Old Red has been cut down to size.

I'm sort of sheepishly admitting that Josie has carried a blanket around with her the past 4 years but a few days ago we gave him a trimming. Now she uses this piece of satin when she goes to bed!

Is it possible?

A newly awoken Georgia expressing how happy she was to turn 7 yesterday. We had a great day just hanging out together at home.

Georgia adored her cake.

From the looks of the girls it was good!

Georgia received a really cute seed starting kit from our Church friend Lori. We went right to work on it.

The night ended with a soccer game in the living room!

The net was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa B.

I love you Georgia you little stinker you. I keep telling you to quit, but you just keep getting bigger. You make me so proud and you amaze me by something that you do EVERY day. God made you extra special! Always remember that.

xoxo ~mom

The eclipse.

We all stayed awake to see the eclipse the other night. The kids got a lesson using the kitchen light, a softball and a baseball so that they could "see" what was going to happen. They were really excited, well it looks like all were excited except for Emeline. *Note the glasses!

Every picture that I took of the eclipse came out blurry. When I woke up the next morning however, this big beautiful moon was "setting".

Happy Birthday Jessie!

"Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you..."

Look at the crowd that loves you Jessie!

Blow them out you old lady.

Once again- another pile of grandkids!

An early birthday for someone who's 27-Today!!

Here is Mom lighting the candles on Jessie's cake. Looks like Russell is really interested.

Russell is always a hit with the kids because they become enthralled with the games he has. All those monsters and knights etc. aren't found in my "girly" home.

The baby girl cousins are getting very big. Emeline I'm afraid likes to tackle her smaller cousins. Actually she likes to tackle bigger cousins and sisters too.

Checking out a belated Valentine!

Someone needs glasses!!

We went to try on glasses today. Obviously as you can see, Georgia needs them.

I think this lovely pink one is the winner!

Greyhounds

Today we went to an informational opportunity for the Greyhound Outreach, Inc. It was soooo much fun (I especially loved it) and maybe we'll adopt a greyhound one day. There were about 10 dogs that were ex-racers. They were so beautiful and gentle. If you're interested here is the site: http://www.greyhoundoutreach.org/

Happy Valentine's Day

"Happy Valentine's Day"

This was Brad's card from me. I started out being serious but

I just couldn't do it.

Wow - Stuff from friends, Grandparents, spouses, moms' dad's, daughters...

There was a lot of love in our house.

This semester.

Well as I am sure you have noticed the time I have spent blogging has diminished and it's because the Spring semester has started. This is my last semester until I start my Masters!!! Yippee. This semester also is much more enjoyable. I am taking "The American Cinema", "Educational Psychology", "Proposal Writing" and "Creative Writing". Since I have started taking the creative writing course my creative juices have been flowing and I remembered some that I have written in the past. I wanted to share with you the following poem that should bring a smile to your face. It is called an imitation poem which means it is in the same form and style of another. This poem actually won an award and was published. Enjoy.

Imitation of Gwendolyn Brooks'
"We Real Cool"

We Real Cool Too

The Stay-at-Home Moms:
Seven shopping at the mall

We real cool. We
Miss school. We
Lurk late. We
On a girl's date. We
Shop for toys. We
No longer look at boys. We
Gotta call. "But, We
At the mall." We
Gotta go. Cuz
Daddy don't know.

snow day and valentines

Yesterday we got busy making Valentine's. Oh what fun. We bought some red,pink, and white colored card stock, some decorative shears and some sticker hearts. They are coming out really cute.

Brad I am sorry I couldn't resist.

This was our last snow day. I think last Wednesday. Brad found a comfy spot on the girl's bedroom floor, took their blankets and pillow, and used a heating pad to take a three hour long nap!! Now how come I can never do that?

I'm always happy when we have a snow day. I think I'm actually going to get my work done. Never works out that way :) .

A few cute pictures

What an angel you were ...I mean are, Jo! Jo's baptism day.

I remember this day. Georgia tried to get herself ready to go outside. Look at the lunch on her face. Yuck.

Georgia took this picture of Brad and I. Maybe I ought to get my hair cut short again. I like it!

Easter a couple of years ago. Boy they are cute little girls!

I've been tagged for a meme!

The rules for this meme are: (1) Link to the person that tagged you. (2) Post the rules on your blog. (3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. (4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

My Aunt Joann - http://www.tenkidsandadog.blogspot.com/ tagged me. Here are my 6 things:

1. I'm a thinker. I just can't shut it off. It drives Brad nuts becaues he is FAR from a thinker. I'm always planning, pondering or trying to figure something out!

2. When I was younger I wanted to do it all. First of all I wanted to be a vet and have my own pet shop. I also wanted to be a jockey and have a horse farm that was FREE for all. (Still want a farm but the free part ...I'll have to think about that) Singing is a passion of mine and I just knew that I would have a country album by 25 and have won female vocalist by 30!! :)

3. I am addicted to peanut butter. Just can't get enough!

4. One time while my mom was washing my hair (I was lying on the counter with my hair hanging in sink) I saw Mary (the Mother of Jesus). I remember so vividly. I must have been oh I can't remember that but it was her torso, she smiled, was bright and blue, and raised both hands up by her head. I think of this every day of my life and have become quite devoted to her.

5. I'm currently going to school for English/Literature. I will probably end up working at "Brad's" school. My masters will be in Elementary Education. Then, after that I plan on getting a certificate or Doctorate in Administration. However, and that is a big however, I could see myself getting very sick of school before that ever happens.

6. I would love to write a book someday.

There you have it. 6 silly things about me. Now I tag (unfortunately I don't know 6 other bloggers ) so I tag Jenny P. http://www.ejcsparenti.blogspot.com/

Amish country

We have had a few Amish families move in around us recently. It is comforting to see (and hear) them go by. It has also been a great lesson for my kids to see the very tiny Amish children out in enormous fields picking stones out of freshly turned ground, hanging up laundry in the middle of the winter etc. They have learned that they still don't use cars (obviously), electricity etc. Very interesting!! -and beautiful

I will have my "tagging" answers up soon. All three kids have been sick and we just found out we are having another snow day! I'm taking Emmy to the doctors today if we can get in because she has a nasty cough. She is just not feeling up to par. Wish us luck!

Snow Day!!

"SNOW DAY" yippee. What is the first thing you do on a snow day. Well for my gaming girls it is drag Dad into playing a game. Did I say drag, shame on me!!

After game time you of course make some brownies. A favorite in our house!

Then you lick some batter and get it all over your face!

It's always good to use your imagination especially when stuck inside. Josie is playing make-believe with my lotion bottles again. From left to right Dad, Emeline, Josie, Russell, Georgia, and Mom!?

A little homework for Jo to pass the time.

Then you snuggle up and read a book.

Through the front window we saw Jazzmine being typical Jazzmine. She is very stubborn and sometimes prefers to weather the storm instead of seeking shelter in the shed. She would much rather be by herself than be cooped up with her pesky brother Zatty.

"Jazzmine I don't think that little bush is helping much!"

Finally, after a long day everyone settled down and watched

Georgia play "Saddle Up". It was quite the day!

Oh yeah somewhere in the middle of a snow day it is great to all fall asleep except for mom so she can get some homework done. Unfortunately Mom didn't get a picture of that.

Emmy going nuts!

Emeline loves her bath. She will splash and splash until she looks like this! Crazy girl. She almost jumps right out of my arms when I begin to fill the tub.

Elsie meeting Bandit!

Jessie and Elsie stopped over yesterday because in the wind and snow storm we had they lost power. It was Elsie's turn to meet Bandit! I think they both enjoyed it!

Oil and Vinegar Chocolate Cake

Stacy called me last night and said that her computer crashed. She was concerned because she wanted to get the recipe for Oil and Vinegar Chocolate Cake per the families request. So, she asked me to post it for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oil and Vinegar Chocolate Cake

3 cups flour 2 cups sugar
6 Tblsp cocoa 1 Tblsp baking soda
1 tsp salt 2 cups cold water
3/4 cup oil 1 Tblsp vinegar
1 Tblsp vanilla

Mix all together and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mom says she likes to frost it with flour frosting so here is that recipe too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flour Frosting

3 Tblsp flour
1/2 cup milk

Cook flour and milk together then cool in refridgerator.

Mix in a bowl
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup crisco

Mix everything together - whip -
last add 1 tsp. vanilla

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yumm yumm

Happy baking!!
xxoo Jenny

Jo's boo boo

Josie came in from playing in the snow today and slipped coming in the door. She scraped her hand and this is how she spent the rest of the evening. She won't use it won't bend it nothing!! She just holds it up in the air!!

This was Josie at 11:00 when I checked on the girls before I went to bed. It is hard to see from the photo but her arm is straight up in the air. I thought I mentioned before that she was a tough little girl...guess she's tough until blood is involved! (It wasn't that bad of a scrape- she was fine.)

More pictures from our visit.

My mom Rick, Ben and Russell looking pretty sharp.

My cousin Becky, (she is big sister to 8 younger siblings and has one older brother, and yes that is 10 children!) is naturally a natural with kids.

Emeline found Great Grandpa's cane very intriguing.

Trip to the GREAT Grandparents

We spent the day at my Grandparents' today.

This is a sweet moment caught between my Aunt Joann and my grandfather reminiscing.

Isn't this adorable of Emmy playing with Great Grandpa?

Some found the ping pong table downstairs. Brad said Russell was pretty good.

The Great Grandchildren LOVED their visit with their Great Grandparents!