Halloween

Since Halloween is on a Sunday this year our church has organized a Trunk or Treat the day before and my friend Tammy's congregation was doing the same but theirs was the weekend before so the kids get to go to hers and then ours. I think that will be plenty of candy for them.

Jaed wanted to go as an army guy so here he is! I found the girls's costumes at different thrift stores so we didn't pay to much for them but they look great! You would think that since I love to sew so much that I'd make their costumes but for some reason making their costumes intimidates me. Maybe I'll tackle it next year!

(Zoey is the little witch, Kaia is the yellow fairy, Indi is the angel, and Josie is the big witch!)

Face Painting

We went to a church function the first weekend we were here and their was a professional face painter there. The kids stood in the long line to get their face painted. Josie ended up waiting the longest (over an hour) but I think hers turned out the best. Thayne and I were so impressed that she was patient long enough to wait for the face painting. Usually she gets bored with waiting and decides it isn't worth it and moves on to something else.


Doesn't Josie looked great?!?!

























Indi started scratching her face soon after the painting was done so it started to come off.
























Kaia just got a rainbow on her face because she couldn't sit still long enough to do the more professional job.



















Jaed had a cool batman face but he started playing basketball right after and sweated all over it!

Anti pumpkin carvers

Thayne and I HATE carving pumpkins. It's disgusting, messy and so not fun (in our opinion!). So, instead of carving a pumpkin, we bought small pumpkins and let the kids draw and color them. They seemed to be thrilled with it and didn't mind that we weren't stabbing them with knives so all was good!

(Me and all the kids)


















(Thayne)
























(Josie and Jaed)
+






















(Indiya and Kaia)























(Zoey)

Early Trick or Treating

The MOMS Club that I joined scheduled a trick or treating activity at a local nursing home so Kai and Zoey got to go. Zoey was so mad that candy had to go in her bag. She threw lots of tantrums for the residents. Some of them laughed, some of them look disgusted, and others just looked away. I let her eat some candy in between trick or treating but that wasn't good enough for her. She wanted it ALL in her mouth. Kaia just ignored the scene Zoey was making at every stop. I think Kaia might have been acting like she wasn't related to us....cuz that's what I would have done!!

Runny nose

Indi had a horrible runny nose about a week before we left Washington and this is how I found her one morning:
























I have no idea why they were running around in swimming suits but I didn't really care. Indi is wearing Zoey's swimming suit.......seriously....it couldn't have been comfortable but she insisted that it was fine. I allowed it until they started asking to go outside to play. I do have my limits!

Moved in and adjusting

We made it to Denver 3 weeks ago and we're doing great! I put the kids back in public school and they were overjoyed! I had a hard time driving away from the school the first day, wondering if I was doing the right thing but I am just fine with it now. I LOVE having only two kids at home during the day!!! I joined a 24 hour Fitness gym and get to go whenever I want and the two youngest have a great time in the kids club area while I workout. I joined a MOMS Club, a card club and have enjoyed getting to know an old friend all over again. Tammy and I were nannies in New York together and we lost contact for a while but about a year or so ago, I found her on facebook and we reconnected. She lives about 15 minutes away from me and we have so much in common. It's nice to move to a new city and have an instant friend!!!

Thayne is enjoying his job. At first he made several comments about how slow things were (not fast paced like a law firm) but now he seems to like it just fine. I love that fact that I know he'll be home after 8 hours :). THANK YOU GOVERNMENT JOBS!!! No overtime allowed and the deadlines are far enough away that he can finish his work in the 40 hours a week schedule.

Jaed turned 9 a week after we got here so we had a big family party! He got lots of legos and a new bike. He had been riding a bike that Thayne's parents bought for Josie but it was too big for her. He never complained about riding a girl bike until some boys saw him and said, "Nice girl bike!". That was the end of that, so he now has a totally boy bike! We live in a cul de sac so the kids can go out and ride their bikes more often then they did in Ellensburg. They love it!

Josie was the most excited to go back to school, I think. I spoke with the principal and her teacher about my concerns about her learning disabilities and they want to meet with me every month to update me on her work. If there is still concerns then testing will start and they will get her the necessary help she needs to be successful. Josie can now ride a two wheeler all by herself. This was a HUGE accomplishment for her. Thayne has been trying to teach her how for about a year or more but was having no luck. Something just clicked a couple of weeks ago and she was off and riding like a pro.

Indi has made so many friends at school!! She is a real social butterfly. Her teacher is constantly sending home things that says how great she is. She comes right home from school, does her school work, does her chores and then asks for a snack. I never have to worry about her not doing what she is suppose to do. What a relief!!! She's not completely perfect, though. She is a participant in the many cat fights that occur in our house. Usually they are between her and Josie. She does try and mother Zoey too much which leads to Zoey screaming and swinging her hands at Indi, but most of the time Indi is a true darling!!

Kaia.....what a doll. She is still very mischievous but she I love to hang out with her during the day. We have great conversations and she tells me she loves me a lot. I joined a MOMS Club here in Denver so we get to go to lots of different activities during the week and she loves it. I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Zoey.....wow....I don't even know where to start. STINKER is the word that comes to mind when I think of Zoey. She is completely independent and very opinionated, but has this look that melts you away. She is a bully to other kids, throws the best tantrums ever, can cry forever no matter how you try to pacify her, but she loves to cuddle next to you, hold your face in her hands and look at you, wrap her arms around your neck and squeeze and will plant a kiss right on your lips when she feels you deserve one. I have heard Thayne say many times, "I don't know what to do with that girl!". We are both terrified of how she will be as a teenager.......we're praying for her now!

We really like our new house. We're renting for right now but we rented our house site unseen (only pictures) so that is always a little scare but we lucked out. It's big and we love all the room we have. It's not a new house like I was hoping for but for right now it meets our needs! We're hoping to buy in a year or so.

First day of school!

Football player

Jaed played football for the first time and he really liked it. He was the biggest kid on his team and other players were quite intimidated by him which seem to give him more confidence. They didn't win a lot of games but most of the kids were brand spankin' new on his team so they were all learning the "ropes" together. We hope he continues to play because he really was good at it! Here's our big football player:

My sweet Josie