• Free Ebooks: Extraordinary Edibles, Art of Frugal Simplicity, Lettering and Calligraphy for Beginners , Crocheting and Quilting, 25 Phenomenal DIY Household Hacks, and more!

    The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading).  The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.

    Download a free copy of Extraordinary Edibles: How to Create Your Own Kitchen Herb Garden by Leslie O. Kaiser

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  • Welcoming the Beautiful Spring Season!

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    Bringing in Spring with my two chickies!

    Spring is my FAVORITE Season!  I love that everything starts looking fresh, bright, and beautiful.  The new flower buds and leaves start growing.  There are bright green grass blades peeking up out of the soil.  Brilliant shades of colors start appearing around us through the flowers.  People begin prepping for planting their gardens.   You start noticing more fresh produce in the stores and farmers markets.  There are noticeably more animals scurrying through the yard and many with new little ones in tow.  You start feeling more of the warm sunshine rays hitting you.  Everything just seems more cheerful.  It’s just a fresh and fun time of year.  I absolutely love it!

    The start of Spring also signifies that we have made a lot of progress through the school year too.  It’s time to really start thinking and planning our summer activities and adventures.  I am thankful for my family and always look forward to our extra time together.  What are your plans for this Spring Season?

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    We are planning a lot of fun activities for this Spring!

    Happy Spring Brina and Karlie

    Karlie and Brina are ready for Spring!

  • I Believe That Is a Ghost…

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    Interesting artwork

    The other day I was working on some things in the kitchen when I came across this interesting piece of artwork stuck on the outside of a container of cooking utensils.  I believe it is a friendly little ghost like creature.  The best part about having kids is you will find random little surprises laying around when you least expect it.

    When we do review work for school the kids are allowed to do creative busy work with their hands as long as they are paying attention, answering the questions correctly (and in a timely manner), and not getting distracted.  I have found that by allowing them to fiddle or doodle around when studying they actually soak up more of the information on the specific topic we are studying.  On the flip side of that though is once the review is done the items are not always completely picked up or put away as we are usually moving on to dinner, showers, or another item so occasionally I will come across a interesting piece of artwork later on or the next day.

    This particular piece of artwork appears to be made from silly putty and noise fluff.  Not sure if it is suppose to be a ghost or an octopus or what, but it did catch my attention.  I am not used to seeing shiny and slimy looking things sitting on top of containers in my kitchen.  Thankfully it was an actual toy not some food particles that were going bad.  Have you discovered any random artwork around your house lately or are my kids unique?

  • Flashback Friday: Welcome Home Girls

    Welcome Home Brina and Karlie from Hospital Flashback 2005

    Girls packed up and ready to leave the hospital NICU and go home for the first time!

    Today’s Flashback Friday is the girls last day in NICU as they are bundled up and ready to come home.  They spent about a month in the hospital NICU.  The main reason they were there so long is that they were growing and learning how to suck and swallow.  They weren’t as excited about coming home as we were, ha!  By the time we got them bundled up in their carseats they were ready for a nap.  Thankful for the amazing nurses, doctors, and people who helped us during our stay in NICU.

    My parents and two youngest brothers were visiting the week that the girls came home from NICU.  It was nice having the extra help around the house and with the girls.  Thankful that we were able to get settled into home even if that meant we were on house arrest for the next few months.  They were itty-bitty when they were born (Brina 4.9 and Karlie 3.15)!

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    Welcome Home sign hung up on the front porch with Dargo sitting on the porch waiting for us to come home.

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    First nap together in their crib – Brina on left and Karlie on the right!

    Grandpa Russell Snuggling with Brinac

    Grandpa Russell and Brina taking a nap!

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    Uncle Josh rocking Karlie!

    Uncle Lee with Karlie and Uncle Josh with Brina trying out this whole feeding thingc

    Uncle Lee feeding Karlie and Uncle Josh feeding Brina.  It use to take them almost an hour to finish one small bottle with only 2 to 4 ounces in it.  They have come a long way!

    Grandma feeds Brinac

    Grandma Penny helping with the girls!

  • Free Ebooks: Kids Book About Ladybugs, Communication Skills, Teaching English as a Second Language, Freedom From Clutter, Love to Write, and more!

    The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading).  The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.

    Download a free copy of The Kids Book About Ladybugs: 17 Answers to Your Questions About Ladybugs by Vicky Taylor

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  • Beautiful Plants & Basket from My Thoughtful Husband

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    Love it when he surprises me with something special!

    My husband brought home these plants as a surprise for me a couple weeks ago.  He is sweet and I love it when he does the random thoughtful gifts.  My only regret is that it was such a busy weekend I did not take a picture of the beautiful basket with both plants green and blooming.

    At this time only one plant is still alive.  Yes, I have already killed the miniature rose bush.  I love the mini roses, but have a horrible time keeping them alive for very long.  You can see pieces of my sorry looking rose plant beside the one that is pretty and still green.

    I love plants and flowers, however, I am not the best person to grow them.  Usually I either over or under water them.  I like the ones that are easy to maintain and can handle wet or dry soil and withstand lots of sun or no sun.  In other words a very strong and durable plant that handles extremes well.  Grateful for a thoughtful and caring husband.  Love my plants and basket!!!

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    I love the basket the flowers came in and have already used it a couple of times since he gave it to me!

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    It has been fun using this basket for surprises and goodies!  Thankful for my husband and everything he does for me.

  • Love It – Magformers Set

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    Brina loves creating things with the Magformers!

    The girls got a Magformers Set for their birthday.  Since then they have played with the set for hours.  A bunch of time was spent playing with them during their recent snow days when they did not have school.  I love it when they get a toy that promotes creativity.

    Magformers are bright colorful magnetic toys that you can use to build all kinds of items with.  The set we got contained squares, triangles, and pentagons.  They are easy to use and the magnets are enclosed so they cannot be swallowed by younger kids.  The pieces always attract, never repel, making it easy for anyone to stick two pieces together to build.  The magformers stimulate creativity, engineering, spatial awareness, coordination, and mathematics.  You can build pretty much anything you can image from balls, houses, pyramids, turtles, towers, and so much more.  This toy has sparked our kids imaginations over the past month and they are still pulling it out to play with it regularly.

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    Big ball out of Magformers

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    Of course knocking it down is always a fun task to do too

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    Brina built all the items in the book first than started creating her own inventions.  Love watching her read the directions and put things together.  She was pretty quick at it!

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    Magformers creation

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    She has spent hours putting together different combinations and items with this set.

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    Proud of her creation

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    Making some little items

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    So much fun

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    House

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    Karlie loves playing with them too.  She split her time between the magformers and reading some chapter books.

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    Myrtle the Turtle

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    Time to take this one apart and start on a new project

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    Having a blast

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    Neat creation

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    Fun toy

    There are many different Magformers Sets that you can get.  Amazon is a great place to look for them and you can read all the great reviews as well.

    “Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love!  There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun.  I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list.  It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!

  • Colorful Snow Art

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    Red and Blue snow hand prints were found!

    After finishing their snowman Rainbow Confetti they decided to do colorful snow art with the leftover paints.  Some of their snow art creations turned out really well.  Love seeing them get creative.  Thankful for an opportunity to watch them play and have fun in the snow.

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    Blue and green store in the planter!

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    Red snow heart

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    Smiley faces always bring a smile

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    Yes, they even spray painted some of their snow balls prior to throwing my direction.  It made for a very colorful snowball fight.

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    Marking trails with their red paint.