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Graham Cracker Houses

Making "gingerbread" houses is a fun tradition that my kids look forward to. With some help from Grandma & Grandpa (they sent some of the supplies), we had a fun evening decorating houses.

Before the kids began, I constructed the houses and glued the crackers together with hot glue. I highly recommend this step - often it can be frustrating when they are trying to build the walls and the roof and their house keeps falling down.

Here's Josh all ready to get decorating.



And David...


And Rachel and Emma



Emma was quite proud of her finished house



The big hit this year were the Gingerbread men cookies I bought on a whim. Rachel has a whole family outside her house.


Here's David's house



And the whole village



Up close of Josh's


David's


Rachel's


and Emma's


They sure had fun and were all very creative!

Preschool trip to the Firestation

We had our first official field trip with our home preschool group. Recently the kids learned about fire safety so we made a trip to the fire house. One of the first things they showed us was the room they use for "down time". It had a bunch of big recliners and they let the kids each sit in one while they taught them about fire safety.



Then it was on to the exciting stuff - the fire engines.

This nice firefighter showed us all of the equipment they use when they go to emergencies.



Then he showed us what he would look like if he came into your house in a fire. They kind of end up looking like something out of a sci-fi movie (and they sound like Darth Vader). It's good for the kids to know what they will look like so that they wouldn't be scared in an emergency.



Here's Emma waiting for her turn inside the fire truck.



The fireman was very patient and let all the kids have more than one turn sitting in the truck.



It was fun for them to see it up close.


Here's the whole gang!


I'm glad that Emma has a good group of kids to go to preschool with.

Halloween

This year we had a great time at Halloween. October had some crazy weather - freezing rain and snow (2 1/2 days off of school!) but we somehow managed to have perfect Halloween weather. The kids didn't even need coats (other than their cloaks!). We had a cute Little Red Riding Hood.



A pirate (putting on his best "mad" face).


Ginny Weasly (no, I'm not Hermione!)


And the famous Harry Potter.


I thought this was a cute one of Rachel and David together.



Here's everyone ready to go trick or treating.


Dad got out the glowsticks so the kids would be safe.


And he also made yummy homemade corn dogs for dinner.


We met up with the Kelsch's for Trick or Treating.


All the kids had a great time. We ended the evening with a Halloween movie at our house (with 1 extra hour to stay up!). We also had tons of candy left over - I sent it to work with Daddy to make the temptation go away :)

Happy Halloween!

A little bit of Snow - and lots of no school

Finally, it was time for the kids to get back to school after a 2 week fall break. I was looking forward to getting back into a routine and had a lot of things going on on Monday. It had snowed some on Sunday night, but it wasn't very bad. Monday morning Rachel and I woke up very early (she has to catch the bus at 7:14 am) to find out that there was a 2 hour delay - I'm glad that I actually checked because there was no reason to have a delay. They had school on Tuesday but that night, there was a forecast that a lot of snow was coming. For our area, it was supposed to be 1-4 inches (which to me is still not that bad). I wake up in the morning - it still hadn't snowed at all, but I decide to check the school website - there is a 2 hour delay which later turned into a cancellation. Still, no snow whatsoever - just a forecast that it was coming. Some areas around us had snow (it was the worst north and west of us), but we still didn't really have anything. Finally, by Wednesday night it started to snow and blow really hard. School was cancelled again on Thursday. By this point, my kids are tired of being home and want to get back to school. I'm beginning to think they are going to be home a lot this winter - they seem to cancel school for a bad forecast! The kids got to go to school on Friday - just in time for Halloween parties. The snow was mostly gone by Friday afternoon. Hopefully we're not in for a tough winter!

Fall Break

In the school district that we live in, we start school pretty early (August 5th) but the kids get some nice breaks during the course of the year. The first one was fall break - two weeks off in the middle of October. We decided to spend one week in Utah. Aaron had a business trip during that first week, so I drove to Utah by myself with the kids. I have usually been fortunate to have pretty good driving conditions, and I didn't think this trip would be any different. We left at 8:30 am - hoping to arrive around 4:30 or 5:00 pm. We started out in a very nasty ice storm in Colorado Springs. It was 20 degrees outside and there was a freezing mist that kept coating the windshield. Before I got too far, I stopped at a gas station and stocked up on windshield washer fluid. My heater/defroster was not working and I had to spray the windshield every couple of minutes. It wasn't too bad - just slow going. Then, I-25 was closed because of an accident. There wasn't any real detour - they just made us get off the freeway. I was on dirt roads for several miles until I got to highway 83 and made it towards Denver. We were all freezing in the car and already an hour behind schedule. I was finally able to get back on to I-25 and then my car started overheating - badly. Luckily I was in the middle of Denver and was able to get the car looked at and fixed. So, we finally pulled out of Denver at 1:30 pm (heater was working - obviously it was part of the problem). But, we still had Wyoming ahead of us. It was cold, windy, and was either snowing or the wind was just blowing snow around. It seemed to take forever, but we finally made it to my parents house at 9:30 pm. It was a trip I'll never forget and I hope to never have to do something like that again!

I was very blessed - my car broke down right in the exact place where I was able to get help. I even think getting detoured by the accident was part of the plan - maybe my van wouldn't have overheated until we got to the plains of Wyoming (nothing for miles, 12 degrees, and a mean blowing wind!) And then I would have had to wait with 4 kids (with no heat) for a tow truck. Anyway, enough complaining! We had a fun time in Utah. I didn't have my camera - but we went to Gardner Village and the kids went on a Pony ride and visited a petting zoo. They saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (which was slightly disturbing by the way), had a shopping spree at Deseret Industries (a fun thrift store), went miniature golfing, and swimming every day. Aaron joined us later in the week and we saw lots of Bloomfields at a Halloween Party. It was a fun break! Aaron drove home with us and we had no issues with the car or the weather. I'm glad that we were able to spend the break visiting with family

Josh's Birthday

On September 23 Josh turned 7. Here are some pics from the family party. He did have a friend party this year, but I was pretty busy chasing 8 kids around to take any pictures :) He LOVES stuffed animals so we got him a big stuffed penguin that is also a puppet. It was a big hit!



He also likes Legos and was happy to get this Bionicle.



Happy Birthday Josh!

Emma's first day of Preschool

This year I am doing a neighborhood preschool for Emma. All of the kids are from church and she was very excited when the first day finally came. She loves going and is always asking me when she gets to go back to preschool.

She is learning a lot and I can't believe this one will be in Kindergarten next fall!

American Discovery Trail Half Marathon

I ran a half marathon on labor day with my sister Sarah. It wasn't really something I had ever thought about doing until earlier in the year when Sarah wanted to know if I wanted to sign up for the Moab half-marathon. It's lottery style and after we didn't get picked, I still had the "bug" in me. When we moved to Colorado Springs, I started searching for a race, and found that there was one on my birthday - which also happened to be labor day this year. I took it as a sign and started training. If anything, it would help me get in better shape and give me a goal to work towards. Here are my stats from about 4 months of training:

total miles: 180.87
elevation gain : 15,885 ft
calories burned : 24,624

I had a lot of fun running around the different trails in Colorado Springs. My favorite was the Pikes Peak greenway. It looked like the race was going to be on or around this trail so it was good preparation as well. It turns out the race was on this trail (an out and back) and I had already run on most of it. My longest training run was 13 miles and I completed that in 2:40. Some of my shorter runs had a better per mile pace so that was what I was shooting for. But, I didn't really care about my time. I just didn't want to come in last for my age group and I wanted to beat the first marathoner. Last year the best marathon time was around 2:52 so I figured I could easily do that.

So, race day arrives. Sarah and I were pretty anxious and nervous but things went really well. The weather was perfect.


Here we are waiting in the very long bathroom line! We just barely made it.

The first shot Aaron got of me coming towards the finish.

Sarah finished before me, but she re-ran the last little bit with me.

I think I'm trying to give a thumbs up? Running pictures always turn out weird.

Almost there!

My official time was 2:31:50. They didn't have chip timers for this race, so I started my watch when I crossed the start line and I stopped it when I hit 13.1 miles (according to my GPS, this race was a little bit longer than 13.1 miles) So, my Garmin time was 2:30:47. I cut 10 minutes off my practice run and I ran at the pace I was hoping for (about 11:30 per mile). I beat the first marathoner by a few minutes (he cut 20 minutes off the course record!)


We're done! I think I burst into tears when I finished, but they were tears of joy. I was absolutely wiped out for the next couple of days. But, I'm really glad that I did it and I might even do it again.

A couple of interesting facts about the race. The guy who won the marathon had lost 60 pounds and (like I said before) cut over 20 minutes off the course record. His half-marathon split time would have beat the guy who won the half-marathon. That is so amazing! I can't even imagine running that fast. Also, a 9 year old boy ran the half marathon - and he finished in 1:49. That is so fast for such a young kid! Very inspiring.

The kids were able to participate in a fun run. It happened while I was still running the race. They each got a ribbon and a little goody bag.

Waiting to start.

David came in first

Followed by Rachel.

Then Josh.

They all had a lot of fun running!

Coupon magic

I used to think it was so corny when someone would take a picture of all the food they bought with coupons. I didn't really get it. Well, don't knock it 'till you've tried it! I've been couponing for a few weeks now and I'm amazed at the kind of deals you can find. It is so exciting to score a great deal. Here is one of my best scores at Albertsons - My total for the whole shopping trip was around 35.00. What I saved was around 130.00. I just took a picture of the best deals. The total for these items was around 10.00 - and lots of the items were free.



And, I didn't just get snack food. I also got 2 whole chickens, 5 pounds of pork chops, milk, bread, and produce. Of course now I'm totally jaded - I can't pay more than 1.00 for a box of cereal (and .50 is my average). But, it's kind of a fun way to help keep your grocery budget under control - and build up your food storage.

I'm still just a beginner. There are tons of blogs and web pages out there to help you get started. Just don't try to do too much at once and know that you can't get every deal. Just start small and you'll be amazed at what you can find.

Round 2 Dinners

I love it when I can take a meal or some ingredients and stretch it into 2 or even 3 different meals. Tonight's meal was such a collaboration of leftovers that I just had to share. A couple years ago, I learned how to take a whole chicken and use it for several meals. When whole chickens were on sale a couple of weeks ago I was really excited, because at .57 cents a pound - using it for more than one meal really stretches your dollar.

So, a few days ago, I roasted a whole chicken. It is so easy and there are lots of different ways to change the flavor. This time I put some quartered lemons in the center and the last 20 minutes, I basted with BBQ sauce. Slice it up, cut off the drumsticks, add some potatoes and veggies, and you've got a great meal. So, don't be afraid of those whole chickens that are way cheaper than buying boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Tonight I made chicken broth with the leftover bones. The chicken still had lots of meat on it (sometimes I will take off the meat and use it for another meal), so the broth was really flavorful. After the broth was done (and I removed the bones :)), I added carrots, celery, onions, and all the chicken meat. I was looking in the fridge and found some leftover green beans and rice (from a different meal - this probably would have gone to waste if I hadn't used it tonight). I threw that in, along with some egg noodles. It made for a really hearty soup. Then I took some hamburger buns (left over from yet another meal - those would have just gone stale or moldy), spread them with softened butter and sprinkled them with Parmesan cheese. I put them under the broiler for a few minutes and we had some yummy "Parmesan bread".


I pulled things from 3 separate meals to make a different meal that didn't feel like leftovers. I love it when that happens - especially when we can top it off with some free ice cream...

First Day of School

I am so behind in blogging I thought I better just jump in on what is going on right now. The kids had their first day of school at the beginning of August. Rachel started on August 4th (6th graders started one day early) and David and Josh started on August 5th. They were all very excited to go back to school. Rachel was especially looking forward to lockers, changing classes, and more lunch choices. She also gets to ride the bus - which I enjoy more than she does! I am so glad that all of my kids enjoy school so much and that they are such good students.

Here is Rachel on her first day of 6th grade.



Holding her all important schedule:


The next day David and Josh got to go to school.
David is in 4th grade:


Here is Josh all ready for 1st grade:


David and Josh in front of their school:


Emma starts her preschool co-op in September. Some days she is excited about it and other days she says she just wants to stay home with me. I'm pretty sure that she will enjoy it.

I hope all the kids have a happy, productive healthy school year!