Laura's Branch

When a Griffin turned 9

2012-02-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun celebrating Griffin's 9th Birthday with him. He wanted to skip school and have a long birthday day. So that's just what we did.

Griffin is our future paleontologist. He LOVES all things dinosaur, so we had a dino cake made especially for him.

Griffin loves to go bowling for his birthday. We are all expert bowlers, really, we are awesome! Actually we did pretty good, We had so much fun watching Elliot name her two bowling balls, "MR. and Mrs. Pickles" Caleigh was put in charge of taking photos, she did a great job.

Griffin is such a fun kid. He's pretty easy going (like his daddy) and he has an awesome sense of humor. He loves learning new things, which means he likes watching documentaries with Mike and going to the library with me. Griff loves to dance, and has some unique moves (pictured below in the video). He is definitely the peace maker around here, except when he's in a teasing mood, then he's the troublemaker. Griffin has been working hard on his reading skills this year. We started reading the scriptures as a family, and at first Griffin was really frustrated. He hated being corrected because he didn't realize how many words he was mispronouncing. We decided as a family that we would fast for him, so that he would feel better, and that reading would come easier for him. Since our praying and fasting, he has started reading so much better. He isn't afraid to tackle the big words on his own, and he doesn't mind being corrected. Everyone is so proud of him, I love hearing the other children encouraging him and telling him what a good job he's doing.

WE love you Griff.

Aunt Tracy!

2012-01-23T05:35:00.000-08:00

Photo by Elliot from Aunt Tracy's phone, she's a natural!

We love when Tracy's travels bring her our direction. After some meetings in Boston, she was all ours for the weekend. It snowed on Saturday, which made it the perfect snow storm lazy day. We ate yummy Chinese food, went sledding, played apples to apples, took turns battling zombies on her ipad, played lalaloopsies, laughed at the kids, laughed at each other, and enjoyed just being together. She brought Birthday goodies with her, we all love my new sarong, and I can't wait to wear my gorgeous new pendant she gave me. Thanks Trac for a great visit.

MLK Day at the beach.

2012-01-18T05:58:00.000-08:00

I start getting withdrawal's from the ocean about this time. I start craving long, lazy summery days sitting in a beach chair watching the kids play in the sand and the surf. Which is why when Mike suggested we make it a beach day, I was thrilled. Of course no beach toys were thrown in the car, and we knew it would be bitter cold, but we've always wanted to see our fav. beach in the winter.

But first a stop at Weathervane for some yummy seafood lunch. Griff surprised us all by requesting lobster. It's not like we don't all love lobster, we just don't usually order it because it's so darn expensive, and I usually gravitate towards the fish and chips and Mike loves scallops. But Griff claimed he wanted to, "try something new." and lobster fit the bill. If only Grandpa Tom were with us, he LOVES lobster. Him and Griff could have enjoyed one together.

We weren't surprised the ocean looked pretty much the same, minus the crowds and crowds of people. We walked to the water, threw stones in, climbed on the rocks (some were super icy), smelled the fresh air, looked for shells, tasted sea water icicles(the kids not Mike and I). And then Mike and I climbed in the warm car while the kids played on the playground. It was a good day, and I look forward to summer.

No picture post (I know, boring, right?)

2012-01-13T10:07:00.000-08:00

It finally snowed yesterday. We were starting to think we would make it through the whole winter without a trip to the sledding hill. But thanks to the 4 inches of snow and a school snow day we made it. The kids are all independent this year and I don't even have to get out of the car if I don't want too. I usually do love going down a few times, but Miles had left his boots at school, so he had to borrow mine.

Any way... Griff was determined to make it down the hill on his snowboard (not a real snowboard, just one of those fun kid ones at walmart.) time after time he fell on his face, until finally he got into the rhythm of it and he was unstoppable. I was so impressed with his ability to stay on the board the whole way down, and he even started working on his turns. Would it be nice if he had a snowboarding mom or dad? But he is not that lucky. Miles still has some work to do, but he too worked on getting down the hill. So fun!!!

No babies round here!

2012-01-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

It's crazy that Elliot, our baby, is 5. She had such a great birthday and we all love showering her with attention. The kids loved picking out her gifts, and enjoyed her Chuck E. Cheese request.

Elliot is a doll! She really is a great girl. When I get frustrated with her she say, "I'm soooo sorry Mom." She is all girl, and loves playing with anything girly. She tries her best to keep up with the older kids and usually does. I miss her sweet baby face.

Welcome 2012

2012-01-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

We are looking forward to some big changes this year, and more memorable events. But first farewell to 2011. I asked the kids what their favorite thing that happened last year was and their responses were...

Elliot: you snuggling and tickling my back. And I started preschool.
Miles: Summer vacation and all the family that visited us. And going to Water Country with the Huntings.
Griffin: Getting baptized.
Caleigh couldn't think of one. I guess, I shouldn't ask hard questions in the morning.

Some of my highlights are all the family visits. We always have fun when family comes to town, and I loved seeing the Boston fireworks this year. Especially having the Utah Petersons here with us. We love hanging out at the beach with family too. LOVE THE BEACH. My biggest change this year is finally getting out my sewing machine and using it. Making my first quilt has opened up a whole new world to me of sewing and fabric stores...
Mike has worked so hard this year on his Doctorate, juggling his always hectic schedule, and serving our ward in the Bishopric. This next year he has plans to defend his dissertation and graduate from UNH.

What a year. We are continually amazed at our blessings and grateful for our lives here in New England.

A recital among friends

2011-12-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Between Christmas and New years my friend Minda and I put together a small recital for our children and a few friends. Her talented husband teaches their girls piano and so they don't get a chance to have a recital. So she asked if we would participate and of course I said yes.

We invited Emma Hunting who played the clarinet, and the Della-Piana family performed as well. Our old bishop, Steve Guillian and his wife Karen, and Ashlee came to be in the audience. It was so fun! Elliot even performed. The kids have been teaching her Mary had a little lamb, and she plays in perfectly. She was so proud of herself she told Mike and I many times, "I did not mess up." Cute, except when one of the performers had just messed up and she leans over and says it.

Adam our oldest performer rocked out on his Ukulele singing a popular pop song. What a cute guy he is and a great example for my boys.

Santa Claus came to town!

2011-12-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning!

The kids were such good sports about Christmas being on a Sunday. They were all on board with getting up and just playing with "Santa" toys and opening stockings. Then after Sacrament meeting we came home and dug into the rest of the presents. We of course enjoyed our traditional breakfast burritos in the morning, and a yummy ham for dinner.

Everyone was so surprised and grateful for all they got. They all were so patient and kind with each other and had tons of fun playing with each others toys.

Santa made a BIG mistake putting makeup in this girls stocking. She immediately dove right in and covered her face. Isn't she pretty? Mike told her he liked her better without makeup. She wasn't happy. Hands on hips she stated, "Dad, you should not tell little girls they don't look pretty!"

The boys scored big with all of their gifts and they love playing together. I'm so glad they have each other.

Miles got to perform in our sacrament meeting on Christmas day. He played Carol of the Bells, and did an awesome job. He is just one of many Peterson men with a talent for music. So proud of you Miles, "Smiles."

Christmas Eve Fun

2011-12-24T21:13:00.000-08:00

What a great Christmas Eve. We started the morning with early Christmas presents. Mike and I gave the boys a Lego table we had put together ourselves. I actually found the table on the side of the road in a "free" pile. It was perfect! I had been scouting out yard sales and discount stores for the past 3 or 4 months, and it was worth the wait finding this baby.

Anyway, I brought it home, painted it gray, and Mike cut and attached the Lego base plates. The boys love it and they have plenty of room for their creations. Since the boys were getting an early present I gave the girls their gifts from me. New outfits for them and their dolls.

We had a great fondue party with friends: Huntings and their family, Seveys, Amy Waterman and baby, and the 4 Elders assigned to our ward. It was a full house, but we had plenty of food to keep everyone happy. The kids put on the nativity for us. I love their creative costumes. Caleigh is wrapped in a sheet, Elliot has a Cleopatra costume on (she is one of the wise men), and Lauren has a Mario cart steering wheel on her head as her halo. We followed my Mom's program and it was great. It's one of my favorite traditions. I still remember wrapping tinsel around my head as a girl while me and my childhood friends played the parts of angels.

We ended our party in the early evening so everyone could go home and enjoy some of their own traditions. We were able to open our Christmas eve pj's, and the kids put their stocking where they wanted Santa to drop their gifts off.

They are growing up so fast. I love you my sweet children.

And where ever in the world planking came from...here is our tribute to you.

Festival of Trees and the Wright Museum

2011-12-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we needed a fun family activity so we headed up to Wolfboro, NH to the Wright Museum for a festival of trees that they were hosting. Honestly the trees were not that great. Of course I'm comparing them to the festival of trees we always attended in Boise. Those trees were amazing!!! But there were a few fun ones and the kids got free cookies. It was fun, but what really made the trip fun was the museum. It was a great view into american history during WWII.

Griff kept cracking Mike and I up by saying "yahtzee" instead of "Nazi." Example: "Mom come look at these guns that they fought the yahtzees with."

My favorite part was all of the vintage posters. The kids liked seeing toys from that time period. Elliot liked the wedding dresses on display. Miles and Griffin likes all the war stuff.

Cutouts!

2011-12-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

I miss gathering round my Mom's table and decorating sugar cookies with my kids, nieces, nephews, brothers, and SIL. The kids loved it too. Luckily we have our framily (friends that are like family) to carry on this tradition with us. The kids all had a great time and the cookies tasted delicious.

A boy of many talents

2011-12-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

Griffin never ceases to amaze me at what catches his interest. So the other day when he asked if he could sew I wasn't surprised.

He has hand sewn before, but I thought it was probably a one time thing, but when he saw my fabric scrap bin out, he started picking out pieces to start another mini-quilt. His hand sewing isn't very secure so the first time he sewed a mini quilt, I ended up going over it with the machine. This time he asked if he could do it and I agreed. He was so good and confident. He was hooked. Now he asks me all the time if he can sew. Good job Griff. Someday I hope you make your little girls skirts, and your boys little quilts for their stuffed animals.

How do you deck the Halls?

2011-12-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Since Mother Nature isn't dropping any snow, we decided to make our own snow storm in our kitchen! With the help of my kids and their friends we made it "snow" in our kitchen. Mike even made some pretty awesome ones. I didn't know he was so good at snowflake making. He's so talented! I love, love, love all the white against my red wall. Now this is a snowstorm I can live with.

griffin is published!

2011-12-20T05:34:00.000-08:00

This is Griffins second time getting his artwork in his schools newsletter. The last time was in 1st grade. He worked so hard last year but it just wasn't his time. But this year his art was featured again. It makes him feel so special. He was so shocked when he found the newsletter in the recycling bin, I assured him I had already snapped some photos and planned on putting it in our blog. Way to go Griff!

O Holy Night

2011-12-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

If you want something to help you get into the Christmas spirit, watch this video that my awesome husband made a couple years ago. Merry Christmas!

The trees are up and the town is lite, the Christmas season has officially begun.

2011-12-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

December is flying by...

But on Dec. 1st we got out all the decorations and put the tree up. Which included the kids' individual trees. This is one of their favorite traditions, and this year they even had some new ornaments from Gma and Gpa Head. My Mom had bought them last year after Christmas and sent them to be put away for this year. Caleigh's were cupcakes, Miles got different musical ornaments, and Griff got sports ornaments. They were a perfect fit for each kiddo. (Elliot got all new ornaments last year for Gma and Gpa Head so she didn't need new ones this year.)

And the ever exciting Farmington Tree lighting ceremony took place the first Sat. of the month. Mike missed out this year, but we still enjoyed some hot chocolate, free cookies, and a visit from Santa. Santa arrived in his usual manner, on a firetruck.

The kids love running into friends and seeing people they know from around town. After the tree was lite and each of the kids got their candy canes from Santa we headed over to FHOP (Farmington house of pizza) ,at their new location(right across the street), and got a pizza. Oh, we got a cheeseburger for Miles, he's going through an anti-pizza phase. Weird right?

Oh and on a side note... A couple of weeks ago Miles started asking on a regular basis if Santa was real or not. Except he didn't ask directly it was more like..."Some of my friends at school don't believe in Santa." as he looks at me from the corner of his eye waiting for a reaction.

I must not have given him one, because a few days later he said, "So I think I'm the only 5th grader at my school to believe in Santa still." again looking at me out of the corner of my eye to gauge my reaction.

So finally after doing some one-on-one shopping with Miles, out of no where I blurted out, "No He's not real, I'm sorry, but your older...." Well you get the idea. The poor kid had tears in his eyes, and I felt like the worst Mom in the world. We spent the rest of the car ride home talking it out and me explaining how the Magic of Santa is very real, he seemed cooler about the whole thing. Now he's in the "know." And every time I mention Santa to any of the other kids he looks at me, smiles a sly smile, and nods his head and says, "Santa, sure Santa."

Thank you Sarah Hale for making this day a national Holiday

2011-11-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was such a great day. We had such a great time eating with our friends the Huntings and their family. We even brought our own guest, Jim. He made his amazing pumpkin pies, and was such a great addition to the group. I didn't get any photos of us eating, but I snapped a few of the kiddos before we headed out the door. They were so excited and insisted on wearing their turkey and pilgrim hats. I just love my kids and Mike, they are so good for me. I missed my own family this year, knowing at their tables they were all together, but maybe next year we'll be with them. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

A Thanksgiving tradition

2011-11-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

I love love love the Christmas Dove, I'm sure everyone has seen past post of this awesome store. And we always seem to make it there near Thanksgiving. It helps kick off the Christmas season for me seeing all the beautiful decorations and of course the kids love the trains! An entire second floor with train villages set up to play with. What more could a kid want. And as per tradition we all got our picture with Santa.

Griffin looks just a little too sure of himself. I can just imagine him thinking, "you know I've been a good boy Santa"

Mike will probably make me change this picture, but it cracks me up!

What a sweet smile this girl has.

Okay not to ruin it, but I told Elliot to do this..."whisper into santa's ear and tell him what you want." After looking at me like I was totally bonkers, she complied. Thanks Elliot.

And of course Mom's still need to tell Santa what we want.

Elephant-locs and the loving family.

2011-11-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

Caleigh took these photos and is waiting for me to print them off, she plans on writing a story with them, something like this....

One day the loving family went out for a walk while their cupcakes cooled. Elephant-locs wandered in and enjoyed the cooled cupcakes.

Then he watched some TV.

Then he posted on facebook, "just ate cupcakes...yum."

And when he heard the washer ding, he rotated laundry to the dryer.

Then he took a long deserved nap until...

The loving family returned and found him in their bed! Look how shocked they are with their hands raised up.

Ha ha ha, Caleigh is so creative, I can't wait to read her version.

Elephant-loc played by "Ellie" the elephant
The loving family played by themselves

Which Smurf are you?

2011-11-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

Elliot is definitely "Vanity Smurf." It is not uncommon to find her in the bathroom looking at herself in a mirror. And when I take her clothes shopping with me, as long as there is a mirror close by she can occupy herself for a long time. This particular night she wouldn't eat her carrots until she discovered they could double as lipstick when dipped in ranch dressing. So of course... she had to grab the mirror!

I'm not complaining, she ate all of her carrots.

Snow, No Problem

2011-11-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Since winter decided to start early this year, our fall sports were interrupted. Which meant soccer practice still happened in the snow. Well, at least for the other teams. We showed up for practice, and our coach didn't. But Griffin and the few players that did show up practiced for a half an hour then we called it quits. We are sooo dedicated.

October Fun

2011-11-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

October flew by (like witches in the air). We were busy with our usually routines, but enjoyed some Halloween fun. The kids had a special costume cartoon club. They dressed up, then drew each other in their costumes. They have such a great time, we look forward to this every month. It helps that the all have great friends in the club, except Griffin who is the youngest member.

And of course the ward trunk-or-treat was very fun. Our ward was recently combined with the other ward that attends our building. So we are now members of the Somersworth ward, instead of the Rochester ward. This was the first activity with the new ward. The gym was packed with all of us. It will take us a little while to get used to a big ward again.

Mother Nature threw in a trick of her own. It snowed 8 in The Saturday before Halloween. So we had snow for trick or treating. The kids bundled up in the winter coats and snow boots and had a great time. Caleigh even build us a trick-or-treating snowman (he has melted before I could get a picture, but he was so cute.)

Quilting Queens!

2011-10-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

This young women's project has changed my life! Seriously I hardly ever touched my sewing machine before we started our quilts, but now I am sewing 2 to 3 times a week. I have never quilted before (not really) and Mary had not either, so we decided to learn and teach the girls along the way. Mary found these great pattern that was so easy and we took the girls fabric shopping. It was so much fun! We all learned the basics for machine quilting, and I hope the girls will do it again and again, like I have been doing.

Soccer 2011

2011-10-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have thoroughly enjoyed soccer season this year. Mostly because Griff is the only one playing, so our schedule isn't too crazy but, I also love his team. He is the only boy, and he feels like a superstar. The girls on his team are great but somehow Griff always ends up with the ball. The other 3 teams in his league are filled with boys and their team usually looses, but they are all learning so much and Griff has improved so much. I hope he continues to play in the future, I love watching him. I think he'll always look back at the year with the girls and remember it fondly.

Uh Oh, Spagetti-O

2011-10-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

Of course I let Elliot play with my stamps. I totally trust her. She's almost 5 after all. That is until I saw this...

Elliot is no longer allowed to play with stamps unsupervised. She'll grow out of this right?

Preschool Bound

2011-09-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

t
Okay, I might have gone a little overboard with the photos, but it was Elliot's FIRST day of preschool!!!

She has been looking forward to this day for weeks. The preschool is through our towns Park and Rec department. There are only 4 other kids in the class, including her friend Dallin Hunting.

We are looking forward to a fun year!

This collage has one of Elliot's classic looks (top left hand corner) She is so funny. Bottom left she is screaming, "preschool, yea!"

Projects

2011-09-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Now that I've lost 3 kids to school, I have a little time to do some projects. My sewing machine is getting some good use, and I'm trying to tackle some projects that I've been wanting to do for a while.

Like finishing this quilt. I found this adorable hedgehog fabric a while ago and I just waited to find the right quilt pattern. This one seems to fit it perfectly. It's only a toddler size but it's the perfect blanket for my living room for extra kids to use. Now my kids can't say, "that my blanket" to their friends.

My craft cabinet has been a growing mess for a while, and I hated how I couldn't find anything. After a day of de-junking and putting things where there supposed to go I was able to buy some storage containers and put it all back organized.

It makes me so happy to grab what I need. Now I have to tackle my coat closet...

School, Summer, repeat....

2011-08-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

It's already that time for back to school. Summers fly by when there only 2 months long. Luckily we were able to make the most of them, and the kids love school so...

Have a great year Miles, Caleigh and Griff!! The kids are proud of their back to school shirts. They picked them out themselves.

13th Anniversary and counting...

2011-08-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

On the 22nd, Mike and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary. Mary generously offered to watch our kids for as long as we liked ( I know, she's the best right!) while we hit the town for lunch and a movie. It might sound boring to some but Mike and I love to go to movies together and we never get to anymore.

We ate lunch in downtown Dover, at Kelley's Row an Irish pub and Restaurant. For you fellow foodies out there we dined on fried pickle chips, lobster clam chowda, and an open faced turkey sandwich. Yum... (Thanks for the suggestion Brother Kane, we'll be hitting this place again, especially when family is in town.)

Since I got to pick the restaurant, Mike picked the movie. No surprise, we saw Capt. America. I was assured there would at least be kissing, but for the most part it was a pretty good action flick. It was just fun to be out of the house, and spending time with Mickey. I love hanging out with Mike laughing, venting, reminiscing, and talking about all the worlds problems. Love you Mike.

Don't you think Capt. America looks kinda like Mike, just not as cute? I know right? That's why I married him.

Final days of Summer

2011-08-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

We are counting down for school to start on the 30th, but until then we are trying to make the most of our summer.

Most of our days are lazy, with plenty of play time with friends in the neighborhood, but we've fit in a few activities.

One was a hike with the boy scouts and activity days girls. One of the great things about NH is there is no shortage of good hiking trails. We hiked Blue Jay mountain (I think that's what it's name was). It was a pretty good hike, not too long. At the top is a cell phone tower and a fire lookout. The kids loved climbing up it when we stopped for lunch.

Hello down there......

And Tuesday we lived it up at Water Country a awesome water park. It brought back my days of playing at Roaring Springs in Idaho. The kids aren't really thrill seekers right now, so we only hit a few big slides. Most of our time was spent in one of the 3 kiddie areas, or the lazy river. The two pools were a big hit too. We went with our friends the Huntings and the kids had so much fun. Elliot surprised me when she volunteered for the "mat slide" a pretty impressive slide, that requires you to lay on a mat. She didn't even blink an eye when I held your mat at at the top and told her to lay on her tummy. She laughed the whole way down and asked to do it again. She never got to, they switched life guards between turns and the second LG claimed she was too short. Oh well, we snuck one in.

Now it's back to lazy days till school starts... 3, 2, 1.

Standing in Holy Places

2011-08-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful for our ward's tradition to take a field trip to the Temple every year. The kids look forward to it and always have a great time. I love to see them all dressed up walking around the Temple grounds. It was a beautiful day not too hot, but the sun was still shining. We had a great picnic in the shade after we walked around. I always use the opportunity to take some photos of the kids, we got a few extra kids in a few of the shots.

Ooops we got an Oliver in our photo, good thing he's pretty cute.

Can't believe how big my "baby" is getting, Elliot is turning into a beauty, inside and out.

I'm so blessed to have these four little people in my life. I'm grateful we get to spend eternity together. They make Mike and I laugh, and they keep life interesting.

Nature

2011-08-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from this little prince the other night. We had just come home from the beach and Caleigh notice him sitting on a flower! He looks big, but he was only about the size of my thumb. He hopped off and stayed for a few photos.

What a handsome Prince. Too bad no one was brave enough to Kiss him. But we did name him "Froggie."

Putting the Kid to work

2011-08-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Miles has no desire to work in the yard, but that didn't stop me from having him mow the lawn last Friday. He did the whole front and side by himself (if me following him the whole time counts as "himself"). He felt so proud of himself when he was done. Good Job Miles, we'll do it again soon!

I love this picture because it shows his little fan club in the background. Miles always has a few kids waiting to play with him. It makes for a great incentive to get him working.

Two for the price of One

2011-07-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

The twinners are 10! The have been looking forward to this day the whole week. We actually had a pretty lazy day, but it was so nice. They played with their new toys and rode their new bikes. In the evening we had Aunt Tracy here, and the Hunting family, minus Steve.

The kids were truly grateful for all the gifts, phone calls, and cards they received. Now for the sappy part.

These two made Mike and I a family, and they continue to bless our home tremendously.

Miles is my go to guy for help around the house. He has amazing musical talents and social skills beyond his years. He loves to tell stories just like his grandpa Tom. And he has an energy for life that wears me out at times. We love you "smiles."

Caleigh reminds us all of a cartoon character. She makes us laugh with facial expressions, and her timely whit. There's nothing this girl can't make with paper, tape, clay, wire, etc. She is always busy creating things, it inspires me and makes me smile. Our little "Lucy Lu."

Birthday Family Fun Day

2011-07-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

This summer our Tuesdays have been dedicated to, what I like to call, Family Fun days. Since the twins birthday was this week, we chose to do some birthday things. The twins each got birthday money from grandparents (thanks guys) so they wanted to do some birthday shopping. And what 10 year olds wouldn't want to shop at the Lego store and The American Girl store! Mike grumbled a little bit at driving an hour and a half for a mall! But I think he had fun.

The Lego store is any boys dream. It has everything you can imagine including an interactive "try me" screen. You just hold the box up to the screen, it scans it then builds the lego set on the screen. Then you can play with it! How cool is that.

But before we could go to the Lego store, the American Girl doll store was our first stop. Ahhh, it is so awesome. What a cute store for girls of all ages. All of us girls couldn't stop saying "cute."

After the kids were shopped out (okay, really after they had spent every last cent) we headed to the Rainforest Cafe for some grub. What a fun place to eat. This was our second time eating at a RFC. Our first time was in Vegas when the kids were much younger, with my dear friend Kata. Griffin had to have been about two and terrified of the atmosphere. He ate his entire meal under the table. Everyone stayed surfaced this time and enjoyed the gorillas who looked over us as we ate.

What a fun day, we were tuckered out at the end of it.

Our final day with family

2011-07-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Shannon loves lighthouses so for our final day with their family we did a self guided lighthouse tour. Apparently here in New England we light to make our lighthouses hard to find, so we had to rely on maps and GPS to get us to the few we wanted to see. We also stopped at a store known for it's large lighthouse gifts and decor selection. It was appropriately named the Lighthouse Depot. The coast of Maine is so beautiful and has charming little shops in the towns. It was a great day.

Some of these pictures crack me up, Carter looked so much like Griffin that I would snap a photo and realize Griffin was missing, but I had Carter in the photo instead. Ooops.

We finished our day at Wild Willy's a local burger place. Yumm. We had so much fun with Matt, Shannon, Carter, and Ashlynn, we hope we can get together again soon.

Our Stay-cation

2011-07-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

After our Boston adventures we headed back home with Matt and Shannon's family. We had a wonderful BBQ, with kabobs provided by Tom and Frankie, yum. We shot off our own fireworks and had a great show. Our family got to experience fireworks in NH, which always includes tons of bug spray.

The next day Matt, Shannon and kids needed to check into their Hotel in Maine, so we had a lazy morning then we drove them up. Making sure to stop at UNH first so Mike could show off the campus and his office. We drove through Portsmouth, NH then up to Maine and the beach!

The kids had a great time burying each other in the sand and looking for starfish. I could not believe how many there are this year. The funny thing is there is no clam shells in sight. We had so much fun the next few days playing in the water, and sand with our family.

Boston Part Two

2011-07-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

After the fun of the fireworks the following day we left, but before we did, we hit a few more Boston highlights.

First up was Fenway park. What a great place, full of the history of baseball.

The shop next to the park was awesome, with everything you could ever want Red Soxs.

After Fenway we hit the bunker hill monument. Tracy and I opted not to walk the 294 steps to the top. But Miles and Carter did it twice so they took our turn for us. And in our defense there were stairs to go to the bathroom, so it's not like we were totally lazy.

A Boston Vacation

2011-07-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Our family Vacay this year was to Boston, to meet up with Mike's Twin Brother Matt and his cute family. We were happy to have Tracy ride down with us and spend the weekend hanging out in Boston. We first met up with Matt, Shannon, Carter, and Ashlynn at our hotel where we unloaded all our stuff then headed out to tour Boston. I love Boston and seeing new sights. Shannon is great about finding fun things to do, so our first stop was old North Church where the kids learned about Paul Revere and made their own paper lanterns.

Right by the church was this great memorial dedicated to men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq. What a great thing for the kids to see the day before the 4th.

It was a pretty hot weekend, but we survived with water bottles, slushy's, and of course the famous frog pond.

The highlight of the weekend was seeing the fireworks shot off over the Charles river. We found a spot only 10 minutes from our hotel, which was awesome since the traffic was crazy after the show. We staked out our spot 7 hours before the fireworks started, I was so glad to have chairs, since every crack and crevice around us was filled with people. We can't say we weren't warned, it was totally worth the crowds.

Girls camp

2011-07-11T16:31:00.000-07:00

I got the opportunity to go to Girls Camp this year and help with Crafts. It was so fun! I wasn't able to stay over (really I like my own bed, so I didn't mind driving home everynight). The girls were all so fun and cute and creative. Thanks to my awesome SIL Tracy and my father and mother in law who watched my kids for two days for me. I know they are a handful.

Each day when I would arrive at camp and walk the quarter of a mile from the parking lot to the craft barn the world would just melt away and I would feel the spirit so strongly. I appreciated the simplicity of being around so many other LDS girls/women.

Pinewood Derby 2011

2011-07-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

The boys look forward to the pinewood derby (Mike included). This was Griffin's first year and his car was custom painted by Mike. Miles painted all the extra's on his. Boy cars did okay, How do you make those things go faster?

1st Day of Summer

2011-06-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

How else would we celebrate the first day of summer? Beach day of course. As soon as the kids walked in the door from school we got ready and headed up to short sands in York, ME. The weather was perfect. The water was cold, but the kids and Mike didn't mind.

I still remember the first summer here with Elliot. Her little diaper bum running around, screaming at the water, and getting sand everywhere. Now I don't even have to think about her, she loves the water and building castles. It's so nice to just sit in my beach chair, chat it up with my SIL Tracy, and enjoy the day.

Can't wait to get in more beach time. Tracy's condo is right on the beach! So we have a great place to change and eat (yay, no sandy-sandwiches!). And Mike's parents, twin brother and family will be here soon. It's only the first day, but it's going to be a great summer.

Studio 109 Classics

2011-06-18T05:50:00.000-07:00

Elliot has worked hard in dance this year. She had two great teachers, Meagan and Michelle. She loved getting stickers at the end of each class and water from the water cooler. The recital was a great way to end the year. There were a couple of rehearsals that made me miss baseball/softball games but the show was great, so it was worth it. Caleigh and Tracy got to enjoy the recital with me. Thanks Tracy for giggling with me. And thanks for bring the ipad, I don't think Elliot would have made it.

Caleigh supporting her little sis. Cute girls.

Elliot loves make-up, so the recital was a dream come true. She kept reapplying lipstick throughout the show, she wanted to look good. Her teachers gave her a sand bucket full of goodies. Elliot named the cute white puppy "Coconut"

" I want Candy..."

2011-06-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

My awesome SIL Tracy is here for the summer. WE love when family is here and wish we could have all our family here during the summer. I love Tracy's easy going attitude. Like Saturday we met her for dinner, and we drove into the Olive Garden parking lot and there was no parking available she didn't mind a bit when I suggested the Mall Food Court. I mean who thinks Mall Food Court for dinner?

After enjoying our various meals Tracy handed out quarters for the kids to get a candy from the bubblegum machines (you know the big bubble gum buffets at malls?) Elliot quickly gobbled hers up and asked for another quarter. Well, I said no and the fit started, "but mom, please?" repeated 10 times. Finally she had had it with me and stated, "but Mom, I'm just a girl who likes candy!"

I appreciate her honesty, but she still didn't get the quarter. Can't wait to see what future arguments will be.

Flashback Friday

2011-06-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

I have been slacking in my blog. Mostly because we are wicked (I know Mike, I said it) busy right now. But there are so many fun memories that pop into my head ten times a day. So here's my flash back today...

When Caleigh was 3 or 4 she got annoyed with Miles one day. And in her efforts to convey her feelings she coined this phrase..."Miles, you're ticking off my nerds"

We recently remembered this story and now, we crack each other up by saying. "You're ticking off my nerds."

It especially runs through my mind as I'm doing tick checks on my kids. We've already had 3 this season. And a few just creepy crawling around. It doesn't freak me out as much as it used to, mostly I just think as I'm tweezing them , "you're ticking off my nerds."

Birthday Boy

2011-06-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

The kids and I worked hard this year to make Mike's birthday happen. With baseball/softball/piano/cubscouts/activity days/and dance class it's hard to fit most things in this day, but we played hookie on a softball game to celebrate this great guys birthday.

The kids still had piano, but we picked up some Chinese and subway for dinner. Then opened presents and ended with Mike's fav. rainbow chip cake. The kids and I had fun picking out presents for Mike. Caleigh and Elliot went in together on an Angry Bird T-shirt. (we are all obsessed with playing Angry Birds on the Nook.) Griff got Mike some new shades (because his futures so bright) and Miles got him another T-shirt. He wanted to get him an UNH hat, but we checked 5 local stores and couldn't find one. Mike will just have to pick one up on campus one of these days.

Mike is so great and deserved a good birthday. He works so hard for our growing (as in, my four children are growing fast) family. We love you Mickie!

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

Visiting Rhode Island has been on my check list since we moved here, and now I can check it off.

Monday we met up with our ward for a Memorial Day Breakfast, then we parted ways and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Newport, RI.
Newport is beautiful with houses crammed on every inch of the coastline (wouldn't you want to live there?) We chose Easton's beach to spend the day. Easton's beach has got to be one of the best beaches we've been to so far (too bad it's far away). The sand was wonderful, the water warmer than our typical Maine and New Hampshire beaches and Caleigh was in heaven with all of the shells. We hadn't really planned on swimming, this was supposed to be a sight seeing trip. But, the kiddos ran for the ocean and didn't stop till they were all dripping wet. Well, Elliot didn't get too wet but still played in the waves. I turned to Mike and said, "Do you know what makes me happy, there is a playground right over there and our kids are playing in the ocean with their clothes on."

After the kids were good and drenched we checked out the 3.5 mile ocean walk.

The ocean walk is a paved path along the coastline. It is wonderfully maintained with a few stops along the way. (for you boiseians think green belt, but instead of walking along the river, you are walking along the ocean.) It also passes by a few mansions and a university. I want Mike to teach here.

After the beach walk, we played a little longer in the ocean then packed up and headed to Providence, RI. We wanted to make sure we saw the capitol of this charming state. Providence was, in my opinion, a mini version of Boston. The buildings were great, full of history and character. We found a park with a WWII memorial in it. What a great reminder to us of all the brave men who have fought and died for our country. Miles located the Marines seal on one side of one of the statues and gave it his most reverent solute. We sent our thoughts to my father who fought in the Vietnam war. Thanks Gpa!

Our plan was to find a local restaurant to finish off our experience but, after driving around and finding a dive of a place that wasn't even open we headed to the familiar, yet always yummy, Chili's.

What a great day! Hopefully it won't be our only trip to Rhode Island, but if it is, it was worth it.

Ticklin' those ivories

2011-05-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the kids piano recital. The twins participated last year, but this was Griffin's first year. They were all excited and a little nervous to perform. They've been working so hard on their pieces for months now. Over and over we've heard the same songs while they've fine tuned each note and rhythm. I'm so proud of them for putting in the work and doing their best.

Each collage shows what songs they played, but I wanted to point out Caleigh wrote one of her songs. Her teacher was impressed with Caleigh's ability to transpose her song onto paper. Kathy said she could see Caleigh had applied all of her theory work in her song.

In my opinion, there were excellent pieces played, but Griffin's Wallace and Gromit duet with Kathy stole the show for me. It was so happy and fun you couldn't help but smile as you listened.

Miles never ceases to amaze us. He sauntered up to that piano like he owned the place. He loves to play, and you can tell, since his songs are played with feeling, not just note by note. (okay he didn't really saunter more like hunched his shoulders, shuffled up, played, then shuffled back to his seat. But theres this look in his eye that says it all. He's good and he knows it.)

Kathy (the kid's teacher, whom I cannot rave enough about!) and her family ended the show with a performance. They sang "King of Anything" and a mash up of "fix you" and "soul sister" Ahh, I loved it. I'm sure Mike was sinking in his chair sitting next to his toe tapping wife, but it was so fun.

And of course...THE COOKIES! Cute note shaped sugar cookies personalized with each students name. The kids would perform for these cookies any day.

And the award goes to...

2011-05-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Elliot is the girlie-est girl. But when it comes to picking the stinky-est in our family, all fingers point to her. And she loves the title. She giggles every time she toots.

Now with Mike, Miles and Griffin around you'd think she would come in third or fourth but, no her title is safe for now. (oh and Caleigh and I are too lady-like to even participate in the contest.)

Outfield Miles

2011-05-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

Miles made the big jump from rookies to the Majors this year with baseball. He had to be drafted to a team, and the sport gets a whole lot more intense this year.

Miles enjoyed last year, and I don't think he's hating this year, but it hasn't been all the fun and games he expected (or at least what I expected) He's learning a little and making some new friends. Mostly he loves being on a undefeated team (oh, except the game they had to forfeit because the other coach started yelling at our teams coach and so we ended the game early but the score was in our favor, so we still feel like winners). He doesn't get to play much, and has yet to hit a ball in a game. But he seems to be having a good time, and learning the biggest lesson of all, "baseball does not define him." He might not be the best out there, he's still new to the sport, and he might not have any natural talent, sorry buddy but you know who your parents are, but he's learning that he can be just okay at some things and it doesn't have to derail his self esteem.

I'm pretty proud of him. Even when he does manage to get on base (thank goodness for the 4 ball rule) and when he slides into home missing the plate by inches. Good job Miles.

Picture Day at the ball field

2011-05-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

And the pictures are in... Okay so I'm that cheap Mom who takes pictures behind the real photographer. But really they came out fine. I mean my kids can see all the faces of their team mates and that's all that matters. Right? I did splurge ($12.00) for a 8x10 of all three of my kiddos together. Can't wait for that. I might actually frame it. (I have a bad habit of not putting pictures in frames... or not changing out the pictures for years, it really bugs Mike.) Anyway, see if you can find my kiddos in their photos...

Elliot's pretty good this year about being dragged to the field every night. She finds things to entertain herself with. Mostly it's the bushes and trees surrounding the field. Which means I entertain myself when we get home by checking for ticks.

Griffin's tearing up the rookie field this year. He's a great batter and his catching has come a long way since last year. His throwing is super fast. Mike's ankle can vouch for that. Guess Mike will have to work on his grounder skills, so he doesn't get hit by the ball anymore. Seriously I have to ice my hand when I'm done playing catch with Griff. Maybe because I'm using Caleigh's T-ball mitt?

And I'm assured that the PINK helmet is the secret to his success. Maybe, or maybe all those hours with MOM pitching the ball to him. Hmm...

Lookin' good Griff, lookin' good

2011-05-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Griffin catch phrase is "lookin' good griff, lookin' good" he says it to himself alot as he looks in the mirror in the morning. It makes me smile. He's looking extra good these days with his new eye wear. Our family doc told me last Dec. he needed glasses and to make an appointment with an optometrist. I of course put it off until now. But finally we took him in and sure enough the kid is barely blind I think his prescription is -.50 in both eyes. But now he can see perfect again, and he loves his new glasses.

Rock-a-bye...

2011-05-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

The babies have arrived and I am dying being across the country and not able to hold either of them. I'm so happy for my two brothers and their families. What amazing little blessings these little girls are. So here they are...

April 30th brought us Magdalene Lucia Head, nicknamed "Maggie"

The proud family.

Then on May 7th via C-section arrived Mikayla Marie Head. She has my brother Rodney's chin and lips and her Momma's beautiful brown eyes. Seriously my SIL Michelle's eyes are the most beautiful things ever, so this is one lucky little girl.

Congratulations Rod and "Michellie"

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

Mother's day this year was wonderful. I love watching how excited the kids get to hand over their homemade presents.

Elliot woke me up with her hands behind her back. "Here" she said as she proudly held up her Dumbo stuffed animal. Last year Mike got her extra elephant stuffed animal (she has two of the exact same ones, in case we lose one, only she knows the difference and calls one her "big" elephant-it has more stuffing-and one her "little" elephant.) Now I get an elephant too. It makes me smile to walk into my room and see Dumbo sitting on my nightstand and "big" elephant sitting on Mike's nightstand. It's like were in a secret elephant club with Elliot. Because who doesn't need a stuffed elephant to go to sleep.

Griffin made his own present at home, since his class at school didn't do anything. He cut out a heart and taped it to a paper lunch bag. Inside was a homemade card with questions like:

Who's favorite color is red? Mom
Who's a very good cook? Mom
Who does everyone love? Mom
and finally,
Who makes everyone laugh? Dad
He was giggling the whole time I was reading it. What a jokester! I love that kid

Caleigh planted flowers in a pot for me at Activity day girls. They're yellow mums that are so large and beautiful. She was so disappointed that the largest bloom broke off that morning while she was getting it out of it's hiding spot, but I assured her, it would grow back, and I loved it.

Miles class made laminated pictures of flowers in a pot with the childs picture on it. I hung it on the wall and I see Miles cute face everytime I go to log on to the computer. I love that kids dimples and big round eyes. He has been a little mopey lately, and I have been worried about him. But I gave it some time and discovered if I hug him and joke that I'm "hugging the grumpy out of him" he smiles and returns to his old self. Love that kids smile. I love that he's growing up and doing more and more things on his own. I love that I can leave him in charge and he does a pretty good job. And I love his talent in music and his ability to make friends with anyone.

I love being a Mom. It's hard at times and I wish I could do more, be more for them, but then I remind myself, Heavenly Father entrusted me with these children, he must know that I'm enough just the way I am, or at the very least, I'll get there eventually.

Fun with Jim

2011-05-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

Mike's UNH coworker/office partner/friend Jim came over Monday night for a BBQ. We have had him over a few times and we all love getting to know him better. After dinner Mike, Jim and the kids headed to the field by our house for some baseball fun. After Mike "pitched" the ball as hard as he could, hitting Jim's leg in the process, they came back to our house for some music fun. (Jim has only a mild contusion and has assured Mike he will walk again).

Jim brought along his guitar and some funky looking piano instrument that you have to blow into to make work. It's called a Melodica. The kids were hooked! My favorite part of the night was when Miles was struggling a little making the melodica work, Griffin ran over to the piano and got his music for him. Like that was the problem. Funny little brothers.

Waiting...

2011-04-28T15:59:00.001-07:00

We are anxiously waiting for babies! My SILs Tiffany and Michelle are both expecting girls due on the same day. This will be Tiff's 5th baby and Michelle's 1st. Ahhh, I wish I was close so I could hold these new babes within their first hours. So good luck to Tiff and Michelle...we'll be thinking about you and hoping all goes well.

Fastest thing on 2 wheels

2011-04-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

Mike and Elliot decided she was ready to get rid of the training wheels. I was not looking forward to hanging on to the back of her seat. But she didn't even need me. She just hopped on and slowly started riding. she tipped over a bunch, but she could reach the ground easily enough. By the end of the week she was going out and riding all by herself. Love this girls determination.

Caleigh and Softball

2011-04-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Caleigh's first game went great. She only got up to bat once, and ended up getting hit in the head with the ball. Which meant she made it to first base!!! I was so proud.

She had a smile on her face the whole game. Can't wait for the rest of the season.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Easter sort of sneaked up on us this year. Luckily the Easter bu

nny was prepared. The kids all got little kites, bubbles, sidewalk chalk (for the girls) and marshmallow shooters (for the boys) in their baskets. It was a beautiful day.

We had a wonderful meal with our dear friends the Huntings after church and it was Steves birthday, so Mary brought yummy cupcakes!

I didn't really sit the kids down for an Easter photo shoot this year, but Griffin was grumpy about his black shirt. He said, "Mom, black isn't a spring color." I know Griff, but black shirts match Elliots outfit, and Caleigh's dress matches Elliot's outfit and I just can't not have matching outfits. Poor Griff.

Mike and I have always been lucky to have good friends, and Steve and Mary and their three kids are no exception. They are so fun to be around. Mary told Steve to fix his pants, because they were tucked into the flap of his shoe, but...

Steve just had to take it one step farther. Hilarious.

But then Mary showed off her cute white socks with her black shoes...doesn't everyone do that? They crack me up!

What we've been doing lately

2011-04-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Our days have been flying by with baseball/softball practices and sewing projects. I'm so grateful to have been given my wonderful sewing machine and have finally been using it daily! I've been quilting/making the girls summer skirts/ and recently making monsters (I'll post about those later...their not quiet done.) The kids are the most grateful recipients of my projects. They LOVE everything I do, and they never look for the mistakes. They don't realize that the measurements were wrong, the seams aren't straight, the thread color is off, and most projects end up taking me way longer than an average sewer. It makes me so happy to make them something. Elliot's showing off her new Market Skirt. I heart the pockets, and they weren't too hard to make.

On a side note, the weather has been crappy and softball/baseball practices have been semi-miserable for the kids. It's cold and their little fingers and faces are numb for hours after. Miles especially doesn't seem to be enjoying the outfield as snowflakes swirl around him. Poor guy. And mean old me keeps saying, "Don't start crying, I know it's cold, but you really don't want to start crying in front of your team." I'll snap some pictures as soon as the uniforms come in and the kids are all geared up.

Griffin's season hasn't even started! So I can't imagine what adding his schedule will be like. He is the most determined guy. We are out everyday practicing throwing and catching. He almost hardly drops the ball now and he's throws are getting farther. Can't wait to see him in action.

Hello to our Dear Friend

2011-04-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ethan, Micheal, Christopher you good boys, we just miss and love you.

A Spring snowstorm?

2011-03-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

That's what the news called it, a "spring snowstorm." Grr. Just when we were all breaking out the short sleeved shirts and shorts. When it started snowing yesterday Elliot asked Mike, "is it snowing? Darn it, I like the grass." Amen sister.

Well, at least it's melting...

fastest thing on 4 wheels.

2011-03-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

Well, she's not the "fastest" but she loves to zoom around the street on her bike. Since the weather has been nice, all the kids have been spending every minute of daylight outside! sigh, heaven. They love the hill especially, which scares Mike and I. They seem to have no fear riding their rollerblades down the steep hill.

Hopefully the Easter Bunny will bring some knee/elbow/wrist guards, so I don't have to worry so much. Especially since our neighbor Jack fell off one of our skateboards and broke his wrist and got stitches in his chin. Yikes!!

Oh, these are Elliot's new kicks. Little Miss Chatterbox shoes. Who doesn't love $5.00 shoes! I do.

Daddy's little girl gets a new do!

2011-03-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Elliot has been begging for a "bob" for the past few month. I keep thinking, "do you even know what a bob is?" but oh well. Since the brand new Great Clips close to our home was having a 2.99 special we took advantage and got Elliots hair chopped off. I only got slightly teary eyed. She has such pretty hair!

But, it's adorable and I love all the new possibilities. She looks so much more like Mike too as she gets older, I just love her sparkling blue eyes and her adorable 4 year old comments and observations.

St. Patty's

2011-03-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Caleigh is so cute and creative! She came up with this hat herself and wanted it pictured along with our wishes of happy st. patty's day. We enjoyed fairly new tradition of Corned Beef and Cabbage. I bought the Irish Soda bread this year, and the kids gobbled it all up. What a lucky person I am to have such a great family.
I

Not pictured: Caleigh and Griffin made leperchaun traps, but I forgot to get a shot of them. But all the kids got a surprise of gold coins in the morning. Not too many, times are hard even for leperchauns.

3 down 1 to go...

2011-03-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

March 5th Griffin became our 3 child to be baptized. He has been looking forward to this day for quite sometime. He has such a big heart and loves everyone. We are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized. He works so hard in Primary to learn his Articles of Faith and he can't wait to start working in his faith in God book. Way to go Griffin!

The font wasn't filled up all the way when we arrived so Griffin jumped right in carrying buckets of hot water to fill up the font.

My Two handsome Men

We had so many great friends and family come. Even Griffin's school teacher Miss Park was able to attend, along with Mikes co worker at UNH, Jim. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Thank you to everyone who helped make this day so special for our Griff.

Gma Marie's 1st broken bone...

2011-03-05T16:01:00.000-08:00

She will have to have surgery, but she is hanging in there. The kids took good care of her, as well as her nurse Gpa Larry. This is a hard women to keep down so hopefully she won't take too long to get better.

Happy Birthday Grandma Frankie

2011-03-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

It's so rare we get to celebrate a birthday with family, we just had to make a big deal about Grandma Frankies birthday. I am so lucky to have Tom and Frankie as in-laws and we all them so much. Frankie has some health problems, and has days where she can't even leave the house because of pain, but she is still willing to hop on a plane, spend all day flying, just to see her grandson get baptized. What a great grandma!

We all went to dinner at Johnsons, our favorite local restaurant. Yummy, yummy fish and chips, baked scallops, clam chowda, and burgers (although, no one got the burgers this time.)

We ended the night with presents, and I tried my hand at Baked Alaska's This one was mint/chocolate, the other one was blueberry ice cream/yellow cake. My friend Emily made these a few times, and they turned out to be pretty easy to put together, although, next time I hope my meringue comes out a little better. But they were still delicious!

"Phew, life was hard in Colonial times"

2011-03-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Miles and Caleigh's 4th grade classes just finished up their big Colonial projects. To celebrate and show off their hard work, they hosted a fair and parents got to come and see their final projects. I was so proud of all the hard work each of them did, and I didn't have to help too much. (I only had to help Miles put together his costume.) Caleigh chose not to dress up. Caleigh was an apothecary and Miles was a house wright. They learned so much and had fun.

Blue and Gold!

2011-03-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

The boys had their blue and Gold banquet last week. Griff just started so he didn't have any awards, but Miles earned his weebelo badge. I'm so glad that scouting is a part of our family. I think the boys have years of enjoyment ahead. Caleigh and Elliot even loved the banquet. There was a knight theme for the evening and everyone of the boys were "knighted" they then made shields and took turns jousting a fake opponent. Thankfully the joust stick stayed at the church, but the shields got to come home with them.

Science is Fun

2011-03-01T17:58:00.000-08:00

The kids had all of last week off for Winter break. We had fun sleeping in, and hanging out with friends. One day we even made is down to Manchester to the See Science Center. Miles and Griffin especially love the LEGOS! We sat in on a presentation about static electricity. The girls loved watching their hair raise up and the boys loved when all the kids stood in a circle holding hands and the first person touched the static ball and the whole circle jumped! What a fun Day.

Elliot's Big Girl chart

2011-02-18T04:56:00.000-08:00

So no picture with this post, frown, but I'm too lazy!

I've been struggling with Elliot's lack of interest in becoming independent lately. Don't all 4 year olds want to do things themselves? Some things she wants too,but usually those are the things I don't want her too. Like salting her own food at dinner...not a good idea.

But mostly it's "you do it" which includes: seat belts, getting dressed, going potty at home (she wants to be walked there, lights turned on for her, and bum wiped), cleaning up, and any chore like task. Grrr... I've been pulling my hair out, especially the bathroom issue, she will pee her pants if I don't escort her to the bathroom and turn on the light for her!!! She isn't just pre occupied with toys, no she will be potty dancing outside of the bathroom waiting for me.

Thank goodness for CHARTS! A Few simple boxes on a piece of paper and the promise of a trip to the dollar store and my 4 year old is on her way to independence. She'll do anything for a smiley face in one of the wonderful boxes. She even went to the bathroom without even telling me yesterday. Heavenly. She's already filled one chart and is working on her second.

Hanging with Griff

2011-02-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

Due to a pipe bursting at Griffin's school, he got the day off today. And what do you think he wanted to do?

De-Junk his room!!!

That is my kind of kid. So half way through the toy bins, I realized he was giving a lot away. I made a comment of how proud I was of him, that he was able to let things go.

His reply, "well, most of those things are Miles."

I guess Miles will have to take a look in the box BEFORE it heads to the Salvation Army.

The room looks great!

It's Great To Be 8!

2011-01-31T11:31:00.000-08:00

My sweet, sweet Griffin is eight! Sometimes I forget he's younger than the twins, he's always felt like part of the package.

Griffin wanted to just hang out at home for his birthday, including not going to school! It worked out that he had a Dentist appointment in the morning and then we just sort of forgot to take him back to school. Mike, Elliot and I took him out to lunch. Then he wanted to go to Barnes and Nobles and Toys R us. We just hung out and had a great day together.

For dinner we had the Huntings over (minus Steve) for pizza, cake, ice cream, and fun on the Wii. What a great day.

Thanks Hunting for partying with us.

Okay, this last collage needs an explanation. I printed off some funny photos of Griff and made captions to go with them. They were just a little something to make Griff smile on his birthday. He thought Mike did it (because this is totally something Mike would do.) and I felt flattered.
Some great facts about our Griffin:

-He wants to go to Harvarb someday. (no I didn't miss spell that on accident, he calls it Har-verb. Hilarious. Well, if Harvarb doesn't want him, I bet Harvard will!)

-He loves Science, Dinosaurs, Detective stuff, and Sports.

-He is such a great friend. Miles gets to be his best friend and I'm jealous.

-He has a big desire to be good and follow the rules. He is our peacemaker and loves when there is no fighting or yelling in our home.

-He is the boogeriest kid ever! I can always tell he needs to blow his nose. The other day he had a big crusty one hanging out, When I went to flick it, he said, "what are you doing? Picking my nose? This can be our game, pick my nose and I won't let you." He then started softly, but quickly hitting his head against our couch and said, "level 5" HA HA HA.

-Griff cracks me UP! And most the time he's not even trying to be funny! He is just a natural jokester.

Miles, Caleigh and The Bee

2011-01-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

Miles and Caleigh both won their classroom spelling bees, which put them in the school spelling bee. I had been bugging them all week to practice and study their words, but they just didn't want to. So I wasn't really expecting much on Friday when they had the school bee.

Hilariously the microphone was inches above Caleigh's head, but she and Miles both made it past round one.

Miles got out in round two with the word, "Auburn." Oh, well, good try, Miles.

Caleigh kept going round after round, until....

There were two left. Caleigh and a 6th grader! I thought for sure the word, "Sashay" would have gotten her out, in a previous round but she was still in it.

Her final word was Suffrage and she spelled it S-u-f-f-e-r-a-g-e. Darn! She was so close. The support from the other 4th graders was so wonderful. So many came up to her and Miles after and told them they did a good job. I was a little emotional at the end. I was so proud of my twins, and especially at my shy little Caleigh. What a brave girl she was to get up there. Honestly I don't think she was nervous at all. She was disappointed she didn't win. There's always next year!

From my new birthday present

2011-01-22T18:39:00.000-08:00

I am writing from my early birthday present... aNOOK Color. It is AWESOME! Thanks to Frankie and Tom's birthday check and my sweet husband and kids I am spoiled with this fun new Toy! I would put a picture here if I knew How? Oh well I guess I'll still need the laptop for Something!

Snow 2011

2011-01-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

I was beginning to think winter wasn't coming this year. We had one small storm, but it was mostly gone by the time this one hit. Phew! Honestly I don't mind the snow at all, as long as I don't have to drive in it. School was canceled and the kids got to play a little outside. Mike was grateful to have the snow blower, and I was too.

Farther south the storm was much worse, and our thoughts and prayers were with those people. We know what it feels like to not have power! Welcome winter, let the sledding season begin.

Elliot has great comedic timing

2011-01-13T16:22:00.000-08:00

Elliot reminds me so much of Miles at her age. (Although she is a bit calmer than 4 year old Miles.) The one trait they really have in common, is their ability to come up with one liners. They both say things that really crack me up. Elliot came up with a good one today...

We were shopping all day ( I mean all day), Elliot is usually really good about shopping but today she had a terrible case of the "I want this" and she just wouldn't put stuff back. In her defense she did just finish up with Christmas and Birthday and has been buying stuff with birthday/Christmas money. So she has been getting a lot of stuff lately, but she doesn't quite get the concept of the gift card. The money eventually runs out. So after like the 6th store of her crying because she couldn't get something, I tried to explain to her she was not getting any more toys! Ever! (I was using my stern voice) She said, "Ever! really?" Phew, it's sinking in I thought. Then she says, "Ever mom? Stop the crazy talk." Ha Ha Ha I couldn't stop smiling. I tried hard not to laugh out loud because she really doesn't like that. Griff laughed at her at dinner one night and she told him to "shut it down." What a character!

Happy, Happy Birthday Elli dear...

2011-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

My sweet little girl is 4. She had such a wonderful birthday. She kept saying throughout the day, "This is so kind." or "This is so wonderful." She was really grateful for all the gifts and phone calls. (thanks you for everyone who helped make the day special).

Elliot is a amazing little girl with so much life in her. She can be stubborn and hard to deal with at times, but she's always quick to say sorry and give you comfort if she thinks your hurt or feel bad. She loves to play with her sister and brothers. She will share most everything with them. Her brothers especially give her tons of attention and think she is the cutest thing ever. Caleigh is even coming around to her cuteness. I'm so grateful Elli is a part of our family. Elliot humor really cracks me up. The other day she was looking at our blog book and she found a picture that must have missed being edited because she said, "I think I'm becoming a Vampire, my eyes are red in this picture." She was so serious when she said it. Hilarious.

Another time we were working on reading and we were on "ap" words. Ex: nap, tap, gap, and we were sounding out the word s-a-p and she said, "Oh, sap, like s'up dudes." Then she started giggling.

I love my little girl.

A quick trivia about Elliot; She has the most nicknames in our family. They include:

Ell-J

Jellybean

Junebug

Elli

Ell

June (her middle name)

Ells (which goes great with Hells-Ells when I'm frustrated)

Elly Belly

Bells

Belly

and

Wild Women

A recap of our year.

2011-01-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Phew! Another year down and a few more to go till Mike is finished with school and we just might get to settle down somewhere. Luckily we are still having a blast living here on the East Coast. Here's a quick recap of the year... (mostly this is fun for me to reminisce).

Jan- I turned 31, Griff turned 7, and "Ell-J" turned 3. Mike also reached his goal weigh (and has kept it off the whole year.) Elliot also had her first trip to the dentist.

Feb- not much going on, except Valentines Day. I'm already looking forward to making Chocolate boxes for my valentines.

March-We had to bid farewell to the Titus family (but we love hearing about their Russian adventures), Grandpa Tom visited, Mike was put in to the Bishopric, and the snow finally left NH.

April-Baseball and Softball season started, we started the wonderful process of moving, and I booked our flights to Boise.

May-We moved into our new home (still known to us and all as the Titus home), Aunt Tracy moves to Maine (just for the summer), Grandma and Grandpa Peterson come to stay at Aunt Tracy's beach house, and Miles and Caleigh have their first piano recital.

June- Mike turns 33, and we play, play, play with family, and at the beach. We love Summer!

July- We play more at the beach, and then head to Boise, ID for a wonderful month long vacation. The twinners turn 9.

Aug.- We enjoy family and friends on our vacation, we head to Utah for time with Utah Petersons, Mike and I celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary, and the kiddos are back in school (didn't it just end?)

Sept.-Elliot starts dance class, and we get our annual visit from Aunt Tracy. Fall can begin!

Oct.- Miles runs for student council and wins, and we learn about 3 new babies that will be joining our family.

Nov.- We are truly blessed with family this month. G and G Peterson come to New England and we get to visit with them and enjoy a parade, Gpa and Gma Head celebrate Thanksgiving with us and we love having them.

Dec.- The whole month was spent enjoying the Christmas season. We served a little, laughed a lot, and remembered that our Saviour lives and loves us.

What a great year!!!

New Years Eve

2010-12-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

We spent another New Years Eve partying at the Hunting homes with wonderful friends and food. The kids ran around and had a great time. Caleigh was feeling sick that night and didn't do too much running around, but still had a good time. We had our annual white elephant gift exchange. I was able to get rid of one of Mikes books and some chocolate. I came home with cucumber melon soap, lotion, body spray, and what is quickly becoming my new favorite lipgloss. Score! We played some games, laughed, talked and rang in the new year, a little early (around 9:30pm) with pots and pans and toasts all around. The kids especially love opening the front door and banging on their pots and pans. When else can they make so much noise.

My little reader

2010-12-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

Elliot has been fascinated with learning her letters lately. She points them out where ever we go. So I decided, since I have nothing going on during the day, that I would teach her to read. I wasn't that hopeful, she's only 3 (until Jan. 3rd, then she'll be 4). But I thought it was worth a try. After all, she is the one who keeps bringing it up!

We broke out Griffin's hooked on Phonics set, and got to work on learning all of her letters and sounds. She picked up on them pretty quickly (she still confuses a few.) I even enlisted the kids help asking them to point out letters when they read to her books. They were more than happy to help.

And I'm happy to report tonight, she read her first words!!! I was so proud of her. She read cat, hat, pat, mat, sat, fat (which made her giggle), and rat. Then she read a story: Cat. Rat. Cat sat. Rat sat. Cat, sat, sat, sat. Rat, sat, sat, sat. Fat, fat, cat. Fat, fat, rat.

I have a feeling she's been able to read for years, she's just humoring me by starting at the beginning.

Winter has begun

2010-12-27T18:23:00.000-08:00

We've had a few light snow days, but finally we got one that brought enough snow to play in. The kids were excited to try out some of their Christmas gifts. Griff did pretty good on his "snowboard." And all the kids loved putting together a snowman. Sadly he has melted away...for now. It won't be long before we have more snow to play in.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T14:01:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day. We missed family and friends very much, but had wonderful people to spend the holiday with. The Huntings hosted a great Christmas Eve party with Fondue (of course) and a chocolate fountain. The children entertained us with dancing and carols. It was so much fun.

After the par-tay we headed home to open one present and then to get the kids in bed. The girls made beds in the boys room and they all fell asleep by 9 pm. Wish that would happen every night

Then after weeks of waiting it was finally Christmas morning. The kids were wonderful. They were so grateful for all of their presents, and they were wonderful at sharing with each other. It was a great Christmas morning (with breakfast burrito) and tons of wrapping paper everywhere! Griffin and Caleigh had been busy all week making presents for everyone. Not only did Griffin make things for Mike and I but he also gave every one in the family one of his most prized possession. I was the recipients of his sea glass collection. I am so grateful for my wonderful family.

A proud moment

2010-12-24T05:35:00.000-08:00

Miles and Caleigh received their report cards last week and Mike and I were so pleased that they both had earned straight A's!!! Their school holds an honor assembly giving out various awards. Miles and Caleigh both got an award for their straight A's.

They both work so hard on their homework and I'm so proud of them. I'm grateful that they both have teachers that seem to fit their personality. It makes such a difference to send them to school knowing they enjoy it. Good job Miles and Caleigh.

This year's Nativity

2010-12-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

Our ward had a Christmas Linger longer and the primary children performed the Nativity. Griffin got to be Joseph, Miles a Wiseman, Elliot an Angel, and Caleigh did a wonderful job as the Narrator. It was so wonderful to watch. Elliot cracked me up. She kept singing opera and insisting I take pictures. Then she would run over to see the pictures during the play.

Shop till you drop...

2010-12-21T05:34:00.000-08:00

Me and Elliot have been spending every last school day to finish up my Christmas shopping. (I love Elliot's clueless-ness. I bought most of her Santa presents with her with me! She has no idea). She is such a trooper, being dragged from store to store, lunch from a prepacked baggie, and having to hold off her potty breaks till we can find a bathroom. I am truly grateful for our time together, since I know in a few years she'll enter school and I'll have to share her with the public school system (scary).

I snapped the following photos after a long day of shopping. Her face is covered in brown ink, since her toy of choice was a brown ink pad. (I'll do anything to keep her happy and entertained while we shop.) We also take advantage of the long drives between stores with long deep conversation and learning games. I'm proud to say, she knows most of her letter sounds, and she loves to rhyme. She also knows all the words to Mr. Grinch, Dynamite, and most all Glee songs. She is so much fun! Love you Elliot.

Griffin's Holiday Concert

2010-12-17T09:19:00.001-08:00

On Monday Griffin had his Holiday concert. These things are usually P A I N F U L. I am a huge music lover and was involved in different singing groups since elementary school, but the past Valley View concerts have been no where near music. Is that harsh? Sorry, but the truth hurts.

The first two years Miles and Caleigh participated in this concert it was so poorly planned. The entire school (minus Kindergarten) would take turns rotating onto the one set of risers and sing their two or three songs. Meanwhile audience members talked during the entire "concert" and the large gym made it hard to hear the children singing. And to top it all off the principle (who I like, really sweet lady) would have to get up and remind the children and their parents to "remember their concert behavior". Hot, crowded, painful. I'll end now, because Mike has heard this rant and it goes on for while.

But this year was wonderful!!! (I plan to send a email to the new music teacher). She had all the children organized and sitting together on the bleachers. No more sharing the one set of risers. The children all sang the same 5 songs together so you could hear them all. They even had a slide show with the words and pictures. They did go over concert behavior at the beginning of the beginning, but it was presented by the children and each rule had a witty twist. Like one of the rules was, "don't leave with out us." Cute.

Good job Griffin, I'm glad we didn't skip it. Even though Dad wanted too.

Can we open presents now?

2010-12-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

Ever since the tree went up Thanksgiving weekend, Elliot asks everyday, "Can we open presents now?" How hard it is to be 3 and have to wait for SO LONG to open your Christmas presents.

I saw on my SIL's blog, my nephew Carter had this wonderful Santa advent calender. I thought it would help Elliot be a little more patient. She had fun coloring and glueing her very own advent calender. But the next day she found the cotton balls and glue and filled Santa's beard almost full! I guess she thought if she just glued on all those cotton balls she would finally get to open up her presents.

Sorry Elliot, you still have to wait.

A few traditions.

2010-12-07T15:35:00.001-08:00

Before G and G Head left, the kids decorated their little trees for their rooms. Since Elliot was only 2 last year, she didn't have her own, but this year she was asking where her's was. G and G were to the rescue, not only did they get her her own tree with lights! They even got her cute pink decorations for it. She felt like a princess with her light up tree. It is also making a great night light right now.

And last week we attended our towns annual tree lighting ceremony. The tree seems to get smaller every year (which I'm grateful for, since it's in the middle of the street.) But we always have fun. The kids especially love running into friends from school.

This is Caleigh and her cute friend. I just love her glasses, she's like a little American Girl doll walking around.

The Christmas Dove

2010-12-02T05:20:00.000-08:00

One of our family traditions is to hit the store, the Christmas Dove, around Thanksgiving. It gets us all excited for Christmas, and my kids love to play with the trains! I don't think I've really taken good pictures of this store, it is amazing.

It was great to take Gma and Gpa Head there this year. They've been before (truly, I love this store, I take everyone whose willing). Any way each of the kids got to sit on "Santa's" lap and have their annual picture taken. Mall Santas still scare them, but this Santa is a no-threat Santa.

We also had the kids write non tradition Santa letters this year. Instead of just writing down what they wanted, we asked them to write "why" they deserved presents at all. I can't find Caleighs letter (her room is the bermuda triangle for things, I'm sure she knows right where it is.) But I wanted to write down Miles and Griffin's letters...

Miles letter:

Dear Santa, this year was a good year. It had it's up, downs, slantways, sideways, square ways, and any other ways you can think of! (from Charlie and the Chocolate factory). I deserve presents because:

-I did service for others

-I didn't fight

-I gought good grades (B counts, doesn't it?)

Sincerely, Miles Peterson

Griffin's letter:

To Santa and elfs

Dear Santa I think I was good through the last few month. I gust want books I nede to be smart. I also want some lego sets. Santa I know that we give you cookies and people give the randers food but I don't think thats a noth. So I'm gowing to say wut i'm thankful for: I'm thankful for Santa and the randers and the elfs and Mrs. Claus and your sled the big bag the north pole and winter and Christmas. all this things i'm thankful for are the true meaning of winters. So I hope you check that list twice and see who is noty or nice because you are coming to town.

Sincerely, Griffin.

Elliot said to me:

Merry Christmas Santa. Ho ho ho. I want presents because I wrote lots of letters to you.

I'll add Caleigh's letter when I find it...

Found It!!!

Dear Santa,

I know I wasn't very nice this year, but I think I still should get presents this Christmas. Because I was still nice to people sometimes. Please leave anything that you think will make me happy. Thanks!

Sincerely,
Caleigh P.

A lot to be Thankful for...

2010-12-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. It was so nice to have my Mom helping in the kitchen, and my Dad here to carve the Turkey (my least favorite activity of Thanksgiving). We had so much yummy food, and wonderful company. Mike's co-director at UNH, Jim, was able to come, along with a man from our ward. It was a wonderful day. The kids had a great time and Mom and I were able to get some shopping in that night/Friday morning.

We were exhausted on Friday. It was worth it though to get some good deals, and spend some shopping time with Mom.

Still having fun with gma and gpa Head

2010-11-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

We've been keeping busy entertaining gma and gpa. The weathers been cold, but we've still managed to get out some. One day we hit the beach and looked for shells, another day we went on a family hike, and we've done tons of shopping! It's been so fun. One night we made gingerbread cookies, and somehow ended up decorating them all to look like Gma and Gpa. We've been trying to fit in some Christmas traditions, so we feel like we've had family for two holiday's and not just one.

A letter of gratitude from Griffin

2010-11-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

Griffin's teacher had each of the students write down all of the things their grateful for. I have no doubt that Griffin's was one of the longest in the classroom, he loves to write. I'm posting this exactly how it is written, so good luck with some of the words. (I love his misspelled words.)

I'm thankfull for my Mom my Dad my brother and my sisters my Gpa and Gma I love my family. I'm also thankful for farms the animals and food that they have and i'm also thankful for the plants and grass gardens I love the erth. I'm thankful for the heros like firefighters and poilecmen and the army I love the people that kepe me safe. I'm thanful for erth space eor grass land life I love God. I'm thankful for shool my thecher Mis. Park and the lunchlades that perdes food and the costoden I love the people that tech me. I'm thanful for water and food and livening and the thinggs that people have invented I love noleg. I'm thanful for Benjermen frankulen ho diskuverd lecktrisity and that discoverd that lightnen was leckticety and the other smart people on the erth like the presitint and this things I rote are not all the things i'm thanful for.

Gma and Gpa Head

2010-11-24T05:14:00.000-08:00

My Mommy and Daddy are here for Thanksgiving! And they came bearing gifts. The kids all got new pj bottoms that are soft and warm.

My mom is one of those super moms that won't stop working until you make her. She's done all my laundry, mopped my floors (on her hands and knees, I told her I had a broom!) she keeps the sink empty and she made the girls 5 new barbie beds (I'll post a picture later.) One truly amazing thing is she doesn't kick the kids out of the kitchen when she's baking (Like I do) she invites them to help! The made yummy, yummy cookies and happy memories together.
Both mom and dad have been spoiling us all rotten. I am so grateful for their generous hearts and filling our needs. Thanks mom and dad!

Plymouth, Mass: Thanksgiving festival

2010-11-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

What a great way to kick off our Thanksgiving Celebration, a visit to Plymouth Mass. Grandma and Grandpa Peterson were staying there and we were able to meet up with them for a Thanksgiving Festival!

The Parade was the main event, and it did not disappoint. The floats were great, there were many, many marching bands, and some great characters in between.

Isn't this Pirate great?

The were even balloons! Not like Macy's, but the kids loved them.

Look at this ladies hat! Isn't it great?

Now I know the Plymouth Rock isn't much to look at, but at least we can say we've seen it. What a great day. We had a wonderful lunch with G and G Peterson and had to bid them farewell. Plymouth was a charming town, and I'm glad we were able to see it.

Fa la la la la la la la la...

2010-11-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

Since Halloween has past I can finally put away our Halloween CD. I can't tell you how many times I had to listen to that thing! But now we can break out the Christmas music. Early? Yes, but we have a lot of CD's so there's no chance of getting sick of one, and this year we added this new CD.

My children love Phineas and Ferb and we enjoy listening to the first CD. So I was so happy they came out with a Christmas CD. It already feels like Christmas.

Hilarious!

2010-11-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

I know all of our kids say cute things, but I don't want to forget all of the things mine have said. So, I have to post them, just so I will remember them always.

Elliot was drawing at the table the other day and looked up at me and said, "Mom, I saw a man at Walmart with boobs." lifting up her shirt she stated, "I don't have boobs, just nibbles." Ha ha ha...

Griffin was shooting baskets at the church the other night. He made one and yelled, "Mom, I made a hoop." Hoop? So I corrected him,

" Griff, the expression is 'I made a basket.' Or you could say 'I'm shooting hoops.'"

He continued to shoot baskets (mostly missing, those hoops are high). And then he made another one, this time the ball went in without touching the sides of the orange hoop. Again Griffin was exited, "I made another basket Mom and it didn't touch the sides at all."

"Great Griff, that's when you can say, 'nothing but net'."

He looked at me in frustration, "you just said I had to say, 'I made a basket' now your telling me I have to say, 'nothing but net?' come on."

Later that night he made another basket and said, "Nothing but hoop!"

Poor Griffin, he might be able to brush up on his basketball skills, but the lingo is going to kill him.

October happenings

2010-11-02T05:43:00.001-07:00

October came and went. We had lots of fun though and stayed super busy. The Young Women and Achievement day girls combined to drill some pumpkins into fun pumpkin lanterns. We drilled holes then added Christmas lights. Caleighs read "BOO"

Our wards Trunk or Treat was cancelled, but no worry's for us, the Knights Party is always fun. Michelle Knight goes out of her way to make it fun for the kids. This year Madame Zucchini told a story. She used sound effects and involved the whole group. The kids are still talking about it.

And then the main event... Trick or Treating. I still can't get over how many kids we get. It is so fun to see our neighborhood crawling with Halloween kids and their parents.
This is the Lupo family. They had a football game going in the trunk of their van and it fit their costumes "tail-gaters."
Why make the kids come to your door, most of our neighbors have figured out to just sit outside their homes.

Costumes (In case you couldn't figure it out.) Miles-Anakin Skywalker Griff- a mad scientist Caleigh- a cupcake (I got to make the costume with lots of help from our awesome RS pres. Donna Carling) Elliot- Snow white.

We had lots of fun and had a safe, a little cold, Halloween.

A lot to be Thankful for.

2010-10-29T05:37:00.001-07:00

I love this time of year and all of it Holiday Celebration. This year we will be especially grateful for our growing family. Especially grateful for the three new babies that will be joining us. My brother Rod and his lovely wife Michelle are adopting a baby boy when he is born in January. They have also announced after 11 years of marriage they are pregnant!!! We are so excited for them. We are especially excited for Shawn to be the big brother he was made to be. He is such a great kid and will look after his two new baby siblings wonderfully.

The big brother

We are also grateful for another addition to this crazy family... Ryan and Tiffs.
Tiff is an amazing Mom that keeps up with this crew. Making it look easy as she goes. Oscar and Livy, the youngest, are only 11 months apart.

With all these babies on their way, I'm so grateful for the plan of Salvation. To know where we come from, what were doing here, and where we want to go. Even my little Elliot knows at the young age of 3, that Families are Forever! Since she tells me all the time. "we are a family forever huh, MOM."

Yeah, we are Elliot.