::Our Dancing Queen

She's been dancing for quite a while, but has now started mixing up her moves. The video is kind of dark, but she is so cute!

::So Yummy

I was looking for a new recipe for a wild turkey my husband had shot recently.  I came across this one which I believe was posted on the Bass Pro Shop website. We tried it and it turned out awesome! It will definitely be a repeat at our house. 

Grilled Marinated Turkey Breasts

Boneless breast meat from one wild turkey

2/3 cup soy sauce

1cup brown sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon minced garlic

Lawrey's Seasoning Salt

Adolph's Meat Tenderizer (I didn't have so I omitted it)

Slice the breast meat lengthwise to create fillets that are about 1/2 inch thick.  Make a marinade by combining the soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, honey and garlic in a mixing bowl.  Sprinkle the fillets with the seasoning salt and meat tenderizer, then transfer the meat to a zip-seal plastic freezer bag.  Pour the marinade into the bag with the turkey and seal.  Turn to coat all the pieces of meat, and refrigerate for 24 hours.  Remove the fillets from the marinade, drain and grill over medium-hot fire for approximately 10 minutes per side or until done to taste. Enjoy!

::Cloud Dough

Found this recipe on Pinterest and had to make it for Addi.  She had such a blast and spent hours out there playing with the Cloud Dough.  You make it with 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil.

::Teacher/Aide Gifts

Hadn't gotten this posted from back in May.  Made gifts for some co-workers that were leaving and my awesome aides for the end of the year.  Idea was from Pinterest and the message in the cards coincides with the treats inside the cup. 

::Canadian Goose Nesting Box

So over the last month we have had an assortment of different birds landing on our pond. We have had Canadian geese, wood ducks, mallards and others. It is always exciting to see them and everytime we hope one pair will stay and nest. We haven't had any successful takers, that is until this year... Joey decided he would make a goose/duck nesting box. The first picture is a little fuzzy because I had to secretly take a picture of him making it! ;) He isn't big on posing for my every picture whim that comes at him! Within two weeks of Joey putting it out in the middle of our pond a pair of Canadians decided to call it their own. Trigger has even accepted them and doesn't try to run them off like he does the Blue Herons that land. Much to our surprise the first egg showed up a week ago. Unfortunately even from our high deck we rarely have an opportunity to see inside the nest. Only if the wind gets it turning just right. We are a little concerned about the recent hail we had and are hoping she was sitting on the nest when the hail hit. They've been acting a little unsual the last few days going and coming a little more than what had been normal over the past week. Guess we will see what happens...

::Cake Pops

Decided to make some of the cake pops that everyone has been talking about for Addi & Joe's birthday party. They turned out great, although they were a lot of work!

Melted candy coating for the dipping...

Some of my decorating supply...

Drying the cake pops...

Wrapped some to go into goodie bags for our guests...

Bowl for the party...

Goodie bags with Addi's 2yr pic on it...

::Puppies Looking for a Home

My in-laws got a surprise a few weeks ago...PUPPIES! These six cute little puppies are just a few weeks old but will be needing a new home in a few more weeks. Their Mommy is a full size collie and Daddy is an English Setter, both very sweet parents. There are three males and three females. Three are all white with a patch over one eye and the other three are marked more like their collie mom.

::Honoring Our Veterans

Over the years Memorial Day for me has changed. When I was young I always associated Memorial Day with a day off from school which my family always spent camping for the weekend. As I have gotten older this day has come to have a lot more meaning for me. I've come to learn what this day is really suppose to mean to us as a country and this year it had even more meaning for my family. My 91 year old Grandpa, Alvin Schnoebelen, was honored in a ceremony Monday at Veterans Trail where his service to our country was acknowledged by Major General Sentman and he was given a certificate by Colonel McGinley. Here a portion of the trail is dedicated in his name, along with six other well deserving veterans. Nearly our entire family was able to attend and celebrate with him. These honorees that meet certain criteria are nominated by the public and then go through a selection process.

A few years ago at Christmas Grandpa gave all of us copies of his memories and experiences of WWII. It was extremely interesting and made us all realize how lucky we were that he survived and started the roots that have now expanded into our current families. Grandpa survived being involved in both the European and Pacific Theaters during WWII. He served on an ammunition carrier as a Third Class Radarman, very new technology at the time and of which they didn't have at the beginning of the war. His ship was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze single-manned submarine. There is no explanation as to why the ship didn't explode since it was carrying 4,500 tons of ammunition and around 48,000 rounds of shells. Although the ship was severely damaged it did not completely sink. It was the only ship during WWII to wear a purple heart on her mast until the end of the war.

My grandfather is the kindest, most gentle man I have ever known and we are all very proud of the service he has done for our country, helping to ensure our freedoms. He has and continues to lead a very honorable life and has even been able to meet his great-grandchildren. Quite awhile ago Joe and I decided that if we ever become blessed with a little boy Alvin will be his middle name.

::You Never Know What You'll Come Home With!

Today was the Burlington Flea Market again. Once a month the Aring family goes and sees what loot they can find. I was able to find an awesome metal pie plate to display in my future kitchen someday. :) Then bought 18 wave petunias! Finally, I found some really great stuff I got to add to my scrapbooking stash! Sneaky Joe decided to buy Addi a baby bunny when I wasn't looking! I have to admit I wasn't overly excited because I know who will be taking care of it... Addi was interested in her for a short while, but then went back to playing with her balloons!

::Baby Shower #2

Currently I am working on planning a shower for a friend at work. Recently I made about 25 invites (the closest I've come to scrapbooking in quite awhile).

::Baby Shower

Last month I helped give Megan and Kelli a baby shower along with Ginger and their sisters' Angie, Dawn and Julie. I hope all three baby girls are enjoying all their new stuff!

::Bathroom Stamping

I've been meaning to post this for a long time now, but just never got around to it. After redoing our bathroom decor I decided to stamp one small area of the walls. I used Stampin' Up stamps to create this look after having seen it in a Stampin' Up booklet. It was a lot of fun!

::She's walking!

We knew she was really close, but has only been taking one step then going down. Today she just took off and can walk across a room. So much fun...well at least for right now!

::Bear Stories

Last week my husband, Joe, and two of his buddies went bear hunting in Canada. They had a blast hunting and fishing. Joe was successful the first day out, as was his friend Lance (pictured on left). His bear weighed 305lbs and stood over 6 feet tall. I'm really excited for Joe and can't wait to see his bear after he gets it back from the taxidermist.

She learns so fast!

Taught Adelinn how to "spit" yesterday and got it on camera!

{Smile Big}

Paper from Cosmo Cricket, letters are Thickers, and picture perfect embellishment is from K&Company. LO from Page Maps.

::You Make Funny Faces

Papers are Three Bugs in a Rug, letters are Thickers, and the butterflies are from the Paper Studio.

::Sitting Up

Papers are Little Yellow Bicycle, letters are Thickers, alligator is from Paper Bliss and the green border is from K&Company.

Wedding Gift

I made this wedding gift for a friend of mine, using one of her engagement photos. The photo was taken by Todd Boerema. (Who also did our wedding) I picked the key up at a flea market with this in mind.

Daddy Play Time

Joe is always putting sunglasses on Addi. Snapped a few shots of them playing today.