Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The 3rd Time...


The 3rd time was the charm for us this year getting our Christmas tree. Our original plan was to go lastnight so we all headed out for the adventure. Our first stop was Shopko so that each of the kids could pick out a new ornament (one of our fun traditions). With that task accomplished we headed outside and found it was lightning, thundering, hailing, snowing, etc. We decided to wait until today. It snowed off and on today but it was ok (just really cold!) this evening so we headed to our usual tree lot. We have gotten our tree at the same lot for the last few years, but this year found their prices were greatly increased. We didn't really want to spend $60, especially for just an ok tree. So we loaded the kids, who were very concerned we were leaving without a tree, into the car and headed to another tree lot. Yeah!!! We found a great tree for a great price! We were all excited to finally have found our tree and to get out of the cold and to go home and start decorating. The decorating is always a bit caotic, but fun. The kids love it! We think the tree turned out perfect!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

My Boys


Here is a picture of my crazy boys! They are all into cars and especially Mustangs, like their dad. I found this cool Mustang racing game for the PlayStation2 and I knew they, as well as Mike, would enjoy it. They have never really been into video games which is good, but they do love to play this one! Also, notice their hair. Noah wanted a haircut but Cole didn't. They said that way they look different and people can tell them apart. I don't know how long I will let Cole's get, he says he is not going to cut it until the spring.

My Girls



I haven't posted any pictures recently so I wanted to add some. Here is one of my cute girls in their matching pj's. They love each other so much, I love watching Rylee help Jenna and play with her and make her happy. If Jenna is upset with me and Mike's not home she cries for Rylee. I hope their close relationship continues their whole life. I know it will change and grow, I just hope they continue to appreciate each other and enjoy each other's company. The other picture is one of Jenna having a "few" donut holes, her favorite treat besides chocolate. Every time we go to the grocery store she likes to get some. She usually eats them while we are shopping which is nice for me because she'll sit still in the cart. This night she wanted some for a treat before bed, she assured me she could eat all of these. She took at least one bite out of each one, so I guess she thinks she ate them all.

Another Movie and Aida

It seems that we go in spurts of going to movies or not. We have definitely been on an on spurt lately. Mike & I went to see the premier(yes I got free tickets again) of Dejavu (new movie with Densel Washington) on Monday night with some friends. It was a great movie: good story, intense, sad, funny, it had it all and it was clean. We all enjoyed it.
One of our local high schools, Woods Cross (where our kids will go if we stay here), has an incredible drama department and always puts on wonderful musicals, plays, etc. This year they have been doing Aida and Rylee really wanted to see it. I thought we had missed it but found out yesterday that it was the lastnight. So I took Ry and two of her best friends, Daisy and Mandy, to go. It was amazing! I really enjoyed it and can not believe the voices these kids have. I kept having to remind myself that they are only 16 or 17, amazing! The girls really liked it too. Rylee got really excited when some of the ensemble cast was doing back tucks and back handsprings.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Craft Day

Yesterday I got together with a few of my friends and we crafted! It was so much fun. We all made different projects mostly with vinyl lettering. I got all my neighbor gifts and some other Christmas gifts all done. I can't post any pictures because it would ruin Christmas for some of you. Anyway, it was a blast to hang out all day with friends and do something crafty, which I am not that great at but am trying. Luckily the weather was beautiful, the kids all played together outside most of the day. So they had fun too with their friends. Thanks Katie for letting us invade your home and for the great idea of doing it all together!

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Busy Life

Well, the last few days I have been working on putting my blog posts (which I printed a few months ago) into a book as a family journal and have realized it has been a week since I added a new post. Life has just been busy crazy normal life around here.
Last week the kids had their Parent Teacher Conferences. All of their teachers told us they were a joy to have in class, well behaved, great friends to others, and doing well in their learning as well. They all have wonderful teachers which makes it so much easier. I am there once a week for each class which I love. I get to know the teacher and other class members as well as being aware of what is going on. In our school district grades are 4,3,2,or 1 instead of A,B,C,etc. Rylee had all 4's except social behavior which was 2.25. I was not shocked at all when her teachers (she has 2) told me she liked to talk. I wonder where she gets it! ;-) Anyway, I told her if she got it up to 3.5 I would give her $10. They all love school and their teachers and are doing well.
I have been trying for a few months to teach Jenna to spell her name. Everytime I would ask her she would just spew of some letters. I figured I don't need to stress about it and then last week I was scrapbooking a page about her. I showed her her name and now she wants to spellit for everyone. The only letter she can't remember is the "J". As soon as I tell her the "J" she can spell the rest. She is very proud of herself. We have been playing a lot of Dora Candyland lately and Jenna doesn't even get too upset when she loses.
Mike & I have been a couple fun date nights, which we haven't been good about doing on a regular basis until recently. One night we saw the movie The Prestige, which we both loved. One of the best movies we have seen in quite some time. This last Saturday we had a whole day together. We went and had massages, ate some really yummy BBQ (if you want some good, southern BBQ try Sugarhouse BBQ), saw the movie Stranger than Fiction (another good one), and got ice cream at my favorite place, ColdStone. We left at 12:30 in the afternoon and when we got home about 8 p.m. Michelle (babysitter) had the kids all bathed, in pj's, and in a bed made on the floor downstairs (their favorite weekend reward). It was really nice!
Our weather over the last week or so has gone from beautiful to cold! We even had a little dusting of snow on the ground this morning. Of course the kids were excited, Jenna ate snow (gross, dirty snow) everytime we went somewhere today. I just don't think I am ready for the cold and snow, but I will adjust just like every year.
I started a kickboxing class on Monday. I have never done kickboxing and really liked it. A friend of mine is teaching it and other friends are taking the class too. It was hard and I was a little sore today, but not too bad. I am excited to go tomorrow (I never thought I would be excited to excercise). One of my friends had the idea of doing a 10 pound challenge with each other. So we are going to do weigh ins once a week and keep track of what we eat and have our own little support group. The first one to lose 10 pounds gets lunch on the others. I have been so lazy the last few months with excercising and bad eating. I keep putting off trying to get in shape and so was excited to try this.
Well, that is what has been going on around here, besides the normal school, work, gymnastics, piano (I am taking lessons now as well as Ry), church, homework, play, etc.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Industrious Kids

This afternoon the kids wanted to walk down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I told them they could go but only to stay for a few minutes and then walk home. Awhile later Mike's dad called to tell me he had put them to work. They share their backyard with my friend, Katie, and she has a big chestnut tree that drops a ton of chestnuts. Bob told the kids he would pay them 2 cents for each nut they picked up. Rylee tried to talk him into 5 cents, but he said no deal, 2 cents is it. So about an hour later they called to say they were done and had earned $7.00 between the four of them. They were so excited and so were Grandma and Grandpa to have their yard cleaned up! Then they talked Grandma into making them mac and cheese for dinner, which was nice for Mike & I. We had a quiet dinner just the 2 of us at home before we had to go get the kids. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Funny Kids

Sometimes the kids say the funniest things and crack us up! A lot of times, especially lately, it happens at dinner. We all share our best and worst part of the day and the kids love it. Some days they want to go first because they are so excited to tell, other times they have to really think about what they want to share. The other night Noah was so excited to tell his best part (he didn't have a worst that day). This is what he said was his best part of the day: "Chasing the girls at 2nd and last recess." And he said it with a huge smile on his face. We asked what he did if he caught them and he said nothing. Rylee wanted to know if he kissed them like she use to do when she caught boys at recess. He said no way! Mike keeps telling the boys that girls have cooties and the only way to catch them is to kiss them so I think we are ok with them for now at least. Mike & I were laughing so hard!