Cat and Mouse

A game I never played growing up - Cat and Mouse. Being from Seattle and not having snow consistently I never new of this fun game. Tom on the other hand being from Montana played Cat and Mouse alot, like every other day. This game is where you dig out paths in the snow and there is a jail. There is one Cat and lots of mice. The mice get captured and have to be freed by other mice before the cat catches them. Anyhow it was fun watching Tom and the kids play this game from inside by the fireplace ;)

Clean Cuties

Got some cute ones here! After a bath with a towel on like daddy.

One Success

It's usually this time of the day (at night) when I evaluate my day. I think to myself "how did I do?' Was I mostly pleasant with the kids? Did I do things with the kids? I do feel good about today because I went on an outing with the boys and Sadie. I took Seth and Trey bowling. WooHoo! I left the house messy and walked away from the computer (rental stuff) and loaded the kids in the car for a game of bowling. It was fun. We practically had the whole bowling ally to ourselves. I cheered the boys on and ran around after Sadie (who ran half way down an empty bowling lane. I had to coax her back like a little puppy. Those lanes are slippery and thank goodness she didn't fall) The boys had the bumpers up and used the ramp. Seth bowled the last two frames, tossing the ball with his own two hands. All in all they did great with a tied score of 83. We had a nice time.

I kind of feel like I stopped doing fun outings with the kids when Samantha started 1st grade. So I am trying to change that and get out and do fun things again! Today I succeeded!

Mama Hen

I just love having all my little chicks home. Especially when they play so good together. We haven't done anything too significant today on this snowy President's day. I'm still trying to accomplish my goal of getting 6 loads of laundry washed, folded and put away.

Our Saturday

I got out of my comfort zone this morning and went cross country skiing with some friends from the ward. It was so nice of them to invite me and so nice of them to be patient when I fell several times. I may need to see the chiropractor Monday.

We had a couple extra kids for the weekend. Cousins Reese and Audrey were over. Here is a picture of the boys playing some ridiculous video game. We went and saw Tangled while they were here.
And finally this adults night out. Tom's brothers and their wives. We all went out for Sushi. We had so much fun! Good times.

I love Blogs

Can I just say I love blogs. I love them because we are all in this together. Just the things I read tonight were about weight loss success, a family expecting a baby girl and another blog about a new baby with major heart defects. I love reading about the every day stuff, the ups and downs, normal and unusual. I love that people are honest and inspiring. I appreciate it all and thank everyone who takes time out of their busy schedule to share a piece of their life with me. We are all in this together. Stay true, stay strong and stay believing.

Candy Roses = Valentines

Last week my cousin Jill posted how to make roses out of Hershey kisses. I made a list of all the supplies and pick them up Saturday night. Tom being the best Dad ever helped assemble them on Sunday afternoon. They turned out darling. I think Samantha will have a fun time passing them out at school today. Samantha wore a pretty red dress because they are having a etiquette party in her class with the boys seating the girls for punch and cookies.

The rose making assembly line

Sadie in love with this red sucker from Mawga. The kids loved the package from Montana!
The boys opening cards from Grama Sharon in Seattle.

My Dad brought over a heart shaped box of See's Chocolates for me last night. I love this tradition. He's been giving all his daughters See's chocolates for Valentines for years!

I missed taking a picture of the valentines Tom and I set out on the table for the kids. They had already started coloring in the coloring books by the time I woke up. But they waited on opening the candy until after breakfast. Our children are so awesome!

Union Station

Saturday we went to Union Station in Ogdan to climb on trains. My dad had told us about this place and so we all decided to go. The kids loved playing on the enormous train engines. After we went in the museum to look at model trains, old cars and the browning guns exhibit.

Signs of Spring

We were lovin' the warmer temperatures on Saturday. We dusted off some toys and played in the kind of warm weather. The kids had Tom rig up the ride below and everyone went for a stroll.

Sadie is foot loose and fancy free. She loves being out side and walked all over and never looking back.

Bowling Party

In January we celebrated cousin Reese's 7th Birthday bowling. Reese and Samantha are only 6 months apart in age and look at the height difference. Along with her brothers Samantha also has her cousin Reese to protect her. We had a fun time and hope Reese has a awesome year!

I'm Up, is anyone else?

It's 2:45 AM and I'm up exploring the blog world. My three oldest kids are up too. They are on the couch watching cartoons. They are sick! What is this?? Fever, achy body, runny nose and cough. I shouldn't be surprised because every February we are sick. Samantha is just getting over it but has a cough, Seth is just getting it and Trey had it but is now throwing up. I think the cucumber I used for dinner was too old and now he is throwing it up. That just goes to prove my rule of thumb: when in doubt about something in the fridge, just throw it away instead of making someone sick by using it. I must say Trey is a very responsoble thrower-uper. I've escorted him to the toilet about 5 times now and he has held it in every time until we've reached the toilet. Good job son! That makes things so much easier and less messy. My dear sweet Sadie who used to keep waking me up throughout the night is soundly sleeping.

Our week has been low key because of this sickness. This flu bug is moving through with force, several people have it. I tried Zumba last Tuesday, we did it for young womens. The funny thing is that the class we went to was a Black Light class, so we danced zumba-style in the dark with only white clothing glowing. The instructors wore white gloves and a white top so we could follow along. I think that was suppose to help us white girls not feel so self-conscious especially because it was our first time. I think the black light wigged out my eyes, I didn't like the black light but I did like Zumba.

Life is full and hectic. I guess that is what having 4 kids is all about but I don't like feeling like I just can't do it all. We have added to the craziness by signing the kids up for soccer. It doesn't start until April.

now it's 3:15 AM. I should try to go to bed. I think Trey is asleep so hopefully that is the end of throwing up??

Blue Skies and Sunny!

This is how we spent last weekend - in the clear blue skies of Wyoming. We visited Tom's sis and husband and their darling girls. I took these pictures with a camera phone and just didn't quite capture the full beauty of the event but we had a blast on the snow mobiles and being pulled around on sleds with the 4-wheeler. We spent 4 hours out in the gorgeous sunshine and had sunburns to prove it. We were spoiled and loved playing cards when the kids went to bed. It was awesome and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!