Ha

Conversation from the backseat. This is what I heard them saying:

L: I am going to have a sweet car when I can drive. How many more years til I get my driver's license Mom?
Me: About 6.
L: That is so cool. Brenden, I am going to have the sweetest car when I am 16. And you won't be embarrassed to ride to school with me because my car will be so sweet that all the girls will want to go out with you!

Me: Well how are you going to buy this super sweet car?

L: I am going to have 3 jobs...McDonald's, Dairy Queen and Toys R Us.
Me: Well I am glad you know you have to work to have a sweet car.


:-)
Boys and their 'sweet' toys!

ah winter...

Just having some fun experimenting with textures on these snowy pics taken at Christmas. Of course, you can no longer so ANY grassy areas! The yellow spot in the upper right is the top of the kids' slide peaking out of a snow drift.

Other than having fun with pictures, I have been getting new items up in my Etsy shop. Getting things freshened up there. I loved how my new items turned out. Most of the time they take on a life of their own and then I am not so sure if I like the finished project as I saw it in my head. So busy with Etsy, finishing up things at work and trying to just keep up with the usual things.

January thaw seems to be here and it's helping to cope with the winter. Brenden has been doing ALOT of snowmobiling. He is even trying to do some jumps and he's getting more daring! Yikes! I should go out one of these days and get some action shots of him. :-)

So much...

So much to say, so little time! That is such a lame excuse but it really is the truth. Heck I still haven't put the Christmas presents away. They are sitting randomly around the house. Sad really. Lots of things going on right now. Just wanted to pop on and say Happy New Year. Here's hoping twenty ten is the best year ever!!! I hate posting without a picture but that's the way it is this time. Hope to be back regularly real soon. Happy New Year.

Since I don't really have any new pictures. By the end of the week there will be many but I was thinking about doing a favorites post. So I went back through my files to find some of my very favorites pics. Some have already been posted here but some have not.

A fun day of snowboarding and sledding with my boys! Early January.

I have this picture framed in my house. I love it. How convincing are they?! February

Waterpark in Meford. March

Webkinz Love. April


I think I will do this in parts. It's been a long day! Hope you all have a great week. Merry Christmas to all of you.

Snow Day Part 2

Brenden was just sick to have me take some pictures of all the snow we got on Tuesday into Wednesday. Not sure how much we actually got but the wind made some pretty impressive drifts!This is the scene on our front steps and looking west.

And then I walked into our sitting room which I have named the quiet room and found this scene.

His face is just so cute. I went out to the shed at 5 am to rescue him from the storm. Poor thing. There was snow swirling inside the shed and the metal roof was banging. I doubt he slept at all. So he spent the day indoors with his family. Snuggling on the couch and finding a quiet spot to snooze in the quiet room.

Still trying to get those pictures of him in the tree. He is a sneaky little feline!

What a day!

Well we got the snow day that we had been wanting.

So I decided to get the rest of the Christmas decorating done and take some pictures. I forget what I do from year to year! I haven't figured out what exactly works for this house just yet.
I love decorating this chicken feeder up for the seasons. I think the rusty galvanized metal with the sparkly shiny ornaments is a cool look.

I have had this tree for years and years. I think I bought it at a garage sale and it came with mini Easter decorations but I haven't gotten it out for quite some time.

I recently found some vintage Christmas bulbs and thought they would look perfect on this tree.

I put the tree inside an old silver water pitcher. I still have to finish the top. I put this antique rhinestone buckle on the top and I still need to find the perfect ribbon to go with it.

An abandoned nest that we found in the yard is a great spot for some extra bulbs. The nest is resting in an old store scoop used for weighing items.

I love this old chippy metal sign. Another abandoned nest that Brenden and I found on a bike ride. :-) Next to the heart shaped rock.

A closeup of the mantle this year.

This feeder is on the dining table and I added lots of bulbs nestled around this old paper church. It has a hole in the back for a light but I don't have a way to light it up. I might have to cut a bigger opening and put one of those battery operated tea lights inside.

And this is just a simple Christmas scented candle sitting inside a iron ware bowl. My Grandma recently passed it onto me knowing I love and collect the pieces. I suppose I COULD sprinkle some bulbs inside it! :) Some fresh greens might have to be added also. But I kind of like it simple like this.

Well those are some of my favorites. I have some more to share soon. We have a furry little white thing that is frequently making the Christmas tree his perch...but he is sneaky about it. Every time I go to grab my camera he climbs out so I don't have a picture yet. I will though! Unless he has learned his lesson. It is quite the sight with these 2 big eyes peeping out from amongst the branches. He is lucky he is so cute and loved.

So are we ready for Christmas?

Oh man. Where has the time gone? I had such high hopes of getting this place all spiffed up but the month of November is gone! Incredible how the weeks just slip on by.

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year. The Wednesday before was Jason's birthday. So it got to be another busy week. I decided to skip the whole Black Friday shopping thing. I like to shop but not at the same time with everyone else in the state! It would have been awesome to get most of my holiday shopping done with though.

Here are a couple pics of the birthday boy from the beginning of November. Yes. I am that far behind! He got his wish and was presented with a new Nintendo DS. He was very excited and has had a blast playing new games. He used some of his birthday money to purchase a new Kingdom Hearts DS game. He is so into Kingdom Hearts right now. He even wants a long black coat and a key blade sword just like the main character. Is that how Goth starts???? Seriously questioning that these days!

What else? Just trying to keep my head up. No motivation whatsoever lately. Brenden is bugging me to get Christmas stuff up in the house. I am SLOWLY getting it done. Little baby steps. They each have a little tree with lights in their rooms and the big main Christmas tree is up but nothing on it. Maybe Sunday. Sunday may turn into a busy busy day since I have been putting off so many things.

It snowed a bit this morning so maybe that will get me in the festive mood. Brenden got up and got all his snow gear on and went out to shovel the driveway before school! He loves his snow. He just loves getting out there and moving it around. Just like his Dad! I hope he ate breakfast though. Now I am wondering. I never asked him but I bet he didn't. At least they have a morning snack in school! Now let's just hope he had snacks in his backpack. I have gotten so bad at keeping on top of that. Tis the season. ;) Another cute thing...this morning the kids busted out the christmas carols on the way to school. Of course, they were each singing a different song but hey, it was fun.

a full weekend

A full weekend already and it's only Saturday night! We did a couple hours of trick and treating. Lucas started not feeling so well so we cut it short. He says he just needed to eat so let's hope that is what it is! I would hate to cancel his party tomorrow. :( Lucas loved his costume this year. His hair was a bit unruly but we got it under control and sprayed it black.

Mr. Spiderman all buff! Showing his muscles.

He loves his pumpkin freshly carved. It's been a great weekend so far.

Pre Halloween

I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of the pumpkins yet. And I know this may come as a real shock but guess who landed in the pictures??? He is such a camera hog! We have been showering him with extra loving care. Poor Oliver has had some health issues with his mouth. Not sure what happened but he is on the mend now. His appetite has returned and he is out catching field mice. He trots them up by the house so we can watch him finish off the mice. Gross, I know!

Another tooth bit the dust on Monday morning. He woke up and it fell out. It was so loose I am surprised he didn't swallow it while he was sleeping!

We did this a few years back and he remembers it. He was mad that he couldn't get the little pumpkins to balance on his head. I will tell him why! He can't sit or stand still long enough...

I'm sure I will be back soon with more fall and Halloween festivity pictures. Plus the big one oh partay on Sunday! Such an exciting week in the Raths' household. Have a Happy Halloween everyone. Are you dressing up???

I got the boys out for some fun pictures. It's getting REALLY close to Lucas' 10th birthday so it's an annual tradition to take pictures of the birthday boy. Not goofy everyday ones but some nice ones. He was willing to do it so we went with it even though it was cold cold the day we did these. Oliver wandered into MOST of the pictures! He is such a ham so we allow it. And he is so stinkin' cute and has a great personality. He loves us.

It was a fight to see who got to hold him. So we had to switch off.

This one cracks me up. This is when Oliver was wandering over to us. I lost their interest and you can see both of their eyes glued to Oliver and what he was up too.

This one went horribly wrong. I should post the outtakes of this one. Very very funny and there was a headlock involved if I remember right. :-) Silly brothers.

Lots of sickness has hit our family. Grandma has been in the hospital now for a week and Brenden has the flu. It started Sunday with a headache and no appetite and then a fever spiked and the vomiting on Monday. Today there was some vomiting but no fever. He has made it to the couch now and is cracking his jokes. I think he is definitely on the mend. Amen. Now if the rest of us could be spared! B hasn't been sick in over 3 years and it was his first days missed of school ever. He is just hoping that he gets back tomorrow. Show and tell day.