Costume Gripes....

As we started looking at Halloween costumes for the kiddos, I have to say that I am really disappointed in the selection for the "tween" girls... We went to a Halloween store and in the entire store found 2 costumes (Dorothy or Little Red Riding Hood) that Courtnee could actually wear.... I have no problem with women's costumes that show some skin, but I don't understand why the teen costumes have to be the same... I do not believe that in order to have a cute costume you have to compromise the amount of material used... Someone needs to make some "tween" costumes that are appealing to the teen girl and yet cover some skin.... I would love to know if anyone knows of anywhere to get such a costume.... I might just have to buy her costume from the boys department or I may have to call on my mom to break out the ole sewing machine and hook us up.... :) ARGH!!!!!

Villiage of the Trees

We were able to sneak away this past weekend for a fun getaway. My aunt owns this amazing RV resort up in Idaho and invited us up for the weekend. It is right on the Snake River (hence the fishing), and is just beautiful... My cousin and his family who live in Idaho, met us up there to hang for the weekend... I wish we lived closer to them and could see them more often.. It was great fun seeing them again.. It was a little bit cold the first part of the day, but then warmed up for the evening... The kids had so much fun fishing, riding in the golf carts, chasing squirrels, and well just being kids... My Aunt has these ice creams in her store that look just like a frozen potato (if you didn't know better you would think you were eating a potato) that were so yummy, thanks Aunt Colleen for introducing them to us....Nancy and Levi were nice enough to let us borrow their tent and air mattresses... It was the first time in a tent for all 6 of us... The kids were beyond thrilled to be sleeping outside in a tent. Although it dipped a bit colder than I had packed for, (not enough blankets) we still had a blast... As we were cleaning up to come home my kids were already asking me when we were going back... There will definitely be more trips for us up there. It was a nice little getaway for us. Thanks everyone for a great weekend, and thanks Uncle Doug & Aunt Colleen for having us, it was tons of fun...

Courtnee

I just have to say how much I love this girl... She makes my life so much easier, she is the best... I could not have made it through these last 6 weeks of Kindergarten (with Cole) without her... She truly is one of a kind. She is a blessing to me, and I am thankful everyday of my life for her... Don't get me wrong I absolutely love all of my kids, she just makes life at our house that much better... Thanks Court for all you do for all of us, and I know I don't say it near enough but I appreciate you more than you will ever know.. Love ya gunderbutt... :)

Jaden

Just hamming it up for his sister...


Would sure like to know what he is thinking...

Kindergarten Update..

Well we made it an entire week with no tears before school, no tears on the bus, no tears waiting for his teacher and not one emotional break down (him or me), so I hope we are on the fast track for liking Kindergarten :)... He did however get a chance at school to find out what "think time" was...Now I am not 100% clear on exactly what "think time" is, but I have a pretty good guess, and from my other kids explanation of it, not something you want to get.... My older 2 children have not gotten "think time" in 5 years and somehow my 5 year old is on his 5th week of school and manages to get it... Somehow I just knew that if one of my children were going to have "think time", it was going to be him.. And when I asked him why he got think time, he just said "well mom it wasn't my fault." Of course it wasn't, how could I have even thought that it was his fault (wink). We did have a little sit down chat on this one though and mommy made it very clear to him that this was not an acceptable behavior for him, and that it had better have been his first and last time in "think time." Here we go from hating school to being in "think time" all in one week.. Does it get any better than this???

On a happier note, this week he has been feverishly practicing writing Courtnee and Stocktons's names on everything he can find to write it on, and so last night as he was laying in my arms sleeping I was noticing his arm... Low and behold it was Courtnee and Stockton's name (in permanent ink, no less)... I just love his eagerness to learn how to write :).. That's my Colie Wolie...



Now tell me how you can resist this face?

My Stockton...

I can hardly believe that my little Studebaker (a nickname he has had since he was tiny) is 10 today... Where did the time go? My once little blue eyed sweetie Mommy's boy, is still is my blue eyed sweetie but not so much into mom anymore. He is more into basketball, friends, Pokemon, Webkins, more basketball and a little Spongebob here and there.... My favorite things about Stockton are...
1- His sweet spirit, he really does have a heart of gold.
2- He is kind to everyone, even when sometimes he doesn't want to be.
3- Loves to try new things, basketball was a new adventure for us, but he took the plunge and now is addicted to it...
4- He never gives up, tries til the end..
5- Still loves giving his mom hugs and kisses...(I treasure this cause I am not sure how long this will last)
6- Loves his siblings, especially Jaden, and Jaden sure loves his Stockton. And for the most part is really good to them... (Although some days I wonder about him and Cole, will they ever "love" each other???)
7- Can get along with pretty much anyone, just adapts himself to whatever situation he is in.
8- His heartbreaking eyes.. Need I say more???
9- Listening to him sing in the shower, could be in the opera some day (he he he).. (I don't think he even realizes I listen.. :)
10- His love for school, Littlefoot, the out of doors, shooting, hunting, playing video games and his family.... I hope he will always love learning new things and continue to excel in all his does... :)
I love you Stockton and hope you have the best birthday ever, you are truly a blessing to our family...


A picture from his Birthday party...What a bunch of heart breakers, wouldn't ya say?

Scottsdale or Bust...

I was able to sneak away for a few days last week with one of my best girlfriends for a getaway to Scottsdale... What a trip... I have to say I was so impressed with how pretty AZ is, and how landscaped all the roadways are... No ugly weeds like we have here...



We started it off by taking a scrap booking class at an amazing store in Mesa, taught by Janet Hopkins... We made these cute 10 things books... It was loads of fun and provided some great ideas for future scrapbooks... It had to be by far one of the best scrapbooking stores around... :)



We stayed in Scottsdale at the Four Seasons, and really the only word to describe that was Bliss... It was a little slice of heaven... From the ginormous bathroom, to the flat screen TV, the turn down service, the breathtaking views, the fab pools (yes I did say pools in the plural form), the private cabanas, the pillows, the comfy bed, the view from our patio (you get the idea).... (Thanks Casey for suggesting we stay here)...




We were able to hang out with another one of my BFs Kriston while we were there (man I sure do miss her). It was fun to see where Kris lives, her cute house and for her to show us her favorite hang outs, stores, her domain I guess. The barbecue place rocked and the lemon cake was the bomb, not to mention the great scrapbook stores.... :) The only thing that would have made that visit any better would have been for it to have lasted longer, we tried to convince her to have a sleepover with us, maybe next time... :)

We were also able to hit a few faves we don't have here too. The PB Loco store was so cool, I never realized how many different flavors of peanut butter there are... Since my husband and kids are all PB fanatics I had to stock up. Another sweet spot we hit was a cute little cupcake store called Sprinkles... Absolutely gorgeous cupcakes, (kinda bummed with the taste) regardless it was an awesome store.... :)

It was a much needed break for me, and I can't wait to go again... It was an eat too much, laugh til you cry, relax til you fall asleep trip, that I will forever cherish. Thanks Casey for sharing it with me... :)


Only a small glitch at the airport coming home, when my banana peanut butter was confiscated at security.. Who knew PB was considered a liquid and a threat to flying... :)

Kindergarten Blues...

So I thought that starting into the 3rd week of school, my son would be more than thrilled to go to school every day... Not the case. He is so darn sad every day, it just breaks my heart. He comes home and tells me that he had tears at school... When will it get better? Any ideas on how to make this transition easier for him (and me)?

Salsa & Tee Ball...

Well we (me, my mom and sister) started our Labor Day weekend with our annual tradition of Salsa making. We picked, bought and organized everything Thursday night, so by Friday morning we were neck deep into tomatoes, onions and peppers... Now having made salsa every labor day weekend for the last 10 or so years, I have to say that this was the smoothest of operations, the less messiest, the fastest it has all came together and by far the tastiest yet... SO yeah for that... I love homemade salsa, but its not the easiest process in the world. So I am always so happy when we are done and have the mess all cleaned up... We finished in record time this year, all done by Saturday at 4pm. We ended up with 125 quarts and 20 or so pints.. Not too bad for a few amateurs... :)


Cole also started tee ball this past week, and since we are still trying to adjust to him trying to like Kindergarten, I was a bit nervous. He was not sure if he was going to do it, but being the nice mom I am, I loaded him in the car and told him he was doing it... After we were there for a few minutes, got his jersey and he saw for himself it really wasn't scary, he was actually liking it... Can I just say that I have not seen any sport played so darn cute(if a sport could ever be called "cute"). The kids had no idea what to do, when to do it, or even how, but it was so cute watching them... Kids were running every which way, and nobody cared.. That's why I loved it. Everyone played, everyone hit, everyone ran, and everyone had fun... Gotta love that... :)