Got Ranch?

Our family loves Ranch! We eat it with almost everything. I was making grilled cheese sandwiches today and Maddy got out the ranch. Maddy put some on her plate and didn't put the lid back on. Bryson saw she had ranch, so he climbed onto the table and helped himself to Maddy's ranch. Maddy didn't feel like sharing with Bryson so she moved away from him. Bryson then saw the bottle and thought he would get his own if Maddy wasn't going to share and he dumped it out all over the place. Bryson had a fun time cleaning up his mess with his sandwich!!

I love Fall

I always get so excited for fall and it's finally her. I convinced Travis to buy us a leaf vacuum blower/mulcher and I love it!! Travis and the kids were out all day last Saturday cleaning up our leaves and it's was so much work! I'm so glad we had the vacuum to help make the job easier. Our yard looks so much better, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us. The trees are still full of leaves and they are all along my driveway and fence line in the back yard. I'm so excited for Halloween, Thanksgiving and all the fun that comes with fall.

Ouch!!

Yesterday Maddy was playing around with Bryson while I was cleaning my room. I heard Bryson scream and he came in holding his forearm over by his wrist. At first I thought that it got pulled and that he might have a nursemaids elbow. After a while I saw him moving his elbow but he was favoring his left arm. I decided to take him in to get it looked at. While we were in the waiting room I saw him using his arm and I told the lady at the desk to cancel the appointment because he was happy and using his arm. When I got home he started to complain about his arm again. The whole night he was in pain and would not move his arm. I took Bryson in this morning and they did x-rays and the x-rays came back normal. The doctor told me that she knew there was something wrong with his arm because of how he was acting. The doctor put his arm in a splint and wants him to wear it for a week and than see how he feels afterwards.

Stick people

Nana, the kids saw your little flower fairies you made and they wanted to make their own little stick people. Lexie helped them make these fairies out of sticks, leaves and berries. They are so cute! Thanks Nana for the cute idea!!

The Dream Giver

I read this book today and I loved it! I highly recommend you read this book. Bestselling author Bruce Wilkinson shows how to identify and overcome the obstacles that keep millions from living the life they were created for. He begins with a compelling modern-day parable about Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. With the help of the Dream Giver, Ordinary begins the hardest and most rewarding journey of his life.

My Family

Now that we have all grown and have families of our own, it's been very hard to get together for a family picture. Not to mention that Jennifer, Aaron and I have been living in Oregon. All of us living so far away made it almost impossible to get everyone together all at the same time. My Dad has worked very hard to get everyone together and here after many years is our family picture.

Memories

1. As a comment on our blog, leave one memory that you and I(or any of my family members) had together. It doesn't matter if you knew us a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Great Book

My mom told me a while back to read this book called The Five Love Languages. I was walking with my friend this morning and we were talking about life and marriage. When we got to her house she showed me this book that she read, it was the one my mom was telling me about. My friend said that it was a good book and she let me barrow it. I'm not a big book reader but I started to read and couldn't put it down. I love this book and want to read more Gary Chapman's books.

Thank You!

We would like to thank all those out there serving our country. You portray what we Americans value most...freedom. Thank you for your commitment and bravery. May you be blessed with good health, clarity of mind and the courage you need to be successful. Each of you play such an important role in protecting our country. Please know that we are all behind your efforts and appreciate you and pray for you daily. You are all heroes to us!

Finally A Family Picture

We got our pictures taken at The Pear Farm. It was a nice day and such a pretty place to get pictures taken. The only problem we had is that our kids kept eating the pears and in some of the pictures you can see green pear skin all over in Allison's Braces. Thanks Trina for taking our pictures, they turned out great! You can see more of our pictures at http://handsomeprints.net/skabelund/

First Day

This is Madison's first day of Kindergarten. She is so excited to go to her class and be a big girl. This morning we got her ready and packed her snack. All morning she was asking me how much longer she had until she could go to school.

Here are some picture I took of her before she left. Madison's backpack is almost as big as she is. I hope that she has a great day and makes lots of new friends.

Kindergarten

I spent an hour with Madison in her kindergarten class yesterday. She had so much fun getting to know her teachers and learning about the class rules. Madison is so happy to have her friend Kyla King in her class and is very excited to start school on Monday.

Sarah palin

Wow! Did anyone see Sarah Palins speech last night? If you didn't get a chance to see it go check it out on http://www.msn.com/ I love this lady!

Brace Face

I was sixteen the last time I had braces and when they removed my braces they put a permanent retainer on the back of my bottom teeth. I always had a hard time flossing my teeth with it on, so I told my dentist to remove the bar. About a year ago my bottom front tooth started to pop up. Travis had a hard time with how my tooth looked. I would catch him more than once staring at my mouth while I talked with a weird look on his face. He would say things like " You need to get that fixed! That's going to fall out." or "One day you are going to wake up and find that on your pillow." I know that Travis was concerned for me and didn't want to see me lose my tooth so I decided to go get it checked. Dr. West said that I have a very nice bite and healthy looking teeth. He told me that I had just had a few teeth that needed to be adjusted and I would have to wear full braces for six months . Today's appointment was two hours worth of torture. They had to put this cheek expander thing in my mouth along with something to hold my tongue in place. I had a hard time not gaging with all that in there! As you can see in my before and after pictures my lips are huge. I'm in so much pain right now! I don't know how I ever did it the first time.

Torturing Robby

Last night I got to torture Robby, and it was so much fun. He did not want to have his eyebrows "plucked" but after months of begging I finally talked him into it. Watch out girls, Robby is lookin' good with out his uni brow. Come get him while he's hot!! LOL

Back To School

Today was the older kids first day of school. Lexie's in sixth grade, Allison's in third, Ethan's in first, and Madison will be starting Kindergarten on Monday. Madison had a meeting with her teacher today at 2:30 after school. She was so excited to see her teacher that she went in the car ten minutes before we were suppose to leave and fell asleep waiting for me. I posted a picture of how the school looked before the construction and how it looks now. They are going to continue to remodel it during the school year and it will not be finished until next summer.

Waiting for the Tooth Fairy

Maddy lost her first baby tooth today. I had to bribe her and tell her I would take her to the Dollar store if she would let me pull it out. She was very brave!! Her tooth came out fast and there were no tears. Madison went right up to her room afterwards and put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy to find. My little girl is growing up so fast! She will be starting kindergarten on the 5th and she is so excited to go.