WhAt CaN yA sAy!!!

This will be short and to the point. The amazing topic of body hair was brought up again on Saturday morning. But this time Kale decided to share this information with his entire family. We were all up early on Saturday getting ready for the day of dirt biking.....Delaney and Taylor were eating breakfast with Kale and right in the middle of a nice peaceful breakfast he blurts out "I have underarm hair now"........."do you want to see?" The first thing Troy did was chuckle to himself, my first thought was.....that is very interesting but do you really think your teenage sisters want to hear that.....especially while they are trying to eat?!! I do not think they were really impressed by the fact that he now has underarm hair.....I am only judging that by the looks on their faces!!! So for the rest of the day that was a hot topic.....because he now thinks that having underarm hair makes him a man. I don't think that is true.....but maybe as a woman I see things in a little different light??? So I just hope that nose hair and underarm hair is all we have to find out about or SEE!!!! So I am going to say to my friend Angelia from Texas who has 3 young boys.......here's to ya girlfriend......GOOD LUCK!!!!! I am sure you have lots of body hair stories coming your way!!!!

HaNgiN' oUt WiTh ThE FaMiLy...

On Saturday we had a family "hang out" day with Troy's two brothers and their families. I am not going to start out by trying to explain the family tree so for now we are staying simple....Troy says it is more like a family bush rather than a tree!!!! So for this time it is pretty simple.....2 brothers and families!!! We went down to Amanda's (sister-in-law) grandfather's farm and rode 4 wheelers and dirt bikes and sat around under the shade tree and really had an AWESOME day!!!! This is the break down of the family who went.....Troy(the oldest) and all of us, Jay(middle child), Trae, and 2 boys....Jacoby and Dylan, and Brad(youngest child), Amanda, and two kiddos....Jayden and Kenton...oh and Amanda's 2 nephews...Bradley and Bryce. So there were 15 of us WOW!!! It was just a great day of hangin' out and all of the kids and adults too had alot of fun riding all over on many acres of land. So today I will just have more of a photo blog rather than me rambling on and on.
Troy, Trae, and Jay getting ready to go...loading 4 wheelers and dirt bikes into the trailer.
Dylan and Taylor hanging out before we left. Taylor is definitely stylin' in her new sunglasses....I think we wore ones that looked like that in the 80's?!?!?!?!
Dylan riding his little dirt bike.....he looked so cute in all of his "stuff" riding that thing!!!!!!
Taylor, Delaney, And Jayden taking off on the 4 wheeler.....and Taylor is still looking as cool as ever in her shades!!!!!!
Kale is riding the dirt bike that Jay and Trae had.....this is like the one he is saving his money to buy...so that worked out perfect.....it was kind of a "test drive" for him!!!! And he did really good!!!!
Kenton made one ride with his mom and fell asleep less than half way into the ride so this is where he spent most of his afternoon....on a blanket in the shade.....doesn't sound so bad to me!!!!
This is where city meets country.......Jacoby has to take a little time out from riding to do a little texting.....this cracked me up!!!!
Brad taking a spin on the little dirt bike.....doesn't look to comfy?!?!!?
Taylor also thought she needed to test drive the little dirt bike....she doesn't look so bad...kinda' cute!!!!
Trae and Brad getting ready for take off!!!
Amanda thought it had been awhile since she had rode a dirt bike so Jay was giving her a little advice....not sure if it was helpful or not but none the less it was given!!!!!
I know they both are very cute.....BUT I just can not help but think that they may be up to something????? Or maybe just a little girl talk who's to say?!?!?!?!
And we had to have a group shot at the end of the day......not my photo so it is a ways away...but there we all are. Everybody had fun and I think we all slept very, very good last nite!!!

dEmStEr

Ok...just a quick update on DEMSTER. I was way off on his weight I said 10 or 12 pounds.....more like 19 pounds!!!! That is at 11 weeks old I think he is going to be a big boy!!! And we have had several people ask about the name....Troy is a HUGE Chicago Cubs fan so I suggested Wrigley(the name of the field the Cubs play on) for a name but there are some people here in town that have a dog with that name so that was out..... so he suggested Demster....after a pitcher for the Cubs....Ryan Demster. So there you have it. Him and Bentley are getting along alot better....I think he has figured out she is his sister .....not his girlfriend......FINALLY!!!!! He is just the funniest thing ever.....he has absolutely no sense of urgency!!!!!! It is amazing!!!

I'vE gOt ThE MuSiC iN mE...oR nOt????

Ok...in our school district we start "band" in the 5th grade. So last year Kale was in 5th grade and did not want anything to do with band.....we were ok with that because we had been through many instruments with the girls and after 8th grade they were no longer interested. So now today out of the blue.....he brings home this giant instrument.....the Baritone????? Him and the instrument had to get a ride home because it was to heavy for him to carry.....clue one: if your instrument is to heavy.....don't play it!!!!! Now he is the only kid in the band that will be playing this instrument mind you.....this is the kid who HATES to go to the Christmas concert because he does not like getting up in front of people to sing....and who also did not go to his vacation bible school program because he did not want to sing in front of everybody!!!!!(just this summer!!!) But yet he is going to play this giant instrument that may draw some attention to him?!?!?!?!?! So we had family instrument nite tonite!!!!! The girls brought out the instruments out of the closets to see if he liked any of them. Kale playing instrument #1.....the Baritone. Ummmm not sure what to say...he may need to practice and it is really heavy!!!!!

Kale playing instrument #2.....Alto sax. Not bad...kind of squeaky from time to time!!!!

Kale playing instrument #3....drums.....I like the drums not sure if he has the drummer wrists but that is my choice!!!!

Taylor is giving Kale some drum lessons while Delaney takes it all in and ready to play along on the sax as soon as they are ready!!!!!

Taylor and Kale playing a little tune....or maybe that should be a little.....out of tune?????? But very entertaining none the less!!!!!

When Delaney took her turn trying the Baritone....I think maybe Taylor is trying to tell her something......not sure but I think that is what that look is saying!!!!! So after the "music nite" I think we are still back at the very beginning......why does he really want to do band if he does not like to get up in front of a crowd??????? Did anybody count how many times I used the word....instrument?????hahahaha!!!!

oUr NeW ArRiVaL

As some of you may know we have been on the hunt for a new baby bulldog for quite some time at our house.....web site after web site, email after email, and phone call after phone call, we finally found the perfect little boy in Worthington, Minnesota. So on Saturday morning we got up and waited for the phone call from Stacey and Michelle (the couple who raised bullies).....finally around 9a.m. we get the call letting us know that they will be there so that we can come to look, so by 9:30a.m. we are on our way. So what I think is going to be a 3 1/2 hour trip turns out to be a 4 1/2 hour trip and a half an hour stop to look at puppies is more like an hour and a half stop to look at puppies. So when we get there Michelle is not there and her husband Stacey is and they have 2 male puppies and I had one picked out and Troy liked the other(on the Internet) so he gets them out and the one I liked was a wild man and was VERY naughty so we decided to take the calm one and be on our way. Since we had been in the car all day we were just ready to get home to a 1st birthday party......so away we go with this cute little boy. We finally get home after a very long day of 11 hours in the car and are only 3 hours late for the birthday party......so so sorry Rachel Ripperger!!!!!! But she looked so cute in the pictures I looked at...she is such a sweet heart.....I will have to post a few pics of her when I can!!! So after all that I know you want to see what this cute little guy looks like but it looks like you are going to have to wait until the National Enquirer publishes the pictures......long photo shoot and huge check!!!! No just kidding if you haven't figured that out already!!!! So here he is........DEMSTER I know this pictures makes him look huge.....he is not tiny but he is not as big as he looks....maybe 10 or 11 pounds and he is 10 1/2 weeks old.
Here is Demster and his loving sister Bentley.....this is about the only way she likes to be close to him....if he is sleeping and her too I guess!!!!! So far she is tolerating him and that is about it. She is very spoiled so she does not like to share with him so she will run in front of him to cut him off if she thinks he is going to try to get some love!!!!! But she may not like him so much because this morning he thought she was his GIRLFRIEND not his SISTER......if ya know what I mean!!!!! So that may tend to be a little annoying!!!!!!

aRtWoRk...

Our last time at the fair we took the kids with us and we had these drawings done.....I think they are called charactures...not sure of the spelling. But don't you just love it!!!! The artists took a look at them and in 5 minutes this is what they come up with .....they just used a magic marker..... that is just amazing to me......I can draw stick people and I probably better use a pencil just in case I need to erase!!!!

Kale, Delaney, and Taylor. We had them done in 2002 also...... it is funny to look at how much they have changed. I will have to get them out and post those....you will get a kick out of them.

Here they are showing off their "artwork". This really shows how much they really look like the drawings. They liked having it done but they felt "weird" having people watching them and then laughing!!!!

FiRsT dAy oF sChOoL....2008-2009

Taylor(Junior), Kale(6th), Delaney(Freshman)

Here they are for those of you who do not know our children!!! Back to school they go!!! Everybody was excited this morning.....we will see how excited they are by next week!!!haha!!! Only a few glitches.....Taylor had to change a class and I think that may have been it!!! No homework today for anybody so that is a good thing....everyone is still getting straight A's so far!!!! Troy's new job went AWESOME today.......not one single phone call today saying you did not put my child on the bus route......so he is thinking that was a good thing!!!! He is the new transportation director at our school(Melcher-Dallas).....so all of the fretting over who was driving where and the long hours getting ready for today looks like they paid off!!!!! GREAT JOB TROY!!!!

bAcK 2 sChOoL!!!!!

Wednesday is the day all parents look forward to....back to school!!!! We have the shopping done and the perfect outfit picked out for the first day......and back to bed early!!! Now I can have my routine back and a little time alone before I go to bed.....I LOVE IT!!!! Taylor will be a junior, Delaney will be a freshman, and Kale will be in 6th grade.......WOW!!!!! Troy and I talked about this the other nite......2 years and Taylor will be off to start a life of her own then a couple more years Laney will be off to do the same and before you know it Kale will be moving on too(he says he is always going to live with us.....HA!) The one thing we always say we look so forward too is when the kids are gone and we can do whatever we want......well I am not sure if that sounds so good the more reality sets in!!!! But I guess it is bound to happen so we may as well enjoy them now. I remember my Grandmother always talking about how fast time goes and I always thought she was just a crazy old lady and everything took forever......wow.....I am now that crazy old lady, because it was not that long ago we were driving them to school on the first day.....now they drive themselves!!! I just do not know were time went???? It just makes me crazy....worrying about if we are getting them ready to go out into the world and survive....do they know how to cook, do laundry, stay organized, and not be naive about things and able to make good choices......wow is all I can say.....I just want them to be good people!!!! Troy tells me I worry about things that are out of my control..... but as a mom that is just what we do!!!! Ok I will now get off my soap box and just try to enjoy life!!!!!

NoSe HaiR......

Well I have to talk about our son Kale tonite........I am not sure where to start. You can not help but love the child but there are days when you just want squeeze him into a million pieces!!!
Fun-loving and full of a million questions....he is 11 and soon to be 12....so as a boy he is at that point in his life when he is not a little kid but is not old enough to hang out with the teenagers but I think he is at the age when his body is starting to change......today I was taking him to a friends house for a birthday party....I was driving and he was in the passengers seat....so he put down the sun visor and opened the mirror and was really taking a close look at his face...after a bit he looks at me and says......for being only 11 I sure do have alot of hair in my nose!!!!!!!! Now as a mother I am not sure what to say at this point......so I reply with.....everybody has hair in their nose.....and his answer was no mom I really have ALOT of hair....more than most people!!!!!!
So once again I am looking for some parenting advice.......where is this going????? What is it that he is wanting me to say??? Troy just laughs at me!!!! I am guessing that alot of hair is a good thing......I know him and a friend were so excited when Alex had 4 armpit hairs!!!!! Very interesting to me and I wonder who counted those 4 hairs???? Life with boys.....never boring I guess!!!!

And one last quick note.....we just got done watching Michael Phelps from the USA win his 8th GOLD MEDAL in the Olympics....WOW is that AWESOME or what!!!! I love watching his mother while he is swimming....they have an amazing story!!! Oh and you can buy a copy of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics for $29.99 on nbcolympics.com I think that is the right place!!!! Good nite to you all!!!!

YiKeS!!!!!

Yikes!!!!!! When I started my blog...the goal I set for myself was to post a blog everynite....big or small.....but I have missed 2 days so I have set out once again to get on here every nite!!! I do not want to bore you but this is my way of trying to keep all of you on the same page...we all have busy lives and there are times we don't get home from the kids' activities in time to call everybody.....so this is my answer...this is my gift to all of you.....so I will do my best to keep you all updated and include pictures from time to time!!!!

Tonite we(Troy,Delaney, and I) went out to eat with my mother-in-law and father-in-law to Williamson Tap....home of the papa burger!!! The papa burger is a hamburger or cheese burger the size of a dinner plate.....and people do eat the entire thing from time to time!!!! Kale(age 11) ate one the last time we there!!! WOW!! It is not world famous but a good place to eat....if you don't mind a very small place and by no means is it fancy....you can play your favorite music on the juke box, play a game of pool, and buy just about anything you may need at home.....combs, dish soap, and I think you get the idea......and it is inexpensive!!!! You have to be ok with that!!! Troy ALWAYS gets chicken livers......I do not know what they taste like nor do I want to know....it must be an acquired taste....and it must run in the family because guess what....his mother ordered them too......and they LOVED them!!!! I usually do not live on the edge when it comes to my food....I find something I like and that is usually what I order every time I go out to eat.......Laney and I eat alot alike......never living on the edge!!!! But the best thing of all was that Iowa went to a no smoking law......so we could eat without having that smell in the air and on our clothes when we left!!!

Taylor and Kale were off being social butterflies tonite so missed out on the Williamson experience!!!!

Oh.....I just about forgot to tell you....last nite we were at the fair.....yes AGAIN!!!! We went to a concert.....the group HAIRBALL was playing on the A.E. free stage.....Hairball is a group that plays all 80's songs and dress the parts of many of the lead singers......it was very interesting we did not stay for the entire thing the kids were kind of looking at us like we were some of the strangest people they had ever laid eyes on......so we all moved on!!! But next year if any of you 80's people are up for it I think we are going to try it again.....with out children!!!! So put it down in your day planner for next year in August......HAIRBALL LIVE!!!!!! You may be able to google them i am not sure.....haven't tried yet.

BeNtLeY's nEw ToY......

On Monday when we went school shopping we could not leave the precious little Bentley bulldog out.....so we found her a toy. I need to tell you that every toy that she gets she destroys it. We usually get those big cotton ropes with the big knot in it and at most it might last a week....I always see on the tag that there is a guarantee....it's a dog toy for goodness sakes why would I need that I have always thought....guess what I should have taken them up on it!!!! So anyway we find this toy with nylon ropes on it......aaahhhh hhaaaa!!!! I say to myself she will never destroy this one so we buy it. We take it home to Bentley and she immediately takes it and just LOVES it....I laugh to my self thinking we have found the perfect toy.....but I do know that she only sees it as a challenge!!! As I get busy around the house about a half an hour later I check on her and her new toy and much to my surprise........this is what I see!!!!!
She has out-smarted me AGAIN!!!!! In less than 30 minutes she has DESTROYED yet another toy!!!! And then she looks at us like she has no idea why we are looking at her!!! So now my quest is.....once again to find a toy that she can not destroy!!! So if any of you have any suggestions please, please, please let me know.......I will gladly take any help I can get!!!!

We'Re BaCk......

We finally made it back to Melcher last nite.....well this morning around 1:30 A.M. the girls' plane was running an hour late.....most of the time...not a problem but when it puts you in at 9:30 P.M and you have to eat dinner and drive for about three hours.....it does kind of feel like an issue to me anyway!!!! Troy went to work this morning and I took the day off!!! So the kids and I went to Des Moines to do a little school shopping.....6 hours later we decided maybe we were ready to go home......needless to say Kale was ready to go home about half an hour into it.....he got a new PS2 game so that was my weapon.....you know "if you aren't going to act like you know how to I will take the game back to Target"......works every time!!! So i think everyone is ready to start school on August 20th.....wow summer is over!!! I love to take the first day of school picture and compare from year to year....you don't think they change that much but when you drag the pictures out WOW what a difference one year can make. The girls said the were so happy to be home....they said one thing they missed was their beds.....made us feel good....there is no place like home!!!!!! We don't always appreciate what we have, but when you have to go without for awhile we realize maybe things aren't so bad!!!!

K.c. HeRe wE cOmE!!!

just a quick post before we get ready to leave to go to Kansas City to pick the girls up from the airport. i think as parents we all wish we could have a vacation from being a parent.....well we get one every summer and i am hear to say that it is not at all what you would think it should be!
Troy and i act as if we do not have a clue what we are suppose to do while they are gone...no place to be, no place to go, and nobody to tell us what to do!!!ha so i am looking very forward to 8:25p.m. tonite......they will be home and things will be normal again.....busy, busy, busy.....just the way we like it!!! so when you have those days when you want to trade your kids in for the easy life......just think it could be alot worse....no noise, no laughing, no doors slamming, no arguing....so trust me all of that is not so bad after all!!!! so hug your kids tonite!!!! it won't be long and they will be all grown up and on their own!!!

StAtE fAiR...RoUnD TwO

ok i hope this will not be a bore to you....but yes off to the state fair we went again this morning!! kale was with a friend so it was just troy and i.....ahhhh a day together!!! what a nice picture that is. anyway we get there around 11ish...an area man was shearing sheep....yes that is what i said...shearing sheep......we are showing our age rather quickly......and very romantic.....just the two of us at a sheep shearing contest along with hundreds of other people.....10 or more years ago i do not think that troy or myself would have EVER gone to the fair to watch such a thing. but i do have to say it was very interesting....it is quite an art and they do it with such ease and quickness....and for the most part that is why they do it.....it is a contest to see who can shear 4 sheep the quickest. after that down to the food stands for good old fried cheese....again!!! and a tall cup of $6.00 lemonade......quite a deal for sugar, water, and a piece of lemon....but u gotta love it.....I know now after visiting the fair that i work WAY to hard for my money!!!!

This is the pile of wool from one sheep.......it is for the most part all one piece. It is just an awesome thing to watch.....even though it sounds very boring and quite a bit weird.....it was fun.
These are the shoes that most of the guys who shear wear....they are kind of funky looking but i was told that they bunch up on the top of the foot and that is padding....i guess so that the sheep hooves don't hurt the top of the foot and they also help give them extra traction so they don't slip and fall.....they are not anything that i expect to see on the runway anytime soon but they are useful...we all can use a useful pair of shoes!!!!!

Olympics 2008

i hope that all of you had the chance to watch the opening ceremonies tonite for the 2008 Olympics being held in Beijing!!!! They were absolutely amazing.....there is no way that i could put into words what i saw on t.v. Everything about it was out of this world....so if you did not get to see them i hope you get to see hi-lites on t.v. because this will be hard to beat!!!!!

Troy and i ate dinner at Shane and Jenny's and watched the Olympics with them.......and Rachel....i also can not say enough about her........what an adorable little girl and a super sweet personality, she was awesome......very entertaining!!!!! She is a cutey guys!!!!! Oh and the home made ice cream was to die for!!!!!! LOVED it!!!!!

U gOtTa LoVe iT!!!!!!

Went to the famous iowa state fair.......u gotta love it!!!!!! Fried cheese curds is why i go!!! And the refreshing smell of animal poo......need i say more!! And we always have to make a stop to see the biggest boar.....he weighed 1,259 pounds if I recall correctly......now that's a whole lotta pork chop!!!! And the big bull...i do not remember how much he weighed but needless to say he was VERY large. I love going and the weather was AWESOME!!! I love to watch the people walk around carrying the huge turkey drumsticks......it makes me think of cavemen walking around....it really is quite a sight.

And we got our e-mail from the bulldog lady......we are approved to purchase one of her cute little bullies.....go take a look....www.bulliepupsrus.com i can't help but love their cute little wrinkles!!!!! But I just get a little nervous when I can not touch something with my own hands!!!! Well I better go for tonite.

CC ExCiTeMeNt!!!!!!

Here I am again!! We got the letter we have been waiting for in the mail today!!! Our school Melcher-Dallas does not have a cross country team........ so last year Taylor got to go run for Knoxville schools and we new at the time it was going to be based on enrollment numbers....so when the numbers came out this year they were 1 student over which moved them up to a bigger class and they(Knoxville) did not want that. So our letter today was from Pleasantville schools letting us know that they would love to have Taylor and Delaney both run for them this year!!!! We are so excited because Taylor LOVED cross country last year and it really helped her..... I think grow as a person!!!! So we are really looking forward to both of them getting to run together this year!!! I don't think they realize what an awesome experience they are going to have for the next 2 years getting to do all of their activities together!!!! A bond that alot of siblings do not get to experience!!!! So i am very excited for them!!!!(if you can't tell)

Good afternoon to you all!! i am a first timer at "blogging" so please be very patient with me!!!
It is Wednesday August 6, 2008. today is a quiet day at my house the girls are STILL gone,Troy is at work, and i took the day off to spend with Kale and wouldn't you know it.......way to busy for me....off to a friends house. so here i am trying to entertain my self. i am ok with it but do not feel that i am getting much done around the house. so i am thinking maybe i need to cut this first blog a bit short so i can get something done off of my "2-dolist"!!!!!!