Miracles thru My Lens

Cupcakes

2010-08-03T19:50:00.003-05:00

I love them.
I love to make them.
I love to see my kids' faces as they enjoy them :)

Here are some I made today. I FINALLY bought a cake decorator set and tried it out just a tiny bit.

I think I will make those orange ones, again, for Halloween! :)

Cupcake Creations :)

2010-08-01T23:45:00.005-05:00

I have started out on a new venture.
The road is slow going, but I am patient :)

For a couple years now, I have been making (...creating, whatever you wanna call it...) Birthday invitations for my friend's kids. They have ALWAYS given me super feedback and would insist that I do "something" with my talent.

So, I have...finally.

I call it Cupcake Creations and I have my own little etsy store.
I specialize in kid's birthday invites, but can make any kind of invite you want or need.
This is something I have enjoyed doing for years and just needed some friends to push me, well, more like make me do something with it. LOL
So, I owe it all to them. If it wasn't for all of their kind words and encouragement, Cupcake Creations wouldn't exist.
They are the icing AND the sprinkles on my cupcake :)
Love you guys!!!!

So, if you wanna, head on over to my teeny part of etsy and have a look at what I have made so far. If you don't see what you need, just drop me an email and I can hook you up! :)

AND -- I also have a FaceBook Fan page...the link is right over there...in the right side column :)

(just click on my little banner)

Please help get John to Hawaii!!!

2010-06-28T19:05:00.004-05:00

My insanely generous (AND gorgeous!!) friend, Hope, is sponsoring a giveaway on her blog.
We are trying to raise money to help get a Cancer patient to Hawaii as one of his "last" wishes...

Please, please PLEASE to go her blog and read his story.
Even if you only contribute $1, you will be entered into a giveaway for a BRAND NEW KITCHENAID STAND MIXER!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!

BUT for EVERY dollar that you DO contribute, you will get yourself an entry. Soooo....$25 = 25 entries!!!
Come on peeps!!! Let's help this guy and his family out!
We can ALL find an extra dollar laying around! I KNOW you all can! :)

Thanks Guys!!

It's Summer!

2010-06-23T13:10:00.005-05:00

Summer is now, in full force, in Wisconsin.

It is hot, humid and just drains you like crazy!

Dave's vacation HAS begun and he has a week and a half off of work.
This will be THE busiest week and a half EVER.

Today and Tomorrow, him and the girls will be gone camping, then they will get back on Friday.

On Friday, my sister and her family will be coming up to stay with us. Then, that night, we are going to watch my nephew race his go-kart. After that, Dave might take Jackson to a fireworks display show at one of our favorite Fireworks Warehouses.

On Saturday is ... well, I can't really say just yet just in case someone might be reading this.
And that will be an all day affair. LOL

Sunday...we have church and our 11 year anniversary!!!! We will be staying overnight in a very nice, romantic hotel suite :)

I THINK Monday and Tuesday are our "down" days.

On Wednesday, we leave for our little summer vacation to Wisconsin Dells. We are staying here. I am soooo incredibly excited because, not only is the room/condo extremely comfortable and HUGE, the weather is supposed to be PERFECT so we can visit ALL of the Wilderness's 4 outdoor waterparks!!!

This will be one of the waterparks we will have at our Resort.
Our room is actually facing this one :)

We get back home :( on Friday.

Saturday is our HUGE 3rd of July party. LOL. Yes, I said 3rd of July.
Anyway, our fireworks show is A-MAAAAZING and the kids can all go swimming, adults get to all hang out, drink, eat and have a good time.
We started this party thing last year and it was a success, so we are doing it every year now.

Sunday is the 4th of July and Dave goes back to work that night :(

There. Vacation is done.
Well, just in thought, but it really hasn't even started yet! LOL

I have been a HORRIBLE photographer, lately. I have NOT taken ONE single pic with my camera in WEEKS!!!!
OF Course, that will change with going to my nephew's race, the thing that is happening on Saturday, our vacation to the Dells and with our party.

So, hold me to it people...I will have some killer pics to share the 2nd week of July!!

Have a Rockin', Fun in the Sun Summer and I will catch ya'll lata' !!!!! :)

Pictures...for your viewing pleasure :)

2010-06-02T20:50:00.005-05:00

I haven't been a good blogger, lately, so I thought I would hook ya'll up with some pics.

The weather has been super, so we have been spending LOTS of time out in the yard. I do love my yard. I like to sit out on the front deck and just soak up the warm air. Yea. I said WARM air, not the hot and humid stuff...lol.

Anyways, I took the good ol' Canon S5IS out for a tour around the yard when the weather started gettin' real nice...and here is what we came up with :)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....The ever so perrrrrrrrrty tulips and Lillies of the Valley....sooooooo peaceful looking.

One of my three Lilac bushes in the front yard. I can sit on the deck and smell their wonderful smell....love it!!

Here is the view from my side-yard, looking towards the front. You can see ONE of my Lilac bushes and the nice BIG Barrel planters that Dave's mom put in when she lived here.
She did some awesome work around this place!! I LOVE the landscaping...it just sucks having to keep it up! LOL

Here is a pic of my Hostas on the side of the house, facing the driveway. Now, these pics were all taken in the beginning of May...well, maybe mid-May...
NOW, these babies are seeping over the little edging we have there. They just get so dang huuuuuuuuge!! I will have to take an updated pic, soon, if it will ever stop being so yucky out :(
But, anyway... I Love em!

Moving around towards the back of the yard, we have Dave's little garden :)
He planted Strawberries and Onions.
Yea. I think we will be eatin' up LOTS of onions!!! Huh....at least I can try and make my own salsa from our OWN onions!!!! LOL

I felt like taking a walk back behind our big ol' storage shed and found this tire.
I don't know why, but it just looked like it would look good in a pic, so I snapped a shot.

Around the back of the shed, we have a buncha land. Not quite sure how much...maybe 2 acres? We have 5ish total, but we have a BIG yard that we use and more on the side of our house...so if I had to guess, I would say there is 2-2.5 back there.

ANYWAY-- kinda in the middle of the field is this big old tree and a little baby tree next to it. Thought it was pretty cute.

This pic kinda looks like it should be in a storybook...it looks too perfect, almost.
:)

Happy early Mother's Day to ONE lucky Winner....Will it be YOU??

2010-05-06T12:20:00.003-05:00

My friend Hope is sponsoring yet ANOTHER awesome giveaway.
This one is EXTREMELY generous!
So you best check it out!!!
Just click below! :)

AWESOME MOTHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY!!!

Happy Birthday, Jenna!!! (March 26)

2010-03-29T19:12:00.003-05:00

Jenna's birthday was Friday, March 26th.
My middle child is now 12...one more year til the teen years begin...BUT
if you were gauging it by attitude, oh. Well. Then she's already in her teen years...lol :)
Seriously.
I think she has more attitude than Haley, lately, and Haley is 14!!! LOL
But don't get me wrong...I love my girls ohhh sooooo very much. They brighten my day, just thinking of them!!

In honor of Jenna's bday, I am going to share some of my favorite pictures of her :)

Here is my baby Jenna. So weird how she looks NOTHING like this now. I mean, not even her nose, or her freckles...soooo not my baby anymore :(

Jenna & Jocelyn.
One of my favorites, because we don't see our Joce much anymore, we miss her something terrible! :(

Here's BOTH of my girls.
Way back when they didn't fight so much. Back when they actually played nice together.
Ahhhhhhhh...those were the days....

I took this pic of Jenna a couple summers back. It is my FAVORITE picture of her.
:)

I hope you had a super birthday, JenBen :)

The making of a beauty...

2010-03-26T19:51:00.003-05:00

Today is Jenna's 12th Birthday.
She asked me to make her a layer cake. Oyyyyyy....
I beggggggged her if I could just make my usual cupcakes...lol...but they aren't really "usual".
I put my own little spin on them and make them beautiful and ohhh soooooo moist :)
ANYWAY, they are easy-peasy, so that is why I wanted to make them.
But, nooooooooooo...it's Jenna's birthday so I had to make what she wanted...ugh.... LOL :)

Then I caved and knew it wouldn't be so bad, since I got my new best friend from the UPS guy yesterday!!!

Here she is:

Ain't she GORGEOUS??? I so love her....

OK.
Back to Jenna's cake.

So, I thought, Hey...since I have this awesome, new toy...lol...I can pull off this layer cake thing!

I mixed up a cake mix, added my own stuff and fluff and made 2 - 9" round cakes.
Now, my Jenna is not a HUGE fan of a lot of frosting...so I whipped up some whipping cream with some powdered sugar until it formed sharp peaks. I used that as the filling for between the layers.

Yummmmmmmmmmm.....right?? lol
It looks like a big oreo cookie doesn't it??

OK.
So, Jenna's fave color is purple.
OH, I also went and bought her 12 purple balloons from the party store and a BIG Happy Birthday Cupcake mylar balloon...but Jackson already busted that one...that was a quick $10... :(

Back to the cake :)
Fave color=Purple. OK, got that covered.
So, I made up some purple frosting for her.

Would have been wayyyyy easier if I had one of those cake turntable thingys, or even a lazy susan, but we don't have one of those :(

I still pulled it off though!!

And of course, as a finishing touch, I put on my signature ribbons!!

Happy Birthday my beautiful Jenna Benna!! :)

My 3...well My 4, yesterday :)

2010-03-18T13:46:00.002-05:00

The weather up here in Good Ol' Wisconsin has been BEAUTIFUL!!

mid 60s...just sooooo nice!!

So, we have been spending A LOTTA time outside. Our yard does look horrendous because of the gravel in our grass and the branches and yucky brown grass...

Then, of course, everything is brown and muddish...yuck :(

BUT we are thanking God for the breeze today, to help dry some stuff up, JUST IN TIME for it to snow this weekend!! YAYYYYY! Ummmm, yeah...no.

I DO love the snow, don't get me wrong, but only Nov-Feb. LOL.

ANYWAY--here are a few pics I got yesterday.

I am so sad because it took sooooooo much begging for me to get that pic of Jenna :( She is getting just like Haley and NOT EVER wanting her picture taken.

Then...there's Jackson. HA HA HA. Trying to get him to sit still and look at me for ONE SECOND is a NIGHTMARE! LOL.

But, it's a cute pic, non the less :)

$50 GREEN Smackers GiveAway :)

2010-03-17T09:29:00.001-05:00

My friend Hope is giving away MORE stuff!
Check it out!!!!

http://threeboogers.blogspot.com/2010/03/hope-is.html

More "in-between" pics :)

2010-03-02T07:46:00.004-06:00

We are DONE painting the dining room.
This room is the first room that people see when they visit us, so I am uber-happy that it is finally done. (well, almost...since the flooring has to wait a few months...)

OK, well let's get this party started...

Here is a pic of the small bathroom door and the ironing board storage.
Yes. This house is THAT OLD that it has an ironing board IN the wall!! LOL
It's actually kinda handy :)
And I got to pick out new hardware. I went with oil rubbed bronze. It actually looks just like plain ol' black...but has a kinda antique look to it.

This pic shows the teeny, tiny pantry doors and the coat closet.
The pantry storage used to be just a regular storage closet, but since I started stockpiling stuff (because I find super awesome deals...lol), I needed extra space to store everything.
And, everything that was in there was just clutter, so off to Goodwill it went :)

Here is just a pic of Jenna doing her homework. lol.
Well, it also shows the built-in shelf thingy...and part of the living room.
The living room and dining room are open to each other...oh yeah, and so is my kitchen.
Which is THE tiniest kitchen in the world! SO, I guess having a pretty big dining room makes up for that. But I do love my cozy little kitchen :)

And, speaking of my kitchen...since that got remodeled and painted a few years back...I just had to get some new stuff for it. You know...so it wouldn't feel left out :)
OK. I have ALWAYS decorated in a country/apple theme, but when we had to take everything off the walls in the dining room, I decided to just chuck it ALL in a box and Goodwill it. Time for a change.
Anyway, my kitchen is painted a dark red and red has always been my fave color. AND I bought this rug...

...at Target like 5 years ago, and I love how it's all different colors just meshed together.
I decided to NOT go with any sort of "theme" with decorating and just get all new stuff in ALL diff colors. :)
This brings us to my new dishes!!!!!
They were a tad pricey...but hey. It's my first REAL set of ALL matching dishes! No more hodgy podgy stuff :)
Well, I did have apple dishes...lol...but then I had other stuff and well, you all know I am done with the apple stuff...

Here they are :)

I so love them!! I only bought 5 place settings...but will get one more when I decide on which color to get.
I love love love my new Fiesta Ware!!! I got these at Kohl's...they were on sale for 40% off, plus I had a coupon for 20% off if you spend $100 or more. Yes...unfortunately even AFTER that 40% off, these were still over $100... :(
Yeah.
Dave wasn't tooooooo happy with that one, but he can never get mad at my smile :)
Hee hee...My husband rocks !!!

Since then (well, Sunday), I have gone to Target and bought ALL new kitchen towels, new oven mitts, a new untensil holder, new kid-friendly cups and bowls and a new Bread box.
Of course...all in different colors :)

Now...what to put on the walls in my dining room.....ugh.....

Before/After...well...more kinda in-between?? :)

2010-02-28T18:13:00.006-06:00

Big changes are a happenin' in the Moesch household :)

In my January 19 blog, I posted pics of our living room all primed and ready for paint.
I can't believe I didn't show ya'll the finished product! Sorry!!!

Anyway--here ya go!
Oh...wait...keep in mind that new flooring and furniture are coming the end of Spring. We have to wait because the only way we can get that HUGE ASSMUNGOUS (lol) sectional couch outta our living room is through the patio doors. And we have to wait for all the fluffy white stuff to get on outta here...
Sooooo...if ya wanna be all technical, these are more "in between" pictures, since the REAL After pics can't come until my new furniture and new flooring are in :)

OH...I also wanted to add in a kind of before pic of the dining room...it is from Jackson's 3rd Bday Cupcake tower :)
But you can see the nasty, old, dark stained doors that are now painted a nice, crisp Gobi Desert :)
And the trim is Innocence :)
Also, notice the yucky, yellowing paneling in the living room...it is SO nice to NOT have to see that anymore!!!

This is the wall/corner of the living room that you can see in the above picture.
And, of course, part of the humungoid couch that is going bye-bye in a few months!!

Here is the patio door wall...if you wanna call it that...lol. There isn't much wall left when we had this 8 foot patio door installed. Oh, and our new light :)
And another OH...and Jackson, too...hee hee!

Annnnnnnnd, the other corner of the living room and the window.

Here is what that window looks like today...lol. Yeah. I went and covered it up. Some folks might not like that, but there really is no other place for this big ol' tv stand....hmmm....well, oh boy....here's the story behind that new tv stand... (below the pic)

We were in need of a new tv stand/entertainment center. I was sick and tired of the cheap-o Wal-Mart crud, so I told Dave we had to get something REAL this time. So, after hunting 50 gazillion furniture stores, we ended up at Oak Express.
Off in the corner, by the kid furniture, I found this beauty. EXACTLY what I wanted.
Black, REAL wood, extremely sturdy and plain. Plain, meaning no frilly carvings or anything like that. Just nice and clean lookin'.
The thing is HUGE! Long.
As I was standing there, sizing it up...I said to Dave..."well, if we get this, we need a bigger TV."
Yeah.
Like THAT wouldn't put a huge ass grin on his face!! LOL
A couple years ago, we bought a 32" LCD HDTV...and it fit us just fine. But for real. If I was going to buy this, a tiny, little 32" TV would get swallowed up by this! LOL
Sooooo...we bought the new TV stand, well, the Oak Express peeps called it a Media Center...
ANYWAY-the next day, we were off to Sam's and bought our new 47" LCD HDTV. WOWWEEE MOMMA! I love it! Wayyyyyyyy better picture than our 32", which is now taking up home in the girl's room...and they are VERY, VERY appreciative!! :)

So. That is the story behind us just HAVING to get a new TV to "go with" our new TV stand.

Oh, yeah. And there was some "in between" pics up there for ya, too :)

What's for Dinner??

2010-02-19T18:56:00.003-06:00

Meatloaf and Twice-Baked Potatoes!!

Oh. My. Gosh.
It was sooooooo good!

I followed the recipe from The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook. It is seriously THE BEST Meatloaf I have EVER tasted. I usually just make it with a lb. of ground sirloin, Lawry's Seasoning, onions, 1 egg, and bread crumbs. That's it.
But this version is OH SO MUCH BETTAH!

The Potatoes were doubly as yummy! They did call for a cup of sour cream, but I substitued ranch dressing and SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did! They are TDF!!

If you haven't yet, you ALL have to go out and buy The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook.
For real!

Carnival Pancakes

2010-02-19T11:20:00.004-06:00

That is what Haley calls them.

Pancakes with butter, syrup, whip cream (from the can) and sprinkles.

Can you say a Gazillion Calories???? LOL :)
But they all enjoy this special little treat. So who am I to keep it from them?
You're only young once and what...it's not like they are 30ish and it'll go right to their hips!!!
LOL!

I made them for Jackson one morning and he gobbled them up!

YUM
YUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!

Then, after polishing off all those calories...a Wii workout was necessary...

Striking a Yoga pose! LOL

Then it was time for a quick jog :)

Every Carnival Pancake breakfast should be accompanied by a Wii workout.
It's just a given :)

Valentine's Giveaway!

2010-02-08T15:18:00.005-06:00

My friend, Hope, is having a Valentine's Day Giveaway!
Go check out her blog and see how you could win!!!

www.threeboogers.blogspot.com

Blog Giveaway Winner!

2010-01-29T15:49:00.001-06:00

...is....CHERYL!

Thank you for reading my blog!!

Please contact me with your shipping addy and I will get your prize to you ASAP!! :)

These are a few of my favorite things...in my Kitchen :)

2010-01-26T07:24:00.006-06:00

Anyone have stuff in their kitchen that they just love? That it wouldn't be THEIR kitchen unless these things were in it??
I have a few of those :)

I'll start ya off with something simple. A towel. This is no ordinary towel. It is a flour sack towel. I love love loooooove it! Why? I mean, geez...it's just a plain, ol' stained, worn out, thinning towel!?!?!?

Well, that's just it. Everything that makes it plain, makes it great!
I love that I can just throw it over my shoulder, that it is long enough to actually stay up there! LOL. I love that it is thinner, so that when I hold a big glass mixing bowl, to dry it, that it actually is easy to grip the towel over the bowl...and that it is large enough to cover the whole thing while I dry it.

My next favorite thing, was mentioned a bit in the last paragraph.
My 3 glass mixing bowls. Love them. Of course.

I actually need a couple more, I think. I mean, you can NEVER have too many mixing bowls! Maybe I will go for some colored ones. Maybe ones that come with lids...so that I may store up a fruit salad or prepare a cake mix a few hours ahead of time...you know, you should always be prepared...lol :)

Keeping up with the glass stuff...A couple months ago, I found a 6 pack of Coke IN GLASS BOTTLES at WalMart. So, I bought them. Coke tastes it's absolute best coming from a glass bottle. No if's and's or but's about it. It's just a proven fact. (according my my taste buds, anyway)
Well, I drank up the delectable liquid and maybe shared one or two, rinsed them out and now they sit on my shelf, in my kitchen...above my sink.

What is that old can doing up there, you ask? Well, when the girls were cleaning out the old milkhouse to make it into a clubhouse, they found this. It was realllllly dirty and yucky, so I washed it up. You can't tell, but it is the round, hard edged can from ... maybe the 80s. Nowadays, the cans have more rounded edges. And the opening is very small. Today's soda can has the "wide mouth" opening.
Anyway, I just thought it was a good addition to my glass bottles :)

I did tell Dave that maybe I should change my kitchen theme to Coke, but nah. I am thinking maybe just no theme. LOL. Or all things red? I love that color.

AND speaking of red...

This was one of my Christmas presents and she is oh so loved :)
My Keurig Mini Brewer is the PERFECT addition to my kitchen. Not only is my mom happy to have THE perfect cup of coffee or two when she visits, my sister, Angie, will no longer have to run to the gas station in the morning, when she visits!!! LOL
I cannot say enough about this little machine.
I have never been one to drink a full pot of coffee...not even 4 cups. It's usually a one cup day for me, unless I get ALL my housework done and just want to cozy up and relax at the end of the night...THEN it turns into a 2 cup day.
But for real. This little lady makes a mean cup of coffee. I love her and her little flavorful cups, too!

Moving on to my next favorite thing. Well, it is my 2nd to last on this post, but there are SOOO many lovable things in my kitchen...as you will see with my last one :)
But this one...WOW.
It is the newest addition...

Chili will never be the same...without her. She has helped me perfect Chili as we know it.
She also helped me out with the PERFECT pot roast!
The Pioneer Woman will be takin' up camp on my countertop from now on.
I suggest to all, if you LOVE to cook or bake or would like to learn HOW to love it...GET THIS BOOK!
**Here...I will help you out...Just comment on your favorite thing(s) in your kitchen and you will receive an entry to get this cookbook FOR FREE!!! You can also tell everyone on your FB page to come and enter AND Blog about it...BOTH will get you one more entry...each!!**

And even if you already have this, that's OK...you can just try to win and spread the joy by giving it away to someone who NEEDS it. But then again, I honestly think that EVERYONE needs this book!!
You can read up on what this book is all about here.

And now...
On to my last favorite thing that spends lots of time in my kitchen...

This little guy is MY FAVORITE Kitchen addition...lol :)

He spends LOTS of time in here...askin' for Coco (chocolate milk), Spiderman fruit snacks, chickens, cheese, corn and checkup (ketchup).
It always makes my day when I see his little smile!!

**Cookbook giveaway**
Up to 3 entries per person. You must comment and list your favorite kitchen person or thing :)
Relatives, VERY close friends and NEW friends are all invited to enter. The winner will be chosen, at random, on a piece of paper, stuck in a plastic Fireman's hat, and picked out by my last favorite Kitchen addition on Friday, January 29th, 2009 at Noon CST.

Thank you all and GOOD LUCK!!

More new Living Room stuff & Jackson's new fave toy...

2010-01-22T19:35:00.005-06:00

Since the ceiling is officially finished, I thought we should go pick out our new light :)
The one I originally picked out, would hang off the ceiling too low, that when Dave would come into the room, he'd have to duck...lol...so that one was outta the running.

So, I settled on this one:

I guess I shouldn't say that I "settled" since I just LOVE it!
After we left Home Depot, Dave took all the stuff home with Jackson, so I could do my Walgreens shopping and check out Target.
I got home 3 hours later (YIKES!) and he had this installed!! I was so happy to see it!

He also installed our new dimmer switch for it.

And this leads me to the 2nd part of my little story...Jackson's new favorite toy...

The bottom button turns the light off, then every button on top of it turns the light on. The top one is the button that turns the lights on all the way, the 2 in between dim it a bit.
I just threw the faceplate on there, for looks...lol...we can't "install" it, yet, since the walls aren't painted. But that is my cute, semi-fancy faceplate that I picked out :)

ANYWAY--the boy has his step stool right at the bottom of the wall, where this is, so that he may push the buttons any time that he wants. It is a bit annoying at times...but I may be getting used to it, or ... just so lazy that I don't want to keep getting up and having to physically remove his finger from the buttons. He is just in love! So much that he can't keep his hands off of it! LOL :)

New Year, New Living Room !!

2010-01-19T17:05:00.003-06:00

Well, kinda...
Do ya' see a pattern here?
It's a new year with 2010 and so many changes goin' on for the Moeschs' !!!

We have been living with this nasty, nasty fake wood paneling for over 10 years. So we both thought it was time for a change. LOL

On Monday, Dave and I sanded down the walls and trim.
Well, OK.
Maybe it was more Dave than me...but OH. MY. GOSH.
I HATE HATE HATE sanding.

Anyway, here are the pics of the living room walls after sanding...

See that hideous, old light fixture up there? Yup. THAT will be replaced.
My curtains, too, probably... Not quite 100% on that. They are beige/tan and just not sure if they will go with my wall color. We will have to wait and see...

Today, Tuesday, was priming day. One step closer to the REAL paint!! hee hee :)
Can ya' tell I am excited????????

One stinky thing is that our living room is totally tore apart. The TV/cable box/PS3 is on our kitchen table, the couch is right smack dab in the middle of the room AND the router/modem/printer needs to be moved and put back every. single. day. Ugh...

BUT
it will be ALL WORTH IT in the end!

Even with just the primer, this room looks amazingly different!

Cookin' ALL day -- January 14th

2010-01-14T16:47:00.009-06:00

Yup.
YOU betcha.
I HAVE been cooking all day.

Dave got home from work this morning and said..."I could go for some chili..."
So, I hopped right up and made some.
Yeah.
ODD...I sooooo know! lol
ME? Jumping up to make my husband whatever he wants??? What the??

Getting back to the 'hopped right up' part...

I did just that and got out my new best friend...

and looked up her Simple, Perfect Chili recipe.

...got all the ingredients together and VOILA!
Dave was one step closer to havin' some yummmmaaayyyyy Chili!

After simmering for an hour, I added the corn masa and it was pretty much ready for eatin'.

Now, we Wisconsin folk LOVE noodles with our chili. No idea why, but it's just gotta be that way sometimes. So, I boiled up some spaghetti noodles and served up the chili...but it wasn't complete without the chopped onions and shredded cheese. MMMMM MMMMM YUMMM!

I did want to take a pic of it for ya'll, but it was devoured sooo fast!!

An hour later, I began preparing dinner.
What was on the menu?

The Pioneer Women's ...
Perfect Pot Roast
and
Creamy Mashed Potatoes

YUUUUUUHH -- UUUUMMMMMM!!!

Now, this was THE FIRST time that I was making a roast in the oven. I usually use my trust ol' Reddy, my red crock pot. I so love her dearly and hope she's not upset with me that she couldn't help out with the roast this time...

After 3 1/2 hours of roasting in the oven and filling my house with such yummy aromas, this scrumptious roast was done!
Served with creamy mashed potatoes from my new best friend and this was THE perfect, hearty, rib-stickin' meal.

New Year...New Me?

2010-01-13T13:29:00.005-06:00

Yeah right, huh?
If you know me, you know that I have been struggling with my weight since Haley was born. In my lighter days, I was a comfortable 150 lb. teen.

Then, I had a kid or 3 and now...let's just say I weigh MORE than that...lol.

Now that I am in my 30s, I find it imperative that I get off my butt and do something about it. So, the Moesch family joined the YMCA. Dave and I go and workout every other day (M/W/F), while Jackson plays in their daycare...or "playroom" as he likes to call it.
I started out slow, with a 15 min. workout, but I am now upping it to 30 mins. I do fairly well on the stair stepper, stationery bike and treadmill. BUT this thing...KILLS MY KNEES!!! :(
I have NO idea why I cannot last more than 2 mins. on it! AND I always have it on 0 incline and the lowest ANYTHING that it can do. I just don't get it. I will keep trying, cuz I am thinkin' it's all this extra weight that has to be put on my knees...ugh...

Anyway--I am not going to limit my junk intake, and go at this cold turkey or hog wild, but just moderate things much better. If I have a taste for some ice cream, I am going to have some, less than what I would be USED to, but also take my time eating it. I have found that if I take my time eating things, it lets my brain catch up with my gut and then I hear my brain saying..."heyyyy...all's full down there, you can quit eating now!" LOL.
In the past, when I would try dieting, it would NEVER work. Why? Because I would TOTALLY cut out sugar. No more ice cream, no more candy, no more cookies, etc...

That is why I am trying my moderation technique this time. Yeah, the weight will be SLOW to come off, but at least I am trying and I won't wanna quit right away! :)

I am also going to try cooking more. Baking...all that good stuff. If I do THAT more, less time will be available to sit in a drive-thru :)

For the past year and a half, I have REALLY been drawn to The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. (her website is in my links on the right).
This woman DOES. IT. ALL. No kidding, either. She homeschools her 4 kiddos, cooks up some awesome chow, has phenomenal photography skills and has enough time after all that to write about it!!
The UPS truck JUST dropped off her cookbook for me and I have not let it out of my sight since I opened up the package. I have read the WHOLE thing already and I am insanely eager to run to the store and buy everything I need to make every. single. recipe in that book.

I do have to attribute my new love for cooking to her. She makes it look so simple, and it really is! You just have to want to take the time to do it. It really makes me smile when I see my family enjoying what I have cooked for them...not what I have heated up, deep fried or brought home in a white bag with a yellow M on it...lol.

And yes, even me, in my little 10x10 kitchen, can whip up some yummy things!! :)

WHAT is your temptation??

2010-01-06T16:11:00.003-06:00

My lovely friend, Hope, has a super cute blog about her family and life. It's so real and down to earth, ya just gotta read it and check it out! She is a wonderful mommy to 2 little guys :)

SO, the question is...what is your temptation? What is that one weakness of yours? ...or should I say which of your 50 is the most important?? LOL!

Check out her blog for a chance to win a $50 gift card to Janie & Jack :)

Just to let ya'll know, RIGHT NOW, mine is Target and their AWESOME after Christmas sales ... that I WILL be hitting tomorrow!!!

Happy 14th Birthday, Haley!! :)

2009-11-24T20:08:00.003-06:00

(NOVEMBER 1, 2009)

It's official...my baby girl is one more year older :(
Makes me sad. Not quite sure if it's because I can't REALLY call her my baby girl anymore, or if it's because this means I am getting older...too...hmmmm...

She had a little party with a few friends.
It was nice. They just hung out and did goofy girl stuff.
Just like this....lol...

Here is Jackson...just admiring all his new "toys" lol

Jenna, taking a little break to flash me a smile, while she was helping me frost the cupcakes :)

AND....the finished product!!

It's kinda like a tradition, now, that I make these 'cupcake creations'. It's fun and the kids like them...so it's worth it ;)

I wish I could have gotten a pic of Haley WITH her friends...but I I guess I will have to settle for a picture of Haley's friends TAKEN by Haley...lol.

Jackson...outside :)

2009-11-08T16:36:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pics of the little man, hangin' out outside.
We had yes ANOTHER tree blown down by crazy winds about 2 months ago.
It's just crazy!
At least once a year one of our trees, or part of one, blows down!

Well, Jackson wanted to try and help Daddy cut it down, but he was only getting in the way :(
So I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get some pics of him :)

I don't know what it is about the look on his face...lol...but to me, this just doesn't look like him AT ALL. But the glow in his eyes is beautiful! :)

Yes! This pic is more my Tin-O :)
...with Daddy in the background, cutting the big tree branches.

Dirty Deeds...

2009-10-14T10:26:00.003-05:00

Just wanna let ya'll know that a VERY good friend of mine, Rachel, has started up a blog.
It is all to help you save LOTSA money...and trust me...her info. is LEGIT and has helped me and my family save sooooooo much. AND stock up on things that everyone needs.
You totally should see my laundry room cupboard...ummmm...I won't need any shampoo/conditioner, deodorant, baby wipes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, laundry soap, bounce bars...whew...I won't need any of that kinda stuff for a LOOOOOOONG TIME!! :)

So, check out her stuff...you WON'T be disappointed!!

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!

PS--I ALSO recommend either finding a "hookup" on getting extra Sunday coupon inserts or just buying 3 or 4 Sunday papers. For real...you will NOT regret spending that extra money on more papers!!!

Fall...or Winter?

2009-10-13T08:59:00.005-05:00

Well, it's Fallter. Fall+Winter=Fallter. Or whatever combo you would like.
I honestly think we had 2 days of Fall type weather and now we are sitting in the 30s-40s and it's snowing/flurrying almost every day! What the??? (as Jackson would say)

And I was saying WHAT THE...? when I saw THIS face!!!

YIKES!!!
The girls found a raspberry bush in some weeds, so they picked as many as they could and brought them in. He devoured them...if ya couldn't tell?!?! lol

OK, keeping up with the FALL part of Fallter...lol...we woke up to this, in our side-yard on Saturday (Oct. 10).

I LOVE those colors. This is THE perfect Fall picture I have taken this year, so I had to share it :)

Now, we move on to yummy Fall things :)

I just LOVE this recipe. I started making it just last year. I saw it on a local TV show and tried it out right away. Sooooooooo insanely easy!
AND you can find the complete recipe HERE (my blog entry from last year) or HERE (original recipe at www.fox11online.com)

Now, for a teeny taste of winter AKA, Haley getting bundled up to play in the "Fall" weather.

Rudolph shirt and all! LOL
OH...and this is the girl that is "too cool" to wear a winter coat.
BUT she will bundle up like Ralphie and Randy when she is just staying home.

Here she is again, not so bundled...lol.
Can ya'll believe she will be 14 soon? Ughhh...I can't believe it!!

ANYWAY...
I promise to TRY and update my blog more often through the end of the year.
But that's all for now, folks :)

Busy Summer!!

2009-07-28T09:16:00.004-05:00

First I have to apologize that I haven't been updating like I should :(
This Summer has been extremely busy for us and when I do get some free time, I just want to "be"...you know...not worry about anything and just do whatever.

A lot has happened to us, this Summer. Dave and I celebrated our 10 yr. anniversary, we lost Dave's Mom :(
One happy thing, one extremely sad thing... No matter how long you have expected the loss of a loved one...it just doesn't make it any easier. Dave's mom was a patient, kind and understanding woman. She was timeless...we will forever miss her. It STILL feels odd knowing that she is gone.
I love my husband, so much more than any words could say, and it saddens me beyond belief that he no longer has his mom.
She will be forever missed....

As for the rest of our summer, we took a little vacation to a cabin on Chute Pond, Dave and I took our 10 year anniversary trip to Vegas, Dave and Jenna went camping, we did lots of swimming, we did some home improvements...the list could go on and on and on....but you get the point!

Haley begins 8th grade this fall and Jenna starts 6th grade. Two girls in middle school...oy!!! And Jackson...he keeps me running, yes, literally running. Not just keeping me on my toes, but sprinting!! He will be 3 in November and not really showing ANY signs of being ready for potty-training :( We bought him a "potty", Huggies pull-ups and he has TONS of real underwear :)
...just no REAL interest in going on the potty :(

I have started "couponing". Meaning...I cut coupons like crazy!! I even have some friends who live in other states send me some inserts. A friend of mine turned me on to this website... www.afullcup.com - it is AMAZING!! LOTS of helpful info on savings lots of money on there! This week, it helped me buy Dove deodorant at Target for .29 !! And it wasn't a trial size!! Also, Pop-Tarts for .65 a box !! AND free Johnson & Johnson Bath Soap Buddies!! So, we have a TON of these items right now...and I will be going back for more...probably tomorrow...and almost everyday until the coupons expire :)
I also save TONS of money at CVS and Walgreens with their frequent buyer programs. CVS' is called ExtraBucks and Walgreens' is Register Rewards. You can read up on both of these at these websites: www.iheartcvs.com AND www.iheartwags.com .
Since I cannot find a job, saving money for my family and coupon clipping IS my job. It does take some time to get used to and lots of reading up on how to make each and every dollar S-T-R-E-T-C-H ... but it is soooooooooooo worth it for me :)

Well, my lovelies...it is time to go and have a chat with a good friend of mine, so I will have to keep up with these updates...and post pics, too!
I hope you all have a super weekend!!!

Jackson & Build A Bear ;o)

2009-05-05T17:50:00.002-05:00

MARCH 28, 2009

Jackson made his first build a bear!!!

Well, OK...he has 2 other ones, but those, we made for him...

Jenna wasn't too enthused and couldn't wait to get outta there!! lol...
she would rather be in Justice ;o)
And Haley had to put his Turtle's shell back on.

Here is my little man, typing in his info ;o)

Happy Birthday Jenna!

2009-05-05T17:37:00.003-05:00

MARCH 26, 2009

My middle child turned 11 this past March...

She had a little party with a few friends.

We began at home with the girls playing Wii, hanging out, eating pizza and cupcakes
and then Jenna opened her gifts...which consisted of Webkinz, jewelry and lots of Gift Cards ;o)

After all that, we packed up the cars and went Roller Skating ;o)

Everyone had lots of fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2009-03-17T16:26:00.002-05:00

Jackson and I decided to make a cookie cake today.
Well, our plans were to make a white cake with lime jello mix in it (to make it green), but I only had a chocolate cake mix ;o)
Soooo...we made a lime jello cookie cake, instead!

He was actually a really good helper! He put in the melted butter, mixed it in with the cookie mix and egg, and also poured in the jello mix ;o)

And here is our finished product...Mommy made the buttercream frosting that he COULD NOT stop eating ;o)

Christmas '08 ...Continued....

2009-02-25T08:51:00.005-06:00

DECEMBER 25, 2008

Christmas Morning....
It's a tradition that we wait for everyone to wake up before any presents are opened. Then we let them rip open their gifts, one at a time so they can all see what each other got.
Jackson is a little hard to handle, since he wouldn't wait and just wanted to open everything ;o)

BUT...his first present, he didn't have to open. He woke up, came downstairs and saw his Cars tent and ran to it....

Then the girls dug in...

MCQUEEN!!!
It was a Christmas made up of various Cars toys and a bunch of Planet Heroes ;o)
And even an Imaginext Castle!

As for the girls, they got their clothes from Limited Too, some jammies...Jenna got her snowboard and Hannah Montana beanbag chair, they both got Webkinz and a couple Kooky Klickerz pens. I know they got more, I just can't remember ;o(
BUT
the highlight of their Christmas morning, was getting their phones. I wish I had a pic of them opening them up...but I have something even better! A VIDEO!
But for some odd reason, I can never upload video to bogger ;o(
I will try to upload it to my FB page, but can't promise anything...

After all that, we had our yummy traditional breakfast of Breakfast Bake then cleaned up and headed out to my brother's...

CHRISTMAS 2008

2009-02-25T08:36:00.003-06:00

DECEMBER 24, 2008

First, I want to share a couple of pictures of our Christmas tree. We got a new one...FINALLY! Our old one was a hand me down from my Dad, which he got from someone else; So it was super old! I have had that tree since 1996, so it was time for a new one ;o) Then...this super cute pic of Jackson.
I think it was taken on Dec. 22, after the girl's Church Christmas service.
He was smiling so wide and kinda standing still, so I had to snap a quick pic ;o)

Here he is on Christmas Eve, hanging out with Hall the Moose (he got Hal from his sisters for Christmas).

Every year, we spend a few hours on Christmas Eve with my Grandma and my Dad's family. O forgot my camera, so I have no pics of that ;o(
Jackson was, of course, running around like crazy and making friends with my cousin's little boy, Ayden. They were soooo stinkin' cute, running around, getting into trouble...playing in the bubbler in the hallway. I am sure it was all Jackson's idea...he's a bad influence ;o)

ANYWAY--after we got home, everyone cozied up in their jammies and we watched A Christmas Story.

This year was THE FIRST year that Dave actually helped me wrap presents. He did pretty good, except for his shotty job on Jenna's snowboard...lol...
You can kinda see it, off to the right.

This is a pic I shot after we "set up" their gifts under the tree.
I sure do love our new tree!!

All I want for Christmas...is a NICE pic of my 3 kids; WHAT a workout!

2009-02-25T08:20:00.002-06:00

DECEMBER 4, 2008

Trying to get Christmas pics taken of the kids has turned into a marathon of chasing, bribing and an overage of screaming...by Jackson...

Look at how nice my girls are smiling...while trying to tame their brother...LOL...they are just too sweet ;o)
This is only ONE of many failed attempts, but I will spare you all the heartache of seeing poor Jackson suffer through having to sit still for more than 5 seconds at a time...lol

I did get a couple of nice shots of the girls, by themselves...I did want a pic of all 3 by themselves for a collage, but yeah...you can see that wasn't going to work ;o(

My 13 year old, Haley

10 yr. old Jenna

This is THE best shot that I got of all three together. Yes, we had to BRIBE Jackson to sit still for...I think it was 4 seconds...with a Candy Cane.

Here is the finished product.
With a bunch of help from Photoshop and a ton of free online scrapbooking papers and elements; I think our Christmas '08 picture turned out pretty good!

Christmas Cookies

2009-02-24T08:30:00.006-06:00

DECEMBER 13, 2008

Every year, my mom and my sister come over and we spend the whole day baking cookies, making candy and spending time together. It's usually around the middle of December.
This was the first year that Jackson was able to help out ;o)

Let's just say he had his fill of cookie dough...lol

Jackson, my Mom and Jenna - She's busy rolling out the dough with my broken rolling pin...Jackson broke it ;o(
Only one of the handles busted off, so it was still usable.

Here is part of Haley, helping out with the Peanut Butter balls, or maybe she was putting caramel on the pecans??...yummmmm!

...just a bit of our supplies.

Just a teeny bit of the cookies ;o)

So, we made over 100 Peanut Butter Balls, countless Pecan Turtles, 2 bags of Peppermint Bark and dozens and dozens of sugar and chocolate chip cookies. OH...we can't forget the yummy Peanut Butter Kiss cookies -- Can't wait til next December!!

New Boots ;o)

2009-01-10T22:31:00.003-06:00

NOVEMBER 30, 2008

Just a couple of pics of my little guy in his new winter boots ;o)
They are his very first pair of boots and he just could not wait to try them on...

They are 'Cars' boots...with Lightning McQueen, so of course he LOOOVES them!!

First Snow 11/24

2008-12-22T12:48:00.003-06:00

We had our first accumulating snow storm on Nov. 24.

Oh it was soooooooooo beautiful ;o)

I loved how silent it was...watching the flakes fall to the ground...

Not enough snow for a no-school snow day...lol...

So the girls had to wait at the end of the driveway for the bus ;o)

After school, Haley made a couple of mini snowmen...

cute, huh? lol

The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular

2008-12-22T10:42:00.005-06:00

The show was A M A Z I N G !!!

It truly was beautiful and was oh so Christmas-y ;o)

Dave's niece was so kind to give us 4 tickets to the opening show on November 11th.

Of course Dave didn't want to go, so I brought my mom with us (me and the girls).

Here are some pics of the magic...

All of their outfits were super cool. Very glamourous...

Well, except these costumes...lol...they were just cute ;o)

THE BEST part of the show was that they incorporated the REAL meaning of Christmas into their Christmas Spectacular!

The Angel's visit to the shepherds to tell them a Christ Child will be born and the Birth of Jesus, our Lord & Savior!!

The visions were truly amazing and brought tears to my eyes. I was in pure amazement...

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-12-22T10:21:00.004-06:00

I turned 32 on November 9th. It was a good day. Anyday is a good day when you spend it with the ones you love ;o)

The night before my birthday, we all (me, Dave and all my siblings) went out to where my youngest brother was DJ'ing.

I thought it would be nice to get a picture of all of us together, since it's rare that we ever are all together.

A friend of my sister in law's took the picture for me...

Erik Me Sarah Lee Angie

I love my brothers and sisters soooooooooooo very much. They mean so much to me, more than they will ever know ;o)

I got a pic of my 2 brothers, too...

Then the next morning (my birthday) we met up for breakfast and my brother and sister bought our breakfast for us for my birthday...aren't they the sweetest??? lol - it was very yummy!

Before we left the house, I got this pic of the grandkids. My kids and my niece and nephew...

Jenna-Kennedy-Haley-Jackson-Leland

Aren't they all beautiful kids? Well, OK...I have to say Leland is handsome...I don't think he would like being called beautiful! LOL

Happy 2nd Birthday, Jackson ;o)

2008-12-22T09:34:00.003-06:00

On November 7th, my baby boy turned 2.

(yes yes...I know...I am super behind on my posts...)

Time has been flying by so fast and we are cherishing every moment with him. We thank God for giving us this wonderful baby boy and he surprises us every day ;o)

On his birthday, Dave and I took him to Chuck E. Cheese. Jackson LOOOOOVES pizza and of course, loves fun...lol.

He had lots of fun going down the slide and hanging out with the 'Tubbies.

After the girls got home from school, and after dinner, we gave him his gifts from us.

He got TONS of Cars stuff. HE LOVES The Disney Cars movie...he watches it at least 4x per week ;o)

The next day was his birthday party. I didn't get many pics because I was busy enjoying myself with my baby boy...I hope ya'll understand...lol

BUT I did get one of his cake...can ya guess what was on it???

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy ;o)

Sometimes I feel creative ;o)

2008-12-13T22:03:00.004-06:00

Yes, I sure do...but it has to be easy creative, know what I mean?

Anyway--for my birthday, my mom got me these nice, white flowers and I put them in the only vase I had, a red one. These flowers lasted a WHOLE month! (And I didn't even put that flower food packet in the water)

OK--back to my creativity...

The flowers my mom got me finally died a few days ago and I just loved the way they looked in the red vase. You know...white flowers...green stems...red vase; pretty Christmas-y. So, I went back and got some more. BUT I was perusing the Christmas section and found some other things that might turn my plain white flowers into a nice Christmas arrangement.

I have to say it turned out nice!

Here is the final result:

I bought the flowers $5, the plastic silver bulbs $3 and the red, glittery wavy stick things (sorry-don't know what they are called) $1 --

So this whole pretty arrangement only cost $9 plus tax, since I already had the vase.

I could put more of the bulbs on, but didn't want to overload it.

Nice, Fall day

2008-12-13T21:03:00.004-06:00

**I will be updating like a mad woman in the next few days...I have soooooooooooo many pics to get up here...It's just caa-rrazzy!**

On this day... Nov. 4, 2008, it was pretty nice out...kids didn't even need jackets! Now...well, you can't even see the grass, it's covered with a 20 inch blanket of snow!

OK on to the pictures...

Here's our Jenna...

I was shooting on Manual and didn't have my W/B adjusted correctly so I had to adjust in PS...I think it turned out pretty well ;o)

Haley...I really love this pic of her! So crisp and clear and her eyes...so pretty!

And Jackson...our stink-o-tin ;o)

He has the same eyes as Haley...a deeper, sparkly blue.

Here are the 3 of them together...I have this in an 8x10 hanging in my living room...I am in LOVE with it ;o)

OK...I had to add this one in here...lol...I just love the expression on his face...hee hee ;o)

Happy 13th Birthday Haley ;o)

2008-11-02T10:41:00.006-06:00

My baby girl turned 13 yesterday...sad sad day ;o(
Although...she has been acting like she was a teenager for a couple years now. One thing with teens, they are harder and harder to shop for and more expensive. But Haley wasn't too bad...not this year. I am sure it will get worse.

ANYWAY--she is still into Webkinz, so she got a couple of those. And she got some cozy slippers, hair thingy's, glitter spray, a DS game and some other stuff.

We went to Hu-Hot for her birthday lunch, which is one of her favorite places. Then we went to my friend's house and picked up her daughter to hang out with Haley and Jenna and to spend the night.

We watched the new American Girl Kit movie and ate popcorn.
I also made this super cool cupcakey creation (as I like to call it ;o)
I saw something similar at Wal-Mart and just knew I could make that. So I bought some sprinkles and some curly ribbons; went home, made some cupcakes, and VOILA!

Aren't they perrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrty???

Here is the birthday girl ;o)

Halloween '08

2008-11-02T10:28:00.004-06:00

I think this was Haley's last year of Trick or Treating...since she is 13 now.
But ya know...age doesn't stop some 16 year old's that put on their roller blades, smashing into little toddlers on their way to get free candy...not even dressed up in any type of costume. If we stayed home to hand out candy, I would so be just giving them pennies or yucky jawbreakers...hee hee ;o) Yes...I am an evil one. And, yes, I think that Halloween is for kids, but younger kids

OK...off my soapbox...

I got some decent pics of the kiddies, this year. Jackson surprised me by keeping his costume on the entire time!!

Here are all 3 of my kiddos...

Haley was a flapper girl, Jenna was a princess and Jackson-my dragon:

Haley was a big help with bringing Jackson to every house...she never complained ;o)

This was their first house.

He wasn't lettin' go of that candy bucket for nothing!! I tried taking it away because it was getting a bit heavy and I got a mean look from him and a few loud NO's!!

Hope ya'll had a fun Halloween!! ;o)

Booyah Cook-Off

2008-10-28T18:34:00.005-05:00

On Sunday (Oct. 26), Dave and I packed up the kiddies and drove to Denmark to join my brother and my nephew at the Booyah Cookoff at the Circle Tap bar. My Dad and sister, Sarah, were also there.

The kids had fun running around the baseball field and inside the bar, where it was warm; and where there were lots of yummy treats!

Outside, there were at least 10 stands that people were at, making up their own Booyah concoctions....now...my brother's WAS THE best!! He won Taster's Choice...so yeah...his IS THE BEST!! ;o)

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Anyway--here are some pics I took of our day...

Here is my brother, Lee...the Booyah Man ;o)

Lee and my nephew, Leland

Jackson...playing in the baseball field

I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Running away from Leland...

My pretty Jenna ;o)

Dave, Jackson & Jenna

more fall pics

2008-10-08T16:47:00.008-05:00

Have I told any of you that I LOVE taking pics of these kids??

The girls were too busy for me...all they wanted to do was cartwheels on the trampoline or flips or some stuff like that; so that just left me chasing Jackson around the yard til my legs gave out ;o)

I did get a couple of him on the trampoline after the girls got off of it...

And, of course, he LOOOOOOVES the swings ;o)

I just have to "share" the dessert I made for dinner....yummmmmmmmm...
I saw it on TV (Jocelyn's show!!) and just had to run out, buy some apples and make it!
It was insanely simple to make, too!

*~APPLE CRISP~*

Cut up & peel 6-8 apples

place them in an ungreased baking pan (I used an 8x8)

and sprinkle with cinnamon

Topping:

In a bowl, mix together:

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

Mix it up with a fork or pastry cutter until it forms into little balls/pebbles

Sprinkle topping over apples and bake in 400 degree oven until golden and bubbly ;o)

THAT'S IT!! Super easy, huh??
SO, thank you to Sara Petoniak from Living With Amy on Fox 11 in Green Bay for that super yummy, easy recipe! ;o)

OH...one more pic...

this is the girls, I love this pic, because they look so nice together...

look!!! They aren't fighting!!!!

First Fall pics

2008-10-02T21:45:00.005-05:00

I took Jackson outside, yesterday, for a bit to play around the yard.
It was a chilly, brisk Fall day; I think the high was about 56 and breezy.

Anyway--we had to have our John Deere brought in to be serviced and we finally got it back, so he was super happy about that ;o)

He just LOVES to pretend to drive it!

After playing "car" on the rider, he ran down the yard to play on the swingset

He does have such beautiful eyes...doesn't he??

First day of school 2008...thru the years....

2008-10-01T10:18:00.006-05:00

September 2nd was the girls' first day of school...first day of public school AND first day of riding a bus to school.
Whew...lots of firsts!!

Every year, I try to get a pic of them on the first day of school...
and then it reminds me of how big they are getting and how old I am getting... ;o(
So, I went into the ol' computer files and found the following...

This one...I am guessing, is from 2000, when Haley was in Pre-School.
Haley is 4 and Jenna is 2 in this pic!!

Then, there is a bit of a gap, as I cannot find any photos from any first days from 2001-2003 ;o(

But, here is 2004!
Haley is 8 and Jenna is 6

2005
Haley - 9, Jenna - 7

2006
Haley - 10, Jenna - 8

I don't have one from 2007...no idea what happened there...maybe I was too busy with Jackson, as always...

But here is 2008, again...
Haley - 12, Jenna - 10

And, of course, we have to throw one of the boy in here...
waiting for the girls' bus in his super-cute Transformers slippers!

Busy, but Lazy Summer

2008-09-10T07:44:00.005-05:00

The title says it all...

We really didn't do much this summer, but with 3 kids and a hubby who works his butt off, it seems like we were busy ;o)

We skimped out on our summer vacation, this year, because of cost and busy-ness & laziness.
We did go to a small waterpark hotel, for one night, which was just perfect.

The next day, we went to The Building for Kids. The kids had a TON of fun...especially Jackson ;o)
There was so much for him to do...

Here he is, playing in the water play room...

Sliding down the apple slide...

and sitting on top of the real firetruck they had inside, complete with fire gear!!

Here is the ONE pic I got of the girls...because they didn't know I was taking it...hee hee!!

Around the Yard (Angie's version) LOL

2008-08-11T15:58:00.005-05:00

...just some more pics I took this weekend while we were at my sister's.

Her yard is beautiful! Angie and Billy did a WONDERFUL job on it!! ;o)

Here is a pic of the SUPER stamping work that Billy did on their front walkway...

Now...for some cool pics of my sister's wonderously beautiful Stargazer Lillies...

Yeah...can you say WOW??? Weren't they beautiful!?!?!?!?

lol...here is Jenna and Kennedy trying to catch a butterfly...

...and one of just Kennedy, smiling perrrrrty...

Little Amerricka

2008-08-11T15:41:00.003-05:00

We (me and the kiddies) spent the weekend at my sister's house, a couple hours away...the kids had a lot of fun at the little amusement park called Little Amerricka .
I, of course, almost died of heat and sun exhaustion...but that's just me...I hate the sun w/heat...even if it's only 80 degrees...just too much for me!

I took a bunch of pics and like always, only a couple turned out...but that is the way of life for a very amateur photographer...lol

Jackson LOVED being able to "steer" something!

The cars were his ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!
(yeah...and Jenna was lovin' it, too...lol)

TONS of pics, but in a cruddy mood ;o(

2008-08-11T15:30:00.003-05:00

I am in a blah, yucky, cruddy mood...whatever you wanna call it.
It's just one of those kinda days, I guess.

SO, not much to say...I will just upload the pics for your viewing pleasure ;o)

(BTW-the little girl that isn't Haley or Jenna is my niece! -- and of course the little guy is Jackson)

Ahhhhh....Tiger-Lillies!!

2008-08-06T21:36:00.002-05:00

I just love these! They are popping up EVERYWHERE around my house!!

My Little Monster's New Boden!!

2008-08-06T20:53:00.008-05:00

I just love love love Boden! It is so sturdy, cute and makes my little man look his best...LOL!

Soooo...here is my little monster, running around...and foolin' around with Daddy ;o)

...and I decided that some tops from the Mini-Boden Summer 07 line would look super with the new baggies... what do you think??

I HAD to get him a Pizza top...He LOOOOOOVES PIZZA!!

And, of course, a snack shirt...He LOOOOOOVES his snacks!! lol

And is this shirt him or what?? lol

My Amateur Photo shoot with my kids...

2008-07-30T20:51:00.005-05:00

I just love photography...I learn something new everyday! Either from books or from some wonderful Ladies that truly have the art of child photography down to a science!!
You know who you are!! ;o) And thank you BUNCHES!!

So...here we go...am I gettin' good??

More to come!!
Have to get some of Haley...she is such a hard one to photo...you wouldn't think so, since she is my oldest...but she is!!

FIREWORKS!!

2008-07-13T16:48:00.005-05:00

**READ THE POST AFTER THIS ONE FIRST!!**

July 1, 2008 (evening)

We had our fireworks "display" on July1. We made sure to give Jackson a late nap so he would be able to stay up past 8:30-9pm to be able to join us outside.

I took some pics of the kids getting ready for our show.

Now, time for a couple pics of the fireworks!
I love that my camera can take such nice night pics!!

This was a fountain...oooooooooo so perrrrrrty!! lol

Jackson enjoyed himself, but our show only lasted about 10 mins. before the mosquitos just got unbearable!!

Living out in the country has lots of "ups" but one HUGE down are those dang bugs!!!

Fun at the Beach

2008-07-13T16:05:00.007-05:00

July 1, 2008 (daytime)

Here are the kiddies...on our way to spend a day at the beach.
A couple times a summer, we like to just pack up for the day and go to a campground beach an hour away. We live VERY inland...lol...so we aren't close to any oceans, which is a bummer, sometimes!

The girls trying to build a moat? or something...no idea...lol
They were just having fun, without their brother bothering them...

Gimme 5!!!
Jackson was ready to call it a day...went to the back of the van (cuz he knew that is where all the "stuff" came from) and tried opening it.
The poor boy doesn't do beaches too well...yet...
So...Daddy tried cheering him up a bit.

Then...it was time to hit the trail for a walk to the Rock Slide!!

Haley...getting ready to go down the "slide"

Jenna...taking a little break to smile pretty for the camera!

Jackson's too little to go down the rock slide, so he has to watch his sister's with Daddy.

The girls are enjoying the nice, warm water.
The water does look yucky, but it's actually pretty clear.
They are sitting a HUGE flat rock on sand, in the water.

I took a break from the girls and Jackson was wading through the water and climbed up on this big rock. I got lots of cute shots, but this one is my favorite!!

We all had a great day.
Dave had to work on the 4th, so we had our 4th of July celebration on July 1st.
We did some fireworks that night...which is one of Dave's passions...lol.
I will put the pics in the following post...well, the post will show up BEFORE this one...lol

Water Fun

2008-06-14T19:15:00.008-05:00

Today, the kids played outside with their water guns and threw a huge tarp on top of the trampoline and put some water on it to splash around on.

As you can tell in the following pictures, they enjoyed themselves, immensely...especially Jackson!

But, first I wanted to share a pic of Jenna that I took the other day...I just love it when I catch the light just right in her eyes!

Now, on to the wet-tarp-trampoline Fun!!

Yeah...yeah...I was lazy and didn't feel like running back up into the house to get his swim trunks, so I thought...eh...

since we are home, who cares, right?

He was just a jumpin' and a jumpin'...

oh and don't worry...lol...

the girls were sitting on the trampoline on either side of him at all times, and I was always circling the trampoline, so he wouldn't slip off.

Got some cuter closer pics, too...

Friday, June 6th

2008-06-09T20:21:00.011-05:00

On Friday, we hung out on the deck and let Jackson go swimming in his pool.
He was so excited!
But he still won't go down the slide the "normal" way...

After awhile, my mom came to pick him up to spend some time with him.
Then, me and the girls went down the road to the Family Carnival.

I only got a couple of pics of them on one ride...

They are the 2 at the end of the right side.

After they went on a few rides, I took a few pics of the sky...it was amazing!

Look at the poor little white cloud! It's about to get trampled on by the big bad storm cloud! LOL

A Cuddly Corner

2008-06-03T21:52:00.004-05:00

I just thought this was so cute...lol...

The other day, Jackson grabbed a book, a cracker and his cup. He then crawled up onto the couch; put the stuff on the couch, and ran across it to find a blanket and pillow; then put the pillow in the corner and gathered all the rest of his things and pulled the blanket up onto him and snuggled in.

It was so darn cute to watch him do all this and to catch a couple of pictures of him, in his finished "product"...a nice, cuddly corner in the couch.

Last day of school :o(

2008-05-31T17:31:00.006-05:00

Friday was the girls last day of school. It is actually their last day at the school they have been at since they were in Pre-School. This Fall, they will be heading into their first year of public school.
We are all a bit nervous, but I grew up in public school and I think I turned out just fine!!

Anyway--every year, the parents bring the kids to Bay Beach
after school dismisses at 11:15.
Here are some pics of the girls and their friends...

Jenna & Jye on the Scrambler

Haley and a few of her friends...

By 1pm, Jenna was beginning to run a fever and not feelin' so good...
How did I know...well, when I offered to buy her and Jye some ice cream,
she passed!!!!!

Haley and her friends on the Scrambler

This place has a bunch of rides for all ages...
Ferris Wheel, Giant Slide, Bumper Cars, Flying Swings, Merry-Go-Round...
lots of rides for the little tots too!!

Even has a train ride!!

I just had to get a pic of the top of the pavilion...isn't that one beautiful scene???

Random Pics from May 24-31

2008-05-31T16:28:00.013-05:00

I have taken a bunch of pics, this past week, so I thought I would just throw them up here.

I will start with some of the girls...

Don't ya just love their hats??? They are my goof-balls!!

The boy has soooo many summer outfits, I have to get him to wear every single one! Hopefully mommy's new Photog hobby can take away a bit of the clothes obsession?? Yeah, right...who am I kidding???

And...have I told you all that he is THE hardest child to photograph??

I think he is very photogenic, but NO WAY is he holding any pose for more than .2 milliseconds!!

AND...I am fore-warning all of you...your computer screen, whether it be glass or LCD, may crack!!!

Take precaution as you view the next picture as it is one of THE worst pics of me, that are still in circulation!!

(In my defense, it was a baaaaaaad migraine day -May 30- and I spent most of the day in my sweats...)

Oh great! Jackson sees that the Riding mower is unattended!!
HERE HE COMES!

(as Daddy is in the background checking out the 2 packages mommy got in the mail today...lol)

See how excited he is to be on it?

The mower pics were taken today...such a beautiful day out, and he got to wear his new Gymbo outfit!!

Just a lazy day

2008-05-26T21:41:00.008-05:00

We didn't do anything special for Memorial Day...just hung out.
We did venture out to Menards for a new hose sprayer, # stickers for our mailbox and those white flower ant hotel thingys. UGH...those tiny little unowhats are crawling in through our patio door; hate 'em!!

The girls were still with Dave's niece at a waterpark until the late afternoon, so it was just me, Dave and Jackson.
We came home, fed Jackson some lunch then it was naptime.

Dave played his beloved Guitar Hero and I just watched him. THAT is when my lazy day began...lol...and it went on and on and...

After a long day of laziness, Momma was feelin' even lazier around dinner time...

Sooooooooo....

We (me and Jackson) hopped in the car and headed to...

Went to the Drive-Thru, drove back home and VOILA!

Dinner was served! LOL

Then, Jackson felt like dressing up like his Hero...

...his Daddy!!

So that was our Memorial Day.

I said a prayer for the Veterans, all the troops & their families who are serving our country and the ones who we have lost...God Bless you all!

My BEAUTIFUL Hostas & other Lovelies in our yard

2008-05-25T16:00:00.007-05:00

Dave's mom planted these hostas a looong time ago and they are BEAUTIFUL!

I sure love her for planting these! She also planted a bunch of other stuff around

our yard...

Hostas - May 12, 2008

I tried to get in the same position for the same pic...to show how much they have grown

Hostas - May 24, 2008

Had to put in some other pics of the plant life that I love to see everyday!

One of three Lilac bushes in the front...

And, last but not least, the super cute Tea Rose bush

(I will have to dig it up and plant it on the other side of the house...)

Fun with Color Accent

2008-05-25T15:41:00.007-05:00

Out in the yard yesterday, I decided to try out the color accent feature on my camera. I thought the color accent should be blue, since that was what Jackson was wearing. I wanted to get some of him on the front porch, but the little guy just will not hold still for anything!

Here he is, chasing the ball...a blue ball...

Here is Jenna and Jackson, in the background. I tried to make Jackson more in focus than Jenna...and I think it worked a tiny bit!

Then there is Haley...I love catching her off-guard!