Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow – Enough already!

It is snowing again at 1:12 am as I'm writing this! it will definitely be a white Christmas this year. I'm sure glad I don't have anywhere I have to go tomorrow! or the next day...

Crop for a Cure

A friend and I set up the first annual Crop for a Cure in November. The proceeds will go to Lyle Area Cancer at their annual auction in January. It was a great success! We were hoping for 30-40 people. We had 80! We had so much fun too. We played “Let’s Make a Deal”, Pixie Stix races, had wonderful items donated for a silent auction, and a scrapbookers Garage Sale! We also had a few massage therapists donate their time for us to have massages. It was a wonderful day and we look forward to the 2nd annual Crop for a Cure! For more information, visit http://www.lyleareacancer.org.

Fall Retreat

One of my favorite fall activities is the fall retreat! It was held at the Kottage again this year with my scrappin buddies! Here are a few of my favorite layouts I did while there!

Fall Fun

Not working has its benefits! I got to go on three field trips with my boys. I went on a trip to an apple orchard and vineyard, a trip to a zoo, and a trip to the fire station. I also got to help with their holiday parties at school.

The boys both competed in the Iowa State Pedal Pull this year. It is always fun to watch, even if the boys don’t win. They give it their all and have a fun time doing it. After the pull, we went to an apple orchard with some friends, and picked baskets of apples! to many apples!

Life Changes Things

I haven’t written on here for a long time, sorry about that. It is just that things haven’t been that great to write about. Like the title says – Life changes things. I found a sign in a crafty store that said that and I thought, that pretty much sums up this year!

In August, my boss lost his life to brain cancer. I truly admired and respected him, he was a wonderful and smart man. His memorial service was wonderful and so sad. God must of decided he needed him more.

The day that he passed away, my mom went in to the hospital. She never returned home. She was in and out of hospitals and the nursing home for a month. A week before she passed away, I lost my job that I had had for 10-1/2 years. It was both good and bad timing. I got to spend mom’s last week with her. I’d like to think that she knew we were with her. All us kids were with her when she gave in and let go. It was the hardest day of my life. I miss her terribly. It’s the little things, like making Christmas cookies with her, or calling her to tell her something cute the boys had done, that I really miss. There is an emptiness there that will never be replaced.

Life Changes Things. I am now without a mother or a job (or health insurance!) at Christmas time. Yet I am still grateful that we still have our house, our kids are healthy so far, and we have a lot to look forward to in the new year. Please let 2009 be a better year!

Zoo and Thomas in One Day!

On Friday we took the day off and went to the MN Zoo and then to Day Out with Thomas the Train. By the time we were on our way home, we were all tired and had sore legs and feet. That was a lot of walking! The highlight of the day was the 25 minute Thomas the Train ride, the kids absolutely loved it!

Finally 2-wheelin'!

Yesterday we finally took off the training wheels! We knew he could do it, he just didn't have the confidence in himself. He took off with no problem! He goes a little to fast for my liking though. Better keep the Aflac accidental insurance out a little longer :)

Fishin in the Dark!

Friday night I got to see one of my favorite bands - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band! The concert was great - I love these guys!

Never Bored

My kids are never bored! Here they are cleaning the woods, which they have a long way to go! They were using a rope and hooking up sticks to their pedal loader and hauling them to a burn pile. They had a friend over helping them and such a good time.

Fair Time

Last week was the county fair. My DH's boy took FFA pigs for the first time. He did very well and did a good job showing, especially since it was his first time. He ended up getting champion on the pen of three.

Win a grill!

You have a few more days (until the 18th) to enter a recipe for a chance to win a free grill from Char-broil and RecipeTips.com. Check it out and add your favorite recipes! Remember, if you win this grill, I'll take my steak medium well!

RecipeTips.com

Scrap!

Since I have titled this blog live, laugh, love, Scrap, I should share some scrapping layouts. Some of these were done at my cousin's retreat "up north" and some were done in my basement on a hot day. I've been enjoying playing with my Cricut and the software SCAL, it can do amazing things!







I want to add that we will be doing a "Crop for the Cure" on November 22. Email me for more information!

Mom turns 80!

Mom turned 80 on July 2nd and we had a wonderful birthday party for her. 115 of her closest friends and family attended! We had a simple supper and a cake with sparklers! We all did a lot of visiting with friends and relatives, some we don't see often and some we see every day. Relatives came from as far as North Dakota and it was fun visiting (and shopping!) with them.

I took over 200 pictures of the event! way to many to go through and post on here, plus some people may not want their photo splashed all over the internet. If you would like to see them, shoot me an email and I will send you the link to view them on Dotphoto.

Thanks to those of you who came to the party and helped make the night one my mom will never forget!

Way, Way Behind!

Seems like I'm way behind in everything these days! just can't catch up! We are now in the midst of Bible School so that takes up every night. I'll start trying to get my blog caught up.

Pedal Pulling at the Fair

Last night we hit the first fair in the area to have the kids do the pedal pull. They love doing these and they do very well at them.

They both ended up getting 1st place in their age groups! They got little toy tractors (12-wheelers as they call them), so they were happy! They get to go to the State Pedal Pull in Marshalltown in September now since they won.
They also got 10 free ride tickets so we hit the rides...
I think this ride was around when I was their age! just a few years ago :)

Swimming Lessons

Last night was the first night of swimming lessons. I wasn't to sure how it was going to go since whenever we've been in the pool, the kids wouldn't get their faces wet for me. 2 minutes in the pool with their instructors and they both dunked their heads!! I guess mom just isn't trustworthy enough!
They were both smiling the whole time - loving it!

Another Great Camping Weekend!

This past weekend we had another great time camping with some friends that have a permanent spot at Hickory Hills Campground. They have a nice pool and the kids had a blast. We got a little to much sun maybe but at least we are not ghostly white anymore!

After testing out one of these we had to go buy one!
The lodge sold these fun water guns. They kept the kids busy for hours! Definitely worth the 2 bucks!
This picture reminds me of Rambo for some reason :)

Once again, we had good food, good drinks, and good company!

First T-Ball Game

After a busy camping weekend, we came home, changed clothes and went to T-Ball where they had their first game. Teams were picked, t-shirts handed out, and Game on! I love watching t-ball! the kids are so cute learning how to play the game. Here are a couple of shots...


I'm finally caught up posting from last weekend! now I need to prepare for another weekend of camping. This weekend we are heading to Hickory Hills for another fun weekend of camping with friends!

Great Camping Weekend!

We had a great time this last weekend camping with some friends at Kamp Dels! The kids had a blast doing everything they love to do.

They got to play in the water park...

Play at the playgrounds...

Ride bike constantly...
Visit the petting zoo several times...
Swim...
and play mini golf!
The adults also had a great time playing bean bags among other things! We definitely will be going back here again someday. The weather was perfect, beer was cold, and food was good. Good Times! :)

More Flooding

Well my plea for no more rain didn't work. It has been awhile since I've posted and a lot has happened! On Wednesday night we got a lot more rain. They got a lot more in Austin, flooding the Cedar River. Remember this picture of the steep hill we went on 4-wheeling?

Here it is during the flood. It got a lot higher than this, but I wasn't there to take a picture! The water was even with the ground. Take one step into the water, and you'd be in for a big surprise!

We then went to my brothers to watch the water come up. They want to live on a lake but I don't think this way! They had moved the cattle again, and emptied out the basement in preparation. Here are a few pictures from earlier in the day.

Here are some more from just before we left. The water totally covered the driveway and was right up to the house.

They lucked out and didn't get much in the basement but it was close!

Rain Rain Stay Away!

We had quite a weekend with storms and rain constantly. We were away from home at a friends graduation party on Saturday when the major storms hit. There were tornado warnings for most of the day. Thankfully we didn't have any damage, just a lot of rain. When we got home, the first thing we did was check the basement for water. None! For once we had good timing, and just had re-routed our tile on Friday! otherwise I think we would of had a mess. Our sump pump is still running constantly, but at least it could keep up.

This is what we came home to:
After checking out our basement, we drove around to where we had heard tornadoes had touched down. The sky was incredible, changing by the minute. This photo is looking east, with the sun going down in the west, overlooking a flooded field.

Saturday morning the kids had a blast playing in the water between shots of rain.
Our driveway, notice the poor new trees!
Here is the new tile line that saved the day!
I have always wanted to live on a lake though, so I got to do that for a day or two!
Sunday night we went to my brothers to be there to help in case the river kept rising. The river is usually way behind these trees, but it had risen up past their garden. Thank goodness they didn't need to clean out their basement!
This is taken Sunday night on the road to my moms place. There is a cabin on the left side of the photo that was under water. I feel bad for those people.
So we had an exciting weekend, but it could of been a lot worse!