Fun things with Daddy home

Daddy and Samuel driving a cart through the Wal-mart parking lot

Daddy wrangling Samuel at the Children's Museum (I was so glad not to be the one doing all the chasing)

Daddy trying to catch children with big bubbles

Austin blowing me a bubble

Joseph really likes playing with the bubbles

Everybody playing with giant bubbles

Daddy riding the high-wire bike at the musuem (I did it too, but I had the camera, so no pictures of me)

Joseph playing with an air board at the musuem

Daddy helping Samuel engineer a marble contraption

Austin and Betsy playing with rubber tubing and golf balls

Austin and Betsy sitting outside the museum

All the kids got lollipops from chuck-e-cheese with their tickets

Travis came home for R & R at Christmas time, and we all had a blast, and had fun for 2 weeks with him home. He never told us exactly which day he was coming home, so when the doorbell rang, and it was Daddy, we were all exstatic! Everyone crowded around Daddy trying to get hugs, and time with him. We did lots of activities with Travis home and the kids out of school. We did our Christmas Caroling and delivering plates of yummy Christmas Cookies, that I'd spent weeks preparing. We had our Christmas presents to open Christmas morning, which was fun and exciting. Travis' mom came to visit for a while after Christmas too, so we got to have fun with Grandma too. We went to Chuck-e-Cheese, and the Incredible Pizza Co. they were both a ton of fun, and we all had a great time. We went shopping downtown at the flea market, and I got a new jogger stroller that I'm sooo excited about. We also took a trip to Albuquerque to go to the Temple, and really enjoyed going to a session together, and then afterwards going to this really fun Children's Museum, that was just amazing and had so many fun things to do and explore, I think this was everyone's favorite place that we went to. During the middle of this I ended up with a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) which resulted in a Dr. visit and was given the wrong antibiotics, so the infection moved up into my kidneys, and resulted in a hospital visit New Year's Eve, to get new antibiotics. I finally recovered but was very ticked off that I lost precious time with my husband and children being sick. We had an absolutly wonderful time together, and we were all very sad to send Travis back to Iraq.

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frustrating night

one of the areas after we scrubbed

I had a frustrating evening, and needed to vent so here it goes. My kids trashed the house we worked so hard to clean up, my stomach hurts, my printer broke and I really needed to print something out for tonight, so I had to come up with something else, I hurt my wrist, my kids were fighting and hurting each other, and to top it off, when samuel was supposed to be getting his shoes on in his room, he was actually coloring all over the wall, floor, and his body with black dry-erase marker, it took all five of us over 1 hour of constant scrubbing to finally get most of it off, and I'm not sure which looks worse, the wall with black marker on it, or the wall with the paint scrubbed off of it, and I've had it and just want to cry...so *big sigh* there it is, I got that out, now I can get over it and move on. Last Sunday my girls wanted to have curly hair, so we rolled their hair up in curlers for Church. Don't they look cute?

update

So, I haven't put anything on my blog in a while. We had some snow in El Paso, it was pretty rare, and the kids loved it. Samuel would only last for a little while, before he would get cold, but we still had a lot of fun, making snow balls, and snowmen, and throwing it at each other. We've been busy getting ready for Christmas. I'm finally ready, well all except for the clean house part. Samuel is so excited for Christmas, and is glad that he is a big boy. He has done a good job with potting training, and refuses to wear diapers at night, so I'm washing his bed sheets almost every night, hopefully the incidents will gradually get far and fewer in-between and eventually he won't wet the bed at night either. He keeps telling me that he is a good boy, and he even told Santa that he got him a gift for Christmas. I think Santa was pleasently suprised. The kids are out of School for the next two weeks, and Travis is supposed to be home for R & R by Christmas, so we should have a good time. I was also released from my calling as a primary teacher, and called to be the relief society pianist. I will miss the kids that I taught, but I'm so excited to go to relief society and be fed spiritually every week. Samuel has been sick the past week, but is gradually doing better, and I've been struggling to get the house clean, and get all the cleaning projects done that I want to do before Travis gets home. We've also been making lots of Christmas cookies and goodies to get ready for our Christmas Caroling we're going to do next Wednesday. Betsy and Austin continue to be my sweet helpful girls. They love to help me with my projects and baking. Joseph has been doing well in school, and we have fun playing games together. We're all looking forward to Christmas, and having Daddy home for a little while.

Samuel's Birthday!

Samuel had a birthday on the 17th. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old, boy time flies. Samuel started potty training a week before his birthday, and is now officially a big boy!!! Yeah! I've been changing diapers for eight long years, it is finally over!!!! So Samuel got to have a birthday party with some of his friends, and he had a blast. I made a balloon pinata that the kids had fun breaking into, and eating candy. Samuel loved the oreo cookie cake I made for him (he loves oreos) And he was super excited to open his presents from his friends. He had a great time at his party, and then after school was out he got to have cake and ice cream again and open his presents from his parents and grandparents. He was a very happy 3 year old all day long, but I think his favorite present was his new bike. He loves bikes, so he was exstatic to get a big boy bike! I love my Samuel, and I'm so glad he had a wonderful birthday!

sprouts

I normally don't like to display the fact that keeping the house clean is one of my weaknesses, but I thought this was quite interesting. But things keep coming up lately and I've fallen behind on my house cleaning duties. I used this rag to clean up chia seeds (it's a grain/seed full of protein) that Samuel had spilled all over, and then threw the rag in the sink, I rinsed off dishes and sat them on top of this rag hiding it, and the dishes sat there for 2 days. I finished the dishes yesterday, and when I moved the last dish, I saw this rag underneath, with sprouts growing out of it. The kids thought it was so cool, and has inspired Joseph of what to do for his science project. They asked lots of questions and it turned out to be a fun learning experience.

Trick-or-treating

Betsy's Candy Samuel's candy

Joseph's candy

Austin's candy

By Beautiful Snow White

My other beautiful Snow White

Luke Skywalker

Soccer Ball!

Soccer Ball from the side

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating. We had two hours, and filled their buckets to overflowing. Samuel's costume was a hit, I had so many people ask to take his picture, and made comments about it. Samuel walked for the first hour, and I ended up having to carry him the second hour, boy was it awkward carrying him in that puffy soccer ball costume. I was proud of Samuel's costume and Joseph's cape since I made them both. Although I had to take 1/2 of Samuel's stuffing out, becuase it was too heavy, so he was a little lopsided. The kids had a great time, and said it was the best Halloween ever, and enjoyed organizing and trading their candy! Sorry about all the pictures, I just got a new camera, since our old one broke, and I've been a little trigger happy

Halloween Fun

Samuel riding the cow train

Joseph and Jacob riding the cow train

Samuel and our Laird friends

Betsy, Bro. Laird, and Austin riding the cow train

Racing the four-wheelers

Austin riding her four-wheeler

Mom and Sam riding the four-wheelers




Joseph riding the four-wheeler

Taking a break waiting for the cow train

Samuel and Betsy couldn't get enough of this big slide

Betsy made it down the slide

Joseph shooting the corn cannon

Samuel landing head first into a pile of sand at the bottom of a big slide, and trying to spit it out.

Joseph and Austin riding inflatable horses

Samuel had fun climbing on the logs

Samuel, Joseph and Betsy posing for pictures

Austin and her friend Carriane

Joseph feeding the sheep

Halloween was a very fun day, with a lot of activities. We went to a corn maze with our friends the Lairds. We went through the corn maze, and managed to not get lost or lose any kids. The kids had a good time, Austin collected all the maps that people had left on the ground, and Betsy collected the tops of corn stalks that had fallen off. We had fun twisting and turning, and going over a bridge too. After we got out of the corn maze their was lots of activities for the kids to do. We discovered that all the corn tops that Betsy had collected were perfect for feeding the goats and sheep. There was logs to climb on, a little maze for the toddler sized munchkin, inflatable horses, corn cannons (you actually shot tennis balls at bowling pins atop of hay bales), a cow train (this was pretty fun, the guy driving it went pretty fast, and kept swerving from side to side, and would turn so that he would almost hit the caboose car, which Betsy was in, but turn just in time. I wish you could've seen the look on Betsy's face, and the driver of the tractor would almost hit her, but unfortuneatly it was too bumpy and fast for the pictures to turn out. Samuel laughed and giggled almost the entire ride!), some bike-pedaled four- wheelers that were fun to ride around it, and a sandbox with toys in it while we ate a picinic. Everyone had a really good time.