POWERFUL image!

I saw the neatest bumper sticker in the parking lot at the grocery store the other day. I decided to check on it online, mostly out of curiosity, and stumbled across the exact same wording but way better image to make the point. The text simply says this:

Guess which one is NOT protected...

The first of two birthdays for Hannah...

Well, the first of Hannah's birthday "celebrations" went off without much of a hitch, except that I totally forgot to go rent a movie! Sheesh Mom! And, there were no kid-friendly movies on pay-per-view but thankfully everyone was happy just to watch Tinkerbell for the umpteenth time!

I am still kicking myself for forgetting my camera when I took cupcakes for snack to Hannah's classroom on Friday! She went to the front of the class and they all sang Happy Birthday to her. SO stinkin' cute!

But she opened a few of her presents when she got home and was quite happy.

Here she is opening an oh-so-cool card from Meghan, our friend from church who also happens to be a junior at the school the girls attend AND our babysitter! She came to Hannah's class for the celebration too!

And the blanket that Meghan made for her. She LOVES it!

Some kind of little plant thingie for our little grower girl!

Her Thumbelina doll!

Her scooter. She is outside as I type trying to get the hang of it! We thought that since neither one of our big girls knows how to ride a bike, we should get them going on SOMETHING!

I still can't believe she is seven! Where did the time go? Well, we'll have another celebration in Fort Collins on Friday with my parents and hopefully one of Hannah's little friends and classmates! I'll post more pics then!

My silly family!

If there is one thing you CANNOT call my family it's refined! We are self-proclaimed undignified and just plain SILLY! Here are some pictures of us to prove it!


And, this post would not be complete without a silly video! One of the voices you hear in the background is Betty, my mother-in-law who was spending a night with us so Keven and I could take a concealed gun safety class. But, the best part of the video, aside from Dani being silly with the guitar is Tyler. Watch him in the background in the kitchen. I think what he is throwing is a plastic toy car, I'm not sure. I think I was downstairs. And, I can assure you he wouldn't have been doing it if I were there. The little stink got away with some harmless fun while mommy wasn't looking! SHAME ON HIM!!!! ;)



Oh, and by the way, I was NOT so silly until I met Keven... right everyone!? wink, wink!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

My girl is 7 today! I can hardly believe it! She is just one of those kids that makes parenting easy. Don't get me wrong, she has her moments, as we all do, but for the most part she is just a joy! Today we will celebrate with one of her fave breakfasts (bagels and cream cheese... see easy kid!) on birthday plates, then cupcakes in the classroom, movie night (her choice of movie) and Arby's dinner... that one's to help raise money for the 5th grade classes' mission trip. Again, such an easy kid, she chose Arby's over me preparing her favorite meal. Then the REAL fun happens next weekend when my parents are here from SC with a trip to Fit for Kids and Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse in Fort Collins! I can't wait!

I am just loving recounting her birth with her too. She is just eating it up! I told her last night about how I was eating a root beer float in bed watching TV when I realized I was in labor and now can't eat them without thinking of that! And how Granny and Papa came over to watch Marlie and take me to the hospital because Daddy was working. The best part for us, though, is that I was doubled over the kitchen counter in heavy contractions while my mother-in-law jabbered about her own birth experiences. NOT IN THE MOOD RIGHT NOW! I can chuckle about it now! You'd have to know Granny. I am so glad she was there and stayed to watch Hannah's birth. Well, kinda... she stayed "behind" the scenes as she faints at the sight of blood!

Anyway... HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!!!!!

Marlie meets Hannah 7 years ago!

What a beaut!

It's nearly official...

I am amphibian challenged! No, Fred and Ricky have not croaked (ha ha... get it?) but I'm pretty sure they are on their way out! Don't know what I am doing wrong. Maybe nothing but I think my Hannah's dream of being witness to a tadpole morphing to a bull frog may end up being just that... only a dream! Sigh!

Hannah's First Father/Daughter Dance

I thought I would share the pictures that I took of Hannah and her Daddy before her first dance with him. We did the curler thing again. Let's just say that I think I need further instruction on technique! Either that or my kids have hair issues. I think it's the former.

Anyway, we got her all dolled up and she was the belle of the ball. They had a great time. Dinner at Friday's and dancing the night away! Keven's brother Dave and his daughter Julia went. I guess Hannah and Julia tore up the dance floor! Hannah saw several people that she knew from school as well! I so wish I could've been a fly on the wall! There are just some things that are to be kept between a daddy and his daughter I guess! SO SWEET!

Hannah in her curlers!

Can you say Shirley Temple?

MUCH better!

Getting her corsage!

And you just knew I had to get several poses of her and Daddy right? I could just eat 'em up!

Oh, you MUST go to Beth Moore's blog and read her entry for today. If you have been under Beth's teaching at all you will know what I mean when I say you can expect to giggle, tear up, and be amazed at our heavenly Father all in one post! Enjoy!

You can read it here.

Proudly announcing the arrival of....

the two newest members of the family..... drum roll please..... Ricky & Fred Tadpole! (Yes, as is I Love Lucy) HA! I would post a picture, but let's face it people, if you've seen one tadpole you've seem 'em all! Hoping for a successful morph this time! We'll see.

I'll be back soon to post the pictures from Hannah and Daddy's father/daughter dance that is taking place as we "speak"!

Please keep the Westerfield family in your prayers...

You can go to their blog, "Journey to Ellison Brook" on the left. Long story short, they've been waiting to adopt a baby girl. They were all set with a birth mom about a month ago. That mom gave birth yesterday and has changed her mind about putting the little girl up for adoption. So, their waiting continues. While their hearts must be breaking, they are trusting in God's provision for their family!

Couldn't ya just listen to it all day?

Your kids laugh that is?! I just wish they would do it TOGETHER even more! I don't know about you guys or if it's partly due to being cooped up inside but ALL of my kids have been at each other's throats lately! I've been experiencing more Calgon moments than I care to share! But, there was a glimpse of time just after lunch where Dani was crackin' Tyler up today and I was able to catch it on video. The BEST of it had ended by the time I got my camera of course, but still, I just couldn't resist sharing!

Correction!

I feel I must correct Hannah's poor tadpole's name... it's about preserving his legacy really! He was Huck NOT Tuck! How could I forget? Truth be told, I can hardly keep my own kids' names straight let alone two tadpoles and a fish! What will become of me if we ever get a dog?

Anyhoo... I feel MUCH better now! ;)

Another one bites the dust... eh, um... two...

...tadpoles that is. I am sorry to report that Tom was found belly up on Monday morning and Tuck took his last tadpoley breath yesterday afternoon! Both are now at home in sewer heaven. Hannah was heartbroken by Tom's demise. She at first asked me to not flush him down the toilet... "What if he's not dead!?" "Oh, trust me honey, he's dead." She was fine after that. I had a feeling Tuck wasn't far behind so I warned her and she was not surprised by the news when she got home from school yesterday.

I ordered two more tadpoles this morning. Sure hope we can get them into the leg-growing phase at least. We did everything right, I promise! According to the site, it's not uncommon for bull frogs to live to 5 years or more. Well, we made it to like 4 weeks, does that count for anything? Anyone out there in cyberspace have any pointers for keeping tadpoles alive other than food and fresh water? This mommy will do almost anything to have a pet frog for my Hannah! ;)

I'll keep you posted!

New Memory Verses... Ah! I'm late!

I am TWO days behind on starting my new memory verses! Ah! I need to catch up! I first chose Ephesians 4:29 which says: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. But then I decided to check out the verse in context and decided that I needed to start with verse 25 and work my way toward the end of the chapter. I sure hope I can do it and that these verses will leave a permanent imprint on my heart. I am experiencing verse 25 in a round about way right now so it fits perfectly. And, I don't know about you guys but I have an issue with anger. It doesn't take much to irk me, namely with the members of my own family... you know... the ones INSIDE my own house! I TRY not to let it happen and try even harder not to just react but FAR too often I just spew words or, even worse, looks with little regard until it's too late. So, hopefully these verses will help! Anyone with me?

Bah Bah Black Sheep!

Keven and I took the kids to a sheep farm about an hour away on Saturday. Jamie who works in Keven's company office has a small sheep business with her husband as a hobby. The ewes were lambing and we got to see newborn lambs. Can you say ADORABLE? The kids had a great time. First we went into the "jug" where the new mamas are kept with the newborn lambs to make sure they bond. Then we went to another holding place where they were all a few days old and got the pet those ones. So cute! I am a sucker for baby animals of any kind anyway. I was going to try to take a video of one of the baaaaing (don't know the technical term - is it bleating?) but didn't. It was a beautiful day, minus the wind, and the kids had a blast running around, stepping in sheep poop, sticking their fingers in the sheep water and the licking it off (TYLER!), chasing ewes (TYLER!), poking at lambs' eyes (TYLER!)... Jamie and Mark were so sweet to let us interrupt their hard day's work! We had a wonderful time!

Dani feeding a baby a bottle

Marlie & Hannah feeding bottles

Tyler "petting" a lamb. He really was pretty darn sweet with them.

The chase begins

Isn't he/she a cutie?

1 of 3....

Father/Daughter dances that is! Keven took Marlie to her very first Father/Daughter dance Friday. She was so excited! And, being a dance, we had to get her all gussied up of course. First we started by putting her hair in those little foam curlers while her hair was wet in the morning. Remember those? tee hee! I have never curled her hair this way before so it was quite the experiment. Well, let's just say that I need much more practice and many more curlers. The girl has got TONS of hair... and I do mean tons! So, we took the curlers out and there were some tight curls, some barely curled and some not curled at all! But, we stuck it up in a pretty barrette (which was the plan anyway) and took an OLD spiral curling iron to it! Turned out really cute. She even had the treat of some blush (rouge as her daddy so LOVES to tease) and mascara! She looked gorgeous!

Marlie LOVES, LOVES, LOVES flowers! Fresh flowers, silk flowers... you name it! So, Keven and I thought it would be a great surprise to have a little corsage made for her. Well, as you can see by her face when Daddy presented it to her, she did not know what to think of the whole thing. She tried it on but said it was uncomfortable. She never did wear it but I think she just didn't quite know what it was all about. I wonder if maybe she thought she would be the only one wearing flowers on her wrist. Too funny!

Being silly in her curlers

What is this?

Next is Hannah's turn for a dance with Daddy on the 13th. Can't wait to get her all doodied up next! She is such a little tomboy that it's even more fun! Then there are no more "formal" dances but Daddy has promised a Father/Daughter time of some sort with Dani too... any ideas to shoot my way?