Breaking his heart

He holds a place dear to Lineman's and my heart. He's always been something. My mom used to say he was an old soul. He is wise beyond his years when it comes to matters of the heart. Matters of the soul. He can brighten your day with the kindest words. He knows when you need a hug. He knows when to give you that smile. His timing is always perfect. I don't know where it comes from. Deep in his soul? Was he just born this way? I can't take credit for this. It is all him. Rather I should say it is all Him.

His heart is huge. But sometimes that very same heart is hard on him. The other night at supper he just broke down crying because he didn't want to leave his friend Isaac. He has plenty of friends at school but Isaac just has a special place in his heart. As the tears rolled down his face and he buried his head in Lineman's arms I couldn't help but choke back the tears too. I feel so bad that he is hurting right now. It will take time to heal his pain.

And until then, we will be the ones giving hugs at the right moments. Saying the things to brighten him up. Being there for him as he is always there for us.

We love you son.

Scooby Snack

We went to eat in town last weekend at a neat restaurant downtown called Sanfords. Picture Applebee's on steroids or on WAY too much caffein, yup, there ya go! There is a back end of a truck sticking out of the front of the building, what a way to start.

Anyhoooooo..... my middle boy ordered a Scooby Snack. I thought it was just a PB&J, but what showed up was much cooler! A triple decker, grilled, oozing work of children's art! I started making them at home and they get D-vour-ed.

~~~Scooby Snack~~~

3 pieces of bread

peanut butter

grape jelly

butter

One layer of bread with lots of grape jelly, next layer of peanut butter (don't skimp here), top with last piece of bread and spread some butter on both outside pieces of bread. Grill it in a pan till nice and brown and the peanut butter is ooooooozing out.

~

You can check out more recipes and add your own for Shasta's weekly recipe over at Crackers and Chaos

~~~ Move Update~~~

Today the movers are packing our stuff

Sunday Sunsets

I had to go through my sunset pictures.... this is from last summer and one of my favorites.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear....

what do you see?
I see a frozen dog looking at me. Frozen dog, frozen dog, what do you see?
I see a snow drift looking at me.

Snow dirft, snow drift what do you see?

I see a baby looking at me.

Baby, baby what do you see?

I see buffalo looking at me.

Buffalo, buffalo, what do you see?

I see a pile up looking at me.

Pile up, pile up...

YIKES!!

The good news is that the blizzard is over! It was fun while it lasted as long as one didn't have to go out into it. I went to the neighbors for the afternoon Thursday to just get out of the house. Good company and a roaring fire are pretty hard to beat!

-

The kids are outside now enjoying the wonderful snow. Yes, the snow went half way up our sliding glass door. We just had a fun snowball fight and now the kids are still out building snow forts.....

Probably the last time until next fall.

************

Things are getting pretty busy here. Lineman made it home in the blizzard and is FINALLY HOME! YEE -HAAA!

~

We are getting ready for the movers and there is LOTS to do. I will have posts up about every day during our move but I probably won't be able to comment on your blogs for a couple weeks. I will still have 52 Weeks up and hopefully the Mr. Linky will be working.

~

I look forward to your great comments and checking in on you all when we are settled in at our new town.

13 of 52

The boys and I spent a little time down at a wonderful place called Frontier Park, home to Cheyenne Frontier Days. I thought we would sneak in a little bit more of this great place before we leave. The weather was warm and sunny. My oldest took all of these pictures.

********************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are gald you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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Please add yourself each week to the Mr. Linky so we can all visit your page too. THANKS!

Praying for Stellan

Please take a moment and pray for this sweet little baby.

Click on the the button above if you would like more information.

Getting Ready

We are getting closer to spending more days like this one. We have been waiting for such a long time, it's hard to believe it's within sight now.

High Phlegmancy Words

No, that's not a typo up there. High phlegmancy words.

I have been working with my middle child on these. Well at least that's what he calls them. High phlegmancy words. Or would it be flemancy words. We're not talking about the repsiratory system or mucus or even coughing anything up. Ewww gross. I remember my older brother doing that on purpose when he was a teenager though. Ewwwww gross.

Good grief, where is this post going? How many readers have I lost? Oh, do come back, I'll get to the point.

You know, high phlegmancy words. Words like the, and, a, is, in, it, you, if, it and so on. You know, the most commonly used words in the English language.

Well, we all call them high frequency words! Apparently I need to spend an increased amount of time with him on pronunciation as well!

*on a side note, my oldest took this picture of his brother. It's SOOC, I didn't touch it whatsoever. i thought that was pretty neat!

For the love of running

One thing I truly will miss when we leave is the ranch we overlook. I don't know how many acres they have but they run several hundred pair and more than 70 horses. I've watched the antelope play in this valley, chasing one another. I have watched as two coyotes were after a young calf. And I watched as about 5 very angry cows chased those coyotes off. I watched an antelope play with a crow and I've seen antelope chasing a fox. I will also miss the train that travels down in the valley and I'll miss my beloved old windmill that I love to photograph.


But for today it was joy. The joy of running horses.....

{click to enlarge the pictures}

Sunday Sunsets

Library of the Year

We went to the library before swimming the other day when the weather was bad out. What a great place I tell you. The second floor is completely for kids, so awesome! The first thing my boys do is head to what they call "The Book Machine". It's really a hands on library. This is a good place for the kids to start. They grab a tile that has just come down the Lilly Pad shoot. They pick up the tile and move it to....

A little bench that is full of rollers and the tiles slide down the bench to get put through a slot. Notice my middle boy feels he must stack up an exorbitant amount of tiles. He pushes them through the slot and they go......

Down a set of rollers and then land in a little holding pen if you will.

Then my youngest takes a tile and puts it through another slot.

Now the tiles are loaded up to a conveyor belt that takes them up, up and away. My youngest is attempting to give the spinner all he has to get the conveyor belt up. Have no fear, a bigger kid will take over in no time. The older kids like to stack as many tiles in one spot on the belt so they all come down the Lilly Pads at the same time.

Then the tiles come down with a roar and my youngest is ecstatic! Then the tiles get to go through another course until they make it back to the start (though there is no "official" starting point). It really is a brilliant idea.

There is so much more too. My youngest is on the side of the bus here. The entire bus is covered with tactile, educational, fun and entertaining little activities.

He was having a real hard time grasping this idea here. He would grab for something and try with all his might to get it out of that box.

My middle son driving the bus. Just like him to make a friend. A friend with braids and pink all over.

More fun on the outside of the bus.

Here they are making words by spinning the chain around until the get the word they are after.

Those little mittens you see in the background are for measuring "hands", as in the height of a horse. And there are books and books stacked right there too. So clever!

So, are you wondering where my oldest is? Do I not care to take his picture? Well, here is where he was most of the time at the library.........

Seven year olds, I tell ya.

Oh, it really was the library of the year in 2008. The City of Cheyenne voted for an additional penny sales tax that went to pay for this project. The features of the library are incredible! You check your own books out, check them in, the books fly around on conveyor belts. It's really an incredible place to go!

The more that you read,
The more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
The more places you'll go

~~~~~Dr. Seuss

12 of 52

We are just a bunch of potato heads around here.

********************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are gald you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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Please add yourself each week to the Mr. Linky so we can all visit your page too. THANKS!

Foiled Again

Foil: Not just for the kitchen....

He was having too much fun, who was I to stop it? And yes, he only has one shoe on. I can only keep up with so many things.

Extra Extra read all about it

We are under contract!!!!What exciting news to share. I realize there are some of you that could care less but this is HUGE news! We are moving back to Montana!

I have steered away from things too personal here, but hey, what the heck why don't I share a little with ya. We're all friends here right? Right!

Well, let me just tell you a little about Lineman's job. It requires him to travel. A lot. In the month of February he was home for one weekend. In January he left for work after the new year and came home for one weekend that month. So on and so forth. It has been like this for months and months and months. Imagine me here with these three boys. Adorable yes. Hand fulls, yes. I struggle to take care of them and keep the house in running order. Taking care of them, worried about the move, and keeping the house in perfect show condition has had it's toll on me. Just recently I had to go into the doctor because I was having chest pain. I would go to sleep at night not knowing if I would wake in the morning. It was scary. I went to the doctor, did blood tests, had an EKG, the works. Guess what my chest pain was? Nope, not a heart attack. It was stress. Stress. And here I thought I was handling things pretty well. Apparently my body was telling me a totally different story.

Now while I've had a hard go of it, I know Lineman has had an equally tough time. Though his stress was the complete opposite of mine, I believe. I may be putting words in his mouth, but these are my thoughts on it. He is gone from us and unable to do the things a father and a husband needs to do. Unable to take care of the house. Unable to play with his kids, read to them, work in the shop with them. Unable to tuck them in, help with homework. Unable to hug and kiss them and love them. I know the emotional stress of this alone has been nearly unbearable. (yes, Lineman, I know).

I know he has dearly missed doing the dishes, sweeping and vacuuming. Cleaning the toilets and picking up toys. Oh, and how he loves to change diapers. Just ask him, it makes him cry when he thinks of how many diapers he has missed changing.

So, while his job will still be the same job, a LOT will be different! A lot!!! I am so excited for this move now and what it means to our family. If there's something going on at school, Lineman will be able to make it. Sports games, Sunday mornings, reading books, playing games, you name it, he will be able to do those things much easier now. We will see his parents and family more. We will see my mom even more. We can take the kids up to the farm. I see the boys fishing for hours and hours on end. Oh, and I think I may even get to sleep in once in a while. The quality of family life will be so greatly improved and for that I am feeling truly blessed.

So, while I will miss many things about our life here, I look forward to this new chapter in our life and what it means for our family.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


It was not me who spent about 45 minutes in the grocery store and upon returning to my Suburban found that a door had been left open. It was not me who left the door open and forgot to close it. 45 minutes people! Oh well. It was not me who totally felt like a huge dork.

It was not me who pulled a muscle in my neck Sunday morning while I was still sleeping. It was not me who still had some serious meds left over from my c-section. And it was certainly not me who took some of these meds so I could turn my head more than an inch in either direction without wincing in pain. It was not me who begged my neighbor to use their hot tub. And I was not sad when they weren't home.

It was not me who ran away from the kids when I was on the phone and they were screaming.

It was not me who made those yummy cake pops and then didn't wash the dishes. Nope, not me. I always wash my dishes right away.

And it is not me who has news to share but is keeping it until another post. I would never keep you guessing like that.

Sunday Sunsets

This was taken this past week off the back porch again. Boy did I ever hear it from Lineman about not having my Sunday Sunset picture up first thing this morning. Well, sometimes my life is a bit crazy. A bit hectic. Dare I say a bit chaotic? Now it's time to settle it all down and take a breath. After all it's Sunday.

Have a wonderful day!

Calories? What Calories?

I guess you could say I'd had enough of Bakerella and Pioneer Womans recipes and figured it was time to give them a try! So I jumped right in there, with no regard for calories, and made Bakerella's Cupcake Bites and Cake Pops. These were my spring inspired Cupcake Bites.

I think I'll call these the Three Stooges.

Of course I had to try the Cake Pops. I do believe these are lower in calories. It has something to do with the stick, it's a sort of draining of the calories down the sticks. Or not.

The tops of my Cake Pops. Would you believe I asked the kids to help with this. As soon as I started I changed my mind and said it would be better if they just helped EAT them instead. They were all over that!

I will say that they were way more time consuming that I would have thought. If you do these I might recomend making the cake the night before. Also, it would be way more fun with a friend. Anyone wanna come make Cake Pops with me?

You can get the recipe and see more Cake Pops and Cupcake Bites at Bakerella and Pioneer Woman. Have fun!

11 of 52

This is with my oldest son for his "Young Authors Tea" at school this week. Obviously his young author book is about dinosaurs. He read his book to me and we enjoyed cookies and apple cider (I guess this was the tea). It was a cute book and a fun time. I felt bad for the kids that didn't have parents attend so I had them read their stories to me while I was there. It was so great to get to see all the kids. I had worked there before my Lil' Man was born. I have missed seeing the kids grow and their smiling faces.

I must add that I was glad I started this 52 Weeks challenge. It was the ONLY reason I am in a picture from this event. Otherwise for simple things like this I would only have a picture of my kids. I'm so glad you are all joining this too!

********************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are gald you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
**************************************

Please add yourself each week to the Mr. Linky so we can all visit your page too. THANKS!

Last Big Storm???

I'm wondering if this is the last BIG storm to roll through. It's been a bit on the cold side. Though I cringe when Lineman told me how cold it is where we are moving to. Ohhh, burrrrr. Minus 30 is too much in MARCH.

The hoar frost turned out way better than these pictures I took. The second day the frost was nearly an inch thick. I am not sorry to say that I stayed inside with my slippers and hot cocoa. I didn't really feeling like going outside when it was Minus 5. Sorry.

Be warm my friends.

Fox and Goose Pie

The other day I made a Fox and Goose Pie for the kids. Boy did they ever love it! At first they were quite skeptical. I mean, have they no faith in me? A Fox and Goose Pie, why what kind of mother would make their kids eat something like that.

Thankfully it's not something you eat. All I can say is they REALLY liked and and they REALLY want me to make another one soon.

Are you wondering what it is yet? Are you wondering if I will tell you how to make it?

First off you are going to need this ONE ingredient:

SNOW

To be more precise you need fresh snow with NO tracks in it. Or hardly any tracks. Go out and with your feet you are going to shuffle around making a big circle. Then go and cut in the pie pieces..... It will look like this.......
Then you are going to need the "Fox" which is the person who is it....

And you will need the "Goose", the person the Fox is trying to catch.

The Fox and the Goose must stay on the lines of the pie. If they go too far out it's not fair. And if the Goose goes too far out of the lines he is then the Fox. Once the Fox catches a Goose, the Goose is then the Fox.

And let me tell you I was the Fox and I was the Goose numerous times on this day. Whew, I was so exhausted I almost threw up. Seriously! I know you did not want to hear that but its true, this is some serious exercise!

You can make the pie much bigger if you want. Depends on the number of people and I suppose the age of the pie goers. Also, you could make an inner circle for the little ones, call it a "safe zone" if they need a rest.

Now that you have the recipe.....go make and Fox and Goose Pie!