It was a HOT day at the Parade!

Ok so I had to include the first shot just cuz you can see the temp on the bank clock. 97 degrees, fabulous! The pictures are from yesterday's Farmer Appreciation celebration in Dodgeville, there were Fireworks on Saturday night, but those are so not worth saying anything about. The last few years the fireworks have been getting pretty darn good for a small town, well this year's went way downhill. I think they may have lasted 15 min, including a 30 second finale. Carter slept through the whole thing! Oh well next year we will hit Rythm and Booms again.
So back to yesterdays activities... we watched the parade in the swealtering heat, lots of freezies were eaten. Not really sure what were K and Linds favorite parts, but Carter sure loved it when I let him sit on a blanket on the ground. Jeff got a horrible sunburn on his knees, he wears sunscreen to work everyday, but we didn't think of putting any on for the parade. After the parade everyone heads up to one of the parks where they do a great lunch of BBQ pork and beef sandwiches. Love this lunch! Carter slept through this too! Then we wandered a bit before Kaleb took his turn in the peddle tractor pull. He went a whopping 31 feet! Great for a first timer, but not quite good enough to end up in the top three for a prize. He was good about not winning anything, and he's looking forward to trying again next year. Linds got to show daddy how good she is at the Monkey bars, then we did a couple kiddie rides and petting some baby animals. By that time we were all just about melted to the max. Back home to cool off, and then K, Linds and I went to the pool. It was fun to go without Carter for a change, we ventured out into the deep end and the kids were jumping out and swimming to the edge all by themselves. Plus I got to just relax a little in the sun, no baby to keep happy.

Fabulous fun on the Fourth of July!

New day, new look!

Ok so is anyone out there a bit more blogger savy than I??? I really want to do a little more customizing, but I can't quite figure it out. What I want to do is to make my page as wide as my banner, if ya know how to do this let me know.

So let's chat about the new banner... The kids and I got pictures taken on Tuesday. Of course went to my favorite place Portrait Innovations love them! We went with the red, white and blue theme. That seemed to be the easiest way for all four of us to match. I wish that I had not pushed my hair behind my ear for the picture, but it's not all that bad of me. The kids all did a great job and Carter was a bit harder to get shoots, but only because he does not like to sit still. It is so hard to believe that little baby Carter is 9 months old now, he is getting to big to fast. Not walking yet and I keep telling myself that if he waits until after his first birthday to walk that will be soon enough.

So did everyone have a great fourth of July??? We had a very nice day. Got pictures, but haven't downloaded to the laptop yet. Spent the day at Aunt Julie's. We did big cookout and the guys shot trap. So if your not into the gun thing trap is where they use shotguns to shoot the round clay discs in the air. Jeff loves this, and this is about the only time he gets to do it. I was a little worried about how Carter would do with all the noise but he didn't even flinch. Kaleb even shot his gun, not at the discs, but a stationary box on the ground. Maybe next year they will let him try the discs. I did actually get a couple pics of K shooting but I got a little to close and my ears were ringing for awhile so I didn't try anymore. Julie also has a big pool so the kids spent lots of time in and out of the water. Lindsay's favorite part was the kitties. I think there were 8 or 9 of them and they were held by one little person or another all day long. I am sure they were glad to see all of us leave. Haven't seen any fireworks yet, first time in 7 years that we missed Rythm and Booms. I was a little sad, Jeff was wildly happy that he didn't have to drive in the traffic. We will see fireworks this weekend here in Dodgeville. This weekend is our big "festival" they have a small midway at one of the parks along with all kinds of "ball" tournaments, music and fireworks on Saturday night. Sunday is a huge parade and more fun at the park. I really look forward to this each year, this year I am a little worried about the weather, looking like upper 90's with lots of humidity. Very fun to sit in the sun and watch the parade. We'll be bringing lots of water.

So it was a pretty un-eventful week, nothing too exciting. I did get to make a fun purchase the other day. Got myself a bike! K and Linds really like to ride their bikes around and well I just can't seem to keep up with them by foot any more. Also got a fun little "trailer" for Carter to ride in behind me. I took him for a test ride around a parking lot and I can't decide if he liked it or was terrified. He seemed to be holding on to both sides of his seat for dear life, but he wasn't crying. Went for a very peaceful ride by myself too, I really like to ride. I would love to be able to make this part of my daily routine, a quiet night ride each evening. But so far it's only worked out once. Saturday the kids and I rode to the pool, that was an experience. Kaleb does not want to ride in the street, and the straight forward way that is sidewalk all the way also runs right through out business district downtown. Can't really ride on that sidewalk with all the "stuff" that the owners put out during the day. We had to go a round about way. I must tell you that a bike pulling a trailer does not do well with curbs. No accidents, but not very easy. We made it to the pool had a great time and made it home. Can't wait to try it again.

Hot fun in the summer sun!

We made it through another hectic week, I really thought that getting through dance recital would mean smooth sailing, but it didn't. But anyways... So dance recital went wonderfully, Lindsay did a fabulous job and I think that the whole class did a great job, better than some of the older kid groups. I am a little biased! I am actually excited to get the DVD, being a stage mom you don't get to see any of the other dances and there were some I really wanted to see. I am glad that we have the summer off and no dancing until fall.

So for Father's day we spent the day without dad. Jeff had an archery tournament to get to and well it was his day so let him do what he wants. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I worked on baby shower invites. I had told my SIL (who's having twins) that I would do the invites, but didn't think it would be last minute thing, it was. Oh well I got them taken care of and even had a little fun inbetween cutting, stamping and sticking. We made it to Library hour wednesday at the park, that was interesting. I had an extra little one and well the babes were good but it would have been better if the show would have been the 45 mins it was supposed to be and not the hour 10 it ended up at. We saw all kinds of wild animals, from a huge earth worm thing to a tiny creature related to a bear and even a python. The big kids had fun and that is what it is all about! Then Wednesday night was concert at the park, great band, great music and lots of fun. I had brought my camera, but left it in the van didn't really know if I wanted to take pictures or not. Ended up kicking myself for leaving it. All of the little girls, Linds included, were at the front of the stage dancing and playing together they were so cute. Oh well!

Thursday we hit the pool, always good. And Friday I worked. Friday was Kaleb's birthday, can you believe I have an 8 year old son??? I cannot! I just know that I will blink again and he will be 18! So the first picture is K's present a skateboard, this is what he has been asking for since Christmas. He likes it a lot and is pretty good for someone who has never touched a board before. I of course brought up the fact that I dated a guy who skateboarded (like 20 years ago), but I know nothing of how to ride the thing. Jeff was gone early for Badger State Games archery round, so we will see what pointers daddy has. I think I heard him say he had a skateboard when he was younger???

Today we hit the road and ended up in Spring Green for a craft fair and then onto the farm market/petting zoo. They've got tons of fun stuff for the kids to do from swings to monkey bars to a bike race track, we had a blast. Came home with some heaven on earth strawberries, so so good! It is so terribly hard to get a picture of my three children together one running here the other running there! but I did get a good one of Carter and the goats, love it!

The craziness has started! Someone get me outta here!

Poor little Carter had to come along to yet another "girly" thing. And he didn't seem to mind so much, at the end he was getting a little squirrely so I let him play with the cell phone (off of course). He just looked so cute I had to snap a couple shots. Can't wait to use them on a page...

Back to the craziness, it's dance recital time! Linds is in three dances this year, she is a Strawberry Shortcake, an Aristocat and gets to dance in the Finale with all the big girls! They were just adorable yesterday and they did an amazing job too. It was stage lesson day where they run through their dances in costume a few times and Miss Betty (the head of the school) can decide on what looks good and what doesn't. The lessons went good and there are only a few things that need to be taken care of before the full dress rehearsal tomorrow. I am just in love with the last picture, it's just all the girls running to get in the right place and I love how they look all wild. This has been a really good year for dance and I am actually excited for the recital. Not sure how excited Linds is, our schedule is sort of shot to heck, today she told me she didn't want to do it. I am wondering if she may feel nervous. I hope the fun and excitement of tomorrow cures that.

Look at these FABULOUS ladies!

So every summer for the last few years my mom (far left) has hosted a "Girls Day in the Country" for her "city" friends. I think that I may have just shown up once and that sort of got me into the group. Now these women have been friends for almost as long as I have been alive. It really is amazing to just sit and listen to the stories they have to share, be it reminiscing, or talking about all the concerns of today. Last year I was pg with Carter, so this year we had to come and show him off. I nominated him as "boy toy" for the day! I had a great day and Linds had fun "helping" papa too. Enjoy the pictures ladies, these two were my favorites. Just pop me an email if you want a copy for yourself.

The other boys in my house spent the day working on the hunting land, I saw them briefly when I got home, not sure why they even came home. They were here and then they were gone again. They had spraying to do??? I sure hope the deer appreciate all that they are doing. Kaleb has a blast driving his four wheeler around.

Oh other exciting news about Kaleb, he got his very first win at an archery tournament the other weekend! We got results in the mail yesterday and boy was he excited. I was excited and bummed at the same time, we were going to go with the boys to that shoot and I could have had pictures, but the weather was iffy and I didn't want to take Carter so we stayed home! I am now kicking myself! I think what I will do is take a picture of K with the results letter to scrap and even scrap the letter itself.

Toads, monkeys, and bugs oh my...

So life is running a little bit crazy, but we are sailing along. Yesterday K caught this toad, we kept it in a big box with some dirt and leaves but today I made him let it go. We may see it again. This was the second time the toad ended up in K's hands...

Linds picnic was today also, it was great this year. The weather was perfect, kinda cool but when the sun poked out of the clouds unbelievable. they do hot dogs on the grill and chips and cookies. Nothing spectacular, but the kids love having all their families come and play for an afternoon. I caught a few shots of Linds being a "monkey", I have to laugh because the other day she came home and tells me her hands hurt. she has blisters from the monkey bars. I told her to stay off them for a few days, her reply but I just can't mom! So tomorrow is the last day of school, wow this year has gone by so fast. I am not ready for Linds to not be a kindergartener, she getting to big to fast. I am excited for summer, we have plans for concerts, library fun at the park and lots of pool time.

I finished up the teacher gifts tonight, got them gift cards for M's, and then decorated gift card boxes. I like how they turned out. I think I got a little burst of creativity from a surprise run in with Katie. Katie you always give me insperation, just seeing me makes the wheels turn in my head. Had to stop at Scrapbook Superstore to check out new QK's and as I am browsing I hear a voice saying I know Nicole is here. I am starting to wonder if Katie and I spend way to much time at that LSS... oh well!

Off to post my boxes on Tallyscrapper, good night all!

So we went to the Zoo on Thursday...

It was Lindsay's Kindergarten field trip, this make three trips to the Zoo with school for me in three years! I think I could have done the info program myself, but it was fun still. Before leaving school we were certain that it was going to rain on us, but God was on our side and not a drop fell. It was dark and cool for the most part, but that is what I would rather have than sweating in the sun. We visited the animals with two of Lindsay's dance class friends. Three little blond girls, think there might be trouble in the future??? The girls were wild, I think we took no more than 5 seconds at each animal, hence the lack of photos. I guess I'm happy with what I got and that is all you can ask for. Linds said her favorite animal was the flamigo. Other than that I think they had the best time at the park.

Today has been a bit of a bummer, it was the county dairy breakfast this morning and well the rain had to come sometime. It was pouring when we got to the farm and the planned parking "lot" was not something cars should park in when wet and muddy, so we were instructed to park on the street and then walk the 1.5 miles to the farm. Yes I do have a tendency to exagerate, but really it was that far. In the rain with a baby, this was not something Jeff wanted to do, so back to Dodgeville and Country Kitchen breakfast for us. I don't really think the kids were all that dissapointed, but I was. I love the dairy breakfast, first the food is fabulous and they have so much fun stuff to check out and play with. I guess there's always next year...

I think I am off to check the radar, the rain stopped and I would love to get out for a little walk. Jeff has both K and Linds and well I am just sort of relaxing with baby Carter. I should be cleaning out the craft/office room but I have tomorrow.

More pictures from the Holiday weekend, ok these were all taken yesterday...

First one is Carters first ride on the four-wheeler, I asked Jeff if he liked it and Jeff's reply was I think so.
Picture two is Jeff and his dad playing bean bag, anyone else out there have this backyard game??? Not really sure if it's a new thing or an old thing made "trendy" again. I do know one thing the Johnston family is way competitive, but in a good way, most of the time. They love to do game stuff. When Jeff and I first started dating, 15 yrs ago, YIKES! We were all still young enough that volleyball was the thing. all the kids and the significant others would meet at the Johnston's for volleyball, beer, and bonfires almost every weekend. Those were the days... But I love the picture, can you say like father like son! Hillarious!
Picture three is Linds with cousin Brittany petting one of Brittany's horses,
And picture four is the races! Kaleb likes to race daddy, it was K's day to win. He got the best of three from Jeff. He loves that four-wheeler. I practically had to threaten him just to get a short ride on it.

We had a fabulous weekend, hope everyone else did too! These pictures are from Saturday, we finally got around to a visit with Aunt Judy. It has been way to long, but sometimes life just gets in the way. Linds, Carter and I headed off to Hartland for the day (the big boys did archery stuff), we had a wonderful lunch and beautiful time just lounging and gossiping outside. Mike even took Linds and Austin (that would be the adorable guy in the blue hat) to the park while us girls and Carter chatted. Then after Carter had, had enough outside time, he is so silly he likes being outside but he will not crawl in the grass, so after a while he gets fussy cuz he really wants to move around. Anyway we took it inside and got to gossip more while Mike took Linds to the amazingly renovated rec room and let her go crazy with his drum.

Thanks for the hospitality Jud-a-bee (only I can call her that), we love you so much! In a perfect world we would be neighbors...

So is it wrong to eat shrimp cocktail for breakfast??? Ok so I am in a strange mood this morning, maybe lack of sleep... but anyway I am a seafood freak, love it! And this morning shrimp just seemed like the thing to eat.

It's been crazy this week, Monday has been the most quiet day and everyone knows what Mondays are like. Tuesday we had an extra baby. She is just a couple months younger than Carter and he was just intrigued by this little person. They got along quite well and their schedules messed perfect. The only tears I had all day were from Carter who was a little upset that Mommy was feeding someone else first. Yesterday we had parents day at Linds' dance class. Not sure if I had my camera set wrong or the fact that I was trying to take pictures and hold Carter that most of the shots came out blurry??? I think that I may be able to make a couple scrap worthy.

Today is an exciting day, a friend of mine had a baby this morning! Congrats to Mary and the new little one, hoping that I can stop and see them later tonight. She has been waiting as best as she could since the beginning of the month when she went in to be induced and they sent her home 48 hrs later without a baby. Not fun!

And tomorrow it's off to the LSS to work, I think we are getting into a schedule with working fridays. I bring baby carter with me and he just plays in the playpen all day. Last week when I was there I even got some work done, 4 double page spreads for a customer. We'll see what I can accomplish tomorrow. I do feel a little bad, I have had something going on each Friday I've worked so far and have been sneaking out. The boss knows so it's not like it's that bad, I just feel bad about it. And of course tomorrow Linds' class is going to the High School for their "Ag" fair. I've gone with Kaleb's class so Linds' wants me to go with her too. It is always fun, but again I have to sneak away from the store for an hour or so.

We've gone mobile!

Nothing is safe, especially the phone books that were on a low shelf in my kitchen. They are already missing a few pages from the back. It always amazes me what little people will go for. Carter seems to love the legos, goes right to the bucket and dumps it over. Then of course there is the shelf of kids books that Carter has pulled down on himself three times already, you'd think he'd learn...

Anyway the weather is fabulous today and as much as I would like to just waste the day away walking the town, I feel like scrappin. Got a great idea from Tallyscrapper and I really want to get working on it. Nothing else exciting has been happening this week, that is a really good thing. Tomorrow will be a little crazy, I am working and then Jeff is taking off for the weekend, big archery tournament in Indiana. Every year he hits this shoot and every year something happens and he comes just short of winning it all. Maybe this will be his year...

Kaleb is excited because he is going turkey hunting with grandpa on Saturday. I am not sure if he is more excited about the hunting or not having to go shopping with mommy and nana. It's probably the hunting.

Well another week is coming to a close and what a week it was!

We made it though the first of many "big" school projects. In first grade they have all the kids do reports on an endangered/threatened animal. Kaleb choose the grey wolf. And again being the freak that I am I went a little over board on helping. We were lucky to find tons of fabulous pictures and info on the net. Kaleb was hillarious when it finally came time to write the report. I was typing away while talking about what we were going to say and K keeps on telling me, "Mom after this sentence we can be done," to that I reply, "but we haven't explained this picture yet." We ended up with a full page of info for K to read to his class. He was so excited for his turn, he practiced three times the night before and twice the morning of. His teacher said he did a great job and that he really enjoyed this project. YEAH! I am so proud of him.

Friday I got my mojo back after being at the LSS all day. Cranked out three cards and then went to scrap night and put together a great spread for Carter's book, plus I have lots of ideas floating in my head.

Today we went back into Archivers for more make/take's. Created some really cute gifts for the mom's in our life. Can wait to see if they like them...

Right now I am avoiding cleaning up a huge mess, had to finish some projects when we got home and there are scraps and glitter everywhere. But hey the blog had to be updated, right??? I really would like to scrap one more page tonight, but again that means I really need to clean up the mess...

Better clean, all you moms out there have a beautiful day tomorrow!

Happy May!

Wow it really seems like it was just February, where are the days going???

So this last week was a good one, the weather was perfect. We walked home from school all week! That so gives my attitude a lift. Think we get to walk today too!

So Saturday was National Scrapbook Day, not really sure if that is a big deal or not. I ventured into Archiver's early Saturday morning with Janell and we did all the make/takes. Carter got to tag along with us too. He was pretty good. Got a little fussy during the second project, so I have some finish up work to do on that one. I have decided that I am totally addicted to chipboard. I see it and I need it! Picked up some swirls, flowers and letter chipboard. Only problem was that I didn't seem to have any ambition to scrap when I got home with my new goodies, infact they are still in the bag. Oh well this friday is our scrap group, that gives me the week to prepare and pick out the perfect LO for my new chipboard.

We also headed over to M's to check out the new Martha Stewart line. That was rather ho, hum. Nothing really new or exciting about it and rather pricey. They did have a really cute birthday party kit. Now that could make things a little eaiser for me this summer, that may be a future purchase.

This week Kaleb and I are working on a Gray Wolf report for school. Kaleb is to give his report on Thursday. We have found tons of really great photos on the internet and tonight we need to start putting them on posterboard and making his notes. He seems kinda excited about the whole thing so that is encouraging. Now to see if they will let me come and take pictures while he reports... us scrappers can take things a little overboard I know.

Very excited because starting this week I will be working Fridays at the LSS! Love that! It keeps me motivated and happy.