Another snow day...church!

This last week was a crazy one with all the snow. Monday we woke up to over a foot of snow with dangerous driving conditions so school was canceled and Tuesday school was canceled because the road department needed another day to get the roads and school parking lots cleared well enough to drive on. Friday, Megan went to school but because of all the cold weather we've been having (-10), I was called to come and get her because the school was being evacuated because a pipe related to the school fire suppression system had burst. A large snow storm on Saturday brought several more inches of snow so church was canceled on Sunday. I took Megan visiting teaching with me on Sunday afternoon. On the way there, we got stuck in the snow trying to get off of Highway 50. I was panicking. Megan was praying. How thrilled we were to see our home teacher pull up next to us and ask us if we needed help. There was so much snow in the sister's very long driveway when we arrived at her house that I didn't dare pull off the road. Too much snow on the shoulder of the road to park there so we drove home and rescheduled. I'm sure this is typical winter weather for you Idaho folks but very unusual for Dayton, Nevada.

Santa Clause

Santa Clause came to our ward Christmas breakfast. We were singing Jingle Bells in the cultural hall when to our surprise, a very excited Santa Clause arrived and was running around the cultural hall greeting the kids and adults. He didn't realize that his pants were falling down in the back so Mrs. Clause had to pull them up for him. Very funny. Santa came up from behind Colton and so Colton didn't see him until he was in his face. Colton got scared and then later wouldn't sit on his lap without Mom forcing him.

Let it Snow!

Sunday night it was snowing when we went to bed and when we woke up Monday morning it was still snowing with an accumulation of over a foot in some areas. School was canceled both Monday and Tuesday. This was the first time in the 6 years we lived in Dayton that school was canceled because of snow. While Blake did a lot of shoveling, the kids and I did a lot of playing in the snow making snow angels, snow caves and sledding down our drive way. We tried to make a snowman with no luck because the snow was just powder and wouldn't pack into a ball. We were out there for hours. The kids were thrilled to see that we still had snow on Tuesday and that they could play in it again. Usually we get snow and it melts away by the next day. School is back in session on Wednesday but my car said it was -9 degrees when I was taking Megan to school. Brr.

Wrestling Boys

As far as Colton is concerned, if you are on the floor, you are fair game to be tackled and wrestled. Jayce is often a target but does enjoy it. However, he usually is the one screaming for help. Colton doesn't give up easily.

Jayce's Christmas school concert

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, Christmas season is officially under way at our house. Today, the kids talked me into pulling out the Christmas boxes and decorating the house and then for Family Home Evening tonight we listened to Christmas music by Gladys Knight (great CD) while decorating the Christmas tree. Blake was in charge of the treat tonight and before he would reveal what it was, he made us go outside to look at the neighbor's Christmas lights and get cold so the hot chocolate he made could warm us up. It worked and it was delicious.

Had to get a snap shot of the low decorations put on by Colton. He was having such a good time decorating the tree I didn't make him put them where they would look better. We already had our first Christmas decoration fatality. Colton was trying to get a better look at his stocking, and he pulled his stocking and the stocking holder it was hooked onto off the mantel and it smashed on the floor.

This week several ladies from my church ward are having a Christmas tree ornament exchange. We had to make one ornament for each person involved in the exchange and they all had to be the same. I made snowy pinecones. They turned out cute and they were easy to make. I like how the glitter sparkles in the light.

Change your clothes

When we got home from church today, I told the kids to go change their clothes (meaning: change out of your church clothes into another outfit). Megan came out with the shirt she had on under her dress at church, over her dress. When asked why she was wearing it that way, she said, "You said change your clothes, so I changed my clothes." Next time I'll be more specific.

Megan's not a baby anymore

So what did you think we would do when we were in the car waiting for Blake to meet us? Take pictures of course. I think Megan is officially a big kid now. The baby girl is gone (sniff-sniff)

These pictures make her look older than 8. Not what I want to do. Trying to keep her young not make her grow up faster than she will naturally.

Thanksgiving Indian

For Colton's preschool group, we created and wore indian costumes in honor of the indians at the first Thanksgiving. He even made the noodle necklace. Colton sure looks forward to the days he has preschool.

Fall leaves

The kids were thrilled to see all the leaves at my mom's when we showed up at her house a couple weeks ago. After trying to rake leaves into a leaf pile to jump in with no luck because the wind kept blowing them away, the kids thought there would be no jumping or playing in leaves for them this year. Wrong. We all had fun jumping in them at throwing them at each other and mom even had enough that the kids could bury themselves in them.

Unfortunately, non of the leaves are actually from a tree in my mom's yard. They are all from their neighbor's tree. Too bad the neighbor doesn't rake mom's yard too. You can see how thick they are in the background of this picture. Burying themselves in leaves was so much fun. Megan and Cousin Joey.

Nevada Day 2009

Nevada Day and Halloween are on the same day, October 31st so before we went trick-or-treating we went to the Nevada Day parade.

We met my mom, and sister, Katy with Joey and watched the parade with them.

While waiting for the parade to start, we noticed night crawlers crawling out of the grass and onto the sidewalk. Not just one or two but many. The kids spent time trying to rescue them so that people walking on the sidewalk didn't step on them. Look at the size of those things.

After almost three hours of parade watching (and we left early)we were hungry and ready to go find a park to picnic and play.

Halloween: The longest season of the year!

We sure got a lot of mileage out of the Halloween costumes this year. The kids attended 5 Halloween activities requiring a costume before Halloween night including a ghost walk in Dayton, a friend's Halloween party, school Halloween parade and parties, our church trunk-or-treat, and Halloween soccer games. I think this took away from some of the excitement of getting dressed up for trick-or-treating on Halloween night but the kids didn't seem to think so.

We went on the ghost walk and trick-or-treating with our friend's the Clark's (Selena, Savannah, Ethan and Jesse) It was a coincidence that Colton and Jesse had the same costume.The kids made a haul with buckets over-flowing before the night was over.

Megan's final vampire make-up. Not too scary for the boys as initial night,but not as plain as 2nd night. She liked this one best especially because she didn't have to wear those fake teeth she hated so much.

My mom sleeps all day

One of my friends was working in Jayce's kindergarten class during show and tell time. She told me that Jayce got up and showed everyone the car he brought in and then out of the blue said "my mom sleeps all day while I do her chores." What?! When questioned why he said that he said he didn't know what to say when he was standing in front of everyone so he thought he'd be funny. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Nothing. And I guess Jayce will be doing my chores. LOL.

Tamer vampire

We had our annual ward chili cook-off and trunk-or-treat last Saturday. Had to tone down Megan's vampire make-up so we didn't scare the boys again. Almost went with no make-up because all that face make-up was pretty similar to wearing a mask and masks aren't allowed at church parties, but last minute decided she needed some make-up so went with this. Drew on teeth because Megan hates the ones we bought her to wear. The kids get to dress up for Halloween 2 more times before Halloween is actually over. I found pictures of vampire make-up I want to try on Meg for the actual Halloween night.

End of fall soccer 2009

For the last soccer game of the fall season, soccer players were encouraged to paint their faces since Halloween is this week. Jayce went with a puppy face and Megan with a cat face. They looked cute. Megan was the only one on her team that painted her face. They called her the team mascot because her team was the "jaguars".

Smeared make-up must mean they played hard. Soccer is over for now anyway. The kids are bummed but the mama is not! No more practices in the cold to endure and no more torturous games to attend. We are free on Saturdays now. Megan's team went out with a bang! They won their last and maybe only game. The score was 5:1. Jayce had a good season. It was fun to hear parents who were watching the game make comments about Jayce having potential. So glad they moved him up a division so he wasn't getting heckled about his height anymore. He loves the game but has a desire to play baseball so who knows what he'll do in the spring. We'd also be fine with nothing.

Fall Hike

We found a hike we like to take down to the river. It's near our house. The last two times we went, it was late afternoon so we were walking back at dusk. We were lucky enough to see a deer with a couple babies fairly close to us and some wild horses.

The trees were beautiful with their fall colors.

It's only Megan!

Our friends hold an annual Halloween party and the kids always look forward to it. Jayce went as a knight and Colton wanted to be a dragon again. This year Megan wanted to be something scary and decided on a vampire. I tried to talk her into being a pretty vampire, like the ones in Twilight but she wanted to be scary. I got Megan's costume and make up on her while the boys were having a nap. When they woke up and saw her they screamed and cried. Jayce especially had a hard time seeing her that way and couldn't be convinced for quite some time that it was only Megan in a costume. He hid in the bathroom crying. Every time Megan would go in a room that Colton was in, he would jump and hide behind me. It took us nearly 30 minutes to convince the boys it was just Megan.

Salmon Run at Taylor Creek

Every year we like to go to Kakanee Salmon run at Taylor Creek at Lake Tahoe. It's an easy nature walk on the Rainbow Trail with part of the trail along Taylor Creek.

The bright red salmon were fun to see. There were many jumping out of the water and putting on a great show. Both Jayce and Colton wanted to "kill" them. Colton had a hard time not getting in the creek to step on the fish, throw rocks at them or stab them with a stick he found. Future hunter/fisherman? The kids also enjoyed watching the ducks diving down looking for salmon eggs. My sister saw a bear up there last week. We didn't though.

Of course we had to stop and take some fall pictures.

We all look a little wind blown. We came straight from a nearly 4 hour stint at the soccer field. We met our friends, the O'Barr's, at Taylor Creek and walked the trail with them. This was the best I could do to get a picture of all the kids smiling. Aubrey O'Barr is Jayce's best friend. They've known each other since birth and have always gotten along great. This year, they are in the same kindergarten class.

Fall Soccer 2009

Fall soccer has been under way for a couple weeks now. The kids are enjoying it and seem to be improving with every season. Jayce got moved up to the U-8 division this season. They play with a goalie and get experience playing different positions. At this age they all just run in a pack around the field chasing the ball. Jayce is still a hustler. He loves running. Megan has had experience with different positions this season, not just defender. (be sure to click on the picture to view larger)