Never a Dull Moment!

I was going to post the Christmas pictures but we have already done so many things since then that it seemed kind of silly. My 3rd little guy just turned 11 on New Year's Eve (yes, he was my baby new year in 1997). He is growing up so fast and I can't seem to slow him down. Son number 4 has to promise to be my baby boy forever!

We had my little guy's party on December 30th and he had a great time with about 10 of his friends, playing video games, watching movies, eating lots of junk food, you know - the works! Then the next day we had a New Year's Eve party. We usually have a big bang with tons of people but we kept it kind of small this year, things are just kind of overwhelming for me this year. Since the party is always on his birthday, my son thinks that this party is a must have, so we did it but on a much smaller scale this year. Some of my really great friends came and one that I have been friends with for almost 14 years (she is pictured above with me). Our kids were just babies when we met and look at them now! My little girl is pictured with another friend's baby because if there is a baby within 100 yards she wants to hold it. She almost dropped this one though, that was a little scary!

Last night we went to Pack Meeting for cub scouts and it was my 11 year olds last time as a cub scout. He has graduated into Boy Scouts! He received his Arrow of Light which is the highest rank you can achieve in Cub Scouts (similar to the Eagle in Boy Scouts but on a much smaller scale). We were very proud of him! He ran right to the bathroom after the ceremony to watch the war paint off of his face though. Too funny!! I had to end out with a picture of my son and one of his best buds who he has known since we moved to this house. Such fun times, but truly never a dull moment in this busy family!!!

Catching up December

Before I put Christmas pictures on here, I need to try and catch up on pictures for the month of December. We had so many activities during the month (before school got out) that it seemed we were running every night (and day). We had a school play (son number 4 played "Lewis" in the Lewis and Clark play), a school musical program (son number 3 sang Christmas songs and it was so cool!), a Christmas parade (where we froze to death while watching son number 1 play his trumpet - so fun!!), and finally my daughter and I went and watched Ballet Idaho perform The Nutcracker. Her best girl friend (I have to specify because she has a best boy friend too!) played a mouse in the ballet and it was so neat to watch her perform and the ballet dancers were excellent. Of course we can't forget the picture of my little girl on Santa's lap (the boys think they are all too big for this:(.

It has truly been a full month and that is not including the Christmas festivies which I will post later. On another note, my hubby and I have two foster kids now and so this brings our total to 7 children living in our home. I can't post pictures of them because that is against a VERY long list of rules we have to follow, but just know that they are darling and we enjoy having them in our home, but our workload is up a bit and this may cause me not to post as much or maybe I will post more to save my sanity!!

It's beginning to look a lot like....something?!

It's great fun when your kids are old enough to do the Christmas light hanging by themselves (Dad was on the group supervising and directing) and my boys are just the two for the job. They love being up on the roof where they can break their necks.

Then we were off to the tree lot to pick out just the right one. The kids all have their own idea on which one is the perfect tree and I just give my seal of approval and go stand by the outside heater. We love to have a real tree, you can't beat that fresh tree smell!

Exciting Times!

First she wore her dad down until he let her get her ears pierced and then she felt confident enough to ride her two wheeler without training wheels. Such exciting times! So much for a mom to handle in a week, she needs to slow down a little bit or I am going to feel like she will be off to college soon. She looks so cute with her little flower earrings though! I worried if she was old enough or responsible enough for it all but she is the one who reminds me to clean her earrings 3 times a day. She also remembers to wear her helmet on the bike (even if she has been reminded a few times) and now that she has a helmet that fits her (the one in the picture was bit big) she puts it on and buckles up every time. My little girl is growing up!

I got tagged

10 years ago I was
1) Living in an apartment
2) Busy with 3 very little kids
3) Managing an apartment building-yikes!
4) Dreaming of a house
5) Happy!

5 things on my "To-do" list today
1) clean the fish bowls
2) take the kids to the dentist
3) water the plants
4) make the gingerbread house with the kids
5) Laundry (the daily grind!)

5 snacks that I enjoy
1) Carmel with a little apple dipped in
2) Pretzels
3) Popcorn
4) Girl Scout cookies
5) Anything chocolate

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire
1) Pay off student loans
2) Pay off my house
3) Share with both families (mine and his)
4) Take a Disney Cruise with my husband and kids
5) Give a bunch to my favorite charities

5 jobs I have had
1) Dental Assistant
2) Secretary
3) Human Resources Manager
4) Teacher
5) Mom (by far my favorite)

5 places I have lived
1) New York
2) Texas
3) New Jersey
4) California
5) Idaho

5 people I tag are
1) Jen
2) Jamie
3) Shandy
4) Stacie
5) Amber

They grow up so fast!

Okay, I swear this kid was just a year old yesterday and then he was off to Kindergarten. Could it be that he is now already 16 years old and going out on dates?! I can't believe it my oldest is old enough to date and just went to his first school dance. It was girl ask boy (in my day that was called Sadie Hawkins but I guess this was called Harvest dance).

It was so cute, about 2 weeks before the dance a huge poster board arrived on our door step with a box if goldfish crackers. On the poster board the invitation was written to the dance in a really cute way and then inside the cracker box was the name of the girl who asked him (but first he had to dig through all of the crackers (coming up empty several times with notes that said "keep looking"). Once this was done, he had to come up with a way to answer her that was just as clever. He went and bought a goldfish and put it in a bowl and covered the outside of the bowl with swedish fish candy (under one of these gummy fish was his answer). I thought that was clever.

They had a great time at the dance and went with 7 other couples. Their day date was a scavenger hunt at the mall and all 16 kids participated. Fun stuff! I can't believe how fast they grow. I remember being 16 like it was yesterday and now my kid is that old!!!

Disney on Ice

While my husband took our 4 sons camping last night, my daughter and I went to see "Disney on Ice". Now Disney always puts on a good show, we love their movies, and their parades are amazing. This show was no exception. They had numbers from most of the popular movies, from Toy Story to Pinocchio. All of the princesses (with their princes) were represented which my daughter loved. I snapped a few pictures and before you look at them, I am warning you that my camera isn't very good (especially for far away shots). Hint hint to the husband - I need a new camera honey!! There is a picture of the Disney gang, the Lion King w/ Timon & Pumba, the grand finale where all of the characters were on the ice, and then finally a picture of me and my little princess. It was a really fun night!!