Michigan Fireman's Memorial

A few weekends ago we, along with my husband's family, went to Michigan's Fireman's Memorial Festival in Roscommon, MI. My husband has been going since he's been a firefighter, but missed a couple years since we've been married. (Having kids made us put some things off.) Anyway, this year, his whole family went because his grandfather's name was being put on the wall. We had a great time camping with the family and his firefighting buddies. We attended the memorial service, the parade and went to the fairgrounds where they had vendors, activities and competitions. The neatest part was the memorial, though. It is a beautiful place where firefighters who haved passed, both from natural causes and in the line of duty, are honored for their service. Here are some pictures I took while there:


This picture is of my husband, his 2 brothers (all in blue) and their cousins all sitting in front of where their grandfather's name is on the wall.

This is my husband with a couple firefighting buddies and his father is standing behind him.

Morgan with Grandma.

Little Blakers just couldn't stay awake any longer!

To get more information about the memorial and to see what the festival is all about check out their page here.

My Sleeping Angel

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting a great contest where you can win one of 2 bedroom sets. My favorite is the Lily Rose Set. All you have to do is post a picture of your little one sleeping and follow the rules on their site and you're entered!




This is a picture of my little girl, Morgan, after a long day of shopping. She came home, walked in a circle and settled down to sleep just like a dog would! It was so cute-she literally 'shopped til she dropped'!

Indian Popcorn

I was asked to share more about the Indian Popcorn that Morgan is nibbling on in a previous post and I would love to!

Either my brother or I discovered Indian Popcorn well over 10 years ago now in the Jung's Seed Catalog and I've been growing it on and off ever since. I absolutely love the stuff! It is really easy to grow-it's just like growing any type of corn. I've actually only bought seed once and I've been using seed from old crops every time I plant it. I should probably get new seed, but as long as it keeps coming up, I'll probably be cheap and forgo buying new as long as possible. :-)

My favorite part of growing Indian Popcorn is opening up each ear when it's time to harvest them in the fall. It's like opening a little present with every ear I husk, because every ear of corn is different and they are all so pretty! Take a look at some of the popcorn I grew this year.

The variety of color in just one ear of corn is amazing to me! They make great fall decoration. You can put them in a bunch and hang them up near some corn stalks bunched together and a few pumpkins and it makes for a great addition to autumn decor! I like Indian Popcorn better than regular Indian corn, too. Besides the fact that you can eat it after it dries, it has a cleaner look to it. The Indian Popcorn is also small and cute. They are probably on average about 5-6 inches long.

The hardest part of the whole process is shelling the popcorn after it is dry. Not that it's that hard, but it is really hard on your thumbs! If you don't naturally have calluses on your thumbs to protect them, they will end up quite raw by the time you're done. It's all worth it, though, when you get to eat it!

As far as popping it, you can pop it on the stove and I've even popped it over a bond fire. Apparently it can be popped in the microwave, though I've never tried that. I would not recommend popping it with an air popper. The kernels are quite small and they'll just blow out before they get a chance to pop.

In the end, I personally love the taste of the Indian Popcorn and I really can't say enough good about it. I might be a little biased, though :-)

Under Morgan's Crib

This is what I store under my daughter's crib-boxes of clothes. Nothing too exciting, but it is a good place for the clothes that I get from Mom 2 Mom sales and garage sales that the kids are about to grow into. I didn't take a picture of what's under my bed-I would have had to do some major vacuuming first and under Blake's crib is pretty empty. He has a drawer built in under his crib, so there is only room for dust and a couple paci's that he lost during the night.

Again, get the camera and have fun taking some pictures! Check out what you can win here.

My Ugliest Shoes

These shoes have seen better days. They are actually my favorite pair of shoes and I wear them all the time, but they are in rough shape and I really need to get a new pair. Kinda embarrassing actually. :-/
Take some fun pictures and try winning a new camera here.