9/11

9-11, emergency some will say,
but no one will forget that September day.

When the strongest people and the bravest souls
risked their lives to go below.

The crashing towers falling down
spreading saddness all around.

We felt bravery for those who knew the cost,
and we felt saddness for all the ones we lost.

But out of the rubble rose wings of Hope

For our answers we look to the heavans
and remember September 11th.

I'm back with a vengeance...

OK , it has been way to long since I have put up a post.

Don't worry(blogger friends)I think Ralph still loves me.
At least I hope so...

I am going to ease back slowly, I have so many great stories to share.
I will get into them stories soon, but for this post we are going
to start off with a cyber party.

So take a piece of cake and stand up and clap your hands and sing !







Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate)

There's a party going' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Happy 15Th Birthday Shannel!


Ahh my Daughter Shannel,

A special little girl was given to us one day, you were placed into our arms for us to lead your way.

The love we had for you right from the very start has grown so much and now it completely fills our hearts.

Our lives have had some laughter, We've had our share of tears, And each has had their place, With the passing of the years.

You stand before us now,as a beautiful 15 year old young lady. It’s hard for us to realize you’re not that little girl we carried.

How about we make you a deal you stop growing the next few years,no drives~ed, no dating, no drives~ed...

Ummm OK, I will wake up from that dream now !


Have a wonderful Birthday Shannel.
We love you .

Last Day of School: Saying 'Bye for the Summer

The last day of school can seem like such a waste of time. I often think, "Why can't we just skip it?" But, the truth of the matter is that there always has to be a last day of school. It's the only way to get to summer.


For 61 million schoolchildren, it is one of the biggest days of the year: the last day of school. To include my 14 year old and 7 year old.

The eight graders at Chiddix Jr. High School won't be coming back in the fall: They'll be heading to high school(I have only about 80 days to mentally prepare my self for this). They all were ready for autograph day. Year books in one hand, a pen in the other, these kids spend their last day saying "have a nice summer" -- again and again -- in writing.


In first-grade at Colene Hoose Elementary field day is the last-day-of-school tradition. What a great time they all had fun playing Steal the Beacon, Boom Blaster and many many more activity's. What a way to say have a great summer!

The last day of school means the beginning of so many different adventures.

For us that means we have allot of packing to do,yep we are moving in two weeks.
Then the 14 year old and the 7 year old will be off on vacation to Minnesota then Colorado for the summer.The 27 year old and I will be unpacking and taking in one or two mini vacations. Then more unpacking,so if you need to get away please feel free to join us for the summer party of a life time at our place unpacking !!!

I have no doubts that the rest of the summer will be incredibly insane and I will need a real vacation when it is all over.

Ahhh let's just have fun,live well & laugh often.

To our Mothers as we look back.

As we look back on our life's
We find ourselfs wondering.....

Did we remember to thank you
for all that you have done for us?

For all of the times you were by our side
to help us celebrate our successes
and accept our defeats?

Or for teaching us the value of hard work,
good judgement, courage, and honesty?

We wonder if we've ever thanked you for the simple things...
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared?

If we have forgotten to express our gratitude
For any of these things,
We are thanking you now....
and we are hoping that you've known all along,
how very much you are loved and appreciated.


Happy Mothers Day !

Before and After

The before shot :




As most of you are already aware,my 27 year old an I were engaged over this past weekend.
It was a day that we will cherish for a life time.

Everyone that is near and dear to our hearts had a hand in making this a perfect moment. We all shared many tears of happiness from Colorado to Minnesota all the way to Florida. After along day of celebrations of my birthday right into our engagement.
We were ready to turn in for the evening,but I was very eager to hear all the stories of how the day transpired. So as the story goes my 27 year old ,14 year old ,7 year old and my sister in law Lisa all went shopping for my gorgeous ring. They traveled to several different stores.It is neat to think that every time I look at this spectacular ring it has a part of each of them.All that shopping tuckered our 7 year old right out!




I was dieing to hear all about the conversation between my Dad and my 27 year old.
By the looks of this photo. I would say it went quite well. Picture perfect !





Then a few phone calls had to take place.My mom and my 27 year olds parents.
Once again each of them approved. I think...

Then then big moment. He asked me... I said yes ! We had quite a family moment!





Now the after shot:
By the looks for this photo do you think I am still engaged?

Midwest 5.2 magnitude earthquake ? Maybe.

As I am sure most of you have head.If not let me tell you all about it.

Our 7 year old was up off and all night last night.He was suffering from a cold that his Mom gave him. Our 7 year old is a bit different then most kids ,he also has asthma so when he has a "normal" cold he is just a mess. So about 4am he was in need of a nebulizer treatment.I was a bit sleepy and still suffering from that pesky cold myself however I got our 7 year old all fixed and back into bed.

Just then a large ruckus took place... This was a sound that we have never heard before.It almost felt like it shook the house.

I received a call from my 27 year old this morning.He called to see if everyone was OK. I responded with a quick yes.He told me that an earth quake hit just before 4:37 a.m. it was centered six miles from West Salem, Ill.(I have no clue), and 66 miles from Evansville, Indiana (again no clue).

Oh, yeah, we felt it.Thinking he was telling another story.I then told him that must have been what shook our house. A long silents on the other end of the phone,I continued to tell him we thought the windows were rattling, and you could hear our back deck creak.This must have been a fairly large quake? He then said go look at the Map on-line and see for yourself how far the quake traveled.At this time I am about 50/50 a story(we get them all the time)or for once is this real deal going on.

So I did he was right ! (Don't ever tell a Campbell man they are right)!
I got back on the phone and told him we had no damage. He said what? It must have just been that damn squirrel that knocked our new flower pot over on the deck.


We are all safe a bit far from us here in Normal IL. The news said there was no immediate reports of damage. Thank God !

When you step in it .....

As most of you already know we had the opportunity to take a trip to the Morrow farm over spring break. What an adventure.

However being city folk I was asked(by my 27 year old)what are the necessities you need to bring to the farm?I said pj's ,coats ,t-shirts ,jeans ,sweatshirts ,under garments ,shoes all the day to stuff plus and extra just encase.

I decided to pack for myself ,our fourteen and seven year old and the dogs.
I left my 27year old to fend for himself.




When out exploring on the farm my 27 year old says to me ,I guess we should have brought two pairs of shoes so we don't have to scrape all this mud off.








Well he was working so hard to get that mud off of our seven year old boots I just did not see the need to tell him that we have a extra pair of sneaker inside ...

When you step in it some of us can get a laugh !
City folk on the farm I tell ya !