I love having a girl...

This is one of the many reasons why it is fun to have a girl in the house! Love her!

What a difference a week makes...

The Loader...

 The beginning of excavation... (The part dug out is the garage...)

 another view of the garage

 Concrete forms...

 more forms...

BIG pile of dirt behind the house...

 

Side view of foundation

 back of the house...

Front of the house (front porch...)

Dirt... AND sticks!

QUICK UPDATE...
We drove by what we are affectionately calling "our dirt" yesterday and saw that they had it all staked out in preparation for excavating. The excavating will probably happen sometime next week. It is stilll kind of hard to visualize the house, but it was fun to stand on where our front porch will be.
Who knew dirt AND sticks would be so exciting? :)

Dirt...(who knew dirt could be exciting?)

Well, I have hesitated to post anything about what has been going on in our lives lately, for fear that perhaps things won't work out like we hope and I will somehow be jinxing things if I "let the cat out of the bag", so to speak... but we are really excited about the changes in our life and decided to share the news.

2 1/2 years ago Matt took a job in Longmont working for a publishing company. He LOVES it and they have been very good to us. The plan was to move our expanding family closer to the office so Matt wouldn't have to commute every day, but then we found out that little Levi was on his way and we decided to wait until after he arrived to move. Then the company merged with another company based in Texas and our moving plans were put on hold AGAIN while we waited to hear if we would be transferred or not. We finally got the word that we get to stay in CO and so are now in the process of putting our house on the market and finding a new place to live. It has been quite the undertaking and after much cleaning, searching and praying we have found a great location.

We are going to have a new house built just for us! It is about 5 minutes from Matt's office and will be perfect for us. The picture above is of Matt standing on our dirt! (I never knew dirt could be so exciting!) The lot is oversized and on the corner, so basically everything you see behind Matt will be ours. We are across the street diagonally from the neighborhood park, which the kids are excited about. The church is about 5 minutes from here, as is the elementary school.

The only hiccup is that now we have to find someone to buy our current home. If this house doesn't sell in time then the builder will go ahead and sell the home they built for us to someone else. (That would be SO sad...but it is a risk we're willing to take.) The FOR SALE sign is going up this Saturday. This has been a great 1st home for us and in some ways it is bittersweet to say goodbye.  We have spent a lot of time praying about this and feel really good about moving ahead. Here's hoping everything works out as planned... wish us luck!

Sleeping with Style...

This is how I found my Levi Bear when I woke up this morning. 

(Don't worry- he was breathing just fine!) 

I did get a little giggle out of it though!

Kellie Gets Spoiled!

Kellie has an Aunt Jerri who loves her very much and decided to spoil her, just a bit... 

She made her this darling little dress...

and this super cute little purse...

(buttons added by Grandma J! Thanks Grandma!)

AND had this adorable flower made to match her dress.

I think she's loved, don't you?

(Thank you Aunt Jerri!)

Levi makes me laugh...

"Levi, where's your... hair?"  He points to his hair.
"Levi, where's your... mouth?" He opens his mouth and points to his teeth.
"Levi, where's your... tummy? If he's wearing a shirt he pulls it up so you can see.
"Levi where's your... nose?" (I love this...) He points to his nose and says "BEEP" like he's honking a horn, then he reaches out and beeps your nose too.
and my absolute favorite is...
"Levi, where's your... tushie?" If he's standing up- he bends over, spreads his feet apart and tries to put his head between his legs to find his tush- when that doesn't work he looks over one shoulder, trying to see behind him and spins in circles like a dog trying to chase their own tail.
I sure love him and I love that he can melt my heart and make me smile!

Kellie says CUTE things...

In speech therapy they have been working with Kellie on how to pronounce her own name, and the names of those closest to her. She is doing really well, and I just had to share a cute story about how she says the name CALEB. 

She has been pronouncing CALEB like this: KAY-LOVE

(which I think is really cute and smile every time she says it... but we are trying to teach her the correct way to say it so I did end up correcting her)

"No, Kellie. It's KAY- LUB. B-b-b." (I put emphasis on the b sound at the end.)

So now how is she pronouncing CALEB? She is saying:KAY-BUB. 

hee hee hee:)

Snoozy little Levi Bear...

(posted just because he's cute...)

Severe Cold Day

School was canceled today due to severe cold. The temperature is currently -9 degrees with a wind chill factor of -35 and not expected to get much warmer... too cold for the kids who walk and have to wait for the bus. 

Anyway, this is how my kids are spending the morning home from school. I just love them!

100th Day of School!

Today was Caleb's 100th day of Kindergarten! He got to count out 100 apple jacks to take to school to mix in the 100 Day Bowl for Gorp. He also got to use a hula hoop 100 times! He really liked coloring his 100 day hat and necklace, too. His necklace says 100 days smarter, and he sure is- Good job Caleb!

Pinewood Derby 2011

Aaron's Pinewood Derby was last week. I have to admit that it was really fun to see all the creativity that goes into these cars. This year Aaron wanted flames on his car, which for some reason was a really big deal to him, so Matt worked really hard with an exacto knife and a piece of contact paper and then helped Aaron paint on bright red flames. No wonder then, that Aaron won the award for "The Hottest" car!

The difference between "chances" and "tellings"...

For the last 2 weeks or so I have been really sick with bronchitis and have not "been up to" dealing with a lot of arguing and noise from the kiddos. So yesterday when I picked the boys up from school we had THE WARNING while I had them all confined in the car.

ME: There will be NO fighting... there will be NO whining... there will be NO pushing or shoving or poking... there will be NO disagreeing of any kind... DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?

(3 nods are counted and one blank stare from Levi...)

But before we are even in the driveway Aaron and Caleb are arguing about who is taking up more room in the backseat.

ME: Boys in the Back row- did you hear me? I JUST said that there will be no arguing- Knock it off, okay?

(I hear a muffled "yes, Mom..." but I'm sure someone's eyes are rolling...I could just feel it)

We pull in the driveway and there is another argument about who gets to get out of the car first.

ME: Are you kidding me? It doesn't matter who gets out first- just get out and quit arguing over things that don't matter...

We are scarcely in the house when Caleb heads up to his room to play. On the stairs he pushes Kellie back, yells "NO!" to her and locks her out of his room because he doesn't want to play with her.

At this point I am fed up. I mean the kid has had fair warning and  I am in no mood to deal with the nonsense.

ME: CALEB get down here and get in time out...

CALEB:NO!

ME:YES.

CALEB: But you didn't give me any chances!

ME: Yes, I did Caleb. I told you THREE times before we even got out of the car that there would be no arguing and fighting this afternoon. You had your chances.

CALEB: I did not! THOSE weren't chances- those were TELLINGS! AHHHHH!

ME:Just get in time out Caleb...

Even today, after I've stifled my laughter and Caleb's time out has long since expired I have to ask myself... IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "A TELLING" and "A CHANCE"?

(sigh... he's only 6- I've got at least 14 more years of his crazy logic to live with at home...it's a good thing he can make me smile, I guess) :)

Farewell, Tooth #3!

Mr. Caleb finally lost tooth #3! He has been so funny about it, too. Around Thanksgiving we noticed that his top teeth were starting to feel a little loose, and Caleb was so excited. In Music at school the Kindergartners had learned the song  "All I Want for Christmas is My 2 Front Teeth". Caleb LOVED this song and sang it all season. He thought it would be really cool if his front teeth were actually missing for Christmas so he could REALLY wish us all a MERRY "CHRITHMUTH." Every day during the Winter Break he would come up and ask if it was loose enough to come out. Every day I wiggled and had to say, "not quite..."

I know he was a little disappointed to have not lost it before Christmas, but I think his sadness disappeared when he saw the coins the tooth fairy left him! Way to go Big Guy!

First Visitors of 2011

Matt's parents were able to come spend a weekend with us to ring in the New Year. Here's some pictures of our very first house guests of 2011...

Unexpected Blessings...

Growing up I can remember rolling out sugar cookies and decorating them with all the different colored frostings ans sprinkles my Mom always prepared. I remember building snowmen in the back yard until my fingers and feet were so cold that I had to go inside to defrost them. I remember looking back at pictures of us on Christmas morning- our hair always sporting a crazy case of bedhead, holding whatever that year's gift happened to be.  I have tried to give my kids the same kind of memories, but this year was different.

Because of the ongoing problems with my wrist- mixing up cookie dough is really hard for me- let alone trying to roll it out. My wrist just doesn't work that way any more and I get frustrated trying to do the things I used to do. Subsequently, I told Matt that he was on "cookie duty" this year. Then a wonderful thing happened. We had so many friends, neighbors and family drop off goody trays and baskets that we had a hard time eating what was already here! The kids LOVED choosing from all the varieties and always wanted to know who made what.  I don't think they even missed taking a year off from making their own. I also think it was a really good lesson for them to see that other people care about us enough to do something so special for our family. We try to teach the kids that it is great to serve others- but I am glad they also got the opportunity to see how good it feels when someone goes out of their way to do something nice for them. Maybe they'll remember that and try to pass it on!


My favorite movie of all is "White Christmas". I just love it and the songs and every year I hope to actually have a white Christmas. Living in Colorado, this isn't usually a problem, but this year it just didn't snow. I admit I was a little saddened by this, but tried to look on the bright side. Some of my kids have had that nasty barky cough all season and wouldn't have been able to go outside anyway. It did finally snow for my birthday on the 30th, and I was surprised that the kids didn't even ask to go out and play in it. I guess the freezing cold temperatures just didn't tempt them!

We woke up Christmas morning and the battery to my camera was dead. No reviving it and no replacements. So I didn't get any pictures this year. I am slightly saddened by this, but in a way it was kind of nice just to enjoy the moment. I got to watch my kids excitement as they opened their gifts and we didn't even have to pause and pose for anything. It really was kind of a blessing in disguise, I suppose. 

Don't get me wrong here- I love all our family Christmas traditions; the cookie making, the romp in the snow, and the pictures. I hope to revisit these traditions in future years and I really hope my kids have fond memories of their holidays. At the end of the movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" the Grinch comments that he learned that "Christmas perhaps- doesn't come from a store. Christmas, perhaps means a little bit more."

Like the Grinch, I also learned a great lesson this year; It's okay that things didn't go exactly as I planned. It's okay that I didn't bake all the treats myself... It's okay that we didn't have snow and pictures and all the rest of it. That's not really what Christmas is all about anyway. Christmas is about being with our loved ones and about remembering the Savior and all he means to us. It is about being grateful and recognizing our blessings and in return blessing the lives of those around us. That's what I learned this year, and I am so glad I did.

Shepherdess Kellie...

No explanation required, I think... :)

Graham Cracker Houses 2010

 Kellie and Julie's creation...

 Caleb and Grandma's sprinkle-encrusted house

 Jordan and Aaron's towers...

 again...

Matt and Levi's house

 (again...)

 Melanie's house

(Spencer supervised!)

 The Village...

Levi's 1st Haircut...

BEFORE

AFTER

Aaron earned his WOLF!

 AARON earned his WOLF! (Actually he earned it in September, but he finally got the award tonight!)

It is a tradition in our pack to paint the animal paw on their cheeks when they advance rank. Aaron was so proud of his WOLF paw, and we are so proud of Aaron! Congrats, buddy!