how hard can it be to get a picture of 2 girls???

Oh my...I am ready to give up my photography hobby! Let me tell you...I cannot BELIEVE how hard it is to get two little girls to both look at the camera at the same time. First, I have Natalie, who wants to steal the camera's attention for herself...and then I have Kennedy, who wants to do everything BUT look right into the lens. ARGHHHHHH!!!!

Anyway, we are combining their birthday parties this year, and having it in November. I thought it would be cute to have a "monkey themed" birthday party (since I call them my little monkeys). I pictured getting this cute photo of them "monkeying" around. Hmmm. What was I thinking?

Well...I think I got what I am going to have to get by with. It is cute. Just not what I envisioned. But I got some cute photos out of the "shoot" anyhow!

Jesus didn't have "slinky's"...

So, my soon-to-be 12 year old taught me a lesson tonight. A lesson about just how complicated life really is now...

MeMa bought Alex a slinky. He was playing with it on the floor tonight. I asked him to stop playing with it and help fold up the tent. He obeyed. As he was folding up the tent, Natalie grabbed the slinky. Alex flipped out. "She is going to ruin it" he begged. I said "Alex, really, I will watch her, it isn't that big of a deal." He kept it up "Come on Mom! I don't WANT her to play with it". I said "Come on Alex!" And then, just to be a bit of a wise guy, I asked "What would Jesus do?". He stood up, looked me right in the eye and said "Mom. Jesus didn't have a slinky". Hmmmmm....

I know he was just being sarcastic at my attempt to be witty, but it really reminded me about just how many more trials, tribulations, obstacles, and choices we have now. We have this beautiful gift of advancements in technology. I mean - heck- that is the way I can keep in instant contact with all my family...even across the country. But with it comes confusion. I mean, how much is too much? Having the internet has now created a new definition of "cheating". Is it *really* cheating to talk to the opposite sex in a chat room? To me, yes. But is it to everyone? What about pornography that pops up when you are trying to innocently browse the web? Our kids being raised to think "that stuff just happens".

Let's take this stock market crash that is happening all around us. How, as the great nation of America, have we gone from "independence" to SUCH dependence on everything? How many people do you know that have 3 months salary just put away? A year's salary? If the world went to poop tomorrow, would you know how to sow a row of corn? How long could you feed your family if all you had was the food in your pantry? What about water? Do you have a backup for electricity? In a world where it is the norm to just run to the "convenience" store...we have lost all sense of accountability and responsibility for a real crisis. Brian mentioned the Amish that live in our area. How interesting it is to me that their life continues on with America facing an international crisis. I am pretty sure that not only are they NOT affected, but they quite possibly have no clue that it is going on. In this case, at least for me, ignorance is bliss. How I wish my TV didn't carry CNN right now...or that CNN didn't have an up to the minute website that publishes the stock market points every 10 minutes. How beautiful would life be without that complication? Again, I ask...how much is too much?

Sorry. Off my soap box now. I guess my lesson learned is that God didn't plant the complications, but he allowed us the free agency to choose the paths we take. If we put our minds and hearts back on track as to what is really important in this life, we will have a much greater understanding as to the blessings that God intended on us to have. If we put as much effort into God's plan for us as we do into the stock market...how much different would my priorities be today?

As Proverbs 3:5 reads:
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Alex's Cake...and Family Home Evening

Today was a pretty uneventful day (unless you have a lot of money in stocks...then today may have been a little rough...). After we finished work, Alex, Natalie & I went to Don's market to round up some missing items for dinner. The menu was about as exciting as the day...we had soup, salad and garlic bread! It was Alex's turn to make dessert so we had chocolate lava cake with ice cream. Yum!

We then had Family Home Evening (for non-LDS readers, that is a night that we set aside with our family to have a short lesson, songs, prayer & activity). For the activity we watched the newly released Emma Smith movie. Wow. Was that woman full of the strength of a gladiator. To endure the challenges that she and her family faced was absolutely amazing. If she didn't deserve the place of an Angel at God's side, then I don't know who would.

Anyway, thought I would share a quote, and of course, some photos! :)

Signs of Good Parenting
"While it may break the heart of a wise parent, they realize that it is not love to shelter a child from every adversity and all hardship. It is through occasional adversity and the winds of life blowing against us that we develop the muscles to stand strong and steady, gaining our moral balance."


This photo cracks me up with TJ...he is like "Guys...your smothering me here!"


Alex and his Lava cake!

Packer Game Day!

What a great day! Brian and I were lucky enough to be able to go on a "date" (thanks to MeMa living so close and can watch the kiddos at the drop of a hat)...since we are friends with Brooke & Brady Poppinga (Packers player #51) we scored some great tickets to today's game! Even though they lost it was still a great experience. Wow...there is nothing like those Green Bay Packer fans, huh? There are some CRAAAAAAZY people! Anyway, I didn't get any photos (I know, thats insane!), but I just thought I would share the experience at any rate.

A 14 mile bike ride...

YAY! We did it! Alex, Mackenzie, Brian and I all went on a 14 mile bike ride today. It was pretty chilly to start out, but it ended up warming up nicely, and turned out to be a great ride. It was a fundraiser for Fallen Timbers Environmental Center, which provides services and classes for our local school district. We even saw Mackenzie's teacher and her family there! They had a 14 mile, a 26 mile and a 65 mile course. Next year we are going to shoot for the 26 mile course! :)

We did have our picture taken, but I don't have it back yet...I will update this post later with the photo!

it's a cold night...and the boys are camping

Yikes! This is the first weekend of "frost warnings" and, of course, that would be the weekend that Brian and Alex are going on a "father/son campout". Okay, in all fairness, they are camping out in our backyard with the scout leader, and another father/son duo. But, they are still sleeping out in their tents, and it is frigid. I mean, Brian just came in and said he rolled out his sleeping bag and ice fell off of it. Wow. I feel a little guilty about sleeping in our warm bed. :) The bad thing is that I signed us up for a 14 mile bike ride at 8:30 in the morning...I am sure I will have a bunch of "happy campers" (excuse the pun) by tomorrow afternoon!

Anyway, I thought it was cool when I looked out our bedroom window at early dusk and saw them preparing. So I watched and took a few photos.

the men in my life

Can I just rave about my husband for a minute? I mean, really...in a day in age where most women can't stand their husbands, I really feel like I have hit the jackpot. Not only does he treat me like a queen each and every day, but I have never known anyone who tries as hard as he does to be the best husband, father, and overall person. He is constantly trying to "right wrongs", and can always see both sides of the situation for almost any controversy.

What is so very awesome is that I see all the many things I love Brian for - in Alex. That means he is doing a phenomenal job in raising our boys! They are kind and considerate, and I hope they will one day make their wives and children proud of the men they have become!

Nothing beats the sound of music coming from our home. Sometimes it is just a few random notes tapped along the piano as Natalie walks by...other times it is Kennedy when she finds a drum stick in the drum room. But most of the time it is Alex playing the trumpet or both dad and son playing their guitars. Which brings me to why I am raving about Brian...how awesome is it to see your husband sit down and teach your son how to play the guitar?

Martin Luther once said:
"I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us."

a nature walk in the fall

There is just something about the fall season that just "gets" me. I love the cooler crisp air, the leaves crunching under your feet, the storms that roll in across the corn fields, pumpkin picking, apple picking.....ahhhh....

I decided I would take the girls for a walk today in the woods behind our house. It started to rain a bit, and I thought "oh no, they are going to want to run inside"...I forgot what it was like to be 2 and 3 years old though...and instead, they just opened up their mouths to catch the raindrops! :)

Tj...our little farmer!

I just love these photos of TJ...never thought that Fleet Farm would be such a great place to shop for clothes...gotta love those boots!

chicken eggs

I like to homestead. In my spare time *hah* I would like to really investigate the method by which we could actually become self-sufficient...that is, relying on only ourselves to provide food for our family. So I started last summer with chickens. I had 14 chickens, but by natural selection (okay, we free range our chickens, so we were bound to lose some!) we currently have 9. They lay about 8 nice fresh brown eggs for us per day. Beautiful! Today when I went to gather eggs I found, by far, the largest egg I have EVER seen! I mean, I can't believe this chicken is still alive after laying this egg. I just had to take a picture of it next to a normal sized one.







Here is a picture of Natalie with one of our chickens (taken over the summer).






And a picture of Brian finishing up the chicken coop....

a day at the botanical gardens

Wow. What an amazing day. We went to the Green Bay botanical gardens with Aunt Theresa and I got to take the most AMAZING photos of Mackenzie. I just cannot believe how grown up she is getting. She is such a beautiful "tween" both inside and out!

TJ is blessed...

In the LDS faith we believe that every baby should be given a name and a blessing when they are born. Usually it is done in the first 6 weeks or so, but since things have been crazy this summer, this is one of the first Sunday's where we actually have our entire family together! Uncle Bob and Aunt Theresa also came to church with us today, and then we had a nice BBQ at our home afterwards...

Taking pictures of my little brother, Logan

We went to a park today to take "back to school" photos of Logan. He is my "little" brother. He is younger than both Alex and Mackenzie...in November he will be 10! :)

Brian shaves his head!

So Brian's dad has Thymic cancer, which is a very rare form of cancer...only hits about 50 people nationwide a year. But Jim is being a trooper! He has been fighting with what will be 6 rounds of chemo and then will begin radiation (late October). Brian is heading to Phoenix for a visit, so he decided to be as supportive as he can and shave his head! Funny thing is, I really like it, so I think we are going to keep it that way!

Natalie was so excited that she cut her hair too! :)