this past week

This weekend was unusually busy. We got up, went to clean the church building. We were there for about an hour. The boys and I then left to come home. The sun was out, it was chilly.

This is the tree in my back yard at sunrise.
I never trimmed the trees this fall ( oops).  The boys and I borrowed my parents pole saw and prepared to trim the trees, in the front and the back.

This is the blue spruce out front. Jonathon trimmed the lower branches. The puppy and Andrew are out front cleaning up.

 We ended up with quite the pile of limbs.

The front yard does get more light with the tree trimmed up.
Jonathon and I trimmed the trees at the side and out back, but I haven't taken any pics of those.
Sunday we made three trips to the dump to get rid of the limbs. We filled up the back of the suburban ( we took the third seat out and put the other seats down).
I am hoping that Saturday will be decent so that we can finish trimming the trees.

The puppy is getting big.

The Seattle Seahawks are on playing in the Superbowl, and this area is full of happy fans. Today on the way home, my coworkers and I ( we vanpool) spotted a house that PAINTED the side blue and had a huge "12" on it. I will try to take a picture tomorrow. We couldn't believe it.
I thought it would be cute to make some banners- who doesn't like banners?

 

I made one for two of my co-workers. One of my co workers hung it up at work. We have had several compliments.

Today's activities

Today was a great day.
I worked 4 hours ( because it was a holiday).
I took the kids to Bell Square. I haven't been there in YEARS.
My boys were impressed with the Lego store. That place was packed. They carried several kits that the boys were interested in.
While we were there, we also went to the Disney store, Microsoft store, Apple, and Tesla store. I did not realize that those cars only had one gear. The salesman spent several minutes explaining how the engine worked. I thought it was great that he answered their questions. 
We then made our way back home, stopping off at the hardware store. I am going to make hoop houses for my garden. I really want to grow veggies. This method should enable me to do so.
We ate out at old country buffet for dinner. I can't beat the price as much as the kids will eat.
We then came home. The boys then spent about an hour on merit badges.
We are now watching some show on ww2.

My goal for this week is to have the kids complete one merit badge, go to Olympia ( the state capital), and to build the hoop houses.

Happy boys

My kids have been Seahawks fans since they were old enough to know what football was.

They are SUPER excited to see them go to the Super Bowl.

Me, I don't care. As the NFC championship game was on, I was working on our income taxes ( yuk!)

I did make them lots of goodies before the game today, just because I'm a good mom.

So, now the boys wait in anticipation for the game.

There are still fireworks going off, which is funny. 

I love that others are celebrating.

Even if it's a football game.

This Week

Has been chaotic.

The kids returned to school. New month,new year. 

    My foster kiddos returned To their bio mom Friday.  It's amazing how much stuff one accumulates in such a short period of time. I'm glad I picked up boxes from work. I hope that bio mom does what she needs to- these kuds are so sweet. It's sad because the older boys want their mom to BE a mom. Not take off and be gone all night partying.

   I have been working on cleaning out each section of the house. I had one large load that the boys and I took to the thrift store. I was so focused on getting the foster kiddos stuff together, I didn't do as much as I wanted. New week, so I can begin to focus on these tasks again.

   I am already planning my garden. I will start my seeds in a couple weeks. I am going to make a removable green house cover to protect the seedlings once I transplant them. I know I am going to start lettuce,spinach,onions, and beets. I may try turnips as well.

  I have several projects planned. I am planning on making hooded sweatshirts for the kids. I am also working on wood shim pallets as decorations. I have most the shims glued, I just have to begin painting.

  I need to touch up the walls in the living room. I have the paint, I just need to do it!

this weekend

Was busy. Hubby went back to BYU-I. It was nice here this past weekend. The kids played outside. Everyday. It was great.
I redid the chicken wire around my garden space. I cleaned up/out the garden. This past fall, Andrew and Ryan thought it would be easier to dump all the leaves in it, instead of the compost pile.
It has been a big, soggy mess in there. I cleaned it out Friday. It looks so much better now.
I cleaned out the hen house yesterday. It too looks and smells better.
Jon worked on cleaning/organizing the garage.
I have 2 big boxes of stuff to go to the thrift store. I have a feeling we will be working on the garage for a couple months. There is so much stuff in there. Hubby cleaned out his military stuff to take with him, he has to turn it all in. His last day will be the 30th of June. No more national guard :)
He will be retired.
I made a flannel board for one of my foster kiddos. They are super easy to make. I took a stretched canvas ( purchased at Wal Mart) and stapled flannel to it. I then took felt that I had and cut it into different shapes. The 2 year old seems to like it. I wanted to give him something different to play with. If you google felt quiet books ( which I will be attempting to make soon) and flannel boards, there are tons of really cool websites that come up. The link for one is here or here
I did take pics, I will download them later.
Some of my goals for this week are:
-touch up the walls in the living room
-go thru some of the boxes of stuff in the garage
-to take lunch with me everyday at work

we will see how this goes.

Happy New Year

       Last night we went to my mother in laws for New Years Eve. We had pizza and watched movies. the 2 year old FK ate 3 pieces of pizza ( have no idea WHERE he fits the food in). When we left, it was foggy. It was so thick, that roads I normally drive 60 mph on; I was only doing 40. It was  a little unnerving.

I usually don't do New Years resolutions. I just don't see a point to it.
I do have several goals for this year.
-to get more vegetables out of my garden this year
-try to grow potatoes
-finish my staircase
-replace the light fixture in the kitchen
-declutter each room in the house.

     Saturday we went to the Pacific Science Center. I love that place. It is hands on. It is perfect for kids. I get a discount thru my employer, so we went ahead and purchased a membership. When you have a large family, its cheaper to do that.

The sun even came out while we where there.

 

 

 

Hubby with some of the kids. The older three boys didn't come. They were house sitting for one of my friends.
When we were done, one of the FK's asked if he could see the Space Needle up close. He said he had not been down to the Seattle Center since he was in second grade. It was nice outside. So we walked by there.

This is evidence that yes, the sun does shine in Seattle.
We went for pizza for lunch afterwards. The boys had a great time.