Quote from my sis Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY... "Whatever you give a woman, she will make it greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her crap, be ready to receive a ton of s$%&!"

Sorry, but after being stuck at home with Josh all these days, this one made me laugh!

Update on the boys' igloo/snow cave

Check it out...10 inches of snow in one night! I wanted to update the boys' igloo

that they started a few days ago. It has grown a bunch! Josh is getting the tractor to add

to it. They want a big ice cave that they can sleep in tonight...we will have to

wait and see what it turns into.

Our winter wonderland

Here is our house from the front...

and here it is from the back...

Mitchell, Sally and Shadow walked up to the train trussel to help me get a picture. I realized that I am afraid of heights when it is frozen and windy outside!

Here are the kids yesterday looking for good places to sled...


Josh gave rides back up to the house after we went sledding.


Go Mary! She holds the record so far coming down the middle run. BTW

Crazy Acres has 3 runs for those that want to take their life

into their own hands...You may need to sign a waiver though I can't

handle anymore law suits at this time!

This is the best picture of these two. The other ones were actually quite scary!


So we are still watching movies, doing crafts, texting and hanging out. Some of the kids no longer like each other...I keep telling them Santa is watching but they are starting to not care. Mary told me "Good then he saw Mitchell being mean first and he won't be mad at me for hitting!"
I hope everyone is staying warm and having fun!

Snowman humor

These just cracked me up! It might be the fact

that I have been home so many days with only kids

to visit with and my brain is turning to mush.

What to do when it snows...

Bury your brother (but leave a breathing hole or straw)
Do some crafts with a friend
Bundle up

Eat snow...but only the white stuff!

We have also watched a lot of movies, taught the boys how to sew, texted (Megan), tried to make an igloo, and did lots of sledding! I think I have washed about 4 outfits for each of the little kids each day. They keep coming in wet and frozen. Max came in today crying because he fell through the ice in the creek and his feet were frozen. I asked why he was wearing crocks and he told me that I always make him wear crocks when he plays in the creek! I just keep reminding myself that he is Josh's son...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! I also told him if he did it again his toes would turn black and could fall off. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Our Christmas Bat

The tree this year came into our home on Sunday the 7th. We usually get it the weekend of Thanksgiving and enjoy it all month long.
I told my kids that I wouldn't put up any Christmas stuff until they could clean up after themselves and put away what they get out. So 10 days later we get the tree and I begin to put on lights. The tree is tall...maybe 12 feet. I get the lights on the first time but when I go to plug them in I did it backwards. So I take them off and redo the strands. Plug it in. There are two strands not lit. Take them down replace bulbs. Put them up. The top strand won't light up.
Take it down again trying not to fall from the ladder and I just went to bed. It was too much. Mary was crying because everyone except her had cleaned the house in hopes of decorating a tree. So on Monday I take the lights off and redo all the strands with new bulbs and make sure that they all work but as they are lit up on my lap I can smell a smokey scent and decide that with all our bad luck I wasn't going to put 15+ year strands on our tree and risk our house burning down.
Tuesday I head out to buy new lights. Costco was out, Freddy's only had clear, Target only had pink or purple, the 2nd Target had 3 bulk packages so I grabbed them.
Finally, Tuesday night I get to put the lights on the tree careful to do it so I can plug them in when I get to the bottom, when out comes the scariest bad ever! Kids are screaming, I am tripping over stuff, boys want me to shoot it, pure and total chaos! Look at how big it is...it came inches from dive bombing me as I ran for the door. After the bat left I took the boys to scouts and then came home and at 11:34 on Tuesday night I finally got the lights put on the tree. Only 48 hours after I began.

Trying to get a Christmas Card Photo

Guess what Mary wants for Christmas?

Her 2 front teeth!!!!

Just wanted to do a quick list of things I am thankful for....

My family

My home

My friends

Good Health

My Savior

Knowledge

Life Experiences (Good and Bad)

Health Insurance for when I don't have good health!

Wacky Flossers

Texting

89 cent soda at McD's

Redbox!!!

Music

Just wanted to focus on the positive! I know that I am very blessed and am thankful for the people in my life that inspire and motivate me!

Time for a little change

So now that Halloween is over, I am ready to change up my blog a bit. Since Christmas is just around the corner I thought I would go for the snowflakes. I am working on posters and invites for our ward Christmas party and the Elder's Quorm party and I think I might just get out some decorations and get to town on decorating around the house. I usually wait until Thanksgiving weekend, but if the stores can start putting out Christmas stuff with back to school stuff then I think half way through November will be just fine.

What do you think of this Mountain Dew Redneck tree? Pretty funny! No, it is not going up in my house but I had to laugh when my sister in law sent the link to me...along with directions on how to assemble your own.

The grown up party

Ben and Stacey

Mike and Krista


Josh and Me

Tammy, Jamie, and Jenny

Chris and Jim

Brooke and Nate

Jessica and Guy

Amy and Curtis

Linda and Delbert

So these are the pictures of some of the couples that made it to our Spook Alley. The guys had way too much fun making the woods scary. I couldn't even look at Josh while he was acting crazy and waving a chain saw. I kept waiting for him to trip and cut off someone's arm. I closed my eyes on that part, but was caught totally unaware when Ryan jumped out with a shotgun! I almost wet my pants!

The food was good but the company was great! I wish I would have gotten more pictures of all the costumes there were some really great ones. I had so much fun!

Halloween...

Here are my kiddos on Halloween! We got lots of candy and had a bunch of fun. I will post pictures from the party Josh and I went to on Saturday. It was a lot of fun also!

Our Cursed October

So...some people were wondering about our bad luck last month. Let me tell you a few of the biggies and then you will see why I am so thankful for November!

Oct 2 was a busy day. We had soccer, football, and concession stand to do for the girl's basketball. This was also the day Josh was leaving with the kids to go hunting. As he was loading up the trailer a car pulls up and delivers papers to him. The window washer that fell two years ago is suing us...again. That was the night that the trailer was totalled and the truck smashed. I also got a call this same night and when I returned the call it was a calling to serve in the stake young women's presidency as second counselor. I joked that bad things come in threes. Ha Ha the joke was on me.

This month I hit a deer in Stacey's van....not my van with the scraped bumber but her new van! Josh got a letter from the county telling him to close the track because proper permits were not filed. We got a letter telling us to lisence our dogs or pay a $634 fine. Meg got a ticket, Josh got a ticket, I applied for a job and didn't get it. On Thursday I fought with a friend, Megan was puking, two kids had the runs, we were carving pumpkins when our water in the house quit working. The tank was full and the well was fine, but no running water to flush the toilet or get a washrag wet. These are just the biggie things that stand out right now. I am sure that there was more but I have blocked those things out. I just kept saying my prayers and hanging on in hopes that November will be better. It has to be.

So these are yuckie things of October. I am so happy it is done!

20 years ago...1988
1. I was in High School

2. I lived in Lincoln City with my mom and my two brothers

3. I was playing volleyball and working as a waitress at Salishan Lodge

10 years ago...1998
1. I lived in Hillsboro, OR in our house on 33rd Ct

2. Was in the Brookwood Ward (which I LOVED!)

3. Mitchell was only 11 months old. He had 3 inhalers that he needed and I color coded them so I could remember what I was doing. Megan was only 6. She was in first grade and was losing her teeth at an alarming rate because she wanted money!

4. Josh had sold probably less than 5 containers of nails and thought the clock in the office was incredibly loud.

5. I was teaching 2 sessions of kindergarten every day and had a total of 56 students, and I pumped breast milk in the corner of my classroom in the dark between the morning and afternoon classes.

5 years ago...2003

1. I had 4 kids and lived in our little trailer in Buxton.

2. Mary was one year old...Max was 3 and in preschool...Mitch was 5 and in kindergarten... Megan was 11 and getting ready to join young womens.

3. Josh had sold a bazzzillion containers of nails and never checked the clock to see if he should maybe come home.

4. I didn't work in the schools, but always seemed just as tired as when I took care of 56 students even though I only had to worry about 4.

3 years ago...2005
1. We were one month away from excavating for our house.

1 year ago...2007

1. I was loving being the nursery leader.

2. I was subbing for Mary's preschool.

So far this year....2008
1. I started this blog

2. I read the Twilight Series and other grown up books!

3. Started substituting at my kids' schools.

Yesterday I...
1. Went to the gym and got my butt kicked.

2. Dropped by and visited with Chris and Krista, two of my sweet sister in laws.

3. Rented 2 movies from the Redbox.

Today I...
1. Need to find one of the movies so I can return them

2. Need to finish the laundry and ironing.

3. Have Max's football banquet.

4. Signed up to sell Arbonne.

5. Went to the gym.

Tomorrow I will...
1. Get my visiting teaching done before the end of the month!

2. Help out at Mary's Halloween party.

3. Take dogs to get their Rabies shot.

4. Go to the gym.

In the next year I will....
1. Attend the temple more often.

2. Renew my teaching license.

3. Get out of debt.

4. Lose weight.

Today is the day my "good luck" starts! I hope! So I will post some good news very soon.

Coming Soon

Loralee did a cute post and I want to do it also...but I have no time today. So coming soon, I will post info about me 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago...you get it!

I am excited to give it some thought and look for some pictures...

This year we went to the pumpkin patch for Mary's 6th birthday. We did a combined party with the Wolfe's since Jack and Mary have the same birthday. It was so fun to be with a large group at the pumpkin patch. The kids had a blast on the train, on the boat, in the hay and out in the field. I loved it so much more than Chuck E Cheese or any of the usual places we have done in the past. Of course if it had been pouring down rain, I would not be saying this!

Taking pictures at the pumpkin patch and the tulip festival are my 2 favorite things to do. I love that my husband and kids humor me and are willing subjects. I always go into it reminding them of all the things I do for them all year and the only thing I ask is that they be pleasant and clean for pictures twice a year. Sometimes I have had to yell this message to them on the brink of tears... however, it has always worked!

Me and Josh!

Check out this handsome boy. I give him crap about having long hair so much, but then I see a picture like this and he is just so darn cute. I love that he has his own style and doesn't let me influence it...no matter how hard I try. He is a good boy with a huge heart and our family is so much better because he is in it!
Me and my BFF Tonya....I love this girl!

Josh's Crash

Dan sent me pictures from Josh's crash last week. It happened on his way out of town with Megan, Mitchell, and Max. They were leaving to go hunting and were in an accident that shut down the highway. It totalled the trailer for sure and we are still waiting to find out about the truck. Megan re-injured her shoulder, but no one else was hurt. I was so scared when Josh called to tell me what had happened. It was phone call I never ever want to get again!

And I do need to say thank you to so many friends that called to check on us and offer help to us if we need it. We are blessed with great friends!