Thanksgiving in NM

We spent Thanksgiving in Deming this year. Nothing too flashy or spectacular. Just good times with family and hanging out. As we were playing at our favorite park in Deming, I noticed something that I had never noticed before. The kids had THE BEST time running around in all the fallen leaves. They were making piles, jumping in and covering themselves up in leaves. So I was thinking....hmmm....why don't the kids do this in Chandler? Because we leave in an area of neat-freaks!!! I had to laugh because any time there are leaves on the ground, there's a landscaper close by with his blower! So, it was kinda fun to hang out where leaves are allowed to fall--and stay--on the ground.

Just for a good laugh!

So a friend of mine posted this on her blog a little over a year ago and it just cracks me up!!! I actually had to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday about Gratitude and I actually used a portion of this in it! I was a little nervous about quoting something I saw on You Tube, but I think it went over well:)

Max is THE MAN!!!

Our little Maxwell never ceases to amaze us! He is a FANTASTIC student at school and his teacher just adores him. I'm always a little nervous when talking to any teacher of Max because he says some of the darndest things sometimes (what I call Max-isms). For instance, one of the FIRST questions Mrs. Lombardi (his current Kindergarten teacher) asked me at parent-teacher conference was, "What is a 'Dead Bed?'" If you need a reminder of what the "Dead Bed" is then click here:) So yes, I can see how that would sound very odd coming from one of your students. But I'm glad she let me explain.

But anyways, Max just received a HUGE award from school. He was the only one chosen from his entire class to have "Donuts with the Dean." He got to miss class to go an do this too! My other kids have gotten principal awards but this is totally new to us. Max got to have donuts with the head hauncho!!! Way to go Max! (Oh my gosh!!! He actually JUST smiled for this picture:)


He was soo excited for this!!! He kept saying, "This is THE BEST weekend EVER!!! I get to go trick-or-treating on Saturday AND Sunday AND I get to have donuts with the dean on Monday!" We are soo proud of you Maxwell!!! Keep up the great work!

Halloween 2010

Okay...catching up....slowly but surely:) Halloween was pretty darn fun this year! The kids picked out their costumes SEVERAL weeks ago so they were really excited to finally get to wear them!!! So here they are:

Carlie was Cleopatra


Ethan was "The Unknown Phantom"


Max was a "Skeleton Zombie"


And Tatum was a purple fairy (Carlie wore this costume when she was 3 as well--brought back fond memories:) Dang she's CUTE!!!


Here are the beloved Jack-o-laterns that dad carves out every year with his power tools:)




We had our ward "Trunk-or-Treat" night on Saturday, Oct. 30th. We let the kids go around our neighborhood on Sunday but they mostly just handed out candy. We have realized over the years that this is the one night of the year we actually see and socialize with some of our neighbors so we felt it appropriate to sit out on our porch and mingle! We had a GREAT time and as usual got WAY TOO MUCH candy (but that's okay because it goes right into my piano prize box about 2 days later--the kids are too tired of it by then to care:)

Pumpkin Patch 2010

This is my MOST favorite Packer Preschool field trip of every year! I've actually never missed it. So this was my 7th time going because each of my older kids have each gone twice (once with their 3 year old class and then again with their 4 year old class). Mrs. Packer does such a great job pulling this off every year. This year proved to be quite tricky because of all the rain we got in October! The day we were actually scheduled to go was cancelled because of all the damage caused by a hail storm. Soo...we had to postpone about 11 days. But we made it and the kids had a great time!

Here's the girls: Tatum, Chloe Varvel, and Natalie Park


Tatum and Chloe were quite the posers! Every time I said, "Look at me!" Their hands went on their hips! (Who teaches them these things?!) Royce Durling is sure cute in the second picture!



Cutie Patootie on the tractor! (Farm girl at heart)


It was a hard choice but Tatum found her pumpkin:)


The decorating (SOO glad they don't use paint anymore:)


The hayride/petting zoo:


The mama pig had JUST given birth to 11 piglets the night before we got there! SOO STINKIN' CUTE!



Here's the entire Packer Preschool crew! (3 & 4 year olds)

Fall Break 2010

Wow! It's been almost a month since my last blog post! I've definitely got some catching up to do. I thought every thing would slow back down once the kids went back to school--WRONG!!! I have been INSANELY busy to say the least! I've been working on my other blog and soldering charms like a madwoman trying to keep up with orders and trying to get ready for the upcoming "Country Chic Boutique." All of my busyness is completely self-inflicted so no sympathy is warranted! But it's all good! I'm definitely happiest when I'm busy and productive:)

Soo....Fall break. We didn't do anything earth-shattering or exciting but we were productive! Chris was gone to Washington D.C. for a big chunk of the break so it wasn't like I was going to load up the kids and head to Disneyland! The kids all set a goal to be accomplished in the 2 weeks and they followed through with it and I am soo proud of all of them.

Carlie is a phenomenal little musician and is has set out to master the her newest instrument--the flute. I started teaching her this past summer and she is progressing quite nicely. I eventually want her to switch to oboe--similar instrument but not nearly as popular. She's been begging to make the switch but I'm insisting on her finishing out the semester on the flute. So....we set a goal of learning 6 of the 12 major scales this fall break and by golly...she did it! YEA CARLIE!!! But I'm still holding strong to the "No oboe until I hear 12 major scales on the flute" rule:) Sorry girl! Stick it out! (Like it's even hard for her;)

Ethan has been working really hard on his school work performance. His teacher sent him home with a cursive writing homework packet and a suggested reading list. Well, Ethan actually finished the entire writing packet and we finished reading an entire chapter book and started his book report for next quarter. Poor Ethan got really sick during the break! He got some kind of virus--no one else caught anything! He was also getting some molars in which made for some serious headaches!!! Poor guy!!! I actually took him in to see his dentist--Dr. Welch. I even had them x-ray his head!!! I just wanted to check on the hematoma and make sure it hadn't become infected. BTW...little update...Ethan's non-cancerous hematoma is now officially gone!!! YEAH!!! No surgery needed this year! Small little miracle in and of itself! Prayers were definitely answered!

Maxwell was my biggest challenge!!! He has been fighting us on the bike thing for a while now!!! We thought it would be easy to teach him to ride a 2-wheel bike. Well....he needed lots of time (what I lacked) and patience (what Dad lacked). Soo...this was the right time because I had both time and patience over the break (since I took a week off of piano:) Well...WE DID IT!!!! YEA FOR MAX!!! SOO proud of this boy! He LOVES to ride his bike everywhere! He likes to call himself "a professional." (And no...the boy can't JUST smile for the camera:)


Funny side note...we spent a lot of time outdoors this break on bikes. Carlie just got a new bike and helmet for Christmas. Max just inherited Ethan's bike and helmet. Ethan hit a major growth spurt recently and the only bike we have that is his size is Carlie's old princess bike:) And for a helmet...he chose to use his baseball helmet. Poor guy!!! He looks like the step-child of the family!!! But he doesn't even care!!! But WE LOVE YOU ANYWAYS Ethan and I'm thinking Santa may bring you a new bike and helmet:)

Tatum Jane needed a goal too! But she was NOT going to be left out of the bike-riding:) I just love this pics of my little "farm girl" on her John Deere bike and pink cowboy boots. These pics are sure going to make Papa Frank proud!


We also decided that she should learn to write her whole first name. I put Carlie in charge of this. Lots of fighting and tears--from both girls (girls=drama) but goal accomplished! YEA Tatum!!! I'm not sure how the teachers will like the two dots above the "U" in her name (she thinks all "U"s should have two dots above them to make them happy faces) but I'm not correcting that! I like it that way too:)