The countdown is on!!

Well Thursday starts another exciting year of DEER HUNTING!! Deer hunting is something that is huge in our family. My husband and I both hunt as do our kids. Boo hunts strictly with a bow, which is just perfect. His Uncle will be sitting with him next weekend for the youth hunt and My husband will be with Ian, who gun hunts. I really hope that they are successful hunters this year. As for John and I ....it's game on!! Thursday is opener of early season and John has to work....tee hee.. I don't!! So today means washing my clothes in baking soda and scent remover, only to spray them down with a moldy leave spray and getting all the finishing touches ready for yet another very competitive season! I am armed with a brand new 20 gauge this year with a new scope for fire arm season and also a brand new bow for Bow season.......WOOHOO!!
So my dear husband, When I bring home Bullwinkle, don't cry, your still the man!!
Anyone who may read this, if you are a deer hunter, grab your doe pee and your gear, and we will see you in the woods! The early opener is only for Does but it is never to early to spot where Bullwinkle is hanging out!! Be ready for him on the 1st of October with your bow! As for me, I can't wait until next year when Sissy is old enough to give it a go!!!She has passed hunters safety and is just waiting for the Birthday. I am getting out numbered in deer camp! There is a saying,"Go hunting with your kids and you won't have to go hunting FOR your kids!"

September? Already??

Our summer has just seemed to disappear in an instant and I am sitting here wondering how we have made it to September already!! Our summer was definitely a busy one, and now the kids are again in school and things are really slowing down, for a minute anyway! My little one is in Early Primary this year which is our schools fancy term for kindergarten and so that leaves me 2 and 1/2 days a week.......WOW!! Friday was her first day of school and that was just a half of a day and that was very nice. Today is her full day, and boy is it quiet in here. Almost too quiet.

Bean is a big 2nd grader this year and is loving her new teachers. She is really excited to be with all of her friends. Sissy is a 6th grader in a brand new building to her at the middle school and despite the fact she was sure she would get lost, shoved in a locker, Or worse she had a great first day of school and came home smiling!!

Boo was very nervous about school this year, and the night before tried convincing me that he should just stay a 7th grader and I assured him that would not be a great option for him he reluctantly went, and came home with smiles. He really missed his aide and teachers and was happy to see them all. SO FAR SO GOOD!!!! We have a few minor kinks to work out and I am still working on making his schedule a little more user friendly but for now he is content and I am just really thankful that there were no major bumps in the road. Sissy has been a great help to him already as she now rides his bus and helps him with his locker and waits with him before and after school. I am so proud of her, she is a great big sister to him. I sleep better knowing she is there for him and I don't worry as much about the teasing and such when she is there with him. She is one smart and tough kid that knows right from wrong and won't tolerate her brother being harassed at school.. YEAH SISSY!

So now I guess it is time to discover myself and do things that I like to do with no kids here. If anyone knows what that is please let me know. My whole existence has been kids for 14 years and I am not sure what to do when they are not here!!!!

I have been taking care of some kittens for the last 4 weeks. My dad found theses little guys in his pasture, cold with no mom around and decided I needed to save them.

They were so little and still had their umbilical cords, now they are 4 weeks old and MONSTERS! They eat like little pigs from the bottles and are so stubborn they will not eat any other food. So if anyone wants a kitty...tee hee!

Another Bike???

As you may recall from a previous post around Easter, My little bitty one a brand new bike. Bean was really bummin, she desperately wanted a new bike even though hers was only a year old. Well she went to the Kent county youth fair last week with her best friend and registered to win a new bike following a completed scavenger hunt. Well,

Saturday we got the call that we needed to be in Lowell to pick up her brand new ladybug bike!!!As you can see she was pretty excited!!!
So now we are re thinking our policy on gambling and considering a family vacation to a casino.

Discharged

We received some great information today. My Brothers White Blood cell numbers are now normal and he was discharged this morning after 12 lONG days in the hospital. He will have to take it easy, as there is a high incidence of relapse and have to go back and have blood drawn to continue monitoring the blood counts. He will also require physical therapy as he has lost some of the use of his hand/arm, but he is well and that is what we are focusing on. It has been such an emotional couple of weeks. You go from everything is well and good to the desperate situations like losing someone that you love. That happened twice to my family in less than a week.
I have really learned a lot the last couple of weeks. Life is so uncertain that you just never know when you are going to receive THAT phone call.
I am so blessed. I have an amazing husband that I am so in love with and the most wonderful kids that never were upset or frustrated when Mom was at the hospital so much lately. They really tried to pick up the slack around here and did a wonderful job at it.
My brother is on his way to recovering and that in of itself is such a blessing. Being only 1 year and 2 weeks apart we have always been incredibly close.
Most of all I have learned that family is the most important thing in my life and I will not let anything get in the way of that. No matter who or what tries to come in between,your family will always be there for you, I have to believe that.
There is an old saying keep your friends and family close and your enemies even closer, I really understand that now. There is a person in our midst that really needs a lot of prayers right now. That has tried really hard to drive a wedge between our family. I pray that she never has to go through what she has put the family through in the last couple of weeks and that she understands that being a miserable person is not healthy. Pray for her to come to peace with whatever demons she is battling and find a way to overcome them. Pray for her to begin being truthful to herself and others around her that do care. The last two weeks have shown me that you can not always depend of tomorrow being there to make things right, you must start today.

Still hanging in there...

Well we are all still alive and thankfully well. It has been a really long couple of weeks for our family.A really close friend of ours was injured real badly at his elderly neighbors cleaning gutters and now is healing from a broken neck, back, and shattered heel. A couple of days later, I received a phone call telling me to get to the hospital that my husband was injured badly. He was hurt at work and had a part of a crane truck come crashing down on him and shot a bolt through his right arm. He is still healing up from that and although there was a lot of muscle damage he is expected to be okay. My Brother went into the hospital the following Wednesday (john was hurt Friday) and is still in there now. He had the smallest little scratch on his hand that allowed a terrible bacteria to overtake his body. We are hoping now that the doctors have identified the correct course of action with his antibiotics and the bacteria will not again become resistant to them. He is in an unbearable amount of pain with the swelling beginning to subside some. Initially we were under the impression that his antibiotics were working only to be told on Sunday they were already being resisted. There is a high incidence of relapse so we are praying hard and spending as much time with him as possible. Please bear with us as I have not been on the computer at all as most of my last two weeks have involved hospitals. We have witnessed many miracles the last couple of weeks and I am sure that my brother will be okay.

A few fun pictures

This is what my little bitty bought with her birthday money....

She is so grown up!! It is so hard to believe she is growing up so fast.

She really wanted to swim in the pool and none of her brothers and sisters would swim with her....daddy would. She was so excited!!

He can't say no to those blue eyes and sweet little grin.

Meanwhile, knowing that Daddy was with little sister and Mom was taking pictures, the rest of the clan found a little trouble to get into.....

Apparently they want to be tattoo artist...nice real nice....

All the hopes and dreams and wishes you think of for your children this in not a profession I saw coming.

Now it is bath time. Until next time.......

It's your birthday baby!

To my littlest princess,

It is so hard to believe that your birthday is here again!

6 years ago I was given the most amazing little miracle. You are such a beautiful, funny,sometimes naughty, but always perfect little girl and I am so proud to be your mom! You grow more and more everyday but you will always be my baby.You bring an unmeasurable amount of joy every day to our home. Happy birthday sweetheart, I LOVE YOU!!!

(p.s. You must get that look from your dad!!!)