Out with the old and in with the new...

Well now that 2009 is about to depart, I am looking forward to a new year. Looking back I must say that 2009 was very good to us. We did a lot. We experienced the loss of our beloved chocolate lab Brandi, got a new yellow lab named Ellie Mae,enjoyed a summer/fall full of camping, I had the chance to go to Canada, some of Mark's family came for a visit, Maddi started kindergarten, the girls and I went to Chicago for a long weekend and so on. I could go on and on and on, but I will not bore you with any more details of the past.
We are anxiously awaiting to see what 2010 will bring. We are hoping and praying that we will be blessed with good health, good luck and much happiness. I am sure that this new year will be just as busy as the last, but we are looking forward to a new year of possibilities. We already have a few things planned, so we have something to look forward to. Just a little glimpse of what we have planned...
In January Courtney will be playing for the All-Star Band...
Easter break we are going to Ocracoke for the week...As a family!! So excited.
In August, us along with 3 other families are going to Kentucky on a houseboat for a week! That should be a blast!!
And of course some camping!! We can not wait to get out and do that again!
As you can tell, we have just a few things on our agenda for 2010, but I am sure more things will keep jumping on our calendars! We wish all of our family and friends a very Happy and Healthy New Year! Much love to you all!!

Guess you could say that we are...

Slacking once again! Man I have gotten so bad at this blogging thing. As much as I am on facebook, I do not have an excuse not to jump on here at least once a month and post an update of some kind. Sorry people:(

Things have been busy as usual here in the Rose's household. We stayed home for Thanksgiving and were blessed by having Randy, Robbie and their 3 girls come and spend 3 nights with us. We had a wonderful visit and came to realize that we missed living so close to them. The girls got along so well that you could not even tell that there were 6 of them in the same house. No drama! Woohoo:) We also realized that if they were to see each other more often, then they would be much more than just cousins, but great friends too!

We are in full swing of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Always somewhere else to go and do or something else on the list of things to get. Isn't that always the case? I have a good bit of my gifts bought, but still have a ways to go. I am losing days quickly, so I must get my rear in gear and get it all done!

Well I guess that is about enough for now, so until next time....

Come and gone...

Well now that Halloween and October have come and gone, we find ourselves in November and Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping are right around the corner! Man I do not think that I am ready for any of this! As fast as fast as time is flying by, this too will pass rather quickly and I will look back and wonder where it all went. Colder weather is not something that I am totally looking forward to and this is mainly due to the fact that Maddi now in school and it is just going to be that much harder to get her up, dressed and out the door. I have a hard enough time now, so I can only imagine what it will be like when there is snow on the ground! Well I guess enough grumbling for now. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their fall and goes on into winter with an open mind! That is something that I am definitely going to have to work on:) Until next time...stay healthy and happy!!

Post Family Farm

Well Maddi and her kindergarten class went to Post Family Farm this week and of course had a wonderful time. She said that the whole trip was her favorite part, so I guess you could say that she enjoyed it. She saw the animals, rode on a hay ride to go to the pumpkin patch to pick her very own lil' pumpkin, ate pumpkin doughnuts and drank apple cider, played in the hay, and rode the pumpkin train. She also got to participate in the skit that tells the story of how a pumpkin grows. She was the cloud and let me tell you, she was thrilled. Not!! Oh well that is what you get when you volunteer:) Here are a few photos...

Trick or treating at Holland State Park

This past weekend we had trick or treating at Holland State Park and it was fun as usual. The weather was not the greatest, but at least the rain held off until the kids were done. It was the same last year, so we kind of knew what to expect. The kiddos had a blast and that is all that matters. Here are just a few photos that were taken. Maddi was a giraffe(sp), Les was a Lollipop kid with Erica and Melissa, and Court was Wednesday from the Addams Family with Shelby as Cousin It and Howie as Uncle Fester.

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!!!!!!!

Well it is that time of year once again and I love it! I love the changing of the leaves, the scarecrows, pumpkins, haybales, you name it, and I love it. I think that this is my favorite time of the year and I just savor every day that it is here. We all know what comes after it here in Michigan, so just enjoy it while you can. Before long we will be seeing some of that white stuff that likes to hang around for quite some time, but maybe I will be ready for it when it comes. Probably not, but I can say that for now because it is a little while longer before we should be seeing any of it. I wish all of you blogging buddies a very happy and blessed fall!!!

Packing up for yet another weekend of camping!!

Well hump day is here and I am trying to focus on packing up for our camping trip up North this weekend. I do believe that there are about 30 of us going to spend the weekend in Mesick. The campground is called Northern Exposure and is right on the lake, so this should be fun. We generally stick closer to the homefront because Mark can not be too far away in case he is called in to work, but we are venturing a couple of hours away this weekend, so Miss Ellie will be accompaning us. She herself will make this camping trip interesting, but we will see how she does. It is supposed to be a little cooler, so it should be just right for camping. Atleast the campfires will feel good when we sit around them:) We hope that all of you blogging buddies have a wonderful weekend yourselves and I am sure we will post a few photos of our trip when we get back. Until next time...

Trick or Treating in September???

What a beautiful weekend for camping. This past weekend we were at Yogi Bear once again and it was Halloween weekend there, so the girls quickly threw something together and went trick or treating on Saturday evening. It was so warm that our little kitty had to wear a tank top, but we are not complaining. I think that I can honestly say that I have never trick or treated in September, but there is a first time for everything. The campground did a wonderful job and it was nice to see that just about every site participated. I am sure that those few that did not were not aware that it was Halloween weekend. We did not know it until we checked in, but at least we were close enough that we could run home and grab something for the girls to dress up as and run to Wally World and get some candy. Court did not have much time beings she had the youth group's annual car show at church, so she opted for the easy choice of being a mime like she did in Holland campground last year. It all worked out well and they had the best time. After we trick or treated, we went to Sally's 60th birthday party where we all had a blast square dancing. Poor Mark, as well educated and smart as he is, had the worst time telling his right from his left but it gave us all a good laugh and believe me, he was NOT the only one. Courtney has found a new love, yep square dancing. She could not stop talking about how much fun she had. Lots and lots of memories for these girls to take with them as they grow up. I am thankful that we are in a place where we can give them that! Right now we are enjoying our lives and loving every minute! Hope everyone has a blessed week! Until next time....

First day of school

Things went rather smoothly this morning. Kids all got up early, got dressed, ate and were actually excited about going to school. There of course were a few glitches, but that is to be expected on the first day. To begin with a bus went by at 6:45am and Mark made Courtney get in the truck to run it down and it was not even her bus. It was the High School bus. Then when her bus did come, she was standing out there waiting and her bus driver rode right by her, so we had to jump in the car and go chase it down. Oh you gotta love the first week of busing! I took the other two to school, so they got there on time. We will see how their bus is tomorrow. I am glad that the first one is behind us and hopefully the rest of these early mornings will continue this way. I doubt it, but a mom can always hope right?!?!?!

Hoping everyone has a Wonderful weekend...

Well the last weekend of summer vacation is here and we are gonna be busy as usual. Court has an end of the summer party to go to tonight, then both girls are going to the races at Berlin tomorrow night with Jen and Brian and their 2 girls, not to mention all the things in between that we are doing or have to do. The weather is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL so I am sure that we will hit the beach a day or two too. It is bitter sweet, but I am looking forward to being on a structured schedule once again. What ever all of you blogging buddies do this weekend, have fun and be careful! I am sure we will be back next week with a first day of school update! Happy Labor Day to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. There are no new photos of Les on here because she in never here! Always running with somebody:)

Really starting to wonder??????

Am I the only one that is wondering if it is even necessary to update this blog? I know that I am busy and I hate to admit it, but facebook does about the same thing, so I just wonder if we even need a blog anymore. I like to do it, but sometimes I wonder if I am just wasting time. I don't know! Maybe we will keep it and maybe we won't. Just have to wait and see what my gut says to do. Just pondering the thought right now....

Another busy weekend...

Once again we had a busy but fun weekend. On Friday night, Mark and I went to dinner with John and Chris. It was wonderful!! Court babysat Maddi for us so that we could have an adult night and it was so nice. Mark and I do not ever really get to do that, so we took a chance and let her try and it went well. She did a great job. We were only gone for 2 hours and were at the Beechwood Inn which is about 20 minutes down the road, so we were close enough to home just in case something happened. When we got home Court asked us if we had a good time and when we said yes, she told us that we needed to do that more often. Don't know when that will happen again, but at least we know that we can trust her. On Saturday, Mark had an out of town softball tournament so our afternoon, 1:30pm-9:00pm, was spent on the softball field. We were wet and cold the entire time. The temp was not that bad, but when you are constantly being rained on it gives you that bone chill that is hard to get rid of until you take a hot shower. It was fun though and the girls were little angels. They NEVER complained one time! That made the day go a lot easier!! When it rained too hard, they spent some time in the back of my Acadia messing around. Payton, Maddi, Shelby and Court were the only kids that went, so it worked out well. The 2 older ones took care of the 2 little ones, well most of the time anyway. Then today we had church and then Melissa, Howie, Shelby, Austin, Erica, Ed, Luke and Payton came over for dinner. We had grilled pork chops, fresh corn on the cob, greenbean casserole, potatoes, bread and homemade cheesecake and lots of coffee. It was sooo yummy. They hung out until about 5:00pm and then we traded a few kids and all was done for another weekend. If we weren't busy, then we would not know what to do with ourselves, so I guess we just keep on going and going!! Hope all of you have a wonderful week. Looks like our weather is going to warm up a bit this week, so guess we will enjoy these last couple of days before the girls go back to school. Until next time.......

Nothing new to report...

Well we can't actually say that we have anything new to report, so we will just say that the same ole' same ole' is happening with the Rose's. Still always busy running doing this and that, but nothing that we think is thrilling enough to share. Life is good here and we will share a few of our photos from our "family" beach day and yes, we did have someone else's kid with us that day, so actually I guess you could say that it was not just a "family" day, but we still had a good time.

Our baby girl turns 5!!

Well yesterday our little princess Maddi turned 5 years old. She was so excited and says that it was the "best birthday ever!!" We did not do anything huge, but she get to choose what she and her guest would have for her birthday dinner. Of course this little girl is a true southerner because the first thing out of her mouth was, "Oh I have to have my favorite, FRIED CHICKEN with mashed potatoes and french fries, but only Daddy's homemade french fries!!" Well as you can guess, she got her wish and had all of the above with some fresh corn on the cob, deviled eggs, macaroni salad, cheesy zucchini medley and bread. She then had cake and ice cream sundies. She had it all planned out as to what we were eating, what was for dessert, and who was sitting where! I think I have a little planner/organizer on my hands. Her guests were Kasidy and Katelyn and Mr. Dwayne and Mrs. Sharon. They all loved spending her birthday with her and made her feel special. Leslea, Kas and Katelyn even dressed her up in a "princess" dress and waited on her hand and foot! She got the royal treatment and enjoyed every minute of it. Here are a few photos that we took of her special day! Now she is just looking forward to starting Kindergarten in a few weeks. She even went out today and spent most of the $100.00 that she got for her birthday on school clothes! She is such a blessing, but she is also a handful and I can not wait to she her grow up and become whatever life has in store for her! We love our little Mookie and are so thankful that God blessed our lives with such a little sweetheart! Enjoy the photos...

Enjoying a little down time...

Now that my trip to Canada has come and gone, Mark's family has returned to NC, and VBS is over and done with, I have found myself wondering what to do with myself. We have been so busy lately that it is almost hard to stop going. Sunday night at 11pm we lost our power and did not get it back on until after 2pm on Monday, so everything that I had planned on doing in this poor house of mine got put on hold a bit, but you can bet that when it did come back on, I dashed around like a mad woman with the vacuum cleaner and loaded the washing machine and dryer. I did not take any chances, if it was going to go off again, I would at least have some of it done.
The girls are wrapping up their summer by staying as busy as they can with their friends and I think that they are seeing just how many nights they can stay away from home. That is all fine and dandy, but they better enjoy it now because they only have a few more weeks and then it is back to the grind and that forbidden word to them will be back in our daily lives...STRUCTURE!!! I am looking forward to it to be honest!! I think that they need to be seperated for a few hours a day!! Anyway, we are looking forward to the weekend. The weather is supposed to be GORGEOUS!!!!! Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week and a wonderful weekend!!

VBS 2009

We are half way done with this years VBS and things are going WONDERFUL!! Our theme this year is, "Paul and the Underground Church" and the kids just love it. There is something for every kid of every age and this makes things go so smooth!! Here are just a few(even though it seems like a lot) photos that I have taken so far. Enjoy and until next time.....