Cortisone Day

About a week ago Cory and I drove up to Milwaukee to see a neurosurgeon for Cory's back issues. We were told that surgery would more than likely fix Cory's back; however, we are going the route of cortisone first. Please say some prayers for Cory today. His injured disks are causing shooting pain and numbness in his right leg and foot. He has been in constant pain for about 3 weeks now and we are praying that he gets relief today. Cory will be going for a cortisone shot this afternoon. He is nervous about it, but very hopeful for some relief. Please pray that this works for him! I really want my happy "ogre-like" husband back!! ;-) Love you honey!

Pediped Shoes

I HEART pediped shoes. I recently bought Ethan FIVE new pairs!! They are the best shoes ever for little kids! He is wearing the flex soles now and they are so bendable and squishy and perfect for his developing feet and body. I was introduced to these shoes when Ethan was about 10 months old. I bough a couple pairs of the original soft bottom "crib" shoes and realized that these shoes DON'T FALL OFF!! Woot Woot! That is when my addiction started. Ethan is 19 months and has now owned a total of 11 pairs! :-) check out these shoes! http://www.pediped.com/

Rules

We all have rules to follow and when we don't follow them we have to face the consequences...
Yes, Mariah is grounded for one week. On Sunday afternoon we were over by the Thur's (Bailey's house - Mariah's BFF). Mariah asked to spend the night there and I said yes as long as you come home and do your chores and clean up your room. As soon as that is done I will bring you back to Bailey's house. So we went home and Mariah did her chores... or so I thought. After I took her to Bailey's house I went in Mariah's room to gather her laundry. I decided to open her closet door and yikes! out comes clothes that were shoved on her closet floor. So, I began to look under her bed - where I found a wet towel - looked in her entertainment center - more clothes - on the side of her entertainment center - yet more clothes! I let her stay at Bailey's house that night, but I kindly gathered all of her clothes that were not in their correct spots and I piled them in the middle of her bedroom floor. There they sat waiting for her to get home the next day. Needless to say, she is grounded from her TV in her bedroom and from friends for one week. Then yesterday I asked her to vacuum the bedrooms in addition to her regular daily chores... well she claims that she forgot... so I now have an I-pod in my possession until her memory comes back! happy preteening :-)

Addition Blog

Today I decided to create a blog - in addition to my current family blog - where I could share updates and funny stories about my kids! I will vent here, share my concerns, tell embarrassing stories, share my love for my kids, and remind you daily how entertaining the tasks of parenting can be.

Wednesday

Welcome to HUMP DAY! The middle of the week and I am very ready for it to be Friday! Today Cory and I will be driving up to meet with Dr. Block. He is a neurosurgeon and will hopefully have some positive insight for Cory regarding all of his back issues. The mention of surgury has come up, but we are praying that we don't have to go down that road.

On a positive note... my friend Jeni will be having her baby girl, Gianna, today!! Gianna is going to be a very loved and very spoiled (in a good way) little princess! I can't wait to meet her. :-) Good luck Jeni and Kavin!! I will be thinking of you guys!

Daily Blogger

Well I am not much of a daily blogger... but I have been trying hard to become a weekly blogger! I love reading other peoples blogs and have decided that I don't need to wait for a big exciting story in order to blog... I will just share my daily/weekly thoughts with anyone who cares enough to read my blog. :-)

We had a pool.... we lost a pool... soon we will have another pool!

We put up a pool over the past couple weeks. We were working hard all day Sunday to build a deck that will attach to our current deck and pool. We noticed that storms were headed towards us so we cleaned everything up outside and went inside. About 5 minutes into the storm.... we lost our pool. Our 3 place ATV trailer flew about 20 feet through the air and landed on the side of our pool crushing the side. We have to replace the entire wall of the pool because it is all one piece. Just when the weather finally started to get warmer...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ckbartlett/sets/72157621868481195/show/

Shopping shopping and more shopping :-)

I decided that this year I am going to start my Christmas shopping early - way early - TODAY! I always wait until the last minute and spend way too much money around the holidays, but not this year. I am creating a list with a budget and I am going to buy a couple gifts every month. Let's hope this helps to keep me organized and on budget!

I owe this organization of my funding to Lindsay. She challenged me a couple months back and even though I didn't really follow her challenge... I did change my spending habits. I now have a savings account! WOOT WOOT! It's so much more fun to spend money when I know that I am getting good deals and creating a savings account at the same time. :-) Thanks Linds!!

Summer

Can't it stay summer all year long? I love the summer days and nights and love when it stays light out past 8pm. Ahhh.... :-)

Christmas in July

The Lofquist's started a new tradition this year. Every year the Voge Family has a Christmas Party and we all agreed the once a year isn't enought to get together, so.... Dawn started "Christmas in July". She had the first annual party at her house on July 18, 2009. We had a great time swimming and playing water volleyball. Lois Langdon took tons of pictures! Check them out on our flickr site.

Harley Museum

On Saturday night we went up to the Harley Museum in Milwaukee and had dinner at Motor for Scotty's birthday. He turned 28 on July 31st. Mom made his cake and it turned out awesome!! The food was great, the atmosphere was nice, and the outside view was beautiful. The Harley Museum in on the river in Milwaukee. The place was amazing... Harley definitely has a lot of money!

2009 Racine County Fair

The kids and I had a blast last night! We went to the fair and met up with my sister and her family, my mom and Harry, and my brother and Shannon. We ran in to lots of friends and had some yummy fair food. Ethan played a game where he got to pick ducks from a little river and he won a black and white tiger. He carried the tiger around the entire time at the fair.

Mariah is all grown up now and decided it would be more fun to walk around with her friends instead of hanging out with her mom and brother... :-( She was really good though. Every time I called her cell phone she would answer on the first or second ring. It is scary and exciting to watch her grow up....

We stayed at the fair until 10Pm last night so we are all exhausted today. We watched the truck and tractor pull and then the COMBINE DERBY - LOL!! This was the first year that the combine derby came to our fair. It was so exciting to watch! There were about 10 old combines all painted and decorated. They crashed together until there were only 2 combines left driving around. Ethan thought this was the greatest thing ever. He was cheering them on and clapping his hands.

Pool time fun

Wow... I wish we had 80 degree weather year round!! Last night I got home from work and the kids and I decided it would be a great night for swimming. We relaxed and played in the pool for about an hour! The water temp was 86 degrees....aaaahhhhh. :-) I love summer!

Busy...busy...busy....

As many of you know... the projects NEVER stop at our house. This summer we built a huge swingset for the kids, we did lots of landscaping and built a fire pit, and now we put in a pool! The pool is up and running and we had the heat up to 86 degrees yesterday. It felt like bath water! We are working on building a deck to connect the pool to our current deck. Cory and Harry have been digging the holes to get the deck started. Can't wait until this project is complete. I am exhausted...

Don't the kids look like they are having a blast?! LOL (this was before the heater was working...)

Welcome to the world Charlotte!

Charlotte Grace Cantrell was born to Megan and James on 7-25-09. Charlotte joined the "5's Club" at 11am. She weighed 9 lbs 14 oz - GO MEGAN!! She is healthy and absolutely adorable!

We will miss you Grandma Knodel

Grandma - Harriet Knodel - passed away on July 7, 2009. She passed peacefully and a wonderful funeral was given for her on July 11, 2009. The funeral was a true celebration of Grandma's life. She touched so many people's hearts and will be greatly missed. We love you Grandma Knodel.

Mongo, our soon-to-be new puppy!

We took a beautiful drive up to Osseo, WI this past Saturday to meet our new puppy, Mongo. Mongo is an English Mastiff and is only 4 weeks old. He is absolutely adorable and loves to lay around with the tip of his tounge hanging out. Mongo will grow up to be about 200 pounds!! These types of dogs are considered "gentle giants" and are great family dogs. Mongo will be joining our family on July 9, 2009. We can't wait to bring the little guy home. Thanks Jeff and Joy!!

Landscaping

Cory and I have been working really hard the past couple weekends. We have been building retaining walls/flower beds around our deck and planting lots of flowers. We are very happy with how it all turned out!

Wedding Fun

Cory and I went to a wedding recently and they had a photo booth set up. It was tons of fun! Here are a couple pictures. :-)

Our Doggies...

Rex and Oscar are relaxing on their new bed and waiting for their new brother-puppy to arrive. The kids and I surprised Cory with an English Mastiff puppy, MONGO. We get Mongo in early July!