Happy Birthday Logan!!

Logan is 5 years old!! Can you believe it? He definitely looks and acts 5, but I know it was just yesterday that I was cradling him and rocking him to sleep! What a wonderful boy he is, really ambitious, and loving, and all-boy!! His present was something I was quite leary about, but we know Logan will be a great caregiver to his very own Gecko~ "Stickers"!! Here they are:

Cassi enjoys "Stickers" as much as Logan, and is quite helpful with her. Stickers is a Crested Gecko, one of the easiest to care for, and most calm and mild mannered. She has those cool, sticky fingers which she can climb with, and she does love to climb! Logan got a great new pet.


So, I am off to Michigan with my Hasek sisters, and then straight to Tennessee to be with my very own sweet sister Hilary, and her brand new baby boy! I am so lucky to have such great times ahead of me!! I will miss my own wonderful family tons while I am gone, but I know they'll have fun without me too! Things are just less hassle when MOM is gone!

I'm an AUNT!!

I am officially an aunt! Yes, I do already have, um, 30-something nieces and nephews on Barant's side, and love them all, BUT, have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my very first, Hohl-blood, little bundle of joy! And he has arrived! Yay Hilary! I am so sad that I am not right there, but I will be soon! Zackary was born at 10:43 p.m., just 12 hours after her water broke. Pretty decent first delivery, I'd say. Of course my first was just about 8 or 9 from start to finish, but you know, who's keeping score? Uh hum, Hil, you have 3 more to go to even be tied with me! So HA! Just kidding, I am so excited it is very hard to contain myself!! But I do have a well-deserved Hasek sister getaway which begins Sunday, so I will go and enjoy myself and the good Hasek gals, and then depart just a little early to get down to TN to see my new little buddy, Zackary! And to hopefully help Hilary get some extra sleep! And this is life at it's best! Family, fun, bright futures ahead! What a wonderful world!

Fun Thursday

You can't make out "Bambi" nearly like we saw, he was running scared, so he's a blur! But Kaylee and I went on a bike ride Wednesday evening, and these awesome pics are just a piece of what we beheld! What a beautiful world!

We had a great day planned for yesterday, Thursday, of going to the Carthage pool and swimming all day until horse riding at 5, and well, this is what I get for making actual plans- rain! And I don't think it got above 66 degrees! It was a nice break from the heat of July, but not what we needed for our day at the pool. So we did what we are really used to doing... changed plans! We looked around at the local pet store, Logan's birthday is coming and he has his mind set on a lizard! It is always fun to go to the pet store.

Then we tried our hand at fishing. We thought they'd really be biting in the unusual weather, but to our dismay, nothing at all! It was fun trying, though. Then we headed on to Carthage and got to see a new baby, always fun to do, and played at the neat park there, which is a great treat for the kids! We also went through the Carthage Jail tour, also enjoyable. But what better weather to ride Mac in! Here is the pro, Kaylee, doing what she does best~

Cool blogging, stolen from Colista! Try it!

Here are the rules:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. You might be surprised about what random things people remember about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you! (Provided I haven't already done so...)Now, get to joggin' down memory lane!

Webkinz Mania

So, if you don't have a child with one of these cute animals, then you probably know of others, and are just hoping your own children don't come begging for their own. Well, as a mom I am in favor of these little interactive toys. My kids love them, and are even willing to save their own money to buy the ones they just have to have!! To go even further, they are even willing to earn computer time by reading the number of minutes that they want to play online with their Webkinz! As you can see, this latest must-have does have it's benefits, even for the parents (especially if a parent really loves computer game playing, which the Webkinz site is FULL of)!!

Yes, you count correctly, there are nine little animals pictured here, and yes, we still only have four children. But as I said, they buy their own, and bless their hearts, they buy them for each other! What a great day it is when one comes home from the store with a special present for another sibling! Alli and Kaylee have each bought one for the other. It is during these special instances when a Mom has to smile and cry all at once!

AT THE PAGEANT

Barant and I volunteered at the Nauvoo Pageant this past weekend, which is always fun to do! I got to work in the Concession stand, which I really love! It is fun to talk to all the people that come, and to the community volunteers working with you. Barant was the "runner", which doesn't really describe the job, he got to use a golf cart to do all his "running". That is exactly the way he prefers to run. The kids all went too, and helped Daddy out a lot, which you can see Alli is getting her turn to help in the picture above. Cassi, of course, found several ways to spend her hard-earned money, I believe she almost has enough for a 3rd Webkinz, which she just really, really needs!! Ha ha. Kaylee and Logan pretty much stuck together, which is typical of the super cute pair. Gotta love those guys!

Horse riding with Kaylee Menn

The kids have a favorite pasttime- horseback riding in Carthage with Kaylee Menn. She is probably 21 now, and the most awesome mentor for the kids to have! She is a champion barrel racer and runs the Saddle Club in Carthage, taking care of lots of horses, her own and others', and also training horses. She is the busiest young lady I know, also in college full time in the Pre-Vet program. I just love taking the kids there to ride, and play in the big barn there. It takes me back to my farm life growing up! Oh how I long for the country life again! Anyway, here are some pix of us having fun there last night.

Alli is very diligent in saving her money and going to ride "Mack". She is awesome up there on the huge animal! I hope she keeps it up!

This is usually how you find Cassi there at the barn~ she loves to keep the Pepsi man in business! She also loves to ride, but finds a lot of other "important" things to spend her money on!

Logan says he is now saving his $ for riding lessons too! He now has so many things he is saving for, I don't know which he'll remember to actually buy! But he looks like a natural, huh?

Of course missing from these pix is our own Kaylee, who led us all here to the barn for riding lessons 3 years ago! She is still a horse lover, especially Mack, and will be riding next week. Hopefully I'll remember my camera for that! She is an absolute pro! She could take after another with her awesome name if she sticks with this horse business!

"Touring" our nice little town

Logan's favorite place to visit in our neat little town is the Oxen. He has known them since before he could talk, in fact some of his very first words were, "Jim and Jake", they have since retired, and here in this photo are, "Gary and Gabe". Logan and I would take daily bike rides down here when he was small enough to ride in the seat on my bike! Those were the good ole days, now he rides his own awesome bike along side all of us!

Alli got to help make a rope. She got to keep it, too. What a handy little helper.
Here are "Mick and Ben", just 2 of the 16 mighty Draft horses that get worked all day pulling carriages around the Flats. We love riding with them. What mighty beasts they are! Oh, and Alli, Logan, and Kaylee are the ones in between the horses. By the way, Cassi was visiting Gramma Judy this day, she got in on some "touring" fun today though!
Logan thought what better time for a nap than while being pulled by the mighty horses!
Alli and Cassi saw some more of the great animals today, although we missed a ride, we got to see, "Just Plain Anna Amanda", which was very enjoyable! We have such talented young performing missionaries here every summer working so hard to bring all some great fun!

Camp Lookout

Kaylee spent 5 whole nights at Camp Lookout. She had a blast, but was greatly missed by us! Logan was soooo glad to have his big sissy back!
Kaylee and Constance went together to camp. Good times were had by all.
A great surprise was there for Kaylee, her very first best friend from Pre school, Payton, was there. What a nice reunion. They still got along great!
Here's the group of girls that was there all week. I know it was a super time for them. Kaylee still hasn't stopped smiling! Cassi also went for 2 nights, and had a great time. Maybe next year she'll try all week.

Happy 4th of July!

We got to watch Keokuk's fireworks from right across the river! We had a great view. Hope everyone had a happy 4th!

Happy Birthday Alli!

Alli is easy to please, a Webkinz and money and she's all smiles!
She had her first ever "friend party", and it was a great success! She planned it all out, and they all had a great time! Here is one of her best friends, Waylon with her as she opens his present. More smiles as she pulls out her favorite girl stuff: fingernail polish and lip gloss! Yay!
Here we have two great friends, Courtney and Annika, with Alli and her yummy cake!
On the agenda was our fun slip-n-slide! It was very fun for all!
Cute Cousins! Alli and Derek, I think they even kind of look alike!

Also on the agenda was a pinata, always a ton of fun! Here is Alli giving it a whack! On the way home it was said, "that was the greatest party ever!" I think it was too! Happy Birthday Alli, until you're 8!!....