Indiana, Our Indiana

"Indiana, Our Indiana"

Indiana, our Indiana
Indiana, we're all for you!
We will fight for the cream and crimson
For the glory of old IU
Never daunted, we cannot falter
In the battle, we're tried and true
Indiana, our Indiana,
Indiana we're all for you! I-U!

"Indiana Fight"

Fight for the Cream and Crimson,
Loyal sons of our old I. U.
Fight for your Alma Mater,
and the school you love so true.
Fight for old Indiana,
See her victories safely through,
GO! I.U! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
For the glory of old I. U.!

"Indiana"

God crowned her hills with beauty,
Gave her lakes and winding streams,
Then He edged them all with woodlands
As the settings for our dreams.

Lovely are her moonlit rivers,
Shadowed by the sycamores,
Where the fragrant winds of summer
Play along the willowed shores.

I must roam those wooded hillsides,
I must heed the native call,
For a Pagan voice within me
Seems to answer to it all.

I must walk where squirrels scamper
Down a rustic old rail fence,
Where a choir of birds is singing
In the woodland... green and dense.

I must learn more of my homeland
For it's paradise to me,
There's no haven quite as peaceful,
There's no place I'd rather be.

Indiana... is a garden
Where seeds of peace have grown,
Where each tree, and vine, and flower
Has a beauty... all its own.

Lovely are the fields and meadows,
That reach out to hills that rise
Where the dreamy Wabash River
Wanders on... through paradise.

by Arthur Franklin Mapes

Good bye B-Town!

Ruby sent President Obama a letter containing a silly band. He sent her back a letter! I have never seen a kid so excited, it was awesome! She will always cherish this letter.


It was really hard for us to say goodbye to all of our great neighbors. We have been so blessed to be surrounded by amazing people. We will really miss them!
So the last week of July we packed Monday, Tuesday, and Wedneday.
Thursday we loaded all of our belongings and stuffed them in a storage shed in Bloomington. Friday and Saturday we cleaned. We loaded our car with ourselves and our clothes. When I say our trunk was jam packed, that is an extreme understatement. I am so thankful for all the people that watched our kids, made us food, helped us, etc.


This picture doesn't begin to show how packed our car was. I hope I didn't stunt my childrens growth by making them sit in our cozy little Saturn for over 2000 miles! Good bye Bloomington. Thanks for the memories!!!

The Scoop!

Things have been crazy so I haven't had time to blog. Here is the deal. We have to be out of our place on Saturday. We are packing our little hearts out. We will stick all of our stuff in a storage unit here until we know where to move it. We are heading to SLC until we know where our next adventure is. We are waiting to hear back from a couple companies, so hopefully something good happens.

I am so thankful for the peace I feel. I know it will all work out. We are so excited to see our family and friends in SLC.

This is going to be really hard to leave B-Town. We LOVE it here. We have tried to experience Bloomington to the fullest and have no regrets. We will truly miss the people and the beautiful sights!!! Stay tuned to find out where our next adventure will take place!!

No Manners Please

I LOVE traditions. They make life so much more enjoyable. I heard a crazy idea of having a "No Manners Dinner". It has taken me 3 years to get up the courage to have one, it sounded like a disaster.

I made my kids favorite meal, Butter Noodles, and plopped it on my freshly cloroxed table with my bare hand and told them to eat up. I LOVED the looks they gave me. Ruby started eating like a dog and then proceeded to stuff her face. I threw green beans at Coop, drank directly from the picture and graced my family with my very best burp (a hidden talent, I have 4 brothers you know). Rubes loved the meal, Coop on the other hand really wanted to use silverware. My only rule was that they had to clean up the mess and that I couldn't say no. Ruby asked if we could do it every Friday night, I think it will be an annual event instead. It was very eye opening. I feel like I am always getting after them at meal times. They are growing up and they DO have great manners, it was very hard for them not to say please and thank you.

Cooper found a sweet Lego set at a garage sale for $1. I just looked at them on the internet and they run over $100! That's my boy!

We have to be out of our town home 2 weeks from yesterday. It breaks my heart to leave this place we have called home for the past 2 years. We are still not exactly sure what our plan is other than we won't be living here. Packing is no fun when you know where you are going. It is really no fun when you don't know what you will need and what your plan is. The good news: I have the greatest little family and it is in God's hands.

Blueberries for Sal...

OK, forget Sal, they were all for ME!!! We went to Bray's to pick blueberries. My were they scrumptious!!! We picked 4 pounds and I have eaten almost all of them by myself! I feel like Violet Beauregarde!!!
I absolutely LOVE the storms we get back here. Cooper on the other hand is not a fan of the storms. He is always checking the weather ap on my iPod for severe weather alerts. I think he is on his way to becoming a meteorologist. Maybe I should invest in a white suit-jacket for him. This picture doesn't come close to showing how hard it was really raining.
Cooper is going through a POOP phase (at least I hope it is a phase), so when he told me Rocky had POOP on his head, I didn't believe him. You wouldn't believe how much fun Rocky had "painting", his is my little POO-caso! Thank goodness his binki was in his mouth!

Daddy thought this would keep him busy for a while...he was right!

Knee High by the 4th of July

So the saying goes in these here parts that corn should be "knee high by the 4th of July" and by George it was! Lots of corn around here! Indiana corn is AMAZING! Bloomington has a fun little parade that we went to.
Nothing says Happy Birthday America like a MONSTER!!! I think I must of missed something!
Uncle Sam had some sweet silk pants!
This was how Rocky enjoyed the parade. Believe me when I say I felt every beep and blast from the fire engines!
We sat with the Goldens, one of our favorite families in B-Town.
This is our traditional flag cake. We had some of our favorite neighbors come join us so I didn't eat all of old glory by myself. We went to a delicious BBQ for dinner (thanks Leslie!!) and watched fireworks. They went all night long!!!
Here we are at one of our favorite spots, Chocolate Moose. Their Grasshopper is the best I have tasted on both sides of the mighty Mississippi!

Summertime and the living is easy!

Twins!
Look who is standing!!! Oh how I love those cheeks!
Spider-man, scaling the wall to reach a book.
Super Ruby!
I sure love this girl!!!!
My fish! Ha Ha Coop, I still got you in the picture.
My little explorer.
"PICK ME UP NOW!!!"