Something to get me started again....

That's my girl!!! I was looking for Emily the other night and this is where I found her! This is something I would have been caught doing at her age...heck even now you could catch me in this position! It's so fun to see some of your favorite things take root in your children, don't you think?

Totally random and non related.... Any guesses as to what this is a picture of?

My Princess

My first baby...my baby girl had a birthday recently, too! We officially have a teenager in the house!! And she is counting the days/years until she will be driving...Oh My!! Now time really does seem to be just flying by! Seems like just yesterday my Ems and I would sit together in Daddy's recliner and watch ER. Now, I get the comments about how I should never dress this way or that. You know, I am embarrassing!

We, of course had a birthday hunt for Emily's 13th birthday! Her clues this year were pictures of where she needed to look. What I thought might be too hard apparently was easy for her, so next year I must step up my game. :) Watch out Em!!

Such a big girl...

I don't know what was soo funny here, but I love the big laugh and smile!

Emily celebrated her birthday the weekend before and she and a friend and I went to Bead Happy and they made bracelets and we had lunch at Subway and went purse shopping!! They came home did their nails and had popcorn and a movie!! Some good girl time!!

Your dad and I are soo proud of the young lady you are becoming!! We love you Ems!

Funny Thing...

Funny thing...I went out to grill the other night and the grill was full of weeds. I quizzed the kids as to who put those weeds in there and they all swore it wasn't them!! Hmmmm...A couple of nights later and Al goes out to grill and finds the grill full of weeds....Which one of you three lovely children keeps putting weeds in the grill and not admitting it? Hmmm...

Today...I watched a black crow go IN TO MY GRILL!!!I suppose it looked like a good place to make a nest....Guess we're going grill cover shopping this weekend....:)

Photo Book

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A Visit to a Barn...

Even though we farm and now live "in the country", (I use that term loosely as it feels almost in town since we are so close to a highway and about a mile only from town) our kids are such City Slickers! If I am honest, I probably am too!! :)

We had a little extra time a couple of Friday nights ago, so we went over to visit some Bucket Calves at our "neighbor's house" ( I use this term loosely too as it is hard for me a town girl to get used to saying someone is my neighbor when they live up to 3 miles away...:))
So, if you know about bucket calves, you know they like to suck...these pictures perfectly show how my kids reacted!!

(BTW: I think this picture of the calf sucking the bar should be an entry in the State Fair Photography Contest don't you think?)

Emily was afraid...What if they have teeth?

Funny story, this barn and the calves reminded me of a time when Al and I were dating and he took me over to his cousin's dairy operation one evening in the summer before we headed out to The Fair. I don't remember if I wanted to see the cows or if he was just enlightening me, but dairy cows are big and they were in the parlor eating or getting milk or whatever (city girl here) and anyway I walked down the center aisle trying not to get too close in my white pants no less! And all of sudden one of the cows poops on me!!! Of course I screamed and Al and his cousin laughed. They probably still laugh about it today!! :0 Oh how far I've come...

Here's the true farmboy going for the "big" cows instead of the baby bucket calves....All for a picture for his wife :) and of course shock value for his kids...

Casey wouldn't even try it! We had to go back in the barn before we left so he could get brave enough to try...

Then there's little W. who has each hand in a different calf's mouth holding on!!! You can tell he lives here and does this, unlike our kids...

We had a lot of fun visiting our neighbors and their calves!!

My Other Baby...Carter Ryan

Carter's birthday fell in the middle of the week and it happened to be a busy day. They got out of school a bit early and their cousins were visiting on their spring break, so after homework was finished, we went and played at the park!

Always fun to bury our biggest cousin in the rocks!!!

The cousins actually spent the whole evening with us...Carter opened presents and...

we had his favorite meal PIZZA!!!!

And what birthday would be complete without the traditional birthday hunt?? :)

This gift was a new pair of cowboy boots and could possibly be his favorite...Who knew...So glad we went to all the extra work to find his size...apparently sz 7 is never stocked. Like Anywhere!!!! But, the Silver Spur  and 2-day air later and we had the perfect gift! Which by the way, are already much loved!!! :)

We actually celebrated with friends the Friday after his birthday because they didn't have school.  They had some hang out time playing wii and Ds...

while Emily decorated his Goldfish cake. We thought it would be perfect because Goldfish are his favorite snack.

Not pictured is the awesome squirt gun, water balloon, slip and slide battle they all had in the middle of March no less!!What an awesome birthday present!!

So opening presents again; this time from friends and grandparents.

He's a happy boy!! Later that night we all went to John Carter 3-D. One of Carter's favorite pasttimes is watching movies so we hit the big screen. We ran out of time for cake and ice cream, so we had cake for breakfast!!!

What an amazing birthday week! I can't believe my other baby is into double digits now! 10!! It just can't be! I remember when you followed your sister around everywhere and answered "I don't know either" to everything!! We love you buddy and hope you found your birthday as fun and special as we find you!! Here's to many more Amazing birthdays!

My Baby...

My Baby turned six February 28!!! He's not much of a baby anymore. Casey wanted a birthday party at our new house with his whole class of kindergarteners. So, that's what we did. He picked out a dog cake pan and I tried to stick to that theme. When it came time to decorate it, I told him he could help me, but I set the chocolate frosting down and walked away....

So, I gave in and let them decorate with a few pointers! It was a shaggy dog and they loved every minute!

The boys and Grandpa and Daddy decorated the garage...I got some game ideas from a friend at work who has a kindergartener also and of course Pinterest!

I think they all had a good time. I was saved by my 12 year old daughter, though!! We had 15 minutes or so left and the kids were really wound up and I didn't have any other game ideas...she took control and had them dance and freeze when she stopped the music! They loved it!!

Grandpa and Grandma gave Casey a rocket for his birthday so we went outside and played after the party...

So, I had some pictures of Tuesday night, Casey's actual birthday, but the server keeps rejecting them! Go Figure!! Casey picked hot dogs and macaroni for supper and he ate on the birthday plate. We sang to him and opened presents!! Of course there was a hunt which is what we do on birthdays, don't you know? And he got a remote control helicopter that he'd been wanting!! Fun! Fun!

Don't know what we'd do without this little guy!! Love you Casey!