White Christmas

This is the first time since 1975 that we've had a true white Christmas. A few years we have had snow remaining on Christmas morning from a previous snowfall though. So this was Stephanie & Logan's first white Christmas. And the first one for me & Chris to remember. Not sure about him but I sure don't remember being 2 & having a white Christmas, lol.

As you can see it wasn't a lot of snow, but it was snow on Christmas morning & we loved it!

Hadlley Fun!!

We had fun with our little elf, Hadlley. He arrived the evening of the 19th. I know I'm slow updating the blog, sorry.

We had went to a dinner in Missouri (Retha's family) & came back to little trees set up in both kids room. He was hiding on the ceiling fan & scared me half to death when I flipped the light on & the fan sped up enough to send him flying down right in front of me. I snapped a picture of Logan's tree....looks like Hadlley was in a hurry, lol.

Another morning we couldn't find him anywhere. Finally Steph found him tucked away in the freezer. We are thinking he was missing the cold weather from the North Pole.

Another afternoon we noticed Hadlley hadn't gotten into anything & was laying peacefully on the couch. Well off to the grocery store we headed & low & behold what do we spot in the car? McDonalds trash. We'd had McDonalds the night before & we guess he was wanting some too. He did manage to get the car parked back in the garage this time (unlike last year).

He left a gingerbread tree cookie type kit one morning.

Christmas Eve night he placed post it notes all over the tv & a red & green blanket for each kid. Logan took red & Steph choose green.

So all in all he was pretty low key this year. Maybe the neighbor dog had him a little worried???? It did also snow so maybe he used all his "magical" powers & helped the weather form snow for Christmas morning.

Teacher gifts & card

Here's a card I made for some of the office staff at the school. I first did it at our Girl Scout meeting last week for a thank you card project for our council office. I used a different snowman in the middle. I decided on this one for the teachers though. You can bling up the scraf & hat with stickles.

These are the teacher gifts. They are pop tab cans that you take the bottom off with a safety can opener & then reglue on with a clear drying glue. Then just glue the paper of your choice on. It is fun watching the people getting these try to figure out how you did it.

Gingerbread House Buildin'

The other day while at the library checking out books I spotted a flyer about gingerbread house making for tweens. Those that don't know, a tween is a person between the ages of 8-13. Depending on what reference you are looking at that age can change slightly. The sign up for the tween class at the library is 10-13 or grade 5-7. Logan's age is 11 & in 5th he qualified on both accounts. He was on a waiting list & I had forgotten all about signing him up untill I got home on Monday & got the message that he got in. I was worried it'd be all girls & he wouldn't have much fun, but there were a few other boys there too & even though he didn't want to sit at their table he had fun & asked to go to the scarf making class in Jan.

Would you look at this awesome gingerbread house Logan built. You can barely tell but that's icing smoke on top of the pepermint chimney.

Logan hard at work piping icing which holds the house panels together.

"Hmmmm, wonder where I should place this lifesaver on my walkway?"

I'll be sure to let Logan read any comments you guys make.

Logan jumping on trampoline

Here's a short video of Logan playing on the trampoline at Grandma & Grandpas house. He apparently has been watching too much Untamed & Uncut....notice the bull?

Stephanie playing on trampoline

Here is a short video of Steph playing on the trampoline at Grandma & Grandpas house. Got to enjoy the nice days while they can.

Black Friday 2009

Okay we all know that we are crazy to get up at 3am or sooner to save a few dollars. But I really enjoy the tradition of dragging out of bed (no I'm not a morning person) just a few hours after I went to bed & the trill of the "hunt" for that one must have item with my mother-in-law. It's been our tradition for a few years now & I am sad it's over for another 364 days.

We left home about 3:40am & were back home about 11am. Sears, JC Penny, Target, Walmart, Walmart again, Kmart, Target again, McDonalds, Belk, & Dollar General were our stops this morning. We only missed out on one item. And the crazy part is both times we barely missed it. First stop the lady behind Retha heard what aisle it was on & ran over & grabbed the last two. Then at the second stop at Target, just as we were walking up another lady tossed the last one in her cart. So Logan missed out on that pack of Bakugans unless they come in for the raincheck Retha got. If not then plan b for Grandma.

If you ventured out I hope you had a good time & if not then ............................................................................................................................... you have more money than I now have :)

Kid jokes

Today going thru the lunch line Logan asks me
"What day is a chicken afraid of?"
Me "I don't know"
Him "Friday"

Funny part was we had chicken nuggets at lunch today!

After school he asks me what I'd call a fish w/ no eyes. Of course I know a blind fish isn't right so I just say "I don't know". Him "FSH" the way he said it was so funny.

Another kid told me today that he wanted to work there (in the lunchroom). I wonder if he meant when he got older or right after recess ended so he didn't have to go back to class?

Kiddie Band-aids

The schools is having mass flu clinics this year. Today was the one for the kids schools & staff at those schools. It was a little confusing at first w/ us having to get in a different line for each of us for our paperwork . Then each of us had to get in a different line for the actual vaccine. I did mine first while Steph stood in her line right by my line for staff. Logan & I then got into her line to wait w/ her. Once it was her turn & she was finished the lady asked Logan's age & school then told me she could do his too. We were in & out within 30 minutes. I got the seasonal flu shot only available to me. Both kids got the H1N1 flu mist up the nose & the seasonal flu shot. So hopefully this will help keep us healthly thru the winter months from the nasty flu.

Yes I let them get ice cream after shots :)

Halloween '09

Stephanie is a skelton & had a sidekick named Cali. Logan was an old man wizard.

The kids first trick or treated Nana & Papa the weekend before Halloween. We also celebrated Nana's birthday since it was Monday the 26th.

They walked the Goblin Parade Friday the 30th in downtown Rogers with Lacey & Riley Riggs. Riley was the cutest Hershey Kiss we've ever seen.

Halloween night they trick or treated Grandma who brought Cali (dressed up in a skelton costume) to First Baptist Church's Trunk or Treat. We waited in line longer than it took us to do the "trunk or treat".

So as you can tell they had a good time!

Logan's friend party

Here Logan is at his friend birthday party on September 26th.



Fast Lane is where the party took place. They have bowling, lazer tag, arcade games, & an indoor race track.


The bowling cake turned out great!! When I picked it up however I did notice the ball & pins were not placed on the cake. So I asked for them & placed them at home. Everyone kept asking where we got it. Gotta love Wal-mart.


This photo shows how dark it was. During games (football etc) they turn the lights off & everything (balls, pins, & sides of lanes) glow in the dark. They have one room that is dark all the time called Cosmo's Corner.

The kids all had a great time & Logan really enjoyed his last friend party. We scale WAY down after birthday #11.

Germs Germs come again another day

Another day as WAY in the future!! Chris was home sick yesterday. Hopefully since we all 4 have been sick that'll be it for a good long while.

Logan came home today w/ the flu vaccine paperwork. All school children in the state of AR are being offered the flu vaccines. So far they don't have the H1N1 (swine flu) shot yet. Even the staff is getting these YEA!!! Who'd think I'd be so happy about getting shots? Logan sure isn't happy about it, but he'll live. I'm sure a trip to Sonic for any choice of yummy drink off the menu will make it all better! I might even have to get me an ice cream & stop & the park to play. That is what my sister & I got BRIBED rewarded w/ after shots when we were kids.
November 3rd is the big day. And even though I swore I'd never get the kids & I flu shots on the same day ever again I'm going to. Last time Logan was about 2 & got his vaccines plus the flu vaccine. I decided to make good use of the trip to the dr & Steph & I got our flu shots the same day. WHAT A mistake that was. 2 cranky kids, & a mom w/ a sore arm. This go around I'll make sure that dinner is easy made because that is a Tues & Chris will be in his English class that night.

Don't share when it's germs!

Logan was such a nice son & brother, he shared his stomach bug w/ me & his sister. Lucky us............NOT!!

I got sick Tuesday night from 9:30pm to 2:30am. I ended up loosing 4 pounds to look on the bright side. Stephanie woke up Wed morning w/ her stomach hurting. I had a feeling it was coming on so kept her home. Sure enough about 9:30 it hit her. I had recovered enough to go back to work along w/ Logan to school on Thursday. Steph was going to go but w/ the 24 hour rule we kept her home. She can do pictures on retake day.

Hopefully that is the last of the shared germs in this house :)

Logan home sick

This is the first time in as long as I can remember that Logan has been home sick. He's had perfect attendance for the last 2 years at least. Last Saturday he was throwing up, but got better Sunday & yesterday. Well today he had a setback. He was in writing class (first class of the day) & wasn't feeling very well. Told that teacher & she asked him if he'd like to go tell me. On the way to me he threw up twice & then once after he got into the cafeteria. So needless to say I brought him home. The manager is out sick & I felt horrible leaving them but I have to take care of my baby. So far he's done okay while we've been home but he's not ate anything either. He has to miss tomorrow because the rule is fever/vomit free for 24 hours. Hopefully he doesn't share his sick germs w/ anyone else in the house :) Lysol is my best friend right now :)

Get better soon Logan!!

Girl Scout Breakfast Kidnap

I had read about doing a "kidnap" of the girls in our GS troop a long time ago. I've wanted to do it ever since & a couple weekends ago I finally got to do it.....with the parents in on it of course. It was so much fun!!

We added a little extra to our "kidnap" which was a Hummer Limo.


Basically the way it works is I woke up the first two girls (sisters) & they have a few min's to get up, brush teeth, use bathroom, & put shoes on. They wake up the next one. All three then wake up the 4th girl & then the four wake up the next (Steph) who then gets to help wake up the last two (sisters) in the troop. Then they get taken to breakfast. We choose IHOP. We started at the early time of 6am however by the time they got to our house Stephanie was already awake. She still got suprised because she thought it was Logan trying to come into her room, not the Girl Scout troop. Of course Logan got to be the little tag along brother for the morning.


Girls waiting to be seated at IHOP plus one mom on very right.

Zack & Cody

Cole (left) & Dylan (right) Sprouse were promoting Danimals Crushable Yogurt Cups today in Bentonville.


I took the kids to the Bentonville Walmart today so they could meet Cole & Dylan Sprouse from The Suite Life on Deck. The Disney show used to be called The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. They were there from 10:30am - 12:30pm & arrived in style. Limo w/ a police escort. We got there about 10am. So 2 hours waiting in line. But it'll be good memories for the kids. Stephanie didn't want to go because she wouldn't have anyone to talk to in line. Hello what about her brother & me? I asked them on the way home if they had fun. Logan said yes. Although her answer to that question was "kindof", in teen talk that is a "yes, great time" lol. She informed me once we got home that I couldn't wash her shirt because Cole touched her shoulder. Every once in awhile that girl hiding inside her sneaks out.



About noon they decided to start doing 6-8 people in a picture to try to get everyone in line through. They had already cut the line off earlier in the day. So many people showed up. The 2 boys in line behind us were in the picture too. I had Logan move over once but he didn't move far enough & the way they were rushing us I had just one chance & getting the picture.

Here's a couple more

Dog Sitting

Our neighbor, Mary Jane, asked us to keep an eye on her dog this last weekend. BeBe is a great dog that just loves the family, especially Chris. She will run up to the fence everytime she hears us come into the backyard. The kids love petting her over the fence & playing fetch w/ her. Although sometimes BeBe quits playing fetch before the kids do & I have to get onto them when I notice them throwing sticks over the fence over & over, lol. Mary Jane, now you know where all those small sticks come from.

BeBe learned real fast that Stephanie was the one that was on potty duty. She would tell Chris she needed out then walk over to Steph. She is part kid I think. She went to go into Steph's room one time & Logan had just shut the door. BeBe grunted & came back & laid down in the living room floor & kept an eye on the door. She started whinning so we had Logan open the door. BeBe ran in & was one happy dog.

From taking these photos I've decided that it's easier to get BeBe to look at the camera than Logan, lol.

Happy Birthday Chris

We celebrated Chris's birthday w/ a dinner to Mazzios Pizza. He always like staying close to home & Mazzios is pretty close to home. We are going to bbq Sunday for Labor Day w/ his parents so I'll make a cake for him to have then. He's been working out like crazy & so I'm sure he'll appreciate other people eating part of the cake.

Happy Birthday Logan

Logan is 11 today, can you believe it? WOW where does the time go? Seems like yesterday he was just starting school & know he's the one that is helping open doors for kids in the morning at school.

This morning Chris was looking at his Spanish workbook & Logan got up w/out him knowing it & sat on the loveseat. Not sure how the conversation went exactly but apparently Logan informed him that it was his birthday. I got up shortly after & told Logan "happy birthday, birthday boy". Logan says to Chris "well at least mom remembered". If anyone in the family did forget his birthday it probably wouldn't be Chris since his is tomorrow. Chris informed him that he did remember but that he just hadn't realized he was up.

Trying to look on the bright side

Okay I'm gonna try to find the bright side of this story but first I need to tell you the nightmare the story. Our master bathroom sink had been running slow starting this summer. The bathtub in the main bathroom & only tub/shower in the house also started running slow. I decided to do the powerful drain cleaner, but not sure I used enough & was afraid to use more. Used the little snake & punched a hole in the drain of the sink. So that sink was out of commission. I bought a replacement part & Chris replaced it but it was still leaking. Since he's no plumber he told me to call the plumber. I called the plumber we've used for years & was recently out here to clear out our backed up washer drain. Fast Forward to the day he causes a huge mess puts the facuets & sink in......he broke 3 tiles in the tub around the facuet & popped a 4th loose. Also I just discovered he burned/scroched the floor in the coat closest. Which is where he had to cut through the wall to get access to the pipes. He left that night & left the water turned off too. When he was going to do the bill I asked him if I was going to get a discount for him breaking the tile. He said he'd have to ask the owner, I said "please do". They discounted the bill $10 an hour & took off 30 minutes of time. I think he forgot to charge me for the previous day. The day he unclogged the slow running drains. The facuets were dripping so I had decided to replace them. WHY I had to call the company back that night to tell them the tub facuet was still dripping & he had left his caulk gun & had left the water off. Not sure how it was brought up but he said that the guy told him he didn't break any tile. I told him he had to & he could come look if he wanted to. Of course he's not showed up! He told me that they discounted the bill & that should cover it. Right & we're out another $80 bucks an hour for no telling how long for them to fix that guys mistakes. Other than paying for a lawyer I think we're better off doing it ourselves. Chris's dad knows how to do tile stuff & has been over the last 2 nights working on the big gapping hole in the wall. Once he got the tiles out he discovered the drywall needs to be replaced. So last night was working on rigging up some wood to screw drywall into. Thank goodness for Wallace! We love him! Chris can do electrical & computer stuff but not the plumbing & woodworking stuff. So trying to find the bright side of this mess is that we know his dad loves us & is willing to help out & that means a lot to both of us. We know he loves us but when you have issues like this going on & trying to figure out a way to pay for another repair you'd never planned on in the first place. Thinking about your sons birthday party you are having in a few weeks for friends (his last big birthday party) & just having paid $1100 for doctor tests & the expense of school starting & all those supplies it's just hard to deal w/. So thank you Wallace. And it doesn't end there like you think. The drywall ended up being to thick so off I go on another trip to Home Depot to pick up the back board for tile. Okay not sure what I was thinking, I have both kids w/ me & I buy a like 5x7 piece of back board. It does fit into my car if I lay both back seats done thinking to self in panic mode where am I gonna fit both kids.....maybe Logan won't mind riding on top of car think to myself hum both kids are gonna have to just smush into front passenger seat. They didn't think kindly of this since the seat belt was digging into Logan back & Steph was half laying on her side so Logan could have the seat belt thing dig into his side. But being mom they did have their seat belt on. Like that would really help if we got pulled over. Can you hear it now "do you know why I stopped you?" me "well really officer not sure if Chris you know, my hubby who can't do tile work & your co-worker had me call a plumber &....................." don't think that'd flied. But even though I had ordered pizza for dinner, because Chris was late getting home from work & we saw at least seven officers on just Dixieland Rd. along we made it home safely w/ tile back board & pizza in tow.
Bright sides~getting to see father in law every day, having a father in law that is willing to help out his neighbors & kids in need, having a non drippy faucet w/ nice newly grouted tiles & it looks better than it has in years.

So major kuddos to Wallace! You are the BEST father in law ever thanks again!!

This one took a bit more work to pull

Logan had another tooth come out tonight. Dad had to get in on the act on this one to help him out since it was hanging by a thread & he wouldn't pull it. I decided to video & see what happened. He still has one more that is loose, so you'll be hearing from me again soon I have a feeling.

Another one bites the dust, & Toothfairy Times Take 3

Logan lost another tooth last night, the most unusual way. This was a top one & not even one of the 2 that we know are loose. We visited my parents over the weekend for my dads birthday. Logan came home w/ a large zip loc bag of Toothloose Rolls Tootsie Rolls. He was happily munching away, stopped & had the oddest look on his face. Needless to say that chewy chocolatey yumminess stuck right to his loose tooth. It actually buried the tooth right into the middle of the chewed up chocolate chunk of slimy Toostie Roll. At first we thought he swallowed the tooth because we couldn't find it. After we get him into the bathroom to spit I got the job of smushing the Tootsie Roll & sure enough stuck right smack dab in the middle was the tooth. Nothing like brushing chewed up Tootsie Roll off a tooth before you leave it for the Toothfairy. I also think she must have our home address saved into her Fairy GPS. She must also know Hadlley because other than the first visit the $2.00 from each visit has ended up ALL OVER his bed & EVEN under. Dollar bills the first & third visit. Quarters the second.

First Day of School

First day of 5th grade for Logan.

First day of 9th grade & high school for Stephanie.

Logan had a good day he said.

Stephanie didn't get lost even once so she was happy. The pep rallies was very peppy. And apparently their lemonaide & I quote is the best ever.

My first day back to work with kids at school was today. We had a new lunch schedule & it was hetic. Normal deposits are about $100.00 & todays was just over $2900.00. Not to mention a new computer system that wasn't working right this morning. We all survived though :)

Back to the real world

Back to work & school. Actually I had a couple half days Monday & Tuesday. But I got to sleep in some even though I had work those days. Tonight it's back to setting the alarm to a time that it'll actually go off while I'm still sleeping. I can't say I'm looking forward to it either. The kids aren't either. Logan doesn't want to go back because he had a great summer. He's only told me this about 14 times in the last 2 hours before he went to bed. Stephanie is very nervous about getting lost & has studied her map of the school since she got it last Thursday evening. So she's also not looking forward to going back. She keeps telling everyone that if she's never seen again she'll be somewhere in RHS. LOL Logan's teacher this year was his teacher from 2nd grade & Stephanies in 4th so that puts Logan at ease since he already knows her. He was jumping up & down when I called to tell him this morning Steph told me.

Last summer activity before school starts

Logan earned 2 free tickets to a Naturals baseball game on Sunday afternoon. He had to be one of the first 100 kids to read at least 20 hours & he did it. He was really looking forward to going & so I took him even though I'm not a sports fan. Stephanie enjoyed it also since the teen section didn't give out very good prizes this year. Other than sitting in the last row & not in the front row where they had a chance to get a ball or a t-shirt they had fun. We sit beside a couple Girl Scouts from our troop that were there & they had already choosen seats. I didn't take my camera becasue according to the radar it looked like we might get rained on. These pictures aren't good quality because I use mine & Steph's cell phones for them, lol. Better than nothing I guess.

Another one bites the dust.

Logan pulled another tooth this morning. Do you think he's figured out that he gets mucho dinero? A lot of money, do you think Chris will be proud of my Spanish? Granted I did have to look up to see how to correctly spell dinero. This tooth wasn't very loose either. And the loco (crazy lol) part is that he has 2 more loose. If he keeps going at this rate he'll be entering 5th grade w/ no teeth & poor parents toothfairy. The one that came out this morning is the opposite side of the one lost a couple days ago. So he's got matching gaps now.

Time to go fix lunch for the kiddos, my toothless boy is hungry. Not sure how he's gonna eat w/ all the missing teeth though lol. Knowing Logan I'm sure he'll find a way.

Pop-Up Pancakes

I subscribe to a yahoo group that sends out recipes occasionally. cammipea@yahoogroups.com I'll be honest & tell you I've never made any.....til this morning. If you know me at all, you know I'm no chef & never claim to be. I did have everything on hand for these & thought w/ 4 food critics here today since I'm babysitting it'd be a good thing to try out. School starts in a week so we'll see how well they freeze for a quick school morning breakfast. It says that it makes 24, I only ended up w/ 18. I do think I overfilled the muffin liners though because they really popped up. But as we know what goes up must come down, & they sure did. They fell big time & are ugly but they were still good. Here's the food critics & their opinions.

Allison ~ 4 stars Really unique & give the recipe to my mom.

Jenni ~ 4 stars They were fluffy.

Logan ~ 5 stars They were really good.

Stephanie ~ 2 stars They weren't really that great.

Ingerdients:

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

6 eggs

1/4 cup melted butter

dash salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in blender, & blend until smooth. Pour into extremely well greased muffin tins (makes 24). Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown "pop" them out of the tins, & top as desired.

Thanks again to Cammi for this wonderful, easy recipe.

Tooth Fairy Times

Logan has had a loose tooth for a few days. He's been saying it's bugging him. When he eats pizza it's the topping & then the bread. Apparently the bread was pretty sticky on this particular frozen pizza he had for lunch today because it pulled his loose tooth that wasn't even that loose! He was eating in Stephanie's bedroom & came running out saying "I got it" My first thought was he killed a spider because he doesn't like spiders & was proud of himself. Then he gets around the corner of the hall & I see he is holding something between his thumb & first finger. My thoughts now turn to WHAT DID HE GET. I know at this point it's not a spider. I ask what before he reaches me in case I need to run, lol. He says "my tooth". I'm in total shock. Now we are going to have a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight. I realize the picture isn't real good, but for some reason I was getting blurry pic's in the house & so we went outside. He was more intrested in the cars driving by & the bicycles than mom getting the perfect shot of the gapping hole. It's the red spot on the left side (his right).

Spur of the Moment day trip with the kids

I saw in the paper Saturday morning that Missouri was doing the tax free weekend.
Don't get me started on how stupid insane AR is for not having our own tax free weekend.

Since the kids have stained outgrown most of their winter clothes I thought it might be a good idea to drive up to MO to spend save some money. I had planned to take them to buy shoes anyways (in AR). I checked online (love store locators) & saw that Joplin has a Shoe Carnival. Buying shoes is no "Carnival" more like just put a bullet in my head & get me out of my misery but oh well, the kids & I needed shoes. Joplin is just over an hour (10 min's over to be exact) away. That's basically like driving to my parents in Huntsville so I could justify it to "save" some $'s. I call Retha to go & find out Wallace didn't feel good & then call Deena, then my mom, who is saving money for a Tulsa trip w/ some online friends of ours in just a few weeks. I get a text from my sister saying her boyfriend was off the whole weekend & she didn't want to go either. So feeling pity for myself that noone wants to go w/ me I decided to go by myself w/ the kids. I'm glad I did, we really did have a good time & no bullets needed during the shoe store or any store. After a fairly easy shoe buying time we are all getting hungry so using the trusty GPS we look up a food place. Taco Bell was the choice so off we go .4 miles down the road. Glad we chose Taco Bell & not Burger King carbon-monoxide filled restaraunt. A guy that worked at BK sat eating his tacos & called all his friends that answered the phone about 5 people to inform them that corporate wouldn't let his manager shut down the place. It got really funny & I couldn't help being happy when his gripe session break was over.

Off to Northpark Mall which happened to be right across from Shoe Carnival. Sears & Old Navy was on the list of stops there. Both happened to be right beside each other. Then over to Target, which was just one parking lot over. I mean every store I wanted to go to was within sight of each other. Logan ended up with new shoes & a couple long sleeve shirts. Stephanie ended up w/ 3 polo shirts & 2 layering tees. She even picked pink, can you believe it?

I know this is long & rambling but it lives up to the name of my blog doesn't it?

Tulsa Zoo with Grandma

Retha took the kids to the Tulsa zoo one hot Tuesday. Stephanie begged & begged to go & finally Retha decided it would be a good idea. Earlier this year both Retha & I got door hangers for free zoo tickets. So they got in for free. Not a bad deal. Since I don't like zoos I skipped out on this outing.

Doesn't this monkey looked relaxed?

This ostrich photo Retha took makes me smile everytime I look at it. Looks like he's saying "hi"

Notice Logan's reflection in the lower left? That's really cool Retha. Two thumbs up on this shot.

And last but not least, both kids posing for more photos. Grandma is as bad as me when it comes to taking photos. But even with not so great vision in one eye I think she did pretty well capturing the day.

Are you serious?

Are you serious?

WHAT?

Are you kidding me?

I'm not sure what Steph is thinking or just said, but I laugh every time I see this picture. I just love the expression on her face. It just make me smile.

Waterfall

Here's another photo from todays outing. This is as you can tell in front of the waterfall. Tanyard Creek Nature Trail in Bella Vista. Very pretty area & if you are the outdoorsy type you would really enjoy this place.

What's that I see?

I've been hearing about a waterfall in Bella Vista. A friend of mine said she knew where it was. We made plans to take our kids on a little photo shoot. Those plans had to be postphoned because Chris surprised me w/ a trip to Branson for my birthday. So today was the day we finally met up & did our Bella Vista trip. We went to a beautiful park w/ bluffs, cave, a brook, & a small waterfall. At the Tanyard Creek Nature Trail we hiked to the waterfall, then decided to hike to the dam. Around the dam is where they had this boat ramp area w/ a couple small docks. Perfect place for more photos, lol. Logan was making me nervous since he kept leaning over & looking in the water at the fish. Thank goodness he didn't fall in, although April assured me that she was certified in water rescue & would save him if she needed to. But still the thought of my child falling in the water........yikes!! We got an early start & it started getting hot towards the dock pictures. We ended our outing w/ lunch at Wendys.

They are back home & tired!

Chris & I picked the kids up from camp this morning. Logan had fun but was getting homesick & happy to see us. Steph was sad for leaving her counselors. She gave us a big hug though when she saw us. She did mountain biking, smash ball, & tubing at the lake. Logan did mini golf, & the trapeze at the cove. Other than one shirt being lost (Logan's) I think he kept up w/ everything. As you notice this post is in blue for Osage. That is the tribe both Stephanie & Logan are in. They are to tired to go out to the pool.

Camp War Eagle

This is Stephanie's 4th year at Camp WE & Logan's 1st. He told me he was a little excited but a little nervous too. Stephanie told him that it was okay she was a little nervous too. I didn't tell him but I was nervous also. He was more than ready to stay & didn't even want to give his mom a hug goodbye. We did an air knuckle touch like him & his dad do. That is more boyish so it was okay I guess. No telling what kind of independent young man I'm going to pick up on Saturday.

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Summer Fun

We spend a big part of our summer afternoons in the pool. The kids would be out there all day if I'd let them, however they would be burned to a crisp. So I try to have them wait till the afternoon when the house is shading the water & we don't have to mess with sunblock. Another thing they don't like....sunblock. It's a big pain getting it up & runnning & shut down & messing with all the trips to the pool place for hoses & chemicals, but I'm so glad we bought it. I can't imagine a summer with out the pool now.

In this picture Stephanie & Logan are playing ball with Chris.

The blog band wagon

Looks like I finally jumped onto the blog band wagon. Hopefully I won't fall off & be able to keep up with it. Time will only tell.