day 196.....

day 195..... just in case

day 194..... Winter Storm Warning :D

day 193..... color me a song

day 192..... aliens probably have purple cheese

day 191..... Scientist Benji

Ok... so my goal was to get the 11,000+ emails out of my inbox AND sorted before the first of the year. Well, I got that done already. So my new goal is to get all of my pictures off of my phone and camera and on to my blog pages. I am also planning to have my homeschool page set up and ready to go at the first of the year. I am going to cut myself some slack and plan to have the pictures all caught up BY January 2nd.

day 190..... Christmas!!!

day 189..... almost showtime

day 188..... making candy necklaces

day 187.....

day 186..... the stocking are hung and the presents are all wrapped

day 185..... look at all this snow

day 184..... ANOTHER winter storm warning

day 183..... Sophie's 7th Birthday

day 182..... Here Comes Santa Claus

day 181..... if it didn't, it was really close

day 180..... Winter Storm Warning with up to a FOOT of snow!!!

day 179.....

day 178..... I'll tell you what I want

day 177.....

day 176..... pretty, pretty presents

day 175.....

day 174..... it was raining

It started raining this morning. Surrounded by snow and it started raining. Not frozen rain. Nice ice pellets. Rain. The wet kind. And it lasted all of about 90 seconds. Long enough to make a rainbow. A big one, not very dark though. I stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture as it was fading as quickly as it had appeared.

day 173.....

day 172.....

day 171..... Christmas Tattoos

day 170..... the empty spot

day 169..... it's a nice mummy

day 168.....

day 167... I love my blanket, but I think Hazen or the cat just might love it more

day 166..... advent day 1 a success

day 165..... Sophie's tree skirt

day 164..... the start of a christmas countdown calendar

day 163..... BIG LOTS!!!

day 162..... the tree

day 161..... Swiss Colony

day 160..... Thanksgiving!!!!!

day 159.....

day 158..... turkey cooking and a blizzard watch

day 157.....

day 156.....

day 155..... I think winter is here

day 154.....

day 153..... Popster

ok... So Lexi is love with the new radio station in Fargo, the Popster. I decided to surprise her and take her there to get a bumper sticker. They were out of them, but made it even better. They gave Lexi and Caitie station t-shirts and window clings. Lexi was quite excited. They are in Fargo for the night waiting to go see the midnight premier of Harry Potter with Kristen. Definitely going better than the last Potter movie premier.

day 152..... our tree

day 151..... Lexi got her license... and we got our Christmas tree

day 150..... cute little fabric quarters

day 149..... lappy zombie

day 148..... baby bananas

day 147..... we are Fargo bound

This is my goal for tomorrow. We are going to Fargo to FINISH Christmas shopping, and I need to go to the Asian market to get these. These almost qualify for my food blog, but I really, really want them. It is going to feel so good to be finished with shopping. There are little things we will need to "fill in", but for the most part, finite. And.... get this.. I have been wrapping as I buy. No giant pile of presents that take 5 hours with no potty break to wrap. It is wonderful.

day 146.....playin' pet shop

This is the face a newly appointed teenager makes when she is caught playing Littlest Pet Shop with the little people. lol

day 145.....

sick in bed... will post pics later

day 144..... when you give a 2 year old a toy catalog.....

He is going to tell you what he wants. Even if he doesn't really want it. And he is going to want you to look at everything he wants. Even if you are driving. And when you don't turn to look at what he wants, because you are driving, he is going to get angry. Very angry. And then he is going to kick and scream, and when he does this, he is going to accidentally kick you in the elbow, while you are driving. And you are going to get upset and take away the toy catalog because he won't stop kicking. And he is going to throw the biggest tantrum he ever has..... for the last 16 miles home. Non-stop. And even when you try to give it back to him, it won't matter. And then after screaming and kicking and crying non-stop for almost 20 minutes, his sister is going to say, "Hey! There is our water tower." And then he is going to immediately stop crying, smile, and say, "I see it!" Like nothing ever happened.

day 143..... you know what this means...

It is the 8th and I don't have November menus done. Let's just say that there has been a LOT going on this month. Some good and a lot bad. I think I have been meeting myself coming and going. I am sitting down this evening and trying to come up with at least a weeks worth. If nothing else, just some meals based on the shopping that I got done today. Probably some for the days after Thanksgiving utilizing leftovers. By the time I do that, I should be almost done for the month. My goal is, other than birthdays and holidays, to do no other grocery shopping barring perishables- milk, eggs, cheese.....and really amazing ads. The kids are complaining that the deep freezes are both full. I know both fridge freezers are full. Armed with that information, I should be able to "home shop" out of our freezers and pantries until January...... yeah right.

day 142.....

day 141.....

day 140.....

day 139.....it has started

day 138..... Happy Birthday Trevin....

day 137..... oh, the power of playdough

Let's face it. It doesn't matter how tubs of Play Dough your kids have, but give them of the tiny ones in their Halloween stuff, and it is all they want to play with. Over, and over, and over again.

day 136..... good, bad, or otherwise

Brian's truck, otherwise know as the purple people eater, turned the big four-o this year. So, we now have a vehicle old enough to get Pioneer plates.You know, antique car plates, you know... old. It was pointed out to me by one of the kids that I am 1 year older than that truck. Believe me, days like today, I feel like I need antique plates strapped across my backside. Yeah... gotta love our kids.

day 135..... HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

day 134.....

day 133..... triple crock pots

day 132..... another book we love

day 131

day 130.... season's first blizzard warning

day 129..... knees, teeth, and tongues

so..... Lexi was back at the doctor today for a follow-up to her knee injury. She needs an MRI. That is scheduled this Friday. Tomorrow, Caitlin has oral surgery at 7:30 in the morning, which means we are leaving here at 5:15 in the morning to get down there in plenty of time. If the fog is anything like it was this morning, then we are going to need twice that driving time. They are taking out 4 jaw teeth. Should make for an interesting day. And the highlight of today was when we were in Valley for the appointment. We went to Burger King after we were finished as a treat for the younger ones. After slurping away on her frozen coke, Sophie, the resident 6 year old princess, asks me, "Hey Mommy.... do you want to feel how cold my tongue is?" And me, being the dutiful mom, I stuck my hand in the seat behind me so she could touch her cold little tongue to the top of my hand. It was definitely one of those "You know you're a Mom when....." moments. Sigh...

day 128..... Hazen at the laundry mat

Hazen's idea of "helping" at the laundry mat consists of him violently shaking the article of clothing for about 30 seconds, waving it around, and then he rolls it up into a ball and sets it on the table, or in the basket, or even on the floor. It was an experience. One that makes me a little more eager to shell out the bucks for a new dryer. But then again..... he really did have a lot of fun.

day 127..... squirrels

They are now grabbing the corn and running up the tree with it.

day 126..... my birthday

day 125..... my shoes are sad... and so am I

day 124..... Fargo bound again

day 123..... Hazen loves his lattes

day 122..... the critters we are trying to feed

This is a Black-Capped Chickadee. We had a small flock of about 5-6 of them on the feeders today. And in the bushes. And on the ground. If you stand out there quietly for long enough, they will come up real close to you.

day 121..... love my nook

day 120..... daddy's office

day 119..... sad, soggy lump

This sad, soggy looking lump is Hazen's stripey. It met its doom battling a bottle of chocolate milk. Stripey lost. Thank heavens for OxiClean and Era.

day 118..... poor parrot bear

day 117..... why

I was going to blog about this book tonight. When Kristen was little she liked this book a lot. Caitie loved it even more. Trevin really loved it last year. I love this time of year. The foods, the colors, the smells. And books are part of it. But then something happened to bother me a little. Why... I ask why do some teenagers, hell people in general, why do some of them feel the need to try and outdo others with who has the worst hand dealt to them. I am not tooting my own horn here, but all of our children are very lucky to have the things they do. Meaning all things... family, possessions, everything. I am a little bit tweaked that for whatever reason, one of my children has decided to blame me for something that she wants, it hasn't happened yet, but yet... she is saying it is MY fault, that I won't "let" her. It isn't even my deal. She knows who she is, and she knows what I am talking about. So yeah... that's all.

day 116..... star gazing in the cold, dark night

You don't get a picture of the stars themselves, just the means in which we attempted to gaze at them. The telescope needs some fine tuning, or thrown away. So we boxed it back up and were content to watch with the naked eye. Brilliant night out. The younger kids were amazed that the Big Dipper moves around everywhere we go. Guess I know what a new lesson needs to be in the near future.

day 115..... damn squirrels are getting too smart

What you see is a cooler. That a squirrel has chewed though trying to get inside. Through the lid, and through the handle.  There is birdseed inside. Damn squirrels.

day 114..... amazing movie selections... no lines to wait in

day 113..... she was really here

In the last 36 hours, I have seen her for maybe 45 minutes. She was at work yesterday, came home to grab clothes and then off to a friend's house for the night, and then off to Fargo for shopping today, and then home for a little while and then off to another friend's for movies. I took a picture so I wouldn't forget what she looked like :)

day 112..... Friday night football

Maddie went to the high school football game tonight. Makes for an interesting night around the home front when the teenagers are all out. We have 5 of the kids home tonight, and the oldest one is 10. So, right now, I am holed up in the bedroom with Hazen watching WAY too many episodes of Spongebob.

day 111..... love my cricut

LOVE playing with the Cricut. And though you can't see them well on here, there are adorable little purple spiders on the October.

day 110..... peter pan or captain rhubarb???

He really doesn't make that face all of the time. He was having quite a go at the sun getting him. After all of the rhubarb is harvested each summer, one of their favorite things to do is make hats out of the leaves. Most of the large ones were used long ago, but there are a few little ones left over for his head.

day 109..... more damn squirrel drama

30 minutes. I kid you not. We had been home all of 30 minutes, IF THAT, and had set out the 40 pound bag of BIRDSEED, only to find out the squirrel had gnawed a hole in the bag and already had helped himself to the tune of a pile of empty shell pieces.

day 108..... roborovski dwarf hamsters

These little things are amazing! We are going to get some, just not sure when. We were at the pet store today and saw some again. Love watching these things to go town on youtube.... hilarious.
And metal it is.

day 107..... metal or plastic?

Braces that is. The oldest in this picture is going to the orthodontist in the morning for a consultation. One out, one in. Might try and get her in Invisalign. .Who knows. This picture was taken today in Fargo. We were there to drop her off for a HUGE rock festival tonight and then she is staying the night with Kristen. I will go get her in the morning and we will go to the ortho from there.

day 106..... I'M GETTING A SCHOOL ROOM and a BIG PANTRY

WOOT!!!

day 105..... little barbarians

Their favorite meat choices are now the drumsticks so they can eat like "Barbarians". As long as they are eating, that is fine with me.

day 104..... another camping picture

day 103..... what a night

day 102..... spur of the moment, with 4 days notice

it's a secret