Creative Cupcakes

Taylor loves to bake and saw these cute apple cupcakes in the Family Fun magazine. She decided to make them. They are pink apples but they're still delicious. Hope everyone is still loving school.

Who loves school bus exhaust?

I know I love to see that bus round the corner! School has started and structure has returned. Don't get me wrong, I love summer and the spontaneity but I thrive better with structure. So party over here, party over there...all 5 are finally in school!

We heart LUCASARTS

Star Wars is on the top of Grant's favorites list. His Dad is huge into autographs so the two came together and Grant got his first autograph. Grant wrote a letter and his Dad mailed it off.

Everyday after that Grant would ask, "Did I get any mail today?"

And our answer was always, "Not today."

Then the day finally arrived and he got his first autograph in the mail and to make it even more special it was inside a LucasArts envelope. The picture says it all!

More surprises

We have been in the new house almost one year. Surprises are plenty here and this time we found grapes and were able to pick tons today! We have always wanted grapevines. If you live close by feel free to come pick some.

Been gone a long time

Been super busy, you would think summer would get us to slow down but it doesn't. Will be blogging again soon. Wanted to share what we saw in the backyard. It is very fast so therefore it is a bit of a blur.

It's a heron and the first one we have seen in the wild. Sometimes we get lucky and get to watch it but that is rare. If it hears any sound it quickly flies away. It is beautiful and loves the frogs in our pond.

Itty Bitty Nail Art

We have tons of tadpoles in our pond which eventually turn into frogs. Taylor is so fascinated by them and is always scooping them out of the pond with her net. Today she found the tiniest frog we have ever seen. It was so tiny it fit on her pinky nail. Kinda cute, huh?

Happy Mother's Day

My boys brought me these today! Hope all Moms out there have a great Mother's Day!

She's back!

This surgery has been harder on Taylor than her previous ones. While she was recuperating in the hospital, I was on my laptop and she was listening to the iPod and texting me at the same time. I told her I was in the same room and she could talk to me but she insisted on practicing her texting skills. Here is a funny text that I got from her:

Taylor: How am I supposed to wash my hair w/ ribs on it?

Mom: Huh?

Taylor: With BBQ sauce?

Taylor: or steak sauce?

Mom: Glad to have you back Taylor!

She's back and we are so happy, we missed that!

In the hospital

As I write this post I am sitting in the hospital with Taylor. She is having her ear worked on again. This is her third surgery and the most extensive so far. She will be in the hospital until Monday. Her Dad is holding the fort down at home with the boys. She really has been pitiful and that pains me. The nurses in the operating room made her a cute pink bow and taped it to her head! So this weekend has been full of girly movies, iCarly, reading American Girl magazines and, of course, pain medicine, IVs and beeping monitors. Hope you feel better real soon Taylor!

Spring has sprung

Benson attended Merit Badge University last Saturday and completed the Photography merit badge. He was so excited to show off what he learned so he went around the house with my camera and took some great pictures! We love our new house and all the new things that we discover every season. Here is some of the Spring that Benson captured:

A new discovery

Roger has been diligently working in the yard to prepare for summer. He was walking around the pond when he saw a HUGE turtle crawling out of the creek. The turtle was startled and crawled back to the creek. McKay comes running in the house and tells me to grab the camera. I reluctantly grabbed the camera and walked to the creek. We then saw the turtle and it was huge! It is a snapping turtle so I told Roger that the boys can never swim in the pond again. I told him that last summer but he didn't listen....maybe now he will! Taylor was very excited that I was able to snap a picture because she had described the turtle to her Dad last year and he had his doubts. Well Taylor, you were right and he were wrong. Here is one of the photos that I captured. I wonder how old the little creature is?

Glimpses of Summer

This week the children are home from school because of Spring Break. I am having glimpses of how difficult Summer can be with them all home and in each other's space. I am planning now for Summer (I do this every year right about this time). Here are some things we have done so far to keep busy:

Hid eggs for our annual Easter egg hunt. This is our first Easter at our new house and we had tons of places to hide eggs on 3.5 acres. Hunter even found eggs a day after the hunt. Good thing because the eggs were loaded with change instead of candy so he is $.30 richer.

Taylor planted strawberries with her Dad and was quite proud of herself. Her Dad has quite a green thumb and since we have moved in he has planted 22 blueberry bushes, 4 peach trees, 3 cherry trees, 2 apple trees, blackberries, a pecan tree, raspberries, muscadine and concord grapes. We hope to be hauling in a bunch of crops this summer. That should keep the children busy. If they fight I can tell them to go weed the orchard. OOOhhhh, I like that idea! Have a great Spring Break everyone.

We Moved

Our blog has been moved. If you made it here, welcome! I am so glad I have blog readers. Thanks for being so loyal and finding us here on Blogger.