Been A While

I promise I am here. I am reading and sometimes commenting but never posting. I decided for the summer it would be best if I let the blog go for a while. So that's just what I did. I have been hanging with my peeps and having a great summer and now it is over.
School starts tomorrow. (Jack started last week.) We are already very busy. Running to two football fields (most of the time not in the same town), Cub Scouts, music lessons and performances, and the other everyday things like trying to get enough groceries to feed everyone.
Maci Clare will be starting "school" on Thursday. This is a much needed break for mom. So there will be pictures to come and details of all the fun we had this summer. Just hang on! I'm coming back!

We Appreciate You, Cows!

We celebrated Cow Appreciation Day for the 2nd year in a row. We had a lot of fun and it was all free. I couldn't get any pics at Chicfila because the big cow was walking around so Maci Clare was terrified and wouldn't get out of my lap. There were a couple of families dressed up and getting free food. Lots of teenagers and college age kids. It was fun and we will do it again next year.

On a more exciting note, the Cricut is AWESOME! Here are some of my projects:
I found these cute reusable mesh bags at Dollar Tree. They come 4 to a pack and when I bought them I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them but this is it. I put names on each one and we are using them to transport clothes and towels. Then you can put the wet clothes and towel back in them to bring them home.
This is what they look like with clothes and towels in them. All ready to go. I am also going to get some of them and lablel them to use as reusable produce bags at the grocery store. I can probably think of some other uses but right now this is what I am going with.

I also did this on my bedroom wall (over the bed)I love vinyl letters and this was perfect for my bedroom. I will definitely be making some more letters and things to put on the wall.

And these are my favorite.Paper Dolls! I can see Maci Clare and I (and the boys, too! But they won't tell you that.LOL) having hours of fun with these things. I also have lots of shirt making plans for these things.

I just can't get enough. We used the Cricut this year to make our 4th of July tshirts but I will post them later. (I forgot to take pictures so i have to get them on the kids again.)

And I don't know if you remember my creature post here. But here is our latest creature.
A beautiful king snake. Of course the snake was not very happy as Jim was trying to stretch him out for us to see. And he was very strong. Everyone got to touch him and then he was released in the woods behind our house.
I will do a post soon to show you what we did 4th of July weekend. It was a really fun experience especially for the two older boys. So hopefully I can get that up in the next couple of days.

Highlights of June

We have had a fun and busy summer (by choice, of course). I thought I would share some highlights since I haven't been posting very much lately.
At the first of June, I posted about Vacation Bible School at my dad's church. It was a blast. The last night there was even a big inflatable slide and a cute program performed by all the kids who had attended all week. Here is a picture of Jack and Maci Clare (not really performing more like just standing).Jack is in the brown John Deere shirt and camo shorts and Maci Clare is in the pink hat on the front row.

We started the summer off with a back yard campout. All the kids were inside by 11:45pm claiming to have heard a bear in the woods.




We have been to several of our library programs this summer. My kids are just reading, reading, reading. We are finishing (me included) 2 or 3 books every week or so. Their teachers would be proud. We attended the Mad Science program(geared more for the bigger kids), a marionette show (awesome for all ages), and a magic show (we love Tim Sonefelt).

We have been in the pool almost everyday. I love it. Jim has now put in the fence and added the solar lighting. It has been so much fun to spend time with the kids and their friends out there. Especially when it is 100 degrees outside.

My inlaws came from Iowa and spent a weekend. It was great but I didn't take one picture. I hope my MIL decides to share some of hers with me. (Hint! Hint!)

Jim and I went to an awesome 80's concert. Can you guess who it is? 38 SpecialREO Speedwagon

and Styx!

We went with our great, awesome friends.

This is me and my friend, Melonee. We wanted Cindy in the picture too but she was too busy talking on her cell phone. You can only see half of her.

This is Cindy's husband, Doug, and Melonee's husband, Brad.

And Jim and Brad are rocking out! BTW, we traveled to this concert in a mini van. That just struck me as hilarious. You know you are getting old when you go see a concert in a minivan. It was so hot! But we had a blast!

We finally have a chicken coop, otherwise known as a chicken tractor because it is movable. The chickies are happy and now I am waiting patiently for the laying to begin. We really are enjoying our chickens. I will be buying a few more soon.

And Finally! Last but certainly not least! I got what I have wanted for the last 6 months. TADA!
The CRICUT Expressions! I am in love with this machine. I can't wait to show you some of the things I have made with this thing. This is the best money I have spent in a long time. If you are thinking about buying one, DO IT!
So there you have it! Our favorite things from June. I hope that I will find a little more time to post some of the things we are doing and some of the projects we are working on. Hope everyone had a safe and fun Independence Day.

Giveaway Winners

The winners of the All Detergent coupons are:

Ashely from Lil Blue Boo and
Carol from Frugal Finds

Congratualtions, ladies! Email me with your address and I'll get your coupons in the mail.

Back With A Giveaway

I've been pretty scarce lately trying to establish a little bit of a routine for summer and blogging is on the back burner. I say I'm going to post everyday and then it is 12am and no post. So today all the kids are sleeping. Yep, even Gabe and Zane. We've had some really late nights the last week or so. So I am back (at least today) and I have a GIVEAWAY!


The wonderful people at Mom Select sent me a 96 load All Detergent to try and guess what?
Two coupons to giveaway to you. So if you leave a comment, you have the chance to win a coupon good for free laundry detergent. This detergent is great. It smells great and I love the bottle that it is in. So leave me a comment before Sunday June 28 and you could win your own All Small and Mighty.

Big Camping Party

The kids were supposed to camp out Friday night at our neighbor's house but it rained and stormed so much that they didn't get to. So they decided to do all the camp out activities they had planned on Saturday night without the actual camping out. We had a blast.

We got there at 6 after being in our pool all afternoon and went straight in their pool. Their pool has a slide and Maci Clare loved it. She would shoot off the end like an airplane. Because she is so little she flies.

We had hot dogs and chips and cookies for supper. Very Yummy. My mom made all the chili for the hot dogs so they were great. Her chili is the best.

Right after we ate, the kids were told a story about some rare bird (not sure because I didn't really hear the whole thing) and then sent off on a nature hunt. Of course, Jack found a "kicket" (cricket) and put it in his bag. He never bored of the nature hunt. He loved it.

Then the water games began. They had several water balloon relays and other water stuff. Girls against boys, of course. Then they all ran for the pool again, while our neighbor started a fire.

We ended up sitting around the fire telling silly camp fire stories until about 10:15. It was so much fun. But my kids were exhausted. We threw them in the bed and gave them showers this morning. What an awesome way to spend the first weekend of summer. (BTW, this was Bible School Kick off for my dad's church.) So we are off to VBS every night this week.

Fishing Rodeo

Our local DNR sponsors a fishing rodeo every year. Saturday was the day. We met 2 other families and headed out about 7:45am on Saturday morning. When we arrived there was a long line to stand in but it moved really fast. The kids were so excited they didn't care.
They gave every child a brand new Zebco Rod and Reel and a reusable bag full of goodies (stringers, book covers, candy, etc.). Then we had to fill out post cards to fill out for random door prize drawings. As soon as we had our rods we headed to the tent to get bait and have the boy scouts put on the hook and sinker.
This is Jack waiting patiently for his rod to be put together. He is holding a cup of corn but you can't see it.

The big boys took off with their friends to fish. But Jack and Jim stayed right there together to see if they could catch something. And they did. Jack was so excited.

Maci Clare and my mom hung out with her friend Caleb and his mom. They didn't get much fishing done but they sure had a good time chasing each other around.

After fishing for about an hour and a half, we headed back up to have a hot dog. Everything was free. We ate hot dogs, chips and any kind of drink you wanted. Then Pet Dairy was out there giving away ice cream. I want even tell you how much ice cream we ate. Especially me and Maci Clare. We headed home about 12:30 with 4 new fishing rods, 4 goodie bags full of stuff, and full bellies from all the free food. So this was a completely free morning and we had a great time.