Muscle Man and Freckle Face

Muscle Man. He gets more ripped when basketball training starts...It's a sight to behold.





Freckle Face. So cute. I was called freckle face as a kid. But this kid owns it. With the big blues and mile smile. I love it.
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I think I post for myself. So when it comes times to put it all in a book, it will be my super-sweet journal with pictures! So, for those 5 of you that check my blog and think I post too much, realize that I am just logging away the history and tidbits of my family and I have a lot to log away :) One day I am not going to remember it as well. That will be a sad day.

We went to the Indians game in Cleveland and Harbor Port at Lake Erie this weekend. It was amazing. Out of the pics I am to post 2 of my kids for now~ Lance Albern and Trapper. I love kids. There is something adorable, obnoxious and unique about each one. I could have had 35 kids and I bet I would still think it. But then I would live in a shoe...

Just Tinklin'.....

Too bad they haven't found a way to harness the power of urine, because I was just cleaning my downstairs bathroom that my 5 boys use frequently, and.......

Record-Breaking Champ!

"I am the first 4Th grader to ever receive a green belt in the school."

I mean really, those words make a mom proud.

Trapper has received a white, yellow, orange, green and purple belt.....of the recorder :)




He is even at the point that he is mentoring others in this fine musical skill. He helps Brianna, our next-door-neighbor girl, whom can't quite master the yellow belt :)


and


he serenades us as we walk to the end of the driveway to wait for the bus.



Just look at how methodical he (pretends for the pic) plays...and plays....and plays.



It's no surprise that his band teacher is a guy (a good looking guy if you are to ask Shylee): the system is Karate colored "belts" ~a sign of passing off a song on the recorder. The belts are strings they tie at the bottom of their recorders :)




Trapper reminds me of me...very goal oriented. Someone tells him if you do this, you will get this, he is ALL over it!!





I hope everyone has a song in their heart they can hum, sing or whistle to. I hope it helps put a hop in their step :)

Maybe the song could be Old MacDonald, or Row, Row, Row Your Boat.


Just know my son is the champ at it :)

Puppies

I also posted pics on my Facebook photos. There are more there. They were born this morning at 7 am. We had a family contest when they would be born and how many and Fisher won both categories:)

Moqui had 6 puppies. 2 black and white, 2 brown and white, 1 all brown, one all black.

We bred her with Debbie and Greg's "Black Dog." He is half black lab half Spring Spaniel and Moqui is Springer Spaniel. It's a lovely mix :)

Don't mind the disgusting blanket. It gets changed tomorrow:)

Wood You? We Wood!

It has been a busy few weeks, and will be for a few more. We heat with a wood burner. So, here on the o'l homestead we are cutting, hauling and stacking wood. The kids and Lance work very hard and we stay warm because of it. I made sure they had a nice warm dinner and dessert (of course) to come inside for and I try to keep the kids alive and away from the chainsaw and falling trees.

The kids and I will go outside to carry, stack and watch dad and the older kids fall trees. The younger kids like to monkey around on the trees. Our neighbor (awesome neighbor) let us borrow his log splitter, so that's a step up from last year's ax throwing at 5:30 in the morning (ouch!)!

You can see where the wood is stacked now. By the time we are finished the stack under the eves will be entirely filled. We still have to carry in more wood Lance has cut. Then we will split and stack. We will do this for a few more weeks.

There is a part of me that will miss this when we move. I bet you have memories like this. That every time you smell hardwood in a wood stove it takes you back to some memory as a child.

The kids are getting an awesome experience. Its also nice to sit in the family room with a roasting fire all cozy on a winters night!! But I won't mention the 2 am stoking or 5:30 splitting (oops I already did:)

PS Do You like how Lance Albern is the Great Thinker! Poser!

Watch Out!

Rider was talking extensively about how when we see bad guys we should kill them, and if they are in our yard we should kill the bad guys, and if they come up to us, we should kill the bad guys.

So, I try and tell him that we shouldn't just kill a bad guy right when we see him
and Rider quickly states

"No, first we have to aim!" (Then we kill 'em!)

Happy 40th Birthday Lance!

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Black balloons? I can't decide. 40 doesn't seem too bad. Lance has definitely put in a strong 40 years! Talk about your hard worker! He joked last night that he couldn't go through a mid-life crisis even if he wanted to because we couldn't afford a new sports car!!!

I hope I get to enjoy at least 40 more years with him:) The last 18 have been pretty awesome!
Happy Birthday Lance!