Country Rascals

Wyatt and Madisyn's Baptism

2009-07-02T12:13:00.001-07:00

I can't hardly begin to express how wonderful it felt last night watching Wyatt and Madisyn finally have the opportunity to give themselves to Christ and be baptized. They have both been talking about this for a year or two now and seemed now was the perfect time. It was something that they wanted to do together and they wanted to make sure everyone could be there if at all possible. So, last night was a very special night for all our families as we shared this special moment with Wyatt and Madisyn.

A hug from Uncle Matt

A very special hug from mamaw Wade

Marcus and Millie Britton and Madisyn

Papaw Wade shares a closing prayer

Terri Christenberry serves them their first communion

Wyatt and Madisyn enjoying this moment!!

Madisyn and Uncle Adam

Wyatt was a "little" excited!! HaHa

Family Vacation to Gatlinburg

2009-07-02T11:57:00.001-07:00

Well, I have to say that a family vacation in Gatlinburg is the way to go!! Everybody has there own bedroom/bathroom or should I say SPACE!! Don't take that sentence the wrong way! It was definately fun and would love to do it again and again, but it is nice to have a little private time if you want it. We were gone for 5 days. We did the normal things you do in Gatlinburg....go-carts, miniature golf, shopping, hiking, relaxing, walking around downtown, the national park....Lots of memories were made and will be remembered!!

Wyatt and Madisyn sharing a "loving" moment!

The mill at Cades Cove in the National Park

Mark and Mom in the Marketplace Village

Collin James testing out his hiking shoes! He was great!

The backside of our cabin which had a beautiful view of the mountains!

Collin James loved the headphones when he was watching a DVD! He was really into that movie with the doggy!

The "older" grandchildren- Madisyn, Wyatt, Eli, and Zach

Wyatt testing out his rock climbing skills which were pretty good until he looked down.....he isn't too fond of heights unless its a roller coaster or something! HaHa

Sitting at the table getting ready to head out for a day of hiking adventures!

Madisyn, Uncle Adam, Wyatt, Natalie, Grandma, Melinda

Michigan Race '09

2009-06-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well, went on another race adventure to Michigan! We had absolutely beautiful weather! Thank goodness after we got rained out on our last race trip! We got there Saturday and spent a couple of hours in Cabela's, ate some steak, and then played miniature golf, and raced go-karts! Those boys were hilarious racing the go-karts! Of course you aren't suppose to bump each other.......well I wish I would have had my camera! They spun each other out quite a few times! They wanted to go see Lake Erie so we drove over there for a few minutes before we headed back to the hotel. In the pic below, Joshua Hawkins, Doug Swartzentruber, Jordan Hawkins, Brian Swartzentruber, Phil Hawkins, and Jason Hawkins.

Big brother Joshua and his little brother Jordan! Ahhh! They will probably kill me but I thought mom Hawkins would like this pic!!

The boys just or I guess I should say "men" just hanging out before the race! We actually had a lot of extra room so we could all stretch out! The race crowd was actually kind of sad....

Jason Hawkins, cousin to Jordan and Joshua, was all too excited for me to take his picture! HaHa- It was his first race so I had to get one of him! He loved it....needless to say he wants to go back!!

Just a pic of the pack....of course yes Jimmie is in the center of my pic!!

Madisyn's Jeep ride and trip to Bo-Mac's in Shoals

2009-06-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Wyatt spent the night with his friend Eric Lark one night last weekend so Doug and I told Madisyn she could choose what we would do for the evening......She wanted to take the jeep and go out to eat. We thought that sounded good! It was a beautiful evening so we drove the back way to Shoals and ate at Bo-Mac's. We sat at the picnic tables and she picked music from the juke box. She thought she was pretty cool. It's fun sometimes when you can do one-on-one with your kids! The first picture is of the clouds when we got home! The sun was moving by the time I got my camera out to take the picture and just about missed the sun on the clouds! It was beautiful!

Sissy Sue eating her corndog! I think she nibbled on it for 30 minutes! She was too interested in the music on the juke box and watching the people around us!

Madisyn took this picture so thought I better post it or she will get mad at me! HaHa

Sis and I

Sis in the back of the jeep with her sunglasses on! We call her "Little Miss Hollywood"!

Lowe's (Charlotte, NC)

2009-05-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we made our trip to Charlotte, NC this past weekend! We left Saturday morning about 6 am and got to our hotel room around 3pm. We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse which is a tradition and our tradition of playing miniature golf was, of course, rained out!! We just drove around a little checking out the town and headed back to the room to watch the Nationwide race. We got up and left the hotel Sunday at about 6am and headed to the track so we could get our normal spot along the highway to set up our "camp"! We had an awesome breakfast thanks to Steve for cooking our bacon and eggs! We spent the morning watching the traffic, walking around, etc. Had a good lunch of grilled turkey breasts and pork steak from the Odon Locker, potatoe salad from Lakeview! Needless to say, the guys do a good job with the food! I don't have to do much of anything since I am the only female with the group which is kind of nice for a change!!

We only got to see the cars for a short bit before the rain started and they put the covers on them. Didn't even see 1 lap!! Did have a good pre-race show though for our troups!!

Storm clouds moving in!! We sat for a while with our rain poncho's on while it absolutely pounded on us and then decided to go under shelter for a while....didn't ever really clear off after that!

I have to tell you the story behind this picture....This is Joshua Hawkins, aka Bubba, holding part of a golf club which they use for a stirring stick for the camp fire! We are parked right beside a golf course on the other side of the trees....they found this golf club like 4 years ago and they put it in a tree every year hoping it will be there the next year! Guess what? It always is! This is the first thing they look for when we park the truck before we set up camp! They are nuts!!

Doug, Steve, and Gary (all brothers)

Me and Doug before the rain began!!

Zach's Graduation

2009-05-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

I know it has been forever once again, but I am trying to keep up with facebook and this blog thing! HaHa- Friday night was my "little" nephew Zach's graduation from North Daviess! I can't believe he is old enough to graduate! (Plus taller than me, which doesn't take much!) He is such a good young man with a huge heart!

Proud parents- my brother and Lori!!

Zach and his little cousin Collin James!

Zach giving me the thumbs up sign as he is getting ready to enter the gym for his graduation!

Overdue for an update!!

2009-04-23T07:43:00.001-07:00

Natalie and Adam took Wyatt to my nephew's baseball game last night at ND. They brought him home after the game and sooooo we had to get some new pics of little Collin James!! He is growing sooo fast! He is so alert and starting to smile and cooo a lot! He really knows who his mommy and daddy are!

Madisyn and I spent the evening at her dance rehearsal which went really well! The girls all looked so cute and their dances were adorable!! Can't wait for the recital Friday night!! Madisyn had to pose a few times for the camera! HaHa- I can't believe how fast she is growing up!!

Pacer vs. Miami Heat Game

2009-03-26T08:57:00.001-07:00

Well, my son is a big Miami Heat fan so when we found out they were playing the Pacers at Conseco we almost had to get tickets!! It was kind of a last minute deal but next week is Spring Break and I have to work so I thought this could be part of something special for his Spring Break! We had a really good time. We got there about an 1hr. early so we got to go down on the actual court which makes the guys playing look soooo much bigger! He loves Dewayne Wade #3 on the Miami Heat. He was a little upset that they werent selling Miami Heat merchandise at the game but I had to gently remind him that we were at the Pacers home place! HaHa- Dr. Sutton and his wife Julie were there also and had seats on the 2nd row down on the court so Julie was kind enough to let Wyatt sit down there with Doc for a couple periods. He did enjoy that! Thanks Julie!!

If you look close enough, Madisyn is in the background! She has never been very fond of people dressed up in mascot outfits! This one is Boomer (I think) and he walked up to Wyatt and took his pizza out of his hands! Wyatt thought he was pretty cool!

Well, and of course Wyatt wanted his picture taken with a couple of the Pace mates (cheerleaders)! Madisyn enjoyed their routines!

Picture isn't really good but this is when we first walked in and were waiting to get in the gates!

All in all we had a good time! Our seats were good and we got in and out of Indy easily! Thank you Lord! I thought the kids would sleep all the way home but they never quit talking! When we got to Bloomington they even wanted to stop and eat at Steak'n Shake! They finally fell asleep about Odon but got all hyped up again when we got home....go figure! We won't talk about how well they got up this morning! HaHa

My new nephew has arrived!!!

2009-03-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I am officially an aunt to a beautifully handsome young man!! Collin James entered this world Sunday around 12:26pm. Natalie woke me up with a phone call around 4:45 am stating her water broke and to get ready! I beat her down there, HaHa, and got her registered and had her wheelchair waiting! (It's nice to know people sometimes!) She progressed so nice and quick for a first time delivery! She got her epidural and then she was in heaven! It was absolutely the most amazing and miraculous thing I have ever witnessed! You can definately not deny the fact that there is a God when you go through the whole new life experience!!! He cried good right when he was born but then he decided he had worked hard enough! He was sooooo lazy! He loved getting his hair washed and brushed! Didn't cry when he got his labs or shots! He is so tough! HaHa- I know, I could go on and on! What can I say?! He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz. and was only 18 3/4 inches long! He is a petite little guy for sure!

I could kiss his little neck and cheeks all day long!!!

Extremely proud little cousins! I think he will be well taken care of!!

A picture of his nice head of hair!!

Just a handsome little fellow don't you think??

Update!!

2009-02-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't have any pictures to post but I do have some news! If you read my last entry you read that Wyatt was going to participate in the State Competition at Greensburg for basketball..... Well he won 1st place!! We were all soooo excited! I did take pictures so dont think I'm a bad mother I just don't have them with me to post! If you get the Loogootee Tribune his picture will be in there along with the others that won. AAU basketball gets underway this weekend at Mitchell. Here goes another busy couple months!

Madisyn has been sick the last couple of days so I stayed home with her Monday and Tuesday. she had the normal fever, sorethroat, headache, belly ache! She is much better now! We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our nephew/cousin, Collin James, any day now! My sister is soooo ready to have him and so are we! Pray that her delivery will go smoothly!! :)

Wyatt- 1st place

2009-02-10T10:08:00.001-08:00

Wyatt had participated in the Tri-Star Basketball Competition first that was held at Loogootee Elementary East on Jan. 31st. This competition is for kids ages 8-13 and is based on individual skills. You have 3 stations to complete- one is passing skills where you have to make different passes and hit a designated target, second is shooting skills where you have to shoot free-throws and outside shots, and third is dribbling around cones while being timed for speed. The judges calculate your scores at the end and award you 1st or 2nd from your age group. Wyatt won second place at Loogootee's and then he went to Regionals at Huntingburg this past weekend on Sunday to participate. We were all so proud of him and I was sooooo nervous! I didn't even watch him shoot! How silly, right? As you can tell by the picture below he wasn't a bit nervous! He drives me crazy! HaHa- Anyways, our kids from Loogootee served us well! Out of the 6 age groups, Loogootee brought home 1st place 4 of them! Wyatt's first station was the dribbling one which wasn't too hard for me to watch, the second was his shooting which I couldn't watch, and the third was the passing drill! He scored 100%!! Man, again, we were so excited!!! He talked non-stop all the way home! He is now advancing the State competition held Greensburg, In on Feb. 22nd along with the other winners! So, we are anxiously waiting for the 22nd!

Wyatt waiting to begin the competition! He is too calm and collected for me to handle! HaHa

Part of his fan club- my cousin Shalane, my great-aunt Nena, my cousin Deb, and of course, my princess Madisyn and the superstar Wyatt!! HaHa

Below are the winners from Loogootee- Macey Baxter for girl's, Wyatt for 11 yr. olds, Bailey Dearwester for 8 yr. olds, Matt Mathies for 13 yr. olds, Jayden Waggoner for 9 yr. olds, and Emily Bateman for girl's. Congratulations to all of these Loogootee kids!!

Madisyn, Wyatt, and his proud Mom!!

Winter Wonderland!

2009-02-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

I know I am posting a little late after the big snow.....but oh well! Had some pics to share and as you can tell my kids and our dogs love snow! ( I love it more I think though!!)

Here, Winston, Molly, and Raegan are wanting us to come out and play!

Just a pic of Doug digging me out so I can at least get out of my driveway! He also so kindly built a big pile for the kids ( and dogs) to play with!

A view from the tractor as Doug and I were going down the road...so pretty and white! Did I tell you that I love snow?!

Wyatt and Molly on top of the pile of snow! Those dogs just followed the kids right up on top! They had a blast!

Who's King of the Mountain? Well, looks like Madisyn and Molly at this time! Sorry, Wyatt! They would have played outside all day if I would have let them! I kept thinking that they would come in where it was warm and fall fast asleep because they had played so long and hard outside.....yeh, right!! They wanted hot chocolate and then were ready to go some more!! I wish I had their energy!

Trip to Nashville!

2009-01-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

The kids and I got to spend the week after Christmas in Nashville thanks to my dad and Patsy! We had a really nice condo right across from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills! The Christmas lights were awesome! My mom and stepdad decided to go along with us which made the trip even more fun! Opry Mills is the big shopping mall right there and I have to say that was Madisyn's most favorite place! The first night we ate at the Rainforest Cafe' which is a favorite of the kids. The wait was 2 hrs. so we spent that time in Bass Pro Shops easily! On New Year's Eve we went back to Rainforest Cafe' for a "volcano" which is a whoppin dessert! (Courtesy of my mom!) At the Gaylord we took the boat ride around inside the hotel which was really neat! We were gone from Monday to Thursday which was nice because it still gave us a long weekend before going back to school!

Christmas...a little late!

2009-01-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

I know, I know.....Im slow at getting things put on here! We all had a great Christmas and I hope everyone else did! I love reading everyones blogs and getting updated! We are always busy like everyone else. Christmas Eve we went to my baby sisters for Christmas with my dad which is always nice! Christmas morning the kids and I got up about 4:30, whew! Then we went to my moms for Christmas breakfast which is a ritual! Then the kids went with their dad for the rest of the day to celebrate Christmas with him! I just had a couple pictures that I just had to post from Christmas! First is of my dad (due date unkown!) and my baby sister who is due March 3rd with Collin James!!

and of course the jokester (following in his grandpas footsteps!) Wyatt showing his belly compared to Natalie! Of course, just so you all know, both my dad and Wyatt were kind of sticking those bellies out! Well, Wyatt was! HaHA

We all ended up having a great Christmas! I love getting together and eating and all the conversations that go around the table during the day! I'm also glad when it is over because it gets to be so hectic sometimes! Wyatt and Madisyn both were happy I believe with their large load of items from everyone! I tell everybody every year not to get them sooo much stuff but for some reason it never really works that way! Oh well! We are all very thankful for what we have! Here is a picture of my two happy little "elves" Christmas morning!

Makin up for lost time- sorry!!

2008-12-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

Well, thought I better take a minute to update a little since I haven't updated since Oct.! Boy I'm bad! No pictures right now though! Wyatt is busy with basketball being in full swing now. He had his first game at Worthington on Monday and I was soooo proud of them! They won and boy have they really improved! A lot of the boys on his team have a lot of talent so it is fun to watch them and gets better every year! He is what he calls the "shooting" guard on the team. He scored 12 pts and had quite a few assists! He tells me to video so I won't yell too much ( can't help it I just get excited)! We got home and he had to watch the video to critique himself! Oh my! His next game is Saturday at Holland! Madisyn is excited because she has a cheer clinic Saturday that she does every year. The girls go to the school for a few hrs. and the cheerleaders teach them cheers and they have pizza, etc... That night at the Varsity/JV game the girls get to "perform" their cheer! They think they are so big! It is really neat. Later they will do a Lionette dance clinic the same way.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I've been trying to read everyones blog to keep up and sounds like everyone did! I had to work at the Quick Care in Washington so I dropped my two off at their grandparents/dads house in Washington for a few hrs. so they could eat their fill on turkey/noodles and the goodies. They were sooo sweet and even brought mommy a plate full over to work! We weren't very busy at work so the day went slow. I had to work the weekend at Quick Care too so they kids stayed at their dads on Friday. Wyatt went quail hunting with his dad, grandpa, uncle, and cousin and shot a couple! He was sooo proud! He practiced on Thanksgiving day shooting clay pigeons. Saturday they went to my sisters house to help her pick out her Christmas tree and decorate it which is always a treat for them. Next year will be even better because my little nephew Collin will be around!!!! Sunday they had Thanksgiving at my moms with my family! From what I hear everyone had a good time sitting around eating and socializing like normal! I hate that I missed it! They did save me a plate again though!

Oh, by the way- I did do the crazy Black Friday shopping thing for a few hrs at Bloomington! I conned Doug in to going with me to the mall, Kohls, and Sams. I took him to Texas Roadhouse though so he didn't complain much! HaHa
He had never been in a Sams, Target, the mall, etc. Oh My!!! Well better go for now! Update later!

Las Vegas Adventure!!!

2008-10-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well I recently arrived home from a 5 day trip to Vegas which was pretty interesting for a country girl like me!! We left Thursday morning and got back home late Monday night- I absolutely couldn't believe the amount of people gambling away their money!! I don't even want to know how much money is wasted out there! ( I will admit I gambled $4 on the 1cent slots just to say I did it!) We went out for a wedding that was on Saturday which was definately interesting! The wedding chapel was next to an adult porn store, the woman at the counter didn't speak English well, the minister was a big black "Jamaican-man", and there weren't even 15 pictures good enough to order!!! I'm glad it wasn't my wedding but the kids didn't care just as long as they got married! It was comical but still sweet! We did get a 1 hr. limo ride which was spent in traffic on the strip! (Saturday night) I'm glad I went and would probably go back but not for 5 days! There were some really neat things out there that I will always remember--the fountains at the Bellagio were gorgeous, going up the Eiffel Tower at the Paris, the 911 tribute at the New York-New York, the Grand Canyon from the plane window headed home......

The newlyweds: Ryan and Tiffany (Taylor) Swartzentruber

Well.....we were on the strip somewhere......

A few pics from the Bellagio fountains which do not do it justice!!! At night time it is lit up and plays to music!! It is awesome!!

Spring Mill- Wyatt and Madisyn's Fall Break

2008-10-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well we had absolutely beautiful weather at Spring Mill for camping! The kids loved the village and kept us all hopping on the bikes, hiking, and exploring caves!

Wyatt and Madisyn thought this tree was really unique so they had to have a picture!! (They like to get their picture taken about as much as I like taking them!)

Our camping group- Angie (Melinda's friend), Melinda, Grandma, Natalie, Jen, Papaw, Adam, and of course Wyatt and Madisyn!

The kids were able to make their own marbles at the pottery place in the village! They had a blast doing this and getting their hands dirty!

The kids got to go on Thursday and stayed until Monday since they were out of school! I went Friday night and had to come home Sunday afternoon. We really roughed it because instead of sleeping in the camper we decided to pitch a tent. It got a little chilly at night but we cuddled a lot! The campfire felt wonderful!!!

2008-10-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

We had such a pretty weekend and spent almost all of it outdoors! I love Fall and those kind of weekends! The kids practiced up their tree climbing skills.....Madisyn partly to get away from the dogs I think!

My happy Bubby always ready to pose with a smile!! I caught him peeing out of the tree and snuck a picture also but figured I better not post it! HaHa That boy is definately not shy (he gets that from my dad!)

Part of the reason Madisyn was in the tree......
Raegan and Molly are two of our labs that are about 5 months old!

The rest of the reason Madisyn was in the tree..... Our other lab- Winston- and his partners..... They love to be loose and running around as much as the kids on these days! They are hilarious to watch!!

We spent Sunday afternoon at my mom's house in Odon. She fixed an awesome dinner and then we carved pumpkins! That was fun! Madisyn scared me to death with the knife....I swore she wouldn't get that pumpkin carved without having to get stitches in her fingers! HaHa

Here are a few pictures from our adventure to Lark's Farms Friday evening! We had a blast! We had BBQ, beans, and chips for supper and later Doug and Madisyn had funnel cakes and I had an apple cider slushy! Mmmmm

Madisyn is waiting to go on the hayride which will take us to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins!

Just a photo of part of the farm in case you haven't been. It is really neat!

Madisyn loved the pumpkin patch and getting to pick out her very own pumpkin! Her and I ran all over that patch.... She ended up getting one for her brother too! Ah, she is soooo sweet! Her pumpkins weighed 17 lbs and 10 lbs. She didn't go for those little ones of course!

Wyatt spent the night with Seth Wagler and ended up at Lark's also, so we entered the maze together! Notice I said "entered" because we didn't stay together long. Those boys had a different style of checking out the maze! I'm sure you can imagine if you've been around boys very much! They had a blast!

Thursday night Wyatt had his 5th grade music program and had a small speaking part!

He did an excellent job! He actually loves to sing but would probably kill me for telling that!

Busy,Busy,Busy---

2008-10-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well I don't have any pictures right now to post but they will come later. Just thought I should put something on here so you know that I'm still trying to do this "blog thing"! It seems like time is flying here lately! Wyatt has started 5th grade basketball this week which is a big deal of course! Practice is right after school until 5 and all the boys walk to JFK which scares me to death but I guess I can't keep them little forever! Wyatt says practice is hard and they do a lot of stretching and running ( he really has no idea what hard is yet )! He is pretty tender-hearted so I have lectured him a little on the coaches getting a little "loud" sometimes and to not take it to heart! He has practice tonight til 5pm and then he has his 5th grade music program at 6:30pm! Run, Run, Run! He actually loves to sing and will probably kill me for telling that! He has a small speaking part in the program tonight and gets to run across the stage and slide! WOW!
Madisyn has started dance class on Tuesday evenings and they are picking out their songs to start working on for the recital next Spring. She is getting sooo big! She tells me everyday that when she gets home she is going to play school (like I don't already know that since she tells me that everyday)! HaHa! She really enjoys school and pretending to be a teacher!
I just got back from Talladega this past weekend which was fun! It's my 3rd time to be there and this time I almost backed out just because I wanted to stay home.....but after I got there I was glad that I went. (Except for the fact that we slept on an airmattress that decided to deflate during the night and the canopy right over my head decided to leak condensation on my head all night!) You feel sorry for me don't you?? A good thing was that I drew Tony Stewart for the pot and ended up winning that!
I think the kids and I are going to go to Lark Farms this weekend and will hopefully get some good pictures to post!! Well better go for now!

Well, here we go.......

2008-09-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

Well this is going to be interesting since I am not a computer person. Just a little background about us..... I have two children- Wyatt Matthew age 11 and Madisyn Grace age 8. We also have 3 labrador retrievers so therefore we live in the country with a lot of room to roam! Also hence the name Country Rascals!! We are always busy it seems and the days seem so short. I remember my mom always telling me time flys and not to wish away my life and man do I know what she means now, especially being a mom to two children. They grow up sooooo fast. We have had a lot of changes and moves in our life so far but we are getting adjusted finally it seems. We have been taking the puppies to Boggs to walk in the evenings and boy is that an adventure!! They do really well but they LOVE the lake (of course they are labs so what should I expect!!) By the time we get that done, homework, supper, showers, its time for bed! We never have enough hours in a day it seems! Well I better go for now.....Hopefully will figure out some cool stuff on this blog thing!! Maybe even how to post pictures!!

Passing on my love for Nascar........

2008-09-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

Wyatt and Madisyn at their 1st Nascar Race. Wyatt is a Little E fan as you can tell so he and I go round and round. ( I am a Jimmie Johnson fan!) Madisyn really doesn't care but she usually cheers for whoever mom cheers for! She will learn! HaHa