Boutique!

It is almost here. The Shop Chic Boutique. Catch a glimpse of what is to come including my affordable Christmas dresses and skirts:

http://www.shopchicboutiqueaz.blogspot.com/

Field Trip

Grace, Emily & Jessie/ Cute "sheep" Emily

Today was Emily's first field trip in Kindergarten. They visited Mother Nature's farm and had such a good time. She road a hay ride, picked a pumpkin, fed piggies, played a ton and got good and dirty.



Decorating Pumpkins

We all got dirty! Adam helped me chaperon the event as he was strapped to my chest. He loved watching all the craziness that comes with a million 5 year olds let loose. They certainly had fun.



After the first 5 minutes Adam finally resolved himself to wearing a hat.

Sunday night at Home

Usually Sunday nights are filled with cousins and grandparents, but we had a rare Sunday at home. We cooked Dan's favorite, pot roast with roasted potatoes and carrots. Then Dan lit some charcoal and we all enjoyed Smores. Even Adam enjoyed his chocolate & marshmallow free version in between the occasional rock. Good thinking Dad. That was yummy!

I'm Old?

I didn't realize I was old! I never thought of my self that way. I know I'm not as young as the college kids. I feel a little more wise now, like I've got more under my belt, but I'm definitely not old. After a long day doing Jury Duty, a security guard called me "young lady." At first I thought I heard him wrong, but as dismissed me called me "young lady" again. It was then that I realized just how long it had been since someone had called me that. It made me feel old and yet with all my years, I still looked like a young lady. I'll take that! Good looks and a little wiser. Yep. What a great way to end a long day.

Kids and Politics

I have to confess that there are a lot of. . . more serious and political topics that have not entered our home as yet. This is due partially to the young ages of our kids now 8yrs, almost 6 and 9 months. Recent political events have really opened the doors to a lot of questions. They've heard a lot of unfamiliar things on TV and a LOAD of stuff at school. This week I've heard questions like, "Why does a coyote kidnap people?", "How many times did Obama vote in the government?", "Why do we have a sign that says Vote Yes on 201?". Words like "spread the wealth around" and others have poured out of my kids mouths while mine hung open knowing they heard all these things from other people. I had no idea kids talked so much about political things at school! So we delved in head first. Though their naivety is sweet they take to heart anything that adults, teachers or people of importance say.

So we had a huge talk or rather a bunch of little ones. First we talked about same sex marriage. Josh had never heard of any one being attracted to the same gender. Emily on the other hand, who I might remind you is in KINDERGARTEN, had heard of it. We talked about what it meant to "spread the wealth around." We even talked about socialized health care. This one really effects us. We have always paid oodles in health care. As nice as government provided insurance sounds for the average person, it actually makes it very difficult for people with extra medical needs to get the care they need. Specialized and extensive health care for kids like Josh, who requires a whole team of Cystic Fibrosis specialist, becomes not just more expensive, but extremely difficult to attain.

All in all it was a really wonderful experience. We taught them that they should always look at both sides of an issue. The next step is comparing the issues with what the Lord has said and then make their own decision. We also reminded them that not everyone is going to feel the same way about issues, but we should love everyone. Even people we love, teachers & adults may not feel the same, but we can always know for ourselves what is right through our Heavenly Father. He will help us to know truth.

In the end, Josh was really motivated to have his voice heard and vote online. I love to see his own motivation and patriotism!

Pet deprived

Our kids are apparently pet deprived. I know it's sad. We've had a few fish, a bunny on loan (another story completely), and lately a kitty. One morning a couple of months ago, a little cat stumbled into our yard. He seemed very tame, but lost. We gave it some water and some tuna. The kids were so hopeful to keep this cat for their own. I was even beginning to soften up, despite my allergy to felines. That cat was pretty darn cute! The deal was, if the cat was still in the yard when the children returned from school, we'd consider keeping it. To their utter disappointment, he was gone. Our "Kitty" does return often to visit though. They love to play with it and hold it. Here is Emily, trying to put a leash on the cat. The leash belongs to her toy dog and apparently no one ever told her cats don't do leashes. She was pretty persistent and patient though. You can see the gleam of success on her face when her goal was finally accomplished.

Baby Brawl

At the pack meeting I noticed that we were sitting right next to the Jensen and Wood families. Both have baby boys that were born just before Adam. After the first half of the scout meeting the babies were antsy and wanted down to explore a little on the ground. Adam immediately loved finding these new friends. Kids this age aren't exactly gentle with others and they are still a little awkward (sorry again to the Horne's baby who had his hair pulled and head slammed into the church pew by Adam. Really it was all done in great love!) Anyway. We always wondered what Adam and the other boys would do if left to themselves. My money was definitely on our big guy Adam!

The greet / The tackle


The Bonk / The Recovery

I guess we learned that Adam is more a lover than a fighter. Kneeling on his knees didn't help Ad's balance much when he was "attacked" by Caleb. Though Caleb had all the moves, Adam did perfect the art of retreat and sped away with a super crawl. Yep, he left that kid in the dust! Little Aiden Wood (in the brown) played the role of innocent bystander. I supposed we should have been more on top of the issue, but we were too busy hysterically laughing. Please note, no babies were actually hurt in the recording of this incident.