D.A.R.E. Graduation

Fifth grade is a fun year.  Cody has grown up so much and has really starting to show us the young man that he is quickly becoming.  One of the big events in his fifth grade year has been his D.A.R.E. program.  A local law enforcement officer has spent a good part of the year with their class teaching them the importance of resisting drugs.  Their efforts and knowledge was celebrated at a graduation ceremony. 

Cody receiving his diploma from his D.A.R.E. teacher.

More congratulations from local and state law enforcement.

Our graduate.  Way to go, Cody!!

Mr. Henry

He's still a puppy, but his growth is making it a bit harder for him to claim that title.  Doesn't matter, he'll always be my baby boy.

Hello, Henry Louise!  Don't give your momma that look!

He absolutely adores the kids and will move heaven and earth just to be with them.

This is his "I'm not doing anything.  Just turn your back for one second and I'm going to pounce" look.

Sleepy boy.  He has about 20-30 minutes of good play time in him, then he's ready for about a 2 hour siesta!

The More, The Merrier

As you probably read in a previous post, we adopted a new puppy into our family.  Henry is so wonderful.  He's so loveable and funny!  So much so that we needed another puppy!  One just like him!  So, we adopted his sister!  Miss Sally is the newest member of our family.

Prayers from the Past

I was going through a few posts that I wrote over a year ago.  They remain in draft form because I just didn't have time to finish them.  Obviously, I'm not about to go back and finish them now, but I thought I'd share the funnies with you.


This is in reference to one of Chad's business trips.  The girls said their prayers the evening he left and something a little humorous came out of them. 


The girl's prayers went like this...

Samantha: Dear Heavenly Father, please keep daddy safe on his trip. Please keep us safe while he is gone. Also, please let daddy have a good time and I'm so excited to see him. When we pick him up from the airport, I am going to be so happy. I'll be so excited to see him, I just might cry. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Samantha... always the practical one.

Chloe: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for giving daddy work. Daddy, be safe. I miss daddy. And, thank you for giving us underpants. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!


Chloe... surprising us at every turn.

Dropping By

Well, it seems it's been months (many months) since I've updated here.  The lack of posts is certainly not due to a boring life.  Quite the opposite.  We've be very busy with school, kid's activities, holidays, work and everything in between.  I'm not even going to attempt to make up six months of posts in this one, but I'll touch on some highlights.

 July 2012 -
Trip to the Great Wolf Lodge
Hanging out in the sun.

August 2012 -
Our beloved dog, Bubbles passed away.  We still miss him dearly.
The kids started school.  Cody in 5th grade, Samantha in 4th grade and Chloe in Kindergarten.
Cody started playing football for the first time.

September 2012 -
Samantha played fall soccer.
Cody played football.
Chad started classes at UCM.
Tammi continued classes at SFCC.

October 2012 -
More football.
More soccer.
Chloe joined dance.
Chloe had her first field trip to the pumpkin patch.

November 2012 -
Visitors from Nebraska.
Trip to Nebraska for Thanksgiving.

December 2012 -
Chloe's Christmas Dance Recital
We added a family member to our home.  Henry.
Church Christmas Program
Christmas at our home.  No traveling this year.
Tammi graduated from SFCC with her Associates degree.

January 2013 -
Cody began his basketball season.
More classes for Chad at UCM.
Tammi started classes at CMU.
Back to school for the kids after Christmas break.

And, here we are at the end of February.  We've been busy with Archery, our new puppy, basketball and a few trips.  I don't foresee our lives slowing down at all, but I'll try to update a bit better than before.  For now, you'll have to just sit back and enjoy pics of our new baby.

Summer 2012

All of our kiddos...even the furry one!!

Chloe is Five!!

The anticipation nearly crippled her.  The impatience nearly drove me crazy.  However, we made it!!  Chloe's birthday finally arrived!!!  She is 5 years old now!

Her day was fun-filled....  Lunch at her favorite restaurant, a trip to the park, bowling, ice cream and cake/cupcakes!

Five is apparently the age at which children are able to start making all of their own decisions....  Chloe informed me as soon as she woke up that she will be doing whatever she wants now.  I believe the conversation went a little like this...
Chloe - "Mom, am I five now?"
Mom - "Yes, Chloe."
Chloe - "Well, now I get to do whatever I want and you are not the boss anymore."
Mom - "Dream on, Chloe.  You are not the boss."
Chloe - "Actually, I am.  I am five now."
Mom - "Chloe, you have to be much older to be in charge."
Chloe - "How old?  Six?"

Yep...welcome to our world of Chloe!
She's 5 going on 15!

A little about our Chloe Belle...
She loves singing and dancing.  She'll do both in public with no care in the world about anyone seeing her.  She introduces herself to anyone and everyone we meet.  She loves animals and getting dirty.  She is curious about everything!  She can make a mess faster than anyone we know.

She's so loveable and has the sweetest way of showing it.  She loves fighting with her brother and sister.  We think one of her favorite things is to get her brother and sister angry, and she's very good at it!  She makes us laugh so hard and brings so much love into our home.  Such a special girl!

Happy 5th Birthday, Chloe!!