More Pictures GALORE!

We had a great time at the Cutler family Christmas party. It was so fun to have Brady and Lyndi here and the entire family was together!

Pictures GALORE!

We have had a busy week with Christmas and family being in town and I have loved EVERY minute of it. It has been snowing UNBELIEVABLE amounts of snow and we just keep praying for more! :) The kids had a great Christmas and I think they got most of the things they asked for and then some. I would have to say McKenzie's favorite present was her "Taylor Swift" CD. She even hung the poster that comes with it on her wall. Logan and Tate got the MOST INCREDIBLE guns handmade by Brady and Clynt. I need to post pictures just of them because they are so cool. Chayse just loved the wrapping paper and roamed the house while we opened presents searching for treasures like a little puppy! It has been such a great time to be with family and to make such great memories. As I look back on this year I just feel extremely blessed. I have a beautiful little baby, 3 great kids and a husband who works so incredibly hard for us. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year!

Look what she has gotten into...

I love it when Chayse makes huge messes! I really JUST DO. I think it is so funny and adorable and fun to watch her get SOOOO excited about everything. I got these pictures when she was least expecting it and she had a great time with the Ben and Jerry's!

It's a good thing she loves her bath as much as ice cream!

My tile...

I told Drew that when I got my money from the craft fair I was buying the tile for my kitchen and I didn't care what he said about it. I hate my kitchen floor. Everything about the kitchen floor is AWFUL! We have been soooo blessed this year and my buying of the tile is NO exception. I found a coupon in the paper for a local store that had in stock tile on sale for 40% off. I thought it was worth a shot to go look and see if there was anything I could make work with my tile backsplash and the other tile in the house so it all flowed and looked like I meant for it to be there. Well I walked into the store and there it was. I instantly knew it would be perfect and so I got all the tile in my kitchen for over half the cost cheaper than my original choice was. I am so grateful for all of the little things in my life that add up to be really big things.
The tile isn't laid yet but I set it out over the entire floor to get myself SUPER excited about it. All I need now is my black appliances but hopefully I won't be forced to do anything about that for another year or so! :)

Drew's big day...

Drew has cut his hair himself since the time I met him. Even long before then. Before that his mom cut his hair. He NEVER goes to a professional to get it done... EVER. There have been really good hair cuts and some really BAD haircuts he has done to himself. I have tried to learn and have gotten pretty good at it but Logan sure suffered from me learning. Poor kid had some REALLY REALLY bad hair cuts. Anyways... Rhonda was kind and gracious enough to cut Drew's hair in trade for Drew babysitting cute little Preston so we could go to Walmart and breakfast without ANY children. You heard me right... he watched ALL our kids so we could have some time with just the girls. What a GUY! So I had to make sure and get some pictures of Drew getting his first hair cut from a pro!

My Little Monster

Chayse is so fun. I think I say that all the time! Actually I am pretty sure I say it every time I write a post. It's true though. She is silly and wild and has the best personality of all my babies BY FAR! She grew out of the bumbo... not literally but she got over the fun she had in it once she was able to move around. So we moved on to the exersaucer and SHE LOVES IT! She gets her little snacks which she likes to smoosh and break apart with her hands and a couple make it to her mouth. She has to be the most spoiled girl in the entire world. I am sure of it!

More pictures...

I finally got my friend BRIDGETT to email me these fun pictures! Kindergarten is totally awesome... well at some schools. Logan's school... maybe not?! Anyways, they had a really fun little Halloween parade that I went to so I could see all the kids in their costumes. This was Logan in his pirate costume that I mentioned in an earlier post.Slade sure was a cute fireman! I also ran into McKenzie at the school. I was such a good mom and stole the delicious sugar cookie off her tray AND the tray of two others girls whom I didn't even know! :) I did share the cookie with Bridgett's baby Aidan if any of you were wondering why I am such a pig!
Yesterday the Kindergarten had a Thanksgiving Feast with the kids and their parents. Logan was so excited to have me there... NOT! He acted so embarrassed to have me there and was acting all goofy for pictures. I (of course) made him take one with me and I even made him let me kiss him before he ran off to class.
I love my kids so much and try so hard to be a good mom. I have been very impressed with them this week that I felt I needed to brag a little. We ALL went to walmart (it's been a long time since I took all my kids to walmart with me) and they were so well behaved. People even walked up to me and TOLD me this.

Logan has been doing wrestling for a while now and he has struggled with insecurities and his shyness getting the best of him. Last night he did so awesome. He pinned every kid the wrestled and was doing the moves and having such a great time. As his mom I sat there feeling so proud and mostly just so happy for him that he was able to break out of his shell and be the fun and energetic kid we all know he is. I wish I had my camera because it was incredible.

McKenzie has done so well with dance. I know it isn't her strongest talent, but I also know she is trying so hard to do her best. I can see it when she comes home from dance wanting to practice and become more flexible. It is worth every penny I pay if dance can help build her self esteem and develope a talent in the process as well.

As a reward for being so good and working so hard at the things they have committed to we took them to dinner last night and Drew and I sat SHOCKED when they obeyed and acted polite and ordered their food and were just plain good kids. So we even let them order dessert!! :)

School Pictures

I love school pictures every year. It is without fail that I get some good surprise when opening the envelope. Whether it be hair sticking up in a crazy fashion or a big stain on their shirt... it never fails. This year I got two envelopes so I was sure to have a good laugh. My kids surely did not disappoint. :)

McKenzie's actually looks pretty great. She is so photogenic and this year there isn't even crazy hair going on. It was my little Logan that gave us the best laugh. First of all his smile... what is that? And second of all... THAT ISN'T THE SHIRT I SENT HIM TO SCHOOL IN. :) I made him wear a collared shirt which aren't his favorite. It was very handsome... red and cream stripe... one of MY favorites. I am guessing he threw this shirt in his backpack and changed at school because I know that i wouldn't have sent him to school on picture day in a wrinkled, stained (you can't see the stain really well on the blog... it is a "I spilled spaghetti sauce on my shirt stain that never comes out really well) shirt that is even too small for him if you could see the arms. What a funny funny boy he is! :)

Totally random

I have been so busy lately! So busy I hate it. I used to wish for the day that I was busy and didn't feel like a loser sitting at home watching TV all day. Funny how that is all I wish for now! :) We are very busy up in Island Park and so grateful for our blessings and for the work we have been blessed with so far this year. I am definately going to express how grateful I am for that OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. I have been Drew's FREE LABOR on several occasions and we have had a great time! We actually went out on our boat the other day in 20 degree weather bundled up for a blizzard. It was so funny to see so many people staring at us. I should have been holding a big sign with our business name and phone number on it. It would have been great advertising! It's been fair trade though because Drew has been more than willing to help me put together my wood things for all the craft fairs.

Anyways... I have been busy around the house organizing and cleaning out closets etc. It is amazing how 18 months you can get so messy. I also painted my bedroom (blue!!! scary I know but I LOVE IT SO MUCH), painted the boys bed and stained their dresser, got a new cabinet for the kitchen and did the countertop and backsplash, got called to be Enrichment Leader in our ward and did the craft fair with another next week.

I also got a great shot of ms. Chayse. I love it when they sleep on their tummies. It is sooo cute. I just want to EAT HER EVERYDAY SHE IS SO CUTE AND FUN!

Change

Just to let all of you know... we don't have a home phone anymore. Between cell phones and home line we are paying over $300 a month so I decided to no longer only get tele marketer phone calls! YEAH! So call our cell phones if you need us!

Halloween 2008

Halloween this year was SO FANTASTIC. First of all, I made the decision to NOT worry about costumes and go with the flow. I asked my mom to make the girls M&M Costumes which she gladly did and Logan said for months he wanted to be Indiana Jones. Tate (my little monster) never wanted to be anything. I took him to the store so many times and he always said no to every costume so I MADE THE CHOICE to not buy him a costume. I didn't want to spend the money on a costume that he would only wear for 10 minutes and then cry for every picture because he was being naughty.

My fabulous mother in law headed up the project of getting Logan his get up for Indiana Jones and she brought by a garbage bag full of goodies. Well true to form Logan decided on a Pirate costume the day of Halloween to wear to the school parade and then the night of Halloween he decided he didn't want to wear half of his Indiana Jones costume.

Then there was Tate... about 10 minutes before we left to go Trick or Treating he pulled Logan's costume from last year out of the closet and put it on. It was FANTASTIC. He even wore the mask all night and thought it was great. So even if he was crying and being naughty you couldn't see it in any picture!!!! :)

McKenzie LOVED her costume and looked so cute in it. We just did every low key this year... not even a stitch of make up on that girls face. She picked out the ribbon and we made some hair bows for her and Chayse and she loved it. Kenzie went around telling everyone that the "M" on her costume stood for Mckenzie and the "M" on Chayse's costume stood for MINI MCKENZIE. She is so silly sometimes. Chayse is cracking us up these days with her smile and she is getting so good at crawling. She had a really bad allergic reaction to an antibiotic she was on this past week so luckily her rash was on the mend for Halloween.

We have started a tradition that I love (and will do with my kids when they get older). We go to Drew's parents after trick or treating and have soup and rolls. It is so fun to visit and let the cousins play. I have decided I am making my kids sign a contract SWEARING to never move more than 30 minutes from me. I can't stand the thought of my kids and their kids being so far away to not share these fun little traditions with.

The best part of Halloween this year was the weather. We were so happy to see 57 degrees when we were headed outside. In years past it is in the 20's or low 30's. Warmer weather definately makes for happier trick or treaters!

Family Visit

Last weekend I convinced Drew to take me to Utah to see my family! We had a great time! Kyle flew in from Missouri (we missed his family) and my parents and Kelsey came from CA and we went to Garrett's last football game. It was so fun to see everyone and watch Garrett play. He did such a great job and we were really proud of him. I loved getting to spend time with my siblings and all 5 of us were together for the first time in about 4 years! Thanks guys for a great time!

8 MONTHS

I can't believe my little baby is already 8 months old. She is so fun and sooooo cute. She took a little longer to roll over and figure out how her body moves but she is really catching on quickly. She rolls all over the entire house and is now trying to CRAWL!!! It is so cute... she army crawled all the way down the hallway last night and this morning she was being hysterical the way she was trying to move and flip her legs around. I was in my bathroom this morning and she was laying on my bed and all the sudden she just sat up all by herself. She is going to have some serious abs just like McKenzie. At her dr. appointment she was in the 3% so it is just so crazy to see this little itty bitty baby doing all the big baby things! We love our Tilly, Bubby or Chayseeeee whichever you prefer to call her! :)

Halloween

I have been so blessed with such good friends! Our Bunco group always has a Costume party for Bunco in the month of October. It is always so much fun to see how creative people are and we always have the BEST time. I of course won the best costume... I have 3 years in a row now! :)

so cute...

I snapped these pictures of Chayse just after she ate her favorite food... squash! she is just so darn cute I can't help but plaster her picture up everywhere. She is starting to try to crawl and wants to be on the go ALL DAY. It is so fun to watch her get older and exploring and learning new things! I can't believe she is almost 8 months old.

Run For the Cure

Today was the 2nd 5k I did with Rhonda. We have been working out really hard for the past month and getting ready for this day. I have to say that we weren't prepared for the FRRRREEEZZZZING cold weather, but we did luck out because it didn't rain or snow on us until the race was over. It was a whopping 30 degrees this morning when we got there. YIKES! I had a really great time and am glad my running days are over... for now! Thanks Rhonda... you are an awesome partner!

It was so cold but my wonderful husband brought all the kids down to Idaho Falls at 9am to watch us! He didn't take any pictures during the race so he made sure we reinacted. We were really enjoying our HOT CHOCOLATE and Great Harvest Bread. It was very delicious after a good run in the freezing weather!

I do have to say that it was really fun to see all the woman walking or running that have survived cancer. They were wearing hot pink shirts and I wish I could have asked each one of them their personal story of survival. It is so fun to run and accomplish something for myself and to be able to do it with such a great person like Rhonda, but it is also so much more meaningful when I can do something to help a great cause like finding a cure for cancer.

What a cute girl...

Chayse is turning into a very very funny girl. She is definately very opinionated and knows what she wants. She LOVED her bumbo chair until she started to roll over and now she won't even sit in it for 2 seconds without making sure we know she wants OUT. She rolls everywhere... across rooms... into everything. It is sooo great! I took her to the dr. yesterday and she weighs a WHOPPING 13 lbs. 5 oz... which is actually less than what she weighed a month ago... 13 lbs 8oz. She is just so tiny! Well she has also discovered BITER BISQUITS. She is in love with them and goes crazy to chew on them for hours~


In other news it is harvest break right now so the kids have been out of school for almost 2 weeks. Got to love that..... They are going a little stir crazy, but we have been keeping busy with our "winterizing" of the house AKA CLEANING every inch because mom is sick of dirt. They don't think it is too fun, but I try to reward with something if they will actually do what they are asked. So far they haven't gotten many rewards! :)

We had such a good weekend with Drew's family. Brady and Rachael were here so we got to celebrate their birthdays, Clynt's birthday and have a fun fun fun baby shower for Rachael all in 2 days. And let's not forget conference! It was so great to be with family and be spiritually uplifted also. We had so much good food and such good fun! I have been trying for months to perfect my bread dough like Patty and so this weekend she helped me make it and did step by step instruction so today I had to make some on my own and it actually turned out okay! I will get it down eventuallY!

I do have to admit that I have bad habits in the kitchen. I didn't have a dishwasher for sooo many years that I got into the bad habit of STUFFING dirty dishes into my oven when company was coming over so I didnt' have to clean them really fast. Well last night I did because Rhonda and I were canning Soup Stock and today I turned on my oven to heat it up for my bread dough and OOPS... I forgot to take my dishes out. Too bad I didn't realize until about 30 min. later when my house was smokey and smelling really bad. How embarrassing... but even more embarrassing is that it isn't the first time this has happened! :)