I know, I know....

Yes, it's been a while. Ok, it's been a long while. However - you'll be spared a long list of excuses because there are only two and they are as follows:
1) I didn't want to,
2) I was busy and didn't want to.
I have to feel both inspired and like I have time on my hands in order to sit down and prepare a post and recently I've felt neither. So having said that I will now tell you that it is my goal over the course of this next week to get myself caught back up on this blog...birthdays, holidays, outings, etc. that have taken place lately. So there you have it, and now that I've published this paragraph for all the world to see I will be forced to keep my word! Oh bother.....

Recent things....

...that have made me smile~

-my baby's soft cheeks pressed up against mine

- SKYPE!!

-Daddy took Jesse into town and had this conversation with him:

Daddy- "Here's a cookie for you, Jesse."
Jesse- "Thank you, Daddy! Where did you get it?"
Daddy - "From Miss Bethany in the CBI kitchen."
Jesse - "Can we tell her thank you, Daddy?"
Daddy - "I already did, now let's get ready and go to the bank."
Jesse - "Can we get a sucker there?"
Daddy - "Oh, probably."
Jesse - "Wow, Daddy, you are a really nice guy. God way up in heaven must have turned you into a really nice guy."

- time with my friend, Jenna

- evenings in the living room with my kids reading Laura Ingalls

-Daddy's who have a soft heart for their little girls

-Daddy's who buy Mommy's gift cards=)

- sunshine and falling leaves

-scrolling through some sweet pics of my 5 favorite people

-Veteran's! (and going on dates with them=)

-a successful batch of chocolate chip cookies

-sweet reminders from my Heavenly Father

-people who get to travel to Italy (ok, so that makes me a wee bit jealous too)

-bubble wrap

...that have made me sad~

- little girls with tears in their eyes that say "It breaks my heart to not see George ever again", mine too, sweetie, mine too.

-bad choices and their lousy consequences

-missing the girls in my family, "I love you Mom, Helaine and Sheena." (I miss the boys too)

-potty training....alright, that has made me just plain annoyed!

-packing up those last few baby items

-the thousands of miles between me and my Kristi Lynn

-mud (ok, so maybe I should have made a separate section for "annoyed")

A Crafty Day

On Monday of this week we had our home school activity for the month of November - if you remember we went to an alpaca farm last month. We'll this activity was even more hands on as the kids each were given a tile and all the "fixin's" to make themselves a picture frame. You'll get the idea better when you see the pictures!

Our kids always enjoy these activities soooo much as they get to not only do something fun, but hang out with friends they sometimes don't see very often.
It was so fun to watch the kids display their different artisitic talents and tastes=) What I found most amusing was the table full of young teen boys that were getting very detailed in their work and put lots of effort into this craft!Of course the boys' dragons and flames or frogs and trucks..Were replaced on the girls table by buttons and ribbons and hearts and glitter....=)I found it quite special that Monica wrote "My Best Friends" on her frame and then proceeded to paste a picture of her siblings on it=)Then there were those that were most entertained by the paint and the water and the brushes and the glue....in this picture you can't spot the red patch in his hair on the side of his head!Here are the kids tiles in order from top to bottom - A, J, L, M, and Z!It was a fun day with a bunch of kids! After the tiles were painted we had lunch and the kids played some games, all under the leadership of the oldest (or at least tallest) boys. They got along so well, it was fun for us moms to just sit back and watch. Then the tiles were dry and ready to spray with a sealant and it was time to go home....until next month's homeschool activity!

M - All grown up....almost

And last but not least....=)

Z - A growing man!

Over the last couple days I've had the chance to get to the older two kids as well....we were on a roll so even though it was only Jesse and Alana that were due for their annual pictures we just had too much fun and did all FIVE=)