Random Rambles

It’s FRIDAY!  Do I really need to say anything else?!

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I love to see the gifts in my children become glaringly obvious.  Sweet Sawyer is such a little administrator.  It takes one to know one, perhaps.

Wryder has a crush on a cute little high school girl and the minute he saw her last fall, he’s been telling her (and everyone else) that he was gonna marry her.  He and Sawyer have made plans for him to live in the playhouse with his new wife, with a sled for a bed.  Sawyer has been busy planning his wedding for months and this week, she got their wedding clothes done.

She made notes and designs in her notebook and would check off each piece as she completed it.

Her designs...
Her designs…

Her main construction materials were paper towels and washi tape and they look surprisingly good!

The dress and "gail"
The dress and “gail”
Wryder's tuxedo shirt.  Note the red rose and the bow tie...
Wryder’s tuxedo shirt. Note the red rose and the bow tie…

I feel like we’ve fought their obsession with this project for quite some time.  I do love that they love the concept of marriage and how joyful it truly is.  We must be doing a little something right…

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Sawyer has her first 4-H meeting this weekend.  We are so excited for her and she is so excited for herself!  Wrex and I’ve done a lot of talking this week about the joys and advantages of a slower pace of life.

Everything that he is today – from follower of Christ, to husband, to father, to cattle buyer – all of the things and people that influenced him most, took place before he was 15 years old.  It wasn’t high school…it wasn’t college…it was the things he got to try and experience during his most formative years that shaped his being.

I am so grateful that I get to be a stay-at-home mom…that I get the opportunity to spend more time with them than anyone else…that we get to encourage them and teach them and train them and provide them with opportunities and experiences that will translate into their futures.

We were watching Duck Dynasty the other night and one of the older kids was pursuing his dreams as a musician and just watching his mom’s reaction made me sappy, of course.  There are times when it feels like those days are so far down the road, but we all know they’re not; they’ll be here in the blink of an eye, just like everything else.

It made us wonder what our kids would be doing and pursuing…and we pray with all of our might that at the heart of whatever it is, that it’s Jesus.

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The neighbors didn’t have school on Monday so we loaded up for a midday play date.  Sawyer got to ride in the go-cart and thought that was pretty fun stuff!

Bye, mom!
Bye, mom!

Wryder went over, looked at it, tried the helmet on and then settled for the porch.

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This cute little booger is just joy in every way!

:)
🙂

She was a little fussy for the babysitter on Tuesday night and has had a few bouts of that with us lately so we assumed she must be getting a tooth.  Yesterday, Wrex was playing with her and saw the monster coming in on the top.

Lately, she’s really been pursing her mouth and that must be why.  Not sure what explains all the nose crinkling but I LOVE it.

Cute toot!
Cute toot!

Seriously, she’s the cutest thing E.V.E.R.

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We’re hoping hoping HOPING that the guys get our barn and shop finished this weekend.  They’ve been working weekends and the wind hasn’t helped their cause much….or the fact that they don’t ever get here until 10 am.  *ahem*

They have the shop all done but are still working on the barn.  I promise to post pics when they are done.  I know it’s going to look so nice but there’s something I’ll miss about the chippy old barn…

A few winters ago...
A few winters ago…

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Wrex is still sporting the mutton chops.

Yeeeeaaaahhh...
Yeeeeaaaahhh…

Extroverts are so funny.  I spend most of my days not wanting to be seen and he’s putting himself out there front and center, with radical facial hair no less.  Cracks me up.  Here’s to hoping they’re gone by Monday…sure hope that razor doesn’t zip up his face in the night!  😉

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It’s Fun Friday around here and today is errand day.  We’re gonna run to town and take some checks to the bank for daddy and get some cash for our Dave Ramsey envelopes and take a cupcake to a special birthday lady and get some birthday cards to send to some other special people (PaPa and RaRa!) and if the wind stops howling, we may stop at the park to burn a little energy (them) and calories (me).

Whatever you find yourself doing today, I pray that you choose and find joy in all of it.

Random {Christmas} Rambles

A little recap of our Christmas holiday…

We got to see Santa and a couple of real live reindeer…

Petting the reindeer
Petting the reindeer
And again....
And again….
Telling Santa he wants a Paw Patroller
Telling Santa he wants a Paw Patroller
Hoping for a Barbie Pop-Up Camper
Hoping for a Barbie Pop-Up Camper

We ate a few chicken nuggets, went to the doctor for the FIFTH TIME IN 2 WEEKS and then came on home.

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Sweet Sayble is finally feeling a bit better.  She got croup just like brother but had two infected ears on top of it and now has a cold.  We did a lot of this around here…and I haven’t minded a bit to be honest…

Sweetest little (bald) thing...
Sweetest little (bald) thing…

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One of my FAVORITE things to bake is pumpkin bread and banana bread.  I’m not a fan of thick, dense, heavy bread and these two are moist and light and heavenly, if I do say so myself.

Since we had a little downtime with all the sickies, I cooked up 22 loaves for some of our sweet friends…

YUM-MO
YUM-MO

We ate two and took two the Phipps family Christmas and the kids were asking for some this morning.  Guess I shoulda made more…

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We always get the kids Christmas jammies as an early gift.  They got to open them before we went Christmas light looking and hot cocoa drinking last week.

We get to open a present?!
We get to open a present?!

They got changed immediately and looked ADORABLE!

Sisters
Sisters
He looks so protective in this one...
He looks so protective in this one…

We cruised around Holyoke and then came home for some popcorn and a little Apple Dumpling Gang watching!  This was one of Wrexy’s FAVORITE movies as a kid and our kids have fallen in love with it as well.

Popcorn!
Popcorn!

It was a REALLY good day…

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Sigh...
Sigh…

My home is truly a place of refuge for me.  The other evening we had the lights off and the Christmas tree was glowing and the candles were filling the air with sweet scents…the kids were playing joyfully in the other room and Sayble was cooing at an angel from the nativity scene…daddy was on his way home and supper was in the oven and I was just so at ease.  There is truly no place I’d rather be than HOME.

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Our sweet neighbors invited us over to have supper and have a little Christmas celebration.  The kids had a ball (per usual) and were bouncing off the walls in excitement.  (Pretty sure the Krueger house was a LOT quieter after we left!)

Mr. Rick built the kids a barn for all of their farm animals and toys and it. is. gorgeous!  The hay mow flips open and the barn doors slide; there’s glass in the windows and ‘Phipps’ is engraved in the side.  Seriously, you guys, it’s one of the kindest, most thoughtful gifts we’ve ever received.  The kids have played with it CONSTANTLY since then!

Twins - Mr. Rick and Sayble
Twins – Mr. Rick and Sayble
THE barn
THE barn
With his Charolais bull
With his Charolais bull
Sawyer posing and Wryder over-smiling...you know, the norm!
Sawyer posing and Wryder over-smiling…you know, the norm!

Wryder didn’t fully understand that the barn was ours to take home.  When it was time to go, he immediately started melting down and said, “Can I please come back and play with it sometime?”  Ms. Kristi jumped in and saved the day and helped him realize he got to take it home.  He stopped, dried his eyes and started jumping up and down with joy!  It was pretty cute.

Mr. Logan and sweet Sara got the kids an EQUALLY awesome gift – a membership to Adventures in Odyssey!  For the year, we can listen to any and every episode that we can!  With our living in the boonies and driving 30 miles+ to get anywhere, this is a GREAT gift!  The kids (and us!) love it!

With Logan and sweet Sara
With Logan and sweet Sara

We are blessed with some of the best friends, I tell ya…

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On Christmas Eve, we spent the day getting ready to head to Nebraska.  We still had laundry to do and suitcases to pack and a few last minute gifts to wrap.

We ate a yummy lunch of steak and potatoes – everybody’s favorite – and took communion as a family.  We are so thankful that Jesus was born!   We took time to thank Him for the ultimate sacrifice He made for us with His death and took time to remember the faithfulness He’s shown us in 2015.  We are a blessed people….

We went to Christmas Eve services at church and the kids got to get fancy!

Gorgeous!
Gorgeous!
My heart
My heart

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Sawyer and Wryder left Santa some cookies and milk and they left carrots for the reindeer.  🙂  Santa showed up and the kids didn’t even get up until 8:00 to check out their goods!

For Santa and friends

For Santa and friends

Barbie car for Sawyer
Barbie car for Sawyer
Microphone for WD and a push toy for Sayble
Microphone for WD and a push toy for Sayble

Wrexy snacked on the carrots and then threw them in the yard as if the reindeer ate them.  The kids found them this morning and were SO excited!

Ick.
Ick.

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They have been so kind and gracious and grateful this year…makes a momma’s heart happy.  They’ve wrapped “gifts” they’ve taken from their rooms and made gifts and then wrapped them all with whatever they could find.

Wrex was looking for his shoes to go to the barn the other day and Wryder had taken those, too!  We found them wrapped in tissues under the tree.  Their generosity and desire to bless blesses us…

Earrings Sawyer made me...her creativity is ASTOUNDING!
Earrings Sawyer made me…her creativity is ASTOUNDING!

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We headed to Nebraska on Christmas day to be with the Phipps family.  We had a WONDERFUL time being together.  The kids had so much fun playing with all of their cousins and we had fun with their cousins’ parents.  🙂

With RaRa and PaPa
With RaRa and PaPa

The boys got pajama pants and we took the mandatory modeling picture.  If you don’t hear from me for a while, it means one of these guys has killed me for posting this.  😉

A handsome crew!
A handsome crew!
Urkel style, just for fun
Urkel style, just for fun

All of us grandkids got to give Grandma Rusk a very special gift this year.  We wanted to make it the grand finale – the last gift to be opened – but we were all so excited we did it pretty much first thing!

A merry Christmas for a special lady...
A merry Christmas for a special lady…

It worked out well because the kids were all quiet and there weren’t a lot of other distractions.  This lady is something else and so deserving of every good thing.

We took time for everyone tell the family a big thing they felt like the Lord was doing or something they really needed prayer about in the new year.  During that time, Granny said that she’s gotten the same word two different times that the Lord has a mission for her in Stillwater. She was saying she didn’t really have a clue as to what it might be or have any preconceived notion what it was but she was ready to get there and get going! Lord I hope to be here and be that ready to serve the Kingdom at 80 years old…

We love this lady
We love this lady

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We finished up Christmas here today.  This year has been especially fun with the kids older and fully able to soak up the joy of the season.

Wryder with the Paw Patroller and Lookout
Wryder with the Paw Patroller and Lookout
Sawyer with her new doll
Sawyer with her new doll

We are so fortunate to have daddy home with us the rest of the week for Christmas vacation.  We plan to soak him up and watch fun shows and eat fun food and play games and enjoy being together…our favorite thing!

Oh, and nap.

:)
🙂

Christmas break is hard, y’all!

Big Day

Yesterday was a BIG day around here!  Daddy didn’t have his normal sale so we all loaded up and headed to North Platte to have a family fun day.  Wrexy sold some calves for good money and we needed to spend a few of those dollars at Menards to make some barn repairs AND my sweet hubby wanted to treat me to a pedicure.  How could I say no to that?!

I’ve been talking about wanting/needing one for quite some time…since, I don’t know…Wryder was born?!  Seriously, it’s been a while.  Sweet Sawyer has been in my camp, too.  She loves getting her nails painted (which I do for her twice a week) and she loves warm baths so the combination of the two was right up her alley!

I had been telling her that I didn’t have my first pedicure until I was 20.  Yes, 20!  She’s 4…I think we have time.  Plus, I didn’t think she was tall enough to reach the water.  Regardless, I told her she could get her nails painted but she couldn’t stop talking about this “peck-iture.”

We walked into the nail place and went to pick out some polish.  I turned to show her the purples but she wasn’t there.  I turned around and she was on the floor taking her shoes and socks off!  I looked up and they had a pink chair that looked like a bear specifically for little girls and she already had them filling it with water!  How could I hardly say no to that cuteness?

The bear chair....
The bear chair…

She was one happy camper, yall!  I don’t think she stopped smiling and giggling the WHOLE time!  She loved the hot towel on her feet and legs and loved to watch the water change colors…

Happy girl!
Happy girl!

She ended up getting dark green with silver sparkles and they even put fancy flowers on her big toes!

Sitting still
Sitting still
Getting pampered
Getting pampered

It was a fun little memory for us to share and her sweet delight was so worth it!

We took a spin on the little merry-go-round before we left…IMG_2351IMG_2355and then we called the clinic because brother’s eye seemed to be getting worse by the minute.  He woke up with it kinda crusty and then it decided to leak yellow and green mucus all day.  (Yum, I know).  By the time we were done with our pedi, it was swollen and red.

A little ooky
A little ooky
:(
🙁

We took him in this morning and he sure enough has pink eye in BOTH eyes!  This is a first for all of us, for sure.  Poor little thing.  He doesn’t feel bad other than his eye so we got some drops and I put them wrestled him down and got them in.  Thankfully, daddy will be home for the next dose.

He’ll be contagion free in 24 hours – yay!  Little guy looks like a prize fighter right now…