November and October in a nutshell

Crazy life! Next month we're betting on internet, but don't hold your breath. Luke may be starting school online, so that would force us to order it!! Yay!! We've kept busy this fall. I'm so greatful that harvest is over. The snow is practically here, and my kids are happy. I can tell you that I took pictures- good for me, however, I downloaded them on the other computer, so I'll have to wait again!
We're getting over the sickies- again. Weston, Brooklynn, and I had a monster of a cold for about 7 days. Then, just as Luke left us for 5 days to go hunting, Weston broke out in a 102.8 fever. He was so lethargic that he laid on the floor for hours on end. It was so sad and scarry. I finally came in to Pocatello on Saturday around 6, not feeling the greatest myself, and stayed the night at my mom's. The next morning Wes broke out in 5th disease. (yep, he couldn't catch it when the rest of the kiddos had it- he had to wait until his daddy was gone!) I took him to the urgent care since I thought he also had thrush because his tounge was way white. Instead, he has herpes virus whatever in his mouth and down his throat. The Dr. didn't even know how he was swallowing. To top that off, Monday he broke out in huge hives all over his body the size of half dollars with a blister in the middle. I took him to the Dr.-again- and they just think his little immune system is overloaded. It's been CRAZY. Luke came home and Weston miraculously was healed. I love being a mom!

We are here, we are here, we are here! (Think Horton Hears a Whoo!)

Yep, still alive, kickin', and feelin' a little crazed! We did finally move to Aberdeen this fall (exactly one day before school started for the boys, so it was a little crazy!) It's kind of a long story, but we had to move the lady out in order to get into our home! By the way . . . it's HUGE!! Seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, three living rooms, two offices, and three storage rooms, kinda hard to keep it all clean! I'm still waiting for the maid to show up! We also have the problem of not having enough furniture! Bean bags and love sacks are in the process of being made as we speak for the "game room", but sometimes I laugh at what all the rooms don't have!


Harvest has also officially started last week, and it's just as crazy as the rest of my life! It's dirty-no hanging clothes on the line for a month or two, and absolutely NO opening windows for the fall breeze to blow in. I have enough dusting to do without windows being open! I am truely greatful to see first hand how they harvest potatos, wheat, and sugar beets, and the work that goes into our food. It's humbling to watch everyone hard at work-kids, neighbors, mothers, fathers, grandparents, etc. I've only put in about 8 hours! Brooklynn and Weston have stayed in the truck and watched movies on the dvd player because they are too young. Maybe in a couple of years they can at least pick rocks and dirt clods! I'm so greatful for the safetly (for the most part) of the workers. With so many trucks coming and going, several tractors in one field, about a dozen workers on the ground, and several other machines moving the potatos around, we've had our scares and mis-haps for the year- hopefully.

Carson just got done with football for the year. He was the star running back this year. He scored more touch downs than anyone else, but that's just against Aberdeen kids! He could easily out run them, so it wasn't too hard for him.

Colton just had his seventh bithday. I'm so mad at myself. I didn't download the pictures off my camera at my mom's so I couldn't take any pics. I did get one in place of another picture, but it's kinda crazy, so I'll try to get a better one! It's crazy to think he's in first grade!!

Hopefully sometime in the near future I will get internet out in Aberdeen so I can post pics and more posts, but for now, have a great fall!

Craters of the Moon

We took a day trip this week with our kiddos to Craters of the Moon. It's been over a two years since we've been, and it was fun to see what the boys remembered! Of course we went at the wrong time, again!! If you recall from last time we went, the weather was really bad- cold, cold, cold!! So, as the not as smart as we would like to be parents we are, we decided that it's a ton warmer outside, and we should just go for it!! HOWEVER, the day we went was extremely WINDY!!!!! ( the last picture is of us trying to stand on the ash mountain, but the wind was blowing over 50 mph up there, and our skinny kiddos couldn't hold their own. We never made it to the top.)
Soooo, to try to salvage our trip, we went caving!! My boys love it so much anyway, and we were out of the wind. Surprising how nice it really was out of the wind! In fact, we could have spent all day down inside exploring the different caves, if not for a few factors:


1. The kids wouldn't have taken the flashlights out of my car. I am a mom who is usually prepared (extra water, blankets, food, etc. in the car, including flashlights- which have come in handy on several occasions!) However, today I was pleasantly surprised to find not one out of five flashlights in my storage! So, two of the four caves were out of the question.

2. The fire out on the INL. Coming out of Indian cave and heading to the next one, we noticed a small plume of smoke in the distance. Remember the wind I was talking about earlier? By the time we came out of the next cave, the smoke was drowning the horizon. We knew we could probably still get home, but thought it best to pack up. Plus, we had two kiddos who were desperate for a nap by then!!

We really had a great time there. Carson and Colton absolutely LOVE exploring, climbing, and leading us through each cave. Weston loved climbing, too- hey, he is my best climber out of all the kids! He would actually cry if we tried to carry him or help him over something! Brooklynn, however, is too girly. She complained in every cave we went into about the slimy rocks, dirt on her shoes, and even the smells in each cave (they didn't smell). She didn't want to touch anything that was ooey-gooey or even dirty, and was afraid of spiders when the caves got small!

Ririe Reservoir + Ruth Family

We went to Ririe Resivoir with the Ruth Family to celebrate Mike's birthday. Any time we can get together as a family and eat and have fun is a good excuse, so when Mike's birthday rolled around, so did all the Ruth's! Ririe Resivoir was a perfect spot. The kids could all play and run and swim while we could watch but also eat and do our own things! Thanks for the invite!

Shawn throwing redneck horseshoes for her team. Scott and I were a team, playing Shawn and Jared, and Heather and Holly. Guess who won? We did, we did!! (I'm not at all competitive!!

Mike's birthday cake- sooooo yummy! Thanks, Laura!

This is Holly's third oldest- Mason. He's such a charactor! His dad asked him why he was wearing that- he even knows how to swim!!

Weston in his swimsuit! He had a blast!

Brooklynn, Tatum, Carley, Maren, and Mairah down by the water. Brooklynn thinks these older girls are amazing!!

Mike, Scott, Mom, and Weston down by the water!

Our family getting ready to eat! Just look at us all move!

Brooklynn playing in the sand. She made sand castles most of the afternoon!

T-ball

I got roped into coaching t-ball AGAIN this year. I swear, I've coached more of my kids's sports team than I have been a spectator! (Scary thing is, I usually don't know what I'm doing-especially in soccer!!)

This year was fun for the most part. I did have some questionable parents again, but I have learned over the years to just let it go- I'll never be able to make all 12 parents happy at the same time! If their kid wasn't getting the ball, I would move them in the field, and the kids would hit it to opposite way the next time, so they still wouldn't get the ball! Ohh, parents were M.A.D.!!

Here are some pictures of the last game of the season. Scott took picutures for me since I was coaching and not able to! Also, side note, Weston was good all season, but this last game I had to hold him the entire time- even though I spend all the time in the field!!

Oh, what do we do in the summertime . . .

We absolutely LOVE to go somewhere for the evening and roast hot dogs, fish, and just hang out around the campfire! We were so blessed for so long that we started taking it for granted that we were so close to the mountains. Now, we actually have to plan our get aways! Here are some pics of Hawkins, but we didn't stay too long. The mosquitoes were RIDICULOUS!!!


She's "posing" for the picture, acting like her usual prissy missy self!!


Hot dogs in the back of the truck. He didn't want to join the family.


Throwing rocks in before we left. I think we made a ton of friends with all the people fishing due to the amount of rocks in the water and the yelling/screaming we did!! It was warm, but the kids had to wear their jackets because of the bugs!!

Go, Yankee's!!!!

(From left to right, back row: Coach Dave Martines, Isiah, Carson F., Cordell, Jack, Cameron, Carson K., front row: unknown Coach, Anthony, Hudson, Micah, James, Cason, Coach Hewitt)

Carson had an amazing baseball season this year! His team was undefeated, winning most games by the 10 run rule!! He had amazing coaches, Brett Hewitt, Dave Martinez, and a Winn guy, who made it an even better season! Although Carson wasn't the best (or even second or third best) on the team, ninth best means he still did pretty darn good!! He managed to get a double, singles, several walks, several hit-by-pitches, and more than several k's!! He also stole several bases, only being thrown out once, but that's when the other base coach told him to go back!
It's crazy that I'm saying this, after three straight months of baseball at least five days a week, but I may miss it. I don't know what to do with our evenings, anymore! I know that some are going on to play all-stars. We, however, are not. We may find peace with having a campfire more often as we have done for years now! OR, a pick nick, OR a b.b.q, OR going on an evening walk, OR just going to bed early! What ever it was, I am glad he had a good season and that it's over!! Good job, Yankees!

I made a slide show, because there really were so many good pictures to put on the blog. This didn't get them all in, because it took too long to upload, and I want to go to bed!!

Yellowstone

We took an anual, fun day trip to Yellowstone this spring. It was cold and rainy most of the time, but it turned out nice, because the animals were all out since it wasn't too hot! Even the bears were pretty active this time! I thought I had a ton of pictures, hence the slide show to see them all, but it turns out I didn't have as many as I thought!

Happy Summer (or Days of Rain!!)

Hey, I try to update as frequently as possible, so here we go. This may be quick! Baseball is almost done!! Carson has a game tomorrow, and if they win, championship game on Saturday morning!! (We are crossing our fingers that the weather cooperates and allows us to finish asap!) More pics and story of that later!

Colton is in full swing in t-ball. I am, too, since I got roped into coaching, so that just means more time from me!! With Colton playing/practicing in the mornings, and Carson playing/practicing in the evenings, I am spent. We throw swimming lessons in the middle Tues. and Thurs., scouts on Wednesday, Grandma Ruth's on Mondays, and Friday is seriously our day of rest!!
More pictures to come, and I promise to update on more happenings eventually- at least in a week when my evening are free!

Colton's Kindergarten Graduation

I know I'm a little late getting this posted (my life's been crazy!!), but here are the pictures from Colton's Kindergarten graduation. I am also going to apologize now for the lack of and quality of pictures. I will admit, I showed up only 5 min. before it started (there was seating for about 200 people with only 50 graduating, and about 300+ actually came to watch their niece, nephew, grandson, granddaughter, son, daughter, sister, brother graduate!) I ended up BEHIND the kids, but was able to sneak around for a few pictures with Weston in my arms and Brooklynn pulling on my legs!
They sung songs, did a slide show, and then called each kid's name and gave them a certificate of graduation and their scrapbook they've been working on all year long. (I'm kinda liking this do-it-yourself scrapbook thing the kids do in school. It's saving me a ton of work, and a lot of pictures are actually included-more than I have taken!!)
I'm actually sad to say that I didn't get any pictures of the kids wearing a tux, formal dress, or even the bow ties. The best I could get from my angle were the cute summer dresses and a few shorts and Hawaiian shirt clad kiddos. I wasn't informed this would be a HUGE occasion in which we would be bringing each graduate a dozen roses, balloon bouquets, or even remote controlled cars. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if, parked next to me in the horse trailer, was a pony for Callie! Seriously, what are they going to get from graduating the eighth grade? ( I one-uped everyone and took Colton to get ice cream!!)

These last two pictures have Mrs. Westwood, Colton's teacher in them. She'll be thrilled with the shots I have of her!! She was an amazing Kindergarten teacher! Her patience and love for these kids who come to school with their hair uncombed, messy faces, and untied shoes (yes, I'm just talking about my son, but I'm sure others are to blame as well) was immeasurable! Thanks, Mrs. Westwood! You'll be missed!

Happy Memorial Day

We had an awesome Memorial Day this year, that lasted from Thursday to Monday!! My mom and I went to Shoshone with the kids. We took mom and dad's fifth wheel and slept there, since there is currently no room at the inn at Grandma Scott's, so I can kind of say we were camping!!

We actually went to all the graves on Sunday instead of Monday. We knew the house was going to be full of people on Monday, and we didn't want to miss anyone. First we went to the Gooding Cemetery. It was really neat. I can honestly say I've never been there, and that's where my Great Grandma and Grandpa Scott are buried. They had a pretty cool place where a lot of soldiers were buried all at once from the war. It was neat to see the patriotism.
After that, we went to the Shoshone Cemetery. I can't believe how much family I actually have there. I think we put flowers on over 20 graves!! There were only a few we had to clean up this year compared to last, but it was neat.

On Monday, Uncle Ron and Patrick took us shooting rock chucks. Not that we don't have this experience weekly if not more here, but it was fun going out on the desert in Shoshone. Carson and Colton had a blast. I can honestly say they are better shots than I thought! Carson hit the target first thing, and didn't miss much. (Just a funny, look at Colton's socks. They are tye-dyed blue and yellow and then rolled! AHH, bringing back memories!!)

This little girl is Dottie (named after my Great Grandma Dot), Kendall's daughter. My kids thought she was coming home with us and going to be part of our family. Nope, sorry, kiddo's! Colton would go and carry her around the house if she fussed, and Brooklynn just wanted to hold her! It was so cute!!

haPpY bIrtHdAy, Weston!!!

Wow!! Can you believe my baby is 1?? It's so crazy!! I'm still having a hard time with that one! We've been celebrating for about five days now, so I can finally post some pictures! (However, my camera keeps saying on some pictures that there is an error reading them, so some may have to come later. BUT, I was finally able to get some pictures off that have been on for awhile now, so we're all good and hopeful!!) This picture is for you, Dawna! Here is the cake and cupcakes I made. The kiddos helped me with the sheep and some pigs, but I pretty much did the rest. I also made two different kinds of frosting's, which equaled a ton of powdered sugar and left over yellow coconut!! I had more pictures of just the cupcakes and me making them, but they are currently posted under card error! At least we got the barn to print out!!

Here's the birthday boy!! I'll admit, this first picture is on his actual birthday! I usually make for the kids whatever they want, but, since he couldn't tell me just yet, we had corn dogs!! (Artic Circle ones!!) They are actually his favorite meal, and he was so happy that night! I did get a cute picture of him saying "one" with his finger, but that's on card error as of right now, too! He says "nnnn" for one! So cute!!

Here he's eating his cupcake. He actually picked off every marshmallow, m&m, and gumdrop, and then licked the frosting off! It was so cute. He ate the cupcake, but only after all the good stuff was off, and didn't make a single mess!

Since my big boy is 1 now, here are a few things about him:

• He says a lot of new words: mama, dada, papa, grandma (sort of!), ball, baba (bottle), no, up, tractor, truck, out, and more
• He's walking most of the time, but if he's in a hurry, he'll crawl. He's the fastest crawler I've ever seen! He's also getting pretty good at going up and down stairs.
• He loves to be outside, but hates the feel of grass on his legs.
• His favorite things to play are: ball, tractor/trucks, bubbles, read books, and walk with anything he can push; Brooklynn's doll stroller, the play shopping cart, his train, ride on car, etc.

I love my little Wesie boy, and can't imagine life without him. He is always the life of the party! All of the kids STILL fight over who gets to play with him or take care of him! (Even Uncle Scottie, but he won't admit it!!) We're so grateful to have him as part of our family!!

Perfect Pieces Bog

Okay, it's here! For all of you girlies who wanted me to try and post pictures of the jewelry I sell, I now have a blog!! http://jensperfectpieces.blogspot.com I will TRY to post pictures each time I get an order in, but that's weekly if not more frequently, and you know me!! I'll do my best. Plus, I'm continually selling one or two here and there, so it's not going to be up to date as much as possible. IF you are wanting to be notified of each open house I am doing, please go over to the blog and become a follower so I can let you know. (Please make sure to leave your e-mail for me!!)

Fish Hatchery and Shoshone Falls

On Sunday we headed home from Boise. We ate all the doughnuts the day before, so, even though it was Sunday, we decided a nice breakfast at McDonalds would do. Since it was Mother's Day (you would have thought I had a say in breakfast!!), I got my morning meal for free!!
We discovered that the drive was a little much for the kiddos on the way down, so we planned to break it up some on the way home. Luke had bought yet another Idaho map, and we mapped out our course. It was actually more fun than I thought!!
Our first stop was to the National Fish Hatchery. It was beautiful outside! There was some large sturgeon and trout for the kids to see, (photo at right), plus a bunch of steelheads- pictures underneath, (the kind Luke and the boys went fishing for last fall!) The only crappy thing about this place is Weston peed all over me and my jacket. He peed so much, in fact, that through his diaper, it ran down his legs. Hence, no shorts in most of the pictures for him!!


Our second stop was Shoshone Falls. This is an annual tradition, and always fun. The water wasn't near as high as last year, but it was fun. There were so many people there this year again, that not many pictures were being taken. The kids had fun running up and down the hills there, and we were wishing we had packed a lunch because the weather was so beautiful! (Hey, I just noticed, where was Weston in this picture?)

Race for the Cure

(May I point out a few things in this picture? First, Luke got himself dressed for the day, then was upset I made him put on the green shirt. Hence, horrific shirt underneath. Next, Brooklynn's beautiful scowl. Who could ask for more on a picture? Also, take a look at Colton's face. Remember stitches a little over a year ago from jumping his bike? Well, this time he just took the hide off his nose and chin, knees and elbows! His chin was also so bruised he looked dirty!!)

On Saturday, May 8th, 2010, Luke, the kiddos, and I ran/walked in the Boise, ID annual Race for the Cure. We had a blast, even though we learned a lot for next year along the way! Scentsy was our team, and they had over 2,800 people just from Scentsy who did the race. However, there were OVER 16,00 people at the race. It was kinda crazy!!

Here we were walking through the first arch. Carson decided he wanted to join me to take the picture. Our first mistake: we did the one mile instead of the 3K. The problem with the one mile is that there were so many people, we never got a chance to run. It was a walk only. We had a hard time even keeping a normal pace. Next year, the 3K. At least we can jog until we need to walk!

(And, again, I took a ton of fun pics, but am having trouble getting them on the computer! Please bare with me!) Here are the kids walking together. They were getting ready to go over a bridge with the river under them. Notice Brooklynn is walking, yep, it was so slow that even she could do the mile!! Carson claimed to have sprained his ankle when the boys were wrestling before the race at the hotel, and kept complaining. Finally, Luke helped him round the corner to the finish line!! Weston finally fell asleep on the last leg. I think all the excitement got to him!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I know it's been awhile since my last post, and there is so much to post, so I will have several updates over the next couple of weeks (I hope!!) First of all, I'll try to start with most recent: Mother's Day!

I had an absolutely amazing Mother's Day with my family! We were in Boise, so the majority of the day consisted of our trek home to get the kiddos ready for school on Monday. I had packed most of the gifts from the kids, minus a potted flower and several papers Brooklynn had drawn for me. It was fun waking up on Sunday and opening presents! Both Brooklynn and Colton did the hand print thing which is always nice. I don't think I'll ever lose a hand print (or at least miss one!!) Carson's teacher took pictures of them on a saddle with a Cowboy hat on. Then, they decorated a horseshoe for good luck to go by the picture! It was so cute! The cutest part, though, was his card. It said "I love you mom, you rock. Hard!! That's so Carson right now!!

Luke was way thoughtful this year, too. My camera died in a flood about a month ago. I would link it to my post, but don't know how. Anywhoo, Luke got me a new, way nice camera! So now I'll be taking pictures wherever I go! (Hopefully!!)

More posts will follow over our weekend adventure in Boise! Some pics, too! (I still have to download my camera stuff to the computer!) Stay tuned . . .

April in a nutshell:

Yep, so since my camera died, and I don't know how to put videos on here, there are, again, no pics. **If someone knows how to do videos from a video camera, please e-mail me!! Anywhoo, so much has been going on.

Carson is now full into baseball season. It's a HUGE learning experience for the both of us. He's only 9, and I've spent more on him than I have groceries this month so far!! Along with the original $80.oo to play on the team, I've spent a ton at Big 5!! We now own:

• 4 pairs of white baseball pants
• 2 pair sliding shorts
• cleats
• bat bag
• 24 baseballs
• 2 navy belts
• 2 pair of navy socks (another one came with his uniform)
• 2 under armor shirts for the cold

This doesn't include the mitt and everything else he had before the season even started! If he tells me he needs batting gloves and a bat, I'm going to scream!! Just think, Colton hasn't started his season, yet! Ahh! However, I do have to say that he looks mighty slick in his uniform. I actually had pics for you, but that may never happen! I do have a video clip of his getting his first hit, too. That MAY happen! His team is really good. So far they've 10-runned each team they've played. I hope that all games aren't like that!

Colton is at the fun age of learning to read and is a know-it-all. I say that out of pure love, but that's all I'm going to say! He's also learning to swim across the far end of the pool in three different strokes! I'm so proud of my scared-to-death of water kiddo! He's doing awesome!

Brooklynn is FINALLY finishing up with dance for the year. She had a competition last weekend in Blackfoot and one this weekend in Malad. We are NOT doing Lagoon this year. Can you just see me with four different aged kids doing Lagoon by myself? NO WAY!! She placed first, again, and got a sparkly pink trophy. That's all she cared about. Not that I'm biased, but she did the best in Blackfoot. The other girls danced, but she totally cheesed it so she could get the trophy!! Pink and sparkly, what more could a three year old want?

Weston is getting so big. He's at my FAVORITE stage right now. Seriously, he's so cute!! Again, no pics!! Maybe a video? Maybe by his first birthday I'll break down and buy a camera!! He knows how to walk on his own, he's just a scaredy pants and wont- unless bubbles are involved!! He also just laughs out loud all the time for no reason, which makes us laugh, so he laughs more. Seriously cute. The best is when he walks around pushing his train. His little waddle is precious. He's also learning eyes, nose, and mouth, and next time you're around him, ask him animal sounds. I may have to video that, too!

It died:

I killed my camera. Actually, the water did. On Sunday, April 17, 2010, at approximately 9:30 p.m., my dad decided he wanted to turn on the sprinkling system to get it ready for the summer. By 9:45 p.m., the window well to our room was completely full of water, which was seeping into our room at an alarming rate. By 9:50, my ever so alert husband caught the water in the act, but not in time to save my camera (and only my camera!) We spent the next hour cleaning mud and water from out mattress, (which, I may add, we just recently purchased a temperpedic mattress and LOVE it, however, it too go wet) floor, windowsill, and, sadly, my camera. I thought it would be safe in the window. I was actually going to download pictures today. Seriously. My camera is currently submerged in rice, but I'm not even holding my breath. Now, don't feel bad for me. I get a NEW one!! If anyone knows a good digital camera, please let me know!! I've wanted a new one for a while now, so this may be for the better!

Side note: To make our night worse, my mom went to run to Walmart to get some fans for the mattresses and carpet and backed right up into my dad's truck (which was pulled behind her for one night only so the water didn't spray it!!) No damage to the truck, but the trunk, tail light, and side of mom's car need a serious quote and work!! Luke and I will be spending the next four nights or more on the floor in the family room. No sleep!!

Pinewood Derby Days!

At last, it's come and gone. In our busy schedules of dentist appointments, doctor's visits, dance, tumbling, martial arts, swimming lessons, basketball, and, for me, clogging, we fit in this year's Pinewood Derby. Carson had so much fun not only racing his car, but making it as well.

The derby was on Thursday, and, of course, we were still adding to it until the very last minute!! Carson's car wasn't very fast. In fact, it was so crappy that it went a ton faster backwards! (Thank goodness for practice runs to start off!) Carson's friend, Geoffrey Dye won every single race, with Traegon Watson coming in second. This picture is Carson's "Pit Pass" that he had to wear on the stage. The one on top is his trading card picture that was posted each time his car was racing. We had fun with the racing and then enjoyed nachos and rootbeer floats while the awards were given out. Carson got hottest wheels because he put hubs on his (leave it to my little guy for wanting to add hubs to his car for looks!) We took Braedon, our little neighbor boy with us, and he and Carson informed me on the way home that they just had the "time of their lives"!!! Yea, can you just imagine how much more fun he would have had if he had won just one race?!!