Old Fashioned Popcorn Party

Last time I was at the grocery store I picked up some old fashion popcorn kernels instead of the microwave popcorn we usually buy. I have the popcorn popper my parents used when I was a kid and thought the kids would get a kick out of seeing how we used to make popcorn. The kids are having their friends across the street over tonight to watch Milo & Otis & wanted some popcorn. I broke out the old machine and they have had a blast. Check out the video! :)

Goodbye Sillybandz, Hello Erasers

Emma-Rae just HAD to go to Walgreens after school today, she desperately NEEDED these erasers! No more trading Sillybandz at school, tomorrow she will be trading these little erasers. I love the fortune cookie! :)

Yesterday & Today

We spent yesterday laying around...


Watching movies...

Swimming & visiting Grandma @ the hotel...





But this morning things were a little bit different...
3 inches of SNOW!!!









Last year it was a snow cat...this year it is a snow TURTLE!!!

Most Wondrous Dishwasher

This week we made lemonade out of lemons! Our washing machine croaked & that led to a new washer, dryer, & the one appliance my itsy bitsy kitchen has been missing since we moved into this house 11 years ago...a dishwasher!! Found the washer & dryer set on sale at Lowes, stacked them on one side of the kitchen, met a plumber at Lowes that ran the water to the other side of the kitchen. Put the dishwasher where the washing machine used to be & then my husband whipped up a new stainless counter for us, love it!





Framed the Oregon Coast postcards I picked up at the Oregon Coast Aquarium this summer, love them!

Funny Day

I'm going through all of my pics from 2010, working on my new calendar...when I came across this jewel of a clip that I don't think I've shared with anyone. John-Robert, this Summer, said he was going swimming in the Pacific & it was COLD! Guess he's trying to take after his crazy Dad that jumped in Crater Lake a few years ago!

Summer Fun

Experimenting with this movie maker, lots of photos of the kids having fun this summer.

Happy Belated Halloween

Happy Belated Halloween! I forgot to put a pic up of my little pirate & ninja, they got LOTS of candy & we had a blast!

Pumpkin Party

Last night we had our annual Pumpkin Party! Perfect weather, friends, & great food (think potato soup & David's special apple cider).

Roasting some hot dogs by the fire & listening to The Nightmare Before Christmas...it's tradition!


Crazy boys!
The Dads are the official "de-gunkers!"


Esha & Jordan's pumpkin


Nice picture...
Scary picture...
Dark picture...the 3 picture thing is all part of the annual tradition :)

He's Our Goalie

Yesterday was John-Robert's last soccer game of the season. John-Robert says in his little matter of fact way that he was born to play goalie, looks like that may be the case. :)

Fall Fun

In between school & work we've been having some fun!

Aunt Steph with the kids about to go on the scary night ride! They all took the 4wheelers to this old haunted house by the cemetery & some of the Dads were waiting for them there to scare them!

John grinding some of the nails down on the fence panel we repeaired. The kids thought that was awesome!
Emma-Rae's foot down in the hole...we had to dig this huge piece of concrete out of the hole to put the new fence panel up, what a pain.
Brats @ the Zoo having fun!
Cutest prairie dog ever!
Oops! Except for these too...they are the cutest prairie dogs ever!
An egg picture...if you know the Mempis Zoo you'll understand the relevance.
Won't be too long & all 4 of them won't fit on this cow anymore!

What We've Been Up To...

We've been busy...here's what we've been up to! :)

We went to Members Night at the Zoo...awesome time! We met the Thorne family & Dr. Godfrey's family for a picnic before enjoying the zoo. We spent some time watching the sea lion show (as usual), letting the kids play in the geyser at Teton Trek, & watching the kids swim in the Nile as they danced to music from Grease. Fun & FREE! :)


Can't wait until these hippos get to move into their new home!


This dude wouldn't let me into my car to pick the kids up from school...he's a repeat offender!
This is Alice & Bella. Alice is the tabby...she's lived with us the past two months but went to a new home on Thursday. Alice went to live with Mr. Jason & his family on 16 acres in Mississippi, she's going to be a top notch barn cat! Alice just couldn't seem to get the hang of using the litter box consistently, I'm glad to say that she has left me her LAST poopy present!
We had a little bit of other animal drama...Gigi woke up limping one morning. An anti-inflammatory & a brief call to Dr. Godfrey fixed this girl right up...notice the Get Well Soon sign Emma-Rae made for our poor pup!
Emma-Rae and I made homemade...I'm talking from SCRATCH cake donuts. Too bad John's not a big fan of cake donuts. The kids loved them but they were an awful lot of work compared to running down to Howard's Donuts. We probably WON'T be doing this again.
This is the super fancy, super heavy, donut cutter that I asked John to make for me, John asked Mr. Brian to make it...it turned out really nice!
We're in non-stop soccer & volleyball mode...have been since August. John-Robert has found his calling as the team goalie, as he said after the game last week "I was born to be a goalie." Gotta love it!

Sports mean always carting around extra kiddos...gotta help each other out & get our kids to the game! That's Emma-Rae's team mate squished in the middle here, we love to have her! :)
Not many volleyball pics because they just don't come out too well in the gym...bad lighting, insufficient flash, beats me!
That's the jist of what we've been up to around here...I'm in school, kids are in school, John's working. Dad's still in the hospital, recovering well at this point from his amputation. Mom was in town last week & made it to one of John-Robert's games & one of Emma-Rae's. We definitely enjoyed having lunch with her both days! We're planning on decorating the house for Halloween today & tomorrow, the weather is gorgeous! Maybe I'll get another post up tomorrow evening.