Twas the nigh before THANKSgiving

So I'm up past my bedtime making a berry pie, a cheese ball and hard boiling eggs for deviled eggs. All the hard core cooking is being done tomorrow BUT lets face it all the stuff I'm doing tonight would NEVER get done if I left it for tomorrow... today was a pretty productive day... we went into town (yes we are that hick-ish) got rolls, a pumpkin pie and a few odds and ends that I had forgotten last week I let the kids pick a movie as a reward for FINALLY helping me get the house clean.. we also picked up carpet cleaning solution because I started cleaning the carpets and discovered I could only get through almost half of the living room before I ran out.. but when I got home I finished the carpets, Ben and I went out and got pizza for the kidlets and we stopped and picked up a frozen apple pie because everyone previously said all they wanted was berry and pumpkin but thought better of it when told speak now or forever hold your peace! so tomorrow should be a fun layed back Thanksgiving, it's just us we contemplated inviting people over but all our close friends already had plans and it kinda felt good to just have "us"... if the weather is good Ben will take the boys to the "turkey bowl" down in Concord and try not to hurt them selves although the boys already know if it's raining they are staying home...
today in my scurry to get the house clean the kids kept asking "who's coming, why are we cleaning?" kinda made me feel bad they think the only time I clean my carpets or do a "deep clean" of the house it's for others.. nope just us this time!!! feels kinda good!
anyway I am so thankful this year for my family, for our health and for all of our great friends and family...
happy Thanksgiving everyone!

thank heavens for 4 day weekends!!

We have had a GREAT 4 day weekend, although technically tomorrow will be the 4th day so I guess maybe it's too soon to sprout such accolades..

We went to the Hopkington State Fair yesterday, it was SOOO fun, the rides were NOTHING like the LA fair so the kids were satisfied with just riding a few, we did the petting zoo, saw all the live stalk and the high light of the day is we ate FRIED TWINKIES and a FRIED SNICKERS BAR... they were actually pretty good.. My fave was the Twinkies and we probably wouldn't have even tried the stickers but Hunter can't have Twinkies due to his wacko allergy to artificial whipped topping.. but it was a GREAT day and I'm so glad we did it!

on another high note BRAD MADE THE A TEAM... no he's not going to jump into a Black van with Mr. T and the rest of "that A Team" he made the Varsity squad of Soccer.. he was pretty convinced he would be on the B team when the coach was calling off the roster because he thought he was reading guys off in alphabetical order.. he was wrong.. he was last on the roster.. Brad ALSO knows he'll need to work VERY hard to keep his spot (the boys were also told they could be "traded" at anytime for a B team player)... He is on cloud nine and even texted ME to tell me before he got home from practice (a sign he was VERY excited for sure.. texting your mom is so not cool!)

So that's whats going on here..

ta ta

Halloween in a Small town and I mean SMALL

So actually trick or treating in our own community (technically the one community over but who's keeping track) was an interesting thing.. the last few years (it was our 3rd Halloween this year) we've either used the ward trunk or treat as our trick or treating or last year we went to a friends house quite a distance away that lived in a real honest to goodness subdivision with mass amounts of houses and the kids came home with quite a hall.. that friend sadly moved away so this year we could have either driven quite a distance again to go with friends who also would be driving a distance and just glom onto another community to where we didn't know any one or know where the heck we were going.. we opted to go the next town over where there is a neighborhood of around 20 houses spread over about 2-3 miles and so the kids could get the experience of trick or treating and we wouldn't waste take of gas and get loss etc. etc.. win win right.. it was a great experience one that I think we will keep up (unless a better offer comes up of coarse) but here's the thing about doing this in a VERY SMALL town... most everyone gave the standard treats snickers, reeces there were still the cheep treats bit-o-honey and dum-dums and of corase the non decrypt dollar store fair BUT 2 places gave home made treats and one hadn't gotten them wrapped in what ever she was going to wrap them in yet and just gave a very cute spice mini bunt cake with an AWESOME frosting on it.. Bradley was the recipient of this little cake and looked perplexed of coarse we've, always had the rule no digging into the candy until mom or dad has gone through it all, I don't really even remember having to throw out anything for cause unless it was a sucker that's rapper had accidentally fallen off in the may-lay of the candy bag but of coarse you can never been too careful so of coarse out it went.. when I was a child this was the routine also, I remember someone giving out popcorn balls and My mother being torn but we did throw it out (unless of coarse it came from Pat Jung's house those Mom let us dig into because we knew her!. and to be honest Pat only gave those to the kids who she knew)... so as Bradley looked at this bit of bake goodness he handed it over to me and I seemed to look at it oddly also, "what should we do?" I asked Ben, I handed it to him.. I of coarse had to lick the icing that had gotten on my hand and it was GOOD! we considered chucking it over the overpass into the river trailing the street we were on but then as Ben held it for a few more minutes I said "you could probably eat it".. He looked at me and kind of shrugged his shoulders and down it went.. He said it was good I asked him if we should go back and take down the address in case he died in his sleep.. guess what.. he said it was REALLY good kind of pumpkinnie and very spicy and no razor blades (at least that were noticed in the biting and chewing so i give it the all clear)... so here's my question to you all.. would you have eaten it?? did we set an AWFUL example to the kids?? and I think I've seen some urban legend stuff that says the razorblades in the apple and poisoned candy was kind of a over hyped up thing anyway (but maybe that's my way of rationalizing this experience)..
we did end up checking all their candy and since there weren't very many houses everything passed with flying colors except for some ginger snaps that actually looked store bought but were in a zip loc bag.. guess what we did chuck them but I wonder if we would have if it was actually a cookie that we all would have enjoyed Hmmmmm.
ta ta

Halloween

Where the heck did October go??? I'm a horrible sister and daughter Happy birthday Steph and Mom when I call on Sunday I'll be apologizing over and over for not calling on your birthday and oh yea happy anniversary to you and Dad too HECK I'm just not doing well.. I have a million excuses but none that should keep me from remembering these things!

Ok On to Halloween this week for family night we carved the pumpkins.. this proved to have a slight slow start because I had put the pumpkins on the front porch after I got them (you know to look festive) and well they kind of froze a little bit not enough to make them yucky when they thawed only enough to when we brought them in and warmed them up they had ALLOT of condensation on them which made the first step of tracing the stencil kind of difficult especially with the market that was provided.. to top this off the boys convinced us they were old enough to be in charge of one of the pumpkins and with Ben's urging i caved and said ok.. so they chose their design from the stencils and off they went..

so here's the before pic of both pumpkins after the tracing (ok I get you can't really see anything but go with me here!)

So after that first step off they all went cutting and sawing following the lines looking back at the stencil to see if there was something they missed.. somehow I don't have any pictures of Ben cutting away but let me tell you he did and he was into it.. the boys they were also into it and I'll have to admit there were a few times I just couldn't watch i just kept reminding them to keep their fingers away from their line of cutting

I'm happy to report no human was harmed in the cutting of the pumpkins.. only KayLea's ego because there was NO WAY she was getting a hold of anything that could cut a pumpkin and she was none to happy about that but she perked up when she was told she could set in the candles.. yippee!

So the finished products they were quite cute if I do say so my self.. the one on the right is the one the boys did the left is what Ben did under KayLea's direction

Anyway we had a fun Halloween Day ... I am room mom for both Hunter and KayLea's rooms (something I'm putting in the remember bin to NOT do both again) thankfully there are a whole troop of Mom's that understood my dilemma of not being able to be in 2 places at once and pitched in.. and luckily at least for this party KayLea's was before the Halloween parade and Hunter's was After so except for some set up in Hunter's room and clean up in KayLea's room I think I fared pretty well and we'll cross our finger for the winter party (ie: Christmas who are we kidding!) they keep the same schedule (I'm afraid no chance there!) and frankly Hunter's class really only wants the treats the crafts and games they are way too old and cool for so why am I complaining??
these first ones are of KayLea's party

Here's the parade

Hunter's Party

KayLea was a Princess Elephant, the story behind that was a conversation we had about a month ago.. but first you should know KayLea has wanted to be this Elephant for as long as she could choose a Halloween costume because it was Bradley's Elephant costume he used when he was about her age (if i was a good blogger I would scrounge up the pic of Brad in the costume but I don't wanna sorry!) it's been in the dress up trunk well before she was born.. but it was always too huge for her so this year it FINALLY fit and she has been talking for a good 6-8 months that she can FINALLY be an elephant so there's the set up here's the conversation;;

KayLea: Mom, I think i want to be a Princess for Halloween

Me: ok that's fine we can do that

KayLea; but I REALLY want to be the Elephant

Me: Fine KayLea you can be either we just need to make a decision so I can get things going if you want to be a Princess..

KayLea: But it's hard to choose

Me: I know but you HAVE TO CHOOSE

KayLea: Why do I have to choose, Why Can't I be a Princess Elephant??

me: I don't know why, I guess there is no reason YES, YES you can be a Princess Elephant!!!

So she was a princess elephant and Hunter was Elvis..

I almost forgot (probably cuz I didn't take any pictures, go figure!) we did go trick or treating.. the next town over actually has a neighborhood and by that I mean 20 or so houses semi close together.. it still was probably about a 2 mile walk but we did I guess the good part the kids felt like they fufilled their need to trick or treat but they didn't come home with too much candy.. now we had no clue if we'd get trick or treaters at our house we live on a major road so we knew we wouldn't get foot traffic but everyone knows we live here we lit the jack o lanterns i got a bag of candy (at Sam's) and NEVER cracked it open so I guess it IS a good thing the kids didn't get much candy cuz we have a TON that i purchased myself I can't win!!!

Ta, TA

Happy New Year
What are you all doing tonight.. i think the boys have forgotten about staying up (THANK GOODNESS) Ben's planning on staying up playing his video game (he only gets to play it when the kids aren't home or are in bed.. tells you what kind of game hua!) i'm sure i'll probably fall asleep before 12 but if Ben's up he'll wake me up to say "Happy New Year" He's off for the next 2 days and we've decided we are doing major clean out and pack! thankfully we kept the majority of moving boxes and packing paper when we moved here.. so we are a little ahead of the game...
I can't really complain one bit with 2007, we are in such a good place in pretty much all areas of our life! and it sure is going out with a bang with us finally getting the house deal taken care of (we sign the "new deal" paperwork wednesday so really i'm not going to do the "happy dance" until then!). i really HATE new years resolutions and have vowed not to make them ever again (can't really remember making any with true intent anyway).. when i want to make goals i just make the goal.. But the new year does make it kind of nice to reflect on what i've done well and what i can improve on for the new year (ok so i admit it sounds like resolutions hua!..).. Anyway i wish everyone a Very happy New Year and hope 2008 Brings great things for all of our Friends and Family who we love so much!
ta ta

Merry Christmas

We had a great day!!! the kids were told not to come down stairs until 7:00 and at about 6:15 we heard the boys were up.. i went up stairs to tell them they couldn't wake KayLea up but if she woke up on her own before 7 they could come down stairs.. and as soon as i came down stairs i hear KayLea running to the boys room.. i guess my footsteps up and down the stairs woke her up.. (she must not have been that asleep)... anyway we did our usual tradition from when i was a kid.. all the kids have to come to our room and get into bed and wait until Ben has seen if Santa has come (he turns on the tree lights etc).. then they line up youngest to oldest (we had to switch that up a little when i was younger when the youngest's became taller than the oldest's.. that hasn't happened here YET!) and off to the presants.. the kids had a great time

Brad's "big" thing was a cell phone.. Hunter's was a digital camera and

KayLea's was a "My Generation"

doll (American girl knock off) the "boys" (all 3) also got a x-box 360.. they were all very excited and kept ammused ALL DAY a feat in of it self GREAT!!! KayLea LOVED the doll clothes Both Grandma's sent (thanks!) and the boys are already planning on where and what to sepend their money and gift cards on (thanks too!)... we are thinking of some ideas to make room for the table hockey game Grandma and Grandpa Fox sent, and hope to be able to set it up very soon...

Since Ben "missed" Thanksgiving he wanted all the works so we did Turkey, Christmas Potatoes, Mashed potatoes (ok i've just come to decide we as a WHOLE family are obsessed with potato's of every form!) stuffing, and 8 different kinds of sparkling juice (we only finished 4 over the whole day!)

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.. Merry Christmas from us to YOU!!

Were Back!!!
Well Thanksgiving is done and we are home no worse for ware... we ended up getting bumped a few times and instead of getting home around 4:30 we didn't get home until 9:30 and to top it off i broke my cell phone so getting info to Ben was totally hard.. dallas airport got rid of all of their pay phones.. frankley they probably did it years ago and no one even noticed UNTIL YOUR CELL PHONE BREAKS AND YOU HAVE TO USE A STUPID CALLING CARD!!! frankley it just told me i am way too attached to my cell phone and i felt i don't even use it that much!!! i'm just glad i could buy a calling card in Little Rock.. at least i was able to let Ben know there was major changes to the travel plan.. and my car was already at the airport so it really wasn't that much of a biggie..
so i think everyone is going to be cranky and tired.. and we also have to go grocery shopping.. AND do a little shopping for Bradley's Natures classroom that starts monday and goes to friday..

Our Thanksgiving was great.. My Aunt and Cousin came from California and KayLea was Lindsey's (my cousin age 13) shadow the whole time.. Lindsey was so gracious and didn't seem too annoyed with her... then Livingston Grandparents, Aunt Carol, Uncle Jon Plummer (have to specify that since we have a TON of jon's) and Derrick all came to finish it all out.. along with the "guests" Grandma Merry, Jon, Lynee and their 5 kiddo's (yes i said 5) including a brand new 3 day old baby boy that KayLea thought was just about the best thing ever.. so it was deffenately a full house but lots of fun! now since we took the kids out of school etc.. we probably won't make it to AR for Christmas so this was a fun week with grandma and grandpa and the rest...
i do have some pictures but i havn't even begun to un pack my camera.. i'll post some later.

Tic's, Tears and Fireworks!!!

Thats what our 4th of july consisted of.. KayLea had another Tic in her hair.. you'd think she would want it out as soon as possiable but NO not my girl.. she cried and cried and wanted to be taken to the Dr to take it out (remember she screemed bloody murder when i took her to the Dr AFTER i had the last one out.. go figure!)... this one was tiny and not a deer tic (thankgoodness.. no lime disease scare) and it came out so much easier than the last one (just making me feel even worse because that probably means the last one was in for a few days un-detected)... but it also tells me she needs to be in pig tales through out the summer.. we've never found one when her hair was up only when it's down and sweaty.. i know thats no gurantee but it's enough evidence for me to insist we keep it up...

Our 4th ended up pretty good though.. we went out to lunch then it was raining when it got dark so it was kind of hard getting some of the fire works lit but Ben did a great job and we only had 1 total Dud so it turned out pretty good.. KayLea still did not like the loud or shooting fireworks at all.. she spent almost the whole time with her head buried in my chest until the very end and she finally perked up with a pink sparkler.. (no other color would do!) anyway we set all of ours off then got totally out done by the resort across the street who put on a very nice show.. it's so cool living here!!!

KayLea buring her head into Mommy while she was trying to balance the umbrella and camera (quite a task!)

Brad shooting off a Roman Candel and Hunter with a sparkler

More fireworks and KayLea finally somewhat happy with Mommy holding a Sparkler

thats all for now

tata

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
We had a big show that we could see from our house!!! every year the Ski Resort does a huge fireworks show against the mountain... they also do a big dinner etc.. but sence New Years was on a sunday we just enjoyed the fireworks from the comfort of our front yard (KayLea watched from her bedroom window)...
i got to play w/ the fireworks setting on my camera... I think i still need some practice but i think i got a few good ones...
Today (new years day) brings Chilli in the Crock pot and watching a little football and maybe a parade!!!
Happy 2007!!!

Merry Christmas

Santa came a day early (ignore the date stamp on the photo's.. still trying to figure out all the features on my new camera!).. we told the kids they couldn't leave their rooms until 7:00 but around 4:30 we heard what sounded like ELEPHANTS walking the halls up stairs and then around 5:30 we heard a fant sterio on... around that same time KayLea woke up w/ a Ear Ache (she had gone to bed the night before saying her ear kinda hurt) we tried to console her then begged her to take some motrin and then there was no stopping anyone and gave in and we all decided to give in and do Christmas around 6:15am... everything was opened and done by 7:00...






The boys favorite presant was a Red Ryder bee-bee gun... they have loads of rules in order to shoot it and frankley it seems as though it was more of a gift for DAD to give it to the boys than for the boys them selves...


The Next day (actually christmas day) we woke up early and headed off to Little Rock to see Grandma and Grandpa Lane... we all had a blast and the kids really loved seeing everyone there..

It's beginning to feel allot like Christmas

today Ben and I were doing some shopping at our little mall and there was absolutely NO LINE for Santa and KayLea was so excited we let her sit on his lap she talked his ear off we were shocked she didn't clam up at all.. she's telling everyone she's Santa's buddy... we could hardly get her to look up at the Camera she was so enthralled in talking w/ the big guy... this is a shot of her giving Santa a Hug..

i guess now it's beginning to feel allot like Christmas...

love to all

Happy Halloween
we have had a fun week or so; we had a Halloween Haunted house at the School, Trunk or Treat at the Church, then today we had halloween parade at school and parties in each class this is the first halloween my kid's have been allowed to wear costumes at all.. it was fun, very remanicent of when I was in elementary school..
here are some pic's



KayLea also was pictured in our local paper from the Haunted House at the School, here is the picture and blurb from the paper























Sence we live in the boonies we won't be trick or treating but the Kids have plenty of candy from the various events we've already had.. all in all very fun Halloween

Happy 4th of July
Ahhhh back to the land of legal fire works.. it was a fun night.. KayLea at first wasn't too sure about it espically the loud ones but she came around and really actually liked it.. (it was a shock to us too)
As you can see KayLea decided sparklers were pretty fun..


Ben was our Fire expert and he lit off most of the big ones; we have a fireworks shop that's actually open year round and we splurged for a big assorted pkg and it was fun.. but now we know what we would do again and what were kind of dissopointing.. it was fun and we didn't burn anything important down so we call that a Success!!
happy independance day!