Cuteness

We are enjoying our farm and new neighbors that are out there.  Abby, Megan, and #3 will have quite a few kids to play with that are their age.  One of Abby's friends Carter was kind enough to take her on his 4-wheeler.  It was adorable to watch.  Megan was on the electric one going about .25 MPH if that.

Tim and I aren't quite sure if we should be worried yet.......

First Turkey

So Tim has been turkey hunting for probably 2-3 years.  First year didn't even really hear a turkey, second year started to hear them call back but never saw any, third year actually saw some but never shot.  So this year his luck has changed.  This morning he shot his first turkey.  He's like a kid on Christmas day he was so excited.  He had to hurry home so the girls could see it before school. 
Some quick stats - 10 inch beard and 1-1/2 inch spurs, it's a nice looking bird.

Abby was a little less fearless than Megan to get close to the bird, but wouldn't touch it.

After some convincing from Abby, Megan got a little bit closer.  Abby said "Look, it's eyes are closed almost."  Megan wasn't so sure.

The proud hunter and his kill

Now we'll see if Tim knows how to clean a turkey......

Today we Bought a Farm

Today Tim and I closed on our new "mini-farm".  It's plenty of acres for Tim to hunt on, some tillable land for him to be the wannabe farmer I always hear about, and in an area we both agree we can live in.

Our future garden, already tilled and ready to plant some sweet corn!

The "Shouse" or Man Cave

Just a front view, someday a house will be out there hopefully.

It's been a busy day signing a lot of paperwork but it's done.  Now we just need to build a house......

Easter & Some Excellent Customer Service

This Easter we hosted the Schmidt/Dietz family at our house Sunday afternoon. The girls got to spend time with their cousin Theo and have several egg hunts. As you can see in the photo below the baskets from the grandparents were plentiful.



That morning we had a mini-hunt before church. Easter Bunny gave a few nice things and a personalized card for the girls. Megan's two favorites were the Rio movie and soundtrack to Gnomeo and Juliet - I'm sure you can guess what we listened to in the car today....



The morning photo below before they were unleashed to look for eggs. Megan wanted to match Abby's outfit of course. Her dress is actually Abby's from last year and I had bought a bigger size for Abby on clearance since the matching sweater still fit. I'm not big on matching, but the girls are.


Checking out the goodies from the Easter Bunny.

Waiting to be unleashed for the outdoor egg hunt. Theo got a 3 egg head start, then Megan got a 3 egg head start, then we let Abby go to find egg. She's a little more motivated and aggressive than the others to find eggs.


Showing off the loot. Final egg count: Abby - 17, Megan -14, Theo - 10


Looking for that last egg.....


Abby hunting in the front yard.

Megan finding eggs in the landscaping.

One last picture of eggs.



Lone Star: A Customer Service Story
This past Saturday evening we went to Lone Star or the "Peanut Place" as our kids like to call it. We hadn't been there for a while and the last time we were there they had the peanuts in the shell in a bag for you to eat. Our kids love peanuts in the shell. Abby learned how to crack them at deer camp a couple years ago, and Megan - she just loves snacks. When we were getting ready to be lead to our table Abby asked nicely for peanuts and the hostess let us know they do not offer peanuts anymore. Unfortunately it made Abby cry. We made it to our table and quickly distracted her with coloring and rolls with butter. A little while later the hostess came back to our table with a bag of peanuts just for our girls. The manager had let her run to the store quickly to get them a bag. This not only made our girls extremely happy, but also Tim and I as we don't often see that extra effort. So our hats off to you Lone Star, and thank you for making our dining experience quite enjoyable.

The Potty Fish

When Abby was potty training the end reward was a "Potty Fish" and that is how we had Nemo for about 2 years. Now Megan has finally earned her "Potty Fish". We'd like to introduce you to our newest family member.....Sweetheart.


Sweetheart is a girl fish of course, she is hiding behind her friend Nemo in the bowl photo. It's actually Sweetheart II - Sweetheart I didn't make it through nap time. Apparently they should only stay in those bags you get them from the pet store for 1-2 hours - who knew? But Abby and Tim made an emergency replacement run while Megan was still napping/occupied and she didn't notice the difference. Abby has done her part to keep the secret also....for now.


Here is Megan having breakfast with Sweetheart this morning. It's her job to feed Sweetheart every morning. She still thinks that Sweetheart will eat/bite her for some reason or has teeth. She's slowly figuring out that she will stay in the bowl, but still likes us to stay close while she is watching her.

So we are pretty proud of Megan's accomplishments and are enjoying not having to buy diapers/pull ups anymore. She is fully enjoying her "big girl panties" and is always asking for more as she thinks she should have ones that match every outfit she wears. She even told us to put away the potty seat this weekend because she was a big girl and could go potty like Daddy/Abby. So we are very happy, and it was a nice celebration to buy Sweetheart.


And of course the Easter Bunny. We did not take (force is probably the better word) the trip to Bass Pro. We were grocery shopping after church on Sunday and the Easter Bunny was there all ready for pictures. Abby hopped right up. Megan even touched his hand before he moved and she freaked out and ran away crying. So Abby got the photo with the bunny and Megan continued her look out for the Easter Bunny the rest of the morning. He was not at Michael's or at PetSmart which she was very happy about.


Our continued quest is to start to get ready for #3. I am finally officially moving Megan into Abby's room. She has been sleeping in the bunk beds for quite a while but her clothes were still in the other room. So the process of moving her clothes into the closet/drawers - upgrading to the next size clothes/putting winter clothes away since it's practically summer.....has started. Wasn't exactly the easy project I thought it would be as these girls have a lot of stuff to put in one room and one closet! So Tim put in a new shelf to help with storage - which was the first thing on my 2 page pre-baby list that got crossed off, so that was a small win in my book. Now I just need to finish the rest. I'm hoping by mid week to have it done at the latest. Abby is having a hard time parting with clothes that were her favorite - especially when Megan is wearing her summer clothes from last year. There were tears, and a plea to try them on to see if they still fit to keep them for this year. It's going to be fun. I can't wait until they are the same size and get to fight over clothes daily. They are going to need a bigger closet......

St. Pat's Survived

Another St. Pat's has come and gone and as I have taken a vacation day to recover and finish the cleaning - or surveying the damage - depending on the room I am cleaning I've had some time to reflect on some of the weekend's highlights. As I am finding some 2nd day discoveries behind toilets I am cursing a few of those highlights. Right now I am just thankful for Lysol......
I didn't take any pictures which I wish I would have as it was an entertaining weekend. Some tried to reclaim some of their former college glory days and others came up with a few new surprises. But here are a couple of the highlights:

• Boat races in the garage
• Summer weather and being outside most of the weekend
• 45 minute french fries
• Boat races again after midnight....
  
• Scandalous
  
• I need a portal
• My muscles hurt.....
• If the trailer is a rockin......or am I rocking, maybe it's the wind?
• Text pick/hook ups at bars
• 3 Man
• Forgetting the rules to 3-Man and making up a few new ones
  
• Scott not speaking English after 30 minutes of 3-Man
  
• Is this Hangover 2? No - it's Bridesmaids
• Filthy stinky aromas - not exactly a highlight but present every night, morning, and afternoon. You shouldn't be able to clear out of driveway with your stink if you are outside but our friends are just that skilled.

So as I wait for the carpet cleaner to show up I am thankful that everyone made it home safely and had a good time. And we survived yet another St. Pat's, and continue to enjoy our version of the "Best Ever".

Abby's First Father Daughter Dance

This past Friday night was the Auxvasse Elementary Father Daughter Dance and we found out that Preschoolers could attend as well. So there was a purchase of a dress that twirls and jewelry and make up applied. As you can see my little 5 year old looks all grown up.




Posing outside with Tim. Megan had to get a little jewelry and make up on as well so she didn't feel left out.

Posing.....again.

And a Megan update!! By some miracle the whole potty training thing clicked this past weekend. She was in big girl panties all weekend with one minor accident. We might be seeing the end of pull ups in our near future..... We'll be at the end of our potty chart by the end of the week.
We are very proud of her!

Abby was kind enough to pose with Megan as well. Megan let her borrow her Tinkerbell necklace and a couple rings which was a nice sharing surprise.

This weekend is our annual St. Pat's party with the Rolla crew. Wish us luck that it's not too painful.