Another Busy Weekend

On Thursday we went to Henderson library for story time.  Claire picked out some books to take home too.  Then we went out for an ice cream treat.  We had the best orange ice cream ever.  We are going to get another ice cream after library again on Thursday next week.  We came home and packed up our stuff.  We went to my sisters to housesit and dogsit while she and her husband were on a cruise.  Claire had so much fun playing with the dogs.

On Friday we went out to lunch with my mom.  Then me and Claire went to the bank and they were doing a special promotion where the kids could reach in a jar and grab out as many coins in a handful and put it in a savings account.  Claire had fun doing that and got $8.90.  After that we went shopping to the dollar store and wal mart.  Claire bought some cute little toys at the dollar store, and picked out the pink material for her halloween costume.  She is going to be a pink cat.  I found a really cute idea on the internet, I hope it turns out as I am hoping.  Friday night we picked up Breanna and had a girls night at Lesa's (my sisters).  We had root beer floats and pizza and watched a movie. 

On Saturday we went to Grandpa Megers for supper.  The girls had fun on the four wheelers.  I was too tired to get any pictures, sorry.  John took Breanna out in the woods to do some squirrel hunting.  They did not have any luck though, maybe next time. 

On Sunday, John was busy working on making the deer shack bigger.  Breanna will be staying out there again, and me this year for the first time.  Breanna will be able to get a free deer hunting license this year.  She has passed her gun safety as well and now has her certificate.

The boys working hard on the shack!!

They have got a lot done in one day.  It is looking good.

Today we started doing preschool at home for Claire.  She did really well, and wanted to keep going in her books.  We were woking on the letter Aa, circles, the color red, and the number 1.  We will keep working on those for this week, then moving on to new letters, numbers., colors and shapes next week.  We went through magazines and cut and pasted things that started with the letter Aa.  Claire enjoyed that as well.  I am liking doing preschool at home, and very happy that I am able to. 

She got a good night sleep last night and has been very good today, other than filling her shoes with ther apple juice while I was doing the dishes!!  They are in the wash right now. 

beautiful fall day

On monday we made a bunch of halloween crafts and hung them up.  Claire made a ghost with white paint and her foot.  Then we made a tree out of her arm and hand, and made fingerprint leaves on the tree.  They turned out really nice.

Tuesday we met a friend at the park for some play.  Claire had a great time and did not want to leave.  We picked six more tomatoes again.  John gets fresh tomatoes for his lunch every day.

Wednesday we made fresh apple pie, and then went outside to play in the leaves.  Claire had so much fun.  John came home from work with a new hunting blind for me and him.  He is very excited to be hunting with me this year.  Claire helped me pick another six tomatoes.

Here is Claire getting ready to jump in the leaves.

She slid down her slide into the pile of leaves.

Here she is just looking cute!!

Here is Claire with her little pie that she made for herself.  She is very proud of her little pie.

This morning we went to the library in Henderson for story time.  Claire had fun with her friends and picked out some books.  Then we went to the treat shop and got an orange ice cream cone.  It is the best ice cream that I have ever had.  Claire ate most of it herself this time.  We are planning to do it again next thursday morning. 

Camping at Rush River Park

On Saturday we went out camping at rush river park.  Claire had asked for her Aunt Barb to come along again.  We had a really good time, and the weather was very nice.  We even had a nice spot to camp.  Barb brought along cards and poker chips, I lost, but had a great time.  Bre had brought along her bingoh game that she got for her birthday, and I did win that.  John got all the firewood cut up and did the cooking.  I hope to get out camping more next summer, as this was probly our last time for this year.

Here is little Claire bear carrying logs over to the fire.

Bre and Clarie sitting on a rock off the trail in the woods.  They were having a really great time.  The girls sure do love to camp.

We took a long walk through the woods down to the river.  The girls sat on a log for a picture.  It was really pretty down by the river.

Clarie was being silly and playing on her potty.

The girls sitting by the camp fire.  Claire was just abut ready for bed.  We had a great time sitting around the fire.  Of cousre we had s'mores!!

Claire's bike ride

On Thursday Claire rode her bike to the park to play.  She is doing very well with riding her bike.  She had a friend at the park.  Claire shared her snack with Lacey.

On Friday me and Claire made spritz cookies.  Then we went to pick up Breanna and get groceries.  Claire was so excited to pick up her Bre.

  Here is Claire with her bike at the park.  This park is across the street from our house.  She got her Dora bike from her cousin Sami.  Claire is such a Dora freak now. 

Claire is hanging like a little monkey.  She was having so much fun, we were the only one's there until Lacey came to play.

Claire liked walking across here, she does really good now too.

Claire is all ready to go shopping and pick up her Bre.

friends birthday party

Tuesday night was my last night for gun safety and I passed the test with only 1 wrong.   Wednesday Claire went to her friend, Hannahs, birthday party.  Today me and Claire are going to have a day of play.  Here are some pictures from the birthday party.

Claire had fun playing in the jumping castle with the balls.

Claire really liked Hannah's kitten.  She would have liked to take him home.

Here is the birthday girl, 3 years old now, with her beautiful cake.  Her mom made this cake, and the inside was a tie dye cake.  Claire sang happy birthday so pretty.  It is hard to believe that the girls are getting so big.  Claire and Hannah have been friends since before Claire could even walk.

cupcakes and big fish

Ok, finally got the internet back this morning.  People down the street are putting in a driveway approach and hit a line, so we were out of internet since last Thursday night. 

So, Friday we met with a friend for play at the park and stopped off to have an ice cream treat.  Claire was really crabby and needed some overdue sleep.  Then we finally made Dora cupcakes.  The were showing on noggin and she had wanted to make them all week.  She had a lot of fun making them. 

Here she is mixing up the cake batter for the cupcakes,

And licking off the batter,

And here we have the finished cupcake.  She was so excited to show her daddy when he go home from work.

Saturday morning I had field day for gun safety.  I got to shoot differnt guns and had a good time.  I only have Tuesday night left for class, that is when I will take my test, and hopefully pass, and get my certificate.  It has been a lot of fun and I have learned so much, it is just hard to be away from Claire for class. 

Then, Saturday night John went out fishing with his brother on the Minnesota River.  They did really good and John caught the biggest flathead that he has ever caught, a very nice 39 pounds.  I am really jelouse, as my biggest is only 5 pounds.

Here is the nice catch...39 pound flathead catfish

Here he is again, what a big beautiful monster....I wish I could claim this one!

Yesterday me and Claire had fun playing lite bright and playdoh.  I finished shredding up 7 more cups of apples.  Claire is busy playing with her baby now, and I am about to start lunch.  We are supposed to have a high of 84 today.  Planning on taking Claire for a bike ride to the park if she naps for me today, since she has been up since 5:15.

Busy Wednesday

We had a busy day.  This morning we had Clarie's friend Grace over for play.  I shredded 20 cups of apples while Clarie took a nice nap for me today.  Then we had some friends over for supper.  I am ready for bed, just wanted to post a few pictures from our day.

Claire and Grace having some ice cream cones in Clarie's tent in the back yard.  They were coloring on Claire's playhouse with sidewalk chalk too.

The girls were painting strawberry shortcake pictures.  They did a very nice job.

Here the girls were having a snack and watching Max and Ruby on tv.  They are so cute together.  Claire got good and tired, after her friend went home, she napped for over 3 hours.  I woke her when we were about to have supper. 

All in all we had a good day, did not get much cleaning done though, but it will still be waiting for me tomarrow!!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a slow week.  Claire had a head cold for a few days, so we didn't do much.  I had gun safety on Tuesday and Thursday, and got to hold a handgun for the first time on Thursday at class.  I will be able to shoot a handgun on range day, September 12.  I also made 8 loafs of friendship bread, and a fresh apple pie this week.  John said that the apple pie was the best pie that I have ever made : )  John went out catfishing on Friday night with a LSF staff member and they caught 4 catfish.  Then on Saturday John took me, Claire, and Aunt Barb camping at Rush River Park.  Here are some of the pictures from our great weekend. 

Claire took of picture of mom and dad sitting by the campfire.  She did a pretty good job of taking a picture.  It was a beautiful night.

Claire was looking up at me while I was sitting by the fire.  She is such a little cutie.  You can see our nice campfire in the back.  Claire helped get some sticks with her daddy and Aunt Barb.

We went for a walk in the woods on a trail by our tent sight and Claire smiled pretty for a picture.  She had so much fun going in the woods.  Just when we were packing up she was playing hide and seek with her stuffed anilmal, birdy.  She counted and said, "ready or not, here I come," and closed her eyes.  It was so cute.

Claire and her Aunt Barb on a log in the woods when we were going for a walk.  Claire was so happy to have her Aunt Barb camp with us. 

Barb took us down to the river so Claire could splash around a bit.  The water was beautiful and was about 3-5 inches deep in most spots.  We saw toads, a snake, crayfish, and lots of minnows in the river.

Claire took a rest in moms chair after playing in the river.  She was ready for the campfire to start.  She didn't care too much for the smore's, just the chocolate. 

Claire said that she was picking some flowers for her Grandma, and she ended up picking every little flower that she saw.  Grandma is too far away to give them to her I took a picture. 

Our weekend

We had a busy weekend. We went to our cousins, Wade and Mandy, wedding on Saturday. Then on Sunday we celebrated Breanna's birthday. We took her and one of her cousins to playworks to celebrate her golden birthday.

Claire was my little dancing queen. She danced her little heart out until 11pm. She did not wait in line for the dollar dance. She just went right up to the bride and groom and gave them the dollar.

We had a great time and enjoyed sharing the special day with family.

Bre and Tyler playing dodgeball on the 8' x 8' interactive floor.

Bre hanging on inside the play area. She gave me a big birthday smile :)

Bre and Tyler having fun playing on the W II. This was Bre and Tylers first time at playworks. They also had brought some money to play the arcade games too. Breanna told me that she had a great birthday, and she loved all her birthday gifts.