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.

I think I'll be staying in for a while.

On Thursday night Maddie was running from the Bella kitty(who was trying to lick her big sister) and as Bella went in for the kitty lick Maddie moved leaving Bella face to face with the metal stripping in the doorway!! Well her forehead(right above the eye) instantly swelled up. Over the next few days her eyelid and inside corner of her eye turned black and blue along with the lump on her forehead. Oh but that is not the end of Bella's boo-boo. Saturday my Dad and his wife came over for dinner and as we were getting ready to go outside, Bella tripped over her own feet and fell right into the puppet basket, same eye!! Now she has a scrape one the side of the same eye. As we woke up this morning we noticed that her eye is almost swelled shut, black and blue and red form the scrape. Needless to say we are not going to church today.

Maddie

Bella

I really can't get over how fast time goes by once you have children. It seems like it was just yesterday when we brought Bella home form the hospital. Now she is sitting on a bike and saying new words everyday. I'm trying not to dwell on all of the things I wished I would have done with the girls and enjoy them to the fullest each day. Sometimes it is hard for me but everyday brings more beauty and wonder through these two little angels of mine.

Fitting room question

Does it bother anyone else that when you are shopping for clothes and get to the fitting rooms you are told; "only six at a time!! What, you mean I (a mom of a 2 & 4 yr old), will have to try six things on and then proceed to put my terrribly out of date clothes back on to go outside of the door, grab the rest and then start over again!! While the fitting room attendant is standing right outside the door! Please leave a comment if you have figured out this fitting room mystery. This really is a pet peeve for me, am I the only one??

A day at the Spa

Wouldn't we all love a day at the spa?? Well today was picture day at Madison's preschool so of course I am frantically running around this morning trying to get both girls dolled up and stay that way until picture time. I have not yet been out sandal shopping for them so the only option that will work with their dresses is bare feet and polished toes. Taking one look at their springtime(mud stained)feet I realize that a morning at the foot spa is in order. My girls love getting a foot bath in the foot massage/soaker, with the silky foot cream and pretty polish afterwards. As to how much they really value the effort that goes into it on my part, well just take another look at the picture I took this afternoon, only 3 hours after we returned home from preschool:0. My girls are girly enough to enjoy a day at the spa, but easy going enough to believe that "God made dirt and dirt won't hurt":))