Working the Land

When you have 5 acres of ground to try and "work" sometimes it is a challenge. One of our neighbors said, it took them 50 years to get things how they really wanted them on their property. I don't know if we have 50 years in us to get things done!

We have been try to clear the land several times this year, but some of these tumble sticker weeds have gotten out of control. So the boys and Jeff took half a Saturday to try and tackle just a small portion of the weeds by burning them.

In our community everyone burns their weeds and fields. When we first moved here and saw a huge fire we were wondering what was going on. We soon learned that everyone is a pyromaniac when it comes to burning their fields.

So we do our own type of pyro burning on a much smaller scale, as we don't want to melt our vinyl cattle fence. No we don't have any cattle yet. Maybe in years to come. The fence came with the purchase of our property. It looks nice, but it doesn't keep much out. The deer love to come down and eat what ever we have planted.

Four People I am Thankful For

This time of year my heart and mind is very grateful for all the blessing we have in our little family. For the moment we are all healthy, Jeff has a job, we have a fun time as a family,( most of the time), we have a roof over our heads and enough food to eat. Life is pretty good.

Each member of our family is so different with their budding personalities, attitudes, talents and hobbies. Tucker is a great helper and artist. He is the first to get his chores and homework done. Tommy is always helping Jeff, especially outside, then rushes in to get his "computer time in".

When you put them all together some days it is chaos but other days when everything is running smoothly, it is pure fun.

I am especially grateful for each one and how they help me in different ways. Tanner is a great babysitter and because he is the oldest sometimes has to help out a whole lot more.

Tate is a great helper an in many ways is the link between the older and younger kids in play and work. He is a hard worker especially out in the yard.

So when I think I am going to go nuts with all that is going on in the world and life in general, I try to think of what is really important. These four little & big people help me do that on a daily bases.

Halloween

I am a little behind in posting some of our fall pictures,but wanted to share a few from Halloween.

Tanner and Tate dressed up as a Referee and Power ranger to cash in all their sugary treats. Tucker was Sponge Bob, and Tommy was Mr. Potato Head. They were already mostly asleep before I remembered to grab my camera.

Every year our local elementary school has a pumpkin walk where kids can display the pumpkins that they have decorated according to their class theme. Tucker's was about his favorite book, The Gingerbread Man. Tate's theme was All Spaced Out. At our house it is a all night activity, that is filled with trying to get all the pumpkin guts out. Then trying to make the pumpkins look good.Then clean up which makes a huge mess for Me to clean up.

Hopefully it will make some fun lasting memories for years to come.

Tate's Birthday

Tate celebrated his birthday this month!

He loves to make funny faces for the camera!

Every year we give the kids a choice to either have a friend party or have a family party where they can pick a movie and dinner to make it a family date. This year Tate choose the family date. We went to see Madagascar 2, then went to watch Tanner play in a basketball tournament. Tate, Tucker, Tommy & I escaped and went to dinner at Chuck-a-rama. It is one of Tate's favorite places to go. That way everyone can have what they like and can eat as much good food as they want. We love having Tate in our family, he is quite the comedian. He is a good helper, a great big brother & wonderful son. Happy Birthday Tate!

More Family Pictures

Family Fall Photo Shoot

We had not taken any fun family pictures for a while because we had been so busy building the house. So We thought we would take advantage of the wonderful fall weather we have been experiencing to capture some fun moments. A HUGE thanks goes out to my sister Julie, as she is a budding photographer and got some really good shots with her new professional camera. These are just a few pictures of our beautiful afternoon.
Tucker & Tommy are two peas in a pod. Many people think they are twins, but they are 23 months apart. Most times they are best friends, but we do have those times when they are not.
Boys, Boys, Boys! They are sure fun and keep me hopping!
We sure had fun frolicking in the fall leaves. It was a really neat park with great stone work & walkways. More pictures to come!

Ride'm Cowboy

Boys Will be boys at our house! It is all about being dare devils and out doing each other.
The lack of landscaping the front yard has provided them a
great hill to have some great adventures with.
The boys have sure had fun this past year, with this hill.
During the winter the hill is used for great sledding as they
pack down the snow and see who can slide the furthest.
During the warmer months the hill provides a great bike course,
where the kids can test out their skill with different ramps and jumps they have made. So far no broken bones (knock on wood). They at least help each other stay entertained!