A Time to be Thankful!

Time has sure been going by fast. Mark and I had the time to do some hunting out west by Kadoka ,SD this year. I had the any deer tag..Mark did not draw for a buck tag. I did have to rub that in a little. We were able to locate a nice 5x5 whitetail buck. There were not many mule deer around this year. We did have fun and we could not have asked for better weather. We still hope to be able to get a nice buck east river...stay tuned to see if we do.
Ciara is having lots of fun in school, at time she tells me she is bored and should be in 2nd grade. She is loving AWANA at church, she is doing great with her verse memorization.
Christopher is doing better in school, I think he is getting the hang of it now. He has gone out hunting a few times with us, he loves it and can be really quite.
Cayla is really enjoying preschool, she comes home excited everyday...she has been counting to 50 with only a little help. She keeps Mark and I on our toes.
Cadee is really moms little girl...she tends to be a little spoiled. We continue to work on potty training. She was in big girl pants for 3 days and then when everyone got sick with the H1N1, she went back to pullups and now to get her back out of them. It is such a challenge.
Mark and I are very thankful this year for the wonderful family that we have, the love that we are able to share, an abundance of things... We are so blessed!

Where has the time gone????

Now that it's been serveral months since I last updated anything on here, I figured I better. Ciara (1st), Chris (K) and Cayla (preschool) are enjoying school. Cadee has not known what to do with the time alone with mom. I have been able to help with the MOPS group we started in our church, and also help with the AWANA program in our church as well. It is a great blessing to be able to do both. Cadee is still working on potty training....she is a little bull headed about it. The garden has been cleaned out and ready for next year...we had a a good crop. Mark has been busy with work and when not there, constantly working around here on something. I will try to be better at updating this more often.
If you want to see some more pics go to facebook....marklauranelson

July Fun!!!!

Well it has been a very busy July. First we lost Mark's grandma Maxine Nelson. She went to be with the Lord on the 10th. Mark and I were able to stay at her bedside for the last couple days in the hospital. Then it was a busy week of day camp for the kids. They had a blast for the three days they got to go. On Thursday the 16th my mother, the kids and I headed to Omaha for three days. Had a great time with family, stayed at my aunts house. On Friday we spent the day at the Zoo. The kids had a blast!!! I took over 150 pictures. We enjoyed the train ride around the zoo. I will get some pics on here later. Now it's time to get the kids back on a schedule, can't believe that school will start in a month. Till next time!

Fish Days

The only ride that Cadee enjoyed. She loved the bunny! Cayla enjoying the ride on the dragon, you can see Cadee and Ciara in the one behind her..Cadee did ok till the end and started to cry.

Chris was the only brave one, he rode the ferris wheel with a family friend. Cayla throwing three balls to win the prize, she did great. Won the hat!
Ciara picked out this purse for winning at the dart balloons! Chris, Ciara and Cayla going down the big slide, Chris is the one who lost his bag...he got to go when he got his bag.

Cadee wouldn't get inside the truck. Had to take it next to papa fav type of truck. Chris Winning his prize, he shot really good Mark said. He picked out a dart gun. He really is having fun with it.

Cadee getting to do her game with dad, picked up three ducks, all were winners-she picked out the bear.

The kids had a great day Saturday at Fish Days. The morning we went to the parade where we got a bucket full of candy, then off to the rides. Then about 2p we took Cayla and Cadee to papa and grandma jude for naps. Mark and I then took Ciara and Chris to the demolition derby. That was a lot of fun, the weather was nice...could have been a little warmer.( had to dig out the winter coats for all of us) It was an exciting time, the car that we bid on in the calcutta didn't win though. :( It was a long day and everybody crashed.

Babysitting

This is the underground playground Mark made for the kids. They love to play out in the trees!

I thought that my house was busy, I know now that it can get busier. This week we are watching an 11mon old. He is full of energy. My kids all want to mother him. I'm not sure who will win by the end of the week. Also this week we have VBS at the church. The kids are loving it. I'll get you some pics of VBS later.

The Grass is growing!!! We cleared out a bunch of trees and junk.

Ciara's track meet. Throwing the frizbe..placed 2nd.

Well, I realize that I'm not very good at keeping this updated. Now that school is out, the days are full of excitement! I have to learn how to cook for 4 kids at dinner again. Enjoyed the nice weather to get my garden planted and my flowers all planted. The kids are enjoying every day. Not much for news here. Enjoy the pics.

Spring is Here!

It has been busy here lately, finished up the project on the house!! Ciara and Chris only have one week of school left. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with 4 kids all day long for the next couple months. :) Mark has been busy at work. He finished year 3 of the trainie position, only one more year and two tests!! Cadee is having trouble with allergies, so the doc decided to try a different allergy medicine. In 4 days of being on the new medicine she is doing better. Cayla is still up to being herself..the never ending stories she tells, she can always make me laugh! My garden is still waiting to be planted, to wet. I really don't mind though. Please pray for Marks family, Grandma Nelson is not doing so well, the cancer she has is growing and causing a lot of pain. We do know that when she leaves this earth (which may be in the next few months) she will join grandpa in heaven!! These are the pictures I took of Chris 5yrs, Cadee 2yrs, and the final look to Cayla and Cadee's room.

The final result!!!

It has been a busy week, we have the inside of the house completed!! The kids really enjoy all the room that they now have. Thursday noc was the first noc that they all slept in there own rooms and beds. I was afraid that they wouldn't want to being they have been in the same room for so long. Yest I put together the new beds that I got Chris and Ciara. So last noc they slept in their new beds. Now all Mark and I have to do is finish the outside and put all the storage tots away. The fun part.

Painting is done!!!!Only 3 steps left!!

What a busy weekend..I had to work at the hospital on Friday a day shift it was VERY busy! We didn't have one room open. Sent three home, admited three more and delivered a baby. I was able to eat my dinner at 7:30pm while charting. I have not had that busy of a day in a long time, a 15 hour day. On Saturday Mark and I just spent time with the kids. I then had to go to work at the nursing home that night. Was quieter than at the hospital. It was than a busy sunday, some freinds of ours came out in the afternoon to help paint. We got all the painting done in about 2 1/2 hours. It looks really nice and know I'm really excited to get it all done.

Spring how beautiful!

The kids got to enjoy the park. The weather was warm and no wind. It was a much needed break from being at the house. Talking about the house, the project is getting done. I have got all three rooms primed and ready for paint. Hope to get some of that done today. We also have had a little sickness going through the house. Ciara with a sinus infection-she's been battling the cold for about 2 weeks. Cadee had been running fevers for the last two days. The doctor did not treat her yet because there was really nothing wrong except the fevers. The other two have had only coughs,hope that it stays that way. Mark and I are healthy, just tired. He's got a test coming up so that has him a little stressed out. Plus with the house project under way he just wants it all done. (so do I) Cadee is doing well on potty training, hope to have her in panties this summer! Enjoy the pictures.

The Next Step

Since Papa and I finished the insulation yesterday, today we were able to take a break. The guys went last night and got the sheet rock. They should maybe start tonight or tom. It is so exciting to know that it's going to be done soon. I was a ble to get a picture of myself. I now have proof that I was doing the insulation!! Now that we have more room in our home we will be expecting your to visit!! :) Also I have to add that those geese seem to affect the guys, they think that they have to hunting when they land in the fields near the house. I took these pictures up the road from our house on one of our corn feilds. The kids enjoyed watching them. Cadee calls them Papa's geese, she goes crazy watching them.

Progress

It's been a week since we started the whole process of making the house bigger. I will finish putting in the isulation today. Would have had it done yest, but had to wait for Mark and Rod to finish with some electrical. Boy is it cold out there, thankfully the insulation is now helping that fact. Today the guys are getting the sheet rock and all that goes with that. I can't believe that it's moving along so fast. I know that Ciara is so excited to have a room all by herself. I will try to keep you posted!

The Spring Make Over!!

A lot has happened in the last couple of months... Mark and I decided that it was time to make the house a little bigger. The four kids in one bedroom was getting to be to much. So the garage is now going to be three rooms and an entry (where the dog and cats can still stay). Mark and a friend are doing all of the work-I get stuck doing the insulation, at least I can do it while Mark is at work. We have only been at it a week and already it's showing real progress. The kids are so excited. Ciara has decided on a lite purple with tinkerbell and pink accents. Cayla and Cadee will share a room, they will have a lite blue room with butterflies and red accents. Chris decided on yellow with accents of orange and navy blue with a race car on the wall. I decided that it was better to buy the stickers if they out grow or later want something different it will come off a lot easier.
The kids are doing really well. Have had a little sickness, but nothing major. Ciara is learning so much..she can count and write to 100, read simple word books. She even wrote a little story about animals and being a vet ( what she has always said she wants to be someday). Chris is now 5, how time flys. He is helping alot with the garage. He's not so fond of school, but what boy does. He is just a typical boy who loves to hunt things, work on little things, and pester his sisters. Cayla is still a little trouble maker, getting better though. She is getting to be quite a big sister to Cadee. Cadee is growing so much..she is talking more with bigger words. The last couple of days she has been using the potty!!!! She is doing really well. I can't believe that she will be 2 in April!!

The start of a New Year!!!!

The Lord has blessed us greatly this holiday season. The kids enjoyed all their gifts. Cayla couldn't quit understand why mom and dad didn't get any gifts from Santa on Christmas morning. Mark explained to her that he just brings kids presents, then she replied " Dad the reason you didn't get any presents is because you were naughty." We had a great laugh over that. Maybe he was a little naughty. :) We were able to go to Mitchell to stay at a Hotel with my parents and brothers family the first weekend of Jan. The kids had so much fun in the swimming pool. The kiddy pool had a large pirate ship for the kids to play on. In the large pool they had a water slide that went on the outside of the building. It was fast and fun, even Cadee loved it. The water was a little cold but what fun we had. (some photos on here) We start the new year with great hopes, health for the most part. We unfortunately have already had some sickness ( the stomach flu) hit the house. The only ones to not catch it were Mark and Ciara. One of the down falls of this year are that two of my good friends have moved away. One to Iowa and the other to Singapore, it is hard to say goodbye. I really feel the void of them not being here. Thank God for Skype!!!! I will start work this week and hope that after being off for 2 months it will all come back to me, also going to start helping out an other Good Sam nursing home. I'm wondering if 4 different facilities is challenge enough for me???? I'm up for the challenge. Ciara and Chris started back to school, Ciara couldn't wait. So now my days are back to Cayla and Cadee at least in the mornings. The days go by so fast. As I'm writting this I'm listening to a song. The statement for me for the start of the year. "Where does my help come from, it comes from the Lord. I praise you in this storm." I'm sure that there will be storms!! Well not much else to say for now, till next time.