3 Girls, 1 Guy and a Zoo!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

It takes practice...

...to be a good Mommy, and Marissa is starting now!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

How it all began...

In my previous post I was asked to elaborate on why I was so freaked out by my husband when we first met. So here goes...

I was in my first of two years of college. I was dating my first boyfriend, Bill, who was good friends with Doug. I used AOL instant messenger a lot at college to communicate with my friends. I still to this day don't know for sure how, but somehow, Doug's screen name ended up on my buddies list. My roommate and Bill were both friends with Doug so I have no clue. One day, in between classes, I sat down at my computer and my "Buddy List" was up. I scrolled through it and came across the screen name "Smurfberry32". I can be forgetful sometimes, but I could not recall that name, or how I could have gotten it. So I clicked on the name and sent a message. It was dumb, but I was curious. I simply asked who this was. He responded by asking who I was because I had wrote him. I told him who I was and he told me his name was Doug Benedict. That was the end of our conversation. It was time for lunch and my roommate and I headed down to the cafeteria for lunch. We finished eating and went to take care of our trays when I was approached by a guy. He walked right up and said, "Hi Sarah, I'm Doug." I was a little freaked out. How did he pick me out of a whole bunch of people and know that I was Sarah??? I figured he was some kind of a stalker or something. Later I found out that Bill had pointed me out to him so he knew who I was that way. It is fun to think back on it and laugh! So there is our story!!!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

25 Things...

Another one of my fellow bloggers did this and I thought it looked like fun...let's see if I can actually come up with 25 random facts about myself!!!

1. When I first met Doug, my husband, he freaked me out....long story!

2. One of my favorite smells is a horse barn.

3. I'm addicted to cloth diapers even though my youngest has been potty trained for a year and a half
     now.

4. I'm afraid of the dark.

5. I hate to be alone.

6. The curtains in my house havn't been washed in the 5 years we have been here...although if I ever
     did, I think I would just have rags when they came out.

7. I want to adopt a special needs baby.

8. I'm terrified of ladybugs.

9. My mom wanted to name me Sarah Lee, but my Dad saved me the humiliation!

10. I have a twin brother and no we are not identical!

11. I was very accident prone when I was little and went to the ER 6 times before I was in 2nd grade.

12. Doug and I have only argued once in our 5, almost 6 years of marriage.

13. I love Disney movies and love it when the kids pick one that we havn't seen in a while!

14. Doug and I have only been on 3 or 4 dates by ourselves since Marissa was born 5 years ago.

15. I LOVE the color orange, especially "burnt orange".

16. My second favorite smell is the pads of a dog's paw.

17. I got on downhill skis for the first time when I was 6 months pregnant with Marissa.

18. My favorite animal is an elephant.

19. I love to take pictures.

20. I have to sleep with at least a sheet on me no matter how hot it is out.

21. I hate to make decisions.

22. I have been a born again Christian since I was 10.

23. I have hand raised 3 batches of kittens from the barn.

24. I will do anything for a suffering animal...see #23.

25. I don't have any pictures from my wedding and only about 50 people attended due to a snow storm.

Ok, now its your turn! It's kinda fun!!!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Hair Cuts!

We went today as a family and got our hair cut. Marissa decided she wanted to get her's cut short.

Madalyn "likes her long hair" so she just got a trim and layers.

And apparently it tired her out!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

So I decided...

...I LOVE having a full house. 5 kids running around and playing to their little hearts content, 1 baby talking to herself or whoever will listen, and 4 adults talking and sharing some laughs. It's priceless...but you know what is even more priceless? What my house looked like after a days worth of them all playing! LOL I really wish I would have thought to grab my camera...it was awesome! But I seriously loved every minute! I love having Amanda here to keep me company, someone to talk, vent, and have some girl time with! For the past two weeks we have been blessed with a visit from Doug's good friend Mike and his two boys. He used to live across the street before he had kids. I know Doug has really missed hanging out with him and the girls love it when he comes because he brings playmates!!! Amanda and I have really gotten close over the past month. I have really been lacking in the mommy/wife/girl talk department! LOL We have soo much in common and its great! I love her kids and am going to really miss them when they leave! Wherever the Lord leads and directs in our life, I know that if we end up having some more time, we definitely need some more hang out time!!!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Nap time...

They both look comfy don't you think???

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

6th Annual Cream Cheese Festival

I brought my camera and had all intentions of taking a bunch of pictures. However, put me in a small town with thousands of people and I become one nervous mommy! Amanda and her two little ones joined us for the festivities, as did my mother in law and sister in law. We had a lot of fun! I wish I would have gotten pictures of the kids in the kid park playing in all the blow up houses. They had a blast. We met up with a few friends from church. The girls got to play with on the blow up houses with their friends. They also got pony rides!

This is definitely turning out to be a yearly tradition!

P.S. I also had all intentions of getting a picture of the world's largest cheesecake and snagging a piece, however the line for the free cheesecake was like a half mile long so we opted for stopping at Walmart and picking up some to make at the house. They had a new flavor there though...something about pumpkin spice??? They said it was going to be released to stores shortly so keep your eyes peeled!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Priceless Proof

My girls love each other...

...and it is soooo cute!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Homeschooling so far...

I love it and I think Marissa would agree! I think I would be very frustrated if I didn't have a Mom who is working in the Kindergarten class in the public school system. It's the comments from others that drive me insane! LOL Anyhow, she is learning a lot more here at home than she would be if she was in a classroom, so I feel good about that!

Week 1, we learned the letter A and numbers 0 and 1. We worked on hand coordination and following instructions. She is learning Psalms 100 with the curriculum I'm using, and yes, the whole chapter! So far she is doing awesome!

Week 2 so far we have learned the letter M and the number 2. We have our good days and bad days, but overall, very good. She is proud of what she is learning and I'm so happy to be able to be the one to teach her.

One thing we are struggling with is retention. She has already improved from the first day, but its still something I'm keeping my eye on. She does good now answering questions after a story, but a hour later answering a question Daddy may ask her...you can forget it. I'm not sure if its one of those things that she just doesn't care because its not school anymore, or if she doesn't remember for some reason. The beginning of every morning we start out with small reviews and she generally does well with those. So who knows. I love the curriculum though and definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a complete program for homeschooling.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. They are making MULES!

(And Madalyn was in a wacky mood and begged for pictures to be taken of her...LOL)

Marissa made this too. Its hard to tell, but its a large and small M.

If you were to ask me where I would see myself in 10 years, I never would have guessed that I would be here. However, I couldn't be happier! I'm very happily married to the love of my life and have two girls. We have begun our journey towards adoption and I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us over the next couple of years. I'm a stay at home mom who home-schools. I enjoy researching and finding things out for myself. This blog allows me to share with others my passions and keep in touch with family that I wouldn't normally be able to keep in such close touch with.

Daddy is such a blessing to me. We met in college and became best friends. About one and a half years after we met we were dating. The rest is history. Together we have grown in the Lord and learned many lessons even in our few years together. Things haven't always been smooth, but together and with the Lord's help we can accomplish anything. He is the love of my life and my true soul mate. He is 100% committed to his family and the Lord. He is currently working for Dairy One in Ithaca. He loves to ski, ride dirt bikes, tinker on things, mow the lawn :) and spend time with his girls.

Marissa is our oldest. She was born in May 2005. She is 100% Daddy's girl. She is a home body and usually isn't away from home for long and she is asking to go back to our house. She always claims a job and sticks with it till its done. She is very quick and catches on fast. You have to be careful what you show her, because before you know it she is going to be attempting it herself. Madalyn is her best friend. She loves church and loves learning and singing about Jesus. Marissa is now is school and she is doing great. She loves to read and do projects. She LOVES animals and has decided that she wants to be a Veterinarian when she grows up!

Madalyn is our youngest. She is 100% Mommy's girl (nice of them that they split us up so that one isn't quite so overwhelmed isn't it?). Madalyn knows what she wants and goes for it. She has no fear and is usually the leader of my two even though she is younger. She does love to shadow her older sister though. She is my girly girl, but also my one that is always getting messy. She loves her hair done, to get dressed up, and shoes! We are in trouble with this one! She loves school and is super smart. She has decided she wants to be a "snow plow driver" when she grows up. She is also going to build a house RIGHT next to us and live there so she can still see us every day ;)

Case was actually our "oldest child". Sadly we said goodbye to him on October 29th, 2013. He was a black lab/ red-tick coonhound. He loved to roam the fields, swim, play ball, catch frisbees, go hiking and spend time at the barn. He also very much enjoyed those black and white cats that roam in the dark and have stripes down their backs...or he must have because he kept getting sprayed! He hated to be abandoned by his family and preferred us to all be in the house by 9pm or he started pacing. His biggest dislike was winter. He hated the cold and would rather hold his potty all day long than to go out and pee. Even when he did go out he barely makes it out the door and he was starting to go! Haha He was our "little boy in a doggie suit" as my aunt says. We love him and miss him like crazy.

Cali is our first cat together as a married couple. Sadly we said goodbye to her on October 8th, 2014. We got her from the barn shortly after we moved. She had to be one of the softest cats you had ever felt and of course one of the best looking calicos. LOL She was a great mouser and spent alot of her time in the basement hunting. She had a funny quirk. When she got ready to settle down and sleep, she parted the hair on her tail so only a few hairs were sticking up and then she proceeded to suck on those hairs.

Beaker is a litter mate to Cali. She is a great mouser. She loves to sneak outside when she gets the chance but if you say her name she quickly darts back in. She is VERY attached to Doug and is always coming up to him purring just as loud as can be begging to be picked up. Beaker of course never does this to me. She doesn't like change and isn't fond of strange dogs, although she has gotten much better with the dogs. She will still swat at Molly but it's not angry, it's almost like she is playing.

Sid was our Marshall Ferret. We said goodbye to him in 2012. He was amazing! Great with kids and other animals, but a total goofball. He definitely lived up to the typical ferret personality and a total thief! Sid's favorite thing to steal was pacifiers. He would take them right out of a baby's mouth if given the opportunity and then take off running! He always hid everything in the same place, so at least we knew where to find them, but of course they were always ruined. Anything rubber was in danger of ending up in the said spot. We definitely miss having him around.

Chloe is Cairn Terrier. She is a blast to have around and I'm definitely sold on the terrier family! She is great with the kids and loves spending time outside. She is a great woodchuck hunter and will sit at an occupied hole all day till she catches one. Even in the winter time she will spend forever out there and come back looking like a snowman. She loves to swim and will swim in any temperature water. She loves to mother other animals. Whether it be kittens from the barn, Case, or her own litter of puppies, she is a great mother! We have since fixed her. Although I'm sad there won't be another litter, it's for the best with the probability of us moving and having to find a new vet.

Meet Molly, our newest dog addition :) After taking some time to heal after losing Case, we decided that our household wasn't the same without a big dog around and we were missing something. So we took the plunge and went full out this time. Molly is a purebred, mis-marked mantle, Great Dane :) She has grown into one good looking pup! I'm still in love with this old picture though, so I'm not changing it! She stands about 31 inches at the shoulder and weighs over 100lbs (although honestly I'm not sure how much over because I can't lift her anymore!) She is great with the kids and loves to cuddle. She shares our bed and is the biggest baby ever. She is very protective and does not like when anyone is pinned down. She is right there to break up the "fight" LOL We love her to pieces!

When Doug's sister and her husband started breeding rabbits, I had a feeling deep down that it was only a matter of time....Here she is! Peterette started out as "Peter". When Madalyn realized "he" was actually a "she", she settled with Peterette. :) Peterette is a flemish giant, which according to what I have read is the Great Dane breed in the bunny world! Figures right? She is super sweet, very laid back and loves to be cuddled and pet. She'll stick her nose out of her cage when you enter the room just so you will scratch it!