*Wordless Wednesday*

A sneak peek of our CHRISTmas break!

UPDATE: I got word on my van. The computer is shot, they have to order it. It will be done on Monday... ONE WEEK! Praising God that is is UNDER WARRANTY AND THEY ARE LETTING ME KEEP THE VAN NO CHARGE until mine is done!!! Can't believe we blew another computer (we had issues with the impalas computer... twice.)
CHRISTmas cards are done and I have twenty more ordered. When those are gone, if you didn't get one, sorry. Out of luck!
Please pray for Stellan who has RSV and has been admitted to the PICU. And Auntie Mary who is going to attempt to get home tomorrow. SNOW + Airport = a need for migraine medicine!

Well, we made it. We survived the CHRISTmas weekend with everyone in tact. I did not even have to use my migraine meds... although the events of yesterday... nearly pushed me over the edge.
As soon as I get my house cleaned and the stink out I will post photos of our weekend. But here is a sneak peek.

• CHRISTmas eve day, driving north in a blinding snow storm... trip should have taken less than three hours, took four. Arrived safe and sound to a warm home, a BEAUTIFUL ~ huge CHRISTmas tree, and a 52 inch flat screen TV. Merry CHRISTmas if I ever saw one!
• Snow gear on. CHECK. Sleds hooked to back of snow-mo-bile. CHECK. kids in helmets. CHECK. D eating his share of snow. CHECK. winter fun... Absolutely.
• CHRISTmas morning, "Santa" spoiled. CHRISTmas church. CHRISTmas naps. More snow fun. Wait for in-laws. Open gifts, spoiled again. Standing rib, riced potatoes, and all the fix'ns. A day spent with family.
• Friday, SNOW! Trip to Escanaba for the the ornaments that I "needed". Nice time spent with sister-in-law. More snow fun! I even got to ride on the sled... until I broke the string and L and I got booted to the other snow-mo-bile.
• Saturday, RAIN! Can you say sloppy mess. Alumni basketball game, fun to see hubby play ball. Slip in parking lot (H gets soaking wet). In safe, that's where we stay. Address all 100 CHRISTmas cards, realize we are 11 or so short.
• Sunday, SNOW and ICE! Packing, ready to go home! 11:45 "our time" we set out... van stuffed to the gills... can you say spoiled. 10 miles down road, phone rings, I forgot my "backpack" (diapers, meds, vitamins, more meds, more vitamins, wipes, camera, did I mention diapers... the kind you can not buy in the UP) we turn around and head back. Head out again, fifteen miles back down the road... WAHM.... van jolts into "limp home mode" let's just say, 25 mph on a busy, icy highway isn't where we wanted to be. Pull over, cycle the key call our mechanic... what the heck is he going to do three hours away? Not a dang thing be we needed him to know we were in deep trouble. Jeremy gets it out of "limp home mode" and we are off again... five miles down the road... WAHMMMMMM... "limp home mode again... this time we can't get out of it. We drive very carefully back to the in-laws. Arrive back at 1:15 "our time". Can you say, Mama might need some migraine meds soon.... actually I was fine... We called our jobs and let them know the situation. Call my parents to "brief" them. Get back to grandma not needing us there for three more days. You know it would take that long for us to find someone to fix it and then wait for them to get it right... Might I add, this was "fixed" in September(but that is a whole nother story). Grandpa and Jeremy head out to borrow a car trailer. We were NOT paying for a tow because we did not break it. Our plan, take it to the local (45miles away) dealer Monday morning. Grandpa and grandma's plan, take us home to our house... Van loaded. Grandpa's truck loaded with him, Jeremy, H and W. Grandma's vehicle laded with her, me, D and L. Oh, yah, I didn't mention, the only vehicle we all fit in is our van... which is on a trailer. Drive three and a half hours, we get home.
• HOME, STINK! We left the neighbors with a house key and asked them to get our mail, paper and take care of the snow. OH and boy did they ever. BUT, they must have seen a light on in the house (snaps tank) and came in and unplugged it. BUT, they unplugged the filter too.... one dead fish, and a whole lot of stink! You think my house stinks of dirty diapers on a normal basis, you are right, let's just say, this did not come close to comparing to that smell. And even though we changed the filter and got it running... the house STILL STINKS. Oh, and my beautiful wreath on the side of my home no longer lights up either, they took care of all the lights... he hit the cord with the snow blower!!! Oh well, the house is still warm and standing.

Got work to do, I will update this post with photos and an update on my van, soon. Oh yah, the place the broke it and "fixed" it last time has it again... and I have a rental... again. We are not stranded!

I might add that we are ALL healthy and safe so there are no complaints. Praising God that I have in-laws that love me enough to bring me home... Now if we can survive the kids week off of school!

Merry CHRISTmas to you and your family. Luke 2: 1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels 8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Remembering the Reason for the season.

*Wordless Wednesday*

Explanation: I was going to blog about the time we had going out and cutting down our own tree and the decorating process. All the photos to go with it. I was so excited. THEN, yesterday morning we were all in the kitchen getting ready to leave for school and we heard a huge crash. This is what I found. Seeing how the entire tree was starwars and glass bulbs with the exception of my favorite glass frog there was glass and figures strune EVERYWHERE. D will tell you that H did it... (really, no one did, it just came over). All of the starwars (I have been collecting them for Jeremy for almost ten years) except one were just fine. The bulbs... well, let's just say while at walmart, we purchased some more. The tree currently stands lights in complete disarray with the star, four figures and two bulbs on it. Jeremy is going to put it in a different stand. We are currently on damage control at our house. Oh and by the way, NO ONE touches the tree. That is unless you ask daddy nice if you can make on of the ornaments talk. Coming soon: our CHRISTmas tree. The complete story from cut to beautiful again. Oh and by the way, my frog was just fine too... you can see the bottom (green) of it in the "rubble". Did ya click on the photo? Gotta to fully grasp my mess. Did I mention that it was full of water at the time too...

Happy birthday to you! My sweet eight year old!

Yep, you got it, H is eight today. Spending his birthday as a "snow" day.

Happy birthday!!!

**due to technical difficulties you will have to bare with me for the photos of his "little days"**

11:54pm tonight marks TWO YEARS!

Happy Second Birthday L!

*photo edited to meet blog protocol.

Happy Fifth Birthday E!

*cousins born on the same day three years apart.

*Wordless Wednesday*

left to right : My mom, me ,(behind me) Jeremy, sister Mary with D on her lap, brother Noah with L on his lap, brother Adam with W on his lap, Kellie (Adam's wife), sister Sara with H on her lap, (behind Sara) brother Luke, brother Seth with E on his lap (Sara's son).

Update on my hunter!!

Saturday afternoon Jeremy got a five point buck. As you can see he was a decent size. He hung in the "slaughter house" over night to drain and on Sunday Jeremy took H and W with him to pick it up.

All of the processing was done in the in-laws garage by Jeremy and us (I include myself because I was the photographer! You think I am going to touch that you got another thing coming!) All of the children (yes even L) observed and helped where ever they could.

I love the picture with the legs. They carried them around for quite a while!

They checked out the head a lot. Even opened it's mouth and such. What a great way to learn!

For a little boy that in years past could not even be in the garage with a deer because he would throw up, W sure did a whole lot of work. Here he is proud of the tenderloin!

If you have spoken to me before, you know that we process all of our meat. Here Jeremy and his dad are taking care of it. I have all (26lbs) of it and am working on getting it vacuum sealed and the hamburger ground to be put in the freezer and made into jerky.

The deer below was shot by Nancy... on her 72 birthday! From the same blind that Jeremy got his little guy (which, it isn't little until you see this monster!).

A very generous lady for allowing us to hunt on her land! Thank you and Happy Birthday!

You have read a about MckMama on my blog before... Remember Stellan... Anyway, if you were looking for somewhere to make a small (or large) donation this year check out her blog (press the button above). All the details are there let's just put it this way you can win a HUGE camera package. If you don't have the money to donate you can leave a comment with the proper information (read the fine print at the bottom of her post) and be entered also. Pass on this information for a great cause!
Happy day.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Update on my hunter!

"No luck, stuck duck". No deer this weekend for Jeremy but that is not due to lack of trying. Two missed opportunities and a jerk (who was not back Sunday morning) made for a long weekend. But he will have more opportunities in the coming weeks.
How did you all do? Any venison to warm the tummies at your house? Hopefully after this coming weekend in the UP we will have some to stock our freezer.
Happy day.

"The view from my boots"! and a little bit of Not me Monday!

Much to delight of my children I present to you the "view from my boots" this morning!

One way to expel some energy before school is to log some shovel time! They were sure happy to do it!

Not Me! Monday! Hosted by MckMama

Now, I certainly have not missed many past Mondays so I am NOT going to pack a few weeks into one!

One a recent trip up north I certainly did not do ALL of the packing/van too including a bucket for the one with the "self inflicted flu"
On that same trip (which I had to drive) I certainly did not take a photo of my son sleeping in his chair because he was so cute.

I most certainly did not take two of my children shopping down by the mall this weekend. That would have meant a whole lots of unnecessary work.

I did not utilize all of what our church has to offer when it comes to children so that I could actually hear the entire service.

I did not contemplate allowing my parents to take our almost two year old along on a fourteen hour drive week long trip west just so that I could have a break.

I did not have an important meeting (which all four of my children were present without the help of Jeremy) with important paper work (so much so that it comes with it's own instructions on how to do the paper work) that I did not have to make 79 copies for. That would have been silly for me to spend so much money on paperwork and have my kids there. No way was it a loud disheveled mess.

Lately I certainly did not ask a friend is she was feeling okay (thought she looked "pregnant") only for her to tell me it was a "cold".
That same girl certainly did not come to me the next week and confirm my question with the appropriate... 12 weeks along, how did you know!?!

I am not looking forward to my kids having five days off in a row this week (really, I am not). Good thing we will be up north and have Auntie Mary for reinforcements too!

Okay, so I am not going to incriminate my self any more this week. Hope you all have a happy day! Going out to play in the snow with the littles!

Deer Hunting church survival kit:

Sunday school x 2
"adult staffed childcare" x 2
Equipment received: 1 vibrating pager
Added all up, makes for an entire service heard by a weary mama! Refreshed by the Word and ready to finish my weekend.
So how did you do this weekend? How did your hunter do?
My hunter you ask? Well, he had a few frustrating moments... stubborn jerk of a hunter squatted right next to his blind. Have not heard anything from him today. Don't dare call him for fear his phone would ring and I would be the one to scare the potential deer away!
I will update when I know more.
Happy day.

NoTe To SeLf:

Do not start blanket project after 9:30 at night and half way through take an hour break!...

One down... three to go! Talkin blankets here folks, not children.

Good night!

Another did ya know edition of me!?!

Okay, so I am supposed to be making a blanket tonight ('cause it is just me and the kids and I should really accomplish it... maybe in a minute).

• Did ya know that my husband hunts and I don't mind letting him go by himself. Really, I don't. By the end of the time I may regret it just a bit, but that is just because the kids drive me crazy sometimes.
• I got a clean bill of health the other day , well sort of, but it was better than I could have prayed for.
• I had my nose broken twice (once by a flight of stairs and once by a girl and a golf putter).
• I enjoy cooking but dislike baking immensely. BUT I do bake a pumpkin roll (complete with cream cheese frosting in the middle) from scratch. YUM YUM!
• I dislike immensely (we don't use the word hate here) brushing my teeth.
• There are times when brushing my teeth (and cleaning my ears) makes me gag... REALLY bad. That is not a good sign at all (it usually means I am expecting....)
• Don't get your undies in a bundle, that last one was not a hint at anything I AM NOT, it is just a fact about me.
• I love food, especially non breakfast type food for breakfast (ie. leftovers from supper)
• I have four blankets to make before Christmas and the only start I have on them is all of the fleece is purchased.
• I wear a mouth guard to bed and quite honestly I wake up with dragon breath! YUCK!
• I yell a lot. I don't like and am trying to change it. Working hard on that.
• If we can treat something with out a prescription/over the counter medication we do it.
• My mom and I have the same nutrition book so that we can "be on the same page" when she is helping me decide how to treat whom ever needs to be treated.
• I used to be on a paintball team.
• I have had surgery on my foot twice. OUCH!
• My parents and my husband would agree that my feet are very expensive.
• I have been granted permission (from the hubby of course) to go to the podiatrist to get my feet checked (have not been to one in over eight years) to get my orthotics (oh yah, I wear those too) redone. I have had them for sixteen years and really think it is time to up date them.
• I plan to start running again after I get my feet checked. Hopefully someday burn enough fat off to start running competitively again. (I really don't like when I can feel things jiggle when I move!)

Okay, enough about me. Anything that you have been just dying to ask? Shoot. Maybe, just maybe I will answer.

Happy "deer hunting widows" weekend!

can you smell that?

That's it, take a deep breath. Can you smell it now? Ohhhh if you like the smell of jerky, come on over. I have three pounds of it in the dehydrator right now. Seven more pounds to go but it takes four hours for each batch we will make the rest tomorrow. This venison was given to us (I ground it into burger) so all we had to do was buy the seasoning/cure (the dehydrator is on loan) so it is a really inexpensive snack, that we can share!

you think he's feeling better?!?

"I went to the Dentist and he feel'd me better...(big huge smile) can I have a snack?" If there was any doubt in my mind if he was feeling better, that let me know for sure. He is spunky and playing on the floor with his blocks. He even let me see his work in his mouth. (and ate and kept down french fries, four chicken nuggets, a banana and a snack). He wont let me have a picture of him and he wants me to get him dressed. He suddenly realized he is still in his Thomas pajamas. *now he is in the fridge begging for a piece of pizza... too bad we don't have any!
Thanks for the prayers.
Happy day.

waiting game...UPDATE

UPDATE: 11:30am. We have been home for an hour. He wanted an ice cream shake but they said no dairy...grrrrrr. So, we stopped at Burger King and got a cherry slushy. Of course if we stop there we have to get nuggets too. I thought for sure he would just drink but he is really enjoying the nuggets. He is doing great. Talking really funny because he is pretty swollen but otherwise in good spirits. We plan to curl up for some quality time watching Tom and Jerry and a nap too. His biggest concern... he doesn't want L at grandmas house. He is so used to her being here and together all the time that it has been pretty tough. Well, we are off, to curl up.
Up before it was light out this morning D and made our way to the outpatient wing of our local hospital. Major dental work (ya' know the kind that requires financing) is what is on for today. Happy and unassuming he enjoyed picking out a stuffed duck and meeting everyone who came into his room. Every ten minutes or so he would ask if it was time to go home yet... A little vercet(sp?) and a wagon ride later he was off to the "restricted area". Kiss (that he wont remember, and "no, you can't have a bottle for home")he was ready to go. He is getting all the work done right now as I type... listening to Lincoln Brewster and playing the waiting game. If you have a moment put up a prayer for him to be safe with the anesthesia. I will update later when we are at home. Thank you to Auntie Mary and mom and dad who are helping with the kids today. We appreciate you.
Happy day.

**vercet = a wonderful syrup that makes the kids loopy enough to slur words, unable to walk and they don't remember anything. Act just like they are hammered. If you have ever dealt with it, you probably asked for a bottle to take home too.**

"My mom in the morning" by W

"My mom in the morning" by W

I thought he did a really nice job. Jeremy said "yes, he made you look even better than you ever do!" Thanks hon. Love you too.

Happy Monday to all of you. (you can click on the picture of extra detail. He was pretty upset because L colored a little bit of black ink on it... I think it is great! My baby loves me just the way that I am.)

Look what I got!!

Okay so I had not been to a grocery store in three and a half weeks. We have bought milk but at a local gas station (for $1.99 a gallon) but had decided to eat what was in the house. Well today, I went (because it was so bad we were even out of butter! and Jeremy "had nothing to take in his lunch"). I spent $129.00 (that includes a coupon savings of $67) which isn't too bad considering how long it had been. But check out the deal I got on chicken at our local grocery store.

"Buy $25 worth of Golden plump chicken products get $10 off automatically" was the deal. Well the family pack(3.5lbs) of legs were marked $5 a pack and the whole chickens(3.5lbs) were marked $5 a piece. So, I bought three packs of legs and two chickens. (each item will make at least two meals for us) they also allowed me to use 4 $1 off any Golden plump item. In other words I got 17.5 lbs of chicken for $11!!! That is $.63 per pound!!!

I was too excited not to share! Hope you all have a great weekend. If you want to check out other great deals people found check out Money Saving mom!

Happy day.