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

On the move!

Well we are about to start another adventure in our life. Thayne got a new job in Denver, Colorado. Thayne has been unemployed (doing some contract work for a local law firm) for about six months. He applied for TONS of federal jobs because he really wanted to work for the government. They have great benefits, pretty secure job, and his long term goal is to be a judge so a federal attorney job would be great. But, he was not hearing back from any of the those jobs he was applying for which was extremely frustrating. He was also applying for jobs in law firms around Washington but for six months he was only receive rejection letters. Finally, he got a call from a firm in Seattle area for an interview and then a day later he received a call from one of the federal government jobs he applied for three months prior. They wanted to do an hour long phone interview. After both interviews he was offered a job in Seattle and we waited as long as we could to accept it hoping to hear from the federal government but nothing. So he excepted the job in Seattle and we started to make arrangements to move that way. Thayne stayed with a friends parents that lived in the area so he could start work right away and the kids and I stayed here and were excited when Thayne came home on the weekends.

After three weeks of working in Seattle, Thayne received the call from the federal job in Denver. They offered him a GREAT job. We know that the government works on their own time line and has been known to take a while to make decisions but I think we had really given up hope. How wrong we were. We were only a couple of days away from putting a large deposit down on a house in Seattle area and are so grateful that the offer came before that. It's better pay, better benefits, better job security and just a better thing for Thayne all around. We hear great things about Denver and are excited to be somewhat closer to family in Utah. We have found a house already and are packing away. They kids are so excited and ....well...I am too.

One week down...

I think the first week was quite successful, even with the new "no t.v." rule. We weren't able to do the science experiment that I had planned because I fell and fractured my wrist and ankle so we put it off until next week.

Friday night, the kids asked several times if there was a restriction on t.v. for Saturday morning, and since I'm not that cruel of a mother, I told them to have at it. Well here is what we saw when we came in the playroom Saturday morning:

(you would think the t.v. was 3 inches big with how close they are but it's not. It's actually a 20 inch t.v..)


















Is this a picture of deprived children who have never ever watched t.v.? They were sure acting like it!!

Paper panties

Josie reminded me of a funny thing she did several months ago and I never sat down to blog it so here it is. I hope you get a little chuckle!

Several months ago, I was slacking on the laundry and the girls ran out of clean panties. I hurry and put some in the washer and told the girls that they would have to wait to change out of their pj's until the clean panties were ready. Well, this was not the answer that Josie wanted to hear. She decided that she was going to make her own panties.......out of PAPER! I didn't know what she was making at first so when she came and asked me for scissors, tape and paper I gave them to her and was pleased that she was going to do some kind of art project. After some time I heard Josie getting upset in the other room so I went to check on her. Here she was butt naked trying to put her feet into some paper concoction and was getting mad because it was tearing. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: "Josie, what are you doing?"
Josie: "Trying to put my panties on that I made!"
Me: "You made some panties?"
Josie: "Yeah, and they aren't working. I didn't want to wait to change my clothes and decided to make my own panties but they're not working!!" (she starts to really cry!)
Me: "Oh Josie, I'm so sorry that I didn't have clean panties for you this morning. But you know what, I don't think panties made out of paper are going to work."

That sweet girl! She was so determined to have clean panties even it she was going to get a massive amount of paper cuts!

So, the other day I was sewing/making some panties for the girls from a pattern I found on the internet. Josie came over to see what I was making and when I told her she said, "Mama, remember when I tried to make my own panties? Well, it didn't work so maybe you should not make any either. I don't want you to be sad."

She was thrilled when she saw the panties I made and even said they were very comfortable to wear. Fabric panties > paper panties!

School time!

Wow, this summer RAN on by without even waving at us. Completely uncalled for and unacceptable!! The new school year creep up on me and I was in a frenzy this last weekend to try and accomplish all I wanted to do before the first day of school arrived. Our first day of school was quite successful. The kids were excited and dove right into their new books. It warmed my heart to see them so excited to do school work. When you homeschool, you don't get the "first day of school" photos that you would normally. My kids stayed in their pj's until lunch time so my pictures wouldn't have been that pretty (especially with some of the hairdo's that they woke up with!).

Last night, for Family Night, we talked about the school schedules and what was expected of each of them. We even put a new rule in place. Most of you that know me, know that I have never put a limit (time limit) of TV watching in our house. I know, I know.......blah blah blah. I don't want any lectures or mean comments! Well, Thayne and I decided that we would make a new rule about TV watching. There would be NO t.v. watching during normal school hours (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.), even if they finished all of their schoolwork before noon (which they almost always do). We feel like they need to be more active and sprawling out on the floor to watch t.v. wasn't our idea of a being active.



At Family Night, they all were fine with the new rule which was a shock to us. Well, when the rule had to be enforced.......well.....let's just say the pouting, crying and begging began. It was like they were begging for their drug they were addicted to. I do have to say that if Thayne wasn't here I think I would have gave in. They were missing their favorite shows, there was nothing to do, life sucks....etc. etc.. They were all counting down the minutes until 3 p.m.. I think after a week of this new rule, things will calm down and it will just be apart of the schedule. I'll let you know how it's going!

Belated Kindergarten Graduation

I was going through my pictures and realized that I didn't post any pictures of Indi graduating from Kindergarten. She had a great year and we all loved her teacher, Mrs. Lane. She was the perfect teacher for Indi. Mrs. Lane is the main reason I left Indi in public school. I think that Mrs. Lane was sad that she wouldn't see Indi next year around the school because she sure had a sad face when I told her that we were going to homeschool Indi next year along with her siblings.

The class learned a song that they performed for the parents. It was so cute and you could hear Indi over all of the other Kindergartners.


















Here's Indi with ALL of her work she did all year. I think it was suppose to be kind of like a portfolio but it was HUGE.
























Here's Indi with Mrs. Lane. School wasn't even out three days and Indi was in tears saying how much she missed Mrs. Lane. I have some big shoes to fill next year as her teacher!

Ashes

While my sister was here visiting we decided to spread my Dad's ashes. His mom is buried in Shelton Washington and never had a tombstone, so us kids decided to pay for a tombstone and add my Dad's name to the bottom with the idea that his ashes would rest there was well. It was a strange trip.....not quite sure how I feel about it. It was a bit emotional when we left because it was like the final good bye......I think. I miss him. My kids miss him. I hope that he is enjoying his time with his Mom right now. She died when he was only 13 yrs. old and when he talked about her you could tell that he really loved her.

Here's a pic of the tombstone


















Yeah, well my husband and sister didn't think the ashes should be clumped up like they were so they tried to spread them out more. DISGUSTING!



















The kids didn't really understand anything about the ashes. They thought we were just there to see where Grandpa was "buried".

Visitors

My sister and her family came to visit at the beginning of the month. She has four boys and the youngest is Jaed's age, but my girls get so excited to see them every time we get together. The boys love chasing my girls around and tickling them which puts them at the top of the "Favorite Cousin" list. Here's a couple of pics from their visit:

Here's Brett holding Zoey. They loved to carry her around!
























This is Adam holding Zoey. He just graduated from High School and is off to BYU Idaho this fall!





















I went out to go to the bathroom at about 2:00 a.m. one night and this is what I saw. Kai did not start out on the couch with Brett but at some point during the night she climbed up there and snuggled right in!

Interview with my kids

I saw the following questions on a friends blog or facebook (I can't remember) and thought it would be cute to ask my kids the same questions. Here's their answers......

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Jaed: "No"
Josie: "Enough"
Indi: "I love you"
Kai: "Don't go in the kitchen"

2. What makes mom happy?
Jaed: Sewing
Josie: When I'm doing the right thing
Indi: Doing good things and doing what is right
Kai: When I tickle her


3. What makes mom sad?
Jaed: When she wants a hug but no one gives her one
Josie: When I'm doing the wrong thing
Indi: When we don't do what is right
Kai: When I don't give her kisses


4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Jaed: Tickles me
Josie: By telling funny jokes
Indi: Tickling me
Kai: tickling me


5. What was your mom like as a child?
Jaed: She looked like a boy
Josie: She was like me
Indi: Blonde hair and shiny eyes
Kai: she was little

6. How old is your mom?
Jaed: 33
Josie: 48
Indi: 36
Kai: 5


7. How tall is your mom?
Jaed: 6 feet
Josie: 8 feet
Indi: 10 feet
Kai:This tall (showing me with her hands...about 2 feet tall)


8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Jaed: Sewing
Josie: Sew
Indi: Sewing
Kai: Build clothes


9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Jaed: Play Left for Dead with Dad
Josie: Makes lollipops
Indi: Sewing
Kai: Play


10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Jaed: Cookcing
Josie: Making suckers
Indi: Sewing
Kai: I don't know


11. What is your mom really good at?
Jaed: Cooking
Josie: Exercising (hehehe, only if...)
Indi: Cooking
Kai: playing the computer


12. What is your mom not very good at?
Jaed: Playing video games
Josie: playing some games. She never wins at some of the games we play.
Indi: teaching (hmmm....well that sucks since I'm homeschooling them!)
Kai: not taking things from me


13. What does your mom do for a job?
Jaed: She doesn't have a job
Josie: Work on the computer (hehe, yeah I surf...that's about it!)
Indi: Work at the Children's Museum (I volunteer there once a week!)
Kai: Working in the kitchen


14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Jaed: Chocolate
Josie: Cereal
Indi: Spagetti
Kai: Crabby Patties

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Jaed: She loves me
Josie: She does nice things for me
Indi: Making clothes
Kai: she's my mom


16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Jaed: A Queen
Josie: A Queen
Indi: A Princess
Kai: SpongeBob

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Jaed: Play Counter-Strike together
Josie: Bake cookies
Indi: Play games
Kai: Go places

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Jaed: We both like the color Red
Josie: We both have lips
Indi: We both have blond hair
Kai: we eat food


19. How are you and your mom different?
Jaed: Different color hair
Josie: She has glasses and I don't
Indi: She has long hair and I have short hair now
Kai: different voices


20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Jaed: Because she's my mom and I'm her kid
Josie: Because she always tells me
Indi: Because she always kisses me and hugs me
Kai: she tells me


21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Jaed: He loves me
Josie: His beard
Indi: that he takes care of us and her when she's sick
Kai: that he doesn't touch her stuff


22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Jaed: to the store
Josie: Shopping
Indi: to the store
Kai: to the store

Big Brother

Our little town has a great Farmer's Market that we frequent often. Jaed decided to be the stroller pusher this particular Saturday and did a great job. No one was injured and no one jumped out of the way of the stroller, so life was good! Please note Jaed's great hair-do. I have FOUR girls to get ready for the day which includes hair and cute outfits. You would think that Thayne would take some pride in his only son and do something to spruce him up! If I didn't say anything, Jaed would probably wear the same clothes (underwear and all) for the whole week. Thayne promises me that he was the same way when he was Jaed's age so I do have some hope for him! Good thing he's a great big brother (even the best teaser around!) and loves his sisters!

Choir

Josie and Indi have been participating in a community children's choir all year and have really enjoyed it. They are constantly singing around the house even more than they use to (iif that's possible) and have learned tons of new songs. Here are some pictures of their performance!


(I think Indi is a born performer! She swayed her hips to almost every song and was so dang cute!!)


















(Josie loved ALL the attention she got while performing! I think she was more excited that she was in the spotlight than she was about singing!)


















This was their last performance of the year. They performed the same night as four other choir groups. I'm so proud of them for doing a great job!



















We bought flowers for the girls to give to their Choir Director. She had a lot of patience for the kids and did a great job teaching them all the new songs!

Great Purchase

About six years ago we purchased a inflatable castle you can jump in and we think it's one of our best purchases for the kids. It such a special treat to get it out and they can play in it for a long time.
Here's some pictures of the kids playing on it the last time we got it out.


The two half-naked girls are Zoey and Kaia. They would rather run around in a diaper and panties then put clothes on and sometimes it's not worth the fight!





















































Zoey was getting bounced around way too much at one point so she sat in the middle and cried.























Josie saw me pull out the camera and made sure I got a picture of her!

Glasses

Indiya got a Doctor's Kit for Christmas this last year and we couldn't find the glasses to the kit for a long time. Well, we decided to clean under the couches and guess what Zoey found?? She absolutely LOVES to wear the glasses around and we can't help but laugh every time we see her in them! I don't think Indiya will ever get her glasses back. She'll have to be a Doctor without the glasses!