pumpkin patch

Saturday we visited Poppe's Pumpkin Patch near Lakefield, MN. A beautiful sunny, warm day. This was Rose's first visit to a pumpkin patch, she was duly impressed. She loved the goats

(will post pics another day of this adventure) Yahaira and Anthony had been to this pumpkin patch before, they had a blast. There is a playground, a storybook play area, a graveyard, a corn maze, (the dead rat was just a little too authentic) kevin sneeking up on us in the corn maze was unecessary also, scared the stuffing right out of me. They have llamas and goats, and of course a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. The pumpkins were just beginning to turn so the field of orange was a bit green in spots, but the kids had fun searching for the perfect pumpkin. Made me want to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" on our way home we stopped in Bergen for dinner, excellent food as always. You will notice the lack of pictures of Cassandra and Yahaira, they weren't in a picture taking mood on Saturday...."Don't want too" was Yahaira's reply each time I tried to take a pic...it's uncanny how similiar those two are. Shaking my head as I type that.

today it's suppose to be in the high 70's, don't you just love fall in minnesota?

Debbie

these are insanely good....

Cassandra and I were watching a food network show a week or so ago. They were featuring food specialty stores in Maine. One caught our eye, so I visited the the Food Network website and found the site for Wicked Whoopies. Naturally once I visited the website and saw that they deliver throughout the country, how could I not order? Well they arrived the other day and they are simply amazing...indescribable. We ordered an assortment and I have yet to find one that isn't delicious. Want to get some for yourself? go here: www.wickedwhoopies.com

and how was your weekend?

Debbie

This Represents....

almost 75% of my Christmas shopping done!
-insert happy dance here-
love shopping online,
no lines,
no crowds,
no hassles,
I can wear my pj's and no one cares!
and bonus! I can shop at 1 am (since I seem to be up at this time anyways)
UPS delivered this yesterday, I don't think they have ever backed into my driveway before.
and the delivery guy was totally nice, despite having to unload half his truck on my doorstep, sweet!
Loving that I won't have to go to the mall or fight the insane crowds at walmart this year. Life is good! The remaining 25% is either ordered or waiting for me to pick up....So so nice!
Merry Christmas to you!
( I guess almost being done with shopping puts me totally into the holiday mood)
have a great weekend, (no I won't be wrapping presents, I will wait until at least the middle of October for that :)
later,
Deb

Halloween.....

is coming..... are you ready?

we are getting there....
costumes: check
candy: check
decorations: sorta check

wondering why I buy candy, since we only seem to eat a large portion of it before the actual day arrives, which means we just end up buying more...good grief talk about no will power.

Costumes , Rose is going to be a pumpkin, Yahaira is a butterfly and Anthony is going to be Lightening McQueen. I find that this time I'm not so stressed about creating the perfect costume, flashback to the kids early years and the quest to create and build the best costume. Yeah they were cool, and unique but I find that now if it's ready made and it's something they want to be why not? who says you have to spend days or weeks making a costume, (only to have it fall apart the night of trick or treating), is the only way to go... ready made, works for me these days...(yikes! perhaps I'm getting wiser with age?)

Decorations: jury is still out on that one, on one hand I feel like I should decorate since the little ones would get such a kick out of it, but on the other hand I remember way to vividly putting all that stuff away after the season, usually in snow and definately in cold weather.... not fun! somewhere there is a happy medium.... did hang a few ghosts and pumpkin decorations from the tree, and the kids were so excited. As for the house down the street all decorated, I'll just drive a different route until the season is over, that way the kids won't have a clue what potential there is for decorating....simple enough. Don't try to figure out my logic it truly would hurt your head. :)

Next on the agenda a trip to the pumpkin patch, this I am actually excited about (wouldn't be that clean up for a pumpkin is throwing it in the dumpster, good grief I'm getting lazy) weather permitting it looks like this weekend we will visit the great pumpkin patch.

Kelly sent the kids some halloween goodies, they were so excited, the play phones are a hit, we may need to discuss with kelly the fact that the sound of those phones has been playing in my head all night long...she must have missed the memo on my lack of sleep.

enjoy your day, the sun is shining here, how can it not be a great day?
Deb

change....

Our neighbor Dennis had an auction this past Saturday, (rather his family did, I don't believe Dennis was in agreement with this) how sad to see. The weather matched my mood, rainy and cloudy, simply miserable. I know that for me it's hard to face that Dennis won't be living next door, after 14 years it's really hard to change, but it's also hard to face that this new path in Dennis life isn't the one he would choose. He is in a nursing home, but to a person in their 60's that is a blow like no other. The MS is taking it's toll on his body, and he quite simply wasn't able to take care of himself properly at home. It's just that a nursing home seems so drastic. I think his family is trying to do that best they can, somehow that may not be the best for Dennis tho. Watching people carry stuff away, was just so sad, I wondered if they knew the story behind that item, or if they even cared to know it....so much history, so many stories lost.
I found myself wondering as I looked around my house, what would you keep, what would you choose to sell? how do you condense a house into a room? I find myself thinking that alot of the stuff that fills my space isn't truly important to me, it's just stuff...so letting go wouldn't be difficult, but somehow I think I would have more than a room's worth of things that would be very difficult to part with, not sure how you would decide, not so sure I really want to think about it.
Now when I look out the window to the west I find myself remembering so many moments and occasions with Dennis, and it feels empty. Wondering who the new neighbors will be, praying that they will be likeable, and please let them be quiet at night, I know it isn't the end of the world we will make new memories, Dennis is only 20 minutes away, change isn't always a bad thing, it just takes some time to get used to it.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's cold here, 46 degree's.....That is just simply a bummer!

trying to convince myself that in January a temp of 46 will seem tropical, no.....It's not working. The sun is trying to peek thro the clouds.... I turned the furnace on this morning, double bummer!

We had respite this weekend, which in and of itself makes for an interesting weekend to say the least. And it didn't disappoint we had some moments, just a few which is better than endless. A highlight, or low point depending upon who you asked, was trevor getting his finger stuck in the a hole in the car door, priceless (not exactly the commercial kind of priceless but priceless none the less) We attended the Mexico Independence Day celebration in St. James Saturday afternoon, with the parade topping out the activities, kids loved all the candy, imagine that :)Saturday night we did the fire pit, realized we haven't did this all summer, how sad, where does the time go? Sunday was a shopping excursion to Mankato....I've forgotten how time consuming this can be with little people.... Cassandra decided to remember the moment by taking pics on her camera phone of Yahaira's tantrums, in each store, which just made Yahaira madder....Next time I think they can both stay home.

Pulled out some scrapbooking stuff over the weekend, just looked at it a few times, finally put it away, in a rut, nothing creative coming my way.... Being busy seems like such a feeble excuse.

enjoy your day, hope it's warm where you are,
Debbie

Walking like a pro....

tried to load pics earlier....But alas eblogger wouldn't let me...Now it let's me. Reminds me of a two year old I know :) have a great weekend, Deb

Rose is walking....

I will hesitate to end this with a resounding Finally!!! She is 14 months after all, I truly wondered if she would ever move about on those two legs of hers. One could argue why should she walk when all the world is brought directly to her....(it pays to be the youngest in daycare and in the family) It's not like we didn't try, holding her hand and walking her thru the house, of course when she tired (after moments, it seemed) she would plop down on her bottom and refuse to move. Let's not forget the placing her between us and cheering and encouraging, (one would think we were cheering an Olympian) she was unimpressed. Bribery worked, occasionally, she was quite selective on what she would "perform" for and it could work one day and then never work again. Lately she has been displaying a readiness to walk, sometimes I think much to her own dismay, she knew a good thing happening, but the signs were there, pulling herself up, cruising around the furniture, crawling up and down the stairs, (what is that???? Won't walk but she can fly up those stairs and down with little effort) ect, ect.... But she liked to play us, never would she walk when we wanted to show someone, and then when least expected it she would take a few tenative steps....Which left you wondering "did she just walk?" or am I imagining it? Last Friday she took several steps, ones we witnessed, ones that could count as steps, and then she wouldn't do it again...No matter how much encouraging, bribery, attention we gave, she refused to move. On Tuesday she took some steps, some plopping down and standing up in the center of the room moves, real random....(guess she needed to to rest up after her first attempt, said as I roll my eyes here) (if a baby could fight walking, I believe rose is a prime example, she truly doesn't want to give up her status if you will.) On Wednesday she took off, motoring everywhere, doing it like she has done it all her life, over carpet, linoleum, cement, grass, you name, she could navigate it...We of course just stared like idiots, not able to process that she was actually walking, on her own, no bribery necessary...How cool is that???? Wednesday night we tried to capture this on film, I took pics, Kevin video taped...I think we annoyed her a lot! She got a bit crabby with us. So it's official the baby in our family is walking, somehow I'm sure I will be wondering why? Did I want her to do this? But for now loving watching those little feet carry her everywhere, love watching her stand up and take off....Love that cocky little grin she gives us as she cruises by, as if to say, this is a piece of cake....Just simply love having this little wonder in our lives.

September 11

Amazing how a date can be forever etched into your memory. Growing up I often wondered at how my mom could remember exactly where she was when John F Kennedy was killed. I thought it rather weird that she could in detail tell you about that day.... I had yet to experience an event that affected the nation,and myself in such a big way, most of my big days to remember had been completely personal, and quite selfish in nature. Until 9-11, as I watched the day and events unfold, on CNN, I knew it was big, how could I not? we were under attack and thanks to modern technology I was watching it as it happened...later I realized just how significant this was, with much clarity I now understood the ability to remember amazing details about what should have been an ordinary day, this was my JFK, or Pearl Harbor, if you will. As each hour passed and the events unfolded I became connected in a way like no other to millions of other people by the simple fact that this happened here on our soil, we were no longer safe. I remember moments from that day, and I remeber the feelings I experienced, I remember being glued to the TV, and going outside later in the day and looking at the sky that was empty of planes, I remember being thankful my kids were near, and I remember talking to my sister constantly during the day, often just silence on the phone as we both watched events unfolding on tv, and knowing this would change our country in ways still unknown. It's hard to believe it has been 5 years already. Have we changed? of course. But I don't live in fear of another attack, and yet I am more aware of how vulnerable we are.


and on a lighter note, some of our weekend activites....Anthony's birthday party with friends, here he is with the pinata...way fun! and another pic from saturday another birthday party this time for Eve, anthony is participating in the pie eating contest, absolutely hilarous...he had a blast.

hope your weekend was fun and relaxing. until next time, Deb

It's Friday...

and I'm working...................bummer!

love! love! love! having friday's off during the summer, did I do anything great and exciting? no not really...but I do so enjoy that one day off...but now it is time to go back to reality, school has begun and so it's back to a 5 day work week...so sad. ok I'll stop whining....but it truly is a bummer working today.

My day began, or never ended depending on how you look at it. And no this time it wasn't a wee one in the house keeping me up at unhappy hours because they were ready to play and just simply be awake...nope last night it was the trains... I know, I have lived near the railroad tracks most of my life you would think I would be use to them by now, but apparently my body isn't. (note here, thinking sleep is forever going to be an elusive thing in my world) so randomly throughout the night I awoke to the sound of engines running, sounded like low, distant,rumbling, thunder...so once I tuned in and realized it was trains and not an approaching storm I slipped back into sleep...there were a few times when cars were being connected that jolted me, so all in all I awoke quite often....of course the sounds have always been there, the difference...now I have the windows open rather than closed. So I finally fell asleep sometime after 3, only to awaken to the phone ringing at 5am...as I stumble to the phone I'm wondering who is not coming today, when I answer and realize it isn't a parent but rather the police department, I quickly switched gears to "who are they bringing so early this morning" which was quickly replaced by the request of the person on the other end to talk to Rebecca, "she's not here" I say "oh are you her mother" ok most of you are going to know exactly where my mind went, rational clear thought dissappeared, replaced directly with omg what has happened. Condensed version (or as condensed as my rambling ways allow :) They were wondering if I knew why her car, a 99 sunfire, was parked in Lewisville, (ummmmm I"m now wondering the very same thing) so I mention that she attends school in Moorhead, and has been there for the past 3 weeks,with her car, are you sure it's her's? He checks and comes back and says no it isn't her, apparently someone has a 99 sunfire with a license plate identical to Beckie's with the exception of 1 letter, their's has an N Beckie's has an M. So next he say's no worries mam, your daughter is excatly where she should be, this isn't her car...sorry to bother you, have a good day... "ok, thanks I will" of course going back to sleep was pointless, body was completely alert...getting a call like that will do it to you... and why did they need to check on the car at 5am???
Today is the big birthday party, Anthony is having some friends over to celebrate his birthday...he is so excited... trying to match his excitement, but I'm afraid I'm just a bit scared wondering what? am I going to do with a houseful of 4-5 year olds? this should be fun!
enjoy your weekend...
debbie

1st day of school...

Today Anthony began school, he was so excited about going back to preschool. You just have to love the excitement little people have for this event. On Tuesday we went to meet his teacher and check out his classroom, it's the same room and teacher as last year, which made it less scary and just simply fun! He was so excited about riding the bus to school and home from school, had just the biggest grin on his face while waiting for the bus today. It is a bit quiet in daycare today, with everyone back to school, our numbers are smaller, which is an ok thing. I am enjoying the quietness of today. added a new pic of cassandra this time with her eyes open :) have a great day. Deb

She is a Senior....

wow! holy moly! this can't be possible! What????! I'm sure I could fill pages with comments all simply leading to my disbelief that today my baby began her senior year.
She of course was quite low keyed about the whole event/milestone. "Hurry up and take the pic mom, I'm running late" my comment of "do you realize this is the last time I will take a first day of school pic of you" was said to a departing back as she hurried out the door, oh well at least she paused long enough for me to capture a picture.
I find that this time I'm more accepting of the whole senior year, the first time around was tragic for me, just frustrating for Beckie in having to deal with me and my issues. Glad to say by February said issues were resolved and replaced with she needs to leave for college now!, they must have an early entry program somewhere... I beleive God makes them difficult just so you can let them go...with Josh, so hard to compare as with all things with him, it was so laid back simple, some minor bumps but nothing to write home about...the kid is just so easy going his senior year was relitively calm and simple. With Cassandra I'm not sure where I fall, it is bittersweet when your baby reaches this milestone, and yet we are not looking at an empty next in the fall as we would have imagined a few years ago... with three little ones waiting to begin their public school education, we find we are once again back at the beginning, funny how life works isn't it? I'm excited for Cassandra to experience her senior year, so many endings and yet just waiting within reach are so many new beginnings. So perhaps with time I've learned that it doesn't have to be a sad event, but rather an exciting, opportunity to see what she has accomplished and watch where she is going, I think she is a pretty amazing person, quite proud of the young adult she has become, of course I'm mom therefore I'm allowed to have an opinion :) and so today we begin another senior year...I'm kinda excited to see what next she will do. Noticed that once I loaded the pic her eyes are closed, go figure, I take one pic and naturally her eyes are closed, this is so Cassandra...here's hoping you enjoy your back to school moments.Deb

Christmas card photos....

Something I look forward to every year, not!
It was difficult with three, and now with six.....well I think the pictures speak for themselves. Yes I realize Christmas is a few months off, but one has to take the opportunity when it presents itself, meaning, all six kids were in the same place at the same time, and since it's anybody's guess when next that will happen, I figured it's time to get a pic. Assuming by the groans and whining everyone agreed this would be fun...rolling my eyes here. "Are we done yet?" "what do you mean another pic?" was uttered more times than I care to count, let's not forget the crying, I think the photographer may have cried a little also....and so out of 20 plus pictures I think we may have one...which one? guess you will have to wait until Christmas cards come out to see. I must admit that this mom is completely happy that we won't have to repeat that ordeal until next year.

21

Today she is 21...Dear God, how did this happen??? I can quite easily recall the newborn baby we brought home from the hospital, that neither of us knew what to do with and thru nothing short of countless miracles managed to not kill in the first week alone. What a burden she has carried being the first born, being blessed with clueless parents, and numerous siblings over the years, and yet she has survived. I have often wondered "how" she survived, I've been known to mutter "if you would have only come with a book, I think I could have figured out this parenting thing" alas no book, just a very strong desire to protect and care for her from day one, loving her came as natural as breathing. Today she is a confidant, strong, honest, caring, young adult. She is focused and easy going, she has a good heart and a great head on her shoulders, in a word she is simply amazing. Much has changed in these 21 years, she has tested us on occasion, we have challenged her. We have disagreed and agreed. She has taught us to relax, I pray we have taught her enough, and as she has grown so have we becoming more than we ever thought possible...Is she the daughter I imagined when I held her that first time, no...She is so much more than that, there is no way I could have imagined that she would turn into this wonderful, caring, amazing person, we truly have been blessed. So Happy Birthday Beckie, you have been a remarkable gift to us over the years. May your day be full of fun and laughter, and may you always know how truly special you are to us.
Change occurs whether your ready for it or not, this birthday brings a change I'm not sure I'm ready for, it will be the first time we won't be sharing the day with Beckie, she is at college already and so my birthday wishes will be in the form of phone calls and internet, it is a bit odd to not be able to hug and give her birthday wishes in person, she of course is handling it much better than I, ( I really stink at this whole letting go thing) and so again I learn from her.
enjoy your day...
always, Debbie

room renovation part 2

and now I can share with you the next part of the girl's room re-do. I waited to photograph this wall since I didn't have everything put together yet...but now it's done and I love! how it turned out. (I was waiting on the phrase, that I custom ordered) it came this morning and once I put it up it was amazing how quickly the rest of the wall came together. you saw a preview of the pictures, hanging on the metal strip in an earlier pic, well I braved the paint/small child ordeal and got them finished, loving how they turned out. they are matted on a purple rectangle which is painted directly on the wall, too cool! yes I did paint it, and survived, amazing I know! still a few things to do, decided to custom order another phrase, yes I'll post once it's up and complete.
the place I ordered the custom phrases and words from is called Creative Custom Lettering website: www.creativecustomlettering.com/home amazing selection of fonts and colors, and a lot of phrases to chose from, she will also do custom orders. Very reasonably priced and fast shipping. I can't believe how easy it was to put these up....ok done with my commercial :) ok done for now... enjoy your weekend.
Debbie

Beckie's room before/ Yahaira and Rose's room after

This is how Beckie's room looked early Monday morning, a very empty room compared to most of the summer when 3 people occupied the space, but with Beckie returning to college on Sunday we emptied and cleaned preparing for Ryan to paint on Monday....














and this is the after on Wednesday night...the colors are from the dress hanging on the wall shelf...loved this dress on yahaira and loved the colors, added purple just for some fun (been watching too much "Get Color" on HGTV....they always have 3 colors in a room) The white pictures hanging from the metal strip...(cool idea it's magnetic so you can hang their art work on there, no need to tack it up or gunk up the walls) will have pink handprints and purple feet added, (when I get brave enough to finish it...paint and small children is such a fun mix) should resemble flowers when all is said and done, those will be matted and hung on another wall. Have a few more things to add, some wall art words and some butterflies...the girls loved their room, rose especially loves the butterfly mobiles...

a couple more pics, the walls all primed it took 2 coats and this is the view from the other side of the room, you can just see the bottem of one of the butterfly mobiles. Not sure what beckie will think when she returns home...now Anthony and Cassandra want thier rooms painted. oh fun! we all know how much I love painting...actually I didn't paint at all Ryan did all the work, I had the easy part, picking out colors and stuff to go in the room...he did an awesome job. so perhaps we will have to talk to him about painting some more rooms...

do you hear that?

the sound of my house sighing as it relaxes back into it's pre-summer size. Ok I may be doing a bit sighing here also....this weekend was spent packing and moving our two oldest children for their returns to their respective colleges. I miss them, really I do, but, it was time for them to return to college, it's amazing how your change/grow after the "first" one leaves for college, I honestly never thought I would say, it's time for them to go back :)
now to picture the chaos that was my weekend, did either pack early? uhhhhh no! saturday was the day, (why would you do anything early? just because your mother would, it's that organized brain of mine) so imagine what that entailed two different people trying to pack any and everything they think they might need, all the while the thorn in their sides (yes that would be me, is asking do you have this, could you do this, what are you doing taking a nap when my house is in utter turmoil???? that may have been yelled, or screamed depending upon who you ask) naturally when a room is empty that would be the best time to clean it...so add that into the fray...and let's not forget the 4 little people presently living under this roof, nor cassandra who seemed to have issues just because she can. all in all the weekend was a blur. I must admit that yesterday afternoon while I sat on the couch and just breathed it was mixed with relief and a bit of happiness, (bad mother I know, I should be crying and bemoaning how much I miss them) but all I could muster yesterday was whew..... both called later in the day to say they had arrived and were settling in, maybe my calmness in regards to them leaving just simply means that I have confidence in them, they have good head on their shoulders, they make good decisions, and both worked their butts off this summer, which showed much maturity and responsibility...I have great kids...so yes I will miss them, I just won't miss all the extra work that comes with all those kids.
Today we have no water, city is working on the lines so we are waterless for the day and possibly tomorrow also...ok so why is it that usually I am reminding them "did you wash your hands? did you flush" and the answer is always no...today, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr the little angels are flushing and trying to wash their hands left and right, what is that????????
We are painting beckie's room, I know she is barely gone to college and we are redoing her space...she knew it was coming, since Yahaira and Rose virtually took over her room this summer, will post pictures when all is done. ... I should clairfy I'm not painting, ryan is, I just picked the colors and stuff to go in the room...I am so not a painter.
well enjoy your monday,
later,
Debbie

Weekend away

It was nice to get away, and yet it was nice to come home to our normal routine. We visited the MN Zoo, took in some of the shows this time,kids loved the dolphin show. This was Rose's first visit to the zoo...She did awesome, I wondered if she would know where to look or if she would even be interested in the animals, she had a blast! We also did Underwater adventure at the Mall of America...That was fun! The kids loved the tube you go thru, with all the sharks and fish swimming around you. Spent some time watching airplanes landing and taking off at the airport, Rose Loved! The loud noises, imagine that. Naturally I snuck some shopping in, how could I not? Busy busy weekend, it was a bit interesting keeping all three on somewhat of an even keel.. Schedules and routines seemed to disappear. But they were troopers and did amazingly well.
I may be offline for awhile, we are switching providers should be a go by the end of the week. So I'll be back in awhile...
enjoy your week,
Debbie

mosquito's

are killing us here....actually had to take Yahaira out to the dr this past weekend, thought for sure she was having an allergic reaction to something she ate. Nope bug bits....she looks horrible. They swell up and spread out and then get red and blotchy...and then a few days later they start to fade and look like bruises, nice! Now imagine trying to keep a 2 year old inside to try to prevent further spoltches and such on her body, no it hasn't been easy...bug spray seems to help, of course one needs to catch her to apply...

I did it...rode my bike around the new bike path, it circles St. James lake. Thought i was going to die...too many times...and the hills just about did me in ( no I did not know we had such major hills in the st. james area, of course anyone suggesting I may be a wee bit out of shape would be a brave person indeed) and I did it in under 35 minutes...woohoo....next time will be easier right? ok tell that to my bottem which is rebelling in a major way right now.

received the rest of my layouts I ordered loving them...simply amazing work, and I have my layout ready to enter in the contest I mentioned earlier...I like how it turned out way different materials for me...and format, but all is good, we'll see what happens.

going to get away for a few days, yesssssssssss! I am so ready for a different routine.
well enjoy your weekend,
until next time take care.
Debbie
the layout above is one of Rose, this is the dress she wore for her 1 year pics...the detials are simply amazing, right down to the sandals she was wearing, too cute!

Swimming

These are a few pics from our trip to the pool....A big adventure for us, since we usually just put the wading pool out in the driveway for the little ones. So after packing the van full of all various "stuff" needed for little kids to swim we head off. It was a very hot day, but the pool was freezing, I made it up to my knees and was thinking I needed my down comforter to warm up, I know I'm such a wimp. But when Rose began to turn blue, we decided to move them to the kiddy pool. Now that was perfect. Anthony had fun playing with the other kids in the pool, Yahaira could walk throughout the pool which she thought was the best! And Rose she just hung out in her floaty thing, every now and again she would pop the cover on the valve and start the darn thing deflating, which generated much movement in Kevin or I too quickly fill it back up. It was a game for her, obviously the fact she was sinking was no concern to her. This child is a thrillseeker....I see a future Valleyfair lover in the making.
on some scrapbooking notes: Saturday I picked up a kit at Picture This/Scrap That in Fairmont. They are running a designers club for three months beginning in September. You pay 30$ for the three month commitment and each month you receive a bag of supplies with which you create a page, card, mini album wall art...Completely up to you, the catch you can only use what is in the bag no other items aside from adhesive and cutting tools may be used. You return your entry to the store, where all entries will be judges you stand the chance of winning a gift certificate to the store. They are beginning with 9 kits, so I figured why not? I feel like lately I'm in a rut, using the same colors, same styles, same companies so if nothing else this will be a good thing for me, just to experiment with new and different styles. There were still kits available, if you are interested.
I recently ordered some new page kits. The person I ordered from has a blog which I read daily, great organizational tips and scrapbooking hints. Her daughter and her work together to create these pages with personalized dolls on each layout. They did some sets for me last spring, the one of Cassandra prom dress was amazing, the details were incredible. They just introduced a new line for babies and toddlers so I ordered a few sets...Well they have the two MN Twins sets I ordered, up on their website go here if you want to see them http://rockester.blogspot.com/ on the left side is a "flickr" banner if you watch it scroll thru the two I ordered are the baseball, MN Twins layouts 1 is for Anthony, the other for Yahaira, they even included her little hair scrunchy, how cool is that. All layouts are customized to the picture you send. I can't say enough about the quality of work and attention to detail....I loved the previous ones they did, and can't wait to see the rest of the ones I ordered. If you click on the layout as it scrolls by you can see a larger version of it.
enjoy the rest of your weekend...
Debbie

finally!

blogger let's me post a pic... enjoy your weekend.
Deb

wondering....

where this week went.....
last night we attended the VBS performance at church, my niece, neighbor and many daycare kids were in it.... It sure has changed from when I went to bible school. Fun program, and only a 1/2 hour service, very kid friendly. Rose enjoyed the music, dancing and clapping along. Yahaira fell off the pew, good thing for diaper padding...never a dull moment :)
Beckie left yesterday for WeFest....she was very excited to be attending. Cassandra is going to the cities this weekend, valleyfair/science museum are on her agenda. Hard to believe summer is almost over and soon school will be starting.
We switched our phone serive to Mediacom in June, we have had cable and internet thru them for years with very few problems. As soon as we switched it everything stopped working. If I had phone I didn't have internet or vice versa. After about two weeks of no phone service or very sporadic we decided to just switch back to sprint now Embarq. Of course I wanted to keep my number (big mistake) so we had to request that mediacom release our number could take up to 10 days Embarq said. well we are well over 30 and still no number released, so last night I tried calling mediacom to see if the could explain the hold up, of course they couldn't, but the customer service rep was trying to be helpful and gave me a number to call in the morning when the correct tech's would be in. Called it this morning, omg rude doesn't begin to touch how this person responded. Said the number I called was an internal number and I had no right calling it. Ok like I would know that. Told me to never call it again and hung up on me. Ok so now I'm a bit crabby, ok very crabby. so I call mediacom and wait out the button pushing/hold game for 30 minutes and when I finally talk to a "live" person I explain what happened she was very kind, shocked actually, and then she puts me on hold, 2o minutes later she comes back with a we are still searching, and 30 minutes after that someone comes on and explains that the reason my number can't be released is because they are submintting the wrong address. WHAT??? I said so she reads the address to me and I'm like that is my address, no she said the address on file with us has the N (for north) at the end of the address not in the middle YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME I said...also she said they spelled out Saint we have it as St. ok I said how many "Saint" James do you think are in Minnesota, well we can't take the chance it has to match identically. So for over a month they are refusing to release my number due to the placement of the letter N "did you mention at all when you refused to release my number as to why you wouldn't release it?" "No" she said "that would be data privacy we are not allowed to share such info" "did you think to call me and question why a company is trying to switch my number?" No you're the one switching it's not our responsibility to contact you. "so" I said "just what is your responsibility? " no answer of course. So once again we try to get our number released over a 1/2 dozen attmeps to date. Wondering why I didn't just go ahead a switch numbers, ( at the time thought it would be a major headache switching but hey it's been a headache this way) so we give it another try if not done by tomorrow we will be switching numbers I absolutely refuse to pay mediacom another month of service. Unbelievably poor customer service and very poor phone service. Did I mention that we still don't have a working phone most days. Sometimes you can call out, sometimes you can't. Sometimes it rings in, often it doesn't. Now that's a quality product. If you're thinking of switching to mediacom I would caution you on that move. Unless you like headaches.

Wild wacky weather

Last night....And I missed it! Now some would say that the fact I was in my basement (where I should be) was a good thing but I disagree. I have to confess I have always loved the summer weather/storms. (as long as no one I know or myself gets hurt or damage done to their property, nothing like adding conditions right?) I secretly want to join those tornado chasers who follow the storms. A note: I was watching that very thing on the Discovery channel Monday night, fascinating stuff. Didn't expect to be experiencing a version of it the next night tho. So last night the kids are playing in the toy room, (the little kids, the older ones were busy doing older kid stuff, translation I have no idea what they were doing) I'm on the phone and the sirens go off, so a quick oh sh*t! and I hang up on Kelli (sorry kelli) and stand in the daycare room contemplating(briefly) whether it is for real or not...In fairness the picture out the window didn't look threatening, or ominous, just cloudy like it might rain. So I did wonder briefly if it was a false alarm but the rational side of my brain kicked in and quite quickly I'm handing babies to Josh and Cassandra (who quite magically appeared as soon as the alarm sounded) and ushering Anthony and Yahaira down the stairs, maneuvering around the dog who has to be the center of all activity. Get things settled in the basement, fly upstairs for some flashlights and my cell phone, and shoes. I have this thing if you go to the basement during a storm you wear your shoes..After all who wants to crawl over debris in bare feat? One always should be prepared (I see you rolling your eyes I'm anal I know) Kevin calls to make sure we heard the siren...Oh hello it's a block away. Then Linda calls wondering if it's a false alarm...I repeated what the radio had just said, a tornado on the ground south of Butterfield, she says I'm on my way over. Linette calls to see if Beckie made it home she saw her running back into JB Fitness and was wondering if she had car trouble...Maybe you should check on her...Ok that would mean I have to go out in this???? Heading upstairs to check on Beckie, who walks in just as I reached the top of the stairs, she had forgotten her yoga mat and ran in to get it.. (now I'm rolling my eyes) saved the lecture for anther time on sirens blaring and you go back for a "mat"? Soon my other neighbor joined us in the basement and shortly thereafter her husband also joined us. Katie came quite quickly her work had sent them home...(ok am I the only one who finds that odd that a place of business would send it's employees out in bad weather, rather than putting them in a safe place?) so for over an hour last night my basement was full, we all were perched on chairs or blankets listening to the radio and trying to keep a lot of little people happy and entertained. What a way to have a neighborhood get together, it was National Night Out last night...Not the way I pictured spending it but interesting none the less. No damage near us, a few homes were destroyed one south of town another near Butterfield, not a good thing. No one injured which is a good thing, stuff can always be replaced...Watched some footage on the internet from a local TV station, thinking it was a good thing that system stayed south of us, it looked fierce (still a little part of me that wishes I could have watched it live rather than riding it out in my basement) aahhhh well perhaps someday when I don't have little people to protect first I can be a storm chaser :)

It's hot!

loving this weather....ok that will probably get me shot most normal people do not enjoy the high temps mixed with equally high humidity but I love it! Love the heat, do not like the cold! So anytime the temp is above 40 I am so very happy. Today we are in a heat advisory...guess I won't be able to run, or ride my bike or mow the lawn, aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh darn. (not that I would do any of those activities on a mild temp day) planning to be lazy. now let's see if it works.
last night I walked out to the fairgrounds for the Relay for Life...I'm always humbled by the turnout and efforts put forth by so many. I think the best time is at night when all the luminaries are lit what a sight that is. Fun to connect with so many people I rarely see...and yes I did say walk...what was i thinking?????
well best keep this short, Rose is explaining to me (crying) why a nap isn't part of her plans for the day....naps are so wasted on little people...someone wouldn't have to tell me more than once to go take a nap.
enjoy your weekend...will try to post pictures as soon as eblogger decides to let me.
Edited: go figure the time I try to post a pic it finally does it of course this pic has no relevence to this post..it was suppost to go with an earlier post...but enjoy! this is rose age 1.
Deb

trying not to shock anyone

by posting twice in one week....goodness what happened?

She is 1....Rose that is. A little over a year ago if you had told me I would have a newborn in my home I would have laughed and then looked really scared. We had wondered if there was a Rose, for a few months before the actual announcment but chalked it up to rumor. About a month before she arrived the county confirmed that there was a baby, but I think at that time everyone still believed the parents would leave and therefore no baby to place. The call came the day she was born saying mom was in labor and the a placement would be imminent. I think throughout that time I just didn't believe it was possible (mental block, or denial if you will) but reality hit home later in the afternoon on July 7th when the call came saying it's a girl (somehow I knew that, the few things I had purchased just in case were all girl things) (so much for denial)
we were told to be at the hospital on the 9th to pick her up. ok nothing, and I mean nothing can prepare you for a newborn, it really doesn't matter if you have raised 3 children of your own, or that you have taken care of countless babies/children..... a newborn is simply amazing and exhausting. (there is something to being pregnant for 9 months honestly it does prepare you for no sleep) Waking up one morning to a newborn well, it isn't pretty, exhausted didn't begin to describe how I felt, did i mention I didn't take any time off, kept right on working...let's not forget the other 5 children in our home, no none of them took a break from needing us. Yeah it really was an amazing ride. We have weathered much this past year, adjusting to visits with her birth parents, adjusting to life with 6 kids, just simply adjusting. And through out it all in the back of your mind is the question will we still have her at 3 months, or 6months, or will we celebrate her 1st birthday. Well here we are a year later, we have reached those milestones and so many more, celebrating Rose's 1st birthday was an amazing event, made more special just simply because she was still with us. She has woven herself into the framework of our family and enriched our lives in ways I can't begin to count. She is unlike any other child and yet compliments us so wonderfully. We still have uncertainity, will we see her walk, will we celebrate a 2nd birthday... those answers I don't have, but I plan to keep enjoying what I do have and that is the time right now to be with her, the rest we will know when the time is right. no matter the outcome I am always grateful that at this time in my life I have rose. life is truly good.

and a few more pics :)

anthony and Kevin riding the ferris wheel at the county fair. Anthony loved! the rides, Yahaira was a bit reluctant at first but after finally riding one ride she was totally excited about it. Rose loved all the farm animals as did Anthony and Yahaira and Daphne.
and a pic of Yahaira modeling her new sunglasses from Kelly.

Beckie and Cassandra's busy month of July...

Bekcie is now the proud owner of a car yikes! A necessary purchase and one she handled with a lot of maturity...(when did she grow up?) She bought this car on her own, what an exciting day that was for her. Paying for the car insurance wasn't such a fun thing, and I have heard her mutter about the cost of gas :) welcome to the world of a car owner.
Cassandra had an incredibly busy month of July, we hardly saw her, she began with dance camp in Iowa for 4 days, home for 2 days and then on a bus heading to San Antonio Texas with our youth group from church, she was there for a week and had a blast. It was nice to get her home, missed her a lot!

more pics....

I am playing catch up today, finally getting pics from various summer activities uploaded. We attended a MN Twins game early in July, we had all 7 kids in attendance, Linette and Kevin, Gracie and a friend also joined us, the twins won! Yeah. all in all the little ones did quite well.
also a pic from the 4th of July...Rose loved the fireworks, no fear in this baby at all. We had a BBQ at our home, then headed out to Memorial Park to watch Attitude perform and ended the evening watching the fireworks over ST. James lake.

Pics from Rose's first Birthday....

for some reason blogger isn't let me load pics...here is one that finally worked. yes that is a new face on the left...her name is daphne she has been with us since the end of June, she is also 1, actually she is two weeks older than rose.

It has not been a month

Since I last posted. Honestly you blink and time flies. (it is not an age thing, or at least I refuse to admit that)
So where have we been? Just trying to live life as normally as possible. I have tried hard to not focus on the unknown. Waiting for this decision by the judge is by far the hardest thing I have had to face. As I looked at summer and all the events that would be happening, I truly did find myself wondering, will the kids be with us when we reach the 4th of July, will we be celebrating Rose's 1st birthday? And so on and so on. As we reached each milestone/or event I found myself simply thankful for being able to share one more thing with them. Trust me we weren't always upbeat and cheerful, often it was quite different, as you let uncertainty slip in...Some days it was quite easy for me to slip into quite a miserable place. Thankfully we are surrounded by amazing family and friends. People who often unknowingly pulled us back, and stayed positive for us when we weren't able to be that positive. We did receive a ruling from the judge yesterday. Custody was not granted to Grandma. As with everything in this case there are many unknowns. But this is a positive ruling. So for now we focus on that. I think I am learning that nothing with these children will ever be just a clear cut decision. There will always be more just below the obvious. What does the future hold? aahhhh to know that answer would be the best feeling ever...But I can speculate, and in that I believe we will be beginning to travel the road to adoption...How long will it take? No idea. Will it be a smooth road...Ok that I think I can answer quite firmly.... No! I imagine we will still face many bumps along the way. I hold on to my faith, God did bring us here, and thru this he will be there...I look at the people who have traveled this path so far with us, offering support and strength...With them how can we not make it? And perhaps these three little ones won't be legally mine in the time frame I want, but ultimately if they are ours some time in the future, that will be a good thing. For now I am going to just keep loving them. Enjoying each moment granted us, celebrate each milestone. And simply thank god for bringing them to us,and for putting so many amazing people into our lives who have supported us.
I will leave you with some of the activities we have enjoyed during the hot days of summer... The fourth of July, Rose's 1st Birthday, (she was completely unimpressed) Cassandra's trip to San Antonio, Beckie's new car. I trust you are finding some fun in your summer too.
Edited to add: no pictures attached see later posts, eblogger was being difficult today and not allowing me to upload pics. I finally got them to work later in the day.