I Heart Faces...Tooshies

A bunch of "Tooshies" at the beach! Stop by I Heart Faces for more great shots.

A week in review.....

Wow, what a week! Our week was full and rewarding and since I have blogged about most of it I do not have much to add to this weeks review. After our guests left yesterday we spent the day catching up around the house. We did manage to get most of our Christmas decorations up, all that is left is the tree. We have an exciting week coming our way. We find out if the baby is a boy or girl ......I can't wait to know! We also have a dear friend coming for dinner mid-week. Then on to our annual trek to cut down our tree, lots of fun ahead!

A Day of Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We hosted the day for Russ's family and completly enjoyed our whole day. Here are the highlights...............

June

The Family

The Decor

The Meal

Special thanks to everyone traveling to our home this holiday!

Look who's 40!

Wednesday morning I woke up to a yard full of "WhOOplA". Thank you to my dear friends for giving my 40th a "Cheerful" start!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thankful.......
I am reminded today of the many blessings God has allowed in my life....His Son, my children, the child I am carrying, my husband, my family, and of course my friends. Thank you to all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

There is always time to blog....

There is always time to blog, right? Usually I would answer, "No". I try to keep a good schedule, especially when I am planning for a big event, like Thanksgiving. Well this morning I had to change my plans, so why not blog about it. I woke up early and set my oven to self-clean, the short cycle. This is the first time I have used the self-clean, why cook a turkey in a dirty oven? Half way through the cycle I heard a POP and then a sound that sounded like marbles falling..............

The inside door of my oven shattered and fell out all over the kitchen floor!

Thankfully June was not in the kitchen.....

Thankfully we own a shop vac. I spent the next hour on the phone trying to schedule appointments to get this baby fixed before Thursday......luckily I am scheduled for Wednesday. Now on to my real cleaning:)

A week in review

Not much to report this past week. I have been getting ready for the Holidays, running errands, and trying to keep up with the laundry. Hard to believe in a few short months I will have even more laundry!

Yesterday I celebrated my 40th Birthday with my family. My parents and my aunt spent the day with us and then Russ and I went out to dinner. It was a great day. The big day is during the week and I have to say, it is not bothering me to turn 40. I have heard some people have a hard time with the Big 40, but it just is not bothering me at all. I guess I have so much other stuff going on it has not phased me. Just another number........

This week will be a busy one. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it and this is my year to host. We will have a total of 19 on Thanksgiving so I have some work cut out for me. Shopping, cleaning, and cooking, and did I mention laundry:) So I guess since this week did not give me much to report I am going to call it a night and rest up for my week!

Important phone call

Can you imagine letting your 2&1/2 year old spread toothpaste all over your wall and bathroom? What kind of mother would let that happen? Only a mother who was on a very important phone call.......

Thankfully June did not eat any of the toothpaste, she just enjoyed spreading it all over. The other bonus a reason to clean all the molding and fixtures in the bathroom. Sparkly clean and minty fresh!

I Heart Faces...Autumn Beauty

This weeks contest, Autumn Beauty. Stop by I Heart Face for more faces of Autumn!

A week in review

Here I am, Blogging on a Sunday night, something I look forward to every week. Unfortunately, sometimes I can't figure out what to Blog. We had another very busy week, or should I say I had a busy week. The boys did not have too much going on which made our evenings pretty easy. However, I ran errands everyday this week. June was a trooper on all of our outings, I think she actually had fun a few of the days. We did a little Christmas shopping and decoration prep this week and she loved all the sparkles and lights. Every time she sees a Christmas commercial or decoration she says, "I love Santa Clause.", which is interesting because she has never been to see Santa. The highlight of my busy week was an hour long photo class I participated in. It was only a few hours, but I learned a lot about the basics. I look forward to taking a weekend course sometime in the near future, I can't wait!

Our weather here has been mild considering the summer we had, or did not have depending on the way you look at it. With that being said Max took it upon himself to do some raking today. We do not have many trees but he raked piles under each tree and picked the leaves up too. Thanks Max!

Today was a special day because TJ turned 14. I can't believe my baby boy is 14. If you asked me when he was born how many children I would have, I would never have guessed 5. What a blessing to have all these children in our lives. TJ had a good weekend. He and a few of his friends went to an indoor skate park on Friday and then his friends spent the night. TJ has a nice group of friends, something you hope for as a parent. Unfortunately, teenage boys(at least mine) avoid the camera like the plague, I have no pictures of TJ for his Birthday weekend. The cake, however, was cooperative!

TJ chose a red velvet cake with vanilla frosting, it was yummy! I am glad we were able to eat it, a few hours before we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate TJ's big day. If you have ever been to "the factory" you know the portions are huge and the cheesecake is delicious. My rule for the kids at The Cheesecake Factory is, cheesecake for dinner:) They love it!

Have a great week.

Happy Birthday TJ

Happy Birthday TJ. It is hard to believe 14 years have gone by since we welcomed you into this world. You are growing into a fine young man and we could not be more proud of you. We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

A week in review...

Our week has ended and another will begin shortly. This week felt unorganized, probably because I spent most of the week in line waiting for the flu shot! The boys had 2&1/2 days off of school and spent plenty of time relaxing and playing with friends. Russ spent the weekend fishing with my Dad and brother at the cabin and my Mom came to give me a hand. All in all a good weekend.

I did have a nice surprise, a phone call from dear friends that lived next to us in Tennessee. Bob and Bea were the grandparents my kids missed when we lived far from the Midwest and deep in the South. TJ especially spent a lot of time visiting with Bob. Bob was always patient with my busy toddler and let him do all sorts of stuff a first time mom would not have done herself:) We spent lots of time with Bob and Bea and they will always hold a special place it our hearts, it was so good to hear from them.

The next two weeks will prove to be busy, but exciting. We have TJ's birthday, a photography class for me, Thanksgiving, and all the other stuff that usually keeps us hopping. This is our year for Thanksgiving and I can't wait. Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the year. I love everything about it, from preparation to the left overs! We switch years with Russ's parents and this year as I said is our year. It is kind of ironic too, I was pregnant with Max, turned 30 the day before Thanksgiving and hosted at our house in Tennessee. This year I will turn 40 the day before Thanksgiving and host the day.....pregnant again!

Have a great week!

Success.....

Success! Tonight I am sitting in my cozy arm chair, blanket on lap, computer in hand, baby in bed, boys enjoying sleepovers, Russ with my Dad, and June vaccinated for H1N1. Today there was another clinic, I have been taking Junes temperature since Tuesday night and no temp. So today after farming out the boys to friend's houses I loaded up the stroller with goodies and blankets and headed back to the medical center flu clinic. Things were a little more streamlined today, we still waited about 3 hours, however, we were able to wait in our cars for about 45minutes which helped us warm up:) Finally, it was our turn, June was a trooper, no tears at all. Our nurse shared with me that her daughter too had BHS(breath holding syndrome) and outgrew it by four. I am still hoping for three! Anyway, by next week all of us except Russ will be vaccinated for H1N1, good news to welcome #5. Success!

Junie Cuteness

UGH!

I am usually not a germ-a-phobe, however, this year is different. I guess being pregnant and knowing we will be welcoming a newborn has changed that for me. Wait, H1N1, has changed that for me. Yesterday, June and I waited for 2&1/2 hours outside, in the cold, to get 2 of the 200 H1N1 injectable vaccines at our hospital. All was well, we would make the cutoff. However, once inside they took Junie's temp and announced 101.8, no shot. Let me tell you too, that never in a million years would I have thought to take my energetic, chatty, two year old's temp, never. I said, "Please take it again", 101.4, "again, different ear", 100.8, "let's try a different thermometer", again 101.4. UGH!!!! Greatfully, I was able to be vaccinated, the boys will be next week at school. Now I will begin my search again for June. Did I mention that when we came home and I pulled out the digital theremometer.....98.9:)