I've been nice!

Christmas was wonderful this year! When things slow down and the kids are back in school, I'll post some pictures, but thought I'd share a funny tidbit from Christmas. All season long, I've been using the "you'd better be good, so you can make the nice list" threat to help my kids behave better. I think Kristen was the one to really take it seriously, and she more than once asked me if I thought she was going to get coal in her stocking. I reassured her and told her to be a good girl and she would be okay.

Well, on Christmas Eve, we have a get together with my mom's side of the family with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. The kids watch out the window for Santa and he comes and brings a sack full of gifts for all the kids. As they were being handed out, Kristen anxiously waited for her name to be called. As soon as she was handed her gift, she said to me, "Mom, I'm Nice!" Seriously, I thought she might cry with joy. She had been really worried!

So, now that Christmas is over, the question is, what can I use or say to help my darlings stay on the nice list? It only seems to be effective between Thanksgiving and Christmas!

My Baking Boys!

The other evening, the boys were bored, so I gave them an assignment, to put the over ripe bananas to good use and make banana bread. They gladly accepted and turned to Nathan's favorite banana bread recipe from a cookbook his school put together a couple of years ago. Those that know Nathan well, know that he is becoming quite the cook/baker! Like his mother, he can look through recipe books for hours and think about all the delicious food he can make. On Saturday mornings, he likes to take orders for breakfast and especially loves to spoil his dad with his creations! And, usually, they turn out amazing!

So, the boys made the bread from scratch with pretty much no help at all until it came to clean up. Unfortunatley, they still lack those skills! Here are the happy bakers.

And here they are showing off the finished product. They made enough for us to enjoy, their teachers, my sister, and Nathan's scout leader. Good job guys, you're awesome!!

Kindergarten Feast

Every year, the kindergarten classes celebrate Thanksgiving by singing fun Thanksgiving songs to their families and then having a huge feast complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and zucchini bread. The kids are encouraged to dress up as if they were going out to dinner. Kristen had such a fun time. The food was delicious and the songs were adorable.

Each child made a special turkey handprint placemat.

We had a wonderful morning and I am thankful for all the hard work that the teachers and parents put into making such special events for the kids!!

Brutally Honest!

Lately, my kids have been brutally honset with me. It's funny how as you get older, you learn to have some tact, but young kids tell it like they see it. Unfortunatley, as a mother, I sometimes get the grunt of it. Kristen often tells me how squishy my tummy is, and though I wish I could say "it is not!", she's right. And I still remember at the end of my pregnancy with Kristen, Nathan asked me if I had boobs on my back since my back had gained a good amount of weight. At the time, it nearly sent me into tears. Of course, now I can laugh at it.
Well, they've done it again! Last week I was getting ready to go to master's swim at the gym and was walking around in my swim suit. The kids were home for Veteran's Day. Grant saw me in my sawim suit and all of the sudden said "Aaggh" as if I was a scary sight. Less than a minute later, Kristen walked down the hall and innocently asked, "Mom, why is your butt all wiggly?" Could the two have planned it any better? Brutally honest! Needless to say, I decided to take the cinnamon rolls I'd made that morning to the gym and share them with my fellow swimmers rather than eat them all myself and make my butt more wiggly!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year! The kids started the weekend with Trunk R Treat on Friday evening, and went out Trick R Treating on Saturday with my sister's kids. Needless to say, we have more candy than we could ever need. But it's been fun watching the kids as they sort it and trade it. They take this candy stuff pretty seriously.

Kristen wanted to be a princess. While I was at the thrift store, I found this outfit for $5 in perfect shape. I couldn't pass it up, so I convinced her she could be an Asian princess. We went out to the Asian market and picked up a pair of chop sticks for her hair and Wishing Well had this paper umbrella. Her favorite part though, was wearing makeup.

Grant wanted to be something with a weapon. Nathan had been an army guy a couple of years ago, so Chris made him this bazooka (sp?) and Grant suddenly became enthusiastic about being an army guy. Of course, Chris was the one who ended up carrying the big thing as the kids trick or treated.

Nathan said the entire month that he didn't want to dress up. We had vetoed anything gross or gory and he's getting to the age where it's not as cool to be a character. We told him that if he wanted to go out trick or treating he would have to dress up as something. This is what he came up with, an injured skater. A few people asked him what he was. I mentioned that he was lucky that he went out with some cute, dressed up kids, otherwise, people might not have wanted to give him candy. Next year, we'll have to get more creative!

And once again, Grant refuses to smile. He cracks us up with his grumpiness.

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

We had a great Friday evening at the pumpkin patch with our friends, Dale & Melanie and their boys! Grant had been invited to a birthday party that evening and had chosen to go to that instead of come with us. We missed him, but he had a great evening as well.

We started the evening with a ride on their train. The kids loved it!

Nathan enjoyed helping David dig in the dirt.

Nathan is my little (maybe I should say big) monkey. Here he is up high in the treehouse.


The petting zoo was so much fun! At first, Kristen was very nervous about the goats. They were quite aggressive about getting the food from kids' hands. Here is Kristen protecting her handful the only way she knew how.

But she soon got the hang of it and enjoyed feeding the goats, particularly the baby goats.

Here's our animal lover, Nathan with a little one on his lap. He kept trying to eat his shirt.

Out in the patch picking pumpkins.

Our family, minus Grant. The sunset was gorgeous!!

It was getting dark, so we put Kristen out with her thumb to hitch us a hay ride back.

It worked, and we headed back after a fun evening with friends! Happy Fall!!

Space Derby

This year instead of the raingutter regata, Nathan's pack decided to do a space derby. It was new to us all and interesting to watch. The kids had to wind their propellers 100 times, so each heat took longer than usual. Overall, it was fun and Nathan's spaceship did well.

In this video, Nathan's is the red that won the heat. Go Nathan!!

Conference Weekend at Dillon Beach

We were fortunate to be able to spend conference weekend with my parents and sisters' family at Dillon Beach this fall. Usually I work on the weekends, so this was a special treat! The kids were excited to go to the ocean, but even more excited to spend the weekend with their cousins. We watched conference, played a little at the beach and just relaxed away from home. It was great not getting calls, or feeling compelled to get things done at home!

Here's Kristen ready to walk down to the beach and have some fun. She is my enthusiastic girl!

Grant can't help but smile at the beach, especially when with his cousins!

It was super windy. I think that's why Nathan's face looks like this.

He really was having a fun time!


I was all bundled up and still chilly. Amazingly, it didn't stop the kids from getting in the water.

My sister, her hubby and Chris trying to stay out of the wind by clinging to the rocks.

Kristen kept getting sand in her eyes, so she tried to wear my sunglasses.

This is her "rock star" look!

Sunday morning the wind had died down significantly and the sun was shining so we snuck down to the beach again in between conferences.

There are deer everywhere! This is me taking a oicture of the house next door from the back patio. They are so used to people that they aren't as shy as they should be.

This buck just hanging out cracked me up. He could care less that I took his picture. He reminded me of a dog just trying to rest in the shade.

Fall Performance

Every year, the kids' school puts on a Fall Performance. A theme is chosen and each grade level sings a song to go along with the theme. The theme this year was "American History". They all wear matching shirts. It is something I look forward to every year!

Kristen was very excited. She has been coming every year to watch her brothers and she could finally be part of the show! She sang a song about Christopher Columbus discovering America. It was darling!!
This is typical Grant. He did not want his picture taken.

He couldn't hide from this one! Grant sang a song about Paul Revere. He was so funny because he would not smile or even look at us. It was serious business for him!

And here's Nathan. He took off before I could get a nice posed shot, but was able to get one of him during the finale. His class sang about Neil Armstrong.

It was such a fun evening and we finished it off by going out to frozen yogurt with grandma.

Nathan gets his Bear

Nathan recently got his patch for completing the bear level of cub scouts. Way to go Nathan!

Nathan pinning me with the bear pin, a little scary.

Doing a skit with his fellow webelos. They are quite talented.

Grandma & Grandpa Come For a Visit

Chris's parents came for a visit in September and it was enjoyed by all. Kristen especially has an attachment to her grandpa. Here she is posing with them right before going for a swim.
Julie's family came over and some of the girls enjoyed a serious game of Go Fish.

Kristen has shown an interest in photography and so I will often find my camera loaded with pictures I didn't take. She had fun one afternoon taking pictures of grandpa.

Sanity Restored; Back to School

So, today was the day. The most wonderful day of the year. The universe, at least my universe, is in order once again. Oh yes, it was the first day of school. After a summer of kids, mine as well as most of the kids in my neighborhood at my house, it was quiet. For 3 1/2 hours. Ahhhh.

Here is Kristen posing very nicely for her 1st day of kindergarten. She was so excited, and you can see that I was too!
Grant ready for 2nd grade. Couldn't convince him to change out of the high waters. I did however go shopping for some longer ones while he was at school.

Nathan confident that 5th grade will be great!

All lined up and ready to go

And another one, because the first day of school only comes once a year! They were complaining about pictures by this one.

Grant in line to go to class.

At his new desk. I didn't get any of Nathan because he took off when we got to the school and wanted to be on his own. I guess that he is a fifth grader.

This is me being a dork and pondering..... what to do now that the house is empty. A chick flick? Some brownies and a nap? Reading blogs all morning? Okay, so I really didn't waste my morning away, though it was tempting. Instead I did laundry, vacuumed, cleaned up the kitchen and swam laps at the gym. By then, my time was up and I was ready to have my day filled with giggles and the chitter chatter of little Kristen.

So, I picked her up and snapped a quick one with her new teacher. She had a great day, and so did the boys! They all love their teachers and I love being on a schedule and the small chunk of time I have to get things done. It's a win win situation for us!!

Bathing Beauties

So, Kristen may not have sisters, but she has lots of cousins and she loves them! We had many of her cousins over one afternoon to swim and she was very excited to wear her matching swim suit. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures. They looked so cute.
The girls were happy to show off their muscles. I love how Julia's face is scrunched up in her effort to really flex that bicep! What fun to live so close to cousins!!