Haylee's Locks of Love

This year or all year Haylee has been growing her hair to donate it to the "Locks of Love" philanthropy/cause. She was able to donate 10" of hair the middle of August. Her hair will be used to make a wig for a child that is fighting/living with cancer. It is so awesome to see our daughter understand the concept of giving to a worthy cause. She is ready to grow it again!! Cheers to Haylee.

2009 Born to Win Womens Conference

Here are a couple of photos of Pam Thum and Stephen Marshall as they presented the Born to Win Conference for women. It was hosted by the Hamlet Church and over 90 women were present to learn how they are "Born to Win". If you ever have the opportunity to see them, do so. It will forever lift your spirit and improve your outlook on life and your relationships. God bless Pam and Steve for offering to present this conference and thank you to all the women (young and old) that attended. Oh, and the women of HUC, thank you for the fabulous food and hospitality. It was greatly appreciated and we are forever grateful.

Wheat Harvest 2009

This year seemed to follow suit like last year. Meaning that harvest took an entire month to complete. The kids loved to ride the combine and tractor with grain cart again this year. It is even more fun in a new one!!! Noah is following his daddy's footsteps and his grandpa's and his great grandpa's--he loves to farm and everything that goes with it!! What a blessing it is to have a child so interested in the farm and ranch.

Fun In Texas (at the pool, where else?)

We (the kids and I) made the 11 hour trip to Texas in July for Tami & Gregg's baby shower. When asked what the kids would like to do for fun while in Texas? The only response was play at the pool. So we did just that everyday!! Thanks to Auntie Ane, Aunt Tami and Uncle Gregg-O for a fun extended weekend. We love you all!

Beatiful Rainbow

I nearly had forgotten that I was able to catch this photo at 5 a.m. one morning. It is so peaceful and you can almost smell the rain.

Hanging out with our new cousin, Madison

My brother, Van, recently married a very nice young woman, Christina, and she has a sweet 9 year old daughter, Madison. Our kids are thrilled that they have a new cousin to hang out with, but I think that Madison is even more so. After the engagement was announced, she said that she wanted to move here!!! She is delight and we are blessed to welcome her to the family. And her mommy too...

Upgrading Weanie Status

Well folks, I have officially upgraded my weanie status from weanie to no longer a weanie!!! I killed, with a shovel, my first rattlesnake today just off of our front steps in the grass. Noah found it and said, "snake, Mommy." While we were walking off to feed the calves and Haylee said, "Mom, Noah says there's a snake!" I looked around the corner and sure enough there was a rattlesnake peering it's head up and I was praying, "Lord, please do NOT let that snake bite Noah!" I kept yelling at Noah to run away and get to Mommy, but he just took his time. I grabbed my yellow shovel and sent the kids inside. Let me share that my adrenaline was racing or boiling and I was freaking out. So I smacked the snake with my shovel to try to break its back, I kind of missed so I cut its tail instead. But then I realized that my Mom was right about my shovel needing to be bluntly sharper, so I used the side of it like an axe and voila, I had managed to chop, in two whacks or maybe three (I really don't remember), its neck off about 7 inches from the the head. It was similar to an out of body experience, I just remember thinking, I have to protect my kids and I will NOT let anything harm them. Then I made the important call to my Mom to confirm that now I am no longer a weanie and to verify that I had done the job completely right. She reminded me that I needed to cut the head off right at the neck so that it wouldn't/couldn't have the reflex to bite anything or anyone and to bury it in a hole. Good point, I thought and did just that. It came complete with 7 buttons! This my trophy for the duty of protecting my family. I think that I need a shower to remove all the nervous sweat and to calm my nerves. My parents told me that my first would be the hardest, I am hoping that I don't have to find any more in my yard. That makes two rattlesnakes at the Sandman home thus far for 2009.

Pool Fun

Spring 2009 Concert

Here are some photos of Haylee's spring concert and the production of the "Three Pigs Opera". It was so cute to see the growth of the Kindergarten class and how much they have matured in just a few months of school. Haylee was the pig that built the brick house and her pig sisters are Maycee and Kendra (her good friends). The boys were the wolves. Haylee is really blessed to have such a great class of kids for her friends.

Alexa Graduates from Preschool 2009

This entire year Alexa has been ready for Kindergarten, but we told her that she couldn't go to Kindergarten until she completed Preschool. Here are some photos from Graduation night. During the program each class sings songs with the actions and sometimes sign language too. Each child receives a folder with various writings, stories, pictures and crafts to commemorate the year. This is a nice tool for Mom's especially when deciding what to keep from year to year. Alexa is definately ready for Kindergarten to begin in August (goodness, less than two months away!).