The Cat Came Back and Crazy Hair Day!

It was red ribbon week at school, which means every day the kids get to dress up some crazy way. I love this week, because instead of hitting the snooze button a few times, the kids always get up, get dressed, and get out the door in record time because they are so excited to go to school!!

Cade especially loved crazy hair day. (You mean I get to mess up my hair, instead of combing it?!?!) He had a good time with the gel.

Of course, Avery wanted to be part of the fun too, so she went to preschool like THIS and had a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. She said "I CRAZY, Mom!"


And yes, we are all singing "The Cat Came Back" song, because thanks to all the kids' prayers, our missing cat showed up at our door after four days of being gone. I'll admit, Dave and I weren't thinking as positively as the kids, we really thought she was a gonner! But we are so happy she found her way back! She's been part of our family for 9 years, and we were so sad without her. He won't admit it, but Dave was the saddest, I know it. What a softie.

Have You Seen Me?

Hey all my neighbors . . . . Just thought I'd put this out there. We are missing our sweet kitty. She disappeared on Friday, and if any of you have seen her, will you please let us know? I have some really sad kids :( Thanks for looking!!!!

Say Cheese-ball

I had this bright idea that instead of purchasing the boring overpriced school pictures this year, I would take each of my kids and get some pictures of my own that captured an idea of what they are about and showed some personality. Well, Cade was the first one I've taken, and that's exactly what I got! WHAT was I thinking?

I can't tell you how many pictures I have of Cade's goofiness. I may just do a collage of all of these so he can look back and see what a ham he is. Always the comedian! This next one is the one HE wants to put on the wall.

After an hour of pleading and bribing (I told him I'd buy him something at the dollar store in exchange for a NORMAL smile), I managed to get just a few decent ones. I've narrowed it down and now I'm trying to decide which ones to enlarge for the grandparents. Let me know what ya think.

Here's #1

#2

#3

#4

And my personal favorite . . . #5

Here you go, Janet

Thanks for the TAG, my first one, how exciting!

2 names you go by:
-Mom, no wait, it's actually "MOM!!!" that's how my kids yell it.
-Nelly
2 things you're wearing right now:
-t-shirt & jeans (what else, that's my wardrobe!)
2 things you want very badly at the moment:
-laser hair removal! (if one of the presidential candidates could promise this to all women everywhere, they'd have our vote!)
-my husband to come home from hunting
2 favorite pets you've had:
only two?! I couldn't pick two. But I did LOVE the bunnies, if only they weren't so stinky.
2 things you did last night:
-Went to my book club
-Watched Bailey's horse riding lesson
2 things you ate today:
-school lunch with Cade (Yum-O)
-chips and salsa
2 people you talked to last:
-Janette
-Mom
2 things you plan to do today:
-watch the debate
-run on the treadmill (I could do both at the same time, doesn't that sound like so much FUN?)
2 longest trips you've taken in the last 5 years?
I don't get it, is it longest distance, or longest amount of time. Or is it which one SEEMED the longest. That would be any one we took with the kids. :) I'll go with:
-Belize, 10 days
-Oregon Coast, 7 days
2 favorite holidays:
-my birthday
-my birthday
2 favorite beverages:
-water. I know, how boring.

I tag Jenni, Melissa, and Ashley

What we've been up to . . . .

It's been awhile since my last post, so here comes a long one with lots of pictures.

Dave is away hunting for 5 days, and every year I take this opportunity to do whatever I want to do while somewhat taking care of my kids at the same time. It's my way of having a mini vacation for myself right in my own home. I plan to have an Oprah marathon (I have 31 episodes yet to watch), get caught up on my stack of magazines (BH&G, Pottery Barn), wear my pj's and no makeup, and do as little cooking and cleaning as possible. (Last night we had a giant bowl of caramel popcorn for dinner! Tonight looks like tomatoe soup!)

So here's a few snippets of what we've been up to. Sorry it's all broken up into segments, I use Picasa and it only allows me to post 4 pictures at a time, and I hate that! If anybody knows how to get around that, please tell me!

What we've been up to . . . .

Dave: Hunting. It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . for Dave. He's loves this time he gets to spend in the mountains with his good friends, and I am glad he gets to do it. Not to mention it gets me a few guilt-free weekends with the girls myself:)

Turning 38. Doesn't he look thrilled about it? Don't worry hon, you look even better than the day I met you!!

Practicing the guitar. I am so proud of Dave for having the ambition to learn something new (at your age! ha ha) He's learning right along with Cade, and I love hearing the music they play.

Working. I always knew Dave was a hard worker, but he's stepping it up even more during these hard times. I am so grateful to him for going out there every day with a determined attitude to bring in more business and do everything he can to give us a good life. He amazes me. He is simply the best.

What we've been up to . . . . . .

Bailey: She just raised and released some butterflies that she got from Grandma for her birthday. She wore her butterfly shirt to commemorate the event and one of the butterflies landed on her shirt. She said the butterfly thought it saw some of his friends!

Bailey has been taking horse back riding lessons and has found her passion! She really looks forward to it all week. She has a phenomenal teacher who really knows horses and is teaching Bailey the art of English riding.

What we've been up to . . . . .

Avery: Either she is playing with her horsies, or pretending to be one every day. Here she is putting pretties in her horsies' hair. She has lined them up and put name tags in front of each one. "Cadillac, Penny, Smokey, and Bissy"

All dressed up for a party! Her good friend Amanda had a Strawberry Shortcake party, and Avery wanted to wear her Strawberry Shortcake shirt that was waaaaay too small, so we improvised and tried to find something that looked like Strawberry Shortcake.

You would have thought it was Avery's birthday, she was so excited! She had a great time and talked about it all day.

What we've been up to . . . .

Cade: Well, what can I say. We buried his second gerbil next to the first one, due to a little "accident" that involved driving his gerbil around in the back of a toy dumptruck at a reckless speed. It was a sad day, and mom was NOT happy.

Here's what happens when you are camping in crappy weather and everyone is stuck inside the trailer together.

Me: Mostly what I've been up to is spending a lot of time on the computer. "Hi, my name is Chanelle, and I am addicted to my computer." (Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery!) I have been organizing and backing up my pictures, learning photo programs, and I've been buying and selling stuff on KSL. Sometimes I can't sleep at night because I can hear my computer calling to me. But I did manage to get outside long enough to build this little beauty next to our front walkway. I've wanted a waterfall for a long time, so this makes me happy!

And today I made some cute little tutu's for my girls. A purple and black one for Bailey's witch costume, and a pink one for Avery, just because she loves to dress up and be pretty. Avery asked me what I was going to be for Halloween, and I said I don't know yet, and she said "Maybe you be Oprah!" Ha! Maybe I will . . . . .