How many times can a boy change his clothes in one day?

Landon has a habit lately of changing his clothes many times a day - sometimes up to 6 times. His room could be a mountain of clothes, but Landon is an organizer. He will fold and make piles of clothes in his "area". The other day I decided to document each time he changed his clothes. Here is the photo gallery from the time he got up until he went to bed:

That's my boy!

BTW - we are considering a new digital camera - you will notice some of my pictures are fuzzy and the camera takes to long to get the shot and I am missing far too many moments. Anyone have a great camera they would suggest?

My Poor Baby

has a nasty cold. Look at that face - she is miserable! (and here I am taking her picture- what a mean mommy) She is stuffed up, coughing, crying, and not sleeping well. I think she has cried more today than in her entire first year of life - and real tears! It is so sad not being able to comfort her. She doesn't want to be held or put down, she doesn't want to be rocked or cuddled - the poor thing just doesn't know what she wants. I have a feeling I am in for a very long night. Pray for my little one to be able to get some rest and start feeling a bit more like herself.

On a lighter note, we recieved our first Christmas card in the mail today. Can you believe it? This is my favorite time of year for getting mail. I love when all the cards and letters come. I can't wait. I guess I had better figure out what ours is going to look like - and soon!

Meme

Tara invited anyone whose name starts with a letter from A-Z and needed something to write about to participate in this meme. I guess I qualify so here goes, 8 random things about me:

1. I do not like clutter, I like to have things put where they belong and organized.

2. I always had LONG, LONG fingernails growing up, people thought my nails were fake because they were so long. It drove my piano teacher crazy, she would have a nail clipper at the piano for my lessons. Now that I have kids, I keep my nails short and I rarely paint them.

3. I have freckles in my eyes

4. When I was pregnant with Morgan I retained so much water that the shape of my eyes changed and I could not wear my contacts

5. I have been waxing my eyebrows for half my life and my lip for half as long as I have waxed my eyebrows - got it?

6. I have a hard time growing my hair out. I do not have the patience to grow it out and I get bored with the same haircut. I like to try out different haircuts - always in search of the perfect cut!

7. I never thought I would leave the Midwest and here I am living in Idaho

8. I love fountain soda - preferably Pepsi or Cherry Pepsi. I rarely ever drink soda from a can or bottle.

I tag anyone who wants to play!

Thanksgiving Fun

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home with Lance's sister Kristy and her two children Becca and Jackson. We had a great visit with them and enjoyed letting the cousins play for a few days. Here are a few photos from our Thanksgiving weekend!

This is how Jackson and Mauryn started their morning if the pantry door was left open - eating dry cereal out of the tubs. Do you notice how Teagen has the prime spot in case some cereal gets dropped on the floor.

Mauryn's first taste of pumpkin pie - YUMMY!

On Saturday, we (oh I mean Lance) rolled 45 rounds of lefse (or Lefta as Landon says). I am impressed Lance hung in there the entire time. I thought his ADHD would take over, but he was definitely trying to roll a perfectly round lefse. I am hoping he will roll all of them again at Christmas. Morgan turned all the lefse, her favorite job. Those two made a pretty good team. We all LOVE lefse so we were pretty much hoarded it for ourselves. We ate it all - so good!

Lance getting ready to roll out the lefse

Lance rolling the lefse while Kristy and Becca look on

As close to pefectly round as it might get - Lance was so proud!

Mauryn's first lefse

On Saturday afternoon, after all the lefse making was done, we ventured into Boise. We walked around downtown a bit and then had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory - Yum! We then went to the Botanical Gardens for Winter Garden A Glow. We all bundled up in hats and mittens and then ventured through the garden to look at the lights. It was so beautiful and it was a perfect night - the moon was shining brightly, the temperature was perfect (it wasn't too cool), and the kids loved running, climbing the hills, and looking at all the lights.

Trying to get a family photo in the garden Kristy, myself and the kiddos

Mauryn has decided that one of our cupboard drawers is now her favorite place to play. She played in that drawer on Friday morning for 40 minutes and just cracked herself up!

Thanks Lindsey for the tip on how to get this done - love that site!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year in honor of November, the thankful month, I have been keeping a list of things I am thankful for each day on my sidebar. I also did my 50th post on Giving Thanks. I wanted to do something with my kids to help them focus on all the blessings in our lives. I read about having a thankful jar as a centerpiece on your Thanksgiving table. I wanted to find something for our table so we could have a thankful jar. The other day, I found this candle holder and it was perfect!
I cut some white cardstock, added a bit of color, and then put the paper on our kitchen table so we can add things we are thankful for each day. We are planning on sharing our slips during our Thanksgiving meal. The kids have really enjoyed it. I think this is going to become a new tradition in our house. It changes your perspective on life when you look at all that you do have to be thankful for each day. We are truly blessed! I am going to join in with fellow blogger Tara and continue my thankful list through December.

We are working on Thanksgiving preparations today and fitting in a bit of school. Lance's sister and her two kiddos will arrive tonight. They will spend the weekend with us. We are looking forward to our time with them. We don't have much on the agenda so it will be nice to just visit, relax, and let the kids play.

I hope each of you has a blessed Thanksgiving!

SNOW!!

Can you see the little flecks of white?? We woke up to snow falling this morning. YEAH! I don't think it will last - that is one thing about living in the valley the snow doesn't stay but it sure makes for a beautiful morning.

Bowling Party

On Saturday, Morgan had her 8th birthday party at the local bowling alley. I found a great resource for a bowling party at the Family Fun website.

Here is the bowling alley cake. It was fairly easy to make and turned out pretty cute - oh that is until it fell! Oh brother! Thankfully I got photos before it fell. When I could tell it was going to fall, I called my friend Kym (who does cake decorating) in a panic. She gave me some tips but said if it is going to fall, it is going to fall. I think I need to watch a few more episodes of Ace of Cakes.

Here you can see that where the gumballs(ie bowling balls) are about to fall- this became known as the leaning tower of cake. Lance was gone but when I showed him the pictures he said he could totally have saved my cake. Too bad he wasn't home to save the day! It was definitely a learning experience.

I made shirts for all the girls as their "goodie bag". Morgan had purple and the other girls had shirts in hot pink. I think they were a hit. A few girls were asked if they were on a bowling team! Again, a big learning experience making the shirts. I am definitely a learn by watching and learn by doing kind of girl. There are things I would do differently, like just cut the words out in long rectangles instead of around all the letters - too much work! Oh well! Morgan LOVED the shirts and was so excited to give them to her friends.

Back of the shirt

The party girls

When we arrived at the bowling alley, I went to the desk to tell them we had arrived and they did not have us marked down for a party. The bowling alley was packed full of people and there were about 3 other parties going on at the time. I was feeling a bit stressed -what was I going to do with 8 girls who expected to go bowling! Thankfully, two lanes opened up so we could bowl, but we didn't get the party room or the lanes with bumpers. When you are 8, it isn't so fun to bowl without the bumpers - the level of success isn't there. I will say some of those girls could bowl pretty well, I was impressed. The woman working at the front desk was not extremely helpful or apologetic. It was a little frustrating, especially when I booked Morgan's party 6 weeks in advance. Morgan thought it was a great party and I think the other girls had fun, it just wasn't as fun as it could have been. Truly, I am probably way more disappointed than any of the girls. I did call this morning and talk with the manager. He was great. He apologized and offered us free passes to come back and bowl. My main reason to call was to make sure this didn't happen to someone else. It could have been a total disaster if there would not have been lanes open for bowling. Here are the main lessons learned: call to confirm party, do a test run on shirts, and seek advice from a cake expert before trying a cake with height on my own.

TV Station Field Trip

To end our weather unit, we took a field trip to the local TV station with two other families in our online coop. Meteorologist, Scott Dorval, gave us a tour of the TV station and showed our group how things are done behind the scenes. He took us into the studio and showed us the weather center. It was interesting to see how they track the weather, all the computers, and how they make all the fun graphics. I think the highlight for the kids was being in front of the camera. It isn't as easy as it looks on TV!

Meeting the evening news anchors

Scott showing the kids some weather maps and talking about the set up of the weather center

Morgan practicing to be a weather reporter

Scott is showing the kids the sound booth where they do voice overs for news stories

Now that we have finished our weather unit, we are studying Settlers. Last week we studied Jamestown and this week and next week we are focusing on the Puritans and the Pilgrims. It has been so interesting. I am learning so much that I didn't know! Morgan is making connections to information we learned in our explorers unit in September. It is amazing how it all just ties together. Our online co op has been wonderful this year. It can be intense at times, but the amount of learning that is taking place is incredible. One of the things I enjoy the most is that Landon is able to participate (in some level) in most of the activities because they are so hands on. He definitely wants to be part of whatever we are doing in school. The co op has been a huge blessing, both in the lesson planning (such a time saver with a baby at home) and with all the information we are learning.

The Mom Song

For Morgan's birthday she recieved the Go Fish Guys new CD Snazzy. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Go Fish Guys in our house, especially their kids CD's. There is a song on this new CD, called The Mom Song. It puts a smile on my face so I thought I would share it!

If you have a stroller
But you're still a rock and roller
You're a mom
If you're tired of doing dishes
And you know who Elmo's fish is
You're a mom
If you have a lot of fun
But your work is never done
You're a mom

Chorus:
You're the boss, the driver
The ultimate survior
A doctor, a cooker
Your man thinks you're a looker
If you work all day
But you never get paid
You're a mom

If you need a sick day
But instead you're gonna play
You're a mom
If your first occupation
Sounds like a sweet vacation
You're a mom
If your living room floor
Looks like a toy store
You're a mom

If you mean the whole world
To a little boy or girl
You're a mom
The Bible that you hold
Can shape these little souls
You're a mom
If you have the most important job in the world
Then you're a mom

Mauryn's Stats

My little fireball had her one year check up on Monday. Well Miss Mauryn is tipping the scales at a whopping 17 lbs!!! Yep, that is my petite little babe! She is 27 inches long and is in the 2-3% for both height and weight. Most people who see her think she is around 6-8 months old and it freaks them out a bit when she feeds herself, pulls herself to standing, walks holding onto things, etc... They don't expect that she is a one year old. Mauryn's check up went great, so is doing wonderfully and had 4 shots! Poor babe!

Morgan and Landon had their flu shots while we were at the clinic. Morgan did great. Landon on the other hand - oh brother! He is all about the drama! He was great the entire time, watched both his sisters get their shots and then it was his turn. Landon is a stubborn boy and he was not going down for his shot very easily. I was sweating bullets by the time I got him on the table, pants down, and then lay across his chest to keep him down. Thankfully I had Morgan there to hold Mauryn. As soon as the nurse put the needle in his leg, he was fine. He cried a bit until he got his sucker and then he was great. Of course he limped all the way to the car. Once we got home he couldn't remember which leg he had the shot in but he was sure it hurt! At least it was better than last time when we left the office and he yelled to everyone in the waiting area "Don't go in there, they give you shots and hurt you!" Yep, that's my boy - never a dull moment with Landon around.

Here they are

TA DA! Morgan's braces! Yes, my 8 year old has braces - WOW! We went in for a consultation last week and the orthodontist suggested Phase I treatment. The way her teeth are aligned, her top and bottom teeth are rubbing together and could cause some wear on the teeth. She will be in the braces for 4-6 months and then a retainer until all her permanent teeth are in which could be 2-3 years. Then we will move to Phase II treatment. Morgan has been very excited and anxious about getting her braces. She was a trooper yesterday throughout her appointment and hasn't complained about soreness or pain at all. I think she was a little bummed when she found out all the foods she couldn't eat, like popcorn, chips/salsa - but it is only for a short period of time. The braces just make her look so much older :o( Anyone who has had braces have any advice or tips for my girl?

Happy 8th Birthday Morgan!

How time goes by in the blink of an eye? I truly can't believe you are 8 years old today! You are turning into such a beautiful young lady. Here are 8 things I love about you (there are many more) for your 8th birthday:

1.You amaze me with your empathy and compassion for others. You often think of others before yourself.

2.You have always been a "rule follower" and you are coming into an age where you are finding things are not always so clear. You are asking so many questions, trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong. I love that you bring up your questions and concerns to daddy and I. It is hard for you when there isn't a clear cut answer. You are learning. You watch carefully, you listen intently and then you make your choices.

3. You are trustworthy and honest. It is so wonderful that daddy and I know that you will make good choices and follow our rules outside our house.

4.You are a wonderful big sister to Landon and Mauryn. They both adore you! You wanted to be a big sister and now you have two little ones looking up to you. You are a great role model for them.

5.It has been fun to see you get so "into" gymnastics. I am amazed you still have desire and energy to flip around the house after being at practice three days a week. You are so dedicated to your sport. You are always working on your spins, leaps, etc...

6.You have a love for reading and learning. I enjoy watching you soak up book after book. I enjoy being up to snuggle up with you on the couch and either share a classic or read our own books and enjoy just being together. You make my job as your teacher so easy - you enjoy everything about learning and school.

7. I am excited to see your passion for learning your bible verses. You are definitely storing all you are learning in your heart. You are not just memorizing, you are pondering, you are wondering, you are questioning, you are thinking, you are applying - so great to see!

8. You don't ever forget anything and you pay attention to detail. You constantly surprise me with the little things you remember from stories we have read, activities we have participated in or trips we have taken.

I am so proud to call you my daughter. I love you so much! Have a very Happy Birthday!