Birthday Celebrations at the Farm!!!

...AR and her grandpa (Matt's dad) have birthdays only three days apart. We decided to spend the weekend out at the farm and celebrate both their birthdays together. First, we had to drive there. Check it out, she even was using the gear shifter!

Her and grandpa picked strawberries and had them as dessert for lunch.

Matt and I went on a four-wheeler driver.

AR ready to go fishing. She didn't catch anything but Matt found a snake that bit him!

The furbabies went too. Emma, she's getting older, but I insist that she's going to live forever.

And Shadow, such a handsome boy!

Her baby wanted a ride on the four-wheeler too.

And she read to her baby, too.

My child is a fan of celery... glad one of us is!

Her Aunt EB got her her very own birthday cake!

Of course, what's a weekend at the farm without s'mores!

She climbed trees and deer stands all weekend cause she's a monkey.

On Sunday, our favorite veteran and Matt's bestie, Dusty came to the farm with his dog and we had a good time hanging out with him. I found a tick on AR's back but luckily, Dusty came to the rescue to take it off.

One thing about camping is that by the end of the weekend, we all have some crazy hair... especially this little girl!

So happy birthday AR and Grandpa!!!

The Dog Days of Summer...

...Fellow blogger, now turned real-life friend, Sara has recently welcomed her second child! She's a mom that's really on top of it as she's scheduled an entire The Dog Days of Summer Series to be featured on her blog while she's soaking in all the new baby cuddles! Today I'm the guest blogger talking about AR and her furbrother and sister. You can see my post and all others at Sara's blog, Running from the Law.

Father's Day 2014...

....Happy Father's Day out there! Yesterday, we spent the day at my sister's celebrating with my family. Today we went out to the farm. Our entire family, me, Matt, AR, and both furbabies, went and we are all exhausted! I only took you know...86 pics but here are some of my favorites!

AR with her Daddy and Grandpa John

In 2009, I went to conference and got a free Bald Cyprus that was about eighteen inches. Matt planted it at the farm. Here it is today...taller than Daddy!!!

Grandpa John and AR practicing casting

Oh Em Dog, some things never change, she stayed by my side the entire time we were there

AR and Daddy rode in the back of the trailer to go fishing with Grandpa

Fishing with Daddy

Her first time with her butterfly net and she caught a butterfly!

I am totally in love with this picture. Nothing like a girl and her doggies! They followed her on their own.

The fishing and butterfly hunting didn't last long so we rode back to the house together. Quick selfie first!

When we got back, Grandma had a bunch of headbands, bows, and barrets laid out. Although this isn't a great photo quality wise, I absolutely love their smiles and laughter.

On the way home, we stopped by our friends' farm. They had kittens which OMG! AR loved! She even picked one up all by herself.

They also have horses. She's only rode a horse once at the Kid Expo. She was so excited to see them and Mr. Jim told her to get up there! She was so excited! Here she is with Riley on Daisy.

Such a big girl! As soon as she got off the horse, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I did it!" and wanted to ride again.

Mr. Jim told her to ask Daddy for a horse herself. AR just smiled, tilted her head, and batted her eyes. Oh geez...we're in trouble.

She kept saying, "I ride a pony!" It was the perfect end to her day and Daddy was pretty happy since we did all things he loves. Hope you had a great Father's Day with the dads in your life!

Sunny Shutterbug Sunday!!!

...It all started with this pose. The storm was rolling in, the wind was pulling into the house while she tried to put on her Minnie high heels. I grabbed the camera to try to capture the moment.

She smiled at the German Shepard walking by like she normally does.

And then she was promptly over it!

It was sunny so I said let's go outside while I practice with my camera. I got this great shot of the neighbor's tree.

I got lots of awesome pics of Em-Dog!

Oh and now AR wants to love on her Shadie and get in the pictures!

I got three similar shots and I'm loving them all, her smile, him leaning in against her. #precious

Shad's latest thing is rolling around in the grass to scratch his back. AR thinks this is hilarious but I have to keep her out of his rolling distance. He just doesn't understand how big and powerful he is. This is after a roll, AR came over to pet him. How sweet is this!

The dogs were thirsty so we headed back inside. AR had to put their bowls in order. We have an extra one that I got for free. I think it drives her nuts having all three out so she put one inside Shadie's cage.

After we had the bowl situation sorted out, she climbed into Emma's cage with her. I promise I clean it, in fact, I just washed it out last week so don't mind the dirt on the back wall.

Then AR closed the door and started saying, "Shut, Momney, shut!" I'm so lucky our dogs let her do whatever she wants with them.

And that's how my afternoon changed from trying to catch a sweet moment to my child ending up in a dog cage!

K9 Advantix II...

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
...While here in Missouri, we're covered in snow and probably getting more snow this weekend and even MORE snow next week, it's fun to think that spring is right around the corner. The warm weather will be great but that also means that flea and tick season is upon us. K9 Advantix II is a leading brand of pet medication that helps combat fleas and ticks on dogs.

You can purchase this online in a four pack from Entirely Pets.

My silly dogs thought it was food so they did all kinds of fun tricks for me! Silly furbabies!

K9 Advantix II is so easy, just open and spread between their shoulder blades down their backbone and voila-bye bye ticks and fleas!

Don't worry, the models in this post were compensated with Milk Bones for their time and patience.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Kong Dog Toy Review...

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

...Entirely Pets is the leader in online pet supplies and non-prescription pet medications. Our vet operated site provides you with a wide selection of pet products at unbeatable prices, with excellent customer service.

As your one-stop pet shop, EntirelyPets.com provides affordable solutions to give your pet the healthiest and happiest life possible while saving you money. Basically, we aim to keep tails wagging! Our "pet friendly" site features the most popular brands on the market and various in-house product lines. We have been consistently delivering value and convenience to pet owners around the world since 1999.

My favorite items on the Entirely Pets website are all the Kong toys! I got to pick a Kong for my furbabies so I chose the extra-large Kong Stuff-A-Ball.

I stuffed it full of a few dog treats...

Then I gave Shad first dibs. He didn't quite grasp the concept as he kept batting it around the basement with his nose.

Emma took the first opportunity she could to steal it away from him then she retreated to the safety of her kennel. She had to sniff it out first.

But it took her no time to figure out how to get to the treats!

Entirely Pets was super easy to work with. The furbabies toy came right away in the mail. They Kong was super strong and durable so the dogs won't be tearing it up any time soon. It was a pleasant surprise for them on the coldest day of the year and kept them busy since they couldn't play outside. We'll definitely be using this for a long time at our house and probably investing in a second one so they don't fight over it.



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

A Furbaby Post...

...It's been awhile since I've done a furbaby post so I thought I'd let you all check in with them. They are doing good, bored from being inside so much with the cold temperatures, but they have a little girl keeping them busy and on their paws! Here AR just gave Emma a hug and was running to do the same to Shadow.

I'll stop by the house and let them out before I pick up AR. If it's not too cold, I'll leave them in the yard for the 15-20 minutes I'm gone. When I park and open the door, they usually bark and AR gets all excited. I'll get her out of the car and she'll run over to the fence where she'll pet them and then she refuses to come inside! She sure loves her Shadow dog.

In the morning, we put them in their cages and AR insists that we give them both a treat. She slips on in through the side of Emma's cage and then carefully feeds Shadow his. Sometimes, she drops his if he tickles her fingers while he's reaching for it so it takes a few tries before he gets his.

She's cracking up at Shad in this picture...

...because he'd jumped up in Daddy's chair! Of course, AR wanted to follow so the two of them chilled in the chair for a bit.

AR didn't sit too long because she had to go check on Emma. After she saw Emma, she rushed back to give Shadow a kiss.

Here's the best picture I could get of all my kiddos!

Whew, these three sure know how to keep me on my toes!

Snow Day!!!

...They'd been calling for it and it came. Snow and lots of it! I think it started around 2am which is when Matt left to go to work to push snow. When AR and I got up a little before 7am, we already had probably 3-4 inches and it just kept coming! We waited about 20 minutes for the sun to come up and then we layered up and headed outside.

She loved it and didn't complain at all about being cold. She fussed a little when she fell down, but I quickly showed her how to do a snow angel which she liked.

I'm glad it happened on a Saturday and not a work day so I could enjoy it with her at home.

Emma joined us outside, but she was a baby and stayed under the carport the majority of the time. She thought AR was crazy for being outside!

Then I showed AR she could eat the snow and she LOVED it! I'm not surprised considering she'll eat ice all day long if I let her. I was also very proud of her for keeping her gloves on which she usually fights me on.

I tried to get a picture of the two of us and I had to entice her to look at the camera with a snowball. Silly goose decided she'd just take a bite out of it!

We played in the front yard for awhile then headed around back so we could get out our beach toys and let Shadow play with us. Emma can go in the front yard because she won't run off, but Shad has to stay in the backyard because he'll take off to explore.

"Oh no, Shadow dog!" She had just fallen backwards and made this face. Shadow turned to look at her, the exchange between the two of them was hilarious. She was surprised she fell over and he just wanted to give her kisses.

I told her we needed to head inside to warm up so she started trekking across the white stuff to get inside.

Whew! It was much warmer inside! We hung everything up to dry and put on dry clothes.

Then we headed upstairs for breakfast where she couldn't wait to get in her high chair for cheesy eggs!

We talked to Daddy who was still out pushing snow and I think we'll be having another round of snow play when he gets home!

Toddler Thanksgiving Recap...

...Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends out there! In my opinion, the greatest blessings in life are friends and family. As you saw on my post Monday, this past weekend, we were able to have good times with AR's friends and my Mommy friends. Both of us truly appreciate the friendships we've made in the past 18 months! Mondays post was more for Pinterest and today is to recap all the fun we had!

 

After we filled our bellies, the kiddos took out every single toy, seriously, and went to town on having fun. I caught Dez in an action shot throwing a ball.

There were a few toys that received more attention than others. The first, which isn't really a toy, is the Cardinals rocking chair. AR was sticking close to me, unsure how all these kids in her house, which is not what she normally does. Anytime, the chair was open, she'd sneak in it and watch all the other kids.

This pig was a big hit with Emma, AR and Mac. They weren't keen on sharing the coins so I had to ration them out and they all enjoyed it. 

All the kids loved the slide!

Nick got in a tickle war with his mom and Cadence thought it was hilarious.

One by one, they all snuck away and we found them playing in AR's room! All the kids love Ms. Owl on the wall.

This was the apple turkey area. The kids all would put the Fruit Loops on until they realized they could just eat the Fruit Loops instead. Emma and Shadow were happy when the party was over, because I let them upstairs to clean up the floor.

It was naptime for everyone, if you can't tell by the look on the final threes face. Oh, except my kid who was all quiet and shy the whole time until it started to clear out and then she was raring to go!

My greatest blessing of all, my sweet AR! I'd go to the moon and back for you, sweet girl. Mommy loves you more than you'll ever know. OXXO (not the store!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Family Fun Day at the Farm...

...last Sunday, we slept in (6:30AM!), played a little in the living room then headed out to the farm. It's been almost 3 years since I've been to the farm. Last time I was there was opening deer hunting weekend 2010!

 

Here's AR sitting ON her shopping cart saying, "let's go!"

AR took a nap on the way out there so when we arrived, she was hungry. Daddy took her to the garden and she feasted on raspberries off the vine.

Her Aunt EB found a toad. AR petted it and even held it for a split second but once it moved, she quickly dropped it.

We took Emma and Shadow. They loved playing in the pond, hated the gunshots and AR loved all over both of them. It was a full on, every gets dirty kind of day.

AR and I rode in the back of Daddy's truck with Aunt EB as we drove the short distance to the pond...she loved it!

Here's Aunt EB with us.

AR was yelling at her Daddy to catch a fish. I told her we had to be quiet while fishing. We walked around while he fished and there's a big downhill behind the pond. AR was being Miss Independent again and had to walk by herself, therefore, she fell and rolled down the hill which she thought was HILARIOUS! Seriously, the girl laughed forever and then tried to do it again. She's so silly!

Then Daddy caught a fish and she went to inspect. The first thing she wanted to touch was his eye. Funny that she knows a fish eye and we'd say, "where's the fishie's eye?" and she'd point to it but you ask her where her eye is and she touches her ear. FYI-I had Purell in my pocket that we applied all day long. Luckily, she's good at holding her hand out and rubbing her hands together.

Then Daddy and Aunt EB told her to kiss the fish and she did!

Daddy took a break from fishing and sat on this little john boat. I wanted to get a picture of the two of them together but AR didn't want to be held by Daddy, no, she wanted to lean on the boat like him instead.

When we got back to the house, AR had to hydrate so she took an entire bottle of water and drank almost the whole thing herself. She split some and tried to get the doggies to take a drink from it too.

Then before we left, Daddy took her for a ride on the John Deere. Here she is smiling and waving but I caught her in mid-wave.

It started off a cool day then heated up around lunch time but we still had a good time. My baby girl touched a toad and kissed a frog, she's so much braver than her Mommy!