No Pictures

We are back to normal...unfortunately! We were out of school last week FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK!!!! and we LOVED it!! The only problem was how fast it went. I had more than one kid in tears yesterday morning because WE HAD TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

Over the break we kept busy. We got the carpet cleaned. We took a road trip to Malad for gates and Pocatello to pick-up diabetic supplies. We took the kids to the movie Dolphine Tail or Tale...hmmm....I am not really sure which one of those it is. :) All through the movie Laiklie kept saying, "how much longer? Is da movie over yet? When is dis movie going to get over? Is it done?" As we headed out to the car after it was over I asked the kids if they liked it and Laiklie was the 1st to answer with a big loud YES! I wondered what in the world all the whining was about then. :) We spent Thanksgiving at my parents and had a great time visiting with family. My brother and his wife had their new baby Sophia Marie just a couple days before Thanksgiving and came home from the hospital Thanksgiving day. So, I got to not only see the sweet baby, but even hold her for a second. PURE LOVE!! One of my sisters and a cousin and I braved the Black Friday sales. I gotta tell you though.....I HATE that they are starting earlier and earlier. We started at midnight and got home around 9:30ish that morning. It has been ALOT of years since I've pulled an all-nighter and I was EXHAUSTED! It was fun though and we got several of the things we went for! Plus, like always....we laughed and laughed! Saturday night Ryan and I took Oakley and some neighbors to The Forgotten Carols. It is SERIOUSLY my favorite and I was soooo excited for the neighbors and Oakley to both get to see it for the 1st time. Within the 1st few minutes of it starting I got a phone call from the babysitter and the neighbors little boy was having a seizure at my house. It was scary for the babysitter and for our poor sweet friends. He has had them before though, so the babysitter had been warned and they jumped in their car and headed home. I was kinda bummed they didn't get to see the show, but was relieved that things were okay at home!

Like I said, we had a fun filled week.....but unfortunately....no pictures to show for it! :(

Life is Hectic BUT.....

Look at these SUPER CUTE SKIRTS I've sewn. We had a Relief Society Activity last week where they taught us to sew these stripy skirts and I am SERIOUSLY in love with them!! I think they turned out so stinking cute! I am in the process of making three more for Christmas presents for my 3 little nieces and possibly more. I just wish material wasn't SO EXPENSIVE!! :(

I have been sooo very stressed lately.....infact, so very stressed is a major UNDERSTATEMENT. My life is so full and so crazy with being a mom, helping at the school, being YW pres., having a husband in the Bishopric and in the middle of calving cows (which unfortunately I am a part of - not the fun part either! *sigh*), having kids with random fevers and last night random throw-ups, having one kid that I am really concerned about and several times each day I am on the verge of tears over it.... so this sewing mess has taken over my table and there is no end in site, BUT....how can I stop making them when I have such cute little girls to wear them! :) and...it is actually nice to have something to do FOR ME FOR ONCE!! The mess and money are worth it!

My New Car

For those of you that I have talked to lately, you know that I have been seriously shopping for a little car. Ryan and I have been talking about getting one for a few years now for when it is just the kids and I running around and to help save wear-and-tear and miles on the suburban. With gas prices being SO HIGH and with most of the kids in school - alot of days it is just me and Laiklie in the giant suburban - we KNOW it would save us alot of money. Well.....early last week I took Oakley to the orthodontist and he announced that it was time to remove the space maintainer and time to move forward with braces. Before
After
So....here is my NEW CAR! We had decided on the amount of money we wanted to spend on a new car and well....braces were just $1000 off of that.....so once again the car gets put on hold because 1st and foremost I AM A MOM! Braces for my sweet little girls teeth are much more important than a new car for me. It is one of those "better" sacrifices we heard about in general conference. :)

D's Day

We celebrated Dallin's....aka D's...birthday yesterday. I can't believe he is already 9!! He has been super excited about his birthday!

This is the pogo stick he asked for. He was BEGGING AND PLEADING Sunday for us to let him open it after church. We kept telling him he had to wait until Monday - HIS BIRTHDAY! He cried and thought we were the meanest parents EVER! But, he survived the wait and enjoyed learning how to use it. He is actually pretty good at it now. We are counting down the minutes til we get a broken arm though!! :)

Dallin is an amazing kid. He works very hard and LOVES to work. The minute he walks in the door from school he calls his dad to see where he is so he can head out and help. Because of this he is learning new things so quickly. Dallin can already drive a STICK SHIFT TRUCK and when I have to drive the tractor or anything else that terrifies me I make him go with me because he is a great coach and he isn't scared of the cows like his mommy is! His teacher told us last week at parent teacher conference that he is a delight to have in the classroom because he is just so laid back and easy going. Dallin is a good kid and a great friend to so many other children. He is a great blessing in our lives! Happy birthday Big Guy!! We sure love you!

2011 Halloween

This is the family tradition of painting the straw bale pumpkin at grandma's house. This is actually halloween day....the day we painted the pumpkin it started to rain!
Pumpkin Carving....what a ooey, gooey mess!

And here are the finished Jack-o-lanterns. They LOVE this part of Halloween!! Dallin's pumpkin this year was HUGE! We weighed it before he started and it was a whoopin 40 lbs. I carried it outside when he was finished and I don't think it lost a lot of weight being cleaned out. Here's a big shout out to Uncle Jason for the super large pumpkin!

This year we hit the ward trunk-or-treat Monday evening and then headed into Grandma and Grandpa Murdocks for a little visit. They LOVE having the kids come see them. It makes their day!

Oakley was a lego, Laiklie a pirate princess (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates cartoon), Rhett was a penguin and Dallin a hunter. We came home with the mother-load of candy, like every other year. Super fun!!