Today is the first day of Three+ months of trying to keep sane as all my kids are home all day everyday...While others around me are making their summer vacation plans, whether it be many camping trips, or amazing extended vacations to far off places, as well as others looking forward to many hours of fun at Silverwood with their Season passes , not to mention those that live in town who have memberships at the new Kroc center, or are close to all the fun parks and lakes in town, and those that have boats to spend hours on the lake as the sun heats down on us, For all of these people the thought of the next three months are probably pretty exciting!....My thoughts on the next three months are more feelings of dread, and "am I going to survive this?" We have absolutely no plans to travel or even camp for that matter,,,no season passes, no memberships at fancy clubs, no parks nearby (except for Farragut), no Boat, and no money (I'm sure I speak for many here). However, we do have a very large yard that will need mowing twice a week, A garden that will be requiring weeding, lots of laundry and dishes and cleaning weekly, and animals to care for....My girls WILL be busy,,,, so busy that after this summer I'm sure they will be begging us to move back to the neighborhood.....I told Rick that if things get worse in this economy, We could put both our houses up for sale and see which one sells first to determine where we are supposed to live....Just put it in God's hands I guess...He didn't oppose to the idea,,,,it's good to have options;) either way, Have fun playing this summer everyone! We plan on working but maybe we shall see you at the lake from time to time:)

Who needs boys when you have girls like these?

So the other day, I'm doing dishes and from the other room Rick says..."OH MY GOSH" to which I reply,..."WHAT!!!" thinking, (great what has Dakota destroyed now) HE says, "You gotta come see this," to which I reply, " I don't want to see it", He says, "NO you REALLY, gotta come see this!" So I go into the living room where he is standing looking out the front window and this is what we see!!!
So proud of our little sharpshooter
Where did we go wrong????????

Of course we were laughing when we saw it....Who wouldn't? Well maybe my Mother, who was horrified when I told her the story....Hey Mom! Rick will take you hunting next time he goes out and you can finally discover how you end up getting those yummy roasts you enjoy for sunday dinner ;) ;)

Camping at the St. Joe,

Over Memorial weekend we had the priviledge of gowing camping/whitewater rafting with some friends at the St. Joe River. We enjoyed many activities there but I don't have any pictures of us rafting because Rick didn't want to go get the camera and take pictures of me and the kids going down the river...(ya I know, nice guy) needless to say they were some serious rapids and cold cold water and it was a blast...Rick got his payback however when on the last day Our friends Dad-river guide, took us on a run with class 5 rapids and Rick ended up getting hit in the leg by a huge tree that was hanging over the river....He's okay and healed pretty quickly but we still don't have rafting pictures:( :( Here's some pictures of other activities from camp though...
BJ, Rick, and Brett Gatten enjoyed a really long uphill bikeride up the logging road to an amazing viewpoint
us girls took the easier way up the logging road
The kids spent alot of time around the fire carving sticks
At least we got a picture of the little kids before they went down the Kid run....so cute!

14 years and still going STRONG!!!!

We sure do make a great team you and I.....I have enjoyed what we have accomplished together this past 14 years. We have lived the poor happy life together; We have worked our butts off side by side together; We created 4 beautiful girls together; We have mourned the loss of 2 parents together; We have struggled through and worked out our differences together; We have supported eachother; fought with eachother; loved eachother; We have thankfully always have had the same goals and the same ideas on how to achieve those goals; We can laugh and tease eachother; We have been blessed in many ways and both can appreciate and recognize from whence those blessings came from; We have learned and grown from eachother and continue too; I love you just the way you are, Kooky and funny and charming, yet strong and spiritual, and knowledgable. I'm grateful you love me just the way I am. Thankyou for ALWAYS respecting me and for working so hard to make sure I'm always happy and for always putting my happiness before yours. I look forward to what our future brings. I know the road won't be easy, and I realize we are heading into tougher times, but I know we can handle it together. Thank you for having faults, because if you didn't I would feel like a real shmuck:) although your faults are still miniscule compared to all the wonderful, crazy, amazing, incredible, and always surprising new things that make you what you are. You know you have been my "rock" and "anchor" and "beacon" several times throughout the years, and I am always grateful for your desire to take your role seriously as my Eternal Partner to make sure I'm in a good place Spiritually and mentally. Thank you for being so involved with your daughters lives and for being even a better Mom than me most the time;) I love you and I hope the next 14 years don't go by nearly as fast as this last 14......That'll put us at 48 and 49! Geez! Well we'll be Grandparents by then and I hear that's even more fun than being parents so look at all the fun ahead of us! WooHoo!!!!!! Happy Anniversary!

My Dad is finally legal retirement age! Happy 65th!

So my Dad turned 65 on the 22nd, and Friday the 23rd the girls didn't have school so Madi and I baked and decorated a cake and then the girls and I delivered it and a present to my folks that day. We had a little birthday celebration with my Dad that included Cake and ice cream, presents/cards, and even party games! It was really cute. A little elementary for my Dad, but he loved it because the girls had a blast! (so did he;)
After the celebrating, Dad sat down at his art bench with Madison and decided to teach him the ways of Bob Ross 101. Here they are working on their masterpiece. At one point Madison exclaimed, "oh Danget, I made a mistake!" to which he replied, " That's okay Madi, there are no mistakes, only happy little changes." It was hilarious especially since he was totally straight faced and serious. He had watched too many Bob Ross instructional videos I think.... The Man....................The Legend
Their final piece! I thought it turned out pretty dang good!
Sunday night We then had The family members that could make it over, and My folks great friends, Dave and Cynthia Moore. We had Homemade Venison Chili and cornbread and afterwards The girls put on a hula performance. Here are the girls teaching their Uncle's and Aunts a little hula.
Bj, Casey, and Tamara................Their a little special............We don't take them out to the public very often.
As I said before................................... Very special
The Spectators.............................Dave, and Dad.....Mom and Cynthia
And of course, Uncle Ricco is in the H-O-U-S-E!! Pimpin it up Bob Ross Style! (As he would say) All in All a very fun weekend with the Family. Just wish the entire family could have been there! Hope 65 is a Great year for you Dad! We love and appreciate all you have done for your Family and the example you have set for all of us!

Dakota's attempt to potty training herself!

So I Hear the toilet flushing over and over again the other day, and what I walk into is Dakota, in my bathroom stripped down, wearing her snowboots, practicing wiping and flushing. She is quite obsessed with the whole process as she had done it probably more than 20 times in a row. I quickly grabbed my camera and started taking pictures, and of course she became quite the ham so that's why she is posing. Should I be worried about this?........ K I'll try not to. Anyway, She definitely is missing the most important piece of the process since when she was finished flushing away half a roll of tp she went out into the hallway and peed on the carpet! I then cleaned up the mess and put her in the tub. After that I put a diaper on her and let her run and play only to later find that she had then taken off that diaper in the family room and pooped on the floor in there. As I was cleaning up that mess we found another pee puddle in the girls room! Holy Cow she is worse than a dog!!!!!!! Good thing your cute Dakota, Good thing your cute!

(This was a few years ago at Christmas time. We were in a nativity, and he was Joseph, so I got him all dressed up and wanted to take his picture but he made me wait so he could get his AK. He thought it finished off his look much better. Explains his sense of humor a bit.)


Okay so I know our blog title is retarded:) Let me explain..... If you knew us well, then you would totally get it, but some of you may not. We call Rick Ricco......There again if you knew him you would totally get it, but since some of you don't, just know the nickname fits him well. He is the man of the house, the Patriarch of the Fam and most the family jokes revolve around him. He is such a good sport:). My brothers call him Uncle Ricco although he goes by many names some of which I will not write:) I value his opinion in all things so when I had trouble thinking of a blog name I asked him and his first response was Livin la vida Ricco. Jen and I had a good hard laugh about it and decided it had a ring to it so it's stickin for awhile. Even though the title sounds like it's all about Rick (which he would be flattered about I'm sure,) it is about our entire family so hopefully you will find it entertaining. I promise to keep it crazy and funny and kooky just like our family. So enjoy!