dancing girls

I've been trying for two days to get the video to upload:( So I'm giving up! Emma and Sylvia had a dance recital a couple of weekends ago. These pictures are completely backwards but here it goes. We ended our day at Wal-Mart where we saw a creepy Santa and I forced the girls to have their picture taken.
After the show we went to Steve's Deli and Emma had a GIANT cinnamon roll and Sylvia had a MONSTER brownie!
2 for the price of 1

Love these girls!

Christmas decorating

the prettiest decoration of all!

blurry picture, but it's garland hung from my bar. on it are all the special ornaments we have.
my christmas tree:)
peppermint topiaries:)

a pallet tree! i love this.

and a barnboard believe sign.

Emma....aka Swahenee

Emma thinks she is party Native American...I mean really thinks it. She has an Indian costume and teepee on her Christmas list...and that is all. (Grandma Joyce, I think she wants YOU to make her an indian costume:)
Anyway, here is her two favorite poses:)

Deer Hunting 2011

On opening day of youth season Colby went with Vance and Emma went with dad. Colby was successful! He got this 10 point with 2 drop tines. From the *big* stories I've heard it was quite the fight to finally get this deer to go down. Colby was one proud boy!

This is the biggest buck he's EVER seen, of course :)
Emma didn't see anything in the morning and went back out with Vance in the afternoon. They saw 2 bucks and a doe, but she could never find them in the scope. Sunday morning they headed out again and she finally shot him when he was a scant 9 yards away!
She was also very proud that this year she got a buck!
Thanks to Vance for 2 very long days of getting up early to hunt and staying up late to skin and cut up.

Happy Halloween 2011

These are once again out of order, but here it goes. Thursday we had our school party because there was no school on Friday. The first grade teachers dressed as crayons. Here we are with our might sharpener, Mrs. Garret...her student teacher Ms. Roulette, and Amee, Laci, and I.

and just the 3 of us.
Emma as an indian and her friend Taylor Swift (Sylvia)
my little indian...and her outfit she put together herself:)
This is at our trunk or treat. The theme was community characters. Emma was a vet.
Dr. Veatch and lineman Colby.
Nurse Natalee and Fireman Xavier.
and may WAAAAAY too grown up lineman, one more time.

A Sister Kind of Thing

Lauren's sorority recently hosted a girl's weekend. It's main focus was sisters and mothers. Jenn and I loaded up our precious girls and headed over there on Saturday. My pictures got out of order, but I will recap the weekend for you!

There were lots of photo opportunities. We had lots and lots of fun. Jenn and I neither one lived in a dorm, so it was fun to experience the college life with communal bathrooms and the c.p.:)
In the afternoon, we painted pumpkins, played games, and Emma showed off her gymnastic abilities. Here she is patiently watching as Lauren and LeAnn do their best to do a duo somersault...it never happened.
Playing duck, duck, goose. Emma is a fast little thing.

Playing Little Sally Sigma...Emma had played this before and really got into it.

Lunch at Hardees...Natalee and Emma ate at the "girls" table!

A trip to Lowe's was super fun. We also went to Hobby lobby, Ben Franklin, and Jo Ann's.

We did some pumpkin painting. Emma and Natalee shared a pumpkin...it was a little hit and miss for awhile, but Natalee soon learned to only paint on the back of the pumpkin.

I am so glad we had the opportunity to visit Lauren and share in her college life. It was fun to meet her friends and spend a weekend with her. It was also great for Emma to have some girl time. She even got to sleep in Lauren's bunk! Jenn and I shared another room downstairs...a highlight for sure.

I am also thankful that I have sisters. What would my life be like without them!? Just think if everyone had the "perfect" family of one boy, one girl, a dog, and a picket fence...there would be no sisters. What a sad, sad world that would be. Thanks for the fun weekend Lauren and Jenn!

My Bench

I made a bench! (with Vance's help) That darn table saw...it irritates me! Anyway, he cut this nice board for me....it's the seat.

These legs are from a yardsale that my sisters bought for me....boy they love me, huh?!
This is the "skirting"...I don't know?! It sounds right! Anyway, it's to led support to the legs.
This is where I begin sucking at this tutorial! I layered 3 pieces of foam and 2 layers of quilting batting on the plywood and stapled it underneath. Then I put the skirt/box thing on. We use a kreg thingy to put the screws in so you can't see them.
Then, we (Vance) screwed in the legs. I drilled the holes!! I also screwed the legs to the skirt so that someone over the weight of 20lbs can sit on it.
I heart this! Now I need a rug to match better.
Happy shoe tying to anyone who comes over!!