#2 is in Her Big Girl Bed for 1 Wk Now!

Pretending to sleep when be woken in the wee morning hours. 

The crib all disassembled and ready for removal. My baby is growing up too fast.

Elizabeth's First homework

E's first homework was actually mine as the teacher asked the parents 10 questions as well as asking for a narrative on the back about something about your child. 

So I ask E what she wants to be when she grows up. This changes often but today she said, "a mom". Awe ;)

Then I ask her what makes her special. She says, "that Jesus loves me." AWE!!

My Oldest's First Day of School

Little sis wanted to photo bomb 

Tying her shoes all by herself!

She doesn't like me calling her my baby so this is my Oldest's first day of pre K. 

She will go MWFs all day. At first she was nervous but them at the end of the day asked when she could go back again. 

Wow! This past 4 years just flew by!!

Nighttime Routine

Felicity loves making a game out of having her shirt pulled off. Otherwise the process is torture to her. So I finally caught her as "Sister Felicity" as her neckhole pulls her face up. 

I'm currently listening to the little munchkin lie in her bed counting to 20 & kicking the bed rail when she is supposed to be going to sleep. 3 nights ago we pulled the side off of her crib so now it's a toddler bed. 

The days are long, but the years are short. 

Letters to Our Congressman & Senators

Years from now we may not remember why or that we did this, but recently Planned Parenthood has been caught on hidden cameras selling aborted babies and piecing them out for $60/organ. They even admit, in a letter to congress, to being more gentle with certain "tissues" to get more of a quality product. ARG!!! Disgusting! 

Our church gave us these packets & encouraged us to sign our own little note at the end. We prayed over them to encourage our congressmen to vote for what the people want and who they represent, not their own personal agenda. The kids and I even printed out a couple of Raegan & Suess pics we liked. 

Sleeping Beauties

It was tiring playing with Grandma & Papa last night, but well worth it!

Apple Picking Time!

Apples are beginning to fall off the trees. Time to pick!

Fun with Nails

I had a half an hour before our library group so I decided to paint my nails for fun. Polka dots were done easily with the use of a bobby pin. ( Boy my hands are showing their age!)

People used to ask me, "how do you spend so much time on your fingernails?" Well this only took me less than a half an hour including dry time. I'm not much of a TV watcher. And some of my coworkers used to watch 2 to 4 hours of TV a night. I think I found enough time to do a little something for myself once a week. ;)

Cutting, Splitting, & Planting as a Family

Gym Bin!!!

Emy, Ady, Felicity, & Elizabeth jumping on the giant air filled "raft" in front of rock climbing wall. It's a huge indoor park and gym for gymnastics. 

Jumping in the block foam 'swimming pool'.

After naps and dinner my gf from Hibbing was going from Crookston to Hibbing and stopped by for a play date. Miss these Guys!

Ceramic Pans take II

Earlier I posted about how much I liked the new ceramic pans. It was nonstick at first, but now I have to use a little bit of oil and my eggs still stick. I cook at a low-med temp so I know it's not too hot. I even followed the instructions and never put in the dishwasher. 

Would I buy again? Yes. Because I believe it is safer than Teflon, but I would be well aware that it is not long-term 100% nonstick. I have the GREEN+LIFE brand. 

Library Set Up

Still "setting up" I added a 3rd row to our, thankfully very sturdy, bookcase and got our books organized.  I know I should be doing more outside work while it is nice and saving the indoor projects for a long winter, but since it has been 90*+ outside this past week, the coolness of the basement was very inviting.

Baby Otto Samuel Joins the Family

Baby OSB was born Tuesday 12/04/2015 @ 12:04 pm. 

The Great Outdoors

This little critter LOVES to be outside, even to help weed the dog kennel. 

First time with the pressure washer:

The brick walkway has been severely neglected for years and dirt & moss had collected between the stones. I took the pressure washer to them and was amazed at how much crud was in AND on them as the bricks just brightened up before my eyes. 

No one told me there would be so much splash-back. I had to rinse down the house windows, my white van, and myself down afterwards. I was covered!!! From head to toe!

After:  I gave it the night to dry and did a little touch ups here and there. A little pressure washing goes a long way! And after cleaning up the rocks and trimming the gold mound spirea the walkway looks fairly descent. 

David's 37th birthday

David's birthday was spend with him and his ladies for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings (yum!), then games at the mall arcade, walk around town, Gander Mtn, then home for brownies and ice cream then presents. 

I already took the pics off my phone to back it up onto my computer, but we had a blast. E's favorite game was when you use the mallet to hit the popping out alligators. E liked the brownies. David liked it al and I enjoyed seeing my girls take pride in their cars & gifts for daddy. 

Growing Up Fast

I thought staying home would be so slow. Granted most of my "stay at home" experience has been moving and in-moving ;) but these girls are just blossoming. 

F started potty training herself. Here's a pic of her on Dave's GM's pontoon (bottomless) as he has a bathroom on it and F used it about 10x's. 

Pete, Dave's GM, loves kids and invited us for a pontoon ride. The girls got to drive and easily found the throttle. 

Miss E learned quickly how to tie and requested her own pair or "tie shoes". She tied these all by herself!

Baby Green Thumbs

Planting some annuals around our fire&line hydrangea, named "Montgomery". Mulch next when daddy makes some. 

Wasn't sure how the clothesline would work but so far so good. Kinda cool to attach from standing up on the deck. 

Outdoor Gardening

We have a beautiful flag in our front yard. However it was FILLED w/ grass, bulbs, and was completely root bound. So I left my sleeping babes, including the Hubie, in the house while I cranked the tunes and dug in the dirt & cleaned up the bushes for 3 hrs. 

After: the fire & ice hydrangea our realtor gave to us. In 5 years it should be 5' high and around. The girls & I will be mulching and adding a few annuals to pretty it up for the next few years. 

These poor bushes & grounds have been poorly neglected for the last few years. The original owners did a beautiful job. The subsequent owners ... Ahh. Anyway they seem much happier and so were the bees. 

No I'm not lactating or peeing my pants. This is what 80*+and hard work look like!

Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning the New Home

Would you drink this? No? Then why walk or lie on it? This is what came out when I Shampooed carpets today. This was from the "clean" part of the carpets. I still have a lot to do, but I cannot lie or walk w/o shoes knowing if they're not clean.