took a little nap, ate some dinner and then headed back out and rode from 11pm till about 2am! We ended up putting on 220 miles in about 9 hours! That is alot of miles on a snowmobile. It is almost like riding from Lansing to the Bridge, which is about 236 miles! We were all so sore the next few days, but it is so worth it. If you have never snowmobiled you really should try it. You see things you would otherwise would never see in a vehicle. We crossed the biggest bridge any of us have ever snowmobiled across before. The view was so pretty. This is a trail bridge only, not intended for cars. One way traffic at a time! It had to be about 25 feet tall.

The river that the bridge was over.

Looking down through the bridge into the water.

We came home on Sunday and the weather had warmed up and the roads were clear so we made it home in about 6 hours. We did not even stop one time once we crossed the bridge (4 hours from the bridge to our house, with no potty breaks)! I think everyone was to sore to even want to get out of the truck! So happy we got such a great ride in and we are already looking forward to heading back up next winter!

Looking out over the ice from the Mackinac Bridge.

It was pretty icy, but still had some open water between the lower and upper peninsula.

For those people who don't live in Michigan and want to read some interesting facts about the bridge, CLICK HERE! The Mackinac Bridge is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world.

A cute quote...

2010-03-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend. :)

I'm back!

2010-02-28T23:13:00.003-05:00

I'm back. Had a busy week last week. Then my hubby and I, headed to the UP of Michigan for fun weekend of snowmobiling! I will posts some photos tomorrow and get back to blogging daily. Hoping for a quieter week.

Heading to bed..... Sweet dreams!

St. Patrick's Day Bangle

2010-02-24T23:30:00.000-05:00

Do you like this bracelet? You can win it over on my other blog! This would be a perfect accessory for your St. Patrick's Day attire!

CLICK HERE to go enter to win a St. Patrick's Day bangle bracelt from Alex and Ani! There are many easy ways to enter.

Playing in the snow!

2010-02-22T23:06:00.005-05:00

We had a winter storm last night and ended up with a Snow Day today! We woke up to another 10 inches of snow! It was a nice wet snow, so it stuck to everything, including the trees. Brayden and Emily played outside for hours and had a blast playing on all the big snow piles that Kyle made when he plowed out our driveway.

Climbing one of the snow hills!

Watching their dad plow the driveway, safely from the porch.

Brayden cleaning off our truck.

Update on My Sis-in-law Serena

2010-02-20T23:34:00.003-05:00

Serena is still in the Hospital. They are still waiting for her blood to thin more before they can release her. She also has pneumonia, which would explain the breathing problems she was having. My MOPS group is setting up Meals for her and her family. I figured even if she comes home it will be nice to not have to cook for a few days. Will keep you posted when things change. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Top Ten Parenting Oscars you ought to win....

2010-02-19T23:39:00.003-05:00

I found another cute list at the back of my new Parenting Early Years magazine that came the other day!

This one is titled Top Ten Parenting Oscars you ought to win!

1. MUSIC (Original Score): For teaching your kids to sing the real version of "Jingle Bells", not the one where Batman smells and Robin lays an egg.

2. BEST DIRECTOR: For organizing a month long PTA fund-raiser that actually raised funds!

3. MAKEUP: For applying enough under-eye concealer to avoid looking like the Crypt Keeper after a sleepless night tending a croupy kid.

4. ART DIRECTION: For getting the kids to make a "Welcome Grandma" banner without a single fight breaking out over using the red crayon.

5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: For sitting on the bleachers every Saturday, just to cheer like crazy for the seven minutes your son makes it onto the soccer field!

6. SOUND MIXING: For talking loudly enough that your tween actually heard you over his iPod, and in fact, listened to what you had to say.

7. SOUND EDITING: For stealthily removing the Care Bear's batteries, then telling your son that Tenderheart lost his voice and needs to rest for a day.

8. COSTUME DESIGN: For the Hananh Montana getup you made your daughter from a mop head and cheap jewelry minutes before the Halloween parade.

9. CINEMATOGRAPHY: For capturing five full minutes of your family on video during which no child sticks a finger up his nose or crosses his eyes.

10. PICTURE OF THE YEAR: For the one you snapped of your husband and kids - the one that reminds you why, the craziness aside, this is the happiest time of your life!

Hope you enjoyed these! Which one can you relate to the most lately?

This list was taken from the back of Parenting Early Years March 2010.

Prayer Request

2010-02-18T23:30:00.000-05:00

Please pray for my sister-in-law Serena. I got a call tonight from my mom that she went to the ER today, having problems with her asthma. She had also been complaining of "heartburn" or some chest pain the last few days. Turns out after she got to the ER, that she has a blood clot in her lung!! They also had to do some breathing treatments on her as well. They admitted her and won't let her leave until the clot is gone. She had this problem a few years ago too. I will know more tomorrow and update at that time.

So when your saying your prayers, say an extra one please.

Thanks.

Wordless Wednesdays - Want a kiss?

2010-02-17T10:38:00.002-05:00

Lip pops (sucker) that the kids got for Valentine's Day!

A Child will.......

2010-02-16T22:45:00.003-05:00

A Child will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, the home happier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for ~unknown~

Another great week of wrestling for Brayden!

2010-02-15T22:38:00.005-05:00

Brayden had another awesome week! We went to Ionia this week and he came home with a 2nd place medal! He had to wrestle 4 times and went 3 and 1! Great job Brayden!

Check out his sweaty messing after wrestling hair!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T15:39:00.004-05:00

Wishing everyone a Very Happy Valentine's Day! I had to post a few photos of Emily, when she was about 2 months old. She was being very smiley and had a cute "I Heart Kisses" shirt on that made me think of Valentine's Day. These are some of my favorite photos!

Date Night!

2010-02-13T11:30:00.002-05:00

Wanted to get a quick post in as part of the Community of Moms Blog Dare!

Kyle and I went out tonight for Valentine's Day. We had a gift certificate and a coupon for Red lobster, which cut our bill in half! Dinner was so yummy and we finished it off with the best Strawberry Cheesecake! We only had to wait for an hour and 20 minutes to be seated! lol... The wait was not to bad since it was just us and no little kids to chase around. We were going to go to a movie but changed our mind and came home and watched the Olympics instead, curled up on the couch together.

It was a nice night with my hubby!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Cute printable Valentine's Day coupons!

2010-02-12T12:46:00.003-05:00

I came across these really cute printable coupons for Valentine's Day over on West Michigan Mommy! They are printables for your loved ones and even teachers and caregivers!

CLICK HERE to go check them out!

Thanks to West Michigan Mommy for this great find!

Laughter is like...

2010-02-11T22:54:00.002-05:00

Laughter is like changing a baby's diaper. It doesn't permanently solve the problem but it makes things more acceptable for a while. ~Unknown~

Instructions for Life: From the Dalai Lama

2010-02-10T22:26:00.003-05:00

My wonderful hubby bought me a really cool Moms planner for Christmas! It is called Mom's Manager Planner, the Planner for Moms on the Go! I love it. One of the things I really like is each month there is a page that has tips, cute sayings, ideas and advice! I thought I would start sharing some of these with you over the next few months!

Here is one that I came across. It is called Instructions for Life from the Dalai Lama.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R's: Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck!
5. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
6. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
7. Spend some time alone every day!
8. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
9. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
10. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
11. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for life.
12. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
13. Be gentle with the earth.
14. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
15. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each exceeds your need for each other.
16. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

A great Love Story!

2010-02-09T11:36:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a story with you. It is a great love story! A friend from my childhood is currently waiting for her hubby to return from Iraq. He has been there since July. While away his baby girl Isabell was born! He will be home any day now and be meeting her for the first time! The Detroit News wrote an article about Kim, Christopher and Isabell. I contacted Kim and asked if I could share her story and she said sure so if your interested in reading it, head on over to Kim's blog.

CLICK HERE to go read Kim's story! You might want to have some tissues handy because it will bring tears to your eyes!

Brayden took 3rd!

2010-02-08T20:13:00.003-05:00

Brayden wrestled in Okemos yesterday. He has had a pretty tough year. He has gone up against a lot of good wrestlers. Well, yesterday he wrestled really hard and was able to bring home a 3rd place medal! He was so excited and I of course was really proud. He has really matured over the last couple years and is doing great with keeping his cool when he does lose a match! His Dad and I always tell him as long as he goes out and wrestles hard it does not matter if you win or lose! Great job Brayden!!

Monster Truck Show

2010-02-07T20:54:00.007-05:00

The Tailgator!

I won tickets to the Monster Truck show that came to the Breslin Center in East Lansing last week off of WITL! The kids were super excited to go. None of them had ever been. It was my first time going as well. We went early to attend the "Pit Party". The drivers and trucks are all out on the arena floor. It was pretty cool. I can't believe how big the tires are!

We also got to do a Meet and Greet(part of winning the tickets from the radio station) with the 4 drivers downstairs right before the show! It was just us and one other family. It was fun. The kids got a gift bag filled with goodies (hat, flag, pencil and roster). They got their flags autographed and we got our picture taken with all the drivers.

The show was fun. They make it fun for the kids. We had a great night together as a family. I would actually go back, as I found myself having a lot of fun and laughing at the funny parts of the show!

The kids and Rick Long who drives "Big Foot"

Standing under "Ironman"

Getting autographs during the meet and greet.

Bigfoot was the winner of the night!

Another cute thing that 2 years olds do

2010-02-05T23:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed when a little kid enters an elevator what they do?? Today Emily and I went to visit her doctor for a follow up and we have to take the elevator up to the 2nd floor. She loves to push the button to make the elevator come and then when we enter she slowly walks over the little crack in between the elevator and the floor! It is to cute! I think that she thinks she might fall in the crack. :)

Simple things 2 year olds do make me smile!

By the way, Emily is doing much better today. Her visit with the doctor went well and she said her lungs sounded clear. Just going to finish the antibiotic and keep up with the breathing treatments for a few more days. So happy to see her starting to act like the old Emily.

Emily is doing better!

2010-02-04T23:08:00.002-05:00

Emily woke up this morning feeling so much better. Her fever seems to be gone now. she played a lot today instead of clinging to me. We will see her doctor in the morning and hopefully her lungs will be much clearer. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Chilling on the couch with her blankies and her "woof woof"!

Doing her breathing treatment! She is a big girl and helps me.

Rough Day

2010-02-03T22:57:00.003-05:00

Today was a rough day. Emily, my 2 year old was diagnosed with Bronchitis on Sunday and instead of getting better this week, she has gotten worse. Her fever kept spiking and she has been miserable. So this morning I took her back to the ER. I am glad I did, when we got there her fever was over 104 degrees and she was grunting when she breathed. The doctors and nurses at the ER were awesome. They got her fever down and after a breathing treatment and some chest x-rays they sent us home. She has a bronchial infection with slight pneumonia. They decided that she did not need to be admitted to the hospital since her fever came down and she was drinking liquids and used the potty a couple times while we were there. After a couple of hours of being there she started to act more like herself.

So she is on a new antibiotic and will be getting breathing treatments every 4 hours for the next week. She definitely acted better this afternoon and even wanted to go sleep in her own bed tonight! Although I think I am going to grab her and put her in bed with us. Just for peace of mind....

When you say your prayers tonight, say one for Emily please. I want my baby girl back to bouncing off the walls very soon!

Thanks :)

Now I need to go get some sleep...

A cool Michigan Photo Blog

2010-02-02T23:19:00.003-05:00

I came across a blog the other day called Michigan Exposures. If you live in Michigan (and even if you don't) you might enjoy taking a look at it. He posts photos of everything throughout the State of Michigan. His latest being The Mackinac Bridge and Tahquamenon Falls in winter! They are very beautiful.

I have a passion for photography and hope once I get my new camera to take more photos of this great state. Maybe I will start another blog when I do. :)

CLICK HERE to go visit Michigan Exposures.

Just thought I would share.

How having kids is like being a Wall Street Tycoon!

2010-02-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

I found this in the back of my Parenting Early Years magazine and thought I would share. It's cute! :)

9 ways how having kids is like being a Wall Street Tycoon!

1. Your gross domestic product rises dramatically....as evidenced by the daily pailful of dirty diapers!

2. You have weekly board meetings...what's family night without Scrabble or Monopoly?

3. You're the subject of a hostile takeover...really, why should you be able to have a full night's sleep without a toddler showing up to hog your pillow and steal your blankets?

4. You're sentenced to several years in a maximum-security facility...and it's funny how your preschooler is better at opening the safety gates and drawer latches than you are!

5. You keep a sharp eye on interest rates...in Green veggies, educational television and chores.

6. You dole out sweet bonuses...hey, a handful of Froot Loops can work wonders on a kid who won't get into her booster seat.

7. You're on constant market watch...because with what your tween son eats these days, a sale on hamburger is a very big deal.

8. You gladly accept a bailout...thanks for babysitting, Grandma!

9. Your bonds are extremely rewarding...and every group snuggle on the couch reminds you.

This was taken from the February 2010 issue of Parenting Early Years.

Question for everyone...

2010-01-31T23:00:00.000-05:00

Last night when we were at Menard's getting ideas for our new kitchen and dining room we were looking at new sinks. My hubby points out a black sink and at first I was not so sure I liked it. I guess I was thinking we were just doing stainless steel. But after putting the counter top sample up next to it, I found myself maybe changing my mind.

So my question is do any of you or have any of you ever seen a black kitchen sink in someones house? It is really sleek looking and the counter top we are going with has black in it so I think it would flow really well. Just wanted some other people's opinions on this one before we make that final decision.

Thanks!! :)

So many decisions....

2010-01-30T23:37:00.003-05:00

The kitchen/dining room construction is going well and we (my hubby) got a lot done this week. He is currently finishing the drywall that he put up yesterday.

We went to Menard's tonight to try to make some decisions on counter top, a new sink, lighting, paint and a door that will lead to our back yard (with a new deck, hopefully this summer). Thankfully, my parents kept Emily for us since I think we were in the store for over 2 hours! So many decisions, you kind of get a little overwhelmed! Our plan is to order the counter top this week, we need to get some final measurements.

When we got home we did make some final decisions (at least I think we did). We are pretty certain on the color we are going to paint the cupboards. We did a trial run and Kyle painted one tonight. We also finalized the choice for our counter top!

I know that in the end it will look good, but it is so hard to visualize it when the room is a mess and nothing is put together.

I will post some new photos this coming week.

Off to bed, Brayden has a wrestling meet in the morning.

No, you can't go potty there!

2010-01-29T22:54:00.002-05:00

We were at Lowe's the other day picking up a few things for the big project we are currently working on in our house. My 2 year old, Emily, is currently in the middle of potty training and it actually doing really well with it.

We had been in the store for awhile so I decided to take Emily to the bathroom to at least try to go. So we head in and she tries but does not go. No big deal, just glad we tried. We are heading back to find her Daddy when she finds the toilets and sinks that are used for display! She gets all excited and tells me that she has to go potty and that she wants to wash her hands! Yikes. I try to explain to her that they are not working and she can't go potty in them. She was not really happy with that answer and continues to insist that she wants to use the display toilet. By now people are smiling and laughing at her, because she is so darn cute! I had to lift up the toilet seat and turn on the sink to show her that they are not "real" in order to finally convince her to head back to the real restroom.

This will be a fun story to tell her boyfriend someday! =)

Everyone likes to win! Enter my current giveaways!

2010-01-29T21:42:00.004-05:00

I am hosting several giveaways over on my Money Saving Mama in Michigan blog right now. I would love for you to head over and enter one or all!

I am giving away a coupon for a free box of cereal from General Mills (value up to $6). General Mills has recently reduced the amount of sugar in their cereals! CLICK HERE to read more info and enter. 2 winners will each 1 coupon, contest ends on 2/2!

I am very excited about this giveaway. Carri Ann DESIGNS has offered 2 custom designed Photo Cards for Valentine's Day! 2 lucky winners will each receive either 12 photo cards with envelopes or a high resolution file to print your own cards out! These cards are so adorable! I would love for you to enter this giveaway and show some love to Carri, who is working hard on getting her own Etsy shop going! CLICK HERE to read more and enter! Hurry, contest ends on 2/3!

My last giveaway is for Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce! This is super yummy sauce that can be used on anything. I will be picking 2 winners who will each receive 2 bottles of their own Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce! Contest ends on 2/7. CLICK HERE to read my review and enter!

Emily and her new "big girl" bed!

2010-01-28T23:46:00.005-05:00

Tonight we bought Emily a new toddler bed. She has been ready for a "big girl" bed for awhile. She was so excited at the store and when we got it home she wanted Daddy to put it together! We moved her crib and she help get the pieces out of the box. She was such a big helper! We got her pj's on and she was ready for bed. She got in, we covered her up and she fell fast asleep in her new "big girl" bed!

She insisted on having her fish aquarium that was on her crib in bed with her tonight! She has had it on her crib since she was born.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: My house is a mess!

2010-01-27T21:58:00.004-05:00

Kyle's friend Jesse came over to help him remove the huge picture window. Of course It was one of the coldest days we have had lately! They worked quickly and built a new wall. We are installing a door and building a new deck this summer.

They got it out without the glass breaking!

The new wall going up.

Some of our cupboards that we are going to clean, sand and repaint. If you look closely you can see the scalloped edge on them. They are in really good shape so we are saving a ton of money "fixing them up" instead of purchasing new ones. This is the area where our kitchen will be. The opening into the hallway will turn into a new wall tomorrow!

Take note of the beautiful yellow counter top that I have had in my kitchen since we moved in 5 years ago! I have been counting down the days till we could smash it! You can see the outline where our top cupboards were. I think we had one of the smallest kitchens ever! The old kitchen area will be our new dining room with the wall where the cupboards and sink were coming down. We will have a more open floor plan. The living room is on the other side.

We are making a ton of progress in just a few days! It is a mess, but I keep reminding myself that it will be so worth it in the end!

Just back from the Emergency Room....

2010-01-26T23:21:00.003-05:00

I was not sure I was actually going to get a post done before midnight tonight (I have been blogging every day since I took the Blog Dare through the Community of Moms). I have been blogging late at night lately.

I just got home from the ER. I decided to go in tonight because I have been having pain in my left leg (knee area) since the 15th. It started out more as an ache but just in the past couple days has really been bothering me. It does not really hurt when I walk or stand, just hurts when I bend it or stretch it. I figured I had pulled a muscle or something and was giving it a few days to heal.

Today it was worse and tonight after searching online about leg/knee pain I came across blood clots in the leg. YIKES! One symptom of a blood clot is a pulled muscle like pain. After talking to my hubby we decided that I should head to the ER just to make sure everything was ok.

I am fine, it turns out to just be a strained/pulled muscle in my leg just under my knee cap. I can feel the balled up muscle. It is very tender when touched. The doctor said to just lay low and not stress it over the next few days (yeah right, we just started demo on our kitchen and I have an active 2 year old) and it should get better. He said since it does not really bother me to walk that I don't need crutches. If it is not better in a week then I will go see my family doctor. I am relieved. I felt kind of silly going in tonight but they did say it was good to get it checked out and that I was right about the symptoms of a blood clot. It's always good to be cautious. Well, off to bed soon.

Let the demo begin...

2010-01-25T22:34:00.006-05:00

I am so EXCITED! We are finally starting the big demo of our kitchen and dining room! We have been planning on doing this for a couple years now. Last year our big project was our basement. We finished it with 2 new bedrooms and a family room.

Our kitchen/dining room right now is one big room with the kitchen part being really small (like small apartment size). We are moving our kitchen to the other side of the room, taking out the huge window and replacing it with a door (we will be building a deck off the back hopefully this summer). Where our kitchen is right now will become our dining room and we are opening up the wall between the kitchen/dining room and living room. This will make it more of an open floor plan. We are replacing the current floor and instead of spending thousands on new cupboards we are going to move the ones we have and sand and paint them. I actually really like our cupboards now, they have a nice decorated design to them.

It will be so nice to have a bigger kitchen and to not be so shut off from the rest of the house. I know it will be a mess for awhile but it is so worth it when we are finished!

I will be blogging with photos through out our demo.

Gotta love the "beautiful old flooring that I believe is the original from when it was built in the 70's. Sad thing is I actually like it better right now than the old, dirty carpet that has been in this house for years!

Emily did not want to walk on the dirty floor so she put my shoes on!

Cute photos of the day!

2010-01-24T22:11:00.004-05:00

We spend a part of our day in Sturgis at Brayden's Wrestling Meet today. Brayden wrestled hard and won 2 matches and lost 2 matches. Here are 2 photos from the meet that I thought were pretty cute!

Emily surprised Daddy with a hug from behind!

Emily pinning Brayden!!

A few photos of Whitefish Point

2010-01-23T23:08:00.005-05:00

On our snowmobile trip last weekend we rode out to Whitefish Point, which is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior. It was a fun ride and a beautiful warm winter day. We walked out on the beach to take some photos. There was ice everywhere! I am not to pleased with the quality of these photos, but they will have to do. I ended up using the photo option our our new video camera and they are not that crisp. It does take great video. I'm kicking myself for leaving my camera at the hotel. Guess I will just have to make a return trip to get more pictures!

One thing I LIKE about having the stomach flu...

2010-01-22T11:30:00.002-05:00

You lose a few pounds! =)

I have been MIA!

2010-01-21T16:48:00.004-05:00

I have not been online to much the past couple days due to the lovely stomach flu! Just wanted to let everyone know I am still among the living and will hopefully have a post up later about my weekend away with Kyle. My energy level is pretty low but am starting to feel better. Luckily, Kyle has not had any work this week and has been home to take care of me and the kids. He even did the dishes 2 days in a row!! WOW! =) He is a good man.

Stay tuned...

I'm back...

2010-01-18T23:15:00.000-05:00

We got back home this evening. Had a great weekend. I will post pictures tomorrow!

Time for bed. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed. It is always fun to go away but always so nice to be back home.