Need 4 Speed ...

Saturday we took Justin to watch the end of the season car race at Colorado National Speedway (CNS) in Erie. CNS is where Dwight raced. Justin had a great time … it just was a very late night and he was exhausted when we left at 11:00pm. We didn’t even stay for the last race or fireworks. The poor little guy was just too tired. Not to mention mommy, daddy and Grandpa Bruce were tired as well.

The races are always fun but seems to stir up the “need for speed” nagging feeling Dwight gets when he watches racing. He keeps talking about getting back into it. Oh mercy I’m not sure I could devote my spring/summer/fall weekends to racing. Nor could the bank account afford the price tag that comes with racing. Thank goodness it is the end of the season and hopefully his thoughts for wanting a new race car will come and go.

~ Justin taking a break from watching and playing with some cars mommy brought along for him to play with ~

~ Justin with his NEW Bruce "the Moose" Yackey shirt and Checkered Flag ~

It's a House Party ...

I’ve been selected to host a house party. You know me I love messing around on the internet and several months ago I discovered this fabulous website houseparty.com --- You have a variety of parties to choose from. Once the party is open you fill out an application and cross your fingers that you are selected to be a hostess cause not only will you have a reason to have a party you get free stuff!! NICE Stuff … I’ve applied for a few other parties but have never been selected as a hostess --- but this time with OVER 14,000 applicants they picked ME to host one of the 1,000 parties!!!

Best of all the party I have been selected to host is a CANON SCRAPBOOKING party! I received my party pack already and it was just like Christmas. An entire box full of fun stuff ~ a $200 value … I received a fabulous Canon SELPHY CP770 Compact Photo Printer, photo paper, printer ink, mini photo albums and scrapbook paper kits to share with my party guests.

Now that I’m done sewing Trick or Treat bags I’ve got some cleaning to do before my craft room is ready for a party.

4 Down ...

It’s been 2 weeks since I started balancing what I eat with exercise. So far I have lost 4 pounds. Not much but our group goes for 8 more weeks. If I lost 2 pounds every week by Thanksgiving I will have lost a total of 20 pounds. I WOULD BE THRILLED!!
Actually I really haven’t done much in terms of dieting or excessive exercise. I've focused more on drinking lots of water and portion control. I try to get some exercise in daily but most of the time it is a quick walk to the store or 20x up and down the stairs.
I did reward myself this morning with a Starbucks. 1st Starbucks in over 2 weeks… that is record for me!

Craftier Side of Me ...

I have wanted to make Trick or Treat bags since Justin was little. It just seems like Halloween always comes and goes so quickly with NO homemade treat bags. Well this year I finally got it done. Not only did I make them for Makenna and Justin. I made them for all 5 of my little nieces and nephews… Taylor, Brandon, Caleb, Emily and Madalee!

~ Caleb's ~

~ Makenna's Front ~

~ Back ~

~ Brandon's ~

Flowers 4 Grandma H...

It doesn’t seem right when one of Justin’s favorite things to do is to take flowers to the cemetery. I hope he never forgets how much his Grandma H loved him and all the special times they shared together.

3 Days of Fun....

My sister Lori and her husband Charlie braved 9 hour in the car (each way) with their 4 kids to enjoy a short 3 day visit. They arrived from Orange City, Iowa late Friday evening ~ and left early Tuesday morning. The kids had a FABULOUS time! The kids played so hard that we really didn’t do anything but hang out around the house which was great for us adults to have a chance to visit ~ We did venture out to Chuck E. Cheese on Monday for lunch. Of coarse the kids had a great time! Taylor loved playing “big sister” to Makenna and just like Lori and I predicted Brandon and Justin were “inseparable”. Come Monday evening all the kids and adults were EXHAUSTED!

Taylor is 6 … a sweet loving big sister who loves crafts and coloring.
Brandon is 4 … all boy, absolutely charming, loves Ben 10, Star Wars and Batman.
Caleb is 2 … shy at first and then FULL of spunk, into everything but his sweet innocence and loving nature melts your heart.
Emily is 2 months ... cute as can be and looks a lot like Big Sister Taylor!

Enjoy the photos ... press the orange arrow to turn the pages!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

BL6...

Wish me luck. I’ve decided to get my big butt moving and try to lose some of this weight that I have been carrying around since Makenna was born. Don’t worry you won’t see me running around in a “biking suit”… but I will be trying to watch what I eat and fit some exercise into my already crazy schedule. I’m determined to do this!! I’ve signed up with 30 other women (my fishie friends … that are members of an online website that I belong to). We have been divided up into 2 teams and will challenge each other in an online Biggest Loser 6 competition. Our weigh-ins began today and the competition lasts for 10 weeks. Just maybe by Christmas I can fit into those jeans I’ve been saving in the back of the closet!!

Up 2 No Good ...

Every mom has it. The moment when you realize the house is WAY too quiet so you know your little one is up to NO GOOD. Well it happened this morning and here is what I found… That would be Makenna’s swimsuit on her head and another one on inside out! LOL

Save the Date

Not sure if you have experienced one of the Halloween parties in the past … mark your calendar cuz' you won’t want to miss this one. This year it will be triple the fun as Us (the Michael’s), the Van Cleave’s and Bigge’s all join together to host this years party!!

Get ready to Get Dooown!

Save the Date for the Annual Halloween Party
Saturday ~ October 25th

Break out the platform shoes, slip into those psychedelic purple polyester bellbottoms, and get ready to get your groove on as we Boogie the Night Away …
DISCO STYLE!

Complete details coming in early October!!

Worth The Wait...

Justin assured me that it was well worth the wait when we arrived at the cemetery and he rushed out of the car, running over to what use to be a blank piece of concrete, gently he ran his fingers across the front of mom’s headstone and said, “oh mom it is so beautiful”. We looked it all over and I read the words for the kids. The words on the back are from a song that was sung at mom’s service.

~ The stone is Blue Granite and even more Beautiful up close ~



If you could see me now

My prayers have all been answered
I've finally arrived
The healing that has been delayed
Has now been realized
No one's in a hurry
There’s no schedule to keep
We’re all enjoying Jesus
Just sitting at His feet

Justin was super excited that it said “Grandma” on it and that there is a vase for flowers. I promised Justin we would get some flowers for the vase… Justin quietly sat next to mom’s headstone and softly said “Grandma I miss you, but I’ll be back tomorrow to bring you flowers”… he stood up kissed the top of her headstone and said “see you tomorrow Grandma, I love you” and started towards the car. With tears in my eyes I grabbed Makenna’s hand and headed towards the car… Justin stops - bends down – picks a dandelion - runs backs and puts it in the vase. Tomorrow we will return with some flowers and I hopefully get some better photos.