trip to Ogden

Christmas Eve my oldest son was under the weather. We took a trip to downtown Ogden. It was cloud, drizzly and chilly. The streets were practically empty.

The building to the left is the Ben Lemmond Hotel. It is a historic site. The Wasatch mountains are behind the buildings.
We walked down historic 25th street towards Union Station.

This steam engine was huge! The wheels were taller than us. Union Station has a covered area for these trains to sit under, which is great considering the amount of snow we can get.
The boys spent quite a while looking at the mechanisims of the trains.

There was a small Christmas village set up, I didnt get pictures of that because my camera died. When we were done walking around, we went to Farr's ice cream It is by the Ogden LDS temple They have the best ice cream I have ever had. There was one other family in there besides us. They dont have a big eating area, so between our family and the other one it was full. By the time we left, it began to rain, and the clouds hid the mountains. We are hoping to go back this week so we can see the Christmas village at night.

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.

Little by litte

This week I have gotten quite a bit accomplished.
I have hung several loads of cloths outside to dry
Hubby and I went through our Cd's, we cut our collection by over half.
I pulled out the Lego bins and began going through them, pulling out broken pieces/items that did not belong in the tubs
I patched small holes in the larger basement bedroom. My goal is to paint the ceiling and install a ceiling fan. If I have enough time this weekend, I will begin to paint the walls. The boys would like a gray color
I have a box of clothes I need to mail to my friend. She can use them, I can't justify hanging on to them.
I plan on going through our DVDs and get rid of movies that we are not interested in. I don't see the point in keeping things just to keep them. (Except books, we love books). I am happy with how the basement is coming together.
I am going to redo my work schedule and plan on working two days a week. I will work until lunch then leave. I really want to get rid of items we no longer need, but don't want to feel rushed as I go through things.
Depending on the weather, we are hoping to put our garden in. I am hoping to at least get is set up. I can plant next week. I want to get tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, and onions planted this year. I miss not having fresh vegetables. I am thinking of planting an herb garden on the north side of the house. It gets some sun, but doesn't get blistering hot.
If I get around to it, I will post pictures this weekend.

This and That

We were going to put the garden in yesterday, but it was super windy this weekend.
I tackled painting the inside of the pantry instead

The previous homeowners dad was a heavy smoker. The seller was suppose to paint the whole house. Apparently his definition was different than ours. He painted most the walls, but few ceilings. I ran out of time last year in painting. I washed the ceiling the best I could ( its texted) with TSP, and used KILZ.

I feel like its a big improvement. We replaced the light fixture with and LED. Its much brighter and I like it better too. I didnt think to take a picture of it. Its flat, the previous fixture was a globe. Not helpful in a pantry. I was worried about hitting it and it breaking.

Friday afternoon, Andrew and I planted the plants I had purchased

These two are blueberry plants. I added peat moss to acidify the soil (our soil is alkaline). They seem to being doing well so far.

I planted two heathers and two dianthus. I don't want to go to crazy out front, as we still need to change out the windows upstairs. We will be renting a scaffeling, I don't want to purchase plants then have them get crushed or broken.

I have four of these boxwood hedges. They have already doubled in size. My hope is that they will grow tall enough to block the sun from the windows, helping in keeping the basement cooler in the summer.

My strawberries survived the winter!
My tree out front however, is looking worse than last year
The left side of the tree has few/no leaves.
Its a river birch. It does shade the front of the house.
I am thinking this fall we will have to have it removed. I don't want it falling on the house or one of the cars. This makes me sick that its not doing well.

On a happier note, my pear and apricot tree have fruit! The limbs are loaded! I don't have any pictures of them.
One of the boys has a birthday today. He had a good day overall. The one sad thing, his bio mom did not send anything. He says its ok, but I know it hurts him.

He picked eggs and cinnamon rolls for breakfast (homemade), and for dinner pancakes, sausage and bacon. Pretty good day overall.

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 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 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!

pics from our roadtrip

Here are some pics from the road trip we took to pick up our puppy. In Idaho.

This was still the Washington side.

That was in Eastern Washington, somewhere...

 

We liked the clouds on the hillside.

We were gone almost 12 hours that day.
One of these days we will make it back and check out Wallace, Idaho.
It seemed to be a cool town.