We ♥ Tooshies

This weeks I ♥ Faces photo challenge theme is "We ♥ Tooshies " ~ How cute does that sound??? So cute that I just couldn't resist taking a break from my photo editing marathon and throwing my hat in the ring.

Lucky for me, I did my first solo wedding photo shoot this past Saturday and there was one picture that I captured that fits right into the 'tooshie' category.

This adorable little girl was the 4 year old daughter of the bride and I just couldn't help but capture this priceless moment for her mother.

Make sure to head on over to www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com to check out all of the other cutie patootie tooshies!

A Day of Thanks

With today being the official day of giving Thanks, I thought it appropriate to take a few minutes to list some things in my life that I am thankful for.

Without the intent of being cliche, I am thankful for my family and their health. I have a wonderful Husband and two beautiful, sweet and silly children and thankfully we all have our health. Good health is a thing I can not be thankful enough for. There are so many people out there that are not as fortunate as we are, and I count my blessings every healthy day that goes by.

I am also thankful for both Duke and my extended families. From our parents, to our siblings and their spouses, and our 2 nieces and 5 nephews as well as my Grandma Flo and the list goes on... I am so thankful to have such caring and wonderful people in our lives and extremely proud to call them my family. My Grandma Flo, my Dad's mother, is now 92 years old and is the last living grandparent between Duke and I. Just this past week, Grandma Flo was moved from her assisted living to a nursing home. The week prior, she had been hospitalized due to a large blood clot in her leg. She is no longer able to do as well for herself and is in need of assistance in every day tasks as well as now being in a wheel chair the majority of the time so it is better that she is somewhere where she can get the care she needs and deserves. I can not tell you how thankful I am that she is being well cared for and to still have her in my life.

A nice home and a great job. Those are also two things that I am very thankful to have and I consider myself to be fortunate. Although there are times where I would rather follow my dreams and do work that has more 'meaning' to me, I am extremely grateful that I work for a good company and have a steady paycheck that allows me to help support our family (and my shopping habits!). I also, without the intent of sounding ungrateful, often refer to our home as being too small for our family now. Big or small I am grateful to have a roof over my head. After all, the smaller the house the easier it is to fill with lots of love (and lots of toys!).

Soap and clean water - without both I would be a miserable (and smelly) person in dirty clothes. Last Sunday was "veg out day" at our house and I didn't even get out of my jimmer jammers (take a shower for that matter) the entire day. Although it was nice to be lazy, I NEED to take a shower every day. I felt greasy and "fuzzy" and...well lets just say I could not imaging being unable to take a shower each and every day.

As long as I can remember, I have been an animal lover. I vividly recall my Mom telling me many times that, when I got a house of my own I could have a many pets as my little heart desired. Well, my hubby has now put a cap on the number of animals I am allowed. We currently have two (outside) dogs and a cat (both outdoor and indoor). I love my animals and am thankful to have their unconditional love. I am grateful to have been able to provide them with a home, great care and lots of love in return.

The internet. Yes, I am thankful for the internet. A person best and worst enemy, but it has opened many doors for me...from blogging to facebook I have been able to reconnect with old friends and make many new. It saves me time and money by allowing me more options and products. Granted, the internet can be a time suck, but it also offers me a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips. Google, WebMD and Baby Center are a few great friends of mine. If you haven't met them yet, you really should introduce yourself.

Friends - what would life be like without good friends? Over the years, friends have come and gone from my life. It hasn't always been an easy thing as I tend to invest a lot in friendships and feel much pain when contact with friends from the past drifts away. I tend to be one of those people who can pick right up where we left off so once you are a friend of mine you will have a hard time getting rid of me :) I do greatly cherish making new friendships as well and couldn't imagine life without the presence of the wonderful friends who are already such a big part of my life.

Is it appropriate to also be thankful for "Sales"? I love sales and without them, I would have to pay FULL PRICE *eeeeeek!* so I am (as I am sure my husband is) very thankful for SALES!!!!

There you have it...the basis of what I am thankful for. I could go on and on but I'd hate to bore you too much so go spend some time with your family and reflect on all that you are thankful for today. Sorry about the lack of pictures lately. I promise, I will be back to old self and posting oodles of pictures soon. Until then...

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

3 years and counting...

Three years ago today I married an incredible man. Our story, on the other hand, started in May of 2001. We were introduced by my good friend Lisa. Duke had been working on a motor for her and her then husband (who does not even deserve mentioning by name...I have other words for him). Lisa had been telling me that he was a really nice guy and to my recollection, one day while he was at her house we were briefly introduced. At that time neither of us thought much of it.
We were then re-introduced at Howie's in St. Stephen on a Wed night while I was there watching Lisa's team play volleyball. Duke had stopped in for a bite to eat after working on their motorcycle and, for some reason, the one thing I remember is his smile. Anyone who knows Duke, knows that he does not flash a huge, toothy grin all too often as he is self conscious of his teeth. But I remember his smile.
One night soon thereafter, we discovered that we had more mutual friends than we had realized because we both ended up at an after bar party at Keith and Kris'. Let's just say that night I was in "rare form" and at the end of the night, fell asleep on the couch, only to wake up with a black leather coat covering me up (and NO, not just a black leather coat! All clothes we ON!) and Duke sleeping on the floor with no pillow or blanket. What a gentleman! At that point I knew he was a keeper. We exchanged numbers and then he gave me a ride on his Harley back to Lisa's to get my car. We then started talking on the phone for hours on end and hanging out more and more. I guess you could say "the rest is history" but I prefer to say:
The rest is our legacy.
Fast forward to July of 2004. Duke and I were delighted (and surprised) to find out that we were expecting a baby in March of 2005. Grant Alan was born on March 15th and we couldn't have been happier. Then, on Valentines Day 2006, Duke surprised me with an engagement ring while we were at dinner at a little place in Avon called PJ's Supper Club. With no need for a long engagement, we were married at the Trobec's Event Center in St. Joseph on November 25, 2006 at 5:00 pm. The wedding was beautiful and we were surrounded by family and friends. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day (minus a little incident in the morning involving vomit but I'll spare you the details!). In February, 2007 we were excited to find out that we were expecting baby # 2. Audrey Mae was born on October 29, 2007. We were elated to have both a son and a daughter to love, teach and grow alongside.
For the most part, a good portion of the rest of our story is documented right here on this blog. As for the parts you may or may not have missed, I thought it might be fun to show you the slide show that Lisa put together for our wedding. She did such a great job (I can't thank her enough) and it brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. Be forewarned...it is 4 songs long so grab a cup of coffee or what have you, kick back, relax and enjoy the show!

**Make sure to scroll all of the way to the bottom of the page to pause the music player before playing the slide show or you won't be able to hear the slide show music.**

***Change of plans! Sorry to disappoint but the slide show wouldn't load for me so I'll have to try again later. If I can't get it to load, I'll add some photos from our wedding day later tonight ***

Honey, if you are reading this...Happy 3rd Anniversary!!!!!

And the WINNER is...

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to read through my entire post and for showing my extremely talented sister-in-law, Susan, some love in the comments. Like I've said, I always love to hear from you. I also know Susan truly appreciates your kind words and enthusiasm over her jewelry and driftwood masterpieces. So thanks again!
And now for the winner of these shiny little beauties...

My trusty assistant, Grant, will now draw the lucky number...

Drum roll please!

And the winner is...

Brooke from Dinkypops No More!!!!! Congratulations Brooke! And make sure to e-mail me your address so I know where the sparkly gems need to be sent.

And as a little thank you to Susan, I am going to share some pictures of her and, my brother, Corey's beautiful boys. She has not seen these yet, so hopefully it will be a delightful surprise!

The oldest is Sam. He is a bright and extremely intelligent, almost 9 year old who loves all things trains and bugs - he could literally tell you anything you would like to know about both. You would also be amazed at his drawing ability...such precision and detail. He must get his art talent from his Mom!

Next is Aiden, who is now 6 years old. He is also my God Child. Aiden is silly and sweet with adorable curls and warm brown eyes (he also gets both of these from his Mama). He and my Grant are great little buddies. They always enjoy getting together to wrestle and play cars and trucks an build forts out of blankets.

The youngest is handsome little Logan who is 2. As you can see, he has big blue eyes and the most adorable red hair. Logan has had his share of struggles with food allergies and severe eczema as a result of them. His allergies are now, for the most part, under control but through it all, this little boy never stopped smiling! I am amazed because even at two, he takes it quite well that there are just some things (like cake and ice cream) that he just cannot have. He is an amazing little boy!

So there you have it. The winner has been announced and I got to share some pictures of my adorable and much loved little nephews. We're all winners in my book!

Something new (You're going to want to read this one, trust me!)

I always enjoy trying something new. Like my new laptop. I really like trying out my new laptop.

Did I tell you I got a new laptop?

Oh, yes I did that right here. Silly me!

And did you notice the new layout and background?

Love it!

I have my super sweet, real-life and blogging friend Melissa, from Home Is Where Your Story Begins to thank for it! She is so talented and kind and so very great for putting up with super-picky me! We live in neighboring states, about 3 hours away (but work for the same company) so we have been im'ing and e-mailing back and forth at night (waaayyy too late at night for this early bird!) to try to get the look just right. And by golly, I think we've got it! The background was actually designed by Heather at Butterflygirlms Blog Designs and Melissa did a little tweaking and customizing to make it just right for little ole' me! I even have a new custom signature now! How special am I???? You'll have to read through the rest of my rambling to see it at the bottom of this post, though! Ha!

Another something new....This past Sunday, the kids and I made a trip into town to do some grocery shopping. *twang*twang* (No, we didn't take a horse and buggy...but close...my mini van!) St. Cloud just recently got a new grocery store called ALDI Market.

Have you ever heard of it before?

Me either.

I had heard that they have very reasonable prices, as long as you aren't picky about the brand of the item you buy. And you know frugal me can never pass up the chance to save a few bucks, so I decided to give it a try. I was also warned that you either have to bring your own grocery bags or buy theirs and to bring a quarter to check out a cart, that is fully refunded upon returning the cart to the front of the store.

So we shopped...

...and shopped.

And then shopped some more!

By the time we were done, I had a HEAPING (literally HEAPING) cart full of yummy goodness and each child had a toy (I know, I'm a push-over. But they were both really good and that is a feat in itself!) and the total was only $174 and some change and the kids toys were about $10 total (I told you I am a push-over!) so that means ALL of the food was only $164. The price of milk there is only $1.78!!! Skim, 1%, 2%...even Whole! Now that is amazing. I was in heaven! If I would have bought a cart full like that at our usual grocery store it would have easily been over $200. I will most certainly go back. I'll still have to buy certain brands, like Nutella, at another store and they don't have everything (but do have the essentials). In the end, my fridge and cupboards are full and I am one happy Mamma! Bet you wish your town had and ALDI Market, don't you?!?

Notice anything else new?

No pictures on this post! Not like me at all but, hey...it's something new!

Now for something else new...I know there a lot of you out there (and you know who you are) that don't EVER comment. Why don't you try something new as well and post a comment?

It might just payoff!

Payoff...you ask?

Yes, payoff!

I love to win stuff. Heck, I just love to get anything for FREE. More than winning and freebies I love to give, give, give! So that is what I'm gonna do!

All you have to do to get your name in the hat is go visit my lovely sister-in-law, Susan's ETSY store - Black Eyed Susan Artworks - by clicking HERE. Take a look around, make note of what you like (if you feel so inclined you could even buy yourself something or a Christmas present or two!), and then come back here and post a comment letting me know your favorites thing(s). You will be entered to win this lovely pair of earrings. The winner will be picked at random (I'm old fashioned so each comment will be numbered in the order of posting and then all numbers will be put in a hat and drawn by my adorable little boy) so don't worry about exactly what you write. Just write anything!

Also, in order to be entered into the contest to win the earrings, your comment must be entered before Noon Central Time on Sunday, November 22nd. But don't let the commenting stop at this post. I love to hear from all who read!

Isn't this fun?!?

Now get to the commenting!

Good Luck!

True Story - Celebrity Editon

Through my own digression while commenting on another Carrie's blog post, I reminded myself of a very funny and true story. It goes a little somethin' like this...

Way back BC (Before Children), Duke and I went on vacation to Daytona Bike Week with a group of friends. On one particular day we headed down town Daytona to do a little shopping and see some vendors. The boys went one way, and the girls the other - cause lets be honest, boys and girls don't usually shop well together. At least my hubby and I don't, but that is a whole nother story!
My friend Amy and I were walking down the very crowded sidewalk in front of Daytona Harley Davidson and, as always, I had my 'stardar' on. As we passed one particular couple, the crowd seemed to be a-buzz and kept looking in their direction, staring and talking so I knew something was up. Especially since the woman was a super tall, super blond, extremely tan, very well-endowed...lets just say she was very 'fabulous' looking, but the crowd seemed to be more interested in the man. I grabbed Amy's arm and began to pull her in the direction that the couple had been walking. She asked me what I was doing and I replied, "I think we just walked past a famous guy. The chick he was with looked like (well you get the picture from my description above) and no one even paid any attention to her." Amy asked me if I saw the guy and I said, "Yes, but I have no idea who he is." We made our way through the crowd and into an a vendor area. There we spotted this...

Amy's gasped and her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. When she finally recovered from her mini-seizure she uttered the words, "Vince Neil, it's Vince Neil." Perplexed at her excitement, I asked, "Who is Vince Neil?" Her head spun around so fast I am surprised she didn't get whiplash, and she she exclaimed in astonishment, "You mean, you don't know who Vince Neil is????"
My simple reply was, "Nope." She went on to explain that Vince Neil was only the lead singer of MOTEY CRUE and she questioned how in the world I didn't know who the lead singer of Motley Crue was!?!?
After she ridiculed me for a bit longer, we got up enough courage to go over and ask him if we could take a picture of him (I found out the hard way that it is better to ask prior to taking pictures of famous people after a near pulverizing incident while attempting to take a picture of WWF wrestling star, Goldberg, at a bar in Strugis!) To our surprise, his then girlfriend and now wife, offered to take a picture of us with him.!

How cool is that?!?

Well just check out for yourself...


Please excuse my "hoochiness." Remember...this was 'BC' which also makes it 'BM' (Before Marriage and Before Maturity) At least I can look back now and wonder, "What on Earth was I thinking?"

To this day, Amy can not resist telling that story at every get-together I attend with her! Hey, that's what friends are for, right. Heck, I can't help but laugh at how silly it is that I didn't know who the lead singer of Motley Crue was.

There you have it peeps!

True Story

I ♥ Faces - Autumn Beauty

This weeks I ♥ Faces photo challenge is "Autumn Beauty" and I think this picture could easily be titled just that!

This photo was taken about a month ago when my good friend Julie asked me to do a little photo shoot of her family. Her daughter, Meghan, usually wears glasses and while taking this picture, I was standing on a chair looking down on Meg and her brother, Peyton. As I was shooting away, I noticed that there was a terrible glare coming from her glasses so I asked her to take them off for a minute. It was towards the end of the shoot and the kids were getting a little antsy and as willing to fully cooperate. I just kept snapping away and this was one of those shots. It is what seems to be a pure luck shot but I fell in love with it the minute I saw it. She is truly an Autumn Beauty.

Make sure to head on over to www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com to check out all of the other Autumn Beauties.

What was I thinking?

What was I thinking waiting so long to get a new computer?????

I think I have asked myself that very question about a thousand times since Wednesday.

What a difference! I think I am in love!!!!

Know what else I am in love with???

This handsome little guy...


This little fellow got some Pop Rocks while Trick-or-Treating and he decided he wanted to try them.

I tried to explain exactly what the were like, and that I didn't think he would like them, but he ripped them open any way and...bottoms up!



At first he was so proud of himself and really liked the sweetness of the candy.

But then, it started to snap, crackle and pop. Oh wait...it's Rice Crispies that do that.

Ready. Set. Let the poppin' and rockin' begin!

As the poppin' and rockin' became more intense, so did the expression on his face! It was truly priceless to watch.
Not that I found any enjoyment in watching this. I would never be that childish or unempathetic.

But I can honestly say what happened next was more than just funny.

It was hilarious!

See for yourself...

Not so tough now, are you?!?

Little Man didn't really throw up, he just spit his mouth full of Pop Rocky goodness nastiness into the trash.

And I am sure he too was thinking...What was I thinking???

After all of this, he decided he was more of a Sucker Boy than a Rockstar!

p.s. Shannon...I really wanted to get a Mac but since they are so expensive and I am kinda a cheap frugal person I decided to go for the 1/2 priced option. It is a Lenovo. I hadn't ever heard of it before, but my uncle the expert, highly recommended it so I listened.

a reason to smile

I have a BIG reason to smile tonight. Today I ventured over to my Uncle Russ and Aunt Kala's store, Minco, and bought my a new toy! I got the brand new laptop I have been wanting to purchase for long time now. WooHoo!
And lookie-lookie...it even has a built in camera/web cam.

Fun stuff I tell you!
I can not believe how much faster this is than the old hunk of junk antique desktop that, up until now, I have been using.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh....you'll have to excuse me while I bask in the glory for a while!

Seriously. This is the last Birthday Post. I swear!

I swear, this is the last Birthday picture post I will do...

...until March when it is Grant's Birthday, of course!

As always, the kids were elated to have guests. They absolutely love having company over so every time there is a knock at the door they get super crazy nutso very excited.

It also goes without saying, they always think the guests are there just to see and play with them, which is often not the case. This time, however, the guests were here to see this very special little girl...

The Birthday Girl, or on this night more famously known as "The Ghostess with the Mostess!" I couldn't resist putting that shirt on her for her party, even though it is more a Halloween shirt than a Birthday shirt.

Oh well, I guess she'll just have to get used to having Halloween incorporated into her Birthday since it is only two days after her big day. Grandma Sue, Grandpa Oscar, Auntie Kala, Uncle Russ, and cousins Austin, Carter, Emily and Evan were all in attendance and as usual I made waaayyy too much food.

I wasn't sure what kid of cake to get Audrey either and she was no help because every time I asked her if she wanted one thing or the other, she would say yes to them all. We settled on the fan favorite, Tinkerbell.

I think it turned out pretty cute...HUGE, but cute. Silly me accidentally ordered a 1/2 sheet cake instead of the customary 1/4 sheet cake so needless to say we had TONS of left over cake. That is okay, I sent a big slab of it home with my Aunt for her teenage girls since they weren't able to make it for the party, plus Cash Wise cakes with whipped frosting are Duke's favorite so he had plenty left to satisfy his cravings for a long, long time!

Audrey got tons of fun toys and clothes. She got a shopping cart, some plastic vegetables to go in her cart, clothes and shoes from Grandma and Papa. Papa even had to help her get it open so she could play with it right away!

She got a really neat coloring crayon carrying bag filled with goodies and an outfit from Auntie Brenda, Uncle Jody, Austin, Bailey and Carter and a super cute dress from Auntie Julie, Uncle Karl and Emily. Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Jerry couldn't make it down for the party so they sent her some money to fill her piggy bank and Auntie Kala, Uncle Russ, Olivia, Chloe and Evan are doing a savings bond for her.
What a lucky little girl she is. Now, as for her manners, that is a whole nother story! Check out this mannerless little princess...

Not only was she a nose-picker at her birthday...she also felt compelled to whip her foot up on the table during dessert and proceeded to pick out "toe jam". Mmmmm... It is really no surprise to me that she did this, but I think my Aunt was a little shocked at her antics. I had to giggle when I heard my Aunt politely (and light-heartedly) explain that 'good little girls don't do that at the dinner table.' HA! Leave it to my little dumplin' to show her how we roll round' here! :)

Something happened with my camera around the time we were singing 'Happy Birthday' so I didn't get any really good ones of her blowing out her candles. The look on her face when everyone was singing to her was priceless.

She felt so special and you could just see it in the smile she had on her face. If I could, I would freeze time and keep my kids little forever, but being able to make memories for them that hopefully stick with them for a long time makes the fact that they are growing up right before my very eyes a little easier to swallow.
Of course, I can't do another post without including a picture of my #1 little man who thoroughly enjoyed celebrating his little Sissy's 2nd Birthday right along with her!

Blessings to all!

Birthdays and Babies

Well, hunting is upon us in Minnesota so to no surprise, I am home with the kids being a "single parent" yet again. We have had a nice, relaxing, and low-key weekend. Actually, we had my friend Julie and her kids Peyton and Meghan over for a sleepover on Fri night. We had pizza, popcorn, played the wii a little and watched movies. Fun times!
I was in a bit of a picture funk this week so not too many good new ones to share, so I guess I will share a few from Tootie's birthday. These pics are from her actual birthday, not her party. I can share those next, but for now this is how we celebrated our baby turning 2.
There were cup cakes...

...and cuteness galore!

Some frosting licking...

...oh, and more two year old cuteness!

And even some sibling love to make a Mama's heart smile.

Then came the present! (Pay no attention to the 'baby' themed bag...it was what I had in the closet and she didn't know the difference!)

But there was a baby in the bag. And a baby stroller, some clothes a nukie and even some diaper changing stuff.

The baby and stroller was a BIG hit! I can truly say Audrey is now into babies! Yay!

Up until her Birthday, she didn't really give any of her babies the time of day. She was busy playing cars with her brother or playing blocks and stacking cups and collecting thing in her purse.

But now it's all about the babies. Undressing them, that is! Not even diapers are allowed by this little mama.

Yes, she likes her babies naked. She has me put their clothes on, only for her to strip them off within two minutes. Not sure what the appeal is with naked babies, but that is the way she likes them.

Well, I guess it is okay to put her slippers on...you know, in case baby's feet get cold and all!

I have a 4 1/2 year old nagging and begging me to go play Lego Batman with him now, so I guess I better get going. Especially since he is currently being extremely polite...when I say "Just one more minute while I proof-read." his reply is "Yes ma'am"

That's my boy!

Tootles!!