Loss....

One of my dear friends lost her husband a couple of days ago in Afghanistan, I have not been able to deal with this very well. It has been a long time since i have seen either one of the regretfully but it has really hit home for me that this war is not over and that there are still people real people losing their lives so that we can be safe here on our own soil. I want to just tell all of you how greatful I am for their service and all that they do for us. Over the past couple of days I have tried very hard to cherish every moment that I have with my family...even with all the messes and the what seem to be unimportant conversations, they are important to me and that is what matters I can still have the silly conversation about nothing with my husband and there are so many military husbands and wifes that can't, and will never be able to have that again with their spouse or a mother who can't talk to her child again in this life.Every litte thing such as calling Joe from the grocery store, just to see if there was anything else he need has seemed so very important to me, even when the kids were blowing bubbles in their milk and it was spilling over to the floor I just tried to enjoy it because you never know how short this earthly life is. I am so very greatful to know that we are an eternal family and we will be together forever and wish that I could bring that to all of the people who have lost loved ones and share with them the joy it brings into your life to know that you will be with them again! I am kinda of rambling but I just wanted to put it in writing how greatful I am for the ultimate sacrfice that FRANKIE TONER has made with his life and for the sacrifice Brooke made when she sent her husband off to war. My prayers are with you and may God be with you in this time of need!
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/mar/29/westlake-football-champ-killed/

New hair cuts!!

I got a little bug in my butt the other night after bath-time and decided to take a chance at cutting the girls hair. Last time we did that with Joey it was a disaster, I didn't touch his this time I am waiting to take him in to the salon to get his done. Elli loved it and wanted her hair cute again the next morning too. So funny.

I cut about 3 inchs off the back of Elli's hair and LOVE how cute it looks on her! It looks so so much better then it did!

Bria I cut some bangs and think it looks so much better, but she does have a calic that I didn't know was there until after I was done so one side looks shorter, but isn't.

My 3 have arrived!

It may have taken a little while but all 3 of my craft it forwards have spoken. Please send me your address in the comments section and I will delate it before it gets posted but I want it to be a surprise when you get it so pass it along and sometime in the next year(lol) you will get a surprise gift made by me...guess I better figure out how to make something crafty. Thanks for playing!!!!!

Birthday Bash!

So everyone needs to check out the birthday bash that is happening this week!

Craft it Forward!

The first three people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!
Who's in?

Daddy love!

Sledding for the first time!

PLEASE READ THIS!!!

PLEASE READ THIS AND PASS IT ON I PULLED IT OFF OF A
FRIENDS BLOG CAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE HEARD.
Recently someone had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he's outside, someone's with him, so the idea of him getting into something unknown washard to believe. My neighbor started going through all the items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed, in very tiny print, a warning which stated 'may be harmful to small children and animals.' He called the company to ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that antifreeze is one of the ingredients (actually, he was told it's a compound which is one moleculeaway from antifreeze). Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution, then licking its own paws, it ingested enough of the solution to destroy its liver.Soon after his dog's death, his housekeepers' two cats also died of liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups on their floors. Necropsies weren't done on the cats, so they couldn't file a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many people as possible so they don't lose their animals. This is equally harmful to babies and small children that play on thefloor a lot and put their fingers in their mouths a lot.PLEASE, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE BABIES, SMALL CHILDREN OR OWN A PET;TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW! YOU MAY NOT HAVE ANY CHILDREN OR PETS BUT SOME OF YOU HAVE FRIENDS OR FAMILY WITH PETS AND ALSO FAMILIES WITH GRANDCHILDREN AND GREAT GRANDCHILDREN.

Oldies!!

So Joe down loaded a bunch of picture from the card that is in his phone and up came these little gems I just can't believe that this little man is going to be 4 this year. I am having some real issues with that one. Cause not only does it mean that he is getting older but it mean that I am getting older and not just by a little bit it seems to be jumping a couple years at a time now not just one year at a time anymore. And to be honest i don't remember much of ever having one child! Cause if I remember correctly(and I know I do) I was pregnant with Ellianna in this pic with Joey. You can tell my children didn't have patience in getting here they wanted to be here now! But I wouldn't change any of it for anything I LOVE having my kids so close together!
Joey and I at Duxbury beach his first time to Mass.

What a big eyed stud muffin....good thing he grew into the ears huh!

Daddy was playin with him and I think this was one of my favorites!

HAPPY BIG 17!!!

Demo Day

We had to demo a little bit of the kitchen in order to make room for the fridge that we had to purchase(ouch) the fridge would have stuck out in walkway of the kitchen by about a foot(we had jammed the last fridge under the cabinets cause it was already a piece and like 20 years old, no joke the repair guy just kinda laughed at joe when we called to see if we could get it fixed) which wasn't going to work that space so we took out so cabinets and wall behind to make it fit better. We still need to put new wall back in but that is going to have to wait till the fridge is payed for.

Is this not the coolest wallpaper every? There are about 4 layers of wallpaper on the kitchen walls and then somone decided to put a coat of plaster over the top and make it look like they ran a broom down the wall it is just lovely...I think we are going to have to take out all of the sheet rock and put in new stuff. It took me about 4 hours to get a 1ft section taken off the wall I vote for new sheet rock anyone else with me.

So we decieded to do some demo last week and the kids loved it!! Bria was right there in the mess of it most of the morning! As you can see she was trying to help pick up the broken tile. And by the way this is the laundry room if you couldn't tell. It was totally non funtional I couldn't shut the door cause my machines were in the way and to me a laundry room needs a door plus it is tiny any way so we cut down the cabinets and moved they to the other wall and stacked my machines in the corner which gave us a ton of room.

Joey was helping to scrap the wall paint off little did we know at the time that Daddy was just going to rip the whole wall down..oh well it kept him busy for a long time!

And just thought I would share this one, there is no lack of power tools in this house. I don't have a stand mixer(and despiretly need one, so feel free to bring one my way) and my hand mixer died about a month ago. My husband thinks it is a waste to buy another one when he has perfectly good power tools on hand!

Crazy WEEK!

I am so glad that we are at the start of a new week! I was just ready to be done with the last week! We lost winston on Wen. but on top of that we lost the Fridge, I found that right after I had gotten our friend out the door with Winston...all of our freezer stuff had thawed out and some of the fridge stuff was bad...at this point we still don't have a fridge and are thankful that it has been cold out so that the food could just be outside. As I was trying to cook the meat that was still cold in the freezer but had to be cooked right away so it wouldn't be all bad I managed to knock a glass jar off the top of the fridge and shatter it in the middle of the kitchen floor...could this please just stop...I was ready to just go to bed and pretend like the day hadn't started, but that wasn't an option cause Joe was still out of town so we have to just keep on movin. The kids actually did really well the whole day with everything that just kept snowballing so I am greatful that they knew I needed a bit of cooperation from them! Then Sat. my children had a lovely time of the runs you moms know what I mean....I think that they have gotten some of that Salmanilla poisoning but they had such a small amount of the peanut butter that I think it hasn't been as bad...but who knows maybe I am wrong and they got something else but I really think it was the peanut butter...I am calling the Doctor in the morning to see if there is more besides the ton of water that I have made them drink that I should do. Any way to make this long story shorter...I am praying we can have a new fridge this week when I can pull that money out of thin air and that this week is going to go better!! Hope you all have a GREAT week and stay positive!!!

~WINSTON~

I Know to some people that this may seem a little weird but I just wanted to post today about winston..he died this morning and we aren't sure why and as much as he drove me nuts with all of his chewing and his shedding and all of that stuff he will be missed. The kids loved him and he loved the kids...Bria would sit on top of him and stick her fingers in his eyes and mouth and nose and he would just sit and watch her...ellianna could almost ride on him like Bria did on a regualr basis cause he was so big, he was only 9 months old so it breaks my heart that he is gone as much as he was a big lug. Joe will really miss him cause he wanted a big dog so much and he spoiled him rotten and let him ride in the front seat of his truck like a little dog on your lap. Now take into account winston was bigger than Joe!! We loved him so much with the short time that we had him and are sorry that he is gone! And I need to put a shout out to our amazing friends who delt with this for us as Joe is out of town and I have 4 kids running around and couldn't deal with the dog too they never read this but out old neighbor whom we love dearly came to my rescue and took care of Winston this morning so Thank you to them!

Fun Times!!

We had some fun in the back yard last week...this house definetly has it's perks. The kids sure loved being out side in the warm water with the snow on the ground!

They are starting to look more and more alike....no wonder everyone asks me if they are twins!

Favorite Recipe

Just thought I would share this since i haven't posted in a while but this is one of my kids(and husbands) favorite recipes. Not low fat my any small strech but it is delicious.
Mac and Cheese
1 can of chicken broth(141/2ounce can)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp of uncooked elbow noodles(we use anything we have)
3/4 cup of evaporated milk
2 tbsp butter cut up
2 tsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded chedder cheese

1. Heat the oven to 350
2. In 8x10 baking dish combine all ingredients but the cheese stir and mix together cover with foil and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Stir after 15 minutes and again after 30 min. Remove from oven stir in cheese intil melted. Serve immediatly.
I hope you enjoy cause we sure do.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!

Note to Self!

DO NOT put the train under the Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving....it will drive you crazy!

One Hot Cook!

Look at that Hottie!
Winston even wanted in on this family dinner and gave us the nasty eye for all of dinner.

Cambria was even sneaking stuffing before we sat down at the table and I think that she ate just about all of the stuffing herself.

Just before Joe put the Turkey in the oven...we forgot to take a picture when we took it out.

I am so proud of Joe!!! He is an amazing cook and did all of our Thanksgiving cooking this year. We had it at our house and had our dear family friend from Utah up to share it with us. He did it all literally. The turkey, ham, potatoes stuffing....the works and it all was so delicious...he did get himself in trouble though cause I told him I am never cooking dinner again. Nothing I make even compares to what he did. Sorry this is coming a little late I have tried like 6 times to post and it keeps dropping off for some reason. Any way hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I GIVE UP I JUST HAD A HUGE POST THAT TOOK ME FOREVER AND MY COMPUTER ERASED IT SO I AM DONE FOR TODAY YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT A LITTLE LONGER FOR SOMETHING NEW!

I forgot!

I know I saw a friend of mine post this not to long ago so I thought I would do the same since I am trying to watch what is being posted! Any way if you have our name as your link to the page it would be great if you would change that to something else... for example "The crazy family" or "The Nutty bunch" I don't know what ever tickles your fancy but please just take our name(Last name) off of your blog! Thanks so much for understanding!

Going Private!

I am taking the turn to the other side! We are making this blog private so if you would like to be a reader please drop a comment with your email and I will delete it once I have it so that I can make this change I did a little search and found way more then I would have liked so here we go. I know it can be a pain but I would rather be safe then sorry. I am going to leave it this way for a couple more weeks to give people time but after that you are out of luck.