The Hunting Report

Jason and his dad both shot does this morning. Jason's is just a bit bigger. The weather was going to be rainy, then snowy, and now it is just cold and windy. Next step is to skin them and hang them to drain. What fun!!

Slide Show >>>>>

I have added a slide show of random pictures. Please take a moment to watch. There are some really cute shots included. At least I think so. :)

Thank You!!

I just want to say thank you to everyone that I have stolen ideas from for my blog. Mindee, Brenda, Bridgette, and many more. Without the help of your ideas, my page would be boring!! Thanks again!!

Baptism Day

Lydia was baptized on her birthday, November 22, 2008. It was a very emotional day for her dad and I. We both can not believe that she is eight years old already. We don't feel old enough for an eight year old. The time goes by so fast. There were a lot of people there to support her on her big day. The spirit was very strong. I don't think there was a dry eye in the church. At least there wasn't in the Shoemaker family (we cry for everything.). We are so proud of the young lady she is becoming. We love you Lydia.

Car Ride To Grandma's House

We have a third row seat that we had ordered and installed last February. That has become Marshall's seat. It faces backwards and he loves it. So, he isn't riding back there without a seat belt. There really nice thing about the seat is that it is specifically made for kids. So, they don't need a booster seat to ride.

Here we are on our way to grandma Jackson's house the day after Thanksgiving. We cram as much in the car as we can. And we also have a hitch-hauler on the back that Jason straps his treestand to. We quickly run out of room. It will be easier when we don't have to pack the playpen for one of the babies to sleep in. (Jason's parents have a playpen too but we need both right now. I shared a bed with Savannah last time and she takes up so much room. It was a queen size bed too.) It takes close to 2 1/2 hours to get there. The kids all do really well with the drive.

Second Fall (Can't Remember The First One)

Checking out a lady bug crawling in the leaves.

This is Savannah's second fall. I think she had more fun this year than last year because she could run around and play in the leaves. Her and Marshall were finding lady bugs in the piles of leaves. There were a ton of them and everytime she saw one, she would yell and squat down to inspect it. It is so fun to experience the world through kids eyes.

First Fall

This was Heidi's first fall. She loved playing in the leaves. I took so many pictures of her just throwing them and playing with them. I had to pick the cutest ones for this post. We have a maple tree in the backyard that gave us these beautiful yellow leaves. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark when I took her outside. She was taking a nap when the other kids were out playing. So we couldn't be out for very long. But it was worth it just to see her face as she was playing.

Tape On Heidi's Nose

Marshall and I put a piece of tape on Heidi's nose and just laughed at her as she was pulling faces and going cross-eyed. She just could not figure out how to get it off. I know this was probably mean of us but it was so funny. The things you do for a laugh.

Friends

Snack time.

Lydia and Bethanee

Savannah and Zac

Marshall and Nicolas

Three out or four Graver kids came to play at our house this week while Jonathan went to the doctor. They had fun playing together. They made handprint tuykeys out of construction paper and ate animal crackers and juice. I think the boys were getting on the girl's nerves though. Typical. :)

The Many Faces of Heidi

The other day, while Heidi was in her highchair, she was pulling the funniest faces. She just makes us laugh all the time. She is such a happy little girl.

Our Little Gymnast??

Marshall lined up these benches in our living room to keep Heidi out of what he was trying to play with. Savannah took advantage of them being that way and decided to walk across them. She has great balance. She didn't fall once. Maybe she'll be a gymnast. Although I think her body type might not be dainty enough for it. Who knows? Only time will tell.

Savvy's Sunday Best

Savannah is my girlie girl. She likes to get dressed up on Sundays for church. Isn't she cute?? Hee hee.......

Starting Her Training Early

Whenever the dryer buzzer goes off, Heidi crawls as fast as she can to the dryer. She loves to stand at it when the door is open and pull the laudry out for me. Sometimes she isn't as helpful as she would like to be because most of the clothes end up on the floor. It gets really fun when I try to load the dryer again with wet clothes. She throws a huge fit when I close the door to start it up again. I keep waiting for her to climb in sometime. What a crazy little girl. Hopefully she will still be this excited about laundry when she is doing her own.

We Love Elmo!!!

Savannah absolutely loves Elmo. We watch Sesame Street twice a day, morning and night just to see him. She has a couple of Elmo movies too. She can't get enough of him. Heidi likes to stand at the TV and watch also.

TAGGED

~THE RULES~

1. Share 7 random and weird facts about yourself.

2. Tag 7 random people at the end of the post.

3. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Random Fact #1:
I usually read two books at one time. One is by my bed to read at night and the other is downstairs to read while eating or if I happen to have some spare time. My favorite author at the moment is Jodi Picoult. I have been buying her books.

Random Fact #2:
Jason and I met at a single adult dance in State College in October 1995. I wrote to him the entire two years that he was on his mission and we both knew long before he asked me to marry him that we would be married some day. In fact, that was my answer when he asked me, "Some day.". Hee hee....

Random Fact #3:
I have recently become a fan of the TV series "Gossip Girl" and "Privileged". They are on the CW channel. They are more of a teenie-bopper show but I like them.

Random Fact #4:
I love the smell of bleach while washing my laundry. Our washer and dryer is in the kitchen in our new house and I love it because I can smell our laundry as it is being washed. UMMMM.... weird, I know.

Random Fact #5:
I have recently decided to try new recipes while cooking dinner. I am experimenting and venturing from what I know how to make. So far the food has turned out good.

Random Fact #6:
I actually know a lot of hunting and fishing. More than I care to admit. Mainly because I am forced to be educated on these things. Jason is so proud. I just don't have the desire to actually hunt and fish. Maybe that will change as our kids get older and want to do it and Jason can't take them all at once. Who knows what the future holds. (Now that I have said that, Jason will be holding me to it.....)

Random Fact #7:
I love all types of music. Except rap. I like the saying that you can't spell crap without rap. (That is for my brother Luke.) I mostly like classic rock. I grew up on it.



I tag : Bridgette, Emily, Jess A., Keri S., Heather, Anya, Jamie

Happy Halloween....

Nicolas G. dressed up as a Werewolf and Savannah didn't like it.

We went trick-or-treating with a bunch of friends this year.

Top row : Spencer, Marshall, Nicolas, Lydia, and Bethanee

2nd row : Savannah and Kylie

3rd row : Jonathon, Zac, and Claire

4th row : Heidi and Meghan

It was a lot of fun to watch the kids get excited. They all got a ton of candy. Yummy for the parents!! (Yes, I raid my kids Halloween candy every year. Don't we all??)

Misc. Halloween

( Grandma and Pappy Shoemaker's dog, Jen.)

Mammaw with the kids all dressed up. It was really hard to get Savannah to stay for a picture. She was just too excited to see great-grandma Shoemaker's dog, Jen. She LOVES that dog. Okay, a list of what they were dressed up as:

Lydia - Hannah Montana

Marshall - Pirate (Not a surprise.)

Savannah - Steelers Cheerleader

Heidi - a Witch

Pumpkin Time

This year we decided to decorate the pumpkins with markers instead of carving them to avoid all the mess. It worked out well except that when we put them back outside, the marker has pretty much come off because of the pumpkins sweating from getting cold and warming up again. (Heidi's pumpkin isn't real. It is a decoration.) The only mess we had was on Savannah's hands. They turned black from all the marker. The box said they were washable. Well, it didn't come off so well. It took a couple of days for it all to wear off. They had fun though and that is all that matters.

Heidi... 9 months old....

Heidi just turned 9 months old. She weighs 22 lbs. 12 oz. and is 29 inches long. She is walking along the furniture. She is sporting a bruised eye right now. The first of many I am sure. She has 2 teeth on the bottom and one coming in on the top. Heidi likes to get into everything that she can. She pulls our movies down off of the shelves and just gets into trouble. She says "dada" and "mama". Lately she has started getting angry when something is taken from her. She gets tense and yells really loudly. It is funny to watch so sometimes we make her mad just for the fun of it. I know, we are terrible. She follows Savvy around a lot. I am sure there will come a day when Savvy will get tired of her little sister following her around. She is a real joy to have around the house. And very entertaining too.