Our Year in Pictures!!

Christmas Candy

I've been making my Christmas candy the past few days. I really forgot over the past year how boring it is to sit and stir carmels over the hot stove, for an hour. I do however enjoy making it. I'm so glad for my mom's talents, and for teaching me how to be such a great cook. I remember at a young age my mom canning, but most of all making Christmas candy. She would sit on a bar stool and stir, and stir. It soon became a family tradition, when I got older, and we each had to take a 10 minute turn stirring. I also remember making mint balls, orange balls, and butter rum balls. They were all covered in chocolate. Us kids would sneak in the storage room, and pick at the bottoms until we found a mint! They are my favorite, and the only ones I make. I'm so greatful for my mom, my grandma, and great-grandma, and I'm sure many other grandmothers who passed these recipes down to one another. And I can't wait until I can pass them down to my children.(I also can't wait till they are old enough to stir them too :))

The Devil!

That's right this post is about the Devil a.k.a the treadmill. Oh, how I hate the thing! It seems as though my workout is never ending with this thing. I'm really trying to train hard for my marathon, but when its cold outside and I have to run on this monstrosity, I don't even what to go to the gym. It wouldn't be too bad, if the gym would invest in some T.V.'s to watch while I'm running away. When all you have to look at is the screen that is ticking down the seconds, and how far you've gone, it gets old fast. I tip my hat to Susie who ran just over ten miles the other day on it. Yea!!! I wish I had the will power to go that long. I can't wait for Christmas break cause then I will be able to find a baby sitter during the day, so I can run outside in the afternoon and rack up some mileage before the big day on January 13th. Why is it so much easier to run outside? It's also alot easier if I download "cris' music" so my Ipod. I guess that rock gets you pumping so you can keep going. I will be listening to some of my slow music, but once a rock song comes on, I feel like I can go longer. Weird huh. So wish me luck with the Devil, cause I'm going to need it!

Cookie Exchange Party

This is what my tupperware looked like before I went.
I made these really easy treats called Rolo Pretzel treats. I had to make 8 dozen.They turned out so yummy! All you do is take your cookie sheet and line it with wax paper. Then you line your pretzels up, and put a rolo or any kind of Hershey kiss on top the pretzel. You bake them at 200 for about 4 minutes. The white chocolate will melt faster, and the rolos might take longer than 4 minutes. Then you top it off with a m&m or any kind of nut. It's just the right amount of salt and sweet!
This is what my tupperware looked like after the party,

You can't really tell from the picture but I came home with sooooo many cookies! My kids and Cris were in heaven. It will take us weeks to eat all of these. I'll probably gain a few pounds.
When I got home from the party and taking the babysitter home, as I was getting the kids ready for bed, the doorbell rang. And of course as usual the kids went running, and opened the door. No one was there but their was a little gift of hot coco and peppermint candies. Someone is doing the 12 days of Christmas to us!! The kids thought it was so neat. They ran to the window to see of they could see who it was. Kaden said he thought it was Santa. Silly boy, so I had to explain the 12 days of Christmas to them. They can't wait for tomorrow night.

Christmas Programs

The kids had their School Christmas programs this past Tuesday. They were the cutest ones there. They did really good, and learned some really cute songs. I think that Santa needs to
bring me a new camera.(He'll have to wait till we get tax returns though) Mine is giving me problems every picture I took turned out grainy.

It's Snowing!!!

Yea! It's snowing!! The kids are so excited! It's been snowing off and on all day, but it's finally gotten cold enough to stick. The kids just had to go outside to play in it. There isn't much yet, but we hope they wake up to lots in the morning.Cris and I might have to build them a snowman before they get home from school, cause it may not last long enough for them to build one when they get home. Here are some pictures of them having fun in what little snow we have so far.
Jocelyn and Cole looking out the window at the snow falling

We love the snow!!

Kennedy trying to catch some flakes on her tongue

Kaden eating a snow ball he made.(yuck)

Cole wasn't to sure about it, he was very concerned

Jocelyn eating some snow too

I was suppose to drive to Flagstaff today for my surgical consult for my hernia, but I chickened out. Cris was at work, and I didn't want to drive in the snow. Arizonans don't know how to drive in the snow. There are always alot of wrecks and I didn't want to be a part of one.(after living here for 7 years, I'm probably just as bad) The kids are hoping school will be closed. Ha, Ha, Ha, they wish. Although they do set aside two snow days a year just in case. I thing that pigs will fly when they close for snow here. They always end up taking the snow days in the spring because they never used them. Funny Huh.

Windblow

There are times when I feel like we live in Windblow, not Winslow! I really, really despise the wind. On Friday we had 60mph wind gusts. (only 10mph away from hurricane force winds) I had this feeling all morning to keep checking to make sure or trampoline was still in the yard. I looked you the kitchen several times, and it was fine. So I put the feeling in the back of my mind. When I went to lay Cole down for his nap I heard a squeaking sound. I rushed to the back door. To my avail there was no trampoline in my sites. I ran into the yard and found it on it's side halfway on top of my house. YIKES!! This isn't the first time this has happened. It's happened three times now. The first time Cris and I decided to take a afternoon nap while the older kids were at school, and the younger ones where napping. We heard a big crash, and a minute later our neighbor was knocking at our door. The wind had picked it up, threw it through our fence, and into the street. Luckily there were two men preventing it from going any farther. (I even called the insurance company to see if they would replace or build a new fence. But since it is wood, and we don't know when it was built it was to much of a hassle to claim it. We live on a corner with two city lots, and that is one of the main reasons we bought the house.. We really want to build a new fence but it will cost us and arm and a leg. Does anyone have one to spare? We will have to wait till we have the funds until then we have a ugly old wood fence.)Any way back to Friday. Cris was at work so I called him on my cell, and told him, "I'm holding the trampoline down can you please call someone else to help me move it." So he called a couple of friends and they rushed right over to help. Meanwhile I was outside holding down the thing with all my 120 pound might. I thought I might blow away with it. Poor Jocelyn was in the house scared out of her mind because I kept telling her to stay in, and Cole was screaming in his bed. Randy and Burr came and helped move it, and tie it down to the fence in the corner of our yard. It is bent out of shape and in need of repair again. Maybe the "cage" (safety net) is causing it to be picked up by the wind. But at least no one was hurt, and it didn't go through the fence again. So from now on, this is the Moss Family, and we live in Windblow Arizona.

Santa

Our Ward party was last night and the kids got their pictures taken with Santa. Cole wouldn't go near him without screaming so we all jumped in the picture with him. He still wasn't too happy. Don't ya just love Santa's beard. Both Kaden ans Kennedy kept saying that it wasn't the real Santa because his beard was fake. They had so much fun. They also did a live nativity with a sheep and cow. Cole thought that it was great and kept barking at the animals, and Jocelyn was constantly petting them.

On another note I cut all my hair off. I'm getting used to it and like it but it's a big change! I tried loading the individual pictures of the kids but its having problems. It's taking forever and I have no patience, so maybe later I will post them.

Winkle

Winkle has arrived from the North Pole!! The kids were so excited to see him again this year. They kept asking if and when he was going to appear. Winkle is our magical Elf who comes every year around December 1st. He comes every day and hides somewhere new. Then at night he goes back to the North Pole to report to Santa if the kids have been bad or good. He will also bring small gifts every once and a while. They arn't suppose to touch him either, or he will go away. This helps keep the kids be good thoughout the holidays. They have so much fun looking around the house for him every morning. The first day he comes he brings the kids their Christmas jammies. And a small note that goes like this,

Hello Moss Family,

My name is Winkle

And I'm here to say

Santa sent me

So be good today!

(this is the poem Cris sister made up Then I added this part)

Here are some jammies

Santa sent with me

So you can be warn

Sitting by the Christmas tree.

The past couple of years we haven't gone with the holiday theme, instead they just get a nice pair of fun jammies. This year Kennedy got Bobbly Jack, Kaden got Spiderman, Jocelyn got Princess, and Cole got ones with a Dinosaur. Cris' sister has done this with their kids for many years now and that is where I got the idea.

The Weather Has Changed!

It has gotten so cold here!! It's been in the fourties. I know, I know all you guys are probably thinking, "cold what is she talking about." Well here in Northern Arizona it gets alot colder than other areas of the state. And I know that we should be used to the cold weather from growing up in Idaho, but after living in this area for almost seven years now, we can say its cold. We do get some snow, but not enough to have alot of fun in. You can build a snowman, and its melted within a day or two. We are hoping for more this year, so we can attempt to go skiing in Flagstaff. (the ski resort there was only open for one month last year. They are trying to make fake snow, but the Indians don't want them to because the mountains are sacred there. They have gone to court a couple of times over it.)We laugh because when we first moved here we would leave our windows open year round because it seemed so warm to us and everyone thought we were crazy. I would love it to be cold with snow, that for it to be just cold!! Burr!!! I'm hoping that spring comes fast this year.

And the Stocking Were Hung.....

By the chimney with care. We decorated the house on Friday with the kids. They had so much fun! Cris finished the lights on the outside of the house. But he needs to get another extention cord. They keep blowing a fuse. I'll have to post a picture when he fixes them. We are so excited for Christmas this year. Here are a few pictures of our decorations.

My Willow Tree nativity. For the past two years my mom and dad have been giving us a set. Last year we got Mary, Joseph, a Shepard and some animals. This year we got the other Shepard and more animals. I look forward to every year now to get a new part of it, and can't wait to have the complete set.

My favorite part of our tree are the traditional candles, and holders my parents brought back form a trip to Germany. It reminds me of Christmas when I was younger. We used to light them at my Grandmas house, and sing Christmas carols in German while they burned.

The tree I tried taking a picture without the flash so you could see the lights, but it kept turning out blurry. I think there is something wrong with the camera or me.

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

We had a great time today shopping. We woke up at 2:30 so we could get to Flagstaff by 4. I'm shocked that I'm still alive, and not crashed out on my bed asleep. I can now say that I know how Cris feels when he has only gotten four or five hours of sleep, and then has to go to work. I was a little disappointed because the tree I wanted to get from JC Penny's was not at all like the picture in the ad. In the ad it looked all nice and full and beautiful, but nope! It was very holey. I really wanted a new Christmas tree, one that is pre-lite. Oh, well I will have to wait till next year, or the day after Christmas. Not getting the tree meant that I could spend more money elsewhere. I'm almost done with the kids. One more thing for Kennedy, and one more thing for Jocelyn, and I'll be done. Yea!! I would tell you what I got, but now that I have kids that can read, they might see the blog, and find out everything that we got them. They were already trying to peek in the garage when I got home. Stinker kids!! I remember snooping when I was younger. Well, I think that I will now go sit on the couch, and veg out while the kids run wild in the house and destroy everything. I'm so tired, I don't want to even cook dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!! I'm cooking the turkey for us this year. Crystal and Lance will be coming and also Rich and Allison. (maybe just Rich, Allison is in labor right now!! WooHoo!) I'm more excited about going shopping Friday than the whole Thanksgiving dinner. And I have no ambition to clean my house. Cole has been sick again. Just when we think he is doing better, he throws up again. Poor baby boy! Anywho, have a great Thanksgiving!!!

A Boy After His Fathers Heart

Kaden looks as though he is deep in thought as he plays Halo 3. Look at him biting his lower lip. I'm sure if I took some pictures of Cris playing he would look just like this. Kaden usually plays here and there with Cris, but he had to go to work tonight. So, I got the privilege of being beaten at a video game by a six year old. I had so much fun playing with him!! I can't wait until Christmas when Kennedy and Kaden see the Wii under the tree. It will be so much more family friendly than the XBOX. And Cris and I can't wait to play it. We will be testing it out Christmas eve after the kids go to bed.

I didn't do it!

This is a conversation I had with Jocelyn this morning.
Jocelyn: Mom, someone colored on my stomach and it wasn't me
Me: Are you sure?
As she is holding the evidence in her hands
Jocelyn: Mom, I didn't do it! I swear.
Me: O.K. so who colored on you?
Jocelyn: I don't know?
Me: Jocelyn, you know better than to do that to your body.
So then she breaks down in tears. It's so funny how they learn do deceive you at such a young age. I know that she did this because of the look on her face, like oh, man I'm going to be in so much trouble, I need to blame this on someone else.
On, a side note the playroom/computer room was a big mess from Kaden having a friend over, my house does not usually look this way.

Silly Little Boy!!

Cris' mom sent him a package for his birthday.(it's not until Monday)

Cole thought that the box was great! It was a pretty small box and he climbed in and out of it all day. I guess I should take the things I got him for Christmas back, and get him a box to play with instead. He had so much fun. What an imagination!!

A Few Updates

My sharing time went well! I filled my time and the kids were pretty good. The Senior Primary was worse than the Junior Primary when we did one of our activities. All, in all it went well.
On, to my hernia dilemma. I haven't had any problems with it since my last post. I went to spin class( this kicks my butt, so if you are wanting to lose weight or just get into shape this is a great cardio workout. Your butt will be sore for a few days afterwards from sitting on the bikes) I also ran yesterday morning and this morning. I think I will keep on training until I go to the Dr. and we will see what he says. I haven't registered for the marathon yet, I don't want to lose the $100 it costs if the Dr. says to stop what I'm doing and have surgery right away. It's non refundable.
The kids are doing great and can't wait to have a week break from school next week. I'm not sure I''m as excited as they are. But it will be fun to have them home for awhile. I can't wait until next Friday. Black Friday here we come. I'm hoping to find some good deals for the rest of the kids Christmas. We are almost done!! Cole is completely done and I only have to get one more thing for Jocelyn,unless I find something else for them.(which usually happens when I start shopping this soon) And we have to get a few more things for Kennedy and Kaden. I'm so excited for Christmas this year. Every year gets better and better with the kids. There is nothing better than to see my kids faces light up with happiness this time of year.

A Family of Hernias

So, I just have to vent a little in this post. Half of the six of us in our family have hernias. Cole actually had three but we had two repaired when he was 5 months old.( he was born with two inguinal hernias) Now he just had his umbilical hernia. Jocelyn also has a umbilical hernia, and guess who also has a umbilical hernia......ME!!! See what child bearing can do to ya. You know how your belly button pokes out when you are pregnant well, mine never went back in. It's never really bothered me, except when I was pregnant with Cole it would be sore every now and again. Well today it hurt sooo bad when I was running, that I had to stop. It felt like someone punched me in the stomach. So I guess it is time to take a time out and take care of myself. I called a surgeon and they can't get me in untill December. I'm not to happy about it cause they really didn't give me any advice on it. They told me, "well if it hurts while you are exercising again, stop and take it easy." Hello lady, I just told you I'm trying to train for a marathon. So do I need to stop or not. I got very vague answers. So I will try to run again tomorrow and see what happens. She also told me to buy a hernia belt to use while exercising. Ugh!! I guess I shouldn't have put this off for so long, I was wanting to wait till I ran my marathon, to have surgery. So now the whole marathon is up in the air. Oh, what to do???

Sharing Time

I have to do sharing time in primary tomorrow. I am so nervous. I have no clue way I am. I have to keep telling myself that they are just little kids. They won't be judgemental, heck I'm sure I will be lucky to get comments from them.(or at least comments that pertain to the lesson.) I'm almost done preparing my lesson, and Cris will be my guini pig tonight when I practice it on him. I have never been good at filling a 20 minute window for a talk at church. I hope that I can fill the 20 minutes in primary. At least I will be doing a couple of activities with them, to pass by some of the time. Thank you so much Jayne Ann for the web sites you gave me. They are helping alot!!!

The Quarantine!!!

We were quarantined for a week. You could say what goes around comes around. We all had the cold/sinus infection that Kaden brought home from school over a week ago. Cole had it the worst as you all know it turned to croup.The poor little guy still hasn't gotten his voice back. Kennedy had it the least, she just coughed for one day. Kaden missed four days of school. It would have only been three, but he coughed so much on the playground one day that he threw up so they sent him home after being at school for just two hours. He was sooooo bored, he kept asking what we could do for fun, and I had to keep telling him , that when your sick, you don't get to do anything fun. Jocelyn just coughed alittle, and had a sore throat. Me and Cris also had it. I'm still hoarse, and Cris is still stuffy. I about died last week staying home all week and not going anywhere. Thanks to my good friend Allison, we had milk in the fridge, and cereal in the cupboard. Now that we are all better life is great again.

The E.R.

We had a little stay in the emergency room yesterday afternoon and evening. Cole wasn't breathing to his best ability. So Cris ran him to the doctors office, and they did a breathing treatment. It worked well, until they took it off him, and then he started breathing bad again. So they sent him to the E.R. They did three more treatments on him, and gave him some more steroids. I couldn't stand sitting at home, so I got a babysitter,( these are the times I wished we lived closer to family) and went to sit with him, and Cris. We were there from, 3:30, to 6:50. Luckily they didn't have to keep him overnight. We got home, and he is doing much better. He is finally wanting to wander around the house, and not be held all the time. This means I can get some much needed house work done. My house is a wreck, I can't get anything done with a sick child in my arms. I hope he gets better soon, so I can see my happy smiling boy once again.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!!! The kids had a lot of fun last night! They went to the "trunk or treat" at the church with Cris. I stayed home with a sick gorilla (a.k.a. Cole) Kennedy and Jocelyn were both Tinker Bell, and Kaden was a Pirate. Thankfully these were all costumes we already had. Yeah!! I didn't have to buy anything. After the trunk or treat, they went around the block, and then I took them to Grandma and Grandpa Terri's house. This is a couple in our ward, that one day just out of the blue Kennedy started to call them Grandma and Grandpa. It's great since both Grandparents live far away. So my kids are their adopted grandchildren.

This is the only smile I got out of him all day

Don't I look lovely! My hair was so frizzy after sitting in the bathroom with Cole with the shower on.

The Great Potato/Apple Contest

Here are the pictures of the kids with their Potato and Apple things they had to make for school. I do have to say I think that they turned out good. But of coarse I helped them do it, along with Grandma and Grandpa Cziep

.

Cole has croup

My poor baby boy is sick! I took him in to the doctor today. He looks awful! Hopefully he will get better soon. The doctor gave us some steroids. Cris and I joked that we will have to get him a gun show shirt like his. I'll have to post our Halloween pictures when I have more time, and without a sick baby in my arms. If any of you have any suggestions on how to make him more comfortable please let me know. Even with three older kids, I sometimes have no clue in what I'm doing.

Grandma and Grandpa Cziep

My parents came into town for the day on Saturday. It was a quick trip but the kids were so excited to see them, and so were we. (exspecially since they were bring our meat we ordered)We had a really fun , but busy day. Kaden had his last soccer game, and boy was I glad it's over. Don't get me wrong we loved to go watch him but the 8:30 games were not fun!!! Here are some fun pictures of pumpkin carving with Grandma and Grandpa Cziep. We bought Kennedy and Kaden a kind of carving kit that you carve the insides out, and them punch light brite type things into the pumpkin. They turned out really cute. My mom helped Jocelyn carve her pumpkin into a cat, and the one I carved for Cole has bats and stars all over it.

This is Cole in his old man glasses they brought each of the kids a pair.

Carving Pumpkins






The kids had a great time, and loved it. We also did their art projects that were due today. I forgot to take a picture of them. It was called the Great Potato or Great Apple Contest. Kennedy had to dress a potato up. She chose to make a ballerina out of hers, and we put it in a shoe box, and stood it up like a musical jewelry box, and then scattered some old play jewelry on the bottom of the box. Kaden had to dress up a apple. We found three sizes, and them made a snowman out of them. He sprayed it with the fake snow stuff, and my mom made him some trees out of card stock. Thank goodness my mom and dad were here to help or I don't think we could have gotten it done. It wasn't a very good project for kids, it was more of a homework assignment for the parents. But they will have to write a story about it later this week in class. I'll have to take a picture of them when they bring them back home. Kaden was sad because he couldn't take his to school. He has a sinus infection, so I had to drop it off to his teacher. I hope that he gets feeling better soon, he has been sick for three days now. I hate it when my kids are sick.

Mr. Cranky Pants

Cole has been so cranky lately. I finally figured out why last night. He had two molars and one of his front teeth come in, all within the past day! Poor boy! I knew that he was teething, but didn't realize it was that bad. So now he is up to 7 teeth. His bottom two, top two, and three molars, and his gums are swollen in many other places. At this rate he will have all his teeth in no time. He is also all over the house. And getting into everything. I found him on top the Dora kitchen, and in top of the princess table within the last 20 min. We have a climber on our hands!!

The Story of Kaden's Glasses

Kaden has had glasses for a year now, and has done very well with them. When we got them we told him that if he lost or broke them he would have to get the big fat ugly ones. This really encouraged him not to lose them. Well the day has come that they are broken. He was at school, playing on the playground. (he usually is not suppose to take them to the playground) The screw came out , and out popped the lens. It is now lost in a sea of sand. We had just taken the kids to the eye doctor for a check up, and found out that our insurance only covers lenses and frames every two years. So after $150 dollars and another visit to the eye doctor, he will have new glasses in a week. (well at least lenses, I was to cheap to buy new frames since the old ones will still work) As we were sitting in the eye doctor Kaden was talking to a boy from school. He told this little boy and his mother, "My mom had big fat glasses when she was a little girl." And then proceeded to laugh about it with this little boy. Man, kids will tell you everything and repeat what their fathers say. Thanks alot Cris!!

Primary Program

The kids did great in their Primary Program. Kennedy had her part memorized, and Kaden almost had his memorized, so he read it. All the kids sang really well, and we had lots of compliments. There was a great spirit at church today because of the children's willingness to participate. I'm so happy to be in the Presidency, and to help these kids learn the gospel. Today was also our first time as a new Presidency in Primary. It all went well, and we thought that we did a good job overall. I guess we will get the hang of it as we go along.

Girl's night

Some friends and I went shopping last night. We had alot of fun, and it was great to have a mom's night out. The reason why we went is because a Old Navy opened in Flagstaff, and it was friends and family night. (another friend of ours have us tickets to it.) We got 20% off all our purchases including clearance items. ( I thought that it was odd to have a brand new store with clearance in it.) I got the kids two new outfits each for Christmas. I've been trying to buy early so it all doesn't hit us at once. I've got Cole's Christmas completely done. I need to work on the older kids. I think that the older they get the harder it is to buy for them. I'm hoping they start to give me ideas soon, there is only two more months till Christmas!!

Parent teacher confrence

Today was parent teacher conference,. I can't believe that Kennedy and Kaden have already been in school for nine weeks! Time flies when your having fun. We will start with Kaden. He is doing really good in everything, except penmanship. When he writes it sometimes looks like chicken scratches. I can't believe that he is in first grade. He reads really well, I think that having all day Kindergarten helped a lot last year. Kennedy is also doing good, and she is in the second grade this year. She is struggling in her reading, and spelling though. She has been working so hard, and its hard to see her struggle. We just need to make her read out loud more often. She really likes to read the Junie B. Jones books, maybe I will get her some more. She is doing great in math. (and she didn't get that from me, I hate math) She will sit down and make up her own math problems, and figure them out. One of these days I will have her balance my check book. All in all it went well. The only complaint I have in the grading system they do for the First and Second graders. It's like this 93-100 is a A 85-92 in a B 75-84 is a C 65-74 is a D and a 64-0 is a F. So even if my kids get a 92 or 90 it is a B. So they mostly got B's and C's but the should actually be A's and B's. The grading system changes when they move up to third grade. While I'm on the subject of school, Jocelyn is doing a joy school. She loves it and has so much fun. It's my turn to teach in a few weeks, and I am having fun looking for ideas for some Halloween crafts we can do. Any suggestions would be great.
I can't believe how big my kids are getting and how grown up they are. I love them so much ,and hope that they do good in all that they do. I love you guys!!

William Tell Overture

This video is sooo funny. Says everything that I say everyday!!

And were off!!

Cole started walking last night. He is still pretty unstable but it is oh, so cute to watch him!! Here is a video I took of him on my didital camera. I hope it works. I sound like the biggest dork!!

Lime

Our cat Lime has been catching alot of birds lately. Including this one and a few humming birds. It's so crazy to watch him jump high in the air and catch them. Then he takes them to a different spot to eat them. Yummy!! I think we are going to rename him KILLER!!!

Recalls, Recalls, Recalls!!

Wow! How many recalls are going to effect me and my children! Kennedy had a bunch of Polly Pockets that were on the first big recall. She was so sad to give them up. I still need to send them back. (Don't worry they are put up high away from reach) How do you explain to your child that their beloved toys are dangerous, and could hurt her baby brother really bad. Then I bought Cole some wooden blocks and put them away for Christmas. They were recalled because of led paint a couple of weeks ago. Led paint? I can't believe it. And now the Infant Cold medicines that they recalled!! Is nothing safe for my kids anymore! I'm very disappointed if you can't tell. I hope that all this passes soon and I can feel safe buying my children toys and medicine again.

I thought that I would post a better picture of Jocelyn since the last one I put on here was with her "billy bob" teeth in. So I took some pictures of her and Cole today while Kennedy and Kaden were at school.

She enjoys getting her picture taken

Cole claping and saying yea!!

Looking out the window at the halloween decorations

Laundry

Oh how I hate laundry!! I can get everything washed just fine, it the folding part that I hate! Anyone who knows me well, knows that my house may be clean, but there is always a pile of laundry on my bed. Then when we go to bed it moves its way to the floor, until it gets folded the next day. (or sometimes even later than that) So this is my new goal, to be better at folding the laundry. We will see how long it lasts!

Marathon

My training is going well. We ran just over NINE, that's right nine miles! Woohoo. At this rate we will be ready in no time!! Go us!!

Poor Baby Cole

Poor Cole is sick. I hate seeing my kids sick. He has a temp of 102, runny nose and keeps pulling at his ear. I believe he has a ear infection. He is not a happy camper, and I'm not much of one either, he was up most of the night. Our family doctor won't be able to see him until this afternoon due to being in surgery this morning. (and that's if he even has room to see him.)Maybe he will just call him in a prescription. Hopefully this will pass by fast.

I just had to post this picture

I just had to post these pictures of Jocelyn. At our family reunion this summer we took a big family picture with our "billy bob" teeth. We all got a kick out of Jocelyn. She even posed for several people to take her picture with them in.

Our shopping trip

Yesterday my sister-in-law and I went to Flagstaff to do some shopping. We had quite the eventful day!! First off when we went to Target, Crystal went to grab us some carts so we wouldn't have to drag the kids into the store. All went well, until she accidentally locked her keys in the car, along with her 9 month old, and the diaper bag. OPPS!! I went in the store and got the police department number. ( they will unlock your car for free if there is a child in it.) So, she calls the number, and they send the fire department out. We were thinking they would send out a small emergency vehicle, but no we got the fire truck with the big ladder on it. It was a great picture opportunity, so I got out my cell, and took some pictures, but forgot to save them to my phone. I was bummed. The kids thought it was great, Boston thought that the truck was going to spray him, and Cole wasn't a big fan of the firefighters at first. Staisha was a trooper in the car and was just smiling, and playing with her bib.

We get done at Target, and head to some other stores, and all was great. Then we run into traffic getting to the mall. Once in the mall parking lot, the brakes on Crystal's car go out. We get into Sears, and she asked a automotive guy for some help. He says that their technician was almost off, and they couldn't help, but here is some brake fluid. So here we are at Sears two girls who know nothing about cars, with four kids all ages three and under. What are we to do? I get brave and ask a man in the Electronic section if he knows how to check brake fluid, and if he can help us out with our car. He kindly agrees and follows us out to the car, and checks the brake fluid. Its FULL!! Crystal drives the car around the parking lot, and the car if just fine. We both thought, " man, we waisted some good shopping time."

Not only did all this happen but Jocelyn, and Boston thought it was fun to go in every public bathroom they saw. I think we went into every stores "potty" some even twice!! We had alot of fun., and the babies were troopers. We already have our next trip planned! Hopefully we can go without kids next time though.

New Calling

I got a new church calling. My stay in Relief Society didn't last long. I am now the second counselor in the Primary Presidency. I think that Primary is a life calling, or at least until my kids are out of there. I have been the nursery leader( I cried when I got this calling), I was a teacher several times, and then I played piano for almost two years in there.I'm really excited, and so are the kids. I think that it will be a lot of fun.

I forgot to mention

Cole took TWO steps on his own last night. It took alot of bribing with a chocolate chip cookie. But he did it!! YEAH!!! Maybe we can get him to walk on his own soon. He just has to beat his cousin Boston and walk before he is 17 months old. GO COLE!!

Another busy weekend!!

I can't believe that it is October already! I guess I need to get out all the Halloween decorations, and figure out what the kids want to be. On Saturday Kaden had another early morning soccer game. We had to wake up at six thirty on our only day to sleep in. His team lost. :( Probably because I wasn't there to watch. I was getting the rest of the house clean and ready for my friends baby shower. Here is the picture of the finished diaper baby I made. The baby shower went well and the food was yummy!!

Friday morning a friend and I went to the city park. I hadn't been there in a while and it reminded me why. Don't get me wrong I love where I live and I really like the people and friends we've made here. The city park is sooooo trashed! I took some pictures but don't want to post them. There is graffiti all over the playground equipment with all sorts of things you wouldn't want any child to repeat of ask you what they mean. It's so sad that our city won't fix it up. Oh yeah, their way of fixing it is to spray paint it to make it even more trashy! This has made me want to write a letter to our mayor expressing my concerns and others concerns about it. I will be sending him the pictures also, I really don't think they think it is that bad. I'm also thinking about maybe a petition to get new equipment that is fenced in with city park hours from sun up to sun down. I don't know if it will do any good but at least I will have tried. If anyone has any suggestions on how to approach this let me know.

Friday night we went to the annual Standing on the Corner celebration. This is a city event that is put on by donations every year. They have a bunch of vendors, food, and live bands. They used to have alot more stuff for the kids but there hasn't been to much the past two years, so we left the kids with a babysitter for an hour. If you don't know "The Eagles" wrote a song about Winslow. It's their song "Take it Easy". This is where this celebration stems from.

I attempted to go to the gym this morning. I was hoping to get 4 miles or so on the treadmill but Cole wouldn't have it. Jocelyn was doing great sitting in the kids room watching Dora. Anyway back to Cole. There is this really nice old indian guy that works out at the gym all the time. As soon as we walked in the door Cole got one look at him and started screaming. The man left the room to go put his stuff in a locker, and Cole stopped as soon as he left the room. A few minutes later he came back and started to warm up on the treadmill next to me. Cole was terrified and wouldn't stop his screaming. So after running only 2 miles I had to leave. I got home and thought it was a waist of time. It took me longer to get the two kids ready to take with me, than to run the 2 miles. Needless to say I was disappointed.

Cris' new toy

Meet Cris' new toy. Cris helped a friend of ours put some windows in a house he is working on, and paid him with this brand new XBOX 360 HALO edition. Thanks Tim and Steph!!! You guys really didn't need to. Cris was so excited, he was like (and still is) a kid in a candy store!! Now he just needs the Halo 3 game to go with it. I'm thinking there will be a XBOX party in the near future. Does anyone know if there is a XBOX widow club I can join?

Cris and Tim playing Halo 3 (with Lance's game)

Our little guy!

O.K. so isn't he the cutest little guy you've ever seen? This is one of his favorite things to do! pull the wipes out of the container one by one which makes a big mess. I'm so glad to see him healthy and making those messes after thinking that he wouldn't make it to birth! We just can't believe that some doctors pretty much told us to abort this guy! We thank our Heavenly Father every day for him. We love you Cole!!!