Meet Max

Meet Max...
He's our new puppy!! And is he ever cute!! He's an inside outside dog so that he can live with us and be our dog, but take lots of visits to the farm and wherever we are!! The kids are smitten!! I am so proud, they haven't even complained about clean up!!

I'll keep you updated on the adventures of Max in the coming weeks....

Art?

I got a postcard in the mail the other day from the Iowa State Fair. They said they were currently accepting submissions. I love contests and the Iowa State Fair is near and dear to me since I got third place last year and was only hoping to get in.

But I haven't been very diligent at taking pictures every day like I should. Sure I take all the important events and a few others here and there. But I hadn't been seeking "art." I don't know if I was being lazy or tired or busy or or or...I am making excuses I know, but whatever, on Emily's birthday I noticed the sun shining through one of my few tulips and had to stop a moment and take a pic.

These are really big because blogger has new features and I wanted to try them out. Cool huh?

Do you like any of these? Are they artsy? Which one is your favorite or what suggestions might you have? Give me a comment and let me know what you think.

Thanks!!!

Em's 11th Birthday

Since I am behind....
Ems 11th birthday was May 1.....

We have 2 GPS units so we wrapped one and handed it to her. When she opened it she had to follow it and tell us where to go to find her "present" which turned out to be the 2nd GPS unit that when she unwrapped she had to read it and tell us where to go for her Present....





When she found it she was really excited to get an Ipod Nano and we had to hurry home and add Miley Cyrus to it!!
Carter got her a CD from one of his book orders at school, too.



She helped me decorate her birthday cake butterfly...
We "rolled" homemade ice cream at the party where we were camping for the night because she wanted to.
We played with sparklers and did fireworks...(shhhhhh don't tell)
But the highlight, what she really wanted to do was play in the creek with her friends! They jumped in clothes and all and played and got muddy and cold and had a great time. Soo great that they cleaned up and went back!! 2 more times!!!!

Happy 11th birthday my sweet girl!!!

Run Like A Mother!!!!!!

The end of my Couch to 5k program was here Saturday, May 8, 2010!!! A couple friends from work and I ran a 4 mile run Saturday!! And did we run it!!!! The whole darn thing!!! Start to Finish!!! 4 miles!!!! Wow that was amazing!!! Windy and Cold and sore muscles and I still finished!!!!


One my friends' husband hid in the trees at the end and took a few pics for us!!! Thanks Dan!! Now I can prove it!! Ha!! My running buddy and I finished in 49 minutes!!! Wow!! I never thought I could run a block let alone 4 miles!!! Wow!!!
Here's the finishing Library gals!! We ran our "buns" off!!!

Thanks Janette for making this possible; for being there through it all and supporting me every step of the way! You're the best!! WE DID IT!!!!

P.S. Now the gals want to run a 10k in September! Al says before we know it we'll be running marathons!!!

pinewood derby

Last Friday night, our local boy scouts had their Pinewood Derby Race. Al, Emily, and I had come down with strep throat the week before, but the cars got made and worked on anyway! We couldn't miss the big race! Siblings are allowed to race, too, so Al and Emily made a car and Casey took last year's sibling car after adding a few decals. We had all the races and then ate hot dogs and chips. A fun time was had by all!

This is the sibling picture. Case actually won these races with his car that was Emily's last year. Her car had a bad first race and then couldn't win. Her wheels needed spinning! After we practiced some when it was all over it beat Casey's car! Go figure!
Here is Carter anxiously watching the races. He really wanted to win! When we walked in, he saw that there were going to be trophies for the winners and that was it! He was going to win!
. Carter's car is winning in this race. It is Yellow with John Deere Green polka dots. He's decided that every year will be a John Deere car variation.

Carter ended up taking second place! Yea Carter! We played and raced some more when it was all over and decided that we need to spin the wheels more and he'll win first for sure next time!