By the light of her Christmas Tree

Grandma Shupe gave the kids a Christmas tree for each of their bedrooms. Loreli has a stack of books ready and waiting for her to read...by the light of her Christmas tree. She isn't related to me at all :-)

A Big Blizzard Welcome to Jill!

My sister Jill has been here for a little over one week and this is her welcome party! A nice big snow storm in the form of a 24 hour blizzard. This picture was taken at hour 2. It's hard to tell in the picture, but about 4 inches have already fallen. The storm was/is predicted to be a doozy, enough that they have actually closed some businesses and cancelled classes at the local universities for today and tomorrow. Portions of the freeway have also been shut down. That is a big deal in a state where everyone is used to and expects snow! Should be fun. The kids can hardly contain themselves. If I let them they would be building snowmen and sledding down the little hill in the backyard right now! Jill and I are a little less enthused :-)

If only...

If only all my kids could love homework like Loreli and her cousin Isaac. They had a play day and asked if they could do their homework while they watched cartoons. Why couldn't that attitude be contagious? That is one "disease" I wouldn't mind spreading around :-)

Happy 42nd Birthday Scott! We love you!!!

A Happy Sad Day

Our beloved next door neighbor, Suzy, passed away yesterday. She was 93 and lived a great life! She was one of the greatest ladies we have ever been privilaged to know. Loreli will especially miss her! She always ran next door to give Suzy her daily hugs. Even though we will miss her, we know that she is in a better place. She is with her husband and daughter who went before her. She told us every day how her husband loved to "give her hell" (her words, not mine) and that she couldn't wait to get to heaven and give it back to him. I am certain that the family reunion was a great one! We will miss her and I am so glad that we got to be part of her life for almost 12 years!

Preschool Halloween Parade

Carebears and dragons and faries, oh my!!!

Spidermans and Captain Jacks and other things that fly.

Witches and werewolves are coming to get you.

All they want is your treat

so you better come through

with the best candy you can

or else they'll eat you!

What a cute little Strawberry Shortcake!!!

It's the one's that smile that you should be afraid of :-)

Beautiful October Fall Day!!!

Just some scenery pictures. It was such a beautiful day!!!

There are pictures of our family toward the bottom :-)

Tribute to a great kid!

Carter often gets overlooked because he doesn't create to drama that the other two create sometimes. I just wanted to put it in writing how much we love and appreciate Carter and all that he contributes to our family. We had parent teacher conferences today and Carter's teacher had nothing but good to say! He got straight "A's". We are so proud of him!
This picture came from his Grandpa Shupe when they went fishing a few weeks ago. Carter caught this fish for his principal. She had mentioned that she loved to eat trout and so that was his mission on their fishing trip. When Carter presented her with the fish, she said that she was having a family party and that his fish would be the reason for their celebration. What a neat lady she is! That totally made Carter's day!

All Due to the Generosity of Friends

We are so blessed!!! I got a phone call from a friend this morning and they wanted to give us a bed for Loreli! I can't believe it! We have been wanting to get her a bed frame for a while and haven't been able to yet. Now we got one for free. Thank you for answered prayers! And, thanks for a happy little girl!

What a poser!

Loreli just got this beautiful new poncho from my mom! Isn't it amazing! Good job mamacita! Loreli loves it!

Check it out!!!

After our house was robbed and I lost most of my photos, I decided that online is the way to go. I had a whole bunch of pictures of the things that I have made over the years, just to keep my ideas, and of course they now belong to whoever stole my computer. So check out my new craft blog. I thought it would be a fun way for me to keep my ideas flowing. Feel free to suggest patterns or new project for me :-) I'm always on the lookout for new ideas!


http://saraslatestcreation.blogspot.com

The Pumpkin Patch

The Farmer wife starts out by telling the kids about the scarecrow's job in the field. Then the scarecrow says "hello" and a few kids decide this might not be cool after all. One little boy actually said "I think I am done. I don't want to come anymore."

Once we explained that it was a nice grandpa with a pumpkin on his head the kids seemed to be okay with it. He let them try it on too if they wanted. Loreli was one of the only ones brave enough. What she won't do for a candid shot :-) Isn't their preschool class adorable! It was so fun to go and take photos!

Class of 2011

A Great Read for Halloween!!!

A must read with your kids!!! Take some time to laugh out loud with them and be mildly grossed out :-)

Is there anything better than a good, rolling on the ground giggle? I think not :-) Have a giggle of a day!

Are You Ready for Some FOOTBALL!!!

Flag Football that is :-)
James started playing this year. I have to say, it is way more fun to watch than baseball...sorry all you fans out there. Actually MLB isn't bad, but James and Carters games were painful to endure, even though I know the kids are just learning.

James has a great coach. He encourages the kids to do their best and played them in all different positions to find their strength. James is great at running and snatching the other teams' flags!

This picture of James makes him look so old! He has grown up no matter how much I tried to slow down the process. He is so rebelious :-) We love him anyways!!!

GO JAMES GO!!!

School Daze!

Finally, some back to school pictures :-) Loreli is in Preschool this year, getting ready for Kindergarten next year, and loving every minute of it! Who wouldn't love being the center of the world for 2 hours 3 days a week. At least that's how she looks at it.
Carter is the big man on campus. 1st grade won't best him. He is already a top reader in his class.

James...well he's still James. 5th grade, 2 strict teachers, and a kid with mischief on his mind. We will see how his story plays out this year :-)

My Walk by the River Today Was Awesome!

Isn't my walking companion scary and ferocious? He certainly barked threateningly at some of the rather interesting folks I walked past today. I was so very grateful! It is amazing that a grown man can be scared of an ankle biter like Remi! It sure gave me a good laugh though!

Conversation concerning spiders

James and Carter swear that they keep finding spiders in their room. Really I think its a tactic to avoid going to bed. Tonight the conversation went like this:

James: Mom, there is a huge spider under my bed.
Mom: James for the 100th time, go to bed and say your prayers.
Loreli yells down the stairs: TALK TO JESUS!

Man I love my kids. I hate it when I'm mad and they make me laugh when I don't want to :-)

Carter's Castaway Buddy

Although Carter has never seen the movie "Castaway", I couldn't help but laugh when he made his soccer ball into his pirate buddy. He is the middle child and sometimes gets left out. He is the best at entertaining himself. We sure love him!

Finally...a moment to reflect.

It has been a crazy couple of months. Not really very fun either. My brother gave us a good scare when he tried to leap off a cliff and win a fight with a boulder. I flew out the day after the accident and got 2 weeks of "bonding time" as Mitch put it. It really was great to be with my family, all of us together after 5 years. I only wish it had been under different circumstances. He is doing well thankfully! It really is a miracle!
While I was out of town, our house was burglarized. Not really what we needed at that moment in time. Thankfully no one was home. I am so grateful that it was only "stuff"!!! I could care less about the stuff, I am really glad to get things back in order however!

This past week, because our lives were getting boring, Scott's body decided it was the perfect time to have a kidney stone. Ya, like we needed that too. He has had one unsuccessful surgery and will go in for another procedure tomorrow. I really hope and pray that it works. I hate to see a grown man cry! Especially one as tough as Scott!

All things considered, I do want to mention how grateful I am for friends and family. We have been well taken care of through all of our trials these past weeks! I can't be thankful enough! Life has given me a lot of lessons in perspective lately. I only hope that I can continue to remember what is really important in life!

Loreli's First Preschool Graduation

Happy Mother's Day to All of US!!!

Is it Spring or what?

This is the only proof I have that it is Spring!!! Today's high was 45 degrees and that was this morning. It is now snowing. That is so WRONG!!!

At least I have this proof that winter can't last forever. We are going to have so many apples this year! It's awesome!

Food Co-op! Oh Yeah!!!

Do you have a Food Co-Op near you? If you don't know, it is well worth researching out!
Look at all this food I got for $15!!! Isn't it amazing!!!

Basket contains:
1 bunch of swiss chard
1 bunch of spinach
1 bunch of celery
1 bunch of romaine lettuce
1 bag of apples
1 lb bag of baby carrotts
6 oz of blackberries
7 large tomatoes
5 oranges
1 pineapple
2 bunches of bananas
25 large red potatoes
$15 WOW!!!

Carter is 7!!!

Carter wanted to have Pizza for his birthday dinner at the "Pizzarira". They were awesome and let us bring Carter's cake and we sang to him in the restaurant.

I am not sure where Carter got his love of notebooks from (might be hereditary) but he has one hidden in every nook and cranny of the house. I got him this so that he would have a "cool" one to record his stories in.

His cousin Josh watches on as Carter opens present after present, Bakugan after Bakugan. He was so spoiled! He had so much fun!
Happy Happy Birthday Carter!!! We love you!

James' Baseball :-)

If you put your cursor on the picture there are captions. If you double click on the slide show you can watch it in a separate box. It might be easier to see. Have fun and enjoy James the superstar :-)