T-Ball

So excited to start Tball

walking the bases.

C helping out K with his first practice.

C and D both started T-Ball last night.  They were so excited!  This is C's second year but K's very first!  It was a simple practice, but they got a lot accomplished.  I love watching them out there!  J was bumped up to a pitch league.  I forgot my camera that night, so I will try to get some up here with his next practice.

Roxie

Her new favorite toy, a goose.

I have thought about this, and I know some people may think it is funny for me to do a post about our dog.  However, she is part of our family. 

Both Dad and I were raised around animals.  I remember constantly having some sort of animal around or in our house.  I love animals, but always hated the duties that went with.  A typical kid right?!

When Dad and I were first married we bought 2 Shi Tzu puppies.  Our first mistake was buying two.  A very short time later we found out we were pregnant.  So now on top of having two new puppies, we had a new baby!  A crazy house!  We loved Cody and Stitch, and still love them in our hearts.  When we moved to our current home, circumstances arose, and we unfortunately had to part ways with our dogs.  This was an incredibly hard decision.  We still had Dads work dog, but he was an outside dog.  He was also raised in our family and J has been with him since birth.  A couple years ago we had to make the decision to put him down.  This was one of the hardest decisions we had to make, but he was suffering.  After that we had decided, No More.  We can't go through this again.

J turned 8 this year and he had been pushing us for a dog.  We held strong to our opinion, No More Pets!  After almost 6 months of asking, Dad and I finally decided we would go through with it.  For the kids.

We adopted Roxie from a wonderful loving family, when she was 11 weeks old.  I can't imagine our life without her!  She is a handful, just like having another baby.  We have to go through crying at night, potty breaks constantly......but she is and always will be part of our family.

The one thing I wish for her is that she grows a hatred for water!  Not drinking it, she LOVES TO PLAY IN IT!  This morning it was pouring outside and she decided, at 4am, that was the perfect time to run around and get Mama soaked!!

She is so fun and incredibly entertaining!  We love you Roxie!

Daddys birthday, the rest of the night

J grilling steaks for Dad!

C and K being silly!

After preparing all day for Dads birthday, which I posted about here, we went outside to play.  Dad even taught J how to grill!  I kind of teared up at the sight of my little man doing such big guy things!  The kids have had these John Deere tractors for over 4 years(and they are still going because of my very mechanical husband) and they ride them almost daily.  Even through the winter!  I kind of wish we would have put odometers on them when we first bought them.  I would love to know how many miles the kids have put on them. 

We spent a lot of the evening outside and then went upstairs to eat supper and watch one of Dads shows.  Dad loved his present(the basket from the earlier post), the kids just couldn't wait to give it to him.  We decorated the inside of the house and hung balloons from the door, unfortunately those are floating somewhere!  They blew off of the door!

Roxie is getting so big!  8 months old already!

C, my little model.

Isn't his face hilarious!!

Dad bought me this as a Mothers Day present. 
The kids love to make s'mores in this!

J and Roxie

J

D

I love my husband!

Steak, asapragus, biscut and peaches! Yummy!

Mama and D

C

Roxie chasing after D.

Memorial Day, What does it mean to me

Memorial Day...It means so many different things to me.  I have been raised in a very military proud family.  Memorial Day is a time for remembering.  Remember those who have fought for our freedom, and lost their lives.  Thank those who have fought for our freedom so we can live the way we do today.
My dad and mom, my father-in-law, multiple uncles, both of my brothers, a sister-in-law.  I have traced both mine and Dads ancestry back.  We both have had relatives that have fought in every war since the Revolutionary.  For this I am EXTREMELY proud!  I had a relative die on the beaches of Normandy on that horrific day.  I have had a dear "Grandpa" and my biological maternal grandfather who were both take Prisoners of war during the Korean War.  To them I am thankful.  I currently have friends who are still overseas frighting...thank you.
And to the handsome young man above, SPC Jakob Roelli, Jake.  It has only been 8 months since we heard the news.  I had never personally known anyone that had been Killed in action.  Even the relatives, I wasn't born yet.  Jake was a dear friend.  One whom I had seen grow up and one who was a friend. We went to church together.  He paid the ultimate price, he was killed in action overseas last September.  I will never forget hearing the news and having to be the one to tell my brothers, who were close friends.  I would rather have him here with us, getting married like he was suppose to.  But I will forever and always be eternally thankful.  There are no word to describe what his sacrifice means.  We love you and miss you Jake!  God bless.

Monday is Memorial Day! This weekend will be filled with parades, picnics, fireworks, barbecues, swimming, shopping, and family get-togethers. No matter where you are – the park, the beach, a mattress sale – take a few moments to remember the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy freedom.

Let Your Flag Fly:
One of the ways to honor our fallen soldiers on Memorial Day is to fly your flag at half-staff at noon. Here are the official steps:

1. At dawn, quickly raise your flag to the top of the mast. Leave it there for a few moments (maybe long enough to say the Pledge of Allegiance), and then lower it slowly to half-mast.
2. At noon, raise the flag once again to the top of the mast.
3. At dusk, slowly lower the flag, remove, and fold.

Other Ways to Honor the Fallen Soldiers on Memorial Day:

• Lay a wreath or flowers at the grave of a soldier.
• Attend a local parade or event to honor veterans on Memorial Day.
• If you have one near you, visit one of our National War Memorials.
• Wear a Red Poppy (the official flower of Memorial Day).
• Observe the National Moment of Remembrance by pausing whatever you’re doing at 3pm local time for a moment of silence.
• Send a card to the troops who are actively serving our country.

Getting ready for Daddys birthday

This year I agreed with Dad to allow the kids to do what they wanted for his birthday.  I am a HUGE believer in celebrating birthdays!  I obviously had to give them limits, or else our whole house would be filled with 100 Mylar balloons and 30 different kinds of cake(hm.....maybe I should have let them go :)

Dads Gift Basket the kids put together.

D picked these plates out!  He is so proud.



So we went shopping this morning while Dad was at work and we are now patiently(or not so patiently) awaiting his arrival.  The pictures are of what we have gotten done so far.  There will be more to come later.




Dad picked out Steak and brats for supper.

I have been blessed to be with this man 11 years.  I can't help but want to celebrate him!  God has truly blessed me with him and my lovely kids.  Honestly I don't know if it is the kids or Mama who is more excited to celebrate Dad tonight!  I love you Honey!

Blueberry Skillet Cake

1/4 stick of butter

1 TBS Brown Sugar

Melt these together in a cast iron skillet on low heat.

1/4 stick butter

1/4 c almond slivers(I use quick oats)

1/4 c sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 1/2 TBS flour

Mix these together in a food processor

1 can refrigarator biscuts

1 cup blueberries

Place biscuts in the pan with the melted butter/sugar. Close together. Place blueberries on top. Sprinkle the Processor mixture on top.

Bake for 20 min. at 350.

Serve warm.

This has become a fast family favorite!  It is super easy and cheap to make.  We love to eat it with either cool whip on top, or vanilla ice cream underneath.  I hope you enjoy!

What happens when....

Daddy has too much time on his hands!

A surprise for Daddy!

We spent the day surprising Daddy.  Although it really wasn't a huge surprise, as he was the one who bought the entertainment center!  We bought a a new flat screen TV with a new and much smaller entertainment center.  We were suppose to wait for Dad to get home and help us put it together.  However, the kids and I wanted to let him have a relaxing night watching a movie on his new TV.  We got up early and tore down the old entertainment center and painted the wall.  Then we put together the new center and I was actually able to life that TV and put it up!  It is so nice and I am glad that I could do this for him!

J was such a huge help!

Everyone helped tear apart the old one.

The finished project.  What do you think?

Hello my name is Carrie, and I am addicted to PINTEREST!

I will admit, I have a minor addiction to pinterest!  I have gotten way to many ideas from going over that site.  Some good and some so not attainable, but still fun!
Below are some future projects I have in the books.  I plan on taking pictures of Pinterest projects I have completed once I get my new camera!