Our Easter-

We had a great Easter weekend with our family! We ate some yummy doughnuts, had many different Easter egg hunts and even though it was a rainy weekend had a lot of fun!

We went back to the yummy doughnut store and got some pretty doughnuts. Kaylee choose a ladybug and by the time she was finished eating it it was all over her face!

This is our family pic on Easter.

Drew, Heather, and Luke on Easter morning

Jeremy, Brandy and Traber on Easter

Ryan, Holly, Lilly, and Linnea on Easter

all the grand kids. I would just like to point our how dark it was outside. This picture was taken before lunch not at night! It rained all day so we had to entertain ourselves inside. :)

Brody and Kaylee!

I just love this picture! So cute and funny all at the same time!

We were able to go on a walk and look at a cow. The kids loved this and I think the cow loved it just as much!

Brody got a new puzzel for Easter. Here he is doing it with 3 of his Aunts. It is a 100 piece puzzel so it is a little harder then normal but a great challenge for him!

The finished product!! We had a great weekend and enjoyed playing games and continuing the tradition of boy's vrs girls egg hunt! :)

New things

It has been awhile since I have made a post so I though I would do an update on what we have been doing. We went to Lilly's 3rd Birthday Party and had a great time! Sh had a butterfly themed party and all the decorations were so cute! Holly and Ryan made her cake! Doesn't it look really cool!!
I thought this picture was so cute! Kaylee wanted to sit on Brody's lap while they watched Lilly open her presents.
Here Grandpa is showing Kaylee some of his video that he got at the party.

Linnea looking so pretty at the party! She is getting so big! I think she looks like a little girl here and not a baby anymore.

Traber at the party. I love this picture of him! We had a great time playing games, eating cake and spending time with Lilly on her Birthday!

We had another Birthday celebration...... We spent the morning with my mom on her Birthday! We had a great time doing new things that we had never done before! We went to a really cool Doughnut place. They make doughnuts into different shapes and the kids can pick out what fun thing they want to eat. Here they were eating Easter Bunnies. So fun! And the doughnuts were really good!

My mom with the kids.

Then we went to a fun nursery here where they have bikes for the kids to ride on! It is a great idea and Brody LOVED it!
On his bike. It is fun for them because they can go around the different paths while you shop for plants or even if you just look at the plants and don't buy anything!!!! :) We will be going back that is for sure!

We then went to this really cool place and saw all kids of fish in different ponds. Unfortunately my camera died so I was not able to get a picture of it.

We then had a wonderful dinner with my parents and made smores in their backyard!

Looking at her smores and thinking ... " wow I can't believe I get to eat all of this!"

We had an Easter egg hunt at our church last week and the kids had a great time looking for Easter Eggs and taking their Easter baskets to church!

Here they are after the "hunt"

We are in the process of selling our house. So to everyone that has sold their house that has little kids will understand that you have to keep it constantly pick up. It is a great habit for Brody to get into to but as a way to make it a little more fun Ja made up a game for them to play while picking up. Brody really gets into it and the house looks great!
of course you have to dress up and be silly while playing this game! :)

Kaylee has really started liking to draw or color. Really anything that has to do with coloring she loves! She was sitting in my room while I was getting ready one day "drawing" pictures for me! So cute and so different then Brody!

We made the big transition to a big girl bed and she loves it! I got her bed at a consignment sale and got a really good deal on it! I love how everything turned out!

Sleeping in her big girl bed for the first time!

Book Review #1

When I was in school I never really liked to read much. The only books I remember liking (and I mean can't put the book down liking) was the Harry Potter series. I liked that it was different and unique. I could handle the witchcraft/wizardry because I know it is not real. I remember not being able to put the books down and when they were done I was always left wanting more.

Before I had Brody I was a substitute teacher and since all you do as a sub in middle school is pass out worksheets, I would take a book with me to read so I would not go insane with boredom! (Please don't think I was a bad sub, I knew when to lay down the law and when kids were trying to get away with something. But what do you do with an hour plan??? Read a book!) While reading books from Clive Cussler who wrote Sahara, to the ever same Nicholas Sparks books I was looking from something more. It was my sister who told me about a certain Vampire book that I just had to read. Ummm lets just say I was never really into Vampires, that was Amy's thing! :) hahaha. She was the one that watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ........ not me! hahahah! I was very skeptical of reading Twilight (like most are) until I read the first few pages and I was hooked! I literately could not put the books down. For me it was reading the Twilight series that really opened up a love for books. As a stay at home mom it gives me something different to think about other than mom things. And as my mom says "reading is a great way to exercise your brain!"

Like most people, I have read Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games and have been looking for another good series to read. I have read Maze Runner and will be doing a post about that soon. However for my first book review I am going to be talking about a new series that I just found and really enjoyed!

The Iron King
by Julie Kagawa

Here is a little bit about the book:

Meghan Chase lives a very simple life on a pig farm in a small town in the middle of Louisiana. Her family is very poor and it's a constant struggle to make ends meet. Her stepfather barely pays any attention to her and she often feels as if she's invisible. Robbie is her best friend and he's always been there to make her smile. When her little brother, Ethan, is kidnapped by the faeries, (that she just recently found out existed) Meghan begins an action packed journey through the Nevernever to bring him back.

The world of the faery is as terrifying as it is beautiful. Along the way Meghan has to endure many hard things in order to find her brother. There are a number of fun and different characters who aid Meghan on her journey.

In this first book of the series you can tell that there is going to be a love story/ love triangle. Ash is the dangerous and deadly Winter Prince sent to hunt down Meghan and deliver her to the Winter Queen. The Winter Prince has some pretty lethal ice tricks and he's dark and twisty. Puck is the Summer faery who has always been Megan's best friend (aka Robbie). Both Ash and Puck help Megan as she struggles to find her brother and bring him back home.

Here is an excerpt from the book-

"Let go!" I screamed, jerking my arm free and tying to claw the princes' eyes. "My Brother is out there! I have to save him!"

" You don't even know where he is." Ash caught my flailing wrist and pinned it to his chest. Silver eyes glared into mine as he shook me, once. "Listen to me! If you go charging out there without a plan, you'll kill us all, and your brother will die. Is that what you want?"

"No" I whispered, all the fight going out of me. With a shaky breath, I straightened and wiped my eyes. "Sorry," I said, embarrassed "I'm ok now. No more freaking out, I promise.

" Ash still held my hand. Gently I tried pulling back, but he wasn't letting go. I glanced up, and found his face inches from mine. My heart stumbled a bit, then picked up, louder and faster than before. The prince's expression was blank; nothing showed on his face or in his eyes, but his body had gone very still.

I licked my lips and whispered, "Is this where you say you'll kill me?"

One corner of his lip curled. "If you like," he murmured, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. "Though it's gotten far too interesting for that." - The Iron King-

The Iron Fey Series:
1. The Iron King
2. The Iron Daughter
3. The Iron Queen
4. The Iron Knight (coming soon)
(You can buy these books at Walmart or you can always borrow them from me!)

I know this kind of book may not be for everyone. In fact it took some time for me to really get into it. But if you are sick of the same old love story then this series is fun, imaginative, full of action, no bad language or vulgar scenes and of course has a love triangle! :)

well as they said on Reading Rainbow "You be the judge." hahahah :)

Look for Emily's FIRST Book Review coming soon!!!!!!

Our spring break trip......

This past week we took a short little family trip to Branson. We always have so much fun here and knew the kids would love to go back in the nice weather since the last time we went it was FREEZING! We could not have asked for better weather this time though! We had a great trip and really enjoyed getting away even if it was just for a little while.

We went to Branson Landing and had a great time! They have many different stores there that you can go in and it is a very fun atmosphere. We ate some yummy pizza there and of course had to stop by Orange Leaf and get some ice cream!

At night they have a really fun water show!! It was cool to see and would highly recommend it if you are going to take a trip there! After the water show was over Brody turned to us and said " this is the best trip ever!!" I think the water show made a big impression on him!


Our day in Silver Dollar City started of great! The kids got to be co-pilots on the trolley from the parking lot to the city. Every little boys dream!! They even got a ribbon saying that they were co-pilots.
The park has opened up a new little area for kids to play in. Brody had a great time on the swings!

Of course we had to ride the train. I am thinking about writing a NEW SCRIPT for them! You know it is time to change the script when your 4 year old son knows all the lines!!!!!! Wow I mean it is not that hard to think of some new jokes is it????

They of course loved all the rides!

Can you guess what day we went on?????? :)

We found a great new place to eat! I loved sitting here because it was out of the way and because of the fun waterfall! I remember when I was a little girl you could walk under the waterfall. Now they don't even have a path going there.

One of my favorite pics of the trip!!!!!!! Nothing like a little brother sister love!

Can you believe that Brody took this picture?? It is the first time we have let him take a picture with our big camera. I did not even have to crop this. Pretty good. :)



We had a great trip and we were all a little tired when we left from having so much fun! :)

Fun times with Family and Friends!

This last weekend Heather, Drew, and Luke came to visit. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and we even made smores at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Kaylee loved it!






We celebrated Linnea's 1st Birthday last weekend as well! Holly had it decorated so pretty and the kids had a great time eating the yummy cupcakes and playing with the home made play-dough that she made. Here Kaylee is enjoying the icing!


The Birthday girl! She is in awe about the yummy cake she just got to eat! :) I bet she is thinking that they have been holding out on her!

Our trip to OKC!
We went and visited some very dear friends in OKC this week. On the way in to town we stopped at McDonald's for a potty break and low and behold look who was there! The kids liked this and wanted me to take a picture of them with him.

While we were there we went to a really fun Museum. We saw some very big dinosaurs while we were there!

"Look mom" :) Apparently this is the largest dinosaur skull that has been found to date. Interesting!
This museum had a fun play area for the kids where they could look for dinosaur bones. Here Jocelyn is looking for some.
Here Kaylee is sitting in a canoe. She is crying because she ran out of fruit snacks (don't judge me because of the fruit snacks.... they are great to keep your child happy in certain situations, well at least until they run out!)

Here is a picture of Little Miss sitting in time out! That's right there is always a corner for a good old time out when they need one! Kaylee is at the stage of always wanting her way and when she does not get it she will let you know about it. So it is important for her to know that is not ok with me! :) She is a very sweet funny little girl but as every 2 year old does she has her moments of melt downs. When Brody had these I was always able to distract him with something else to get his mind off of what he was crying about, however Kaylee is not as easily distracted! :) I will say that after this time out she stopped crying and had a great time!

We had a GREAT day with our friends and can't wait to see them again!!!!