A little Halloween Party

Today after the girls got home from school they got dressed up in their Halloween costumes and we headed over to Trina's house for a little Halloween party. When we got there all the kids were very excited to be there and all the festive decorations made it even more fun for them. We had a little snack of apples and caramel dip, and then the kids voted for the best costume.

Garrison won 1ST Place Levi 2ND and Adrianna 3RD

After the costume judging each of the kids worked on a little craft project that Trina had picked out for them to do. It was fun to see all the creativity. Now you might think craft projects with that many kids might be a little crazy, but it wasn't at all. It was just really laid back and fun. Than we judged the jack-o-lanterns, and Tisha handed out some little gift bags she had made for each of the kids, filled with stickers, tattoos, glow bracelets, and other fun stuff. Then each of the kids grabbed a cupcake and we headed home.

It was a fun little party and the kids had a great time. I'm glad we got to see everyone elses costumes and spend a little time together just visiting and getting the kids together. Thanks Trina for hosting the party it was a great success!


Hayden "My Puppy"

Pumpkin Carving

My kids have been bugging me and bugging me ever since we got home last weekend from the pumpkin patch to carve their pumpkins. Well I put them off as long as I thought possible, and we finally got it done yesterday. Kayla and Adrianna woke up early yesterday morning (as if it were Christmas) knocking on our door asking if they could wake up the other girls so they could carve pumpkins. Finally when everyone was up and we had ate breakfast we dug into the pumpkins.

Now we have carved pumpkins before so it should have been no surprise that it would be an ooey gooey mess, but nonetheless some of them acted like it was the grosses thing ever! Shelbi in particular was the worst. She really could not stand to reach in there and grab out that gook. And the other girls who were not grossed out by it (Alyssa and Maria) did not help the situation either as they tried to gross her out even more by calling it intestines. Kayla and Adrianna thought it was gross, but I think they were playing it up for the camera. In fact Kayla's exact words were "It's gross, but fun!"

Well after two hours of cleaning out and carving pumpkins we had a huge mess! We used some stencils that came with a pumpkin carving kit, and lets just say time consuming! And not only was it time consuming, but Maria's pumpkin broke :( I was really disappointed! Anyway Shelbi's pumpkin turned out ok, ans Alyssa still has yet to complete hers....I'm glad we only have to do this once a year!

A Fun Fall Day!

Today was a pretty fun filled day. Sean had to work today, so he didn't get to join in on the fun, but we still had a pretty good day. We all have been sick the last few days, and today everyone was feeling well again, so we headed out and did a little shopping, went out to lunch, and then went to the pumpkin patch. The weather was just beautiful today, which made our day even nicer.

The pumpkin patch we went to was actually at an apple orchard. They had hayrides with a little tour of the orchard and information about the property and how they pick and pack the apples. It was kind of interesting. They also had a big bump and jump type thing that was shaped like an apple for the kids to jump in, and a guy who was doing face painting. This guy was the most talented face painter I have ever seen! He did a sort of airbrushing on the face, kind of as a foundation, and then pained designs on top of that. The girls waned to get theirs gone so I agreed, and we got in line. Well after waiting for an hour, I decided I was being a patient mom, and as the baby (who had not had a nap all day) became grouchier and grouchier, and another hour passed I became less and less patient. So after waiting there for TWO HOURS we decided that face painting probably wasn't all that important. So we walked around for at least another 35 to 45 min. picking out our pumpkins, buying fresh apples, corn on the cob, and apple cider. When we left I looked at the face painting line again to see how much it had moved, and at least 10 people would have still been ahead of us, so I was glad we had given up and were headed home! So other than the 2 hour wait in line, it was a really fun day.

Books! Woo hoo!

All of our books have finally arived! Actually we have had them all now for almost a week, but I just had not gotten around to posting it. We recieved reading books, math, science, social studies,languge arts, and art. They sent answer keys and planner boork for each subject. They also sent art supplies like paint,paint brushes, clay and colored pencils. I was pretty impressed with all the supplies they sent.
So far we are doing pretty well at getting each days assignments done. Every day we get online, check out what the assignments are for the day. On most subjects there is a teachlet online that expains what the skill is for that day and how to do it. Then they are given an assignment to do out of their book. After they finsh their assignment they take a small quiz online to show if they understand the assignment for that day. It is pretty easy to folow and so far I am pretty happy with it. Some days take longer than I like, but I think after a few weeks we can have it down, and our days pretty well scheduled.
Today the younger girls did not have school. Actually they do not have school for the rest of this week, for parent teacher confrences, but I did not let Alyssa and Shelbi take those days off. We are still going to get up by 7 every morning and start school by 8. They had so much time off waiting for the books to get here, I just can't see taking anymore time off right now. However confrences went well today for the other girls. I am pleased to report that they are all doing well. On track, good students, all at or above grade level. Thats always good news to hear. And so my adventures continue with house work, home school, and pubic school, and the busy life of a mom with six kids.

Weekend in Elma

This weekend we got to take a little trip up to Elma. Sean had some work to do up there for a previous customer, and the girls have been begging to go since we have been back out to Oregon, so we packed up our stuff and hit the road on Friday night.
As we got closer and closer the girls became more and more anxious as they counted down the minutes and the miles to our arrival. At last we approached the sign that said "Elma 20 Miles" The girls began to break out in song! I could see that they were rejoicing to be back around there close friends again. They would sing a song or two and then reminisce about times we had spent there with different ones, and then sing some more. It touched my heart to see the love they had for the brethren, and their children, and how this place held precious memories for them, as well as for me.

When we arrived in Elma we took the three older girls over to Sis. Linda's house where a bunch of other girls were having a slumber party. I'm sure they had a grand ol' time dressing up and being silly with all there friends.

On Saturday Sean had to work, so I went down to Sis. Gale's and visited for the day. It was so nice to just have the whole day to sit back, sip tea (or coffee) :) and let the kids play. It was a laid back kind of day filled with good conversation, and good food. I have really missed spending time with their family, so a day like Saturday was the prefect remedy, especially when all the kids remembered me. Even the baby Heidi who couldn't even talk when we left now says my name, and would even let me hold her and rock her to sleep....now how special is that???

On Sunday we all went to church. Meeting was really good, and I enjoyed the singing and what went forth. After church was church dinner which was also filled with good conversation and good food. Then it was time to say our goodbyes, and we found it very difficult to round up all the children, as they did not want to leave. Now that we live so much closer I'm sure we will be visiting there quite often, something I am looking forward too. To be in a place where you have friends and know you are loved is such a comfort. I'm thankful for our weekend trip to Elma.

Well It's better than nothing

Since we have moved here I have been waiting to find the perfect pictures, bed spread and decor for my bedroom, so I hadn't decorated it. I have shopped around some, hoping that something would just jump out at me.... Not only something that was beautiful and I loved, but that was also on clearance, or at least a really good sale. He he he. Well so far I have had no such luck! So I figured I might as well just use what I have...it is better than looking at bare walls right?

Well yesterday I was online and I found this used TV cabinet for sale. I went to look at it today, and I just love it! It is what I have been looking for for a long time now. This is a really nice piece of furniture, and was an EXCELLENT price. I am so happy with it!


So I brought it home and rearranged my furniture to make it fit. I put some pictures I already had on the walls. It isn't really how I want my room to be decorated, but it will do for now. And it's better than nothing.

We need books!

This week we have been trying to acompish our assighnments daily and keep up on our schedule. However we have not recieved our books yet, so everything has to be done online. This has been somewhat of a problem, because we only have one computer, and two students. The girls have been taking turns, which make my teacing days quite long. There are also three different subjects that Shelbi has, that can not be accessed online. For the most part I think we are doing well with what we have. I am looking forward to recieving the books. It will make things so much easier. I hope the books get here soon!