Passive Aggressive Much?

So lately we have been having a problem with our new neighbors next door. They have a pretty steep driveway and have been parking up on their lawn right by their door. When they pull out, they will cross over into our yard and exit through our driveway. It has become a problem because they drive very close to our water meter and almost hit it. We have tried parking in the driveway to prevent it, but they just don't get the message. Tonight Jer has had enough and I caught him digging a hole for a cross- arm post to block the area by the water meter. 

I asked him why not just knock on the door and ask them to please not drive on our yard again. He laughed and said I don't do good talking with people. 

Oh boy! He is a nut!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Jeremiah was so excited this year to be able to order lights from YW to put up on our house! In the past we would only decorate around windows or railings because we were only renting, and that was the easiest way to do it. 

I never realized how satisfying it is to be able to decorate and do whatever you want to your home and not have to worry about landlords not liking it.

New Traditions!

Grandma Liggett sent us the Elf on a Shelf! Everyone was so excited. He have told the kids in years past that the elves are watching. Now they are able to actually see the elf that is watching. We read the book the night before and the next morning our special elf appeared. The Children are able to talk to him and name him but they are not allowed to touch him or his magic will go away. He is able to talk to the parents but Santa asked him not to speak to the kids. He shows he is listening by the sweet smile on his face. 

The kids named him Sneaky the Elf and every morning they race each other to see who will find him first! Even Dallas loves to talk to Sneaky. They behave so much better when Sneaky is watching! Every evening while the kids sleep, Sneaky flies back to Santa to report and every morning he comes back into a different spot! 

Day 1 he hung on the TV. Day two he is on the Christmas tree star! Such fun! Definitely a great tradition! Thank you Grandma!!!

Decorating for Christmas!

Christmas time is fast approaching! We got out all of the Christmas decorations. Dallas so so funny! He kept bouncing all over the house yelling "Yeah! It's my Christmas time!" Goofy kid! The big kids were so excited to find their old ornaments and made me take pictures of them holding them. I just love this time of year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! This year, I am so grateful for awesome family and friends that we have in our lives. We have a home of our own and chickens and for the most part, everyone is happy and healthy. I feel very thankful this year!

We had Jer's mom and dad come over as well as our friends the Luceros. We weren't as cramped as I thought we would be and I felt pretty comfortable. We served the food buffet style and the kids sat at a foldable table. Everyone ate a lot, laughed a lot and had a good time. Jer cooked the turkey on the Tregar grill again this year with maple wood chips. It was very yummy! Jer's mom brought frogeye salad and sweet potatoes, Janae made some yummy deserts and mashed potatoes, while I made rolls, stuffing, green beans with bacon and onions, gravy, pumpkin pie and cherry cheesecake. We had plenty to eat and lots of left overs. It might have been a little overkill. Ha ha! I am just glad we had someone to share it with since last year we were all by ourselves for Thanksgiving.

Since the Lucero family came to our house on Thursday, we returned the favor by eating their Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday. It was very good. I love to see all the different traditions families have! Although everything was amazing, I can officially say, I am 100 percent turkied out! hehe!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

Brave!

This past weekend, we watched the movie Brave. We have really wanted to see it ever since it came out in theaters but going to the movies is so expensive these days.

I absolutely loved it! There was such a good message to it. I say, it is one of the best animated movies of the year!

My kids must have loved it too because Brooklyn and Mason went into the office the next day and made these really great masks out of craft paper. Brooklyn was Merida and Mason was Angus her horse. Brooklyn also made Dallas a little blue mask so he could be a wisp but he wouldn't wear it. No surprise here!

I love how imaginative my kids are lately! Love it!!!

Mommy and Dal Time!

Now that the big kids are in school. Dallas and I have lots of much needed mommy and me time! I am loving  this time spent together. I am learning all about what he loves to do and what makes him happy. Dallas loves Blues Clues! Dallas loves to help me clean the house. We sure have loved being able to go out once in a while just Jer, Dallas and I to eat lunch. So far Dallas's favorite books are "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You" and "Pajama Time". He loves to ask me to read these two books over and over again! Dallas is such a character and I am loving this little guy!

Caramel Apples

It is officially November! To me that means cooking with the kids and making all sorts of goodies. Jer's mom and dad gave us these caramel apple wraps. Friday the 2nd, we tried them out. Brooklyn and Mase had so much fun making them and especially eating them! It just puts me in the mood for the Holidays coming up.

Recycling

It amazes me all of the time how nice it is to have our little chickens.

1st- our kids are learning the value of being responsible for them. They let them out and put them away every  morning and night. They check for eggs and check on their water and food levels.

2nd- Chickens are really really low maintenance we don't need to clean up their droppings because they are very good for the ground. The chickens eat our left over scraps and weeds.

3rd- I haven't had to buy eggs since they started laying. I also love the fact that the kids are learning to sell them and earn money through them. It helps them learn the value of money as well.

This picture if of the chickens eating our old jack o lanterns. It just feels so good to be able to recycle. Normally I would have to throw these in the trash right after Halloween but this year, the chickens got to eat as much of the pumpkin flesh as they wanted first. So nice! 

Progress in School

I have to admit I was worried about the kids starting school again. I am now convinced that if we are good at keeping up our Family scripture reading, family prayers, and Family Home Evenings, the kids are thriving. Brooklyn loves having other children around to share and compete with.

She came home last week with an award in Reading Plus. She has leveled up and I can sure tell a difference in her reading. What a big girl! We are so proud of her.

Our Halloween 2012!

Well Halloween was quite an interesting affair this year. All was smooth until the older kids came home from school, then it was a mad dash to hurry and get changed into costumes and rush over to the Main Street Park to begin trick or treating down the street.

Dallas decided he did not want to wear his costume one bit and proceeded to knock the wind out of me. He decided it wasn't so bad when I didn't make him wear the mask. Mason and Brooklyn were big helpers and got dressed into their hero costumes on their own since I was pretty busy. Mason went as Batman and Brooklyn as a firefighter girl! It was chaotic at times but we managed to stay together to all the stores.

The kids really loved stopping by daddy's work and seeing him and the ghost towns they made. Usually my favorite part of trick or treating down main street is to stop by the Nursing Center there but they ran out of candy before we got there. We did go in to just say hello but the residents kept telling us to just come back. They didn't understand that we didn't mind not having candy.

Afterwards I ended up at the park while the kids played for a bit. While at the park, Brooklyn accidentally broke a cowboy friend's gun. She felt so badly that she broke down crying to and begged me to give her candy away. I tried to calm her and she told the cowboy's mother sorry. Aw we were leaving the park, I lost my camera. I was so upset with myself! I practically live with my camera. It is not fancy but it is the one thing that I do consistently. I take pictures of my family! We went back and tried to look but no one had seen it.

I stopped back by Jer's work and he came to help me look. Luckily a kind woman found it and gave it back.  (One reason to be grateful for small towns.)

We went home to eat some dinner before taking the kids to a couple friend's homes to trick or treat. As we were driving I told Jeremiah to slow down. He argued back that he wasn't even going above the speed limit and proceeded to press the gas a little too hard. We passed a policeman who was on the corner and he stopped us right away. He called it "excessive acceleration" even though we weren't speeding. I thought I'd help out by saying it was my fault for arguing. That is when the policeman said "oh so I can give you a citation for distracting the driver?" Luckily he didn't, and we left with just a warning. We went to a couple houses but by that time, I was completely out of the Halloween mood. Maybe next year will be better.