bathtime tonight--laken is obsessed with sadie's jewelry--he looks like a little girl here. I recently bought a huge container of mr bubbles only to discover we have gone through most of it.. hmmmm

a rare photo of dan and I at an after thanksgiving party--sadie and laken came with us and did very well--playing wii and running around like wild indians.

being 4

sadie's new thing--grandma bought sadie's baby a walker saturday while we were shopping..sadie recently tied a scarf to the walker and drags it around wherever we go. yesterday at fred meyer we got quite a few smiles and looks as she pulled her baby around the store.. she is only 4 once...

all by myself

here I am all alone at home watching Annie--well not alone--laken is in his crib upstairs
how did that happen you may ask? grandma and papa just left with gemma and brecken to head back to bend. dan and sadie went to a bike shop to check out the sales. It hasn't been this quiet in days. I appreciate it yet it just totally sucks that the kids had to leave--we had a wonderful thanksgiving this year!!
after we woke up this morning I remember I had stashed some flu shots for gem, brecken, and laken as they haven't been immunized this year--I did give them the choice of flu mist or shot..except for laken of course. gemma and brecken both chose a flu shot and didn't complain one iota when mom gave them their shots... they are getting so big. Laken watched everybody and was willing and ready to get his but didn't like it so much when he finally got it--poor guy.
it is gray and foggy today--40 something degrees--perfect weather for staying inside--I think the littles are getting a bit stir crazy lately.

the last of them

waiting to eat..............they look like they are in pain eh?

t'giving

the one day a year that feels like it lasts only about 15 minutes

thanksgiving has come and gone AGAIN!! my husband was surprisingly crafty this year--printing up bingo games for the kids--while watching the macy's parade--for example some spaces included santa claus, a marching band, the grand marshall......and then when we sent him to the dollar store to pick up some dice as our yahtzee game was fresh out--he picked up a piece of poster board and wrote thanksgiving on it--everyone proceeded to write what they were most thankful for off of the letters--way to go hubby!!

sadie had her thanksgiving program at preschool--I was unable to go but dan took mega pictures

here are a few

sadie and her preschool teachers with her turkey hat...sadie LOVES her school

Dan and I have been working with Sadie on trying to teach her about the value of money and earning that money doing little chores, keeping her room clean, waking up with a dry pullup.....
she absolutely loves being mommy's little helper--and she really does a good job at whatever she is given to do
a few days ago--I told sadie she needed to go clean her room--
sadie: Laken, do you want to be my helper and help me clean my room?
laken: otay sadie
off they went upstairs.....
sometimes on a perfect day--they warm my heart with their love for each other

love this picture--I tried for 10 minutes to get laken to smile and look at the camera--when he finally looked up and said "cheese"--dan looks like he is drunk out of his mind...

dain/sadie

dan and I had a couple over for dinner saturday night--they have three children--one of which is their's together. dain is 4 and sadie and he absolutely adore each other. dain had to wear brecken's spiderman costume and sadie put on her halloween witch costume... they played the entire night without eating or getting into a fight.

there are so many scenic spots on my route from medford to bend--which i drive 2 times a month at least. I finally stopped at a beautiful stream with falls--I am trying to do better with my camera--I want to be really good--and the nature shots are my total favorites. there is a class coming up in the spring I might try to get into--there are so many thing I need to learn about speed, settings......

can you believe gemma and brecken stayed in the car and played video games while I hiked around basking in the beautiful surroundings. kids!!

fall

what a beautiful fall day--the sun is shining and it is warm

I smell thanksgiving in the air--my favorite holiday

dan is doing yardwork and sadie is raking leaves

I love fall

surprise

My mom called me a few days ago to inform me that she and her husband- terry are planning on moving to Iowa. currently they live in small town in northern washington. terry might possibly lose his job in the near future--and there would be no reason to stay in the area except that terry's son and daughter live nearby.
they found a farmhouse in Iowa--near my sister--that sits on 7 acres for 75,000 dollars.
needless to say this news came as a shock to me--
I am happy for my sister--if everything works out--she will only be a few miles away from my mom.
I miss being near my family--at one point we all lived within 5-10 miles of each other
at that point we didn't really appreciate each other and spend as much time together as we should have. only after I moved away did I realize how special that family/sister bond is.
I hope it works out..

I am obsessed with the author Stephanie Meyer and the Twilight series--the plot revolves around vampires and werewolves.. the books are targeted at the younger generation but I just love them
the movie Twilight comes out November 21st--doubt it will be as good as the book

Laken sits in the middle of his race track for hours--watching the cars go around and around. dan and I alternate his train set and his race car set. we have gone through a case of double a batteries I do believe--keeping the darn cars running

movies

dan and I took all 4 kids to see madagascar 2 yesterday. determined to save a few buck we drove to the cheaper theater in white city about 15 miles away from our house only to discover it was sold out. I guess other people has the exact same idea. the matinees are all 2.50--so it would have cost 15.00 for my family to see a movie. needless to say the littles were very disappointed--laken had a small tantrum just to show us how disappointed he really was
we then drove to the large expensive theater in town where there were plenty of seats available
33.50 to get in--holy shit
the movie was cute, laken did well--except he was loud at times and clapped his hands for everything--i had stashed redvines, whoppers, gummy fish, m and m's, and other assortments of candy in my big cookie lee tote so we were well supplied.
we had to get popcorn of course and some sodas
50 plus dollars later....

play doh

sadie loves playing with play doh--she got a haircut today and was just amazing--no complaints and just a perfect angel. Laken wouldn't have anything to do with the stylist....I told laken sadie was going to have pretty princess hair and he would just have crazy man hair

sometimes I feel like I am not important or significant in my husband's life. dan is a wonderful person and would bend over backwards for any of his friends or relatives--even for those people in his life who are not there for him.... yet--where do i fit in the picture? I just feel like I am last on his list all of the time
at this point I don't want romance--just some action to show that I am number one
for example I took my team oregon motorcycle class a few weeks back and I asked him many times to pick me up some motorcycle boots..
friday night I come home from work--dan--were you able to pick my boots up? no, the kids were being really bad so we didn't go.
my husband is a motorcycle parts rep for god's sake --i should have the coolest, chic, bike gear ..

not a month ago--he managed to get his dad a zillion different bike parts and ship them to prineville with complaint at all.
dan did get my motorcycle boots--after I wore snow boots to my first motorcycle class to prove a point.
I think about dan all of the time--if it is just filling his car with gas before he drives somewhere the next am or renting a dvd I know he will like--he is constantly on my mind and it just really hurts to think I am never on his

laken in action

my babies

coffee

I am a huge coffee lover truth be told
and not just the black swill my husband drinks. I like the flavored creamers that go in the coffee like pumpkin spice, or vanilla caramel--now they have a chocolate raspberry creamer out--yum
my ultimate favorite this time of the year is eggnog--to die for
I would compare a latte in the morning to a good book
with money being tight--I have been TRYING to cut back
I am just going to pray I get lots of starbucks giftcards for christmas and my birthday....

halloween

halloween began like this. Laken didn't want anything to do with his costume--"don't want to" he said over and over. he didn't want his pirate hat on or to hold his sword--I guess this is the before picture

not 10 minutes later--he was smiling and ready to go---still no hat or sword

goal

I have a goal--it is a hefty goal --yet it is something I want with all of my being.
Dan and I want to move back to bend. I think we wanted to move back within the year after moving to medford.--but alas--we were stupid and bought a house instead of renting.

now three years have gone by--we are upside down on our house--things are looking really bad for selling our house.
so our plan is to rent our house out--and rent a house in bend. foremost--we must have large amount in our savings account before this can play out.
our goal is one year from now--having enough savings to return to bend.
I feel like a giant weight has been lifted from me--