It's Friday!

Douglas is coming home!  

Laundry is washed, folded and put away, dishes are washed, and the house is clean!  That is a good feeling all by itself, but knowing that I have the weekend to spend time as a family without feeling pulled by "things" that need doing makes me feel amazing!

I had plans of digging potatoes and mowing the lawn today as well, but it was sprinkling when I took the compost out, so I think those are going to have to wait for another day.  

I'm not sure what all we have on our schedule for this weekend.  I know we are headed up to Mike's place to give him a hand for a bit on Saturday.  I had mentioned taking the camper up with us to park it while we were going, but I'm not sure Doug is ready to admit that we are done for the year yet.  I don't blame him.  We have been very blessed this summer and were able to spend a ton of time in there.  It's definitely a little depressing knowing it's going to get put into storage for the winter soon.  

I am excited for all that comes along with the cooler weather though.  I love all the smells, the baking, soups and chilis, and the holidays that brings families together!

Whetstone State Park

We had our first field trip of the season!  We kept it simple and cheap by going to or local state park and hiking/picnicking/playing on the playground/visiting. :)  We were really blessed with great weather.  It wasn't super hot, but it wasn't cold either.  It was a nice time for the kids to spend with each other actually visiting and play vs. being in a more controlled learning atmosphere.  

Here are some pictures of our day... 

Marissa and Elaina were the two oldest girls and at times looked  a little lost, so I encouraged them to take a walk together.

Jubilee thought it was her job to clean up after John, and he very much enjoyed keeping her busy ;)

Before too long, Marissa and Elaina had quite the crew down there LOL  

One of the moms suggested taking a group picture of those that attended the field trip.  

Here is our group from the day...

Time...

I would love to say that I am appreciative of time and treasure it...but I am just as guilty as the next person.  

Doug and I might have an odd lifestyle to some, but God has been gracious and I think we manage pretty well.  I sure hope so anyhow....it's been a little over 5 years since he started with Dairy One!  In that time, I really realize just how precious time really is.  Of course we still fall in our ruts and I don't treasure it like I should.  Wednesday morning, Doug got up to get ready for work and I got up and packed his bags to leave.  We both got done early and sat down on the couch to read our Bible's together.  We typically don't have time to do that, but we did that morning.  It was so nice to have that time together, all curled up, without any distractions.  I've decided we need to take more time like this.  We really try to separate ourselves on the weekend and spend every second we can together, but Doug and I need time together too, other thank just going to bed.  

So there is my new goal!  

Take the time to spend together, even if it means getting up a half hour early! :)

Ahhh I have internet again!

I don't need any stinkin' repair men... I have Douglas :)

After struggling bad for the past week on and off (who am I kidding, it's been 3 months!), I am finally running smooth this morning.  I wouldn't say we are heaving internet users, but it's hard to blog, pay bills, email, etc. using my phone as the main source of internet when I only have 2 gigs of data on it!  So thankful to be able to get back to my norm.

We had an amazing weekend.  Doug headed down to Church Saturday morning for a men's breakfast.  The girls and I went down when that was finished to work on a couple things that still need doing.  We headed out around lunch time, came home and ate lunch and then got ready for a bike ride.  Doug found out at the breakfast that there was a new motocross race track that had been built and they were holding a big practice there.  All in all we put in 17.5 miles...probably our toughest ride although not our longest!  We were all feeling it at the end, although it didn't stick around.  By the next morning we were only a little stiff, but nothing too bad!

Here is what our trip looked like... (you can click on the pictures to make them larger)

We keep trying to sneak in as many rides as we can before we are no longer able to.  I'm thankful that we all enjoy it so much.  It sure is a nice way to spend the day together. 

On a side note...if any of you love Stewart's IceCream and want to treat yourself to some fall goodness, head on down there and get yourself a cone, dish or hand packed pint of Pumpkin Pie ice cream!  

You can thank me later.... 

Taking a step back...

I just found these pictures...oops!  I think I mentioned on here that we had the opportunity to go to Green Lakes and camp with Doug a week or so ago.  The girls brought their school and thought that was amazing!

All but one day was really pretty!

Marissa was out taking pictures of things to draw, and this little guy was staring back at her!

Race tracks were even built and races took place....

Oh my....

...how is it even possible that we have been doing school long enough that the girls are 2 days out from completing their first PACE's???  It seems like we just started!  

The girls have been doing amazing...working hard and staying focused.  

Each morning, they are amazing about getting up on their own with the alarm clock, doing their chores, and getting themselves ready.  As long as they are on a roll, they usually eat their breakfast while watching "Wild Krats", because they are slightly obsessed!  By 8:30 they are sitting down and starting their school day.  We are usually finished by noon, and they have the rest of the day to do what they want!   I know we will have our days and the whole school year is probably not going to run this smooth, but so far I'm really grateful!  

I'm say it all the time, but I really am blessed!  

Amazing...

My mom sent me this music video this morning and boy did it hit me!  Trying to watch it while I was putting on my makeup this morning was interesting.  

It's been interesting to see God's hand on our lives over the past couple of weeks...this video was a nice reminder of where I'm at!

An awesome weekend!

Mom and Dad had planned a weekend to the Wild Center (I think that is what it's called....) in Tupper Lake for this past weekend.  As we got closer to the weekend, the weather started looking really nasty.  We made "just in case plans" of going up and spending the weekend at Mom and Dad's.  By Friday, the girls had decided that going to Grandma and Grandpa's and spending the night was going to be way more fun than the Wild Center!  So we decided to keep those plans.  

We had a BLAST!  I'm so grateful for my parents, for the relationship that we have with them, and for what they mean to their grandkids. 

We started our weekend off with a late night campfire with all the trimmings.  The next morning we had a yummy breakfast, followed by some games and playdough fun with Grandma and Grandpa while Doug and I took an important call.  It was hard to be serious in the bedroom when all we heard was belly laughs coming from the kitchen!  After business was done, we headed out to get fresh doughnuts and cider and then headed back to the house to start a couple games of hand and foot.  We even snuck in a game of Clue...have I mentioned I dislike that game??? LOL  Bad Mommy found a way to shorten the game drastically!  I never want to leave, so that part stunk, but it was so nice to have that much time together.  We love you guys!!!

I'm so grateful that we have a great relationship with both our families!  

I feel extremely blessed!  

Issues with my rings...

Last November I had my engagement ring and wedding band melted? (I know that isn't the right term!) together.  Friday, last week,  I was adjusting my ring with my fingers and I felt a jagged part.  After some further inspection, I realized that my engagement ring had snapped.  :(  I was super bummed, but what can you do.  I headed to the jewelers that I bought the ring from and also the one that did the work for me in November.  I can't say enough good about Allen's Jewelers in Boonville.  He isn't charging me to fix it!  I can't even say that it has anything to do with the work he did, yet he is doing good by me regardless.  He also is going to size it down by a 1/2 size so that I can wear it a little more comfortably without worrying about it coming off when it's cold out.  He is super reasonable price wise as well.  So if you have a need...check them out!  

Now I can't wait to get my ring back again!

What do you do when....

...you are responsible for 6 kiddos for a couple days?  Take them all camping and get them as dirty as possible of course!  LOL  Ok so that wasn't really the goal...but in the end that was the reality!

The kids built some pretty awesome sand castles!

Stones and dirt work too....

I love them so much!

Fort Rickey family trip

After Doug was gone for 2 weeks, Dairy One gave Doug 3 days of comp time.  We decided to take our first day and head to the zoo...at the last minute, we changed our minds from Utica Zoo to Fort Rickey. 

So many awesome parts of this place...this is definitely one of my favorites.  I could have stayed in here a good share of the day and been happy doing it!

The brown one that Marissa is petting was my favorite :)

Madalyn had to go find the sheep laying all by himself...

She definitely didn't get this from Doug or I...we were standing a ways back with Madalyn ;)

...and we were crawling at this point in time...lol

Granddaughter....

...and Grandma!  I'm pretty sure she was 40 something years old!

A new addition this year....the girls had a blast!

They sure are cute...even with their prickly hairs!

So cozy

...and we ran into another one...lol

Why couldn't we have a regular sized bunny?  Sooo cute!

Probably my favorite "show" that we saw there.  An amazing relationship that they have with the owner!

Madalyn's favorite buddy

This little girl started out smaller than his hands and found with it's mother who had been hit and killed.  She was a ball of energy and so much fun to watch!

Seriously....so sweet!

If you are ever thinking about a family outing, Fort Rickey is a great option!  We love it there!