Christmas 2011

This Christmas was wonderful and it came and went so quickly.  We were able to get a  beautiful Christmas tree this year from Woodbury tree farm in Moscow.  I love the smell of fresh pine.
It took me 3-4 days to finally get it decorated, thanks to my boys for their persistent prodding.  I love it.  This Christmas we had Grandpa and Grandma Morley come and visit! Thanks so much for coming!  It was great to see you guys and spend Christmas with you! Thanks to all you siblings who shared them with us this year!  We had a wonderful year and were very spoiled. We are so truly grateful for all of our family members who sent us packages and surprise deliveries this year!  

Here is Daddy imitating how much Santa will love our cookies:)

            So Christmas Eve, we did a little last minute shopping and had a wonderful dinner of roast and funeral potatoes, jello, home-made rolls, fruit and dip-I introduced them to sour cream-pudding fruit dip:) So good for dipping rolls and potato chips too! We read the Christmas story in Luke and watched the nativity clip from Joy to the World DVD. After family prayer the kids went to bed and we did the dishes and finished wrapping our last minute gifts. We fed the reindeer and left cookies out for Santa.

Grandma loves her new electric razor from Gpa!

The boys love there treasure chests and silver $'s!

Cameron's showing off his new puzzle!

        

The boys checking out their new presents!

Spencer's face shows his excitement!

Travis opening his presents!

We spent the day playing with our new presents and playing games together. Still no snow yet here..... but that is not what matters at Christmas time. We enjoyed going to the Nativities in Moscow this year and spending time with each other over the holiday. Church on Sunday morning was beautiful and we all talked about how music can really bring the spirit of Christmas. Thanks to all of our family and friends and we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year!

Funnies and Randomness

So this week I got a call from the nurse at Spencer's school. Spencer wasn't feeling good and was really cold. So she took his temperature and it was 99.5. She wanted to know what i wanted to do. So I asked to speak to him, and  this is our conversation:
Hey mom,
Hey buddy, so your not feeling so good?
No, I just cant get warm, my body hurts.
Your body hurts?
Yeah, my finger hurts, my foot hurts, I have a scab on my ear..I'm just not feeling to good. (LOL)
Oh. Well a scab doesn't make you sick. What do you think we should do?
Well I don't want to go home. I think I'll just drink some water.
Yeah, that would be good. maybe you should stay in at recess and get warm too k?
Ok mom, that should work.

An hour later I get another call from the nurse, and he is still really cold, so she took his temperature and it had gone up to 100.5. Which in the Pullman school district any temp over 100. the child should be sent home.
So I went and picked him up from school and he spent the rest of the day sleeping and getting better. No more fever.... The next day he tells me, Mom Im all better now, Im fresh!

So this morning,Spencer wakes up and is covered in HIVES!. Yes hives. I gave him some benadryl and he took another shower and we rubbed calamine lotion on them. No idea why he has them, but man they looked uncomfortable.
Today is his last day of school before break and they had gone down and were almost gone by school time.

HOLY HIVES BATMAN!

 Crazy huh? Scott used to get hives like this earlier in our marriage for no reason at all. Oh man, Im getting itchy just looking at them.

Basketball pictures/videos

Here is Spencer playing in some of his basketball games! Enjoy!

O' Christmas Wreath......

So this year I decided to do something for me. We'll call it an early birthday present:) I went and made a fresh Christmas wreath through the parks & rec program on Tuesday night. it actually was a lot of fun and super easy! Next time I would do it with a group of people I know, or do it myself at home. Anyways it was nice to have some time for myself and be a little crafty.! I love the candy canes and how well it turned out! Check it out!

Travis is 17 months old!!

I cant believe how fast my baby is growing up! This time next month he will be able to go to nursery at church and I might be able to go to class... Who am I kidding, I'll have a newborn 2 weeks later... and will still be a single mom at church... with 4 kids...:) As of last week they split the 2 wards here in Pullman and we now have 3. unfortunately we are in the brand new ward. Now, I don't really care about the ward switches, but i do think it will be hard to be in a new ward and have a baby and I had a lot of support in our old ward... but anyways, enough about that....back to Travis.
Travis went into the doctor this last week and had his immunizations and a flu shot. He was a champ about it though,he cared more that I took his sucker away than the pain....  So here are his stats:

 Weight: 24lbs
Height: 30 Inches
He's in the 15% for height. Crazy huh.. He'll catch up.
Travis has only ever had one ear infection, and this last one didn't go away, so they put him on some stronger meds. Travis is such a sweet handsome boy. He loves people, and isn't afraid to be held by anybody.  He is uber ticklish and loves music.  He still has a texture issue with food, but is doing so much better. He is mimicking words and sounds all the time. His newest word is no-no. He must hear it to much:) He is a climber and climbs everything and gets into everything.. no matter where we go, or what barriers we put up. He's very mischevious. Anytime the front door or the fridge opens he runs for it. He will grab whatever he can out of the fridge and turn around and run with it. He loves hide & seek and peek a boo. He loves looking at his animal book and loves to hear everyone make the noises. We love you Travis and are so grateful your in our family.

All I want for Christmas is my:

One front tooth!

Last night Spencer lost his 3rd front tooth.(last year he lost his 2 bottom ones). It was a little loose and then 2 weeks ago in basketball he collided with another boy and it knocked it way loose. He's been playing with it ever since and last night he finally let Dad put some floss around it and Spencer pulled. It was quite the experience, and I think Spencer has decided that next time he'll let his dad tie it to a string and slam a door....:) Now i just need to find the lyrics to that song.... All I want for Christmas is my two(1:) front tooth, and teach it to him! Love the big smile bud! Your growing up sooo fast!

Thanksgiving Crafts

So here are a few of the Thanksgiving crafts we made this year!

Gratitude Tree- A FHE lesson- I was able to get the paper from Cam's Preschool and we traced fake leaves and taped it up in the corner of our living room. Every night we would think of things to be grateful for. The envelope held extra leaves and the pen.

Turkey Apples! We used to make these as kids. my mom brought them for the kids craft. All you need are toothpicks, raisins, gum drops and apples. We marked where the feathers could go and helped with the gobble, but let the kids have fun and they did a great job!

Grateful Turkeys-We traced our hands for FHE one night and added feathers on the back. We wrote on the feathers what we were grateful for and added fun features! These went on our front door!

November Happenings!

So this month has been flying by for me. Spencer came home the other day and said: "Guess how many weeks until Christmas? 6!"  Now it is even shorter-can you believe we only have 4 more weeks until Christmas?! This month Cameron finished his swim lessons,and is excited to start them again in the spring. Spencer has started 1st grade basketball, and he loves it! He's actually pretty good. They started games the week before Thanksgiving break, and he made the first basket! The games are hilarious to watch as the kids fight each other for the ball, or forget which way they're basket is, or forget to dribble.. You just have to laugh. The last game there were some bigger kids on it and it got pretty physical. Spencer got a head in the face- and a new loose tooth. So hopefully he will be missing one before Christmas:)  It is exciting to see him learn and understand more. He is doing great, and I love his attitude after. He kept telling the kids on the other team how awesome their shots were and that they were really good. :) Scott has come home and left and is home again. And it is so nice to have him here. The kids really have fun with him. Spencer even gave up playing with a kid when he asked if he wanted to come over and play  with him and his dad, because his dad was awesome and fun to play with, and the kid didn't want to. Now I understand that no one wants to play with someones Dad, but I love that Spencer feels that way about his Dad.

This last week has been busy and fun. My family came up for Thanksgiving and we had fun shopping, making nativity people, apple turkeys, and tile gifts for friends and neighbors. Karianne brought her Wii, and Scott and my Dad spent long hours perfecting their golf game. Dinner was great and I am glad the leftovers are almost gone. Thanks for coming you guys!

So this month we made a grateful tree to remember and see the things for which we are grateful for. Here is the list our family came up with:
We are grateful for each other
We are grateful for medicine and doctors
We are grateful for our home
We are grateful for our families
We are grateful for our foxhole
We are grateful for snow
We are grateful for food
We are grateful for our prophet
We are grateful for our toys, and many more.......
We are so grateful for all the many things we have been given this year. And are so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who blesses us daily. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And that everyone is getting ready for Christmas!?

I'm coming home

After a month a LaSalle Equine Clinic in Kalispell, Montana, I get to come home tomorrow.  It has been a lot of fun here at LaSalle.  I feel that I have learned a lot and seen a lot of things that will make me a better veterinarian this May when I graduate.  I have been able to get a lot of hands on experience which is more than I can say for my school where I am paying tuition.   The staff here has been great and have treated me like a friend and colleague...  but I am so excited to go home and see my family again.  They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I can say from experience that is true.  Katy posted some pictures of the boys a while ago and it almost made me cry.  They are so darn cute and I miss playing with them and hearing their voices.  Also I can't wait to see my beautiful "Flower" again, and be there for her when she needs me.  She is such a trooper and such a wonderful mom.  There aren't many women in the world that can handle three little boys all by herself 24/7.  She is amazing.  She is shuch a great support to me, I couldn't ask for a better help meet. 

I love you guys.  See you in less than 24 hours.
Dad   

Where did October go??????

Wow, I cant believe it is almost November! It has been such a blessing to have this month go a little faster as we are missing Scott. But lucky us, he'll be home next Saturday! Some of the things that have been going on are: Cameron doing awesome in swim lessons! He has one week left and it has been really good for him. I made it through my first Super Saturday(Where I was in charge of making crafts) unscathed, but exhausted.... Bless the women everywhere who plan those. I was blessed to have many people help me with my kids throughout the day. The only bad thing, was Travis' diaper did not get changed much- at all... leading to some severe diaper rash and a week later it had developed into a fungal rash and he had an ear infection! The poor boy! I am so glad I took him in to get checked. He's doing so much better with antibiotics. Oh and I just saw that he is cutting 2 teeth as well. That explains a lot of these middle of the night sittings.:)  I passed my first glucose test! So far so good! Now I just have to take another one in a week:( We all have gotten colds with the weather changing, and mine is bad. I feel so bad for my kids,  because I am exhausted all the time! And I find my patience is wearing so thin. It is so hard with sinus headaches and life and the excitement of Halloween!, Not to mention that I'm pregnant... Sorry, I shouldn't be such a whiner, I'm just ranting.:(
So I will end with a good note-Tonight was our ward's trunk or treat and carnival afterwards. I love having costumes that still fit. Spencer was Iron Man again, Cameron is still our little spider man, and Travis is big enough to wear the little dog costume that all the boys have worn! This year I decided to dress up as a skeleton. me and mini me- We hauled a lot of candy and made it into the carnival before the rain started! The boys were exhausted and I am too! They took a family picture there, so hopefully they will turn out cute! Here's some pics of our Halloween haul!

I didn't get a picture of me:( but I wore a black shirt and a white hat and cut out skeleton bones for me and a baby skeleton to fit over my prego belly! it was a quick and fast costume and I got a lot of comments about it. but by the end of the night the little baby skeleton was suffering... next time if there ever is a next time(that I'm prego at Halloween)--I will paint the bones on!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

 

Finally pictures

I finally have a good picture of Travis. Here are the boys school pictures. In Spence's, he was smiling with his mouth closed he says, but it is such a good Spencerism shot. I love Camerons, he looks so grown up. And sweet Travis- I just love that smile! This is what we see all the time:) Enjoy! 

Seven years

I have loved this little boy more than 7 years now, and I will love him forever! Spencer turned 7 on Friday and we had a fun week celebrating with him! We did celebrate early so daddy could be with us, and on Friday he took his favorite Halloween book to school to read(Weird classroom policy-I know).He had a bunch of balloons delivered to him with candy- thanks A. Shannon. He said they sang to him in music class, and that night we opened packages from family and had a movie night! He loved his whole day! Thanks to everyone who called and sent messages and packages-you made his birthday perfect! Spencer is so sweet, that when people asked him what he wanted for his birthday, the first thing he said was, well i think that if you get something for me, that you should get something for cam and trav too, because they would be sad if they didn't get anything. Awesome Kid!  We love you and cant believe your getting so big!

It's gonna be a long month

So today Scott leaves and heads off to Montana for the whole month of October, and part of November. It has been a crazy weekend getting things ready for his little excursion. And I'm hoping I can stay busy this month and it will go faster...? Please?Scott will be living it up in a little trailer outside the clinic with the shower & washer and dryer inside the clinic:) Atleast there's heat and a small fridge. Hopefully he can get some studying done and his second draft on his senior paper while hes away.. We are sure going to miss him. Scott will miss Spencer's birthday this week, so we celebrated as a family last night. Spencer chose cheeseburgers and chips with a vanilla cake. Nice and simple, it was great. We opened presents early and he loved his bumblebee transformer from his Daddy, his clay art kit, and a lunch box so he can take cold lunch a couple of days a week. Cameron gave him a mater bubble bath car, and Travis gave him a Dr.Suess book. Wish my camera wasn't dead! We will celebrate on his birthday as well, by taking treats to school and maybe doing a special movie night or something. It is a little bit different, but you do what you can. Spencer sure felt special having an early birthday because his daddy wanted to spend it with him. I cant believe he will be 7! wow. Time flies and keeps going faster.

A little update on the rest of us:
Cameron is loving preschool and I am told that all the girls are fighting over who gets to marry him. He is still a picky eater and doesn't eat much. He starts swim lessons tomorrow morning and I hope he will do well. he is very nice and helpful and a very good rhymer. He loves to play the game and you give him a word and the word he chooses to rhyme has to begin with an H. for example, what rhymes with book? hook. wrw pool? hool. wrw bed? head. It is quite funny, and we do try to stay away from words like bell and door.:) Cameron's getting really good at writing his name and his counting is up to 30.

 Travis is 15months old now and walks everywhere. He tries running but either face plants, or balances with his arm up. He loves music and is very curious. He loves to roam the pantry to play in it or destroy it:) He says mom for mom, and mom for more. Dad, happy, hi. And he signs more and is starting to wave more. he is a pure joy.his smile lights up his whole face and those dimples are to adorable.


Spencer's in first grade, and I was able to switch him out of his class(due to another child in that classroom), and he seems to be enjoying it. His favorite subject is P.E. and he is learning addition and subtraction in math. He will be starting 1st grade basketball in November, and he is very excited. Spencer is very tenderhearted and sweet. He is always picking flowers for me and is really into drawing, so theres usually a picture a day. Love it.

 I am 24.5 weeks prego. I am doing pretty well. I feel like I got bigger faster with my 4th, and I am sick once a week which isnt so bad, unless it happens while your driving...:( I have had two choice experiences like that this last month. One I was able to pull over and get out. The other I tried pulling off up by campus and found myself in student zone. They were everywhere and I couldnt even get past to find a parking spot... So thankful for that empty cup...anyways, other than that no complaints. No names yet either. Ive used a lot of my boy names and need some inspiration I guess.

 Thats whats going on here.loving life and keeping busy.

Spencer's 1st TEST

So in first grade Spencer has had a lot of firsts, like homework and more math and Spelling tests! I used to love spelling and admittedly was pretty good at it. So I have been pumped about all this. He is doing great doing his homework when he comes home and it payed off! Check out his first spelling test! We couldn't be more proud! Way to go Spence!

Preschool

Cameron started his first day of preschool this year on Tuesday. He has been anxiously awaiting this week for some time,( mostly the last two weeks since big brothers in school.) And being a 4 year old and not understanding time the weeks would go like this:
Cam: When does my school start? It's no fair Spencer gets to go and i don"t...when does my school start?
Me: School starts for you in 2 weeks bud.
Cam: 2 days?
Me: no. 2 weeks.
Cam: 2 minutes?
Me: Nope bud, Im sorry, it'll take longer than that.
Cam: Auugghh....

This week so far: (keep in mind he has afternoon pskl)
 Me: Cam are you so excited for school?
Cam: Schools today? When? Right now?
Me: Not for 3.5 more hours bud, remember you go in the afternoon?
Cam: Oh yeah.....Is it time now?
Me: Nope sorry bud, do you wanna play cars?
Cam: I guess...but this is taking forever!

 Then throughout the next 3 hours I hear this about every 5 minutes:
Cam: Is that my bus? Its time right mom? Check your clock again has it changed mom? Is it time NOW?

 He has been so excited, and even though we have impatient mornings, he is really loving it so far. He has a bunch of kids from our complex in his class, so he's lucky to have so many friends with him. His teacher is Ms. Jen, and she's brand new fresh out of college, and mind you, she seemed pretty scattered the first two days, but hopefully will find her stride soon.


Here's some pics of the first two days of school for our little man.

Cameron right before getting on the bus!

Go Butterflies!Cam outside of his classroom

Cameron waiting for the bus

September news!

So today the doctors confirmed  that we are having a n o t h e r  BOY! Wow! I never thought I would have all boys, but that just goes to show that our plan is not always Heavenly Father's plan!And honestly, my boys are wonderful! So we are excited!We feel blessed to be having another healthy baby!

First Grade!!!!

Spencer started his first day of 1st grade! I cannot believe how old my little boy is becoming. Last night he was a little nervous and decided he wanted a blessing from his daddy. So he went and surprised his dad by asking(Since Dad had already planned to give him one). I took him to school this morning and Cameron went and played on the toys while Spencer waited in a line with all the other 1st and 2nd graders. He made sure to give me a hug and kiss before he went in and found his friends in line. He told me he wasn't nervous because of his special blessing:) It's moments like this that just make me stop and smile. I am so proud of him. As I met him off the bus he told me he got 3 recess' and they had P.E. ..in the gym! He ate chicken nuggets and used his manners he told me. They made a paper plate Frisbee and counted pockets/introduction with the other kids in class. They did connect the dots dinosaurs and colored patterns. And that was the most I got out of him before he lost interest... boys:) I love them! Let's hope this year is a great one for Spencer in school!

Lentil Festival/ Family pics/Aunt Shannon

This last week, my sister came into town for a visit and we all had a lot of fun. We went swimming all day, We went to the Parade, went school shopping and had Sleepovers! The last day we did some family pics! Thanks for coming Aunt Shannon! Here's some pics of our weekend! So i cant get all the pics to upload, I'll try again later!

Swim Lessons!

 So the boys and I started Swimming Lessons this last month at the outdoor aquatic center in Moscow. It has been so much fun. Spencer and Cameron are in the same class and have been loving the water. Although some days it's still freezing cold in the morning- like 66 degrees at 11...brrrr. Travis and I are in the mommy and me class. He is the youngest and the instructor told me this yesterday about him: "I have never seen a baby this young who loves the water so much, he does so well floating, he is a great little baby." I love watching his facial expressions, I find myself looking at him throughout the lesson just to see what he is thinking." The teachers are awesome and we get to go 5 days a week for a month! It was actually cheaper to take them there than in Pullman. It is well worth it so far! The boys just finished their first session of swim lessons and they did so well! They have been off the diving board and were able to go down the big water slides on the last day! It has been so much fun- We are having so much fun in the water everyday!The boys have now finished for the summer and they did awesome! Here's some fun pics!

Haircut!

So Travis has really long hair and it curls up out over his ears, it's completely precious. It looks like wings. And it is ohh so soft. So I didn't want to cut his hair until he was one. But on Sunday a new sister was with her little girl and she was playing with Travis and she's all now how old is your little girl? And that is the point where I am like o.k. it's time to cut it... Also a little surprised as he is wearing a tie onesie and pants...hmmmm...
So my new awesome neighbor Marie cuts all of her boys hair and keeps it long, and since I don't know how to cut it and keep it long, we had a hair cutting party and this is the end result was great!I just love that it is still uber soft and I think it makes him look more like a little boy. Hopefully there will be no more mistakes of gender:)I'll try to post pics soon!

Opinions Continued

4. Matchbox Advent Calendar




5. Non-Bulky Family Home Evening Board

6. Wheat Ornament

7. 2x4 Pumpkin Blocks

So there you go! Please let me know which ones you would like to do at a Super Saturday! Thanks!