Merry Christmas 2008!!

Christmas was awesome at our house! Our kids must have been better than I thought because Santa brought them LOTS of presents!!
If you asked Samantha what she wanted for Christmas, she would say "Ming Ming"-- a duck from the Wonderpets. No one really believed her... but she did! And Grandpa Bill got her one. Ming Ming is cool...she dances and sings and all the kids like it!

Here is a picture we took on Christmas, in the evening. Daddy took the picture. And Colby was miserable and refused to be in the photo! It was a very long day, and so that's why Colby was miserable. We woke up, opened gifts, then went to Mike and Renee's for a party, home to visit with Grammy and Wally and then off to Grandpa Bill's. Whew! It was a long day! Thankfully Daddy was off of work on Friday so we had a nice quiet family day at home.

Look, it's Santa!!

Here is Owen with his stocking.

Here are the 4 kids on Christmas morning, before opening gifts....
They woke us up at 6 a.m. They were very very excited! They ripped right into their presents and it didn't take them very long.... but it was really fun to watch them. Owen of course didn't open his own gifts so we opened them for him. He didn't care at all. :-)
Everyone was happy with what they got.
Sam got a lap desk, Heelys, a razor scooter, some art stuff, a bat bag for softball, a vest
Will got Heelys, a robot, a toolbox and tools, some legos, origami stuff
Colby got a flying turtle, some games, some legos, a toy helicopter, the Star Wars trilogy DVDs
Owen got a gym to play under, some books, a stuffed seahorse, a toothbrush!
Art got some war DVDs, some wine, a new camping chair, some jeans, cashews!
And I got a LAPTOP!! Yes, other things too, but I love my LAPTOP!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Anyone want me to send them some snow??

We were hit with a snowstorm again! On Saturday we had to cancel our plans to go to Pennsylvania for a family Christmas party, which really really upset the kids. But there was so much snow, and it snowed all day long, so we were glad that we had decided to stay home.
Art loves the snow! Especially when he can plow with his quad! Here is a pic of him and Will plowing. It made Will feel so happy to help his dad.

Uh oh...Owen was sad too...and here is the proof!! I was so happy to get this picture. Ha ha...only a scrapbooking mom would say that!!

On Sunday, when we had even MORE snow... Art hooked a rope to the quad and drove the kids around!! They had so much fun!!
This is Colby!!

And this is Will...

And this is Art pulling Will up the hill.
You can see that it is still snowing a lot by the coloring.. it was early afternoon in this photo.

Oh- and on Saturday the boys tested for tae kwon do-- the are now PURPLE belts!!
Well, off to do Christmas-things!!

Snow Fun!

Colby's friend Evan came over after school on Wednesday to play with him.
Evan's mom was playing with Owen and Owen was smiling and smiling- it was so cute! He was blowing bubbles too, and talking and babbling... he is getting such a cute personality!!! I love it.

Evan and Colby made a snowman! It was so adorable- they went outside with a plan to build a snowman... but Colby spent a lot of time laying on the ground while Evan did the work!! They ended up making a 3-ball-high snowman... and decorated his face with rocks and carrots. He also had sticks for arms. And of course, a scarf and hat to finish it off!

Colby and Evan

Colby and Evan by their finished snowman...!!

The snow that day was perfect for snowmen and snowball fights, which my kids had when Evan went home...
And today it is snowing again. They're saying we could get 7-12 inches... and it's been coming down steadily for the past 2 hours so we just may! The kids have already been out sledding. And school closed early today, and tae kwon do is cancelled again... and so is basketball. So I'll be home with the kids (Art is working of course...) and we'll probably just wrap gifts or something....

Tomorrow we're supposed to head out to Pennsylvania for a family Christmas party... here's hoping the snow isn't too much for us to go...

What an adventure!!!

So.... what did YOU did this past weekend?
Read on to see what WE did!

On Thursday they cancelled school in anticipation of a storm... we were supposed to get freezing rain and 2-4 inches of snow.

Well, instead of that, we got a HUGE ICE STORM!

The first picture shows the icicles that formed underneath the new deck... it was neat to look at!

This second picture is Owen next to our tree-- our "Charlie Brown Tree" that Grandma Lorna sent us!! We put it in the basement and thought it was funny that Owen is almost as tall as the tree is!

So on Thursday they cancelled school, and we had all 7 kids here. It was icy, so what better thing to do than go sledding?? The kids grabbed their sleds and went sledding on the ice- for almost 2 hours! They had a ball. And aside from the freezing rain, which didn't seem to bother them... it really wasn't too cold.
It did end up snowing, but we only got a dusting... and that dusting didn't stay for long at all. BUT-- it did convince the kids to go back out sledding a second time. Of course, that time they got covered in mud because now it was very wet!!

Here are some sledding pictures...















Sarah, Sam, Will, Sami, Colby, and Nick













Going over the jump...eeks! Don't let Mommy see you do that!!













Colby trying to snowboard in the backyard.















On Thursday night, the ice came. Freezing rain and lots of ice. We lost power in the night and woke up to ice everywhere. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but it was *so pretty*. Ice everywhere, and no lights... with the sun shining bright, it was so cool to look at.












With no power, we only had lanterns and candles to see with. Here is a picture of the kids coloring in the living room by lantern light.


And this bottom picture I LOVE!! The 3 kids by the lantern!!

We actually had so much fun in power outage. We had the woodstove for heat, so we were nice and toasty warm. We all slept in the basement with like a campout. We were able to cook on the woodstove, and Art also brought in the camping stove. So we had soups and sandwiches and hot cocoa and french toast too!!
During the day used the daylight, but it got dark really early... One night we played L, C, R by lamplight (samantha won $2.50). Another night we let the kids watch a DVD (we were really surprised the battery in the portable player wasn't dead!!)
On Saturday we went and got a tree. It was full of ice, so we had to thaw it out in the garage with a portable heater!! And on Sunday we decorated it by daylight... of course, we couldn't test the lights... but it's okay, they all work!!
Aunt Amy invited us over for dinner on Sunday. And Grammy made us meatballs for Saturday. I did some laundry at Grammy's and also was able to shower there (thank goodness!) We didn't lose water, but of course we had no hot water.
We played board games, read books, colored... and cleaned when it was daylight. It's amazing how much you can get done without the TV, computer, and phone to draw your attention away. (Yea we lost phone too).
It was a tad bit of an inconvenience... but it was great!
The boys were supposed to test for tae kwon do on Thursday, but it was cancelled, and rescheduled for Saturday morning... so Art took them to prebowl on Thursday instead. And then instead they scheduled it for Friday, and cancelled that too. And on Saturday all the basketball games were cancelled. So we were basically *F*R*E*E* on Saturday!! On Sunday Will did have a basketball game. They lost, but it was a fun game and believe me, great to watch. I LOVE Will's team this year... they are such a good fit for him!!

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have pics of our tree up soon.
Oh and Art is working nights again, so I'm off to figure out dinner (did I mention we have no food because everything spoiled???) and bring Sam to basketball practice. Have a great night!

It's Monday again!

I'm getting so excited!! Only 17 days until Christmas!
I'm getting so stressed! Only 17 days until Christmas!!

I think my last update was 5 days ago... so let's see, what has happened since then?
Art worked the evening shift every night last week. It was doable, but difficult.

My Girl Scout troop went to Candyland on Wednesday and made Gingerbread houses! Only 4 girls showed up, so it was a nice small group. Sam was pegged as a "perfectionist" by the woman who was in charge. It was pretty funny!
Thankfully my mom watched Will and Colby for me, and brought them to tae kwon do. They are supposed to test this Thursday so they need to get in their time. They will go tonight and hopefully will both have approval to test (Colby already does.)

Thursday night was stressful!! Colby had cub scouts, at the same time Will had basketball, and basketball was in East Greenbush. Luckily the coach was willing to bring him to and from practice. The rest of us went to cub scouts. They made paper (see the pictures) which was really neat. Colby's was green- it's in the living room right now. It's like no one wants to touch it for fear we will rip it! We made it through scouts, even though Colby lost his neckerchief, slide, and book... ugh! We got the neckerchief and slide back... now we just need to find the book.

On Friday night, I was running like crazy! Luckily, Colby went to a friend's house after school and was invited to spend the night. Aaah-- one kid down!! At 7, Samantha went to her Very first school dance! She had loads of fun! She "dressed up" in a nice pink shirt and jeans. She met her friends Bella and Anna there. I went in at the end to pick her up, and watched her do the Chicken dance and the Conga. It was cute. My little baby is growing up!!!
Also at 7, Will had Cub Scouts... so I dropped him off there. They worked on their first aid badge at the ambulance garage. Apparently I was late picking him up...or rather, they got done earlier than expected... because he called home and left a message to pick him up!
But I wasn't home because at 7, I was also supposed to be at my sister's house to celebrate my Aunt Terry's 50th birthday! It worked out, that even though I got ther at 7:15, Terry didn't show up until 7:30! It was nice to see everyone... and they loved seeing Owen. It was so weird to only have the baby with me!! My little (cousin?) Jada got a lesson in breastfeeding... she was so curious, and so I had to explain what I was doing. But I was honest about it and I don't see anything wrong with it. I wasn't quite comfortable being the one to explain it... but I figure I'm in the best position to do it! The funniest part was when she lifted the blanket "It's covering his face!" and then was so surprised and said "He's sucking on you!" My Aunt Tina had to walk away laughing!...


On Saturday morning Colby had basketball try outs. Nothing big, just to see who is on what team. Art brought him there, and I brought Will bowling. Nothing exciting at bowling this week.

Then at noon Sam had her first basketball game! They lost, but only by 1 basket! It was a very exciting game because it was a close score the whole time. Samantha was so fun to watch- it's awesome when it's your kid who is one of the best players!! She got a few baskets and even some fouls :)

Samantha and Will spent the night with Theresa and Chuck and Desiree. Colby was supposed to, but he has had a VERY poor attitude and had to be punished, so we kept him home. Theresa fed them ziti and lasagna, so they were happy as can be!!
Art and I had some friends over on Saturday night. (By the way, gotta give a shout out to my best friend Pam! Hi Pam! She reads my blog too and I've never mentioned her...) Anyways, Pam and Corey and some other friends came over. The guys drank and played darts. Poor Art had a hangover all day yesterday!! It was loads of fun. Some "adult interaction" is always fun for a SAHM!!

Yesterday we woke up to snow! A good dusting, and icy roads... yuck. Thank goodness we bought Sam new boots! Now we need to get Will some. And gloves for all of them. Where do they go???
Sam went to my niece Braelyn's birthday party yesterday. It was a FANCY NANCY party, and the little girls dressed Sam up with make up and did her hair! I can't wait to see pictures! And then my Girl Scouts went ice skating. I didn't want to go, especially with Owen since it would be so cold.. so Art went with her and they enjoyed it.

Will went to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra last night with Grandpa Bill!!

Today Owen went to the dr. for his 2 months check up. He had to have 2 shots and another vaccine that he swallowed. (actually, he spit most of it back out...) I hated him getting his shots but it was over quick and he didn't cry for too too long... And he fell asleep on the way home and is still sleeping 2 hours later...
STATS:

Owen 8 weeks old : 13 pounds 3 ounces, 24 1/2 inches long
Samantha 9 weeks old: 9 pounds 2 1/2 ounces, 22 1/2 inches long
Will 8 weeks old: 14 pounds 7 1/2 ounce, 25 inches long
Colby 8 weeks old: 15 pounds 5 ounces, 25 inches long

Busy!!

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. We did here.
Samantha went with Grandpa Bill in the morning to deliver turkey dinners to the less fortunate. She really enjoyed it, even though (of course) there were some *situations*. Imagine getting pulled over by the police when you're out feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving morning with your grandpa? Ha ha.
And then Grandpa joined us for turkey dinner--yum yum! We didn't fry the turkey this year, we just cooked it in the over. It made the house smell so good!! We spent a lot of that day in the basement putting together a puzzle (that never got finished...)

Owen has been smiling more and more... doesn't he look so sweet in that top picture? He was actually napping- you have to wonder what he was dreaming about! :)

I took our Christmas card photo on Thanksgiving too. This second photo is a pic we took but didn't use. Don't my children look like raggamuffins? Aaah, but I love them so much!! Owen looks so out of place in the photo-- not looking at the camera, and oh so small....!

And another mommy and Owen picture! We had a couple of friends over one night to play darts into the wee hours of the morning, and of course Owen stayed up too... most of the time anyways. We tried to get a picture of me and him with him smiling, but it's almost like he knows what we want and just want to do it!!

The next picture is Owen with his new double chin. Seriously, where did that come from? It's like it showed up all of a sudden one day. I do think the hat makes him look a bit chubbier. And don't you just LOVE that outfit? It's a zutanto outfit that I got from another mama... I just love
it. I'm hoping it still fits him next week when he goes for his 2 month photo shoot. And if not, at least I got some cute pictures of him in it. It's size 0-6 months and he's only 7 weeks... oh well.

And that last picture, I can almost imagine him thinking "Oh Samantha, WHAT are you doing to me?"
Samantha did a little photo shoot of her own, with Owen and all of her dolphins on her bed. I didn't look at my camera aftewards, and I when I uploaded them there were about 30 pictures!! At least there are some very cute ones! It was neat to see the way she posed the baby, and placed the props. A photographer in the making??

I have to say: everything is not well here at our house. Unfortunately, Art has been put back on evening shifts... working 3-11... meaning, he leaves around 2:15. Which is about 20 minutes before the first batch of kids comes home from school. And last night I couldn't sleep until he got home, which means I was up until around midnight. This morning he got up with me at 6:30, but I don't think he'll do that tomorrow morning!! And of course that means I am on my own for all of the evening activities-- and we are SO busy...I hate having to choose which activity to skip for the night.. but at least there are some things that I can have the kids carpool to and from... I really hope he's not on that shift for too long....

But the good news is: There are only 24 days until Christmas!! The countdown has officially begun!! I am so excited! I'm such a little kid at Christmas! I am having so much fun doing my shopping... although there are a couple of people on my list who are just so difficult to buy for... and I am beginning to stress over them. Ugh.

Happy Tuesday again! I hope you all are well... and welcome to my new blog readers, Theresa and Chuck and **Desiree**!!!!! :-)

Happy Wednesday!!!

Owen is smiling now! It's so hard to get a picture of, though.
The top pic was taken a few days ago. A little bitty smile at Daddy.
The next was taken on Monday. It doesn't look quite like a smile, but trust me, it is! That one was for me!
And then the next two were from this morning. At me again! Owen looks like a little chub in those pics but he's really not. It's the angle.

Today the kids have a half day of school, for the thanksgiving holidays. We're going to bake
chocolate chip cookies! Yum!
I purposely bought two bags of chips...and we already ate one bag.

Not much else going on in our world today. Enjoy the new pics- and the Christmas music!!

Great gift idea!

I have never tried these candles, but head on over to Perfectly Scentsable for your chance to win some! They look really nice and you know me, I love anything that's free! Ha ha.

I think it's a great idea to offer to give some away, especially around the holidays. I imagine they smell *SOOO* nice! I LOVE candles!

Sunday

Hello!!
Today is Sunday!

I am sitting here in my bedroom on the computer and it is *warm* in here. Yes, hard to believe, but it is a nice and comfy 72 degrees. Not only is the air coming in from the woodstove... but Art insulated the window and the doors in here... there was a draft coming from the doors that he never really noticed until he sat at the computer himself!!

Went grocery shopping today and somehow managed to keep it at $110. Let's see if that can last us all week! I did have to buy Thanksgiving stuff, but no turkey, we already bought that. He's in our freezer!

As I mentioned, Art insulated our bedroom today. He also cleaned behind the computer and separated all the cords, and tied them up with little zip ties! It is so organized now! Thanks, hon!

Yesterday was a very busy day here.
Big news-- at bowling, Will got a TURKEY!! (For all you non-bowlers, that is 3 strikes in a row). We have always told him, if you get a turkey we will buy you cheese fries. So I bought him cheese fries... (such a rip off-- $5 and you don't even get a whole lot!) He was very proud though and we are proud of him! He is really coming along. Although he does need a new, bigger ball... so we have to get him one.

Then I took my Girl Scouts (and Will) to a tae kwon do place *not the one Will goes to* and they learned some self-defense moves. It was really neat! Will learned some different things and he was happy to show off what he already knew.

Colby didn't go because Grandpa Bill brought him to the movies- the new IMAX theater that opened up at the mall. He saw Madagascar 2.

Last night we went to a basketball game at the high school. It was a charity game-- teachers and staff from the high school versus teachers and staff from the elementary and middle school. The elementary and middle school team won! Which is who we were rooting for, seeing as that's the schools the kids are in! It was a very fun game. I absolutely love high school basketball games-- the crowds, the chants, just the overall atmosphere... And during half time they had a shooting contest... Will got a basket so he won a season pass to the high school home games!

Pictures:: The pictures in this post are:: First, a view of Will and Colby, who were sitting in front of the woodstove. I was standing at the top of the stairs. Where they are sitting is one of the best places-- it is so warm!! You get hot air blowing right on you!
The second picture is Sam and Owen. I love the picture because it relaly looks like Owen-- sometimes I don't think the pictures really like him :-)
And last, Owen, who has recently discovered his hands! He loves his hands. He's always got one in his mouth, trying to eat it. It's very cute! Until he gets hungry and realizes he can't get anything out of it!!

Have you heard of the book "Twilight"? I just read it. I started it Wednesday, and finished it today! What a great book! It's a vampire story. Meant for teens, but certainly held my interest. Samantha is reading it now. I hope she likes it as much as I did. There are 3 more books and I can't wait to read them! There is also the movie of course, but I don't want to see it until I read the books.

That's all for now. HAGD!

My 200th Blog Post!

Wow! 200 posts! I didn't realize I'd been at this blog thing for so long!

I haven't updated in a while so I have lot to say!
Owen had his picture taken on 11-12 for his "one month portrait". I was really hoping I wouldn't love them so that I wouldn't spend much money. But oh! I love them so much! I was in a hurry that day, so the photographer took her shots and then emailed them to me. I will go tomorrow and pick them. I think I will buy a few because they are just THAT cute!!

The reason I was in a hurry that day is in the second picture. That is Colby. Doesn't he look like someone punched him in the eye? That is his reaction to poison oak. He and Art were cutting down wood on Sunday, and they both ended up with it. Colby's doesn't exactly itch, but it made his eye swell up! So he had to go to the doctor, and he was put on steroids to get rid of it. As of today, it's still there, but much better.

On Wednesday night Samantha and I went to to dinner at the middle school, where the Kiwanis was thanking the kids in Kiwanis clubs.
Samantha is the secretary for the Builder's Club in the middle school! The teacher who runs their group told me she really wants Sam to be the president next year! I love that club so I'm glad she's a part of it!

Colby had Scouts on Thursday. He was supposed to bring a collection. He brought a garbage bag full of stuffed animals!! And now all of those stuffed animals are on his bed.

He had the Science Fair on Friday night too. His Cub Scout troop did an experiment with sound.
They made "phones" with 2 cups and string. Colby was very proud of his!!
I brought all 4 kids to the fair because Art's arms were so bad. His poison oak is terrible. All over his arms and just oozing puss. It's gross! He has it in other places too, and it's very itchy for him.

Something else exciting happened on Friday-- MY BABY BROTHER was born! Zarek Wayne was born that afternoon. He was 7 lb. 14 oz. We went to visit him on Saturday. No pictures- I didn't bring my camera because I remembered they hadn't wanted me taking pictures when
Kaden was born. We stayed about 1/2 an hour I think. Zarek looks just like Kaden! It's amazing. So much dark hair! And of course he made Owen look so big!

Since we were in Saratoga, we took the kids to a natural spring and let them drink the water. We all decided it was GROSS!! It tasted like iron. Heavy metal. No one took a second sip!

See Owen sitting? He can't really sit, I propped him like that! I just thought he was so cute in all his nakedness!!

And last night we had Grandpa Bill over for a steak dinner in hour of his birthday! Will wittled him a fish out of soap. He was SO PROUD of his fish! And so excited to give it to Grandpa! He loved it, of course. And I have to mention- Will wrapped it all on his own. In newspaper. With staples. Apparently he couldn't find tape! Ha ha. Ingenius.

And another exciting thing-- there is heat in my bedroom now!! Art was able to get heat from the woodstove to the bedroom and the back room! Hurray for Art!!

Look what I made!

Today is Monday

Good evening!! What a nice sound I hear-- nothing!! Silence!! A rare noise on any given evening in my house!
Tonight Art has taken the boys to tae kwon do (thank you, Art!) and Samantha has gone to Sarah's for a little fun. So it's just me and Owen here for about another hour.

This top picture is a bit blurry-- but it's mommy and daddy and Owen and we don't have many of them!!

This second picture is Cool Owen! Those sunglasses were found in the attic (remember the cleaning?) and they are from Build A Bear!
They fit Owen just perfectly and oh boy does he look cute! He didn't even mind wearing them!

The next picture was taken on Saturday. The cousins!! Top row: Colby, Nellie, Samantha, Braelyn... bottom row: Colin holding Owen, and Will. This was taken at Grammy's house after dinner, our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a special dinner because Grammy and Wally will be going to Virginia for Thanksgiving again this year.
It was yummy dinner! It's always nice to get everyone together, and we don't see Mike and Renee nearly enough. During dinner we had a
great political conversation! That's always interesting!

The next picture is little Owen in his Bumbo seat!! Ha ha! I guess he's a little too small for it at this point, but we tried. It makes him look so tiny! He liked looking around for a few minutes, but then he cried and wanted nothing to do with it! But Colby enjoyed it- he wore it on his head like a space helmet for a while!!

And this last picture- I know you all don't recognize it. I know I need to explain. It's a
picture of Samantha and Will *gasp* playing TOGETHER! And GETTING ALONG! I love their smiles-- real smiles! They were playing a game on the computer and I just had to snap a picture because it is so rare!!

So today is Monday. Owen had his one month check up today. So hard to believe he is one month old already... four and a half weeks have gone by fast as lightening. You wait and wait for the baby to be born, and then BAM! he's here for a month and you don't even realize it's been that long!!

Owen's appointment went well. He is now 10 lbs. 3 oz (which puts him in the 50th %) and 23 inches (which is the 90th %).
Just for some fun comparisons, at one month:
Samantha weighed 8 lb 2 oz (smaller than Owen was at birth!) and was 21 1/4 inches long.
Will was 11 lbs. 3 oz and 22 inches (bigger but shorter!)
and Colby was 12 lbs. 6 oz. and 23 inches... so a good 2 pounds bigger than Owen!!
It's so fun to compare their sizes! And I'm really glad Owen is smaller than Will and Colby were- I'm loving my *little* baby!! He just recently outgrew his newborn outfits!! And his newborn diapers. But of course he wears mostly cloth diapers... and he wears newborn sized prefolds and small covers. It won't be long before he moves up a size though!
I'm having a great time with the cloth diapers though! I was amazed at the community out there that CD's! I joined one site, and a woman showed pictures of her son's "stash" and I swear there were 100 diapers!! All different colors and patterns, some with matching hats, some with matching shirts. There are a lot of people out there who use cloth diapers, and I am just learning about all the different types. I just signed Owen up to be a tester for a woman who makes them herself-- I get a diaper at a reduced price! Yeah!! I'll probably keep it simple and do what is easiest and cheapest, but let me tell you-- it is so tempting to go all out and by the COOL diapers!!

I think I'll go downstairs and hang out in the NICE WARM basement by the FIRE!!!

Friday update

First let me share these adorable pics of Owen, in my *favorite* outfit!! My friend Laurie sent this to me. He also wore it home from the hospital, and it swam on him then! As much as I want to think he hasn't grown and will stay tiny forever- this outfit is proof that he is getting bigger every day.

And you may notice that *gasp* binky in the first photo? I was going to try and not give him one... but we were shopping at Wal Mart one day, and he was in the sling and was miserable. I ended up buying the binkies, and he was happy as a lark
and even fell asleep. So he has a binky now, but he only gets it when he needs it and cannot nurse... like in the carseat. However, there are times when he is just inconsolable, and doesn't even want to nurse, but the binky calms him down... so he gets it then too. He will let you know when he doesn't want it too... he spits it out, or gags on it...

So today is Friday! And our country made history on Tuesday by electing Obama as our next president. Funny, all of the kids "voted" for him in their mock elections at school, and they
were telling everyone to vote for him!!

Report cards came home today.

I need to brag about Samantha here--- she made president's list! You need to have an average between 95 and 100 to be on there, and her average is a 97! What a snarty pants! She was very proud of herself, as she should be!!
I also had a meeting at the beginning of the week with some of her teachers. They have classified her as a "highly abled learner" in math and they are giving her lots of opportunities to be challenged that are above and beyond what the other students are doing. They are not specifically classifying her as "HAL" in Engligh-Language Arts, but since she reads so much and is really above the other kids, they are planning to do special things for her there too. Let me tell you, it is really nice to go to a meeting hear everyone tell you how wonderful your child is! (like we didn't know!) but really, it's nice.

Will and Colby had great report cards too. School does not come as easily to them as it does to Sam, though. She excels in reading and both boys struggle in reading. But they are both really smart in math like she is. Both score really high and grasp math concepts easily. And they are both "a pleasure to have in class". I wonder if a teacher ever says a child is NOT a pleasure to have in class?? :)

The weather is beautiful! I have been bringing Owen for walks whenever I can because it is so nice out. The other day I brought the kids up to Cumberland to get slushies because I had parent-teacher conferences for the boys and they both went really well. I am loving both of their teachers! Will's teacher seems to genuinely like him-- he has a special nickname for him on account of his mohawk, and he also has money that he gives the kids for good behavior and Will is on the $2 bill! And Colby's teacher is just a sweetheart! I can't wait to see how much Colby grows with her.

I started cleaning out the attic-- who knew we had so much junk?? Half of it is great toys that I am hanging onto for Owen... like the little people, and the lincoln logs, etc. But I honestly found bags of junk... little misc. pieces of nothing! Garbage even! Not real garbage, but nothing we need to be holding onto! Thank goodness the school is collecting items for the holiday bazaar- I will donate a lot! And I'm also giving some away. The dollhouse is going to Braelyn, which makes me a bit sad. I'll never have another little girl to play dollhouse with! But Braelyn has wanted it for a while and I know she'll enjoy it. I also was getting rid of a huge rescue heroes ship, which reminded Colby of all the rescue heroes, so we took them all down and they are currently all over the living room! It's nice to see them being played with though, even by Will! Anyone want junk from my attic? I'll sell it cheap! Ha ha.

Well, need to go cook dinner and do some laundry! Have a great night!