Happy Halloween

     It's been super busy here.

3 of the boys did football. They had an amazing time.

Ryan and Marc team both made it to the first round of play offs, Lolos team made it to the second round. 

     Marc and Lolo officially part of our family. The adoption was finalized the beginning of this month. 

Yes, Marc broke his arm. At football practice. The great thing, the doctor said he could play with his cast. Jason found some foam, he cut to cover the cast.  I was glad he was able to finish out the rest of the season.

The boys have been working on their scout ranks and advancements. They all enjoy doing outdoor activities. Yesterday they got most of the leaves raked up ( an acre lot=lots of leaves). They did an amazing job. The wind of course, picked up this afternoon, now you can't really tell.

The picture below was taken Wednesday

The picture below was taken today

Last year the trees didn't turn all the colors they have this year. My neighbors apple trees have been very productive. He gave us lots of apples. I made 13 quarts of applesauce and canned it. I have another box on my dining room table. I am hoping to make apple pie filling. The walnut tree that is on the property line has been quite bountiful as well. I purchased 150 pounds of potatoes. I canned most of one 50 pound bag. I got 36 quarts of potatoes canned. One of my friends asked if canning potatoes was a Midwest thing. I replied it was to keep mice from eating my food. We haven't had any mice yet, several of my neighbors have. I am hoping they don't venture in. They are tearing up fields to the east and north of me. We have had several skunks and raccoons. One morning a raccoon was in my backyard, the dogs almost caught it. One of my other neighbors lost several hens to one. I have been locking mine up since the middle of September. 

My son worked for the same farmer this year. I scored lots of free tomatoes. I was able to make 13 quarts of tomato sauce. I used an attachment for my kitchenaid mixer to separate the skin and seeds. That made the process so much quicker! I will probably not can whole tomatoes in the quantities I used.

We have replaced almost all the windows. We scored on their purchase. They were on close out. We saved several hundred dollars. It has made a significant difference already. We have had a few light frosts. No huge change in the inside temperature. I figure the snow will begin falling soon, that will be our biggest test. The sliding glass door opens so easy now! I am very happy with them.

     We are already making plans for the front yard next year. I want to build up the flower beds in the front. I would like to add low water shrubs, preferably with colorful foliage. We are also planning on taking grass out next to the street. We have a 5 foot easement. It is a hastle to water, we will be removing it and put down gravel. We have talked about several ideas, we just need to get them on paper and see what us practical.

Pumpkin patch and Blue spruce

We went to the pumpkin patch this past weekend.
The little kids had a great time.
The pumpkin patch we went to is located in the valley.
It was grey and very breezy

 

 

Epic was a good sport, he offered to push around the wheelbarrow.

FK #2 had quite the time picking out the "right" pumpkin.

As for my blue spruce..
Its in my front yard, not to far from my house. The roots stretch towards the front..

As much as I like the tree, hubby and I have decided to have it taken down. Whats crazy, I have called several tree removal places ( got the names of the BBB. Many aren't licensed and bonded.)
Only two have called me back. Only one has given me an estimate. The other is suppose to come by today. We will see.

Monday was really nice here, I raked up two big brown bags worth of leaves.
Cant tell I did looking at my yard today, lol.

This week

So, I was able to complete the hooked rug. It is done.
Friday I was off work, but spent the day running kids around to various doctor appointments. Later that afternoon I did mow the front yard.
Saturday, I spent tinkering around the house. It was cloudy but not too chilly, I washed some bedding and hung it out to dry.
I am hoping that the weather begins to warm up/dry out this week. We have already received 6.91 inches of rain this month. My back yard reminds me of a bog. Saturday I picked up a planter to move it and found 5 different tree frogs.
This week I need to make a to do list of house repairs. My husband is considering looking into jobs in Eastern Washington, so we may be moving this summer. I hate moving. If my hubby finds a job, then I go where he goes. My 14 year old said as long as he can get a dirt bike ( aka motorcycle) or a quad he would be happy. All the boys say if possible, they would like a work shop. It would be interesting to see how all of the boys ( hubby included) would go about organizing it. I think, to keep my sanity, I will just avoid that area.
This Saturday my kids have scouting for food pick up, and later that day their troop has a spaghetti dinner. I will be cooking noodles at home and then will be dropping them off at the church. I wont be going this year, but that is only because one of my foster kids does not do well with a lot of stimulation. So, for my sanity, I try to limit that.
Tomorrow we will be going out to Red Robin to celebrate Andrew's and the fk's bday. They have the same birthday. Andrew will be 13, and the foster child will be 5. He is super excited for his birthday. I got him a bicycle, some Thomas the train figures, and some sticker books.
Off to bed I go, as this is late for me...

Goals for this week

I have several goals for this week.

1. Finish the latch hook rug for my nephews birthday.

2. Finish and hang my St Pattys banner.

3. Make some felt letters for my felt board that my one FK enjoying playing with

4. Organize my craft things.

I'm off this Friday, but the kids have doctors appointments that day. 

This past week has been a struggle, the youngest FK has had a nasty cold, which turned into a double ear infection. Go figure. When he is missing naps 3 days a week, ask me if I am surprised. The day care is not impressed with the visiting supervisor either. They said they already contacted the social worker. 

This month we have two birthdays to celebrate, and they are both on the same day.

I already know what I want to get the boys, I just need to go purchase it.

this week

To say I have had my hands full has been an understatement.
My two new foster kids are a handful and then some. They both have huge aggression problems, coupled with their behavior issues. Well, its been interesting.
On a more positive note, my husband was approved to go to school spring quarter. So, with any luck he will be done the end of July! He just wants to be done with school. He will be home for a week in April. I have to begin my honey do list, lol.
Yesterday the boys and I cleaned out the garage. I put some stuff on freecyle so we'll see if the people show up like they said they would. We cleaned out enough stuff to by a work bench. My kids ( and hubby when he returns) will now have a space to work on projects. They boys need a space to work on their rc cars. They were working on their cars on their beds, which did NOT work for me. The boys seemed confused why I was upset about them setting objects that had been out in the street in the same area they sleep in.
I think my next project will be to draw up plans for a new shed out back. I want one with a loft. One of my long term goals ( the end of the summer) is to have the shed built and the side of my house organized outside.
I bought a new stove. I am so excited about it. It has 5 burners.
Here is the picture

It has a 17,000 BTU burner which makes me super excited. I figured it will be a bit easier with canning to have a larger burner. The oven is a convection oven. I have not cooked with one before.
It should be here Friday.

Cold!

wow. Today was sunny. Too bad the high was 27. right now it is 18 degrees with a wind chill of of 6.
Yeah. Good times.
I got two new foster kiddos 2 days ago. They are brothers, 2 and 4. They are sweet. The 4 year old does have several problems though. Now I am lucky enough to fill out a 13 page assessement to get him an evaluation at UW.
I will be contacting the CHET screener for these two. I am hoping that she will be able to give me a little more info.
I am off Friday. I am pretty excited about it. I am hoping to get my taxes filed. I hate tax time. My goal tomorrow will be to have all my paperwork together.

Off to bed I go. Hope everyone has a great day!

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.

December

Has been B U S Y!

My two foster kiddos returned to their mom, I got two new ones.
An 11 year old and 2 year old. I have forgotten how much work it is chasing a toddler around. These kids are the sweetest ones. I thought the previous two were good. These kids rock. Their situation is so. sad. The older boy is so appreciative. He and his brother came here with just a few articles of clothes. What two year old only has two outfits. Really?
We went to a foster parent group Christmas Party. It was very well planned. There were over 100 kids.

The boys really weren't happy about me taking pics with Santa :)

(Sigh) Hubs made it home from Idaho. The boys have enjoyed him being home.
Sunday we went to my mother in laws for Christmas. It was fun to watch the cousins interact with each other.

Too bad we had some kind of flu bug that went thru and half of us got sick. Like me and Andrew. On our way home. Thank goodness Matt drives. I had to pull over and have him drive. I didn't feel good. Whatever bug it was, hit us at once. Andrew was sick all day Monday.
Christmas eve morning he said he felt good. He at least had color.

Christmas eve my dads side of the family was here. It was great. This year we did a white elephant gift exchange. We had a blast. IT was funny watching the kids decide what to take when it was their turn. I had bought king sized candy bars. Those were a hit. I think I will do the same thing next year, but I want to throw some home made gifts into the pile as well.

Christmas day we spent at home. I made roast beef for dinner.
For lunch, we had finger food. I made crackers from scratch. They were good. The hardest part was rolling the dough out thin.
I have more pics, I will have to download later.
For now, I must tackle my desk. The paperwork is taking over!

good news!

The social worker just called me. The kids will get to go back to their mom Friday after school. He is on his way here now to pick up their belongings ( the older boy and I packed most of them last nite).
I am happy for them. I was hoping that they would be reunited by Christmas. Its great to have an answered prayer!

this week

I will be glad when this week is over. I'm already beat.
The two fosters should go home tomorrow or Friday. We spent the evening packing their belongings. They are excited. I just wish I had an exact date. I know that social workers are busy, but IF mom has a place, and you are doing your walk thru today to make sure it is appropriate, and mom has an appointment to sign paperwork, then I should have a date. I doubt he will help with transportation either. He hasn't come to my house. At all. By the way, in Washington the social workers are SUPPOSE to come to my house once a month to check up on the kids. And people wonder why kids fall thru the cracks.
This weekend my boys' boy scout troop has what they call "amazing race". One of the kids patrol are sleeping here Friday. Need to make sure I am stocked up on milk...
Saturday is also the Christmas Rush. Andrew has done this race for 4 years. He loves it. Ryan will also do it. He is hoping to be able to jog it. It is a 5k. Ryan has bronchitis, I took him to the doctor yesterday. I am hoping that he gets better by Saturday. He also has basketball practice that begins on Tuesday. He is on the same team as his friend Nelson. Ryan's basketball playing skills should have improved with wearing his glasses. We shall see.
I have been up since 1 am, Ryan's coughing woke me up. I have all the laundry done. I am trying to get motivated to vacuum. I hope to take a nap later.
The cub scouts will be making gingerbread houses today. I am hoping to remember my camera this time :) I didn't get any pictures last year. This one is from 2011.

I am making the frosting. Its super easy. I bought this powdered meringue powder made by Wilton at Walmart ( its cheaper there than at JoAnnes). Mix a couple tablespoons with powdered sugar, add some water and voile- you have "royal frosting". This will be the 4th year we have done this. The cubs have a lot of fun with this. I bring my standing mixer to make the frosting. We put it in ziplock bags with a corner cut off. Each scout gets one. The ziplock brand bags work better than the generic. The generic just don't hold up with all the sqeezing.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Progress!

     I got a lot done today. Yesterday when I got off work, I went ahead and did the grocery shopping. Luckily, the store was not that busy.
The boys helped unload and put the groceries away. I worked on the laundry, doing dishes, all the other fun things the house needs. The boys raked up the leaves and vacuumed the house.
   After dinner, we went shopping for Halloween costumes. FK #1&2 each found what they were looking for. RJ found a costume, so I told him to get it. I don't want to wait then it not be there.
    Today I worked on cleaning my room, the computer desk and the garage. The boys helped me go through items. We took one load to Goodwill, and have a load for the dump outside. We have been in this house 9 years. I cant believe the amount of clutter that has accumulated. The garage still has a lot of work to be done; however at least we made a dent in the mess.
   The only break we took today was when I took the kids swimming. Its a public pool in the next city. I like it a lot better. The pool has a diving board with a rope the kids can use to swing into the water; a slide, and a huge inflatable octopus that they kids can climb and slide down.The kids had a blast. It wasn't that busy, which was nice.
     I am now working on organizing all my cub scout stuff to make it easier to track my awards/advancements. I am trying to connect with the other leader to come up with a plan. The other leader has a lot of health problems going on- I am covering for her until they call someone else to replace her. This group of boys is sweet, so I don't mind covering. I am planning for the boys to cook hotdogs on Wednesday, so that will be entertaining. Its been foggy here- I was hoping for sun today so the kids and I could do yard work.

    I realize that this picture is crooked, that's I placed it on the scanner. It is one of the few pictures I have of my grandparents, parents, aunt, uncle, husband and kids. I found it today as I was cleaning some of my craft stuff in one of the closets. This picture is even more important to me, as my grandfather passed away when I was pregnant with my 4th son.