NUTCRACKER-AYLEXIE

Aylexie danced last night in the Nutcracker with The Academy of Washington State Ballet. She worked hard on her parts of: candy & palace attendant. She was a little disappointed because at the last minute, they decided not to let the palace attendants dance with their pointe shoes. They just looked a little nervous and didn't want anyone to get hurt. I told her it would give her something to look forward to next year! She's dancing two shows today. Thanks everyone, for coming and supporting her! She was all smiles, as usual!

GINGERBREAD HOUSES WITH THOMAS

Thomas decorating his gingerbread house...

I teach preschool to 8 adorable kids. I have the best job ever! I'm also lucky to have Thomas in my class this year. All the kids were SO excited to be able to decorate gingerbread houses. They had a ton of fun-especially tasting the frosting and eating candy!

I hot melt glued the graham crackers to milk cartons then glued them down to the platter. For anyone who's thinking of doing this fun project, the easy way to make the frosting is to combine a can of white frosting with an equal amount of powdered sugar. I then put them in ziploc baggies and cut the corner for them to apply. They LOVED it! We added "snow" with coconut on top of the frosting! What FUN!

#233 PLAYING HER FIRST BASKETBALL GAME!!!

Ashley had her 1st game against Jefferson. She's on the 7th Grade JV team. She is having a lot of fun and learning a lot. Jeff's been taking her to the gym at church when the weather is yucky to work on many skills-we've also utilized our backyard court! She lost her first game, but won her third game tonight against Geiser!

Way to go, Ashley!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #35!!!

Mattie getting warm while Dad, Mom, Jeff & I play pinochle
Singing "Happy Birthday"...Mattie really does sing along! It's hilarious!

Thomas giving me his present he wrapped all by himself...

He bought a beautiful necklace for me!

Ashley bought me 2 basketball glass ornaments, Jeff captured her expression as I was opening it, but she got it on video, thankfully!

Mom & Dad got me a Jane Austin book!...All ready for winter reading!

Aylexie picked out a cute WSU shirt!

Jeff bought me a beautiful shirt and sweater to keep me warm.

I know I got spoiled, but I had such a fun Birthday! I was SO surprised to have Mom & Dad ring my doorbell and surprise me for the weekend. That was the best present ever! Mom and I went to see Twilight! I LOVED IT! We played pinochle on Friday & Saturday night! It's my favorite card game! Mom and I love to beat Dad & Jeff! Mom helped me make my favorite dinner-Thanksgiving food. We brined the turkey, baked pies, made stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy! YUM! I really did have a fabulous day! Thanks, Jeff for being such a great husband and TOTALLY surprising me!

Evening of Excellence

Ashley-practicing her piano song to play at Evening of Excellence
Isn't she beautiful?

I can't believe my little girl is growing up. She's in Young Women's and was so excited to be a part of this special evening at church. She turned 12 last June and got to set a goal to present at this event. She worked VERY hard on her piano piece "Mussett in D Minor" by Bach.

All the girls were asked to wear a fancy dress-either borrowed or purchased at Desseret Industries. It was very hard to find something that is modest! I definately do NOT look forward to prom! I got her all ready...isn't she a princess?

That night, they talked our Bishop talked about the beauty that is found everywhere this time of year (fall). But, he also added that the beauty of fall doesn't even compare to the beauty that he saw before him in the YW that night. They were all modest and were truly Daughters of God.

It's a hard thing for youth to stand up for something today. But, Ashley knows who she is, knows her family loves her and has such a strong radiant testimony. I'm lucky to have her for a daughter.

Halloween 2008

Ashley & Aylexie digging out the pumpkin seeds...
Thomas watching...(read comments for further info.)

Jeff pulling out "guts".

Jeff deciding weather or not to use a knife, or use his power tools...

Okay-here we go!

Not too bad! (Thomas is pretty proud of himself!)

Ashley giving it a try-it's a lot quicker!

Here's their fancy skill saw pumpkins!

AWE-How cute?!

Okay, we were pretty busy in October and decided on Thursday evening, October 30th that we had better carver our pumpkins! Thomas is hilarious! Every SINGLE year, when he puts his hands inside the pumpkin to clean it out, he throws up...I think his poor stomach cannot handle the feeling of those slimy little seeds! He did get very excited when Jeff pulled out his skill saw to get the job done very quickly! It actually worked great! I would recommend to make this an outside project for those of you who are considering it! Ashley thought it was great and took a stab at it. The pumpkins turned out great!

Ashley thought she was too old to go trick-or-treating this year, so she stayed home and handed out candy. I got to take Thomas and Aylexie around our neighborhood with Jeff. It was a beautiful evening-no rain, and not too cold! Aren't they the cutest little fireman and eskimo you have ever seen?

GOODBYE RUBY...

I think I've cried more over this silly dog than I have in a while! I wish I would've done more homework about puppies and labs in general. She was HYPER! She also had a serious chewing problem. After chewing up my favorite reclining chair (the one that I absolutely LOVE to relax in during summer), constant digging, chewing up a garden hose, eating rocks and chewing the sprinkler attachment of the hose (the kind that fire departments use that are supposedly indestructable). The weekend before Halloween, I went to Everett to spend some time with Mom and Dad and called Jeff to see how his 2-10 page papers were coming along and also to check on Ruby. He replied very enthusiastically-"She's having TONS of fun!" I said, "really?" His response was "Yes, honey-she dug up your sprinkler lines I planted in all your flower pots and chewed them all up!" UGH! But wait, it does get better. The final straw was when she started chewing on the air conditioner lines. ($3,000) I couldn't justify keeping a dog who simply wouldn't listen-I understand puppies, but honestly, she wouldn't obey! EVERY time we went to play with her outside, she would constantly jump up on us-she got so big that her paws would land right on my chest! UGH! We tried bitter apple spray, treats, MANY walks and finally swatting her nose to tell her to get down, but she just couldn't grasp the idea. The day before the air conditioner episode, she had dug in the garden and must've found her poop we burried and got it all over her. I gave her a bath and she was NOT happy with me. She rolled in the dirt and came and jumped all over me.



Now, I must admit that I was totally smitten by this dog. She had me wrapped around her "paws" (Actually, I loved her soft ears!). We talked to the kids and obviously they were very sad about her, but understood why she wasn't a good fit for our family. The night before I had to take her back, I held her in my lap and sobbed and gave her several treats. She broke my heart when she in turn licked my tears away and then started JUMPING on me!



Which leads me to why I haven't blogged since we got her....we've been busy! But, now I hope to have a little more time to focus on my kids and start taking more pictures!

WELCOME RUBY...

Ashley couldn't believe we FINALLY got a dog...

Well, we finally did it...we got a puppy!

(Not quite as small as some puppies, but she's definately a puppy!)

I went to the Humane Society and found her and instantly fell in love. Jeff & I decided to surprise the kids because we told them we were NEVER going to get a dog. Aylexie and Thomas got home from school first and couldn't believe she was ours. Ashley fell down beside her and started hugging and kissing her and said "I've finally got a friend who will always spend the night with me and be there for me"...(her best friend, Brianna, moved to Arizona and she's really been down lately.) She has certainly brought a lot of joy to our home and will continue to add some silliness and energy! Thomas thought she was way too hyper the 2nd day (she had been spayed the morning I brought her home) and he asked me if she could get some more medicine. :) Wish us luck!

This one brought me to tears...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFibyjcyYsE

I don't share my testimony often, but I know that music really touches me right to the core. I love the song "His Hands". I've even sung it in church a couple of times in sacrament meeting. But I'm constantly touched everytime I hear this song.

I have a very simple testimony and I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. I am SO grateful to have the knowledge that I have a Heavenly Father who knows me and for a living Prophet (Thomas S. Monson) to guide me and help me to live a better life. I am EXTREMELY grateful to have a wonderful husband who loves me dearly and children who aren't perfect :) but love me even when my patience is wearing thin. I am blessed to have been sealed in the temple to my sweatheart for time and all eternity and know that I will be with him after we leave this earth and that my children will be with me also.

I think my testimony makes me who I am and hopefully makes me radiate something special.

TWILIGHT!!!

HOOLA-HOOPING

Thomas was showing me how he could hoola-hoop and I thought you all should see this! He's quite good!

1ST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Ashley 7th Grade-Thomas Kindergarten & Aylexie 5th Grade





Thomas was watching them take Aylexie to school...
Waiting for the afternoon Kindergarten bus.
Waiting more (35 minutes!)...
My big boy going off to school...

I can't believe they're all in school. It's such a strange feeling not having someone tagging along with me all day. Everyone was very happy with their teachers. Ashley found out she had 4 classes with her best friend who had just moved to Arizona. I think that made for a little saddness on her first day. Aylexie has a great teacher for 5th grade-Ms. Stahnke. She had her for 2nd grade and loved her. Thomas' teacher is Ms. Kaden. He was so excited I thought he was going to explode! He came home after school and told me that he LOVED school! (SIGH) I'm just happy that my kids are happy! :)

LAKE SHORE

This past summer, we had SO much fun swimming at Lake Shore Athletic Club. Thomas absolutely loved spending time with his sisters and I enjoyed getting a lot of sun!
Ashley doing her "pencil" dive
Aylexie diving.
Thomas working on his "cannon ball".
Waiting to go down the slide...



Aylexie swiming under water.
Just having a Blast-spashing each other!

We had a lot of fun spending warm afternoons here. Thomas has been working hard to learn how to swim this past year. It paid off...he was absolutely delighted to go from the diving board to the water slide!

Aylexie was just like a fish. I think her favorite thing to do was swim under water and practice her handstands. She gets SO tan each summer. I think she REALLY looked tan in this particular swim suit!

Ashley is so grown up, but absolutely loves being with her brother and sister. She was content having Thomas hang onto her neck and also just reading beside me in the lounge chairs.

Summer has gone WAY TOO FAST!!!