Sunday with friends.

We went to a 'mini cobber reunion' today,

with friends that live in the cities.

There was some grillin, jumpin in the bounce house

(of course we had to bring it!), lots of babies,

& some good conversation.

The conversation upstairs was all about breast feeding & pumping

& anything else baby

(can you tell the moms were upstairs)

& the conversation downstairs

was more than likely football!

Here's the wee ones of the party.

They sure had fun together

& Vance just starred at them!

Next time he'll be able to join in the fun more.

(Sadie, Dawson, Micah, Julia, Vance)

The 3 in the middle were born within 10 days of each other!

The boys enjoying some beer & football

 

We can't wait to get together again.

(Hopefully the Holt's & Atch's can make it next time.)

 

Bounce house.

The boys got an early birthday present.

I just couldn't wait for another month

to give them their BIG surprise.

Espeically knowing their gift

could keep them busy

so I could get

a few things done!

You won't believe what they got.
I still can't believe it.
They love it.
And we love it.
I haven't seen my kids since! haha

p.s. but I did overhear them saying, "This is the best gift I've ever got!"

Sunday.

Today was a big day.

The boys started Sunday school

& I started my first day of being a preschool Sunday school teacher.

I was wondering if it is something I really wanted to do

but after today, I love it.

Both boys get to be in the same class

which helped them not be so scared

& I was one of their teachers

& that turned out to be a good thing too.

 

But before the church festivities started

this was my sweet view this morning!

 

Don't you just love when dad's clean up the house!

 



Friendly get-together

Having 3 little ones

makes it difficult to get together

with our friends.

I love hanging out with everyone

& it does not happen enough.

We try to always be home at night

so the boys sleep better,

we don't have to pack anything

& we wake up at our own house!

That has become a big deal.

Which means we rarely spend the night anywhere

& it becomes hard to make it to

'hang out' during the late hours of the day!

So instead, I try to always have a get together

with the high school clan

at least once a year.

 

We recently had that get together

& it was tons of fun.

We missed several people who couldn't make it,

but hopefully next year it will work out!

 

The older kids hanging out during supper.

(Evelyn, Stella, Molly, Brock & Adler)

The littler ones grazing inside.

(Ruthie, Gracie & Edward)

Lyle maybe attempting 'the dunk'?! haha

The moms!

Every year I tend to have a few party give aways!

(otherwise known as crap around the house I need to get rid of)

Annie received my 15+ year old '23' hat

for when I was dating Mr. Vanliere

(gosh is that even how you spell his last name! haha),

Peter got the most valuable possession....

my old fanny pack, which included a spedometer & water bottle!

Mike got some old high school cds & salad bowl,

& Chris was the winner of a bunch of cabinet hardware

(to which he actually needed!)

  

I can't wait for the next time we get together.

It was lots of fun & I don't see them all enough.

 



 

Reading program.

We are fortunate to live in a town

that has the Great River Regional Library system.

So we take full advantage of all they have to offer kids.

As I mentioned before the boys are signed up for the

'Read 1000 books before kindergarten' program.

So that means we are always

renting out books,

reading books,

rereading books,

& getting lots of prizes!

 

At our recent stop at the library

the boys picked out

"beautiful bracelets"

as they called them.

They were so happy to have jewelry

just like mom! haha

 

Ohhh they're so funny.

 

p.s. check out their "beautiful bracelets!"

 



Big Lake Block Party

Every year Big Lake has a

Block Party at Mc Pete's.

It's a fun event for the whole family.

Jumping,

Sliding, 

Bowling,

Mini golfing,

Mini massages,

Hotdog plate dinner,

& lots more things to do & eat.

Neighbors.

All summer long

the boys have spent so much time

playing with the neighbors.

They wake up & get dressed

(well sometimes get dressed!)

& go outside & wait in the cul de sac

for their friends to show up.

And almost everyday they did!

I wonder when the older ones are going to stop playing with

the younger ones (my boys) & realize

there's cooler things to do?

I hope that time does not come too soon,

because Adler & Brock just adore them.

Nick, Jacob, Piper, Jewel

60th Birthday Party.

My parents celebrated their 60th Birthday's

with a big birthday bash on the farm.

There was lots of food & fun

to be had

with lots of great family & friends.

It was a splendid afternoon!

 

We brought a cake for the festivities.

It was so neat to have edible pictures of them on it.

Adler couldn't believe that grandma once had long hair! haha

I put together a few picture boards too!

Then us cousins got to go for a ranger ride through the

woods we always used to play in at 'grandpa's house'.

They couldn't believe how much it's changed.

It was pretty fun!

(Carrie, Valerie, Jasmine, Laura & I)

Then the Herdina's decided to go for a stroll on the ranger.

(Abby, Grandpa Eddie, Adler, Grandma Glad, Brock, Peyton & Vance)

Schultz cousins

 

Happy 60th Mom & Dad!



Freebies.

As garage sales whined down for the year

I should share a couple of my latest good finds!

 

Good deals constitute either being free

or SO cheap that it's basically free.

 

The people look at me like I'm crazy when

I grab their free stuff,

but I always think

why not grab it & when the boys are

sick of playing with it

I can throw it away without feeling bad,

because....of course it was free!

 

Here's Adler on the teal & purple scooter

I nabbed up for him.

He loves it,

even though it's a little girly. haha

And Brock decided he wanted the

pink & purple bike.

He asked Luke right away to get his training wheels

on this bike.

I actually took the bike for Grandma Glad's house

so the kids had another bike to play with.

But until then, Brock is enjoying it!

 

And my latest purchase was really a doozie.

Luke has wanted a pressure washer for some time now

& we keep trying to figure out if we should spend the money on it or not.

So the other day I told Luke I was going to go to a garage sale.

Just one.

He gave me 'the look'.

'The look' that is supposed to indicate that we don't need anything

else in our house.

Well of course I always ignore 'that look'

& withdraw a few bucks and head out with the kids.

He's thanking Jesus that I did stop at

the one garage sale

because little did he know

I found him a spendy pressure washer

Honda motor with some good power (to be exact)

for ONLY $25.00.

Who's giving 'the look' now?!

 

As soon as he got home from work he had to give it a test drive!

Smiles.

Vance has graduated

from his bassinet

to his big boy crib

as of 10 weeks old.

It's always a sad day when that happens.

It means we don't have a wee little one anymore.

But it's so nice to have him sleeping through

the night now!

What a big boy.

It's time to switch the closet

from 0-3 month clothes

& pack it with 3-6, 6-12 month clothes.

 

Here's Vancester taking his last nap

in his cuddly bassinet.

 

Mr. Smiley!



Backyard animals.

This summer our backyard

has been home to many 'different' animals.

We've seen several eagles

swoop down & eat squirrels...

in our backyard.

We've had momma deer & their babies

in our backyard.

9 turkeys roam our land & raise their young

in our backyard.

To top it off

Luke has been working on hunting moles

in our backyard.

 

Some days I wonder why I don't tape him

& name the video Caddyshack II

because that's just how it is around here.

He's researched.

He's sworn (a lot).

He's tried to trap.

He's tried to bait & kill.

And as of last night

he came in with a big smile on his face

and said, "I think I got 'em".

Ohh Lord we can only hope,

because the madness has to stop!

p.s. Here's our turkeys!