Christmas Morning!

I don't know who is more excited on Christmas morning-us or the kids. Dave and I cannot sleep and are always the ones to go and wake up the kids. Chad has been dying to get Thomas and the waterfall from Santa. First thing Christmas morning, we heard the sound of chugging. We woke Chad up and he rushed down stairs to see what it might be. Since he has been checking each day for weeks, the reality if it must have been too much. He stood speachless for several minutes and then sat down on the stairs. It wasn't until Dave called him over that he went to see Thomas up close.



Chad literally spent the entire morning playing with his new train set.

Tyler also had a good Christmas-his 1st. Santa brought him a little ball popper set. Santa actually called us at 11:30 on Christmas eve to let us know that he forgot to check what batteries this toy might need and could we run to Walgreens to get some. So . . . off Dave went for batteries at 11:30. Aparently he was not the only one to get a call from Santa, as Walgreens was packed with last minute shoppers. :)

Each Christmas Eve, I make everyone a set of matching pj pants. This year I veered off of the matching part, but here are the boys in their new jammies.

Tyler even opened his own presents, with occasional help from Chad. We all had a wonderful time and just enjoyed being together. Mostly, we feel very blessed. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Sleigh Ride

This past week, Pocatello got a dumping of snow. Since I have been a little less busy, we found a fun way to fill some time. Our home is in a wonderful spot, just 10 houses from our local library. I thought it might be fun to visit the library on our sled. Chad helped me get all of our books and we packed them in a bag. Then, he and Tyler loaded up for the walk. Tyler kept his eyes closed most of the time to keep the snowflakes out, but all in all we had a blast. I figure, God sends the snow. Might as well get out and enjoy it!

Christmas Vacation

This weekend, we took a much needed family vacation together. With Dave's schooling and all of the craziness of the season, we needed a get away. Our vacation took us to Salt Lake City. Growing up, my family went to see the lights on Temple Square every year. Dave and I have not been back since our first Christmas together. When we first arrived, Chad nearly wore out the carpet in our hotel room looking out the window at the trains going by. Needless to say, we also had to ride the trains several times.

We had a great time. The night we visited Temple Square, it was snowing a lot! There were not many people there, but it was beautiful. Tyler was very bundled and cozy in his stroller.

Chad really loved eating the snowflakes. I had forgotten how beautiful and peaceful it is there.

On Saturday, we spent some time at the Discovery Center. I had never been there. In Pocatello, we don't have cool places like that. Chad had the time of his life. He loved every minute. We were so excited for him to see everything that we were running him from one thing to the next. His favorite was the "Kid's Eye View." This is where everything is in minature. Chad got to build the city with cranes and blocks. There was a kid sized house and a kid sized grocery store.

Chad especially loved shopping for food at the store. Then he would take his basket of food to the house and put it all away in the fridge there. I could just see the gears turning in his mind as he played "grown up."

This was the kid sized car. You could fill the tires with air, put gas in it and then sit in it and drive. Tyler even got in on this one.

Tonight as we drove back home, I asked Chad what he liked most about our trip. His answer . . . "All v' it!"

Chad's 1st Christmas Program

Chad has been enrolled in a little pre-school this year. He absolutly loves it!!! On Thursday, he got to do his first school program. It took him most of the program to warm up enough to actually sing and I did have to sit with him the entire time, but it was cute. All leading up to the program, he would sing me his program songs. He was so excited. Then, again, when the program had ended, he sang me all of his songs (the same ones that he refused to sing during the actual program). This picture depicts "Rudolph". And sorry for all the blurry pictures-I need a new setting on my camera but I never think to find one until I am ready to take the picture.

Is Santa Here?

This morning, Chad woke up to a fresh blanket of snow. He was so excited. The first thing he did was tell dad that he needed to check downstairs where our tree is. When he got to the tree, he simply said, "Nope!" Dave asked what he had expected to find and he cooly replied, "I thought Santa might have come." We decided that today was as good a day as any to begin an advent calander. 13 days to go!!!

Homespun Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love the feeling in the air and the way people act and treat each other. Chad decided to get in on the fun this year by making his own gifts to give. Together, we made some Christmas ornaments. He did all the work and he even chose who he would give them to and wrapped them. I think he is really beginning to understand how Christmas works and looking forward to Christmas morning.

Chad was just so proud of his gifts.

Halloween!!!

For Halloween, Chad wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. I opted for a compromise. He got to be Woody. He looked so good!

Of course, we all had to match, so Tyler was Mr. Potato Head (he looked like a brown sack with a face), Dave was Woody with Chad and I opted for Bo Peep. We had a great time.

We went up to Boise for the weekend and got there in time to do trick-or-treating. We all went out together. Chad had a great time!!! He and his cousin, Ryan, went door to door. Chad would not say anything, and Ryan was so excited, he said it for himself and for Chad. When we got back, Chad had to dump his candy on the ground and look at it all. First he asked if he could eat it all. I told him he needed to eat some dinner and then he could have some candy. So . . . off he went. A few minutes later, he came and told me, "I ate all my dinner. Now can I eat all my candy?" I guess next time I'll have to be a little more clear.

This picture is a little blurry, but this was the last stop. The bags are full and the noses are cold. We had a great Halloween!

Pumpkins! Pumpkins!

I love this season! All the leaves changing and the feel of the holidays approaching. From now until Christmas - time just seems to disappear.

This year, our pumpkins in our own pumpkin patch grew mostly vines, so we headed off to a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins to carve. We enjoyed the corn maze, which took forever. I quit halfway through, but Chad kept on running. He just loved it!!!

Next, we picked some pumpkins to take home. Chad always describes the size of items by referring to them as compared to the size of each of us in the family. For example, we had to get a daddy pumpkin (the biggest), a mommy pumpkin (middle size), a Chadder Box pumpkin (small) and a Tyler pumpkin ("little tiny").

It has become our tradition to have my parents come and help us to carve our pumpkins each year. This year, Chad chose a face design from the comics I had used to cover the table.

They're done! Chad and my dad hold their pumpkins to display. Chad was so proud. I needed to put in a picture of them all lit up on the porch. Maybe next year!

A weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

This last weekend, we were able to spend the weekend in Boise, Idaho with Dave's family. We just don't get to see them enough. On Friday, the day we were planning to leave, Chad woke up at 6:30 so see if it was time to go yet. I told him that when the small hand got to the 5 on the clock, it would be time to go to Boise. Then before leaving for work, Dave told Chad that when he got home, it would be time to go. Chad watched that clock all day!!! It was a crazy busy day getting things ready and I had a ton of MK appointments. Then out of the blue, Dave showed up at 1pm. He usually does not come home for lunch on Fridays and the minute he walked in the door, Chad was jumping up and down saying, "Horray! Let's go to Boise!" The bad part was that it wasn't time yet, because Dave still had to go back to work. Oh, the look on Chad's face said it all!!!


Chad is a "grandpa kid." He loves both his grandpa's and would prefer to spend all his time with them if he could. Chad is on the left, and his cousin is the one on the right.

At Grandma and Grandpa's, there was a HUGE pile of leaves. I set Tyler in it thinking that he would protest. Boy, was I wrong!! He loved it! I think he ate about half of the leaves. He was just so happy.

This pumpkin is HUGE! It weighs 15o lbs. The picture just does not do it justice. And finally, our whole family. We had such a great time with family. And I always feel so rejunivated after a trip like that. Now I am ready to tackle the mommy thing again.

Read me nother one

I (Dave, yes I have been assigned the task of writing about this picture that I took) was reading the Comics and as he usually does Chad wanted me to tell him about them. Well I told him about the good ones but he wanted more. So he decided to read them on his own. Afterward he crumpled them into a big ball. I was in the kitchen making brownies and he brought the crumpled comics in and I asked why he had crumpled them. He kind of got that sad am I in trouble look and said he was done reading and so he crumpled them. I told him that was fine and then we laughed at the crumpled ball of comics.

SNOW!!!

Ya, it snowed!!! In October!!! On Saturday at about 4pm, it started to snow, and it just kept snowing. It really does feel like Christmas. Today after church, Chad wanted to go out and play in the snow. He has sure grown up since last year, when he refused to put on a coat or warm clothes and so never really got to play outside much. He had a blast today and both Dave and I came in before he did. Because of the snow, we also had to finish harvesting our garden. Not exactly what I had in mind-brushing off the snow before we could dig the carrots.
Here, Chad and Dave are beginning the snowman. Chad told us before he went outside that he wanted to put the carrot on.

Chad putting the carrot on.
A very proud Chad and dad. Chad has since checked outside several times to make sure that his snowman has not melted. Unfortunately, I don't think that it is going anywhere!

So Handsome!

For the last few weeks, Chad has put up a fight to get ready for church. He does not want to wear his church clothes. Two weeks ago, Dave offered to Chad that mom buy him a new pair of church pants. Chad agreed and said that would help him to get ready better.
Well . . . here they are!

I found these two outfits and they matched. I just couldn't resist! Chad of course wanted to wear his tie out so he "can look at it." They looked so handsome. And yes, it did help Chad to get dressed without a fight-at least for one week.

Preschool

Chad began preschool this last week. Of course, he had to have a Lightning backpack. He attends 2 days a week with our neighbor and his friend, Gavin. I was really nervous that he would have a hard time. He is very open about how he hates nursery at church and he seems to have a hard time adjusting to new situations. We really put him in preschool to help him develop the social skills. He had an open house last week, which really helped. He was most excited to see if there would be a sand box outside. (There wasn't.) On the first day, I expected him to cry-probably for a long time. I was even planning to stay the whole time if necessary. Well, I dropped him off and . . . nothing! His only request was that I leave baby Tyler behind. No tears! Nothing! To be honest, it did make it easier for me. I sure missed him while he was gone, but I was glad that he was having a good time. As it turns out, the woman who worked as my kindergarten aid when I was teaching is his preschool assistant. It is so fun! She knew him as a tiny baby (5 weeks and on) and now to see him so grown up is crazy. Chad is mostly looking forward to taking snack this week. He gets to choose a yellow snack and he has already picked bananas and popcorn. It is fun to be starting this new adventure in our lives.

This is Chad with his friend from next door. I think it has helped him to have someone familar there.

Chad and daddy at lunch, just before Chad left for his first day.

A big project

With the long weekend last week, we decided to take on a project. When we were first married, all we did was home projects. I think we burned ourselves our. We finally got in the mood to once again try our hand at a project in our 2nd home. Since we moved here nearly 2 years ago, we have done nothing. The walls were white with stencils on them-grapes stenciled on the walls in the kitchen and the far wall was green. The weekend project was to paint the entire living space-living room, hall and kitchen/dining room. We also added a wood wall and shelf to the far (previoulsy green) wall. It is not done but it looks great so far. And it is a good fix for that itching to move. Just a little change and you feel like you live in a new home. We sit on the couches every night after the boys are in bed and admire our work. What do you think?

Stage 1

Stage 2
I wish I had a before. I'll have to post again when it is all finished with pictures hung and everything.

BUBBLES!!!

Do you remember as a kid blowing bubbles in your milk with a straw. The other day, Chad was having a bad time . . . really grouchy. I made the mistake of showing him this trick to distract him. Well, it worked. He was really happy! But, now he wants to blow bubbles with everything he drinks. He had a really good pile of bubbles going.

Going to the Fair!

The Eastern Idaho State Fair is a big old deal here in Pocatello. I have been going since I was a little girl. When I was younger, I would go with my dad to set up and take down his booth, the Culligan booth. I also participated in 4-H. Now, tradition continues. Chad loved the "waterfall" at the Culligan booth. I continue to enter sewing and canning out of tradition. We had a good time this year going up with my parents.

When my dad is around, Chad will always choose him. Here he is with my dad in the cattle and sheep barn.

Chad had a great time looking at all the animals. We watched the cows get milked. Here, I thought Chad was watching a sheep get sheered. I realized later that he was more interested in the trailer the sheep was standing on.

Looking back

When Tyler was smaller, he had one of those diapers that no one wants to change. We actually stood up to get ready to leave and this is what we discovered. The picture says it all-it is the worst "blow out" I have ever seen.

It has been such a busy summer. Telena has attended seminar for her Mary Kay business and she and Dave each spent a week at camp with the young men/young women. Now Dave begins school again in just 2 weeks. Wow! In July we celebrated Chad's 3rd birthday. He wanted a Lightning McQueen cake. We also took several family trips camping. It has been a fun time together this summer.

One last project

As most of you know, we are currently in the process of selling our first home. It has been a rental property for 1 1/2 years now and we are ready to let it go. We were very blessed to find a buyer very quickly, but the process has been a slow one. Just last week, we got word that they were approved for the loan, but it is a FHA loan. One stipulation on an FHA loan is that the home can have no peeling paint. Well, if you have ever seen this home, you know that all it has is peeling paint. So, thus commenced the final project. The family buying the home is doing most of the work but Dave went over on Saturday to help pull down the old siding. We had talked about doing this for a long time, so it is fun to see the home get its final face lift.

No more naps!

Chad has surpassed the age where he will take a nap, but he will fall asleep if we put him in the car at certain times of the day. The problem then is that he will not go to sleep at night. Here is one of the days he was exceptionally tired. Can you tell?