Renaissance Fair weekend

These are a couple of pictures i took when we went to the Renaissance fair a couple of weeks ago. We had never been to one of these and thought it would be fun. Ricky got to try on a helmet and as u can see enjoyed doing so. The demonstration put on by this guy was very interesting. The typical knight in shining armor is not what they were really called. The term was just made up. The armor is actually called a harness. They had harnesses for parades-which are the ones u see on displays, there were harnesses for fighting also.
The picture on the top is the queen, king and their court. If you pass in front of the queen you had to curtsy(women) or men do a four count step. You always had to keep your eye on the queen or she would not be able to trust you, so men did not bow. We also, went on a castle tour which was very neat. It was a fun weekend and plan on going back next year.

kite fest 2009

We had a great time yesterday at the kite fest. It was fun to watch all the people flying kites. They didn't get the big kites to fly b/c there wasn't enough wind. The big kite in the picture is a barrel kite. It had to be helped by a tractor it was so big. They had kite wars and face painting, and the kids could make their own small kites. Ricky had a lot of fun flying (or trying) to fly his kite. Glad we got to go this year b/c last year it was raining and couldn't go.

happy sweet 16 Katie

Today is our youngest daughter's sweet 16th birthday. She had a surprise party yesterday at her friends' house and today we are celebrating her day first at church at the potluck and then we are going to Olive Garden....one of our favorite places to eat for dinner. Love their peach tea.
This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of Katie when she was little. She loved to carry around a washcloth and chew on it. Love her big blue eyes and button nose in this picture. Wish they didn't have to grow up so quickly.
Happy Birthday Katie. Love you!!!!!!!!!

our puppy Hawkins

I thought this was too funny. Our puppy (6 months old) loves to get a hold of this one child's binky and he has it perfectly in his mouth. Had to get a picture of it. Of course I didn't give it back to the baby :)

My life this week

Wow!!!! I haven't posted in a long long time. Guess I have been too busy to just sit and write. The kids are all going back to school. Our two youngest have finished their first week of school already and the two in college will start this week. Brie has to be at Maranatha on Wednesday b/c she is a prayer captain and has to set up the room and get ready for the other kids coming in for school. Emily starts at Kish on Monday. At least she only has a 15 minute drive to school and we finally got her a newer car. It is an Explorer. Needs a new exahaust but it will be ok for Monday. She really likes it. That's all that counts right? Ha.
I have been busy at home...working, cleaning, catching up on things that have had to be put off b/c of the surgery. Only 2 more weeks and my lifting ban will be gone :). Am so glad I will be finally able to do everything I did before. It is sooooooooooo hard not to do regular jobs.
This weekend is Heritage Days in our town. They have a fair going on Fri-Sunday and lots of music, food and rides for the family. It is a fun time. Tomorrow there is a parade that our youngest daughter Katie is in. She is in color guard. It is the longest parade we have ever went to, but it is good. Can't believe it is almost the end of August. Seems more like fall lately b/c of the cooler weather we have been having. It is beautiful today. Mid 70's I would say. Love this weather. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year!!!!!!!!!!
Enjoy your weekend.

On the road to recovery

Am feeling much better this week. Every day is better than the last. This surgery is much different than the ones I've had before. I felt better a few hours after surgery. I know that sounds weird but I was only sore and not much more.
I am only allowed to lift up to 25 lbs. right now and that is difficult to remember b/c of feeling so well. I am being good though. Just doing little jobs around the house and having everyone else help. Am back to work too. Am glad I don't have too many little ones to carry around all day. That would be tough. Also glad the girls are home to help with everything. They have been a great help to me during this (and hubby has helped a lot too, in case he reads this hehe)

life size battleship

We had a lot of fun this last Saturday with the Lifesize battleship we made at our church. Our youngest daughter came up with the idea. Very ingenius of her. We made the ships out of cardboard and painted them. Used red and white paper plates for the hits and misses. Then we split the kids into two teams-the Pirates and Navy. They plotted their moves and we had people on the gym floor calling the moves and putting the plates on the ships. It was a lot of fun. We had BBQs and potato salad and chips. I think everyone enjoyed theirselves.
Wonder what game we will think of next to do life size???? Any ideas? :)
Oh, the first picture is Our youngest trying to figure out how many of her make up the 15 ft. ship.

what a weekend

Well, the weekend didn't turn out like i had thought it would. Friday evening we went to see the new Harry Potter movie.(which was really good) and I wasn't feeling well half way through the movie but didn't think too much of it. Then Saturday morning I really didn't feel well. My hubby had gone to the hospital to get blood work done for his dr. came back and we ended up going back to the hospital b/c I wasn't doing well. Ended up that I had emergency apendectomy. I guess my appendix was pretty infected which is why I wasn't feeling well the night before. I am so glad my husband decided to go right to the ER instead of the clinic b/c it didn't take long and we were gettting ready for surgery. Luckily, I wasn't able to eat that day so was good to go.
Surgery didn't take long. I was told it was only a 15 minute surgery. Of course I was in there for about 2 hours by the time all was done. My hubby was so upset with the whole thing. Poor guy. I felt so bad for him,but our church had some men come sit with him while I was in surgery.
Am home now and doing well. Just wish I could've brought that bed home with me. Pretty comfy and helped with the getting up part. Ha :) Mom and Dad will be here tomorrow which will be nice. We will see about the running around part this week. Not too much for me I guess. :(

Pictures from this weekend

The happy couple


Three out of the four kids
Looking at the anniversary present
A book of the family. Very nicely put together.
Ricky enjoying the bouncy house.

****Am trying to post pictures of this weekend but it froze up on me this morning. We had a great time. Will try later to post some of the pictures. *****

Wedding anniversary

We are going to Missouri this weekend to celebrate my hubby's parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Can't believe it is here already. They are having a get together at their house tomorrow. There are to be about 100 people there. We are also going to meet some more Forees. My hubby loves geneology and he met up with more Forees and invited them to the reunion. He is thrilled to meet more family b/c there are not too many Forees out there.
Will add pictures later after the get together. (if my camera will keep up) It is getting old. May have to take pictures on my phone. It seems to do better these days.
Raining today so hopefully it will quit before we have to travel. Have a great weekend all.

happy Fourth of July

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Hope everyone has a great 4th of July. I just can't believe it is that time of year already. It has gone by way too quick. We are not doing much this weekend. Just staying around the house doing work on the stairs. We took the carpet off last weekend and now have to sand it down and stain it. Takes a while to do projects when all u do is work.
Enjoy the weekend.

Gone too long

Wow!!! It's been a long time since i blogged. Seems like everything else takes place over it lately. Today is my birthday. Not telling how old. Just guess if u have too.:)
We have been very busy this summer,as usual. Our oldest daughter is a camp counselor at the Bill Rice Ranch. She is doing well. We went down there last week and visited with her as much as we could. Then we went to Georgia to visit with my parents and grandparents and my sisters family. We had a lot of fun.
Right now my family is making a big chocolate chip cookie for my birthday. Smells good in here hehe:) I know we don't need the cookie,but it sounded sooooooooo good.Hey, it's my birthday right? :)
This week is Junior camp for Ricky. He leaves tomorrow afternoon. They are going to Camp Joy in Wisconsin. He ought to have fun. Next week is Teen camp but they are going to Northland Camp which is also in Wisconsin but a LOT longer drive.
Hope u all have a great week. We are going to enjoy the nice weather today.

Random

We have had some good news lately with our kids. Our oldest daughter was made prayer captain of her dorm room for next year. This is a great honor. That means they have seen leadership abilities from her and we are very proud of her.
Our youngest daughter just found out she made it to vocal jazz. This is a singing group at their high school. She is so excited. She is going to be very busy this next year. This group requires a lot of work and practices. We even had to sign a paper saying we wouldn't be gone certain days of the year. They really take this seriously.
My best thing that has happened this week is we got a replacement dryer!!!!!!!!!! You don't realize how bad we have needed a dryer for about a month now. With a family of 6 you cannot go very long w/o it. I can't wait until tonight to get it hooked up and get caught up on laundry again!!!!! Funny how u get excited about small things huh? Guess we take those things for granted.
Have a great day. I am going to enjoy the warm weather while it is here!!! Upper 60's today.

Spring time

Not too much to blog about lately. The kids were on spring break last week and it was cold and rainy most of the week. The two older girls were out of the state. Our oldest was on the east coast with the band tour from school and our next daughter was on the west coast enjoying the warm weather. My hubby was out of work last week b/c of his knee problem. Come to find out he has no knee cap left. It needs to be replaced but not going to happen any time soon b/c of no extra help while he is off. So guess he will get cortizone shots to keep going.
This week hubby had his wisdom tooth pulled. Still don't understand why we have those teeth. They don't add extra wisdom and they usually need to be pulled. He is relaxing today with antibiotics and pain medication. Should feel pretty good right now. Ha :)
It is a rainy icky day today. Should be a good nap day for the kids...I am hoping.
Hope u all are enjoying your spring. Sunshine and warm weather are on their way.

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Too much sickness

I am so ready for spring to get here so we can open the windows and get rid of these germs that are making everyone sick. Our oldest daughter has been home all week b/c of the virus that is going around campus. She will hopefully be able to go back this weekend. The high school has told us that they have been sending 10-15 kids home every day b/c of this virus. We just need some warm weather here!!!!
We are having a thunderstorm today. It reminds us of warmer weather:) I love thunderstorms if they aren't too bad :) Most of the snow is gone now. Yeah!!!! Hope we don't have any more big snowstorms. Next week is daylight savings time and soon it will be warmer. We made it through yet another winter-well almost.
Hope everyone is staying well.

men's dessert contest

This is the finished project of my hubby's entry for the dessert contest. I think he did a great job on it. He spent quite a long time preparing it and taking time to make it look good. We had an issue with the first round. He was impatient and tried to cut the cake w/o cooling but we recovered it and he ended up getting 2nd place. Can you believe that brownies won first????? I was shocked but it was all for fun and his dessert was very good!!!!!!!!!
His reward was this Awesome ribbon. I was very proud of him and his accomplishment.

Valentine's day

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Tonight we are going to a valentine's banquet for the adults. The men of the church are having a dessert contest. My hubby has entered it and is busy right now making his dessert. The rules are the man must make 99% of the dessert. No help.:) I will post a picture later since there may be someone from church that looks at my blog.hehe:) Have to keep the creation a secret til tonight. I am so proud of him. It is fun seeing him in the kitchen having fun creating a dessert. He even bought a special plate and decorations to go around it. Can't wait til tonight to see what the men make.

Animal Crossing

This is the game that is being played sooooo much in our home right now. It is really fun for the kids. You have a town that you name, get to own your home and pay a mortgage with "bells" which is your money. You fish and grow fruit trees, meet other animals and can visit the city. You now can get wii speak which allows you to really talk to someone else that is visiting your town. You have to accept the friend and open your town gate but last night our daughter got to talk to 2 people. One from Austin Texas. It was so neat to see it. Technology has come a long way.

Useless information for the day: The peanut is a vegetable and a member of the pea family.