Twins!

No we are not pregnant again! I have the girls in matching outfits, my good friend Annie gave them. I had to take pictures...Brielle was pretty proud to sit with her baby sis.

Light sabers, grape juice, and friends

What a week! It's seem like we have been going non-stop! Although I'm pretty sure there are a few days in there that I refused to get out of my pajamas. I feel sorry for Brad on days like those. I'm surprised I haven't developed a permanent imprint of my pj's on my body. I love them, they are an article of clothing that I really can do anything in without the worry of ruin, stain, or the kids catching sight of my underwear, i.e. low rise pants and motherhood were never meant to meet.

Anyway back to our week. Our good friends came over for dinner, and Amber cut Micah and Christian's hair, they had school pictures. I have her cut their hair when it's picture time, I don't want the hack job that I could potentially create to be caught on film forever. One time I told my mom I could cut hair so she gave me a go at my brother's hair...I am pretty sure we both cried. OK back to our week. What is so wonderful about or friends is all the kids get along so well, even the big kids.

Micah(7), Gabbie(10), Christian(5), Trevor(16) video games are hypnotizing

Carli(13) texting...What else is there to do? :)

Brad got really dressed-up for our friends...they were impressed, you should be too!

(See picture below)

The kids and I went shopping for a winter jacket for Brielle. I really don't like paying full price for anything, but I am able to justify it a little more when I know Ruthie is going to use it, plus the stuff was marked down a little. Brielle wasn't to happy with me when I put her hat, coat, and mittens on her when we got home. I'm pretty sure she was toasty, but it's hard to feel sorry for her when she looks so cute!

That night my wonderful friend Amber, and her daughter Gabbie came over. Amber was helping me plunge into the wonderful world of canning. I have to say I kind of like the feeling of being "Laura Ingalls", Little House is a very inspiring show. Anyway we made and canned grape juice...so fun! What a feeling of accomplishment! Although it's not hard it is fulfilling.

My sweet friend Amber taking care of grapes.

We are so proud of the juice! And yes I am in pj's!

While we were canning the kids decided to go all out Star Wars, and we had the light saber fight of the century in our living room. Even Brielle got in on the act. Ruthie decided it was better to sleep in dad's arm. I caught the epic battle with my camera, I'm not sure if there were sides. I think it was every man for himself.

Watch out Esther!

Tonight we had family night. We decided since we had a coupon we would go out to eat. In all my life I never thought one coupon would determine if I went out to dinner or stayed home, of course I also swore up and down I would never drive a mini-van, and now I wouldn't drive without one. It's funny how having a couple kids humbles one opinion of themselves. I am not so proud anymore. :)

Ready for a night out!

Kisses for her date

We clean up nice!

The night ended with a sword fight. No light sabers this time, I think we were in medieval times. Brielle again was right in the middle.

A little quieter at the farm

Well it's definitely a little quieter at the farm tonight, OK it's a lot quieter! :) Out of our 10 chickens we had 4 roosters, and the cock-a-doodle-do's were nonstop. So we made the decision that Brad would butcher the three most aggressive ones today. Micah called them the Three Rooskateers, and I named them The Three Tenors. (We named them today so there was no attachment.) The boys decided that they didn't want to help Brad as much as they did with the last butchering, so he was pretty much on his own. One of the times they did check on him he had just cut one of the roosters heads off and it got away from him and ran. Brad let them know the rooster was dead it was the nerves that were making it run. The boys kept saying; "Wow those are some nerves!"

Brielle showed us a new trick today. She has taught herself to climb up the boys slide in their bedroom. I got shots of all the action! She's pretty proud!

The Three Rooskateers
The Lone Rooster (Loner)
And she's off!
Almost there!
Keep going!Victory!!

A Wonderful Weekend.

This weekend was a great one! On Saturday we woke up to a couple inches of snow and so Micah and Christian got on their snow gear as fast as they could. They were out by 9am! Brad pulled them around with his 4-wheeler while they were on the sled. They had a blast!

The girls and I were inside getting ready to head to Boise. My good friend Gabrielle was throwing a shower for Ruthie and me that evening so I was excited to get there quickly. The shower was so wonderful, and most of my good friends were there. It was so wonderful to be back in Boise, even if it was only for a couple days.

Brielle was very happy to see her Papa! They hung out quite a bit, and Papa doesn't mind one bit. I've posted pictures from the weekend! It was a great one!

I am going in for surgery tomorrow so we'll let you all know how it went!

This was taken in the morning!
All the wonderful ladies and me at the shower!
She's a ham!
Grandma and Ruthie
They love to be goofy together!

Brielle kicks it old school.

So Brielle and I had a little fun with dress up time. I had found some of my old dresses and they are her size so we played model, something she is already very good at...Scary! :) Anyway I'm pretty sure my Gram got these for me so they are very special! Hope you all like them. Oh the last one is of Brad and Brielle doing yard work. She loves being outside with him, and she's a big help too!

A little bit of everything.

Wow! What a week we have had! Wes came and visited, and what blessing that turned out to be. I ended up have a scan done on my gallbladder, and he watched the kids for me. I was also able to get a few naps in because he would take over for me...it was so great having him here! The kids loved having him here too because of course Grandpas are required to play unlimited games of Skip-O.

So I my test results back from my scan and Friday and it turns out that I will have to have my gallbladder removed. This is actually a relief for me because I've been not feeling well for awhile now and that is the reason why. Also Christian is having his tonsils out on Wednesday and I know he is feeling nervous so keep us in your prayers.

The pictures below were taken throughout the week.

Brielle in my old outfit.

Silly Girl!
Ruthie
Mommy and Brielle
Grandpa Wes and Brielle
Warming up before the game.

Go boys go!

Christian was goalie
Big time stuff!