Multipurpose Birdbath!!

Who says that birdbaths are only for the birds!!!??? They obviously can be made in to the perfect sitting area
for 5 yr old little boys who are hanging out with the kitty's!!

The Halloween that wasn't...

We may not have gotten to go to town and trick-or-treat because of the girls' final soccer tournament of the fall in Council Bluffs, but that doesn't mean we don't get dressed up!!!!!!!!

"My favorite love"

I coud go on and on with reasons why my children are the greatest joys of my life...and every once in a while, they do something that reminds exactly why I feel that way.

Kale is normally right by my side at almost every single moment of the day, but yesterday I needed to be in the field all day and I wanted him to stay inside because of he's been horribly congested. So when we finally reunited later in the evening, he made sure to make up for long lost time giving me lots of hugs, kisses, and snuggle time. As I was putting him to bed, he gave me the biggest hug ever and said "Mom, I need a kiss", so I gave him a kiss and he whispered, "You're my favorite love, Mommy". Love that little boy!!!!!

1st day of school

I'm not really sure how summer flew by so quickly, but it did. Even though we had so many more things we had hoped to get done before they started school, the kids were ready to head back. Funny how they like routine as much as we do!!

The girls absolutely LOVE 3rd grade - having an amazing teacher helps! Kale wasn't sure he wanted to head back to preschool, but he's realized that even though some of his really good friends have gone to kindergarten he still has some friends that are with him in preschool! Next year will be a tough year for this mommy!

All 5 fingers

I can hardly believe it's been 5 years since Kale was born, it feels like it was just yesterday. He's still the little boy that loves his mommy, but he's wanting to be such a big boy which is kind of hard for his mommy! Our little boy is growing up!!!!!

We had a quiet, low key, birthday gathering with his Grandparents...per Kale's request supper was at McDonald's and cake/presents were at the park. We love you buddy!!!

Club Soccer

Wow, okay, so things have gotten really crazy around here with moving, soccer, etc. and I've gotten really behind!! Club soccer has been such a great addition - they are really enjoying it! On August 21st we made our first trip to Sioux Falls for matches. Having only been a week in to learning the new positions for U10, they played great - even added an extra game to be subsitutes for the other U10 team they practice with every week!

A new place to call home!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we sold our house and are moving to a new acreage!!! It happened very quickly, and I think our heads are still spinning in disbelief, but we're very excited about the move and making the new place a home we will love forever. I will let you all know of our address and move as soon as it happens!

There are many, many trees in the yard so it was hard to find a good angle to take a picture of the front of the home, so please don't look so closely at the yard light!! haha

Fun with the Renze's

We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to make some lifelong friends along the way, and the Renze's are some of those people! Chad worked with Brian at AgriGold and his wife, Lisa, and I became fast friends as well. Chad's move to Pioneer found us together again! It's been wonderful having some familiar faces as I get to know the rest of Chad's co-workers.

We decided this summer that we were going to get together for a little vacation with the kids and decided to go to Okoboji and rent a condo. We had so much fun - even with the rain!! This could easily be a summer tradition for us for years to come!

4th of July Fun!

What did we do this 4th of July weekend??? Spent it on the boat, and loved every minute of it!

The first push off from the dock...

Yippeeeeeeee!!! We got a pontoon boat!!!!! Chad's Mom and I have been BEGGING for our husbands to look for boats...really, we would have been ecstatic for them to purchase ANYTHING that would allow us to enjoy some recreation! To our surprise, Chad's Dad announced that he had heard of a pontoon that was being sold locally and before you know it, we were there looking at it, and soon after, it was purchased. We pushed off the dock for our very first time last Friday. We endured a little rain in the beginning, but that didn't stop us. We were determined - and we even enjoyed the rainbow that shown for us when the rain went away!!


To mark our maiden voyage we adults celebrated with a little champagne (we decided it was best to consume it rather than smash it on the side of the boat!! haha). I'm not sure our husbands realized that they would enjoy it as much as they do, but I'm pretty sure this was a good investment!!

Oh, and we fittingly named the pontoon "RECREATION"!!! Have a very happy and safe 4th of July everyone!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, once again, to all the special Dad's in my family!! We hope you had a fabulous day!!

If there is one thing that I love most about my husband it's that he loves his children more than life itself and would do absolutely anything for them - it's important to me that he knows just how much we love and appreciate him and all he does for us. We are so fortunate that he doesn't travel as much as he used to for work, but there are still busy times to our year (spring/harvest/long work days, etc) and it always makes him feel that he doesn't give the children the amount of time he should. As per Father's Day tradition, the children did an art gift that includes their handprints - but instead of just doing a handmade piece, I took the time to go through past photos and created a collage of pictures that shows him just how much time and love he gives his children and myself! I am truly blessed to have married this wonderful man, and his children are even more blessed to call him "Daddy".

Summer is here!

Wow, so it's been a long time since I've posted so I'm going to throw most of what's happened since my last post in to one!!

1st Communion was held on Mother's Day. I'd say we had the most beautiful girls there, if I do say so myself!!! Thank you to all of the family who shared such a special day with us.

School is now out for the summer!! We haven't enjoyed too much yet because of our early summer ritual of picking rock, but we hope to do lots of fun things. We have craft projects we're going to do, sit by the pool, take a couple day trips, Mom's going to do some golfing, taking a long weekend to the Lakes with some friends of ours, take a long weekend for our family getaway, trip to Arkansas for my Grandma's 90th birthday, etc. The summer always seems to go so quickly, so we're going to try to take full advantage of every moment we have!

Kale's last day of preschool consisted of an outing to Dairy Queen!! It was so fun to be able to go with him and his class!! The girls' last day of school (a week later) consisted of their Irish Relays. A few days earlier the 2nd grade class did a poetry parade - the girls' poems were on Martin Luther King, Jr., and Veterans Day.


The soccer season ended as well! The girls are now gearing up to try out for the travelling soccer team since they are now old enough. Kale took a liking to soccer as well during his 1st season. His first game was a tough one - he was either crying or wouldn't go out on the field - but after a pep talk, I found out that he was upset with himself because he wasn't playing PERFECTLY!! Such big expectations for such a little boy!! He really enjoyed the rest of the season from then on out.


Since then, we've been busy planting 2000+ aronia berry bushes!!! This is a change for us as it is organic farming, but hopefully it will all be worth it in the end. We are always looking for cool new things we could be doing!! SO, we'll enjoy watering all 2000+ of these plants all summer too! (sarcastically!!!)


We just had the girls' dance recital and it was wonderful. I think this was the first time I didn't think about how long it was!! They did great and I'd say it was another great dance year.

Thank you to everyone who (called/sent cards/sent a message on facebook) sent birthday wishes for my birthday! It was a good day! The kids and I picked some rock in the morning then came home and hung out. The kids made me TONS of cards - each filled with so much love and pride, it was absolutely wonderful. I think each of them said "happy birthday" 5 times!! Chad cooked for supper (Pizza Hut!!) and Dad and Ruth brought me a cake a little later in the evening - Nick and Kathy stopped by a little later as well. Thank you again!!

I think that's it - Lord knows you've read enough!!! Have a wonderful summer!

"All I've Dreamed Of"

Imagine an 8 yr old girls excitement to find out that she gets to ride in a limosine...now add another 8 yr old girl and guess what you get??? The loudest screams you've ever heard! One of their friends called Saturday morning (she is also on their soccer team) and asked if they could go for a ride in a limo after their soccer game. Her aunt was going to be going to pick kids up for prom and had offered to take her and some friends for a ride.

So, while the girls went on their ride, Kale went with Dad to the field - which to him is the most exciting thing EVER! When I got the kids all picked up, they were all bragging to each other about their afternoons, as if to one-up the other. All Ana could say was "Kale, it was SO fun...it's all I've ever dreamed of"!!!

Think Spring!!!

FINALLY, the men are planting!!! The weather seemed to take it's own sweet time in allowing it, but they're officially moving now. We have a field that is very sandy so we were one of very few to be out last week so I'm sure that got everyone around really itchy to be out as well!!

I love spring - I love watching the grass turn green, the kids being able to play outside without winter coats, mowing again (yes, I love to mow!!), and I really love watching the birds that were gone all winter appear again. Never really thought I'd be a person that loved watching birds, but I really do!! The kids find amazement in them too - they get so excited when they come to our bird feeders!! And by the pictures below, so does our cat!!!!

Brings back memories

I have been trying to sift through old photos recently because I have a multiple picture picture frame to fill up. All sorts of memories come back to me as I look through them. The picture below probably brings up the majority of the early memories of our married life - oh so joyful and full of love, but oh so many struggles as well. But believe me, all the struggles and sleepless nights were totally worth it!!!

Don't look too closely though - you'll notice there's lots of dust on the little table beside the chair...and look at the Mt. Dew bottles!!! Too funny!!

The little things...

Every morning I sit and push the kids along to get ready for school - usually because they are running behind! This morning, as I was getting the kids' vitamins, Mia announced to me that she wanted the 'red' one. Right at that moment Kale took the only 'red' one out of my hand. I'm sure he did it just to make her mad (yep, Kale would do that!) so I told him he needed to give it back to her. I could have just as easily swapped one of the other ones for another red one but little things like this seem to be a constant battle for the two of them.

Amilia is a child of many hugs, kisses, and strong will - but she is also a child of many hits, pushes, and tattle-tailing on her brother. They truly fight as much as they love - maybe that's why they fight the way they do. They are both very passionate kids and very strong willed. I thank God every day that he gave us Anabelle to help even things out!!!

As most mornings would have played out, Mia would have scolded Kale long after I had already done so (and quiet enough that she would hope I wouldn't hear)...but to my surprise, she did the exact opposite! While Kale was pouting in his chair, Mia took her red vitamin and exchanged it with Kale's orange one - all while thinking I wasn't watching. It's those little things that I've come to find the most precious of moments - and for my strong-willed little girl that was a big deal!! Thank you, Lord, for the little things...

Thatching the yard

Ah, yard work...how we love it so (said with sarcasm) but part of the joys of living on an acreage. We have been hard hit the past couple summers and feel like we have done nothing but cut trees and work on fixing our driveway. Still lots of work to do - but Mommy's favorite is mowing the lawn!!! Yes, I LOVE to mow! I am one of those that finds accomplishment in seeing my progress! Sunday we decided we needed to get to work on thatching the yard and bagging it. Chad decided it was time to let the girls learn how to drive the mower - I'm not quite sure I'm going to hand over my mowing responsibilities quite yet though...I'm a little anal about straight lines and as you can tell, the girls aren't quite to that point!!!
(Ana)
(Mia)

Spring soccer season has officially begun

Soccer has begun!!! YAY!! We love soccer at this house and nothing is more fun than watching our kids run around and be exhausted when they're done - Haha! No, really, we do love this sport and we're excited that Kale has now joined the crew.

Kale did great running out to his coach and practiced for about 30 minutes...then started to have a breakdown! Why it took 30 minutes, I'm not sure. This kid...oh so tough, but oh so timid at times - his sister, Mia, is exactly the same way. Hopefully after he has his first game and realizes how much fun it is, the hesitancy will go away. Not sure who this trait came from - but it's one that drives me crazy!!! It's a tough thing to handle for a parent (ME) who was never the shy one or afraid to try new things! Maybe they're trying to teach me patience...we'll see how that works out for them! Haha