Bowling

We went bowling on base today. The kids had a blast.  Goofy did smash his fingers a couple times getting the balls out, but he was ok.  Nana smoked everyone! She scored 123 the first game and 129 the second!  I only played one game. I've been having contractions pretty steadily all afternoon, so one game was probably too many!  We did finally find some 6 pound balls at the end, so even Minnie and Goofy didn't use the ramp for the second game!  What fun! They all got in the car and asked if we could go back when Daddy gets home.  We all can't wait.

Fun with Family

One wonderful things about living here is having family close at the holidays.  It has been so great for the kids to be with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents during their break from school.  One day while we were all at Nana and Papa's house, I suggested we play musical chairs. It was lots of fun and turned into a dance party in the middle.

They have all loved having their uncle come in from college.  I think he has enjoyed it too, since he keeps saying how he will miss them all when he has to go back.  Whenever he walks in the house, he has at least three kids running to him and giving him hugs (usually more than three, I'd just say that's the average).  They all want to help him and be with him all the time.  Here's my little Goofy helping him paint at Nana's.

We tried to all go to a movie on base yesterday, but no one showed up to run it, so we ended up just renting the movie and coming back here to watch it.  We popped popcorn and had candy and just enjoyed being together.  It was "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" and we all enjoyed it.  Cute movie.
Then last night, I took the kids out to a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate mine and PC's anniversary.  Who should walk in? Nana, Papa, and two of my brother-in-laws.  So we scooted some chairs together, and had a nice dinner together.  It really is great having family close.  Often makes me miss my own more, but I am at least grateful for the family we do have close. 

12 Days of Christmas

One of our traditions has been to do the twelve days of Christmas to someone.  We haven't always done it.  When PC is gone during Christmastime I don't always want the responsibility of dropping off something every day with the kids.  This year, though, we decided to go ahead with it.  Funny thing was, soon after we got back from dropping our gift off, we heard our own doorbell ring and found that the "Christmas Elves" had started doing it to us!  What fun! The kids loved trying to catch whoever it was leaving us gifts.  They did get some glimpses, but we never did discover who it was.  When we do it, we don't follow the song, but our Christmas Elves did and it was so fun! 
I didn't want to forget them, so I kept them all and thought I'd put them here.
"It's the 1st day of Christmas, oh yes, it is true,
And we, the Christmas Elves, are thrilled to bring our gifts to you,
A partridge in a pear tree is cute and pretty neat,
But we think some juicy pears are an even better treat."
"Now Turtle Doves are birds and are messy, it's true.
And we're nice elves, and couldn't do that to you.
So we thought a proper way to give you a dove,
Would be the chocolate kind, the kind you would love."
"Day #3 is French Hens (what's with all the birds?)
Who wrote this song, a bunch of big nerds?
Who wants three hens and all of that lot,
When Chicken soup is a breeze and will hit the spot?!"
"Four Calling Birds could get loud, oh boy!
And we didn't think all your neighbours would enjoy...
But we thought an ornament of a bird might be,
Just the perfect thing to hang on your tree."
"Five golden rings would sparkle in the light,
Sure would be pretty, but costly alright!
We love you, but that's a bit much,
So we thought golden coins would be a nice touch!"
"Six geese-a-laying (we're back to those birds?!)
We tried stealing their eggs, but their cries could be heard.
So we gave up and went to the store,
These eggs won't hatch, but don't drop them on the floor. :)"
"Seven swans a swimming, yikes, that would be cold,
But goof for the circulation or so we've been told.
The swans have all flown south and couldn't be got,
But fish are swimmers too, and Swedish ones are hot!"
"Eight maids-a-milking, what a taxing chore,
After all that work, we're sure they'd want to snore.
So we won't give you the maids, but what about the dairy,
Here's some tasty Milk Duds, now go and be merry!"
"Nine ladies dancing, late into the night,
With all the twirling around, it must have been a sight.
We know that they were tired, and put up their feet,
And sipped a hot cup of cocoa, the perfect late night treat!"
"Ten lords a leaping would be an awesome gift,
But they got stuck jumping through a white snowdrift.
We had to be content to give cookies with frosting,
All that jumping and leaping must be so exhausting!"
"Eleven pipers piping, oh, how they hurt our heads.
It gave us such a headache, we had to go to bed.
Music should be soothing, a listening pleasure,
So here's a CD for you to treasure."
"12 drummers are drumming, on this 12th day,
And we, the Christmas Elves, would just like to say,
We hope we've brought you some holiday cheer,
So have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"
I thought they were so cute following the song and you can tell what we received each day.  For ours, I found a lot of different ideas for gifts and made up little poems to go along with it.  Here is what we did:

It’s the FIRST day of Christmas,
And we are getting hoppin,”
We dropped this off to say,
“May your holidays be poppin’!” (We gave them a tin of popcorn.)

It’s the SECOND day of Christmas.
May your days be happy, your heart be light,
Your Christmas merry and the New Year bright! (candle set)

Now it is day number THREE,
And you’re getting “MUFFIN” for Christmas. (muffin mix)

On the FOURTH day of Christmas:
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed and tripped on this 'platter'!
Merry Christmas! (Christmas platter)

It’s the FIFTH day of Christmas,
We hope you are not freezin’!
We just wanted to wish you
A “SOUPER” holiday season! (soup)

It’s the SIXTH day of Christmas,
Here’s something nice and hot.
To warm you up and let you know,
That you are loved a lot!  (hot chocolate)

The SEVENTH day of Christmas,
Here is some bread for you,
And no matter how you slice it,
We wish you a happy day too! (banana bread)

It’s the EIGHTH day of Christmas,
You deserve the best. . .
. . . a present unlike all the rest.
We considered a new car or exotic cruise,
but decided on something you could really use!
Finally we found a gift to admire,
We hope you like your new washer and dryer!
Happy Holidays! (dish towel and rag)

It’s the NINTH day of Christmas.
We say thanks for all you do.
We want to let you know,
That we are “NUTS” about you! (mixed nuts)

It’s the TENTH day of Christmas.
We hope you can blot out your troubles,
And absorb the Christmas spirit! (paper towels)

On the ELEVENTH day of Christmas,
We hope you have a PASTA-tively wonderful holiday! (pasta and sauce)

On the TWELFTH day of Christmas,
These cookies we bring to you,
Wishing you the merriest of Christmases,
And a Happy New Year too!
On the last day we took cookies and sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  I like for the kids to see how grateful they are for the fun things we gave them.  It was great! I'm so glad I went ahead and did it this year!

Christmas

 Christmas morning brought excited children and a beautiful white scene outside.  Luckily, no one woke up before 7:00 am!  I let them each open their stockings before breakfast.  Santa brought them some Disney dolls.  Tink got Tinkerbell and Pascal (from Tangled).  Bucko got Phineas and Ferb.  Minnie got Belle and the girl from Brave.  Goofy got Perry the Platypus and Francesco Bernolli.  Then I had them get dressed and we ate breakfast.  I made the carmel bubble rolls, creamed eggs with sausage, and hot chocolate.  Then we went back to opening presents. 

My favorite part was when they opened their gifts from each other.  They were all so sweet and gave each other hugs.  They really did a great job finding something their sibling would like.  Goofy got Bucko a Ninjago Character Encyclopedia.  Minnie got Goofy Lego Transformer Bumblebee.  Bucko made Tink a couple signs from the musical Wicked.  Tink got Minnie a Webkinz bunny. 
Of course, we continued our tradition of three gifts, just like the Wise Men.  Their gifts of love (gold), were:  Tink--a green reading chair for her room; Bucko--Batman and Transformer Legos;  Minnie--a butterfly Dreamlite; Goofy--Transformer and Captain America Legos.  The gifts of Learning (frankinSENSE) were:  Tink--pottery wheel, Bucko--rock collection and book, Minnie--a pink guitar, Goofy--magnet set.  For their gift of fun (myrrh) they got:  Tink--green polka dot sheets, a Keep Calm and Carry a Wand t-shirt, and a BYU t-shirt, Bucko--remote controlled helicopter, Minnie--a strawberry baby doll, Goofy--two remote controlled Cameros (one that is yellow like Bumblebee).  They also got Just Dance 4 and Just Dance Disney Party from Santa.  They got puzzles from Uncle Mike, who also gave PC and I a gift certificate for dinner at Chili's.  Can't wait to go on a date with that guy when he gets back! 
We went over to Nana and Papa's later, so we could see Uncle Mark when he skyped them from his mission.  It was a great day.

 

Christmas Eve

We had family come over for dinner on Christmas Eve.  It was so nice.  I did a ham in the crockpot and did a potato casserole.  My sister-in-law brought a dessert and a broccoli salad.  Nana brought a turkey, rolls, and another dessert.  It was all so yummy.
We acted out the nativity after dinner.  Minnie played Mary, because she could hold her baby cousin the whole time.  Tink was the angel.  Bucko was a Wise Man.  Goofy refused to participate.  He sat on mine or his uncle's lap the whole time. 

Afterwards, the kids went out back to spread out their reindeer food.  It had started snowing by this time. 

After everyone left, I let them open their present they each received from my sister. She was so sweet and knew how hard Christmastime had been for them before when PC wasn't with us, so she wanted to send a little something for them.  They loved their Webkinz! Can you tell? 

New Cousin

So PC's brother's wife had her baby a couple weeks ago. My kids have been so excited to finally meet her, so with all the festivities, they finally have had their chance!  And boy do they take that chance every time they can.  Minnie is especially overwhelming with her new little cousin.  She asks to hold her every second.  The rest of them aren't usually far behind, waiting for their chance to hold her.  She is the sweetest little thing, and I can't say that I haven't also been vying for her attention! I got a couple shots of Minnie and Goofy holding her.  They all love her, but just keep saying they can't wait until their new sister arrives!

"Super Saturday"

On Saturday, since we still had all the Colorado families in town, we decided to get together and the girls could do some crafts.  Mandy and I went and bought some wood and other things we needed, then hurried home.  We did taco salad for lunch.  The big boys cut out and sanded our wood for us and I tried to quickly get all the vinyl lettering we needed cut out with my Cricut.  I asked Tink to get some pictures for me since I didn't have a moment to stop! 

They all made 2 x 4 signs like I had done previously with the words, "Wise Men Still Seek Him" on it.  They all turned out great.  Then we used 2 x 6's and made signs that said "Believe" on them.  Nana already had something that said believe, so we did "Remember" for hers and even found a nativity scene to put on it.  Then we used cut paint sticks and made ornaments with ten different names of Christ on them.  They turned out really cute as well.  We would love to keep this tradition of doing crafts together every year, but next time we will have each of us get a craft ready so we will be more prepared. 

The kids all seemed to be having fun. The dads did take them down to the park in the afternoon for a while, which was nice too. They love playing together and it is great that they all get along so well!

Gingerbread Houses/Cousin Gift Exchange

One of our Christmas traditions is making gingerbread houses.  We did them at Nana and Papa's house on Friday, but last Monday, the kids didn't want to wait.  So we broke out all the graham crackers we had and candy and whipped up some icing real quick and made gingerbread houses for Family Home Evening.  They had a lot of fun, even though we didn't have quite enough graham crackers, so everyone's roofs were only half a roof.  But we eventually got them all to stay together, so it was a success.

On Friday, the kids only had a half day of school.  We headed over to Nana and Papa's as soon as we could.  Here they are building their real gingerbread houses with some cousins.

This year, we also tried something new.  We did a cousin gift exchange.  We have four Coleman families with children in Colorado at the moment, and we also included Uncle Johnny, so there were quite a few participants.  We kept the gifts under $5, and the kids had a blast picking something out for the cousin they had and giving it to them.  Everyone loved their gift too.  Tink had little Luke, and that was my favorite because he walked around with his presents under his arms for the rest of the night.  So precious!  They all spent the rest of the evening playing with their new presents.  It was great!

Bucko got an ant farm, Minnie got a Princess dominos game, Goofy got a couple Hot Wheels and tracks, and Tink got a card game.  They all love them!  And more importantly, they loved seeing the expressions on their cousins faces when they opened the presents from them.  That's one of the things I hope they truly learn--giving is much more rewarding than receiving.  (Even though receiving is pretty fun too!)

Spontaneous Talent Show

Tink likes to do things.  Church doesn't start for us until 1 pm right now, so sometimes Sunday mornings get a little boring for the kids.  Tink decided they should put on a talent show a couple Sundays ago.  We all received invitaions.

Minnie danced.  Bucko did a headstand.  Goofy showed us his Spider-Man skills.  Tink did a rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  It was cute.  I enjoyed every minute of it!

Ornament Exchange

At the end of November, I went to an ornament exchange.  It was after Tink's band concert, so I did arrive a bit late.  I had so much fun making my ornament.  Minnie helped me, which was nice.  I make paper pinecones. I'll have to take a picture of mine.  I loved all the ones I got that night, but thought I would share a few of my favorites.

They were all so cute and inspired me to want to do more fun crafts! 

Baby Girl

I had another ultrasound this morning.  This is my fourth ultrasound with this little girl.  The reason I keep having them is because my thyroid levels were crazy out of wack once and I have asthma, so they want to make sure she is growing as she should.  There were no problems, though. She was weighing in at 3.5 pounds already. Her head is down and there is not much wiggle room, as I can attest.  The ultrasound tech was laughing at her though, because she is all curled up in some crazy position. Check out this picture! You see her foot, then her hand, and her head behind!

Goofy's surgery

Goofy had surgery to have his tonsils and adenoids removed on December 5.  Tink helped him prepare a lot, telling him how everything happened when she had hers removed.  That helped a lot.  He couldn't eat anything that morning, except Jello and clear liquids.  He was hungry, but such a trooper.  He wasn't really nervous at all either.  It seemed like a long drive up to downtown Denver, but we made it there an hour earlier than we needed to be.  The good thing was, they also were able to do his surgery an hour earlier because we were there and they were also ahead of schedule! 
He made us laugh so hard in the operating room, though.  He had picked out an orange scent for his oxygen mask, but then when the anesthesiologist added more scent to it, he wanted nothing to do with it.  So she got him a new scent and he was still a bit wary.  They told him to blow up the balloon and he started breathing into the mask super fast.  It was so funny.  The laughing gas kicked in and he finally got to the point where he would lay down.  He was falling asleep fast, his eyes rolling in the back of his head, but continued to breath really, really fast. I just couldn't help laughing at my sweet, funny boy.  They told me he could be my labor coach when I deliver! 
Oh, that was another funny thing. This one nurse could not believe that I was 28 weeks pregnant. She kept going on and on and how she didn't even know I was pregnant.  I think it was just the shirt I was wearing, I don't know.  It was funny too, though.
The surgery went well. The doc said his tonsils and adenoids were huge.  He also cleaned out his ears while he was at it.  About an hour later, I went back to see Goofy and he was still very much asleep. They had tried to wake him and he moved around a little bit, but took about another half hour before we could get him fully awake.  He had a grape slushee and got to watch How to Train your Dragon on a portable dvd player while sitting up in his bed.  We had to wait another hour or so, but could finally leave.  He was doing great, though didn't want to take the prescription pain medicine they gave him.  I guess it tastes really yucky.  He threw up in the car a little after taking about an hour nap.  We picked up the other kids from Nana and had dinner with them.  Goofy ate two full bowls of oatmeal!! Poor guy had been so hungry. 
Here is a picture of all of them on my bed for storytime that night.  He looks great, doesn't he? (We are starting a new tradition of reading a Christmas book every night in December until Christmas.  We wrapped them up and we rotate who gets to pick one and unwrap it that night. It's been fun!)

I had to wake him up every four hours to give him his medicine.  The next day, he wanted to try some different medicine, so I gave him some Motrin.  He took a five hour nap that afternoon!  I was worried about him sleeping that night, but knew he needed the rest, so just let him sleep.  He woke up during dinner and came down with swollen eyes.  Bucko took one look at him and burst into tears.  It was a bit shocking, so I called the doctor to make sure it was ok.  They said it was just from all the fluids from surgery and as long as he wasn't in pain, it was fine.  So our worries were put to rest.  He was happy after we knew it was ok too.

He has done really well. There have been rough days when he is in a lot of pain and super tired, but as long as we give him the Motrin every six hours, he does fine.  As it wears off, though, he starts to hurt, even now.  His scabs should be falling off which has made the last few days a little harder for him, but he is on the mend.  He is SO much quieter at night too! He has woken up crying a few times, but sometimes I think it is from dreams.  I have only given him allergy medicine once since the surgery too! He hasn't had a runny nose at all!  I'm so glad we did the surgery. I think it has already benefitted him a lot, and I think it will be for the best for the rest of his life as well.  So proud of our little guy.  We just love him so much.

Sixth Grade Band Concert

Tink had her first band concert on November 28.  They did a great job.  I videotaped it for PC and Nana and Johnny were able to attend as well.  Pictures never turn out the greatest at schools, but she is at least looking at me in this one.  She looked so grown up.  We were proud of her, and she is still enjoying playing the saxophone.

Third Grade Concert

On Wednesday night, Bucko had his third grade music concert.  We didn't have the best seat for watching him, as he was right on the edge and the wall was kind of in the way.  We did enjoy the music, though.  They had several different types of music and it was fun for everyone.  The coolest thing, though, was Bucko was one of five students chosen to play the drums for the last song.  It was the only song they used the drums, and I was proud of him.  They played a "heartbeat" rythmn--ba, bum.....ba, bum.....ba, bum for the song.  It was pretty neat.

Two Front Teeth...and other randomness

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, see my two front teeth.  This is Minnie's theme song for the next several weeks.  She lost one front tooth a few weeks ago.

And then lost the other a few nights ago.  I helped yank both of these ones out.  They were so loose, I just grabbed ahold of them and tugged.  She didn't even know they came out!  We all think she's super cute with both of them gone!

We tried this new hair-do with Tink for church a couple Sundays ago.  It looked so pretty, I had to take a picture.

And last, but not least, Minnie and Goofy got new pajamas.  Minnie loves the zebra print one and Goofy loves the puppy dog on his.  He wore his for several days straight and only changed out of them when we went someplace.  As soon as we were back home, he quickly changed back into his pajamas.  They both needed some warm pajamas that fit them! 

Sweet Girls

I have the sweetest girls as my daughters.  Two Sundays ago, Minnie did secret acts of service for us after church.  They had a lesson in Primary about service and she had three hearts that she needed to put somewhere after she did a secret service.  I caught her straightening up our shoes in our hallway closet by the garage.  That was something that really needed done!  And then she made Goofy's bed for him and left a heart there. She also straightened up the family and living rooms.  It was just so sweet.  Here's a picture of the shoes.  Can you see the heart on top of her flip-flops?

Then, a couple days ago, Minnie asked me if she could wake up fifteen minutes earlier than usual.  I told her, of course, but asked why.  She said she wanted to make me breakfast in bed! Isn't that sweet!  I took a picture when she first brought it to me, but it was too dark to share.  There was more light by the time I had finished, so this is what my tray looked like when I was done.  She even put a flower on the tray.  This was all especially nice as I had been really sick the two days before.  I'm still not sure if I had food poisoning or some kind of virus, but it was awful.  I called my father-in-law and a good friend to come and give me a blessing.  It had only been a couple hours, but I couldn't keep anything down and just felt so awful.  The next day I was extremely dehydrated, so had some major fatigue and a headache.  I drank a LOT of water and recovered pretty quickly, but it is always scary when it is that bad and you worry about the baby.  Anyway, I was so grateful it was short-lived and grateful for some wonderful children as well!

Thankful

For the first Family Home Evening in November, we made our annual Thankful Turkey.  I mentioned to Bucko that I was going to be doing that for the lesson and he asked if I was going to do the story about when the turkey gets angry and his feathers change colors.  I had forgotten all about that story, so looked it up on the internet. As I read the story for family home evening that night, I had each kid take a turn coloring in one feather as Tom Turkey's feathers changed colors.  It was a great lesson and a good lead-in to being thankful.  I was just so impressed that something I had done a year before, Bucko had remembered and wanted to do again. It is a good story and I don't want to forget to use it next year, so I'm going to put it here as well.  But first, here is our thankful turkey.  He is hanging in our dining room now.  We have much to be thankful for and could have made a lot more feathers, but we stopped with this many.

This story came from www.fheinasnap.blogspot.com. 
It is called The Turkey with the Terrible Temper.
Once there was a little brown turkey who had a terrible temper. He often flew into rages and ranted around until he was a nuisance in the farm yard. One day he lost his temper about some little thing and got so angry he flew into a rage and went RED as a beet. The other turkeys laughed at him and said:

You're RED, RED

RED as a beet:

Red from your head

To the tip of your feet.

Tom Turkey didn't like anyone or anything so he ran away and hid. He sat and sulked for a long time. When he calmed down and came out of his hiding place he was really RED all over. His head was RED and his neck was RED- he was RED from his head to his feet.
He hurried to the edge of the farm to visit Dr. Owl who was wise and knew all the answers to everything. "You have to learn to control that temper of yours!" hooted Dr. Owl. "if you don't remember in time you will end up being a very sorry turkey."
The next day Tom Turkey was brown again except that he had a red feather in his tail. He was very glad to be brown again, but he still thought it was everybody else's fault that he gotten so angry the day before.
Tom's mother called to him to help with the Monday wash. But Tom got the BLUES as soon as he started working. he moaned and groaned until his mother said he was acting like a baby. You can guess what happened next- he lost his temper again. This time he went BLUE all over! As he was running, the other turkeys yelled:
You're BLUE, BLUE
From your head to your toe,
BLUE all over
wherever you go.
This time Tom Turkey sat and sulked and blamed his mother for losing his temper . By morning he was BROWN again but now he had a blue feather next to the red one in his tail.
You can guess what happened the rest of the week. On Tuesday Tom didn't want to clean up the yard. He said he hated cleaning up with a PURPLE passion. Just as soon as he said that, he was in a rage he turned PURPLE all over. the turkeys shouted:
You're PURPLE, PURPLE
That's all we can see,
You'd better go hide
Under your favorite tree.
Of course Tom Turkey sat and sulked and blamed everything onto everyone else.
On Wednesday morning he was BROWN again but he had a purple tail feather added to his RED and BLUE one. He was beginning to feel ashamed that he couldn't control himself like he wanted to.
He went out for a walk when he saw a big ear of corn that his turkey friend was eating. Tom was GREEN with envy. He thought the farmer had no right to give someone else the cob of corn. And before he knew it, he had turned GREEN all over, and was in another terrible temper tantrum. The turkeys all turned to him and yelled:
You're GREEN, GREEN
GREEN as the grass
Why don't you get wise
And stop all the sass
And of course again, Tom Turkey went to his hiding place to sulk and feel sorry for himself.
On Thursday morning he was BROWN again but now he had a green feather amongst the other brightly colored tail feathers. But something was happening to Tom Turkey. He was really beginning to change. He wanted to keep his temper. He didn't feel like being ashamed of himself. He was determined to try hard and do just that.
Of course all the turkeys like to tease Tom and while they were playing a game of Gobble and Waddle someone called Tom a coward. Before Tom stared to think he had flown into another tantrum. this time his face turned YELLOW and his neck was YELLOW and the turkeys were saying he had a YELLOW streak down his back. They yelled:
You're YELLOW turkey
Just like we said
Why don't you go home
and hide under the bed?
Tom Turkey had turned YELLOW all over because he had forgotten to control his temper. But this time he sat under the tree and thought a long time about everything. He had only himself to blame for his mistakes. He was beginning to realize that he was the only one who could make things better.
When he awoke in the morning he was brown again with a new yellow feather in his tail. He didn't say a word to anyone, he just went about his business and said to himself, "I can do it, if I try hard enough!"
Mother Turkey asked Tom to keep an on the little turkeys while she went to the store on Friday. While she was gone all the baby turkeys ran through the house with muddy feet. When Tom saw what they had done, Tom almost lost his temper. But this time he just held his breath as long as he could. He turned as pale as a ghost, but didn't lose his temper. The turkeys yelled:
You're WHITE, WHITE
But your temper didn't show
Maybe you're changing
We really hope so.
All Saturday and Sunday he kept calm and was tickled pink to think he had gone two days without a terrible temper tantrum. He was still a little brown turkey, and a very happy one too.
He reported back to Dr. Owl on Monday and Tom Turkey thanked him for his help. Dr. Owl told Tom he earned the wright to wear the brightly colored tail and that he should show it off proudly from now on.
So when you go to the farm and see the turkey with his fan shaped tail all unfolded, remember this story about the turkey with the terrible temper.

Halloween

We had Trunk-or-Treat at our ward building the night before Halloween.  I even dressed up for the fun. (Hey, that graduation gown has gone unused for far too long, and it was definitely the easiest costume to cover the growing belly!)  We had a lot of fun.  Tink was a witch, of course.  Minnie went as Belle again this year.  Bucko was a bow hunter, and Goofy was a monkey.  Fits all their personalities perfectly.  (Not that Tink is a witch--she just loves the twist in Wicked, that the wicked witch is really good.)
The kids liked doing the cupcake walk and the beanbag toss the most.  One fun part was a guy dressed up as Captain Jack Sparrow. He played the part up perfectly and stayed in character the whole night.  You can see his "ship" in the bottom right picture.  Tink walked in front of him when I took the picture, so you can only see his hat.

I decided not to hand out candy from our trunk this year with PC gone.  I needed to be with the kids and walk around with them, so that is what we did.  Bucko got separated from us for a few minutes and that was scary for both of us.  I know it's just at church, but you never know what can happen and there were a lot of people there.  It was a good night, though. They had tons of candy, so we only went to a few neighbors' houses the next night for trick-or-treating.  They still have so much candy. We will probably be able to use it for gingerbread houses at Christmas. 

Pikes Peak

School started back up this morning.  Tink and I had a hard time waking up, but we were fine once we rolled out of bed.  As we were waiting for her ride to school, we noticed that Pikes Peak was red with the sunrise!! It was so cool.  I know there are houses in the way (and the golf course!), but this was the view from our front window this morning.

First Snow!

We had the first snow of the year two nights ago.  Last night we got another dusting to add to the first one we had on Wednesday night.  The kids bundled up and went outside to make snow angels.  There wasn't much snow to do anything else, but they had fun making snow angels at least!

Our House....Main Floor

Some people have asked for pictures of our house and I also want to document it, so because I had to stay home again today (final inspection on the new AC unit), I thought I'd take a few pictures.  Sorry they are all kind of blurry.  I think the light coming in from outside was just too bright for my camera to handle.  Plus, the reflection off of the snow we got last night probably didn't help!
This is the living room.  We bought these couches here when we first bought the house and before any of our household goods arrived.  We found the storage ottomon at HomeGoods and snatched it up. The pillows were harder and took me a long time to find some, but I like how they turned out.

  We are planning on getting another love seat for in front of the bay window.  The bench that is there now is the bench for our dining room table, but we aren't using the bench seat now.
In this next picture you can see the entryway, staircase, and hallway leading to the bathroom.  We plan on PC making an entry table or finding one somewhere someday to put beneath his facsimile he got on his mission.  (That's the big round wooden thing on the wall.)



This is the dining room, off of the living room.  We just love all the plantation blinds on this floor. They are so nice!

This is the family room, off of the kitchen.  The sliding door to the backyard is on the right, but you can't see that.  In the top left corner you can see part of our little loft in the upstairs.  I also love the little alcove in the hallway. I like it when builders put things like that in, instead of just a plain wall.  It even has a light inside it.

Here's another view in the family room so you can see the shelves we put up from Ikea.  I still need to put something on the top shelf, but this is it for now.

This next one is the kicthen, obviously. We love that the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling so it maximizes the space.  The corian countertops are also nice and clean up easily.

And this last one shows the breakfast nook off of the kitchen.  That is my pantry on the right, and I love the bay window here as well.

Well, hope you've enjoyed my little tour.  I didn't get a picture of our den yet, so that will have to be another day!

Parks

Before the weather turned cold, (it snowed last night and the high for today is 35, with more snow on the radar) we spent a couple days at the park.  Tuesday we went to the Black Forrest park.  This is one of my favorite parks in the area because of all the trees.  It makes it feel more like "home."  The kids had a lot of fun on the playground, but even more fun running around in the field, practicing cartwheels, and rolling down the hill.  I enjoyed their laughter, the beautiful view, and a good book while relaxing against a tree.

Yesterday we just went to the park right by our house.  The kids rode their bikes or roller bladed.  I walked around with them too.  While they played on the playground, though, it wasn't as much fun for me, because my back was really hurting and the only place to sit is on the big rocks they have place around there, which made my back hurt even more.  I couldn't wait to rest it all night last night!

Applesauce

Sprouts market had a great deal on apples a couple weeks ago, so I bought 4 bushel of golden delicious.  Nana helped me can them this week. We did it over 2 days, and I kept a bushel for myself to eat and make pies and such out of.  I got about 45 quarts canned though!  The kids helped the second day, which did make it go faster.   There isn't much better than fresh, homemade applesauce though!

Tink's 11th Birthday

Tink turned 11 last Friday.  We kept telling her she wasn't allowed to get any older than ten, but for some reason that didn't work.  She has been waiting for this birthday for a long time for this birthday.  Tink loves Harry Potter and has been waiting for her Hogwart's Acceptance letter for a few years now.  It was so cute, cuz she made one up for herself and "found" it in her window that morning.  It told her she had to continue at her own school, but it did inform her that she really is a witch!  She had a couple friends over and her closest cousin on the Coleman side was also able to come down for the weekend with her family.  And Nana, Papa, and Johnny were also able to come.  We had a good time.  She got a Headbandz game, a Wrinkle in Time book, Go Fish, and a pencil drawing set from her friends.  We got her a Harry Potter Clue game, a green watch, and a saxophone book with cd accompaniment.  We played Clue all weekend!!

Chuck E. Cheese's

The kids are on fall break this week and last, so we wanted to do something fun with them before PC left on a work trip.  We had a bunch of free tokens, and the kids love Chuck E. Cheese's so we headed down there for lunch.  There were only two other families there when we got there (not all school districts get a nice long fall break like we do!), but they left before us and we had the whole place to ourselves!  There were some new games there since we'd been last, so that was fun.  They have a new touch screen for Fruit Ninja.  Everyone liked that one.  There was also a big "hamster wheel."  That was fun, though I didn't try it.  The kids got a lot of tickets, and when we went to redeem them, the lady pretty much doubled them when she gave the kids 2 balls instead of the one that they had enough tickets for.  Then she gave them each a piece of candy instead of just the one we had earned.  It was a fun afternoon.

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Weekend Visit

Two weekends ago, we had visitors for the weekend from Utah.  Short Stuff has become a good friend of mine over the years, but was PC's good friend as a teenager.  It was fun to get together and get to know their family better.  I had visited her with the kids this summer, so that helped the kids a lot. They played nonstop all weekend.  It was great.  Their Little Guy was a joy to be with.  Tink and Minnie couldn't get enough of him!  Short Stuff grew up here and spent time showing her family around her old jaunts.  On Friday afternoon, we met up with them at the Air Force Academy.  We went to the visitor's center, the chapel, the fieldhouse, and the cadet gym.  It was a bit chilly and rained on us at the end, but the weather held out for the most part. 

I was recovering from a bad cold, so I wore myself out pretty quickly.  We let them do some sightseeing on Saturday, while we rested at home. On Sunday, we invited another friend over for dinner.  She was one of our good friends in England, (She's the one who took our awesome family pictures over there.) but she also knew Short Stuff from college.  We had figured out the connection a few years ago and since she lives only about a half hour away, we had to all get together.  It was a fun night, as you can see from all these silly faces!  In fact, the whole weekend was great!

Landsharks Finale

Today was our last Landsharks meet of the season.  Minnie did great and came in at 7 minutes.  (If you look at the time clock, you have to subtract a minute because they let the boys go a minute earlier than the girls.)  She had a good time and loved getting her medal!  I had fun with all the kids and would love to coach again someday, though with a small baby coming, I don't think it will be anytime soon!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch.  It was up past Monument and we had bought a deal from Living Social.  It was the coldest day so far this season (high of 35 degrees F), but it was the only day we could go.  So we bundled up with several layers and tried to enjoy ourselves.  I think everyone had fun until they started getting too cold.  We spent about an hour and a half there, so our extremities were starting to feel the cold pretty well.  The first thing we did was run over to the slide.  Oh yeah, it snowed last night and up here it actually stuck to the ground.  You can see it on the hay bales.  Goofy loved the slide the most and went down it more than anyone else!
We then headed over to the tractor hayride.  That was fun, but a little chilly.  They had some fake animals spread out over the course it took, and the kids had fun looking for all of them, especially the fox when the driver told us he didn't believe there was a fox out there. 

The other fun thing we did was the gourd launcher.  The kids loved using the big slingshots to shoot the small gourds.  I also got a good picture of everyone (except me, of course) on top of the hay bale pyramid.  Boy, do I love these guys!

After the pumpkin patch, we headed up to Ikea.  We stopped at Chick-fil-A in Castle Rock for lunch.  We bought shelves for the family room at Ikea.  We also picked up the baby crib, mattress, and changing table.  It was a good day.  And tonight while PC was at the priesthood session for general conference, I flipped on this morning's session and was surprised and excited to hear President Monson's announcement that the age for missionaries was being lowered to 18 for boys and 19 for girls! I had the kids come up and hear it too and we figured out that Tink could be going on a mission in 8 short years!  Minnie asked me why I was crying and I told her it was so exciting I couldn't hold it in.  That, plus all the hormones right now that I cry at just about anything!