Winter

Every year I dread winter.

I realized this morning a big part of this dread is having to dress my children appropriately

A skiff of snow requires me to dress them in warm clothes, warm socks, snow pants, hat, gloves, boots, and coat.

10 minutes later they are done with the snow and I begin the routine of carefully setting the boots, gloves, coat, and hat out to dry. And then serve the required hot chocolate to warm them from the inside out.

10 minutes later they are warm and wanting to play in the snow. This requires me to dress them for the outdoor weather, once again.

10 minutes later....

Ahhh! The insanity of it!

Jacksen

Every morning Jacks gets up, takes a shower, then does his own hair.

He spends a good portion of his morning in front of the mirror.

When he is done, he gives a big smile, points to himself in the mirror, and says "Lookin' good."

Bennett's First Day of Kindergarten

August 22nd was Bennett's first day of Kindergarten.

He is a full time student now.

School is from 8:15 am - 3:15pm Monday thru Friday.

It's a little sad that he is gone from home so much now, but he as a great teacher, Ms. Hitch, that he really likes.

He is enjoying school so much. The first week was a little rough. He kept asking to stay home, but now he's in a routine and is use to school he loves it and is always wanting to be there.

(On a side note: I started my preschool on September 6th. Jemma and Jacks are both attending. I think we all like it...you'll have to ask Jemma and Jacks how they really feel about it. But I was so busy the morning we started that I didn't get any pictures of us on our first day...sad. I'll have to try to recreate the morning as best as possible sometime)

Bennett's 6th Birthday

Bennett's 6th Birthday started out with him being sick! That's right. He was sick for his 5th birthday with pneumonia, and this year he had a fever, cough, and was sleeping all day long on the 17th. I thought for sure he would have a repeat this year. But he pulled it together and was able to enjoy his birthday.

Happy Birthday Bennett!

Louise Lake

The first part of August Matt took me and the kids up Sinks Canyon to a place called Louise Lake. It was really pretty there. Nice big lake and a nice warm sandy shore, where the kids loved playing. We took a picnic and enjoyed the afternoon with our little family.

(Don't ask...I don't know)

We're Going On A Safari Hunt!

Another thing we did while up in Island Park was go on a safari hunt.

Heather called her good ole friend Safari Mack who wrote up clues to where he left all his treasures.

The kids all had a blast with it!

July 4th

I never got the chance to post our fourth of July pictures...very important.

We spent the 4th in Idaho Falls. We woke up to our 4th of July breakfast hash burritos (a tradition now), after which we headed out to Menan for the parade. My cousin Krysti and her husband Bob met up with us there. They came in from New York for a visit. Once the parade was over we walked down to the carnival and let the kids bounce themselves crazy on the bouncy house. After spilling all their icee's down the front of themselves, we took them all back to Idaho Falls to watch the movie Cars 2.

We decided Grandma Betty needed to be tortured so we took ALL the kids there for a visit at the nursing home. They went crazy of course, but it was great to visit with her.

We then grabbed our pizza, headed to Heather and Jason's house in Shelley and set off some of our own fireworks. Then we drove up to the foothills in Idaho Falls and watched the Melelucia Fireworks from there.

It was a hectic fourth, but what holiday wouldn't be complete without chaos?