The time has finally come.

Yes, everyone, Ana has FINALLY lost a tooth!!! After months of watching her sister lose tooth after tooth, Ana has finally begun the process! She announced to me a few days ago that she finally had a loose tooth. Then, tonight while eating toast (as you can tell by the jelly on her cheek!), she got a funny look on her face and pulled something out of her mouth, to which she announced "Mom, IT'S MY TOOTH!!!" Everyone was so excited for her because she has been so very patient. Congratulations, Ana!!!!

In quiet moments...

See, already another post!!! After a great day with the kids today, we rented some movies - one of which I've been wanting to see since it came out, "7 pounds". Such an emotional movie, and I come from a long line of emotional people so I knew I would be crying a lot!!! It lived up to what I expected it to be and I indeed did cry. After the movie was over, it was time to put the kids to bed - Chad was already in bed because he wasn't feeling well and was very tired. Most nights Kale requests for daddy to lay with him for a little bit (a job which used to be mine since Chad traveled quite a bit for work previously). On cue, Kale looked at me when he climbed in to bed and asked "will you lay with me for a bit mommy?" So I laid down with him, leaned over and gave him a kiss and a hug, told him I loved him and that he needed to close his eyes. Next thing I knew, he grabbed his blankie and covered me up (because I lay on top of his covers for an easy escape!!!) and snuggled his puppy in to my arms as if to give me something to comfort me as well as it does him. He then put his hands on my face and said "there mommy, you're all better now. I love you too" and wedged his little arm under my neck and fell to sleep. As I lay there waiting for him to fall to sleep, I thought about how he was comforting me with his puppy...but what he probably didn't realize is that all I needed was that little arm around my neck to make my world better. The girls used to do sweet little things like this all the time when they were his age, and honestly still do - I think that's the difference between boys and girls. I'm usually conning Kale in to giving me a kiss by using bribery of some sort so I can get one!!! Every night when I go to bed, I thank God for all the wonderful moments I have been given throughout the day - even when it seems like there are few - but this was one of those moments that makes my life the most complete. Thank you God, for the most wonderful blessings in my life.

Terrible mommy

It feels like forever since I've sat to write - for some reason I keep busy!! It has proven to already be a busy summer and doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon. Before we know it, the girls will be heading back to school again!



As most parents do, you try to teach your children the value of hard work and the rewards that can follow. The girls, and even Kale, spent time with me picking rock this year!! The days were not without whining or fighting! Like all rock picking days, they were hot, so that didn't help things either. They did work as hard as I expected and even more at time, but not without reminder that they got "paid" for their work and that helped things along a little. A couple of weeks after we got done, we took the kids to Spencer to buy them their surprise, which was a trampoline!!! They have been BEGGING for one for almost 2 years now and we finally decided to give in. It's been a great investment though and many hours have already been spent on it. We were very excited to spend some time with my step-sister Carrie, and her family, from Texas this past week. It was fun to see their daughter, Melissa Grace (3), play with our kids and hold hands with the girls when they crossed streets! Hopefully she didn't leave for their journey to Michigan with too many bad habits!!!



Now we're in the process of trying to make our summer vacation plans. We had planned to go to the Black Hills the last week of July, but all of Chad's employee's are taking their vacations during that month so we're trying to figure out a shorter trip to Omaha or something for the first part of August. I'm ready for a vacation and I think the kids will be soon too. Like me, they like to be on the "go" and feel restless being home for too long. So far I've been able to remedy that by going to the park and summer reading at the library, or even just a quick trip to one of the Grandparents houses. I think we're all itching to just get out of Emmetsburg for a bit!!! I'm already bringing up options for Chad and my vacation this winter!!! When flights are pretty reasonable like they are, it's hard not to think about!



The terrible mommy that I am, I haven't taken much for pictures yet this summer!!! I will have pictures to post soon and probably many good Kale stories to tell as well! Please say a few prayers for my Grandma who underwent emergency surgery last week. She's home now and recovering, so we pray for a speedy recovery for her. Love you Grandma!!!

"Can we keep it???"

Yes, you're seeing correctly - that is a baby deer in Chad's truck!! Friday night I was out weeding the garden after mowing and the kids came running up to me to show me this baby deer stumbling through the field who was crying for his mother. We watched it run in to the neighbors grove of trees and proceeded on with our activities. About 20 minutes later, while I had Kale in the tub, Chad comes downstairs holding the baby deer. The neighbors dog was playing with it so Chad decided that maybe he should take it to a local person who raises deer. By the scratches it had, we think it was probably tangled up in something and that the mother was probably mangled in it as well or hit by a car. Such a fun moment for the kids though!!!



Thank you to everyone for the cards, calls, emails, etc. for my birthday. We spent the night on Saturday night in downtown Minneapolis doing a crawl for cancer event. Such a fun night with a really fun group of people!!! I spent my birthday on Sunday sleeping in, doing some shopping, and not cooking a meal! Doesn't get much better than that!!! It was nice to get home to the kids, though, so I could spend the evening cuddling with them.