3 Girls, 1 Guy and a Zoo!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Casen's b-day celebration

This is the first year we have been able to celebrate Casen's b-day with him! It was awesome and I'm so thankful that they shared the day with us!

(We actually celebrated it the day before)

The morning started out with decorating a cake...Monki did such a great job!

Arya supervised...

And Casen was super helpful as well!

Cristale was just holding her and she was talking up a storm and then boom, she was out!

Casen put all his cars on all by himself and did a great job!

I can't believe how big he is :/

Putting the candles on...Caleb got him hot wheels candles. They were so cute!

Too Cute!

Party favors!

If it were up to me I would take these ones out, but Doug will yell at me if I take all the pictures he took of me out since he knows they are there :)

Presents time!

Bompa and Monki were up first

He worked so hard to try and get this shirt to sit right so he could show everyone LOL

He loved it!

Adam Raccoon!

Caleb still working on getting Casen's pirate hat punched out of the card

Almost done

Such a pretty girl!

Our turn!

Ok, the shirt needs to come off because its bug catching time!

Stay tuned....

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Fun in the Sprinkler :)

With all the heat and humidity a sprinkler day was a definite!

My favorite picture! LOL

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

For the first time, we decided to take the kids to Darien Lake. We got some MAJORLY discounted tickets via the homeschool group and decided to take advantage of it. We left around 7:30am and headed out on our 3 hour road trip....

We kept the trip a secret from the girls. I mean they knew we were going somewhere but since we knew that telling them we were going to Darien Lake would mean nothing to them, we just decided to let them find out when they saw the park. Here are their faces as we were arriving...

It was such a PERFECT day for our visit. We chose to go the first Monday after school was let out. The park was empty.... it was awesome! It was warm and beautiful out! We walked onto the front of rollar coasters and really didn't wait long on any other rides either. There was one water ride that we waited quite a while on but that was it. I didn't bring my camera into the park because I was afraid of something happening to it so I stole some pictures off the park's site of the girls' favorite rides.

Marissa really liked this one

The girls both loved the Pop Corn Popper!

This was the water ride that we waited for quite a while for.

It was fun but definitely not worth the wait.

Mom, Dad, Jonathan and Marissa went on this ride. I never though much of it.....till I got on it. It was an awesome ride but also terrifying all at the same time. LOL I can't believe Marissa went on it!

Madalyn LOVED this ride. Even Uncle Jonathan and Daddy rode this with the girls. They were quite funny to watch :) Even the attendants were laughing at Doug. LOL

Madalyn loved these slides

The girls wanted to ride the Giant Wheel after we ate.

I sucked it up and rode it with them. It has to be the worst ride on the face of the earth!

This was our first ride when we arrived. I think all the adults got off it wondering how the day was going to go because it made us all a bit queasy!

I'm pretty sure this was both girls' FAVORITE ride! LOL

Doug, Dad and I all rode this rollar coaster and we all really liked it! I wish that we had Marissa start off on this one!

This ride felt awesome early on in the day when we were all really warm!

After riding the log ride, Madalyn decided that she didn't like hills.

The girls loved the old fashioned cars :)

Marissa rode her FIRST big rollar coaster. She did great, although I think we determined that she would do a little better at riding once she was a little bigger and could keep her head back better.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Glasses

A few months ago, Marissa started complaining about being able to see clearly. She could still see distance and close up, but when it came to distance details were a little fuzzy. We had a pediatrician appointment coming up so we held off till then and just planned on having them do a simple eye test on her. They had her start at the 20/20 line and see what she could do and she said she couldn't read it. She ended up moving up two lines and she even missed one on that line. So they suggested we take her in for an exam. We made the appointment at Walmart since that is where I get my glasses/contacts and I love them.

The doctor spent a lot of time with her and pretty much said that her vision isn't that bad, but she definitely is a little fuzzy on the edges of things in the distance. So basically he gave her a slight prescription and told her to wear them all the time unless she is doing something really active. She is doing really well with them and loves them!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

I'm Sorry!

I know its been way to long! Things have been so crazy! I'm hoping to have a chance to sit down and edit my 300+ pictures I have sitting on my camera and get them uploaded into blog posts. I'm so behind. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel in our craziness though! For now I'll just give you a quick update of where we are at with things.

The girls are doing great. We are finished with school and all our paperwork for the year has been turned in. I have all their material for next year already and have already sent in their "intent to homeschool" letter. It'll be here before we know I'm sure! For the next 6 weeks (I think that is the time frame), the girls are playing AYSO soccer again. I'm coaching Madalyn's team and their first game is today. Hopefully the rain holds off for them!

Speaking of rain, our garden has finally taken off! The heat, humidity, and rain have really done great things for it. Won't be long and we will be in full swing. What is funny is the plants are all doing amazing but the weeds are done in number and easily manageable! I'll take it!

Doug and I are doing well. He has been home A LOT lately, and for that we are very thankful. The house is still on the market and we had a "bite" on it the other night. I was down in Lyons Falls getting ice cream and I ran into the guy who came to look at the house around Easter time and loved it. He asked if we had any bites on the house and informed us that they finally got their house listed. He also told me that as soon as he got any movement at all on their house, we would be getting a call because they want it. AWESOME! Fast forward 12 hours....Doug was talking to his boss after work and he informed Doug and he and his wife went and looked at a house as a possible rental and thought of us. They said it was really nice, 2 ish acres of land, been on the market for 2 years and they only want like 60-70,000! Now I have no idea what the Lord's will is but it was an encouragement to us non the less :) We are back to being excited about having the possible chance at a fresh start somewhere new.

I think that's it for now!

I hope you all had a happy 4th and that you guys have an AWESOME weekend!

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!