3 Girls, 1 Guy and a Zoo!: April 2017

Friday, April 28, 2017

Another thing checked off the list...

...we purchased our main car seat for foster care!

Most people that know me know that I'm a little crazy when it comes to car seats. ;)

We/I decided to forgo the infant seat to save some money and try to get a seat that would last us the longest time frame, for any size kiddo, with a high expiration date. God has been really good and provided us with the money for this and a great sale to go along with it! Depending on if we get a sibling set, we may still need to get another one, but this is a great start!

Thursday, April 27, 2017

New trees!

A couple weeks ago we stopped into our local Tractor Supply and saw a bunch of fruit trees for sale. We have been wanting to plant a few, so we wandered over to check them out. We were shocked to find a peach tree and a honeycrisp that both grew in our growing zone! We decided to take the plunge and give it a shot!

The girls took it upon themselves to name them...

Here is "James" the peach tree.

...and "Honey" the honeycrisp tree.

Both are doing amazing! We still have 2-4 years for the peach and 2-5 years for the apple before we will see fruit, but we are excited to watch them grown!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

A special blessing for Marissa :)

Sunday morning we came out to our car after church to a wrapped box for Marissa! :)

Can I just saw how much it blesses my heart to see my kiddos loved by others as well as us? Anyhow, that afternoon, Marissa opened her box and found these with a thank-you note...a "thank you for being a blessing".

Marissa was so surprised and extremely grateful! What a blessing :)

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Easter pictures :)

Here are pictures of all of us from Easter...FYI Doug did have a suit and tie on, but by the time we took this, they had been ditched :)

(I had to include a candid photo LOL)

I love Madalyn's dress...it's so her :)

Marissa is no longer shopping in the girls department for dresses :(

I LOVE her dress, but she looks sooo grown up!

I got spoiled this year! I haven't had a dress in a really long time!

I love it it and it made me feel really special.

The wind and sun were not helpful, but they turned out pretty good in spite ;)

Monday, April 24, 2017

Jumping ahead in pictures because...

...we got haircuts and everyone is waiting to see them! LOL

Marissa has been begging me for weeks to get her hair cut. She was set on cutting quite a bit of length off. She has always been my brave one and honestly I think she looks great with shorter hair! She loves that she is able to "do" it herself. She sure is growing up!

Madalyn took a little longer to decide, but in the end she decided to cut hers short too! When her curls showed up as it was drying, she was more than happy with her decision. She too loves the ability to do her own hair and the simpleness of it.

I wanted to keep my length, but I was really wanting a change. After talking to the lady that does our hair, I decided to perm it. I ABSOLUTELY love it!

Friday, April 21, 2017

Update on Foster Care

Things are coming to an end and we can see the light at the end! We had our home visit a couple weeks ago and everything went well. They don't have to come back to recheck anything...something I wasn't expecting. We only have 6 more classes left! May 16th is our "graduation night". We have learned so much and I greatly appreciate Jefferson County DSS and all the effort they put into this.

We went ahead and ordered a carseat to keep on hand...one more thing off the list. We are feeling fairly prepared for this next part of our journey! Thank you again for all your prayers!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Another messy ride...

Doug and I signed up for our 1st bike race in June, so we have been trying to get some good rides in. A couple Sunday's ago, we ditched the girls and took a ride to church by ourselves. We had a blast and got pretty dirty. I was really thankful that the church has a utility sink since I had to put a skirt on when the girls arrived with our clothes! We are looking forward to our challenge and have even convinced one of our teens to join us! I can't wait!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Easter Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's House

I was so excited when we decided to head to my parents a week ago to celebrate Easter and surprise Dad. I was extremely bummed when I realized that I forgot to grab my camera! ;( I'm thankful that I at least had my phone, but it's not the same for sure. At least I got some pictures. We pulled of the surprise...Dad had no idea we were coming! :)

Of course we had to have an Easter Egg hunt...best one ever! Dad and I came up with some great places LOL!

Molly is too chicken to do the stairs and Chloe isn't trustworthy when it comes to Chocolate, so we made them stay upstairs...they were not pleased to say the least!

I love her! <3

We have plans of heading back up in a little over a week and I can't wait!

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

New project

Every so often, I get the itch to sew something and a couple weeks ago I hit that moment again. I've always been interested in a ring sling, so when I ran across a tutorial for how to make your own, I was all over it! Especially with babies on the way from all over, I had a perfect excuse! ;)

They turned out beautifully!

One of my extra kiddos totally agrees!!!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Cousin fun!

What a beautiful day! The kids asked Aunt Laurie and I if they could play, so the girls and the dogs and I all walked down so they could have a couple hours. Molly tried to help them out by wearing our their redbone coonhound, but I'm not sure anyone actually has enough energy to accomplish that! ;)

There was bunny holding that took place, a great game of hide and seek, and just some great quality time. We can't wait to do it again soon!

Friday, April 14, 2017

FINALLY!

I made our final payment on the Pilot this afternoon :) At just under 100,000 miles, she is all ours! Such a good feeling! Hoping to be able to enjoy her for years to come.

Friday, April 7, 2017

More pictures of the kids from Mom and Dad's trip down...

The kids had a blast playing! All of them are only kiddos, or the only young ones in the home, so it was fun to watch them interact!

Doing laundry is an important job!

John took over the ironing...

Breaking for a business call...

Not the best picture, but the bunny is always a favorite in the house.

Playing with the barn...

In the end they ALWAYS end up in the dog kennels!

Marissa was pretty stuck in her book ;)

I promise he isn't actually locked in ;)

That does not look comfy!

...MUCH better!

What a fun day!

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!