Family Pictures 2013

We had such a fun time doing our family pictures this year.  Rory's cousin Laurie took them and she did a great job.  It was a little difficult to get Kinlee and Matthew to cooperate, but I think we got some really adorable pictures.  Get ready for picture overload, because I couldn't decide which ones to post.

Red Ribbon Week

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at our school and I absolutely loved it.  Red Ribbon Week is my favorite week of the whole school year.  This year the PTA had a kick off assembly the Friday before.  The kids got to sing the Halloween songs they've been learning in music, and then I had to get up in front of the school and explain why we have Red Ribbon Week.  I then called Mrs. Wise up and we had the kids recite a drug free pledge and pinky swear to their friends that they wouldn't do drugs.  The following week we began our Red Ribbon Week festivities.  The kids colored and signed their names to socks, which were hung in the foyer, to "sock it to drugs."  They did drug free activities in their classrooms and received either a water bottle, pencil, bracelet, or candy each day from the PTA that had a drug free reminder.  Friday we had an assembly and my awesome hubby and his good friend Jeff Wood talked to the kids about drugs and the effects they have on their bodies.  Connor and his friends did a peer pressure skit and then Rory came out in his SWAT gear to show the kids what the good guys wear if there is ever an emergency at the school.

Monday, October 28- Too Bright for Drugs

Wear Neon & Sunglasses

Tuesday, October 29- Hats off to a Drug Free Life!         

Crazy Hat Day

Wednesday, October 30- From Head to Toe, I’m Drug Free    

Crazy Hair & Socks

Thursday, October 31- Drugs are Scary  

Wear Halloween costumes

Friday, November 1- Smarty’s don’t Do Drugs    

Dress like a Nerd

Rory, Kadee, & Jeff Wood after the assembly

Chet, Connor, Cole, Gavin, & Chanse (all in the skit)

Trunk or Treat

Every year our ward has a soup/chili dinner, games, and trunk or treat for Halloween.  Since Halloween falls on a Thursday this year we had our celebration last weekend.  The kids had a lot of fun.  They had a spook alley set up, bingo and other games, and tons of soups and desserts.  When we were finished eating we went outside and trunk or treated around the parking lot.  There were some awesome trunks and some great costumes.  I really like that trunk or treat was not on Halloween, that means it will be less stressful when it comes to trick or treating.  The kids enjoyed running around with their friends and are super excited to go trick or treating again.

Connor is in between sports right now so he has been working on scouting and just playing football in the yard.  He HATES doing homework after school so he has been setting his alarm and getting up an hour before the rest of us so he can get his reading and other homework done before he has to get ready for school.   I'm not sure where he came from, but I'm impressed that he started doing it on his own and rarely complains about getting up in the morning.

Kadence has been having a hard time at school.  She has been worried something bad is going to happen while she is there so she hasn't been sleeping good and has been crying at school.  I talked to the principal and she has started meeting with the school counselor once a week and we have been having prayer in the morning before school as well as in the evening.  It seems to be helping and I truly hope she can overcome this and enjoy school again.

Kinlee loves school.  She talks about her teachers all the time and asks every day if she has school.  She likes dance too, but is usually hesitant about it until she gets there.  She is in a very clingy stage right now and doesn't want me to leave her anywhere.  I'm not sure if it's because of the transition of school or just a stage, but I've tried to give her extra cuddles and hugs.

We finally got Matthews birth certificate and it was wrong.  :(  They spelled his first name wrong so we had to send it back and have them issue us a new one.  He has started talking a lot more and has decided he loves trains.  Rory wants to move him to a big boy bed, but I'm not ready.  He sleeps so good in his crib and I don't even want to think about sleep training another baby.  I think I'll leave him in there until he's three, lol.

Rory started working as a reserve officer for Wellington City.  He is going to try and work with them one day a week.  I'm still working, doing PTA, and keeping busy.  I am looking forward to things slowing down a bit.

Halloween Fun

Thursday Grandma Debbie had her annual Witch's Party with her granddaughters.  The girls always look forward to it and this year was no exception.  Grandma Debbie bought them all their own witches costume and made witches puke for dinner (green spaghetti), they also played games, and went on a scavenger hunt.  They decorated cookies and t-shirts and were pumped full of sugar.  The older girls were scared to death on the scavenger hunt but Kinlee couldn't have cared less.  She was just happy to be there.  Debbie said all the girls were crying and Kinlee was just sitting there eating her sucker.  

Sunday morning Rory and Connor went out and Connor was able to shoot his first deer.  He was beyond excited.  I'm not sure of all the details, but he looks cute as a button in his hunting gear.  All the boys went to Wyoming a couple weekends ago antelope hunting and Connor has been hooked ever since.  He really enjoys the time with his dad and grandpa and cousins.

Sunday evening we went to Derk and Debbie's for our annual pumpkin carving event.  Debbie made a huge pot of soup and homemade rolls and then we all carved our pumpkins.  Kinlee was hilarious.  She carved, and carved, and carved, until her pumpkin completely fell apart.  She looked at it and exclaimed, "Aw, crap!" We gave her a new pumpkin and stickers, so her and Matthew spent the rest of the time decorating their pumpkins with stickers.  

2013/14 School Pictures

A piece of history & the zombie apocalypse

This past week we paraded outside in the freezing cold to watch a piece of the twin towers drive through our little town.  There were police escorts; as well as army tanks, fire engines, and BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) motorcycle riders.  It drove past rather quickly, but all of us got a glimpse of the stone except for Rory.  We had a nice discussion about the importance of remembering our history and I tried to answer any questions my kids had about 9/11 without scaring them.

Saturday we experienced the Zombie Apocalypse in full force, okay, we actually went to Frightmares at Lagoon, but there were zombies and crazy people all over the place.  We went through a fun little haunted house, a corn maze, and watched the hack n slash chainsaw show.  Connor and Kadee were able to ride most the rides, but Matthew and Kinlee only got to ride a couple.  We enjoyed delicious funnel cake and Dippin' Dots ice cream and even rode on the train.  Connor and Kadee both won prizes and Connor is such a good big brother, he gave his to Kinlee.  After Frightmares we spent the night with my grandparents and watched the Sunday morning session of conference with them.  After the morning session my uncle and his family had us over for a delicious dinner.  They have 2 parakeets that the kids were completely fascinated with.  It was such a great weekend with my family!

Teeth

Yesterday I took all 4 kids to the dentist.  They were really good (for the most part) but it was kind of a nightmare.  It was just too hard trying to keep everyone entertained and to keep Matthew and Kinlee out of the back rooms.  Anyway, it was Matthew's first dentist appointment and Kinlee's first cleaning, so I took some pictures.  I hate that I don't have any pictures of Matthew's "firsts"  so every time we do something he hasn't done before I take a picture.  He was terrified of Dr. Feller and was super grumpy because he had missed his nap, so he sat in the chair for about 5 seconds and then was done.  The other kids all got their teeth cleaned and Kinlee sat so still while they "tickled" her teeth.  None of them had cavities so the older kids got $5 each and I took all of them to the Dollar Store for a prize.  So glad I don't have to go back for 6 months, lol.