Off to Girl Scout Camp she goes...........

After all the hard work of selling cookies, going to helping hands to help set up the camp, & packing her bags she is off. Trinity worked very hard for her very first Girl Scout camping trip. She sold enough cookies to get this trip for FREE!!!

After a very short "Good Bye" she was ready for us to leave. Ready to enjoy this much earned trip.

Already hard at work with art crafts! Waiting for her new found friends to show up!

While she was away she had a great time even in the rain. For the first time ever there was so much rain at the camp that they had to have the closing fire circle inside. Of course without the fire.

On the day we arrived to pick her up she was by no means ready to go. Her first words to me was "I can't wait until next year when I get to stay for the whole week!"

All packed up & ready to head home.

Saying good bye for now. I am sure we will come to know this place very well over the next few years.

My first race!

As most of you know I was talked into trying a running program. I know I know me run right LOL. Well turns out I like it. So this year I ran in the Alaska Run for Women 5 mile. This race is to raise funds & awareness for breast cancer. I know I was surprised too.Nothing amazing or anything but hey it was fun!

Yes this is before we started.

I decide to run this race in honor of my dear friend Beth. You remember back to when you were in high school. Yes I know for some of us that was a long time ago. Anyways you always had way more than 1 set of parents. Well, Beth was one of those to me. She was my best friends mom.
Running this race for her was my honor.

Finished!!! Michelle & I in line to get some bread!
This was an amazing feeling to complete a race with so many women. Over 7,100 women were part of this event.

So look forward to future running updates.

Working Hard......Teaching a Lesson

Welcome to Camp Togowoods.

This last weekend Lee, Trinity & I spent the 2 nights out at Camp Togowoods in Wasilla, AK.

Yes that is right Lee went with us too.

This year we decided to take part in there program Helping Hands!

Well, Let me back up this story up a bit. To about February. This is also the time known as cookie time in the Girl Scout world. Trinity sure loves to sell cookies. She is always working for some big prizes. So she told us that she wanted to go to camp this year & we told her that she better get to selling cookies. So she set her heart on selling 400+ boxes so that she could go to Girl Scout Day Camp. After a couple of weeks of hard work she pulled it off. She sold over 460 boxes of cookies. Mission accomplished!!!!

Then in late April we got the camp schedule. To our surprise they had a camp that was not only overnight but it was FREE if you sold over the 400 box mark! So you could choose to go to a week of day camp or you could pick this 3 day camp.

So our brave little Trinity choose to go to overnight camp.

While reading over the camp booklet we found that they have this amazing camp called Helping Hands. It is a camp that takes place before the camp season & also at the end of the season. You are doing just what it says. Helping. It is a free camp where as many of your family members as you would like can go. You stay for the weekend & get the camp set up. So we signed up. The main reason was to teach Trinity some ownership skills & also to welcome her to the camp.

So here goes our little adventure!

Like a flash back in time it was some 15+ years ago that I went to this same camp. Oh how somethings do not change. Oh wait that is a big change it is no longer me standing in front of the camp sign.

Lee finding our sleeping quarters. We were the first family to arrive at camp! Lee felt a little out of place at first.

Home sweet home. Well, at least we are going to try & make it that way. Trinity was having fun trying to figure out how this bug netting worked. This was just one of our jobs. On Friday night we put together the beds. 6 cots in each tent. They all needed mattresses, support poles & bug netting. We managed to help with a few extra tents.

Sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite! Trinity was so afraid that the bugs were going to get to her. She tucked her netting in all the way around her cot. She was sure not to get bit.

Our first job of the day! We choose to put the Hoop House A.K.A greenhouse, back together. Wow what a job that was. This is where Trinity made her first friends.

After that was done we went on to do many other projects here are a few.........

~~~Screen repair on all the doors & windows that needed it

~~~Repair the roof on the pump house

~~~Remove the chicken wire from the birch trees down by the fire pit
~~~Drill holes in cd's for an art project this summer

~~~Put up a new shelf in the office

~~~Put up a new sign at the main road

So in the middle of it all we got to enjoy each other & nature. Our little butterfly whisperer made us all stop for a break to see her amazing talents.

Trinity got this butterfly to stay with her while she walked around camp showing it off to a lot of the campers. It was the talk of the camp for the rest of the day. The butterfly stayed right there on her hand for about 15 minuets!

On our last day there after all the projects were done we got to enjoy the camp as a family. We went out on the lake for a bit. It was wild to see clams in the lake.

Mom & Trinity having fun!

Then Lee & Trinity tried there hands a kayaking. Trinity did amazing!

Then we made our way back home. Trinity is now very, very excited about returning at the end of July where she will stay for 3 days without us. I am sure that she will have lots of stories to tell us when she gets home!

These are the moments!

As a mom I have learned that not everyday is perfect. Not everyday is priceless. But somehow somewhere in the mix of it all we gets these little moments that fill our lives with joy. When our children are peaceful & making us feel like we are making a difference.
Well today I got to have a couple of those moments.

The younger kids. Yes they are all sitting on the same couch in the same room not fitting or yelling. Yes they are all doing something that I approve of. Amazing how this can happen.
Nick (3), Ashlyn (3), & Thomas (4). This lasted for almost 30 minutes.

Then I got another moment. This just melted my heart. Thomas got a new book in the mail about a week ago & Trinity has taken it upon herself to read these books to him. Well today she had every ones attention. As the smaller children sat quietly & listened to every word she read to them. I am blessed.

Once a Daisy........

Trinity for the last 2 years has been a daisy Girl Scout. Now it is time for her to bridge to a brownie. So her troop planned a great event to make this a special time.

Trinity waiting to get started!

The troop making there way to the bridge.


The last photo of our daisy troop!

Trinity waiting her turn.

Our new little brownie shaking hands with a brownie troop welcoming them over.

The first photo of our brownie troop!

Me & my overly excited Trinity!

Our new little brownie!

Hoppy, Hoppy Easter

We didn't do t much today. The kids colored eggs earlier this week.

The bunny made his stop at our place & left lots of goodies.

Thomas looking at all thoes crayons!!!

Trinity being the great egg hunter.

We did spend the day with my sister & her family.

We had to go make a stop at Alaska Wildberry Products to go see the Easter bunny.

Then we returned home where we made a great meal.

Ivy (5), Thomas (4), & Trinity (7)

Trinity & Thomas with the Easter bunny.

When life gives you lemons.......

We try to make lemonade. Stephanie's baby girl is coming on March 31st so I made this cute baby sweater for baby Carrise. It was my first big project with knitting & I think it turned out great!!

What is Lee doing?

Well, he took a little ride to the hospital on 18th. After messing up his back again. Just an update he is doing much much better after doing traction & having adjustments done. I just wish the doctors would have listen to us at the hospital & not given him all the drugs that they did. That made it even worse for him.

~~~~Happy 4th Birthday Thomas!!!~~~~
Since Lee was down & things were a little crazy we had to change things for Thomas to have his 4th birthday. I got a sitter for Lee on Saturday so that I could run to Costco. So my great friend Michelle came to rescue. So while I was at Costco I picked up some pizza & there EXTRA LARGE cupcakes. My sister Lacey came over with her family & we had a very laid back evening. The down side to all this is that Thomas does not believe that he has turned 4 because we did not have a Thomas the Train cake with all his friends. So maybe next month we can celebrate with friends.

These cupcakes were so big that the 4 candles we put on the one for

Thomas took up no space at all.

Ivy loved having this big cake!

Trinity was having a great time. Even with all the plans being changed.

Thomas has a very best buddy in the whole world. It would be Miss Emma. Emma licked all the frosting off her cake all the way around leaving just center. I am not sure if it was watching her do it or seeing the end results that was the best part.

Larry being a very silly little man. He sure does love the camera though.

Thomas, Trinity & Ivy were having a great time playing in the new tent & tunnel that Thomas got from Emma & Larry. It was great for them to play with something new in the house.

Another great Alaska visitor. On Saturday night I heard a funny noise & when I looked out the window this is what I saw digging through my trash. This is a common thing during the winter but my oh my they leave us a HUGE mess when they do it.



HaPpY BiRtHdAy IvY BlUe!!



Making my 1st 3-D cake.

Ivy asked me a few weeks ago if I could make her a build a bear cake for her 5th birthday. So I took on the challenge. I am no cake decorator by any means so this was a big challenge for me. So all in all Ivy loved her cake & don't think I did to bad for my first time. Oh & with all the crazy stuff going on at my house at the time we are luck it got done.

Ivy had a great time at her 5th birthday party. We enjoyed 4 hours at Chuck E Cheese. Spending just over 600 tokens & cashing in over 3000 tickets in the end. It was great!!


we have been blessed!!!
Spring has come a little early for us this year. It has been great. The kids have already been riding there bikes & playing outside in spring coats. It has even warmed up enough for us to bring out the bubbles which is one of Thomas's favorite things in the summer.

Well, I hope that you are all enjoying keeping up with our blog. It has been a month already of posting on here & I am loving it. Except the part that I am not being on time with anything. Oh well. I will keep you up to date that is one thing I can promise. Hugs to you all.