this-n-that

My helper.. or rather.. a boy who LOVES to cut up potatoes (or anything). (I could have used his help when I peeled potatoes for 26 on Turkey Day!)
This is our life. ( Almost empty) chocolate milk jug on the table, kid(s) running around in their underwear with a handful of toys. What? You're kids don't do this? I tho't this was normal. {cough, cough}

This is what happens when Mommy is on the phone for too long (arguing with the Verizon guy...grr.. we miss 'All-tel'!) Markers on the table cloth. And the guilty party still present. And actually he was very proud of what he did. Pointing to every mark he made. Black-eyed-Susan-Carolyn

I debated putting this on here.. but I want to remember EVERYTHING that happens. Good or bad. "This" was completely, 100% an innocent accident. It got much worse as the bruise came and went, but didn't interrupt her life for a single second. Now it's almost a faint memory. Something we'll laugh at in years to come.

deer hunting..

Instead of posting ALL our pictures from the week of hunting, I'm cheating and posting some of them this way.

Technically the season isn't over. Tomorrow is the last day of the 9-day gun hunt. But there's muzzle loader and a late T-zone hunt sometime soon after. I can't even give you a 'guesstimate' on how many deer the hunting crew (of 10) has taken this week. I do know we have 2 bucks (plus the mule deer) waiting at the taxidermist. I do know that the crew of 10 has taken enough deer to keep them busy, late into the night, skinning deer and cutting meat, EACH night. (We process all our meat ourselves, or rather the hunters have). We should have some venison to say the least.

In my eyes, this week has gone by fast. We didn't do anything crazy and out of the ordinary. But we had fun. Sometimes its the little things that create the best moments anyways. Some memorable moments of the week include...

* Making mini pizza's opening morning

* Playing with homemade playdough

*Meri and Carolyn crashing into each other.. resulting in a black eye for Carolyn.

* Going to Aunt Tanya's to decorate sugar cookies with 9 kids.. and then I forgot to bring the cookies over! :(

* Sleeping over at our cousin's house.

* Having our cousins's sleep over at our house.

* Going to the Xmas parade in our lil town.

* Eating too much sugar/junk food.

* Acting goofy

* "hunting" in the house.

* Having fun.

***Let me know if this Smilebox doesn't work. It was being stubborn at times, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it'll work for you!***

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

I'm thankful for these 4 'turkeys'What are you thankful for?

Who needs a horse...

... When you have your Daddy, your great, great (I'm not sure which great g'pa it came from) grandpa's saddle and a rope. (Oh.. and you always use a saddle blanket. And you need a sleeping bag tied on behind.)

Benji could and will ride his Daddy horse ALL NIGHT LONG. Ever since Benji was old enough to sit and hold on, he's been riding 'horse'. Daddy the horse has a hard time bucking him off some days.

Gotta keep one hand up...
Happy Cowboy.
Cool dudette!

laptops

I found Katie quietly working on her keyboard laptop in her bed. She still is working out the 'bugs'. Like keeping hackers pests/viruses little brother from stealing her keyboard laptop.

big buck

Daddy, Benji and Jacob with the mighty 10 pointer The girls checking 'him' out.
Showing Daddy just how fast he is! "Oh! WOW!"

Jacob and Carolyn shooting at deer. ahem. From the back of the pick up. :) Heather, Jacob, Emily and Meri spent opening morning day with us. Part of our fun included making lil pizza's and homeade playdough. 1 day down. 8 more to go! We'll have LOTS of fun pics to post of our week!

Opening Morning

Daddy (and the rest of the hunting crew)...

Good luck!

And don't forget to bring home a BIG buck!!

Perfect Imperfection

Last week I attempted to get a picture of all four kids together. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, but it could have been worse. These are some of my favorite shots. I have more, but am lacking the time (and patience's to edit them right now.)

The kids surprisingly did well, but the weather was chilly and windy. Resulting in shots like this one...

Out of the many, many pictures we took, (in the windy, crisp fall air)... almost all had imperfections. Yet I'm perfectly happy with those little imperfections.

Handy Katie

Everything a handy boy girl could ever need. All in your back pocket!

melt-in-your-mouth-sweetness

thank you!

A hunting we will go...

The other week, Daddy and some boys went out west to WY hunting. Needless to say, Benji was not impressed he couldn't go with. So when Daddy got back, he took Benji hunting. Then Carolyn found out about it.. and she was not impressed. So then, he took them both hunting. So far Katie and John haven't caught wind of it... :) This picture cracks me up.. Maybe it's Carolyn in her purple camo, or those bright pink tights, or the fact that her feet are tucked into Benji's old cowboy boots, or her little pistol, maybe it's her 'hunting mittens', or maybe it's because Benji is quietly lurking in the background.. just to get in the picture. He claims he's following tracks. Either way... these are 2 of my kids.. and I love 'em!

Remember that hunting trip Daddy went on? These are some of the only pictures he took! His mighty, big 10 point mule deer? No picture.. except the one on his phone (which I can't figure out how to get on the computer). I'll have to wait until it comes back from the taxidermy to see it. Then I'll have forever to gaze at it on our living room wall, and listen to all the hunting stories that follow it.
Areas they hunted
More scenery
It is on this exact ridge, that he shot his 10 point mule deer buck.
Men and their hunting stories. I'm in luck. Because in exactly 1 week... it's opening morning. I shall kiss my husband good bye for 9 days. Only to see him when he sneaks in not so-quietly to bed, late at night! But I forgive him... because he brings in all the yummy venison!

Friday the thirteenth

I don't go for all that "Friday-the-13th" supersitition, exp-al-i-dious stuff.

No 'bad luck' hype here.

Just bad tempers.

Someone stoled his book. *(Notice his shirt. How fitting for this moment!)It was his favorite book.

Oh.. this is hard on a little kid.

Whew! Finally got it back.
Don't you EVER, EVER take my book away again! Got it?

All's well, that end's well.

Benji.Boppa.Birthday.Bunch of photos

Since their birthdays are only 1 day apart.. we celebrated them together! Boppa and Benji. Naturally we had a cowboy themed party. He wanted a horse cake. So I made a horse out of rice-krispies. Meatballs, gravy, potatoes, green beans and the famous broc/caul salad was the menu.. with a few more side items. With 9 cousins and 8 grown-ups, this house was 'a-hopping' with good times.


His cake.

The sweet, adorable birthday boy who shouldn't be turning 6 already!


Benji is absolutely identical to his Daddy. I've seen pictures of Benjamin making the same expression. Man.. there is NO denying that boy is his child! The only proof there is that he is MY son.. is I remember giving birth to him.
Little Miss Katie-bug waiting for the party to start.
Our family of 6..

My in-laws :)

Pre-cake/candle-blowing chaos
These pictures aren't too clear, but I love it anyways. John, the king of blowing out candles, is laughing, because he yet again, blew them out before it was time! Boppa and his 9 grandkids. Why in the world didn't we have Gma sit with them?? (Just messing with some editing)

Present time!
Within a 2 week period we have 5 birthdays to celebrate on my husband's side. Actually from Sept-April we have 16 birthdays out of 18 people. (that's including our newest arrival this sometime this winter. Not OUR newest arrival.. but our niece/nephew.. just don't want anyone getting the wrong idea!) Then we add anniversaries in there.. we do lots of celebrating around here!