A Day to Remember!

Well today was a HUUUGE day at our house!!! I casually mentioned to Kennedy this morning after pre-school that we could take her training wheels off her bike as she was riding around. I was expecting major freak out mode. But like every other time that I "expect" something......I am surprised by the unexpected. Her reply was "Ok!".

Well I wasn't about to wait another second. We hauled that tiny bike out back got out the wrench and popped those puppies off. Went back out front, she hopped on, I gave her one good push and this is what we got over and over! She was ready no question about it.

* Don't forget to pause our playlist music at the very bottom before playing the movie! *

Our "two month shy of 4yrs old" daughter is growing up....way too quickly, right before our eyes....and I can't make it stop. It brings tears to my eyes as I am excited for her and selfishly sad for myself. I am having a hard time with the fact that she is about to be 4. Three I could handle but 4....??? It seems like she's not "LITTLE little" anymore. And it makes me all choked up and emotional. I mean come on....I remember being 4...yikes! It seemed like an awesome age. Not a care in the world. And on thursday I will be 26. I am also having a hard time with that. 25 was nothing...26 is closer to 30 than it is to 20 and 25...well..it was just "in the middle". I remember being 4 and thinking 26 was old. That is A LOT of fingers to count.

Awesome Weekend

Well we headed back home for the weekend. It was the big Fall Festival aka the Piotique Parade. The girls were in the kiddie parade sat. morning and then we enjoyed the big parade in the afternoon. Our weekend was full of great times w/ our families!!! Here are just a FEW pics.

Gentry, Dylan and Kennedy waiting for the afternoon parade to start and looking so darn cute!!!

Here comes all the kids in the kiddie parade rounding the corner. You've never seen such mad chaos!
Gentry was in the red car, Kylie on the tricycle and Kennedy on her bike.

All 3 cousins giving each other a big hug. It seriously was THE CUTEST THING EVER.

The hug was a "little" rough for Miss G!

I was so mad...I missed the high school band @ the beginning of the parade b/c Gentry decided to have blow #2 in her pants only minutes before. Fumigation/clean up was not over when the band went by :(



Kids watching the parade!

Gentry about didn't make it through. She got pretty tuckerd out towards the end.

Our family is not a fan of "Red". But you have to admit the tracks on this tractor are pretty cool.



Baby Blues

Dana's parents got a new little 8 wk old puppy. She is the cutest thing ever. Just ask Kennedy. We believe her name is going to be "Sugar" but haven't heard if that is definate or not.

Kennedy gives her yet ANOTHER hug while sis looks, smiles and adores.

Like every other pupper she's a "chewer".

She was wearing down......the puppy that is.

He was it.

When I was a little girl I prayed and prayed for a baby brother. And shortly after I turned 6 yrs old I got exactly what I prayed for.....a baby brother named Ryan. He was it for me. We are each other's only sibling. He will probably tell you I was a mean sister growing up. And he is probably right. I mothered him and bossed him around to no end. I beat him up a lot......usually for good reason. We fought like cats and dogs. We are about as opposite as siblings could really be. But in good ways. Ryan will graduate from Vo Tech in this December and become a lineman. He will be the crazy one on the side of the road climbing the power polls and the guy up in the bucket on the truck restoring your power when a storm hits. He has interned 2 summers for the local electric company and loved it. I am very proud of him. And cant wait to see where he ends up working!

The girl in the picture is my brother's girlfriend Krista. Isn't she beautiful!!! And so sweet too. Our girls are in love w/ her. Usually the first thing they ask uncle Ryan when they see him is "Where's Krista at?" They have been dating for 3.5 yrs. !!!! We're hoping she sticks around! She will graduate a year from this December w/ an elementary education degree from K-State. I am also proud of her. She is very hard worker. And knows what she wants in life. And I think that's awesome.

Just wanted to let you know I love you both!!!

This and That

Aunt Kara made Gentry's dress for her birthday last January. It swallowed her up at first but now it fits just perfect. And it looked adorable.

Utterly thrilled. After church on Sunday, tired, hungry and a "little" grouchy.

Our youngest child a.k.a. gangster girl has become really interested in hats. But refuses to wear them unless they are backwards.


The girls "painting" their playhouse....with water! This idea came from Grandma Walleta and her babysitting kids. Aaaammmaaaazing....it will keep them entertained for at least 15 minutes!

Monday Memory

I have been doing some "DEEP" cleaning this week. On all 3 levels of the house. I work and I work and I work. And I feel like the mess just grows. But today I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of "few" joys I actually have when deep cleaning is finding old pictures that I have tucked away here and there.

This was my Dad and I in July of 1991. I was 7 almost 8. And my dad caught this fish out of the river........legally of course....I think?....maybe not. I do fondly remember this. The thing weighed twice as much as me. It was and still to this day is the biggest fish I have ever seen come of of any body of water close to my parent's home. And I knew that I absolutely 100% had the coolest father ever. He took me fishing lots as a kid. I baited my own hook from a very young age. And to this day I have him to thank for my love of the outdoors.


I am sure my dad could tell you the "Big Fish" story. So you can ask him sometime. He's a good story teller. I would BEG him to tell me stories before bed as a kid. And he would. And they were great.

Funny Faces!

*THIS IS A VIDEO SO YOU WILL HAVE TO PAUSE THE PLAYLIST MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG BEFORE CLICKING PLAY ON THE VIDEO*

Gentry has become quite the expressive girl these days. Her facial expressions can literally bring me to tears b/c of laughing so hard. I caught a video of her the other day where she was showing a few of them off. Mommy acts like a real weirdo making crazy background noises so please ignore that part. Hope you all get a good laugh!!! Oh and Kennedy manages to squeeze in a burp in the background which you will hear nice and loudly. We do try to teach manors......I swear. She says excuse me. Just listen!

Bikes on the Block

We have lots of kids on our block.......and that means lots of bikes. Here they are all riding together the other day. They LOVE it....and they have a blast in each other's company. There are actually 4 more kids that missed out on the bike "pow wow" this time. Needless to say we have lots of action on our street!!!!
Chloe, Owen, Holly, Kennedy, Daisy, Lane and Gentry



Owen, Daisy, Chloe and Holly are all living next to us right now w/ their grandparents. They sold their house and are waiting to get in to their rental while they build a new one! Kennedy enjoys them sooooo much. And they are sweet kids. Their grandpa and grandma have a half circle drive. They all think it is the coolest when riding their bikes!

State Fair

Well I didn't do so hot taking pics at the fair. But I did get a few. Unfortunately they are all of Gentry and none w/ sis. She wasn't in the mood. But here is what I did get!!!!!!

Gentry smiling after her pony ride. Which she LOVED. Her and Kennedy both loved riding the ponies. It was the highlight of their night.

Our friends Kris and Katie had their booth at the State Fair this year as they do every year. They sell Bad Boy Lawn Mowers (they truly are the best, my parents have one and its awesome) and their store is based out of Salina. Gentry LOVES these mowers. She thinks they are the most awesome thing to play on.


Gentry is thouroughly enjoying her popcorn in this pic but it's too cute of these two not to post.


I took these pics this morning. I wanted a good one of the three of them. As you can see it didn't work out. Lane and Kennedy have had 5 days a week together now for almost a year. Their mommies have decided they need some time apart. So starting in a couple of weeks the girls will be headed to new daycare and Lane will get a couple days of R&R a week with his grandma. We hope this will make these two feel a little more love for one another! They will still get to see each other at preschool 2 days a week and playdates of course!
She wanted to put her arm around him........he other the hand did not!

Living Room prt 2

This is a continuation of the living room's latest.
I got this cool shelf half off at Hobby Lobby (or as Gentry says "HobbyObby". Same for the frame. I got the matte cut there also. The picture is one that I took in CO and had blown up as a poster on Walmart.com for super cheap. The "B" is for our last name, NOT for bottes! It also is a H.L. item. And the green glass heirloom came from the antique mall we live relatively close too. I just love it!

I got this ladder at the flea market they have @ the Coliseum once a month. I got it a couple years ago and have used it in many different ways. It now hangs on my wall! And this is how it serves its purpose!

Fall Decor

Well with this awesome weather lately I feel like fall is upon us. Fall is my favorite season. It happens to be the season of my birthday and lots of others in our families. The weather is perfect. It smells perfect and looks perfect. So I have started some of my outdoor fall decorating. Which is also my favorite. I thought I would let you take a peak.

Fall Wreath hanging on the front door. I would like to point out that both our front door and storm door have new handles. They used to be gold. They were battered and abused. So about a month ago I put new ones on. Yes...."me". I know how to do handywork and use tools. Things get done a lot faster for this reason.

These cool urns that the mums are sitting in were on clearance at Walmart....$13 You can't beat that.

My favortie Fall garden flag. I have actually been able to keep this one from blowing away for several years now.

Our front porch. I am "little" O.C.D. when it comes to it. It always has to be swept. Oh and those petunia plants I got in March for $14. They had no blooms and weren't even grown beyond the pots yet. I kept them in my laundry room until the weather got warm enough for them to go out. I have babied them like crazy through the heat, wind and storms. And boy has it paid off. They have looked like this most of the summer!!!!

Living Room Latest

Well after stewing over tons of paint chips I finally found the chocolate brown I wanted. So I primered the wall behind the fireplace (and wall behind the love seat too, but ya can't see that in this pic) and painted! The fireplace looks even better w/ the darker color behind it. Although in the pics its hard to see the true colors. The sun didn't shine here today. We had 3.5 inches of rain. Crazy. Anyway...makes for terrible lighting when taking these pics. Those are actually big bundles of sticks on my fireplace. It's just hard to tell in the pic. I amgoing to take the saw to them and make 'em shorter. And my new area rug also came in! It is shag and I love it!!! Here is a peek at what it all looks like right now. I ordered a fireplace screen off of ebay last night so that will be glamming up the big hole very soon! It is black wrought iron! It is exactly what I wanted and it was the cheapest one! I am going to make some new curtains. I bought some material at Hancock's last week. But I am still brainstorming a little over those.

The old window above the fireplace I picked up at my favorite place.......the flea market. It has beautiful old leaded glass in it. It probably came out of some beautiful old big home.

Fabulous Day

Well so far we have had a wonderful weekend. Kennedy and Gentry have been able to spend some quality time w/ their cousin Dylan who they love dearly. And we got to watch Dana's sister Ann and her husband Shane play in a softball tournament they help w/ every year.


Gentry watching the game.

YES Dylan is actually carrying what you think he is carrying in the picture. We all died laughing. Not sure where it came from and didn't want to know. We had to wipe down his hands as we gagged a little. Gentry called it a boat!

Ann preparing for a catch.

Ann gets a hit! She's getting a big one on monday.........she'll turn the big 30!!!!

Ann on first base.......and Shane......coaching her maybe?

Ann kept asking Kennedy if she wanted to hide one in her bag and take it home! But Kennedy said NO. She knows her daddy would die.....or maybe it would be the kitten?

Dylan with his kitty. Prior to this pic he was "loving" aka strangling this little kitty!

Can you tell that Gentry is not a fan of her kitten!