we are so ready to....

camp! i am waiting ever so patiently {not really} to go camping in the mountains with our family. it is one of our absolute favorite things to do. the kids play and ride their four wheelers all day and everyone gets to just kinda relax. it's always a lot of work to go, but so worth it when you are there. coming home and cleaning up, well that's a different story. here's to hoping the snow melts soon {not too soon though} and we go before too long. *that's my favorite thing about taking so many pictures, is looking back and getting to relive all your good times through photos!

AWESOME!

to know me is to love me and to know me is to know how much i love to use the blower! we scored this cutie at the home depot this last weekend on their "discount" table. it was brand new, just missing the nozzle parts. it was originally $270 brand new {boxed} but this one was only $50. we went to a local small equipment place and ordered the additional parts needed for only $49, so we got quite a smokin' deal on her. mark brought the parts home today and i of course had to try her out... gosh, i can't wait for lawn season! i'm going to be finding reasons to wear my "jet pack"! my brother has a similar obsession/disease for blowing lawn clippings and i know he will be green with envy! of course if he comes to visit, i'll let him try it out {once}!

more hat rock pictures

lunch at hat rock

the weather was finally nice enough for us to venture out of the house so we headed to hat rock to eat lunch and feed the ducks. it was beautiful out and we enjoyed our adventure. we even decided to hike up the trail and around the backside of the "hat". we've never been up there before and it was a fun walk and the kids had a blast exploring all over. so glad we were able to get at least one day of outside time in before their spring break was over!

the sweet life... thru dog eyes

on most days this is how one would find lola and trixie. each one laying on their very own pillow. the very pillows that were just purchased to replace the ones that said dogs flattened out several months ago. ahhh... the life of a dog! thanks girls!

windy... to say the least

this week has been the girl's spring break and to say that the weather has been less than spring like is an understatement. it's either been frigid cold, winds blowing at 50mph or for the ultimate experience, you can have both at the same time!! oh well, i gave us all an excuse to just be kinda lazy, shower later in the day and just hang out and enjoy each other. everyone needs that now and then.

is so hard to believe that this time last year all of my flowers and plum tree were in full bloom. this year we had such a cold winter and so far kinda a strange spring, that it seems as though everything is so far behind. it's nice to look back at last year and know that these images will soon be reality {as soon as it warms up and the wind stops blowing}! so here's to warm thoughts and looking forward to the signs that spring is really here.

the fort

for the last two days that we have neglected our kids while we work in the yard, they {jess and josie} have been hanging out in the indoor clubhouse they built downstairs. they have been playing and watching movies from their plush digs and even slept in it last night. i'm so thankful that the girls are able to entertain themselves and play nice together and allow us to get some work done!

slugs.....

i just thought i would let it be known that i despise these things with everything i am worth! they gross me out to no end. the best part is they LOVE to live and hang out by the front porch stepping stone. they leave their slimy little trails all over and i some how manage to always step on one {barefooted no doubt}! i guess they are ready to start hanging out at my house already as this little one was "sleeping" here this morning! in my opinion they serve no purpose but to annoy me! there, i've said it!

mornings with minka

every morning goes the same way, minka meets me in the bathroom to say hello and proceeds to follow me all over the kitchen as i am getting things ready for the day. once mark gets up she is by his side patiently {sometimes} waiting for her yogurt and then she heads to the bathroom for her morning drink via the faucet! ahh, the life of a spoiled kitty!

finishing up

this weekend we worked on our "coffin" style garden and i planted some more strawberries and some raspberries {given to me by the neighbor} . we also planted 4 more trees. mark joking says we now have a small orchard! our trees include: fuji, gala and granny smith apple trees, a red bartlett pear and a anjou pear as well as a nectarine tree. the poor little trees are really getting a workout since the wind is blowing at 100 mph! good thing they are staked. i was afraid we were going to come outside to no trees! i have to say i am super excited about all the work we have been doing outside and to our house. i've always thought of our house as a home, but now we are planting some serious "roots" ha! i am looking forward to a couple of years down the road when we can actually eat fruit off of our trees. our {mark's} next project we are in the middle of is making a fireplace/pit type thing for the back porch. i think it will be awesome to sit out there and enjoy all of our hard work. i'll keep you updated on that project.

update on minka the conehead

i am happy to report that minka is no longer a conehead and has returned back to her "normal" self. we took her today to get her stitches removed and now she no longer has to wear her cone! yeah! {i know all of you have been holding your breath on the status of this little kitty!} ha

who do these kids belong to???

this is what happens when you have three really cute kids and you feed them ice cream after dinner! silly little girls- good thing i love 'em!