Wednesday

Our weather has been so nice these past couple of days. I started walking in the evenings to gain some strength in my back. Josh is off on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings so he went with us last night. We had a late start getting gone so we couldn't go too far with it getting dark and Carter being on his bike. We just laugh so hard at him because he rides his bike as fast as he can and then slams on the breaks just before he hits the curb or will run into it full speed and bounce back aways. It kinda made me nervous at first but now I am used to it.

I think my back is feeling a little stronger since I have been trying to walk and exercise more regularly. The chiropractor told me my SI joints are acting up. I couldn't understand why my back would hurt really bad when I sat still, stood, or layed down but felt great if I was moving at all. After he explained my situation, I felt a little better. He told me the SI joints like movement and when they are acting up, if I stop moving, it's like a "glue" wants to hold the joints in place. I was really relieved that it wasn't my discs giving me problems again. That is such a horrible mess to deal with!

Enjoy your day. I have big plans to take all the daycare kids outside in a few minutes. Josh took Carter out to his dad's place to do boy stuff. I am sure they will be gone at least through the noon hour or maybe even the afternoon. They get busy doing stuff out there and lose track of time.

Walking

It was such a nice day here. Kylah had dance class today after school so she is gone. When the last of my daycare kids went home for the day, Kaitlin, Carter, the dogs, and I set out on a walk. Actually, Carter rode his bike. We first went to the library and I dropped off a book. Then we went to the bank to make a deposit.

On the way home, we stopped at Pine Ridge for Carter to get a drink and to say hello to Grandma Mary. Then we were on our way again. We decided to take a different route home. We went over a block from our downtown area. Then we took a right turn and went down a hill. I had no idea that this hill was so steep! Carter lifted his feet off the pedals and was coasting down this hill picking up speed way to quickly. Then his tires headed toward the curb. Kaitlin couldn't catch him in time and I just knew we were going to have a bad wreck to deal with.

I don't know how Carter did it but he hit the curb with his front tire and skidded sideways and his bike just kept going sideways down the hill for about 5 or so feet before he stopped. It must have been that quick prayer I threw towards the sky when I thought we were doomed. I just had a horrible feeling we were going to be getting a cast or stitches before the night was over. But...things turned out okay and we headed back home. The funny part was, Carter had no idea how lucky he was. He just thought it was "super cool and awesome" that he got to skid down the road sideways on his bike.

I do have to say...my back felt good after walking. I also cannot believe how I wasn't winded AT ALL. It's kind of exciting to see results like that so quickly after quitting smoking. I am on day 11 being smoke-free. (Hopefully I won't keep reminding you all on what day I am on so frequently but expect it until at least day 50.) Have a great evening. I am off to make supper.

Quiet Weekend

It has been a very quiet weekend for me. Josh's mom took the kids to Gillette Friday to see family. The kids got home this afternoon. They all said they had a great time. Josh got switched to the afternoon shift with Tuesdays-Wednesdays off-BLAH! The good news is that Carter will get to spend a lot more time with Josh. The bad news is the girls will hardly get to see him. Josh worked Friday and Saturday afternoon. When I was alone Friday night, my neighbor took me out to eat for prime rib. It was nice. Then Saturday morning Josh and I went to Chadron and met my brother and his wife and daughter for lunch and had Chinese. It was so tasty! Chinese is one of my favorites! Then I spent time Saturday afternoon building a puzzle and being lazy. Saturday night my friend Shauna and I went to the movies to see Taken. It was very good and we both enjoyed it. Thanks Shauna! Then we came back to town and talked for awhile and then I came home and went to sleep.

This morning Josh and I were lazy. We stayed in bed catching up on our tivo shows we won't get to watch at night together anymore. I think I finally crawled into the shower at 11am. As most of you know, I am a morning person and could not believe I spent the first half of my day in bed. I completely skipped breakfast so Josh bought us shrimp baskets from Staabs for lunch. They were delicious! Then Josh took a quick nap and out the door he went at 2pm for work. I went back to bed and took a cat nap before the kids got home from Gillette.

Now we are back to normal life getting homework, laundry, dishes, etc. done. I hope you had a great weekend. I am sure I will not have a quiet one again for quite some time, but that is okay. I really missed my kids. I am hardly ever away from them for more than a day, especially Carter since he is home with me all day. He is like my mini-shadow-well, except when his dad is home. Then I hardly ever see him. ;-)

Thankful Thursday

Shay did an A-Z Thankful Thursday last week and told me to give it a try. I am sure it looks easier than it is. I have a lot to be thankful for so this should be a lot of fun! Stay warm today!

THANKFUL THURSDAY A-Z

A. Apples- They are now part of my daily diet while I am on weight watchers.

B. Bear Hugs- Carter gives me one every morning to help start our day off right.

C. Chantix- This is the medicine that made it possible for me to quit smoking! On DAY 8!

D. Durango- I don't know what I would do without our vehicle that seats eight.

E. Energy- I sometimes need more of this but have had a lot this past week to keep up with life.

F. Family- Without family, I don't know what I would do. They are so important to me!

G. Girls Night Out- We ALL NEED THESE once in awhile!

H. Hair Ties- I could not live without these! It's a big necessity in our house.

I. Inspiration- Being inspired by something or someone really makes a difference to me.

J. Josh- I love the life we have traveled together the past 13 years. He is my best friend!

K. Kids- My kids are my world! You can never receive too much reward from them.

L. Love- We all know we can't live without it.

M. Mom- My mother is one of the greatest people you will ever meet.

N. Nibs- These are one of my favorite candies...Haven't ate them though since I started WW.

O. Opinions- It never hurts for me to receive these from friends and family.

P. Puzzles- Our family LOVES to put puzzles together. Just finished one yesterday actually.

Q. Quietness- It is nice for me to have some peace & quiet at night from my loud, hectic days.

R. Reliv- My powder in a can has made a HUGE difference in my back and Kylah's life.

S. Sirius Radio- We listen to this at home, in the vehicle, cleaning, basically all the time.

T. Taco John's- Love their food! Can you tell I am hungry!??

U. Umbrellas- The kids love to dance in the rain with them the 3 times a year in rains here.

V. Vacations- These little breaks in the year help to keep me motivated.

W. Watermelon- This is my absolute favorite fruit ever! I can just taste it now-lol!

X. Xylophone- The kids have spent many hours occupied by this toy instrument we have.

Y. Youth- My childrens' youth is wonderful to watch.

Z. Zoos- I LOVE animals and would go to the zoo weekly if I lived closer to one.

These are what I found that I am thankful for. I thought of many others but didn't want to keep you here an hour reading all of them. Hope you have a great day!

Pictures

Chair-it is the same color as the couch but you can't tell in these pics. Light changes their color throughout the day.

This couch is a lot taller than our old one.

Couch (not sure why light spots showed up)

Carter HAD to be in one of these pictures.


Many of you requested that I post pictures of the new furniture we FINALLY got. So here they are!

New Furniture Here

Josh, Carter, and Josh's mom went to Scottsbluff today to pick up our new couch and recliner. My back has been sore so I didn't want to make the car ride if I didn't have to. I stayed home and got the house cleaned so the new furniture could be brought right in.

After Josh and his mom got the furniture into the house, they took our old furniture to the dump. Then later this evening, Josh had a guy come over and help move our entertainment center around and rearranged things to my liking. I have to admit, it looks kind of bare in our living room now. We gave the guy who helped us our computer desk that was in the living room so I think that is why it looks so sparse. This way there is more room for the kids to play. =)

I had a good day of cleaning a bit, relaxing with Kaitlin and one of her friends while we worked on a puzzle, and listened to some music with Kylah. I got caught up on a some laundry and other than that, took it pretty easy. I just wish I had one more day to this weekend as it went by so fast. Have a great Monday!

Top Five Things I Am Thankful For This Week

1. No sickness in our household.

2. The good roads for Josh to travel to work.

3. Sticking with my weight watchers 100%.

4. Smoking less and less each day.

5. The fun ice cream trip we took last night for a bedtime snack.

Hope you are all having a great week! Mine started off bad and is getting better. We are going to get our new furniture on Sunday. I am going to remove our old furniture and everything in our living room and completely shampoo our carpet really good before our new furniture gets here. Have a great day everyone!

Furniture!!!

Today the kids went with Josh and I to Scottsbluff. The weather was great when we woke up so we headed there to spend a few hours. We went to the mall to the furniture store. We found a couch and recliner we liked. We didn't know if they would even be open since it was Sunday so we didn't take a pick-up down with us. Well we found the furniture and bought it. We have 30 days to pick it up. We are planning on going to get it next Sunday. I was so excited we found some we liked at a great price!

We ate Chinese for lunch and then took the kids to the arcade in the mall. I counted 19 machines that were 'Out of Order' and I think 17 that were working. The kids had fun for the half hour we spent in there. We of course did a Walmart stop when we first got to town and the kids picked out a toy for Valentine's Day.

We had a great time and even got home early. We did a quick-clean of the house. That is when everyone has a couple things to do and we get it done fast so we have the evening for fun. My jobs were more time-consuming. I was lucky enough to vacuum, sweep, and mop the floors.

Now Kaitlin is building her new puzzle she got, Carter is playing a game, and Kylah is coloring. I am now off to help Josh with supper. We are having Fajitas. Yum!

Still Hunting

This morning Josh and I headed south towards Scottsbluff or Alliance to go furniture shopping. We didn't even get five miles out of town and the snow was covering the highway so we turned around and came home. I went out coyote hunting with him and our two dogs for awhile. We didn't see any coyotes but we did let the dogs run around in the snow through the fields to get some exercise. They are both over weight so we knew it would do them some good to run around.

About 10am we headed to Chadron and went to Angela's to eat lunch for Valentine's Day. Then we went to Bruce Hill to look at their selection of furniture. I didn't see anything that I really, really liked, so we then went to Sears to see what they had. I thought they sold furniture but only mattresses and appliances...bummer!!!

We then went and got our kids from their Grandma Dana's and came home. I must have been really tired because I took a 3 hour nap. It was so nice except for when I woke up it was dark and nearly suppertime. It kind of threw me out of routine. We are hoping the stores in Scottsbluff are open tomorrow and may go there to take a look. If not, I guess it will be another weekend. That is okay too. I got my hopes up for new furniture this weekend, so of course in my mind I think I have to have it NOW. Oh well, I would rather wait and spend the money on something I like a lot than just settling with a quick choice.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope it is a special one for you.

Friday Night Movie Trip

Earlier this week Josh, his mom, and I decided to take the kids to the movies tonight. We hadn't went since Christmas and thought they would enjoy Hotel For Dogs. Well..............that movie ended Thursday night so we had only a couple of choices for the kids. We decided to go see Coraline. WHAT A HUGE MISTAKE!!!!!!!

The movie was 3D so we thought the kids would really like it. If I had to sum that movie up into one word, my choice would be STRANGE. It had some scarier parts for Kylah and Carter and didn't make a whole lot of sense. I wish I had seen the previews before we decided to watch it. It is a movie that we will never own.

The kids stayed at Dana's so we are going to get up in the morning and head out to go furniture shopping. I would love to get a new couch and two new recliners but we aren't too sure yet. For sure, I want a couch right away. Ours is totally worn out and ready to retire to the dump.

The roads were great tonight so hopefully they stay that way tomorrow through the snow we are supposed to get. Have a great weekend and a special ♥Valentine's Day!♥

Eye Madness

I have been having trouble with my left eye since Sunday. I woke up to it watering profusely and I couldn't get it to stop. After a shower and making sure there was nothing in it, I felt better. By Sunday evening it was back to the waterfall of tears on my cheek. I couldn't read, watch television, or handle the lights being on in the house.

Yesterday I made a doctor's appointment and went to see what was wrong. The doctor flushed it out and said there was a tiny piece of hair in there. I was prescribed some eye drops and came home.

I woke up this morning feeling the same way as before so I made an appointment with the eye doctor in Chadron. Thank goodness Shay could drive me over because I couldn't handle the sunlight at all. I think I talked to Shay 90% of the way with my hand over my eye. I know I looked ridiculous but there was nothing I could do to keep the tears from pouring. Lol... I was very fortunate to have Chip and Alisha come over and watch the daycare kids for me while I had my appointment. THANK YOU!!

When I arrived at the eye doctor, he stained my eye and began looking for the problem. He first flipped my eye lid up since that is where I felt the most pain, itch, scratch, or basically the BOULDER I felt was in there. OUCH! Then he looked at my eye through a lense with different colors of light. Shortly after, he told me the problem.

He said I have (I can't remember the first word-I was busy wiping more tears away)- Cornea Erosion. He prescribed me some eye drops with steroids to help coat my eye and ease the pain. He asked me if I slept on my left side and didn't use a humidifer in my bedroom. I told him he was right to both answers. He said occasionally if your eye dries out during sleep and then REM sets in, the rapid eye movement will cause a dry patch of the eye to get irritated. I am not sure if this is what happened but think it's a big possiblity. Whatever happened, I am glad I went to see him.

I have to tell you, those drops are amazing! I take one drop every three hours. They are working rather well. It is so nice to be able to look at my computer screen without the tears and blindness.

Thanks again Shay, Alisha, and Chip for helping me out!

Thankful Thursday

Here it is Thursday again so I thought I would list a quick 5 things I am thanful for this past week.

1. The nice weather today to have good roads to take Kaitlin to Alliance for an orthodontist appt.
2. Our taxes to be done and sent in. (THANKS IRENE!)
3. The health of my family & daycare children. -We all know this is a bad time of year for illness.
4. Josh still having employment with BNSF. (I feel for the families laid off at the moment.)
5. The school for some things going on that they are completely helping me out with.


I have the windows opened today for the kids to enjoy some fresh air. My backyard still has snow melting and mud is everywhere, but they still need some outside weather. I vacummed and the kids and I went through the toys and then rearranged the toy boxes and table. They always think it is fun to do that sort of thing. I am tackling laundry, which I do on a daily basis. Soon we will be laying out our "picnic" blanket in the living room and having a picnic lunch. During the summers, we grill and eat outside a lot. During the winters I try and make up for the cold weather so we try and have picnic lunches inside a couple times a month. We won't be grilling but that will be okay.

I am taking Kaitlin to the orthodontist in Alliance today for a check up. She hasn't had her braces for nearly two years. They wanted more of her teeth to fall out before we had her go back to the office. Her teeth have stayed pretty straight so I am hoping things will be okay. I will see what they say and go from there.

Josh is busy at work still on the day shift. I like it that way but know it will change soon. Suppertime is a big thing I will miss. Josh and I are very strong on the fact that we eat as a family at the kitchen table at least 4-5 times a week, if not more. This is the time we learn the most of what our kids are doing in school and any concerns that may come up, or just fun talk too.

Kaitlin is getting the "itch" already for softball season to get here. That is still nearly 4 months away but she is eager for it to start. She enjoys her bowling on Tuesdays after school but it will be ending next month sometime. Last week she bowled a 150! We were very proud of her!

Kylah and Carter can't wait for this weekend. We have a family birthday party with their cousin at Gramps's and Grandma Mary's. It will be so much fun! Hope all is well with everyone and you are enjoying this nice weather.

TAG! YOU ARE IT!

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 3 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question. Have Fun!!

I tag: ♥Shay, ♥Shauna, ♥Sara

1. What is your name: JODY
2. A four Letter Word: JUMP
3. A boy's Name: JACK
4. A girl's Name: JANETTE
5. An occupation: JUGGLER
6. A color: JUNIPER
7. Something you wear: JERSEY
8. A food: JERKY
9. Something found in the bathroom: JOCK ITCH CREAM (tee hee)
10. A place: JUNK YARD
11. A reason for being late: JUST WOKE UP
12. Something you shout: JOSH, PHONE!
13. A movie title: JUST MARRIED
14. Something you drink: JUICE
15. A musical group: JOAN JETTE AND THE BLACK HEARTS
16. An animal: JACK RABBIT
17. A street name: JONES DRIVE
18. A type of car: JETTA
19. A song title: JOY TO THE WORLD
20. A verb: JOG

It's Super Bowl Sunday!

Hurray- It's Super Bowl Sunday! I am a big fan of watching pro football so I make sure to watch the Super Bowl every year. Today we are having Josh's Dad, Mary, and Grandma Susie over for the game. Susie is a big football fan so it should be lots of fun! We are going to have that wonderful soup Phae made for us girls a week or so ago and some side foods and of course some chips and dip.

I planned on cleaning the house yesterday to prepare for today but a nap sounded so much better, so that is just what Carter and I did- take a long nap.

So today, I am cleaning and getting the food prepared. Hope your team wins if you have a special one you are rooting for. I am however going for the Cardinals! (Sorry Kortney) Have a great day everyone!

Hamburger Night

Thursday nights is Hamburger Night at the Eagles Club here in town so we went down there for supper. We got off to a later start than normal. When Josh, his dad Nick, his Grandma Susie, the three kids and I walked in, the place was packed full of people. We had to add another table and chairs for us to have a spot to eat. When we usually go down, it isn't packed but has a steady group of people enjoying their evening out. Well, all of us must have showed up at once. The cook was frantically tearing around the kitchen to get all the orders done and out to us. We waited an hour and a half before we got our food. One of the waitresses asked in a joking manner if we were disgusted yet. I replied with a smile and said, "not yet." It was a nice evening of us talking upon one another and the kids sat quietly for the most part drinking their Shirley Temples and playing with the mini swords that came in their drinks.

Carter decided tonight that he wanted to "UP" his ketchup sandwich to a hamburger bun with not only ketchup, but a bunch of mustard as well. He loved it and was excited that his sandwich was no longer only red, but red and yellow. I guess small things please kids. Overall, we had a great time and we came home with full bellies in time to get ready for bed.

Tomorrow is Friday and I am excited for the weekend! The kids have been so busy and wild ever since this snow dumped on us a week ago. I am ready for a calm day to hopefully relax for awhile.

Too Funny!

I had to post this picture of Carter. He put on this Cat in the Hat costume tonight and was running around the house having fun. I had noticed the noise volume in the house had dropped but didn't realize why. Then Josh came into the living room and found Carter crashed on the floor still wearing this costume. Too cute! I had to share it with you all!

Still Snowing

It has been snowing here for a couple days now. We have close to a foot of snow on the ground and the kids are loving it! Today we had a scheduled power outage in town so we headed out to Gramps and Grandma Mary's house. The kids and Josh went sledding and tubing. I stayed inside and watched through the windows. Josh pulled them all on the four wheeler. Kylah went first and had the luck of fresh snow in the field so she was showered from head to toe in seconds on her first trip around. Then it was Carter's turn and Josh had to go slower since he doesn't weigh much and the tube slid too easily. Then Kaitlin had her turn and had a ton of fun. Afterwards, all three kids came inside to warm up a bit and then they had warm baths. The plan after they warmed up was to have hot chocolate. Instead, they thought root beer floats sounded better...(Not sure why as they were all FREEZING for awhile.)

We had a great day of relaxing. Gramps and Josh took Carter out to feed cows later in the day before we came home. It was a great time for all of us.

Friday Night Fun

Last night Phae held a candle party at her house. A bunch of us ladies got together and had a great time. Phae made the best Mexican Soup I have ever tasted and an awesome home-made chocolate cake with wonderful frosting for dessert. Thanks Phae! I am sure you will be getting a lot of phone calls for that recipe, with me being one of them....;) It was nice to get out with the ladies and enjoy ourselves. Thanks for the fun and great laughs everyone!

Josh worked today, Kaitlin went to a birthday party until tomorrow, and my other two kids are at Gramps and Grandma's for the night. I didn't know what to do with myself being home all alone. I did the dishes, washed a ton of blankets and then thought to myself...DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY INSTEAD OF HOUSEWORK! So I read my book, took a nap, went and got a soda to drink, and watche t.v. without any interruptions. It was so nice and relaxing.

I was hoping to go to Chadron to the movies tonight but the snow is falling steadily so I think we will stay home and watch our Netflix movie...Hmmm...maybe Josh will take me out for supper. Now that sounds like a good idea! He just walked in the door so I am going to see what he wants to do.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and stay warm!

My Thankful Thursday List of Five

♥ Deb's surgery going well for her.

♥ The beautiful weather we have had this week.

♥ Josh not being laid off from his job yet.

♥ Great talks with our kids during meal times.

♥ Having our bathroom finally painted and finished.

Today has been quite a day of playing outside for the kids. Since the weather has been so nice, we have been taking advantage of being outside as much as possible. It seems so strange that the past three days we have been outside with light jackets or without coats and tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 25 degrees! How fair or should I say, unfair IS THAT!?!

I do need to remember it is January and this sort of thing happens quite frequently. Afterall, we did have a blizzard last May and school was cancelled and by the next evening the snow had melted.

The boys drove their trucks in every possible place that dirt appeared in the backyard today and the girls played on the swingset, sang songs at the top of their lungs, played hide and go seek, and managed to get in a couple games of tag before lunch. We had to smack boots and shoes together off the deck afterwards because there is still some mud in various places. I think they all had a lot of fun though!

Happy Birthday Chaney!

Happy Birthday Chaney! Today is one of my daycare girl's birthday. Since school is getting out at 1pm today, I wanted to make some birthday treats for snacktime for Chaney to enjoy with the kids here. Carter and I made them this morning and then he helped me decorate them. We decided to bake Icecream Cone Cupcakes. They are one of the kids' favorite snacks and we only have them for a birthday or holiday. It has been awhile since we've had them so Chaney was excited to find out this morning what her treats would be later on today.

What a Beautiful Day!

It is so nice out today-FINALLY! I took the kids out this morning to let them burn up some energy and I went to work getting the yard cleaned up. The kids played for nearly two hours before they were ready to come inside. I have all my windows open and am enjoying the fresh air.

I was looking through some pictures I had on my computer and wanted to add these two of my kids with their cousin Brooklynn. This was about a month ago. They are settling in to enjoy the Oreo Shakes that Josh had made for them. Oreo Shakes are a big hit in our house. We probably have them way too often, but everyone loves them so much.

Have a great day! Get out and enjoy the weather if you can. It gave me more momentum to finish painting my bathroom. I have all the green painted, now just the white left and a little bit of the trim.

Windy Days

Dang that wind is horrible today! I drove over to Chadron to get some paint supplies we need to get our bathroom painted. On the way over it was so windy. On my drive back home it was really bad! I have not seen that many tumble weeds flying so high in the air, the fields full of dirt whirling around, and the semi-trucks driving with the front ends near the yellow line and the trailers almost in the ditch in a long time. I even saw two motorcylers riding their bikes with the bikes tipped halfway on their sides from the strong winds.

I wanted to get some stuff done outside today but when I woke up and heard that darn wind howling again, I knew I had to change my plans. I decided we needed to get the bathroom painted. We primed the walls and the trim on the windows and then I lost all ambition to continue. I guess I will finish it during the evenings this week or next Saturday. For some reason, when the wind blows, I feel tired and want to be lazy. SOOOO....that is just what I am going to be this afternoon...lazy.

Have a great afternoon, and Deb, we will be thinking of you during your surgery and sending prayers your way. Good luck!

Our Saturday Night

This afternoon I drove myself and the three kids to Hemingford to visit our friends. We stayed for about 45 minutes and then I went to leave to head to Alliance to meet Josh for our supper at the Legion Club. I was shocked when Carter told me he wanted to come along and not stay with his sisters. Carter and I went to Alliance and met Josh to eat supper. We sat with a friend of his thru work along with his family and had a great meal. They served steak, baked potatoes, salad, green beans, and corn. It was a very tasty meal! Carter had a hamburger and salad. We put our names into a few drawings being held over the evening. Josh won a Varsity Jacket and I won $20 in chamber bucks. We left before my name was drawn so we could get back to Hemingford to visit with our friends some more. We don't see them nearly as often as we would like to.

When it was time to leave, Kylah gave us her "puppy" eyes and asked if she could spend the night since Kaitlin was going to. We ended up leaving with only Carter. Grandma Dana will bring the girls home tomorrow when she heads through Hemingford on her way home from being out of town. We had a great time and now I am ready to go to bed. I don't think Carter is quite ready yet... I can hear him asking Josh to make Oreo Shakes and Josh telling him it's too late and way past our bedtimes. LOL! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Bride Wars

Tonight I got to have some fun "girl time" for a few hours. Shay and I went to Chadron to get in a good meal and to watch the movie Bride Wars, which we both wanted to see. (Josh decided from the first time he saw the previews that he would pass on seeing it...tee-hee! He claims it is a total chick-flick, which it is.) So, Shay and I planned a girls' night out and went over to the China House and ate a delicious meal and then headed to watch our movie. It was so nice to get out for a meal and to have lots of laughs. I had a great time and hope Shay did too. Thanks for the date Shay! Oh, and BTW- it is a very funny show and I really liked it.

Tomorrow is our dinner in Alliance and the way the kids are talking, Josh and I may get a night of dinner without them. All they can talk about is seeing their friends and staying at their house while we go eat. Josh and I very rarely go to dinner without them so it may be a nice evening of an actual half-quiet meal. Can't wait!

TGIF-The Weekend is Almost Here!

My week has flown by once again. It seems like yesterday was Tuesday. I cannot believe it has been nearly two weeks since I took vacation and school was starting again.

Tonight I am going to dinner and a movie with a good friend of mine. Josh didn't want to go see Bride Wars so he was more than happy to send me out the door with someone besides himself. LOL! I am anxious to get out of the house and into a restaurant and movie theatre.

Tomorrow night is the dinner and dance in Alliance for Josh's job on the railroad. He works tomorrow so I will be meeting him with the kids for supper at 5pm. Should be fun! I am not quite sure which kids will be going with us. We have friends in Hemingford where Kaitlin is going to stay and spend the night, but Carter absolutely loves our friend Mandy, so he may stay with them. I know if he does, then Kylah will probably want to stay too...Who knows, maybe Josh and I will get to go to dinner kidless. That would be nice too. :) I guess I will wait and see what tomorrow evening brings.

I hope you enjoy the weather if you live here. It is supposed to be in the 45-55 degree range through Monday so maybe some of this snow will melt and soak into the ground like we need it to. Hope you have a great weekend!

Lost Tooth Club

Kylah was very excited last night. Kaitlin pulled her first tooth out for her. She had one growing in behind it so I told Kylah she had until Friday to get it out. After the girls worked on getting it more lose for an hour last night, the time came and Kaitlin pulled it out. Kylah was ecstatic! She went running downstairs to Josh and Carter and screamed, "I am now a member of the Lost Tooth Club at school!" Then we had to do the usual routine and place that tiny tooth in a cup in the kitchen for the Tooth Fairy to find. At 6:50a.m. today, Kylah came running upstairs to see if the Tooth Fairy remembered her. She did. She found a dollar bill in her cup. She yelled, "Sweet!" and couldn't wait to get dressed to go to school to tell her teachers.

I tried to take a picture with my digital camera but something is wrong with it. I put brand new batteries in it but once I turn it on, the camera shows low battery and shuts off. How frustrating! That is also why we have no Christmas pictures for me to post. Bummer...I need to get it fixed or buy a new one.

Hope you enjoy your day! It is snowing big, white flakes right now. It is so beautiful but we all know that it makes traveling difficult. I better go get that toothless Kylah ready for school. :)

Book

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

Many of you have commented or asked if this book is at the library. I borrowed it from my mother-in-law to read so I don't know if our local library has it or not. For some reason, I cannot comment on most of your blogs. It asks for a choice of links to use and it won't let me comment under any of them. SO...I still read them, just can't comment to you. I don't know how to change it either to make it so I can add comments. Have a great day!

I Highly Recommend This To You Book Lovers

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright I just finished reading this book and highly recommend it. It is a very fast-paced story. I started it last night and had it finished by early this afternoon. It has some inspiration in it as well. I know a few of you who love to read so I thought I would share this book as an idea for you.

Weekend Over

My weekend flew by too fast...probably because I went to Rapid yesterday, went downtown last night, got groceries in Chadron today, then picked up the kids at Grandma Dana's. We actully ate roast and potatoes at Dana's before we brought the kids home and it was delicious! We came home and unloaded groceries then watched some t.v. and took a two hour nap. It was a nice and relaxing day for us. The kids played with the toys they received at Christmas and we had a day without any fighting between them for a change. It was nice! I am off to start a book that was recommended to me. I will read it and let you know what I think. Have a great Monday!

Shopping and Fun

I went to Rapid this morning with my friend Bergetta to do some serious clothes shopping for Josh and I. Our closets are full, but everything is either out-of-date, old, or just not fitting right...go figure!! We had a great time and got some girl chatting in on the way. Fortunately I was able to find a few things for us and I FINALLY found me some new tennis shoes that I had been needing since Carter was born...how desperate is that!? Well I found them, and they are super comfy and I love them!

Tonight I am headed downtown with some gal pals and a few others to have an "after holiday relaxing evening" and to have Josh join us after he gets done at the fire department. He put in 10 years there and is retiring since he works in Alliance and isn't home to make the calls like he needs to.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Toys Galore

This morning I decided to tackle Carter's room and get it totally cleaned out. His closet was so full of blankets, coats, jackets, and toys. As I was cleaning his room along with two of my daycare girls, one by one we noticed some of Carter's new toys he got for Christmas were broken in the living room. I ended up finding six broken Christmas toys total so I put a plan together.

One thing I have noticed lately is that the kids won't pick up toys like they used to. I use to say "time to pick up everyone" and within five minutes the place was clean. Not anymore. I started thinking about what changed and why so many toys were being broken when it came to mind that there were just way too many toys available. Everything would be dumped and on the floor by 9am and then pick up time would last 45+ minutes.

I put myself at a 3 year-old's level and thought...I wouldn't want to pick up this many toys. It looks like a never-ending job. One thing with kids is if the job looks too big, they often lose enthusiasm to finish something. Well, these kids were breaking toys from stepping on so many others that were all over the floor, and not being able to help it since the floor was completely covered.

I set to work getting Carter's room finished. Then I moved a big toy box in there and put his Christmas toys and his other toys in there for him to play with. Then I put an organizer that Grandma Mary gave us in the girls' room. I had hoped with the organizer the kids could put things away in the corrects places so they could see what they had to play with. That never happened. They just pulled the drawers out and spilled everything onto the floor and then didn't know which bins to put the toys in when it was time to pick everything back up.

The problem is now solved. Every toy of Carter's, Kylah's, and Kaitlin's are now in their rooms and every daycare toy except the ones I threw away (four full trash bags!) are now in two large laundry baskets.

Pick up time was only a five minute ordeal before lunch today, just like it used to be. I don't know how I didn't realize so many toys had been added the past few months to the toy area. I kind of felt bad to eliminate so many, but also knew there would be a lot less tripping over toys, and unnecessary picking up to do.

Back In Session

The girls woke up this morning, not too thrilled that school was back in session. I made them go to bed early last night because I just KNEW they would be tired from the past two weeks. Heck, I am tired and I didn't work, just played during my 12 days of vacation. We managed to get back on schedule right away and things were back into full swing. By 7:10 this morning, I had my three kids up and going and four daycare children here. I kind of pondered if the daycare kids would be shy or quiet after being gone for so long, but every one of them came in with big smiles and of course, lots of stories to tell about their holiday events. I cannot imagine it going any smoother than it did. The kids and I missed everyone. Even the dogs were greeting parents and kids at the door this morning. It was funny.

This is my eighth year of daycare and in a way, those kids become "yours" as well, so I was ready to see them all walk thru the door this morning. I don't know how I did it, but I kind of forgot the background noise they make of the constant chattering, singing, making car noises, etc. I am glad they are back and we are all ready to start a great new year together.

Vacation is almost over...

Reality is setting back in for me and my family. School is back in session tomorrow and I will be back to work as well. I took vacation December 24-January 4 to enjoy a break and some family time. We had many laughs, fun moments, and great talks.

It is so hard to believe that twelve days have passed since my last day of work. I swear time goes so much faster when you are on vacation. I am actually looking forward to daycare tomorrow. I miss seeing my group of kids walk in my door everyday and they always have such great stories to tell about their own holiday happenings while they were gone.

I hope you all had as much fun as I did over Christmas and New Year's and the time in-between. This year was a great blessing and it's nice to know our families have made it back to their homes safely. Have a great 2009!

So Much Fun!!!

Last night Dana, Nicole, Rachael, and I headed north to Prairie Wind Casino. Gosh I LOVE THAT PLACE! Yes, I am one of those crazy gamblers who gets a thrill and my adrenaline going when I first walk in the door and hear and see all those great slot machines. We always have fun when us girls go, even if we come home without anything left in our pockets.

Well...............Last night was a different story. We had gambled a couple of hours and had tried out many different machines of all kinds. (Except my Lobstermania machine. It was out of order. Boo-hoo, that is my all-time favorite one that I always have to play.) Anyways, Nicole and I sat down at some Red, White, & Blue dollar machines and started to play. Nicole hit for $320.00. Of course we cheered because we are noisy, happy people when we win. Not even five minutes after she won, I hit for $400.00 and the cheering went up again. It was so much fun!

We all had such a great time and had many laughs as we always do on the way up to gamble, and on the way home as well. This is something we always try to do when we all get together. The last trip was in July and we were due to go again. Glad we did!!!

Christmas

I hope you all enjoyed your time with family and friends during Christmas. We had a great time and had a pretty relaxing day yesterday.

My best gift (lots of prayers said) was that we were able to get our Durango on Christmas Eve and our car fixed too the same day. We lucked out and had a code go off that was caused from the cold. It doesn't happen very often the mechanic said. He went ahead and did all the diagnostic testing on the Durango and found the transmission was flawless and with the code erased, it was back to normal. That was a huge relief for us. We drove up to Hot Springs and picked it up Christmas Eve morning, then came home so Josh could get his new radiator put into his car. Now we have both vehicles back in our drive-way. What a good feeling!

The kids enjoyed Christmas immensely and got what they wanted from us and Santa. They kept busy yesterday playing and wearing their new clothes. We have Christmas with my family Saturday night in Chadron and then Josh's family on Sunday out at his dad's house. We are looking forward to seeing everyone. It seems like it has been FOREVER since we last saw them all.

I am on vacation until January 5th. I am taking it easy today, just enjoying time with my kids before our company makes it here. Josh had to work but has the next two days off so that will be nice.

Stay warm! They are calling for some snow and high winds this afternoon. I think we may watch a movie and drink hot chocolate.

Happy Holidays!

I just wanted to stop what I am doing for a moment and wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. May you have a very special time with your loved ones and a blessed holiday season.

We will be enjoying Christmas Eve with Gramps, Grandma Mary, Grandma Dana, Great-Grandma Susie, Great-Grandma Noni, and John tonight at our house.

The menu for dinner is:

Crab Legs
Steak
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Salad

YUM! I can't wait! Kaitlin has been wanting crab legs forever so we thought this would be the perfect time for her to enjoy them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I WAS TAGGED BY SHAY

This is a picture of Carter trying to hook up his little tractor to Gramps's drill. He just didn't understand why his plan wasn't working out so well. This was taken sometime in September when Carter was out at Gramps's place with Josh for the day.

HERE ARE THE RULES...

1)Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2)Select the 4th picture in the folder

3)Explain the picture

4)Tag 4 people to do the same

I TAG Deb, Becky, Amy, Shauna

Poor Luck With Our Vehicles

Last week was not a good week for our vehicles to behave. Our Durango decided to make a loud clunking noise and the engine light came on when we were headed to Rapid City from Deadwood. We lost power and only had third gear. We drove it home slowly and parked it. I called GMC in Chadron and talked to a friend of ours and he recommended the dealership in Hot Springs to work on it since it is under warranty. We loaded it up Saturday morning and took it to Hills Edge Auto for them to look at it. Then when Josh gave the warranty card to the guy up there, he told him it wasn't a Crystler/Dodge warranty like we thought we had paid for. (Josh was extremely mad!) I called the warranty place this morning because the back of the warranty card said to call them before any work is done to make sure the vehicle will be covered. Low and behold I got a computer voice. It did say we can take it to any dealership. I was worried all weekend we would have to go get the Durango and take it to another place. Now I am waiting for the phone call to see what the diagnosis is. Josh thinks our transmission is going out-It only has 52,000 miles on it.

Then Josh's car decided to act up on his way home from work on Friday. His low coolant light came on so he stopped at a friend's house in Hemingford and put some water in it to make it home. Josh says the radiator needs replaced. Merry Christmas to us!! Now instead of getting him the xBox 360 he wanted, he is getting a radiator instead... Well, we are adults, so we know a radiator is the best choice at this point. Lol.

Luckily, my mom has her car at home that she doesn't drive often so she loaned it to us for Josh to get to work while we are without a vehicle. Please put in a prayer for us to get them up and going again. After tomorrow, I am on vacation until school resumes on January 5th. We have family coming (hurray!) but I am bummed I won't have transportation while they are here. I am keeping my fingers crossed that at least one vehicle makes it home this week fixed... I wish you all better luck than we are having. :)

Christmas Program

Tonight was our school Christmas program. Kaitlin played the drums and triangle for band and Kylah sang three songs. We enjoyed listening to the cute little kids out there on stage. Afterwards, we stopped in the auditorium to meet up with Santa. He gave the kids a candy cane and we came home. Now the girls are asleep, anxious to have their Christmas parties at school tomorrow before they begin their long break.

Tasty Treats

We had a wonderful surprise this morning! We heard a knock on the door and it was Shay bringing us all yummy cupcake treats. The kids were overly excited, immediately choosing which adorable cupcake was theirs to eat. Shay has a lot of talent when it comes to making treats for school, daycare, and the holidays.

My absolute favorite are the snowmen! Very Cute!! Cupcakes are my favorite snack so I am going to indulge and have an unhealthy breakfast. Thank you Shay!

(Click on her blog link to see the cupcakes on the bottom right side of my page. I am off to eat...!)

Gingerbread Houses

It is so cold here today! We decided to stay inside where it's warm and decorate our gingerbread houses. It was a lot of fun.

Kaitlin made one by herself.

Kylah, Carter, and I made one together.

Kaitlin's is the one with the gingerbread man on the roof. It was exciting. Carter put a lot of thought and concentration into it so it was fun to see him enjoying it so much.

Exciting News!!!

MY NIECE BROOKLYNN IS GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!!!

This is so exciting for Brooklynn and our families. We found out about this awhile back but wanted to respect Brooklynn's mommy on waiting for the news to be out. She wanted to let her students know before anyone else in the public did. I eagerly waited for the word to be out. She told her students and so now I am sharing the news! (with Brooklynn's mom's permission of course!)

Tonight we are meeting Josh's brother Zeb and his girlfriend Rachael in Deadwood. I CAN'T WAIT! Then we are going shopping for Christmas tomorrow in Rapid. Yay, I will get to do a little baby shopping on the side too...he he.

Anyways, I just had to share the news. Our family is big, but adding another baby to the family makes it even that much better! :)

Excited

Kylah headed to school this morning to talk about her pictures on the bulletin board to her classmates. She was super happy and ready to walk out the door at 7:35 a.m. She didn't actually leave until after 8:00 a.m. though.

I am anxious to head to Rapid tomorrow and get all my Christmas shopping done. I need to get it done before the weather gets bad so this Saturday works the best. Only Josh and I are going so I am wondering if we will get to eat at Red Lobster...oh, I hope so! Yum!

Have a great weekend! Stay out of the cold weather that is predicted for Sunday...

Flu Shots

Today the kids and I went to the clinic after school was out and got our flu shots for the season. This is my first flu shot ever. I don't tend to get sick often so hopefully I don't jinx myself.

The nurse asked who wanted to go first. Carter piped right up and yelled, "me, me, me, I do!" So he went first. He shed a couple tears and was okay til he saw he was bleeding. Once the band-aid was on, he was fine.

Then Kaitlin went next. No problems with her at all.

THEN KYLAH...She was very upset. She kept saying, "okay, just a second, just a second." I gave the nurse 'the look' to have her go ahead and give the shot to her. She did and then Kylah stops crying and says, "where is it? I am done?!" Then no problems after that.

I was last. No crying from me either. Tee hee! I was even offered a sticker with the kids afterwards. They made their choices carefully, then we all left the clinic happy.

I asked Carter what he wanted for supper tonight and he wants orange soup. SO, Cheesy Potato Soup it is then! It should be ready to eat soon. YUM!

Kylah Update

Hmmm...Kind of weird today. About an hour after this post, Kylah's fever dropped and she came out of my bedroom telling me it was past lunch time and she was hungry. I asked her if she wanted toast or soup and she said, "Oh, I think I will have some Cap'n Crunch Cereal, Yeah that's what I want." I was a little leery on giving that to her but she ate and has been giggly all afternoon. I am keeping my fingers crossed it was some crazy 12 hour flu and she doesn't get to feeling bad again.

Poor Kylah

Kylah woke up this morning with a tummy ache and a slight fever. I kept her home from school and she has been resting in my bedroom to hopefully keep the other kids from getting sick too. I feel bad for her. She is so quiet and cries off and on. Then she threw up and said her tummy hurt really bad. I hope she gets over this fast. She is bummed that she is Student-saurus of the Week and not at school.

We just pray for a speedy ending to this flu. Hope all of you are feeling healthy and well!

Kylah is Student-saurus of the Week!

Kylah and I went up to her classroom this morning and decorated the bulletin board for her Student-saurus of the Week project. We had a lot of fun! Then her grandma that's in her classroom came in to see it along with Mrs. Buecker and Mrs. Limbach. They talked to Kylah and let her show them her pictures she was putting up.

Grandma Mary came to town and watched the daycare kids so I could take Kylah up there. I was glad she did. It's not often I get to see my girls at school and help out with many projects or activities.

Kylah is excited for her classmates to see the bulletin board and can't wait to tell them about it on Friday.

Sunday

It is so quiet in my house at the moment. Josh and Carter are out helping Gramps at his place and the girls are at a birthday party. So, now I am sitting here wondering what to do with my free time... I don't get that very often so it's always hard to decide what to do. I thought I would start with adding this post.

Kylah and I have been working this weekend on her school project. She is the Student-saurus of the week starting tomorrow. Her class theme this year is dinosaurs. For this project, we collect things about Kylah to put on the bulletin board in her classroom for the other students to see all week. Then on Friday, Kylah gets to tell about everything she has on the board.

Last night we printed off a bunch of pictures of her along with family. We cut them out and then put them on construction paper. It was time consuming because our family is so big so she has a lot of pictures. Then we printed out a colorful page of her favorites: food, color, sport, etc.

After we got her board stuff done we put some pictures of Kylah into two small photo albums from birth to present day. It was a lot of fun! I am very disorganized with our family photos and haven't started scrap booking ANY of them yet so we had ten years of pictures to go through. The whole family enjoyed the memories and surprises on how much everyone has changed. That is why is took so long- we were reminiscing:)

I get to go to school tomorrow morning to Kylah's classroom to help her decorate her bulletin board. I will be sure to take a picture of it and post it for her. She is very proud of it. One thing she kept saying when we worked on it was how much she missed everyone and can't wait until Christmas to see them all. That is how we are all feeling. The countdown is on in our house to see our family. We cannot wait!!

I am off to read my book and take a nap. I know, sounds boring to you, but sounds wonderful to me!

TGIF

Hurray, it's Friday!! This week has flown by for us. Maybe because I actually got out of the house. Since I work in my home, sometimes it is 2-4 days before I leave.

Wednesday night Josh, the kids and I went to Chadron and stopped at Walmart for a couple things then met Josh's mom at Taco John's for supper. Then yesterday I had an IEP meeting for Kylah at the school at 4pm then went down to the Eagles for Thursday Night Hamburgers. It was nice. We went there and ate with Josh's Grandma Susie, Nick, and Mary. We also got to see Josh's Grandpa Keith and Grandma Barb while we were there. Then we all came back to our house and talked until 8pm.

Fridays are usually very busy for me. However, today I only have Carter here with two other daycare children. I will have to find something fun for us to do so they can keep busy. The fewer kids, the quicker they get bored.

I hope you have a good day and an even better weekend!

Let it Snow...(or not)

I love snow! I always have and always will but the one thing I don't like is the bad roads that come with it. I like to watch the kids play in it and squeal with delight with their rosy red cheeks. Carter decided last night when he saw the snow on the deck to throw on his coat and Kylah's shoes and bring the snow inside. He grabbed a broom off the back deck and was trying to sweep it into the back door into our kitchen. He soon learned that it melts too fast. Josh and I got a chuckle out of it before we told him the snow had to stay outside. Then I grabbed a towel and got rid of the puddle of melted snow.

I really love this time of year but all the clothes to keep warm for it can be a real pain, especially in our household. I bought 8 sets of gloves a month ago. Yep, 8 for the girls and magically only 1 matched pair can be found. Our inventory is currently 1 hot pink pair that Kylah wore today, one brown, one gray, and one white glove... Kaitlin was not thrilled to wear two different colors. I had to then give the "Mom Speech" of keeping track of our winter stuff. We have a basket just for hats, gloves, scarfs, mittens, and headbands. That basket better start being filled with these things. Then our mornings will go much more smoothly.

Have a warm and enjoying day. I am off on a scavenger hunt for those missing gloves.

Back to Reality

It's back to reality of school and work... I can't complain though. My back is feeling SO much better so that makes everything look good from my perspective. It's so hard to accomplish anything when you hurt that bad so I have no complaints!

We got our tree put up this weekend along with some other Christmas decorations. Josh was going to put the lights up outside, but low and behold, the wind decided to blow Saturday. So, we figured he could do it Sunday but the wind was even worse then. Maybe this week he can get it done...

We are looking forward to the holiday break and family coming to see us in three weeks. We always have so much fun and enjoy all the great company! I am a firm believer that family is the greatest value for us and can't wait to see everyone!!!

We were able to get a little Christmas shopping done on Friday, but not much since I couldn't walk around a lot at the stores. We were in Sidney so we stopped in at Wal-mart, my sister and brother-in-laws' Radio Shack store, and of course- CABELAS. I think Josh would live there if I let him...=)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and some extra time off to enjoy the holiday and shopping. Those little breaks help out a lot throughout the year.

Our Family Time at Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHAE!! Hope you have a great time with your family today:)

Wishing everyone safe travels and a full stomach!

Tagged

I was TAGGED by Phae...

8 t.v. shows I watch
1.Survivor
2. Dr. 90210
3. Dancing With the Stars
4. Girls Next Door
5. Family Feud
6. HGTV
7. Disney
8. Nickelodeon

8 of my favorite restaurants
1. Red Lobster
2. Taco Johns
3. Chinese
4. Runza
5. Apple Bees
6. Arby's
7. Whiskey Creek
8. Olive Garden

8 things that happened today
1. took kids to school
2. went to Chadron to Chiropractor
3. stopped at Wal-mart
4. Went to Post Office
5. Called people for my church for a funeral dinner
6. Talked to my friend Amy who stopped by.
7. Went and got kids from school.
8. Typing this tagged post.

8 things I look forward to
1. my back getting better fast
2. seeing my family tomorrow for Thanksgiving
3. Christmas sales
4. Finishing my book I am reading-it's good!
5. Four days with my family
6. Seeing Josh's side of the family in December
7. Getting a new cell phone
8. Finding the perfect house

8 things on my wish list
1. to move
2. debt free from credit cards
3. a healling back
4. new NICE pots and pans
5. a family vacation far away
6. sick-free winter for my children
7. new bed
8. windows

8 people I tag today
1. Shauna
2. Shay
3. Sara
4. Amy
5. can't think of anyone else
6.
7.
8.

Getting Better...Slowly But Surely

Today I had a chiropractor appointment for my back. I have been very nervous that my discs are getting bad again and that it may be what is causing so much pain. (Last year I had x-rays and my bottom three discs were deteriorating, the very bottom one almost gone.) Well, this time that is not the case, hurray!! Even though I am in pain, I would much rather deal with the mess going on in the middle of my back that is causing the pain to shoot lower down. Dr. Johnson told me today that I will heal up a lot faster with this kind of problem than if it were my discs. I go back tomorrow morning for another treatment before Thanksgiving vacation. I also managed to have a couple of massages done this weekend to help me out. That was nice...

On a better note- my four-day weekend is just around the corner! We are going to Sidney to my sister's house on Thanksgiving to spend the day with my side of the family. My youngest brother and his family don't get to make it due to his work schedule. :( My other three siblings and their families will be there along with my parents. We are going to stay through Friday. Josh wants to hit the Cabela's sales at 7am on Friday. I am always pumped to go shopping on Black Friday (yep, I am one of the crazy ones) and this year I probably won't get to with this darn back issue...so frustrating!

I am eager to get the holiday season here...I love all of it, even the corny Christmas music played 24/7 on the radio. Josh thinks I am nuts but that's okay. This time of year is very special to me. I hope and pray it goes well not only for my family, but yours as well! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Home

Josh is home! We are all super happy about that...My back is hurting really bad so that kind of put our weekend plans on hold of running a lot of places. Sure stinks to feel this way. I have been doing so good for the past 10+ months.

We did the typical grocery shopping today. Josh did most of it. I kind of sat around waiting on him and then we went to his mom's house for awhile, ate lunch, and came home.

Now I am headed to take a nap...and a painkiller.

Headed Out Today

Hurray! I am headed out at 4pm today to go get Josh in Scottsbluff. He doesn't fly in until nearly 9:30pm. I need to get some early Christmas presents bought for my family who will be here for Thanksgiving but not Christmas so we can give them their gifts early and not have to mail them. I also need to look for new shoes.

I jinxed myself big time on my blog about my back being so great... This morning I vacuumed out my Durango and then the kids and I went to Pine Ridge for me to get a pop and them their suckers from Grandma Mary...(tradition every time we go there.) As I was walking into the building my back kind of twinged, and now, I am FREAKING OUT that my back is going back to square one... I have my back brace on, iced it, and now am waiting to see what happens. My back has been good since last Christmas so I pray it will be okay.

Back to Josh...I cannot wait to go pick him up from the airport! I will probably look funny with a huge grin on my face and a big hug waiting for him when he steps off the plane. He took his final test this morning and passed so we were very happy about that.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I GOT AN AWARD!!

I received a 'Your Blog is Fabulous!" award by Shay. I have to admit, this is the first online award I have ever received...thanks Shay!Here are the terms and conditions...

• You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.
• You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.
• You must copy and paste the rules and instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gadget. Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

I would like to dedicate this award to:

1.DEB - She may not realize it but she has great advice and a special way with her words in her posts.

2.BRANDI- Her blog is very visual with all the great pictures she posts. I love pictures!

3.PHAE- I love how blunt, honest, and down-to-earth she is on her posts. Makes my day.

4.AMY- Her updates on her pregnancy and the "Hot Shot Firefighters" is great!

5.BECKY- She is a very enthusiastic blogger who always has a friendly greeting each morning and I like the repetitive posts.

Here are my addictions:

1. I am an avid fiction-book reader. I have to read EVERYDAY!

2. Smoking cigarettes- I know, I know, I need to quit, so don't even say it.

3. I smell everything. Even the laundry soap I put in the washer on a daily basis.

4. Hmm...this is getting harder...um...texting on my cellphone.

5. Thank you Kaitlin for letting me know an addiction...scratch tickets....LOVE THEM!!!

Recipes

I had an idea for us bloggers to do...anyone else is welcome to join too! I thought we could each share one of our favorite Thanksgiving food recipes on our blogs. It may help add an extra new favorite to your family tradition! I thought I would start with sharing mine...

Cranberry Whip

1 pkg. fresh cranberries
1 c. water
2 c. sugar
1 tub Cool Whip

Boil cranberries according to pkg. directions with the water and sugar.
Let cranberry mixture cool.
Fold in Cool Whip to cranberry mixture and serve.

This is super fast and has always been a favorite recipe at our Thanksgiving Day table.

Just Had To...

I just had to post these pictures of Carter playing dress-up with the kids at daycare. He is very out-numbered on girls so sometimes he plays things besides farming, tractors, cars, trucks, and sports. I am sure Josh will be thrilled (he he) to see this post when he gets home...Uncle Rudy too for that matter! LOL! Carter has been wearing this since 3pm...

Great Weather

Today it is supposed to be a high around 70 degrees! Yay! I love days like these. I already opened all of the windows in the house then had the urge to wash curtains while the house gets some fresh air. Next step, probably all the bedding.

Meanwhile, with such a nice day to be outside, the daycare kids and I are going to head out to the backyard so they can play and burn some energy. I will probably sweep the patio and look for any broken toys, sticks, and leaves to get rid of.

Have a nice day!

Monday Again?!

It seems like every time my Friday nights come around, I somehow wake up and it is already Monday morning again! I sure wish my weekends went as slow as the week days do for me. I know I got a lot accomplished this weekend but I really could have used an extra day off. Hmmm...I know that isn't going to happen so I may as well make the best of my day.

We are now on the downhill stretch of Josh coming home. Yay!! I go pick him up Friday night so I hope this week goes by really fast. We miss him and Carter is really starting to have a hard time with him gone. They do everything together when Josh is not working so it's been kind of tough on the little guy. (Probably the big guy too.)

Hope you all have a great day! Tomorrow is predicting a high of 70 degrees so take advantage of it! =)

Rearranging....Done!

Wow, yesterday afternoon I wanted to shampoo the carpets. Somehow I not only did that, but managed to rearrange Carter's room, and then had this bright idea at 7pm last night to rearrange my bedroom as well. I did the thorough cleaning with it too. I didn't get done until 10pm and was very grateful this morning when I woke up and knew it was all finished.

Since I work at home, people often tell me I change my furniture around too much and paint my walls too often. Think about it though, most of you leave your house daily and venture to work with many things to see along the way. I see the same walls, furniture, and toys scattered on a daily basis so I try and change things often to keep a "new" look. I think the kids like the changes too, even the daycare kids since some are here 9+ hours each day. Of course, they don't always notice changes- I have two little girls in daycare who just noticed on Friday that we no longer have our recliner that was in our living room. We got rid of it in the middle of October. When I told them it had been gone for a month, I think they thought I was joking. LOL

Josh is not a big fan of my rearranging so I KNEW this was a good time to change what I wanted since he is still in Kansas City. He would much rather see the end results than actually participate:)

The best thing I noticed out of this was how strong the core and my lower back are getting. A year ago, I would have struggled much more to move the furniture, and would have been hurting for days...or weeks...but... I FELT GREAT THIS MORNING WHEN I WOKE UP! That's a great feeling after so many years of a horrible back. I thank all of my progress and strength on the Reliv I take. I swear by the stuff. It's the best thing I have done for myself this past year.

Our Saturday

Today is kind of a busy Saturday. Josh is in Kansas City still for another few days. He is currently at the Cabela's store there. (Imagine that!) Carter got up bright and early this morning and went farming with Gramps. Kaitlin, one of Kaitlin's friends, Kylah, and I went to Chadron this morning to see my side of the family. We went to my parents' house and visited with them and my two nieces who came up from Sidney. I managed to sneak off to run errands and stop at Walmart. Then we came home for a birthday party Kaitlin had to be at around 1pm. Kylah is home now with me and we are about to go shampoo carpets....fun....well maybe not so much fun. I am sure Carter will be home soon so I better get started on those carpets.

Fall Times

Myspace Tickers, Thanksgiving Tickers

Carter is Spending the Day With Gramps

Carter woke up this morning excited to go with his grandpa (aka Gramps) to Chadron. He hurried and found his clothes he wanted to wear and eagerly waited for Gramps to come to town to pick him up. Gramps decided to take Kaitlin to school so we snuck her out the door. Then Carter heard Gramps's diesel roar up and take off up the street. He was panic-stricken for a moment. He had a shocked look on his face thinking he was left behind. I explained that Gramps would be back soon to get him and to take Kylah to school on their way out of town to Chadron. He calmed down enough and then hurried to get his shoes and coat on for their trip. Sure enough, shortly after we heard the diesel coming up to the house again and Carter was happy. I got Kylah into the pick-up and quickly put Carter's carseat in. I barely got a quick kiss and a "bye mom!" before he was ready to go. So, Carter's been gone since 8:30am and I am sure having a great time with his Gramps:)

Josh's Flight

The kids and I took Josh to Scottsbluff this morning for him to catch his flight to Kansas City. It seems like yesterday he was gone on his last trip there but it's been 8 wks. already since he got home. So...he will be gone for almost 2wks. again...Bummer! (We miss him already!) We watched him fly out on the plane and then we went and bought Kaitlin some new shoes and ate lunch. Then we headed home. It's been a nice afternoon for us. We sat down at the coffee table and colored on a giant-paged coloring book that Carter got. Then the kids played a video game while I worked on a blanket I am crocheting for one of my daycare girls. This little girl loves pink so PINK IT IS! It can be blinding at times if I look at the blanket too long. I think (and hope) she likes it when I get done with it. The kids just had a bath and are going to play for awhile. I need to keep them busy with Dad gone. Kaitlin and Carter seem to have a hard time with him away. Kylah kind of goes with the flow about it all. Now they are anxiously awaiting his nightly phone call they receive. I hope you each have had a great weekend. Ours went by way too fast!

Haircut

Tonight Josh had to get everything ready for another two-week trip to Kansas City. He leaves tomorrow so he finished packing and double checking that he didn't forget anything. One thing on the agenda before he leaves is a haircut. Tonight Carter wanted to "help" his dad trim his hair so he got out the clippers and went to work. He concentrated very hard and even told Dad to fold his ear over so he didn't cut it. We had a few laughs because Dad said OUCH a couple times as the clippers snagged his head. Dad survived the ordeal and Carter loved every minute of it. Now I need to hide the clippers so he doesn't try to cut his own hair.

He's Home!

Josh managed to catch a ride with a snow plow to get back home tonight after leaving at 5:30 this morning. He got home at 6:30 tonight. What a relief! He looks exhausted. He told me he has a very high respect for the snow plows after seeing how hard their job can be in white-out, icy conditions. I am glad he made it home. I made him vegetable beef stew and am sending him to bed. He has to be up at 3am to ride back down with the snow plow to try and get our Durango dug out...

Josh is Stranded...

Well my hopes of Josh coming home to enjoy a movie with me this afternoon dwindled. He is still stuck on the side of the hwy about a half mile from Hemingford. He has been there along with three other cars since 7:30 this morning. A loader came out to dig out the 6 ft drift blocking the hwy. but couldn't get it completely dug out. So...here he is, sitting and waiting. The snow plows are no longer on the hwys, but will hopefully be back out and about later today to clear some of the roads off. I do have to tell you though, he is in much better spirits about this than I would be if I were the one waiting. I am not a patient person when it comes to waiting around. He told me on the phone that if I was the one who had to be in his place I would be livid. Yep, he is totally right on that one! Too bad he only has a couple of the kids' movies with him or he could watch a DVD or two while waiting. Well, school is closed for the day so I only have four daycare children and my three here at home. I think we will watch a movie and eat popcorn this afternoon. Stay warm!

The Weather Has Hit Here!

What horrible winds and blowing snow we have here! Hwy 385 is closed south of Chadron. Josh left at 5:30 this morning to head to Alliance for work. He made it to almost to Hemingford before knowing the stretch of 385 he had to get on was closed. So now he is on his way back home. It is scary because it took him from 5:30 until 6:40 to get to Lone Church which is only 27 miles of traveling. Now I have my fingers crossed and some prayers sent up for him to make it back home safely. We have a late start here at 10am today for school. Hopefully they will close completely. Any of you traveling today, BE VERY CAREFUL!

Water Trouble

Augh!!! It's been a cold week at our house. We had no hot water for showers, dishes, etc. so we decided to clean out the water heater last night. After two hours, a bucket of water deposits, and a soaking wet husband (ha! ha!) later, we thought we had everything up to par and working great. Needless to say we were wrong...Our 17 year-old water heater gave up on us. SO...we bought a new one and Josh's mom and her friend brought it over for us from Chadron. (very nice of them, especially with the bad winds-thank you!) We also were fortunate for our friend Kirk to come help get the new one up and going. (Thx Kirk!) I can't wait! My two minute showers in the mornings are not a great way to start my day and I am tired of my kids taking half baths because the water is so cold. We hopefully will have our new water heater working in the next 30 minutes:-)

Don't Forget to Vote Today!

Geez, another four years have gone by. It doesn't seem like that long ago I was in the voting box. A lot of things go on in a four year span, not only politically but with our home lives. It's kind of strange to think the last time I voted I only had two children instead of three...Anyways, I just wanted to remind everyone to go out and vote today. Have a great day!

Weekend

This weekend I decided I had to get our yardwork done and our loving neighbor's. Saturday I raked piles of leaves up and then mowed our yard. Then I put away some of our summer stuff-sad..sniff, sniff and then took down the halloween decorations. On Sunday I worked on our neighbor's yard doing the same thing. Then Josh and I worked on getting the garden cleaned up so we can get it tilled this next weekend if the weather permits. We also managed to get some branches trimmed and a couple of unwanted smaller trees cut down in the garden that decided to start growing where it isn't convienent. I keep thinking our nice days are numbered so I had to take full advantage of being outside as much as possible. We also managed to get the movie P.S. I Love You watched Saturday night and thought it was pretty good. Not quite as good as I thought it would be, but still liked it.