Grace In The Margins

"The Voice, New Testament"

2011-11-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

Recently, I had the chance to review "The Voice, New Testament", a step into the story of scripture. Upon looking at the book it is hard to tell what the difference between this bible and all of the rest would really be, but difference there is. This bible is written in story form, almost as if you were reading a play. It announces who the speaker is and then what they are speaking. There are also special sections throughout which delve deeper into what is going on during that particular section and even defines some situations and words for the reader.

I have to honestly say that I have enjoyed reading from this bible, it is easy to read and to follow. There have been a few times just lately, when I found myself stumped by the scripture lessons for the week and ran to this bible for some inspiration and found just that. It places familar verses in a new light, and it is easier to draw a mental picture of what was taking place when you can see who is speaking the words you are reading.

I would for sure recommend this to anyone who is wanting to the read the bible, but finding the more traditional versions hard to read. It also would be good for younger readers who might have trouble reading for more wordy translations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

"Heaven is for Real, for kids" by Colton Burpo

2011-10-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

As an adult I have read "Heaven is for Real" and thought it was amazing, so I jumped at the chance to read the kid version to my 4 year old. This is the story of Colton who while undergoing surgery travels to Heaven and meets all kind of people including Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit and many others. Colton tells his children readers what he saw and what he felt. The pictures that accompanied those descriptions were amazing and really helped to tell the story.

I think this book was very well thought out it can be read to a smaller child, and to an older child as well. To bridge this gap there are Bible verses to accompany the story, which reinforce what Colton is telling the reader. In fact, I thought of taking it to some individuals I know who are reaching the end of their life, because I think everyone could benefit from this refreshing story!

The end of the book also had some question and answers, which I thought would be very helpful. I read this book to my son just before bed, but I can imagine that when he gets up in the morning he will have some questions, I think these couple of pages could be a really great asset for any parent. I would recommend this book to all people, not just children, but it is a great way to teach our children about heaven and about our Lord. Awesome book!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

"Where Has Oprah Taken Us?", by Stephen Mansfield

2011-10-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

"Where Has Oprah Taken Us?" a book by Stephen Mansfield takes the reader through Oprah's sometimes tumultous life and sometimes glorified life. As we travel through her life we begin to understand where she came from and how she traveled away from her faith during her lifetime. The author introduces the reader to the kind of "faith" Oprah has brought in front of her audience over the years, and even gives the reader an in depth evaluation of each of her spiritual guides.

The book was a fast read, especially during the story of her life and how she came to fall away from the church into this "new age religion" she now extols to the country. I have to tell you that I watched the Oprah show from time to time, and I was completely in the dark about her faith, which the author states many people are unaware of. It became pretty clearly that while she portrays herself as a Christian she is by no stretch of the imagination a Christian. I was shocked to find out that she mostly follows the practices of Hinduism, but that really she kind of molds all different kinds of faith together into whatever suites her at the time.

I found this book quite enlightening, and engaging. A must read for anyone who is both a Christian and a fan of Oprah. From this book I would say being both could be a danergous thing! Though the author is obviously writing from a somewhat biased opinion, that of a Christian, he does a great job of keeping his opinions to himself while he writes, unless it is in a special section, where he then makes his very personal comments. Comments that I very much enjoyed considering. Overall, I would recommend this book, it is an eye opening experience.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Kristin

The Stuff little Towns are made of!

2011-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

Its been some exciting times around these parts, well for some it might seem ordinary,but for those soaking up time with their children exciting is what these times have been! So without further ado MY children! First up Colton enjoying a photo op inside the Mercy Air Ambulance! He is usually so shy, so I was pretty proud he let one of the pilots hoist him up there so he could look around and so I could snap this memorable picture. This was during our annual firemen's feed, they give firetruck rides and we eat lots of hamburgers and hot dogs!

Next up my boys doing what they do best these days! Play tractors! They love to play farm, and currently have some corn from the fields that they load and unload into every wagon and trailer they can get their grubby little hands on!

This was taken on the first day of school for Colton. He started 4 year old preschool which means he goes half of a day every single day of the week. You might notice that he is in the same outfit in every picture?!? Apparently, its my favorite shirt! This shot was taken as Carson and I were getting ready to walk him down the lane to catch the school bus for the first time! That's right our little one rides the bus every morning to school and afterwards rides it to the babysitter. He is getting so big!

This is the traditional "I have my bag on and I ready for my first day of school shot!"

There is so much more that we have been up to....we finally finished siding our house, and it does look amazing. We are adjusting to me working two jobs and sometimes having to put in some long hours and crazy hours for that matter, as well as getting used to mom doing HOMEWORK and going to school! CRAZY! We are managing and were looking forward to the pumpkin patch in a couple of weeks, halloween and even for school field trips. October might be busy but we're ready!

Kristin

"One Call Away" by Brenda Warner

2011-08-28T19:18:00.001-07:00

I just finished the most amazing book! I have to tell everyone that I have not read a book this good since I read the "Twilight" series, because I seriously could not put it down. I read it in three days!

This book is the story of Brenda Warner's life, and if you thought from news coverage of her husband that you know who she is you are wrong. There are more layers and stories in this woman's life than I would have ever thought possible! I found myself crying many times throughout the story, and laughing along with her as well.

Her amazing faith and growth in that faith should be lesson to all of us, and a lesson that being a strong woman does not solve problems that you still need God and you can still make mistakes! This book will touch any mother's heart, but I think fans of Kurt Warner's or those who were not fans need to read it as well. It was an eye opening look inside the marines as well as the NFL! What made this book touch my heart even more was the fact that they are both from Iowa, and I have been to many of the places she talked about in this book, but even if you have never been to Iowa, Brenda is able to write in a way that it almost seems you are watching her life pass before you.

All in all one of the best books I have ever read, and I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Women of Faith memories!

2011-08-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

Can I just say God is good!! I feel so blessed to be able to represent Book Sneeze at the Women of Faith Conference. It was a blast, and I would not have been able to go had it not been for the generosity of Book Sneeze and Women of Faith.

Now on to my experience....we had 7th row seats! 7th row people I could actually see the speakers and performers without looking at a big tv shot of them! To get some perspective this first picture is from my 7th row seat! looking back at the audience! Its blurry, but I couldn't seem to make 1000 people sit still all at the same time.

The performer I was most looking forward to was Amy Grant! Big fan! She was amazing, very down to earth and told some amazing stories including one about her mother's death that was very powerful!
Now here is some more perspective from my seat to the stage! And it was a beautiful stage!
Did I mention that I not only one ticket but I won two! That's right I got to take along with me my good friend and fellow pastor Kim! We made another blogger take our picture infront of the stage and as you can see we have 4 minutes till break is over.
Here are all of the Book Sneeze bloggers posing for a picture. A lovely bunch of women!
Now to tell you about the conference! I had a blast the worship songs were amazing and got us all up and dancing! Mandisa (you might know her from a little show called American Idol) was awesome...there were many goose bumps during her performance. Then there were these dramas performed by a young women and they were even better than amazing....I have never cried so hard in public in my life. I thought maybe I was just an emotional wreck, but then when it ended you could see everyone reaching for their kleenexs!

Then there were the speakers! The speakers were inspirational! Patsy Clairmont gave listeners the courage to get out and do. Andy Anderson spoke with such enthusiasm and energy about so many things, but he told us to practice talking with a smile on our face, and read books even if you don't like to, it will make you better person.

Then Lisa talked about how lots of us have a burning desire to have a grownup friend, but we just don't know how to do it! I can tell you I cried during her talk as well, I am there folks, so if anyone wants to be my friend I need one! Oh and just cause Lisa told me so you better be imperfect, we don't want any perfect friends!

We also heard that we are enough for God and he is enough for us! Amen! Oh and from Marilyn Meberg that its ok to desire more as long as we can control our desires, because once we get to heaven we will have everything we need!

I feel like there was so much more, but this post is already long, but I can tell you that if you have been wondering if Women of Faith is worth it, it TOTALLY IS!!! I can't wait to go again.
Blessings,
Kristin

Women of Faith - Here I Come!

2011-08-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to announce that I will be attending the Women of Faith Conference in Omaha one week from today! And I am even happier to announce that I will be attending free thanks to Book Sneeze! You can find links to both Women of Faith and Book Sneeze over there are the right! Go ahead and check them out - they are both awesome! Here is a little preview of what I will get to experience next week!

Not only do I get to attend, but I also get to bring a friend! We are both excited to get away and to live 2 days enjoying how great God is! I will post again when I return, hopefully with some pictures of us enjoying ourselves! God is great!
Kristin

Our Holiday Weekend Begins

2011-07-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

We had a quiet 4th of July weekend spent mostly at home, but with a few ventures along the way. Sat. night we ventured in to town to visit my husband's "night job" boss, also a family friend, and decided a treat was in order for once we got home. So we stopped at the gas station and picked up for Klondike bars, one for each of us! The picture below sums it up pretty good, as this was Carson's first time eating an ice cream bar! He loved it and I'm pretty sure was done before any of the rest of us were!

The pictures are bit out of order, but at any rate on Friday we decided since it was finally HOT we would blow up the new pool Carson got for his first birthday. And even though the water was freezing cold coming out of the garden the boys played for quite awhile....Colton didn't want to come out at all!

Sunday night Carson and I finished up with the mowing while Dad and Colton decided to burn the sticks and limbs that had fallen over the last week or so during a wind storm. We have a place at the top of our hill where we burn stuff like that, and so after we were done Carson and I decided to check out the flames as well. Then we journeyed down through our pasture to see if we could spot any fish in our creek. And you could see them, and our dog actually tried to swim and catch one, which my sons thought was absolutely hilarious! The picture below is of Carson waiting "patiently" for someone to get him out of the wagon, so he can see the action too!

This last picture is of my boys and our doy walking down to the creek! What a wonderful slow paced and family filled weekend we had. Lots of time to be outside, which our boys LOVE!

Happy Tuesday!

Kristin

Summer Days

2011-06-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Alrighty so this summer....major bummer in the weather front. There haven't even been enough hot days yet to blow up the pool, and it's almost July! However, we did get the sandbox out last week or so, and were able to snap a few pictures of the boys. Here is Carson executing some killer skillz while entering the sandbox.
Here is my bright sun shiny big boy, stopping to pose for a picture...

But just a minute before this is how he looked! Crazy cute picture of him yelling at the dog to not take his ball from him (even though he was kicking it in her direction!). Don't you love how kids can be angry one second and perfectly delightful the next...if only I could swing my moods that fast...well don't ask my husband he would probably say they do swing that fast just not in the most positive direction!

And last but not least a picture of what we call affectionately our "Chunkers" or "Carse" depending on our mood! He is growing up so fast, walking, running and trying to eat everything he sees. Our motto with this little man is "As long as we're eating we're happy!"

While we have gotten outside quite a bit this summer to play, and work, there are some exciting changes coming to our household in the next week. As of July 1, 2011, I will be officially the Pastor of two of the local Methodist churches. I will cut back at my legal assisting job to three days a week and spend two days a week (and of course Sundays) as a Pastor. While I am very excited and ready to begin this new journey (there is always a downside!), I have been studying my butt off...you see at the end of July I leave for a week of licensing school, which means I have about 40 hours of homework to complete before then...PLUS....I have to start attending Course of Study (which is master level classes) this fall and all of that homework is due on August 1st! So while I am busy and excited....I just keep thinking, "I just have to make it through July!" Which is kind of wishing away the summer, but hopefully its worth it!

There you have it our little life in the fast lane!

Kristin

My big news

2011-05-23T13:47:00.001-07:00

The world (aka my life) seems to have been crazy lately! Since I have last posted which in blog time is forever! Carson has had two horrible ear infections making that a total of 6 in the last year. The dr. says no tubes until the fall at least, so we are trying a chiropractor. We are crossing our fingers that it works some miracles in our little miracle, and so far he has slept through the night ever since his first treatment...so that is a big milestone!

Colton gave us quite a scare last week as he woke up in the middle of the night screaming in pain and proceeding to vomit all over his father. We got him into the dr. who checked his urine, which was fine, checked his white cell count, which came back normal and finally sent us home with some suppositories (yeah! we were both thrilled). Dr. thinks its some kind of virus and he was just full of gas. Well thankfully we seemed to have passed over that milestone and are on the mend and enjoying our last day of 3 year old preschool! Where has the time gone!

But the real news is mine and has nothing to do with being sick or with drs. The weekend of Easter I "got the call" as we like to refer to it. I have been appointed as a local licensed pastor of two small churches in my area. I was pleased to accept my new appointment and so far the churches seemed to be excited to have me. (I don't officially start until July 1). The question looming in the air was where did this leave me with my current job, you know the one I have had for oh 3 whole months! I knew that the church appointment was only 20 hours a week and while we could "afford" for me to only work that much, Nathan really wanted me to stay full-time.

So to make a long story short I will soon be working three days a week at the law firm and one day during the week at the churches. The fourth day during the week will be spent either at home working on stuff, in the office at the church or making visits. So it will be nice to have a little breathing room in my schedule, well and of course I will be working Sunday mornings, doing two church services each week.

The even scarier part for me is the looming homework and schooling that I am facing. The last week in July I will be at licensing school to get my license to be a pastor. This involves over 40 hours of homework before I leave for school. I am currently waiting on my books to arrive to get started, though I only have one class' assignments so far.

Then I will also be starting Course of Study which is sort of like getting my Master's in Divinity but during 4 weekends a year for like forever (ok really 9 years, but that sounds like forever). Did I mention that starts in September and all of my homework is due August 1st, which means I will have to have all of that done before I leave for licensing school as well!

So in essence please say a few prayers that I can manage my way through all of the homework, while working full-time and taking care of two often crazy boys! And say a few prayers for my husband as he attempts to hold down the fort for a week this summer and for a few weeks for the next few years!

And what is a blog post without a picture....Here are me and the boys on Easter morning after hunting eggs.

You might notice Carson only has one shoe on....he hates shoes.... hates socks even more....but alas he did start walking again after his first chiropractic appointment (coincidence?!? we'll never know for sure!)
Later!

The Birthday Boy

2011-03-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that my little man is already going to be one tomorrow! We started the week in style by throwing my MIL a surprise 50th birthday party, which she thought was for my son. They share their birthday you know! So in honor of both of their milestone birthdays we celebrated with a nice dinner, lots of friends and of course cake and presents. But as I would imagine is with most 1st birthday parties the cake is way more interesting than the presents! Here is a picture of the lovely cake my SIL brought to the party for Carson. And here is the after picture! I am sorry to whoever had to wash those table linens!

This would be the during! Colton looking on with amusement and of course egging him on a bit!

This picture is during the time when they opened presents! You can see the adorable "1" t-shirt that I bought for him, thanks to Luna B Tees! There should be more pictures to come of that shirt as I hope to get the boys' picture taken in their birthday shirts shortly!

All in all a wonderful night full of laughter! Good thing we enjoyed it because Colton was up puking at 4 am the next morning and Carson started at 6:30am! It was a long Sunday, but we have now come through it and we're ready for our next birthday adventure this weekend with my side of the family! We are going to try out the water park in a near by town!

"Under the Overpass"

2011-02-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

I recently read the book "Under the Overpass" by Mike Yanoski, which was given to me free of charge by "Blogging For Books", but please be aware all opinions are completely mine! This book details the journey of two men as they leave their lives of privilege and decide to jump into the world of being homeless. They spend 5 months traveling around the country from Denver to D.C. to California. They take with them only a guitar with which to panhandle with, and a $3 sleeping bag purchased from a thrift store before they leave on their journey.

I found this book to be a very good read, and captured my attention from their very beginning. I found Mike's insights often to include questions that were inside my head that I was wondering how he felt about things, and he really was able to open the eyes of the reader. One of the questions he answered in this book was should we give money to the homeless, and while I will not give away his answer I found it to be very thought provoking and is certainly a question I deal with as a Christian. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to understand th ins and outs of the homeless world, or who have no idea what is about and are just curious. Though the book is over 200 pages it felt like it was only 70, it was a quick read and holds your attention till the very end!

Book Review, "Seeds of Turmoil"

2011-01-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

I recently finished the book "Seeds of Turmoil, The biblical roots of the inevitable crisis in the Middle East" by Bryant Wright, which I would highly recommend for reading to anyone. Wright takes you through the book of Genesis telling the stories and relating how these stories have brought about the turmoil in the Middle East. As the book continues he relates to the readers from the perspectives of Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, while acknowledging that his opinions are somewhat biased as he is a Christian.

As a student of the Bible and having just finished a 12 week Bible study on the book of Gensis I found this book to be both enlightening and entertaining. While I am not usually one to read a book about history I found that I enjoyed and learned a lot from this book. I was pleased that Wright included somewhat of a disclaimer when he got to the end of his book and was trying to explain things from a Jewish point of view, letting the reader know that he certainly wasn't Jewish so perhaps he was a bit biased, but assured readers of his love for Jewish peoples and encouraged all Christian readers to love all peoples as well. I found that the book was a quick read, perhaps because of my recent study of this particular part of the Bible and the interest I already had, but I think most people will find that learning about why there is conflict in the Middle East is something very interesting as well as something we all should understand as the times we live in are a testiment to such drama. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves history and anyone who wants to understand more about what is going on over in the Middle East.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Where has the time gone!

2010-12-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

Quick picture update from our house. The holidays can be so busy and as we're trying to keep up, we might not post as much but we're still taking pictures so hopefully we'll get caught up eventually! The first picture is from Halloween...the boys in their matching monster shirts! They're both such hams! And yes I pretty sure that is Colton's shoe flying towards my camera in his excitement!

Sadly this is the first picture ever taken of my baby and myself! Yup he is already 7 months old in this picture!He sure is cute if I do say so myself!
This is Carson at 8 months. Already sitting and playing, and crawling all over the place!
And I took this picture just this week (and its blurry because I took it with my new camera that I am really not sure how to use as of yet!), proof that my little man is already pulling himself up to a standing position. He even attempted to walk around the furniture that night as well. I hear myself saying A LOT, "He's too young for that!" Did I mention he already has 6 teeth! Four on the top and two on the bottom with two more coming in on the bottom.
We're looking forward to some exciting Christmas activities in the near future including a visit from Santa tomorrow!
Kristin

New Review: Cast of Characters, Max Lucado

2010-10-09T14:19:00.001-07:00

"Cast of Characters", by Max Lucado. Lucado writes in this book about the people of the bible, and he delves deeper then maybe you have every heard or thought about what these people were doing and what they were feeling. He weaves stories from today's world that mimic the themes and stories of each chapters characters, and begins each chapter with the verses he will be discussing taken directly from the Bible. As he tells each character's story he shares some insights on the character and relates the happenings of this biblical character to life in today's world. Each chapter ends with some discussion questions.

I have loved reading this book for many different reasons. First off the chapters are short, to the point and yet I feel like I should be highlighting almost everything he has written. The stories and examples that he gives from today's world our poignant and moving, and yet really relate to the biblical stories he is talking about. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has some biblical knowledge and yet I feel it would be good for someone who is a new Christian or contemplating becoming a Christian, because I feel each chapter has something for everyone.

http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Happenings

2010-09-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here are Grandma Boysen's boys. All four grandchildren...there is just no hope of getting a good picture of all of them...here is the best.
Colton at the zoo and you can see Dad in the background if you look close!

Carson after eating one night after I had given up on keeping him clean and just let him play.

I took this picture this week....I think it's adorable but you can tell he is getting sick! Yesterday found out he has ear infection in both ears! But we're on the mend!

Kristin

All About Colton

2010-07-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

Lately I haven't had to many pictures of the fun things that Colton has been up to, but as it was insanely hot last week we broke out the pool for him to have some fun in!

Mind you these were taken after supper and you can see in the pictures how hot it was!

The next night while Dad was busy working on the porch I took Colton out for a little photo shoot! I got some cute ones!

Happy 4th!

The Hole in our Gospel, Richard Stearns

2010-06-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Hole in our Gospel, by Richard Stearns takes a hard look at the problems facing our world today, and what the Bible says is our duty as Christians. Stearns tells his life stories and as he shares with you those stories he relates that Jesus called us to action not inaction, and that is the hole in our gospel today.

I found this book to be fairly entertaining thanks to all of the stories both of Stearns and of others it really brought the book to life. My major problem with the book was that the entire point of this book seems to be to get us American Christians to DO something to help with the world's problem, but as the CEO of World Vision it almost at times feels like he wrote this book just get donations for his company. I must admit at times it was a powerful message and it tugged on your heart strings and you consider donating to his organization. I don't believe this was his purpose in writing this book though, I want to believe that he truly cares about the poor and sick of this world and that it does not matter to him which organization you support as long as you find a way to take action and try and do your part to help the people of this world.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com http://booksneeze.com/ book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

happenings!

2010-06-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

Lots has been going on our house! With me back at work and picking up preaching duties at a local church there isn't a lot of time to be had to be updating my blog! Here are some pictures from the last month or so! The first one I took last weekend and it needs a little red eye reduction but other than ....it's Carson sitting in his bumbo seat for the first time! This nosy little guy loved it!

This picture is a little dark but as you can see someone was taking the pictures for me and so too dark is just fine with me! This is from Carson's baptism! You'll see our little family and Carson's Godparents Aunt Kayla and Uncle Kyle.

This little guy is getting ready to roll over! And he is constantly trying to master this new skill, we're getting very close to success!

Carson's first bit of cereal from a bowl! He wasn't real thrilled and we have since switched back to just putting it in the bottle...easier for us! I am thinking by next week though we'll be back to eating with a spoon because we're starting to get hungrier at night time again!

And what a beautiful smile he has! As long as we're clean and not hungry whenever someone pays us just a little bit of attention this is the face you get! FYI this outfit is now to small for us, so you can see how much we have grown in the last month.

That's all for now!

We're 6 Weeks Old

2010-05-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Carson was six weeks old this past week and well I never got around to taking Colton's 3 year old pictures. Mostly because I figured I would want some pictures of the brothers together so I thought I would wait. I'm glad I did! I think they turned out really cute! We had them taken at Wal-Mart this morning and I purchased the CD with the copyright privileges to be able to post them on my blog to share with all my family! Enjoy!

1 Month Old!

2010-05-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

We have had some visitors lately with Carson's birth! We love having visitors and Colton has enjoyed having his cousins over to play! One day he even gave them a ride in his pick-up! If you don't know this is Colton's very favorite toy and in fact we have to charge the battery just about every night, so his cousins don't know how lucky they are that he offered to give them a ride!

Here is the newest Boysen having some tummy time on his 1 month birthday! He is now eating between 5 and 6 oz every 4 hours, often just before bedtime we kick it up a notch and eat closer together and because of this our schedule varies from day to day. We were lucky enough Friday night to have the little sleep until 3:45 in the morning!!! WHOOHOO! He loves to look around and is very good with holding his head up! I am enjoying my time off, but it is going so fast! Already half over! We both have our check-ups at the end of the month and then its back to work for me and time for daycare for the little man!

"The Map, The Way of All Great Men," David Murrow ~ book review

2010-04-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

Below you will find my very first book review for the book sneeze program!

"The Map, The Way of All Great Men", by David Murrow is some what of a continuation to Murrow's book "Why Men Hate Going to Church". If you have read the Da Vinci Code or like mystery movies the beginning of this book is right up your alley! The begins as a mystery over a map unfolds and the author of the book takes up the greatest adventure of his life! Both fascinating and enlightening the first half of the book begs for you to keep reading to unlock more of the secrets of this great map.

As you read into the second half of the book you will discover all of the secrets Murrow has discovered with regards to this map. What is the purpose of this map? The map is the Christian's guide for life. Murrow shows the readers how this map is applicable in real life, and how it is effecting our church's of today.

I enjoyed reading this book and found much of the information useful as a lay minister and applicable in my preaching and serving the church. However, as a female I did not get as much out of this book as I think a man would, basically because this book was written for men and not for woman. The first half of the book was wonderful and engaging and the second half while a bit more dry held my attention and at times I was taking notes to remember tidbits that Murrow shared with his audience.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html>

Introducing Carson Lee!

2010-04-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

So I always forget that I have to upload my pictures in reverse order, so first here is a picture of Colton as he hunts Easter Eggs at Grandma's house on Sunday. He really was excited about it, but who could resist a classic Colton face like that one. Thanks to Aunt Kayla for hiding the eggs and for taking this picture while I rested inside!

Next I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our family....Carson Lee! He was born a week ago today March 30th at 6:42 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz and was 19" long! As seems to be my normal he was a long time in coming, but we think he is pretty darn precious now that he is here.

Here is Dad and Colton with little Carson about an hour or so after he was born. Colton wasn't really sure what to think, but he warmed up before we took him home!

And one of my favorite pictures even though you can tell that the babe hadn't been given a bath yet, but a picture with his great-grandma (aka Old Lala)!

So far things are going pretty good around here, everyone is tired but that too will pass! Carson seems to be eating pretty good at times 4 oz. He goes about 4 hours between feedings sometimes more sometimes less (we haven't really established a routine yet). Colton is starting to lose his bad attitude and my energy is slowly returning. We're hoping that by next week we will have a routine for all three of us and I will be up to doing it all on my own as right now my mom has been helping me out (THANKS MOM!) Well now it's off to put my feet up and hold the baby while Colton finishes his nap!

Kristin

The Countdown begins

2010-02-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't really been in the mood to take pictures lately, so I only have one new one to show you, but this biased momma thinks its pretty darn cute! This is Colton helping Grandpa Jeff cook chili! What a little ham!

In other news....the countdown is on 4 1/2 weeks until this baby is due! This week we (maybe more I) hope to get the nursery completely done. Nathan has the room completely painted and so all I have left is to get the curtains hung and the alphabet decoration I have been planning on hanging on the wall, and with any luck then I will take a picture of the lovely room awaiting baby Boysen 2. I am already going for doctor's appointments every week now (we apparently skipped those every two week things)! Everyone around here (except for family who know better!) have been telling me how huge I am, and their eyes get very big when I tell them I still have over a month left! Maybe I should take a picture of my self so you can all draw your own conclusions! HA!

Other than anxiously awaiting the baby I am also awaiting next weekends scrapbooking retreat, and looking forward to a night and two days away from work and home! A last hurrah if you must before I look forward to getting just an hour or two of sleep at a time.
Kristin

Christmas and Snow

2010-01-20T08:12:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas has come and gone, Colton's birthday has come and gone, and New Year's has come and gone and I have yet to post anything. It has been kind of crazy around here! We have been snowed in two or three times I am starting to lose track and right now are experiencing an ice storm like no other. But without futher ado here are some pictures from the recent events! First up Christmas Morning (snowed in). Colton opening up his presents from Mom and Dad as well as Santa!

Colton's Birthday! He is now three years old! We had a Disney Cars themed party, with family over to help celebrate. This was the big moment, blowing out his candles on the birthday cake he picked out!

This is the last snow storm we had. On the tractor to the left is my husband and on the tractor to the right my husband's boss (he works nights at Red Power Magazine, working on tractors). I believe they were out there for over two hours trying to get us a path wide enough for a pick-up to go through so that I could get to work for a little while. Oh this is the view from my kitchen window.

Last but certainly not least this is my son. My son as I found him sitting on my kitchen table watching his dad and "town ca" as he is loving referred to by Colton pushing snow. And don't you all know that you have to have your (in Colton's language) "goggle goggles" on to watch them push snow? A face only a mother could love! By the way we did get out that day about noon and I was able to get to work for a few hours.

On the baby front we STILL have not fully decided on a name. The husband was set on Nicholas, I was not in favor at all. Then he decided Shawn, which eh was okay I could live with. Then he decided he really didn't like Shawn. So last weekend when I finally made it to the city to do a little shopping I picked the husband up a baby names book. He looked it over that night and came up with Carson (which we won't mention that I have suggested like 1500 times!). Any whoo I am hoping this name sticks, cause I actually like this one! I have an ob check this Friday, so we'll see what that brings, so far everything seems to be right on track. OH and mom and I with a little help from the husband have almost got the nursery finished, so as soon as I get that done I will post some pictures!

Kristin

2009-12-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

It was my husband's birthday this past Monday and one of his gifts was a CD featuring 1950's Country Music. We were playing that night and Colton just danced up a storm. Now whenever my husband gets home he wants Dad to PLEASE play that music again! I caught them dancing one night while waiting for supper!

It's A ....

2009-12-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Ok so actually I found out last week what I was having, but am just getting around to posting! As you can see from the very first picture it's quite obvious...we're having a boy! And we have NO idea what we will name him, because we do not agree on ANY names! So if you have any suggestions please let me know! Enjoy the pictures of baby boysen!

Halloween and Fall Pictures

2009-11-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

So I am finally getting around to posting some Halloween pictures, better late then never I guess! The first couple are of the 4-wheeler that has made its home at our place. I give you my mother and my son taking it for a spin!

Dad and son getting reading for a ride (did I mention that Colton absolutely loves these rides!).

Now Halloween....Colton was not into it at all. We went to like 5 houses and then he was like take me home this is crazyness! But we managed to get a few cute pictures of our little monster! Here he is with Old Lala aka his great-grandma.

Here he is with my mom and it looks like that is my dad in the background still eating supper. Do you like the cowboy boots with the costume? Yeah we would have no part of wearing tennis shoes.

And a big smile! This was of course taken before we went out trick-or-treating!

Happy Friday everybody!

Kristin

An Afternoon Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

I woke Colton up early yesterday to travel to the pumpkin patch as it looked like it would be the only nice day to go this year. It was 65, but cool in the wind. I took my Mom with and we had a good time! Here are some pictures to share with you! This first one is of Colton playing in the little playground area they have...he didn't want to leave this area! He kept saying, "Mom, I'll make you some supper ok?"

Here are the pumpkins me and Colton picked out!

Inside the corn maze! Colton and Grandma would run around the curves, hide, and then "scare" me! We got this one shot of us together (too bad we both can't be looking at the camera! Oh well nothing is ever perfect!)

Colton on the hayrack ride! I love this picture!

As for a baby update! I am now 17 weeks, and I think we are doing just darn right well! The morning sickness for the most part has subsided, the carsick well that still lingers! My last OB Appt went well and everything looked fine, and my next one is a week from today! It seems like those last 8 weeks flew by even though I thought they never would!

Kristin

A Dancing Fool!

2009-09-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago we traveled to my cousin's wedding. Colton was all exciting to go dancing and in fact thought we should just skip the church wedding part and go straight to dancing! And let's not even talk about the bride and groom having a dance all to themselves are father/daughter dance?! We were in tears we had to get off of the dance floor for a couple of minutes. By 9 my husband had to carry him off of the dance floor crying because he wanted to stay longer. At least he had fun. Here are a few photos of the fun! Dancing with Grandma.

Dancing with Aunt Kayla!

Playing with a straw at the reception!

Kristin

To Catch up!

2009-09-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures for everyone to catch up on what has been going on in our little families lives the last umm month or so! The first picture is from my bestie's wedding. It's not the best picture but you get the idea (luv her!)

The second is at the State Fair. Okay this is also a lousy photo, but it was a funny moment. Colton thought it would be fun to run in this water, until he got close and then it was good enough to just stick his arm in the water. Thus me not having enough time to take a good picture of the event, because it happened much faster than it was supposed to. I got one other photo taken at the fair and it is sadly not any better, but what do expect when I spent the day pushing a stroller around whether it had a little boy in it or not!

Ok this also not a great photo but it captures a pretty big moment for our little one. While I was away at my BF's bachelorette party I made a stop by the Once Upon a Child (looking for a new stroller) and found these adorable cowboy boots for him. He loves them! Mostly because they are just like Dad's but because their pretty awesome too!

This is Colton at the Albert City Threshermen's Festival. I am not sure what he is looking at but apparently it is way cool!

There you have it our August of highlights! For those looking for a baby update...I had a regularly scheduled OB appt on Monday the 24th. The dr. was able to hear the baby's heartbeat right away and everything looks fine, and my progesterone levels are coming up! Yeah! So we're keeping the faith here and counting the days and weeks!

Kristin

A Reluctant but Happy Post!

2009-08-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

There have been several posts that I have thought about posting lately, you know just the normal things that we have been up to. We traveled to the State Fair last week for the first time, and last weekend my best friend got married and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. But I thought I might as well post about what is actually on my mind. We have had some major scares this week. I went and saw the doctor Mon. because somethings were a little off. I was sent up for some blood work and an ultrasound. The ultrasound turned out looking great, the baby looked fine and the heart was beating all that good stuff. The blood work was another story. It turns out my progesterone is very low. When I went back to visit the doc on Wens. I was put on progesterone and they took my blood again, which is when they found out that my HCG levels had decreased, which is not a good thing. I was told to repeat the blood today (Friday). I had my blood drawn first thing this morning and the results were not exactly what I wanted to hear, the HCG had decreased again, but not to the extent it had the first time. I talked with the doc and had an ultrasound done right away this morning. To mine and the xray techs (who is also a co-worker) relief everything looked fine. The baby had grown since Monday and you could now see some little arm and leg "buds". So to finish my long drawn out story the doc says that my HCG levels are just leveling out and to continue doing what I am doing! I was reluctant to share this on my blog, but quite a few family members read it, and to be honest to have a few more prayers would not hurt. I need to make it to 15 weeks ( I am 9 weeks and 5 days today), at that point the baby will produce the progesterone it self. So please say a prayer for me and the baby and here are a couple of pictures that were taken this morning.

I know that it doesn't look like much, but after this week a heartbeat on that screen never looked so good! Have a great weekend.

Kristin

A lifetime Ago

2009-08-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

So it feels like a lifetime since I have actually sat down and wrote a blog post, but here is a little of what we have been up to. I have more pictures to post soon, and we will be busy in the next week so more and more pictures! These first pictures are from our families first tractor ride. We woke up early one morning during the fair and along with 33 other tractors toured the county a little bit. It was a cold but fun ride. This first picture is of Nathan and Colton driving the tractor.

Colton laughing, I honestly don't remember what was so funny but it must have been!

This was what we rode on, I actually didn't ever get a picture of the whole tractor..I know how silly of me! But you can see that for most of the trip Colton and I rode on the back seat and Nathan drove. This actually wasn't one of our own (many) tractors but it belonged to Nathan's boss. (He works nights fixing tractors)

These last pictures are from the day we finished siding our house (well the East side). My twin nephews came to visit and I was able to grab a picture of the three cousins (something that never seems possible). Well known of them are smiling but you take what you can get!

This shot was taken by Nathan! He told Colton to smile and this was the face he got! Classic!

Anyways on to the baby news as you can see we are due April 3rd, although that might change when I have my first OB appt. on the 31st. The question of the day seems to be "How are you feeling". Well people just shouldn't ask, because they never like my response of "horrible", but people I am not a good liar! Anyways this too shall pass and one day I will wake up and no longer feel ill every waking hour and can just enjoy be pregnant. Anyways more to come with pictures from our adventure to Albert City Threshermen's Festival!

Kristin

Something New

2009-08-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

I just added something new to my blog. If you look around a little bit over to the right you will see it, and then you'll know my exciting news! More details to come!
Kristin

DIY Home Improvement Time!

2009-07-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

So I came home from a Bridal Shower Sat. evening to find a new window in my living room and new siding on the house. We have been working on the East side of our house all summer, but I was surprised when there was progress made while I was gone. Well we continued working all weekend with the help of Nathan's mom and Dad and brother we got both of our new big windows put in and quite a bit of siding done as well. We just keep plugging away at it, but boy what a difference it makes. Once you see the color of my house before you will understand! The first pictures are from Colton getting his hair cut. Us "ground crew" ladies took some time out to cut his hair, well mostly my MIL did, but "assisted"! He thought it was so FUN to sit on the saw horse to get his hair cut!

This picture was taken before the second window was out and they were still tearing things apart, but you can see how ugly that green paint is? It is actually much worse in person!

This is the after picture from the bottom picture window they just put in, gorgeous!

I am posting this for A Soft Place To Land's DIY day! Go here to visit!

Kristin

Vacation

2009-07-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

Vacation has come and gone. This was Colton's very first vacation and the first one for me in a long time. Colton and I tagged along with my parents for a vacation in the Black Hills. We had an amazing time, although we missed our dad/husband! We stayed right across the street from the Flinstone Park, and the first night there Colton was sure the "monsters" (huge cement Dino) was going to get him. We did a lot while we were there.....Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, 1880's Train Ride, Bear Country, Storybook Island, Alpine Slide, Horse Back Riding, Flinstone's Park, and of course swimming. I was amazed at how well Colton handled the 8 hour drive, but he did not ask once either way if he could get out of his car seat. He loved everything we did, and was WAY upset when he wasn't old enough to go horse back riding or we didn't let him go down the alpine slide. But enough of me writing let's look at pictures! The first is of the the two of us eating homemade ice cream at Wall Drug, in Wall, SD. (It was great to have my mom along to talk to some pictures of the two of us, usually its me taking all the pictures.) MMM mint chip my favorite!

This is Colton "rock climbing"! He kept saying, "Get Dad's Ladder!" This was in Custer State Park.

My Dad and Colton looking at "Guys on Rock" (aka Mount Rushmore).

Colton and I on the 1880's train eating our second box of popcorn, one for each way (I guess).

Colton and I at the Badlands on the way home. Colton kept saying, "WOW!"

Happy 4th!

Kristin

To the Park!

2009-06-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last night with Nathan going to his second job at night I thought Colton and I should have some fun on our own! I had intended to take him to the park on my day off Monday, but of course it was rainy and cold, so we went last night. And boy did we have a good time for an hour and a half. Grandpa even joined us for a few minutes when he got off work and before he went home from supper as his place of employement is right next to the city park! So here are a few picture highlights from our recent adventure! The first is of Colton saying Mom really pictures again!

This is Colton going down the "BIG" slide or whee as Colton would say. You don't think he enjoys it do you? He only went down it 2 million times!

This is a picture of Colton climbing up a ladder "thingy" to get to that "BIG" slide! He thought I was absolutely silly for "hidding" behind the ladder. (Don't tell him but it was actually to get a really cute picture, and it worked!)

So there you have it a night of fun at the park. We topped it off with a trip to the local gas station for a "cold pop" (juice) and some twizzlers nibs! Gotta love me some summer!

Kristin

Iowa Annual Conference

2009-06-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

I have returned back from the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church! I left last Thursday and was back Sunday afternoon. It was 4 days of voting, debating, worshipping, and meeting up with friends I only get to see once a year.

Perhaps I should explain a little about why I get to go? Each Methodist pastor in Iowa "gets" (has) to go to annual conference, then each church elects a delegate to go from their church. As you might imagine there are some church's that have more than one pastor and some pastors in positions besides serving a church well to make the total number of clergy and lay equal the districts (there are 8 in Iowa) elect what are called equalization members. I have gone the last two years as an equalization member, and I have to tell you it is a very eye opening experience as to how our church is set up and run!

I didn't take a lot of pictures but I did take a few that I wanted to share with you as well as one awesome video! This video was taken at the opening worship and it is the African's Children's Choir! They are the cutest and most spirited young kids I have ever seen, by far the highlight of all of the worship times we took part in while we were there! The above picture was taken from my seat at conference, and as you can see we were pretty close to the stage this year. The stage is where our Bishop (Bishop Trimble) sits with his people and they run the whole thing. So you can get an idea of how big of an event this is there are around 1200 people from across the state that attend annual conference each year. Well that's a pretty good summary (I think!), but if anyone out there in the blog world has any questions please feel free to leave that in the comments section, or if you attend annual conference let me know that too!

I Heart Faces, I'M BACK!!!

2009-06-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

I didn't a lot of great pictures this year at Colton's birthday, because well I was too into the unwrapping and the eating and being a hostess to actually remember to get some good shots. But this one makes me laugh. Partially because Colton is being SO inpatient about getting his toy out of the box, and partially because the person he wanted to open the toy was in a cast up to his elbow and was having a heck of a time opening it. Funny moment! Oh and by the way that's my husband's cousin who is opening the gift for Colton and just happens to be one of Colton's very favorite people! So this is my entry for this week's I heart faces contest, their theme being birthdays! So go and visit all of the other lovely birthday faces this week!

Lewa's Designs

2009-05-28T06:35:00.000-07:00

I love reading A Soft Place to Land and today Kimba has the best deal ever! She tells about her new sponsor Lewa's Designs, and of course there is an amazing giveaway! This amazing dandelion vinyl art that is 5' tall! Crazy cool...I love me some vinyl art!

This is a really cool store so please go visit and please visit A Soft Place To Land as well!

Outdoor Makeover!

2009-05-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

What a busy holiday weekend we have had here! We were prepared for it to rain the entire weekend, but actually I don't think it rained a drop! We were pleasantly surprised. We started off the weekend by jumping into an outdoor project I had started a few weeks ago. That was getting my flowers around the house looking nice, getting rid of the awful looking mulch that the dog had sat in all year and that had blown all over the yard. I had 4 ton of rock delivered earlier in the week and so Sat. we sat out to make my flowers look pretty! I must remind you that we are living in a fixer upper if you will, and the ugly greenish paint color of my house will eventually change into a tan siding, but since all of the windows need to be replaced we are only doing one side of the house a year. Of course the side that is done has no flowers for me to show you! Any whoo! This first picture is actually the after picture (I can never guess right the order blogger is going to upload pictures!) I am trying to line my flower beds with vintage looking plates and saucers, of course I ran out. The ones pictured I got on an auction for 2 dollars!

This is the before picture..we leveled the dirt a little bit and put the rock and a fabric barrier down. Oh and pulled the multitudes of trees and weeds that were growing.

Here is another after picture...mostly lilies in this picture!

This is a before picture. You might also notice the sad looking basement door? Well as I speak I mean type the husband is outside creating a brand new door to take the place of this ugly looking thing. In the bed we planted a couple more flowers purchased from Wal-Mart the night before and added the rock!

And after! What a difference a little finishing touch makes! You'll notice the new door on the basement as well...looks good!

Friday night I scavanged at my husband's cousin's house and found this old washer, and I just knew there needed to be some flowers planted in it. So I picked up some wave petunias at Wal-Mart (these are the awesomest flowers!)

And isn't it fantastic in front of my house! It will get even better as the flowers spread out over the entire tub!

Well that's our Saturday, but it sure does feel good to get something accomplished and be that it was something beautiful makes it even better! I hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend as well!

Kristin

Birthday Party!

2009-05-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend we traveled to my sister-in-law's for my twin nephew's 1st birthday! I can hardly believe they are already that old! Colton was sooooooooo excited to see the babies who are fast approaching not being babies any more. Of course I took a few pictures of the event!
This first one is of baby C eating his cupcake, how adorable!

Baby H opening his presents or should I say getting mad about all the attention and people!

Baby C opening his presents!

Baby C and Baby H as they begin to dig into their cakes!

And that's the highlights! Can you believe it an entire post without any pictures of my own son! Awesome!

Kristin

My "Prime Directive"

2009-05-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

I have just finished reading page after page of biblical commentary in order to prepare for writing a sermon I will be giving next weekend. My mind is filled with all of the wonderful ways the gospel just spoke to me, but the greatest image is of Star Trek! Crazy I know! As a young kid my Dad loved this show, and I can remember Sunday night dinners in front of the TV so we could all watch Star Trek the Next Generation together. Well one of the commentaries spoke of Star Trek and how they had this thing called the prime directive, a common goal that everyone was striving far. I believe the Prime Directive for us Christians can be summed up in just one work, LOVE! Can I get an AMEN?! In the spirit of love and my prime directive I wanted to share with you a few photos taken weeks ago but some up the love I have for my family and the things they love! This first picture, that's my husband's love (besides me and our little family of course) TRACTORS (the red ones)! He loves working on them and fixing them up. This is a picture of a recent project of his and his cousin which they later sold on Ebay (it is sometimes nice to love something that will earn you a little extra money!)
This next picture, my love, my son, with his love exploration. We are in the process of refinishing our kitchen chairs. This chair was just finished being sanded (by my lovely mother!) and the actual chair part had not been put back on. Well what better than to get inside the chair and walk around, what could be more fun! You gotta love kids!

This last picture I took after that love of mine my son got up from a nap. He "snuck" over to the door to our spare bedroom and in true exploring fashion got on his knees (or elbows as he calls them) to peer into the room to see what was in there. What a little munkin!

So now in the spirit of mother's day (and my sermon for next Sunday) let's all pour out some love this weekend!

Happy Friday!

Kristin

Looky Looky!

2009-05-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't been blogging much lately...I guess perhaps I am just not in the mood for sharing! But I have been keeping up with all of the blogs that I read! But I have news! Big news! And if you lived in my house you would know it's big news, but alas after trip to the city yesterday I purchased this bad boy below!

You do not even know the excitement that I have to finally get a DISHWASHER! I hate doing the dishes, no that does not even cut it I HATE doing dishes. So this is a dream come true! It is a portable style because we don't have a place to "put" in my kitchen, but it is also convertible...so if down the road I can fit it in somewhere underneath a counter it can become a built in (genius!) Any whoo there really is more going on in my life, I just have to not be so lazy and take pictures, oh and write about it too! Happy Monday (is there such a thing?!?)

Kristin

Easter Fun

2009-04-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a very happy Easter! We did at our house! Sat. I spent the day shopping with a friend and we had a blast! Meanwhile my Mom and Dad took Colton to an Easter Egg Hunt and to have his picture taken with the Easter bunny. I am sure there were some good pictures taken, but I don't have access to those so you'll just have to use your imagination! Sunday morning Colton and I got up very early and after looking through what the Easter Bunny brought we were off to to the sunrise service at my church which started at 7 am. This was while my husband sat in his church for an hour before the service started just so he could get a seat. Our service was really fun the senior high youth group did their version of the TV show NCIS and were hunting down Jesus! Luckily it only lasted about 20 minutes, which was about 15 minutes to long for my son. Then we went and had breakfast at church which was very nice! Next up was a stop at my mom and dad's to see if they could snap a picture of the two of us in our Easter clothes, well you can see from the first picture this did not happen! But trust me he did look adorable! Then lunch was served at my house for my family, followed by a very special viewing of the movie Cars! (Colton loves Mack the truck!) And that's it Easter at our house!

Colton playing with his truck and not wanting his picture taken!

Colton exploring his barn from the Easter bunny--you might notice his chocolate bunny is never far from his mouth!

Exploring the contents of his basket, again notice the bunny clenched in his fist! By far the chocolate bunny was the best gift, even at 6:30 am!

Ahem, Introductions Please!

2009-04-09T08:07:00.000-07:00

Today I was off reading the blogs that I keep up with and I came across Kimba's at A Soft Place to Land, and really enjoyed it. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I want to do what she is doing over here at my blog! Kimba was talking about how much friends mean to our world, and in the hard economic times how our online friends can mean even more to us! I think this is so true, and like her I know of few of you comment quite regularly and I read your blogs regularly, but the question is are we friends? I hope we are and can be! So I want to encourage everyone just like Kimba did to write a few things about yourself in the comment section so we can all get to know one another, and if you feel so obliged to do the same on your blog!

So here goes some things about me perhaps you did not know!

I'm left handed and so is my husband, yup we are a lefty household. Now my son well we're not sure yet he tends to do stuff with both of his hands! We are crossing our fingers that he ends up being left handed.

My spare time (whenever that happens) is used for a lot of church stuffies! I am the middle school youth group leader, I preach once a month at a small local church, am a part of the executive committee, worship committee, and education committee, plus we are just starting a work shop where I will be teaching three classes on intentional faith development! Wish me luck!

I also love to do crafts, scrapbook, take pictures and SHOP! My husband would tell you my weaknesses are shoes and purses, however I would tell you it's cute clothes for my son and scrapbooking supplies!

So there you have! A few things about me, now please add your own if you feel so compelled! And what would a post be without a picture! The picture above is of my family during a fall photo shoot, this is us having a little fun with it!

We're Praying

2009-04-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed on the right side of my blog the "Praying for Stellan" button. I have been reading about Stellan since before he was born and the doctors told him Mom and Dad that he would not live, and I followed Stellan's story when he was born and perfectly healthy as a matter of fact, and I now follow Stellan's story as he is VERY sick. He has been in the hospital for I believe 12 days as I write this with SVT, and I understand that to be an increased heart rate. He has had some very trying days, and so has his mother. From around the world people have been emailing his mom (MckMama) pictures with Stellan's name in it. So this week as I lead my middle school youth group we talked about Stellan and decided we too would take our picture and send it to Stellan and his Mom. So here is our picture, Stellan made it to Iowa! We are also praying for him as a church group. I want to encourage everyone to check out this story and send your prayers Stellan's way, what an amazing little boy.

Kristin

I Heart Faces, Pout

2009-03-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

This week on I Heart Faces the theme is pouting! Well this is the best representation I could find! This is a picture of Colton from Thanksgiving literally begging me to let him use my camera. Yeah I think not kiddo, but I will snap a picture of you and your best whinning faces! As always enjoy! If you would like to see more cute pictures of kids pouting please head on over to I heart faces!

I Heart Faces, No Flash!

2009-03-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here is my entry for this week's I heart faces contest. This week the theme is to use no flash. I have kept my camera on no flash all week. And this was my favorite picture I captured. It is of Colton standing on the landing of our house after nap time. He was ready to get up from nap but just not quite ready to come downstairs and play.

Christmas in March?!?

2009-03-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

We had kind of an exciting weekend! Which included Christmas on Sat.! That's right I said Christmas. My aunt, uncle and two cousins never made it down to Christmas this year due to the weather, so they made the trip Sat. (the nicest day we have had so far!), and brought Colton some Christmas presents and his birthday presents! So I thought I would share a few highlights! This first picture is my aunt and Colton putting together a puzzle they gave him.

This one is of Colton opening a present with a farm book! Yes that's me with the frizzy crazy hair, and my uncle in the background.

This video is after Colton opened I think his favorite present of the day, his "punching bag". He laughed and laughed playing with this toy.

I heart faces, GREEN!

2009-03-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I heart face's theme this week is green! Something in the picture has to be green and of course it has to have a face! This week I chose a picture from our trip to the zoo last summer, lots of green in it. I also love the smile on this boy's face in this picture, of course maybe it's just because I am mom! I tried some editing with Picnik this week, and I think it turned out pretty well!

We Can FINALLY Go Outside!

2009-03-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

We finally had some warm weather, and it's finally starting to feel like spring might be around the corner! So tonight as we were enjoying our brand new swing set I snapped some pictures!

Dad pushing Colton "higher"!

Colton just giggled and giggled on the swing and I think we pushed for a good 45 minutes!

Then we took some time out to explore the wonders of the dog's tongue! Good thing we have a friendly dog!

Hope everyone else had a fun filled weekend!

Kristin

Big News (at least in my world!)

2009-03-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

What is going on here? Well the big news for me is that we finally got high speed internet! WHOOHOO! Below is the proof! I am so excited I took a half a day off of work just to be here for the installation, and good thing I was because the guy came 3 hours early!

The second big news is these came in the mail today! Two pairs!

That's right we are trying something new on the potty training front, training pants. He has them on now and so far so good. He even told me he needed to go once today! So we are keeping our fingers crossed! And lastly we bought this gem from a friend of mine this weekend who is moving to a house that already has one!

Yup, we got Colton a swing set! He was so excited when we put it up, that he was laughing and yelling and carrying on. He even had to go down the slide even though it had been rained on!

So that's what's been going on at our house!

Kristin

I heart faces, MESSY!

2009-03-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

The category this week for I heart faces, is messy and I am entering this in the beginner category. This is a picture of Colton eating a choclate chip cookie and dipping it into a red velvet cupcake while drinking blue gatorage! You can tell it was a hot supper day because his hair is curling up a storm! I wish I had known this category was coming, because I have already used my favorite messy picture, but this one will do! Thanks for looking and stop by to I heart faces to see the other great entries!

My "awesome" Picture taking skills!

2009-02-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

So the other night I had supper going the table ready and a few minutes to spare (as you can sort of tell by the clock in the background) until Nathan got home from work. So I thought I would try to play with my camera and see what I could come up with. I had read a few suggestions about getting really close to the person's face and not using a flash and the like so I thought I would try it with my favorite subject my son. Well as you can see from the first picture he was just not really in the mood! This look is "Mom, do you really need to take my picture?"
This picture is "Mom you are so silly!" Mind you he is sitting on my dinning room table and I am not minding, because I would like just one good picture of the kid to show off my mad photography skills!

And lastly, I think my favorite shot. The paparozzi shot, "MOM NO!"

He does have cute little hands though! Well not the best pictures but fun anyways!

Kristin

10 Minute Makeover

2009-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

I know I am super super late on this one, but I was so inspired by reading everyone else's entires for Nester's 10 Minute makeovers that I had to try it my self. And after days of working on different areas of the house and many sore muscles I thought I would share with you the very first of my little mini makeovers, perhaps more to follow. This one is in my kitchen, and please follow the link back to the Nester's site to see even more great ideas!

Ok so this first picture is an up close view of a tablescape I did, ever so inspired by the many people who did different varieties of these. Someone said we should all have a side table in our kitchen. Well I didn't have an extra one of those lying around, but I did have this dresser just taking up space in my son's room, so I talked the husband into to bringing it down to the kitchen and thus my tablescape was born. I used a cookbook stand with an old cookbook, a candle on top of an old scale, various rooster salt and peper shakers and cermaic things, a birdcage with a candle in it and an old milk bottle.

This is what is hanging above my dresser in my kitchen. Various pictures of my family that we had taken this fall. I ecspecially love this frame in the middle it reads, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take...but by the number of moments that take our breath away!" An AWESOME quote!

Another look at the table. I might mention that the dresser really did come in handy I put all of my tablecloths and napkins in the top drawers and in the bottom I put all of my cookbooks, which makes them much easier to find then where they were previously which was about 8 foot high in my kitchen.

And a final look at my tablescape. I hope you enjoyed a look at part of my kitchen!

I should have taken before pictures but I was too excited to get started!

This is the entire wall of pictures. I think one of them is falling a bit! Oh well I love it, and I hope you did too!

My Best Friend's Wedding 2

2009-02-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I took another trip to meet up with my best friend and also my college roommate (for most of my college career, but that is story for another day), but this time it was to pick out her wedding dress. After almost four hours of trying to decide, she trully picked a beautiful dress and will be a stunning bride. She also saw someone walking around in a gorgeous bridesmaid dress similar to the wedding dress she picked out and had us try it on. Turns out we liked it much better than the other dress we had already picked out and since we had not ordered it yet, no problem. So here are a couple of pictures from our day. The first is of my friend in one of her dresses, not the one she picked out but a very pretty one no less. And the second is of her in another dress again not the one she picked with me and her sister in the new dresses. They will not be this color they will be "mermaid" aka tourquoise (ish)! Enjoy!

I heart faces!

2009-02-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

This is my entry into this week's I heart faces contest, and the theme this week is black and white. The link above will take you directly to the kids portion of the contest. A little background on this photo....You see my mother-in-law had all three of her boy's picture taken in this very shirt. So she wanted her grandson to have his picture taken in it as well. Well I decided rather than spending a good $100 at Wal-Mart to get some photos taken I would give it a go my self. Now it did not go exactly as planned, but I love this picture! Of course I had switched over to black and white and I was supposed to take it in color just like the other boys' pictures, but well this is my favorite. It is a classic Colton smile! Enjoy and please hop on over to the I heart faces site and check out the many talented photographers!

I Heart Faces entry, Wonder

2009-02-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

This week the I heart faces site is featuring faces that are showing wonder. It seems like I took this photo a long time ago, but it was when Colton was about 3 months old. We were literally snowed in and could not get to town. Colton had a bit of a cold, and as we layed him down for his nap we tried turing on his mobile for the first time. We got this face out of him, his smile! I have always loved this picture! He will always be my baby that's for sure! If you haven't check out this amazing site you really need to there a ton of great photos to see!

My Best Friend's Wedding!

2009-02-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago I was able to go on an over night trip with my son and Mom and Dad. We left after work on Friday and two hours later we were at my brother's house. My sister-in-law took us shopping that night, but the best part of the trip was meeting my best friend at David's Bridal to help her pick out the bridesmaid dress I would be wearing in her wedding next August! When we arrived at the store she knew the color she wanted and that she wanted a shorter dress, because it would be hot out, other than that she hadn't decided! I think her sister and I tried on 10 different dressed and finally she picked a beautiful one (the first one we both tried on by the way!). Her color is called mermaid and below is a picture of the dress she picked! Of course on a much prettier model but you get the idea. I brought my camera that day but there were like 10 thousand woman trying on dresses, and all three of us were sharing one dressing room.

courtesy of Davidsbridal.com

Any how yesterday she invited me down next weekend to help her pick out her wedding dress. Well, considering how she came and helped me...how could I not! Plus I only get to see her maybe twice a year, so next weekend that is where I will be, and hopefully this time taking a few pictures! Oh and who can resist a trip to Archiver's when you finally get to a big enough city to have one? Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I Heart Faces, Week 5 SilLyNesS!

2009-02-10T12:53:00.001-08:00

Week five of I heart faces contest is going on now, and the theme this week is sillyness. I just knew I had the picture for this category! This is a picture of Colton playing inside a tractor at a local fair this past summer. He loves all things tractor, and was sooooo excited to get to play inside a real one all by himself! Please go check out all of the other lovely faces of sillyness!

Warm Weather!

2009-02-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

Okay so what an amazing weekend we had! It was in the fifties! Sat. I spent the greater part of the day shopping with my college roommate for a bridesmaid dress for me to wear in her wedding in August. She picked a beautiful dress at David's Bridal in the color mermaid. It is strapless, and flowy and supposed to be short, but as all of us bridesmaids are short it actually comes to about our ankles. It was a fun day and I am looking forward to going back next month to help her pick out her dress!

Then Sunday I spent the day at home, and Colton got to play outside for the first time in months. He still had to put on a snowsuit and hat and boots and the whole works but he got to spend the better part of 4 hours outside playing with Dad. They rode on the tractors, they fed the cows, they fixed Dad's pick-up, and they showed a tractor to someone looking at buying! He had the best time, but I don't think he has recovered from it yet. Below are some pictures I took through our back door because if he catches me taking pictures while he is outside playing with Dad he yells through the door "NO mom!". But I had to sneak me a couple! This is when Colton and Dad were chipping the ice off of the sidewalk! Dad with a snow shovel and Colton with his plastic hoe of course! Makes perfect sense to a 2 year old!

In the background you will notice a tractor seat that is patiently waiting for spring when I can turn it into a "chair" or "stool" for my front porch! Excitment!

YES!!!!!! Take a look at this!

2009-01-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

So I was just checking the new I heart faces website to see all of the new photo collages. You see each week they take a bunch of the pictures received for their contest and they put them into these amazing collages on their site for everyone to see. And what did I see?? My picture of Colton made it on to one of these collages! So please check out the link to see some amazing pics including my own! Colton can be found in the 6th collage at the very bottom left hand side!!

Oh the excitement!

How to keep a child busy!

2009-01-27T10:35:00.001-08:00

To start I will let everyone know that we live in an older house with of course no dishwasher and no where to put one. So yesterday afternoon when I got home from work Colton and I decided to wash dishes. These are pictures I took after I was done, but even with an empty sink he kept going. Washing the same glass over and over! It's serious business!

Then Curious George came on. Well we still couldn't give up washing our cup, so we "washed" and watched tv at the same time. Quite a multi-tasker!
What a "helper" It's just to bad he has to stand there even while I am washing! That makes things kind of interesting!
KB

2009-01-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

This is my entry for this week's I heart faces contest. The contest this week has a them of joy! Well if this isn't Colton's face for joy I don't know what is. This was a picture a post a few weeks ago, but it was taken as his Dad was tickling him (which he loves)! Could he show any more teeth?

Please join in the fun and look at all of the amazing pictures at the I heart Faces Blog!

Grandma Visits

2009-01-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

My Mom can out to our house last night. She was using the cricut to cut out some Valentine's day stuff, and she printed out this huge set of lips in a bright pink paper. We couldn't resist taking Colton's picture with the lips, ecspecially after he ran around the house making us all look at him with the huge lips!

After this picture he wanted one taken with mom, and as usual no one else will hold the camera. I got both of us in the picture this time, but I need to learn to smile!

I heart faces week 2

2009-01-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

Last week I entered the first ever I heart faces kid's competition and here is my week 2 entry. This is a picture of Colton on his first boat ride, just as we took off. He was a bit unsure about the thing, but I think he enjoyed it.

There were some amazing entries last week. As such a NOT professional photographer my pictures don't exactly measure up, but I still think they are pretty good for not knowing anything about photography! If you would like to see of those amazing pictures check them out here:

I Can Fly!

2009-01-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

So what do we do at our house at night? We fly of course!

This is a picture of Dad smashing Colton into the couch...crazy kid loves it!

This is the same crazy kid smiling like a goon because Dad has just finished tickling him!

This is Colton yelling "MOM"! So that I will watch Daddy make him fly!

And finally this is a video I took last night on my camera of Colton flying! I know I am stupid and can't figure out how to get it turned the right way, but lay down to watch it or tip your head or something. It's still cute!

Kristin

I heart faces!

2009-01-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

EDITED: Just thought I would let everyone know I had some trouble getting the button at the bottom to post! The extra writing around it well just ignore! Happy Reading!

Today is the launch of a new site I heart faces! Each week they will sponsor a photo contest for kids and one for adults, and this week anything goes. So here is my entry! This was a picture I took of Colton this summer after playing outside. I have to admit he looks like this a lot in the summer, he is ALL boy! This look was the "Do I really have to go inside?" look. From a mommy's point of view it's "classic" and cute!

Now if you want to chekc out the competition head on over:
href="http://www.iheartfaces.com/">acenter>

Word of the Year

2009-01-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

Laurie over at Tip Junkie is sponsoring a giveaway of sorts surrounding the idea of having one central, inspiring word to concentrate on for this year. The idea is to come up with a word you want to live by and with for this year and write a post about it and enter it in her contest. So drum roll please....the word that first jump into my head was "love"! That is the word for me this year to focus on the love that I have in my life for my family and friends, and to learn to appreciate it that a little more. So head on over to Tip Junkie and check out what I am talking about!

Colton is 2!

2009-01-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

On the 27th we celebrated Colton's Birthday a few days early, and good thing too because Nathan was sick with the flu on his actual birthday and I was working twelve hours a day to do inventory at work. Anyhow, thought I would share a few photos with you from the "big" day! Can you believe he is two?!? Time flies! This is Colton opening his very own curious George stuffed animal!

This is him waiting not so patiently for the one-armed bandit, I mean Darin to get his toys out of the box!

And finally while it is upside down, because I had to take the picture in a hurry so as the little one didn't jump in and start eating, I think you get the point. Curious George birthday party wouldn't be comeplete without a curious George cake. You might ask me about getting lost trying to pick up the cake..funny story that one is!

Hope everyone is having a good new year!

Happy 2009

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is here! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Here are a few pictures from our celebrations. The first is at our house, Colton opening his presents from Santa!

The shirt Colton is sporting I made for him, how cute is that?

Colton opening his stocking and stuffing the Hershey Kisses in his pockets!

This is Colton's new pick-up truck! His great-grandma gave it to him for Christmas. You can see he already has the back filled up with essentials, a lunch box included!

Merry Christmas from all of us!

It's A PaRTy!

2008-12-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

So Kimba is having a party over at her blog "A Soft Place to Land". I thought I would join in with a few of my Christmas decorations!
This first one is something new I bought at a signature homestyles party, it's called an art deco tree or something like that, but I think it looks great with my Christmas cards on and since it matches my living room I am pondering leaving it up year round with pictures in it!
The second picture is up close of my tree and one of Colton's favorite ornaments. Favorite because it's a tractor and it was an ornament one of his great-aunt's gave him last year! If that great-aunt is reading this,we really do love it!

This is the major Christmas hub in my house. I bought a new tree last year on sale and to be honest I hate it, it is way to small. So to make up for it I put up two small trees next to it. I don't know if that helps but it makes me feel better. The two small ones are decorated totally in red tractors, Colton almost had a coronary when he saw it the first time! We had some tough times learning to just look not touch, but I think we get it now!

Colton is modeling next to my final picture, my snowman. I got this at a craft fair earlier this year and I think it is the awesomest! It is made from an old gas can, which my husband thinks is such a waste and probably the stupidest thing he has ever seen, but me? I think it is SO clever, and cute for that matter!

So please visit Kimba's open house at the link above and see everyone else's amazing Christmas tidings! If you are visiting from Kimba's I would love to see some comments!

Sprinkles!

2008-12-15T17:52:00.001-08:00

So what did I do this weekend? Well after a delightful cook walk at one of the local churches, my Mom and I went to her house to bake some sugar cookies. Well 10 dozen cookies to be exact! And Colton got to help put the sprinkles on! By the time we were done there were sprinkles EVERYWHERE! But he had fun and so did we!

I think this last picture is him figuring out he can spray the entire room with sprinkles!

It's Official!

2008-12-12T11:59:00.001-08:00

Well I finally got around to listing my first item in my Etsy shop, "Grace In The Margins"! (giggle) Of course I have only listed this one item, but perhaps if I get really ambious after my cleaning, cooking, dishes, laundry, wrapping presents and taking care of my son I will get a few more listed that I just have lying around the house waiting!

What did I list you ask? Well this is it. Not a super great photo but an okay one. A bracelet personalized with names or words. I think it turned out super cute, but of course I would because I made it! Price is $25.00 with $5.00 shipping. Check out my shop GraceInTheMargins.Etsy.com .

Sillyness!

2008-12-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

So I am not quite sure why blogger is posting my pictures in reverse order, but at any rate....I took some pictures when Colton and I got home last night and I got supper in the oven. I bought him a very bright orange "vest" that he refers to as his "coat". He loves this thing, no maybe that is not strong enough he LOVES LOVES this thing. In fact he cried when we had to take it off to put our pajamas on and he wanted to wear it this morning when he was getting dressed. Silly me I should have bought them in a few different colors. Any whoo I made him stand in front of the camera to model his new favorite "coat" and told him to say please, because I still think that is the cutest thing ever! After a few of those pictures he wanted to take one with me but he got SOOOO excited and was laughing so hard that you barely can see either of our faces! Sillyness that's Colton!

Until next time KB

Thanksgiving Decor

2008-12-01T13:47:00.001-08:00

So...happy to say it seems Thanksgiving at my house went off with out a hitch! Of course as you look at this first picture you might think otherwise, but this is Colton wanting his turn with the camera...something I am not brave enough to try yet!

The rest of these pictures are of my decorated table! I think it turned out lovely! Of course I forgot to take any pictures when there were live people sitting at it.

I used the pears as place markers, which I think worked well. And we now have fruit to eat for a week!

Here it is from another view!

I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving where ever you were! Until next time!

"PleeeeAse?"

2008-11-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

I finally got a video of Colton saying please, but I have to admit it is not as cute as usual because he wasn't sure why he was saying please! Any whoo! The picture below is from supper Sunday night, this is Colton playing with his FAVORITE friend Darin! They were playing with this pickup and and then dumping the tractor off of the back - apparently a great time had by all!

Busy?

2008-11-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have been running my butt off as of late, but maybe that's just at work. Actually Colton and I spent the last weekend at home for the most part. I haven't even been inspired to take any pictures, though I do need to capture a video of Colton saying "Please!" It's the funniest thing ever, and you can be sure he now gets whatever he wants as long as he says please. What I have been working on when I get a few spare moments is a shop at etsy.com. I've named the shop "Grace In The Margins" and have been working on some things I would like to sell. I had a bit of a camera issue as it was taking TOO good of pictures for the website, if you can imagine such a thing. I have that figured out, now I just need to retake the pictures so I can post some items. So hopefully very shortly I will be posting what I have for sale and you will be able to visit my shop and actually see and buy things...exciting I know! For now I leave you with my Etsy banner, not very original I know, but hopefully I can come up with something a little better after I get going.

Until next time
Kristin

Mom-Preneur Shop-A-Thon

2008-11-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here is another great Christmas Shopping idea. Tip Junkie is hosting a mom-preneur shop-a-thon, pretty similar to the moms unite I was just talking about. This is a huge list of shops to check out, and they are all great! For the next 12 days Tip Junkie is doing 2 giveaways a day, so if you have a blog and want to help promote mom-preneurs jump on over there and check it out.

Christmas is Coming

2008-11-11T06:32:00.001-08:00

With the economy the way it is, and a lot of people struggling to provide for their families. I have decided to promote a great cause "Mom's Unite". You can find this button on the right side of my blog and it will take you to a great blog "A Soft Place To Land" which has a list of mom made shops. That's right its online shopping supporting moms. I think it feels good to buy from moms and ecspecially those who are stay at home mom and are looking for a little extra income. So here are a couple of examples of what you might find on the link!

Magnetic Board by Kimba Made

Personalized Santa Ornament from Melanie's Crafts

Quilted Table Runner from Uptown Jane

Sunday Ponderings

2008-11-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

UPDATED: I wanted to update this post because the first time I posted Colton was sitting on my lap thinking that he should be the one typing! Any who! I wanted to draw your attention to the new button on the right side of the blog. Clicking on this button will direct you to the blog "My Charming Kids" if you need to hear something inspirational this is the blog to read. I don't want to ruin it for you if are going to read it for your self, but this is a miracle only God could have been a part of, so if you have some extra time please stop by this blog to read the amazing story of MckMuffin, you won't be dissapointed.

Well here you are the MUCH anticipated picture of our kitchen redo. What did we do? We knocked a wall down, right under that sign is hanging. Then we painted everything a green color, patched the vinyl flooring, and the wood worked. A good (no great) job done, and now a bigger kitchen!

Below is the infamous picture of the pumpkins Colton decorated last weekend ...pretty scary!

And here is Colton the spider!

until next time KB

Pumpkins and argh!

2008-10-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I don't know what is going on with blogger but it will not let me upload all of the pictures that I want to post!:( So I will try again later, but this is the pumpkin we carved last night at our house. I think that I DID a great job! You see Colton was all for it until he put his hand in the pumpkin to clean it out and then he was totally grossed out and wanted nothing to do with the carving process. Once it was done though he thought it was pretty neat. We also bought some plastic faces that you could just poke into the pumpkin and he thought that was awesome, however that is the picture that it won't let me post! Anywhoo! We also got our kitchen finished this weekend, you can still see some of the remnants of the mess on the dinning room table with the pumpkin, but I will try and take a couple pics of the new kitchen in the next couple days.

What a messy boy!

2008-10-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

So as I was working on my kitchen that we are currently remodeling this is what my son was doing. He found the bales I bought as OUTSIDE toys and decided to play with them in the living room. This picture however does not do justice to just how much of a mess he made. What did I do about it? Let him continue to play what else!

Family Pics!

2008-10-15T12:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we spent our Sat. taking family pictures. First up was the Kelley family in Storm Lake, pictures were taken by In The Moment Photography (if you like what you see I can give you her contact info). Then in the evening we traveled to Nathan's family's house to have some Boysen family shots taken. I think Colton and I had a fun day, but Nathan was not to thrilled about a day full of pictures. So here is a sneak peek at how they turned out. I think they are great!

What a Kid!

2008-10-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

So I had to share a couple of extra pictures. It will only let me post so many pictures at a time and I couldn't resist sharing these two. This first picture was taken this morning at breakfast. Yes that's Colton he is drinking the milk from his bowl after he ate all the cereal. He's a waste not boy! The babysitter told me he was doing this when he ate his second breakfast at her house, but the last few days he started to do this at home too. He even drank the syrup left over from the fruit cocktail yesterday!

The second picture is Colton in the inflatable from the pumpkin patch having a good time! You might see a familar face in the background!

Thanks Kayla for taking some great pictures while I was able to just have fun! Hope you all enjoy! Have a great week! Kristin

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

2008-10-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sunday Colton and Grandma and Granpa Kelley along with Aunt Kayla and my self traveled to the pumpkin patch for a little fun! This picture is (which I think is darn cute) was taken at the patch they have all kinds of these painted around the place that you stick your head through and take a picture!

First thing when we got there we decided to try out the corn maze. This is Colton finally getting brave enough to walk around by himself. It wasn't exactly the trail but....
This is him "hiding" in the corn.
After the corn maze we hopped on the hayrack ride to pick out our pumpkin. This is the one we liked and so the two of us cut it and carried it back to the ride. Well more of me carrying then Colton but you get the idea.
This was inside the "gift shop". They have a little kid area and Colton got to try his hand at milking a "cow"!
We spent about an hour after this playing on all the various toys and even playing in an inflatable bouncy thing! Fun Times!

An At Home Weekend (for the most part)

2008-09-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well...not much exciting going on this week at our house. I had my second installment of youth group on Wens. (too many boys!), we're planning to do a skit for both the Ida Grove and Arthur churches in a couple of weeks so we passed out parts and went over that, considering ALL the boys it went pretty good. This weekend the husband helped a local contractor do some shingling and then it was off to Sioux City to pick up the rest of the roofing supplies (among a few other goodies). When we came home with some stain in hand to try the kitchen chair my mom had finished stripping for us, and below is the beginnings of what the chair has come to look like. Just one more coat of varnish, and painting the back white and it will be done! Well of course I am going to do something with the seat, and of course there are 3 other chairs and the table to do, but PROGRESS!

Oh and yeah that's Nathan staining the chair! Earlier in the afternoon while the boys were off playing with Nathan's cousin (something about a combine), I went to the garden and picked pumbkins! Finishing with a few battle wounds but alas 20 pumpkins! Anyone want one?!? I have given a few away, but seriously what am I going to do with THAT many pumpkins?
Then there is THIS picture! This was while I was making supper and my little boy could not wait ANY longer for some food, and so I opened the fridge and let him pick out what he wanted to snack on. What does he pick? The same thing he always picks....weight watchers yogurt and his favorite flavor was on hand key lime pie. Yes that's right my boy LOVES weight watchers yogurt! Weird but true.
Though most parents would let their kids eat a snack before supper, with my kid its okay because after this entire cup of yogurt (and I mean entire he tries to drink what's left and if he can't get it with a handy dandy spoon then in goes the finger!) he ate a chicken leg, helping of green beans, a helping of stuffing...then we went to Dension to get groceries and he had a box of animal crackers and a small fry from McDonalds on the way home! Man can that kid eat! Anyways hope all of you who are reading have a fantastic week!

LeT iT rAiN!!!

2008-09-23T12:46:00.003-07:00

Let it rain and rain and rain some more! Why?!? Because this is what Nathan spent the weekend working on....

A new tin roof, in pretty white! Sooooo nice to not have to worry about a leaky roof! I think it looks much better as well! Why else are we not worried about the rain anymore? Because of this...
New white rock for our lane! Much prettier too! Oh and this....well don't mention it to Nathan but we went garage saling on Friday and look at one of the treasures we found! Colton loves to plant the vegetables and pick up the mail! He's not in this picture because he was off taking a nap Sunday afternoon. But you probably see too many pictures of him anyways!
Any whoo thats what we did this weekend, oh besides me driving to Omaha to go to a musical with Kayla which was worth the two hour drive in the middle of the night to get home to preach the next morning! Have a great week!

Time for the Fair

2008-09-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday we our family along with Nathan's parents traveled to Spencer to attend the Clay County Fair! We were slightly disappointed with the weather. As you can see from the first picture it had just finished raining and was in fact still a little drizzly. But have no fear we still looked at EVERY tractor at the fair, and Colton enjoyed sitting in a couple and playing with all the buttons and things. Mary got a little worried when the tractor started talking back to them, but it seemed no harm done. And did I mention the food! You can't go to the fair without eating your weight in greasy, fried foods! For lunch Colton enjoy a delicious corn dog, Nathan and I had a cheese steak sandwich. Then we all shared some blooming onions, and greater taters, and cheescake on a stick, oh and dip n dots, and then of course Nathan had to have a turkey leg. Wow! That's a lot of FOOD! We also ended up with a bag of cotton candy at home, for the mere fact that Colton fell asleep on Dad's shoulder walking out of the fair! TIRED BOY! I think we all enjoyed our time at the fair.

Colton looking over the farmall tractors
Colton taking a break from his stoller to burn off some of that food, walking with Grandma and Grandpa.
Colton having a blast playing inside of a "DIGGER". Just ask him thats what he will tell you it is!

Colton and His Corn

2008-09-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

While I was at Church last Sunday this is what Colton was doing! Nathan and Colton went over to help Jim and Jane (Nathan's Aunt and Uncle), and their two sons Brad and Darin. Brad just sent me this picture...awww so cute! It looks like they really put Colton to work doesn't it? Anywhoo when they finally came home from lunch Colton ate like he hadn't eaten in three days and then he took close to a four hour nap!!! Boy do they know how to wear a poor boy out, but have no fear we were back over that night to help again, and you might guess we had to stay after the work so Colton could have a SNACK!

A Day At The Zoo!

2008-08-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today we traveled to the zoo in Omaha to see all the animals. We spent the day gawking at animals and pointing out to Colton to look over here and look over there, but none the less it was a fun family day. Colton's favorites were definately the aquarium, the rainforest, and the train ride! Check out these pictures from today...the first is Colton and I in the rainforest, next is Colton and Nathan getting ready to take the train ride (I went along too), then Colton being fasinated by the rabbits drinking water in the "petting" zoo (I say "petting" because there were only goats that you could pet), followed by Nathan and Colton on a bridge looking at me through a waterfall, and finally Nathan and Colton checking out some really cool monkeys in the rainforest. Enjoy!

We now have cows!

2008-08-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

Well all last weekend Nathan, his brother Darek and friend Clint, and cousin Darin all worked on getting the fences around our acreage ready. And then on Wens. night about 8 Darek brought his cows over to their new home! Colton was SO excited to have cows! In fact the next morning he didn't want to get out of bed until we said, "Should we go see the cows?" And then he was up and we had to look out every window on the way to breakfast.

Where did all the hair go?

2008-08-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I took Colton for what has now become an almost monthly event, his haircut! I decided after a night of scrubbing his head for (and I am not exaggerating too much) 5 minutes the night before that we would go a little shorter than we had previously. So under the direction of my talented beautician we decided to buzz his hair - *short*. I think he looks very cute, but it was funny after his bath he wanted us to brush his hair and there was nothing to brush! He looked in the mirror to feel his head, it was like he was thinking "Where did all my hair go!?!" The pictures are from bath time!

Crafty Time!

2008-08-17T17:01:00.001-07:00

I've been busy lately working on catching up on the scrapbooking and making a few other crafts. Here for your viewing pleasure!

WE LOVE TRACTORS!

2008-08-09T17:30:00.001-07:00

Colton loves tractors if you didn't know! So my Mom took all of Nathan's old Red Power magazines, which are magazines all about Farmall tractors and made the pictures into little books for Colton to look out! What a great idea for the car! These books kept Colton busy the entire hour we traveled to Albert City Sat. All we heard from the backseat was "OHHH" and "CA"!

Albert City Threshermen

2008-08-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today (Sat.) as soon as we got ready this morning we traveled up to Albert City for the Threshermen Festival. We were there by quarter to nine this morning and Colton was excited from the moment we pulled in to park. There were tractors everywhere! As soon as we walked in the gate Nathan saw one of his old classmates from college which was unexpected but very neat! We enjoyed seeing Charles Freitig (sp?) who paintes tractors and is Nathan's favorite artist. He bought a couple of prints which Charles signed for us! Then we were off to check out all of the tractors and the animals and of course the food. We sampled the funnel cake and of course the homemade ice cream! We stayed about 3 hours until just when it was getting hot, it was a great morning!

Boating!

2008-08-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Colton and I had the chance to go over to my grandma and grandpa's cabin in Lake View. Colton enjoyed walking in the sand and we even took a boat ride. Colton even "drove" a bit! Colton thought the boating was pretty fun until the waves got to him and he was fast asleep in the arms of Great-Uncle Brian, who by the way usually never gets a chance to hold Colton because he doesn't do to good with strangers ecspecially men. Good Times!

Nathan's "Little" Hobby

2008-08-03T16:57:00.001-07:00

Well Friday night was the annual Ida County Fair tractor pull. Nathan and his cousin Darin fixed up a tractor just for the occasion. I think the before pictures give you a good idea of the work they put into getting the tractor running. Nathan pulled it Friday night in two classes, the first of which he got second place!!!! We we're all pretty excited, ecspecially since most didn't think they would even get it running in time. The videos are kind of dark because this was at like 10pm at night when he finally got his turn to pull.

Feeding the cows

2008-08-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday after supper we ran over to Nathan's parent's house to can sweet corn. Nathan wasn't a whole lot of help, but he was watching Colton was his excuse! After we had cut all the corn off of the cob, Nathan and Colton took the cobs down to the cows and Colton enjoyed feeding them! He thought he was big shot, very cute!