I love this photo editor program I have. I almost forgot I had it;)
Now if I only had ink in the printer.

A New Year

As we turn into a new year so do a slew of resolutions. My husband and I are giving up smoking, something that we are not proud of, and if you do not know us personally I should tell you that we do not smoke anywhere around our girls...house, cars,etc. Anyway this is something that we have been wanting to do and just used the resolution thing as a set date. For me this new year is a chance for me to focus on my inner self and that of my girls and husband also. I want to LIVE each day and not just "get through it" . I want to this new year to be an opportunity for our family to become a close knit happy family. Not a family that worries about a dirty dish in the sink or whether or not dinner is "good" enough, is the laundry all done, did the girls clean their room?, etc....
Here is a short passage from a book called Busy But Balanced by Mimi Doe, a great read so far, received from one of my very dearest friends for Christmas.

Parents do lose their tempers, moms don't always
want to cuddle, dinner doesn't have to come from
a recipe, not every spiritual family goes to church
or synagogue each week, calm can be found when
dishes aren't done and the house is full of activity.

Now if I can only get my husband to understand this I will be all set, lol.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and I wish you all the best in 2007.

Thankful Thursday

I thought I'd join my friend Ruth and do a Thankful Thursday, you can see hers at My Woods
I don't know how to do those clever little links yet.
Well this is going to be short and sweet today because I am still trying to organize my house and make all of the stuff we recieved for Christmas fit and look nice.
This week I am thakful for friends who bring you Indian food as if they knew you have been craving it for weeks:) Thanks Ruth and Luke, it was great!! Yes, Michael and I shared;)

Tree Farm

We had a great time at the tree farm this year, despite the very, very COLD weather. Although I don't think we will be buying our tree from there anymore(very pricey) we will continue our tradition of riding the train to santa's cabin and buying an ornament. Here are some pictures of our trip, Merry Christmas.

Our new addition

Well after five years of listening to my husbands pleads to have a dog....I caved. Last night I let him talk me into "looking" at a litter of black lab puppies that had been left in a box on the side of the road, and rescued by the Humane Society. Well let's just start by saying that the people who work at the humane society must have the biggest and strongest hearts of all. I could never be there with all of those poor animals and not have my heart broken a hundred times over. So back to the puppy,the litter was named after the Grey's Anatomy cast, and I LOVE that show...never miss an episode. We brought home George, and he is so sweet and lovable that all of my anti-dog schemes are gone forever!! This little guy only messed on the floor twice and that was the night we brought him home. Don't misunderstand me here, it's not like he runs to the door when he needs to go out but, with a watchful eye he has only been messing on the snowy covered grass. Now if we can just get the cats and him to get along we would be all set;)

Opening Day

My husband shot an 8 point buck this morning and the girls were chanting "Daddy got a big buck" throughout the house. We went over to Grandma's and took some pictures. It looks like the girls just might end up following in their daddy's footsteps.

She may look sweet and innocent but.....

What do you get when you combine a load of laundry, soap, banannas, and paper towel??

That's right a big mess in the washing machine and an even bigger mess all over the clothes. Just imagine it...wet shredded paper towel and slimey, smashed bannanas all over your clothes, need I say more?

And of course pictured above is the culprit, cute and oh so sweet but not one bit innocent.

Jack & Gussie

The kittens are growing like weeds and they sure like to get into trouble.
That is all for now.

Bella in disguise

How in the world did she get a hold of a permanent marker? That is what I was thinking when Bella came out of the bedroom with this lovely black permanent marker mustache!! Luckily it came off after a few scrubbings:))

Cozy Cats

Well it seems as though all of our feline friends are getting along just fine. Here Thelma is taking to her motherly duties and caring for Jack. It is quite funny to see them play together too, Thelma jumps right in when Jack and Gussie are palying together. You might wonder why "Gussie" instead of "Gus"? Well when we took them to the Vet to get fixed we found out that Gus is a girl:0 But all is well and we love them anyway you look at it:)

Fun Day

Maddie's friend Samuel has been staying with us since Wed boy what a difference it makes having just one more child in the house. He is a great kid though, so sensitive to Maddie's needs of getting dressed and pretending to get married, dancing and all!! He even brought a red suit jacket and clip on tie knowing that this is her favorite thing to do, true love..ha ha ha. Yesterday we all went over to Grandma's house and had a scavenger hunt, the kdis loved it. They all worked together to find the things that they needed. Today they are going to help me with the yard sale, let's hope that this turns out as well as the scavenger hunt:)

What??

I believe that my 4 year old daughter is really picking up on alot more of those little conversations between my hubby and I than previously thought.

The girls and I are on our way home from Maddie's last ballet class and she wants french fries from the "golden arches". Mind you I am trying to lose weight here so I come up with "Sweetie we just don't have the money to buy french fries right now, and besides they are not good for you to eat all the time". We turn the corner and head for home, end of conversation right?...Maddie comes back with "Don't they take credit cards?". I just laughed and held firm on my answer all the while thinking that we are in big trouble when she becomes a teenager and asks to borrow the credit card:0.

The new adventures of "Gus and Jack"

In case anyone was wondering how the "cute little kittens" are coming along....Let's just say that they have managed to get themselves into a little trouble and rely on the soothing commfort of Barbie after a hard day.

All cats are now getting along much better and the hissing fits are almost a thing of the past.

Nature, the way God intended it to be

I believe that sometimes we all take the simplest pleasures right before us for granted. It is in moments like these that we really need to stop and take a moment to reconnect with our creator and enjoy his beauty that surrounds us.

That is exactly what I did on a nature walk, I took a step back and just stood in awe at the beauty that surrounded me. A time to give thanks and remind myself to enjoy life and all that is has to offer.

Rocky Raccoon

We have been camping with Granny and Papa Steve(Thursday-Saturday), and this year we encountered a new friend. His name just kind of slipped out of our mouths and it fit perfectly. After getting the girls to sleep we were enjoying some much needed adult relaxation time, only to be interrupted by "Rocky". My mom heard something, looked over behind Papa Steve, and just about jumped out of her chair!! There was "Rocky" about a foot away looking for a little midnight snack. so we decided since we had two bags of marshmallows, that we would see what would happen and how close this coon would actually get. Well as you can see by the photo, "Rocky", and Michael, were pretty laid back. This Raccoon actually took the marshmallow right off from Michael's shoe!! We sure had some cheap entertainment that night, and I think "Rocky" probably had a stomach ache from all of the marshmallows and Doritos:"(

As cute as he may look he is still a mischievous raccoon.In the middle of that night and the one after, he came back with a couple of his friends and really made a mess of our campsite. They tried to eat a bar of soap, tore open a bag of charcoal, knocked over a tote of empty cans, and tried to take of with small bottles of propane, they really are not that cute.

What a gardener!!

While doing some spring cleaning in the garden this year, Maddie decided to throw down some carrot seeds. A few here and a few there, wherever they landed a carrot sprouted. Mind you this happened in the flower garden where the carrots were surrounded by roses and other pretty big perennials. I'd have to say that Maddie has a pretty green thumb and she is just thrilled to see that those seeds she "threw" down have turned into very tasty carrots:)

Meet Gus and Jack

Maybe we are a little crazy or maybe it is our love for animals, but we have added two new kittens to our family. Gus and Jack are twin brothers, not twins like Thelma and Louise(who you can tell apart) but like identical twins with no distinct differences. It should be interesting trying to keep them straight but boy are they cute!! I know, I know all kittens are cute and they grow into cats but, I think cats are great too. Now to only hope that our house is still intact when we get back from our camping trip next week:0. I will keep you posted on that one.

Bella's garden adventure

It is hard for me to believe how fast the flowers in one of our gardens have grown!! Bella decided that it was time to go in and take a peak. Usually she is leary of walking all the way through, it is jungle like to her. Bella had a fun adventure in there and I was able to capture some really great pictures, all was good that one day in the garden:)

Are you ready for "Maddie Ballerina"?

Well Maddie is all signed up for a six week summer ballet class and I've got to tell you, I'm pretty sure she's ready:)

Just smelling the roses

Finally all of my hard work in the garden is paying off. All seven of our rose bushes are full of leaves, and a few are even producing beautifully scented roses. Being out in the yard this year weeding,transplanting and watering has really brought me closer to our creator and the amazement of his love for us. I feel as though I am growing spiritually right along with the treasures God has provided me right in my backyard.