The newest addition to our Garden

We have a visitor in our Garden - And it is not welcome !!!!

A Stinkhorn- A very disgustging Phallic shaped mushroom--that gives off an odor like semen-- This is not a joke-- I am dead serious. This is the second year that we have had this mushroom in our garden and experts say the only way to get rid of it is to dig it up or get rid of the mulch we have. Tried digging them up- I guess it was unsuccesful. So if you are visiting before our first frost- the smell is just from the mushrooms- Not a sick neighbor roaming the neighborhood at night.


I tried to take a picture but it was already wilting-- So check out this horrid mushroom at the site below.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinkhorn

I haven't blogged in a while - Not much to say -

WOW I KNOW

Well it's been a few days since I have blogged- I haven't had a lot of material to blog about. We have been living the simple life this past week-- NO SPORTS- NO meetings or activities- Barely and homework- Laundry has been caught up (I am even doing laundry for the baby now HAHA)-

Just enjoying the chaos of three kids- And Anticipating the insanity of four--

Things we have done in the past week-
Watched a little tv- All the new series have started
Played baseball in the yard
Went to the park or for walks everyday
Learned about leaves and fall
Rode bikes
Spent the day with Aunt Kari and Uncle Josh
Went to Church
Crazy fun setting up obstacle courses in the living room
Chasing the dogs around the neighborhood
Listening to Adison start talking a ton
Working
YMCA
Baking pumpkin bread
Eating a lot of unhealthy food - HA HA

See nothing out of the ordinary-

I've Been Tagged

My friend Sarah started a list of twenty of her favorite things - or things that come to mind that make her happy at the end of her list she tagged three people to make a list on their blog. I was one of them. So here it goes -- It is no surprise that some of them are the same as hers- HA HA

Friends and family members that love me unconditionally- keep me in line and put up with my craziness
The apple orchard- and caramel apples-just had one
Fall colors and leaves
Photography
Blogging - although I am not very regular
Snuggling with my kids in the morning
Chatting about school with the boys
Watching Adison with Mike
Pumpkin Pie
Going to the Park with the kids
All of my favorite t.v. shows - Too many to name
Feeling the baby move
Disney World
Hearing my kids and Mike laugh
Getting my hair cut and washed
Fresh air
Big breakfasts
Reminiscing about my Dad
Great conversations with Friends
Time with Mike

Cori you are tagged!

A simple box of chocolate

Last week Garrett and I thought it might be fun to send a small box of chocolate to his teacher. Of course I did not want to be a kiss up the first month of school- HA HA plenty of time for that --SO we decided it would be a random act of kindness and Garrett would sneak the box onto the desk without her seeing- we rehearsed this a lot.

When Garrett got home I asked him how it went and he said that she saw him. Being the shy guy he is he tried to convince another girl to do it for him. Unfortunately she refused. And in the meantime he lost the opportunity to run it to the desk without being seen.

After she wrote a thank you I sent an email about it and this is what she sent back.

It was all very cute. He was standing in the back room all by himself holding that little box with this little smile on his face and I thought it was his sharing or something. He ran and put it in the basket (where the kids puts things that come from home for me to see) and told me I couldn’t look at it until he left that day. It was very sweet.

Next time I will have to remember that I am working with a shy five year old!! It did give me a laugh though.

The Big Guy Comes Home

Mike arrived home Sunday around 7pm. It was great to see his rugged looking unshaven face. I didn't realize how much I missed him until I saw him. The best part was seeing the kids run to him and give him a great big hug. He had to have held them for I couldn't even get the camera out fast enough. They spent the next hour with Dad asking him questions about how his fishing trip went, what the plane looked like, what he had for dinner and breakfast- and just hanging with Dad on the couch.

Mike's trip went fantastic- the weather was great and he caught about 50 fish a day. He was thrilled to be home though and sleep in his own bed and be with the family.

We are thankful he made it home safe and had a fantastic trip.

Garrett Asked me to post this for all to see

We love to dress up

A trip to the nature center

We venutred out to the nature center yesterday to see if we could spot any deer- Well there was none in sight- but the kids had fun anyways

Carson got to pee on a tree and play with stick swords
(peeing outside is one of his favorite things to do)

Adison squished a grasshopper and nearly fell in the lake, and

Garrett had fun playing in the trees and searching for animals.

Just a little reflection

Recent events in life have forced me to reflect on the fact that yes Bad things do happen to good people. I am deeply saddened by the fact that some people are oblivious to this fact and are truly angry at God or others when bad things happen to them. God never says in the Bible that our lives are going to be wonderful all the time. In fact some of his most devoted followers had horrible lives full of torture and anguish- worse than anything we could imagine.

Do not get me wrong I cannot fathom having a child with a disease, getting cancer- having a loved one die expectantly- or any other tragic life circumstance beyond our control--

Soo--I choose to live everyday knowing that my life could be worse- I trust that God allows everything in my life to happen for a reason- I find no need to have all the answers to why the things in my life happen or guess why bad things happen to my freinds or family members. God has a plan and I can not question it!!

Since I am a "little" OCD- I will admit that I often times wonder what God might be trying to teach me when "bad" things do happen. But the reality is I have no control. I need to learn from my experiences and be thankful for all the great things I do have- count my blessing even when they are not good. Because we all have soo many!!!

Things I am thankful for-- not an all inclusive list-

My family- both extended and immediate- too many to name
Our health
The doctors we have- and the doctors of all the sick people in our lives
The different personalities of my kids
Garrett's creativity- leadership, and compassion
Carson's curls - sensitivity, enthusiasm for life, and strong will
Adison's shy side, love for her daddy, independence, and that she is a girl.
The ability to stay home with my kids
My husband- the fact that he is a big kid at heart- his laugh- and simplicity
Mike's job- Especially since he loves it soo much.
My camera - oh I love this a little too much.
Great neighbors - Even the lawn Nazi
Play time with my kids
A enjoyable pregnancy-with a healthy baby boy
A Good church
Snuggling with my kids
Great books -
bedtime -
Family dinners -
vacuum cleaners - for all the dog hair
Our home and all the stuff in it especially my pictures
Close Friends - those that I can count on no matter what!!
Sunsets and sunrises
flowers - not particularly fond of the weeds
The four seasons especially fall
Hot chocolate with a lot of marshmallows
Breakfast- especially big ones
Coke - Keeps me awake during the day (not to worry all of you anti caffeine people)
The bad jobs I have had -- I have learned a lot about myself through them
The good teachers my children have
New relationships (those that are developing or that will sometime soon)
Chaos and conflict- Yes I really am thankful for this-- well most of the time
Good babysitters -- hard to come by HA HA HA- I do not pay enough I guess
The laughter of my kids

Heaven and Jesus --


Okay enough said-- I could go on and on but most people stopped reading in the second paragraph. So I will spare you any more yawns.

Update on Randy

Randy is doing a lot better. He was scheduled to be released from the hospital today. He was going to go home earlier in the week but developed a blood clot and had to stay an extra couple of days. His memory is still a little foggy. I am sure that he will need a lot of extra rest and care when he gets home. We hope to speak with him in the next few days to get another update.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Cooking with Delaney

Delaney and Garrett are two peas in a pod. They got together for a night of cooking today. They made us a fruit salad. Carson had a blast too- he loved using a knife. The salad actually tasted really good. It consisted of yogurt and fruit- pretty simple. But they cut it all themselves. The best part was the green stems they left on the strawberries.

Baby Eli --Isn't He Cute

Here is a picture of Eli one of the children I take care of three days a week for day care. He is five months old next week and the kids absolutely adore him. It is nice to know that they are in love with babies. Hopefully they will love the New Baby just as much.

Our little kissing machine and Preschool

Carson has completed two weeks of Preschool now and still looks forward to going everyday. He seems to be making freinds and has no worries anymore about being left alone with two teachers and fifteen class mates. His only concern is whether it will be nice enough to play outside.

When we leave school I attempt to ask him questions all about his day. He shares a lot of things. But the first thing he always tells me is who he kissed. Although I find this quite amusing. I am afraid that he might be getting a little too much attention on the subject- since it has become the highlight of his day. Of course- Mike is all about his boys kissing other girls-LOL he thinks it is great. Another Mom said my daughter said she got kissed on Tuesday I thought it might have been Carson- funny how they know it is Carson already.

Last night we worked on his first "homework" assignment. They were supposed to decorate a predrawn person like themselves. He found this really fun- especially since he got to use scissors and glue. Notice how he gave himself curly blonde hair and blue sideburns (his sideburns are very important to him we make sure they are down everyday) All of decorations were of course his idea. He is also an extreme skate boarder and made sure we included this in his picture-


Life just wouldn't be the same without my crazy wild sensitive Carson-

Mike Leaves for Canada

Mike left today for a fly in fishing trip today. He will return on Sunday. He earned this trip through his work- not sure exactly what goals he had to meet- but they were pretty big in order to go- This is the third year that he has gone- and he has an absolute blast while he is there- even though he hates to fish. Fishing in Canada just isn't the same as fishing in all other parts of MN.

It was very endearing watching the kids react to him leaving.

Carson said- Dad I have preschool tomorrow so I won't see you when you leave- I am really going to miss you. You would never guess He is such a sensitive boy-- When Mike went to leave today he said I would rather not say good bye- then ran and gave him a great big hug and said have fun Dad.

Adison who has no clue that he will be gone for a week will miss him more than both boys. Mike is her night and shining armor- running to her rescue and making sure her every need is met when he is home- Even the neighborhood girls told Mike that He is in a whole different world when he is holding her- He looks happier when she is in his arms.

Garrett thought about Mike's trip a lot before he left. He needed to know all the details of the trip and has already started counting down the days till he returns. He also has made several requests before Mike left. He needed pictures of the plane Mike will be flying on and all the big fish he catches. I am sad because I am pretty sure Mike did not bring a camera.

I too will miss the big guy- however, I look forward to a week where I can get some things done in the evening and not feel guilty that I am taking time away from him. Mike's co-worker asked me if I was okay with him taking a week long fishing trip- I said of course- he was shocked- Who wouldn't want their husband to go on an all expense paid fly in fishing trip (well minus the liquor and snacks)- It will be a blast for Him and something most people would not pass up-

Adison's Dream Date Alex Barnett

Adison loves her babies

Not a day goes by that Adison is not taking care of her babies. She carries them everywhere - to and from the park, to pick up Garrett, she even makes the boys play with them. They really are the only girly toys she owns. (this is just fine with me) She has seven or so now and she has to sleep with all of them. I have actually decided to start hiding some of them at bed time so I don't have to hold all seven of them and her as I rock her to sleep at night.

This picture is of her at nap time. She went to sleep with two babies by her side- I heard her scream during her nap and ten minutes later I went to check on her and found all of her babies rearranged and her sound asleep.

You know you or your baby is getting bigger when....

A person in your workout class says -- oh you are getting so big - are you having twins- No-- wow maybe you are just having a really big boy

People come up to you and say I was wondering if you were expecting -- but now it is clearly obvious, when are you due??

Your jeans are starting to get tighter and your shirts are almost all too short

Your children tell you you are getting fat--- and ask what the lines are where your underwear were- LOL

Your belly is a great arm rest-- and plates are starting to balance well on it.

Your belly button is starting to protrude and you do not have an outty.

You can no longer sleep with the kids in the bed because turning from side to side is not possible with more than two people in the bed



All of the growth more than worth it... only fourteen or so more weeks to go.

Dinner talk

We try to eat dinner together every evening at the table- Yes it sometimes it is but at some point we eat as a family-

Typically this makes for an eventful twenty minutes. Full of either tears, laughter, discipline, peace, fun and or conversation-- never silence.

We talk about the typical things how school was and the best parts of our day. Occasionally there is a food fight but last night the conversation was pretty funny.

We talked about Mike going to Canada for the week and Me having the baby. As Garrett, Mike, and I talked Carson furiously ate his ka bob and Adison was jumping back and forth from her seat and Carson's. (Yes I disciplined her and made her sit in her seat as I was busy getting refills on Milk and potatoes)

Garrett being the observant child he is was thinking very hard about his next question. As I sat down he looked at Mike and said- "Dad I hope you are paying attention you should start practicing if you are going to have to do all this when Mom is gone."

Mike says what do you mean-- Garrett says, "Well Mom does everything, and she is going to be in the hospital when she has the baby. But you could call Grammy and Nana and they could come out and help."

It was very comical and I think I laughed harder than I have in a long time---not sure how funny Mike found it. Of course after I stopped laughing we discussed how this was not entirely accurate- Later we talked about how Mike does contribute to our family in so many ways and sometimes many of these things go unnoticed-- we discussed how we should be more appreciative of what he does.....

Some of you may be wondering how I could type about this. Rest assured if I thought Mike would be offended I would not be writing it-- He laughed as well.

Newest Info on Randy-

I am not sure how accurate my info is at this moment because things change so quickly in the ICU. However, yesterday evening the news was better- Randy was taken off the ventilator and out of the state of sedation. He was beginning to come around, but was still very out of it- and not able to speak. His memory has been affected but I am not sure to what extent.

The Dr's believe that he has contracted a rare disease through his work. I am unsure whether this is treatable or what the long term prognosis is at this time- or what the disease is. He will slowly start to get better over a long period of time. He will not be able to go back to work. ( I am sure this will be hard for him, since he loves -- LOVES-- his job-- although he is a very handy man and has many trades he is capable of doing and doing well).

He still has a pneumonia, and has already undergone an operation or exploratory surgery?? (not sure on the facts sorry I didn't ask very good questions) but they expect that he will be able to go home sometime within the next week. He is currently still in the ICU.

Please pray for his continued recovery and health, for peace and understanding as he starts to figure out what to do next in life, and also for Patience rest and support for Lezlie and the rest of the family taking care of him as they nurse him back to health.

MARY PLEASE MAKE CORRECTIONS VIA COMMENTS SINCE THESE FACTS MAY NOT BE ACCURATE_ THANKS A TON

Update on Randy

Well NO GOOD NEWS TODAY

Randy did not have a good day yesterday and he is actually now in the ICU and on a ventilator. I do not have a lot of details. The doctors have NO NO NO idea what is wrong with him. I am awaiting news from Lezlie his wife to see what they come up with this afternoon. They continue to rule things out and his vitals I believe are fluctuating. Lezlie remains strong and could use prayers as well.

I will keep updating as I get information.

Our Trip to the State Fair

Crazy expensive Fun-

Farm animals and live births- Farm hands is one of the best kids exhibits at the fair- and the live birthing center opened the door to many questions for the border boys

? Do babies come out bloody too? Do they actually have to wash them off. Wouldn't it be cool if they could cut babies out of bellies (this is the second time we had this topic come up). What if the baby won't come out?

A reality check on how much kids do and do not appreciate
Oh how I do to much with the kids- they sometimes do not understand how fortunate we are to have all the things we have- All came up because they could only ride on three rides. LOL

A truly great opportunity to see some interesting people
I wanted to take pictures of all the cool people I saw but Mike would not let me. So I took pictures of him instead. The only one I did take was of the two ladies above- They were 70 or so wearing matching outfits- including an umbrella and bag- super cute -

Great way to insure we have only four children- HAHA seeing people with any more than that is true birth control
Saw a family of seven who had a passing conversation with the police about how cool it would be to have a van like them because then they too could have more kids and more pets, and go on a lot of road trips. You just had to be there.

A excellent way to make a pregnant women sick
Just didn't eat enough of that grease I guess-

Great opportunity to introduce the kids to all sorts of new foods
Oh the things we ate- and the things Mike wishes he could have ate

Cucumber Apple Surprise

Garrett has become quite the little chef. Not sure anyone will eat his food but today he decided he needed to make a salad. "Not a regular salad mom, a salad with other stuff." He cut up cucumber, apples, and mixed them together with Ranch. He did not like it much so he pawned it off on Carson. Who is like a garbage disposal and typically eats anything- He would not even eat Garrett's salad. I can't blame him it looked and smelled a little odd.

The funny thing was that My mom called while he was "cooking" and she told him she would call him back since he was busy. He told her it was fine he could do two things at one time. He put her on speaker and talked while he was "cooking." Glad to see that atleast one male in our family can multi task. LOL> Just checking to see if Mike reads this blog.

BROWSE BACK TO OLDER POSTS FOR NEW PICTURES I WILL BE UPLOADING THEM THRU FRIDAY

Happy Grandparents Day

A day we never celebrated as kids- and of course I missed it because I had no idea it is in September- SO SORRY TO ALL the Grandparents of our family.

Carson's First Day of Preschool.

Yes it was a monumental day in the Border House. Yet another boy off to school today. He has been waiting for at least a year. And this morning he was so excited. He even remembered a name of one kid in his class who he met in the parking lot on the way home from round up night.

Of course it would not have been such a fun day if it was not Carson style- totally unpredictable and on his terms. The day started off with me trying to convince him to take a different back pack than the one you see in the picture. I figured oh well it is preschool who cares what back pack he brings-even if it won't fit a piece of paper.

I was a little nervous about how the rest of the day was going to go after he talked to Mike on the phone as we drove to school. "Dad, Mom is going to leave me there all by myself."

Garrett assured him he would be there with Friends and two teachers. I was begining to think he might pull a fast one on me and refuse to leave my side- NOT A CHANCE!!

We entered preschool and he walked down the hallway like he owned the place. Went to put his back pack away and already knew where his cubby was. His teacher said " Carson, let me help you find your cubby". He responded like a big kid "It is right here." With his backpack already in it.

He went right into the classroom- I had to call him out for a hug and kiss. He immediately went over to wash his hands- (something they do first thing every day - of course he was never told this- just picked it up after two years of dropping Garrett off).

I am pretty sure he didn't really care much about the rest of the family after he entered the building.

He was so adorable acting all big and cool!! I am thrilled that he finally has something he can really look forward to every week- somewhere to go that his brother and little sister are not allowed.

As we left school I asked him how his day went. He told us all about the girl that he kissed. He said she kissed him back so he kissed her again. Hoping this is not a sign of what is to come of our little ladies man. Since the it was a girl we have never met before.

He continued to recant the mornings activities and said he had a good day. The first day must have worn him out because after lunch he took a nap on his own with no arguments.

Please Pray for Mike's Dad Randy

Mike's Dad Randy is currently in the hospital. He has been there since Wed. Unfortunately, they have no idea what is wrong with him. He has been losing weight- had an extremely high fever of up to 106, is weak and having pains in many different areas of his body. I am not sure of all the details at this moment. However, they have run so many tests and continually come up with nothing. He has a few more tests tomorrow, and hopefully they figure something out. We are just hoping that it is a fluke infection and will clear up soon.

Randy is extremely uncomfortable and bummed that he is still in the hospital with no answers- So pray for a full recovery and for his comfort.

MIKES LITTLE SUNSHINE

Adison has become the sunshine of our family. Mike has called her that since birth. It is adorable. It has caught on and Carson and Garrett call her that all the time. Carson loves to say Adison Rae Sunshine. It is amazing how words can just melt your heart.

We have been talking a lot about how Adison will always be the only little sunshine in the Border house since we are expecting a boy. It is hilarious how people say well I guess she will be a spoiled a princess. (which I am sure is true in some way shape or form). So I had a glimpse of this yesterday as Mike was mowing the grass.

He always listens to his Ipod when mowing and during his break yesterday he let Adison listen to one earphone for about two minutes. When he was ready to start mowing again Adison wanted to be held and would not let him take the earphone away. So Mike Mowed the lawn holding Adison.

It get better though- Even after he was done mowing she didn't want to give up the music so for the next half an hour she walked around the yard with Mike's Ipod in her sweatshirt pocket and earphones in her ear jammin to music.

The neighbors got quite a kick out of this- and thought maybe we should buy her her own mini ipod- LOL

Garrett's first week of school

Garrett had a great first week of school. His only wish was that he had some free time during the week- But said oh well we will get to have some next week.

He is slowly getting to know the kids in his class more and has goal from Mike of coming home with a new name every day- Funny coming from mister social.

He came home today excited about getting to play in the kitchen at school. He was more worked up though about getting chosen to play with three other girls. He said Mom I didn't even talk the whole time. It was very cute. Mr. Shy Guy - The same kids who made plans to meet one of the girls in the class at the park already. I can't wait to hear how he is acting around the kids in two weeks.

Ironically He had pictures today. It is only ironic because Saturday night Garrett accidentally got hit in the head with an exercise ball and fell into the sharp part of a rescue hero station. The bump on his head is slowly getting better- but is still protruding a little and turning purple and blue(HA HA). People are still asking him what happened to his head. He says well ask Carson.

Garretts First Day of School

It is amazing how quickly the day flew by. I thought for sure I would cry as Garrett entered school on his first day of kindergarten. , But surprisingly he was so excited and calm that I was not phased.

He recieved many calls this morning asking if he was ready to go and he simply answered by saying "No I don't start till the afternoon, I will get ready after lunch."

When I picked him up his teacher, Mrs. Neibergal, said that Garrett seemed nervous most of the day. I was a little shocked since he is not typically a nervous kid. Shy but not nervous- so cute to think of him turning red and clamering up as he is called on.

When I asked him how the day went he said, "It was good. We didn't have any free time though. Do you think we will get to have some tomorrow?

I asked him what the most exciting part of the day was- He said he got to be the big cheese. (This person is the line leader, does chores in the class room etc. )

When I asked him what his teachers name was he said Mrs. Something- well Mrs. I don't know
what is her name again. He said he met four new freinds, but he didn't know their names. He did remember what they were wearing though.

As he drifted off into dreamland tonight he said, "Mom did you know we do the same things in Kindergarten as we did in preschool, why don't they just call it that?" Such an observant child.

Overall it was a great first day. It could not have gone better. Hopefully as the week goes on he will become more comfortable and show his true personality.

After a day of focusing on his brother starting school- Carson is getting even more excited about his first day. He asks me every morning when he gets to go-- Next Tuesday cannot come soon enough for him.