Finally.. New Pictures!!

You really don't appreciate the ease of uploading pictures to your computer until it's gone!! Our USB Cable died this past week, so I was unable to post anything new! Yay for getting it fixed!!

My Bekah.. trying to get a smiling picture!

Love the expression!!!



My sweet girls

Leah wanted Bekah to "say goodnight" to her, hence the picture!

My Big Girl.. 3 months old!

Finally a smile on camera!!!! Yay!


My fav. smiling picture so far!! Cute!

What a smily girl she is!! I love it!

Fabulous Savings!

The benefit of living in between 2 big towns if you can go to either for the same price of gas! Such was the case with these deals I got at Park Rapids.. (not my usual town to shop in.. I prefer Bemidji) But who could pass up these deals?

Coburns had a great deal going on General Mills products ( $10 for $15) plus a $5 off coupon from GM. I combined with MF coupons and got a steal on these!! (Some as little as $0.27 a box!)

My grand total for all this was $16.07!

For Sale:

I currently have quite a few Tupperware things still for sale.. I am offering them here in case any of you gals want some at a greatly reduced price!!! (I want to get rid of them!!!)

Here's what I have.

Set of 6 Tupperware Bowls with Lids (1 Cup and 2 Cup Bowls) ...$15.00!

(If you want just one set with 1-2cup and 1- 1cup bowl it is $3.)

Tupperware Heat n Serve 8 Cup Bowl ... $8.00

(This is great for making cakes in microwave, or for re-heating leftovers)

1 Kids Set .. $20.00
GREAT for all kids any age.. must have for moms!

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Please let me know if you want any in the comment section! First come first served. Thanks!

Leah & Corgi Puppies!

My Mom's Welsh Corgi, Cyra, recently had 3 puppies! We were all very excited to see them.. they are so different than the Goldens we normally breed! Leah just had a blast with them (and still does) Here are some fun pic from the past weeks!

Leah and the 3 puppies (1 week old)

Leah with my fav puppy, the Male Tri-Color

The two remaining puppies left.. one male and one female red-and-whites.

This is a shameless plug for selling them, I admit it!! :) They are both adorable puppies, AKC registered, and 100% purebred with much medical checking and A'OK'd! They are very fun-loving, energetic, lovable, good-with-kids, dogs! Mom is asking $400 for either! If you want one let me know.. :)

Wanted:

We need furniture! In a few months we will need to fill our brand new HUGE house with furniture and I am looking for anyone who might have some they need to part with (or know of people that do! )

We would be willing to purchase (new or in good used cond.):

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2 matching Twin Beds with mattresses (or mattresses by themselves)

1 Double Bed Frame with Mattress ( Or just the mattress)

1 Tall-style Dresser

Any nice couches or loveseats

2 or 3 Recliner-style chairs

Any bookshelves/kids storage shelves (wood or plastic)_________________________________________

If you have any of these items you'd be willing to sell us we'd be more than happy to come and take it off your hands! Thanks!

3 Months Old!!!

I can't believe my little peanut is 3 months old already! Time goes so fast! :)

How she has changed!

Rebekah Grace

5 lbs 8 oz

18 in long

March 11, 2008
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(mommy guestimate)

11 lbs 12 oz

23 inches long

June 11, 2008

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(Actual weight)

11lbs 2 oz

22 1/2 inches long

June 12, 2008

Day at the Park!

We had a picnic lunch at the park this past week! Leah (and Bekah) just loved it!! We got Taco Bell (big treat) and I got a FREE Frutista drink (they are GREAT!) We fed the ducks some leftovers and then played for a while on the playground! It was a great break in between my errands in town!

Leah smiling in the Pavilion

The Geese with their 6 baby geese!

Feeding the Geese/Duck

Just hanging out!

Hi Mom!

Going down the slide by herself!!

Homeschool Sale Steals!!

I LOVED the Homeschool Used Book Sale this year! There were soooo many people with kindergarten/preschool stuff that I had a blast finding all these great deals! I can't wait for next year's sale!

For my $15 I bought..

4 Wipe-Off Teaching Placemats (Addition, Subtraction, Letters and Numbers)

4 Magic School Bus Books ( I LOVED these as a kid)

1 Little House in the Classroom Unit Study book (This is going to be great when we read the books as a family later in life!)

" My New Potty" Book (Great for positive motivation for Leah!)

1 Bible Story Coloring Book

2 Handwriting Tablets

2 Movies: 1 Older Disney "Melody Time" and a Pooh Movie for Leah

and a Foam Puzzle-type Clock (for telling time)

What I've been busy with..

Tada!!! Here are some of my wonderful gardening projects I have been starting, planting and keeping up this year! I just love gardening!

The Complete Orchard and Beds View

The great Stacked Strawberry Planter Josh made for me. :) I have two of these made and planted this year with 75 plants in each! (The planter in the middle of the previous picture I planted last year and that has 50 plants.)

My 10 Nanking Cherry Bushes and 2 Blueberry plants

(this will make a nice thick hedge eventually!)

My Birthday present to myself.. a Herb Garden!!!

I have: Peppermint, Lavender, Sage, Rosemary, Oregano, Chives, Cilantro, Basil and Chamomile (yet to come up) All are Perennial (they grow back) except the last 3. I am soooo excited to try some of my herbs in cooking this summer!

Our Orchard.. the far left tree and the one behind it are Apple Trees, the rest are Plum trees. (very small plums) This is my project for next summer.. to expand on the Orchard! Put a bench in the middle, maybe a hammock.. plus plant some Apricot, Cherry and more Apple trees! Fun!

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As you can see, I've been quite busy.. and this isn't even all the gardening stuff I am doing!!! I am just so excited to be starting stuff on our own land! (Well, will be soon) It's great! I will post more pictures of the rest of my projects soon!

Makes you think, doesn't it?

I'm sure a lot of you heard about the tornado that brushed past here yesterday, and the havoc that it wrecked in a little town called Emmaville.. less than 20 minutes from where we live! (Don't worry we are all unharmed and undamaged!)

I got a phone call from Josh at 10am Friday morning, telling me to get the girls to the basement, as the tornado/storm was moving towards Lake George very fast! I quickly put the girls in the basement and Isaac and I got the necessary things for in case of emergency; clothes, blankets, water, and we brought all the dogs inside with us.

At the last minute I considered what would happen if this whole house was destroyed.. and what I'd miss the most, and immediately I thought of the second most valuable thing next to my family.. my photo albums!!! I ran upstairs and came down with all my 15 or so albums.. thankful to save at least something in case of diaster. A bunch of the neighbors who have no basements came over and we had a big "party" down in the basement for 1 1/2 hours until the storm watch was over.

Then it was back to a regular day.. funny how in a split second things can change! I kept thinking about my photo albums I had saved that day, and can't help but wonder, how valuable are (and should) our posessions be to us? I didn't run to save my KitchenAid, my favorite outfit, Leah's teddy bear, or even my Bible! It just makes me remember all of our worldy posessions are just temporary.. our real treasure is in heaven!!! Great thoughts for today.. and always!

Changes for Rebekah!!

Rebekah Grace.. turns 3 months old in a few days!! How did that happen?? :)

She has been changing so much over the last few days.. it's been fun to see!
Her personality is starting to come out.. she is a really happy, observant baby, often staring at the weirdest things for hours!! (She'd win any staring contest!) She notices movement from far away, and watches it come to her! She smiles HUGE when smiled at.. and coos constantly. (Leah says she "talks" to her) She loves to be held and given attention to, which can be demanding.. but once you pick her up there's no place she'd rather be!

She weighed in at 10 lbs 8 oz last week, and measured at 22 inches long! She is defiantely on a growth spurt! She is getting too long for her 0-3 month clothes.. it won't be long before we'll be into 3-6 month clothes! Hard to believe!

She is a great eater and nurses without any trouble now. She still gets up at night, but only about twice.. not too bad! Her cheeks are still chubby, her hair is still red (cute!) and her eyes are the prettiest blue you've ever seen! They're lighter than they were when she was born.. I am holding my breath that she will keep them blue like Daddy!! How beautiful!

That's one thing I love (and hate) about this age.. they grow and change so fast!! And yet, what a darling Bekah she is.. :)

Ideas on starting to Potty-Train... anyone?

Today was my first day at attempting to potty-train Leah!

I got her up in the morning, and right away went to the potty and as she sat on it, I explained to her how " Now she is a big girl and big girls go potty on the potty chair and not in baby diapers like Bekah!" (I also explained we get treats for going potty in the big potty) She was very excited about the idea of going potty in the potty like a big girl, which I was excited about!

I put a Pull-Up on her right away in the morning, as she was dry when she woke up, and I knew I could work on going potty in the chair every 5 minutes. (Mistake) I asked her a bunch of times in the morning is she needed to go potty and we sat on the chair every time, but nothing happened. Then wouldn't 'cha know, right after we sat on the chair she wet her Pull-Up. Oh well. I explained that now her big-girl pants were gone, and now she;s back in baby diapers. She was very sad at this and wanted a treat. I said "No treats until you go potty in the potty!" Then I continued to ask her every 10 minutes or so if she wanted to go potty, but she kept saying "No" and so I didn't force her. Obviously she went potty in her diaper, but I didn't want her to think going potty on the toliet is a "punishment".

So.. we're back where we started... kind of. She likes sitting on the potty, but never goes. But it's still FUN, which is what I wanted! I know she'll continue to get better, and I am just looking for some other ideas any of you might have to share on starting to potty-train.. I'd love some advice!!! Thanks!