UGH! I really don't like putting all the Christmas decorations away. It's so fun to get them all out and put them up but I'd rather have someone else put them away for me. I think maybe I have to much......because it takes me all day or sometimes two or three days to get it all down and in the boxes. But it is nice to get all the clutter out of the way. Makes it easier to clean the house.
New Years eve, and no plans. Amber is going to a Stake Dance in Omaha, and Sam just got invited to sleep over at a friends house. It's his first sleep over and he's very excited. So it's just Ben, Keaton, Bret and myself. No party to go to this year and no big plans. Kinda sad. 2010 is a special year for us, it will mean we've been in Harlan now for 10 years. We moved in, May of 2000. Amber was in 1st grade and Ben was 2. I didn't even have my little Sam and Keaton yet. I remember I was so excited to be done with school and residency and starting our first job. Bret was an official Doctor, we bought our first home out in the country and I was loving life! I slowly got to know people, Bret got to know everyone a lot faster than I did since he took care of a lot of them, and we've made some wonderful friends here. I had Sam in January of 2002, and he was a wonderful addition to our family. I was still loving life......then in 2005, I had Keaton. Just kidding. I love Keaton dearly, and don't regret having him.......really I don't......

We are really enjoying raising our kids here, and just really enjoying watching them grow and experience all that life brings, the good and the bad. We've been so blessed, and can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.

Happy New Year to all of you!

After the storm was over we went out to explore the beautiful ice and snow covered landscape! I love the beauty of winter!

Wow what a Christmas. It all started with an ice storm Christmas eve day and a blizzard Christmas eve and all Christmas day. With the ice and snow and wind we experience power outages most of the day. I was a little nervous about getting my Christmas dinner cooked. But I managed to get it all done and we ate, a little later than usual but it all tasted great!

We had our traditional Christmas eve family togetherness. We usually order Pizza Hut but due to the weather we just had some frozen pizzas that I had in the freezer. Not the same put easy to cook. then we went to the living room and read the Christmas story, and the kids played some Christmas songs on the piano that they have been practicing and we sang every taditional Christmas song that we could think of. Amber read us a Christmas story and each one of the kids got to open up one present, their traditional pajamas. Then they watched a couple of Christmas specials and we finally got them to all go to bed. Bret and I did our last minute gift prep and got everything under the tree and the stockings filled. I did my best to get the wrapping done a couple of days before and it was so nice to not have to worry about that and just enjoy Christmas eve. The kids woke us up at 6 am to open presents and before we new it, it was over. Another Christmas has come and gone.

Bret had to work in the Denison ER from noon to 6, so after he spent a bit of time digging himself out he left me with the kids, the Christmas mess and the power going off. But we had fun and the kids enjoyed playing and I even got a little nap.

Christmas ice storm

Love ice storms......except

when you wake up to a broken tree branch on the swing set.

Bret wasn't happy. He wanted to take that tree down last summer....I wouldn't let him.

Now he said it's my fault. I feel awful, but I love those big old trees. They give us so much shade, and are homes to so many birds, and other animals. But I have a feeling they will be gone as soon as spring gets here. I'm not going to be able to talk him out of it this time.

Not a good time for a storm to hit. I wasn't able to get out yesterday a do my christmas deliveries of cookies, I'm not going anywhere today either, and it sounds like this storm isn't going to be gone until Saturday afternoon. So we're home bound for Christmas. We lost power for about a half hour this morning, I hope that doesn't happen again. I have a lot of cooking to do tomorrow. But if we do, we can just have lunch meat sandwitches and fruit for dinner. It will be a Christmas to remember that is for sure. Bret has to drive to Denison to work in the ER tomorrow from noon to 6, I hope he makes it safely and doesn't crash or anything. The kids are so excited and can't wait to open the presents tomorrow. We just got done decorating sugar cookie cut-outs and gingerbread men, that seems to be a fun tradition they like to do on Christmas eve day. I have to admit I'll be happy when all the Christmas and New Year stuff is over and I can get rid of all the candy and cookies that are in my house.

Hope all of you are safe and staying warm this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holy cow am I tired. We are hosting a couple of Kevins friends from Texas for a few days , they're here for some deer and pheasant hunting. So I've been trying to give them a taste of Iowa hospitality. Which means lots of time spent in the kitchen. Today after being woke up at 4:45 to Kevin's alarm going off down stairs in the living room, I got the cinnomin roles ready for the guys to eat because they were going out on a early deer hunt. Made pancakes for my children, got them off to school. Started the venison stew that the guys were going to eat for lunch, and while that was cooking I made some gingerbread men for the kids to decorate tomorrow. Fed the guys lunch, cleaned up from that, then started on the pheasant pot pie that was for dinner. That took a little longer than usual because I had to throw away the crusts I made earlier and make another one, because right after I made the two crusts I was making the stuff that goes inside the pie and realized i didn't have any chicken broth and no chicken bouillon cubes or anything! So I had to run to the store to get some. By the time I was ready for the crusts they sat to long and just fell apart as I tried to put them in the pie dish. The bottom one I just kind of pieced together and mashed it into the pie plate, but the top one just fell apart and looked awful! So I scraped it off and threw it away and made another crust. After I finally got that bad boy in the oven I started making a broccoli salad and a fruit salad. Then The kids tell me they don't want pheasant pot pie, and I realize that they're probably won't be enough pie for all of us anyway, so I make the kids spaghetti. I must say I'm a little tired of cooking and being in the kitchen all day. But it's all worth it when you have happy kids and very happy company praising your cooking and enjoying full bellies! But now I'm tired and going to go to sleep. I have french toast, bacon and eggs and hashbrowns to make in the morning.

Bret gets stuck again!

You can't really tell from the picture, because Bret had already been digging for 30 minutes but he went and got himself stuck in a huge snow drift on an "unimproved, "enter at your own risk" country road last evening. I wish I had a picture of each time Bret got his truck, or his tractor, stuck in something. Whether it be a mud hole, a ditch, or a snowbank, which he's done twice already this month. This time his friend Rob came and helped pull him out. He thinks they are so invincible and can plow through anything. Which they can't. I think Bret is going to start getting a reputation in town about always having to have someone come help pull him out of something. But I love him. He makes life so interesting and never a dull moment.

I feel like I want to just go hang out in a log cabin, up in the mountains for the month. That way I wouldn't have to worry about having to buy Christmas presents and wrapping them and sending out Christmas cards and making all the different kinds of Christmas cookies that the kids want me to make. Just a tree and a nativity. Just focusing on what really is important this time of year. It seems like Christmas has become a lot of work. Work that the world makes us do because it's expected and not because we want to. Gifts are given out of obligation not out of love. Every year the scale gets grander and the presents get more expensive. It's not "it's the thought that counts" any more, it's "the more you spend the more you love me." I don't like watching TV this time of year what with all the adds and big sales and everything to buy that really have nothing to do with the holy day that we are to be celebrating. I need to find a way to change some things, at least in my own family for my children, so they don't forget the true reason for celebrating Christmas.

Sorry this is a bit off the mark but I just needed to get that out. I'm not trying to be a scrooge or anything, and I do love giving presents and making cookies for people I love and want to say thankyou for being such a good friend. I love seeing the kids faces on Christmas morning when they open there presents, but it just seems like every year it just gets bigger and bigger and more and more! Where does it stop? It's not simple any more. Parts of it aren't fun anymore. And to scale down would hurt feelings. So what do you do? Retailers count on this time of year to make money to make ends meet, but people are going into debt buying things they can't afford, because they think they have to. It's not right. I don't think the early followers of Christ meant for this time of year to be this way at all. I think they would be very sad to see what this holiday has become.
So, okay I'm done, and I'll hopefully get my log cabin Christmas one of these years, but until then I can turn off the TV and keep what I do simple and try to show love for my family and friends in simple ways. So Merry Christmas! By that I mean a Christmas full of love and health and family, serving others and feeling closer to our Heavenly Father for sending his Son.

Sorry a bit of an emotional mess today, and feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Here's some pictures of Ben at his Band concert. He likes the trumpet and the drums, we're trying to decide if we should get him a drum set for Christmas. He's asking for one.

Ben likes to play the clown. This was before they started thank goodness. What a ham.

Mocha's first hunt.

This is Mocha. She went on her first hunt last Saturday and she did such a great job. She wasn't quite sure of the gun going off and stayed pretty close to us. But it didn't bother her to much. At least she didn't run strait to the truck!

Snow everywhere! With quite enough to spare.

With a snow day yesterday, and with most of the schools around the area being closed again today, the kids were not happy about having to go to school today. It was a two hour late start which in my book is the best of both worlds. I get to sleep in a bit and I still get rid of the kids for the day. Only problem was my car was in the garage and there was about a 3 to 4 foot snow drift blocking my way. The drift wasn't small either, it went out about 25 feet! So what am I to do. I have to get the kids to school. So while the kids are getting ready I bundle up and grab my snow shovel and get to work. I only have about an hour to get this done. I look at all the snow that needs to be moved and think "oh man, I don't think I can do this." But with one shovel load at a time, and a little help from above I had the strength to finish just in time. I have no idea why we don't invest in a snow blower. I guess in the past we've always had a friend come by in time to dig us out with a tractor, which we did, only it was around 2:00 in the afternoon. Anyway I got the kids to school on time, and I got to go home and relax a bit. I have a sore back and my arms are very tired but other than that I feel great. I guess all that running is doing something for me.

Tonight we went to Ben's band concert. It was the Christmas concert and he playes the trumpet. Before we went we had a little fight about what he was wearing. Jeans and a t-shirt with a sweater over it wasn't going to cut it. The sweater was fine but he needed to change his pants and put a nice white church shirt on under the sweater. He didn't like that idea at all but I ended up wining and he looked very nice. I know I only have a few more years where I'll be able to do that. The concert was great. They sounded really good for only being in 6th grade.

I just called my sister Sandie in Seattle and agreed to run the Seattle marathon with her at the end of June. So I need to get my butt back in training mode. I've really been bad at being consistant with my running and my eating has been awful. I'm also running the Dam to Dam 20K at the beginning of June as well so that will just be one of my long runs, and a part of my training. I hope I can do this right this time and stay injury free. I love running but I tend to over do it sometimes. Planning a run tomorrow in town as soon as I drop off Keaton at school. I hope it isn't windy. It's hard on my face to run in the wind.

First winter storm

Well we survived our first winter storm. What can I say, the kids were home from school early yesterday and are having a snow day today. It was very nice to sleep in and listen to the wind howling outside, knowing I didn't have to go out in it. Bret however had to go in to do a C-section and had a bit of trouble getting out of the driveway. Very big snow drift right out side of the garage doors. I watched him for awhile then he looked up at me through the window and said "come here and help me!" So like a good wife I put on my snow gear and went out in the cold wind and snow to help him dig out. I thankfully got in the cab to do the driving while he pushed! Finally he was out and off to the hospital. REALLY why do these things always happen during a snow storm! You'd think these babies would have a bit of inside info on these things.

It's been fun getting ready for Christmas this year, the house is all decorated inside and out. This year I decited to go out on the roof and put up the outside lights myself, because Bret doesn't have the time during daylight hours, and he has a problem going out on the roof in the dark. So it's done and it's beautiful. He wasn't to happy with me. The first thing he thought when he came up over the hill and saw the house was, "I'm going to kill her for going out on the roof!" But no harm done and it wasn't like I haven't done that before. I did the same thing with our house in Omaha, during residency. Which I did get yelled at by my neighbor who couldn't believe I was out on my roof. She's was an older lady who's husband did everything like that I'm sure. But you know, when your husband isn't home a lot you have to do things yourself or they just don't get done. The tree is up. Amber picked out a nice big fat one, that wouldn't stay upright in the stand. It kept wanting to fall over. It almost did right on top of Ben, but Amber was there to catch it thank goodness. So with a hook and some twine we tied it to the wall behind the tree. I'll have a nice hole in the wall when Christmas is over. I guess i'll have to find a bookshelf or some thing to put there. Darn it I hate shoping :)

I went bird hunting with Bret last Saturday and that was fun. Bret got his limit in little under an hour. The dogs worked great and I had a good work out tromping around in the tall thick grass with heavy hunting boots on. I like watching Bret get excited about the whole hunting experience. It's nice that the kids are getting a little older so I can go out with him more. I forgot how much I like that. It's been a few years since we were first married.

We went to Sam's Christmas concert last week and it was so cute. He's loves being on stage singing and dancing. Makes me wonder what he's going to do when he gets older. I love living in a small town in Iowa where we can still sing the traditional Christmas songs in the schools and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It make it that much more special during this time of year.

So here I sit snowed in at my house and loving every minute of it. I think I'll go make some hot chocolate!

Sorry, haven't updated this in awhile. Just getting over the Thanksgiving holiday mess, putting away fall decorations and putting up Christmas stuff. Which is quite an undertaking. I'm having to deal with sick kids too which is never fun. The worst of the worst kind of sickness, the stomach flu. It all started on Thanksgiving afternoon when Sam came in the kitchen and said his tummy hurt. He was going to try to go to the bathroom. Next thing I know Sheri comes into the kitchen telling me Sam is throwing up in the living room, all over my rocking chair! So I grab a bowl and give it to Derek and he runs to give it to Sam, Bret grabs the chair cushion and goes outside with it retching all the way, to go hose it off. Jennie, who is in the early stages of pregnancy is in the bathroom throwing up in the toilet. Sam puking right in front of her was too much. If felt more sorry for Jennie than I did for Sam at that point because Sam was just in the bathroom, so why did he choose the living room, right in front of Jennie and Sheri to puke? I was a little iritated. So grabing a wet washcloth and a towl and some cleaner I go to work on the mess, trying not to breath. Poor Sam isn't finished yet and I'm getting a queezy stomach myself from just the smell. After a few minutes I put Sam in the tub, Jennie is in the living room, and I'm thinking I have a house full of people who could all get this if they don't leave. I didn't want to be the blame for all of the cousins getting sick. I'm thinking that everyone needs to leave quick, but we haven't had pie yet. So even though I'm still a little full from dinner I suggest that we have pie and ice-cream so we can get the show on the road! Sam was fine the next morning and no one else came down with it. I thought for sure Keaton would the next day but we all stayed puke free until Sunday morning at around 2 am. I hear Keaton in his room crying and throwing up. Great! Luckily he managed to get out of his bed and he just made a mess on the floor, I hate cleaning up puke out of a carpet! I'm so glad I put in hard wood. So then I stay home from church with Keaton, Bret and the kids go to church, which they came home early from because Ben didn't feel well. So Ben gets it Sunday afternoon, and I'm thinking who's next. That night I'm a little scared, Amber is too, I hate throwing up more than anything in the world! So to bed we all go wondering what the night will bring. At about 1am I get woke up with the sound of Bret getting sick in the bathroom. Now I'm REALLY scared. He was up a few times durring the night so I didn't get a very good nights sleep but was greatful when I woke up at 6 with my stomach still in side me. Needless to say Amber was very afraid to go to school. There's not much worse than thowing up in high school. I'm afraid, I'm very afraid. I don't want to be next. I've seen what this bug does and I don't want to be next! Help me. As for friends and family.......stay away!

We had a wonderful visit this last weekend with John and Marilyn. We were all very happy to see Marilyn alive and kicking and recovering very nicely! We prepared one of our home grown turkeys for a pre-thanksgiving dinner and it was very good, but a little small. We ate the whole thing in one meal! No left overs darn it! Bret's parents arrived Wednesday, Kevin came on Friday, then on Saturday, Sheri and Derek and their kids came, followed by Jennie and her kids, then David and Leanne Buell came to visit as well. We had a house full and it was great! All the cousins played very well together and the women went on a little shoping tour of Harlan. We went to some cute shops sampled a few goodies and bought some fun things. My kind of shopping! But we really enjoyed everyone and had a lot of good laughs! I love getting together with friends and family it's always great to laugh!

Amber has been working for months getting ready for her second High School musical performance. They put on Suessical: The Musical. It was really cute and well done. Amber was one of the Bird girls, and she was the best one. That isn't just me talking because I'm her mother. I had quite a few people tell me that she was the most animated, the one that was smiling and looking like she was really having a great time! Amber has always been very comfortable on a stage. She's had play practice for this almost every night and has worked really hard and is glad and sad that it's over. She had a blast doing it but is happy to have her evenings free again. Until next year that is......

Halloween fun!

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. We had the Church "Trunk or Treat" on Wednesday where the kids dressed up, played lots of games and took home lots of candy and little prizes. We decorated the back of our car with lights and scary ghosts, and a cauldrin full of candy! I even had a strobe light going. We had the coolest trunk there! Friday the kids didn't have school so we took that day to carve our pumkins. I was really impressed this year because they all cut out their own faces. Even Keaton, I touched it up a bit for him but he did a really good job. Saturday Kevin and Jennie came to spend the night because it was also the opening day for pheasent season. So we had a pizza party and then went trick or treating with Addy and Brinley! The weather was perfect, I was wondering if we would be getting wet with all the rain we've had lately but it was a great night and everyone had a belly full of candy before the night was over. I've had my share that is for sure! But another halloween has come and gone, now bring on the Christmas season!!!

My first soccer team!

This year I coached Keaton's soccer team. I had six little 4 and 5 year olds running all over the place trying their hardest to play soccer. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about the sport and the wonders of coaching little kids. This was a picture I took after our last game. Starting on the left is Keaton, then Madison, then Hope, Jacob, Noah, and Savannah. The biggest challenge was just making sure they were all having a good time and each getting a turn to do eveything. I had one little powerhouse which was Jacob, and he kind of ran the show. He was the only one that didn't like sitting out and taking a break. I had to beg him to take his turn to sit out and give everyone a turn to play. Little Noah and Savannah always wanted to sit out and were always asking if it was time for treats yet. Hope was a real go getter and was my girl that didn't mind getting in there with the boys. Keaton spent most of his time running after the ball or getting his foot caught in the goal net. I had a lot of fun and will probably to it again next year. Why not, I don't have anything to do anyway right?

Well I'm sitting here alone listening to the rain hit my roof, which it has been doing ALL day, reflecting on my day. It has been a crazy day. With company coming this weekend, I started with getting caught up on the laundry. The kids laundry baskets, along with my own were overflowing. I went up to Keaton and Sam's room to put away some stray socks, and found a mess that has been building for some time now. So in order to find the dirty clothes which were scattered amongst the toys, I began cleaning and throwing away things that I was sick of picking up. I always had a little resentment towards my mother for getting rid of my toys. I would have liked to still have some of the special ones and share the memories with my kids, but now I totally see why she got rid of them. You get so tired of picking up the same toys day after day that you really don't care how much money you spent on them or that donating them to good will would be a better option, you just want them gone! So in the garbage they go. The kids will never know anyway. They have so much stuff right now it's ridiculous! So after cleaning and vacuuming all the rooms up stairs, I spent the rest of the day folding laundry, dusting, polishing, and vacuuming, the main level and finally the basement. I then have only 45 minutes until I need to pick up the kids from school. Today was Thursday, which means piano lessons for Amber, Ben, and Sam. From 4:30 to 6:00. I just remember that Amber needs a doz. bars to take to the dinner and vocal concert at 5:45. So I walk into the kitchen to grab a box of brownie mix out of the cupboard and find Keaton on the floor with my bottle of furniture polish. He has sprayed it all over the floor. He says "look mom! I'm cleaning the floor!" Now some people might see this as cute and "oh he's being so helpful", I didn't see it this way at all. He stands up and being bare-foot falls flat on his butt! It was an oil furniture polish that is not to be used on floors. So I almost fall down trying to get to him and pick him up and carry him out so he doesn't track it everywhere, and then I get to spend the 45 minutes cleaning off the floor so people can walk in the kitchen without slipping and sliding everywhere. That was not easy to clean up let me tell you! So after I pick up the kids in the pouring rain, and after I take Sam to his piano lesson, I run to Hy-Vee to see what I can find at the bakery. They had some carrot cake bars! Perfect! I go pick up Ben and Keaton from the house, drive to the high school to pick up Amber from Jazz band practice, take Ben to piano, pick up Sam, drive home to let Amber change and grab a bite to eat and take her back to the high school. I pick up Ben from piano, take them all home, fix dinner, go do the chores in the rain (Bret's on call) put the little boys to bed, grab my camera and head to Amber's chorus concert. She wants me to record their performance. It was nice to hear some nice music, I wish I could've sat down, I got there after it already started and it was a packed house. It was 6th through 12th grade chorus groups so lots of parents. I had to park pretty far away and run in the rain to the school. Needless to say I was pretty wet when I got to the school. It was very stuffy in the auditorium and me in my rain jacket and couldn't really take it off. I was sweltering, standing in the back trying to record with people walking back and forth in front of me. I must say I wasn't enjoying myself. Finally I'm home all the kids are in bed and I'm looking forward to a good night sleep. Well as good as I can get with Bret's pager going off all night. Gotta love call nights!

These are our 4 children. Samuel-7 Benjamin-12 Keaton-4 Amber-15. We love our children dearly, and There's never a dull moment when all of them are home. Keaton is our little destruct-o. He's managed to break quite a few things in the house in his four short years, including a huge hole in the wall from a falling TV that he pushed over, a pantry door, a CD player, and the list goes on and on. Sam is my little sweetheart, Ben is the clown, and Amber is my drama queen. They all have different interest, Amber loves music. She plays the piano, the trombone, and the clarinet. She is in Marching Band and the Jazz Band, also chorus, and she tries out for the musical every year and always gets a part. She loves going to church activities and loves reading and shopping. Ben loves to play soccer. He's really quite good, he's fast and has good ball skills, he makes the game exciting and scores goals every game. He is also learning to play the piano and plays the trumpet for the middle school band. Sam is also a little soccer player although not quite as aggressive as his older brother. He likes to have fun. He started taking piano lessons this year and so far likes it. He likes to draw, paint, cut, and paste just about anything. He's always making something out of paper or cardboard. The desk off the kitchen has been designated as Sam's desk, because he's always at it. Keaton, besides destroying things, loves to play outside. He started his first year at soccer this year and I thought it might be fun to try coaching, so I have six little 4 year olds to try to coax into playing a soccer game. Keaton being one of them. Most of the time he just likes playing in the goal netting usually getting his foot stuck. He likes to play with his trains, and especially with his big brothers.
We have a lot of fun in our home, Listening to Bret's funny and exciting hunting or ER stories at dinner, playing with the dogs or chickens, eating the apples off the apple trees, looking for frogs or snakes in the pond and tall grass, feeding the big orb-web spiders grasshoppers, or playing with the cars and truck in the dirt tunnels under the porch. We have a lot of friends and family over, especially during the hunting seasons, and it's so fun to play with Aunts and Uncles and cousins. There's always something going on and it's makes life exciting, and even though I like my down time sometimes, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Welcome to the Shire. Now I know I need to explain the title of this, and for you 'Lord of the Rings' fans I might not need to. It all started when in 2007 we moved out of our home in the country to move into a rental house in town while our old home was being moved into town so we could live in that while we build a new home in the same place. So we had the old place in the country, the rental house, and the old house that was moved into town. We also have a few places out in the country where Bret has bought some land. It got a little confusing when we needed to go to one of the many places for any reason. Bret is a 'Lord of the Rings' fan so the many places we own are named after some places in the movies. Our home place out in the country was named "The Shire" so I thought it was a fitting title for our blog spot. I'm new to this so I hope I can make it interesting for all those who might take a peak at it.