Hedgie The Hedgehog

Hedgie the Hedgehog made a visit to story time at our library today.  The girls, especially Hattie, loved him.  Wyatt wasn't sure, but decided if mommy went by him then he wasn't so bad. We checked out some hedgehog books and colored some hedgehog pictures.  

First Outing With ALL.SIX.KIDS.

Today was the first time we ventured out (besides our walks home from school) with all my kids and my 3 extras.  The girls didn't have school due to teacher inservice.  We went to the zoo and it went pretty well.  It takes us forever to load and unload, but it was a gorgeous morning and everyone was pretty good.  Towards the end there were some tears, but three of them were out shortly after we got in the car.  We picked up pizza on our way home thanks to Uncle Doug & Auntie Sarah who treated us:)

 This couldn't be more true!

 Mr. Luke

 Monkeys watching monkeys.

 Oh that look!

 Some of our outtakes trying to get a picture of all the kids:)

Today I have lived 3 weeks without my mom.  I miss her so much.  Some days are ok and others aren't.  It hits me hardest in little moments when I see something or think of something I want to share with her.  I saw a sign for the Bay Beach craft show; we always went to that together.  Last week was the season premier of Nashville and we had talked about what would happen with Deacon.  I wanted to text her afterwards and ask her what she thought about the show but I couldn't.  I sewed a button on Grace's Halloween costume; a silly job she usually did for me because she was just that great.  I believe it is possible to have a broken heart because I feel a dull pain in mine everyday.  But, I've made it another day, another week, 3/4 of one whole month without her.  With her cancer, it was always one day at a time and that's all we can do now.  One foot in front of the other, one day at a time. 

Delzer's Pumpkin Farm

Although it didn't really feel like "pumpkin weather,"  Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day to visit the pumpkin farm.  I can't believe we'd never been here before with it being only about 20 minutes from home.  It is the cutest little farm! We missed my dad and wished he could've come along and we know mom was looking down on us, smiling at the kids.  We'll definitely be back next year. 

 Ready to go!  Standing in the "parking lot"  (their fields which hadn't been cut yet:)

 Wy loving the ride and his sucker. 

 Happy Hannah and Hattie

 Wy and Madi

 Cool cornstalk man

 Farmer Wyatt

 Gracie bug by the awesome Minion hay bales

 Our little pumpkin

 This outhouse photo prop gave us way too much entertainment. 
Everyone had to take a turn and we laughed and laughed every time. 

 Gracie and Hannah peeking through they hay in the maze

 Cowboys

 This precious little kitty caused quite a stir.  It was "free" so Madi just couldn't understand why she couldn't get it.  She said she'd pay us all her money.  She did not get the cat but told us she was going to start saving her money for a house so she could get her own cat. 

 Crazy Grace Face

 Olaf hay bales!

 Poop troop or 3 turds in a bucket as Papa would call them

 Everyone ready for the haunted hay ride...how scary could it be???

 Wyatt was trying to bail, he knew what was coming. 

 Uncle Doug is one of Wy's best buddies.

 Notice all kids now on laps, much closer to adults. 

 Pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins.

 More holding of scared kids going on.

 By the end of the ride, all of the kids but Madi had cried. 

 They had the cutest decorations

 Our family at the pumpkin patch

 I'd buy a pumpkin from this cute kid

 The Hoversons

 Hannah picked this one:)

"Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope"

I wanted to share some of the beautiful floral arrangements and plants our family received when my mom passed away.  We chose not to include, "in lieu of flowers..." as part of her obituary because she LOVED flowers so much.  It was obvious with the amount that were received; and this is not even everything, there were others that were delivered to the house before and after her funeral.  We heard from several people that the floral shops were recommending people order plants opposed to flowers because they had already taken orders for so many.  It was such a beautiful tribute to her. 

 Peace Plant from the company Dave works for

 Plant from the "Sunshine Club" at the school my sister works at

 Dish garden from one of my mom's dearest friends. 

She knows my mom so well; mom would've bought this herself. 

 Lovely flowers from my dear friend, Marinda.  Amazingly, I still have some of these and they look beautiful. I picked out the wilted ones but the daisies are going strong and make me smile daily. 

 Plant from my dad's mom and sisters

 Roses from one of mom's friends from Wyoming

 From the Watford City High School class of 1981

 From dad's "money guy," as we've always called him. 

 Beautiful plant from mom's sister, niece and her family.  The cardinals are perfect. 

 Beautiful plant from my mom's aunts, uncles and cousins on her mom's side of the family

 Memorial garden stone from my brother's work.

 Pretty plant from my mom's neice and nephew and their kids

 This is a beautiful bench and roses from the family of my dad's late brother, Paul. 

 Plant from some of the kindest people I have ever known, the Lewis families. 

 Gorgeous arrangement from one of mom's cousins. 

We loved the gardening gloves attached; it was the perfect touch. 

 Beautiful arrangement from one of my dad's former bosses and his wife. 

 Fall arrangement from my dad's company

 Another beautiful fall arrangement from more Wyoming friends. 

 Pretty lavender arrangement from mom's longtime friends

 Plant from Dave's Godparents and their children. 

 Plant and sun catcher from my dad's sister, her sons, and their families. 

 Gorgeous potted arrangement from Sarah's parents. 

 These are a couple things we had set up at the visitation at the funeral home. 

 My mom loved her Steelers:)

 Doug, Kaci & Dad, and my family each put together a photo board.  Each of my kids drew a picture for Grandma.  The girls did such a wonderful job and put so much thought into their pictures. Madi drew two birds (a cardinal and a woodpecker) on a tree together and wrote, "Madi + Ga" on the tree.  She always called my mom, "Ga."  Grace drew her and Grandma baking cookies.  She put them both standing against the counter (Grandma wearing a green shirt of course) and the oven next to them.  Wyatt did some lovely scribbling that we know Grandma loved. 

My parents have lived in several different places; North Dakota, Wyoming, back to North Dakota, and finally to Wisconsin.  As hard as the moves were, at times, they made some amazing friends along the way and it was apparent that my mom touched many lives on their journey.  The funeral home told us her obituary through their Facebook page was viewed over 11,000 times, when normally obituaries are viewed 1000 times or less.   They said it was the most comments they had ever seen on one of their obituaries, and it was shared 28 times from their page.  She was loved by so many people.