Sunday, December 14, 2014

Crazy Kids

Only at our house will you find three children in their underwear on a winter's day.

Only at our house will you find a certain 7-year-old that hit her face on her knee to cause her tooth to become loose. 

Only at our house will you find a mother telling her child to go inside and yank out that tooth. 

Only at our house will you find the girl that does and comes outside with a bloody mouth so proud of her accomplishment. 

Only at our house will you find a brother and sister so proud of their sister that they have to celebrate, too. 

It's a good day.  It's our day. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

2014 Ornaments

This Year's Ornaments
Ella's:

Dad's

Brock's

 Mama's

Sophie's 
(her puppy actually made it to the tree this year)

Elfie made it back this year and continues to be a very entertaining part of the family.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

And the Tree Is...

Up! It's funny that almost all of our pictures include some constructional device. The air compressor adds a nice flare to the holiday decor. Better than the table saw, right? We've been working hard. Don't hate. Appreciate. ;)

Ella riding the reindeer:


Not without a little help of E.W.  

Saturday, November 15, 2014

11-Year Anniversary

We have been married 11 years already?  What better way to celebrate our adventurous journey thus far than spending an entire weekend together.  Just us.  The way it all began. A boy, a girl, and a dog. 

A big THANK YOU goes out to my parents and Chad's parents for watching the kids the whole weekend so we could have some much-needed time together.  

To begin our anniversary rendezvous, we started our morning off with some "vacation coffee" as I like to call it (expensive coffee that I will only buy on special occasions) while we rounded up the kids for school.  After dropping them off at school, we headed to Lincoln to get paint, trim, and to look at stone for our fireplace.  The first stop was a gas station for gas where we got the most delicious caramel cappuccinos.  I would describe it as the most magical cup of frothy sweetness that I have ever had.  Ever.   Chad drank about a quarter of his and was sick to his stomach from all of the sugar.  Mmmm...sugar.

We went and looked at stone and picked out the kind we like (by we, I mean me). :)  This is not it, but it is sort of similar.

We then we shopping to get paint and trim and had a nice lunch date at Kramer.  After a day of what I wanted to do (shopping for stone and paint), we did something that Chad really wanted to do: hunt.  We got all camo-ed up and headed out to the stand.

I had to borrow Grandpa's Scent-Lok suit.

We seen some really cool stuff in the stand.  There was a baby raccoon curled in the tree next to us, and squirrels were running rampant in the trees causing a hurricane of ruckus.  After about an hour and a half of being in the stand, a nice 5X5 came walking right at me.  My eyes were as big as baseballs as I sat there staring at this beautiful animal 5 yards from me.  I so badly wanted to laugh because he just stood there and stared.  I nudged Chad to tell him to look around the tree, and he did.  In that moment, he was unsure about the size of the deer in comparison to the ones we already have mounted, and to me, he looked to be about the same size.  Chad drew back his bow.  There stood the buck -- 15 yards away.  With hesitation plaguing his mind, he decided not to take the shot.  When the sun began to set, the buck came back.  Still no shot.

It was an exciting hunting experience that we both will never forget.

Hours after the hunt, he regrets not taking that shot.  It seems that with each story, the buck gets bigger and bigger. ;)


The next two days were spent painting and putting up trim.  After nearly an entire day of painting, I looked in the mirror to find paint all over my face, and I asked Chad, "Why didn't you tell me I had paint all over me?"  He told me that after being married to me for 11 years, he is used to seeing me with stuff on my face and in my hair (whether that be paint, joint compound, drywall dust, flour, frosting, spray foam).

You might think that we are crazy for working while our kids are away, but it was a really enjoyable time.  ;)  There is no other place that we would rather be than our little corner of the world.  The best anniversary yet.  Nothing fancy.  Just us.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Girls Night Out

Such a fun night!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Halloween 2014

Halloween 2014
Cleopatra, Skeleton Man, and Monster High Girl


The Loot
 
The kids know automatically to fork over their Reese's to Mama. :)

Candy and Conversation

 Post-Halloween Candy Trade

Sunday, October 26, 2014

4th Grade Headstone Rubbings

4th grade took a field trip to the cemetery to do headstone rubbings. To see this come home is Thursday packets was not surprising.  Made. My. Day. 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Sunday, October 19, 2014

I Love Being...

Dirty. Oh boy. 

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Oops! The Wall Came Out!

We thought we were done.  We were wrong.

Chad, Brock, and Ella at Brock's football game while Sophie is home sick with me = demolition. 
 

Where one of the doors to the office used to be:

As we put the finishing touches on the upstairs bedrooms (new ceiling fans and crown molding),
we are directing our attention to living/dining room area in which has been driving us nuts for a while now.  Our goal for the next few months is to get the fireplace in, board and patch up the remainder of the old windows in preparation for the additions, trim out the first floor windows and doors, PAINT, and lay new flooring.  I laugh to myself at the list I just typed and how I wrote that we are trying to get it done in the next few months (that's a knee-slapper).  It's good to have goals, right?  :)

Randoms:
I picked up some earmuffs for the girls so their hair doesn't get "frizzy" from wearing stocking caps in the morning before school. *sigh*
Sophie tried hers on and wore them all day.  She wore them around the house.  She wore them when it wasn't cold out.  She continued to wear them to the movie theater in which I told her that she had better take them off so she can hear the movie better.  She told me that she loves how they are so cozy on her ears (emphasis on cozy).  When we got done with the movie, the earmuffs went right back on.


Harper thinking that something may just jump out of the grill.

Strike a Pose

I've been wanting to have the girls get themselves dolled up in any way they choose to do a photo shoot however they wanted, wherever they wanted.  They selected their outfits, hair accessories, makeup, animals, and did their own hair.  When I first seen them, a million names flashed through my head as to what to call this impromptu photo shoot:  Yin to My Yang, Light vs Dark, Oreo and Cream, Angel and Darkness (?).  I am not a huge fan of posed portraits, but the girls did what they wanted to do, and I was able to sneak in some candid shots.  Definitely miss looking at my kids through the lens.



























Sophie's first instinct to pose was throwing a claw at me.  Not quite sure what that was, but I laughed every time.  




So dramatic...


"Okay, now throw your animals up in the air and catch them."




"Now throw your animals at each other."
 






Riding Time



Once loved, now neglected.