Zims Hot Springs

Our last family activity at my parents house was to go to Zim's Hot Springs. It is a very interesting experience to go swimming while it is snowing. I was grateful that I had left Ava with one of my mom's neighbors because she would have never lasted while swiming. The kids had a blast, and stayed in the pool for a long time. We finally had to convince the last few to get out. The kids thought it was funny to get out, sit in the snow and the jump back in the water. They also enjoyed throwing snow balls at each other. Amber started it, and had the most snowballs thrown at her. After swimming we had a picnic in their lounge area. Then Grandpa gave all the kids a dollar in quarters and they got to play games with them. Owen thought it was great. We put a quarter in the riding toy, and it never turned off. All the little kids got to ride it for quite awhile. Thanks for the fun time Grandpa and Grandma!

Oh Christmas Tree!

While we were at my parents house we got to cut our Christmas tree like we do every Thanksgiving we are there. This year with all the snow we loaded up the snowmobiles, and headed up to the forest. Claire and Owen went with us, but were ready to go in a little while because they were "cold." They had fun though, and Owen was so proud of our tree. It is always a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Thanksgiving Fun

We always have a lot of fun at Thanksgiving with my family. This year was not short on fun. We started our day with family pictures (my mom made all the girls their cute dresses the day before!! AMAZING!). Then we worked on dinner and of course ate appetizers. There was lots of football watching, and the traditional game playing. We taught Chad how to play pinocchole during the summer so we played a few games of that. Of course we had our wonderful, beautiful Thanksgiving dinner, followed by our after dinner entertainment of Heather playing the water glasses, and of course the kids piling on Aunt Amber. It is always fun to spend time together and enjoy each others company and of course laugh, which we do well!

Thanksgiving Aprons

My mom surprised each of her daughters and their oldest daughter with a matching apron for Thanksgiving this year. It was so much fun, and the girls loved matching their moms, and we thought it was fun too. Thanks mom for working so hard for us. We love them!!

Ava 6 months old

Miss Ava Jean is 6 months old. She is starting to try to sit, and loves to eat. She can roll from her tummy to her front, but just can't make it over her arm from her front to her back. She doesn't like to be on her tummy, but loves to jump. She can often be found in her jumparoo or her exersaucer. She is very happy, and loved by everyone. She is sleeping most of the night, and usually wakes up about 5:00 to eat and goes right back to bed. I just stopped nursing her except once a day, and she is doing great. She already has both her brothers in the palm of her hand, so I think she will be well taken care of when she is older.

Snowmobiling

It is not very often that my parents have enough snow at their house to play in it, especially not at Thanksgiving. This year we were extra lucky. However, it was cold!! Our first day there the kids begged to go on a 4 wheeler ride. Claire and Owen had no problem bundling up, but Grant was another story. I managed to get boots, snow pants, and a jacket on him, but he would have nothing to do with the gloves. We figured we would only be gone a few minutes because it was so cold. However we were gone long enough that for the next few days he cried and wouldn't touch anything. About a week after we were home his fingers actually peeled. I felt so bad!! Regardless of all the snow and cold on Thanksgiving day Chad bundled up and a few brave kids too and he pulled them behind the snowmobiles. Claire, Brittany and Parker had a great time. It was fun to watch them from the window.

Cookies

Owen loves to cook!! When we got to my parents house Amber wanted to make cookies and she had a helper right away with Owen. He was so proud of himself and brought me a cookie as soon as they were finished.

Cascade Idaho

When we left for Thanksgiving in White Bird, it was snowing. We made it to Boise with actually good roads. We stopped at our friends the Turgooses for dinner, and then I had to run a few errands. I made Chad promise that before we left in the snow that he had to promise me that if the roads were bad we would stay the night in Boise. He decided that the roads were just fine, so we loaded everyone up in the car and we left for our next destination. I was nervous. I hate riding on slick roads, but Chad is very capable. After driving for just about 3 hours we made it to Cascade. You might remember that we used to live in Cascade, but we had never thought we would stay there again. Well, Chad had had enough of my telling him to be careful, and the roads were bad so we decided to stay. The nicest hotel in town was empty, but they would not come down on their price, so we stayed at a ma and pa little place. The bed was terrible, but it worked out just fine. The next day Owen wanted something out of the car, and we told him that we weren't going to get it. He decided that he would do it himself. Lets just say that he didn't make it that far. We left in the morning and had a slow go all the way to my parents house. The owner of the in had to actually dig us out of the parking lot. We did get to stop and have breakfast in McCall at the Pancake House which was yummy. We told the kids that this would be their vacation for the year. They thought it was great fun!

Owen's Preschool Feast

Owen was very excited for his preschool feast this year. They got to make an apple turkey, then a necklace and do a couple other activities. The kids worked very hard practicing a play and a couple of songs. Owen was a pilgrim who said "Many years ago the pilgrims came to America. They sailed on a big ship called the Mayflower." He did a great job. It is always hard for him to be good because his mom is the teacher, and it easy to be ornery for your mom but once he got into it, he did a great job. He was so grateful that his dad could come.

Ava 6 Months

Little Miss Ava is growing up so fast. She is so much fun to be around, and according to the pictures you can tell how much fun her siblings have with her. She is just starting food, and likes fruit, but is not a big fan on vegetables, especially green vegetables. She can roll from her tummy to her back, but has no desire to do anything else. She is starting to try to sit, but she gets so excited about everything that she is always rocking back and forth so she is always falling over. I just hope that she doesn't decide to start moving before Christmas. She is still sleeping about 9 hours, wakes up, eats, and then goes right back to sleep. Hopefully this pattern will continue.

THANK YOU!!

Let me start off by describing our lives right now. Since Chad quit his job this summer, we have worked hard to make ends meet. Thankfully we have been very blessed. I worried for months before we made the big jump, but so far so good. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to teach 30 preschool kids. I'm not going to lie, it is hard some days because I would rather spend more time with my kids, but it is paying the bills, so I can't complain to hard!! I work Monday and Wednesday mornings, and then I have 2 classes on Tuesday and Thursdays. They are great kids and have wonderful parents who are so supportive. That always helps. Then there is my other job at the Holt Arena. I call that my fun mom time job. The ladies I work with are so fun to be around. We talk about our kids and families, and of course make lots of comments on what people are wearing. Football season has been crazy. It usually works out well, but Chad got his new job driving bus, and it has been tough. I have thought about giving it up, but it is our Christmas money, and right now every little bit helps. Before Chad was driving bus, he was working Saturday morning helping deliver Bountiful Baskets, and then cleaning at the Holt Area after events. That was crazy because he would work late Friday night until about 2:00, then have to be up at 4:30 to deliver baskets, be home around 12:00, sleep, and then go back to the Holt Arena about 6:30. I had to work during the day, and find a place for the kids. All I have to say is a big THANK YOU to those who have helped me. It hasn't been easy. Chad's mom is wonderful, she calls me every Friday to make sure the kids are taken care of. She has met me a countless number of times to pick up the kids. She has fed us dinner, and made my life much easier. Chad's brothers and sisters have also helped us so much. You guys are awesome, and I hope you know how much I appreciate it. I also need to say thank you to my wonderful friends Emma and Jodie. They have helped me when I am in a pinch. Last weekend I only had to work for a few hours, so I just got a babysitter, who called me 45 minutes before I had to be to work and told me she was sick. I went into panic mode, and called my mom crying (everyone has their breaking point right??) not like she could help me. Thankfully these two ladies stepped in to help me. Emma even took my two oldest to the movies.

Now Chad still works Saturday mornings delivering baskets, and then comes home for 30 minutes to eat and shower, and then is gone. He works a few evenings a week, and is at school most of the other times. We don't see each other much, but when we do see dad, we are all very excited. WE love Sundays and are looking forward to Thanksgiving and a break from school.

Things are going great, and I never thought I would say that I am this busy, but man we are busy. Maybe in a couple of years life will slow down a little bit. So here's the question, does anyone want to watch 4 kids this Saturday. I just thought I'd throw it out there now to see if there are any takers.

Crafting Mania

The past couple of months I have been looking at a lot of crafting blogs. I am addicted!! I see these things and think I can do that, so I try. It has been so hard to finish some projects because our Jo Anns (only fabric store in town), is moving to another store so for the past few months they haven't got any new merchandise (who does that before Halloween), so next week when they open I am there! Here are a few things I have made.

My friend had a craft night. This was one of them. They are two sided, so both projects are on the same pieces of wood. I thought that was so clever.
This was another project from that night. It was so much fun to make. The other side has Thanksgiving words.
I made Ava some booties before she was born, but they are now to small. I decided it was time to make her some more. They are so easy to make, and so much fun.

I have been working on Ava's room. Here are a few pictures. When I get everything done, I will post more. The butterfly picture frame was soooo easy. I just cut butterflies with my mom's cricket and then found a frame at DI and spray painted it. Then I just measured out and placed the butterflies. I love the way it turned out.
I found the instructions for this shirt, and this is the second one I have made. They are way easy, but a little time consuming. I'm think of trying one with some tulle next time, and maybe two toned. I can't decide.

Joe Cool

I looked outside yesterday while the boys were cleaning up the flowers in the front yard. This is what I saw.

Grant just sat there and watched them work like he was supervising. I love that the glasses are 1 pink, and 2 upside down. Man he is growing up so fast.