A Hunting We Will Go

When CJ and I starting dating...way back in 1988, he didn't hunt or do anything of the sort. I remember going the the farm with him and some cousins because the cousins were deer hunting, but not him. Over the past couple of years he has expressed an interest in hunting and bought himself a few guns.

Then we added the dogs. Up until about a month ago we had three bird dogs (Maisy, Elvis (yeah, really), and Jenny. Apparently they are good hunting dogs, but to me they are just another argument about who has to feed them. None of the kids want to get rid of them, but they don't like to feed them either.

Keaton also has taken an interest in hunting so CJ bought him a .22. But, before any hunting can happen he had to take Hunter Safety. So, as any loving, supportive mother would, I took Hunter Safety with him. Because Kennedy can't let her brother out do her, she signed up as well. Klayson was bummed because he wasn't old enough to take it with us.

(It was crazy hair day at school - hence the crazy hair!)
Last Saturday was our test. I admit I was a bit worried about my kids, because they didn't study as much as I thought they should and we only got about an hour of shooting practice in. But the good news is that we all passed! It was kind of funny to see how proud CJ was of all of us. I actually think he was more proud of me passing Hunter Safety than when I got my Masters degree.

Blah! Blah! Blog!

I definitely keep myself updated by checking everyone's blog frequently, I just don't take the time to update ours. So I think I'll work backwards. Start with the most current and work back to September.

First. . . Rachel tagged me.

8 Favorite TV Shows (in no particular order)
1. The Office

2. Survivor

3. The Amazing Race

4. Everybody Loves Raymond

5. The King of Queens

6. My Name is Earl (pathetic I know)

7. So You Think You Can Dance

8. American Idol

8 Thing I Did Yesterday

1. Made sugar cookies (truly a monumental day)

2. Laundry, laundry, and more laundry!

3. Played with Livie

4. Took Kennedy to dancing

5. Listened to Klayson read

6. Helped Keaton with math homework

7. Went to Primary Inservice

8. Dishes

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. Halloween being over with

2. Passing my Hunter Safety test on Saturday

3. Christmas

4. Spending a weekend at Bear Lake

5. Selling my suburban

6. Snowmobiling/sledding in the winter with the kids

7. Olivia being potty trained

8. Turning 40 (It really can't be all that bad!)

8 Favorite Restaurants (no particular order)

1. Fredrico's

2. Tepanyaki

3. The Cheesecake Factory

4. The Silver Salmon

5. Applebee's

6. Peach City

7. Mandrin Gardens

8. El Matador

8 Things on my Wishlist

1. A clean house

2. Blacktop in front of our house and down our little lane

3. Granite countertops

4. A trip to Europe

5. A minivan

6. Olivia being potty trained

7. A week of nothing (no homework, no places to be, no extracurricular activities, no meetings, etc.)

8. No laundry piled up!!

Here's the fourth picture in my fourth folder. Oh, it's Kennedy on her 9th birthday!

Life is GREAT with Miss Olivia Kate

The TERRIFIC TWOs began today!! Our whole family was so excited for Livie's birthday. I don't know why, maybe it's just because she's the baby, but it seemed like an extra special birthday. Kennedy and I blew up balloons last night and this morning before she woke up I put them all over her bedroom floor. I wasn't sure if she'd like it or if it would freak her out. She liked it!

We sang to her the moment she woke up and she just joined right in yelling at the top of her lungs. Throughout the day, whenever we'd sing she'd clap her hands and do a little dance.

We had her favorite dinner, pizza -- lucky me no cooking tonight--oh yeah-- a real birthday dinner would be if I did cook :)

Grandparents came over later for cake and ice cream and the opening of a few (very few) presents. Oh, as I'm typing this I just realized we forgot to give her her big girl panties. I guess the gift giving can continue in the morning. Here's a side note . . . when I sent CJ to buy the panties he said there were only two packages her size so he bought them both (Grandpa Daniels). The problem is that one pack is cute girly pink and the other is boy blue. He didn't seem to think there was a problem since on one will see her underwear anyway.

Liv was happy as a two year old can be about her gifts but cried when the candles on her cake were blown out. You know, it's my party I can cry if I want to -- apparently she wanted to.

I don't mean to steal any of Livie's thunder on her birthday, but I have to say I was a complete ROCKSTAR when it came to the cake. It was the CUTEST cake ever!

We used to think of 9/11 as a sad day, but it's a great day for a birthday!!

Sweet Livie Kate

Freakin' Awesome!

Keaton's playing Little League Football again this year and as much as I dread the amount of time practicing takes, it sure has been paying off. It is so much fun to go watch him play in his games. He has had some terrific plays so far this season! His team is doing great! I think they're all just on top of the world. They've really got it together and work as a team. They've won three out of four games. I hope their winning streak will continue because previous years have not been much to boast about.

Back to Fun & Friends

I guess I'm just not the sentimental type because I did not cry when my kids walked out the door on August 25th to head back to school. I was happy to get back to a routine and have something to keep my kids busy. They were excited too, to be going to school to see new teachers and old friends. Yeah, I miss the company and the conversation throughout the day. But, now that the kids are gone Olivia is talking a ton more. Yes, my days are a lot less chaotic and sometimes even boring. And yes, my house stays clean until 3:30!!! But once they walk in the door it all goes back to mess and mayhem.
We seem to be off to a great start, let's hope it stays that way.

Summer Fun 2008