Down a long country road...

Nicki MEETS Tanya Tucker!!

2011-09-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Back in March Nicki was given tickets to Loretta Lynn for her birthday. She was thrilled that Loretta was coming to town, as Nicki loves the "old time" country music. She has sang "Coal Miners Daughter" at various events, as she loves Loretta Lynn.

During the summer, Nicki was invited once again to sing the American/Canadian anthems at the fair. She was thrilled to be invited again. Closer to the fair we heard that Loretta had to cancel her show. While Nicki was disappointed, her spirits remained high as she said, "Well, if Loretta couldn't be there, how did they know Tanya was the next best thing?!"

Little did you all know that Nicki loves Tanya Tucker too! She knows most of her songs word by word.

The day came for Nicki to sing the anthems, it was a beautiful day. Her uncle and two cousins were visiting from California, so they do not get to hear her sing often.

Here she is singing The Canadian Anthem:

http://youtu.be/4YVekWAECoU

And here she is singing the U.S. Anthem:

http://youtu.be/g3BJpTwW1EM

After Nicki sang we enjoyed the horse events, and then had a great time watching Tanya Tucker perform. Nicki was given meet and greet passes...I cannot even tell you how excited she was when she heard the news that she was going to MEET Tanya Tucker.

After the concert we met Karen at our "pre-planned meeting place" and headed backstage. Once there we were told that she would be very quick, and that she will not be doing any autographs. Nicki said, "Who cares! I get to meet her!" We were last in line and the time finally came. Nicki walked up and a quick picture was taken. Tanya said to Nicki, "Were you the one singing the anthems tonight?" Nicki turned a bit shy and said yes. Then Tanya told her, "It sure sounded good.Not too many kids have a voice like that!" Nicki then told her, "I have sang your song, San Antonio Stroll a few times at different events. I love that song!" Imagine Nicki's face when Tanya said to her, "Well, sing it for me!"

Nicki's eyes started to fill with tears, and she did what any 12 year old would do...She Sang. It was a beautiful thing. Watching my daughter, star-struck, sing for Tanya Tucker. Towards the end, Tanya joined her in the song and they finished it together.

She was told she did a great job. Somewhere in there it was said that Nicki would like to sing on the Grand Ol' Opry one day. To which Tanya replied, "Well, when you get there, you just step up on that stage, take that microphone, and SING. Don't ever let anybody tell you no. Nobody is going to stop you. You own it and let it be yours. You can do it if you want it bad enough."

Nicki was pretty much at a loss for words by this point. We said our thank you's and Tanya hugged her once more. Although she was told Tanya wasn't doing autographs, Nicki's cute self won, as she asked Tanya, "Will you please sign my hat?!" Tanya said, "Of course...I think you saved this spot right here, just for me!" She then signed her name right smack in the middle of Nicki's cowboy hat.

We said goodbye, and as we walked away, I heard my daughter say, "This is the best night EVER! I cannot believe that just happened to me!"
I have to say, I think every child should be able to feel that special at least once in their life. My daughter loves her music, and loves to sing. She is just an average farm kid, and there is nothing out of the ordinary about her. We don't know if she has what it takes to get to the Grand Ol' Opry...but the best part is, that night, she got the confirmation that she could do anything she sets her mind to.
If I had the chance to thank Tanya Tucker, I would. For allowing my daughter to experience something so big...for as that night, my 12 year old...was on top of the moon.

Finally! An update!!

2011-09-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

Long over due update!!
Well, it has been pretty much FOREVER since I have posted here on this blog. As you will be able to tell from the pictures below...we have been overwhelmed with HOUSE everything. We are finally nearing completion...and it seems to have taken over our lives. This summer was a busy one. We have had alot of you asking for pictures...so I figured I would update with some. We are looking at the 2nd or 3rd week of October to move in. It is coming FAST! Everytime I think I spent a day packing boxes, Tony comes in and says, "So, what did you do today?" Grrrr! That is my sign that I have way too much stuff and I better get on the ball and throw some of it out!! So, I will let you see the pictures now. Enjoy!

This is the front of the house. It is almost done. Just a few more things and then it is finished. You can't see the rock in this picture, but it is river rock. I love it!

Here is our entry way. At the middle part of the top of the stairs, is what I call my Christmas Tree room. We didn't plan it, but it is the perfect size for a Christmas tree. I think I will have it be my "seasonal" room, and change it with the seasons.
Closet under the stairs, and you are looking into the living room. For some reason I can't type below the next two pictures...so I will just explain them here. They are my living room...fireplace and tv wall unit. LOVE it. Turned out really nice. No complaints here!!

Kitchen...granite is being installed tomorrow!! Wish us luck...I hope I like it!! YIKES!

Playroom

Nicki's room. This is the most commented on room. We get, "Wow! That is bright!" and, "Who on earth picked those colors?" Normally those comments come from plumbers, carpenters, etc. who obviously do NOT have 12 year old girls. The color is bright, and yes the carpet is purple shag...but Nicki loves it. After all...it is her house too! :)

Kaycee's room...Picture is duller than it looks. Her walls are Benjamin Moore "Pool Blue" and her carpet is a Disney soft green color.
She wanted Purple. Oops.

Ryans room is Benjamin Moore "Twine" and "Apple Spice". His carpet is so cool...you can't see it, but there are tire prints all over the carpet. Ryan LOVES this!

Joes Room: Benjamin Moore "Silver" and hmmm...cant remember what the blue is. The carpet has another car them thing...but I can't remember what that is either. Apparently Joe doesn't really care, because he now says to my mom, "The colors are nice, but I just wanted it all to be white." Ooops...again.

My bathroom shower...first time picking out tile...I think I REALLY like it!
The picture doesn't do it justice below, but the colors came together really well.

This is my laundry room...Love Love LOVE this. I might actually enjoy a load or 2 of laundry! Imagine that!!

Look! We have a skylight!

2011-06-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was driving and was looking at the back of the house. All of a sudden I noticed it. A single hole in the roof of my new house. A hole? Did we order a skylight? I didn't. I am pretty sure Tony didn't. One of the chillen's might be pretty pleased to hear the builders messed up and put a skylight in their roof. Who should I confer with first? I call Tony.
Me: Hey. Is there supposed to be a skylight on the roof?
Tony: A skylight?
Me: Yes, a skylight. There appears to be one right above the kids bedroom.
Tony: A skylight?
Me: Yes. One lonely skylight.
Tony: I don't think there is a skylight on the plans.
Me: Oh ya, the plans. Should I look at the plans?
Tony: You can. Are you sure there is a skylight? We didn't want a skylight.
Me: Oh, the builder is here, I will talk to him.
Tony: Ok, let me know what they say.

So, I am still pondering the lonely skylight as I approach the builders. Kinda thinking, "Well, we didn't order one. But that middle room kid will sure have the coveted room now!" Anyways, I go over to the builder, who has a few other beefy builder type guys standing around him. I approach in my, I AM WOMAN...HEAR ME ROAR attitude. Quite proud I noticed their HUGE error before it was too late to fix it. Normally it isn't the woman who notices the very important details like this.
I admit...I am rather pleased with my discovery.
The conversation goes a little like this:
Me: Hey guys.
Guys: Hey.
Me: You know, I was checking things out around here,
*(Fearing they might think I was checking THEM out...I quickly recover from that statement!),
uhhh...I was checking out the house, and I noticed something that is not right.
Guys: Oh really? What?
Me: Well, I don't think there is a skylight on the plan.
Guys: A skylight?
Me: Yes, a skylight.
Guys: A skylight?
Me: Yes. A skylight. Right on the backside of the roof. Above the kids room.
Silence.
Guys looking at each other.
Laughter.
Lots of laughter.
Me: Confused.
Guys: Uhhh...that's not a skylight.
Me: It's not?
Guys: No, it's an access hole. So we have a place to access the roof.
REALLY?

REALLY?!
No more "I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR."
It's NOT a skylight.

Who KNEW?!

Our New House...

2011-06-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well, after alot of planning and planning...the house building is FINALLY underway! It seemed like it would never get started...but it is in full force now. Everyone keeps asking me to post pictures, and I figured this would be the easiest way to do it. Plus it gets me back into blogging again. :) I will post a bunch of pictures here, so you can see the progress, and then keep it going. I am going to be asking for ALOT of advice on things as we are at DECISION time...and some decisions should be group decisions, don't ya think?! :) So...lets get started!

So, here is Tony, as we are trying to decide where we want to put our house. As you can see it is across the road from where we are now. The house between the two tree's is where we are now.

First step...making a driveway.

Then...this is the beginning of it all!

Here is where the pictures might get a bit out of order. And, alot with Ryan in them. He is documenting the building process in his class, so I will take the pictures from there. It is a good idea of what is going on.

The crawl space floor. It ends up with a ton of rooms...but you have to duck to get into each one.

Walls are up...

1st floor...

Kitchen/Living Room

2nd floor is happening!

Entry way stairs...I love them!! Later I will post what it will look like...

View from the back of the house...

Roof!!

There she is! Isn't she getting pretty?! We are so excited! Now I have to run to go talk to the builder...Will be back!

2011-03-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

2011-03-20T20:17:00.002-07:00

Well, we once again, took off on another adventure with our friends, Joe and Hallie.
Hallie and I got the guys Zipline Tickets for Christmas, and headed up to
Whistler to have some fun.
The guys had a great time on the mountain, and
Hallie and I thoroughly enjoyed the village.
( I have to post the pictures here in different posts, as I can't figure out what is happening with blogger, but when I go to add pics to a post, it takes forever.)

2011-03-20T20:17:00.001-07:00

This was the view from our hotel room. It was a great place to stay. Well, except of course for the one little issue with one of the robes. I will probably be scarred for life and I just cannot seem to be strong enough to blog about it. So I will just leave it at that. Do I recommend the hotel? Absolutely! It was cozy and nice. Do I recommend the robes? Uhhh...not so much.

It doesn't show up in this picture below, but atop the left mountain is a gondola, it is called "Peak To Peak" and a huge cable goes from one mountaintop to the other. It was pretty amazing.

At the base of the mountain. This was mine and Hallies view during lunch. Not to shabby!

After lunch we needed an afternoon warm-up. So we went into this place that looked rather inviting. It wasn't until after we were inside that we noticed the pictures on the walls. Let me just say, that when Hallie and I left, we did NOT leave a picture of our "bosoms" behind for them to add to their collection.

The drinks were rather yummy...I cannot name some of the drinks that this place offered on this website...but our friend Joe...he wanted to know what was in each of those drinks. Shame On You Joey J.

2011-03-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

This was the Olympic Square, where the medal ceremonies were. Had fun posing in the rings...Go USA! Oh, hmmm...and for Tony and Joe and Hallie....GO CANADA, too. :)

2011-03-20T20:16:00.002-07:00

Turned out a little dark but this is the memorial for the Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, that crashed and passed away during the Olympics.

I was so enthralled with the ice everywhere. They were dangerous! One would definately not want to be in line with one of these dropping from all of the roofs...I would say that some serious damage could be done.

2011-03-20T20:16:00.001-07:00

On the way home we found the falls that Hallie had been telling us about. I would love to get a camera that shows the color and beauty that was all around us. One of these days...
We thought it would be a short little stroll along a friendly little path...uhhh...not so. Instead, we went slip-sliding away through the parking lot, up the trails, and finally to the falls. Everything was a solid sheet of ice. Me, being the ADVENTUROUS one that I am, of course, sailed passed Tony and Joe and Hallie. I don't know why they are so afraid of everything but I will definately have to help them curb their fears. (Disclaimer...those who know me, know that was an absolute un-true fact...)

I loved this place...that is the fireplace I want in the new house. Wishful thinking, I know.

2011-03-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

Solid ice...Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

2011-03-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here are the Zipline pictures. The company sent them to us. The guys had a GREAT time, and Hallie and I are totally patting ourselves on the backs for giving such a FANTASTIC Christmas gift. We truely are FABULOUS wives!

Joey J...please suck it up and be a man...open your eyes and enjoy the ride. You will be ok...really you will. YOU CAN DO THIS!

We are glad you guys had a great time....truth is, you deserved it. And all joking aside about how you thought we booked this trip so that we could get away from laundry, cooking, cleaning, screaming children, mooing cows kind of life...we really just wanted to do it for YOU. You boys work so hard, we believe you needed this getaway.

Needless to say, it was good for us too. :)

Happy Birthday To My Numero Uno Amiga!!

2011-02-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

I have a friend and her name is Ana Banana...
Well, actually her name is Ana Maria Pico Royball...
She lives far away and I miss her like CRAZY!

I have known Ana Banana for over 23 years...and I believe it was 22 years ago when she became my Numero Uno Amiga! She taught me spanish...she taught me all the BAD words in spanish too!! I have forgotten my spanish, but I have not forgotten the bad words. Hmmm...guess she taught me those too well!

Ana Banana and I had alot of really fun times...

Here you can see we doubled to our prom. I was QUEEN...She was ~~NOT~~. ~~HAHAHAHAHAHA!!~~ Oh, wait, I am sorry...let me rephrase that...My boyfriend and I were prom king and queen. Ana Banana and Brian were there to support and cheer and be the best friends they could be! Ana and Brian did not have the best prom, but I am still glad we went together cause I had my bestie at the prom and Jason had his bestie at the prom. Could it be any better than that?! A memory I will never forget...me and Ana...BFF's. Well, it was 1989...so guess there weren't "BFF's" back then. That is 2010 terminology. But we were once called "Those Bi@#@*!" by a fellow baton twirler when we hid from her. We thought we were so funny! Obviously, she didn't think our joke was so funny. When we heard her utter those words, we didn't know if we should come out of hiding or not. We chose the latter! We were not very brave! Yes, Ana Banana and I were baton twirlers. I taught her how to twirl the baton. One time during one of our practices...Ana threw up her baton really high. About 2 seconds before it hit my head she yelled, "Ei Dios Jimi! Look out!" Ya, a little too late you nutcase! I think I still have an indent on my head.

Here is a picture of Ana Banana and I on our last night in Arizona together. Two wild and crazy white/mexican girls out on the town. We went to Dairy Queen. Ate our last Ana Banana Split at the Vista Park....that is until the female police officer came up and told us we had to leave. We were obviously intoxicated with CALCIUM and Banana's and Strawberries...OOOOHHHHH!! "Bad Girls Bad Girls...What Cha Gonna Do? What Cha Gonna Do When They Come For YOU!!" We then laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. Then we headed up to Old Bisbee...drove through the streets asking innocent bystanders, "Pardon Me...but do you have any Grey Poupon?", in our best french accents. Nobody had any Grey Poupon. It was Old Bisbee after all!

Ya, I suppose a couple of old chaps like these fine fellows

would not have any Grey Poupon!

The local spots in town...well, we were always too chicken to go to the parties on the outskirts of town. My dad was a border patrolman there, and I knew all of the law enforcement in town. What on earth would they say if they knew if I was at one of those drunkin' stuper parties out at the rifle range?! And poor Ana Banana....she was just as scared as me. But we were rather rebellious from time to time...bet all you Bisbee partiers did not know that Ana Banana and I ventured out to the rifle range a time or two...only to get all of you in sight and...and..and...CALL THE POLICE! Ok, not really! We did not call the police you silly people! We sat there saying to each other..."Should we go?" "Yes!" "No!" "Lets Go!" "No!" "We will stay for 5 minutes!" "NONONO....someone is coming! Lets get out of here!!" I then hit a pot hole, got stuck, and I don't remember if I got a flat tire or not...but I remember the panic that you all would be saying, "Why on earth are you here?!" But truth be known you were each our friends and would have welcomed us with open arms (And Open Beers)! But we were too afraid of getting caught!
So, once again we would laugh and laugh and laugh...and drive away...

Oh the memories...so long ago. But I am so glad I had my Ana Banana. I loved her and she loved me. I think she is the only friend who has ever called me at midnight, when I moved away, crying her eyes out saying, "Please Jimi, don't move away. I will miss you so much!"
My numero uno Amiga was going to miss me...and I believed her. Cause I was going to miss her too.
I have never found another Ana Banana.
I am not sure anyone has ever missed me so very much.
That is how I know my Ana Banana was the best Ana Banana out there!
I have found lots of amazing friends, and some I love to laugh with just as much.
But Ana Banana will always be my Ana Banana.
Even when we don't talk so much, or even though she NEVER WRITES ME LETTERS...or, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NOT GOTTEN A PICTURE OF HER DAUGHTER IN ABOUT 7 YEARS....I still love my Ana Banana....
and in the lingo of 2011:
2 My Numero Uno Amiga...U R My BMFF (best mexican friend forever)...

I will never ever forget our special times together. I went back for you wedding in 1997, and that was the last time I saw you. I miss you! One of these days I will make it back to Bisbee and You and Me sistah are going to the Dairy Queen...Ana Banana Splits all around!
I hope you have a FABULOUS 29th Birthday!
Feliz Cumplianos Mi Amiga...
I hope it is your best yet!!

Oh, and by the way...I got your email...thankyou for getting the info for me! Will call you soon!! :)

It's A New Year!

2011-01-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

To Blog...Or Not To Blog...
Now THAT is the question?!
Well, it is a new year...and I have been filled with the delimma of...do I want to continue blogging? I don't think really anyone reads it anymore....but I am not really sure if I am writing in my blog for the world to see, or for long distance relatives to read, or just merely for me to do what I love to do...and that is write. I started my blog thinking it would be a fun way for my family in California and friends in Arizona to see what a crazy life I live with my family on our farm. It slowly went from, "This is what we are up to" to "this is the crazy story of the week". I would get a few emails, "Hey, I saw your blog, great pictures!" or, "Funny story!" I guess feedback is always good, as it gives a sense of direction. Thoughts would go from, "Ok, I think they liked that one" then I would think, "I don't think anyone is reading this anymore." Truth is, I don't really know what others think. I know I have gone from starting this blog, and putting on a counter and now I have almost 17,000 hits. I think that means there have been a couple loyals out there! :)
So, here we are in the year 2011!! Can you believe it? I think...I like to blog. I think...I should continue! I think...(no, it doesn't hurt...)...I think I like sitting here in my little solitude, telling my boring kid stories. I like to share what life is like on our little farm. We have new things coming up for us in the new year, and this is going to be my place to vent my little tidbits. Biggest event this year? We are building our new house!
We are so excited...but there are so many decisions to make! Floors, cabinets, paint, fireplace? Should we pad the walls to the playroom? That way when we lock the kids in there, we won't hear a thing and they can fight it out all they want! Do we put bars on Kaycee's windows, as she is appearing to be better than Houdini at escaping.

So many thoughts and so much to say. Is it just a place for me to chat to myself, as I am so surrounded by kids life that I am starting to talk to myself, and people look at me funny?! Well, I think I like it and I think I will just keep on talking!
So, it looks like I am back.

I haven't been here in quite awhile. Lots has happened since the fall...some sad, some happy. Kids are good. Farm is good. Life is good. Christmas was great. 2011 has started and here we are at the end of January! Wow! Where is the time going?
Guess I better sign off...I have a crying 2 year old, dinner to be made, and a night to finish off. I hope whoever enjoyed reading my blog in the first place continues to enjoy it. For those who have left...goodbye, you are always welcome to come back and visit! And for me...who writes all this nonsense...quite rambling and get to cooking dinner!
CIAO!

Nicki singing with Tenore - final.wmv

2010-11-15T10:04:00.000-08:00

**Just a note, be sure to push the STOP button on the music player on the right hand side of this screen before you watch Nicki's video. If not, you will have both playing at the same time...**

Here is Nicki singing "Sempre Vicino" with the group, "Tenore". She was invited to sing with them on Saturday night. It was a pretty big deal for her, and she was so excited. She met them last year, and was runner up in a contest that they had, and this year they invited her back. I will post some pictures of the night too...

2010-11-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

Here is Nicki at the end of the night...utterly and completely Over The Moon!

"Tenore"

Jason Catron...Jason is from Nashville, and Nicki thinks it is pretty cool that she actually knows someone who lives in Nashville. She thought it was even cooler that he was at the opening of The Grand Ol' Opry after their floods.
So, Jason is really in Nicki's "cool" book. ha!

Shane Wiebe...He is from our town. He was was a finalist on Canadian Idol. He recently did a cross Canada "motorhome" tour with his wife, Angela...and family. They have an amazing talent.
(Yes, he is in her cool book too...)

This is Mark David Williams...he is from Minneapolis. He was so great to work with. He helped Nicki on where she would be standing and what she needed to do with her mic. He has an amazing testimony. He talked about being in a terrible accident, as he was hit by a drunk driver. It is amazing all that he went through, and having a great faith to get him through it. Wish we all could be a testimony from accidents or situations such as that rather than fall victim to it. Oh, and for sure he is the 3rd in Nicki's cool book. :)

So here she is practicing for the show. Actually, Nicki did not know until that afternoon if she would be performing or not. They needed to make sure that she meshed well with the group, as they didn't want to mess up the song in anyway. So, after she sang it for her 2 times, they told her that she would indeed be singing with them that night...

Here she is after they told her...TRYING TO CONTAIN HER EXCITEMENT! :)

Look at that smile...she was thrilled.

(And mom was a little proud too when Jason gave me the thumbs up.)

Off we were to get dressed. I promised her I would not post a bathroom picture of her. She said EVERYONE would know I just took her picture alongside a TOILET!

Sorry Nicki...Your mother likes this picture, toilet or not...so...Here it is!

And another below the stage...no toilet involved here.

Just kinda liked this picture. Don't remember taking it actually.

The Tenors being funny...they did put on a great show.

This is Shane and his wife, Angela. I love this picture.

Alot of the pictures didn't turn out because there is a "fog" that went throughout the whole church. But this one turned out so good!

The Introduction...

Here she goes..."Sempre Vicino"

Whew! The pressure is off...Now here is Nicki acting like the goofy 11 year old that she is. I was very proud of her that night...she did a fantastic job!

Thank You Shane, Jason and Mark...You guys were so nice to our girl. Each of you have a testimony to be proud of and it shines throughout your show.

And many thanks to Jill Siemens....she wrote the song, "Sempre Vicino", and she also founded "Tenore" and she is also the founder of "The Canadian Tenors"...I appreciate that she invited Nicki to sing and that she shared this song with Nicki. It was a challenge for her, and it was great for her to be able to share in this night!

D...is for...

2010-10-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

"Don't It Make Your
Brown Eyes Blue"
Don't know when I've been so blue...
Don't know whats...come over you.
You've found somebody new.
And don't it make my brown eyes blue.

I'll be fine when your gone.
I'll just cry all night long.
Say it isn't true.
And don't it make my brown eyes blue.

Tell me no secrets, tell me some lies.
Give me no reasons, give me alibis.
Tell me you love me and don't let me cry.
Say anything but don't say goodbye!

I didn't mean to treat you bad.
Didn't know just what I had.
But honey now I do...
And don't it make my brown eyes ...
don't it make my brown eyes...
don't it make my brown eyes...BLUE.

Ok, well, it isn't like Ryan is having an affair on me or anything...but truth is...I will tell you...he started kindergarden! I know...can you believe it?! Then the little stinker went and turned 5 on me the very next week! Wouldn't you know, he was MINE. All mine...up until the "S" word came along. Oh ya, "SCHOOL" is now his everything! I showed up to school so excited to see him and ask him how school was going and he started to CRY~! I ran by his side, "Oh Ryan...what is wrong? Did you miss mommy? Did some big bully hurt you? Is your teacher mean to you? What terrible thing happened to make you so upset?!"

His reply? "I don't want you to be here! I want to go with my new friends on the bus!!"

Are you kidding me kid?! I am the one who has taken care of you over the last 5 years! I spent 9 miserable months with you in my belly...many hours of unforgetable labour...5 years of nurturing you into the fine boy you are today. We have cuddled, and snuggled, and laughed and played. I changed your diapers and fed your sweet little self.

And this is the thanks I get?
You were all mine until your teacher came into your life and

now you love her more than me?! How can this be?!

Ok, well whatever the reason is...I know you will be coming home sometime today and I know that at some point over the next 13 years you will come home and say to me,

"I want my mommy"

...right?! Seriously, right?!

Yep, it is true. I was my guys number one gal up until September rolled around and now I am on the back burner. Feeling a little jipped, and kinda miss the little stinker during the day. Think I might do a mommy stalker thing and drive by the school today. What? I have 2 other kids at that school?! Thanks for the reminder! Ah yes, I remember...these are the emotions I have felt for each of them for like the first month of their kindergarden days...then someone taught me the definition of FREEDOM. Hmmm...well, for now, maybe I can bribe them with french fries to come say hello to me through the fence...

Have fun at school my Little Bear. I am off to nurture my Kaycee now.

She is ALL MINE over the next 3 years...that is...of course...until friends and teachers and school busses get in the way!!

Awww....look at her say, "CHHEEEEESE!!"

Oh, and for some more "D" posts...head on over to Jenny's page at http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

She hosts a letter a week called Alphebet Thursday...a little thing to spark writing topics.

Give Thanks...

2010-10-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been awhile since I have blogged...I think it is time I get back to it! I have had a few people asking me when I was going to start blogging again. Not sure really why I stopped. Guess it was a very busy summer...seems like we never slowed down. Now that the kiddos are back in school, I am finding my "normal" again. So...normal to me, is finding time to write a little bit about what goes on in our world...here on the farm.

Today is our Canadian Thanksgiving. I have a hard time getting into the Thanksgiving mood in October...seems like November is the more "festive" time. But I do think, why not be Thankful more than once a year?! Why not celebrate twice?! Hey...maybe I will be thankful YEAR ROUND! Imagine that?! ha!
As of right now I have a ham cooking in the oven and it smells soooo good! Can't wait to sit down and enjoy it.

I thought I would share with you, on this Thanksgiving Day....Joey's "I Am Thankful For..." paper that he brought home from school on Friday. I think he said it perfectly.

"I Am Thankful For...."
My dad putting me in 4-H.
My 4-H calf helping me out at the fairs.
Clothes for warmth.
A farm for money.
A school for education.
Carrots for health.
Milk for calcium.
Family.
Finally, my little brother for surviving his huge fall
out of the hay loft this summer.
-Joey age 9

Carrots for health?! Not sure where he came up with that one...ha! But, good job on your writing Joey. I hope we can all be as creative in our thinking of things to be thankful for. (And...we are also so very thankful that our Ryan survived that very scary fall...)
Wishing each and every one of you a WONDERFUL Canadian Thanksgiving!!

Introducing Maybell and Jewell

2010-08-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Who knew calves could pose so pretty??!!
We decided to do a little "4H calf photo shoot"...

Unfortunately, Jewell, Joey's calf, died that night...which was 2 days before Joey and Jewel's first fair. We don't know what happened. Just that, when Tony went to the barn the next morning, she had died during the night. Joey took this quite hard, as he was so excited to get up early and go see her, only to find out the sad news.

He didn't want to quit...so figured he would try a new calf. We tried to tell him that a new calf, without the training that Jewel had, would be quite hard to deal with.

He picked out "Sunny"...Sunny, so far...has done a GREAT job!

We will miss you Jewel...

Trip To Cannon Beach, Oregon...

2010-08-04T21:19:00.000-07:00

We recently took a little trip down to Cannon Beach...and we had a fabulous time! Of course I took a TON of pictures...so I am just going to upload all of them. So many to go through. I think they will probably be out of order, and maybe a bit repetitious...but...I like them. :) The first 2 days were a bit cloudy, but by the end, Mr. Sun came out and gave us his greatest smiles. Take a look...

This was our room...we stayed at the Tolovana Inn...We had an oceanfront room, which was PERFECT! We could just sit on the deck and listen to the waves. Loved it. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, with a living room, dining room and kitchen. Very spacious for our loud and rambunctious party of 6!

2010-08-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

See...I was there!! :)

This was our room...Nicki and I were still looking for "beach money"...aka...What Ryan calls sand dollars.

Joe had no idea what he was doing...

Just as I told Kaycee to SMILE...she showed me her snacks! Thanks Kaycee!!

My sweet boys...

We walked quite a ways in the sand....Ryan was tired, so Tony carried him by his jacket. Hey...it worked!

Nicki, Joey and Ryan flying kites

We were the middle room/2nd floor

This was Kaycee's first time at the beach. She loved it until the waves made her fall down, then she was done. But it was fun watching her...I love those baby firsts...

She is just starting to decide here that this might not be such a good thing

My favorite picture of all...

Kaycee was walking and watching her shadow. She kept looking at it like,

"Hey, who are you walking beside me?!" LOVE it!!

Daddy's hugs are the best!

We took a day to head over to Seaside...we decided we liked Cannon Beach much better

The End of the Luis and Clark Expedition...

Nicki, Joey and Ryan bought "crazy hats"...good times!

We ended our trip with a stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory...It wasn't until we were driving away that we discovered we never had any cheese!

W...Wanna Watch Some Videos?! :)

2010-06-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

****NOTE****before watching any videos, be sure to shut off the music playing on the right side bar of this blog...otherwise they will all play at the same time!! :)
Well, I was finally able to figure out my new video camera and how to put my videos on the computer...I don't know why these things are so hard for me. But one day I am going to kidnap a computer whiz, and make him live in my basement and whenever I want...he...or she...will fix, maintain, and teach me all of the computer secrets.
So...on this W post, I thought I would ask you...would you like to watch some videos?
First, we have, Nicki singing at her schools talent show. She sang "Hallelujah" from the movie, Shrek. As her mama...I think she did pretty good! :) (Ok, she didn't really look like this, but was playing with the computer...teehee...)

click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5TeoX8tpPk

Next, we have Joey...he also was in the talent show. It was NOT Mama pre-approved, so I was quite worried when he said he was going to do a football act. Not approved meaning, everytime I asked him, "So, what is your act?" His reply was, "Oh we haven't figured it out yet, but it is hilarious!" OK...so, on the day of the show, this is what they had: (OK...he did ok for a not mama approved stunt!)

click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kJsschmcRk

Here is another Nicki singing video. She was recently in a singing competition/festival for her singing school, and she won. She sang "her version" of Loretta Lynns, Coal Miners Daughter...

click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AenUcJX4lAA

And last, because it has been on the camera the longest, this is Nicki on stage with The Three Christian Tenors. She entered a contest to sing onstage with the tenors, Shane Wiebe, Mark David Williams and Jason Catron. While she didn't win, they called her up on stage because she won runner up. And it is just a funny little clip of Nicki with the Tenors. They were so nice to her, and each time I watch it, it makes me laugh!!

click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq0iwidtPKs

So, that is it for my videos...Hope you liked them! If you want to join in on some more fun, head on over to Jenny's site for more W posts!! www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com

Remembering...

2010-05-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

When you look at this picture, you see a sunrise coming up behind 3 big oak trees. You see an old run down ranch house, that might have been a house to someone back in the day. The land is dry, obviously nobody is taking care of it.
When I look at this picture, I see more. I will share with you what I see and feel.
I see that before you even come down to that old ranch house, you drive down a long road after exiting the freeway. I am starting to feel the anticipation of "We are almost there!!" I am in a 10 year olds body.
One final hill...There It Is! We are there! We are there!
See that little ditch that we are about to cross? That is the ditch I like to swim in.
Over the cattle guard...giggle giggle...that tickles my bottom! :) HA! Right beside the cattle guard, thats the cattle truck. It is pretty old!
See the oak tree in the middle? (It might look like the right oak tree, but there is one more right behind it that you can barely see.)    That is where all the tack and the extra fridge is kept. Sometimes I like to sneak out to the extra fridge...shhhh! We drive in and the cars basically circle around the middle oak. Yeehaw!! Cousins are here!! We only have 2 cousins...but...YEEHAW!! :)
Looks like everyone is out past the house. Just on the backside, is where we will get together. There is a tire swing back there.   Pretty soon we will all be eating watermelon and having seed spitting contests!
Into the house we go first...we go to the left side of the house (that you see in the picture). That is the kitchen. As you enter, you walk passed the old wood stove.   Kind of loud. Yes...I have a loud family.
"All Kids OUTSIDE!" , is what we soon hear.
Gonna take a drive! Hop in the back of the white truck...going fishin' up at the pond!
"Duck!!" Whew almost got swiped by that big oak branch!! Grandad is driving...I love the feel of the wind as it blows in my face..."Duck again!!"
After fishing, we go back to the house. Going to go out and see Old Whitey...feed him a carrot or two. OUCH! He bit me!
We are going to head out to the corral for awhile. Going to take a look at the cows. See that water trough right beside the corral? I like to run my hands in that trough. Nobody cares. See that cow pie? Don't really mind if I walk right through it!! :) Won't be branding or butchering this time...maybe next time.
Well, looks like lunch is ready soon...better get on back. Time to shuck the corn.
As always...a great meal! Watermelon will be out soon!
The kids are going to play "Annie Annie Oxen Free"...(Not sure if that is the real name...but that is what I remember.) A few kids on one side of the house, and a few kids on the other side of the house, and we throw a ball back and forth over the house. Don't remember the rules or how to play...just remember playing!
Woohoo! Time for WATERMELON! Everyone goes out behind the house.   We talk. We laugh. We yell. Old friends come. Family is family.
Kids are silly. Sometimes we fight. Adults are having a great time. Sometimes they argue...but nothing serious. It's all in good fun.
Time to get going.
Can't wait to come back!!
Goodbye! Goodbye!
Circle around the oaks.
Drive over the cattle guard. (Tickles again...:)
Up that road, and onto the freeway.

I remember.
That is what I see when I look at that picture. It is sad to look at...and sad to see what once was, is now gone. But really...is it gone? Aren't we the people we have become because of what we once lived?
I didn't grow up in that house. But when I hear the song by Miranda Lambert..."The House That Built Me"...(This is the first song that plays on my blog when you come here...)...I think of this house. These memories to me...are the best memories.
I remember.
In my eyes...the eyes of a child...this was the BEST place to ever be!

(Painting by Buck McCain)

R....is for Remembering. Hope on over the Jenny's place to see who else is playing in Alphe-bet Thursday...
http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

My children can do amazing things...

2010-05-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

Definately a PROUD MAMA MOMENT...

Quickly...make this! NOW!!

2010-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

First, I cannot take credit for this recipe...most of you know that I follow Pioneer Woman...well, for those of you that don't know, she has another website, called Tasty Kitchen. (If I knew how, Tasty Kitchen would have been highlighted there, and you could have just clicked on the words and it would have taken you to the link. BUT...I don't know how...SO...won't be doing that little magic trick!)
Anyways, I came across this recipe by Susan Hawkins. Don't know who Susan is...but want to give credit where credit is due!
These aren't my pictures either...they came from PW's site too...totally stole them! They looked so much prettier than mine would have.
So here it is, you HAVE to make this recipe! We have been doing field work, and I needed a quick dessert to make for the guys after they had dinner. Decided to make this, and Lordy Lordy! Let me tell ya...if I could eat these pictures...I WOULD~!
If your diabetic...sorry. Might send your sweet little self into a tail spin...but, maybe just a bite will be ok.
This is absolutely a MUST have recipe...and I will be keeping this one for any emergency that might arise!

Granny's Chocolate Cobbler

Ingredients:

•1 cup All-purpose Flour

•2 teaspoons Baking Powder

•¼ teaspoons Salt

•7 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder, Divided

•1-¼ cup Sugar, Divided

•½ cups Milk

•⅓ cups Melted Butter

•1-½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

•½ cups Light Brown Sugar, Packed

•1-½ cup Hot Tap Water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar. Reserve the remaining cocoa and sugar.

Stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Pour the mixture into an ungreased 8-inch baking dish. I prefer my small oval Corning Ware glass dish.

In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining white sugar (it should be 1/2 cup), the brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter.

Pour the hot tap water over all. DO NOT STIR!

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set.

Let stand for a few minutes if you can hold yourself back. Serve with homemade ice cream using the gooey sauce to spoon over all.

OK...really...QUICKLY! Go make this now! Everyone will LOVE you FOREVER!!

If you want the link where I found this, and get the real effects of a REAL blog with REAL pictures...Go here:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/my-grannye28099s-chocolate-cobbler/
And if you want to see what is going on at Alpha-bet Thursday, head on over to Jenny's page at http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/!

Weekend Getaway...

2010-05-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we were soooo lucky to get away for a few days with NO kids! We had a ton of FUN! We went with our friends, Joe and Hallie...we took the ferry, and went to Salt Spring Island. It was so nice there. The weather was perfect!

This was a neat little patio we had outside our room...had a fireplace and was so cozy sitting here drinking our coffee first thing in the morning.

View from the room...

First thing Saturday morning, we headed over to the farmers market that they put on. Lots of neat little trinkets and homemade things. We ate kale, and nettle...dried. It was good...different though. Here was some bread and it smelled soooo yummy!

Now, let me say...this place reminded me of Bisbee, Arizona a bit. A hippie here, and a hippie there...but this guy...he REALLY reminded me of my Bisbee days! Come on...you can't argue it, can you?!

He told me he was very famous. As famous as Michael Buble, and Nellie Furtado. I asked him "How is that?!" He said, "Have you ever heard of YouTube? I have millions of hits on YouTube!" Really now?! I think I might head over to YouTube and see how famous this guy is! I think my Joey's 40,000 hits on his milking a cow video is by far more famous! :)

Anyways, this guy said he had the 8th wonder of the world! This little wooden contraption...he would spin it through the air and the sun would reflect and give you a kalidascope feeling...Our friend Joe is NOT so sure Hallie should be letting this guy show her his 8th Wonder Of The World!

Ah HA! Lookie There! Joey Jacobs has let Mr. YouTube perform his magic on him!! I think since being home Joe has subscribed to his YouTube page...I'm just sayin'...

Hallie and I enjoying the day...

This was The TreeHouse Restaurant...had a tree trunk growing

right in the middle of the restaurant.

I told my WONDERFUL friends that I wanted to look for seashells. So, we asked some WONDERFUL local boys, how far it was to SeaShell Beach...thier reply, "Only 15 minutes up that trail." Ya...right! That trail took us right up a mountain! Unlike my Olympian friends...I am NOT in shape to climb a MOUNTAIN! Who was I kidding?! They kept climbing that mountain, and I kept begging, "Please, lets go back! Take me to Sea Shell Beach!!"

I think it was at this point I started wondering if they were secretly plotting to kill me...I was sweating, panting, begging for a break. There were cliffs to the right...steep mountain side to the left...I am pretty sure I heard my friends ask Tony if he had a good life insurance policy. MURDER FOR SURE! Or maybe they were thinking I was going to have a heart attack right there on that mountain.

What?! Is this it?! I don't see any seashells!! Look at Hallie, "See Jimi! It wasn't so bad!! Look it is BEAUTIFUL!!" Ya...whatever. You soak in the beauty while I look for my inhaler.

Ok...maybe it was pretty. And maybe I was happy I climbed that mountain. Hey, maybe I will even pose for a picture!

Look! I really did survive!! But, it wasn't long after I took this picture that I realized, we climbed UP the mountain, then DOWN to the water...that meant I would have to climb back UP the mountain to get back DOWN to our car! Some people would call them friends...I am starting to wonder!

Once I got over the shock of the climb...I started to marvel at the beauty around me...look at this cool old house. The back side was built into the hill. See the little square just below the peak of the house? It had the date "1901" on it...I so would love to know the history behind that house!

We did venture over to the other side of the island to look for seashells, (I think my friends and husband got tired of my moaning and complaining about wanting to find seashells...) but we didn't find much.

Just crabs.

One starfish.

One seal...

6 deer.

We are now on our way home...this is the passage out. Beautiful, isn't it?!

Here is Joe and Hallie after their relaxing weekend away with no kids...

Awww...they LUB each other!!

Tony and I after a long, relaxing weekend away...We LUB each other too, but no kissing pictures for us! We still need to talk about that life insurance conversation...

It really was a GREAT weekend. I really don't think any of us were ready to go home. We laughed, and laughed, and laughed...

You know...everyone needs weekends like that!

Thanks Joe and Hallie for a GREAT weekend!

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking care of our 4 kiddo's so we could do this!

We have planned a repeat...can you watch the kids?! :)

N...is for...NEVER put too much bubble bath into a jet tub!

2010-04-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

So, I am full of some GREAT advice today. Listen to my words very closely. Take this as a very valuable lesson. When going away for a fabulous weekend with your hubby and friends...DO take the room with the cool jet tub in the corner of the room. Look forward to enjoying the lovely homemade soaps and bath bombs that the nice hotel people leave on the side of the tub. Do talk all day about how much you will enjoy that bath later, while sipping a glass of wine and watching late night re-runs of I Love Lucy. Do all of that...

But NEVER...I repeat, NEVER...put in that tiny little extra squirt of bubble bath thinking that tub is sooo big that you will need extra bubbles to cover your not so tiny, adult sized body.

And whatever you do...NEVER turn on the the jets when you have that teensy, weensy, tiny too much squirt of extra bubbles in that jet tub. Trust me...this turns into an automatic bubble making machine! One that you will frantically beat with the first towel you can find, in hopes of breaking down the rapidly building wall of bubbles. When that doesn't work, you will blow and push the bubbles to the back of the wall, hoping they won't cascade onto the floor. Especially when you do not know how to shut the jets off. You might have to call your friends from next door for help. And when they don't come, thinking you are playing another joke on them, then you might have to go to the funny hotel lady and ask for help.
Then when you come back into the room, with the funny hotel lady who is laughing at your unbelievable story about a bubble explosion...you might find your loyal, helpful friend sitting on your bed laughing while taking pictures of your little teensy, weensy, tiny squirt of bubbles in your jet tub.

By this time, your friendly hotel lady will shut the jets off, with the ease of one finger, gently pushing on the jet button. All friends and friendly hotel lady will laugh at your expense. Your husband will worry that after all the embarrasment, you will be mad at him, for he is the one who turned on the jets for you so you could relax with that glass of wine while watching late night re-runs of I Love Lucy. Soon you will realize that your nervous system is starting to relax, and the sweat on your body is starting to dry.
What else can you do...but shamelessly get into that volcanic wall of bubbles?!
Unfortunaltely, you will soon realize that in your frantic effort to stop the bubbles you turned the water off, and there is only about 4 inches of water in your bath. For fear of igniting another explosion of bubbles...you will turn on the tap VERY slowly, and realize that you cannot enjoy a hot bath of only bubbles. One needs water to relax. But, it takes a LONG time to get rid of that many bubbles.

So, you will very quickly get out of your bath. Go to bed and hope for a better bath tomorrow.
Lesson learned...NEVER turn on the jets after putting in just a teensy, weensy, tiny extra amount of bubble bath into that great big tub.

With that, this is alphe-bet thursday...head on over to Jenny's place and see who else is having fun with N words today. http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

Pioneer Woman's Book Signing...

2010-04-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

Old friends and a good book...does it get any better?! Why, yes...yes it does! For those of you who haven't ventured on to Ree Drummand/AKA Pioneer Woman...you have to go to her blog.
NOW.
OK...maybe not now, because you are here. On MY blog. You know...the one that gets like 7 hits a week. While hers has had millions. She won't mind if you go AFTER reading my blog! When you have time...this is where you go:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Pioneer Woman describes herself like this:
I’m a ranch wife, mother of four, moderately-agoraphobic (self-diagnosed) middle child who grew up on the seventh fairway of a golf course in a corporate town. I attended college in Los Angeles and wore black pumps to work every day. I ate sushi and treated myself to pedicures on a semi-regular basis. I even kissed James Garner in an elevator once. Then, on a brief trip to my hometown, I met and fell in love with a rugged cattle rancher. Now I live in the middle of nowhere on a working cattle ranch. My days are spent wrangling children, chipping dried manure from boots, washing jeans, and frying calf nuts. I have no idea how I got here…but you know what? I love it. Don’t tell anyone.

Well, I got a call from Ree the other day telling me she was coming to the Great Northwest...
OK...maybe not. But I did read on her blog that she was coming to the Great Northwest, for a book signing of her new cookbook.

I quickly got ahold of my fellow Pioneer Woman blog stalking friend, Charity. I used to work with Charity...I have so many stories I could tell you about my wonderful friend....but I will save those for another day. :) She won't mind.
We soon made plans to meet. Which we were both looking forward to as the last time I saw her, was 4 years ago when she was prego with her first little one.
I made the venture south...from Canada down to Seattle...where we met up at Charity's place. We decided to head over to the bookstore where the booksigning would take place. It was a bit of a drive, so lots of catching up was had.
We were so lucky, as the bookstore did the book siging in an order, by letter. Lucky us...we were letter A! (Thanks to Josh for picking up our tickets early!)
While waiting in line, we saw this Pioneer Chicklet:

She was snapping pictures of the hundreds of people that were there, lined up to meet her Mama. I will tell ya...Mama's baby...is TALL! And purdy too. She just smiled and took pictures and I decided I would take one of her.

Then her Grandma walked by...I wanted to take her picture too...but didn't want to frighten her. She might be wondering what kind of mess her daughter-in-law has gotten herself into!

Then...after 20 min or so...it was our turn. She was so nice. It was over before we knew it...but we got our pictures, and books signed and we were on our way!

Here we are...Me, Ree, and Charity. Hmmm...kinda rhymes...

Charity jumped out...and I stayed. Ree was very understanding...:)

As we were leaving, we noticed the little Chicklet again...she was buying a snack. So we decided to chat with her a bit. We stole another picture. I decided to post the one with Charity, because quite frankly, if I posted the one with me...I might scare you.

Or her.

Or both.

Truth is, we had a FABULOUS time. It is the simple things that make life fun. Kinda felt like we knew ol' Ree Drummond. We've shared coffee with her in the morning. Laughed at her silly stories. Watched her babies grow, and couldn't believe how grown and mature they were when we did meet. We've heard her Love Story...(Which you will see too, when they make the MOVIE about her soon!!) And...we have cooked meals together, via her cookbook and other blog site, of course.

She was just as kind and as real in person as she is online.

You call it stalking.

I call it blogging.

What a Happy Happy Day.

Thanks so much Charity for going with me! It was so much fun catching up with you and finding out what we have missed out on over the last few years. Your a city girl now. I am a farm girl now. But we still know how to have a GREAT time! Hugs to you!

K...is for KIDS say the darndest things...

2010-04-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

So, the other night...we had nachos for dinner. I made them a bit spicey, so I was not surprised when Nicki, (*my 11 year old*), complained that her tummy was hurting.
I told her to go to the bathroom and get me the tums.

She brought them out, and I gave her one and said it should help her feel better. Soon, I saw Joe, (*my 9 year old*), eyeing the Tums and Nicki with a very giggly face.
I see him whisper something to Nicki, and it was then I realized what he asked her...

"OMG Nicki! Why is mom giving you

her pregnancy pills?"

The look of shock and total laughter was soon taking over his face. I guess the only time he see's me take my Tums is when I have been pregnant...poor boy couldn't figure out why on earth I would be making Nicki take them!

Totally Cracked Me UP!!

Also...a bit more laughter in the house today. Of course it had to do with April 1st...what would April 1st be without a good joke or two?!

So, last night, Nicki had a 4-H meeting. While eating a donut or two, she put her retainer in her jacket pocket. On the way home, she realized she lost her retainer. In a state of panic, she starts to cry and Tony turns around and they went back to look for her retainer. They couldn't find it.
Later in the night, the lady where they had the meeting, called...She Found The Retainer! Woohoo!
I went to pick it up this morning.
With a little prank in mind, I made my way home. Whipped up a batch of chocolate, and mixed in some granola bar...and made a nice little cow pie. I topped it off with...you guessed it...Nicki's retainer!
When she came home from school, I told her they found her retainer. She was thrilled. Then I put the bag in front of her, and said, "The only problem is, it was in the manure." She wasn't too sure until she saw some grass embedded in her retainer.
Hoping that is the last time she loses her retainer! :)

Then, I took out some lovely Chocolate Covered SPONGE that Ryan and I made...Yummy! Gave one to each of the kids and gave them to the workers outside.
Definately made for another SUCCESSFUL April 1st.

Totally patting myself on the back here! Mom is GREAT!!!

Because it is Alphebe-Thursday..you should head on over to Jenny's site and see how much fun she is having over there! :)
http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

Tim McGraw & Lady Antebellum...

2010-03-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, Tony got Nicki and I Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum tickets. We were finally able to RECEIVE our Christmas Gift on March 25, as they were FINALLY here. We knew we would be in the balcony...but we didn't know we would be SO high up!

My zoom is good...but not THAT good. So, in between Lady Antebellum and Tim, Nicki and I decided to go to the lower level to see if we could just get a good picture. While looking around, one of the employees came up to us and told us we would have to go back to our seats once the show started again. I told her, "OK...we were just going to take a quick picture for my daughter." She then asks where we are sitting, we point, and she gave us a GREAT tip! She said, if we go down to the bottem row, just on the side of the stage, we could sit in those seats as they don't sell those seats because they are slightly obstructed. We went down there, not sure where to go, and asked another employee. (Not wanting to get kicked out for being in the wrong spot.) He directed us to the BEST seats! Nobody was in front of us, only the sound guys!

Nicki really liked this idea!

Funny part of this story is, the day before the concert, the radio was giving away tickets. You just had to answer a question right. Would you know...I got it right! So, I had another set of tickets. We still liked our seats better, so we gave Rudi and Bekky our extra seats. Once Nicki and I got to our SPECIAL seats, Bekky texted me, "Where R U?" Well, I told her exactly where we were and invited her and Rudi to come to our little VIP section.

In the meantime, I was also texting my friend Hallie, and told her to also come to our VIP section. But, she was a loser and didn't come. :)

Lord knows what she was missin' out on!! Well, she had pretty good seats too, so guess she didn't miss out on so much!

Oh my...he was RIGHT THERE!

(It was at this time, we had Nicki's hat, waving in the air, for him to sign, and he said to Nicki, "In a minute..." WOOHOO!

Well, he never did come to sign her hat, but that was ok...she still got 3 band members to sign it, and 2 guitar picks that say TIM MCGRAW. :)

I am pretty certain he did this pose for me.

I'm just sayin.

I have been a VERY good mom this year!

As we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, one of the bouncer/security guys comes up to me and says, "Would you like to take your daughter to the stage?"

Uhhhh...YES SIR REE!

And we did just that!

This is where we spent the remainder of the concert. With our hat and arms propped up on the stage...COULD IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT?! We had the best view!

These two guys above, and the one below are the ones who signed NIcki's hat.

This is one crazy fan, her name is NICKI. :)

The smile on her face made the night 100% perfect.

So, now I know the secret seats to sit in...can't wait to try it at the next concert!! :)

J...is for...JIMI.

2010-03-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

A normal conversation I have when I meet somebody for the first time goes something like this:

Person A: "Hi, I am Bob. Nice to meet you."
Me: "Hi, I am Jimi. It's nice to meet you."
Bob: "Jimi?"
Me: "Yes, Jimi."
Bob: "What is it short for?"
Me: "Jimi."
Bob: "Were your parents Jimi Hendrix fans?"
Me: "Nope."

I guess it is a good conversation starter, as it normally continues the conversation just fine. I normally tell people that I my parents knew I was going to be a boy...And they were wrong. I am not a boy.

Most people would like to hear the real juicy story, you know, where my mom and dad were from the wild child age...and they LOVED Jimi Hendrex!! And during a wild night...mom said..."I am going to name our son after the great JIMI HENDRIX, man!"

At that point, my dad, kind of in a daze, said, "Whatever...dude...?!"

But, sad to disappoint, that is not the true story. I was just meant to be a boy. My parents were not Jimi Hendrix fans. Nor were they the from the wild child age.

Once, when I was much younger...I was working as a waitress. I loved that job. Although, sometimes I had to deal with some less than appealing people. One day this guy came in...he was NOT a very nice guy. He was one of these kind of people:

You know the kind...not exactly the kind of guy you'de be taken home to daddy!

He was saying some VERY rude things to me. The kind of things that I cannot repeat on my little ol' country road blog. I was not impressed with him. But, I continued to serve him his meal, just like I should. When he got up to pay, I was at the til with my boss. My boss knew the things he was saying to me, so he understood when what happened next...happened. Rude Jude says to me, "So, now tell me...how did such a cute thing like you get a name like Jimi?!" With that I promptly said, "I used to be a boy." Then I walked away. His mouth dropped. My boss said he high tailed it out of there so quick! I am sure from that point on, he was very careful with who he tried to hit on!

I have known only a few Jimi's in my life. I am talking, J.I.M.I. Not, Jimmy, Jimmie, Jimmey, etc. Just Jimi. There was a lady from my hometown. She worked in a restaurant. Her name was Jimi. Then a funny thing happened...when we moved to the Northwest, my sister was working with a lady named Jimi. Her middle name was Lynn. Would you be surprised if I told you my name is Jimi Lynn. Yep. It's true. As far as I know, there are 2 Jimi Lynns out there! Pretty unbelievable, if I do say so myself! I can't even find my name on a coffee cup, much less someone with the same first and middle name.

Have you heard of the group, called Little Big Town?

This is Little Big Town. See the guy on the right...good looking guy with brown hair?

His name is Jimi. Jimi Westbrook.

Do you suppose his parents were Jimi Hendrix fans??!!

Hmmm...I think he and I have alot in common!

I'm Just Sayin'...

By the way, since this is Alphebe-Thursday...you should head on over to http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/ to see how much fun she always has on her blog!! :)

Happy Birthday Nicki!!

2010-03-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, our little Nicki seems to be growing up...she turns 11 today! Where on earth has the time gone?! I tell all of my kids to stop growing, but they just don't listen.

Today looks like it will be packed full of fun...off to soccer camp IN THE SNOW...then to the pool for a party with Nicki's friends. When we come home, that is when we will find out if our 11 year old got any birthday presents.

Happy Birthday Nicki...our happy go lucky, caring, loving, sometimes cranky, animal loving, beautiful singing, pretty, always smiling (unless cranky, of course...), awesome big sister, wonderful daughter...

Hope your 11th birthday is your best yet! Enjoy your day...

Fun...Fun...FUN!!

2010-02-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

We have been lucky enough to take part in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games...and we have had a FANTASTIC time! Tony and Joey were able to make it to a hockey game...Germany vs. Belarus...Belarus won. It was such a great night...they went into the city on their own to watch Grossi sing with the Vancouver Swiss Chior...They went to the Swiss House, but it was too busy for them to get in.

I sent along the camera and got 3 pictures in return. Not too bad! :)

We also went into Vancouver for a day just to enjoy the hype of it all. We were going to go in another day, but poor Ryan ended up in emergency with his pneumonia again, but we were still glad we made it in the time before! Here we came across these sled dogs from Canada's North...they were beautiful and friendly. Nicki could not get enough of them.

We went into the COKE pavillion, and a few of these pictures are for my friend, Lupe. She will know why! :) here is a coke display of new and old olympic coke cans and bottles.

Various Torches from over the years...

Ahhhh...an ice cold COCA COLA! MMMMM....Good!
We each were handed one upon entering the pavillion.

Here are the Coke people...they said they were handing out

Happiness when they gave us our cokes. :)

They were in a polar bear swim here...

Awww...

Here we are at the YaleTown Pavillion...a huge stage and screens on both sides. I realized when I was going through my camera...you can't tell because the picture is so small...but on the stage, the guy to the farthest left with the cowboy hat on...is Corb Lund...Google him...he is GREAT!! :) Listen to his song "Truck Got Stuck" on YouTube.

I guess he was performing later that night, and we just so happened to be

there while they were setting up.

Nicki and Kaycee taking in the skiing on the big screen!

Another sled dog...Nicki is loving life!

Joe was on cloud nine finding HOCKEY everywhere in the city! He wanted pictures with everything HOCKEY! :)

Well, and batman too! :)

Here is where they had a zipline in Robson Square. It went from a building to the covered platform you see below. I was going to do it...but the line was too long.

OK...maybe I wouldn't do it in a million years...but it would make for an interesting blog post!! "Woman Screams Bloody Murder and Never Gets Off of Zipline Platform!"

Here is where they have an outdoor ice skating arena. The mascots...Sumi, Quatchi, and Miga were ice skating but the pictures turned out pretty dark.

Next you will find out what Joe's most favorite part of the Olympics were! Wayne Gretzkys Jersey! Woohoo!

The Stanley Cup! He just about cried when he heard he could touch and get a picture taken with the cup...He was a happy boy. Although he didn't appreciate the little joke I played on him after standing in line for about 40 min, and I said, "Oh look! It looks like they are taking the cup away over there! We missed it!" Then the girl in front of us just about broke her neck trying to see where the cup was going. I had to stop my joke and tell her and Joey that everything was ok! They would still get to see the Stanley Cup!

Nicki was a little unsure if the Mountie was going to pick her up or not like he did with Ryan!

Snowboarding...

We were on our way home, and got lost, as usual...we were just talking about how we missed the Cauldron and wanted to see it the next time we came in. Finally we had to ask for directions and when we pulled over...look what we saw!

I had to post this because there weren't too many of Kaycee and it was just too stinkin' cute! She is listening to the Olympics Live on those headphones!!

AS you can tell, we had a FUN FUN FUN time in Vancouver. I hope we have made some great memories for the kids. I know I fully enjoyed it!!

Now I am off to California for a few days...so will be checking in when i get home...

I am participating in Alphebet Thursday over at http://www.jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

You should check it out and see what all the FUN is about! :)

This week is the letter F...

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Is In TOWN!!

2010-02-15T15:43:00.000-08:00

The Olympic Torch was in our town on it's way to Vancouver...we couldn't miss this opportunity! So, I loaded up 3 of the 4 kids, and drove up the road to see it come into town. Here we are waiting...

There was quite a caravan...

This is where Ryan broke out into a chant..."Go Canada Go!! Go Canada Go!!" (Although, I must admit...my heart still chants..."Go USA GO!! Go USA GO!!" But I am certain I will teach my kids patriatism, of BOTH countries! :)

This truck had music blaring...

Black Eyed Peas..."I Got A Feeling"...

This is the COKE truck...they were handing out bottles of Coke along the route. I didn't know it until that guy in the front there with the red vest and black hat came up to me and handed me one...THANKS GUY IN THE RED VEST AND BLACK HAT!

These busses and motorhomes were filled with unidentified people...I think the Russian Figure Skaters and Japanese Speed Skaters were in some of them...and various torch runners. Different people handed out different things...the kids got flags, and stickers, and some fun memorabilia that were passed out. They were so excited!

Nicki is worried her brother is going to get run over here....Not really...she yanked him by the arm because she spotted the torch...

There he is!

At this point the runner came over and high fived Joey, but then the officers that were running with him told him not to high five anymore...but Joe was stoked! Notice the red maple leaf gloves...everyone in Canada is wearing them. Everyone except my kids...I am a bad mom...I didn't spend the $10...

Here is the Coke Zero bottle...we also got some red regular Coke bottles. They say: "Designed Exclusively For The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay"

After watching the runner, we headed into town. We had a celebration site in town, so we went there to watch the torch come to light the cauldron. We heard various reports of how many people were there...from 15,000 to 25,000...so not sure how many. But we do know that there were so many people we could not get a good view of it coming in nor or the stage. The atmosphere was on fire though...so they still had a great time. We took a ton of pictures...surprise...:)

With ultra zoom and holding my camera in the air...luck helped me catch this shot...the torch has come and is lighting the cauldron...

This is the official cauldron...we took a picture after everyone left, although they already put out the fire.

Here are a couple of the torch carriers...they let the kids hold their torch.

Definately a GREAT experience that none of us will soon forget!

Go CANADA Go!!

GO USA GO!!

Japanese Speedskaters!!

2010-02-15T14:59:00.000-08:00

We live quite close to Vancouver, where the Vancouver 2010 Olympics are being held...so our town is accomodating alot of the Olympic venues. At our local ice arena...the Russian Figure Skaters and Japanese Speed Skaters are practicing. I wanted to take the kids to see this, and it proved to be a great time!

In the first picture here, you can see the man in the white jacket...he appears to be a coach/trainer, I am not sure which. He was checking the skates for precision something or other. It showed me how little I know about speedskating. They would sit and stare at their skates, looking for any flaws, or uneveness...or so that is what they appeared to be doing.

My camera is not good enough to catch action shots...so you will just have to take my word for it that it was a great experience! :)

Russian Figure Skaters...

2010-02-14T11:26:00.000-08:00

The Russian Figure Skaters were also practicing in town. It was alot of fun to watch them. I cannot remember their names, but we are planning on watching them to see how they do! There were 3 couples that we were watching...

Below, he kept trying to do a jump with his partner, but couldn't hit it at all, fell each time. You could see the look of discouragement each time...

YEAH!! HE did it!

Ryan has Monia...

2010-02-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

Last week was a bad week for Ryan...he ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. It was not a fun time for him. He especially did not appreciate the male nurse who put that needle in his hand while he was sleeping. He is still asking, "Why would he do dat to me?! It hurt me so bad!" He did handle it like a trooper though. Basically, he was having a hard time breathing. His little tummy blows up like a ballon and deflates like a balloon, in a matter of seconds. He has trouble finding his breath. When we went into emergency, they said he was definately in distress and sent him for an xray. There, they saw the pneumonia in his upper chest. They then decided they would admit him. He was on this mask, that you see below, every 4 hours.

We would pass the time with movies, and his Geraffy, that Grandma and Grandpa brought him, really made him feel better!

The first day was a rough one, but by morning, he was back to his usual self. When they brought him breakfast...OH MY! You should have heard him moan with every bite. Hospital eggs..mmmmm!
Cold toast...mmmmm!!
Crunchy pears....mmmmmm!!
Corn flakes....mmmmm!!
Warm milk...mmmm!!
Grape juice...mmmm!
Just imagine the yelp I heard when I found him some cheese in the fridge...His favorite!
Yep...he was one happy boy by this time!

Before you know it, he was up walking around his room. He was in isolation, as it was a respiratory thing, so he couldn't leave his room.

He was playing video games...

His nurses came in, and offered to give me a break, and played games with him. I kinda think that made his healing much better!

Just look at the eyes...

He REALLY liked Nurse Jessica!

Oops...kinda over did it...time for the mask again. Slow down son...take a deep breath. Plenty of time for pretty girls LATER!

He got to come home the next day, rather than the original 4 days that they were talking. So that was great. He is doing MUCH better now, and we are hoping this will be it for a long time! As Ryan said, "It is not so much pun (fun) having Monia (pneumonia) when you are just a little boy!"

HAWKEY...

2010-02-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to a hockey game recently...and they had a great time. Ryan loved meeting "HAWKEY", and insists that Hawkey is his friend. Ok, well the mascot was great, but I, personally, do not like hockey...too much fighting for this moms taste. But, it was a great game, and I actually enjoyed myself a bit. I do have to say, there were 7 or 8 fights...and I had a real winner of a guy sitting next to me, screaming each time, "Kill him! Pound him till he bleeds!! Beat the *#!* out of him!!" Well, the party pooper in me came out, as I had my 4 year old in my lap, and I told the guy in my best MOM VOICE I could muster up, "This is the family section you know." He laughed. He probably thought, "This is a hockey game MOMMY!!" Oh well, I gave it my best shot.

Needless to say, the kids had a FANTASTIC time! HAWKEY was very nice to them, too...

Look at those smiles! How can I deny Joe his greatest love?! I can't. It was a packed game. His smile was huge. His heart was full. I just won't tell him that I will never allow him to play hockey...sigh...I know...
We will just let him think he will play in the NHL just a little longer.

Party Pooper.
This is HOCKEY, MOMMY!!

Please Vote!!

2010-01-21T10:15:00.000-08:00

I am not sure who is really reading this silly blog...but...I have a favor to ask whoever is still reading...:)

I have entered my niece in a baby photo contest...it is through our local paper, Would you vote for her? The contest runs from today until, I believe the 28th...

She is just the cutest thing! Plus, you will thoroughly enjoy her hair! I have never seen anything like it. It would be great if she won, as she would win a gift certificate to the best little baby store around!! I will also put a link on the sidebar to my page here, so that when you want to vote, you can just come here and click on the link.

Unfortunately, you have to register to vote, but it is quick and not much to it, and as I said, it is for our local paper and a little baby shop in town, so they won't be sending you a bunch of spam from it.

Her title is: KATE THE GREAT and she is wearing a little green sleeper. There are about 100 entries, so you if you can't see it from the link below, there is a spot where you can click on KATE THE GREAT. Why...here is her picture you will be looking for!! :)

You can find the entry here:

http://bellinghamherald.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?contestid=12927&pagetype=VOTING&SubmissionID=2579251

**If this link isn't working, you will see Kate on the right side of my blog here...click on KATE THE GREAT, and it will take you to her page**

(Not sure how to add it and make it highlight, so if you have trouble with this, please let me know!!)
**Just so you know, you can vote once a day!! And feel free to tell your friends!!**
***Just a side note...when you pull up Kate The Great to vote, her picture will come up, at that time, you will click on SAVE VOTE. That will confirm your vote.***

Thanks so much! You are the best!!

My Boy Loves Hockey...

2010-01-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I heard that our local hockey team would be at our local grocery store signing some autographs...when I told this to my Joey...you should have seen his eyes light up! He let out a 9 year old yelp, and begged me to take him. Well, he didn't have to beg, as I was already going to take him. But I tell ya...he was the GOLDEN CHILD for the next 3 hours!! We went to the store, and there they were! I think Joe was 3rd in line...smiling from ear to ear. He got them to sign a small hockey stick and they also signed a team logo paper that they had. My normally loud and never at a loss of words child - was tongue tied! Until they asked him where he goes skiing...He still had his ski tags on from his last trip to the mountains.
You honestly could see my son radiating light! I could have made money off of the electric vibe coming off of his 9 year old little body. We had to let the others in for their autographs, so I told him we should go get our groceries. Inside, we were talking about the drawing that he entered to win a signed jersey...and he wanted to know when they were doing the draw...I told him to go back out and ask. He comes back with a huge smile, and I asked him "What did they say?" He said, "They remembered my name!" I asked him how he knew that and he said, "Because Carson said, 'S'up, Joey?' " Oh ya...totally happy kid now! And I was on the Greatest Mom list for at least the next 2 hours! Woot!! Joey then told me that this was the best day of his life! :)
Well, that was Sunday and Monday he was off to a Canucks game!

I then became the best mom ever AGAIN because when he asked me to paint his face, I said YES!! And...when we found his shirt that he wanted to wear stuffed under his bed with dirty white smears on it...I didn't get mad AND I let him wear it!

Oh ya! Hey Joey, S'up NOW?! Who's duh best Mama??!!
Ya, well, that only lasted until his dad came in and became the best dad on the planet for simply taking him to the game...but hey...a mom can soak in the glory, right?
Needless to say, the Canucks lost, but he still wanted to wear his painted face to school the next day, and I did have to draw the line at letting him wear the stinky, smelly, dirty shirt to school...

Tonight we are on our way to watch our local team play. Supposed to be a sold out game.
By the way, did I tell you that I DON'T LIKE HOCKEY!!??
Anything for my boy!! :)

Start A Band...

2010-01-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

Well, the other day, I found Ryan in the living room, jammin' it up with Brad Paisley and Keith Urban...looks like they convinced him to join their band in their "Start A Band" video...

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe that 2010 is already here! I think I completely missed December...seems like I checked out of blogging for the month of December...but not sure if anyone even noticed! :) You all were probably pretty darn busy, too!
I think with this post, I am just going to post a ton of pictures...just to show what our December consisted of.

November Thanksgiving, we went south for our American Thanksgiving! Lucky us...Brian, Dani and Kate were there as well, so we had a great time. It just so happened that Kaycee turned ONE on this day! So, we were so THANKFUL for her!! :)

I got some canning done! You will see my canning room, before...with Pears, Peaches, and Applesauce...Kaycee's baby food, and only 4 jars of jelly...

And AFTER! Viola!! Doesn't it look so purdy, and productive, and meaningful, and well...ok...maybe we overdid it on the berry picking this year...BUT...No Jelly making for me next year!! :)

On December 1, our Joey turned 9! Yep...he made it! :) Whew! He had a great day. He wanted a football cake...so he got a football cake!

He wanted the movies and pizza with his friends, and he got a movie and pizza with his friends. I tell ya...this was the LOUDEST experience I have EVER encountered in a Pizza Hut! We honestly thought the other patrons were going to applaud as we left the building!

But, they had a good time, so I guess that is what being 9 is all about! :)

Nicki had some singing events. She sang for the Vancouver Swiss Choir, and had a great time. Then she was asked to sing at a Meals On Wheels Community Fundraiser event. Lots of driving, but well worth it.

Ryan and Kaycee went to see SANTA!! You MUST click on the picture below to get the full idea of how much Kaycee and Ryan did NOT enjoy Santa...go ahead...click on it...it will make the picture nice and large for ya...

Didn't I tell ya? Not happy...not in the slightest!

Ryan...still not so sure.

Kaycee thought she was in the clear...Then she looked to her right...

My poor girl!!

Oh...Santa is gone...she is happy again! :)

I heart her!

Christmas Eve was spent with the Meiers...only 21 of the 22 grandchildren were in attendance, but a good time was still had by all!

Christmas Day was spent down south...didn't seem to take any pictures from that...sorry kids. But, we did get this great shot of Nicki and Joey enjoying their new bean bags from The Pottery Barn (Tell ya a story about that later...), and their new WII and the wonderful shelf that Tony built. (With the kids help, as we just told them it was for Grandma Meier for Christmas, so they couldn't tell her about it.

Little did they know, it was going in their playroom! :) I am very proud of my hubby here...he sure can build!

The 30th Tony turned the big 37! He is reminding me that he is still a year younger than me...thankyou very much! We had the Meier brothers and mom and dad over for coffee and ice cream. Nice and casual, just what he wanted.

Oh...and December consisted of Kate too! Just look at her! She is getting so big and cute and she loves me the best! :)

Muah! And yes...this is her real hair...I think this is what makes her even more "KateTheGreat!"

So, as you can see, December had us rolling from day to day, and at times we felt like we were drowning. But...we had a great month and now we are on to a new year! Woo hoo!

Wishing you all a HAPPY and WONDERFUL 2010!

Our Joey is 9!!

2009-12-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it?? I can't! Our Joey has turned 9 years old today...How can this be? It was only yesterday that my 9 lb boy was born. Pretty much the day Joey was born, he was a FARMER. Definately has the love for it...

Oh our boy...he finds his LOVES and he sticks with them. From farming to hockey, to football...he is now all about sports! Time seems to be getting away from us. I can't believe he is already 9!! Joey, I have just one thing to say: STAY LITTLE!

Hope you had a great birthday!

We love you!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl...

2009-11-26T08:02:00.000-08:00

Well, today is Thanksgiving, and I can certainly tell you what I am thankful for...my little Kaycee! As of right now, she is 1 year and 2 1/2 hours old! :)

I can't believe a year has gone by...all the anxiety of having her. All the fear of having a "4th" child. Now hear she is and she has just been perfect. She has been such a good baby. Doesn't cry. Doesn't fuss. The only tears she shed is when we went to California...don't know what was up with that...but boy did she water the land down there!

So, I just want to say...HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYCEE!! Hope your day is EXTRA special!
We love you bunches!

In Memory Of A Friend...

2009-11-20T05:55:00.000-08:00

My friend, Jenny, is having a Giveaway...In honor of her friend Alice. Jenny lost her friend, Alice 3 years ago to cancer. To enter her giveaway, I have to post her blog on mine...so I am doing that now! :) This is what could be won...so, you should also head over to Jenny's site and enter. http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

Meet Joey...the clown.

Nicki...The "Hilly Billy".

Ryan, why yessur, dis here is our little cowboy!

This is Kaycee, our little Eskimo!

This picture was PERFECT! If you notice, just as I clicked the picture, Kaycee lifted Cowboy Ryans hat right off his head. Love his eyes!

Whew! We finally got our picture! But, Ryan is not taking any chances...he moved over to the other side, and is not taking his eyes off of Kaycee! :)

Pumpkin Carving Party...

2009-11-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

Every year we have a pumpkin carving party out in our shop. What started out as just having family over to carve some pumpkins, has turned into 80 or so people having a party before Halloween. About 3 weeks before Halloween, we start getting phone calls, "Are you having your party this year?"

The kids hand out invitations a week or two before the party.

We started doing this thinking that everyone has to carve pumpkins, why not do it together?! The kids have a ball. They can run all over the shop, and no harm can be done. I don't have to worry about the house being spotless because having the party in the shop...nobody is going to the house! Plus, in all honestly, I find it kind of ironic, that if a party is in the house...everyone is checking the house out..."Any cobwebs?" Yet, if the party is in the shop...nobody cares how dirty the shop is!! HA!

The adults have a good time too...there is lots of food and drinks and plenty of gossip to find out just from last years party alone!

Here are a few of the pictures...half way through the night I realized none of my pictures were turning out...they were all blurry! Uhhh...ya. Time to adjust the settings on my camera!

Here is the basic set-up. We pull the haywagons into the shop, and everyone finds their spot on the wagons. Hay bales work as good stools for the kids to stand on.

Jerad and Casey...working so very hard! Play time will come later, in the hay...

The local farmers discussing who's manure spreader spreads manure the farthest...

Note that Tony is so serious in the conversation, he is just dangling Kaycee ...My poor daughter!

Didn't take long for the older kids to start climbing in the hay.

Allison and her friend...getting in some serious girl talk.

Here are the Apperloo kids, show off their masterpieces.

Joey all sweaty and dirty...Just the way a boy should be!

Kaycee and Sarah...

Little Katie looking all purdy...
**Uhhh...Chris...you still need to come pick up your pumpin seeds in that bucket! They are starting to grow hair and smell worse than the manure pit!**

Back against that wall...that is THE FOOD...Good Lord, THE FOOD! We tell our guests not to eat dinner because there is enough food for an army. Everyone brings a plate of something...and goes home stuffed!

What a great night...thanks everyone for coming! Until Next Year!!

Nicki singing "You've Got A Friend" PART 1

2009-11-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

Here you will see Part 1 and then Part 2 of Nicki singing "You've Got A Friend" at Richie and Rusties wedding. The video quality is poor, but the audio is alright. My new digital camera was not working, so I had to do a makeshift video on my regular digital camera, which didn't turn out too well. And, it only takes 3 minute videos.
So, hopefully this turns out alright.
Here is Part 1, and Part 2 should be below it...(Wish me luck!!)

Nicki singing "You've Got A Friend"

2009-11-02T21:25:00.001-08:00

THIS...is...KATE!!

2009-11-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yes...this is little Kate. Isn't she just the cutest...sweetest...purdiest thing??!!

She got to know all the California family so well...Now they love her just as much as I do...Yep...they do.

Now...you might be asking..."Where is Kaycee?" Funny you should ask. Nope, she wasn't in any of the pictures getting to know the California family...uh uh. As Kate was hamming it up for the camera...Kaycee was crying.

No Happy Pictures for Kaycee...

This post is all about HAPPY KATE!!

As we all know...Kaycee was just crying...poor baby...

Here's Kate...so pretty!

And Kaycee is CRYING.

Awww...Kate looks so stylish!!

AND Kaycee is still CRYING.

Look at Kate lovin' on Dawny Bird...awww...
Yep. STILL CRYING.

Kate...way to show Uncle Richie how to behave!
CrYiNg.

Sweet Kate...sittin' on Aunt Mickey's lap...so cute and sweet...

Well Kaycee you lost out on this trip! Look at all of the lap holding you could have had! Guess this time around...It is Kaycee 0...while Team Kate scores 1!
Go Team Kate!!

CONGRATULATIONS RICH AND RUSTIE!!

2009-11-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

In September, we headed down to sunny San Diego for Richie and Rustie's wedding. It was a great time...I know I am so delayed in getting these pictures on here. Some day I will catch up!! I am getting so frustrated with blogger...it won't let me organize the pictures, so you are going to get them in a crazy order.

Rich and Rustie...we couldn't be happier for you guys! We love you both...and are so excited that you have both found the happiness that you waited so long to find.

T.J., Loren, Jerad, Justin, and John...We are excited to see where this new part of your life takes you all. It is a great thing and we are so glad we got to share in this special day.

2009-10-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

My friend, Judy, from http://cutest-little-things.blogspot.com/ gave me this blogging award...what a surprise! Thanks so much Judy! I just love her blog...she has great ideas and definately knows how to throw a party!!! :)

She also asked me to participate in this little get-to-know-you, 1-word-answer questionnaire so I'm happy to oblige!

1. Where is your cell phone? Charging

2. Your hair? Frizzy!

3. Your mother? Loves me the most.

4. Your father? Also loves me the most. :0

5. Your favorite food? Prime Rib...YUMMY!

6. Your dream last night? Don't remember having one.

7. Your favorite drink? Cool Coffee Cream...mmmmm.

8. Your dream/goal? To raise my children to be "good people".

9. What room are you in? Office

10. Your hobby? Shopping

11. Your fear? Something happening to one of my children.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Across the road in my new house! :)

13. Where were you last night? Here at home.

14. Something that you aren’t? Motivated.

15. Muffins? Fruit Explosion...Tim Hortons...Oh ya.

16. Wish list item? My new house with a LARGE KITCHEN TABLE!

17. Where did you grow up? California and Arizona.
18. Last thing you did? Put Kaycee to bed.

19. What are you wearing? Hmmm...is this a trick question?

20. Your TV? Belongs to the children. Right?
21. Your pets? 1 dog. 1 house cat. 3 permanent barn cats. 2 wandering stray cats that come and go and love to be pet. 6 kittens. 60 calves. 360 cows and heifers. 1 husband. Whew, that should sum it up!

22. Friends? The BEST!

23. Your life? Eventful.

24. Your mood? Ho Hum.

25. Missing someone? My Grandma...:(

26. Vehicle? Mini Van...BAM!

Now the next part is that I'm supposed to "tag" 6 other fabulous bloggers to receive this award and have them participate in the questionnaire, but I'll leave the questionnaire part as optional just as Judy did. The hard part is choosing just six since I think all of my followers are AWESOME so all of you are welcome to post this award as far as I'm concerned! :) But here are six amazing blogs worth checking out!

http://tommyandsara.blogspot.com/

http://al-o-ha.blogspot.com/

http://loaganranch.blogspot.com/

http://podunkianpostgazette.blogspot.com/

http://adayinthelifeoftrees.blogspot.com/

http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/

Have a GREAT day!! :)

A Day At The Lake...

2009-10-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a day off and go to the lake, before it gets too cold. It ended up being a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time. Just some pictures of them having fun.

Been on the farm too long...

2009-10-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

So, today I take Ryan to the dr.s office as a follow up to his pneumonia E.R. trip to the hospital the other night. As we are waiting for our appointment, I notice there is a medical skeleton in the hallway of the waiting room. So, thinking I am going to be one heck of an informative mom, I decide to show Ryan the skeleton. Here is the conversation between Ryan and I:

Mom: See Ryan, this skeleton is just like you on the inside.
Ryan: (interest taken quickly)...Really?
Mom: Yes. Look, here is your chest, where they took the pictures of you the other night. This is where your pneumonia was.
Ryan: Oh. Is dis what my head looks like? And my back too?
Mom: Yes. And here are your arms. And these are your legs. Look at the feet.
Ryan: Mom? S'cuse me. I half a question. Uh...where are duh nuts?

His face looked kinda like this one here. Very serious. Definately a question worth asking, right?

Well, needless to say, I have to whisper to him that the skeleton doesn't have those. These are "bones" that we are looking at.

As we turn around the waiting room, which I might add is a maternity room, so, full of moms with kids and expectant moms...we see this:

And this:

And even this:

Hmmmm....something tells me these people haven't been on a farm. Something else tells me that I need to have my husband teach my children different terminology.

Ryans Birthday...

2009-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

Go Seahawks!!

Look at Ryans new bike!! :) Woohoooo!!

Here is the Race Car Cake...vroom vroom...

It was really hard to get a good picture of this, but I have to say I was quite proud of it...:)

Ryan had his birthday at Go Banana's...and Go Banana's they did!!

I do not know what Derrek is doing here...catching flies?

This is Derrick, Ryan, Nolan, and Nathan

The whole crew...Nathan, Steven, Woody, Colin, Ryan, Nolan, and Derrek

And those that must be confined...:)....the wild and crazy ones!

Kaycee, Dallen, and Charlie

Woody, Colin, Ryan, Steven, Nathan, Derrek, and Nolan

This was Ryan's first birthday party and he had such a great time. He is already planning the next one!! :)

Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Unfortunately his partying has proved to be too much for our little guy. He now has pneumonia! He seems to be feeling better, but spent most of the other night in emergency. With lots of meds, he is coming around to his usual self. But I do think the meds are affecting him...he has been talking non-stop and sooooo loud! Do you think it is the medication or the fact that he is 4??!! Hmmmm....

Back to school...

2009-09-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

How can it be that we have a 5th grader AND a 4th grader??!!
Good Lord, I just graduated high school a few years ago!! Well, I guess I might as well face the facts. Sigh. Nicki and Joey were both very excited to start this year. They both got teachers that they wanted. Woohoo!!

Here they are showing off their backpacks.

Saying good bye to Lilly...making sure she won't miss them too much.

This is Joe's class...which was actually Nicki's class last year.
Familiar territory....this is good. He is a HAPPY boy!

This is Nicki's class...she and her friends found each other quickly,
and resumed right where they had left off in June...

I guess it's a good thing I still have Ryan and Kaycee at home...otherwise I would be getting mighty lonely! :(

Time to harvest...

2009-09-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

What a great time of year this is...when we can reap the benefits of the fruits and vegetables that grow in our area. I have been busy canning, and I always enjoy that. This is the first year I canned peaches. (Thanks to my friend Amy for the "know-how"...:) It was so easy and they turned out great!

These pears we got from Tony's parents. I am not too fond of pears, but Tony and the kids love them...so I did a couple of batches today.

Even Miss. Kaycee is gettin' the goods! I pureed both apples and pears, and they made the best baby food. Just like in the jars. She has her own little shelf in the canning room. Lucky GIRL!!!!

I also thought I would freeze some corn. I usually do this each year, but this year we didn't grow it ourselves. I did a little experiment to see if it was worth it $$ money wise to buy, and then freeze. Nope. Where I bought it (roadside stand), it was a little pricey. Then I compared the cans from costco, vs. dollar amount...and Costco prices won by about $5.00. Now, next year, if we grow it ourselves...then it would definatley pan out.

Next up, I will be making jam. I put all of my fruit in the freezer over the summer. It was way to hot to be cooking over my stove...so I decided I would wait for cooler temperatures. I will be making Strawberry, Cherry, Plum, Blackberry, Blueberry and Peach Jam...

Yum. Yum. Yum!!! :)

September 14, 2005...Such a special day...

2009-09-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

WOO HOOO!!!

Our sweet Little Bear...where has the time gone?
So hard to believe you are turning 4 today!
Only yesterday we were awaiting your arrival.
You have been so much fun to have around. I can honestly
say that every single day you make me laugh.
We love you tons and hope your birthday is EXTRA special!

Nicki singing for Grossi's Birthday!

2009-09-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

Here are 3 of the songs Nicki sang for Grossi's Birthday...You will have to turn the music off over on the right side of this page to hear these video's. (It is a purple box, that says Playlist, or something like that on it.)

Happy Birthday Grossi!

2009-09-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Tony's mom turned 60 and there was a big party for her. It was a ton of fun, with lots of food, dancing, singing...So much fun that I thought I would post it here!

2009-09-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm...cake!

And look at the beautiful flowers that Grossi grows! She has a great green thumb. Plus the cute little tags that my sis-in-law, Erica made. Ever need any stamping/crafting/quilting done?? She is the GO TO GIRL!!

Grossi hanging out with Twin A and Twin B...I still say, one day I will know them! I promise!

I think it is Bridgette on the left and Sophie on the right...:)

Julie...all that public speaking has paid off!

2009-09-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

All of the grandchildren singing Happy Birthday!

The Birthday Girl!

Posing with Nicki after Nicki sang her songs...