Insta-yard......

We opted this time around to HIRE our yard done...something about too many rocks in the dirt, 3 kids to deal with and NO TIME!! Here is the finished product.....it's so nice to have grass instantly!!! A & E thought it was great yesterday and just ran and ran around the house....

Front of house (obviously!)

Left side of the house.....we have a strange empty lot next to us...if you enlarge the picture you can see where it comes to a point in the corner with the lot on the other side of the empty lot - let's just say the house next door some day will have no backyard.

The backyard taken from the left side of the house. (you'll also notice our playhouse under the deck....the wind has destroyed it - we've had really strong winds a couple times now and it actually picked the playhouse up and carried it about 10 feet and just ruined it!)

Christmas Tree Hunt....Take 2

So on the way home from our un-successful tree hunting trip...E and I decided that we would head out again on Sunday after church...but be a little more prepared this time - i.e. gas in the car, lot's of snacks for the kids, better idea of where to go and hopefully they would nap on the way in the car. We got home on Saturday afternoon and settled in a bit to the house and quickly changed our minds...there was NO WAY we were going to all the work to head out again to find a tree with the kids on Sunday.....TO MUCH WORK!!
So Saturday night A & E had a babysitter and E & I set out to find the "perfect" tree all on our own - AT MENARDS!! Not so fun for the kids - I know...but thankfully they really don't know any different at this point and they were not crushed to wake up and find a tree already up in the living room the next morning....MAYBE NEXT YEAR!!!

E very much likes to put the ornaments on AND take them back OFF again!


If A could have it her way - they would all be hanging on the same branch I think...


Em - just taking it all in.....

Christmas Tree Hunt...Take 1

3 kids, 2 adults and the need to find a tree....what were we thinking???
The last 2 years it has been our tradition to head out into the Black hills and cut down our own tree......so of course this year could be no different - Mind you the first year we just had A - the second year we had A & E but my parents also joined us on the excursion - so this year venturing out with all three kids by ourselves - had "nuts" written all over it!!!

E - finally out of the car.....Whenever anyone gets out of the car - E must get out too....we had spotted a few trees with possible potential so we decided to get out and look - which translated into everyone getting out to look....E in all his glory. Funny thing is...A, who is now potty trained had to go "potty" not long after this stop...so we pulled over and let her do her thing on the side of the road - of course now she didn't have to go....but suddenly now E was certain he was potty trained too and needed to go....just another tactic to get out of the car.


Off to find that perfect tree - nothing to be found......we ended up coming home with no tree...if you can believe it - we live in the Black Hills for heaven sakes, there are trees every where...but 3 cranky, hungry kids, no cell service to actually call someone who could tell us where to go, and a car that was almost out of gas just spelled disaster...so home we came. Christmas Tree Hunt - Take 2 - to come shortly!!

A little color....

We embarked on our first painting adventure this past weekend in the new house.....it started out well but didn't end so well. ( don't worry no spilled paint!!)

We painted the big main wall that is shared between the living room and dining room brown (as seen above) - I was really liking the brown so we decided to paint one more wall in the living room brown (bad idea) when it was almost all done - I didn't like it...it was too much brown! - This pretty much took all of Saturday. On Sunday E ran to the paint store and got a new color to paint over the brown...a taupe of sorts....which I thought I liked....turns out - it's a no go too.....makes everything seem a tad bit pinkish...of course I (we) didn't come to this conclusion again until we were almost done....so now onto another color....hopefully in a couple weeks!! Good thing I have a great husband that doesn't mind painting....

From Heavy Weight to...

LIGHT WEIGHT (well sort of).....

Em had her 2 month check-up today
She started out as my heaviest baby of the three and is now my lightest baby of the three at 2 months of age and also my smallest in length.
Weight: 12lbs. 6 oz (90%)
Height: 23 1/4 inches (75%)
Head: 39.3 cm (50%)

Just can't stop.....

Taking pictures of this cute girl!!!

2 months old..

Our little Em is 2 months old today...I can't believe how fast it's all going!! She is so full of smiles these days and tells some pretty good stories!!

Taking up a FUND.....

For a truck so E can get to work and not get stuck 20 feet in front of our house - AGAIN!

November 6, 2008


May 2, 2008

North Dakota or South Dakota???

Truthfully, I feel like I am back re-living my blizzard days of Grand Forks, ND!!! We get snow here but not really blizzards or snow hurricanes like this...and although the pictures don't look all that terrible....the wind tells a different story - We've listened to 50 + mph winds all night long! And I just saw a report of wind gusts as high as 79mph being reported in Rapid City. I am just thankful to be one of the customers that still has power this morning. So far we have 8 inches of snow and Deadwood has 39 inches of snow!!

(click on the picture and you can see the porta potty on it's side across the street - that will be pleasant to clean up!)

One Cute Kid.....

(never mind the dried boogies on his face!)

Bed Time Prayers.....

We have a bedtime routine - (that seems to get longer all the time with A)... last night as E was talking with A about what to be thankful for from the day and what to pray for....A's response was this: (mind you - we had a tough day - with a lot of bad behavior!)

A: "Thank you God for NOT listening to Mommy and Daddy"

E quickly corrected her - "this is not something we are thankful for" quite fitting though given her behavior throughout the day that she would say something like this- I guess A doesn't quite have the "what we are thankful for and what we pray for" completely figured out!

Em and her many expressions.....

Sisters....