Happy Halloween

Paging Dr. Swanson, paging Dr. Swanson we need you in the ER stat we have an overdose on candy......

Or maybe we need to to page the ninja to fight all the bad guys coming to our door....

Or maybe we need to page Elmo so he can dance and giggle and make us all smile (:

Here they are on their way out the door to trick or treat. We had a great Halloween this year and the weather was great!

We went trick or treating with daddy before he had to go to work. He was dresses up as a Fed-ex guy (:

We met up with Mator aka Hunter and Melanie and Grandma K.
We trick or treated with them and went to the community center for cookies and hot cider. They were all way to adorable!

We saw some friends from church and little Ian was Elmo, too! They thought that was pretty cool (:

I loved that Halloween was on a Friday this year. It was so nice to just go home, relax, and eat candy afterward. Happy Halloween to everyone-hope it was fun and I can't wait to see everyone's pictures of their costumes!

A season ending

I can feel it in my bones tonight. The cold air is coming and today it only got in the low 40's. Fall is leaving us fast and I am craving the sun and warm air, I miss it already. It is going to be a long winter, I'm afraid.

Today I couldn't get warm. I was guzzling tea all day for the warmth and think I will have to move on to hot chocolate-that always seems to warm me up. I wish I could bring my electric blanket to work and wrap up in it at my desk, but that might look a little odd. Maybe.

The trees are losing their leaves fast and I can just feel the air changing. I will have to get Jon to open the fireplace so I can start having fires soon. I am feeling very melancholy tonight, just kind of blah....I am going to go exercise now in hopes to one warm me up and two to make me feel better. Alaina has been home sick the last two days and has been working on homework since 4:00-It is now almost 7. I can feel her anxiety and it is making me anxious. Part of me wants to just do it for her to help her out, but I know I can't. I told her she doesn't have to have it all done, but she will not go to school until it is.

On a positive note, I have off the next three days and that is always a good thing. I also have Sawyer's class tomorrow and I love to go there with him. He loves it, too and I may just have to bring my camera to show you all what he does in class (: Oh, I almost forgot I am meeting a friend for lunch afterward and I am excited because we haven't gotten together in awhile and I am looking forward to catching up. Well, I feel better already....Now I just need to go turn up the thermostat.

Farm Boys

Here are my boys getting ready to go help on the farm. Can you tell Sawyer loves to go to the farm? His face here is so precious.

It is fun to see the three of them together.

One of the best parts for Sawyer is riding in daddy's 1973 pick-up.

Off they go....I am sure I will have combine pictures this weekend......I know you have all been waiting for them.....(:

A week in the life of me: Friday

Alaina had a fun day at Enterprising Kids. Her and the girls all learned many great lessons having there own business and seeing what some of the other kids were doing. They were already talking about what they would do differently and what they would like to do next year.
Some of the things they were saying were:
- Make a product that people will buy (:
-Make there prices lower than their competition.
-Make something out of candy (that was a big hit).
-Make something no one else has.
-Do it on Saturday instead of Friday as more people will be in the mall.

They also learned some marketing skills as well. They made a sign for Jonnie to wear on his chest and back that said "Buy bracelets from Knots Corporation" and had him walk up and down the mall (they paid him a dollar) and lowered there prices throughout the day. I was very proud of them and what they were coming up with.

Here they are waiting for their customers.

Here are two of their customers. Thanks for coming mom and dad! Grandma Karen and Melanie and Hunter came to support her as well.

The boys were good for the most part-well if you ignore all the begging and whining for food every 15 minutes, they were great! It wore Sawyer out and he slept the rest of the afternoon.

They love each other so much (:

Walking Billboard

They spelled their business name out of bracelets-clever girls!

The girls also learned a lesson in money. I tried not to intervene in this whole process, but it was really hard when I kept seeing them all dip into the profits to buy ice cream or pop or run into Claires (we were right in front of the store), but I didn't say a word. At the end they divided the profits and they each made $5 which was all spent at Claires (:

That evening we went and had pizza and a bowling party with our friends from church. We had a lot of fun and Sawyer had a blast! He loved watching the ball hit the pins. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

~Hope everyone has a great weekend~

A week in the life of me: Thursday

Today was a good day.

I did the usual morning things.

Sawyer has a runny nose but that is the extent of it.

Work was busy and I worked with a 10th grader and a ninth grader-both great teens (:

Got home and Alaina and Jonnie did great on their own again. It is really nice that I can leave them for a little while and know they will do fine.

The boys and I played outside in the leaves when I got home. It was a beautiful crisp fall day-perfect for making leaf piles!

Where's Jonnie?

He is such a little worker.

After that Sawyer and I collected some pretty leaves. I let him glue them on wax paper and he was concentrating so hard-notice the tongue.

Using a glue stick is the best part.

His masterpiece.

For supper I made chicken enchiladas. I make these a lot, but this time I used a different recipe. they were tasty, but I like the old way better. I realize everything I make seems to have a lot of gooey cheese.....I justify it by exercising (:

Usually when we are cleaning up after supper, Sawyer plays in the cabinets and pretends to cook. Tonight he dropped a glass bowl and I am sad because it is the one that fits on my mixer ):
I hope I cleaned it all up.

The rest of the night consisted of exercise, watching Grey's Anatomy (Is it me or is anyone else having trouble getting into the show this year?), and getting Alaina ready for tomorrow. She is doing enterprising kids at the mall from 10-2. She has to be there at 9 to register and find her table, etc. I am the only mother who is able to come out of her friends and I have to pick up all three girls...I am trying to stay positive about it all, but staying at the mall for 5 hours (I am not comfortable leaving them there alone) with Jonnie and Sawyer makes me worried. And you all know I much I love the mall.... I am just venting here, but staying positive for Alaina-she is very excited and I want it to be a good experience for her. She basically has done it all, but I am going to keep my mouth shut when it comes to dividing up the money-it is her thing, but it is really hard. OK, I am done venting (: Until tomorrow, maybe...

I fell asleep watching my new favorite show-Life on Mars-so I must be really tired tonight.
Goodnight.

A week in the life of me: Wednesday

Today, I guess you can say I was up the first time at 12:45 am. Sawyer was up coughing and my kids' have never had croup but it sure sounded barky like a seal. I brought him to bed with me and he fell right back to sleep with no coughing the rest of the night. He is starting to get a little cold and I hope it doesn't develop into something more. I was happy to have him snuggle next to me as I haven't turned on our heat yet and it was chilly in the house (:

It was heaven sleeping in until 7:30 and surprisingly Sawyer slept until 7:45. The kids are on vacation today and I still have to go to work. So for the first time they are staying home by themselves, well not technically since Jon will be home sleeping, so he is there if emergencies arise (: Sawyer, I should mention is still going to Sherri's house-I would not leave him alone with a 8 and 10 year old. I had one thing for them to do and that was to get dressed and clean up if they eat anything. Hope it all goes well!

Anyway, I am going to make today's post brief as I don't have it in me tonight to write out everything-I will just do the highlights, also I forgot to grab my camera today.

Work was great! I met the most interesting 8th grade boy and he was so fun to work with today. There is not many times I would say that-haha. I probably liked him so much because he laughed at all my attempted jokes and we kind of had the same sense of humor. So long story short he is a very bright kid and I had a great morning (: I left work around 12:30 for a school visit just a few minutes away. It went well and I knew the teacher so it was fun just talking to him. I left work smiling today (:

After picking up Sawyer, we headed home and found that the older two survived-they were even dressed! I don't think they left the t.v. or computer the whole time but that's ok as long as they are fine. I loved being home for the day at 1:30 and didn't have to worry about getting the kids later at school.

We took our usual walk with Sawyer (he refused a nap again :)) and Jonnie. Jonnie rode his scooter and held Dex at the same time so Dex was pulling him along. What is with boys and having to scream at the top of their lungs when fresh air is involved? Sawyer was copying all Jonnie's joyous noises and I am sure you could hear us all across town!

I actually didn't do a whole lot this afternoon-read part of my book, worked with Dex a little (hid a treat in Kong toy but he gave up at one failed attempt-he doesn't like to work too hard), helped Alaina make signs for her business this Friday and that is about it.

For supper tonight I made crock pot lasagna.......It was delicious and everyone had two helpings-It was so easy to make and baked all afternoon, I will have to post the recipe if anyone is interested. Jon said it was even better than my famous lasagna, but I think he is stretching it a little.

Tonight I really tried to watched the debates, but I just couldn't.....I have watched all the others, I know who I am voting for, so I didn't really want to hear the same things over and over......

Instead I played a mean game of UNO with the kids. Oh, I have to quick mention that Sawyer was in bed at 7:00 tonight!! Heaven....... Alaina was the big winner. I always win when we have played before, they are finally getting old enough to know the strategies and I lost big time (:

I am now off to bed...Tomorrow I have to assess two students so it is going to be extra busy at work. At least it will go fast and then I have 3 days off-woot woot-can't wait. Until tomorrow....

A week in the life of me: Tuesday

This morning I was up at 6:25 and jumped in the shower before Sawyer woke up. He hates when I take a shower right away when he gets up.....he loves the snuggle time. Anyway, we were all up and ready before 7:30. I had my tea made and everything (: Out the door we go.......

We made it to the pastry event and Jonnie loved having his little brother there and me. I love how he just wanted to sit by us and not by some of his friends (: Sawyer loved being at Jonnie's school, too.

Here are my handsome boys enjoying some cinnamon pastries. It was sweet when we walked Jonnie to his classroom, he showed Sawyer off to all his friends and then as we were leaving he gave me a big hug and said "I love you." I love that he is not embarrassed yet to do that in front of his friends-I think I made up for the no show yesterday (:

I still had time to kill so Sawyer and I went to Menards and browsed new tubs and vanities and dreamt about someday remodeling my house.....sigh...

I dropped off Sawyer at Sherri's house and he now walks right in, hugs me, and goes off to play. It is going great there and he enjoys playing with his friends (:

Work went fast today. I was at the center all day and frantically got to work as I am testing an 8th grader tomorrow who is failing everything. Could be interesting and the testing usually takes over 3 hours, so I had to get everything done today that I normally would do tomorrow. Anyway, it went fast and for that I am grateful! It was so beautiful when I left work. Sunny and 60 degrees-perfect!When I picked up Sawyer he was giggly and happy to see me, but shortly after I buckled him in he turned on me and screamed, "NO SEE ME!" He was obviously tired beyond reasoning so I drove home in hopes of putting him right to bed. He fell asleep right when we got home but for some reason woke up after only 5 minutes! I am not sure what is up with him and sleeping lately. I am not going to fight him on it and hope this means he will be in bed early tonight.

Can you guess what Dex is waiting for?

Come on mom, let's go!!

Since Sawyer didn't sleep he joined us on our walk today and Dex hopes he stays home next time! He was so sloooow and had to walk in all the crunchy leaves (: Dex couldn't figure out why we were stopping all the time.

After our walk it was time to pick the kids up from school and to my relief, Jon woke up early and wanted to keep Sawyer and take him to the farm. I was relieved because I have the kids' conferences after school and I didn't want to deal with a tired toddler. I usually schedule conferences in the early evening so Jon can join us, but this time I just thought it would be easier to do it while I was still in town and not have to make an extra trip later in the day.

Jonnie's conference was first and it went very well. He is excelling in everything especially math and I am so proud! I really do like his teacher and found out Jonnie was getting in trouble for talking to his friends, alot (: He just really hated being talked to by the teacher and she said it is much better now. He says things are better now, too and he likes his teacher. She just loves him and thinks he is a great kid. This just reaffirms my suspicion that Jonnie was exaggerating things just a bit (:

I had about 20 minutes to spare in between conferences, so we played at the park at Alaina's school. She is quite talented on the parallel bars. I keep telling her she should be in gymnastics.

Alaina's conference was wonderful, too-not that I really doubted it would be. She is excelling in everything especially reading/writing and her teacher was so impressed with her stories. I love her teacher and can't say it enough. She told me she thinks Alaina is really going to go far in life and she just has a gift-I always get teary when I hear things like that about my kids-I hope she didn't think I was a crazy lady (: I am so proud of her!

By now it is almost 5, so a hot, ready meal is in our future tonight........I'm lovin it (:

The kids are officially on MEA break for the rest of the week. YAY! I feel like I am on vacation, too and forget I still have to work tomorrow. It is a very relaxed house tonight, no homework, no cello, no baths, just fun!

I have been researching German Shepards lately to learn more on how to help Dex with his neurotic tail chasing. I read that Shepards need at least 2 (preferably 3) hours of exercise or jobs that activate there minds as well as bodies a day. He is definitely not getting that, so today I bought him a toy in hopes he will catch it or chase it or at least chew that over his tail. He had no idea what to do with it and I kept throwing it in his face (:

We finally got him to pounce on it once, but only once.... This picture really makes me want to finally tear up our disgusting carpet-I am holding out for hardwood floors.

We spent a lot of time outside trying to teach Dex how to play with his new toy. No luck.

What am I supposed to do again?

We finally just took him to the park to run around. He loves looking for squirrels, I should have bought I squirrel toy. Next time, I guess.

I got in my sweats after this as it is getting quite chilly out. I spent the rest of the evening vegging out with the kids and playing with Dex. We worked on "stay" and he is so good it is just adorable to see him sit there patiently until I say "come." I also found a "job" for him to do and he loved it. I hid pieces of cheese around the house and he sniffed them out-he is all about the cheese! I am in search of our Kong toy for tomorrow. He is such a smart dog and so darn cute (:

Well, I am off to bed and am excited that I get to sleep in until 7:30! Sweet Dreams!