We had a great visit with my mom and stepdad! They were able to come for a much too short visit but we had a great time anyway.
Will has live traps set out by a local pond. He checked them and found a very friendly raccoon who didn't really want to leave his new found home. After some enticement, he was finally on his way.
Grandma and Grandpa loved seeing our little peace place and Will enjoyed showing it to them.
We had a great time experiencing nature today. Our friend, Chad is visiting from Nebraska so we decided to take him to see 'the sights'. After eating lunch at our local cafe, we headed for Jack's pond. I didn't have my camera with me for some of the exciting moments like the acorn fight or the wild turkey that surprised every one of us on our nature hike, but Dirk took the guys out fishing afterwards so I made sure he took the camera with him then. He did a pretty good job at taking photos for me and didn't even drop the camera into the water this time! (Thanks, Honey. You're terrific.)
Our need to go shopping superceded the wisdom of staying home and saving gas money over the weekend. And somewhere in the back of my husband's mind there was the tiny thought that IF we were going to a city big enough for good shopping, there was quite possibly a Chipotle in the vacinity. 
Sorry, Kristy! Dirk made me put these on here. :)
Lately, Dirk and Will have been having some pretty interesting challenges on the Wii. Tennis seems to be the sport of choice and we all get quite a few laughs out of watching it. Dirk gets a little wild with the 'racket' and so far Will has only taken a couple of hits but they continue to have a blast. It reminds me that not long ago having family time on a Friday night wasn't possible. God is so good!
Cole is pretty happy that it's Friday too! It will give the bruises time to heal.
As a 'newbie' sports mom, I am adjusting daily to the site of my son coming home looking a little worse for wear. Altho he looks pretty rough on the outside, it's pretty nice to see how much he is enjoying living out one of his longed-for dreams. He reminds me that we are to "delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the desires of our hearts." *Thanks, God!*
Still in the midst of a million boxes, we decided to take time out for a little guitar hero today. There is nothing like rockin out to a few oldies, especially when you beat the youngin's! Sorry Jordon and Aric but this old lady beat you. Just let us know when you are ready to defend your honor... We'll be waiting. :)
Our little drama queen celebrated her 12th birthday on Friday. It amazes me that she can possibly be that old. It was a joy to know that she hasn't set aside some of her tomboy ways completely since she chose to go drive go-karts for the day.
We stopped off for a specially nutritious breakfast on the way... The bakery was so awesome and had the best looking doughnuts and rolls I've seen in a long time.
The slick track rocked and she totally won the contest in regards to how many times the workers had to bail her out. :)
A quick mother/daughter moment before she was off to the bumper boats.
This is the only photo I took of the bumper boats since the kids insisted they needed a target to ram into and I ended up going too.
My dear husband recently read the blog and stated that I needed to add some 'happy thoughts'. Mind you, we are at the tail end of a packing nightmare, very involved with several activities, celebrating our daughter's birthday, and a few other not so fun aspects in life. But, because I love him and I found some nice photos of him, and because I am willing to do almost anything to keep me from more packing, I decided to run with it and add some 'happy thoughts'. So, here are some of the happy thoughts I found while I was quickly looking through old photos. If you don't have a strange sense of humor like I do, they might not seem funny or even happy to you, but I sure laughed and I pray they bring a happy thought or two your way as well.
I think this photos was taken in 2003. And yes, I'm wearing a bun in my hair! :)
hehe...monkey head...
Jungle boys and the swinging snake...
Apple of my eye and keeper of my heart!
hehe...son took down dad in leg wrestling...
the things we do for love (or craziness)...
And here's my favorite...
Who are those people???
P.S. My daughter just informed me that at least some of these photos are not happy but sad ones. She said whoever those people are in the last photo have a very sad sense of fashion. No way! Those glasses rocked on whoever that girl is!
There is nothing quite like picking fresh mulberries off the tree and popping them straight to your mouth. I know, they should at least be washed, but I can't help myself. I'm even willing to risk the thought of losing life and limb to the gardener snakes just to get a quick fix of them.
They aren't all ripening at once so I should have a good supply for weeks to come if I can just think about moderation. Unfortunately, Ally knows where they are and she likes the ones that aren't quite ripe as much as I like the ripe ones.
The 'warriors' headed off to the lake for some guy stuff last night. Dirk had to load cattle out for awhile but he finished up relatively early compared to most Friday nights, so then the crew headed out to the lake. I still don't think I understand why grown men and almost grown men go out and shoot each other with these things and call it fun. I was looking at their battle scars and it just seems strange to me, but then I'm obviously a girl and Tiff, Ally, Sofie and I couldn't wait to get rid of the guys so we could watch a chick flick. Yay for 'guy fun' which allows for a quiet night of girl times!
Cousins playing Corn Hole. 
Sofie has decided that Dirk is alright. She gets the most excited when he's trying to watch tv and she can get in his way by either sniffing his arm pits or standing in front of the screen. Last night she just decided she'd rather have him hold her. Sydnie and Sarah were at the movie so all of our spoiling energy ended up on Sofie. She didn't seem to mind. :)
This weekend we took a quick trip to another state. The great thing was that we got to visit Grandma B along the way and again on the return trip. The middle part of the trip took us to a really nice and clean hotel. But the thing about hotels and having three kids is that we rarely sleep in the hotels. This room was great since it had three beds but it still didn't get us much further in the sleep department. The younger two kids had gone most of the day without really getting any energy out so once we hit the hotel, they decided it was time to roll. 
Oh, but I love these three. They are truly awesome kids. I take no credit for it but every day I thank God for blessing me to be a part of their lives.
The kids and I were enjoying a wonderful day outside and all of the sudden in the midst of our 'corn hole' game, a mother skunk and her babies went for a stroll on the road right next to our house. I'm pretty sure she was a Christian homeschool mother because she had her little crew all nice and orderly (or not) and there were at least seven of them. We watched from a safe distance as she took her little ones out to play and it was so interesting to watch because she took them to the nice tall grass on the other side of the road from their den and then she just took off. I can relate to this, not the leaving your children to play by the roadside part, but the part that says, "Ok, kids, everyone out of the house! This momma needs a break!" 
At first, we just took photos from a safe distance but then much to my delight, my knight in shining armor showed up and we jumped in the back of the pickup to get a closer look at the babies. I figured we were safer in the pickup because the pickup can go much faster than my legs. 
The awe of nature... 
but then something in this photo is just not natural. I can't put my finger on it but I know there's something not quite right...
Ok, back to the nature part. Thankfully, my knight in shining armor took this little one back to his siblings and all is smell, I mean swell. :)
Happy father's day, Dirk! Not only a new mower but the kids are happy to push it for you!
Making the Corn Hole game! Now we just can't wait to play it! Some of our best memories from Ohio are playing Corn Hole with friends and hanging out. 
Family time is simply pretty great! My mom and stepdad with Dirk and the kids.
