Park day

This morning the boys and I went to the park. At the park is several trails and fields that you can walk through. We walked through the fields and noticed several wildflowers growing. We decided to collect all the different flowers we found. These are what we picked we actually got two nice bouquets to set out around the house. We found daisy's, butter cups, two different kids of purple flowers, white flowers, and some orange flowers all growing wild. It was so much fun now if only we could identify them all:)

Case of the owies..

What ever do you do when your seven year old comes to you crying saying he's hurt inside? Not meaning physically hurt but he got his feelings hurt. He and his big brother got into an argument about a new toy they found in their room. It was a birthday toy Kaleb got for his birthday that somehow got shoved under their bed. It was a spiderman toy that required two people to play it and involved water sort of like a squirt gun fight. They go outside with it and are having a ball when all of a sudden Lucas comes in the house in a huff saying Kaleb won't share and so he won't play with him. Ok I think let them work it out for themselves and I'm sure Kaleb will see it's no fun not sharing and playing alone. Next thing I'm folding a load of laundry and Kaleb comes up to me crying so hard he's hyperventilating. He felt so bad about not sharing and was so upset that Lucas wouldn't "ever" play with him again. So now we go and bring Lucas into it and let each one tell their side of the story and get it resolved. I honestly felt so bad for Kaleb I could've cried with him I knew he felt just awful. But then I realized that had he not felt so bad about not sharing and seeing it's not really fun to play a two person game alone he wouldn't think twice about it next time. It sort of made me think also about myself and how much I share or don't and if I'm generous or not. I've decided that it's something I can all work on and improve in. So the case of the owies taught the boys and myself a well learned lesson today.

Bug Quilt

Here is the bug quilt I made and hung up in Romans room. I made it a few years ago but never really hung it up. I decided it would go good in his newly painted room. I really like it in there it looks so cute on the wall. I'm thinking I might paint some bugs on the wall. We'll see I'm not much of an artist.







Here is an up close shot of one of the squares. The quilt block is called bugs in a jar. It was one of the most fun quilts I've made. I'm going to tackle a wall hanging for my other boys room next.

Chicken Chimichanga's

Today I was craving On The Border's chicken chimichanga so I decided to try and make some myself. I had some canned chicken to use up and a bunch of veggies from the garden. I'm not a fan of canned chicken I bought some on a whim at Costco awhile ago and wanted to use it up. So to start with I cut up some colored peppers and onion and fried those in olive oil. Then I added the canned chicken to that and some garlic pepper and a little taco seasoning and mixed it all up. I took whole wheat tortilla's and cooked them just a little. I added my chicken and veggie mixture and a little cheese and rolled up the tortilla's. I then fried them on olive oil in a frying pan until they were crispy on each side. After I fried them all I put some warm Queso cheese on top of them and they were so yummy!!! They tasted a lot like the restaurants I will for sure make these again. The kids thought they were great as well. Next time I'm going to use fresh chicken instead of canned I bet they'll even be better. Not exactly a low fat healthy dinner but I'm sure it's better than the restaurants.

My favorite cookies

These are my all time favorite cookies. Part of it is just the cookies itself is so good but also they make me think of my grandma. She would always make these just for me when I came over after school every day. So whenever I make them it really reminds me of my grandma and my time I spent with her. I believe that my grandma had a sweet tooth like me:) Here is the recipe below.






Chocolate No Bake Cookies

2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. milk
1/2 C. Butter
3 T. Cocoa

Mix all these together on stove and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 2 1/2 min. timing precisely.
Turn the heat off and Add:

1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 C. peanut Butter
3 C. Oatmeal

Mix well and drop on wax paper to cool on the counter.

Happy Anniversary...

Today we celebrate our 12th anniversary and I'm so proud to be called his wife. I love him dearly and pray the Lord will grant us many more to come!!

More Fair Days...

I'm sitting here waiting for the rain to stop so I can go do my long run so I thought I'd post some more pictures from the fair. Last night we went to the fair again and needless to say I'm faired out. We had a great time as a family we let the kids go on two rides each and then we had a snack. I got my elephant ear..yummy! It was delicious! Then we went into the grandstands and watched the super cross. It was fun watching the little kids race dirt bikes but I tell you what I could never let my kids do that. It was so muddy from all the rain we had and when the kids came over the hills of dirt to jump they'd often fall. The were getting hit and falling left and right it was down right scary. Lucas of course thought it would be so fun to do it and now wants to save his money up for a dirt bike so he can race like that...YIKES!! I'm almost thankful he's not to good at saving his money right now.:) He is a no fear type kid to a certain extent They had kids as young as four race it was crazy they were so cute.

Kaleb and his friend on the race cars.


Ben and Lucas waiting in line to go on the Zipper. You couldn't pay me to go on that ride. Lucas waited all week for his dad to go on that with him none of his friends would even go on it...smart they are:) Roman thought it looked like fun and said he wanted to go on it to now he really has no fear.

Roman on the race cars it was the scariest ride for little kids and of course it was his favorite!

Romans room

Alright here's what I've done so far to Romans room. I'm almost done but have a few decorating things to hang up yet. I repainted the walls, windows and trim. Ben hung up new blinds for me and the coat/sweatshirt hooks. I painted picture frames I had laying around the house and made pictures for them. The last thing to do is buy him a new bed but I'm looking for a really good deal on one. His toddler bed should last him for awhile yet so I can wait for that good deal. I will take a picture of the bug quilt I made when I get it back from the fair next week. My goal was to redo his room for less than a 100.00 and so far I only have 45.00 into it. I'm hoping the bed won't be much more than 50.00 so I can stay on budget. This is why I've made my own decorations for it. Roman finger painted one of his hands for me and I hung that up. Then I made two creative memories pages and hung them on the wall in the painted frames.

Roman "helping" to decorate a picture for his room.
This is the picture Roman made he had such a blast finger painting he's never done it before.

The creative memories pages and also the hand prints picture on the wall.

The hat/coat hook rack my hubby hung up for me.

Fair Days..

This week is our local fair every year the boys and I go all day on Wed. and they get to ride unlimited rides all day long. You can buy a bracelet that lets them do that so off we went. It was hot, hot, hot but we had a really good time. My mother in law came and met us for dinner and then she went on a few rides with the boys. Were going back tomorrow night to see the motor cross it's such a guy thing but I'll enjoy it. Lucas is really looking forward to going on the zipper with his dad then. He couldn't find anyone brave enough to go on it with him yesterday.
Roman "driving" the tractor at the fair on Tues. It was a lot cooler than Wed.

Lucas and Roman on the bumper cars despite Roman's face in this picture he really loved the ride it was his favorite one.

Kaleb on the bumper cars to cute for words!

Cute things kids say

Apparently we have two animal lovers in our home. As I'm painting trim in Romans room he excitedly brings me a bug and says "look mom what I pound". Upon further inspection I see it's an earwig..yuck and double YUCK!! I tell him quick run to the bathroom and flush the bug down the toilet. He looks at me like "what would I do that for". I tell him again quick run to the bathroom and flush it meanwhile he's pinching the thing so hard in his hand examining it that he's probably already killed it. Anyway he wanders to the bathroom with it and in the hallway I hear him say to the earwig. " I'm sorry I have to plush you down the toilet":) I was smiling all the way to china it was just so cute to hear him apologize to an earwig. He also says the "P" sound for F so that just made it all the more cute. He came back in his room and told me "I plushed it down the toilet". Hopefully I didn't scar him for life by making him flush it...heehee

Baked Spaghetti

Tonight for dinner we had baked spaghetti we eat spaghetti once a week so this is a different version of original spaghetti.

Baked Spaghetti

1 lb. spaghetti
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 lb ground beef
2 jars spaghetti sauce
1 small can mushrooms
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 C. cheddar cheese
2 cans cream mushroom soup
1/4 C. milk
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

1. cook ground beef, onion, and green pepper and drain.
2. Add spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, spices
3. Cook spaghetti according to package directions
4. In separate bowl mix the soup up with milk
5. Grease 9x13 pan
6. place half the spaghetti in bottom of pan, then half the sauce, half the soup, then half the cheese and repeat layer.
7. sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top
8. Bake at 350 for 30-35 min.

What to do on a rainy day...

Today the boys and I went down to the first day of our local fair and entered all their projects in. It was pouring rain and a muddy mess there but we got done all we needed to and will see tomorrow what grades and placements they got. I entered a quilt I made called bugs in a jar I'll post a picture of it after I get it back. After we got home I decided to paint Romans room. Now I've done this three times already since he's been born but haven't gotten the right color yet. Thanks to my friend I have finally found the color and painted it this afternoon. What a great day to do it it's raining and 62 outside. Meanwhile Roman was sleeping and the boys made boats to float in the puddles in our road it was to cute. They do this whenever it rains they take empty water bottles and build their boats out of that. I went to take a picture of them but they were already done so maybe later I'll snap one if they go back out. Thank You Lord for this rain you've given us today!!

Kids questions..

Alright what do you do when your kid out of no where asks you what herpes are? Yeah I was a little taken back since being homeschooled those words are pretty foreign to my kids. Here's what happened I was getting read to go out for dinner with Ben. Lucas walks in the bathroom and say "mom, what are herpes?" I was a little speechless at first I mean where did he hear that so I said "oh, it's a disease". He says "oh, what are geneial herpes?" (yes, that's exactly how he pronounced it) I respond with it's a disease by your privates. He walks away and I think that satisfied his curiosity he comes walking back with the dictionary which I should've know he would and reads to be the dictionary definition of herpes. Now by this time I'm almost laughing because he's just so innocent and he is my most inquisitive kid by far so it's just like him to haul out the dictionary or encyclopedia if he doesn't know what something means. All of a sudden I realize he's been watching tv for a little bit and I knew he was watching something on discovery channel. So I asked him what exactly he was watching and he said something on discovery channel about machines and how they work. I asked him where did you here about herpes then "oh", he says "it was a commercial for Levitra" or whatever drug is for herpes. My oh my I can't even let him watch an educational show on tv without him getting an unwanted education on sex ed. Bottom line is he now knows what herpes are but not sex maybe it's about time we had that talk...GASP!! Not quite ready for that yet!

Being silly...

This is Lucas' serious side he was trying to see how much alike he and the dinosaur could be.

No there is never a dull moment in our household:) I was being eaten by a dinosaur!

Ahoy matey! Kaleb being a pirate!

Road trip time...The Creation Museum

Whenever I get a little money on the side saved up the boys and I go on road trips. I usually make them somewhat educational and sometimes out of our home state so they get to see different states also. This time we traveled to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky and stayed two nights in a hotel. The Creation Museum http://www.creationmuseum.org/
was the best road trip we have taken so far. It was incredible to say the least I highly recommend it to everyone young and old my three year old enjoyed it as well as the teenagers that were with us. Lucas and Kaleb learned so much as did I. It is a walk through the Bible from creation, to Adam and Eve, to Noah, to Methuselah. It is all based on the Bible and totally refutes evolution. They explain how the dinosaurs fit in the Bible when they lived etc. Thus all the pictures of dinosaurs they make them life like and you get a real appreciation for how it must have been to have lived with them. Noah's Ark exhibit was awesome you really could see how large that ship was. It really brought the Bible to life. It is somewhere I'd like to try and go to once a year it was that good and you will learn something every time. We also saw a movie in the 3D theater and a star show in the planetarium. We also visited some dear friends we haven't seen in five years who live close by. It was so nice to see them and have dinner with them. On the way home we stopped at Shipshewana a huge flee market where we found some goodies. I'll post on that later. I will post more pic's tomorrow of our trip but these are some of them.

A large dinasaur right out front before you enter the museum.


A T-Rex this was life size and let me tell you it was huge! I couldn't fit the whole dinasaur in one picture frame I wanted a close up of the head so you could get an appreciation for how large they really were.

These are a couple pictures from the Adam and Eve exhibit all the people were so real looking it is amazing what artist can do.


Here we have Methuselah Lucas thought he was kind of creepy. He moved and talked also the picture below tells about him.


Roman "petting" a dinasaur he thought they were all so cool. I do believe he might like one for a pet.:)

Feeding ducks...

Yesterday the kids and I went to the zoo with Sarah and her boys we had a good time. The "animal zoo" as Roman puts it is his favorite place to go. His favorite thing to do there is feed the ducks in the big pond. Feeding the ducks with Kaleb aren't they cute!

More food for the ducks please, Lucas.

Ah, crackers for me I'm hungry to.

Ok I'll share the rest with you.

Cute things kids say...frogs and moths

Kaleb is my animal lover! Last night as he's getting ready for bed he shows me this small moth flying around the house. I proceed to slap my hands together and kill it..I missed for all who wanted to know. Kaleb looks at me and says, "Aw Mom, leave the poor thing alone". I started laughing so hard because what kid is that concerned about a moth. I did leave it alone who wouldn't after your child says that to you. Lucas found the moth this morning on the floor in the kitchen clinging to life so I had him dispose of it.

The picture here of Kaleb was taken two years ago when we were out boating for the day. We were having a fun day at the beach. Kaleb found these two frogs and carried them around and played with them all day long. He made them a house out of sticks and everything it was so cute. He ended up killing them by carrying them around all day as you can see from the picture he would squeeze them together which killed them. We never did tell him that:) Well this moth and frogs made me think we haven't been to the zoo in awhile so I think we'll head over there this morning. It's hot but cloudy so I think it won't be to bad.

Romans Birthday party...

Roman blowing out his birthday candles as you can see he had a little difficulty with the last one. Dad ended up helping him at his request. He waited all day for that cake after he saw me make it.


This car after you shake it makes a bunch of noise and sirens and then takes off on it's own. He thought it was so funny and today it's his favorite toy to run along with tile in the kitchen.


This is the scooter we got him he loved going up and down the driveway on it with his brothers. It kept him busy for awhile.


And of course what's a birthday for Roman without a curious George doll. My parents got him this and it is really cute. George tumbles which Roman thought was great he took him to bed with him and came out toting him this morning.

Happy Birthday to my baby!!

This is a bug he found at the park the other night and was playing with it a good while. He was just fascinated by it.

My baby turns three today I just can't believe he's that old already. Here are a few things about Roman you may or may not know already.

1. His full name is Roman David
2. He loves his mama dearly but is mostly a daddy's boy.
3. He loves to be read to.
4. He is kind of a wild man no fear type thing.
5. He loves to boat and go fast and loves the water.
6. He's always trying to keep up with his brothers and wants to do whatever they do.
7. His favorite thing to do outside is "play golf course" as he calls it. Basically just hitting golf balls in the yard he'll do this for hours.
8. He is busy busy busy and never rests until it's time for bed.
9. Did I mention that he's busy
10. He loves curious George anything to do with him but especially the show. We thinks it's because they have so much in common:)
11. He is very curious and sometimes it gets him in trouble.
12. He has a very sweet natured personality and for the most part is always happy and smiling.
13. He was born on his due date bless him the other two were 10 and 11 days late.
14. He loves animals especially dogs and his favorite place to go is the zoo.


Happy Birthday to our sweet baby we love you so much! I'll post pic's of his party tomorrow since were having his party then.

relaxing..

This week has been so very relaxing! I had nothing on the calendar for the entire week and it's been bliss. After a very busy and hectic July it has been nice having a week to catch up in the house and yard. Yesterday we did go up to the cottage on the lake we were at a few weeks ago because friends are up there now. We took a sitter with us and went golfing for the day it was hot..hot..hot but fun. The kids all had a blast playing together and fishing and the sitters are good friends so they even had fun to despite watching 9 kids. I am now trying to get up the motivation to run this morning it's already hot out but I really need to get some miles in this week. On Monday I had ran and biked and pulled a muscle in my upper thigh so I've had to take it easy this week. Now I am itching to go run and I'm hoping my muscle is healed. Tomorrow we are spending the entire day on the boat kid free and I'm so excited. We haven't done that for two years..hope everyone has a great weekend.