Columbus.....and back home again!

Last Saturday, Laura & I spent the day in Columbus. We spent most of the day in the Blue Moon Event Center learning all about the products of BeautiControl. You see we both bought the Consultant packages and had to attend the training seminar before we could get Part 2 of the package. We sat through about 5 hours of training!!!!! The fun part was going out to eat twice in one day without 4 kids along, shopping without pushing a double stroller and two more kids beside the stroller, and seeing the stadium where the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing at the very moment we passed it and I snapped the picture to the right of this blog post. The un-fun part of the day was getting up at 5:15AM to leave! That was WAY TOO EARLY! The funny part about that was Duane having to get up and drive me to Laura's house. You see, he forgot his keys at work and had no spares at home. So.....in order to have transportation while I was gone the entire day, he had to get up out of his nice warm bed, along with ALL 4 of our kids and drive me across town. To be honest, I'm kinda glad he forgot his keys, I really didn't want to drive myself anywhere that early in the morning! I figured everyone would go back to bed...but I guess they all stayed up!!!! It was very nice to have an entire day off.

We arrived back home at around 7:00PM. The kids all came running up, giving me big hugs and telling me how much they missed me. I had to go straight to my laptop and finish a digital scrapbook and get it ordered. The coupon for the FREE book expired at midnight that night! I had most of it finished. I basically had to proof-read it and swap around 2 pictures. Simon got my camera and snapped the shot of me. The two older boys are enjoying being able to take pictures with the digital camera and seeing them right away! He tried to take a picture of both he and I together.....it didn't quite turn out! :) Later Duane went out and got pizza for everyone and than put all the kids to bed for me! Wow! It was wonderful having an entire day off!

Seth's Flarp.....A prize from his teacher

The following is a clip of Seth playing with his flarp. This was a prize from his teacher at school and all 4 of the kids thought it was hilarious! Mommy was glad when the prize finally went bad...probably from too much use! :) Just a few days ago, it was deposited in the trash can....It stopped working. Thank goodness!!! Seth wanted me to take a clip of it and share it on my blog.....Enjoy!

Our Sunday Afternoon.....

Grandpa & Simon play a math game while Callie
eats another piece of homemade bread..........

Duane and Seth work on a Sudoku puzzle.....
Samuel checks out the Best Buy ad........

Mommy is behind the scenes, taking pictures! :)

~Cards from My Boys~

I thought I would share some sweet cards Seth and Simon made for me last week. While teaching lessons last Tuesday, the boys were supposed to do some cleaning (part of their daily chores). I had a long talk with them about going the extra mile when doing a job....giving it their all....going beyond just doing the bare minimum to get it done. Well, when I finished with lessons, they had not only completed the jobs I had given them, but had the dinner table set, a load of laundry folded and put away, and had made these cards for me. Mommy was very happy and proud of her two older boys! Seth made the Christmas card on the left and Simon made the card on the right. You can click on the pictures to see them closer.

A warm quilt for Callie.....

It started with a pile of satins, velvets & sequined fabrics...

I used my wonderful 50% off rotary cutter/mat to cut out different shapes. I sewed them all together, added a double layer of warm-n-natural batting and a muslin back and "ta-da"....a new quilt for Callie! If you're a quilter don't look too closely at my quilt. I don't use a pattern. I just cut and start sewing and whatever happens, that's the way it's going to be! :)

Here is the finished product.....I was VERY glad to get it finished. It was oh so NOT fun to sew slippery, shiny, stretchy, sequined fabrics together. But what else could you use for a princess themed bedroom?! :)

Here is the SAD little princess........
and here is the HAPPY princess under her

'princess blanket' (as she calls it)!
Now Samuel wants a John Deere, backhoe, excavator, crane, combine (and whatever farm and construction equipment that I didn't name) quilt. Maybe I'll make him one for Christmas!

It's Snowing......

When it started snowing, I called a friend on the phone and started to sing, "It's beginning to snow, snow, snow, in ...........

~Callie Rose~
~Samuel Adam~

Simon showed Callie how to catch snowflakes with her tongue! Callie is looking at this picture now saying, "Callie's funny!"

~Catching snowflakes~

As soon as the kids saw the snow they pulled out all hats, gloves, coats, boots! It's really not that cold outside!

Seth wanted to take a picture of my hair covered with snow.

Seth takes another picture of Mommy.

Simon enjoys the snow!

Samuel begged me to let him make snow angels. This is the second time he has been out in the snow today. The first time outside he was totally soaked! Now he is getting wet again. :)

Our backyard covered with snow!

Things kids ask about and say.....

Been busy the last several days catching up on housecleaning, laundry, etc.... Just thought I would share some funny 'kid' conversations:

~MOMMY, SIMON & Sunny Bunz~

Simon and I were sitting in the car outside of the Dollar General Store. We were waiting for Seth to buy some Dishwasher Detergent. (I have started letting the boys go inside the store for me to buy 1-2 items. It is a whole lot faster, than me having to unbuckle 2 kids in car seats, chase them around the store, find the item, buy it, than re-buckle them back in again. It feels like I have ran a marathon just to buy a box of trash bags, etc....!) All of the sudden I heard, "Mommy, why don't we go to Sunny Bunz Tanning Salon!" I think to myself, 'where did that come from?' I looked back at him and his face was totally serious. I proceeded to explain to him what a tanning salon is, what you do there, and why I don't want to go to a place like that. His eyes were as big as saucers (He inherited his mother's VERY large popping eyes)! He asked more questions and all I wanted to do was to laugh so bad at his reaction at my answers, but realized he was very seriously processing all the information I gave him. I highly doubt that he will ever want to go and tan at a salon!!!!!
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~MOMMY, CALLIE & SAMUEL IN THE KITCHEN~

Samuel had gotten into something he wasn't supposed to for the hundredth time yesterday. I was telling him what I thought about his behavior in a LOUD voice. (NO, I was NOT yelling. I can yell, but I wasn't this time. :) Callie was standing right beside her brother taking it all in. I look over at her, she puts her hands on her hips, and says in a serious voice, "Mommy, you need to TALK!" I guess she thought I was yelling. Goodness, is she really only 2 years old!

To My Dad.....

I would like to wish my Dad a very happy birthday! I love you and miss you!

I find myself wondering...

Did I give you your due..

For all that you've done for me

Did I ever thank you?

For all of my childhood memories

For helping me deal with life's stresses

For helping me accept my defeats

And celebrate my successes?

Or for teaching me the value of hard work,

Good judgement, courage, and being true

The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared

Did I ever thank you?

If I have forgotten, I'm thanking you now

You taught me right from wrong....

I hope you know how much you're loved and appreciated

I hope you, instinctively, knew it all along.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dad made a spinach quiche for breakfast this morning.

I wish I could have eaten some. I love spinach!!

A PERSISTENT TELEMARKETER!!!

I can't believe what just happened! I just got a phone call........

ME: Hello...

LADY: Hello! I'm calling from Everdry...

ME: (interrupting) Ma'am could you please take us off your list. We're NOT interested!

LADY: Don't you want to take us up on our free offer?

ME: No, You have called us several times and I have told you that we're NOT interested and to please take us off your list!

LADY: Several people in your area have called us about seepage.

ME: Ma'am, I can get rude if you would like me to! Please take us off your list. (Now maybe I shouldn't have said that, but I was trying not to screech in her ear that I AM NOT INTERESTED AND PLEASE STOP CALLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

LADY: What kind of foundation do you have?

ME: At this point, I am speechless......I expected an apology for bothering me or something else....not THAT! I say nothing and push the TALK button.

CONVERSATION ENDED. By the way, I am on the DO NOT CALL list. How do these people still get my phone number?

A Salute To Our Service Men & Women.......

"The Mansions of the Lord"

Words by Randall Wallace

To fallen soldiers let us sing

where no rockets fly nor bullets wing

Our broken brothers let us bring

to the mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding no more fight

No prayers pleading through the night

just divine embrace, eternal light

in the mansions of the Lord

Where no mothers cry and no children weep

We will stand and guard tho the angels sleep

All through the ages safely keep the mansions of the Lord

I would like to salute all the brave men and women who have sacrificed in service to our country. They are the reason the United States of America continues to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Please remember that Veteran's Day is far more than a day off work or a big sale at all the stores in town. :) Men and Women have given and are still giving their lives every day for our country! We should take few moments to honor the service men and women that we know with a sincere and heartfelt thank you.

A special thank you goes out to my father-in-law, David Thomas, my brother-in-law, Jerry Case, my deceased grandfather, Lester McIntosh & my brother, Nathan McIntosh for serving their country.

Help......please!

Callasandra Rose - 2 years old

These are the 2 free 8 by 10's I ordered from Walgreens on Saturday. (They ran their free 8 by 10 special again! Yeah!!) I plan to frame them and hang them in Callie's bedroom. I need some help with a cute saying or poem to kind of tie the two pictures together. I would be grateful for any input! :)

An Early Holiday Hug....

We received a Wal-Mart holiday magazine in the mail yesterday. The boys have been poring over all the toys that are pictured...planning what they want to buy with their birthday money. Simon just came in and told me that he had read in there to give his mom a holiday hug. He had even copied the phrase down on a sheet of paper to show me. He came over and gave me this great big hug and told me that he loved me. Isn't that sweet! And to think that I was getting annoyed with the boys' fascination with all the cool new toys in the magazine. (they have been pestering me to take them shopping) I guess kids can learn good things from a toy catalog. :-)

Simon - my "holiday hugger" shows off his neatly written spelling homework.

Edit: My oldest son, Seth, just told me that he wrote the phrase on the paper. Gotta give credit where credit is due. :-)

My meal at Applebees.....

2 mini burgers, 2 mini chicken rancheros, spinach-artichoke dip with chips.

Yes...I ate ALL of it plus half of an onion ring appetizer, some of Duane's mashed potatoes and his broccoli and carrots! (he doesn't like healthy food :) I was HUNGRY! Someone (who will remain nameless) whipped out their cell phone to forever record this HUGE plate of food that I ate!

A Gigantic Tree!

The pictures below are some shots of a very large tree that the Thomas guys are planning to help cut. I heard them talking about it sooooo much that I decided to go take a peek at what all the fuss was about. It was well worth it!

Samuel took off running. He was outside and free! This was his first time to wear overalls since he was a baby. He was NOT at all happy when he first put them on. By the end of the day, he decided that he loved them. Now he wants to wear them ALL the time!
Down the path to the Gigantic tree we go!

Grandpa helps the kids climb.

Some of the 'skinnier' branches.

I carefully climbed out on this very large tree branch....

...and two little kids followed right behind me. :) They simply have NO fear!

Sitting in front of part of the fallen tree. All of the branches you see in these pictures are from the same tree! Can you believe the size of this thing?!

Some more of the branches.

Look at the size of the tree trunk!

Mommy, Callie & Samuel.

A hole in the tree.

parts of the splintered trunk

the tree roots sticking up in the air

inside the splintered section.....
I'd love to go back here and get our family picture taken.

A Walk in the Woods...

....climbing

....exploring

....running
....posing

....walking

....taking pictures

....watching

...trying to catch up

....saying "Cheese, Mommy".

~The End~