A long but good day...

We had a long day today.  It started with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese with friends.  We all had fun (yes, I actually like going there and happen to play a few games...ask my kids about the 'Flaming Finger').  We were there for about 3 hours.

Headed to Menard's for quick trip to the carpet section and a not so quick trip to the bathroom.

Next we headed to the dentist for Conner and Hayden. Xrays....check. Fluoride....check.  No cavities...thank goodness.

After that we breezed through Staples to get Conner a few things for his week at camp.  I realized it was close to 3:00, so we left everything with a promise to return.  We loaded back into the van for the 436th time and headed to the doctor's office. 

I'd been trying to decide all day when to tell Millie we were going to do her kindergarten shots that day.  I decided better to break the news in the car than in the Dr.'s office.  I asked her if she can be brave today and she said 'yes.'  I told her and her reaction was as if it weren't too big a deal.

We got to our 3:00 appt. at 3:02 and proceeded to wait...for an hour.  It's supposed to take 10 min.  The kids were really good.  I kept waiting for Millie to start to get nervous.  The nurses came in...she had to get 3 and the use two nurses to help it go quickly (part of the reason for the delay).  The boys asked me if they can wait in the hall.  The nurses asked me to lay Millie on the table and hold her hands.  She was still very calm.  They poked her with 2 shots.  She didn't cry.  I told her just one more and she said 'no not one more'.  I told her it would be quick and then, one last one and it was done.  She didn't. even. cry.  I was so proud of her.  She was such a trooper.  Hayden came in and was praising her...they couldn't believe she didn't cry at all.  Her leg got sore as the evening wore on, but she was brave!

We then headed back to Staples, picked up the items we needed, plus something for Millie for doing so well.  On our way home we swung through McD's for 49 cent ice cream cones and 4 waters.  Perfect for a 97 degree day.

It was a long day but it was good.  The kids were great today and that's always a blessing as a parent when you just get to have a good day together.  They all even played well together this evening...bonus.

I just finished watching episode 7 of Food Network Star which I'm totally hooked on (Mark and I both).  Great way to finish a good day...a summer vacation day...

We've enjoyed the snow over the past two weeks. It all melted at one point, but it's back again now.  I'm one of those strange creatures that actually likes the snow-although I don't like to be cold.  Unfortunately the two usually go hand in hand.  I like a lot of snow...unless of course it disrupts some plan I have...then it can be very inconvenient.  

Today we got about 4 1/2 inches of fresh snow.  We headed out to go sledding.  I am happy to say I'm at the point where I only have to dress one of my three kids in their snow gear.  I really despise that process.  It almost always involves tears or multiple attempts at getting all of the fingers in their proper places in the gloves.  I'm usually sweating when it's done.

Here are a few photos from our recent sledding trips...

We came back to some hot chocolate topped with Redi Whip. They like hot chocolate...they love Redi Whip. I enjoyed the snowed in feeling of the afternoon and evening.  We'll see if tomorrow brings any more snow!

Random Post

Summer is over and the beginning of school has been full. September held a great trip to Denver with college friends. These girls are so special to me.
Millie started a ballet class. I think she's more of a gymnastics girl...meaning the more jumping and bouncing she can do the better. But it's fun to try something new and her friend Alexa is in the class too!

My parents came down for grandparents day at Millie's preschool. I love this picture. She loves her grandparents. I'm thankful they live so close.
Hayden wanted to take a picture of Bella. She's getting so big!
Hayden opted for flag football this year instead of soccer. I think he's getting the idea. He has a few games left and is on a team with a couple of good friends which always makes it more fun.

Conner still enjoys soccer. He'd tell you it's his favorite sport.
This is a totally lame post, a 'catch all'. I really want to make an effort to be more consistent with my blogging. I always enjoy catching up with my friend's lives through their blogs.

Next up for us is two birthday celebrations. Hayden and Millie have been counting the days for a long time...

Millie's Confession

My mom has been rewarding the grandkids for trying new things at the lake this summer. Specifically, as they have learned to ski she's gotten them little gifts as a way to say good job. Several of the kids, mostly ours, were reluctant to try new things beyond tubing and kneeboarding.

So, Millie kept saying she was going to try, but I really didn't think she would. She, however, was sincere, so I got in the water to help her. She got up right away. The funny thing was, she never stood up. She skied for a long time in a squatting position. It was hilarious. I had tears in my eyes from laughing and I could hear Mark yelling 'Millie, stand up'.

Anyway, Grandma got her a present for her 'success' and it was a barbie. Millie and her cousin play with them at the lake.

A few days later we're at home and I'm in Millie's room with her. We're putting a few of her toys away and I see some of her Barbie's hair on the ground. Bella had already mutilated one hand and foot, so I said,

"Millie, what happened to your Barbie's hair? Did Bella get it?"

"No"

"Did you pull out the pony tail and it came out?"

Millie says, "You're not going to like this at all..."

I said, "What?"

She says again, "You're really not going to like this at all."

As she's saying this I'm realizing what happened and say, "Millie, did you cut that Barbie's hair?"

As soon as the words left my mouth and she's nodding her head, I BUST out laughing. I couldn't help myself. Her confession of 'you're really not going to like this' coupled with my memory of her opening scissors earlier that evening and the pieces of blonde barbie hair on the floor was too much to keep in.

I tried to explain that while I was laughing it really wasn't something she should do and definitely not to her own hair (oh please don't).

Anyway, one of those things I want to remember. :)

July 4th at the Lake

I'm so thankful that my kids can experience celebrating July 4th at the lake. I love the family time, the fireworks from the boat, the true feeling of summer, the 'everything is red, white and blue', the yummy food, and of course, celebrating this great country of ours!

This year we were in our first ever boat parade. It was pretty fun, but the water was super rough (could be the fact that is was 4th of July weekend and 90+ degrees so everyone was at the lake). We had the idea of putting my mom's planters full of red geraniums on the front on the pontoon. Parade = success - 1 pot of geraniums. At one point in time during the parade, the front of the pontoon went under water (a bit scary) and we were down one pot. We all watched it sink.

We watched fireworks from the boat again and the kids enjoyed a few fireworks of their own.


Funny how even a sparkler can be a lightsaber if you will it to. It looks like he's holding the broom, but it's in the background...kind of funny.
The first fish Millie ever caught all on her own. She's really been enjoying fishing this summer (last year she mostly used a pretend fish weight and just practiced casting). She was so excited!

My brother loves to fish. Hayden loves to fish. Hayden would fish all day if we let him. This weekend Mark took him out on the pontoon to fish since he's usually just fishing off the dock. That evening he didn't catch a thing, but he still loved it-the mark of a true fisherman.

The next day Mark, Hayden and my brother took Bella to some shallow water to expose her to it. On the way home, they fished off the pontoon. This time, they caught a couple of fish. I love these next two photos because they have almost the same expression and big fish/big guy, little fish/little guy...
Still fishing. I don't know my text has turned green, but I'm very annoyed by it and cannot fix it! Agh!
Another one of Hayden's catches. A huge catfish!Bella warmed up to the water.



We were bribing Conner to try skiing. He's pretty content just to tube and kneeboard. He got up for a bit, but hasn't had the fun experience of just skiing around the lake.
Hayden went from being apprehensive on the kneeboard, just barely trying it, to attempting and almost completing a 360 on it. I was proud of him for trying! .Looking forward to many more!!!!!

She's Here!

Bella is finally home with us. Mark and I drove to Wisconsin on Saturday to pick her up. I'm really tired and on puppy duty tonight, so for now I'll just post a few pictures.

I feel like we're in mourning...

Ok, maybe just me. We found out last Friday that the dog we were supposed to get a puppy from only had one female. She had eight puppies, and only ONE female. We were supposed to get female #3. We've been counting down the weeks and now, I'm sad. I think I can say I've moved on, but it really was hard at first. I thought the kids would be so upset and they are sad, but seem content just knowing that we ARE getting a dog, just not the one we thought.

I loved the breeder we found. She posted on the blog she had about her dogs (I almost wrote her 'dog blog' but for some reason couldn't bring myself to do it) a happy birthday to Conner message from the dogs. We've been emailing back and forth a bit and I know we would have kept in touch.

So, we've been calling other breeders and have widened our search. We've contacted breeders in Georgia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. We're on a list for a breeder in Ohio. We just filled out a 'puppy prospect form' for a breeder in Wisconsin. That's no lie. We had to tell about our family, where the dog would stay, if we planned to hunt the dog, if we were willing to get the dog this certain certification...etc. etc. Most of these breeders are passionate about their dogs...thus the puppy prospect sheet. Several of the breeders I've called have ended up talking with me for almost a half and hour. Trust me, some of that is due to my many questions. The more I talk with people the more I'm convinced this is the breed for us, despite the fact that we've never seen the dog in person, which is a bit weird.

Anyway, we're still hoping to bring a puppy home early the summer, but we'll have to see. I had it 'all planned out' and the Lord is reminding me that my plans don't always prevail-nor should they.

Looking forward to the first warm Easter that I can remember in so long. Happy Easter.
He is risen, He is risen indeed!!