Our November (and a LOT of photos)

I figured that I would just do one big post about what we did in November.  On the ninth we celebrated Calvin's 10th birthday.  It was on Tuesday, which was his scout night, they were retiring a whole bunch of American flags so we all went to that with him, then came home for some cake and presents.  He had a good birthday!  At school, I didn't even think about bringing cupcakes or something for his class and he didn't want me to anyway.  What can I say, he's in the 4th grade.  I guess he's too old for that?!  :(  Here are some pictures of his big day!

 Bunny ears never die.

 Abby is even doing bunny ears on the cake.

 Elsa really wanted to get the little hamster for Calvin.  When she was picking it out I asked her if Calvin would like it or if she would.  She insisted that he would.  Well, he hasn't played with it yet....she has.

 He LOVES Hero Factory!

 He also loves his Didj...I like it too because he has fun with it and it teaches him math, science, spelling, etc. I love Leapfrog.

 He really wanted this game....and it just so happened to be on clearance. 

 This was Grandma and Papa's gift.  He loved his new white shirt! 

 .....and his joke books.  Thanks Grandma and Papa!

 He also loved his gift card from Aunt Lisa and ALL the Hero Factory sets he got from his aunts, uncle and cousin, James.

 He got one double of the Hero Factory, so he took it back and got store credit and combined it with the gift card and bought a Nerf gun Wii game that was on sale online.  He loves it! I do too because there are NO darts to pick up off the floor.  Yeah!

 He also got new Skechers!

 And a new book.  Clint and the boys were out "window shopping" one day.  They went to Deseret Book.  As soon as Calvin walked in the door, he saw this book, "The Fourth Nephite" and sat down and started to read it.  After only a few minutes, Clint was ready to go, he went over to get Calvin, only to find him 10 pages into this book.  Clint asked if he liked the book, Calvin said yes.  So Clint bought it for his birthday.  Calvin continued to read it on the way home and every chance he got until he finished it Sunday,the next day.  Calvin LOVES to read! 

Here he is with his cake!

Then, a week later, was Clint's birthday.  Grandma and Papa came down.  Papa did a seminar and consultations the rest of the time and Grandma came to assist him.  When they weren't doing that they came to our house to visit.  They took us all out to "Olive Garden" for Clint's birthday.  Actually, that was the day before his birthday, because they had the seminar on his birthday.  So on his birthday, we just had a nice, quiet evening of eating trifle (he doesn't care for cake), and opening gifts.  I think he had a nice birthday. 

 I didn't have a number 6, so I got creative.  He's 35 + 1.  :) 

The cake topper was Elsa's idea.  She thought he needed a tool cake.

 I got him a mouse pad with a calculator, because we can never seem to keep track of our calculators and he's always needing one.  So maybe this will help.

 I also got this Atari Flashback for him.  It's a lot of fun! 

 This was from his sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew, James from San Antonio. 

 He loves his new Tony Hawk shirt.

 This is from his sister in Indiana.  Thanks everyone!

Then he got a card and money from my parents.  Thanks!

Then, next, we had a special family home evening before Thanksgiving.  We did our thankful tree.

This year it was a little better.  I made it out of felt and my mom cut leaves out of fall colored fabric.

It turned out rather cute.  These kids are thankful for a lot this year!

Then, last but certainly not least, was our Thanksgiving.  We stayed home this year and cooked.

We had a lot of great food and just enjoyed one other.

Here is Elsa's "turkey" hair style.  As soon as I called it that she wanted it out. 

I think it's cute!  She just wanted 2 pony tails.

 Anxious to eat!

 ....or maybe she just likes the camera

 Playing the Wii and getting ready for "Black Friday".

 Elsa saw something she liked

 She loves her brother.....Abby still loves the camera. She sure is cute isn't she?

 Calvin always tries to dodge the camera, but I got him this time.

 We had a great Thanksgiving and hope you all did too!

Our budding Artist

Elsa has really grown in her art abilities.  She loves Art and Music.  She told me the other day that she wants to be an art or music teacher when she grows up.  Here is a self portrait she did at school at the end of last school year.  So she was in 1st grade when she did it.  I took a picture of it then with the intention of putting it on right then, but then forgot or got busy or something, I'm sure you guys understand.  Well, I remembered and just so happened to be on the computer, so here it is. 

Halloween 2010

Well, another Halloween has come and gone.  This one, as usual, was one not to forget.  We all had fun at our ward Halloween party/trunk or treat.  Here are our pictures....enjoy

                                             Someone forgot to tell Abby

                                                          that Hello Kitty is nice and not scary.

I was so glad that the girls wanted to be easy costumes this year.

Calvin's costume was a challenge, but with Clint's help, I was able to make this.

Dallin's costume was SUPER easy....I just drove to Kmart and bought it at 40% off.

BTW, do you like his face?  Gross huh, but I think I did pretty well with his make-up.

Here is the "Tank" in action.  As you can see it's a one size fits all....kind of.

It was a little too big for some.

Oh yeah, this is the first year Clint wanted to dress up and he wanted to at 

the last minute....so this is what we came up with. 

Update on all the kids

Dallin: 

First of all, he is doing very good in his online school.  Unlike last year, he has been a lot better at getting all his work done on time. (Although he still has a hard time doing his writing assignments.  He just can't think of anything to write. If anyone has any suggestions on that matter, it would greatly be appreciated).  

He is enjoying school and has joined a couple of clubs like, "The Monitor Newspaper", and the Robotics Club.  He's also a lot of help around the house when he wants to be. (He IS a tween, as he likes to remind me.)  He is becoming quite the little babysitter, we leave him at home with his little sisters sometimes for just a few minutes and when we return the house is still standing and in one piece.  (Can't say the same for the inside,  Just joking.)  He loves his sisters, although he'd never admit it out loud.  He and Elsa can really annoy each other at times or can annoy the rest of us by being silly with each other.  They're really good friends.  

Right now we're looking for guitar lessons for him,  he really wants to learn.  We think we'll try the rec. center.  They do lessons for pretty cheap.  We'll try that first and see how serious he is about it.   We'll see about a guitar/piano duet for the Christmas program.  (IF we go to Stonehill, that is.)  

He still loves being in 11 year old scouts.  They recently went on a camping trip and he had a lot of fun with the other boys.  He is a good kid and we love him.  

This crazy kid is showing off his cool new hair cut. 

Calvin:

He likes being in the 4th grade and loves the G.A.T.E. program, although he misses an occasional test every now and then.  He doesn't mind missing it, but he does mind the making up part of it.  He started piano lessons last Monday and I think he likes them so far.  Of course he will never say that he likes them, but I see it in his eyes when I pick him up afterwards.   He loves being in Cub Scouts and just recently received his Bear award and is working on some arrow points.  He and the Cub Scouts went to the Hoover Dam bypass bridge that they just finished.  From the pictures that I've seen it looks really cool and REALLY high.  I thought he would have a problem looking over the edge, (he hated Tower of Terror) but he actually liked looking over the edge. 
He is a sweet boy and loves to play with his sisters at times.  Every day after school I let them play on the playground for a while.  (In hopes that they get some of that energy out.)  He and this other little boy always find some sort of container, (empty water bottle, empty chips bag, etc.) and fill them with water and have a water fight.  I don't mind, because it's still pretty hot here and they dry off pretty quick.  The girls have gotten into it a couple of times too.  Calvin needs a reminder to make sure they want to play before he "gets" them.
He also loves his brother and those two stay up chatting about 'who knows what' at night.  Clint and I have to go in and tell them to turn out the light and go to sleep at least 2 or 3 times every night.  Calvin has such a strong testimony and surprises me at how much he listens in family home evening and his class at church, etc.  
One time in sharing time,  I get to be in senior primary, they were talking about prayer and the teacher asked what are some things we can ask Heavenly Father for.  Calvin raised his hand and said, "Safety."  I thought that was pretty good that he actually listens to the prayers given and when he says the prayer he thinks about what he is praying for.  He is a good kid and I'm glad we get to have him in our family.  

        

Calvin and Elsa working together on a scavenger hunt I did for them one Sunday afternoon.
The other pic. is from Wednesday on the way to school.  It FINALLY rained....all day!
The kids had fun jumping in the puddles.

Elsa:

She is doing really well in school.  She is very smart and I wish that she would talk so that her teacher would know just how smart she really is.  Elsa is getting closer to talking and I'm sure she'll be talking by the end of this school year.  Just yesterday her teacher came over to me after school and told me that Elsa giggled out loud.  When she told Elsa that she heard that, Elsa looked at her like, "Oops, I didn't mean to let that out."  I think that she just needs to know that it's o.k. for others to hear her voice.  She is such a funny little girl and everyday I see my own personality coming out in her.  Sometimes I think, "Oh no, Why did she have to get that part."  The part I'm referring to is the teasing part.  At home, she is always teasing someone, mainly Abby, then she says, "Just kidding!"  She does it ALL THE TIME.  Now I know how everyone else felt when I did it and I am SO SORRY!  But I also know that it is fun too.  She loves to teach Abby everything she knows from the alphabets to how to act in school to reading to whatever she wants to teach her.  She loves having a little sister and they are the best of friends.  They are growing so fast and becoming like "real" sisters.
You know, fighting one minute then best friends the next.  She is also such a good little artist.  Her drawing skills are getting so much better.  So are her writing skills.  She is such a joy to have in our family.

 

Abby: 

She is our little live wire.  Even though she is 5.  I still have to watch her every minute.  In fact the other day, I was walking down the hall where the kids chalkboard is, and found Abby drawing on it.  That's not so bad, you might be saying.  What do you think she was writing with?  Chalk?  Of course not, somehow she got a hold of a red sharpie.  When she saw me, she tried to hide the sharpie, but it was too late, she was caught 'red' handed.  Despite all the times she gets in trouble, she is a good kid.  
She loves kindergarten and is learning so much.  When school started she could only recognize 4 letters, now she can recognize 17.  WooHoo!  She also loves to read her little books she brings home.  She only reads the words with the pictures, but it starts somewhere, right?  Abby and I practice the letters almost every morning. I do not doubt she'll get it really soon.  She's a smart little girl and she already has little friends in her class.  One day when I picked her up, her name was called and one of her friends gave her a hug good bye.  It was the cutest thing.  She started off the year like Elsa and didn't talk, then her teacher and I tried some of the things that Elsa's Kindergarten teacher and I tried way back then.  Well, with Abby, they worked and Abby is talking so much more in school, but not enough to get in trouble for it....yet.  One thing we tried was every day when she went into the school yard she had to say 'hi' to her teacher and then as she left she had to say 'bye'.  If she did that she got a sticker on her chart and at the end of the week she got an ice cream sundae.  She did that and more.  Not only did she say hi, and bye but she asked for her snack, and a wipe (to wipe off the table), and saying 'here' when the teacher called roll.  Now she doesn't have a problem talking when she needs to.  
She loves her brothers and always wants to play with them.  Dallin gets annoyed by this when he is trying to get his school work done.  She also LOVES to swing, and is always asking me to 'swing' her high.  She likes to try and touch the roof of the patio cover.  She does too.  One time I pushed her super high and she leaned too far back and slid out of the swing.  I tried to catch her, but only succeeded at slowing her down as she fell.  She stood up, shook it off, and got right back on and asked me to swing her high again.  CrAZy girl!  But my kind of girl!  She is a unique and special little girl and we are so glad she in our family.

 

In the first picture, Abby is 'acting' tough with her tattoo, In the next picture I just love that smile.

In the last picture, we were coming home from taking the kids to school, when we saw a rainbow.

Of course Abby had to get a picture with it, she just loves rainbows!

 
 

Happy Halloween

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Abby turns 5

Abby's birthday party was CRAZY! 
Alot of like this little movie from Disney.  I couldn't help but think of this movie the whole time.  It was crazy but fun.  Abby and her friends had fun and that's what matters, right?
She wanted a candy party, so I did a "Sugar n' Spice" theme and with the help of the internet I got some really good ideas for it.  Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the party before the kids arrived.  I actually was still putting out things while they were arriving.  We got our hotdog cooker out and served hotdogs, popped popcorn, had a lollipop garden (the ants enjoyed that one), put up our bouncer, and then who can forget the candy buffet.  Of course, that was a BIG hit.  We had a good turn out of kids.  We invited 10 kids and 8 came.  Abby was super shy I couldn't even get her to say thank you as she opened her gifts, but she would look at the child whose gift she opened and smile at them, that seemed to be enough for that child.  When one of the little girls mom's came to get her, the girl said excitedly that Abby talked to her.   When it was time for the cake, the kids were super excited and I had to remind them that it was Abby's birthday and she was going to blow out the candles.  Everyone was VERY excited.  Oh yeah, and Dallin and Calvin were such great helpers during the party.  Calvin made sure everyone got a hotdog and popcorn and lemonade or water.  Dallin helped with the decorations and whatever else I needed.  And Clint came home from work just to mow the lawn's in the front and the back earlier in the day.  Then went back and had to miss the party.  We did save the family gifts for her to open when he came home.  He's such a great man isn't he?!  We love him!
Here are some pictures and video of this grand event...

This is the video of Abby opening her gifts from Grandma and Papa and the relatives in San Antonio gave.  It is a bit long so I understand if you don't want to watch.  It is a lot more mellow than the last one.

"Picnik Show"

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What's up there?

Last Friday night, we finally broke out our telescope (that we got for Christmas in 2007).  I read on facebook, from one of my friends from elementary school, that if you look up in the sky you can see Jupiter right next to the moon .  So, I went outside and looked up and there it was.  So the next night, Friday, I got the telescope out and the kids and I had fun looking through it and seeing Jupiter and the moon.  Here are a couple of pictures of the kids looking through the telescope.  Maybe next time we look through it, I'll figure out how to take pictures of what we see and post those, but for now here is Calvin and Abby having fun.   (Sorry I didn't get any of Dallin and Elsa, I don't know why.)

Just havin' fun with Picnik

Just in case any of you haven't heard about Picnik.com.  It is an awesome website to go to for photo editing.  It's totally user friendly and so much fun.  This is what I did just for fun and some laughs.  HaHaHa!

Aren't they adorable?

Then I did this for Abby's birthday invitations

Then she decided she wanted a candy party.

What do you think?

Abbyisms

I just wanted to document some of Abby's cute words and sayings before she grows out of them.  She is in Kindergarten and will soon talk more "grown up".  So I just want to remember them.

*  When she gets frustrated with me, she says,

    "I'm getting so mad at you...uuuh!"

*  She says stuff like, "Brush mine hair",

    or "I need mine shoes",  etc.

    I try to correct her, but she still insisted on "mine".

*  One night her and I were looking at

    photos on the computer and she was

    playing a silly little game and was saying who

   were girls and who were boys and

   we came to a photo of Grandma

   and I asked her if she was a girl.

   She said, "She's not a girl, she's a grandma." 

* "Run for your life"

* "Yeah, yeah whatever" 

* When someone passes gas or someone doesn't and she thinks they do, she says,

   "What is that smell?"and "GET OUT!"   O.k. so maybe that one is funnier to us.

* She insists that Calvin is her big brother and Dallin is Elsa's.  Whenever she is being
difficult, such as standing in the way of the t.v. or something, Calvin says, "Abby, if you love me then get out of the way."  She will quickly get out of the way.  She'll do anything for Calvin.  Even I take advantage of that one.

* I also love the way she eats.  She will try anything and after having 2 VERY picky eaters, she is very appreciated.
* Also everything is "ducky".  Not in a good way either.  You and I think that ducky means just fine, right?
not to Abby.  To her "ducky" means...well, yucky.  So her shoes are ducky, her underwear is ducky, hair bows or clips are ducky, yeah a lot of things are "ducky".  That's one that is more frustrating than funny at times, but something that's worth remembering. 

She is quite the little character and we're so glad she came to our home.  We are so lucky to have her!

First day of school

This is a video of the kids after their first days of school.  The girls LOVED school!  The boys on the other hand.....well.....let's just say their summer vacation wasn't long enough...or maybe their just getting older so school isn't as exciting.  Notice that the music changes during the boys interviews.  Oh yeah, by the way, Calvin's teacher, Mrs. Barker is on maternity leave until the end of Sept, beginning of October.  So that's why we talk about a substitute.  (Ms. Moore)   Enjoy the video!

Count your many blessings

Wow!  August is almost gone, school is almost here, and I've only had 1 post this month.  Sorry it's taken me so long to update our blog.  (I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles, hehehe!)  Well, let me start off by telling you all the most exciting and important news of all.  As some of you know, Clint was laid off from his job back in December and has been looking for a job ever since.  Well, after much prayer and fasting from us and you,  Clint got a job.  He works for a company out of Utah called Step Saver, Inc.  What he does is deliver salt for water softners to businesses such as hotels, casinos, car wash's, hospitals, etc.    The president of the company just talked to Clint and he wants to promote him already. (After 2 1/2 weeks) They want to hire  another driver and within a year they want to have three trucks  here in town and he wants Clint to manage them and be in charge of sales.   When Clint was training in his first week, his trainer was telling him that they are expanding right now to California and when that's done, their going to be looking to expand to Reno.  Clint told him to put him first on the list to be transferred there.  We've always had it in our plans to get back to Reno.  My parents are there, and we'd like our kids to be closer to them as they are their only grandparents still living.  Anyway, that probably won't happen for awhile, so for now we are just so happy for Clint's success so far.  We are so thankful to all of you who fasted and prayed for us.  
Before this job came along, we felt like we were at the end of our rope.  One day a man from our ward came to our door and told Clint of this job.  He said that the guy who had it before just walked off and quit, so they needed someone immediately.  They called that same night and the rest is history.  It's amazing what happens when we live faithful.  As I think about those past 8 months that he was not working, full time,  (he had some side jobs that he was doing for ward members and their friends and family.)  I realize that the Lord blessed up so much.  Don't get me wrong.  I realized that all along the way.  I'm just so grateful for my Heavenly Father for helping us and blessing our lives.
Some of our many blessings were;  No one got sick.  (Not even allergies or colds).  Clint always had some kind of side job to do, whether it was retiling a bathroom, or extending someones driveway, or fixing a sprinkler line.  We always had plenty to eat.  Our bills were paid every month.  and there were so many more blessings.