Good Stuff

We finished up our popcorn sales on Friday. Woohoo- no more popcorn in our trunk, ever- it was our last year of selling. Thanks to all our family who bought from our kids over the past several years.

We got to go out to dinner two times this past weekend-

once to Famous Dave's with my parents and my brother Dave and his wife Melinda, who came up from St. Louis. It was so good to see them and get some pictures of their cute kids!



Then Saturday night, Troy and I went out to the yummiest buffet up at the Horseshoe Casino up in Council Bluff's with Troy's parents, brother Shane and his girlfriend JJ. We had a great time eating and laughing!


Connor had a soccer game on Saturday. He was able to score a goal and had some great assists.

Jameson is having to just practice with the soccer team this year, since he is a month too old to meet the age requirements. He has been a good sport- even though it's been hard to watch all your friends play when he would love to be out there with them.


I went Lincoln this morning with my SIL Michelle and since it was raining, Troy was home for a while and he did 3 loads while I was gone. I had a mountain of laundry and he was so sweet to get it down to bunny slope status for me.

And I won a fun prize on Melissa's blog- 320 Sycamore. You'll have to check out the amazing transformation they have made with their house.

All my mums are blooming and they look so pretty. Last year I had a bunch die out on me and so I am excited they are filling in again.



And last but not least I was excited to figure out how to have large sized pictures on my blog without all the work of sizing them and uploading them to photobucket. All you do is find the HTML code where it says s200 or s400 and change it to s800 for a large photo. Note you might see two sizes one that says s1600 and s200 or s400. Only change the small number. You might have to do some rearranging with your layout- because it doesn't work on inbetween sizes like s600. Don't ask me why.

Example code:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQbWzm9ihY4npMoe0_78AcpJGhFbav7fZe_pIb-GuJEVTlXEKDsaCIQx88Q-fqvgR7eU4amNhG4r0M6kpnJ3FQYRr-oJSIIHmuDGL1KVDLQtO58YSFtqIYYl-CZl0aNG5Q8d5WQ/
s800/100_9766-1.JPG

Applejack Weekend

We live about 20 minutes away from Nebraska City- home of J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day. And while Arbor Day helped make Nebraska City famous, the bigger event is Applejack, which is held every September.

Around 20,000 people flock to this town that normally has a population of 7,000. Driving around is a little crazy, to say the least. Saturday afternoon, we decided to brave the crowds. We first stopped at Kimmel Orchard, they had some hands on displays of craftmanship from the olden days. The kids got to help dry scrape fur from a hide.

We walked around for a bit and thought about buying some cider, but the lines were too long. So then we headed out to Pumpkin Ridge. The view was worth the drive out.

So was the kettle corn.


We also had fun at their little petting zoo. These little goats were only 5 days old.

Genna was thrilled to ride a pony, even if it was just around in a circle.

Sunday, Grandma & Grandpa Koski came down and went to church with us- we love to have them come! It is only a few short weeks before they fly south for the winter. They had a fun surprise in their van for the kids. Aren't those pumpkins huge?

Check out this tomato my Mom grew. She definitely has a green thumb.

We then went over to the park for a quick picnic. It was a gorgeous day and we were so happy to be able to spend a little more time with them.

Fun Friday Stuff

I have some fun things to share from this fantastic Friday...


I got to spend the day with my dear friend, Amber, first we shopped with my little buddy and ate at Red Robin-yum!

and then we crafted.

This is what we made. Doesn't Amber have the best ideas? You'll have to watch her blog to see what she does with hers.

It was seriously such a wonderful day- thanks so much, Amber!

I can't wait to find homes for these cute little blocks once I put my fall stuff up. Even though I am not ready to say goodbye to the gorgeous weather we are having, I think I am almost psyched up to get my fall decor up. Here are a few thrift store finds, waiting for some spray paint, along with some other fun stuff I found recently.

Tonight after soccer, the kids called us down the street to see some new puppies. They belong to Tipper, a beagle who is constantly roaming the neighborhood. We couldn't eat fast enough for Connor so we could get down there to see them. All my kids would love to have another dog, but Connor asks the most.

Can you blame him for loving these sweet things?

And here is the brother of the one Connor is holding- he has curly hair. As luck would have it, all seven of these heartbreakers are already spoken for.

Jameson and his buddy Aaron are camping out tonight, in the backyard. Well, they are if they don't fall asleep in front of the tv watching Little Rascals.

They giggled their way through the movie and made it out to the tent. Now let's see if they stay there all night.

Genna, Daddy and I watched Flushed Away tonight while the boys were doing their gaming thing.


Hope your Friday was as fabulous as mine!

Weekend in Review

We had a great weekend, despite it's rainy start.

Friday night Troy and I were able to go out on a date since soccer was cancelled. We ate at Famous Dave's and then went to see Mamma Mia. I just heard that they released a sing along theater version of the movie. I would totally have loved that- I had a hard time keeping my toes from tapping during all the songs I knew.

Saturday was another game day. We started out at Valentino's buffet for lunch- yummy! The kids were all excited because there was a clown doing face painting and balloon animals.






It is always so nice to be together.







Lorilee and I went on a little adventure trying to find supplies to make this project that we found here. You'll have to scroll down a ways to see her cute version that we totally copied!

Back at my Mom's house, Tracy, Lor and I managed to get our crafting completed despite the 5 little helpers we had. I'll post a better picture once I put up my fall decorations.



While we sanded and painted, the guys and the older kids went to the football game. The boys were thrilled that they got to go get autographs from some of the players. In fact, one of the players gave Connor a piece of his sweaty towel and he thinks that is the greatest thing ever!

Sunday after church, we had dinner with the Baier's and the missionaries- Elder Thacker & Elder DiVecha. The food and company were both great! We got to check up on their cute little baby chicks we'd seen a few weeks earlier. Genna and her friend Emily got to pet one of the broilers. We picked & ate some sugar pears from their tree. One of the boys upon finishing his pear threw the core over to the cow who was grazing nearby, she promptly gobbled it up. Then it was a game to chuck the fallen pears beneath the tree at that poor cow. She was a good sport and ate most that came her way.





Grrr...I have been wasting so much time editing and sizing pictures and not getting anything else done. Sorry about the different sizes, I am too tired to fix it again.