I'm still alive!

My computer went ka-puts! I will try to get my blog up & running. My kiddos have grown a bunch since December. Here's a sneak peak of all the busy things that have been going on. Gracie is now "Miss Petite"

Tristan just hiding from me!

Bryce is bow fishing! It's just hard to see in the picture.

Prayer Request!!

Please Pray for the Mck Family http://www.mycharmingkids.net/.

Their beautiful baby boy is very sick. He is getting admitted into the hospital. He quit breathing a few times. So please pray for Baby Stellan & their whole family.

Loose tooth!

***UPDATE****
Gracie lost her tooth at school today. She was so excited! She showed Jody then before she knew it she had lost it. Jody and Gracie wrote a cute little letter to the toothfairy, and drew a picture of the missing tooth. They sure hope that works!

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Gracie has her first "loose tooth". It is on the bottom in the middle, I don't know what that one is called but that's ok I'm not a dentist.

A bit busy lately...

I have been so busy lately and I haven't had time to post some of my Thanksgiving pictures. I guess I will just post this family picture. This is as good as it gets with the 5 of us!

Since these last few weeks have been flying by, I wouldn't even no where to begin. So I guess I will start with...

This is a picture of my dear sweet friends, Herbie & Anna. Over the Thanksgiving break, they were in town visiting Herbie's parents. So Tammy and I came over to visit, mainly to visit Sydney & their new baby Nick. We had a great visit and can't wait to see them again.

Thanksgiving Break Update..

Well, this year I was to do the Thanksgiving meal. This was the best time I have ever had. My kids wanted to participate so bad. So we had my mom come over on Wed. night to help us prepare the turkey & her dressing.

Here's Bryce washing the Turkey!

Here's Gracie and Bryce making the dressing and putting it in the pan with the Turkey!

Tristan also got his hands in it! He helped prepare the green bean casserole.



The dinner was a huge success! Everyone had a great time and loved all the food.

Thanksgiving is Quickly approaching!

This is going to be my 1st Thanksgiving staying at home and preparing all the goodies by myself. I just bought my 1st Turkey, so now I will have to get my mom to come over Wednesday and tell me what to do. Remember I have never cooked a whole turkey, nor have I made dressing to go with it. So it will be a great experience, and I will get to test it on my kids and husband this year. That way if it all goes well, I can spread my wings and feed other family members in the future. Wish me luck!

22 years ago...

It's been 22 years ago, this week, that my dad passed away. My memories, I'm sure are different from Carrol and mom's. I was 11 years old, it was about 2 1/2 weeks before my 12th birthday. A friend of mine had stayed the night that Friday night. The next morning we woke up and went to town because she was on a bowling league. After she was finished bowling we sat outside of the bowling place and talked while waiting for her mother to come pick us up. As we sat outside, an ambulance with it's sirens on goes flying past heading toward my town. I had this feeling come across me and I said to my friend, "I wonder where they are going"? We waited a few moments later and her mother arrived. She took us to her clothing store there in town so we could hang out until closing time. We started getting hungry and walked from her store to a couple of blocks down to Wendy's. We ordered and sat down, then I saw my cousin and her friend rushing in to get me. They told me I had to leave with them because they were taking my dad to the hospital because he had a heart attack. Remember I was only 11 years old, I was not familiar with heart attacks. They drop my friend off at her mom's shop and we rushed to the ER. They took me back to a room where my mom and other family was. I sat there crying because I didn't understand what was going on. All I heard next was, "did you tell her?". They said "no, not yet". They then proceeded to tell me that he died. I felt like my heart fell out of me. They took us back to a room where he was laying on the table in his overalls.

What had been happening at home while I was at the bowling alley? Well, dad was down by the barn working on a car. He started having chest pains. Mom or Carrol called 911 to meet them in our small town, because the closest ambulance was 30 min. away. Mom got the vehicle and Carrol helped put dad in. On the way to town, Carrol started giving dad CPR. When they met up with the ambulance they took over, but I believe he passed before arriving at the hospital. My memory of their story maybe off a little, and I am sure their memories are more vivid that I am even stating.

But isn't it funny how God knows what we can handle. He knew that I was too young to handle the stuff going on at home and he removed me from the situation. Then brought me back in when it was time. He is still working on my life and others all the same way. He prepares us all, if we listen. He told me months before this happend that something was going to happen to my dad. I didn't know what, I thought it was just a nightmare I was having. I would wake up scared and crying because it was like a question being asked to me. Which one is it? Mom or Dad? The answer was always Dad. A few months later it happend. God prepares us all, he knows what we can handle and what we can't.

We buried my dad on November 17th, on November 17th, 2001 is when Jody proposed to me. He changed a sad moment in my life to a happy new beginning. How great was that!

It's getting there!

My sweet sister-in-law, Kathleen, came to visit this weekend while the guys went camping/hunting for the weekend. Little did I know, she would be a woman on a mission. To get you caught up, we just had wood floors put in the living room last Tuesday. Things at my house were put on hold while furniture was moved and floors were layed. So Kathleen came and started cleaning house, laundry, dishes, etc, you name it... she did it. I don't know if she ever went to sleep! But I appreciated that so much, and YES I helped her too! But I took a few breaks and I think she kept on truckin'!

1st weekend of November...

This past weekend was the Youth deer Hunt. Jody took Bryce hunting while we stayed at my sister-in-laws house and hung out. In the middle of the day we played at the park at the campgrounds. No, Bryce hasn't got a deer yet but I am sure he will.

I am a picture junkie, so I hope you enjoy the next montage.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Halloween Pictures!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I VOTED!!

I dropped all the kiddos off for school & sitters, and was there at the polls at 7:30am. Guess what, as I stand in line for 25 minutes, I get to the front of the line to sign in and my name's not on the list. They told me I was at the wrong location. I was ticked, mainly at myself for not double checking before hand. Anyway, I get to the right location at City Hall to vote. I am standing in line when a policeman comes in to tell us that anyone parked on the side of the road will be towed. (It's a dead end street by the way) So I had to get out of line and move my vehicle across the Highway and walk back to get in line. So by this time it's like 8:30am, I am in line. I left there at 10:15am. Needless to say, it felt good to vote but it was a very frustrating process for me.

Happy Halloween!

I hope you all have a great day! We will be going on a trick - or - treat hayride. The kids are excited. Bryce & Tristan are just dressing up in camo so they can be hunters. My beautiful girl is going to be Cinderella. I will post the pictures on Monday. Everyone have a great weekend!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!!

Saturday was a beautiful day to go to the Pumpkin Patch! My pictures aren't the best because of the sunlight but I did my best at the time. My sister-in-law, nephew, and niece's all went along for the fun.

I didn't realize how hard it is to get 6 kids smiling & looking at the camera at the same time! This is the best two pictures of them all.

Here's a picture of my babies with me!

Tristan with his little pumpkin & this is his 1st time to a Pumpkin Patch!

Gracie with her pumpkin. A girl after my own heart... she picked a big one!

Bryce & his pumpkin. He's a pro at this, he said he knew he would have to carry it so he didn't want it to be heavy.

These last pictures are just some I liked of the kiddos.

We had a really great time playing, hayriding, and picking pumpkins!

Miracles happen everyday!!

Our dog Drake is back!

On Friday night Bryce & I thought we heard a door shut outside. I waited a few minutes then looked out and didn't see anything. So we finished watching our movie and then went to bed. Bryce & Tristan were going to sleep in my bed since Jody was out of town. They were fast asleep when I was laying in there saying my prayers. I prayed that the missing dogs would return, and as I was praying I heard a dog bark outside. It sounded like Drake. I jumped up and looked outside, no more barking and I didn't see anything. I thought I was losing my mind. The next morning my mom stopped by and as she was leaving, Drake walked around the corner. The kids were so excited! They played with him a few hours before we left for the Pumpkin Patch.

Missing...

My kiddos are very upset, and I am too! About 3 weeks ago, our little beagle named Rascal went missing. He had came home full of ticks one day after chasing deer in the woods. So after I got off work the next day, I went to purchase a bunch of tick/flea bath stuff for him. Bryce waited outside until dark and he never returned. So if anyone has seen this little beagle with a red collar he belongs to us.

Then on Sunday morning at 7am, our Black Lab (Drake) was at home. By the time we were leaving for church, he was gone. I questioned neighbors to see if anyone had seen him, I drove for miles in every direction from our home... and no Drake!

I know my dogs are beautiful and full blooded, so I feel as if someone has taken these dogs.
What's worse is this is the 2nd time for Drake to be gone. Some people had taken him & called us to return him when he got bad off that they couldn't take care of him anymore. So I just thanked them for returning him, took him to the vet, got all his shots & test done. I fattened him up, and he looks so great! So my kids are tortured for the 2nd time about the loss of dogs!

If anyone reads this blog, please say a prayer that someone will return these dogs or they will return on their own. I have 3 very upset children. You know how it is when your child is upset it rips your heart out too!

Gale's Birthday!

Saturday, Oct 11th we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday at a place called Whole Hog Cafe. This was a surprise party, her 3 sons with their families, step-son and his family, friends, in-laws, and co-workers were all there for the occassion.


"SUPRISE!" "Gale & her babies!" "Blow out the candles!" "Kids everywhere!"
"Time to PLAY!" (Jake & Sam) (Gracie & Meagan) "Say Cheese!"Oh, I have more pictures but I will get those out and try to put that in a video. If anyone reads this blog and knows how to do a movie/video will you send me a comment and tell me how.

Bow Season...

First day of Deer Hunting w/ a Bow...
Jody killed this 8 pt in the first 20 minutes of sitting.

My Hunting Men!

A few weeks ago, Jody took Bryce & Tristan out in the woods to shoot squirrels. As you can see here, Tristan is all decked out with his toy gun. I don't think they saw any squirrels but Tristan thought it was great!

The fun begins...

My mom was great, she had most of supper ready last night. She sent home some meat w/ gravy in a dish to put in the oven. Then I made some mashed potatoes and peas to go with it. I feed all of them, cleaned the kitchen, threw in a load of clothes in the washer, straightened my room, gave kids baths, put Tristan & Gracie to bed, then snuck off to next door with Christian, Bryce, and Corie. Of course, Jody stayed with Tristan and Gracie if anyone was curious.

Anyway, nothing real fun and exciting happened last night. I think everyone slept pretty good. Corie has a cold, but she is taking some meds for it. This morning was real fun though, I got half way ready at their house and was going to my house to get the rest of me ready. Bryce and I head out the front door and I got stuck in the mud. Yes, I was stuck! I had flip flops on that were sucked in by the mud. I tried pulling out my foot, then my flip flop stayed. I was so mad my favorite and only black flip flops are ruined. So needless to say, Carrol & Mica, I am sorry but you have bare feet prints in your new muddy driveway. I walked barefoot home, which hurt, my feet are tender. Anyway, I am cleaned up & good to go. Kids are in school, Tristan is at sitters, and I am at work. So all is well!

Time for Change!

Yesterday was a "time for change". I bought a van! Yes, now I am a soccer mom without the kid that plays soccer. Gracie wants to play though. She can start soccer in the spring and I can officially be the "Soccer Mom"! Anyway, I traded in the 2004 Chrysler Pacifica for a 2008 Honda Odyssey. I love it so far, I have run the miles up to 90 already, YIKES! I better park it for a while. :)

Anyway, things have been very busy lately. I have a bunch of pictures to share if I ever get them off of my camera. I hope to do that today, if possible.

Today starts the day where my brother and his wife are going to Mexico to meet with some missionaries and check out the area. There are two kid homes there that need directors and they may just be perfect for the job. So while they are there expoloring the area I will have their 13 yr old, 11 yr old for the next 3 days, then I will have their 2 yr old starting Sat. I wasn't sure if I could handle another 2 yr old as I am getting ready for work in the mornings. So a grandmother is stepping in and watching the 2 yr old while I work. Anyway, it will be fun. I will have to post some pictures of our fun.