Olivia....

I just love these pics of Olivia. She loves washing dishes. I thought that these were so sweet.

HELP....

ok so in my ventures to make my blog more aesthetically pleasing I sooooo screwed something up.... I found a site that has free blog templates and now for the life of me cannot get it to go away.... I hate this layout and have had several others also log in and try to fix my "issues" with no success. We have erased HTML addresses again and again and still this blasted thing will not go away. If you have any suggestion or are a computer genius let me know..... I am so stinkin' disturbed that I can not figure it out!

Nikki

a day at the apple orchard....

We had a great day at the apple orchard today. It was BUSY... they said that they had had 4,000 people pick apples!!! WOW! It was a beautiful day and all of the kiddos had a blast...so much to see, do and TASTE! We went to Edwards Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove. Jed's parents, Steve and Janan came and brought along their darling "new kiddos" Stello, Mikie and Tjaden. These three sweet kids are staying with them for a few months! We are loving having them as part of the family! Jed's sister Sara and her husband Chuck came as well with their three kids - Ben, Dominique and Elliott.

The kids.. Tjayden, Ben, Madison, Dominique, Olivia, Mikie and Elliott

the finished product!!! Miss Olivia

Pony Rides
Heading out on the wagon to pick apples
Sweet Mikie... my girls LOVE her!

The workers!
what do you do when you do not have a ladder!?
The Smiths!
Daddy and his girlsMy precious girls Carmel apples, donuts, cider and many more forms of sugar were consumed!

On the way home!!! Madison, Mikie and Olivia!

scavenger hunting.....

Heading out with the list!

Libby was the something brown!!! Too funny!

Today's big adventure...scavenger hunts! when the girls said..."it is boring outside" I decided to give them a scavenger hunt list! They have been having a blast and are currently doing the inside scavenger hunt list!

Do not be to surprised with the caliber of my drawings... I know, I know, that art degree really paid off! I laughed when the girls had to ask me what several of my pictures were!! O well...

dishwashing divas.....

I have been trying , really trying, not to say "no" just because it is the easy way out. You know what I mean.... "mom, can we finger paint?" - NO. "mom can we play in the mud" -NO. But really why do I say no? Is it because all I am thinking in the back of my head is.. that's just one more thing for me to clean up. Is that really a good enough reason? I have been really trying. Kids are kids, they need to do some crazy,messy stuff.

So yesterday the first request of the day came. "mom, can Olivia and I take a shower....with our clothes on?" I immediately said no. But then I remembered my new commitment. I yelled back at Madison that it was OK. I heard her yell at Olivia " HURRY, SHE SAID YESSSSS" they were all giggles and played in the shower and bath fully clothed for a good hour!

Then at supper time..."mom can we have a restaurant here tonight? We want you to be the waitress and we will be at the table... You need to carry a tray." OK. so there I stood tray in hand waiting on the little miss smiths, and there dear baby! At one point Olivia raised her hand and said "mam, we will need some ketchup". Too Funny. When the meal was done they said that they loved the food and the chicken was very good!

then today... can we do the dishes? There were no dishes. actually, I had just finished cleaning the kitchen... but being the good mom that I am trying to be, I said yes! So we got out clean dishes to wash... they played for literally hours, the washed bath toys, all of the Tupperware, they made soap mustaches..... but most of all they had fun.

Yea, so I have had a few rivers to clean up inside, some soggy clothes on the bathroom floor, some food orders and maybe a few more chores, but man has it been fun to see them be so surprised at a yes!

Today I heard Madison say to Olivia.. "I hope it rains because I think mommy would let us go outside and play in it...with our clothes on!!!"

no wonder it was so quiet....

I came up the last night after thinking that things were way to quiet.... how sweet is this. Jed was watching the game in bed and both girls found their daddy. You just have to love these moments. Can I just tell you that one of the biggest blessings in life is having a husband who loves the time he gets to spend with his kiddos. Thanks Jed for being such a great dad! The girls adore you!

yummy veggies...

here is what we are eating allot of these days! Jed and I are down more then 20 pounds combined in the first 30 days....we will continue on for another 60 days and hopefully another combined 20 pounds a month!! To see what we are doing visit www.beachbody.com and check out Power 90. Off to bed...need to be up at 6 am to exercise!!! UUGGGHHHH

Keep you posted!