Happy 4th Birthday Nathan & Sophia :)

can you believe it!? they are 4 yrs old already!!! where does the time go??? this year i thought i'd try to MAKE their birthday cakes btw-unless you are a professional and do this all the time....i highly advise NO ONE try this!!!! it's extremely time consuming and exhausting!!! i literally spent from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm working on these cakes. making icing, coloring icing, baking cakes, stacking cakes, filling icing bags, and washing tons of dishes!!! however, the kids loved them and that is what it's all about.......right????!!! (i keep telling myself that)

p.s. - guess i should throw in a disclaimer that we didn't serve our 4 yr old a beer for his birthday :)

the finished products......

just hanging out....

so we got to "babysit" the carmony kids all day saturday and sunday! i use the term "babysit" loosely, due to the fact that they pretty much babysit for MY KIDS all weekend long! they are always such a blessing to have around. besides the fact that they help out with all my kids by entertaining, bathing, dressing, and feeding them! they are well manored, well behaved, respectful and helpful kids who are always so appreciative!
these two boys are just two peas in a pod!!! cole is nathan's best bud!!!

oh! and we had movie night and strung popcorn for the xmas tree! (btw- ignore the quality of these photos.... i didn't bother to change a few of the settings)

my 1st turkey :)

well.....thanks to our wonderful indiana weather, on thanksgiving day, i didn't know if i was feeding men in the field, or going to indy for a family dinner. so long story short, we stayed home! and i must say, it was so nice to JUST STAY home!!!! AND......i fixed MY VERY FIRST TURKEY! WOO WOO! martha stewart style!!! it required cheesecloth and wine!!! EVEN BETTER :) ha! but you want to know my favorite part of cooking a turkey??? the little "pop-up" time that pops when the turkey is done! aren't those brilliant!!!?? but seriously....how on earth do they work??? regardless, they do. so on thanksgiving day, we stayed home and had turkey, dressing, corn, sweet potatoes, and homemade yeast rolls(thanks to my MIL for the rolls) OH....and i almost forgot the pumpkin pie and pecan pie :0 anway, hope everyone reading this enjoyed their thanksgiving weekend, too!

oh........and the kids had fun watching me cook and wanted to help. but as they were watching me in the kitchen, the thanksgiving day parade caught their attention and i caught nathan bustin' a move! ha!

'tis the season..... :)

my "favs" from the weekend....

this is our new "pad"!!! lol hey....might not be fancy, but it works! it keeps us dry and warm, and we don't have to worry about any tents leaking!!! this was given to me by my uncle bill. he was very generous and literally just gave it to us!!! THANKS UNCLE BILL!!! AND while some of you are thinking...."i wouldn't take that thing even if it what FREE!" i guess it's a matter of whether or not you enjoy camping. i am enjoying it, and so is our family. it's just a new way of building family memories :)

aren't these little light's fabulous!!! they are cute....but the are a PAIN to put up!! might be the 1st and last time i use them cause they were such a pain!!!

i loved seth and julie's dogs.... i hope to have a big black lab someday....

loved this shot of nathan :)!!!

these are backwards...but first he just looked at the worm....then he tried to put it on himself....then it was.....'MOM......I NEED ANOTHER WORMY PWEASE...." and don't ask me why he has the barbie fishing pole!

and this pics is for mary.....she just loved this pic because sophia caught a leaf......but it looks like she caught a heart!!! :) too cute!

thought it would be fun to show the "dogs view".

Camping w/ the Apples and Johnsons

well....we have started a new thing in the dora family......CAMPING! lol very hard to imagine our family camping i know....but kids just love it and i enjoy just "getting away" for the weekend. and drew.....well....not sure what he likes about it or IF he really likes it. i know he enjoys seeing how much fun the kids have and how they just light up when they know they get to spend the night in the camper!!! but all in all, it's just a fun & cheap way to make family memories!

so we were invited to go camping w/ the apples and johnsons. two of the most sweet, fun loving, and laid back families you'll ever meet! i already knew the apples...but it's always great to get to know them even better!!! :) and i had met the johnsons, but never spent any amount of time w/ them. they took us and our children in like they had known us for years!! just like the apples, they were so much fun, and treated our kids like their own! brad and mary (apple) even took our kids for about an hour so i could shower, brush my teeth, and just do what i wanted....IN PEACE! THANKS BRAD AND MARY!!!! as you will see in a few pics, the johnsons brought 3 out of 4 of their kids!!! lol their dogs! they are the sweetest dogs....and they listen sooooooo well!! and my kids just loved them, and they dogs loved them back!! so thanks guys for inviting us :) we had a great time!!!!!!!!!!! btw - beautiful pose mary!!!! lol

drew and i were playing cornhole against brad and seth! brad and seth won :( but only because they had the advantage of being used to playing on a small cornhole game! drew and i are used to big ones!!!!

Meet JACKSON!!!

this is our 10 yr old jack russell....jackson!(such a unique name, huh? lol) he was our "baby" before we had our babies!!! i can remember growing up, hearing people....but especially "old farmers".....say, "yeah....he shore is a good 'ol dog...." well.....i don't really consider myself old, but we are farmers, and yes....jackson is just a good 'ol dog. instead of a cat having 9 lives, THIS dog truly has had about 9 lives. ask anyone who knows us well :) he's been on his death bed at least 2 x.....and had what feels like a million other things go wrong! but.....he is still chuggin' along and is certainly a "good 'ol" dog. he lost his buddy this summer. he just hasn't been the same w/ out her :( BUT......i must admit.....he sure hasn't gotten into as much trouble as he used to!!! so....meet jackson :)