Tis the season

I came home from work last week and found the tree up

all my nutcrackers standing to attention

my favorite...the milk man

and the kids' favorite...the 3 foot tall one who holds candy!

The kids were so excited to show me all the ornaments on the tree and all the nutcrackers

They hung the stockings by the fireplace and had their santa hats ready to wear

It's become tradition with our girl scout troop to attend the annual ballet at the Orpheum Theater 

We get all dressed up in our Christmas outfits

and head out for a fun afternoon with the troop

If you have never been to the Orpheum, you really should go. 

Over the past few years, I have made gingerbread houses with the kids

Last year, I made the gingerbread from scratch. 

The house smelt sooo good and it actually turned out!

This year, due to my work schedule, we opted for a store bought version

The kids worked hard decorating

making sure everything was just right

The finished product!

The kids are already begging to eat it

I will make them wait a few days first

Traditions

It's tradition in our house 

that every year, when the kids get their school pictures

we look back on the previous years and admire how much the kids have grown

We use the same frame and just keep adding the pictures to the front

I admit, I usually shed a tear or two each time we do this

Here's our little Snowball...just a wee little 6 month old and 11 month old

Now she's 6...and a half and in First grade! She's a sweet heart and is friends with everyone. 

She's very soft spoken and loves to please people.

Little Sophie at 3 years old (can you tell this is when we bought these frames?)

Now she's 9, in 4th grade and has braces! She's growing her hair out so she can donate it to cancer patients. 

What a wonderful little lady she's becoming.

Then there's little man

The 3rd kid usually gets the shaft with pictures. 

My brother always had fewer pictures than my older sister

Here he's just 6 months old

And now 3 years old and goes to school full time

(Go ahead, laugh at his picture. I really don't care for it. It didn't capture the true nature of Bryson but his school doesn't offer retakes so we are stuck with it for a year. Hopefully next will turn out better and we can laugh at this one some day.)

Coolest Toys Ever

Do I really need to say more?

 

 

Didn't you ever dream of being a farmer when you were little?

I sure did...actually, I still do!

Happy Halloween

I apologize for the delay in getting this post up. I was sidetracked last week and this is the first chance I had to get back to the post

So, our Halloween was fun!

After some wonderful parties at school, the kids got home and we carved pumpkins

We have learned to wait until Halloween to carve because they rot so fast out here in the sun

Bryson just watched the girls get slimy

Kaiden taking the guts out

Then it was time for candy!

Sophie was a candy corn witch

Kaiden was a cowboy..not a cowgirl and not Jesse from Toy Story

Bryson went between Batman and his fireman outfit from last year and finally decided on the Fireman...again. He has a slight obsession with firemen, firetrucks, fire stations..you get the idea.

He actually points out all fire alarms, fire extinguishers, sprinklers, etc every place we go.

Actually, Halloween is one of the best holidays in our neighborhood.

We have a really hot firefighter who lives just around the corner from our house so on Halloween, all the ladies in the neighborhood have an excuse to knock on his door ;)

When Bryson was at his house, he told Bryson that he was also a fireman. Bryson was in awe. 

Bryson also found out that Mark, the firefighter, drives the ladder truck..Bryson's dream job

As we walked away from his house, Bryson stopped, pulled his helmet off and said, "This isn't a real helmet! Real firemen wear yellow helmets!"

Goof balls

and they're off!

Marshmallows!!! Kaiden's favorite!

Sophie and Katie..her buddy from down the road

Bryson with his little strawberry shortcakes..Sarah and Sammy

Back at the house ready to inspect the loot

These two had as much fun handing candy out as they did getting it.

Happy Halloween all!

Hiking

I started hiking again last week.

 

I went two days last week and yesterday I made it to the summit of this mountain ( not sure of the name of that mountain)

This is the view looking south east at Camelback mountain

Today I thought I would tackle another mountain, Piestewa Peak

See the beast?

That, my friend, is Piestewa Peak

Doesn't look too high from the ground 

On my way to the trail head I passed a guy who was carrying his daughter in a backpack

Easy enough...so I thought

I set out on my hike

Lots of stairs to climb

I'm huffing and puffing only a few hundred feet up

Is it bad to be breathing out of my mouth so soon?

That old lady who just passed me doesn't look out of breath

I can do this!
 

This mountain is like the stair master from hell

I see benches!

No, I can't stop yet

Some dude just ran past me

How the hell does someone run up this thing?

Now I'm really panting. Sweat dripping off my forehead running into my eyes, ah, the burn!

Some lady just told me I'm almost there

I continue on...

 

It took me about an hour but I made it!

By the way...the lady that told me I was almost there was very wrong. 

I think I was only half way up

The final accent was all stairs!

Some guy said there were about 50 or so. I think there was 100 

For future knowledge, there are a ton of little green bugs flying around up at the top. 

I wanted to sit and enjoy (and hopefully not fall off the edge) but the darn bugs!

A few quick pictures before heading down

 It was an amazing view from the top!

This was looking north into Scottsdale 

I'm still deciding which mountain I will hike tomorrow but I will come back to this one next week!

Superhero Ears

We have a friend of a cousin who's sister's brother's old girlfriends dad knew

Just kidding

It's a little boy who my friend watches

See this cute little guy with Bryson? 

Isn't he handsome? 

His name is Nate and you can read all about him here.

Long story short, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last year and we just found out that he is now cancer free!!!

Yippee!!

The only thing is all the treatments left him with some hearing loss

He just received his first pair of superhero ears on Monday 

So we got the boys together...along with Nate's older brother and younger sister to show off each others ears and so Nate could meet someone else with superhero ears

Bryson and Nate kicked it off right away. They are already planning on play dates at each others houses.

I think we will start with the park again next week

Here's to Superhero Ears!

First Communion

My little Sophie isn't so little anymore

She's 9 years old and in 4th grade

The church we attend celebrates 1st Communion with all 4th graders

You must first attend a 1st Communion class with your parents

and then there is a special service just for the 4th graders receiving their 1st Communion

Sophie's 1st Communion was this past Sunday

Grampa and Gramma came

and Nana and Papa

There were about 40 kids who were there receiving their 1st Communion

Sophie and our pastor

No pictures were allowed during the service so this is where Sophie received the communion with mom and dad on either side

Now, we are not Catholic. We are Lutheran. There was a discussion amongst my family in regards to this 1st Communion. Here's the story

There are different synods of the Lutheran church

Some synods are more strict than others

We attend an ELCA (The more watered down of the Lutheran churches)

Therefore, we celebrate 1st Communion in 4th grade and Confirmation in 8th grade

Other Lutheran churches only celebrate Confirmation at which time you receive your first communion

So there you have it

Not nearly as big of a deal as the Catholics make it so no veil or gloves for little Sophie

It was still a fun time had by all!

Getting it

Remember how I'm attending ASU for my BSN? Well, I don't consider myself a great writer. I don't know if I would even say a good writer. Anyways, I tried writing my first assignment a few weeks ago and had Kyle check it. He deleted everything and started over. Yes, it was that bad. Since then, I have been doing my own work and I just have to share with all of you my most recent grade and teacher review...

"Great work on this proposal! Your objective is clearly stated and your document follows memo-formatting guidelines. Your prose is clear and well organized, your tone is appropriate, and all content is relevant to your audience. You also do a great job explaining what a neighborhood clinic is and why it would be beneficial, as well as being fair about articulating potential disadvantages. Very persuasive! Finally, your sourcework is detailed and credible. This is a model project. Great work!"

Did you notice that last part...This is a model project??? 

I received a 60/60 and I wrote the whole thing by myself!!! Kyle checked it over before I turned it in but didn't change anything :o)

Wash Cloths

 

I consider myself slightly OCD. I'm afraid that I have passed this quality down to Little Man. 

I must have my shirts hung on hangers facing the same direction,

the dishwasher must be loaded in a certain way,

and I can't focus unless the house is clean and laundry is being washed (or is already done)

Now that I'm back in school, I'm finding myself to have some form of ADD

(attention deficit disorder)

I just can't sit still for long. 

While writing my papers, I also take frequent breaks to clean the house or fold laundry

I can't sit and watch a tv show unless I'm doing something else..like folding laundry

I find I really enjoy folding laundry.  It's a mindless activity.

I'm going to be one of those old ladies in a home where they give me a pile of washcloths to fold over and over again to keep me busy. As soon as I finish the pile, someone will come over and unfold it all for me to begin again. 

I can see it now..

Seriously, isn't it so satisfying to see a pile of towels freshly folded all facing the same direction?

Is it just me?

Kyle and I had a date day this week because we were both off and kids were in school

He said he noticed that I wasn't really enjoying my days off as much as he thought I would

To be honest, I'm bored!

I'm still trying to find some routine where I'm not spending money

Not sure if you know this or not but I'm really good at spending money..especially on the kids

I often consider my kids spoiled. It's really not their fault. 

I'm the one that buys them things..all the time.

That's a bad habit I have. I'm working on it though

Maybe I need a hobby..a cheap hobby

I would actually just like to work

Give me another day or two of work and I think I will be fine

Maybe I'll just go fold some laundry for now

Creepy Crawlies

The last week has gone by in a blur and I feel like I haven't been a part of the world

Last Tuesday night, I was getting ready for work and just finished giving the kids a bath

Sophie and Kaiden mentioned that her heads itched

I checked their hair and sure enough...lice!

I got that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach

NO!!!! This can not be happening!

I called off of work because I didn't know if I had any in my hair

Luckily, we were able to shave Bryson's hair and he didn't have any

I ran to CVS and grabbed the most expensive lice treatment they had plus the shampoo and spray which helps repel lice.

Then the work began

Kyle and I each took a child and started picking thru their hair.

We worked for a good 2 hours and I have to say, the girls were troopers

Bryson was so tired that he just put himself to bed

I couldn't sleep at all because I felt I had bugs crawling all over me..it gave me the heeby geebies

I still feel like I have something crawling on my head every now and then but Kyle and I keep checking each others hair and haven't found anything...knock on wood :o)

Just the thought makes my skin crawl

The next morning, the laundry started

This was just half of the laundry that first day. 

There were more piles in the laundry room

I bought a huge package of shower caps and had the girls were them 24/7

I sprayed tea tree oil all over the beds, couches and carpet

The beds were vacuumed, pillows and stuffed animals were wrapped in plastic bags and shoved into the garage

It was an exhausting day

Then I had to work...Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday

Oh yeah, Friday I wake up at 5am to get ready for work. I mosey into the playroom bathroom and stop in my tracks as I open the door which leads into the playroom...a trail of ants are roaming around.

Ahhh!!! That's the worst! Waking up to ants

Luckily we still had some raid in the laundry room and some swiffers available so cleanup wasn't as bad as it could have been

Kyle was such a great help though

He kept up with the laundry and checking the hair

By Tuesday, the girls were allowed back in school

The laundry had dwindled down to an almost normal amount

The sheets have come off the couches

Life is returning to normal

Except little Sophie here

She just had braces put on this morning

She has been so excited! Just 4 so far but she was able to pick out 4 different colors of rubber bands!

She's growing up so fast...but I still make her sit in a booster seat :o)

Sorry Soph, you may be 9 but you are still my little peanut!