Kindergarten Christmas Program

On Tuesday Kaitlyn was in her first Christmas Program. She was very nervous about everyone watching however she did a wonderful job with her class. The kids all had Christmas presents that they made for the parents after the program. They were tiny handprints that were painted . Very cool. I wanted to wait to open the present at Christmas however she was so excited I opened it up right there.

Tree Decorating

After dinner on Sunday the kids and I decorated the tree. The kids have been asking for weeks when Christmas is and are already searching the house for their presents. Grant is my little Christmas boy. Everything about Christmas is extra exciting to him. Lights, ornaments, everything. It was so fun to watch him get the christmas boxes out. We are taking the kids on the Northwest Santa Train on Saturday. It is a total surprise for them. Should be a great time!

The 2007 Christmas Tree hunt!

Last weekend we went up in the hills to get a tree. A few friends joined us as well as my parents who rode up with us in the truck. My Dad's foot is still healing from surgery so he was marooned in the truck and could not walk around. He drove while we got out to look in he meadows. We had a great time trudging through the snow and driving around looking for the trees. Kasey found a perfect one. We also got to see some deer on the way up. The snow was quite deep in some places. Nothing better than the smell of the Christmas tree in the house.

The alphabet children

My kiddos found some of my teaching stuff . They are alphabet strips to put on the kid's desks. They found a whole roll and had the best time. Silly little ones....

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

Last Friday we went to Kaitlyn's classroom to join her for lunch. The kids were all dressed up.

Miss Rosie...

This is the newest member of our family. Her name is Rosie. Our black lab Mojo is totally loving having a buddy to play with. This picture was taken in September when she was about 11 weeks old. She is a total cuddle bug. When we let the dogs in the house the first thing she does is jump on the couch and wait for me to sit down so she can sit in my lap.

Three day weekend...

Hello all, Kasey and I both took Monday off to make it a three day weekend. Kailtyn and Grant both do not have school tommorow either. Earlier in the week we decided to go camping up in hills. The kids have been talking about it all week and have had such a hard time waiting because they were so excited to "go up in the mountains" as Grant says. Saturday Justin, Becca, Rachel & Dailey joined us in the afternoon with Logan and Landon. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Jack came up later to join us too for dinner. Justin brought up Logan and Landon's little four wheelers and we brought our big fourwheeler and borrowed Grandpa Jacks too. Gramdma and Grandpa even brought up some fresh elk cube steak. Yum.. My little girl has decided that she LOVEs to ride the little fourwheelers. She hopped on and off she went. Mommy did okay with it. I think Daddy and Uncle Justy were a bit more worried. Pretty soon she was tearing around camp and going up the hills. I think we are going to have to find something with horsepower for her instead of the actual horse. She is definately the daredevil of the family. Granters was a bit unsure of the little fourwheeler. Justin tried to follow behind him and eventually Aunt Becca hopped on with him and away they went too. Sunday we got up and had breakfast and went on a long ride. By the time we got back to camp we all were chilled to the bone. We cleaned up camp and headed out. Granters had been wanting to stop by the apple tree and pick some apples in one of the meadows on the way out we did. Had to reach up pretty high as the animals had cleaned off everything in reach. Good thing Daddy is tall. He shook the branches so the apples would fall off. The kids and I gathered them up. I think an apple cobbler is on order tommorow...

and Granters too

A look back at little Kaitlyn

An afternoon of cookie decorating with Theresa & Jacque

Today the kids were treated to a very special afternoon. Theresa and Jacque took them out to lunch, they decorated cookies, and went to the park to play. I enjoyed a nice few hours to myself as Kasey was at fire school. I kinda didn't know what to do exactly however I ended up reading the paper and a magazine. For me that was very relaxing. The kiddos got home about 4pm and had a lot to tell me. Kaitlyn was very proud of her cookie decorating skills and Grant had collected Horse Chestnuts at the park. We put them in a cup for him. He kept wondering why we would giggle when he would ask "where are my nuts?" All in all a great day. We are heading to Dailey's birthday party in a few minutes. Wow, she is already one year old. Kasey's fire training went well. He came home very tired and had spent most of the day completeing different stations for their drill. We are very proud of him as he has put in a lot of hours and studying into this and is now an offical volunteer firefighter! Thanks Theresa and Jacque for the fun afternoon with the kids! They had a wonderful time!

A trip to Harvest Fest in Cle Elum

Last weekend my mom and I took the kiddos on a road trip went to Harvest Fest in Cle Elum. It was perfect fall weather, although it was a bit drizzly and cool. The kids didn't seem to mind at all. We rode on the wagon, bobbed for apples, went throught the corn maze, saw the famous Performing Pigs, and Kaitlyn even rode the mechical bull. This week has been busy too. On Tuesday, Kaitlyn's class went to the pumpkin patch for a fieldtrip. It was almost 70 degrees too. The kids quickly peeled off their coats. Mrs. Krogstadt was Kaitlyn's substitute teacher for the afternoon (or Shirley as Kaitlyn quickly corrected me! hee hee) It was fun to help all the kids with their pumpkin journals too. It reminded me how much I miss teaching. Granters had a busy week at preschool too. He loves to bring trucks to share with the other boys. All of us are fighting colds too so hopefully this weekend slows down a bit so we have time to rest. Kasey has his last day of fire training tommorow where they get to practice in an actual burning house and it is also Dailey's 1st Birthday party.

Kaitlyn's first tooth fairy visit

Officially the first time the tooth fairy has been to our house. Silly girl went to school yesterday with a very loose tooth and came home with the tooth missing. Must be somewhere on the playground.

Jack-O-Lanterns

Here are the kids pumpkins all carved. They scooped out the insides and drew on the faces they wanted.

Pumpkin patch

Last weekend we visited the pumpkin patch. The kiddos had fun picking out the perfect pumpkin. Kaitlyn picked one just her size. Grant picked on that was huge. Savannah went with us too. I think the kids favorite part was riding the ponies. They even tried the gunny sack race. Kaitlyn did really good however Granters legs were just a little too short and he couldn't get the hang of jumping forward. He finished the race though in his own time. Grandma Mary was there too along with Justin, Becca, Dailey and Rachel. Even ran into Grant's preschool teacher Michelle. Lindsey, Connor, and Aubree were there at the same time too however somehow we missed seeing them. Was definately the gathering of everyone in town. It was a fun afternoon for sure and great weather. After the kids got home they painted their pumpkins.

Kids just wanna have fun!

Kaitlyn had her friend Savannah over on Friday night. They had so much fun. The girls are very good at letting Grant play with them which is nice.

Kaitlyn's drawing

My cousin recently had a little boy and we got her a card and a gift. Kailtyn was so excited to write her name in the card and draw a picture. Man, she is growing up so fast.

Tractor Rides & Threshing Bee

A few weeks ago we took the kiddos to the Annual Threshing Bee here at the Olmstead Park. Grant had such a hard time picking out his favorite and of course they had to "ride" all of the tractors. There was a balloon man there too so both the kids got balloon hats. It ended up being a very fun day.

1st Day of School

As you can see it has been a busy few months for us. Here are some pictures of Kaitlyn's first day of kindergarten and Grant's first day back to preschool after the summertime. I was so proud of her on the 1st day of kindergarten. She got herself all dresssed too! I walked her to her classroom and in she went. Wow, how fast they grow! When she got home I got to hear everything about her day! Granters loved being back with his buddies at preschool.