wordless...

Thursday?? Sure, why not?

apples, apples, apples

and more...

APPLES

i'm feeling a little like Forrest here...

apples

apple pie

apples n cinnamon

baked apples

sliced apples

apple sauce

  stuffed apples

 baked apples

 apple dumplings

  caramel apples

 apple crisp

apple cobbler

half eaten apples
yes, there are LOTS of those around here, compliments of a certain toddler
apples, apples, apples


and today's apple special is....

cooking in the crock pot

apple butter.

so, what apple dish have i missed?

if a picture's worth a thousand words....

happy birthday bubba!

sisters

and now for the entertainment of the day....

the SPIN cycle...

and i quote my 5 yr old...

"wow mom, isn't that mighty speedy!"

looking off my front porch...

i caught a glimpse of this....and had to capture it...

then i decided it would be fun to play around with the colors and lighting on photoshop...

this is what i ended up with...


































i kinda love it.



hard to believe i got that cool picture from atop our coal pile.

yes, that is coal.

5 tons of it.

we heat our house with it 7- 8 months of the year.

 
i know, its not perfect....
 

somehow i managed to get the watermark in the wrong place, and can't figure out how to remove it

 *rolling eyes*

 

oh well, i still love it.

 

 

 

its moments like these...

that make it all worth it!

for those of you who were wondering....

121 

yup.

thats right.

one hundred twenty-one shoes.

no.

not pairs. just shoes.

40 YEARS!!!!

now THAT is something to CELEBRATE!!!

40 years ago they took each others hand for better and for worse...

i think they did pretty doggone good on the "for better part"

6 awesome kids (myself included, of course)

thier spouses...

25 grandchildren...and several "adopted"ones that they claim as their own, as well...

we love you mom and dad.

THANK YOU!

thank you for choosing life...

for raising us as children of God...

for teaching us to love of our faith...

for giving us a wonderful home filled with love, even through the toughest times...

for always being there for us..

for taking in all our stray dogs, cats, cows and other various creatures brought home....

for taking in our stray friends who came and never left....

and mostly,

for always setting a good example of how to live,

modeling our lives after the Holy Family.

We LOVE You!

now...

enough of the mushy stuff...

LET'S PARTY!!

lifes really rough.....

when it comes time to find your shoes around here...especially when you're only almost two

you search high....

you search low...

and finally you just settle for the brightest pair you can find...

now for YOUR challenge...can you guess how many shoes are on this shelf???

 (and the floor area surrounding itof course)

shoes, NOT pairs, mind you.

for the record, my 8 yr old did the counting honors...

so...we could be off by one or two or twenty...

 i'll give you the answer on monday!

im not pouting, really.....

...ok, ok i am.

you would too, if your mama told you she was gonna sell your favorit scarf!

right???

yeah, that's right! the red scarf is listed and ready for you to steal! don't miss it! the silver one will be in the shop soon! keep your eyes wide open...it won't be there long!

go ahead...

mix it up a bit!

get BOTH colors and wear them at the same time! be cool, like me. :)

day two. science 101

found in our back yard...

um, cool but creepy?

ever heard of spiny orb-weaver?

well, neither had i, until this morning.

cool, huh?

cool, but we aren't gonna keep THIS ONE for a pet.
nope. noway.

wanna learn more about this fancy lookin spider???
check em out here

week one. day one....

done.

WHEW!

only had one minor catastrophe today...

lost a box of baking soda to a toddler on the living room floor....now its fresh and clean.

those little fingers and toes tell it all!

thanks buddy!

only 179 days to go....but who's counting, right??

we're almost there

from the remains of last year....

that looked likeTHIS...

and THIS...

we slowly dug through THIS...

and we ended with THIS...

now all we have to do is wait.

ready or not..next week we start.