The Farmer Takes A Wife (this one)

MailBox Monday

2009-05-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

All this FREE in my mailbox this past week! :)~

Magazines:

Women's Health May 2009

Woman's Day May 5, 2009

Woman's Day June 2, 2009

Autoweek May 4, 2009

Elle May 2009

Conde Nast Traveler April 2009

Soap Opera Digest May 5, 2009

Soap Opera Digest May 12, 2009

WalMart Samples:

3 Huggies Pure & Natural diapers size 1 w/ a $3Q

Huggies GoodNights diaper size small w/ a $2Q

Kotex samples 2 pads & 2 tampons

Parent's Choice Gentle Formula Full Day Supply

Rachael Ray Nutrish Dog Food

Came home from Hospital:

Lysol Q's

Eucerin lotion w/ $1Q

Balmex sample

Preparation H portable wipe w/ $1Q

Dreft $2Q

Misc:

Glad ForceFlex trash bag

Small box of Total Cranberry Crunch Cereal

AccuCheck Glucose Monitor Flower Decals

Another Home Made Simple Coupon Book (another free cascade rinse agent!)

Old Navy Coupons (free flag t Q valid May29-31)

8 Gerber coupons for foods, juice & misc

Not a bad week around here! Adjusting to having 2 little ones @ my house. Big brother Gabe LOVES Luke. But naptime and bedtime are a FIASCO around here! Wayne has water off for a few days (keep on raining, please Lord) so he has been helping @ nighttime- but as for the rest of the day, I will be on my own! My mom took off Wed-Fri last week and was here for me. But, unfortunately, according to her she has to be responsible! Darn! I loved her company and just having her here made me feel better! We all need our mama's! Remember that this coming weekend!

Luke had a dr appt on Friday. He was 7.11 when he was born. Was 7.10 when we left the hospital. And Friday he was 7.15. Pleasantly surprised I was! Especially considering he isn't much of an eater! Go Luke!

Our New Bundle!

2009-04-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

Luke Alan *** 4/26/09 *** 13:44 *** 7lbs 11oz *** 19 1/2 in *** Nana, Gabe & Luke tonight @ our house

Nana, Aunt Jeni, Cousin Trayton & Luke
Papa & His Boys GabeMan & TJ
My sweet boys! TJ & GabeMan

Mailbox Monday- 4/20 & 4/27

2009-04-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ok. So Monday 4/20 came and went. I gathered what little I got in the course of a week- 2 things. Then forgot to take the pic. Well then Tuesday rolled around and everyday since then has been a GOLDMINE in my mailbox!

I leave for the hospital to be induced to have my new baby boy in less than 24 hours. So I am running out of time to get some things done. Thus, I rounded up and took this pic tonight. It will have to suffice until the 1st Monday in May rolls around! Then (hopefully) I will post what came since this pic was taken!

So, in a week and 1/2 I got this stuff FREE!!!

From WalMart Samples:
Always Infinity Sample w/ $1Q
Crest Advanced Seal Whitening Strips w/ $10Q
NicoDerm CQ Flyer w/ $7 Q (I know some1 who NEEDS this)
Eucerin Smoothing Essential w/ $1Q
Metamucil Berry Burst & Pink Lemonade w/ $2Q
Jergen's Natural Glow Facial Moisturizer w/ $1Q

From Safeway:
Save $1Q off ANY size pkg of Diet Dr Pepper Cherry
Q for 1 free can of Pedigree+ food for dogs
4 Weight Watchers Q's

Other deals:
Eat Better America booklet w/ $10 in Q's
P&G Home Made Simple booklet w/ over $30 in Q's
Q for 1 free single Fling candy bar & $1 off any multipack
$3 Q from Hallmark from spending money there after Chrsitmas

Magazines:
Soap Opera Digest 4/28/09
Conde Nast Traveler March 2009
Woman's Day April 2009
Maxim May 2009 (need to find some1 to give these to! Hubby DOESN'T think they are funny)

Ok, so that's quite the haul. Seriously, I got all the WalMart samples in 1 day- except the Jergen's which just came today! LOL! I wonder what my mail carrier thinks! HA HA

Back to Safeway...

2009-04-19T19:14:00.000-07:00

This time I really had a reason to go. I met my mom there to pick Mac up from her on their way home from the beach. Mac called me from Redmond, which gave me enough time to drive to Safeway and go in for the few things on my list. Just as I was paying, Mac walked in and took her brother from me- NICE! So I unloaded my groceries while Nana loved on Gabe and buckled him in! Which was a nice bonus to not have to pick him up and go through all of that!

So here's what I got:
(1) CapriSun Sunrise @1.99
(1) Tampax tampon 20ct @1.99
(3) Electrasol @3.99ea
(2) Arrowhead 6pk @1.99ea (plus .60 deposit)
(4) Kraft mac & chz @.59ea
(1) Pam aerosol @3.49
(3) Jollytime popcorn @1.99ea
oh...and Bananas added by son, but he was good boy! @.77
Total: $33.12
Less:.50+1+.50+.50+2.50+2.50+2.50+1+.50+1+1+2(dblr)+10(lw)=-$26.50
Total oop $7.62***Plus I got a $2 coupon from the water and another $10LW coupon!
Total savings with club card & coupons $46.51 or 86%!!!

Sunday's Steals!

2009-04-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

Ok. Maybe it wasn't really stealing, but I did get some good snack food- which we always seem to run low on! I met my cousin and her little man, Oli @ the store and we shopped together! Gabe and Oli rode in the truck attached to Vanessa's cart (yippee for me)!

I had 2 lists ready but wanted to do 2 transactions. Luckily for us, it worked out and we got an AWESOME checker who allowed us. I had mine split in the cart, so I checked first then Vanessa. She explained to the nice lady why we were doing it this way, and she was fine and gave us both Kudos on our shopping :)~ That's always nice!

Transaction #1
(4) Emerald Almonds @$4ea
(2) Kraft mac & chz @.59ea
(2) Baked Lays chips @3ea
(1) Sunchips @3
(2) Quaker mini rice snacks @$2.29ea
Total $30.76
Less:1.01+1.50+1.50+.55+.55+1+1+1+2(dblr)+10(lw)=-$20.11
Total oop $10.65***And I got another $10 LW coupon to use next on this
**Total savings Club card & coupons $36.84 or 78%**

Transaction #2
(2) Kraft mac & chz @.59ea
(4) Bertolli Pasta pouches @$2ea
(3) Green Giant 10oz veg @$2
(1) Green Giant valley fresh @2.50
(1) Green Giant 24oz bag veg @$3.49
18 pack eggs @$2.89 (not part of LW)
(5) Healthy choice frozen meals @$1.99ea
Total $34.01
Less:1+1+.60+.75+.75+1+1+1+1+2(dblr)+10(LW)=-$20.10
Total oop $13.91***And I got a $10 LW coupon and (2) $2 coupons from the Bertolli's!! $14 off next transaction!
**Total savings club card & coupons $43.66 or 76%**

Friday's Finds!

2009-04-18T09:23:00.001-07:00

Friday was a pretty busy day here for me. I had a non-stress test @ the hospital @ 10 (my normal appts are Tues & Fri @ 10 every wk). The hospital is implementing a new computer system, so the the last few weeks checking in has been a LONG process! It took me 35 minutes Friday, all but 5 minutes of that was wait time! UGGG! So by the time I got out out of the hospital I felt like half of my day had been wasted! Geesh!

Before I went to the hospital I made a 5 minutes stop @ Safeway to get my 1st score. Diapers and some Oreo Snack Stix.

And after I was done @ the hospital I made ANOTHER 5 minute run to Safeway for 2nd score, a few grocery items (I really was gonna get more diapers, but they were out of the size 3 I needed).

***I will list my scores @ the end of the post***

I was supposed to stop by our seed company and pick up a check for wheat that we sold on Tuesday. Duh...totally forgot. Remembered when I was just a few miles from home. I was in such a hurry to get home to relieve Wayne from Gabe so that he could get back to work- that I forgot! Doesn't take much these days I tell ya! LOL! So then I had to back-track all the way back to get the $!

Got home and Wayne had just put Gabe down for a nap. Then he asked if I needed to go to Redmond for anything. Of course I knew what he was getting to. He wanted me to take that money we just got up to pay on our Farm Operating Loan! Little did he know I was going to go on Saturday (today) to get out of the house and pick up the things I needed!

When I got home it was about noon. Gabe was asleep so I left him that way! There is no way you can put that child in the car when he is already sleeping and expect him to stay that way! And I had 6 stops I needed to do while in Redmond. So I left him to nap and got everything ready. I had to do some quick book work and cut the check to take in. Then the matter of making my list of what I needed to do and in what order! LOL! Was trying to make the most of my time the quickest I could cause some little boy I know only has so much patience!

Anyway, I ended up having to wait on Gabe to wake up for quite awhile! But it worked out. We left the house @ 1:45. Drove to McDonald's and got us some lunch, cause neither one of us had eaten. Then on the way to the school to get Sissy, we saw Nana on her way back to work for lunch. Pulled over on the side of the road for a few minutes and chatted. Then onto Sissy! He was excited to see her, which is ALWAYS a bonus! Here is where I made my first & second oopses! I had to go to 2 banks before I left town! Didn't happen and luckily I remembered once I got to Redmond!

Stop #1 Safeway
Stop #2 Albertson's
Stop #3 Farm Credit Services
Stop #4 Columbia River Bank
Stop #5 Wet Willy's Car Wash
Stop #6 Walgreens
Stop #7 Wells Fargo
Stop #8 WalMart

So those were my stops, should have been 6, but at least I didn't have to go out of my way to make it to the 2 banks! By far the most important things I had to do!

So my trip to Safeway before the hospital:
Huggies size 3 144-ct $29.99
Oreo Snack Stix $2.99
Total $32.98
Less:1.50+1+1(dblr)+10(LW)+5(pledge CAT)=-$18.50
Total oop (out of pocket)=$14.98***plus got $10 cat***
Saved $23.30=62%

Safeway after the hospital:
(4) Healthy choice fresh mixers @$2.50ea
(6) Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Brown rice @ $2.50ea
(2) Oreo Fun Stix @$2.99ea
(3) Uncle Ben's Ready Rice @ 2.39ea
(4) Taco Bell Refried Beans @$1ea (to get a $3 CAT)
Total $42.15
Less:1+1+.75+.75+.75+1+1+1+2(dblr)+10(LW)=-$19.25
Total oop=$22.90***plus got $10 cat & $3 cat***
Saved $37.35=62%

Safeway in Redmond:
Huggies size 3 144-ct diapers $29.99
Vitamin Water $1.05
Total $31.04
Less:1.50+.50(dblr)+10(LW)+3(Tacobell cat)+4(pledge cats)=-$19
Total oop=$12.04***plus got $10 cat***
Saved $23.39=66%

Albertson's:
I had a CAT for free milk from Kellogg's transaction earlier in the month that expired on Saturday (today).
Skim Milk $3.79
Fat Free 1/2 & 1/2 $1.79
Total $5.58
Less:3.79
Total oop=$1.79

Walgreens:
Mac did 2 transactions that were identical
#1 Scunci 18pk hair bands $2
Paid with a $2 RR and got another $2 RR back!
#2 Scunci 18pk hair bands $2
Paid with a $2 RR and got another $2 RR back!
Me #1
(2) Splenda 100ct packets $7
Oust Air Fresh $3.99
Total$10.99
Less:3+2=$5
Total oop $5.99...was gonna pay with RR but didn't have enough items! I actually had some bic soliel razors for 1.79 each with a $2 Q, but the Q had expired, so I had them taken off! Transaction gone wrong! And I had $7.50 in RR that expired Saturday (today) so I had to go back and find a deal!
Me #2
(5) degree trial size deo @.99ea
(1) dove trial size deo @.99
(2) secret trial size deo @1.29 ea
Total $8.52
Less:.75+3.50RR+3RR+1RR=-$8.25
Total oop .27***Plus I got $6 in RR for buying 6 Dove products***
**So on today's run I spent all my RR that were gonna expire and I got $10 more in RR for next month!!!**

WalMart
Transaction #1
There was a post yesterday about some El Monterrey Tornado frozen burritos with a peelie to try for free. So I ventured over, and found them!
(1) Tornado $2
Will get $2 back by MIR (mail in rebate)

Transaction #2
(7) Kotex Lightdays @$1ea
(2) Axe trial shower gel @.97ea
(2) Suave normal size deo @.94ea
(3) Olay 2pk bar soap @$2.48ea
Bandaid Brand blister bands @3.67
Dentek Floss Picks @2.00
James Patterson Book #7 @10.43
Glucerna cereal @3.94
Bolt DVD @19.96 (treat for Sissy)
(3) Monster truacks @3.27
(2) Airheads Exreme @.64
Total $69.35
Less:$23.60
Total oop $45.75***which isn't really bad at all! Considering that each child get a treat and so did mom! $45.75-$10.43-$19.96-$3.27(x3)=$5.55 oop for the rest of the stuff! Woo Hoo! And most of the rest of the stuff will go to a food closet/shelter! :)~

OK! I needed to blog and I feel better! So I have 1:30 to get some stuff done! DH said he would be in @ 12 to check my progress! Better make sure I have some progress to show! HA HA!

My Safeway Scores!

2009-04-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

In our neck of the woods Safeway started a new promotion today that goes through May 5th. It's called Living Well, Feeling Great. From here on out I'll be referring to it as LW. Whenever you purchase $30 of participating items (before any mfr q's are deducted) you will receive a $10 coupon to use on your next purchase.

I wanted to make a quick trip today when I took Mac to CCD. So right after I dropped her I headed back to the other side of town. The items on transaction #1 were not essentials, but were easy to figure prices and get the best bang for my buck.

(4) All Small & Mighty- 4@ $4.49each
(4) Capri Sun- 4@ $1.99each
(5) Chef Boyardee- 5@ $1each
Total: $30.92

Less:
(4) All coupons@ $2each=$8
(2) Capri Sun q's@ .55each=$1.10
Safeway Doubler @=$2
Total: -$11.10

***All in all, including SW Club sales & coupons, I saved $29.09 or 59%***
Total oop $19.82 and I got a $10 coupon to use about 45 minutes later!

Transaction #2 (figured out while I was sitting in the church parking lot waiting for Mac)

(5) Huggies Diaper Wipes 184 count- 5@ $5.99each
(1) Chef Boyardee ('cause I needed .05 more to get to $30)- 1@ $1each
(5) Rice a Roni ('cause it was a Tax Day Special)- 5@ .89each
Total: $35.40

Less:
(5) Huggies q's@ .75each=$3.75
(2) RiceaRoni q's@ $1each=$2.00
Safeway Doubler @=$2.00
$10 LW Coupon @=$10.00 (from Trans #1)
Total: -$17.75

All in all, including SW Club sales & coupons, I saved 36.04 or 66%***
Total oop $18.54 and I got ANOTHER $10 coupon to use on my next trip!

Transaction #3 (Done and paid in cash by my dear daughter, Mac)

(4) Pledge Multi Surface Cleaner- 4@ $3.99each
Total: $15.96

Less:
(4) Pledge q's@ $2each=$8
Safeway Doubler @=$2.00
Total: -$10.00

Total oop $5.96 BUT I got (4) $1 coupons and (1) $5 coupon to use on my next purchase! So I really MADE a $3 PROFIT! So for my next shopping trip I will have $19! Hope I can make another good transaction!

Mailbox Monday!

2009-04-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

This week I received quite the haul in magazines!

Maxim (as a joke to my VERY CATHOLIC HUBBY) March 09\
Maxim April 09
Martha Stewart Living April 09
Martha Stewart Living May 09
Soap Opera Digest

Other Freebies!

Huggies Flyer w (4) coupons
Old Spice Body wash w/ $1 coupon
Cottonelle moist wipe w/ coupon
Cottonelle tp sample w/ coupon

Albertson's Easter Shopping Run 4/9

2009-04-09T19:31:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I had this grandious plan that I was gonna get my ham free- 2 1/2 times! Well so far I have the 1/2 covered, LOL! You see, Albertson's is running a deal where if you purchase $25 (before coupons) of UniLever & Kraft (and certain other) products, you will receive and INSTANT SAVINGS of $10 toward ANY MEAT purchase. This deal can be rolled in a single transaction as many times as you have $25 worth.

In addition to that deal at Albertson's, in this last weeks' paper, UniLever had a mail in rebate up to $20 on the purchase of ANY HAM OR TURKEY when you spend $40 on SPECIFIC UniLever products (this $40 does not have to be done in a single transaction, as many times as it takes to make $40 as long as it's in the mail before the due date).

Of course I wanted to take advantage of the HUGE UniLever sale Alb's was having and do this in 1 transaction- just makes it easier. So, I needed my total to be $50. I worked meticulously on my list- playing with the numbers and finding the best coupons I had on products I would use, then going to products I would donate next.

So here are what my numbers looked like:

My total was going to be $50.94 (had it down to a science)
Figure in the $20 Spiral Ham (ended up being $20.85)
For a Grand Total $71.79

Now, take off my Manufacturer's coupons -$19.70
And my 2 Instant Savings -$20.00
And my total SHOULD HAVE BEEN ***$32.09***
BUT
Instead it was ***$42.09***

For some reason, I only got 1 INSTANT SAVINGS of $10. I asked the checker, yes indeed you can get unlimited in a single transaction. Well of course, when I decided to check out there were only 2 checkers and all the customers in the store must have decided to check out at the same time. So I had a HUGE line behind me. So I took my receipt and was told to call Customer Service. I placed the call, took AT LEAST 20 minutes! They have no idea why I didn't get the other $10 Instant Savings. So my claim has been sent to Research and they will get back to me. Cross your fingers...because I DID follow the rules!!!

Now, I will be getting $20 back from the UniLever mail in rebate. I just need to fill out the form and drop it in the mail.

Now, as far as the 1/2. Hormel has a $10 mail in rebate in which you send in a form and the UPC from any Cure 81 ham. I got the rebate from a tearpad in the store. The only thing is, they had NO MORE Cure 81 left! I did buy a Hormel Sprial Ham. So I am going to apply for the rebate anyway. The only thing they can do is not send me the money, right? And I am only out the money it cost me for the stamp. So we shall see?!

So, as of right now, I have gotten $10 off my $20.85 ham- bringing the total to $10.85. Once I get the UniLever rebate back I will have gotten PAID $9.15 to eat ham with my family for Easter! And I am not counting on Alb's giving me the $10 they really do owe me. BUT if they DID, I would get paid $19.15 to spend time with my family eating a wonderful meal and being Thankful for MY SALVATION!

Thank you Jesus!

4D Ultrasound Photos

2009-04-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

Good Luck on guessing what these are?! LOL! Luke was less than cooperative to be VERY POLITE about the whole thing! These are the best of the shots we got. You can see some distinguishable parts in some of them, and others...well, not so lucky! Anyway, it was neat-o and I just found the DVD and CD so I thought I would post these. We went to Portland and had these done @ 30w (maybe a few days before) and I am now pushing 37 weeks! Pushing- lol, I wish!

Albertson's Run 4/6

2009-04-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

So, I have only shopped @ Albertson's a few times. It is not in my town, I have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to one. And they are located on the OTHER side of town and a bad spot where you have to turn off the highway and then cross traffic @ a bad intersection to get back home. Well, my cousin has been doing this couponing thing with me. She makes stops there. Not for the big shopping trip, but for the bare basics deals they have each week. She convinced me to go with her again (the other time I was there I went with her too).

Monday after our girls were out of school I went and picked her up in my car, and we ALL went! LOL! Me, Vanessa, MacKenzie (10), Mayzie (almost 6), Oliver (2) and Gabe (2) (the boys are just 1 month apart in age). What a trip! Gabe fell asleep just before we got to Albertson's. So Mac stayed in the car with him and watched the DVD player. Mayzie and Oli went in with Vanessa. We split up inside since our lists were different.

Here is what I ended up with:

(2) Vitamin Waters
(4) Loaves of Bread
(4) Post Trail Mix Cereal
(3) Hormel Compleats Meals
(3) Kelloggs Fruit Loops Cereal
****************************
Shelf price $58.08

Savings:
Preferred Savings Card -$29.77
MFR coupons -$19.75
Store coupons (clipped from ad) -$5.08
******************************************
Total $54.60

Out of Pocket (OOP) $3.48

WOOT WOOT!!! And I got a $3 off coupon (CAT) to use on my next visit
in ADDITION to a coupon for a FREE gallon of milk on my next visit!
Did I do good or what?! LOL!

Walgreen Run 4/6

2009-04-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

So, after we went to Albertson's we got on the road and headed to Wags. You see they are not too far from Alb's, but are located on the correct side of the highway and are VERY easily accessible!

WalGreens is still somewhat new to me. We had them in NC and CO when I lived there, but I only remember going in a few times. I have been in maybe around 10 times since I started this couponing business. I am becoming more and more familiar with how things work there. But I think we have a bad bunch of people working in our Wags. This is the only Wags for 2 1/2 hours, so it seems the Mgr and Asst do what they want. Well, my cousin finally had enough on her trip on Tuesday that I think she's gonna contact corperate. I, however, seem to have been luckier than her?! I am not really sure. We will see how my next trip in goes...

But Mondays deals follow:

(2) Betty Crocker Frosting
(1) Visine Allergy
(1) Children's Benadryl Liquid
(4) Playtex Products
(1) Chapstick
(2) 3 packs (actually 4 packs, there was a bonus 1) Schick Quattro Disp Razors
(1) Rimmel Blush
(1) Colgate Total Toothpaste
(1) Glade Lasting Impressions
(1) Gillette Shaving Gel
(4) Glade Candles
**************************
Shelf Price $92.41
Savings:
Wags Ad Savings $22.98
MFR Coupons $38.59
Out of Pocket (OOP) $30.84

Ok, so for the seasoned Wags shoppers that seems high, however I have no gift card that I get my rebates back onto. But I will next month :)

From this transaction I did receive Register Rewards (RR) totaling $9.50. These are coupons that I can use on my next visit to Walgreens. I got $1 from the BC frosting, $3.50 from the toothpaste (which I had a $1.50 Q for- so $ maker!), $2 from the chapstick (which was 1.99- so FREE), $3 from the Visine/Benadryl combo. AND some of the items that I purchased will go onto my rebate form I submit online @ the end of the month. The Glade candles and Lasting Impressions will make me $6 in a rebate. Those razors up there, I actually made $ off of! They were on sale for $6.99 x 2= $13.98. I had a BOGO- so minus $6.99=$6.99. Then I had a $4 mfr to use on the one I was paying for = $2.99. Then Wags had a Q for an additional $2 off EACH razor $2.99-$4= -$1.01! $1.01 overage to use toward my other items in my bags!

And of course, the rest of the stuff was pretty cheap, I had coupons for EVERYTHING I bought. (2) .55 Q's for BC frosting, $1 shaving gel (made it .99), playtex products (4) $1 mfr Q's and (4) $1 IVC (wags coup) made them 1.99 each, the blush was 40% off & I had a $1 Q (made it 1.09), the glade lasting impression was 5.99 and I had a Q for $4 off (after the rebate of $2, it'll be free!), I had a $3 Q for the Visine and a $1 Q for Benadryl.

At the end of the month, as I mentioned, I will file for rebate. By choosing to get the $ back on a gift card instead of by check, I will receive and additional 10% back. I have quite a few things on my rebate form already from some previous trips I have made! So I can't wait for the end of the month!

Mailbox Monday!

2009-04-06T10:59:00.001-07:00

This week my freebies in the mail included:

Woman's Day- April 2009

Soap Opera Digest- 4/1/4/09

Glad ForceFlex 13 gal trash bag (not sure where this came from?)

Ziploc Fresh Shield (costco.com)

Start Healthy, Stay Healthy ($6 in Gerber Q's)

Signed up for some more cool stuff this week! Hopefully it'll all arrive!

MailBox Monday~!

2009-03-30T17:01:00.001-07:00

Since joining The Grocery Game, I have also been reading several new blogs, money saving ones to be exact! I have signed up for lots of free stuff and I am happy to report that it's some of it's starting to trickle in :)~

Over the course of last week I received:

* Free bag of popcorn with a coupon flyer (from startmakingchoices.com)

* Betty Crocker newsletter (with $10 worth of coupons)

* Soap Opera Digest- week of April 7, 2009

* Women's Health- March 2009

* Women's Health- April 2009

Yes folks, all of these things were FREE! I don't have a lot of time to read magazines, but I'll save them up and have something to read when we go camping. Or on the rare occassion that I get to take a LONG, HOT BATH ALONE!!!!

Spring Break- Day 1, Bouncing Off The Walls

2009-03-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

$13 to play for SEVERAL HOURS

$10 for lunch (Quizno's)

$10 Grocery run to Safeway (saved 80%)

$32 Trip to WalMart (not DIRE essentials, but DESERVED)

Sunday Savings @ Safeway

2009-03-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Since we did not make it to Mass last night, Wayne took MacKenzie to church in Warm Springs. Gabe and I stayed home, since he is NOT ALLOWED in church there. The church is smaller than our house, and there are not many pews to sit in- thus any noise made can be heard. And yes, my son is FULL of noises, all sorts!

Gabe and I had a leisurely time. We sat in bed, watched some TV, read a book, talked and played. Which was a nice change. I thought someone had taken my sweet child and was never going to return him. But his bout with whatever was giving him an attitude problem seems to have left the building :)~ YAY!

Wayne came home and cooked breakfast. Gabe and I had already eaten, but Gabe decided he needed to eat again :)~ Growing boy!

Then the kids and Wayne watched some TV and took naps. I took the opportunity to go to town ALL ALONE! Made a quick trip to the grocery store. Spent $33 and saved 76%! Woo Hoo! I was happy with my purchases.

Tomorrow I am going to take the kids to a place called Bouncing off the Walls, or something like that! My cousin took her son there for a mommy date on his 1st bday. He loved it! So I am going to meet her there with my friend and her kids. I am sure the kids will love it. I am just a little concerned with Gabe. It would be LOVELY if he played so hard that he took a nice nap on the way home! Good enough that he would sleep through my stop to Safeway & WalMart! LOL! I can always be hopeful! And no, not leaving him by himself, we are carpooling and I am the only one who needs to stop! Ok, almost 10pm and I have to be up and out of here by 9 am- YUCK! It's hard to get up early these days since I don't get much sleep as it is!

Blah Day

2009-03-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well I can't say that I did much of anything today. I did not feel well. Not sure really what was up with that? I had a headache that never really went away. Thank goodness my little man has decided to feel better and have a change of attitude. This mama greatly appreciates it :)~

Papa came out to work on the boat all day. They thought they were gonna get the motor all put back together, but at the very end something got broken and the parts store was already closed- for the weekend! So they will have to deal with that on Monday.

Nana came out for a little bit. She is under the weather with a head cold, so did not stay long. But her & papa missed the big #2 bday party, so she NEEDED to come out & see Gabe-man & his new toys!

Late this afternoon Gabe, Mac & I all took a nap! It was nice. After the nap & hubs coming in to get cleaned up, the 2 of us went to have dinner out- without the kids! It was supposed to be kinda a date night. No such luck, they in-laws walked in just as we ordered. They ordered & sat with us. It was a nice visit, but we live a mile (if that) from them so we see them a lot! LOL! Oh well, not complaining. No kids and adult conversation and GOOD CHINESE- it was worth it!

Ok, hoping to convince hubby to let me get out of here in the morning to do some shopping, BY MYSELF! So I need to get going!

Official Birthday Party

2009-03-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

Gabe started blowing the candles as soon as he saw them!

They had to be relit SEVERAL times, lol!

We weren't even done singing and the left one is out!

Aunt Sherri's present was the 1st to be opened. Matchbox cars and a red bucket to contain them all! Good choice!

Aunt Joanie was the BIG WINNER! She got a set of 4 monster trucks. See blond boy Oli checking them out! Those 2 boys played for an hour with the trucks! Vrroommm!

Saving Lots of Money!

2009-03-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

At the end of January my cousin, Vanessa told me about this thing she was doing called The Grocery Game. I had never heard of it. She sent me some info and I read up on it and I decided to sign up. It was $1 for a month. A lady named Terri started the wholle thing who knows how long ago. Anyhow, she & her people research all the sales @ certain stores for the week. They post a "list" of the good buys and what coupons to use. I figured I would try it, not knowing just how much I would use it or how much savings there would actually be. Since I live in poe-dunk-ville there was only 1 store to choose from, Safeway- which is where I do my shopping anyway. I re-subscribed to the newspaper and started clipping. At 1st, I wasn't saving what I wanted. But I found it was because I didn't have a lot of the older coupons. Now that I have been doing this since the beginning of February I have most all that are called for. My stockpile has increased a lot! My freezer is full, my pantry is bursting and I have enough soaps, etc to last awhile! I have been getting freebies, and I even have a give-away pile to take to a shelter! I get quite a rush from shopping, especially when I am saving over 80%! It's incredible.

I now cook from what's in my pantry and shop for only what's on sale- unless it's an item that I have to have (milk, bread, cheese). So there is no more spending money to cook a special item, when none of the items needed to fix it are on sale! I calculated all of of my savings the other day and I am happy to report that I have saved over 55%! Granted, it could be better, but this includes a HUGE stockpile of diapers and wipes for a new baby that will arrive here soon! And diapers for his big brother! I have over 1000 diapers for the new baby! And probably 500 or so for Gabe-Man! Woo Hoo!!!

I am sure once Luke is born, we will be living off the stockpile I have gathered, since I will not be able to go into town as often to shop. I just hope that doesn't happen for too long. I don't want to deplete my stockpile too much! It has taken a lot to get it where it is now :)~

I was going to take some pics and post, but can't find my camera at the moment. Maybe by my next post! I'm just happy I have now posted 2 days in a row!!! WOOT WOOT!!!

Happy Second Birthday Gabriel!

2009-03-18T15:58:00.001-07:00

Gabriel Andrew- November 2007

Old Faithful

Yellowstone National Park

Wyoming

So, no I can't find any other pics of my young man... They are on my old laptop- a long story!

But this picture is just so dang cute, and he looks like a baby compared to how he looks today! LOL!

But today is not the bestest birthday if you are Gabe-Man. He has been sick since last Thursday or so. Went to the doctor and it was nothing obvious as to why he is sick. Low grade fever, runny/stuffy nose. And nope, he can't tell us what is wrong, just yet anyhow! Today has been a challenge with him. He wants me and then not. Then the same goes for his Dad... but I have to call him out of the shop from working- so that doesn't go over so well when Gabe doesn't want him! Oh well, that's what being a parent is all about, right?!

We are not celebrating Gabe's birthday today. It is Sissy's swim team awards banquet tonight. So that is where we will be. Thinking that we will do something low key here @ our house on Friday. Just cake & ice cream- as it is Lent and a Friday, which means FISH for us Catholic folks. Not gonna spend tons of money to feed 30+ people Fish on Friday! Still gotta iron out the details. Maybe we'll change it to Saturday after Mass @ the pizza place- who knows! But little man NEEDS a party! LOL!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy (for now you're the baby 'til Luke is here in a month & a half)!

Jefferson County Fair

2008-10-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

This year I FINALLY decided to enter some items in the fair. Each year I love to go through the buildings and see what everyone has been working on. And each year I always think, "my stuff is better than that!" So this year I took the plunge!

I got a fair booklet a month or so ahead of time so I would be able to thoroughly look at the categories and see what I already had, or could whip up in enough time for fair. Well let me tell you, there was no "whipping up" taking place!

I ended up entering 6 photos (mostly of my children & farm stuff), a porcelain doll I did in a 4-H class I took with my daughter, best friend & her daughters, and a wall hanging I had started working on years ago before my gma had her stroke and I completed a few years after she had her stroke. It has been put away because it gives me *emotions* to look at it. But I decided my gma would want me to take it out, enter it, and then hang it up to enjoy. Which is EXACTLY what I have done.

Well dang it! I have been sitting here trying to upload these pics...but blogger is having "iternal errors" so it won't allow me! I need to get ready to go to town anyway. Swim team and water aerobics begins at 6!

Update

2008-10-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

I am sure I no longer have a following here in blog-land. But I guess that is what happens when one takes a hiatus! What can I say? I am one busy mama with 2 darling kids and I live on a farm with a hubby who expects me to be his partner in farming :)~

So here is a quick update since I was last here in April...

May-

We had a lot of activities this month. It seemed like a whole lot more was packed in than normal because it was the end of the season for a lot of things. Activities like CCD (Catholic Bible class), Swim team, ballet, 4-H after school activities (porcelain doll class) - just to name a few...the rest has escaped me! OOOO I almost forgot ! My very first (by blood) nephew was born! Welcome Trayton James aka TJ chunkarooney!

June-

The 2nd wk was the last of school. We continued to do swim team through the end of the month. Mac worked on projects at home- continued reading! We went fishing and camping in our new camper (slides in pickup so we can still tow our boat) a few times. Pelton Lake/Dam is about 20 minutes from here, so made for a nice quick break from home! MacKenzie left @ the end of the month to Hawaii to visit her dad for about 5 weeks. 25Jun-30Jul. So Gabeman and I had to entertain ourselves!

July-

This is the month that all of our harvest begins. First is grass seed harvest. We had considerably less acreage this year, so that was nice! July is also County Fair month. While I do not have children in 4-H livestock club, I do have a lot of nieces and nephews. This is my last free year though...MacKenzie will have a steer next year. We are getting ready to build shelter for it, as we will be getting it in the next month. And my very good friend Heather's oldest daughter, Chelsea, was a 1st timer with a steer. So we stayed @ the fairgrounds rv park next to eachother and I helped her out with her other 2 girls. Leah is Mac's BFF (9 also) and Matty is 3 1/2. And way too too sweet- but a HANDFUL! LOL...we had fun though!

August-

Welcome home Mac! We sure did miss her! Gabe wasn't sure what to think of her though! He had so much time w/o her I am wondering if he forgot who she was! At this point we are just about done w/ grass harvest and getting ready to combine wheat. We had our own wheat to do as well as custom hire for 3 clients. My hubby works so hard to take care of us, and we are so blessed!

September-

Because of some less than stellar weather, wheat harvest is still going on. However, ours was completed first...so this was others' wheat and my hubby was happy that's the way it was :)~ School started the Wed after Labor day- along with ballet, swim team, CCD- you name it, we are there! LOL! Well, not quite, but it feels like it. We were not going to do swim team for this season, but the tap class Mac was gonna take did not pan out. She didn't like the instructors. So back to swim we went. And actually had I known that her Godmother, Kathleen, was not going to be her ballet teacher, she probably wouldn't be in ballet either! Oh well. I am thinking this is her last year...unless of course Kathleen is her teacher next year.

I know I have left events out

-camping @ Diamond Lake Resort (mosquitoes were so bad couldn't leave camper)
-camping @Pelton 3-4 times
-girls only shopping trip to PDX
-summer visit to aunnie pams (even made it to sunset beach to play)
-end of sep visit to aunnie pams (quick trip for crafts)
-field trip to High Desert Museum
-painted outside of house
-landscaped like there was NO TOMORROW~!

Ok, I must be going! Not that anyone is reading this anyway! I will try to post some pics and maybe get back to a regular contribution to blog-land!

New Photos

2008-10-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

Gabe's booty after Gateway 4th July parade!

Grandkids earlier in the day @ Madras 4th July parade

Gabe & Trayton sharing a pillow during naptime!

Gabeman LOVES ice cream

Gabe loves TJ!

Bathtime in a basket in new camper!

Playing in sand @ Diamond Lake Resort...and later eating it :(~

Buds, Daddy & Gabeman

MacKenzie & Kathleen

MacKenzie & Leah recital 2008

2nd swim meet- 4/18/08

2008-04-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

Gabe's baptism- 4/5/08

2008-04-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

MacKenzie's Baptism 3/22/08

2008-03-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

LolliPop Kids

2008-02-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

Papa & Nana's Valentines

2008-02-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

MAC (Madras Aquatic Center) Brand New

2008-02-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Silly Boy Cousins

2008-02-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Grandma

2008-01-28T10:04:00.001-08:00

Fresh flowers for you. Beautiful, but not as much as you. I miss you each day, and wish you were here with me. But I know it can't be. I will love you always and forever. Mandy Dandy

LegoLand

2008-01-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

Wayne and I finally got around to cleaning the stuff out of the shop and moving it to the storage shed - where it really belongs! But we had to move the storage shed from our old house to our new house, and all the "stuff" had to be taken out- and there was no place else to put it but the shop.

You may be wondering what this has to do with LegoLand. Well...I saved all the important stuff from when MacKenzie was little.

These Legos happened to be some of the important stuff. MacKenzie LOVED her Legos. I think she got them (the HUGE ones- not the Duplo) when she was about 9 months old. Then when she was a little over a year I think I bought her the duplo size. I ended up getting them for her because they had them at her daycare, and she and the other baby LOVED playing with them with one another.

Yesterday Wayne and I went to WalMart and I bought Gabe another set of the Duplo blocks so he had some more to play with. I can't believe how much Legos cost@! GEEZ!!!

The duplo set we bought has 71 pieces and was 24.97! Yikes!!! I have been online and researched them. They have some way cool stuff. There are some really neat-o farm sets with barn, tractor/loaders, cows, horses, sheep, dogs, cats, hay bales, combines, etc. One set even has the Farmer, wife, son and daughter. But those things are close to $60. I even went on ebay and amazon to see if they were any cheaper- but nothing! So I am keeping my eye open!

Legos are for sure on Gabe's first birthday wish list! I love this pic here. Lately he has been having som WILD hair and the tongue thing is quite entertaining!

Recently we were at my friend's house and her little girl has just about the whole collection of Little People sets. Gabe absolutely LOVED them. Well, guess what?! You're right! Those are some important things that I had saved from MacKenzie. So, I plan on bringing them in the house in about another month. They are just inside the door of the shed. I did some research on them as well, and they have released a lot more sets since MacKenzie was little. I sure am glad I saved as much stuff as I did.

Wayne keeps complaining that I have so much "stuff" - but I just keep telling him how much money I have saved. :)~ I am not sure that he is buying it, but I gonna keep selling it :)~

I think that Wayne and Sissy are having as much fun playing with the Legos as Gabe is :)~ They all built a "float" together after I put the camera away last night...well the older 2 did, then they didn't want Gabe to *wreck* it! LOL!!!

Gabriel Andrew

January 2008

10 months old

They call it puppy love!

2008-01-09T11:10:00.001-08:00

These pics were taken on Monday after we came home from Gabe's dr appt. It was snowy, windy and cold here. Gingerbread was in the garage and Wayne decided to let her in.

She is usually very hyper whenever Gabe has been around her. So he wanted to see how she would react in a different environment.

She was incredibly calm; although all she wanted to do was lick Gabe. Poor little man probably had about 5 pounds of dog slobber :)~

He kept wanting to pet her, but we had a difficult time keeping her there.

You can see he really enjoyed her company. Everytime she walked away he would "call" for her by yelling :) Way too cute!

Wayne can hardly wait for Gabe to grow...he is envisioning these two being the best of buds!

I love these two, they both make my heart smile!

Cheerio!!!

2008-01-06T10:45:00.000-08:00

My little man is almost 10 months old. I can hardly believe it. Time does fly. Anyhow...he was doing very well in eating baby food until he got the flu over Labor Day weekend. He threw-up repeatedly, and since then has not been interested in any type of baby food. I have tried and tried to no avail. He is finally starting to show some interest in people food. Whenever we ate, he would want some, but not like the taste. We have finally got him to try some more food, but only found a few things he likes. He LOVES yogurt, so that is for breakfast daily. His new fave is Tillamook Vanilla Bean.

We recently found out that he likes Cheerios as well. We tried them earlier, but all he did was gag. Well finally he can eat them, but I think he enjoys playing with them more to tell the truth!!!

His other favorite is Triscuit crackers. They are hard/thick enough that he can't chomp off a piece and choke.

The other day we had Chicken noodle soup for lunch (Progresso, yummy). He devoured the carrots. They tasted yummy to him, so I thought I had scored. The next night I steamed some baby carrots and cut them up. Do you think he wanted any? Heck no, they must have lacked the essential flavoring.

I give him celery to munch on, the coolness must feel good on his gums. A few days ago, I put some peanut butter on it, and he LOVED it! You should have seen the mess! But I just stuck him in the tub with Sissy!

I am not sure this little man will EVER get teeth. He has been teething for 3 months or so. His gums swell up, and then go down. And we have the attitude as well- CRANKY!!! I thought MacKenzie was a late teether at 7 or so months...but this is incredible!!! My friend's daughter didn't get teeth until 14 months...so I just hope we are not in that boat! And to boot, little man has decided NOT to take any Tylenol and refused to drink from a bottle...lucky me :(- Actually, I like the nursing, but occassionally I do like to leave him for a few hours...Hopefully this is just a stage. Dr appt tomorrow to get second dose of flu shot and have a late 9 month check-up! Gotta go...laundry and feed the baby! Toodles!!!

Gabe's 1st Christmas

2007-12-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T19:41:00.000-08:00

Happy 9th Birthday Princess Posey

2007-12-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

Yellowstone National Park- October 26, 27, 28

2007-12-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

New laptop

2007-12-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight I blog to you from my BRAND NEW, DELL RUBY RED, 15.4" WIDESCREEN NOTEBOOK!!! I have not blogged as of late because of the yet again crashing of my old laptop. It first crashed the beginning of April. I got it fixed after it sat around for awhile. Then right when MacKenzie went to her dad's for summer (July) I decided to "fix" the duplicate files. Well, I fixed them alright!!! Somehow I deleted a mandatory file or something. It is fixable, but it has not been taken it for fixing. Life just got in the way I guess- with farming and harvest, building a house and moving, and everything else in between :)-

I have seen the price of laptops going down and I have been begging (not quite, but close) my DH for a new one. Anyway, he told me more than once- NO WAY. Well, he told me last week he was going to buy me one- for our Anniversary, my Birthday, and Christmas. Yee Haw!!! You don't have to tell me twice! I went on the computer that night and printed out what I wanted, discussed it with Wayne before bed, and ordered it the next morning. I ordered it on Monday, 11/26 and it arrived Friday 12/7- I waited that LONG week-and-a-half for this baby! And it was worth it so far :)-

I haven't really had much time on it yet. Although tonight I did load PhotoShop, Norton, MS Office and some games. I put some pics (about 400) from my camera on. My next step is to get LT #1 fixed and the pics off of it. And I will back up all of my photos on my new 4GB flash drive!!! It was one of my day-after Thanksgiving purchases...good deal!

Ok- gotta run! I'm tired and I am sure the baby will be waking up soon!

Huge Windstorm

2007-11-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

I could easily post several hundred pictures, but these are the best of the best. Long story short...we had our last set (water) of the season running on October 9th, but we had been getting a lot of rain and the fields were pretty wet already. So DH turned off the water overnight @ about 7:30 and was going to turn it on the next am. At 11 PM he awoke and remembered he had forgotten to turn off the wier at our old house. So he went and came back adn said that we had 4 wheel lines that were destroyed. The wind had came up out of nowhere. Any lines that were running North/South were safe, but the ones running East/West were gone! We lost 4, my BIL lost 2, neighbors beside us lost 3, and neighbors across from us lost 3. Ours were insured for $4K each. Once the final estimate of repairs came in it was $17500. Well the good old insurance company never wants to pay, even though we are insurance poor (our bill every year is astonishing)! After they have depriciated each wheel line we got $13470. So, I guess I know what Wayne and I will be doing this winter, since there will not be enough to pay Thompson Pump and Irrigation to do it for us :( Good thing we have a pipe press!

Cuties!

2007-10-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

3 years

2007-09-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

A bittersweet day...

- rain to help my little man breathe easier (thank you gpa)

- a nice, relaxing day as a family cleaning up together (laundry, kitchen, bedrooms) and time to play our newest x-box game w/ our new wireless controllers

- EXPERIENCED cabinet man @ our new house (kitchen, laundry and bathrooms cabinets in already) (interior doors hung) (built in micro in place) Can't wait to go back and see what he got done. He will not return until after the carpet and vinyl are in to put up baseboard molding.

New refrigerator

2007-08-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

In Madras we recently got a Sears Retail Dealer. How nice! We have purchased a few things from there- so much more convenient than driving the hour to Bend, when we don't have enough time in the day! So I Went yesterday with Mac and Gabe to look @ fridges. I came home with the choices very well narrowed. Wayne went with me. It was a toss-up between 2. We had to go back to the new house to measure something (yes, I did suggest we do it before we went to town- but no, too easy). Then there was a problem so Wayne was not able to go back with me. "Honey, pick whatever one you want, it's really ok with me." LOL! The one I wanted was $1319 after all rebates and the one he wanted was $900 after all rebates. So I called my mom- "get decent, I'll be there in 7 minutes to pick you up." Jeni came along. Mom went with Wayne, and Jeni with me. Mom, "you could buy a chair with the money." Jeni, "You'll probably never get another new fridge, so get what you want." Thanks Jeni :) And Wayne showed up for dinner and the Beavers game- he was not surprised which one I got! :) This fridge was supposed to be $1749 and after all is said and done, we will have paid $1319. Not too bad- but not as good as the other one, however, this is the one I wanted and it had 1 additional feature I NEEDED, LOL!!!

Happy Birthday!

2007-08-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

Wayne on the Road to Hana

December 2005

Gabe and Mac first pro photo shoot!

2007-07-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

These are scanned...could not find my photo cropper to cut the top pic apart- sorry! MacKenzie 8 1/2 years, Gabe (almost) 4 months.

Gabe-Man on phone with Aunnie Pami

2007-07-26T12:27:00.001-07:00

Gabe, AKA, cereal boy!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

2007-07-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, really quickly here is what has been going on here!

- MacKenzie left to Alabama to the Donor's house for 5 weeks. She will be gone until August 19th.

- Our house is making GREAT progress! Today was the midpoint inspection. We pointed out what flaws we saw. The Superintendent is going through it with a fine tooth comb as I type. This is the last point for framing flaws, plumbing issues as well as electrical to be dealt with BEFORE the inside gets started.

- I have been driving combine in the evenings anywhere from 2-4 hours- and occassionally in the afternoon as well.

- This week is fair. I am staying down at the fairgrounds' R.V. park in my mom and dad's 5th wheel (theirs is WAY nicer than ours, thanks guys). My SIL Jeannie and her 5 kids, My SIL Sherri and her 2 kids and my SIL Joan and her 4 kids are all staying down there as well- in addition Gpa Frank and Gma D (elores) and Aunt Kathy (Sherri's family) are with us. SO you can say we have Fessler Village down there. Sometimes that is good- sometimes that is bad. Not sure what it is right now! But I am out of it! Just there to help since my wee-one is gone :( Showing steers this year- Matthew (just graduated H.S.), Tyler (going to be a Junior), Brent (going to be a Freshman), Austin (going to be a Freshman), Justin (going to be 8th grade), Brianna (going to be 7th grade). And then we have 2 showing hogs- Jahnie (girl, going to be 7th grade) and Jamie (girl, going to be 7th grade). So, how's that for a family a"fair"?! Jaycee is going to show pee-wee showmanship tomorrow evening. She is showing her brother's steer. MacKenzie was going to do pee-wee as well, using cousin Brianna's steer, but she went to AL instead. Next year, I do believe she WILL BE HERE for fair- especially if we get a bottle calf for her to do open class showmanship with! And then the following year she will be in 4th grade and old enough to do fair and sell her animal in the auction.

- Lots of laundry and housework as usual.

- Changing the water on the lawn every few hours, as it is SO HOT that the lawn is yellowing! Since we are BIG TIME grass seed growers, we need to keep our yard looking nice!

- Running back and forth, back and forth, back and forth to Cenex- our seed company taking truck loads of grass seed in.

- Last week Gabe man had 4 month check up. 15 pounds exactly and 26 inches long! Big Boy! 80th percentile for length and 50th for weight.

- Running lunches and drinks to my hard working family in the field.

- Picking up nightly after the contractors @ the house.

- Last weekend hubby took me on a date! We got rain and were not able to combine. So we saw a movie "Chuck and Larry" and had dinner @ Coyote Ranch. That is where hubby took me on our first "official" date. We eat there every year around our anniversary- I guess July is close enough to August :) That is what hubby told me anyway :)

Ok...a few pics and I gotta run!!! OOPS! up top and in reverse chronological order, sorry :(

07/07/07

2007-07-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

On my Mom's 54th birthday we went out to eat as a family - minus my firefighter brother who was on shift. My Mom also shares the same b-day as my Uncle Steve (my Dad's brother), who turned 52. So the group was- Mom, Dad, Uncle Steve, Aunt Carrie, Mandy, Wayne, MacKenzie, Gabriel, Jen, Nina (Jen's friend), Amber (s&c's daughter) and husband Jim. We went to a Japanese place called Shoji's. You sit around a "u" shaped table and in the center the chef prepares your meal for you- topped with LOTS of fire and tricks! Here are some pics!!!

Tuffer than nails :)

2007-07-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Today is my Grandpa's birthday- but he is in Heaven. I am not sure that they celebrate there, but I still celebrate it here for him ;) My Grandpa would have been 82 years old today. My Aunnie Pam has a very nice post about him up- brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face! My post will not be as long- or as detailed. I have to do what I have time for! Gabe is waking now and I will post just 2 pics...the first one has to do with nicknames- as my Aunt mentioned in her post. And the second pic was taken on my wedding day (to my first husband) 8/6/94. My grandpa was so handsome!

This pic was taken over @ our homesite. If anyone knows my nickname from my gpa, they will understand! I see things each and everyday that remind me of my wonderful grandparents!

Clifford Roy Hamilton

7/10/25 - 9/4/04

House Progress- Woo Hoo!!

2007-07-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

So my last post on the house was June 21st and this is the last picture that I posted re: the house. A lot has happened since then :) and that's a good thing! Right after this dried...

...they came and set up the boards and poured the actual footings (June 25th).

On June 26th, they took the footing boards off. Wayne hauled about 14 more dump trucks loads of dirt, because the 12 he hauled earlier obviously was NOT going to be enough to backfill around the foundation (like we had hoped).

On June 27th the showers and windows were delivered.

June 27th and 28th were the 2 days the builders gave us to backfill around the foundation. Wayne got most of it done on the 27th and finished up the garage floor (he put gravel inside) on the 28th.

That day he also had to dig out the water line holes (1 more not pictured).

Also, the floor joists arrived.

On June 30th, the framers (same ones for the entire house) showed up to install the floor joists.

July 2nd the builders had a crew come out and deliver the 20 yards of dirt/rock they provide to backfill the remainder of the garage. Not only were they in charge of bringing the load, but they also did the labor of backfilling :) Wayne was happy considering he spent SEVERAL hours the previous 2 days backfilling!

The plumber also was there and installed the rough plumbing.

July 3rd the concrete guys came and poured the garage floor...can not locate picture at this time :(

Today, July 5th was a WONDERFUL day as far as work goes! It looks like a house!

Front of house

Back of house

From Master Bedroom corner looking (diagonal) toward front door, formal living room/dining room. The inside walls are layed out and ready to be nailed and hung tomorrow.

MacKenzie in her bedroom.

From the Formal Living Room looking (diagonal) toward the Kitchen, Nook, Master Bedroom.

In Memory...

2007-06-30T12:18:00.001-07:00

Clifford Roy Hamilton

~weds~

Avis Arlene Jones

June 30, 1945

Clifford Roy Hamilton

~still loves~

Avis Arlene Hamilton
~after 50 years~

June 30, 1995

A photograph never grows old.

-Albert Einstein

In Memory...Part II

2007-06-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Avis Arlene Hamilton, MacKenzie Arlene Posey, Clifford Roy Hamilton ~~ February 1999

Nancy Arlene Hamilton-Hume, MacKenzie Arlene Posey, Avis Arlene Hamilton, Mandy Arlene Hume-Posey, Clifford Roy Hamilton ~~ taken @ Hume Farm Feb. 1999

These pictures were taken the first time my Grandparents met my firstborn child, MacKenzie. At the time, my (ex) husband was stationed @ Ft. Carson, Colorado. My mom was with me when Mac was born (12/16/98), but until February 14, 1999 nobody else had met Girlfriend! We got to my parents' house and everyone was there waiting for HER!!! What a treat! And of course, everyone fell in love!!!

MacKenzie was not my Grandparents' first great-grandchild, nor would she be the last! She was #9 from grandchild #6. Near as I can figure, my Grandparents have 11 grandkids and 12 great-grandkids with 3 more on the way (Laurie's 4th due sometime this summer, Traci's first baby due Sept. '07 and Roy's third baby due Jan. '08).

Today would have been my Grandparents' 62nd wedding anniversary. They were married June 30, 1945! Wow...that's a lot of years. They celebrated 59 years before my Grandpa's passing in 2004. Lots of love and memories were shared during those precious years!

Father and Son = Buddies

2007-06-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

Pics taken on Thursday :)

Harvest has begun!

2007-06-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is the field directly in front of our house. This morning @ 3, DH awoke to swath. He thought this field might take 5 hours- but it was not as thick as it was last year, thus only took from 3-6. So he was able to come into the house and have a snack and come to bed for a nap before getting back up to help the hired man change water in the wheat. He got up about 7:45 and worked until 1. He came in and had some lunch and played a Star Wars game on the x-box. He is now napping. He went down about 1:30. Oh, here he is. It's 2:45 and he is going to go back to work. He is going to work over @ the building site. I'll take some more pics tonight and post those and the ones from yesterday later!
Swathing the very top of the field by the ditch road.

Front yard where the (little) ditch separates the lawn from the grass field.

To the left of the swather (where the brush pile is) is the pond.

Coincidence?

2007-06-27T21:41:00.000-07:00

So...Who has seen the movie "Weekend at Bernie's"? I thought EVERYONE had seen this movie. But I found out this March that is not the case! My Aunt Pam and cousins Traci and Ryan had not. This topic came up because of my Grandmother's passing. I know- weird. But sometimes you have to have something to laugh about, smile, giggle, smirk (whatever you choose) to get you through the tough times or you may drown in your own tears. After my Grandma passed, my Mom, Aunt, Uncle and cousins respectfully asked the nursing staff to leave them alone- they wanted to dress and beautify my Grandma before the funeral home came for her, nobody else. So they washed her hair (which was quite a fiasco), attempted to curl her hair (yay Traci-Roo), painted her nails (good job Pam) and dressed her (in the dress she wore to my brother's wedding) having an especially hard time with the pantyhose, LOL! During this process, WAB was brought up for OBVIOUS reasons. Since I was not there, I am not sure who brought it up and who had not seen it...but I do believe that Pam and Traci had not seen it. I think my Mom, Ryan and Gary had all seen it. So, the next day or 2 the movie was rented and they all watched it. I never did hear if they thought it was funny or not??

So...fast-forward to mid-June. MacKenzie had been seeing the Pringles commercials on TV advertising trivia. We went shopping for a camping trip and the grocery store had these on sale. Of course I could not tell my daughter no, and who doesn't take junk food camping with them?! I think the sale was 4 cans for $3. We bought 2 cans w/ trivia, 1 BBQ and 1 salt and vinegar. We only took 2 cans with us- 1 trivia and the salt and vinegar. We got up to camp and it was dinner time. I opened the cabinet and the trivia can fell to the ground! Anyone who has eaten Pringles knows that they crack and crumble very easily. Oops! It appeared the whole can was toast (crumbs that is, ha ha). The next day we were sitting out under the awning eating the 'crumbs.' Literally all of the chips were in pieces, and I came across one that was NOT broken (at least entirely). I could hardly believe my eyes when I read the writing...

This was the best shot I could get and still be able to read the writing. For those of you who can not see it clearly, it says "Weekend at Bernie's" and the writing underneath it is a type of fill in the blank...with WAB being the answer. I almost choked when I saw this. My Grandparents are always on my mind- especially when we go camping. We used to camp a lot with my Grandparents before my Grandma had a stroke. So when I saw this it was like -my Grandma is here with me and watching out for us- For ALL of the chips to crumble and not this one- too weird! I put this chip in the cupholder of my camp chair. It was almost eaten SEVERAL times over the weekend. I never gave specific directions NOT to eat the chip- just thought that if it was meant to be, it would be there on Sunday morning when we broke camp. And sure enough it was! It took me a few minutes to think of a safe place to store it for the ride home. I finally settled on a little dixie cup in the bathroom medicine cabinet (in the 5th wheel). It made the ride home just fine, no further breakage! I just photographed it today and it is now sitting on my nightstand in a basket. Not sure what lies ahead in the chips future?! Any suggestions?! I hope the rest of the Hamilton clan gets a laugh, smile, giggle or smirk- I know my Mom and I did :)

What's wrong with this picture?

2007-06-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my Mom and I went to the Memorial Gardens where my Grandparents are. This was the first time we had been there since the name plates were placed. We went to take some flowers to them, as their anniversary is this coming Saturday (6/30/45). This ended up being quite a process!!! On the way to Bend, my Mom mentioned that she wondered what the cemetery people did with all the vases after the flowers that were brought in them had died. I said they probably had a good collection of them. I told her maybe she should write her name on the bottom of hers so we could pick it up in the office next time we went and took more flowers...not that any of these vases are expensive or sentimental, but eventually you run out of them at home. *****So we arrive at the mausoleum where my Grandparents' crypt is. They are the third tier from the bottom (I think there are 5 rows high), so it is up there aways! My Mom looks up there and says, "Hmmm, I don't think this vase is going to fit." I just looked at her, puzzled? I thought the purpose of the vase was to set it on the ground. When I questioned her she said she thought she was going to put the vase in the holder mounted on the marble. If she would have just told me that when we left I could have told her I knew that vase was NOT going to fit. Her thing was, she did not want to put the vase on the floor. People would then not know it was for The Hamilton's- which I guess I don't blame her. *****So we step back and look up at the wall wondering what our next move will be. It was then that my mom said to me, "Oh my gosh! Look at Daddy's name!" I carefully looked, expecting to see it mis-spelled or something. At first my eyes were playing tricks on me...I thought I saw 3 F's in Clifford, but they cleared and that was not the problem. Then it dawned on me! His middle initial read "A." Well you see, my Grandpa's middle name is Roy- and last I checked Roy does not start with an "A." So I did not know what to say to my mom. I was not quite sure how she was going to handle this- tears or laughter? So I replied to her, "Oh, it's an A." Those seemed like safe enough words to me :) Then she started laughing with tears rolling down her cheeks! Phew!!! I then said, "Clifford Albert." We got a good laugh over that! We are convinced that my Grandpa WAS NOT happy over this and that my grandma thought it was hysterical! The joke was that Grandma was rolling around (in her grave) and Grandpa had been too! But Pam says G'ma doesn't have enough room...Grandpa's urn is placed at her feet!!! As soon as we caught this error I went out to my truck...I just happened to have my camera with me. *****When I came back in, my Mom had grabbed a bench that did not look so sturdy. Her plan was to stand on the bench and try to reach the vase that was supplied with the holder on the marble. After I checked to make sure the bench was 'tolerable', I helped my Mom climb up there. She barely was able to get the vase out...and she is 5'11"! So she handed it to me and I put the flowers in, added water and tied the ribbon on it. Mom had a hard time getting the vase back in- but she managed. So we have decided that we are going to make some 'permanent' arrangements that we can change out for different seasons. We scouted out several that we liked and I got some pics of them. So next time, I think we will bring a ladder with us! :) *****The rest of the day we were coming up with middle names for my Grandpa- Alvis, Alvin, Arlene, etc. *****When my Mom and I went to the Funeral Home the Monday after my Grandma arrived from North Bend we had to go over the paperwork with the director. He did have my Grandpa's middle initial as "A" but I caught it and pointed out it was incorrect and he crossed it out and wrote the correct initial of "R." So, who knows why this was still done wrong. My Mom will call the office and get it taken care of. Maybe it will be correct next time we go- with our ladder :) Tee Hee!

Wheat progress

2007-06-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Last week I was visiting Mama Koch's blog and I saw that she had lots and lots of pics posted on their wheat harvest for this year. That is still at least 2 months off for us- thankfully! Having lived all over the country (due to ex-husband being in the military) I have experienced SEVERAL climates and seasons- or lack-there-of (North Carolina, Alaska) and it all fascinates me. So I just thought I would share some pics of the different growing seasons- comparing Pacific Northwest to Oklahoma. Visit Mama's blog to see wheat harvest in full swing! And here is where we stand...harvest set for mid to late August!

Blueprints- For Ryan

2007-06-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

I got an e mail from my fellow Oregonian and cousin, Ryan. I was oh so happy to hear from him. I check his blog everyday, although he doesn't blog everyday- but you never know what you may find. Anyway, back to Ryan. He no longer leaves me comments because he doesn't have a blogger account anymore (thanks for telling me, I had no clue). So he was just checking in on me. Here are a few lines from his e mail...Congrats on the new house stuff. That's really exciting. You should take a foto of the blueprints and post them? Hopefully I'll get a chance in the next couple months to come down for a dinner date or something?!...Come on down anytime, we would LOVE to have you. Here are the "blueprints" -or- did you mean the actual blueprints that are in the "mailbox"? I scanned these and had nice pics to post, but for some reason blogger did not like them and wouldn't load...GRRR! So I had to take a pic with camera and load that way...sorry they are not the best- but it's all I have time for! TTFN~

Who's Who?

2007-06-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

Camping Buddies

2007-06-24T16:31:00.000-07:00

We went camping this past weekend with my cousin Vanessa and her family- Husband, Jeremy (we graduated the same class 1994), daughter, Mayzie (almost 4 years) and son, Oliver (4 months). We camped a little over an hour away from home- in the Mill Creek Wilderness located in the Grizzly area. We camped @ an abandoned rock quarry. There was a pond there with tadpoles and a gravel mountain the girls played on. We took Mac's quad and Wayne borrowed one of Jeremy's. If we want to take more than 1 quad, we have to take 2 vehicles- and we weren't going to be gone very long, so it wasn't worth it. So Jeremy, Wayne, Mayzie and MacKenzie all went for rides. BOTH of the girls have their own quads! Lucky little girls! Vanessa and I stayed back at camp with these 2 cute boys! Good times! Enjoy the photos!

REAL CONCRETE!

2007-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

The 12 dump truck loads to back fill around the foundation

The sign provided by the builder, and ours in the background with the permit (pink)

Today's concrete work

The workers from the builders really did come and do work today :) They poured the footings (?) and it is all nice and dry- so they will be back tomorrow to pour the rest of whatever they do. I just don't know what all this stuff is called! I know they put "forms" down and I believe they compose the footings and the footings compose the "whole" as in the foundation. But I could be off- it certainoy wouldn't be the first nor the last! Regardless, I am HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY to see some progress.

So tomorrow they will pour the next stuff and it will dry over the weekend. They will come to check it first thing next week. Then Wed and Thur we will (Wayne) backfill around the foundation. That's the 12 dump truck loads of dirt that was hauled over. And on Thur all the lumber to frame the house will show up and we will have to hand over $43K (gulp), and then on Friday they will begin framing OUR NEW HOME! Hip, hip, hooray!!!!

PS- Have I mentioned lately that my TERRIFIC son has been sleeping through the night? This week has been a week full of surprises! On Monday he turned 3 months old and rolled over (tummy to back) like 6 times in a row! Then when Daddy came in to see what the ruckus was, he was too tuckered out to do it anymore :( And he began sleeping through the night. He had been sleeping very consistently for 5 hours, waking to eat, and then falling asleep again. 1 time up a night was perfectly fine with me. But uninterupted sleep is OH SO GLORIOUS! Monday night he sleplt about 7 1/2 hours. The past 2 nights (Tue & Wed) Gabe-man has slept 9 hours! We shall see what tonight holds. Now that I have the nerve to report on this news, I am sure he will not follow suit! Oh well! Gotta go get some sleep, we are going camping before harvest starts next week...Long nights and even longer days lie ahead for this Fessler Farming Family! Toodle-Dee-Doo!

More pics from building site

2007-06-21T22:25:00.000-07:00

The "mailbox" where important documents are kept (i.e. house plans, permits, etc.)

Our official plans

This is a sheet that the inspectors (electrical, plumbing, structural) sign off on

A copy of the "approved" footings before the concrete was poured

Paperwork w/ permit info

Is this for real?

2007-06-20T16:31:00.001-07:00

These pics were taken last night @ our lot :) The builders came out and set these concrete forms. Today, the county ACTUALLY did come by and inspect them, and okayed them. So the builders will be by tomorrow to pour our foundation! YEE HAW :) !!!! I am in total shock! For starters, I am having a hard time believing that the county did something ON TIME (don't get me started). And secondly, I can't believe the builders actually came and did something CONSTRUCTIVE, instead of coming all this way and just looking around and talking and barking orders @ us! LOL...now we will just have to wait and see if they follow up on their word and pour tomorrow! DH and the hired man brought dump-truck loads of dirt over today. We have to backfill around the foundation once it hardens...we have been our own excavators, since we have all of our own equipment and that sort of thing costs $money$! I will be going over later to take some pics of the mound of dirt and of the signs the builder posted for the contractors. TTFN

Gabe got the belt!

2007-06-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

Pics from Father's Day @ Papa & Nana's. I could not figure out why Nana sent GF up to her room to get Papa's belt. Then I came downstairs and saw this :) How cute. He was fine with it- as long as someone was in the room with him. He needed to BOTH see and hear that someone at ALL TIMES! What a happy little man! I am so blessed to have 2 such wonderful children; I love them both so much. I think Wayne had a good 1st REAL Father's Day. He even got 2 different naps :) The poor guy is so sleep deprived this time of year :( He deserved those naps...so I took care of the kiddos all day.

Bubble Blower and Sweeping Sissy

2007-06-15T17:04:00.001-07:00

Blowing bubbles is HILARIOUS! They make a "fart" noise, and that is ALMOST as fun as all the slobber!

Yeah Mom, I'm not really into this. DO I HAVE TO? No allowance?! Ok then. :(-

Driveway Mishapp

2007-06-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I was on my way home from the school with Mac, DH called and said something was going on with the mainline @ our other farm (where we are building). He said something about a "geyser"- which is NEVER a good thing! So I just told him I would see him when he got home. About 1 1/2 hours later he came in talking to the Thompson Pump, our irrigation company. The last thing I heard was, "ok, so you're gonna bill it to them, right?" I was puzzled by this, so I waited for the explanation. DH gets off the phone and said that a septic service truck was hauling bootie down our driveway and lost control and crashed his truck into one of our fields, running over the mainline- breaking it, causing a "geyser" about the size of Old Faithful along our driveway and into our wheat field. Thank goodness our nephew Tyler was driving by our farm and spotted it and called Wayne. It turns out the builders called this septic company and sent them to deliver a porta-potty for the workers. Not sure why they called this certain company...they had to come all the way from Bend. It is a little over an hour's drive each way! After he dropped it off he was heading down the driveway, on his cell phone, driving too fast, in a vehicle that has poor stearing due to being "top heavy" from the HUGE TANK OF RAW SEWAGE it pumps :(-; so basically not paying attention and his front tire went off the gravel and pulled him off the driveway. He is SO LUCKY that he did not take out our BRAND NEW power poles (costing us $15K), take out the wheel line and mover (value=$5K) that were running, and that he DID NOT (thank you Jesus) break his tank carrying the RAW SEWAGE! DH and the hired man got over there to find this mess. Thankfully Roberto (hired man) got to the pond quickly and shut off the water before it washed away too much of our crop and our NEW driveway (which has already cost us over $5K and we aren't done yet). The tractors were all over there, so Wayne had to yank the guy out. He was pretty stuck since the water spewed all over the place until it was shut off, making it very muddy! That took a while I guess. Anyway, the above pics are what happened. It's costing the company between $500-$700 to fix. The parts were supposed to be here by this afternoon, but did not show up. DH is NOT HAPPY as it is HOT here and the wheat is at crucial point- needing the water! Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow! Hopefully! Especially since the price of wheat is at the highest it has been in YEARS!!!

Progress...

2007-06-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

The first pics we took of our "lot"

These mountains are called 'The Three Sisters'
Faith, Hope and Charity

Looking down what was to be our driveway

Driveway still

Clearing the field...wheat was planted here
All of the orange spots you see are not imperfections...
We had to measure several times for our new Pivot (irrigation)
and where the Arc was, so as to not hit the house!

The orange flags in the immediate front are marked where the house will sit

Halfway down new gravelled driveway...going down driveway to main road

This is the 'lot' where the house will be built...

there are orange flags somewhere...

can't really see them now :)

Top of driveway looking toward house lot and new shop

Top of driveway looking down to main road

Front entrance of new shop...big door and man door are there,
just opened

Overhang on shop...built for our R.V.

Back side of shop

Side of the shop...empty lot is where the house will sit

Last day of school!

2007-06-14T06:15:00.001-07:00

MacKenzie is SO EXCITED! Today is the last day of school and she can hardly stand herself! She is dressed in her "school spirit" t-shirt. I purchased said t-shirt as a sleep shirt as a sleep shirt since it is so big...but she insists on wearing it, untucked! I am afraid if Nana saw it she would have a heart attack! Gabe and I are going into the school a little later, probably around 10. It's kinda hard to take a baby to school...especially since he doesn't sleep much in the day anymore! Not quite sure what to expect as far as activitites goes- the teacher did not send home any paperwork detailing events. Every year at the very end seems to be a field day with water- so I will be prepared :) Ok, gonna run for now! I will be back later (in this same post) with some pics :)

***L8R***

1 pic...that is all I got! And it wasn't even of the school girl! She was too busy- here, there, everywhere! I should have snapped a pic while we were eating lunch and she was holding her baby brother...but I didn't have the camera handy- figures! I was surprised and pleasantly pleased...GF rarely seems to want to be near her brother. She pops in for a few seconds and then leaves. So I just ASSume (yes, I know the rule ;)-) she doesn't really care too much for him at this stage. Well today, she wanted EVERYONE to see her new little brother, and oh isn't he so cute :) I was very pleased...maybe she does kinda like him! I remember having a baby brother myself- he always stole the show; the one I was used to having for almost 4 years :( Dang brothers! But I pretty much love him to this day...although I would have LOVED a sissy of my own :) Tee Hee!!!

What a good little boy!

2007-06-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

I had a very restful night of sleep last evening :) I put my son down at about 8:15 after he took a bath with his Sissy. I lotioned him all up and he smelled oh so yummy! Then I put on a lightweight carters sleeper...brand new, the first time he has worn it :) And it was a bigger size...no more newborn clothes! This was a 3-6 months size...I can't believe how much bigger he is than his sissy! She was tiny and petite- but not "hunk-o-handsome" as his Nana calls him. I went to bed about 9:30 and little man was sawing logs next to his Daddy, so I had to briefly wake him up and wrap him up...but he just cracked his eyes and back to sleep he went. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out! Long day...the next I remember it was about 3 a.m. and I heard some fussing. I turned the night light on and put his pacifier in. I went to the bathroom and by the time I returned he had fallen back to sleep! Just in case, I left the night light on- 'til about 3:30. Then I woke up and turned the light off. The next I heard was just about 5 a.m.! Woo Hoo! So I nursed him- both sides. He ate one side just about completely and about half of the other! He woke up about 6:30 fussing- he had to burp! Once said burp was out, he went back to sleep :) It is now 7:30 and I am sure he will awaken again- soon! So I need to go. But I have already had a peaceful cup of coffee and my morning breakfast...so I am refreshed and ready to face the day! TTFN! Toodles~

Cousins

2007-06-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Oli just wanted to grab Gabe!

Everytime he would grab something, he would grunt and try to pull Gabe closer to him!

They were holding hands, but I missed the shot :(

Oli, was concentrating so hard :)

Gabe and Oli were talking to eachother and it was the cutest thing :) These boys are going to be buds!

this looks like Oli is yelling @ Gabe!

Gabe laughing @ Oli

Gabe borrowing Oli's bumbo- his will be here next week :)

Little Boys

2007-06-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

God made the little boys for fun, for rough and tumble times of play;

He made their little legs to run and race and scamper through the day.

He made them strong for climbing trees,

He suited them for horns and drums,

And filled them full of revelries so they could be their father's chums.
by Edgar Guest

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Pics

2007-05-30T16:48:00.001-07:00

Little Man's "bed" in our 5th wheel. This is the top bunk where the "grown-up" bed is. There is a Queen size matress with about 2 feet of floor space before the matress. So I folded up a fluffy twin-size comforter, put his heavy blankie on top of it, and a water-proof spit rag down and - Waaa Laaa! He slept like a baby :) He LOVES camping...mostly because EVERYONE holds him and smooches him up!!!

We rode our quads for a few hours on Saturday. This is what MacKenzie came back looking like :) Notice her new haircut...done last Thursday after school. Thanks Aunt JoJo!!

Uncle Gary...trying not to get his picture taken!!

Mac and Gabe just before we left on Monday late morning!

Camping Pics

2007-05-24T07:20:00.001-07:00

Gabe...propped (not so well BTW) on a snow drift fence

Gabe...on a log by the creek "posing"

We went camping in April @ Perry South; just Papa, Nana, Gabe, Daddy and Mama, big sister was gone for the weekend. We had a great time and little man was such a good boy- like usual :) I am SO BLESSED! I just got these pics off Nana's camera 2 days ago...and I want to post these 2 pics, they are so CUTE! Nana had to make sure Gabe had his picture taken...within minutes of being at the campsite...she had already staked it out and found her 2 favorite locations for little man to have his pic taken :) Anyway...we are leaving tomorrow to go camping for the holiday weekend, this time at Antelope Reservoir and complete with big sister! My hard working hubby has been putting in days anywhere from 14-16 hours :( It's that time of year...so he really deserves this break! And on a positive note...June 4th marks the date that the builders will come and do the final inspection of our lot and June 8th is the date they begin! They will be here to set up the footings (not sure if that's what they are really called) to pour the foundation the followint week :) I can not believe it's actually here after all this time! I have been taking pics of the progress, and when I have some time I will post them! TTFN!

Just time for pictures

2007-05-22T21:30:00.001-07:00

Nana's Boy!

Ballerina Beauty and Gabe the Babe- pre-recital. 5/20/07

Baby Announcement

2007-04-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

I just approved the proof for these last night. They are coming to me from So. Cal., so I should have them by the middle of next week :) I did the photos myself- not too bad for the most part. Gotta run! Taking care of a newborn is a lot more work than I remember :)

New Baby Stats!

2007-03-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little bit late...but there has been a lot going on here.
Just the bare details for now! I promise I will post a birth story later :)
Gabriel Andrew
March 18, 2007
19:29
7 pounds, 7 ounces
20 inches
He has some hair...it is light brown. His eyes are VERY BLUE...no hint of brown at all? I wonder if they will change?! He is perfect in every way...and I love him so much! He has really helped me through my grandma's passing. My grandma passed away Monday (26th) evening...and I am at peace with it- as she was suffering tremendously. Ok! Gotta run, baby boy wants some mommy milk! TTFN! M~

life

2007-03-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

just wanted to let everyone know that we are home. things have been better. the day we came home we got news that my grandma hamilton is passing away. her kidneys are failing, and the dr has given her a week to live- maybe. anyway, that hit me hard, especially with postpartum setting in. we are leaving tomorrow morning to see her in coos bay- after gabe has his dr apt. just wanted to let everyone know why i haven't been my usual talkative self!

mandy~

Yesterday's Appt.

2007-03-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hopefully yesterday was my last dr appt being pg :) Went in and the same ole, same ole happened. Got hooked up to the monitor. Baby looked good as usual, however, he wanted to sleep a lot and not move- so we were there a little longer than normal. My BP was back up...who knows what's up with that?! My favorite nurse was on duty. I asked if I could be induced that day, but my doc just got off 24 hour call at the ER- so she didn't sound too excited about it, so I just dropped it. I am sure if I would have pressed her she would have agreed...but it wasn't meant to be. Before doc left she said to be back on Sunday (18th) at 7 am for induction. We are not able to do it on Sat because she is going to be at Mt Bachelor with her son for skiing lessons. They will be home around 5:30 pm, in case something was to happen. But if something happened during the day on Sat, I would get Dr. Plant. He is a doc from the same practice. I like him- his daughter was in my pre-school class last year. He is the same age as me, 31. But the bad things about Sat- my most unfavorite nurse is on call. So, yeah- that really sucks :(-

Before I left the hospital, the nurse asked my if I had tried castor oil. I said no. But she used to be a mid-wife (she trained in Ireland) and thought maybe my body would be ready for it since it sounded like some progress was happening "down below." I really had not wanted to resort to that- but I did. Last night about 9:20 pm I took 1 oz of it. Wow!! That was a lot to try to swallow. It didn't stink or taste- but it was so THICK and GREASY I could hardly swallow it :(- I chased it with coke, since that is what most people reported worked the best (online pregnancy boards). I was expecting it to have an almost immediate effect on me- but it did not. The boards said about 15 minutes for most people. The warning ont he bottle said 6-12 hours. So I watched a bit of TV waiting for something to happen- nothing. So I decided I should get some sleep- no sense sitting there waiting for something to happen! I slept until 2 am, when I woke up with my stomach and bowels GRUMBLING!!! I must say, the castor oil was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I got up at 2, 5, 7:30...and that was it! It took a total of 5 hours to work through my system...but it did not cause any contractions :( I called L & D today to talk to "my nurse" and she was surprised that it did not cause any contractions. Her advice was to do my breastpump and if that did nothing, try the castor oil again. But she gets off shift at 6 pm today, and I didn't want to do it again to end up with another nurse- if it even worked at all!! So I have been cleaning house today. Laundry, laundry, laundry, dishes and taking care of a "sick" child (she is faking I am sure).

Fortunately on Sunday, my other favorite nurse will be there. When they put you on pitocin a nurse has to be in the room with you at all times...so it's good that the nurse is someone I can stand! Anyway- this will probably be my last update until the baby is born. I just hope and pray that my body is ready for the induction- I don't want to leave the hospital for a 3rd time w/o a baby! But if it fails and I am good and the baby is good, the doc has agreed to let me go home and we will either try again or wait for it to happen on its own...as long as the BP and blood work are still semi-normal! So thank goodness for an awesome doc!

Today's NST

2007-03-12T14:31:00.001-07:00

Went to the hospital for our "routine" Monday morning NST, BP check, and lab work. My BP was great, the lowest it's been since this whole ordeal started. Baby's HR was great- as usual, thank goodness! And the lab work wasn't done before we left- but the doc wasn't there to interpret it anyway. I am sure it's about the same as it was last time. As I said, the doc never came- so hopefully I will see her on Thursday when I go to the hospital next (our other "routine" day).

Yesterday I felt like "something" may be happening down there. At about 12:45 pm I started to feel some crampiness and lower back pains with ever so slight contractions. This lasted throughout the day and into the evening. It was still happening when I went to bed last night. And everytime I got up to pee last night I was having contractions too. But I woke up this am to - NOTHING!

While I was hooked up to the uterine monitor, it was showing very small contractions- what they call an "irritable uterus." I did have 2 major high-peaking ones, but they were several minutes apart. So about 1:15 at the hospital and then I got to come home.

Now that I think about it, I am sure I will see the doc on Thurs- unless something happens on its own before then! She is going to schedule my induction...probably for Sunday- but I will have to see the schedule of nurses first...I have 2 certain ones that are my fave...2 that I do not care for at all...and 2 that I am impartial to. I will ask her to strip my membranes again, as I don't think I got a very good dose the first time, since my uterus moved back up and she couldn't reach very well.

Anyway...that's all I know for now! Cheers!

Today's Ultrasound and Dr Appt

2007-03-08T17:01:00.000-08:00

We had to be at the hospital at 9 am for the u/s. We got there just on time...but had to wait for 15 minutes for the tech to come get us. I was irritated because I had an appt at the dr's office at 9:30. I had Wayne call them and tell them I was going to be late.

So we get in the room. I had a different tech than all the other times I had been in. She was ok...more knowledgable (since she was older and had been doing this job longer I am sure) but her bedside manners were not the same as the other gals. First thing off she said was this was going to go fast since she just had to look for a few things and not do measurements- so it didn't matter that she was late. I was like, no measurements- that wasn't my understanding. So she called the dr and basically talked the dr out of taking measurements because they could be off +/- 1 pound, so it wasn't very accurate at this stage and it could take awhile to get them because the baby's parts are hard to get to due to it being very crowded in there. Yeah, so I was really happy, NOT! Anyway, I guess they had to look for 8 things and I got a point for each thing if they were able to see it on the u/s. I can't really remember all of them- but a few are, breathing (movement of the diaphragm), heart rate, flow of blood through the umbilical cord...um and I just drew a blank. Anyway the baby decided at the end he wanted to sleep, so we had to wait a few minutes to see the diaphragm move. She saw the kidneys and said they were "beautiful." We also got a sideview profile of his face, along with a pic. He has grown a rather large nose, at least it appears- not my nose, looks like a Fessler nose to me. I asked her to show me the position the baby is in since I rarely feel him in my ribs. He is head down, spine up and on my left side, in the fetal position and then "bent in half." She said it was a very interesting position :) Anyway, it was nice to see my little man, although at this point not much was distinguishable!

We get to the dr's and we were about 10 minutes late. No big deal, but they were REALLY busy. Weighed in and then went pee in a cup. When I came into the examining room Wayne said I had lost 3 pounds. I was like, "so?" No big deal. I haven't been eating as much, not a very good appetite, and what I have been eating has been very carefully selected. My nurse walks in and says she thinks it's going to be anyday...from what she sees, most women lose 3-5 pounds just before baby arrives. She took my bp and said it was actually normal for once! I was surprised especially after my visit to the hospital! The nurse forgot to take my blood to do a complete work-up, so I guess we won't know how my kidneys and such are doing this week from last week...but I didn't want to turn around and go back in, and the doc said that was fine :)

Then the dumb med student came in and asked me some questions about how I had been feeling. She said she thought I lost 3 pounds because I was loosing some of the water weight...yeah whatever. I haven't been peeing anymore than normal and my swelling is at the worst it has been. But I didn't say anything. She gave me some lap blankets and told me to undress from the waist down and the dr would be in.

Dr comes in and measures my fundus, listens to baby's heart. All is fine. Then asks if I want her to strip my membranes. I said we might as well. I am still 2 cm, but my cervix has begun to thicken back up and rise in my abdomen. So instead of being like -2 or -3 station, I am back at a -5 or so. When she found my cervix she could not feel the top of the baby's head. So he has enough room in there that he has unlodged himself and is free-floating. She wasn't able to strip my membranes very well...it wasn't really painful, and I have not experienced any contractions. But I guess we tried.

After that she asked me what I wanted to do. I had mentioned to her that if the 3rd time failed, and the baby was still fine, I would wait because I did not want a c-section. She said that was fine with her- but she didn't want me to keep going through an emotional rollercoaster. So last we had talked we were going to try induction on Sun or Mon (Mar 11 or 12). But she said for now, we will hold off. I have to go to the hospital for NST , BP and bloodwork on Monday (12th). Induction will depend on BP. If all is fine, then we will go back to the hospital for the same thing on Thurs (15th). Again, induction will depend on BP. On Sat (17th) is my due date...40 weeks. I would LOVE to be induced and have baby on that day- as would Wayne. But dr's son is taking skiing lessons and she is unavailable. So the tentative plan is for induction on Sun (18th)- that is if all the next appts go well. Anyway...sorry this is kind of long tonight- I just had to feel like I was getting it all out somehow- but don't really want to "talk" about it with anyone...if that makes sense! I just feel like a yo-yo right now. I wish I could have a really good, long, hard cry. The tears are there, they just don't want to come out :(

Today's Dr Appt

2007-03-05T12:36:00.001-08:00

This morning at 8, Wayne and I went to the hospital for what is seeming to be our normal day for NST (non-stress test). My BP was high and baby's heart rate was good :) Thankfully! My doc had the day off, but she came in to check on me :) What a great doc I have! My BP wasn't so high that she wouldn't release me- so that was good. We talked about trying an induction maybe Sunday or Monday if my body doesn't do something on it's own. Thursday I have what's called a Biophysical Profile (BPP). Basically it's a high-tech ultrasound. They check the level of amniotic fluid, the baby's breathing (yes, the lungs are functioning even w/o air at this point), the amount of oxygen in the blood flowing through the placenta, and baby's weight. That appointment is at 9, and then I will go across the street to the clinic for an appt at 9:30. She will do an internal exam to see if anything further has happened (dilation, effacement, station, etc.). She may possibly do a procedure called "stripping the membranes." This is something she doesn't usually do- there is no hard, strong proof that it works to send one into labor on their own, but at this point I am willing to try "almost" anything...but a c-section! I will have a few tubes of blood drawn to send over to the lab for a complete work-up. I am sure it will show that my kidneys aren't working as well as they should- that is what the previous 2 have shown...but hopefully it isn't too much worse from the previous week. Then maybe on Sunday or Monday we will try another induction...and the 3rd time will be a charm! On Monday I will be 39 wks 2 days...so a lot closer than when they first started trying to induce me. Anyway, that is all I know for now! Thanks again everyone for everything!

25 more hours...

2007-03-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

...and still no baby! Yes, that's right!!! I had a non-stress test (NST) scheduled again for Thursday at the hospital. I arrived and was put on the machine. They took my vitals and my BP went even higher than it was last week. So my doc showed up. She did an internal exam, and I was exactly where I was when I left last weekend (-3 station, 2 cm, and 50% effaced). They also took urine sample and bloodwork. The labwork came back a little worse than it was the previous week. Because of my BP and the fact that I was exactly the same (internally) that I was last weekend, she wanted to try to induce again- by trying the cytotec, but only 1 dose. It was inserted at 9:20 am. By 12:20, the dose was over, and NOTHING had happened. The doc thought that pitocin would work. So about 1:15 (once the stupid nurse found somebody to place my IV since she was incapable) the pit was started. Long story very short...the pit ran for 7 hours. At 8:15 pm, my uterus was being hyperstimulated- not good. No real contractions were happening, and my cervix was not dilating any further. The whole time the baby was tolerating everything very well :) Thankfully!!! Doc wanted me to stay the night...so I did. A woman came in a little before 4 am in full blown labor...they put her in the room next to me. So I got to listen to her moan and scream until the baby was born. Between that and the lady across the halls baby crying all night, an uncomfortable bed, contractions, and just being uncomfy- I did not sleep! Come to find out about 7 am, I knew the lady who gave birth...a friend of mine named Tina :) So once I visited her, I was not quite so crabby :) I got my breakfast, ate, and had to be back on the monitor by 8 am. No real big contractions and baby's HR was good. Doc came in and asked me what I thought. I told her I did not want to go back on pit today. Maybe the 3rd time was a charm. She agreed with me and said she lost a lot of sleep over me last night. She knows I can have this baby vaginally, and doesn't want to force me to have a c-section unless it's a dire emergency. So...back next Monday for another NST...back on Thursday for NST and an exam to see if maybe my body is ready for some more pit. And HOPEFULLY the 3rd time will be a charm. Although I am not 100% sure I will choose Thursday as the day to do the pit. I am thinking of asking to go in first thing Sat morning. Trying to find a place for MacKenzie to be until the pushing begins and little Gabriel arrives, has proven to be challenging! But I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family here that helps me with whatever I need! Praise the Lord!

Monday- follow up on failed induction

2007-02-26T14:57:00.001-08:00

This morning between 7:30 and 8:00 Wayne and I were to go into L & D @ the hospital. I had to have a non-stress test done to check on the baby and of course to check my blood pressure. Incredibly, my bp went down about 15 points...so that was enough to make the doc happy and not make me have to have more cytotec inserted. The baby was very active in the time I was on the monitor...and the heart rate was excellent. They did not do an internal exam, as my uterus was "irritated" from all the stuff that happened to it on Fri and Sat. They don't really think I have dilated much more anyway. The only thing that could have happened is maybe I have effaced a bit more- but I am not counting on that either :)

After I left the hospital Sat afternoon, I continued to have unpleasant and sometimes painful contractions and a very crampy feeling down low- but I guess that is to be expected, and it will probably continue to happen until I deliver. Sunday and today I also have experienced some painful contractions and cramping :( So I will look forward to this being a daily occurance...but at least it's better than what was happening on Sat.
I was released today and put on bed rest. I have another appt on Thursday, same time, same place. I will do the non-stress test and maybe have an internal. They will check my BP...if it is still good, then I am free to go and return on Monday. Dr wants to have the baby out of me early still because of my lab results. BP meds and diuretics are not an option, they only mask the symptoms- not make them disappear. At this stage with increased BP it can decrease blood flow to the uterus, thus reducing baby's supply of oxygen. What can also happen is the placenta becomes unhealthy and is no longer able to supply a sufficient amount of nutrients and such to the baby. So it really is important to get the baby out...but because my BP has gone down some, we have a little bit of time to play with, and it's no longer a dire emergency like it was over the weekend. Doc also says that my uterus will have been doing something for over a week, and on Monday will maybe respond better to an induction. So, that's the word of the day!

Failed Induction

2007-02-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

So I had a dr appt Friday @ 9:45. The appt wasn't for anything special, just a routine weekly OB check. Well, my BP was too high. And the first thing the dr said was that my face was really puffy. She checked my hands and feet, and they were swollen as well, but that's nothing new. So I was 36w6d and I knew I was going to have an internal exam as well as the GBS test done. I had to wait for what seemed like forever, because she had so many other patients to see. So she came back and did my exam...uterus was very posterior and not any progress as far as dilation or effacement. But she wanted to talk to me about my BP. The last several weeks my BP has been increasing, and it was 138/82. So she sent me over to the hospital for a non-stress test and some blood work. I was on the monitors for a long time, and everything was fine with baby and I was having no contractions. However, my blood work did not come back as good. My kidneys are not functioning as they should be. So she wanted me to come back that evening at 7 for an induction using cytotec. Because I trust my doctor so much, I followed her advice, even though I am not really for induction- especially at 37 weeks.

We (my mom, Wayne and me) showed up at the hospital at 7:25 pm. I got the first dose at 7:55 pm. Once it was inserted, I had to lie on my side for 30 minutes, then flat on my back for 2 hours, then I could get up and move around for 1 hour- and repeat all over again. I had a total of 3 doses and then my uterus began contracting really regularly and pretty intense. So I was no longer a candidate for the cytotec since it can cause hyperstimulation on the uterus. This was at 5 am Saturday morning. So my advice was to take a bit of a nap since I had not slept at all during the night. I think I slept about 15-30 minutes. Then I was pretty much up...phone calls, visitors, etc. I walked the halls for what felt like 5 miles, used the jacuzzi tub, sat on the birthing ball and just tried to stay upright to help things along. However by the time my doc came at noon, no more progress had been made since I was examined at 5 am and 7 am. So, for a total I made it to -3 station (I was not even registering before), very posterior to more of an anterior position, 0 dilation to a 2 dilation, 0 effacement to 50% effaced. Very disappointing to me...especially after 17 hours in the hospital :( But when you think these things take days to happen at home (or wherever) to begin preparing our bodies for labor...I did pretty good- considering.

So, today not much has happened. I feel contractions, but nothing to write home about. Some pain in the region below. So it does not appear my body will do anything more on it's own. Therefore, tomorrow I am to go into the hospital at 8am for a NST and to have an internal exam. If the exam shows my uterus has not progressed any further and I am not having a contraction pattern, they will try 1 more cytotec. If nothing happens with that...then it will depend what my BP is. If it is good, then I can choose to have the pitocin or I can choose to go home. If it is too high, they will admit me and I will not have a choice- but have to have the pitocin. My big worry is that the pit will be too much, too soon- my body is not ready (Fri and Sat proved that) and I will end up having to have a c-section. What happens, happens...I just want the baby and me to be fine. This afternoon my BP was 145/92. When I was in the hospital it had gone down...I was surprised considering I felt really stressed out!! Anyway, that's all I have to say!

Baby Shower

2007-02-18T14:59:00.000-08:00

Today was my baby shower. Here is a picture of my cousin Vanessa and I. She is scheduled to go in tomorrow to be induced. She has been dilated to 4 cm for over a month, and the doc thinks it's about time. Her EDD is this Wed, Feb 21st. So she is plenty ready :) I am 36w1d in this pic. The clock is ticking down for me too!

I got lots of gifts, and things that I can use. But most importantly, I got the carseat and a bassinet! Without those 2 things, we were out of luck :)

Ok, gotta run, just wanted to post this real quick like!

Knitting...

2007-02-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

Several years ago (my first husband was in Bosnia and I was home for a vacation- I think it was 1996), my Auntie Pam tried to teach my how to crochet. Just a very simple stitch required to make button socks. Well, I could not do this for some reason! I was not coordinated enough apparantly!

Fast forward to Quilt Camp '04. This is about the time that the fun fur yarn became really popular (at least in our area) in making scarves and hats. At camp, one of my Aunt's friends was going to teach a class on knitting and how to make these. Well I figured maybe I could knit, since crocheting for me, seemed hopeless. So I went and bought some pretty yarn and matching fun fur and my needles. By the end of the weekend, I had practiced, practiced and practiced...and FINALLY learned something new :) I never learned how to make a hat though. Then later on, I read about the round looms you could buy to make the hats. So I went out and bought the looms. I brought it home, really excited. I pulled out the instructions and was like, "What?!" I could not for the life of me figure it out...they were very poor instructions. So I just put it away with my yarn.

Now fast forward to a few weeks ago. A friend of mine, who had no talent for crafty things whatsoever, gave me a hat she made for my little man. A few days later, I went to my Aunt Jodie's house for Vanessa's baby shower and saw that she had a whole stack of those hats! She is not too crafty either. So I left there thinking, "If those 2 can make them, then surley I should be able to." So I went online in hopes of finding better directions than the ones provided in the kit. No such luck! But I found tons of feedback people had provided saying this was so easy!! That really encouraged me. It was about 9:30 pm and I could not sleep. So I went out to the storage shed (where my crafting stuff not used all the time are stored) and found the kit. I brought it in, read the instructions and started. I used some left over yarn that was nothing special. I made a section that was about 7" long. Then I put it away. The next evening, I started on a hat that was supposed to be for MacKenzie to match a scarf that I had already made (but I did not give it to her when it was finished, because it was supposed to be a set). I did very well on it :) They are beautiful, vibrant colors :) Today I went to go get them to take a photo, but they weren't where they are supposed to be! So my guess is that MacKenzie wore them to school today. I will have to nab them when she gets home and take a quick shot.

Since making MacKenzie's I have also made one for myself, one for little man, and I have started another one for little man...or someone else's little man (maybe Vanessa's or Stephanie's...if "it" turns out to be a boy). Wayne wants one now too...but he has so many beanies/stocking hats that I don't think he needs one...and I am sure he wouldn't wear it!!! I am now figuring how I can make just a headband instead of the actual hat. I know it wouldn't be too hard...just have to slow down and think about it before and while I am working on it :)

Ok, pic will follow later tonight...ballet class is right after MacKenzie gets off the bus.

2 very pregnant girls :)

2007-02-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken about 3 weeks ago. Vanessa and her husband, Jeremy, invited us to a George Strait concert. Wayne and I gladly went and we all had a wonderful time. Vanessa is now 9 days from her due date...and extremely uncomfortable. She has been dilated to a 3-4 for the last 2-3 weeks. She was really hoping for a baby by now...but as of this morning- NOTHING!!! My baby shower is a week from today, and I REALLY want her to have little Oliver by then- I am so anxious to hold him :) I want the 3 of them there...Vanessa, Mayzie and Oliver!!! Hurry up little man!

Child Birth Education Classes

2007-02-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Since Wayne is a first time father, I thought it would be beneficial to take a course together. We spoke to the doc about it. I asked her if she thought we should take the refresher course (1 two hour class) or the normal course (2 hours once a week for 6 weeks). She said either would be ok. Her advice was to call the instructor of the course and talk about what each one covers. During my conversation with her (Janet) I thought to myself, "Wayne should not get away with 2 hours! He thinks he knows EVERYTHING about labor and delivery from having delivered so many calves, so let's see what he really knows about HUMANS!"

So we have been to 4 classes so far, and 2 more to go! The last class is Valentine's Day. Anyway, last week for the last hour one of the docs from my practice came in and gave ultrasounds (nothing diagnostic, just fun to look at ones) to the majority of us in the class. Some women declined, which was fine with me :) So I was the first one up there. They hooked the machine to the TV and everyone could see...it was pretty cool! Anyway, little man has finally turned head down...although Dr. Plant said he wasn't committed, just like my doc said. But I felt some relief in knowing he was "almost" where he is suposed to be :) We saw him "breathing" on the u/s. At about 33-34 weeks they begin breathing amniotic fluid to get the muscles into practice. We watched his heart beat and chest rise from the "breaths". We were not able to really see much detail of his face because he was turned with his face towards my spine (no wonder it hurts so bad)! But we could see his little hands and arms bunched around his face, too cute! Doc went down to see if we were able to see his boy parts. Nope...too smashed up in there to see very well. We (the doc) did see the scrotum and the umbilical cord was between his legs. They did not have the bed positioned very well (the head needed to be propped up a bit higher) so my view wasn't that great. Anyway...now that the doc pushed around on my stomach and showed me what was what, I have been doing it daily, and he is still right where he should be. So I am not sure if I will be getting another u/s or not. Whatever is fine with me. Since it is a new year, I have not met my $500 deductible...and u/s's are about $300... So, unless it's ordered for a REAL medical purpose, it just seems like a waste of money. But I will do whatever the Dr. orders! Ok, gonna run, or walk I should say. It is FINALLY sorta nice (40 degrees) and I have some mail I am going to walk down to the mailbox!

Hume Family Photo Jan '07

2007-01-29T13:56:00.000-08:00

We took this picture to send in a photo mailer card for my Grandma's 80th birthday (yesterday). What a crew we are :) Back row (l-r): Wayne, Mandy, Jen (sil), Alan (brother) Front row (l-r): Mom (aka Nana), Girlfriend and Dad (aka Papa). The dog in front of my Dad is Luna (our dog Gingerbread's half sister) and the dog you see in the front left corner is the newest addition to the Alan Hume family, Cloe. She is WAY TOO CUTE! But boy is she WILD! LOL! Her mom refers to her as the "evil" dog. And Luna is the "angel" dog. Do you see any favoritism going on there?

I had not posted for awhile. Just not been up to my normal self...whatever that is :) Being pregnant is taking it out of me...lots of aches and pains going on...but everything looks pretty good. I have been getting a lot of swelling in my hands and feet...not very comfortable. Will be mentioning it at my next dr appt (Feb 8th). Doc thinks the baby "may have" finally moved positions...For at least the last 2 months he has been lying sideways inside of me- with his head on the right side and his buns and legs on the left side. Not very pleasant, let me tell you!! Anyway, he appears to be head down...although very high and not engaged in the pelvis yet. So his head is very high and his feet are just about on my stomach! YIKES! Doc said he has not "committed" to this position...so don't be surprised if he moves around some more. But soon he will have to make his mind up, because he is running out of room in there. I may have another ultrasound later on closer to my due date to see what position he has decided to settle in. I don't really want to have a c-section...so if he is not in the correct position they will attempt to manually turn him by pushing around on my stomach :( Doesn't sound very appealing to me...so I am hoping and praying that my little stubborn man decides to be nice to his mama! Ok...gotta go and get ready to pick Mac up from school, it's tap class tonight!

BUNCO Results

2007-01-02T19:15:00.000-08:00

BUNCO was a succes this year. 20 people showed up @ $10 a head. So a $200 pot :) My Aunt and Uncle did not show up because my Aunt's mother is not well. So we had fewer of the regulars. Lots of new people...but it went well :) I have played BUNCO for several years and have NEVER won! Usually beginners have all the luck...but I never got any of it :) Last year's big winner was a first time player as was this year's big winner! They are hooked :) Last year's winner got NADA this year :( I had a SMOKING time...for 3 games in a ROW I got a BUNCO! 3 BUNCOS in a ROW! YOOOHOOO! So I had a total of 4 BUNCOS. Well the big winner (she already won $80) and I were tied...so we had a roll off. And AMAZINGLY enough, I won! $50....YEEE HAAAAW!!!! I had a good time and I think everyone else did too! Thanks for the money :) My Mom and Alan tied for 2nd place...they had a roll off and the winner was......MOM! She won $40! So at least the Hume's got a little something :)

Happy New Year's Weekend!

2006-12-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are...another holiday weekend and an opportunity to spend some much needed time with family. This year we will play BUNCO at my brother, Alan's house. Playing BUNCO on New Year's Eve is a tradition in our family. Before my brother got married 1 1/2 years ago, it was played at my mom and dad's house. But last year, and again this year- it will be hosted by my brother and sil. Although I think once our hosue is built, we will host it...since our house will be almost twice the size of my brother's and the floor plan is more condusive for several tables. We usually have between 16 and 20 players. We play for money...usually it costs $10 per person. So whoever wins, has some nice spending cash :) Are we ever the winners? No- but it is still fun to play and socialize with all of our loved ones we don't see often enough. The people who are ALWAYS there: Mom, Dad, Alan, Jen, Wayne, Me, Uncle Steve, Aunt Carrie, Seth, K'Lyn....many others receive an invitation and sometimes they come, and sometimes they don't! Their loss! Last year there were several people who stopped by for a bit and then left...they just don't know what they are missing :) I do hope my Best Friend from college, Suzette, comes. My sil is trying to set her up with someone...so I am wondering if she will come...or if that will make her shy away?! Oh how I do hope she makes it...I never see enough of her :( I hope you all have a Happy and Safe New Year's Weekend with your loved ones! Mandy~

Christmas 2006- Overview

2006-12-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

December 24, Christmas Eve-

The day was spent lazing around...just right for those of us who had fallen ill (me). I did however spend an hour ironing clothes for Christmas Eve Mass. Then got myself a shower...gave MacKenzie a shower. Now it was time to primp the Queen Mother and Princess...I am very thankful that this baby will be a boy! I don't need another girl at this point in time to primp with! LOL~ Also have to give hubby a haircut before Mass. My Aunt Pam charges my Uncle Ed to give him haircuts...maybe I should start doing that! I cut Wayne's hair every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. And it always seems to happen for me at the most inconvenient times...like when I have a 100 other things to do! But I know he wouldn't pay me to "shave" his head with the clippers...he would just do it himself...either way it doesn't bother me...I just would like to have more notice :)

So, off to Mass we go. The entire Fessler Clan will be there...keep in mind this is JUST IMMEDIATE FAMILY...All 23 of us! We end up having to leave for Mass at 4:30. The mailer that was sent out with the Holiday Mass Schedule said Christmas Eve Children's Mass was supposed to start at 5:00. However, the evening before (Sat, Dec 23rd) we went to church because Wayne had to usher with his Dad. During Mass it was discovered that the bulletin (given out during each service) had a typo in it. It said Mass was going to start at 5:30. Father was made aware of the conflicting times. So he told us all to be there the following evening for a 5:00 Mass. We arrive at 4:45...and there are hardly any people in the church! So...we waited for what seemed FOREVER for Mass to start...it was late- of course...started at 5:45. We were sitting in the pew with our 3 1/2 year old nephew...WILD TIMES waiting, waiting, waiting!

After church, we go to Fessler's for dinner, lasagna. Good food and good company. Then time to open gifts...it took A LONG TIME to open all the gifts under that tree! We finally get home about 10:30 pm!

December 25, Christmas Day

The next morning we (Wayne and I) woke up about 6:30. We stayed in bed for over an HOUR waiting for MacKenzie to get up! I can't believe she slept 'til after 7:30! But boy was she ever fired up and ready to start the day! We have a good Christmas morning over here. We played with a few things. Then we got cleaned up and the stuff we wanted to take rounded up and headed to Papa and Nana's. We spent the rest of the day there until late. The five of us opened gifts after the turkey was in the oven. We ate a late breakfast...played with our new toys. Then about 1:30 Uncle Boyfriend and Aunt Jeni showed up and we opened a few more gifts. Now it's about dinner time. Wayne goes to get Grandma Joyce. When she gets there- dinner time! Yummy, I LOVE me some turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy! I could eat it AT LEAST once a week! After dinner we played some family games and then dessert. Another late night...it felt good to sleep in the next morning :) I hope everyone had a Blessed Holiday Season! Mandy~

My Pretty Little Princess...Turned 8!

2006-12-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

MacKenzie in her Christmas Dress - November 2006

Saturday, December 16, 1998 @ 6:19 am my precious baby girl was born at Evans Army Hospital- Fort Carson, Colorado. Fast forward to 2006...no longer a little girl. She is growing up so fast...sometimes I think she may even be a teenager! Thank goodness she is not :)

12/15/06 - Friday

The school Christmas program was at 1:15. What a wonderful program. All of the songs but one, were original and written by her music teacher through his 25+ years of teaching! Truly wonderful! After said program was over, we checked Mac out of school. We came home and Wayne finished cleaning out the truck we were going to trade in for a new truck. We are on our way to get a new truck...so... We leave home and drop Girlfriend off at Nana's work. Papa picks her up on his way home from work. Papa and Girlfriend go to Aunt Jeni's to set up her Christmas tree since Uncle Boyfriend is on a 5 day shift. I get a phone call while at the dealership that Girlfriend wants to spend the night w/ Aunt Jeni. That is fine...since it looks like we will be awhile. But Wayne and I are really surprised that she doesn't want to be home on the morning of her birthday to open her presents!

12/16/06 - Saturday

We FINALLY get to see Girlfriend at about 10 am. Literally, the first words out of her mouth when she walked in the door were, "Where's my presents?" Wow, what a greeting! So she rips open her gifts...and that's it! Nothing much to say! We are going to catch a movie in Redmond and go to Papa's Pizza (indoor playground) afterward. Papa and Nana and Aunt Jeni decide to go to Bend to do some Christmas shopping. So we end up having to pick a later movie than originally planned. We all decide to meet in Redmond to see the 5 pm showing of "Happy Feet." So the 3 of us come home and hang out. Mac's dad calls and says his package should be here. So I go down to the mailbox...and it is there. Mac talks to him and opens her gifts. What a lucky little girl! She got some really cute stuff from him and his girlfriend. Her parents also sent gifts as well...SPOILED! Her paternal grandparents called and said they would have her package here sometime this week. We leave for the movie and pick up my Grandma Joyce and Sabre (my cousin's daughter) in Metolius on the way to Redmond. We meet and see the movie...cute, but some adult content masked. Papa, Nana, and Jeni already ate...so the 5 of us go to Papa's and eat and play...then home we go! Long day!

12/17/06 - Sunday

We go to 8:30 Mass in Warm Springs. Come home and pick up. Then we have Girlfriend's b-day party at the Fessler's at 1 pm. We meet over there and luckily not all 23 of us were there! PHEW! Have cake and ice cream and open gifts...What a lucky little girl! We are now getting ready to write thank you cards...hopefully BEFORE we have to write Christmas thank you's!

Happy 1 Year Wedding Anniversary To Us!

2006-12-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Fessler - December 10, 2005

We REALLY love eachother!

A Girls Best Friends...L to R: Gia, matron of honor, Jen (sister-in-law) bridesmaid, Me the Bride, Stephanie bridesmaid, Suzette bridesmaid

Uncle Wayne and nephew Jebb, ring bearer

AWW...Mommy and Daddy Hume

My Handsome Hubbby, Wayne and my Handsome Brother, Alan, a groomsman

Girlfriend taking time to smell a bridesmaids pomander

Me, Mandy, admiring my beautiful calla lily bouquet before the ceremony

MacKenzie, my beautiful flowergirl, in the Parish Hall before the ceremony

Wayne outside of church before ceremony

I've been MIA

2006-12-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

So today my mom told me she missed my blogging. I have a lot going on, but just don't take the time to write about it. I just haven't been feeling up to it. So I will try to do some rambling tonight.

Over Thanksgiving my family of 3 and my parents traveled to see my Grandma who lives in a nursing home in Norht Bend, OR. We left early in the morning, and it had snowed the night before. So the roads through the mountain pass were fun :( NOT~! Not worried about us per se, but the other drivers who are idiots! Anyway, we made good time getting over considering the weather conditions. We stayed at the Mill Casino and Hotel. Yes, all 5 of us slept in the same room with 2 queen beds. The rooms there are quite nice and roomy enough for all of us...except when it came time to go to sleep! Girlfriend is A BEDHOG! The first night I slept in the chair and propped my feet on the desk chair...can you say uncomfy? The next night, we built girlfriend a nice, plush bed on the floor. It was MUCHO better :) We spent a lot of time at the nursing home with my Grandma. We always make some sort of craft; this year was no different. It has become somewhat of a tradition to make SOMETHING gingerbread with my Grandma. The last few years we made houses, but this year my Aunt Pam had a gingerbread tree there waiting for us to make with my Grandma. Since my mom was with us this year- Grandma, girlfriend and Nana made the tree :) I got to sit back and watch...well not really! I was working on the model of the next craft we were going to make! **I just tried posting some pics and adding a link to the Casino, but Blogger is not playing nicely** We had a movie night and watched R.V. and had popcorn and candy. I took my sewing projects for the baby's nursery with me to show my Grandma. I hemmed some of MacKenzie's pants and did some fixing to a shirt or two. And just had a wonderful, relaxing time with my Grandma. I wish she lived here :( I miss spending a lot of time with her.

The day before we left for North Bend, we took our family Christmas picture- Wayne, Mac and I. We were all dressed to match and looked SUPER! I was hoping to add a picture, but not tonight :( I wore a red long sleeved shirt with grey corderoy pants, MacKenzie's Christmas dress is red and black with a very long, full skirt, and Wayne wore black Wranglers with a new Wrangler dress shirt that I bought especially for the pictures- it's off white base color with plaid stripes (small print) red, black, and a thin yellow line. We borrowed a new winged back chair from my mom and took it to the in-laws' and took a pic in front of the fireplace and mantle all decorated. I was hoping to have these out and in the mail by the middle of the week after Thanksgiving- but the postal people did not deliver my package in a timely manner :( So instead I had them ( all 80!) mailed on Monday the 4th of December- which was also my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! We took them a beautiful wreath and a card. My Dad used to buy my mom one every year...but somehow I have managed to beat him every year and do this for the both of them :)

Tomorrow is December 9th, and it is 1 day shy of our 1 year wedding anniversary! So we are celebrating early. Wayne and I are going to Bend for the night. We have stayed at the Shilo Inn on the River before, so we are going to again! We have a suite this time with a gas fireplace, a walkout deck on the river, and a 2 person jetted bath tub! I am SO EXCITED about this! I have been having terrible back pain and problems with the nerves on my left leg. So I Have been soaking nightly at home...but I am sure this will be OH SO MUCH BETTER :) We are planning on eating at Coyote Ranch in Redmond around 4 or so (this is where our first date almost 3 years ago was) and then check into the room and catch a movie later on. The next day we will do a bit of shopping and then home. MacKenzie was to be with her paternal grandparents this weekend, but they canceled, so she will be with Papa and Nana and is happy about that, she has been missing them lately! And who wouldn't, I miss them too!

December 14 is my 31st birthday...no big deal. December 15 is MacKenzie's Christmas Music Program at school and afterward her class is putting on the play "The Mitten." Then the next day is MacKenzie's 8th birthday. We will do something...just not sure yet. Last year's party was at the Bowling Alley...and not cheap, so nothing to that scale again. Maybe a movie with her cousins Jaycee 7, and Janna 6. Then December 19th marks a bit of a sad day...it would have been the due date of the baby I lost earlier this year. But I am oh so thankful for this baby boy I am now carrying and I am anticipating the day he is here and I can hold and kiss! Then the 22nd I have a girls day in Bend with my friend Stephanie (from Idaho) and Suzette (college friend). My sister-in-law Jen was supposed to go, but she can't make it on that day since she won't be on Christmas Break from the school yet- and that is the only day that will work with Suzette's work schedule. We are planning on seeing the movie "The Holiday" and getting a bite to eat, probably at Red Robin. And of course, no trip would be complete without some shopping!

Ok, so that is enough for now. The movie I have been watching/listening to is now over and it is time for my nightly soak! Hopefully I can post some pics soon, if Blogger decides to cooperate! TTFN!

Thanksgiving Craft Pictures

2006-12-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

My project...I got to tell everyone who made one the order of the beads...i.e., 5 little green ones, big white one, big red one, polka dotted red one, 7 green ones...etc. Yeehaw!

Grandma and Girlfriend with their "gingerbread tree"

Fessler Family Christmas Photo 20006

2006-12-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

Who would have ever guessed?

2006-11-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland	style="BORDER-RIGHT: black 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: black 1px solid; MARGIN-TOP: 4px; BACKGROUND: white; BORDER-LEFT: black 1px solid; WIDTH: 100px; BORDER-BOTTOM: black 1px solid">
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Elk Hunting Part III

2006-11-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

So this weekend MacKenzie is gone with her grandparents and that leaves Wayne and I free to do whatever. Well we woke up and decided to do NOTHING! Boy that was nice :) We watched a movie on TV had some coffee and breakfast in bed. Then nap time for me and Wayne decided to play X-Box. Just a little before noon, Wayne's brother Glenn called. They had gone hunting that morning and his wife, Jeannie shot and killed 2 HUGE ELK on their ranch in Grizzly. So that is where we were headed. I told Wayne that I was hungry and needed to eat before we left. Wayne informed me that we would get something to eat on the way. OK! Even better :) So we ate on the way. And by the time we got there, all of the work was done. They were gutted and skinned and they were just ready to hose them off. It was a weird story how Jeannie ended up shooting two- but since she only had 1 tag (which is normal) and Glenn's was for first season and it's now second- they ended up calling Rod and Brent (who never found the one from Thurs) and Brent tagged "the ugly" one. Wayne and I stayed there for the majority of the day and visited. We don't make it out to Grizzly very often- because it is out of the way and quite a drive! It was a nice day with our nieces, Jaycee 7, Janna almost 6, and nephew Jebb 3 1/2.

Elk Hunting Part II

2006-11-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Ok...so after we went to the ridge, we stopped at the in-laws' house, just to talk about or trip full of nothing and because it's on the way home. We stayed for about 1 1/2 hours then we had to leave because it was almost time for MacKenzie to get off the bus. Just as we were getting ready to leave, we noticed that all 200 head of cattle down below the house were in a virtual stampede. It was really weird, they were running in all sorts of directions. FIL got the binocs and was looking to see what had startled them. Didn't see anything so he decided to head down below...there may be a coyote so he grabbed a gun. We left about the same time as him.

Wayne and I got home before the bus. So we came up to the house and he decided he was going to blade the driveway since it was soft from all the rain and there are a TON of washboards all over the road. He gets in the tractor and heads to his folks' house 'cause that is where the blade is. I go down and get Mac and then we come back up to the house. Just as we get in, the phone is ringing. Caller ID says it's the in-laws. Wayne's dad was all excited and I could hardly understand what he was saying- something like this, "Hey, where's Wayne?" Me, "In a tractor on the way to your house to get the blade." Him, "Well you's better get down here NOW! I just shot an Elk and I need Wayne's help in getting it." Me, "Are you serious, or just pulling my leg?" Him, "No, I did! There's a herd of 150 down there! So hurry up!" Me, "Ok, I'll call Wayne and we'l l be right over." So I call Wayne and he says to hurry up and get in the truck and he'll meet us in the driveway...btw make sure the gun is still in the truck.

Ok, we hurry out. We get there and meet up with FIL, 2 nephews in a truck and MIL in her own rig. FIL tells Wayne where they are and that he is taking the boys down and dropping them off so they can hunt, then he will get the tractor with loader on and go get his Spike Elk. Wayne nearly kicks me out of the truck...just then MacKenzie wanted to go with him. She almost threw a FIT because he wasn't going to let her go. She didn't have any winter clothes on. Luckily my heavy stuff was all still in the truck from our earlier trip. So Mac gets to go! I get in the car with MIL and go back up to the house. Wayne and Mac go a different way to where the elk are supposed to be. On the way, Wayne calls his brother Rod. Rod and Brent (his son) meet Wayne and Mac at the gate on the high-way. They go their separate ways. During the ride over, Wayne is telling Mac all the rules about hunting...don't walk in front of the gun, don't walk on ____ side because the shell casing comes out and it will conk you on the head, don't stomp on bugs, don't make any noise, etc! They immediately spot this elk sitting down between 2 trees. They sneak up on it and Wayne takes the shot from 300-350 yards. He got it. They walk up to the elk, and as MacKenzie says, "It's legs were still moving, but dad says that's the reflexes- but just in case so it didn't jump up and stomp me, he shot it one more time in the neck." Funny girl!

Wayne calls MIL and me at her house. I got a 5 point! Can you come down and get MacKenzie? So we go down there just about the time Wayne and Mac get back to the gate. Wayne was worried that Mac would be sick and not handle it well when they were gutting it. So she leaves with gma, but Wayne wants me to stay. I was like, ummm...I am pregnant and I DON'T HANDLE THIS STUFF WELL!!! But I stayed because he wanted me to. So we drive through the sagebrush, rocks, juniper trees and whatever else could make it bumpy and we make it to the elk. At that time Matthew meets up with us. Thank you Jesus! Now I don't have to help :) I take Wayne's pic then I go back down to the truck where I am out of the way of the sounds and smells. Matthew said that Brent shot and hit, but it didn't take the elk down, so Tyler, Rod and Brent are looking for his elk. Anyway...this story goes on FOREVER! But we got Wayne's elk and FIL's up to the shop and they hung them from 2 different tractor loaders.

The Farmer Takes A Wife (this one)

MailBox Monday

Our New Bundle!

Mailbox Monday- 4/20 & 4/27

Back to Safeway...

Sunday's Steals!

Friday's Finds!

My Safeway Scores!

Mailbox Monday!

Albertson's Easter Shopping Run 4/9

4D Ultrasound Photos

Albertson's Run 4/6

Walgreen Run 4/6

Mailbox Monday!

MailBox Monday~!

Spring Break- Day 1, Bouncing Off The Walls

Sunday Savings @ Safeway

Blah Day

Official Birthday Party

Saving Lots of Money!

Happy Second Birthday Gabriel!

Jefferson County Fair

Update

**New Photos**

2nd swim meet- 4/18/08

Gabe's baptism- 4/5/08

MacKenzie's Baptism 3/22/08

LolliPop Kids

Papa & Nana's Valentines

MAC (Madras Aquatic Center) *Brand New*

Silly Boy Cousins

Happy Birthday Grandma

LegoLand

They call it puppy love!

Cheerio!!!

Gabe's 1st Christmas

Merry Christmas

Happy 9th Birthday Princess Posey

Yellowstone National Park- October 26, 27, 28

New laptop

Huge Windstorm

Cuties!

3 years

New refrigerator

Happy Birthday!

Gabe and Mac first pro photo shoot!

Gabe-Man on phone with Aunnie Pami

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

07/07/07

Tuffer than nails :)

House Progress- Woo Hoo!!

In Memory...

In Memory...Part II

Father and Son = Buddies

Harvest has begun!

Coincidence?

What's wrong with this picture?

Wheat progress

Blueprints- For Ryan

Who's Who?

Camping Buddies

REAL CONCRETE!

More pics from building site

Is this for real?

Gabe got the belt!

Bubble Blower and Sweeping Sissy

Driveway Mishapp

Progress...

Last day of school!

What a good little boy!

Cousins

Little Boys

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Pics

Camping Pics

Just time for pictures

Baby Announcement

New Baby Stats!

life

Yesterday's Appt.

Today's NST

New Photos

MAC (Madras Aquatic Center) Brand New