Random Picture Challenge

This weeks random picture challenge from 4 Little Men and Girly Twins brings me back to last March when we were touring our current home. Check out that blank refrigerator! It does not look like that now!

The papers on the counter there are applications - applications to live in the house - to be the caretakers of the park the house is located in. When we'd lived here for six months I wrote a post that includes more links to photos and explanations of how our job works.

So many memories have been created in this kitchen in one short year. Like this one...


Bea (and her baby brother) where here on Mondays this past winter/spring. On this day they making a cake to celebrate Julia's half birthday.

Random Picture Challenge #7

Brittany has a few options for this week's random picture challenge. You can click here to get the specifics on how to play along. I went with the 42nd picture in my April 2008 folder(s). For some reason I have a bunch of pictures from April 1st in a smattering of folders so I counted my way to the 42nd photo and came up with this:

It's one of many I took that day and wrote about here. The kids can still wear their puddle boots from last year, but I'll be on the lookout for new ones when PapaBear and I hit 100 garage sales this coming week.

On a side note...I've felt so out of touch with blogging as of late that I thought that rather than falling off the face of the earth I would repost some of my favorite posts and/or some of the ones that might fill in the gaps for those of you who are new to Bear Country... What I'll do is put the links in a tweet (see left side of my blog). I've finally started making my own blog book and realize how fun it is to walk down memory lane. Even if nobody else cares to read the posts, I know it will be good for me to look back at the work God has done in our lives.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Random Picture Challenge #5

The challenge from Brittany this week is the 27th folder or December 2007, 27th picture:

Not very interesting at first glance (well, probably not very interesting at the second or third glance for that matter, but bear with me)

What I love about these challenges is that I get to dig back into my 2008 archives (2006-2007 are on my desktop) and see how far our family has come. Take this photo for example - it was taken the day before we moved to our current home.

The moving truck was loaded, leaving us with only the odds and ends (and that darn refrigerator to empty).

In the spirit of the random picture challenge I give you the random thoughts on the random things in this photo:

Sam's blue Croc - he wore them for almost two full summers till he lost one at a different park one day in July. He went home barefoot.

My almost n'ked kids - You're guess is as good as mine as to why they aren't clothed. It certainly wasn't hot out - it snowed the day we moved in

The ladder leaning up against our neighbor's house - the day after they moved in they took it upon themselves to tear up a perfectly good screen porch to put real windows in. They worked on it for two days and then for a year the project sat untouched.

The blue water bottle and the red water bottle - we still use them. They are made from safe plastic, are small enough for a purse, and are relatively inexpensive.

PapaBear - he wasn't going to take a day off of work right before the move, but I am forever grateful that he did. I made an extra trip to the new house and had some help getting the garage cleaned out for good. He is my rock. I love him so so so much!

The TV: Their last shot at television. After we moved they went a while without even watching a movie. That has since changed, but come May it will have been a year since they watched any regular TV.

Big Green Ball: It's not nearly that inflated anymore, but the kids love it when Daddy kicks it high up in the air. Love those simple toys. :)

LittlePeople Main Street: A toy that had been in storage for almost 20 years made an appearance before we moved so the kids would have something "new" to keep 'em busy. Now that we have a playroom when we set up the LittlePeople village, we can leave it up for a while. No more toys in my living room! Wahoo!!

Carpet and '70 woodwork: Ah the joy of leaving a house built in the 70's! We have SO many memories of that home, but I can only think of three things I miss about living there and two of those aren't even about the house itself. 1) the double sink in the (only) bathroom 2) the closeness to The Cities and local shops, and 3) the 15 miles of paved walking trails out our backdoor

Random Picture Challenge #4

This week Brittany challenged us to go to the 3rd folder and then to the first picture with brown in it.
My picture isn't that old because for some reason the pictures from my point and shoot camera go into a folder from 2005 - even if I took them yesterday. So, this is my third folder. The brown can be found in that tasty little treat on Grandpa's knee -otherwise known as Sam' s greatest weakness. (Most people call them cupcakes.)


PapaBear took this photo of Sam's first time ice fishing this year. His very first time on the ice last year, I went with to take pictures.

It's fitting that part of the picture challenge this week is to find something brown because really, those cupcakes was the reason Sam went fishing.

Grandpa? Are you going to eat that last cupcake?
(a minute later)
Hmmm....That cupcake looks lonely.
(a minute after that)
Do you think someone should eat that cupcake? To which Grandpa replies, "Sam, would you like to eat this cupcake?"

And as if the thought had never crossed his mind, Sam replies, "Oh Suuuuure. I can eat that cupcake!"

Thanks Brittany for a way to document a silly Sam story! To see more participants entries, click here.

Random picture challenge #3

This week Brittany picked:
February 2009 - first photo of something other than my kids...

So who's piggies are these?


They are Brianna's painted piggies. I've been babysitting Bea off and on since she was three months old and recently started watching her baby brother, Caden.
I've yet to paint Julia's nails so it was fun for me to photograph Brianna's.

Head over to 4 Little Men & Girly Twins to see other entries and to join in yourself...

Random Picture Challenge #2

Enjoy a trip down memory lane with Brittany's Random Picture Challenge....

This week's selection: 11th folder (or September 2007 folder) 11th picture

No 2007 pictures on this computer so I picked the 11th picture from my 11th folder. This is my April 1st, 2008 folder labeled "Julia's 18 month birthday"

This half birthday was celebrated in style at the Mall of America's indoor amusement park. Did you know for $80 you can go on all the rides you want for an entire YEAR? When I worked 10 minutes from the mall this was was a GREAT deal. Sam was a year old so I got to ride with him.

Two years later, it isn't as convenient to go to the (Big Dumb) Mall as we like to call it, but friends of ours have connections and got us free ride tickets. It made for a special way to celebrate Julia's half birthday.



This is Sam's first time on the Frog Hopper. The birthday girl was too young to ride. Maybe this year....

Random Picture Challenge #1

Brittany has been hosting a fun photo carnival where we pull out a certain picture from a certain file, post it, and then write about it. I was able to participate this week, but only by the skin of my teeth.
We are suppose to post the 5th from the last picture from our final March folder. This happens to be the very first folder on this computer.

MckMama took this photo of me with her kids and mine one day when they came over for sledding and chili. It must have been pretty warm out since I'm only wearing a fleece and most of the kids don't have mittens on. I can't say the same for when we went sledding together this year.

My other thoughts on this photo:
SisterBear still doesn't enjoy sledding a year later.
We don't live at that house any more.
The kids wear the same winter gear this year. In fact, BrotherBear has been wearing that hat for 3 winters.
That little pine tree in the background is BrotherBear's birthday tree. We dug it up when we moved and planted it at Grandma & Grandpa's house.
My hair is SO short! (I cut 10 inches off 2 months prior for Locks of Love)


So there you have it. My first R.P.C post. If you want to see what other people posted for this week, go to 4 Little Men & Girly Twins.