It's a new day...

I'm sorry the blog hasn't been much here lately.  It's been a rough beginning to the week.  Today is a new day though...a fresh start.  I'm so thankful that we get to go to bed at night and start the next day over.  Can you imagine if all our days just ran together?  Ugh, I would be a mess, more a mess than I have been!  LOL  So today, despite the rain and yucky sky outside, I'm thankful for a fresh start.  

Tomorrow the girls have their first field trip.  As of right now it looks like no rain...heres hoping and praying it stays that way!  I'll have a better post for tomorrow :)  

Love you all!

Thankful...

Sunday we got back from church pretty late.  I think it was about 9:30pm when we walked in the house.  As the girls rounded the corner to their room, we heard Madalyn yell.  Apparently Peterette had gotten out of her hutch.  Somehow the door hadn't been latched all the way.  I'm not sure how long she was out for since we didn't find any messes, but either way, it could have been really bad.  I'm so thankful that a.) the dogs didn't get a hold of her, and b.) she didn't make a huge mess in the house.  I might not have been the biggest fan of the idea of a rabbit, but she is a nice rabbit and the girls would be devastated!  So today I'm thankful that God cares about even the little things...including a bunny ;) (Who by the way is getting really big!  I'll have to take a new picture of her soon so you all can see.  I'm really hoping that she is close to being done growing, although at 5 months I'm probably hoping for a bit too much!)

A huge thank-you!!!

I've been wanting to get family pictures done for quite a while now.  I've got excuses a mile long for why it has taken so long.  When push comes to shove, they are just excuses.  This year was the year.  I had a photographer picked out, but nothing booked yet when one of my extra kiddos mom offered to take them for us.  I was thrilled.  She already knows us and we were comfortable with her.  I wasn't going to share any pictures from the shoot since the pictures are going to be Christmas presents, but I decided to share one :)  We also did a fun shoot at one of the local ice cream places. A huge thank-you to Megan Hoch!  I can't thank you enough for taking the time to do this for us!  You are the best!  She did an amazing job and I can't wait to share all the pictures later on!  The only bad thing is, there are too many good ones to pick from!  LOL  That is a good problem to have though ;)

This was our location!  Isn't it beautiful!

A couple of our family shots with the dogs...

The kids having fun...

Madalyn's request for a pose...

Then we headed to Mercers...

LOL

I actually love this picture!

A new song...

Doug heard this song on the radio and fell in love with it.  He came home and shared it with the girls and I and we fell in love with it.  We love it so much we are learning it....maybe we will sing it in the future!  ;)

Tis the season...

Most people that know me well know that overall, I take each season and don't really complain a ton.  I'll be the first to admit I don't love shoveling snow early in the morning so my extra kiddo's mommies can make it in the driveway and back out.  I have very much enjoyed the heat of the summer and all the fun that came with it.  As the leaves begin to change, I thought I was going to really be sad, but I'm not!  I'm in no rush for winter to be here, but when it does, Christmas will be right around the corner.  That means its time to see all my family!  Actually my twin brother and his family will be up next month, but I haven't seen my sister or my little brother since July and that kills me!  I don't believe I'll get to see my little brother and his family, but Chelsea and her family are coming home as well as my twin brother and his family!  My favorite time about Christmas is getting together with family.  Usually over the holidays we get at least a day with my siblings and parents and one with Doug's.  I love both!  Spending time together is my favorite!  So even though I know that the cooler weather means shoveling is around the corner, so is family and I can't wait for that!

What a weekend!

We had an amazing weekend!  

My parents arrived on Friday in the evening, just in time to take the girls for us so we could go to youth group. The girls got to go to dinner with them, which they thought was SUPER cool!  When we got home from youth group, we came home to an amazing campfire.  What a beautiful night!

Saturday morning, Doug headed to church to help with the trusses that were being put on the new expansion.  The rest of us went to breakfast.  If you guys that are local have never tried Pioneer Cafe, you are missing out!  Great food, awesome service and just a very cute place to eat.  We came back to the house and hung out for a little bit...played games, talked, and got bikes ready for a ride.  We had already checked out path to make sure it wasn't too long.  I thought Mom and Dad would like to ride over to Whetstone Gulf State Park.  It was threatening rain in a few hours so it had clouded over a bit, which made for perfect riding weather.  It was beautiful...the leaves are just starting to change, the traffic was minimal, the cows wanted to "talk" to us.  It was so nice!  I've been in that state park before, but never checked out their biking trails.  I LOVED it!  I can't wait to go back again.  We had a great ride back and we were just pulling in the driveway when it started to downpour!  God is good all the time! :)  Our day ended with a movie and dinner.  Thanks for making the trip down Mom and Dad!  We really loved it!

Feeling accomplished

Anyone else really struggling with getting in the swing of things this September?  We are halfway through the month and I feel like I could use 2 more of me to get everything accomplished.  Between babysitting, school, the garden, and just every day chores, I'm struggling to keep up.  Yesterday I finally had a break through and I got so much done!  I was starting to get discouraged and that wasn't helping my overwhelmed feeling.  I woke up this morning to the laundry finished, the house clean, all the tomatoes are in the freezer....life is somewhat together!  LOL  

The girls are struggling to get back into the swing of things this year too.  I'm not sure why, but hopefully that will change here shortly as well.  We are just trying to stick to a schedule best we can and be consistent!  

On another note...I'm super excited Mom and Dad are coming today!  The girls get to spend some time with them alone tonight as Doug and I have youth group!  I'm hoping to squeeze in as much quality time as we can and hoping we can even play a game of hand and foot or two! ;) 

I hope you all have a great weekend!  See you Monday!

It's that time of year again!

If you have seen Chloe lately you know that she is carrying quite a bit of extra weight in fur these days.  I kept trying to hold off until October, but this morning when I went to clip her nails and I couldn't find them, I knew it was time.  

I think I broke a recording for hand stripping this time.  She was so ready!  I had her done in about an hour!  Usually it takes me 2-3 hours and I break it up.  This time we did it all in one session and got it over with.  I also think we broke a record for the most amount of hair I have taken off her at one time!  INSANE!

She also got a nice soothing bath with oatmeal and is all fresh now!  She might not have enjoyed the process, but she sure is happy now!

Thankful!

It's been four years since we took the job with Dairy One!  (Actually a little over)

Monday Doug had his 4 year review with his boss and it went amazing...not that I expected any different.  I'm so thankful for a husband that is hard working, honest, and a high achiever.  I'm also very thankful for a job that respects him, appreciates him, and cares about his family.  Monday Doug and I were both struggling and he was able to share his spiritual struggle with his co-worker that was in the office with him...knowing full well that he was going to get it.  

We are really blessed!

Goofy kid

 I've made a new commitment to myself and I'm taking a break from Facebook unless I'm messaged or tagged.  The only thing that is keeping me from deleting it for good is Scentsy.  I do the majority of my business through Facebook and I'm not sure I would be able to remain active if I didn't keep it.  So I'm working on self control and so far I'm very proud of myself!  LOL

I say all that because I used to post random things the kids said or whatever on there and now it will all be on here!  

So Sunday we were coming home from church and the girls were talking.  We had just had an awesome service with the visiting evangelist and they were talking about his wife.  Then Madalyn starts in and it went something like this....

"Hey Mom, do you want to know how I remember the Evangelist's name?"

"How Madalyn?"

"I just think of a Ventriloquist....

and then I remember Evangelist!"

"Get it?  Ventriloquist....Evangelist?"

The car erupts in giggles .  LOL

Her logic gets me quite often!  Poor Marissa didn't get it either and we didn't want to be rude and say you aren't the only one!  She finally let it go and realized it was just funny!  :)

Amazing teen girls

Anyone who says that teens are selfish individuals, have not met mine.  Doug and I both had reservations when we started youth group almost a year ago.  We have NOOO regrets!  It's been amazing!   A few weeks ago I was shocked when they came in to church and handed me a gift bag.  A "just because" gift bag...the best ever.  Let me just say, for someone that has been struggling here lately with fitting in and finding a place, this just hit me hard.  

Inside my bag I found an orange maxi skirt, a shirt, matching shoes, a scarf and a necklace. (Which I was instructed that I could not wear together!)  

I'm so thankful...yesterday I wore my outfit for the first time to church and getting dressed made me feel loved and special all over again.  

God is good and He knows exactly what I need and when I need it!

Thank you again girls!  You are all very special to me and I'm so blessed to be your youth group leader!

Our last day...

Snack time from another day that I forgot to post ;)

Since Doug was working all week, Saturday, we pulled the camper off the sight at 11 and parked it in the main parking lot so we could take advantage of all that the park had to offer.  We picked a hiking trail that we hadn't checked out yet and had a blast!

I know our work schedule isn't what people consider normal, but I'm thankful for the job and the ability to travel with Doug sometimes!