LIFE Up North......

heart-day cookies.....

2012-02-02T16:03:00.002-05:00

Today we are busy making Valentine cookies! I was so in the mood for them! We will look forward to making many more batches in February. :) My little helpers.....

And Yhatzee in between......

What are your favorite Valentine cookies to make?

Have a happy weekend! ;)

JOY

2012-02-01T12:58:00.001-05:00

I loved this post on JOY! Read it HERE!

Have a GREAT day! :D

Abby Fekete's {sneak peek} photo session

2012-01-30T16:34:00.003-05:00

I just did a photo session with my niece, Abby! She's going to be 12 years old in a month and she wanted to do a photo shoot! We had so much fun doing it together. You can check the rest of her session out by clicking HERE.

Winners!

2012-01-19T12:46:00.001-05:00

Winners for the "Pay it Forward 2012" contest!

1st - Lisa Aylward

2nd - Joanne Walker

3rd - Alison Scholten

Congratulations!

‎{Pay It Forward 2012} Enter to win a FREE PHOTO SESSION with Treehouse Family Photography in 2012. 2nd & 3rd place will win 10% off a session in 2012. Sessions must be used in 2012. For anyone that will be in the Michigan area. Here is what you need to do to enter! Repost this link and share with your facebook friends. Come back to let me know that you posted the link on your wall in the comment section and you will automatically be entered in the drawing. The contest ends noon tomorrow (1/19/12). I will use randompicker.com to randomly draw the winners. Good Luck!!
http://treehousefamilyphotography.com/

SNOW shoot

2012-01-18T16:20:00.003-05:00

Today I did a little snow shoot with my daughter! We have lots of pretty white stuff, so it's always fun to do a shoot in the snow! Makes for yet another seasonal backdrop! ;)

She's getting so big now....where did my little toddler go??

Winter....how many months left? :D I guess I shouldn't start counting yet....it could get depressing. Stay warm!!! :D

Enter to WIN a FREE photo session in 2012!

2012-01-18T10:55:00.000-05:00

{Pay It Forward 2012} Enter to win a FREE PHOTO SESSION with Treehouse Family Photography in 2012. 2nd & 3rd place will win 10% off a session in 2012. Sessions must be used in 2012. For anyone that will be in the Michigan area. Here is what you need to do to enter! Repost this link and share with your facebook friends or on your blog. Come back to let me know that you posted the link on your wall in the comment section and you will automatically be entered in the drawing. The contest ends noon tomorrow (1/19/12). I will use randompicker.com to randomly draw the winners. Good Luck!!

3 in my arms....4 in my heart.

2012-01-15T11:28:00.003-05:00

Most of you know that we're waiting for our 4th baby to join our family through adoption. It's been about a month and a half now (since we've signed off on our adoption paperwork, but actually we've been trying to have more children for about 5 years now) and we're already impatient and tired of waiting. Patient people....we are NOT! My 6 year old has even said...."Hasn't it been a YEAR that we've been waiting?" Umm...no....it just feels that way. But we know our Father has perfect, impeccable timing and will bring our new baby to our family at the most PERFECT moment. Waiting is hard.....and having big faith is even harder sometimes. We need to keep praying that God will bring our 4th baby to us and have faith that it will be in His perfect plan and perfect timing. I have learned over and over again, that my timing is definitely not God's timing.

Most of the time I feel defeated, frustrated, discouraged and just plain heartbroken. Sometimes I even "pretend" that I don't have deep, strong desires for more children and try to imagine those feelings away. I have come to realize that is impossible! Those desires run too deep through my soul and are apart of my entire being. What's more....is that God created those feelings, desires and wants in me. He knows that they exist and He loves me for them! He created me to love children and to be nurturing to my most inner core. It's who I am.....How can I "pretend" that away? It's not possible.

It's moments like these that I have to pick myself up and look at all the beautiful blessings God has given me. I have 3 beautiful, healthy children. A fantastic husband and father to my children. My husband has a wonderful job and we have food and roof over our heads. We have family and friends that love us. We have a God that provides for us and loves us more than we could ever imagine! I have nothing to feel sad or discouraged about if I'm putting my trust and faith in God and focused on Him. I know God loves us and wants to give us the desires of our heart. During this "waiting period".....I desire to grow stronger and deeper in my faith. This is our adoption journey, but it's also a time when I need to trust the Lord and grow stronger in Him. He's teaching me, He's working on me and He's showing me daily that I need to rely on Him alone. He wants this journey to be about Him. God is good all the time and He knows what will bring good to our lives and to Him. We have to trust that He knows what is best for our family through this adoption journey. It's not about the destination....it's about the journey and I don't want to miss what God is trying to teach me/show me during this journey.

I do believe God will bring us more children, but if He chooses not to, I will still love Him and pursue Him with my whole heart.

When I have feelings of discouragement, frustration, defeat......those are all feelings from Satan. Those are not feelings or thoughts from Jesus. So I will not dwell on those emotions for long and get back to being focused on what Jesus has for our family.

And so we wait.....with HOPE and FAITH, because we know our God is BIG and can do anything! We just need to sit back and watch our amazing God work!

Here is a picture that my daughter Jenna drew for us at Thanksgiving 2011. The little red in the middle of the picture is our new baby. It's a picture of our "complete" family. We all long for that picture to be the real deal one day soon.

My sweet friend Jackie made this baby bedding for us. I love it! We are moving soon, so I don't have the room all "set up" yet, but I certainly will in our new house. I can't wait to put a new baby in that beautiful bedding! ;) Thank you, Jackie! I love it! You did a wonderful job!

And so for now.....we wait.....we pray....we trust.....we grow strong in our faith.....and know that for now I have 3 in my arms and 4 in my heart.

I pray that God brings my baby home to us very soon!

Thank you so much, Jackie! Just when I started to get discouraged again.....the bedding in the mail gave me a piece of hope!

SNOW

2012-01-14T10:12:00.003-05:00

We didn't get any additional snow last night, but we still have the same white snow from yesterday! The sun was shining so beautiful and bright this morning.....I had to share the beauty with you!

And you can tell we're a homeschool....work from home family.....we didn't even get to the driveway until this morning. :)) Nice to be snowed in and not have to go out in the snow! I like to look at it from the inside....not be in it! ;)

And on that note.....I'm hoping to be productive today! We're going to be moving in a few months and we're SO EXCITED!!! We've found a 25 acre hobby farm and we're very excited about making it our home! Lots of cool renovations we can do to make it our own! I have so many sweet ideas that I've been storing in my head (and in a book) and waiting until the day we have our own home to actually work on them! Once we move in....I'll be busy, busy busy!! Until then....we'll need to start packing, cleaning and organizing!

Have a great weekend!! ;)

You will DEFINITELY want to be sitting down for this....

2012-01-13T16:06:00.002-05:00

.....I'M ACTUALLY WRITING A POST ON MY BLOG!!! ha ha! :) I have been MIA, but I feel my blog must take a backseat for a while. I'm busy homeschooling, taking care of my house and family and working on growing my photography business. It's a lot right now, so I feel like blogging has to take a backseat for a while. I may eventually get into it more, but it seems to be difficult right now. Anyway.....I thought I'd share a post today!

We've had a WONDERFUL winter so far (in my opinion....not according to the "up north" economy though.), because we haven't had any snow and it's been in the 50s'....IN JANUARY!!! I love it.....BUT....I knew we'd eventually get that pretty WHITE stuff! And we DID last night! WOW! We ended up getting about 6 inches I think. It's very WHITE and pretty today though! All of Michigan had NO SCHOOL....but not my poor homeschooled children. ha ha! We did not leave a window open last night, so the snow would fly in and make it so we can't climb up to our school room. ;D

I'll leave you with the beauty of a Michigan winter!!

Have a happy weekend all! I am going to get on my warm, cozy lounge pants and sweatshirt, snuggle up with my kiddos and hubby and watch a movie.....eating the best pizza ever!!! :)

Stay warm!!!

~Betsy

Lucy Charlotte Walker {sneak peek}

2012-01-11T15:49:00.002-05:00

Yay! My new niece is finally here! We had the opportunity to head down to Fort Wayne to meet her and visit with my brother, Melissa and Ben! What a fun trip it was! I also made some time to do her little newborn photo shoot while we were there! I love Lucy and miss her sweet face already! After looking at these cute pictures of her....I'm sure you'll understand. ;)

Big brother, Ben....and Lucy!

Those were just a few.....such a sweet girl. I love her! ;)

Thanks for letting us invade your house for a few days! :) Can't wait for the next little session!

Husted Family {family sneak peek}

2011-11-27T12:42:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I've been MIA again. Sorry! I think it will just be that way for a while. Maybe when I'm stuck inside from all the snow drifts this winter....things will be different. I'll be able to bake again....blog....crochet.....etc., etc. Maybe I should start wishing for that snow....that sounds wonderful!! ;))

Over Thanksgiving break.....I did a photo session with my cousin's family. My cousin is in town from Hawaii! They are also our best friends, so it's been a blast to hang out with them a little bit. Their family had a family photo shoot together.....

Such a fun shoot. ;)

I hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for!

Brady turned 2! {sneak peek}

2011-11-21T17:39:00.003-05:00

Here is my nephew! I did his photo shoot today! He turned 2!!! WOW! Time flies! He's such a sweet little guy. Here is a sneak peek of our photo shoot together. ;)

Have fun being 2, Brady!! ;)

The Nursery

2011-11-10T15:52:00.002-05:00

We are working on our baby nursery, in hopes that it will be ready when our new baby arrives! Since adoption is a little "up in the air", it's hard to know how to plan. We want to be prepared for our new baby though. It could be any day.....or it could take a while. Only God knows the timing and we're trusting in Him that it will be perfect timing! ;)

So here is our nursery scheme so far! Keeping in mind that we have to keep it fairly "neutral" for boy or girl. ;)

My friend, Jackie is helping me out! She is making the sheets and crib skirt for me. What a dear friend. ;) I am using the same colors that she used to make the quilt she gave me. She made a beautiful quilt and I thought it would be perfect for the baby's room. So now we're working around the quilt! I love it so far!

Aylward Family {family sneak peek}

2011-11-10T13:15:00.003-05:00

Here is the Aylward family. This was such a fun photo shoot, because they have a special reason to capture this moment in time. They have two foster babies that they have added to their family and hope to one day adopt them. They are just in love with these little babies and I am too! All the children are so sweet and have bonded so well together. I know you'll be able to feel the love! ;))

Look at this little group.....I love it. They are all so sweet together! ;)

The three boys are their own biological children......

Very handsome!

Here is the 2 year old boy that they would love to adopt....such a sweetie!

And the baby girl. They have had her since birth and she is almost 2 months old now!

Big yawn!

The happy couple....

We're also hoping to adopt a new baby soon, so this photo shoot was very special for me. We've been friends for a long time with this family and we're just so happy for them! Maybe I'll get to do another photo shoot for them next year when they are all "official"!! :D

Soccer is officially over!!

2011-10-31T12:55:00.004-04:00

My son, Jacob's soccer season is officially over! I took team pictures for them this past weekend. Here are a few. What a great group of boys! They are all such good buds and have a lot of fun together! A little crazy trying to get their group picture, but it was fun! ;)

We look forward to the spring season with this same group of boys! ;)

Price Family {sneak peak}

2011-10-23T16:09:00.003-04:00

The Price's {my cousin} came up to do a photo shoot! What fun to see them again! Their kids are ADORABLE!!! We had a good time! ;) Here is their sneak peek!

Isn't her expression priceless? ha ha! :))

Heeringa Family {sneak Peek}

2011-10-23T16:06:00.001-04:00

I had the Heeringa photo shoot this weekend! What a sweet family! They are super cute boys...and fun fall colors! ;) Here is their sneak peek!

Designer Pants...

2011-10-20T10:46:00.005-04:00

My friend made these pants for Jenna! Aren't they just adorable? I love homemade clothes for girls! I wish I was talented enough to be able to make clothes.....but sewing is not something I do very well. I'm just glad I have friends that sew for me! :D A little photo shoot for the pants.....

AND.....Just because baby Luke is so cute....I had to post one more for fun! ;))

2 more photo shoots this weekend! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Baarstad newborn shoot {sneak peek}

2011-10-18T08:21:00.002-04:00

I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with this 8 day old baby boy yesterday. Isn't he so deliciously sweet? I love it! He was awake a lot of the session, so we got some sleepy and some awake. :))

SQUISHY FACE!!! Love it!

He is so sweet.....sucking his fingers. This was what kept him content. :)

Walker Family Photo Shoot

2011-10-16T12:13:00.002-04:00

My brother and his family came into town this weekend and we had a photo shoot scheduled while they were here. Ben is turning 4 years old in a couple weeks and they wanted a couple family pictures as well. Unfortunately, it was going to be rainy and yuck most of the weekend. Then Ben (my nephew) came down with a fever, chills, etc. and didn't feel good all weekend. :( We did manage to get a few cute ones though.....even though he was chilly and miserable through most of the photo shoot. My sister n law is due at the beginning of January....and of course there will be a photo shoot for their sweet little girl! ;)

Here is a sneak peek!

HaPpY BirThdDaY, JACOB!!

2011-10-07T14:43:00.002-04:00

Jacob is our oldest and he is 11 years old today! He is such a sweet, smiley guy and loves to laugh and have fun! We know God has big things planned for Jacob's life. He was born 11 years ago....10 weeks early, weighing only 3 lb. 9 oz, but never ended up having any problems. We are very blessed to have Jacob in our family! We love you, Jacob Tyler Nickel!! :D

href="http://treehousefamilyphotograph.smugmug.com/Other/jacob/19401887_ScgqmM#1517363657_GSV2cpg-A-LB" title="">

Deployment Photo Shoot

2011-09-30T16:19:00.003-04:00

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers today! I could feel them and things went well with the deployment photo shoot! Here are a few sample photos below....

Makes me proud to be an American!

God bless all the men and woman in the service.....

....We pray for a quick and safe return!

Puggles!

2011-09-28T13:37:00.006-04:00

PUGGLES! I'm blessed to be able to be the director of the Awana Puggles group this year. These are my little Puggles! We are having so much fun with them each Wednesday night. ;) We have 12 in our little group and it's perfect! Puggles are ages 2-3 years in the Awana program, so they definitely keep us busy the whole time! But so rewarding and so much fun!

They love to dance and listen to the Puggles music. ;)

We also do a craft and listen to a Bible story.

Right now, we're learning about creation. They don't learn verses like the older kids, but they do learn basic Bible principles. They can all say things like: Day 1...God made LIGHT! ;)

I'm blessed to have my sister, husband, Mom and Dad volunteer in the Puggles room each week. They do a great job and the kids love on us all evening long! It's the best! I'll take toddler lovins any day of the week! ;))

My sister......with Madeline. ;)

Another night of Puggles tonight......what a blessing to work with such sweet kids, who have open hearts and ears to listen and learn about God's Word. ;)

A Few More Photos From Tess' Gallery....

2011-09-27T15:27:00.003-04:00

I thought I would show you a few more of sweet Tess.

I love her little yawn here... :)

This Friday I am doing a photo shoot for the families of 70 soldiers that are being deployed to Afghanistan. Pray that I keep it together as I watch these families have to say goodbye to their loved ones. {gulp}......praying I can get some great photos to bless these families who do so much for our country!

Signs of Fall Approaching.....

2011-09-22T08:31:00.003-04:00

This post is for my friend in South Carolina (a few of them :) that misses the Michigan fall. I told her I would post some pictures this fall for her. We aren't quite in full swing of fall colors yet, but we will be in the next couple weeks! They are coming....

Here are some signs of fall......

Homeschooling At It's Best......

2011-09-21T12:24:00.003-04:00

So for the 3 of you out there still reading.....I appreciate the support. :) Way to be patient and hang on! I am really trying to get my life organized and on track again, so I'm not just literally running from one thing to the next. Life has been busy to say the least. I hate that I don't even have time to take pictures anymore {other than for photo shoots}, let alone...post them! So...I'm striving to take more of our "day to day" events and also our sporting events. The boys do so well in soccer and Jenna is in dance! How fun and worth capturing! ;)

So...our Bible class this morning was wonderful. I finally had time to sit down with the kids and enjoy a class with them. Usually I give the assignment and have to move on to something else or I'm grading papers.

I made pumpkin chocolate chip bread this morning and cut a slice for each of us...warm out of the oven. Lit my fall, spice candle, turned on some music and enjoyed my sweet kids working diligently on their Genesis 3 collage. I even took some pictures......

I feel blessed this morning....my heart is full.

Count your blessings today....and enjoy each one!

OCTOBER PHOTO SHOOT DEALS.....{for Michiganders or those visiting!}

2011-09-20T08:58:00.004-04:00

I have a new website, with new session fees and I have it up and running now! If you live in the MICHIGAN area and are in need of a photographer.....check out my website!

10% OFF FAMILY PHOTO SHOOTS IN OCTOBER!!

{click on the baby to your right to view my website or use this link: http://treehousefamilyphotography.com/}

A Story at Aunt Betsy's .....By Brady

2011-09-13T12:23:00.002-04:00

"This afternoon I got to go to my Aunt Betsy's to play!" "I love to play at Aunt Betsy's house!" "That is......."

".........until she gets out her camera!!!!"

"Yah! Snack time!" "Toast with Nutella!"

"Okay....I can humor her for one or two pictures."

"Is she STILL there?" "Maybe if I growl....she'll go away!"

"Nope! That didn't work!" "Oh NO!"

"I can't believe this!!"

"I know I'm cute!"

"I have to think of a way to get my Aunt Betsy back!"

TO BE CONTINUED........

Plants, Surprises....and other happenings!

2011-09-13T09:42:00.004-04:00

Today I'm watching my nephew for a little bit. He's such a sweet little boy. ;) I love all the dinosaurs around him.....so cute.

SURPRISE! My sweet friend, Jackie sent this quilt to me in the mail! I love it! She made it for me as a surprise. What a special gift from a special/talented friend. ;) I will treasure it always! I love quilts and she does an amazing job! The Millers are such an amazing family and you can read more about how she made the beautiful quilt HERE on her blog!

Look at my "Max plant". I've had it 2 1/2 years now and it's growing and thriving great! I think it's so pretty, so I had to take it's picture and show you. It's been on my porch all summer, but I just brought it in for the fall/winter months. It is starting to get cooler at night and I didn't want it to freeze. (it's the plant my family gave to us when our baby Max died 2 1/2 years ago)

I don't know if you can truly appreciate how GIGANTIC this fern is! I bought it in May and it has grown SO BIG! I decided to bring it in and see if it would keep growing over the winter.

It's just so big! Happy plant! I never used any plant food or miracle grow....just water!

Stagg Family Photo Shoot

2011-09-12T10:51:00.002-04:00

This weekend I had a photo shoot with my dear friend and her family. Andrea is starting chemo this week for a very aggressive type of breast cancer. If you think to pray for Andrea and her family, they would really appreciate it. She has a long, hard road ahead and I can't imagine how difficult it would be with 3 little ones as well. They wanted some family pictures before she started her chemo treatments. Here are a few below.......

Tess's Photo Shoot {sneak peak}

2011-09-09T19:09:00.004-04:00

I had the most enjoyable time with Tess today in our newborn photo shoot. She's such a little angle. ;)) She was so sweet and did a great job! I loved every minute of it. :)

There are so many more cute ones, but that's all for tonight! I have a photo shoot tomorrow with a sweet family! I'll be posting more later....

Night All! .....and have a good weekend! :)

School Has Started....and so has the busy schedule!

2011-09-07T14:50:00.003-04:00

We finished our 2nd day of school! Things are going great so far and it's all been review and apparently Eeeeeeasy! So all is well with homeschooling so far in the Nickel home! ;)

Here is Peyton in the school room and Jenna studying hard below.

We've had such beautiful sunny weather lately, so we've also held a few classes outside! Love the flexibility. I let the sun shine on my face, while Jacob reads the Bible. ;)

We're also in full swing with both boys in soccer and Jenna in dance. Next week starts Awana and I'm directing the Puggles program (2-3 year olds). I have a couple photo shoots this week and I'm taking an online photography class. (it's been SOOO good!) Lots going on and at times it's very stressful, but it's all been fun and good.

Busy fall ahead....hopefully the schedule evens out a little bit and gets a little easier as we go. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Betsy

Hopewell Ranch

2011-09-02T15:31:00.002-04:00

Wednesday we took a little trip towards Mt. Pleasant and went with my sister n law, brother n law and nephew to a place called, "Hopewell Ranch". You can look at their website to see the amazing ministry they have. They reach out to hurting people around their area and help them heal through using their animals. It's totally FREE and they pour everything they have into it. It's all run by donation and volunteers. God is doing BIG things in their midst and it's truly exciting! Anyway....we had a great afternoon hanging out with the animals and talking with the owners.

The favorite animal seemed to be the bunnies. The kids loved holding them.

This was their very gentle dog, but I thought it was funny that they were so close. The bunny looked a little freaked out! ;)

Micah...taking a break reading.

duck...

Jenna

Peyton petting the donkey

The kitty was a big hit too. Everyone seemed to enjoy petting him and giving him lots of love.

Feeding the goats.

The "Mini's"...

The kitty again....

Jacob and the kitty.

They boys with the kitty

The bunny again....

chickens....look at that beautiful, feathery white chicken! I loved it!

more bunny love....

After the ranch, we went to our n laws for dinner. We roasted hotdogs in the campfire. Yum!

The kids love their big swing.

Pey with their dog, Indy.

I had to get a picture of their new chicken from Hopewell Ranch....McQueen.

It was a fun day! We enjoyed visiting with Chris, Jenn and Micah and all the people and animals at Hopewell Ranch! ;)

Barn wood bed

2011-08-31T09:33:00.003-04:00

So I found this barn door this spring and wanted to turn it into a headboard. I also wanted Mark to build us a nice tall bed! So he did! What a guy! He's so talented and I love working together on home projects. Here are a few pics of how it turned out! I love it! :)

That's all for now....we're off to the ranch....although today is rainy...hmmm....we'll see how it goes. :)

Have a great day everyone!

SHOCK!!!

2011-08-30T15:24:00.003-04:00

Yes! Pick yourself up off the floor......I am posting AGAIN!! TWO days in a row! Wowza!

Anyway.....I wanted to let you know what we're doing tomorrow! We're so excited. We're going to Hopewell Ranch to visit with all the abandoned/abused animals that this ranch takes in and takes care of. You can also purchase them and give them a good home, but we will not be doing that tomorrow. We are looking for a new home....possibly on a hobby farm, but not until spring. So maybe we'll have to go back and get some bunnies or something at a later date. ;)

We're going with my brother in law and sister in law and our nephew. They are the ones that told us about the ranch. They have been there before to ride the horses and see the animals. They actually bought a chicken from there! It's a really cool ranch that helps people that are hurting and gives them therapy through riding the horses, etc. You can check out their website HERE! What a neat blessing this family is able to share with others. It's a pretty cool ministry.

Our in laws also have chickens that Jenna LOVES to visit. She could spend hours in the coop with them.

I'll try to remember my camera, so I can take some pictures of the ranch and the kids.

What happened to the Nickel's???

2011-08-29T20:17:00.002-04:00

WOW! I have really been MIA lately. Sorry about that. We've been busy, busy, busy this summer and having so much fun. I'm sure once winter hits and I'm stuck inside for 4 months, I'll be posting MORE than you want me to! :D It has been good to take a little break from blogging this summer and enjoy some fun things with my family.

However....sadly.....fall is fast approaching. Jacob is already in full swing with his travel soccer practices and we have signed up Peyton for soccer and Jenna for dance. I'll be the director of the Puggles (ages 2-3) in Awana this year and keeping up with my photography and homeschooling as well. I feel things starting to speed up again and my summer vacation is slowly ending. We still have a couple weeks until school starts, so I'm going to soak up as much sun and vacation as I can!

Jacob needed a taller desk this year and we found one for FREE! The orange chair was FREE too! I do kindergarten testing every year and last week was the week for that. The school got all new desks and chairs and they were going to throw out their old ones. They were just sitting outside, so I asked if I could take one and they said I could! I painted the desk in a couple hours time and it was done! I love it and I know Jacob will love the extra room, as he's growing way too fast! ;)

I also refurbished 2 lamps for our school room! They started out brass and I painted them black and added a new tan color shade. These were FREE too! They work great now and light up our room! ;)

Mark has been working on our bed! If you remember I found a big barn door and he was going to make us a new bed. He's almost done and it's looking so good! I can't wait. It's super high, so I'll feel like Princess and the Pea every night! :)) I'll post pictures for sure when he's done!

I hope everyone is having a great summer! What has everyone been up to?

Family Pictures....another year complete! :)

2011-08-13T17:22:00.000-04:00

HaPpY BirThdDaY, Jenna girl!

2011-07-31T10:33:00.001-04:00

Jenna is 9 years old today! WoW! The time has flown by and she doesn't look like a baby anymore! She is the sweetest, most kind hearted little girl you will ever meet! I know God has big plans for her life and we're excited to see how God will use her. Love my girl and I'm glad I get to be her Mom! ;)

I ♥ this boy....

2011-07-28T19:28:00.003-04:00

I love this picture of my nephew eating his watermelon! He's so sweet and can say, "Aunt Betsy" so perfect all the time now! I love it! Fun summer days with the fam!

PS...I took this with my phone (which is not the best for camera work), so it's a little fuzzy. Really wish I had it on my camera...those blue eyes would really sparkle then! ;) I still love it though!

Run! Run as fast as you can!!!

2011-07-23T20:12:00.002-04:00

Away from THIS horrible intruder in our yard!!

Neither Mark or I like snakes, so we were looking pretty helpless at getting this snake out of our garden. Our sweet neighbor (who we will forever be grateful!) came and helped Mark put him in a bin! The big guy put up quite a fight, but they got him in and Mark slapped the top on and took him far, far away! I was so glad, because I would not be able to sleep with a huge snake in our yard!

There.....some excitement for us before bed! ;)

beans

2011-07-21T11:44:00.003-04:00

Check this out! Only 3 days ago our green beans looked like THIS:

Because of all this heat and humidity....they look like THIS 3 days later:

They LOVE the 90-100 degree heat! Our carrots and cucumbers are getting big too! It's fun to start from a tiny seed in the ground and watch everything grow so big! It doesn't take that long either. I think August will be our month for lots of fresh veggies! :))

Walker Family Get Away.....

2011-07-20T09:59:00.005-04:00

Here is the house we rented for 4 days for my parents 40th Anniversary! We went to Crystal Mountain Resort and rented a house on the golf course. We had a wonderful time together and squeezed in as much fun as we could!

The guys played golf one day and then we went to the water park/swimming pools at the resort. It was so relaxing and fun! The weather was hot and humid, so it felt great to sit by the pool. The kids could have played there all day! For dinner we got pizza....yum!

Brady (top) & Ben (bottom)

Molly & Tim

We also celebrated Jenna and Mom's birthdays while we were together.

Peyton just kickin it!

Mark with Brady, Jacob, Katie and Ben!

Abby and her Daddy

Mom opening up some of her birthday gifts....

Jacob insisted on taking a picture with Na. ;)

Ben playing with some of the unwrapped gifts... ;D

Peyton and Ben

My pretty girl Jenna....can't believe she'll be 9 years old in a couple weeks! Yikes!

One day we went to Lake Michigan for the day. We used to always stop at A&W in Frankfort for dinner when we were little, so we made the stop with the whole fam! Yum!

THE BEACH....LAKE MICHIGAN

It started out a little windy and chilly when we first arrived.....but definitely got hot by the afternoon! Melissa and I were pretty bundled up at the beginning of the day.

Katie, Abby and Jenna swimming....or jumping the waves. ;)

Jenna girl

Ben

Jacob

Brady and Papa playing football

We would always stop at this ice cream parlor when we were little too. So we had to stop at the end of the day! It's always a yummy treat! ;)

It's just a little cute shop and we took up all the tables.

Brady enjoyed the ice cream too!

So much fun! I think we plan to make it an annual thing! Love my family and so happy we had the opportunity to enjoy the time away together! ;)

black and whites

2011-07-18T14:43:00.003-04:00

So I had to do the Miller girls in black and white too. ;) They were just too cute. I wish I had more of Noa, but she was playing too hard. I couldn't pull her away from the kids!

I love their sweet expressions.

Goodbye Miller's!

2011-07-18T09:24:00.002-04:00

We LOVED having you stay with us! ;) The kids had so much fun with Noa, Ruthie and Lydia. What sweet, sweet girls! I tried to stock up on their sweet hugs while they were here! ;) Last night we had Fran and Abby (Jackie's Mom and sister) come for dinner as well. It was a fun evening together.

Sweet little Ruthie before church. She wanted to show me her pretty clothes for church, so I took her picture. ;)

Poor Lydia. My camera scared her most of the time, but I had to take pictures of her sweet, little face. ;) My Mom came out last night to visit with Russ and Jackie and see the kids. She was holding Lydia.

Jenna loves babies and couldn't get enough of the girls. She loved holding Lydia and playing with Noa and Ruthie. She was a great helper/babysitter while they were here. She will make a wonderful little Mommy one day. ;)

We said our good byes this morning and the Miller family was off to continue their vacation. We hope to see them again next year! It's become a fun, family tradition to have Russ, Jackie and girls stay with us each year. ;) The kids are already looking forward to next year! :)

Veggies and Friends.....

2011-07-16T12:36:00.004-04:00

LOOK! Can you see the little tiny beans sprouting??? We're so excited! They are finally coming and all they need to do now is grow a little bigger! :D Our carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers and growing too! Soon we will have a garden full of veggies to eat! Our parsley, basil and chives are ready to eat and we've been enjoying those herbs!

On a totally different note.....The Miller family came to visit! Here is Ruthie eating breakfast with Peyton this morning. Cute face! She was 1/2 smiling and 1/2 eating cereal....guess this is the result! ;)

Here is sweet Lydia!

And Noa has been having fun with the kids! They played dress up most of the morning. Here she is sporting her new look.

Pey looking stylish too.....Cowboy/Cheerleader??

The kids watching a Thomas movie that Noa picked out!

We're so happy they could stay with us for a few days! They are here visiting Jackie's family, so we only get to see them in the morning and in the evening....but it's still fun to see them again! The girls are getting so big.....too fast! ;)

Family Pictures....

2011-07-14T09:31:00.003-04:00

Here are a few of our family pictures that I took while we were up north. It's been a couple years since we took one together, so I figured this would be a good time to do it! I pulled out my tripod and remote and there we go..... ;) It was interesting....but fun!

Mom and Dad and all the grandkids! (one more on the way)

The whole fam!

Our family

......we're going to take another family photo in August, but I thought we might as well do one now since we were all dressed up! ;)

Brady was cute in the sand.....

We went to Lake Michigan one day and he enjoyed all the sand. It was really soft and nice! ;)

I'll put up some more pictures of our time later.....

These were the family pictures that we took, so I thought I'd give you a peek! ;)

We're blessed to have such a great group!

We're Baaaack!

2011-07-13T16:09:00.002-04:00

We went up north to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary for a few days! (and a couple birthdays and my brother and his wife had their anniversary as well!) We rented a house at Crystal Mountain and spent some fun, family time together! I have lots and lots of pictures.....even took our family pictures! ;) But I will have to do some laundry and unpack and soon......show you our fun trip up north! I wish I was still there! What a great family bond we have! ;)

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-08T16:58:00.004-04:00

I am FINALLY getting my 4th weekend pictures up! I have so many and I can't even put them all up! ;) I decided to put a few up though! It was a fabulous weekend with family and fun! The weather was sunny and perfect all weekend!

This is how we started our day on the 4th! Homemade scones...warm from the oven! Yum! Yum! ;)

We did a little hot dog roasting....

We went on a few boat ride days.....

...ate some lunch on the boat.

....took some naps on the boat.

Roasted some marshmallows!

Had a lot of fun fireworks of our own to shoot off!

We also went to the fireworks by the lake. Pey waiting in the jeep for the fireworks to start!

Sparklers....

Such a beautiful sunset while we were waiting for fireworks!

So much fun this summer! Now...on to the next fun event! We're headed north for a few days to have a little vacation and spend some time with family! ;)

More pictures to follow.....

My Multi-Talented Girl ♥

2011-07-04T20:29:00.003-04:00

My multi-talented girl....hula hooping....and jumping over some ball tied to her ankle! ha ha! I don't know what that thing is called, but I do know I would definitely hurt myself if I tried to use it! :D

She's so sweet and love her so much!! Can't believe this is her birthday month and she will soon be 9 years old! Where does the time go?

Naughty Monkey

2011-06-30T15:10:00.002-04:00

Everyone needs a pair of "Naughty Monkey" shoes!

......And you need a son that is secure enough in his manhood to try them on! LOL :D (in his p.j's no less! ha!)

Walker Weekend

2011-06-27T11:48:00.006-04:00

Jacob and Brady

My brother and his family came up this weekend for his birthday and some summer time fun! Friday night we celebrated his birthday and had cake and gifts!

Happy Birthday, Curt!

Melissa, Curt and their son Ben. They are 12 weeks pregnant for #2! Yah!

CUPCAKES!

Brady had a baseball cookie!

Saturday we took the boat out. My Dad, brother n law and brother were in a golf outing, so we decided to take the kids to a park to play and have some fun!

Mark and the kids getting the boat ready to go!

Abby, Jacob and Katie on the boat!

Ben and Jenna

Melissa and Ben

Ben and Peyton

Abby, Jacob, Katie, Ben and Na!

Molly and Brady

Brady had a fun boat ride ;)

Ben was really into getting his picture taken this weekend. He wanted me to take his picture or he would jump into a group to have his picture taken. It was cute! ;)

We all went to see Cars 2 at the theater this weekend. I didn't take my camera to that, but it was a good time! ;)

We went back to my Mom/Dad's house for pizza! It was such a pretty day though, we all just hung out outside for a while first.

Wake up, Abby! :D

Here are the cousins! What a group! They are so close and love to hang out together! I'm glad they have such a close bond.

This is a random picture, but I thought it was funny that my parent's cat likes to SWING? What? What cat lays back and enjoys swinging? Really funny.

Here's Ben posing for me again. :)

Jenna and Ben are good buds! They love to hang out together.

Here they are again....laughing and running!

All the kids in the backyard for a race! They ran off a lot of calories before bed!

What a great weekend together! We're so thankful for family and the good times we can have together. In 2 weeks, we're taking my parents on a "mystery trip" for their 40th wedding anniversary! We'll spend about 4 days away together! Looking forward to being together again very soon! ;)

Snack....

2011-06-24T12:33:00.002-04:00

I had the baseball team snack tonight and the game was canceled due to rain! ugh!

Oh well! I guess we'll be eating a lot of baseball cookies now! ;)

When will the sun shine again? We need summer!! Rumor has it, we're suppose to see it this weekend...... ♥

Boat....

2011-06-23T16:54:00.003-04:00

Now that we live up north with all these beautiful lakes, we decided we needed to get a boat. We have been looking into them for a while now and found one we like. We knew it would be just one more fun family activity that we could do together!

So it was delivered today, but it was not such a nice day to be out in it. We've had a lot of rain lately. The first part of summer was super nice, sunny...no rain for 2 weeks straight and everything was drying up! Now all of a sudden, we need to build an ark!

When the guy dropped it off, he did an orientation with us and took everyone out for a boat ride. (not me though ;) The kids had a lot of fun. Thankfully it wasn't really raining while the boat was in the lake....just every other minute of the day.

Very dark and yuck......We'll have to wait for another sunny day to take it out! Sounds like sunshine this weekend!

REMOTE!

2011-06-21T17:05:00.002-04:00

I got my remote today! This way I can be in our family picture too! ha! Really....I need to take our family picture this summer and I didn't want to pay another photographer to do it, so this seemed like a good solution! The kids and I had a little fun with it today!

Yah....I need to work on my silly face....maybe Jenna too! ha! It was fun anyway! ;) Grab a camera and remote on a rainy day and have hours of entertainment! ha ha!

Summer Salad

2011-06-21T13:10:00.003-04:00

I've probably shown this before, but this is one of my favorite ways to eat salad in the summer time!

Everyday for lunch, I've been throwing some spinach in a bowl and adding berries, nuts and my fav Strawberry Poppyseed dressing! If I had feta cheese....I would add that too, but I don't have that right now. The combination of fruit and spinach is so good to me. It's light, healthy and refreshing. It's a very quick and easy lunch too! ♥

Knock You Naked Brownies

2011-06-20T13:23:00.002-04:00

These are SO AWESOME!! They are very rich and delicious and just melt in your mouth! I thought I'd share the recipe with you! I found the recipe on a blog when I was blog hopping....can't remember which one. Anyway....Here's the recipe! Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
⅓ cups Evaporated Milk
½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional) + a little more
½ cups Butter, Melted
70 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
¼ cups Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup plus evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

Happy Father's Day! ♥

2011-06-19T19:13:00.004-04:00

I am so blessed to have such amazing fathers in my family! My Dad has always been such a Godly example to my brother, sister and I. We are truly blessed!

Some family pictures....

Mark and I ♥

The whole fam.....my boys had such cute Sunday clothes on today and they changed into 'play' clothes before I got a family picture! Oh well!

My parents

The fathers in our family...minus my brother.

My sister, Dad and I....missing our brother this weekend.

It was wonderful to be all together as a family today! The weather was sunny and beautiful, the food was delicious and it was fun just hanging out together!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Daddies out there!

We sure LOVE ours! ♥

random thoughts.....

2011-06-17T15:24:00.002-04:00

Jenna was trying to play with the dogs today. They are just so lazy and sleep most of the day though. She went and got the soft carrier (for flying) to play with them. (vet or something....not sure. ;) Charlie was totally on board with getting in the carrier........only not to 'play'........he climbed in to take a nap! And so he did......

......and Sophie managed to lay down beside the carrier and take a nap with him. Sorry Jenna....try again tomorrow. ;)

Our Lilac bush has been covered in butterflies. The lilacs smell so amazing! I love them. I always pick them and bring them inside, so I can smell them even more!

Now.......off to another baseball game tonight! Jacob will be pitching! He's very good at it and we enjoy watching him play!

Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to LAUGH!! :D (post below)

LAUGH

2011-06-17T11:28:00.003-04:00

My devotions talked about LAUGHTER today, so I thought I'd share it with you. I thought it was a good reminder about LIFE. Sometimes with all the ups and downs and twists and turns.....we forget to LAUGH and ENJOY life a little bit. Life can be busy, hard and stressful, but laughter is good medicine! :)

Learn to laugh at yourself more freely. Don't take yourself or your circumstances so seriously. Relax and know that I am God with you. When you desire My will above all else, life becomes much less threatening. Stop trying to monitor My responsibilities---things that are beyond your control. Find freedom by accepting the boundaries of your domain.

Laughter lightens your load and lifts your heart into heavenly places. Your laughter rises to heaven and blends with angelic melodies of praise. Just as parents delight in the laughter of their children, so I delight in hearing My children laugh. I rejoice when you trust Me enough to enjoy your life lightheartedly.

Do not miss the Joy of My Presence by carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Rather, take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. My yoke is comfortable and pleasant; My burden is light and easily borne.

Jesus Calling

What do you do with yourself when the kids are gone....

2011-06-16T12:33:00.003-04:00

My kids spent the night at their cousins house last night and it was very strange not having my 3 kids here. The house was definitely quiet and different without them.

So here is what happens:

♥ - you serf the web a lot more....

♥ - you don't eat dinner until you feel like it....much, much later....

♥ - you don't have a schedule or keep track of the time....

♥ - you eat food for dinner that may or may not be considered a food group....

♥ - you take a shower 1/2 way through the day....

♥ - you go running with your husband at 10PM....

♥ - you stay up later and get up later and feel totally rested....

♥ - you miss your kids like crazy and wonder how you would ever live life without them....

I'm so blessed to have 3 incredible kiddos! I love when they can go away and have a fun time, but I also LOVE every minute I get to spend with them. We have the best time together! Time is short and life goes fast.....Have fun with your kids and make the most of your time together! ♥

Old Video

2011-06-16T10:53:00.005-04:00

This was a video I found from when we lived in Florida a few years ago. Peyton was trying to say his Awana verse, but was very distracted, as most 3 year olds are. ;) I hate that my kids are getting older everyday, but I have always tried to treasure each moment with them. I knew time would go by fast.....I just didn't know it would be this fast. Give your kids a hug today and watch this silly video! ;)

PS. He's trying to say 1 John 4:10 - God loved us and sent his son. (he threw in...."God loves us and sent his 'apple'....since he was eating an apple for his snack! ha ;)

BEACH BUMS BASEBALL ❤

2011-06-14T15:50:00.007-04:00

Our family went to a Traverse City Beach Bums baseball game for part of our Father's day celebration. We started a week early, but we had to in order to get tickets! It was a good time! We also celebrated my Mom's retirement!

Happy Father's Day and Happy Retirement! ;)

Here is "The Fam"! (minus my brother's family)

The cousins eating some baseball food.....good 'ol nacho's, hotdogs, brats, etc.....you know....the good stuff!

My Mom and Brady. Such a good picture of them! ;)

....cotton candy of course!

Brady and Jacob.....best buds! ❤

After the game my sister and I sort of "lost it". This is a pretty nice picture......

.....can barely control it...

......then it gets a little crazy.....

.....and now it's just all lost.

Mark and I ❤

After the game, they let the kids all run around the bases. They had a good time.

Jacob, Peyton and then Jenna.

What a fun day and the weather was perfect! It was a little chili towards the end of the evening and that is why I'm wearing five layers and look like I gained 10 pounds! ha ha! ;)

Busy summer days.....LOVE it! ❤

mmm....Fresh Cut Flowers

2011-06-09T16:24:00.001-04:00

Is there anything better during summer time? I love fresh cut flowers from the garden! It makes the house smell so good and look so pretty! ;)

Beach Day!

2011-06-07T18:33:00.004-04:00

So today was a BEACH DAY for sure! It was 95 degrees and the lakes were calling us! The beaches weren't busy at all, since some of the schools were still in session today. The kids had a blast and cooled down quickly! The lakes were so pretty, clear and not too cold. I loved it! We're hitting the beach again tomorrow with my sister, her kids and some friends! Love the life of living up north! ;))

If you ever have a chance to visit Michigan during the summer.......it will not disappoint! Michigan has the best summers! ;))

PS....this photo was taken with my phone...not so great. :p I'm hoping to take my camera tomorrow and maybe get some better pics!

Photo Shoot

2011-06-06T12:00:00.003-04:00

I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with my nieces. They were so sweet and we had so much fun during the shoot. ;) Here's a little preview......

A GREAT find! My latest and greatest project!

2011-06-04T10:56:00.004-04:00

Speaking of "Country girl" (from post below :).....check out this barn door I just found and bought! Now, I wish I could say it came from MY barn.....but....I'll have to settle for "a great find"! I'm so excited for my latest project! Mark is going to make us a bed (don't worry.....we already have a bed.....but this is going to be our own "one of a kind" bed! ;) and I wanted a cool headboard. I've been looking for just the right thing for a while now (years) and I finally FOUND IT! It's this BARN DOOR!

So....I will be scraping and scraping for the next few days, until all of the loose paint is off. Mark doesn't like the idea of old paint chips falling on his head at night! :) So he will work on making the bed (nice and TALL for me! ....ok....I'm only 5'2....but I really like TALL beds, so I feel like a princess! ha ha! .....I do already feel like one! My husband is so good to me! ;) for us and I'll work on the headboard. Soon....I hope to show you a fabulous bed, but until then......I'll be scraping away!

Enjoy your weekend! ;)

Country Girl

2011-06-03T14:30:00.002-04:00

Do you see the green frog in the pot? I still have chills. As hard as I try to be and want to be a "country girl".......I will never enjoy sticking my spade into a frog (while planting flowers) and have it jump out at me! yeeeaaaahhhh! I screamed bloody murder....it scared the....well...you know what out of me! I do not like frogs....period!

I will take a deep breath.....as I have many, many more flowers to plant....and hope that no more green frogs jump out at me! eew!

Organic Garden ♥

2011-06-03T07:57:00.003-04:00

So my gardens this spring seem to be going in shifts. A couple weeks ago, I got flowers for the front of the house/porch and yesterday we put in our veggie garden. Today....I hope to buy some flowers for the deck and backyard area. I was happy we finally got the garden in though. I've been trying to find time to do that for a while now.

The kids helped!

They colored little toothpicks, so we know where we planted our seeds. (we ran out of craft sticks :)

We planted 4 boxes of veggies today and we plan to plant one more box today! We are hopeful to have LOTS of veggies soon. :)) The first to pop up (within just a couple weeks) will be the herbs! We're having awesome weather this spring, so they should do well! A whole week of sunshine and 80's is perfect!!

PS....I would love to plant a big veggie garden on the ground, but we're afraid all the deer and wildlife would eat it. The boxes are actually very large and work so well for the veggies. ;)

What do you put in your veggie garden?

DRAB to FAB! ♥

2011-06-02T16:49:00.002-04:00

This was a dresser I bought from a garage sale for $10!! I turned it from DRAB.....

.....TO FAB! ♥

It's in our bedroom now and I LOVE it! ;)

I love the spindle legs on it. I kept the hardware, because I like it and it worked still. 3 cans of spray paint.....it's a project under $20! ♥

What have WE been up to this spring???

2011-06-01T11:19:00.006-04:00

Here is my little helper today. :)

He wanted me to take his picture several times....since MY NEW CAMERA IS FINALLY HERE! Yea! ;) I no longer feel like I'm missing a body part. It's so good to have a camera in hand again....now to work with it to figure it all out. ;)

We've had such wonderful, beautiful days this spring! I love all the sunshine and pretty new flowers! Everything is so green and bright! I love spring!

I bought some flowers for the porch a couple weeks ago! Here are a few!

Another project I'm working on is transforming this dresser into something beautiful!

I found it at a garage sale and only paid $10! I hope to make it beautiful for our bedroom this week!

Speaking of garage sales.....mine are finally finished! I did 2 - 2 weekends in a row and that was very exhausting, but we got rid of some things and made a little money! ;) It was worth it! Now that that is behind me....I can move on with some fun things we're planning for the summer! Only 1 more week of school and then our family will get a little break! We're SO ready!

Baseball season is in full swing (ha ha! ;) and we're enjoying watching both boys play during the week. They improve with each game!

We've had a blast with all the 'up north' activities! We've been able to drive our topless jeep around both lakes and enjoy ICEES from Burger King! (only $1 people!!....and we're addicted!) The boys have already been golfing and we've had fun at the driving range a few times. It's nice to enjoy all the beauty around us! Cadillac has had a lot of vacationers so far this spring. Everyone is up north enjoying the camp grounds, lakes and beauty! It's so nice to actually LIVE in this area and enjoy the beauty EVERYDAY! We are blessed! ;) What have you been up to this spring in your neck of the woods?

Our hole in the back of our house on the golf course. Such a beautiful day!

Where is my right arm??

2011-05-26T08:44:00.004-04:00

So I sold both of my cameras and my lenses and I'm waiting for my new one to arrive. (sigh) In the meantime....I'm going NUTS!! It's like my right arm was cut off and shipped away! I don't know what to do with myself! I need a camera in my hand at all times! LOL :D

Can't wait for it to arrive and hopefully will give me even more beautiful photography! Until then....you get only words. hee :)

Baseball Season Has Begun!

2011-05-25T15:30:00.003-04:00

Baseball practice is first! Here is Peyton at his first practice.

Peyton up to bat...

Both of the boys had baseball games last night. Here is Peyton up to bat.....He was up to bat twice and had hits both times! ;)

....running to 1st!

Whew! He made it! ;)

...running to 2nd!

He made it to 2nd and is ready to run to 3rd. He did finally make it home! (twice! ;)

Here is Jacob up to bat. His league is a little more challenging and none of the boys did that great, but they all tried really hard and it was fun to watch! It will be fun to see how well they all improve over the season! It was the first game after all! ;)

So proud of them for getting out there and trying their best! Baseball season is fun! I enjoy watching my boys!

A "Few"....more horse camp pictures. (and I use the word "few" loosely :)

2011-05-18T10:02:00.003-04:00

Horse Camp

My Jenna girl.....

Thirsty.....

A cute little on-looker....

another one....

pretty as a picture....

Love this one....

The END.....

Horse Camp is Complete! ;)

2011-05-18T07:29:00.003-04:00

So horse camp is over now and LOOK HOW CLOSE UP I GOT TO THESE HORSES!! LOL :)) If you know me at all.... you know I've had a fear of horses for a while. Jenna's horse camps have actually helped me go through some sort of therapy to like them again. These horses are actually very beautiful and tame. Jenna has had another great season of riding.

The kids came along this time, so I took some pictures. They are just too cute not to! ;))

What's UP????

2011-05-16T16:29:00.006-04:00

PROJECTS GALORE THIS WEEK!!

I had a few projects today. The first one....I painted that wood heart and then painted the word "LOVE" on it. I like it. ;))

Then I revamped this old chair.....to actually look older. LOL :D So...it was an old chair and I took out the middle......and then painted it to look old. I will then put a big flower pot in the middle and it will look so pretty! I love it and I can't wait to get some flowers! I'll show that picture later.... ;)

The kids have been working hard at washing, sorting and bagging golf balls. (we live on a golf course, so they collect them) We're getting ready for a garage sale and the kids are going to make some money selling golf balls! (or so they hope! ;)

Jenna is the hardest little worker. She will work and work...until the job is done. A lot like me I'm afraid. ;) The boys bailed a while ago to go play outside. She'll be getting the largest portion of the profit!

LOOK AT ALL THIS SORTING!!! There are SO MANY kids clothes to go through! Yikes! This is one box on the floor and I have all those bins to sort and mark. I'll be happy to have them GONE though!

Here is our pile so far...minus a few things, but it's growing and growing! I probably could have done a garage sale on my own, but I'm adding my stuff to my sister's garage sale. I hope most of it goes! It will be nice to get rid of it all! I can't believe with as much as we move, the amount of stuff we still need to get rid of!

And the 11 Vera Bradley bags that I'm selling. I like them, but I just have so many. It's time some of them go and find a happy home! ;))

Now....to make dinner and head to a baseball practice! We always have a practice or game every night of the week! I'm so thankful the sun is out today! ;))

CASA

2011-05-13T16:18:00.004-04:00

Jacob and Peyton are playing CASA soccer and loving it. They love all sports, so it's always a blast. I love watching them play and have so much fun too! ;) Peyton's team is so cute. They are a hoot to watch!

Peyton actually has really good coordination and follows the ball so well. He's made a lot of goals so far and is really doing well!

I think it helps to have a brother 5 years older that plays as hard as he can against his little brother. That just helps Peyton in the long run. ;)

Drink break!

Jacob is all over the field and usually wherever the ball is! He's amazing to watch and has endless energy! He's #4! (in the middle with the ball)

In the middle again....going after the ball hard.

...battle between him and the other team to get that ball!

My 2 soccer stars! Soccer is over next week and baseball is starting! I'm thankful for my awesome boys! I love them so much and I'm so proud of their gifts and talents!

More Cupcakes???

2011-05-13T15:52:00.002-04:00

Ok, so apparently I wasn't too bothered by the fact that I just made 250 cupcakes 2 days ago, because I made some more today! ;)

These are actually homemade brownies and not cake. They have dark chocolate chips in them and they are covered in ganache and coffee buttercream on top! SOOOO RICH AND YUMMY!!

I needed to take a dessert to my sister's tonight and I thought this would hit the spot! With all the caffeine, we'll probably never go to sleep! ;))

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes

2011-05-11T11:32:00.002-04:00

This week has been all about CUPCAKES for me! ;) I was asked to make 250 cupcakes for our Awana Awards Ceremony. Today was my deadline....tonight is the ceremony and they are DONE! Yah! My first time ever making that many cupcakes at one time! It was crazy hard work, but also really fun and taste yummy! I tip my hat to all the bakers out there. That is tough labor!

We had cupcakes all over the kitchen. I made chocolate fudge and yellow. The chocolate are filled with vanilla cream and the yellow are filled with chocolate cream. Then all are iced with a Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

In Awana, there are 3 groups of kids. There are the Cubbies. (ages 4-6) Here are the "Cubby" bears I made and their color is blue, so I also made some blue sparkly cupcakes.

Then there is Sparks! This is Peyton's group! (K5-2nd) I made the little "Sparky" guy on the cupcake for some of them.

.....and did some plain red sparkles for the other half.

Here is Jenna and Jacob's group! The T & T group. (Truth and Training ages 3rd-5th) This is their little 'badge' that they have and they earn bones when they say verses.

So here are some of their cupcakes.....

All packed up and ready to go! I could not fit 50 to a box, so I had some over flow, but it wasn't too bad. It will be many trips into the church, but hopefully they make it ok.

We're looking forward to the awards program tonight! The kids are very excited about it. They worked hard this year and learned a lot of Bible verses. We're very proud of them and know they did well! ;)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

2011-05-08T18:05:00.003-04:00

I had a great Mother's Day with my family. We had high 70 degree weather, the sun was shining, blue skies.....perfect grilling weather! ;) We went to church and then came home and everyone came to our house for dinner. The men grilled steaks and made all the food! It was delicious!

Here is my Mom and I. My sister had to work, so we were sad that she couldn't be there today with her family. We packed her food 'to go' though. ;)

Here's Brady and Tim....hanging out with Brady, while Mark and Dad grill up the steaks.

Then it was time to EAT! It was all SO good and very summery! What a blessing to have such a wonderful family and wonderful kids!

I also got the sweetest homemade bird houses from each of the kids and some pretty potted flowers and homemade cards. Jenna also made me a frame! So sweet when it all comes from the heart ;)

Happy Mother's day, Mom! I'm so blessed to have you for a Mom!

Hope all you mother's out there had a blessed day!

Home Depot Mother's Day Craft

2011-05-07T13:32:00.006-04:00

So in my post below.....I mentioned that our Daddies (my husband and my sister's husband) took the kids to Home Depot to do their Mother's Day craft. Home Depot does this once a month for kids and it's FREE! They get an apron, safety glasses and badges on their apron for the art project they complete that week. So here is a little video that my brother n law took while they were there making their Mother's Day project. My kids love this sort of hands on thing, so I know they were so into it! Next month the Mom's can take the kids and do the Father's Day project!! ;D Just another way to spend some fun time with your kids!

PS...I would just like to mention that before Mark left (my husband in the video) he said he wasn't going to help the kids much with their project and just let them do their own thing. I told him that would be easy for me, because I'm not as picky with the way things turn out when it comes to their art projects. He on the other hand is obsessed with being very detailed and perfectionist to a T with woodworking. I knew he wouldn't be able to help himself! I was right and I'm glad it's caught on tape. He's practically working up a sweat trying to do that project with Pey. LOL :))

Mother's Day Weekend Begins.....

2011-05-07T12:42:00.003-04:00

Ok...not yet....I forgot about these pictures.

So I found some pictures of Peyton's birthday that I never put up. So here they are. We always do a special 'birthday pancake' on their birthday. Everyone else gets a regular pancake, but the special person gets frosting or homemade buttercream on top and sprinkles. mmmm...they love it!! ;)

......and feel special. Which is the whole point. ;)

This was his birthday morning.....and then he opened his gifts from us! What a special guy! We love him! ;))

We're having a FUN weekend with family. My sister's kids came over this morning at 8am to play for the morning, while their Mom worked and their Dad volunteered for the church cleaning day.

So here is Brady doing what he loves best! Uncle Mark lifting him up 923 times to the hoop to

'soot da ball'. ;))

They had fun playing on the trails, playing with the dirt bike and playing soccer. So happy for the sunshine and great kids!

Then Mark packed all the kids up to go to Home Depot to do their once a month kids project. I think they are making something for Mother's day today, so that should be cute. ;)) Next month they make something for Father's day, so take your kiddos!! ;D

Tomorrow my family is coming over for Mother's Day dinner after church. The men are doing a good job planning the dinner and the day. It's nice to feel special and I LOVE my job as a Mom more than anything! ;))

Nuts or Normal??

2011-05-04T10:23:00.002-04:00

I just agreed to make 250 cupcakes for our church Awana program next week. I am very excited for the challenge. I am not a bakery.....but I may be classified as one after baking 250 cupcakes and delivering them! Not sure if that's nuts or normal, but I'm happy about it! :)

I'll maybe have an answer to that question after next week.

Stepping out of your comfort zone keeps life interesting..... ;)

How to be the COOLEST Mom in the world......

2011-05-03T14:38:00.003-04:00

......make a GIANT chocolate chip cookie! ;)

The kids thought it was the coolest thing and we actually all thought it tasted better too. AND....it's so much faster to just dump all the cookie dough onto a pizza pan, rather than making individual cookies. Just sayin......

Cut into wedges and enjoy! ;)

My new favorite dressing......and some other happenings.

2011-05-02T14:17:00.003-04:00

So it was pretty busy there for a while with all of Peyton's birthday parties and the Easter events. I think life is settling down slightly for us this week. However....we are still in the midst of both boys playing soccer and gearing up for baseball and Jenna is in horse camp. The kids church program, Awana, is coming to an end soon as well. It will be so nice when school is out, the spring sports are over and we're able to take a breather. ;) Peyton is really enjoying his new golf clubs and can't wait to get out on the course to try them out. For now....he plays around the yard.

So the grilling has begun at our house! LOVE that about summer! I also love eating more salads and 'lighter' food. This is my NEW favorite dressing! It's Strawberry Poppyseed and it's SO yummy! I love to put it on a bed of lettuce with strawberries, pecans and feta cheese. Yum! Just thought I'd pass it along in case you were wondering if you should give it a try. ;)

Our other big happenings around here lately, is finding a new house to buy! We're on the search for a 'fixer upper'. It's fun to look and dream about what we could do with a house that needs some love and turn it into home. ;) We hope to find one that catches our eye soon and begin the fun of a renovation!

I am grateful for the spring weather and the beautiful flowers and tree buds popping up all over. There is nothing like the smell of spring! ;)

Good Book....

2011-04-27T15:36:00.001-04:00

Very good book! I read it in less than 3 hours. It's an easy read and I recommend it to all! ;)

HaPpY biRtHdAy PEYTON!

2011-04-25T11:28:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday little buddy! 6 years ago today, I gave birth to the sweetest little boy. I can not believe my baby is already 6 years old and going into 1st grade next fall! Yikes! Time flies when you're having fun with these little kiddos! He's such a sweet, kind-hearted little guy and he makes us laugh daily. He has such a big caring heart and a great sense of humor. We love him very much and we're so happy God chose him for our family! I'm so proud of you and so happy I get to be your Mom!

Happy Birthday! ;)

Easter Sunday 2011

2011-04-24T21:24:00.007-04:00

This Easter we were able to be together with my whole family. We haven't been all together since Christmas, so it was nice to be all together again! We treasure our family times.

We all went to church together this morning and my niece Abby was baptized! What a wonderful way to start the Easter morning! Her Dad was even able to do the baptism with her.

Then we went to my parents house for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt! The kids had such a great time finding eggs all over the yard! Here are some pictures of the day......

.....searching high and low.

Ben was really searching.....

...such sweet cousins.

....Brady had fun running around the yard and even found some eggs!

.....some more sweet cousins.

.....Peyton found all of his!

After the kids found all their eggs outside, Papa and Na had a special gift for them inside. They each got a dvd.

What a fun family weekend together!

We're so blessed!

Happy Easter!

Soccer Party Weekend

2011-04-24T18:05:00.006-04:00

Look at these two cuties. ;) They were buddies all week. Jenna will miss little Ben this week, but it was fun having him with us.

My side of the family got together this weekend for Peyton's birthday party. We also celebrated Papa and Katie's birthday. We did a Soccer party on Saturday!

Here are some of the decorations leading up to the house....

Table decorations....

We had some black and white treats.....

Peyton opening his gifts...

Katie and Jenna

Papa opening his gifts. Curt got him some personalized golf balls....

We enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and playing basketball outside. It was a nice day to be outside. ;)

The 3 birthday people with the soccer cupcakes.

Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes....YUM!!

Soccer Party Preperations.....

2011-04-22T10:36:00.004-04:00

We're doing a birthday party for our April birthdays this weekend and we decided on SOCCER! We're celebrating Papa, Katie and Peyton's birthdays. Katie and Peyton are both in spring soccer right now, so I thought it would be the perfect theme. Today I'm getting the decorations and cupcakes, etc. ready to go! The picture above is Ganache filled Marshmallow Soccer balls. They look a little strange, because....well....soccer balls are hard to make. :D BUT....I think they'll taste awesome with the ganache inside. ;) I just thought I'd give it a whirl and the kids think they look great, so that's all that matters. ;)

I'll be busy with party stuff this weekend, but many pictures to follow next week.

On to making chocolate cupcakes filled with cream and buttercream frosting on top....made to look like soccer balls of course. ;)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Resurrection Rolls: Easter activity for the kids

2011-04-20T20:06:00.004-04:00

Earlier in the day we read John 19 & 20 and then later we did a fun Easter activity to go along with the reading.

The crescent roll represents the cloths that Jesus was wrapped in, the marshmallow represents Jesus (being pure and without sin), the butter represents the embalming oil and the cinnamon/sugar represent the spices they used to prepare Jesus for burial.

We dunked the marshmallow in the butter, rolled it in the spices and then wrapped it in the crescent roll. (talking about the Bible passage along the way and what each item represents.)

Not so pretty, but they got the point across. ;)

We put them in the oven (tomb) and closed the door. When they were ready....we pulled them out of the tomb and.......

IT WAS EMPTY!! Nothing inside.....so cool!

They were really tasty too! If you'd like to do this with your little ones......the instructions are below!

Happy Easter! He has RISEN!

Ingredients:

One can of crescent roll dough

8 large marshmallows (or one for each roll you’ll be making)

Melted butter

Cinnamon sugar

Bible or Easter storybook

Assemble rolls and read the story:

1. Read John 19 while the oven is pre-heating according to the package directions. If you’re really on top of things, spend the week before reading John 12-18 with your kids.

2. Unroll the crescent rolls. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.

3. Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus… all white and pure because He was without sin.

4. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils.

5. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.

6. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll cloth, pinching the dough together securely. Don’t worry about the shape so much, they’ll taste the same no matter how you roll or bundle them. This represents how they would have wrapped Jesus’ body. I like to brush them with more melted butter, but it’s not necessary.

7. Put the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the package.

8. While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.

9. Open the tomb and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow.

A Spot Of Tea...

2011-04-20T12:13:00.002-04:00

Last night we had Jolly Rancher Popsicles for a snack and they were yuuummmmy! Ben wanted to show his Popsicle to you all....

Jenna and Ben have been having fun with a tea party this morning! They played for over an hour, so they enjoyed their tea time together. I see a new tea set in Ben's future! ;))

....folding his napkin.

......pouring his own tea.

.....pouring Jenna's tea. What a gentleman.

......Easter egg coloring pictures to follow... ;)

Pizza Makin Dinner & Outside Playtime.....

2011-04-18T19:14:00.004-04:00

PIZZA MAKIN TIME!!

So I gathered the kiddos......

.....they love to play in the dough! :)

Time to add the butter to the crust...

.....spread the sauce and add the cheese.

Pile it on, Ben! ;)

Ben's pizza......he went waaaay overboard with the green pepper. ha!

This picture is funny. They all pointed to their pizza and it cracks me up! ;)

After dinner they went outside to play again. They had fun on the swing set.

Then they ran in the woods and on all the trails.

Cute kiddos.....

Ben and Peyton tried to give me their best close up.

Peyton said he was trying really hard to smile. ;)

I think the relaxed look is a little nicer.... ;)

We had a fun and busy day today! I think we should all sleep well tonight! ;)

Tomorrow....we will attempt coloring Easter eggs....with 4 kids, 1 adult and 3 different types of coloring kits! Then later in the afternoon...horse camp and 2 soccer games! I better get to bed early! ;)

Pillow obsession or just needed comfort? ;)

2011-04-18T15:45:00.002-04:00

So how many pillows do you have on your bed?? I have a total of 14. I have a slight obsession with pillows (or so my husband thinks), but I love to sleep on lots of fluffy pillows. ;))

The Week Of Ben.....

2011-04-18T14:10:00.002-04:00

.....and soccer starting for both boys (3 evenings of games this week....yikes!), horse camp, Awana, Easter egg coloring, Peyton's birthday party planning for the weekend when we have a house full of company, Mark gone on a business trip, etc., etc., but we're having so much fun and love every minute of it. I can't believe Easter snuck up on me that quickly and so did Peyton's birthday and spring sports! April and May are a bit crazy, but will make us so happy for a break in the summer. ;)

I have the best kids and the best nephews!! Ben is such a fun little boy to have around and he brings me lots of smiles. :D I'm so glad we have him this week! We're all enjoying him and having a blast!

We had to do some riding/chasing around the house with the scooter.

.....this is so much fun and gets out lots of energy! ;)

Little boys are the BEST for wrestling.....

....and making gigantic forts in the basement!

Mark and Ben having a little breakfast meeting this morning. Mark was doing a little work on his computer and Ben wanted to sit right next to him while he ate his breakfast. ;)

Good times.....great memories!

Weekend Away.....

2011-04-17T12:54:00.003-04:00

We had a fun weekend visiting some of our favorite people! ;) First, we went to my brother's house in Fort Wayne and helped them move into their new house! The kids had fun playing and it was fun to see their new place!

Mom and Melissa sitting on their new couch!

The next day we headed to Lansing to a birthday party! The kids had so much fun seeing their old friends again.

Here is Jenna and Grace.

Gracie, Jenna and Grace.....such sweet friends.

Peyton (nice smile, Pey!), Jacob and Caleb! (Caleb was the birthday boy!!)

These 3 had a lot of fun together when we lived in Lansing.

Jacob, Teddy and Caleb....good buds!

My good friend, Marla....the Mom of the birthday boy! ;)

Loved hanging out again....even if it was only for a few hours!

We were at the MAC for the birthday party and the kids went swimming after they ate lunch.

They all had a good time.

Here is Gracie, Jenna and Peyton.

Jenna and Gracie

Peyton playing with the fountains and Jenna under the mushroom.

Jacob stayed over by the basketball hoop and played basketball with all the boys most of the time.

Then we went back up to the room for cake!

It was an awesome cake from Cold Stone Creamery and it was GOOD!!!

Happy Birthday, Caleb! Thanks for inviting us! We had a great time spending time with our friends again. We'll make a plan to hang out more this summer! ;)

What a fun weekend with family and friends!

SPRING.....at last! ;)

2011-04-13T09:52:00.002-04:00

I feel a little MIA lately, but we've been so busy with SPRING! It's so nice to have such warm weather and beautiful sunshine again lately! We've been cleaning out the gardens and busy with the lawn care. Soon we'll be able to plant flowers and vegetables in the gardens! I love spring and the newness of it all! ;)

Jenna started horse camp yesterday and loves to be back around her horses again! She's looking forward to the 6 week camp again.

This weekend we're going to help my brother and his family move, go to a friend's birthday party on the way home and then have my other little nephew here for a week!

The boys start soccer and baseball next week too!

Busy, fun days ahead! I'll post here and there as I can!

Happy Spring! ;)