“End of Summer” party…

Really it’s not the end of the summer but since school starts up next week it’s the end of summer vacation so each year I try and do something big for my kids. We’ve had parties at the park, we’ve gone to the zoo, we’ve gone swimming and we’ve had parties here. I was told this years party was the best yet but they said that last year with our Candy Land party.

This year our theme was Red, White and Blue. Yep, just the colors. We thought of many different things but we kept coming back to this. So today we tie dyed, played balloon wars, and a game called telephone. Then they played with Mike and the fire hose while I fixed lunch. Then to end we had dunking for apples in the pool. There was 12 kids and 4 adults. Got pictures, wanna see?

 

 

                       

The kids were my daycare kids, my cousins little ones, my friend and her little ones and of course Mike. It was great.

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We also celebrated Wilbur’s 7th birthday. Wilbur so loves all “his” kids and they love him too.

                   

  

  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILBUR!!! He is such a sweet, caring, loving dog. We are so very lucky to have him.

So that was our day. Busy, wonderful, tiring but oh so worth it all. Now it’s bed time so I can do it all over again tomorrow with my 6 wee ones. Loving my job!!!

Take care my friends and have a blessed day tomorrow.

Game night…..

Once a month my mom hosts a family game night. We start off with a wiener roast and outside games when it’s nice and then when it’s dark we go in and play something. We’ve had family game night way back when I was little. It continued when I got married and then for a few years it stopped because everyone was busy and we were driving truck. Well a few years back mama started it up again with the grandkids and us. Well I can say each time we get together it’s a blast. I finally took my camera with me this past game night so now I can share with you. So here’s what we did with our family get together….

                           

 

 

    

We had a great time. I so love our get togethers.

This weekend was a good one. Yesterday instead of working hard I went shopping with my mama an daddy, then came home and got it all put away. Jim and Mike came home and we took a neep (remember neep, it’s longer then a nap but shorter then sleep). Then Jim and I went out and target practiced for a couple of hours. We also figured with all the noise it would keep those foxes away along with the raccoons and skunks. For some reason this is the year these things are wiping us out. We are down at least 40 chickens, a corn crop and there are skunk holes in our yard. It’s not like we’re just letting them either. I’ve taken out 2 foxes and 6 raccoons but there’s more. We have the live trap set up but I think everything is just avoiding that. We have two radio’s going during the day each on a different channel and with the dog out, the kids running around I just am not sure when they are getting them but they are. Last night was the first night in ages we were in by 8:00 and just watched TV and ate supper in our chairs.

Today was another sorta screw around day. Jim and I went out for breakfast and picked up feed, grass seed and his work groceries and came home to Mike working on his suburban. We took the wrist rockets out and played with them a bit and then the bows and arrows. We did plant the grass seed, put in a section of drain tile and I picked tomatoes otherwise it was another night in before dark. I love it!!!

Tomorrow is my daycare “End of Summer” party. So far there will be 12 kids and 3 adults but there are a couple other invitations out there so we’ll see who comes when it’s time. We will have games, a picnic and then swimming and playing with the fire hoses. I’ll be sharing when I get time and energy.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I’m planning on it. Take care my friends and God Bless!!!

Corn, corn and more corn…

But no complaints because come winter we’ll have plenty to eat, make soup with and also grill. Today I had about 60 cobs that I took the corn off the cobs and bagged. I decided to do it outside this time, much less mess. The chickens sure loved me doing it outside. So far I have a dozen bags of cobbed corn and 25 bags of off the cob. I’m thinking we’ll be okay there. There’s also about 10 bags of beets, 10 bags of broccoli, 15 bags of beans and I haven’t gotten to the tomatoes yet but that’s next, along with apples if I can find any. I don’t know but it seems in this area there isn’t much to be had but one of my daycare grandparents said her tree is producing so I’m hoping I can get a few bags from them. Next will be saving up for a 1/4 of a beef and 1/2 pig, or at least try too.

Oh speaking of corn. How do you cook your corn? On the grill, on the stove top, in the oven? I found a super simple, no mess, no heat in the house, way to cook your corn to perfection. Use a microwave safe plate, wet a paper towel and place it on the plate. Place 4-6 cobs of corn on the plate, cover with plastic wrap and nuke for 5 minutes. It comes out crispy tender and oh so good. I’ve also just rolled a cob in a wet paper towel and nuked that for 1 1/2-2 minutes and it works great too. Either way is easy and mess free.

Then tomorrow is R&A mom’s birthday so we made some homemade body/hand scrub. I couldn’t find a recipe I really liked so like my normal way of doing things we just made it up. We tried it and it really worked good and felt so nice so we put it in a jar and then made a label. If someone would like our recipe I can post that if you want me too.

  

So that is that for today. We went for a cart ride to see the grandparents, swimming, bike riding and then a nap and my exercise time with three helpers. Now snack time and more outside. I’m thinking a walk in the woods to see what we can find.

Here’s my sunflowers, they are just starting to really come out. Enjoy. Take care and have a blessed evening.

 

Bye-bye Belle….

For the past 9 days I have been doggy sitting Belle. She’s a German Sheppard that belongs to a scouting family we scout with and they got to go away to Virginia for a vacation and Belle got to come here and be spoiled rotten. Today she had to go home. She’s been my constant companion and I miss her and she’s only been gone for a little over an hour. I didn’t cry this year like last year (she’s been coming for a couple of years now) but only because I’m being a bit girl about it. I took Belle to the mine pits swimming along with Rachel, Abby, Scott and Mike. We had a great time and it was a perfect way to end our time with Belle. She got to go home cleaned and a bit less hairy and also happy. I took lots of pictures and what better way to share with you how the day was but to share. So here they are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

   

We all enjoyed having Belle here. I think we are just going to have to “borrow” her every couple of months because she is a great dog to have and doggy sit.

Okay, so one more picture to share. Remember we had a craft show this past weekend? Well our neighborly lady next to us took a picture of Brenda and I so here we are with our jewelry display.

 

We had a great time at this show. We so love outdoor shows better then indoor ones. We didn’t sell tons, about $150.00 worth of goodies but no bad either. We now don’t have another show until Hunters weekend, the first Saturday in November. Plenty of time to make up some Christmas goodies.

So take care my friends and have a wonderful week. God Bless!!!