Kids...

Last week my sister-in-law Donna's uncle had surgery. Since we've known him for many years, we went to the hospital to see him. We told Ciara we were going to see George because he is sick. Well, Ciara was too young to go in the intensive care unit, so she stayed in the waiting room and entertained everyone. She entertained! She sang songs, showed us her athletic abilities and played hide & seek with her Oma. After Dave came back from seeing George, Ciara decided it was her turn to see him. She said, "I want to see Curious George!" I started laughing when I realized she thought we were going to see the CURIOUS GEORGE. We tried to explain that George was Aunt Donna's uncle. You should have seen her expression ...she thinks Aunt Donna has a monkey for an uncle! The only George she has ever heard of is the Curious George monkey in the books. I think our friend George will have a good laugh over this one!

Disney On Ice

I love to see Disney on Ice and this week I had the privilege of taking Ciara to see it.
I had been many times myself, but there is something so special about taking your child. Children see things so differently from we adults so it's nice to be a bit of a child for that night. The show had a lot of characters, since they are celebrating 100 years, so we saw little tidbits of the different Disney films. It was nice and Ciara really enjoyed herself (she stood up and was pretending to "ice skate"). The funniest part to me was I had told her she could have a toy. They had all kinds of "girly" items, but oh no...she didn't want any of those items. She chose the sword. My daughter is such a tomboy! She wanted a sword so she and daddy can play swords at home together. So like a good mommy I let her have it and she and Kaeden proceded to have a sword fight right there. It was fun watching them and they did pretty good, too. They still have both eyes and didn't cut off any limbs:) I can't wait until next year.

Black Friday Shopping

Did you know that 4:30 comes twice a day? I got up that early to go shopping with my mom and sister today. We headed out, for that once-a-year early morning shopping spree, at 5:30. We started the day out with Starbucks and breakfast at Mickey D's. Then the fun began! We were able to get some good bargains and stay awake at the same time. I do believe we were a little giddy at times, too. Even though we were shopping for others, which I love to do, Sharra and I were able to get something we wanted. We both have wanted dress boots, but hadn't been able to get them yet. While riding up the escalator, my eagle eyes spotted some boots that had an "early bird special". These boots were $70.00 normally and were on sale for $14.99. Can you believe that? Mom suggested we go right back down and check them out and like good, obedient daughters...we did. We found our sizes and snatched them up before someone else could get them! God sends little blessings our way when we least expect them. Anyway, we had lots of fun shopping and just being together. I only get to shop with Sharra every other year and I really look forward to this time together. Did I mention our sweet, loving, adorable(OK, not too thick here)husbands watched the kids while we shopped??? I had to take a nap when I got home, but it was worth it.

Pony Ride

Ciara has been begging us to let her ride a pony. We found a pumpkin patch this fall that had pony rides too. So we took her on a nice, warm fall day;she even wore her "cowgirl" hat. Once we arrived, we found out the saddles had been stolen and so she couldn't ride the pony that day. She instead played on the inflatable slide and bounce. We did go back a couple of weeks later (much colder this time) and she was able to ride her pony. She was so excited! She climbed right on the pony and sat there with a big smile on her face. She still asks for daddy to buy her a pony and now wants a pony birthday cake. I think she'll get the cake...

Farm girl

Ciara and me on the tractor

Panning for gold

Dave helping Ciara up the slide

Here she comes!

Feeding the pony

Ciara on the pony

Ciara enjoying the ride

Happenings

When you go to work you never know what can happen...or what kind of "hat" you'll wear. We have a pet hamster in my classroom and today I went to the cage to check on "Tippy". I figured it was time to clean his cage and let some of the students help me. When I looked at Tippy he was a little still and I couldn't see any breathing. So, I called my co-worker over and she kind of poked him and we got a little response out of him. We got him out of the cage and boy was he cold! So, I had to be a nurse today and put some towels in the microwave to warm him up. We finally got him warmed and breathing only to find out... he was dying. Hamsters only live for about 2 years and he was already 3 years old. He started laboring in his breathing and we figured he wouldn't last the school day. But, he did. The kids all said goodbye to him before they left. One little guy even prayed for him. How sweet! To make a long story short, Carla, my co-worker took him home with her (he was still living when I left work) because she didn't him to die alone. He died this evening and is now in "hamster heaven". Tomorrow should be a better day!

14th Anniversary

I want to thank my husband for 14 wonderful years together! Life has given us some interesting experiences and some not so wonderful. Dave has been my support through the hard times (two miscarriages) and is a wonderful husband and daddy. Ciara has become such a daddy's girl and I do believe she has him wrapped around her little finger:) I look forward to many more wonderful years together. I hope you have a great day honey! I took a picture of our wedding day, but it glared for some reason.

Dave and I on our wedding day

Kids...

The other night at church I had a bit of a scare. My daughter is so energetic and very curious. Right before church began, she pulled off a tiny berry from the flower arrangement. She then proceeded to show me what she could do with it. Yes, she very proudly stuffed it up her nose and said, "Watch me, mom". I was not expecting that! I was able to grab the berry before she could jam it further up her nose. Needless to say, she got a lecture about putting things in her nose.

Last night she saw her Oma shaking hands with someone at church. Ciara held out her little hand and said, "Hi, my name's Ciara". I about cracked up. She loves shaking hands with the congregation.

On a funny note, while I was sitting here blogging, Dave called to me and as I turned around this is what I saw. Ciara, just fresh out of the tub, is now sporting blue finger paint on her little naked body. Dave is standing behind her with a frown and is not happy at all. I have to hold myself back from laughing!!! As a good mommy I tell her "not to do it again". Of course she says, "I won't". At least not until the next chance she gets. What a child!

Girl's Day Out

Wow...it has been a busy three days for me. On Thursday, my mom, Sharra, Danessa and I went to the Covered Bridge Festival in Mansfield, Indiana. It was just us, no kids. The hubbies kept the children for us so we could have a wonderful time shopping. And we did!!! We walked, ate some yummy food and walked some more. The "cheesecake on a stick" I ate didn't even have any calories due to all the walking:) It was so nice being with the women in my family and did I mention we didn't have to bring the kids? What nice husbands we have! Thanks honey!

On the way home we stopped in Danville to take some pictures of the Mayberry Cafe. We had so much fun doing that we decided to take picture of the courthouse dummies.
They were decorated for Halloween. Of course, we had to stop at other stores that we saw and shopped some more. I guess you can say we "shopped till we dropped".


Mom's look-a-like

Danessa and her new man

Sharra and the new Dan

Look out Dave...there's competition

Standing in front of Barney Fife's car

The Mayberry cafe

We didn't come close to 5 tons!

Mom and her country boyfriends

Cheesecake anyone?

Eating our yummy lunch

The covered bridge at Mansfield

Kids...the things they do

A couple of nights ago, we were so tired that we went to bed at 8:30. Ciara wasn't so happy about that, but she finally gave in and went to sleep. Dave woke me up at 5:30 the next morning...and was I ever tired! I couldn't understand why I was tired when I got so much sleep. Well, I ironed my clothes for the day and then kissed Dave goodbye. A few minutes later I heard the door open and he came into the kitchen and stood looking at me. I was starting to feel a little nervous thinking something happened to one of the vehicles. He finally told me to come here and look at the microwave clock. IT SAID 3:45!!! We had got up two hours early!!! No wonder my body wasn't cooperating! I had to laugh when I realized our little "darling" had messed with the buttons on the clock and set it up two hours. Of course she slept through the whole thing. Needless to say, she was given a lecture about not bothering things on daddy's night stand anymore.

This and That

It seems like Fall is finally here. I can hear the crisp cornstalks blowing in the breeze and feel the crispness in the air. It's such a lovely season and it's fun to decorate outside. And....I look so forward to attending the "covered bridge festival". My sister Sharra is going with us this year (mom, me, sisters-in-laws Danessa and Donna) and we are so excited. She gets to stay for three days while Dan takes care of the bunch kins. Actually, I think the kids are looking forward to this. Dave is taking the day off to take care of Ciara. Do dads let them get by more? :) We shall see. I will post some pics of the trip later.

Summer Fun

Where did the summer go? It seems the older I get the quicker the years go by.
Anyway, we had a nice summer (especially after I got the pool water the right color) and were able to do some fun activities. Ciara and I went to Metamora with my parents for a little trip and ended up in Kentucky by that evening. We really didn't get lost, my dad just likes to see where the roads lead:) Dave and I took Ciara to the Indiana State Fair to see the animals. She loved the little pigs! It was neat seeing her so excited over all the animals. She wanted to take a pony ride, but it was already closed by the time we got there. Maybe next year.
We did have lots of fun in our swimming pool and I saw quite a bit of my family this year! No pun intended:) I enjoyed having my family around and look forward to more swimming fun next year.

Mom, dad and Ciara in Metamorra

Ciara and her mommy

Ciara eating healthy fair food

Ciara milking a fake cow

Ciara in the pool

School

I've been been in school about 4 weeks now and I am soooo tired! It's always so much fun to get a new class used to the schedule and to follow rules. I do have a pretty neat group this year; a lot of cuties. Ciara doesn't understand why she can't go to "mommy's school" too. She so wants to go to school and learn. It doesn't help that three of my students also attend her daycare and always make comments about me being their teacher. Ciara told them the other day , "she's my teacher too". So, starting next week we will do preschool activities in the evening.
This will be interesting!

Camping Trip

I know this is so late, but I thought I would share anyway. We went camping in Michigan with my sister Sharra and her family. The weather was a little cool in the evenings (I woke up each morning with a cold nose) but nice during the day. The kids got to swim in the lake and we took the pontoon out each evening. Dan, our resident fisherman, took us fishing and that was fun. The kids caught more fish than the adults. Ciara enjoyed it so much and was excited each time she caught her "pish". It was a little difficult keeping Trevin and Ciara away from the fire pit, but had a great time. Next time we'll bring a puppy corral for the two. (I'm having trouble getting the pics to download so there won't be any this time.)

I'm Baacckkkk

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last blogged. I've been on a vacation, helped out at Ciara's daycare several times and now our church camp(J.T. Hatfield) is in progress. The services have been good, singing and messages. We've had several college groups represented. That really brings back memories! The groups have done a good job singing. I hope to have pics of the camping trip soon.

Chuck E. Cheese...In The Dark

My niece Kyra is staying with my parents for a week and we decided to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. Since my cousin Belinda and her family are visiting her parents, we asked them to go to. The girls had fun playing the games, earned lots of tickets(Kaitlyn is a great skeeball player)and received some nice prizes. Of course we adults had to help play the games too. I love that place! When the children were out of tokens, they decided to play in the tunnels. My parents, Aunt Vicki, Belinda and I sat and chatted. We were having a great discussion when...the lights went out! Did I mention they are expanding this store? Evidently the construction workers hit something they shouldn't have. The emergency lights came on so the children could still play. And everything was fine until...we had to use the restroom. It was completely dark and Karissa didn't want to go in there. We grabbed our cell phones (they make wonderful flashlights) and had enough light to take care of the job. This is one Chuck E. Cheese visit I'll never forget!

Dog Tags

Dave was in the Marines for 6 years and still has the "dog tags" he wore during that time. Ciara loves to get them out and play with them. I guess she finally figured out what they were...at least in her mind. I had told her to put daddy's dog tags away and she just looked at me for a minute. Then she proceeded to put them around our dog, Keisha's, neck. I had to laugh at her thought process! When Dave came home he took one look at Keisha and asked why she was wearing his tags. We both had a good laugh!

Keisha wearing Dave's dog tags

Swingset Fun

Earlier I had told you about the swingset we bought for Ciara. Dave had the tower put together and then it was damaged by the storm. He had to replace three boards. He was able to get the rest of it done and now he has a very happy little girl. Here are a few pictures of Ciara enjoying her swingset. She keeps telling mommy to get on it, but I don't think it's made for adults. Too bad, it looks like fun.


Ciara swinging


Here she comes head first.


"Don't take my picture mom".

Chat

It's been very busy here on the prairie the last two days. I was finally able to have some top soil delivered so I can finish my flower beds. The silly weather has been so erratic that it put me behind on my work. I can now say that part is done!!!I have an aching back and sore arms to prove it! Shoveling dirt is hard work and I'm so glad I don't have to do that often. Now I just have to hope and pray that everything grows and will be beautiful.

On a side note, I was mowing the yard the other day and I noticed tiny little frogs hopping in the grass. They were trying to get away from the mower. As I came around the flower bed, two were trying to hop over the retaining wall around the flower bed. One made it and the other made it to the first wall and tried hopping up to the top. He couldn't make it...and got so scared he wet on the wall. I laughed so hard and thought poor little thing. That's what some of us do when we get so scared. My nephew Connor will love this. He'll want to know why I didn't catch the frog for him. :)

Kids Say the Funniest Things

I thought I'd share some funny things Ciara said recently. You never know what will come out of that little mouth. I've been working with her on her manners. She's been told to say excuse me when she burps. The other day she "passed gass" and I gave her a look. She replied, with a cheeky grin, "My popo burped"! (popo mean bottom in German).

Then we were at Wal-Mart getting groceries the other day and she had her stuffed cat with her. The cashier asked her about the cat; Ciara told her the cat's name is Mitzy. She asked Ciara if the cat purred. Ciara looked at her seriously and replied, "The kitty-cat poops". Little too much info, huh? The cashier just laughed. She thought it was pretty funny.

School's Out...the Monkeys Are Gone

Today was my last day of school with my students. We spent the day at the park, ate lunch and passed put awards to the children. Many of their parents showed up for the last day. I even received a rose from one of my boys. Now I can tell Dave I have a "boyfriend" who gives me flowers. Although I had a good year with my students, it's always nice for summer break to begin. And here it is. Yea!!!!!! Now for all those summer projects....

Planting...it's work!

The weather has finally been nice and I was able to work in the flower beds on Saturday. I had to get more dirt and ended up with about 500 pounds of it. Dave was getting the garden soil prepared so I had to lift all the bags by myself. Ciara wanted to help, but realized quickly that "it's heavy mommy". I was pretty happy with the result of my labor, but I still have more to do. Hopefully, I can get it done this week so I can sit in my yard and enjoy.

On a side note, we bought a wooden swingset for Ciara over a month ago. The weather was yucky for a while and then Dave was too busy with work and mowing the yard. Finally, he has been working on it and it's almost completed. I should have a happy little girl playing on her swingset this week. Weather permitting. lol

Family and Fun

My sister Sharra and her children came to visit last week while her husband was fishing in Canada. This was really nice since she was here for Mother's Day. This doesn't happen too often so we really enjoyed the time together with our mom. After dinner mom told us to go lay down and take a nap. We really tried...but we started talking and laughing. Just like old times. We almost expected dad to come in and tell us to "go to sleep or I'll get the belt". lol

We took the kids to the zoo, Chuck E. Cheese and shopping. We really had a great time. Trevin loved the dolphin show and Ciara liked the train. We got to pat sharks; that was really cool! It was a busy week, but well worth getting to bed late.

Life

Today I had the wonderful experience of witnessing the birth...of a butterfly. About 3 weeks ago I ordered butterfly larvae for a science experience at school. The caterpillars were very tiny at first, but then they grew and grew. Eventually they all formed themselves into a chrysalis. My students thought this was awesome and were counting the days when they would hatch. We all sort of...miscalculated the birthing event. I walked into my classroom and saw four butterflies already hatched. I was worried they were dead since I wasn't there to feed them. But they were alive. Well you can imagine the excitement my co-worker and I felt. We were too busy watching the butterflies to get ready for class! Right before the kids arrived, the last chrysalis began to shake. Right before our eyes, this tiny creature began to shake it's way out. Much to our dismay, it only got so far and then stopped. We were afraid it might die so we tried to help it out. I can now add "surgeon " to my resume. Unforntunatley, the wings didn't form correctly and he wasn't able to fly. I thought it was so sad, but even in nature things don't always come out right. Life is full of bad and good things. I'm just glad I have the Lord to help me through those times.

I have to share this little story about my daughter. She attends a daycare while I work and she loves it there. Jackie, the owner, spoils her rotten. But today, I guess Ciara was too onery for her own good. Jackie had put her down for a nap and Ciara wouldn't go to sleep; she was quite noisy. Finally, Jackie went into the napping room and told Ciara, "I have enough!" Ciara replied, "No you haven't"!!!
What will she be like when she's 13?

Windy Birthday Party

Today was my nephew Kaeden's birthday party. The day was warm, sunny and extremely WINDY!!! This wouldn't be bad if the party had been indoors, but it was at the park in a shelter house. Poor Daness tried so hard to keep the tablecloths taped down, but alas the wind was much stronger. We finally gave up and went to their house for the rest of the party. We watched the kids break a pinata and was my daughter ever excited when she saw all that candy. She just now went to sleep, thank you very much! It was a fun day in spite of the weather. It's always great to get together with family.

Milestone

Today my daughter reached a milestone...her first visit to the dentist. I was hoping for an easy time, but it was not to be. First of all, she didn't get a nap at the daycare so she decided to sleep on the way. When we got there, she woke up and wasn't in the best of moods. That poor dental assistant tried everything to make up to Ciara, but she wasn't cooperating. I'm praying under my breath for her to behave so I don't have to make another appointment. Then the answer to prayer came! Ciara had to potty. I took this time to give her a "motherly lecture" on how she would open her mouth and let them count her teeth. She sweetly nodded her head and was great the rest of the visit.

Newbie

Blogging is new to me, but I've had several gals after me to start one. I think this is a wonderful way to stay in touch and I look forward to hearing from many friends.

My daughter recently turned 3 years old. It's hard to believe how quickly she has grown! We had a nice little party for her and invited some of her cousins. She's still at that age when there are more adults than kids at the party. Here are a few pictures of her party.