A Very Merry Weekend

Marc didn't have to babysit any kids in detention on Friday afternoon so he got home early and suggested that we head out to get our Christmas tree and grab some dinner before our AWANA staff Christmas party that evening.  The girls had their shoes and coats on in record time!  (Funny how that works.)  We were able to agree on a tree rather quickly, got it home and in the stand....and still made it to the party on time!

 

 

After the party, we stayed up late to decorate.  The girls kissed the lights as they untangled them and passed them to Marc.  (Drama queens.)

 

 

 

Ally had fun dancing to Christmas music while wearing the tree skirt.

 

 

Marc put on the lights and I  wrapped the ribbon around the tree, but the girls put up all the balls and ornaments.  They did pretty well, I must admit.  I love the fact that they are now old enough to help with the clean up too.

 

 

After all the decorations were up it was time for a slumber party!  We watched a couple of Christmas cartoons before finally dropping off to sleep.

 

 

To top off a pretty awesome night...we woke up to the first snowfall on Saturday morning.

 

 

 

Pancakes and hot chocolate were on the breakfast menu.

 

 

The girls have an obnoxious little pink tree in their bedroom which they LOVE.  It has been up for about a week already, but this is still the look on Valerie's face whenever the overhead lights are turned off.  So precious.

 

41 Days Later....



 

Yup!  Been away from this here blog for 41 days.  OOPS.  We got sick...we got behind in school...life got extra busy, etc.  Here's a picture recap of the last month and a half:

Sick days at our house look like this.  (Don't worry - Marc is still breathing.)  We all had some form of fevers, aches, coughs, and general ickiness.

  

Just healthy enough to carve pumpkins on the night before Halloween.  We didn't get dressed up to go trick-or-treating this year, but the girls enjoyed handing out candy. 

  

The girls played in their very first recital at church at the beginning of November.  We were so proud of them!  (Wish we had video to insert here.)  They were nervous, but did just fine.  We are so thankful for the lessons that they get to take from the BEST piano teacher ever - Grandma Phyllis!

We had our homeschool Thanksgiving celebration before heading into a week long break from school.  There were oral presentations, trivia games, crafts, Thanksgiving Bingo and a finger food feast....oh! and about 20 kids present.  We love this group of people!

Then it was time for a trip to the cabin with Grandpa, Grandma and the Becks. 

Grandma's Pizza Kitchen

Caught in the middle of an elaborate make-believe story.

Ally has suddenly become quite the reader!  She is half way through her 2nd grade reader from the late 1950's.  Why not?!

The weather was rainy, but not too cold.  The girls and I loved the "walk in the clouds" that we took up the forest service road.  Valerie loved the motorcycle ride that Grandpa gave her! 

 Pretzel antlers for Grandpa Elk.

 Thanksgiving Day itself was spent back in Meridian so that we could be with Great Grandpa and Grandma Obenchain.

Valerie "helped" me look through the ads for my Black Friday adventure with Julie.  She cut out dozens of pictures of things that she wants to buy for her baby...when she gets married.  (Oi vey!)  And the best part of Black Friday?!  Standing in line next to Julie when she opened the $100 gift card from Fred Meyer.  So worth the hour long wait in 30-something degree weather!

Then it was party time for this three year old clown, Riley-boy.

 He lives for getting a laugh out of people.

After three female cousins and one sister, it was so fun to shop for things like chainsaws, man tools, golf clubs, tumbling mats, and dump trucks.

And that about sums up the last 41 days.  I promise not to be gone for quite so long this next time.

Two Ballerinas and a Book Worm

 

Sierra loves books.

Ally loves ballet.

Valerie just loves whatever her sisters love!

(Since she can't read yet, she chose ballet this time.)

 

 

 

 

Who needs a real dance studio when you have an instructional DVD from the library, hand-me-down ballet gear and a pole secured between two dining room chairs?!?!  These two were so pleased with this set-up and I earned major mommy points.

 

 

Sierra is going to finish this 503 page book in under a week.  (She loves the Tumtum and Nutmeg series - in case anyone is looking for reading suggestions for the 8 year old range.)

 

 

Have I mentioned that I love these girls?!?

Pumpkin Time

My whole family tries to get together every Thursday night for dinner. We call it "Family Night." It generally happens at our house because we are the middle point between my brother in Boise and my sister in Nampa. It's usually a noise, chaotic dinner and then entertainment provided by the cousins. (Tutus and microphones are often involved.) But not last week - last week was our annual trip to Linder Farms! We had a beautiful evening of hay rides, pumpkin picking, petting zoo, bounce houses, mini donuts and fiddle music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somehow, Chuck and Missy didn't end up in any of my pictures this year...sorry guys!  I loved your pictures on FB.

Ladies' Retreat

I was able to get away to McCall last weekend for a quick retreat with about 100 ladies from the churches in our area.  It was a wonderful weekend - just way too short!  I posted a little recap about the retreat on our Women's Ministry Blog.  Click here it you are interested in reading about it.

Homeschool Pictures

I have been having trouble uploading pictures to Blogspot lately, but I think that I have finally figured out a way to get back in business.  So - here are some random pictures of our first few weeks of school.

 

The first day: 

 

 

Our reward at the end of the first week of school was an early morning field trip to Ann Morrison Park to watch the hot air balloons lift off for the Spirit of Boise Classic.  (I love this tradition!) 

 

 

We are studying Earth and space for science this year.  The girls loved using play dough to make the Earth's layers - so much better than worksheets!

 

 

 

How do you like our snazzy school pajamas uniforms?!

(Ah, the joys of homeschooling!)

 

 

Back to school means back to piano lessons.  We didn't really plan to take a long break from those...but our summer just got way too busy.  I was afraid that the girls would have fallen behind, but they seem to picking up the pace quite nicely from where we left off.  It helps to have Grandma as their teacher!

 

 

 

And if you're wondering what Valerie does while we work on our lessons - you should check out my sister's blog.  I love her for it!

 

The Gift that Kept on Giving



    

     5/09/1976

     5/11/2009

     6/17/2006

+   6/25/2004

A whole lotta birthday presents to buy

 

So this year my sister came up with a plan.  Why not have the whole family pitch in money for a family season pass to Roaring Springs?!?!  Um....yes, please!

 

Under normal circumstances this kind of a treat would not fit into our budget, but with the rest of the family pitching in we were able to enjoy our birthday presents ALL SUMMER LONG.  And, boy, did we!  It was great fun to zip over to the water park for a couple of hours in the evening after all the tired families had gone home and enjoy the slides and swimming pools without the crowds.  We averaged one trip per week.  It was so nice to be able to play for a few hours and then head home when the kids got tired or hungry, rather than pushing through a whole day and being exhausted afterward.

 

 

 

Valerie loved to race down the toboggan slide most of all!

 

 

 

 

 

So, thanks again to my family for giving us this special gift.  We have some wonderful memories of our summer and the tan lines to prove it!