Moon Tower

 

Here is the moon tower that my husband and father-n-law have been working so hard on. The deer in the field don't stand a chance. I have a feeling Dan couldn't wait to show us all this. It is quite impressive! After the hike back to the tower we headed in. Dan wanted to shoot the bow a bit and Tyler wanted to watch. Grandma Starr had a great idea and got her bow out. Which I could better handle and Tyler had a blast with. It won't be long and Tyler will be sitting in that moon tower wanting a bigger buck than Daddy and Grandpa.

 

 

 

After dinner we shot the bow a bit more. Grandma and Sam went in...when I decided to look for them I walked into this! It was nice coming home from the farm with a clean child...that doesn't ussually happen...and so darn cute.
Check out how cute my monster can be. We had a great day. No issues or fights...my sweet little boy is still in there.

Pig Tails

From the moment I found out I was having a girl I couldn't wait to put her hair in pig-tails. I arrived at Kristi's to pick up the kids Thursday afternoon to my little Sammi dd bear with pig tails in her hair. I could have cried.
You can see by the pictures...they are not perfect....but they are pig-tails!

Friday Night Lights!

There is nothing like a home town football game. I was so excited to go. Great weather, great friends and the whole town of Lawton. Not only do I love the people in my town, but I team teach every afternoon with Coach Karsen, which makes the game just a bit more exciting.
We brought Caysee home with us today from daycare so she could go to the homecoming parade before the game.



We met Kristi, Jay and the kids at the game and gave her back. Niki, Tim and the boys arrived late (after the Tyler fiasco).



The pictures make it look like a fabulous evening, but guess what? It turned on the drop of a dime...surprise, surprise! Dan ended up carrying Tyler out like a football (darn it, no pictures of that) while Sam and I stayed back for another half hour. We went prepared...seperate cars! Needless to say...I never saw the lights!

Can't wait for Paw Paw's homecoming next Friday!

Another great evening to prove..."3"...sucks!

Lawton lost the game against Hartford...just a bad night for all!

Terrible 3's

Calling all mothers....I need help!
Whoever labeled the 2's as terrible...is horribly wrong. I made it through two, and was quite proud of how well my child behaved the whole year. He was adorable, sweet, lovable and super smart...but now he can turn into a creature I have never seen before! I am stressed and at my wit's end. His attention span is now longer which makes the tantrums even worse. The tactics that once worked to distract or calm him only make it worse. My day can start well and turn as fast as picking out the spiderman underpants instead of the diego. It can throw a perfectly good morning into a battle ground. He is driving me crazy. I need advise...I promise I listen. I make sure I am consistent, I pick my battles and give time outs and he screams to the point I think he may throw up. I give him choices in the morning, but yet somethings are nonnegotiable like wearing pants to daycare. I watch Nanny 911, I have taught parenting to young mothers, I have read books and my child is turning into a monster. I don't like this new independence that he thinks he deserves!
Mind you, he doesn't do this for Dan or Kristi...just mom! I just want the instruction manual that I thought I would recieve in the hospital before I left!
Please tell me 4 is better...only another 6 months.
Debbie, remember those "good mornings" you wrote about....forget it...I just want to get out of the house!

Tyler Bret I love you...but you driving your mother to drink J/K!!!

Just the two of us!

We had the greatest weekend ever! We borrowed Courtney and Jeremy's pop-up camper, Grandma Tonda watched the kids, and Dan and I headed up to the Pigeon River State Forest. For all of you who don't know where that is....its called "no-mans land". This is real camping, not this 32 ft. double slide, flat screen TV, and microwave stuff we ussually do. This is the kind of camping Dan grew up doing. With that said we realized one thing this weekend, we miss our pop-up and all the fun we have cooking on the fire, gathering wood, and being in the fresh air.
We had so much fun just being husband and wife...not mom and dad too. We kayaked the river, road our bikes and just enjoyed being in the woods.



There is NOTHING like a good steak on an open fire...anything tastes better over the fire!

We can't forget to say...that on way home the tire exploded. Thank goodness Court and Jer had a spare and my husband is Mr. Fix it. In less than 15 minutes we were on the road again!

To make our weekend get-away work we had a ton of help!
Thank you, Brown's for the camper.
Thank you, Grandma Tonda for watching the kids all weekend.
Thank you, Niki for watching my children while Grandma had school on Saturday afternoon.
We love you all!

Cleaning!

I went home the weekend of the 13th. It was a cold rainy weekend and the kids and I needed something to do. Courtney and Jeremey were going to camp out at the lake and that didn't work out. So, the kids and I headed to Grand Haven. My mom always loves when the kids come to play and they always have something new to do!

My dad put me to work! The deal was that before I left I had to clean out some of my "old" high school stuff out of the basement. Once I started I couldn't stop. Some memories made me laugh others made me want to cry.

What was I thinking keeping most of this all these years?....but I have to say my old stonewashed guess cut off shorts FIT! My mom asked if I wanted help...but I informed her she wouldn't get much amusement out of some of it. There were posters of high school friends, love notes, and old report cards. Friends that I didn't recognize anymore and others I wish I could find again. Needless to say, it was time for it to be either out of my parents basement or laid to rest in a dumpster!

I did find my old pound puppy (Julies mom actually made for me in 3rd grade) which Sam and Tyler loved! I have always joked for years, the only thing I went without growing up was a REAL pound puppy...but now I am so happy that I have this one! Thanks, Mrs. Huntoon!!!!

STOMP UM GIRLS!

What was I thinking? Not only did I do the Grape Run but I also participated in the Grape Stomp. Now, when I thought of stomping grapes it was a bit different than what actually takes place. As most of you, I thought it was 5 friends in big wine vat stomping with there feet all the while laughing and having a hoot. Well...not quite. The first thing you see is this:

After you gasp they tell you to get in. Now it is squishy and cold, but there are also bees flying around. Which I was lucky to encounter for the first time the second day of the stomp (5-8 times). You don't stomp with your feet. You get on all fours and squish these grapes with every part of your body all the while trying to not hurt your friends. (my mom, Amy, Joy, and Joys son Shawn). It is the longest two minutes of your life!


When it is all done they weigh your juice. Day 1 we had 40.7#. This put us in the top 5 of our catagory...therefore, we had to return on Sunday. We didn't do as well on day two.

Joy's son had another commitment on Sunday so I talked Courtney into stomping with us. Tyler was happy to spend an afternoon with Cammy!

Like I have said a million times. I work with some of the greatest people and am so happy to call them my friends.
Oh, and thanks Mom...wasn't it the greatest birthday present ever! Love you...
CAN'T WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!

Its a start!

Not only was it the start of the Wine and Harvest Festival in Paw Paw but it was the start of my 5K challenge. I have said many times in many blogs that I have great friends that encourage me to do things that I never thought I could. Thanks to Courtney mentioning the 5K Grape Run in Paw Paw, and Amy for pressuring me to do it.....I did! I loved it...I will admit I walked more than I ran, but it has motivated me to do another and RUN!
I have to give a shout out to Dan also....after working 3rd shift he got up with the kids after only an hour of sleep. Not only did he make the kids a huge breakfast but he got them ready and went and bought me an annivarsary gift (can't beat Taylors). It was 5 years on Saturday!

I will blog more of the Festival later....trust me it gets better and messier!

Good Mornings~Debbie Jean

I did alright this morning. Usually, going back to school is hard...but this morning I did it. NO tears...I will wait until Tyler starts school next year for that.
I love seeing the students come back with eager minds ready to learn...oops wrong school! But it is nice to see them all back and hear about summer.
It is hard saying goodbye to my own children knowing I won't make coffee for me while they watch cartoons in the morning. I won't be putting Sam down for an afternoon nap so Tyler and I can play alone. I won't run through the sprinkler, go for a morning walk, or lay on the couch wishing they would have slept another hour!
The only time I lost it today was when Ms. Debbie Jean had to send this email out. So I have decided to post it...


Hi there ladies just wanted to wish you ALL "Good Mornings" while we are away from our kids. Whether it be school or day care. Most of us have school age kids and it is that time when we are ready for them to go back but it is hard to see them get another year older. So let them know every morning how much you love them and how much they mean to you so that no matter what happends while they are away they know that Mom is loving them. If they get teased or hurt Mom can hug the pain away, if they have trouble with subjects Mom will help with patient instructions, if they lose a tooth or get a gold star they know Mom will be there waiting with a smile to praise them. Since they are only little for a little while, have "good mornings" because it will stay with them all day!
Love you all!
Debby Jean
(If you can tell I had a hard time today ) But we had a great morning!


I LOVE YOU DEBBIE AND YOU ARE A FANTASTIC MOTHER!

Labor Day weekend at the Lake!

This had to be, by far, the greatest weekend out to the lake we have EVER had. Not only did we have Daddy out all weekend with us, but the campground was packed! Everyone was in town for the long Labor Day weekend. The beach was a constant kid fest. There was balloon launchers, water guns, rafts and beach toys everywhere. Even I went almost completely accross the lake just to try and catch the rocketing water balloons.
We had campfires every night...Tyler had only roasted marshmellows up until this weekend. When I suggested roasting brats on the fire (since, it was 9:00 and we hadn't had anything for dinner besides ice cream) he looked at me as if I was crazy and he said "Ma, we don't roast hotdogs!"....when I had him do it...he ate the whole darn thing!
We can't forget all the bunnies and frogs we saw all weekend. And the snakeskin neighbor Joe found. Grandma Tonda was out and enjoyed most of Saturday and Sunday with us.


The best part had to be that Tyler had his first tubing experience! Its unfortunate that we don't use the boat more but with Sam being so little it can be more work right now that either of us want to attempt. This weekend we decided to venture out to big fish lake and take a boat ride. We finally got out the fire engine that Grandma Tonda bought forever ago. Tyler loved being pulled behind the boat in it and he was the hit of the campground when we brought it down to the lake later.

What a great weekend. I could sit and cry that school starts tomorrow...but instead I am heading off to bed! I love my family!