Bring in the Clowns

Belle's friend Emily had a birthday Sept 12
The theme was wear your Halloween costume
Belle wants to be a scary skeleton dude
Emily told her nothing scary Belle
So we decided on the clown outfit!

Belle had a great time with putting her hands into mooshy gooshy stuff
Going on a scavenger hunt
trick or treating for candy
and
telling Ghost stories!!

She is such a poser
She came up with all of these and more on her own!!
If she can get over her shyness I think she could be a fabulous actress!!

C is for Clown

Alissa's Teacher painted her face for C is for Clown day!!
Can I say again that she has an AMAZING teacher?!?!

Alissa can do the splits!!!
She can even get all the way straight!!
Next year when I am not paying for pre-school I want to get her into gymnastics or ballet.

Sleeping "pesky" Beauty

Okay so this is a very sweet picture...
BUT
The before hand wasn't so sweet
I was sooooooo tired
I had 30 min before the next thing I had to do and I wanted to sleep for just a minute. So I set my cell alarm for 30 min and...
Mom
Mom
MOM
"Can I sleep with you?"
"Yes just hold still and be quiet please"
I would fall asleep and then..
Tap
Tap
Tap
Mom
Mom
MOM
"What"
"I am tired too so can I sleep with you"
"Yes Lissa, but please don't wake Mommy up"
Out again for maybe 2 min
Tap
Tap
Tap
MOM
"I am sleeping with you"
URG!
"Alissa you are not being very nice to your Mommy"
I get up I go to the bathroom
I come out and this is what I found
But now there is no time for Mommy to sleep
YAWN

First Day of School!!!

Better late then never huh? lol
First pic is of Jett. Dax thought he should have a first day of school pic backpack and all!! :o)

Belle and Xave!
It was super hot on Aug 24th but my kids are really into hoodies!
Belle started 4th grade with Mrs. Black
Xave started 2nd grade with Mrs. Andrews

Dax
Daxton started Kindergarten this year!!!
So far he is loving school, his teachers and making friends.
He doesn't like having to wait til 12:05 to go to school and wants to go with Belle and Xave in the morning.
His teacher is Mrs. Ball

I was so excited!! Shan usually misses these moments but he came home early for lunch and was able to go with us to take Dax to his first day of school!!

Devin isn't big on the doorway pics lol But I loved this picture from the family photo shoot so I will share this one!!
Devin started 10th grade this year!!!!!!!
His first day was Aug 31st
Shailee is still going to school in Moses Lake WA
She is in 9th grade this year and loves that she and Devin are starting HS at the same time since here Devin was still in Middle school in 9th and in WA 9th grade is HS. :o) Shailee's first day was Sept 2nd

Alissa
Alissa goes to preschool Tues-Thurs from 1:30 to 4
She loves it and comes home every day with the cutest crafts!!
Her first day was Sept 8th

Mrs. Jana Maio aka "Teacher Teacher Teacher"
Alissa jumps from the car everyday yelling this and then running up to her and giving her a hug!!

Grabbing onto the rope to cross the street

Cute huh? Jana is full of fabulous ideas!!

I am so glad I am no longer working. My kids are growing up so fast. I can't believe how amazing they are!! I am just so grateful!!

September 11th :o(

I just have to blog today and say that I LOVE my country!
I am so proud of people who have the courage and strength to fight for my freedom! I am so grateful for those who have died so I can be free.
Today before the kids went to school I had them watch the video's from 2001.
They had many questions and they are so pure that they don't understand why people could do something like this.
I loved the power of music and how it made me cry and also comforted me at the same time. Here is one of my favorite songs written for that sad day.

Yellowstone and Dennis

Dennis our exchange student from Germany who lived with us 2 years ago came to visit us! Who would have thunk that he would ever want to come see our crazy household again :o)

We decided to have a family swim day at Lava Hot Springs. We got there and discovered two new very steep slides and new higher prices *gasp* Having two adults, a German, a Dalton and six kids doesn't come cheap but we sure did make some priceless memories. Dennis decided he would jump off the highest tower! YIKES!! He was so proud of himself that 10 days later when I dropped him off at the airport he was still wearing his bracelet showing he did it lol

There he goes! When I was 10 I jumped off the top of that too! I remember jumping and someone on one of the lower boards saying "It's just a little girl" In my head I said "I AM NOT LITTLE" then smack hit the water and wedgie!! :o)

Dennis wanted to visit Yellowstone. I asked all the kids who wanted to go with us and only the two youngest wanted to. We had to leave super early and Shan said I should just leave them sleeping that it would be easier for me but I grabbed them anyway. It was a a day of driving from 7am to 10pm and there wasn't one complaint out of them! They were the bestest little travelers!!!

Alissa enjoying the fresh breeze of yellowstone while driving 23 miles an hour. There was lots of construction and many MANY cars so we got to really see yellowstone at a pace that everyone should experience! It was sooo beautiful and green this year!!!

Bubbling mud

Small geyser

Waiting for old faithful after eating some grub

Alissa giving you all out there a little wink

Old faithful! Dennis watched while it gave off the little spurts it does before the big one. He kept pulling out his camera and I would say not yet it's just playing with us. After a little while of this he said maybe that was it. I laughed and said Dennis when it goes off you will KNOW!!

I have never been to the Yellowstone lake. It was sooo blue and beautiful!!

On the pier

By a sulfur pond

Buffalo

Breathtaking view! I was just in awe of the beauty!

We had rain and hail storms all day. We were very lucky though because we were always in our car when it happened and not out on some far away trail.

Which way do we go kiddos?

They thought they were funny when we came to this big rock wall and they said now this way Mom te he he

What are these kiddos looking at?

*Gasp* GET DOWN RIGHT NOW!! This is where nature is beautiful and scarily deadly.

Two little cuties sitting on a log

Traffic jam we were stuck in for about 30-40 minutes. The kids thought it was fun that they could be in the road. I got bit by mosquitoes all over my body but Dennis, Alissa and Daxton didn't get ANY!!

Dax and I thought it would be funny to look like we were getting hit by the car

Dennis and I

Alissa telling me what to do from the backseat
What a goofy goober

Alissa's first self portrait one handed camera shot *giggle*

Boy is it windy!! Alissa does NOT have chubby cheeks!
SLOW DOWN MOMMY!

Dennis wanted to take a turn at the wheel. He drives in Germany but "can't" in America when he asked me I thought of the movie Rainman..."Dad let's me drive slow in the driveway".... So I let him cruise at 25 miles per hour through the slowly moving traffic.

Tired kids. It was a long long day

We didn't eat much cuz the food was sooo expensive in the park. So this was a sight for hungry bellies when we drove into Rexburg.
It was a fabulously beautiful day!!
(FYI this all happened Aug 1-10th 2009)

Guilt Free!

I had an absolutely wonderful day filled with...
Well, let's just say it was FILLED!!
I woke to my alarm going off at 6:00 am
If you know me I don't do early mornings but today was different!
I got dressed, grabbed a protein bar and with hubby headed to the gym
We worked out for an hour and then headed home
I woke up the kids and for the first time in a VERY long time made them do some jobs besides cleaning their rooms before going to school
So before 8:30 am the downstairs was cleaned and vacuumed
The upstairs cleaned and vacuumed
All bedrooms cleaned and beds made
Got breakfast on the table and then to school to drop off the first two kids and Shan in the opposite direction with another kid
Got back home and made more food for the two remaining kids
Alissa and I mopped the kitchen floor and bathroom floors
(lucky for me I bought something to clean my toilets automatically for 4 months!)
Dusted the entry table and washed all the nic nacks
Washed the shelves and dusted the picture frames
Washed front glass screen door and back door
Cleaned the bar downstairs, took the stuff from the hallway that has been sitting for weeks out to the garage, rearranged the kitchen, cleaned and straightened my desk and since that just wasn't enough I decided it was high time to clean out, vacuum and wash the car
So off we headed to the car wash and I LOVE that you can used your debt card now because with four younger kids I NEVER have quarters anymore
The car looked fabulous and I felt fabulous in my sparkly car
Home again to fix some lunch
then off to take Daxton to school
on the way home I headed to the dollar store for some dawn for the last dish I wasn't able to wash earlier
Got Alissa ready for her first day of pre-school and then on the road again!
(I will tell more of that in another email)
Home again and wondering what I am going to do with a free hour to myself with a clean sparkly house and a clean sparkly car... Hmmmm
Well, hubby came home for lunch!!
So we ate and yada yada yada :o)
I decided to go pick up the kids the long way with Jett so we took off running and I am glad we ran because we got there just in time for the bell to ring
I found three more kids and back home we went!
Now homework and reading time and today even the kindergartner had homework
Then got Belle and Xave ready for their bootcamp class at the gym and headed over to pick up Alissa from school.
Got a smiley Lissa and headed to the gym
Put the younger two into the nursey
Xave and Belle loved the class but got sweaty and hot and say they think they don't want to do it anymore.. I say let's try the kickboxing class on Thursday and see how that goes *wink*
Talked to two friends and then headed home to fix dinner
Made dinner, cleaned up dinner, kissed hubby and he headed back to work
(He works Monday and Tuesday til 10 now that I quit my job I am thankful for him!!)
Daxtons job today was picking up the toys outside so we could mow the lawn so out we went
After the toys were safe I started up the lawn mower and away I went
(I love how nice and green our grass is now! There were a few weeks this summer because of our sprinkler breaking and our basement flooding that our lawn kinda went downhill and you couldn't even tell where to set the lawnmover for the next row!! So I was so thankful to have three full bags of grass instead of just one with lots of green green grass cuttings)
I finished and Dax came out and wanted to jump
So all the kids came out and we played..
Who can stay standing the longest
Add on
and how high can you make me jump
Inside for drinks, PJs, teeth, stories and bed
And now I am sitting her talking to you all and I have just finished two cookies
GUILT FREE!!
I totally deserved them!!!

Take me out to the ball game!

Take me out to the ball game
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks....

Well, this Mommy didn't want to spend the money for food at the ballpark so we had our ballpark grub before hand.
What a smart Mommy

Idaho Falls is home of the Chukars
It is a minor league and we have had a few of our local players go on to be pro! This is the statue in front of the Melaleuca Field

From the furthest away.. Devin, Dalton, Koy, Xave, Alissa, Dax, Shan, Shailee and Brielle waiting for the game to start

Watching the guys wet down the field

Here's my Ticket!! It was Texas Roadhouse night so my friend who waitresses there gave me some free passes!!

Cutest couple at the ballpark and the couple that was crazy enough to bring eight kids along! I say the more the merrier!

Xavey got the mascot to wave at him and took a picture

I love this pic of Brielle and Shailee!!
We only lasted one inning but they loved doing the pledge, watching the army men, the mascot, eating crackerjacks and yes they cheered.
Xave and Koy were the ones most into the game and they even understood it and could read the score board!!
When the kiddos got bored we just packed up and left.
We might have lasted longer but "smart" Mommy forgot about the extra suckers she put into her purse. That could have gotten maybe another half an Inning lol