3 Girls, 1 Guy and a Zoo!

Thursday, April 16, 2015

1st day at the park this year!

The kids were so excited to have the opportunity to go play at the park on Monday! We met a couple other Moms and their kiddos there and turned them all loose. It was a little windy, but the sun was shining and the kids had a blast!

My littlest extra baby even got to go enjoy some sunshine!

The twins and Madalyn found these stumps that had been capped and painted on. They thought they made great seats...

She kept waiting for me to not be watching her closely so she could sneak a bite...I knew better!

Marissa has such a big heart!

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The bathroom is done!!!

Finally this post is going up! UGH I thought I was going to be out of luck today. The pictures would load up, and our internet was being stupid! LOL Anyhow, the bathroom is done and I'm a happy Mom again! :) I have my house back to normal!!!

I had it in my head that this might not be the best job because neither of us have ever touched tile before, but it turned out so good! I'm so pleased!

I can't get over how sturdy the floor is compared to how it was. I'm not sure if its just because our linoleum was not stuck down like it should have been anymore of if its just the difference between that and tile. Either way, we are super pleased!

After this week, we get to start on the next bathroom. That one should go a lot faster!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

A new toy...

Molly has always been a little bit more of a timid pup. It always looks so funny, especially since she is so big, running away from some of the stuff that she does. We have been working with her and she has improved drastically! For instance, the other day, I pulled the vacuum out. She used to run and hide in her kennel whenever I pulled it out. She has slowly gotten better and is now chasing the vacuum and pouncing at it! LOL I'm not sure how I feel about this new found boldness! I finally had to tell her to go lay down so I could finish what needed to be done!
Her fear still comes out once in a while though, especially with something new. So when we ordered a new toy on Amazon for the dogs, I was curious to see Molly's response to it...So funny!

Monday, April 13, 2015

It's that time of year again!

The bi-annual strip out! :) Here is Chloe's first pile...

All that hair off, and a ton more to go!

LOL

Just her back legs and hindquarters left...

All done! She always looks like such a different dog! It will be so much easier to get flea and tick meds on her in another couple weeks now!

Friday, April 10, 2015

I love a profitable day!

With all the busy weekends, working on the bathroom, trips to see family, etc, my house has taken a back seat. Thursday, I didn't have any extra kids and my mission for the day was to take down all my snowmen, clean my house good, and empty my bedroom of all the tools and supplies. It feels so good to have the house under control again! Either Friday night, or Saturday morning, we will put the trim back up, reinstall the toilet, and caulk everything. I've already cleaned the bathroom and mopped the floor. I just need to clean the shower once we have it emptied. Ahhh, I feel so much better! Now I can thoroughly enjoy the weekend! I hope you all have an awesome weekend! Hopefully we will get a nice day or two??? I know, who am I trying to kid!

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Date night!

Doug took the day off on Friday for the wedding. Since we had the day, Doug decided he wanted to do a movie out, just the two of us. Usually we only have our once a year outing from the girls to the Dairy One banquet, so this was extra special. We went and saw Insurgent and it was really good! Although we watched the movie wearing earplugs and I think both of us could have still used it quieter, the movie itself was good! I'm so thankful for my husband and the time I get to spend with him. We had an awesome weekend and I definitely enjoyed our extra day together!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

A special Wedding...

We haven't been youth group leaders for long and yet we have attended our first, of I'm sure many, weddings from our group! Friday morning, we had the privilege to wish these two the best :)

So excited for them! Thankfully they are staying close for a while so it wasn't goodbye for now at least! The girls are going to miss her as a teacher as they won't be attending our church, but were super happy to hear she is only an hour or so away.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

An update on the bathroom....

The grouting begins!!!

This project is just about done....finally! The grout has been sealed and once Doug gets back, the trim will go back up and the toilet can be reinstalled! We still have to caulk around the shower and toilet, but that is it! I can't wait to be back to two bathrooms...just in time to start the next one! ;)

Monday, April 6, 2015

A Birthday Celebration :)

My friend Katie's oldest turned 4 last week. Katie planned a day full of surprises and asked us to come along. The first stop was to Chucky Cheese. The girls have never been, at least not that they remember. They were super excited and were really good about keeping the secret. Katie split up the tokens and we set them loose...

It was fun to watch them try and get the concepts of some of the games. They would jump in and try and figure them out as they played. This was a tough one for Zoe especially, but even the girls needed a good amount of ompfh...

I love this picture!

Jackpot!

Madalyn was able to take the lead with this game at 6 blocks stacked!

Marissa didn't want any part of Chucky, but Madalyn was all about it, especially if it meant free tickets!

Paisley's job was to keep track of the token bucket for Zoe...She did a great job!

All the kids loved this simulator type game...

LOL

Jackpot again!

And again!

In the end they had 385 tickets all together! They did a super good job!

The second half of the surprise was heading to McDonalds for lunch!

Paisley was super happy about that decision ;)

The girls LOVED it!

Present time!

Aww!

She is doing so good at writing her letters!

Happy Girl!

Birthday messages from Marissa

Lunch is devoured, so time to play!

Thanks for including us in your celebrations Zoe! We had a great 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!