HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our mini-Dave, the one who tries everything, stops at nothing and never gives up! We love having you in our family. It has been an amazing 6 years, and we are so glad we get to have you forever! We love you! - Mom & Dad

Family Fun Night

Family Fun Night, a.k.a. family teams up to take Dad down night. As you can see, the kids won, with Gracie holding her own.

Do Do Do Lookin' Out My Backdoor.....

We have so many squirrels here, I don't think we will ever appreciate them the same way. I feel bad for them when it starts to get cold. They literally beg on our porch for food, and being the softy that I am, I can't let them go hungry. Really, they get up on that top step and watch us eat, just to make us feel guilty. You have to see how excited Ben gets, I'm so glad I caught it on film!

Halloween

I have been really slow about getting these up! The first pictures were taken at their Cherubs music class.

Ben loves suckers!

Can you tell which one is Gracie? The Class.......

Isaac, Mitchell, Riley, Gracie and Ben

This is after trick-or-treating, so it is a little anti-climatic for the kids.

Hunting Chickens

OK, so this post is totally for our posterity and might not be that funny to everyone else. We were all sitting at dinner last night eating steak when Mitchell asks us if we bought the chicken or if Dave hunted it(that was the funniest part). Mind you, any meat at our house is referred to as chicken by the kids. Dave and I were both trying to keep a straight face, and told him that we had purchased the meat. Then Mitchell told us that he thought we should hunt our chicken instead. We both kind of smiled at this and didn't let on what we really thought of his idea. Then to clarify we asked him if he meant turkey, and he said "yes, dad should go and hunt us a turkey then". So, maybe one of these days Dave will go hunt turkey, or maybe a chicken, if not, we'll let Mitchell get on it when he gets a little bit older.

TAGGED

I was tagged by my friend Sheri. It's my first, and I just did the first thing that came to mind, not exactly the deepest thoughts so here goes......

• I am: a wife, mom, caretaker, family CFO, daughter, friend, teacher
• I want: to be with my family
• I have: the best husband, kids, family and friends. Really, I do.
• I dislike: it when my kids are grumpy, and Dave doesn't get home until late.
• I miss: friends from work (I copied this one from Sheri), and my Utah family and friends.
• I fear: change
• I feel: loved
• I hear: kids playing, my baby cooing, a football game
• I crave: a home of our own
• I cry: when I read a sad book
• I usually: get on the computer before bed
• I search: the internet for good sales on things I want to buy
• I wonder: if Riley will grow out of this stage
• I regret: things that I say in haste. I wish I thought more before I spoke.
• I love: Dave, my kids, my parents, grandparents, my siblings, and friends.
• I care: too much about what other people think.
• I always: have laundry to do
• I worry: that my kids will have a great sense of self and know how much I love them
• I am not: easy going. I try to be, but I am seriously anal. Especially about things.
• I remember: how it feels to be twitterpated.
• I believe: in doing what is right.
• I dance: with my kids, and occassionally with Dave, but always in the privacy of our home
• I sing: in the car.
• I don't always: follow through the way I wish I did
• I argue: anything I really think I am right about
• I write: just because I like to. Especially if I have new pens or markers.
• I win: when anyone plays me and Dave at Rook(OK, we win).
• I lose: almost any game I play against Dave
• I wish: I had things figured out.
• I listen: to what my kids say.
• I don't understand: why Riley is so moody.
• I can usually be found: hanging out at home. I am a homebody.
• I need: Dave and my kids
• I forget: anything on my schedule that is not written down.
• I am happy: because the kids are in bed!
• I tag Fish, Dana, Maquel, Christine, Teri, Jen, Bonnie, and Laurie

We had our friend Carissa take some pictures of our family. They turned out great! Sorry, family. I think this one is a preview of our Christmas card. I just love this one!

OUR HOUSE

We are getting pictures together of our home to sell in the spring and I wanted to post them here so we can all remember our place here in Village Green(I am having our blog made into a book which can serve as a family history) and also so that our family and friends back in Utah can see our place. We love it here, and it even made me sad thinking of selling so soon. On another note, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that this is what my house looks like all the time. I had to move a lot of stuff around to get it to look this good. This is our unit from the front. We have a lot of grass around it, but the kids seem to use the sidewalks and roads most often. Our front room. I wanted living room couches for so long, and Dave helped me pick them out once we moved here. I really enjoy having a more formal living room. This room really does look like this most of the time. This is looking in from the front door. This is inside the front door to the left.

The kitchen as you come in through the back door. Not a lot of counter space, and luckily I am not used to any more than this.

This is the other side of the kitchen, I guess we can call it the dining room. The small door is a pantry, but I also use this armoire to keep mostly food in.

Mitchell, Isaac, and Riley's room. Mitchell has the single twin, Riley is on the lower bunk, and Isaac is on the top bunk. This is one of the rooms that I hardly recognize by the picture.

This is Ben's bedroom. I absolutely love this color green. Dave had it picked out and painted before we even moved here. Besides the living room, this is my favorite room in the house.

Same room, this is right inside the door to the left.

Our one and only bathroom. We adjusted to the one bathroom way better than I had expected.

This is our room, and Gracie is sharing it with us. For any of you that didn't know, Dave made the cradle for me when Isaac was born. One of my cute friends here made the darling bumper in it, with a cute blanket to match.

I can't really recognize this room either. Family Room

This is our toy closet.

Laundry/Storage room, a very useful but not very attractive room. I tried many different things and could not get these pictures to come out any better than they did. We are a family of seven living in a 3 bedroom, 1850 sq foot home without a garage. Really, we don't mind and wouldn't have it any other way, but we have to keep our stuff somewhere.