50 Years!

This is what 50 years of marriage looks like. It all started on May 31, 1958. Twelve children later they are still going strong! AMAZING! Anthony was unable to make it so look-alike cousin, Jimmy, stepped in for him all the way from New Orleans. I just thought this was such a rare thing to see that it deserved to be put on my blog! Phil, Paul, Pete, Angie, Zita, Stephen, Anthony, Kenny, Sharon, Monica, Regina, and Damien...Ron and Rose Marie Stuart.

Luke is 5 today!

Today is Luke's birthday and is also Memorial Day...May 26, 2008. He was visited by the Tooth Fairy since he lost his first tooth yesterday. Today, he chose an Indiana Jones cake. He asked for all Star Wars and Indiana Jones toys! He got what he asked for. He's going to the movies Saturday with Mom-mom and Pa-pa Johnson to see...duh...Indiana Jones! He is really excited to go. He's a big kid now!

First loose tooth!

There we were in the middle of dinner when Luke jumps up and runs to the bathroom yelling..."I can't take it anymore!" We had no clue what on earth he was talking about. He comes out after a few minutes of checking his tooth out for himself in the mirror. He comes to me and says "Mom, just pull this thing out. It's driving me CRAZY!" I was shocked when he let me pull out his tooth...barbeque covered fingers and all! He got $2.50 the next day from the tooth fairy. Not bad!

Let's Eat Only Healthy Food!

Luke and Levi got their pick of what they wanted for lunch. Here's what they chose...carrots, green peppers, tomatoes and salty chicken noodle soup! They actually did eat all the veggies. They love them...especially the green peppers. We planted our garden and have tons of peppers for them to gobble up this summer. Luke also picked out German green tomatoes. He's on a German kick lately. Anything German is way cool to him. I guess that's good since he's part German. Enjoy some fresh veggies!

Over the Rainbow!

I just thought this was a cool picture I took the other day after it stormed. Also, if you've been watching American Idol, this is a perfect picture for the week. Jason Castro, who sang Over the Rainbow, just got voted off. I like him but I don't think he was winning material. Go David Cook! I'm an American Idol Junkie! Enjoy the picture.

The New Patio

We're just waiting for the cement to set. I can't wait to put everything back in place. Right now, we look like Sanford and Son!

New Backyard Fun Times!

Today the cement trucks were here putting in our new patio. I can't wait for it to be finished. I have plants that are sitting in tiny containers waiting to be transplanted. I also have little children who can't wait to play on the new patio! I can't wait for them to stop asking when they can go play on it! We looked like Bob the Builder today!

Master Gardeners

Luke and Levi love gardening. Julian loves to eat dirt. It's a win win situation. I love that the kids love gardening. Hopefully, I'm teaching them something they will continue to do in their adulthood. Derek, Kyle, and Samantha were at school while we were busy. They helped once they got home.

The Loft is in!

Yeah! We now have a loft in our barn. The kids can't wait to play out in the barn all the time. We still need to put a gate in so Julian can't fall down the stairs...maybe one at the bottom too so he can't climb up the stairs. I see many fun times ahead for all of us here.

I've Been Tagged
Jennifer has tagged me.
Here are the rules
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes...
1. I come from a family with six children and I have six children...I think most everyone knows that about me. Pete's family has us beat. He came from 12! He's number 3 and so am I.

2. I hate to let laundry pile up! I can have piles of anything and everything else scattered randomly about the house but laundry makes me crazy! I do laundry most every day. Hello...with 8 people in the house, I get behind if I don't do it every day!

3. I'm a wanna be work-out-a-holic. What I mean is that I really dream of working out every day for hours on end...however, my youngest 3 have different ideas for me. The last time I tried to use my exercise ball, I thought it would be my last day on earth. Luke and Levi totally attacked me and knocked me over. Seriously, I thought I broke everything in me! Funny now. Not so much at the time it happened. They were hysterically laughing!

4. I am a shop-a-holic. The wee ones can't stop me from this. I love to find sales and killer deals. I once saved almost $1000.00 at JCPenney's. I spend around $185.00. I came home with many large shopping bags. It was awesome! I find great deals at Old Navy too. I've saved $500.00 there on a $150.00 shop! Not bad! They actually helped me out to the car on that shop!

5. I love photography and scrapbooking...I take many pictures but haven't had time to do any scrapbooking! In about 5 years I'll have a little time to catch up. All kids will be in school then! It will be here before I know it. :{ Luke, Levi, and Julian had there pictures taken every single day for the first year of their lives. Sadly, Derek, Kyle, and Samantha weren't born when I had a digital camera. I also had their pictures taken so much that the Picture People told me Luke should be a model...he loves having his pictures taken. He now has a contract with Act 2 Models. We'll see where it goes!

6. I love my kids! DUH....right?! I love hanging out with them and playing...which is why I have piles of stuff scattered randomly throughout my house! :} Samantha and I are going to go see Chris Daughtry in concert this summer...providing we get tickets. That will be awesome! I'm looking forward to playing in our new pole barn this summer. We're putting up basketball hoops on both ends. I'm going to have to whip Derek and Kyle in some 2 on 1 hoops! They should be so scared!

7. I LOVE Food! I love to cook anything and everything. I love to plant a garden. I love to have Pete grill amazing food! I'm not a baker but I can cook a great dinner...when given the time! Julian doesn't like me spending much time in the kitchen so I have to prep food throughout the day for our dinners. I love growing a garden. I can spaghetti sauce with the fruits of my labor so I don't have to feed my family nasty jar sauce! I'm hoping to expand the garden and have a fabulous strawberry/blueberry patch. The garden has really helped with getting the kids to eat more veggies. Luke will pick green peppers right off the plants and eat them outside while playing. I know he's safe to do this because we don't use chemicals. Pete is an amazing grill master so I won't be doing much cooking once it warms up. I just bought him his 4th grill for his birthday. I love having the time off in the kitchen because everything he makes is great. My favorite is his pork chops with sweet potatoes as the side with asiago cheese bread. He cooks all of that on the grill! I don't have a favorite meal to cook. I love cooking everything!

Sadly, this is where it will have to end. I don't know many bloggers. Jennifer and my brother, Shane are the only ones. Shane is busy on the road with bands...the flaming lips are his upcoming tour. I can't remember the name of the band he's with right now...Louix 8? Not sure.

More Muddy Spring

This is what our yard now looks like after the cement truck got buried in our yard yesterday! I wish I'd have been home to see how deep in the mud it had to have been.

Spring in Indiana

Our yard is a very very very muddy pit! This was nothing compared to yesterday when the cement truck got buried in our yard. I was not home to take pictures of the actual truck in the yard.

Donation to the future Rocker!

The Apprentice

Luke LOVED having his picture taken too yesterday. He especially liked it when I let him hold a $100.00 bill! He seriously thought it was for him to keep! It's amazing I had one of those!

Look out Donald Trump! Here comes LUKE!

Guitar Hero!

Is she the coolest rocker you've ever seen or what? We went to Portrait Innovations yesterday. Samantha had a great time...as you can see! She loves having her pictures taken!

Easter Bunny!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's that lovely time of year where we force our children to face one of their biggest fears...The Easter Bunny! Why we torture our children is beyond me. I'm so thrilled to have all these great pictures of my children. Derek, Kyle, and Samantha are so good to still humor me and get in the picture with Luke, Levi, and Julian. I'm hoping they will continue to do this for me. Notice who had to sit closest to Mr. Bunny...Luke and Levi both freaked out. Julian didn't have a choice!

A New Bedroom!

As if I needed to tell you all that we NEED another bedroom. Derek and Kyle are getting a new room. They are really excited to have their own space. Currently, Derek and Levi share a room. I think Derek will miss watching Thomas the Train EVERY single night...or Lightening McQueen. Kyle and Luke share a room. I think Kyle will not miss Luke's shows. Luke always promises that tomorrow Kyle can pick the movie but as they say, "Tomorrow Never Comes!" Poor Kyle! Also, they will be able to put their gum and body spray under lock and key! We always are able to bust the body spray quickly. The gum is not as fast. I don't think I should go into details as to how we find out Levi has eaten an entire pack of sparkly gum. Let's just say we always find out IN THE END! Sorry, I had to go there! All the Mom's will appreciate that. I'll keep posting pictures as Kenny comes and does more work on the room for us!

More of the Rock!

This is too sweet!

Gotta Love It!

Julian Rockne...Fighting Irish

Here's one of my favorite pictures ever of Julian. He's wearing boxers from Build-a-Bear! Aren't they so cute. He probably will not love this some day but I always will!

THE ROCK

This is also from the pictures we had taken today. Julian did NOT cooperate like he normally does. I don't know what was up with him today. Maybe someone stepped on him too...Who Knows. Anyway, here's the Rock.

Family Pictures

OK! Today we went to have pictures of the kids taken. Levi hated wearing shorts. He was crying his little head off. Samantha's shirt was WAY too big. Fortunately, they had a safety pin for us to use. Who has those anymore? I guess we just got lucky! Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy this picture. It's amazing that we got any good ones! Oh, Derek stepped on Kyle mid way through and upset him for the rest of the pictures! HAPPY DAYS!

STAR WARS!

Luke and I built the Rebel and Empire bases we even made a clone army. Luke was the Empire and I was a part of the Rebel Force. Far left is the Empire. Immediate left is the Rebel base. However, Levi turned from a Storm Trooper into Chewbacca and started destroying the Empire. Julian was the Ewok village and assisted Chewbacca in the destruction of the Empire then they moved on to the Rebel base which they also destroyed. It was fun while it lasted. The great thing about playing with blocks is that you can always rebuild...reduce, reuse, recycle! Words to live by!

Happy 1st Birthday Julian

Today is the Rocks birthday. I can't believe how fast this year went. He is such a fun little boy. He is very vocal. He yelled this morning because I wouldn't let him play with the whey protein or the taco seasoning! What was I thinking? Anyway, he's one now! The baby party is OVER! Today is also Pete's birthday! How cool is that! We planned it that way...right! :}

Samantha hits double digits!

The little princess hit 10 this week! I just gave birth to her yesterday. Where is the time going? I guess I need to remember how fast these last 10 years have gone and know how fast the next 10 will go. She is so awesome!

Cheesecake was the choice she made this year for cake. I took her and 3 of her friends to get a manicure then out to Subway (eat fresh) for lunch. She got the new pink iPod...I think she's pretty happy with that. She's having fun buying iTunes!

Sweet Sugar Bear!

Can you believe that Julian will be one year old in 1 1/2 weeks! I can't! He's our baby. He's been walking now for almost 2 months. He's very vocal. He yells at everyone now when he hears NO.

The Barn

Here we have it...our pole barn. FINALLY! The door was supposed to be put on today but it is snowing like crazy here. The kids had a snow day yesterday and a two hour delay today. I'm guessing that's why we don't have workers in our backyard placing the door on our barn. How do you like the colors? Go Irish! We're going to see if Zita can put a Leprechaun on the door for us.