Thursday, April 24, 2008

flash card fun

another alternative to watching tv ;0)

the girls had fun practicing their letters & letter sounds with daddy last night, while i helped jaden with his homework.....gabby only has trouble with the vowel sounds here and there.....and corinn does surprisingly well for only just turning 4 - she won't even start pre-k until this fall! she can recognize almost all of the letters & knows a good many letter sounds too!

gabrielle acing them
must be a tricky one
corinn trying to get a hint from gabrielle ~lol~shouting out the answer
good job girl! ~gimme five!~

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

no TV this week

this week, the elementary school is asking all the children to take a break from TV - YAY!!! {this is part of their week long study about earth day and what we can do to help}

if u remember, i would LOVE to get rid of our TV's completely.....so, i'm very excited about this assignment! i learned a long time ago, that if the kids are not moving as fast as we'd like when getting ready for school/bed/etc, just turn off the TV & like magic *poof* everyone moves a little faster - imagine that?!

needless to say, the last 3 mornings of getting ready for school/daycare have run very smoothly - i was 20 minutes early to work today!!! and since the kids know this is a school assignment, mommy's not the bad guy this week! ~lol~

i have to admit, we've done really well lately with the nice weather anyway - the kids have headed outside to play in the evenings instead of asking to watch TV.....but even after it gets dark this week, we've been reading books & dancing to music & playing games together....it's been really nice!

cute pic of the girls watching some TV with daddy on monday eve, right before we got busy with homework & found out about this week's assignment - RIP TV (until next week, or maybe longer if i'm lucky!)

9 years together, 2 years married & still going strong!

i mentioned that curtis & i just recently celebrated 9 years as a couple....well, yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary! :0)

i woke up to coffee, an omelet with green peppers/onions/mozzarella cheese (my fav!), fried potatoes & biscuits with apple butter....curtis must have gotten up at 5:30am to beat me up and prepare this!


he had also made enough for the kids & himself....i felt bad, because i'm just not used to eating first thing in the morning.....it takes me a little while to get going and get hungry....and even when i did get the appetite to eat, i could only put about half of this down (does he really think i can eat this much? and all those carbs?! ~lol~)....but i felt so loved & it was fun getting to take a minute to sit down with my family for breakfast on a busy weekday morning!

btw- it's just a coincidence that we got married on earth day....but i think it's pretty cool ;0) remember to always think green - not just on earth day!

Monday, April 21, 2008

back to the real world

last evening, we drug 3 very tired kids into the house....stripped them down & threw them in the bath.....like my dad said - this bath would be like washing your car, you'd be able to see your progress! ~lol~ after getting clean, getting pj's on, brushing teeth and saying prayers, i think it took all of 20 seconds for them to pass completely out

we had such a great time! saturday was absolutely beautiful until after bed time (then it poured)! there was some rain here and there on sunday, but nothing more than a sprinkle.....and hey, that just made for more fun in the mud & puddles!

we got started a little late on saturday, after delivering the lego cake, so we missed the hubby callin' and armpit seranade.....but we played for a while and had lunch, then curtis took the kids down to the river to get in some fishing time before we had to head back home briefly that afternoon for bryan's 4th birthday party (my sister's son).....the party was great - and we had water play outside - what kid doesn't love that?!

then we headed back to the campground (it's about a 45 minute drive from home)....in the car, i realized that gabby's mild seasonal allergies that had popped up for the very first time last tuesday, were actually turning into pretty severe allergies - that evidentially were triggered big time by freshly cut grass! this is what she looked like when we got back to the campground and had taken a dose of children's claritin, so the swelling had gone down some....the only thing i can blame it on, is her going down the slip and slide repeatedly at my sister's house.....then having the freshly cut grass clinging to her wet body.....also note the busted chin from riding a skateboard on her belly at my sister's house
then, here she is yesterday - more than 24 hours after the party, and after having continuous doses of the claritin....but of course, after being outside the entire weekend (and before the rain, you could literally see the pollen settling on the cars)
poor thing! she still managed to have a blast and didn't complain much at all - just occasionally complained that her eyes hurt & would ask for a cold, wet cloth to hold over them...what a trooper!

now back to the camping....we got back after the party, just in time for the pig roast! my mom made potato salad and there were lots of sides & desserts brought by the campers - one huge pot luck! mmmmm! we missed the tasting/voting for the Bubba-Q cook-off, but made it back in time for them to announce the winners...mom entered her venison recipe that included ramps and won 2nd place! from what I heard, she probably would have won 1st except that a lot of the campers weren't keen on trying deer meat. {why in the world are you here camping on Redneck Weekend and you won't even try deer?! beats me!} i totally forgot to take a picture of the winning campsite in the Most Redneck Decorated Campsite award - let's just say it definitely deserved to win! my favorite part were the beer can wind chimes! ~lol~ we checked out the karaoke that night and got in plenty of fishing & hiking/biking to the waterfall on both days! all the kids caught some fish & grandpa even grilled one of the huge trout that daddy caught - the kids were in awe at the whole cleaning/gutting/cutting it's head off process ~lol~ and they all tried a bite of the grilled trout - the girls & i ate most of it

another highlight of the weekend was gabrielle learning to ride her bike with no training wheels! she nailed it in about 5 minutes & amazed us all! grandpa has managed to teach jaden, deandra (my neice who's 2 months younger than jaden), and now gabby, how to ride their bikes at this campground....next year, it's corinn's turn! ;0) we ended up putting the training wheels back on gabby's bike so she could ride around the campground's gravel roads without help....but as soon as it stops raining this week, we're heading to the grassy field at the park for some more big kid bike practice (after a dose of claritin, of course! ~lol~)

here's a slide of our fun & 2 videos of gabrielle on her bike....i hope you guys enjoyed the weekend where you are! :0)





weekend cakes...

since we had our camping trip this weekend, i didn't have many cake requests to fill.....the lego cake was so much fun to make! and the superhero cupcakes were quickies for my nephew's bday party that we drove back for on saturday (in the middle of our camping trip).....everything you see is edible


Friday, April 18, 2008

Gone CAMPING!!!

yay! it's time for our first camping trip of the year! i can't even begin to tell you how long the kids have been counting down the days for this trip! EVERY year, we go camping here....i mean since before the girls were born (i think i've worn several maternity bathing suits in their pool/river).....and i swear, u'd never know this place is a KOA campground - it's absolutely gorgeous & there's so much to do there! i HIGHLY recommend it for tent or RV camping!

we usually go on the holiday weekends every year (memorial, labor, & sometimes 4th of july)....but my dad took a new job a few months ago and can't get off for the holiday weekends this year.....so, nana & grandpa gave us the choice of 2 weekends to go camping (the weekends he is off from work) - we picked the first available cause we just can't wait....and it turns out that we just so happen to pick...

REDNECK WEEKEND! ~rotflmao~

i know, i know....at first i was like - 'oh no, this can't be!' - the thought made me cringe....believe it or not, curtis was like 'so?!' - he's only concerned with getting in some fishing time (and they have not only a stocked pond, but a river that runs right through the camp ground - complete with waterfall!).....but after checking out the activities planned, i'm thinking this might actually be fun.....my mom is entering the Bub-a-que contest....and i bet i'd do pretty well at the husband callin' contest ~lol~.....oh, and i have to tell jaden about the armpit serenade - he'll win that hands down! ~lol~ mmmmm, and a pig roast - can't wait for that! costume & decorated camp site judging, karaoke, the usual hay rides.....this will be fun!

plus, we're regulars now.....and the same folks always come for the themed & holiday weekends.....it's such a nice crew & the kids have a BLAST every time we go! here's some pics of previous camping trips to keep u until we return.....i'll be back in the blogging world on monday....i hope u all have an AWESOME weekend! i KNOW we will!!! :0)

Memorial Day weekend - May 2006
(by the waterfall - look how tiny they are!)
Jaden & Grandpa riding down the river - this is so relaxing!Curtis & the boys getting ready to do what they do best

Labor Day weekend - September 2006
(look at Corinn's short lil pony tail - you can see how long ago this was!)
by the waterfall again

Memorial Day weekend - May 2007
family shot by the waterfall
daddy fishing - the girls playing with the worms ~lol~by the campfireat the pool - Jaden's fav spot!feeding the ducks - there's also a ton of rabbits that roam around
(they are tame & will come right up to your site looking to be fed)with Nana & Grandpa on a hay ride
Labor Day weekend - September 2007
playing in the river
true love
getting bigger - but still just as darn cute!
on the playgroundriding bikes
and the cutest pic ever

Field trip to The Saddle Doctor

What a perfect day for a field trip!

Today, Gabrielle's pre-k class went to visit The Saddle Doctor in Timberville. The weather was absolutely perfect, and the kids had a blast! We got to see how they repair & make saddles, try out some of the tools they use to clean/shoe horses, play on the stuff they use to train the horses, pet the horses & meet a 2 day old filly! Gabrielle was so comfortable with the horses & insisted on petting every single one. It was so much fun!

on the bus
leather being sewn
feeling a cow hide
trying out a horse cart
checking out the difference between a english & western saddle
petting ALL the horses
checking out the 2 day old filly
we had a great day!

bath time pro

the girls seem to enjoy daddy giving them baths, a little more than mommy (i think i'm not quite as gentle as daddy - u should see the time & care he takes in making sure no shampoo gets in their eyes).....hey, u're not hearing any argument from me! ;0)

cracking up...

my sister is at the elementary school, having lunch with her niece & nephew right now....here's the pix messages she just sent me ~lol~

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