A Very Busy Week.

It's been a countdown to Christmas this week at our place.


With so much to do at such a fast pace.

Aquinna has swimming which she thinks is great.

When it's time for her to go she really can't wait.

Garrett and Sam had a 'holiday' concert at school.

The crowd was a pain but their songs were so cool.

We decorated houses with graham crackers and sweets.

And on a firetruck Santa came down our street.

Garrett advanced on the wolf trail.

Such a proud moment for his Mom as well.

Sammy's dance stuff kept us on the go,

With pictures and practices and the big show.

Finally now we get to rest.

A few days 'til Christmas and we're all acting our best.

Just chillin' out in our holiday socks.

Merry Christmas to all..we hope your holiday rocks!!

December is Here

So of course, I waited 'til as long as possible to start my Christmas decorating. Sadly it started on the 5th of the month. (I know, such a long wait.) Riggles was ready to put the tree up...yet I was the one doing the work while he and Benny tried to figure out the instructions. Which is a picture of the tree with color names next to each layer of branches. This was after I all ready had half the tree up in the correct color order. Kinda easy if you put the biggest on first and work your way up with the smallest on top. And yet the boys gave up. In the end I was rewarded with a Merry kiss.

Mistletoe? We don't need no stinkin' mistletoe!

The decorating of the tree took a little over a week. I knew with a couple of crawling babies in the house it is gonna be quite a chore for everyone to keep them away from the ornaments. But for the kids' sake I pulled out the ornaments just as the got home from school to make some wonderful, lasting memories of tree decorating.

And I finally finished my nativity. I would've loved to do it a lot sooner because I enjoy painting, but it's the mess that keeps me from it. If I didn't have to clean up I would have a lot more projects going on.

Stay tuned.....as with JoAnna, I am starting Gingerbread house building on the 15Th of Dec. I am sure to have plenty of pictures. And we received some Christmas socks to wear for our Christmas family picture....Hopefully that post with the next one too.

Ick! Messy Baby

I don't think it's possible to have clean floors, clean walls or anything clean in a house when you have a baby eating food. Even a clean baby. Everywhere I look I see crumbs, splatters, and gooey, crusty fingerprints all over the place. So right now I'm in the "why should I clean up when it's just going to be destroyed in five minutes" mode. Vanilla Wafers are one of Ben's favorites. But after him slobbering and drooling all over one, it all slimy and mushy, in between his fingers and in his hair. That is unless I don't clean it up right away, (which I haven't been) it becomes hard and extremely stuck to any surface it falls upon. I think he has been enjoying the messes he's been making. It's starting to make him feel like one of the other kids. He seems quite proud of himself after he's finished.

Samantha is Six!

Sammy has had a happening month so far. After weeks of wiggling, wriggling, pushing and prodding...she finally lost her first tooth. She was quite excited. That happened on Veteran's Day. So of course the tooth fairy didn't make it that night. (Something about taking holidays off.) And then the next night nothing. But luckily for Sam after two long nights without a dime, the tooth fairy left a reassuring note that she did not forget Sam and that she "had a flat wing' and was also excited that Sam lost her first tooth and left her some cash.

Quinna wasn't excited.
This is the second time Sam has received cash this week. Aunt Les sent her some for her birthday. But it's really pissing Aquinna off. Aquinna got cash for her birthday in May, which she claimed she didn't want anymore so she ripped up. Garrett's May birthday card never made it so aunt Les sent him a half birthday card with some mu la this month. Again, Quinna is upset. Quinna being upset and pissed isn't just that. Her being upset includes yelling, stomping, throwing herself on the floor, throwing items (especially remotes) across the room, pounding her feet loudly up the stairs etc., etc. So, by the time Sam opened up her birthday gifts on Friday two more had money in them which led to....yep you guessed, two more of Quinna's fits. (I've fixed two xbox remotes and the TV remote all this week. I'm quite handy when it comes to stuff like that.)

Samantha did have a great birthday. She had a little party with her friends from school. She received some neat presents and whined a lot.

These are the lightbulbs I got for Sam. (The Easybake Oven came later )

That's what happens when you are nice to your kids and do special things for them. They whine, fight and argue just so you forget why you spent time and money on them. Garrett is especially skilled in this area. But I keep on doing nice things because I love them and I love to see their smiles even if it's only for a moment. Somehow that moment is worth it.

November All Ready

Can you believe how fast October flew by? I must say I am super excited for November. I don't know why exactly. But all the Halloween decorations are down and all the Thanksgiving ones are up. I will be on the look out for more Thanksgiving stuff this year I think. I just don't have enough turkeys, leaves, pilgrims in my house. And I don't have any cornucopias. (I spellchecked that!)

The kids were completely excited for Halloween. Especially Aquinna. She was always talking about how many more sleeps it was until Trick or Treating. As you can tell from the picture, this year we had: Harry Potter, a Vampiress, a Black Cat and a Dragon. Garrett's favorite part was his black hair. He got quite the reaction from his friends on the school bus because of it. Though last years fog was a great touch for a spooky night of trick or treating this years' weather was perfect. NO RAIN!! ( And no snow!) And not too cold.

We've also tried out the Spooner Farms pumpkin patch/corn maze. The kids had a great time. Though next year the Mr and I are hoping to leave the kids with a sitter and head to a haunted corn maze. I really do miss the Pumpkin Walk in Logan. Someone needs to start something like that up here. (It won't be me.)

Anyways, there is the October update. Let's see what will happen in the next couple of weeks to hopefully post about later.

A Post

Things are going good. With Garrett and Samantha in school, Quinna and Ben have lots of time to spend together. They will play lots of different things. Their favorite being Quinna running all over the house and Ben chasing her in his walker. There are those times when Quinn will be playing very seriously with her toys. ie - She has a train set with a bunch of animals. She likes to line up all the animals to get in line for a train ride...they all take their turn going around the tracks. Very cute! But screams and tantrums can be heard from miles away when Ben comes flying in for destruction. She is also on a kick to play 'puppy' for about 50% of her time awake. She won't even answer to 'Quinna' we have to call her 'Puppy' and give her food and water in a bowl on the floor. This could go on for hours...But she is a really good fetcher when I need something. We also get to spend time every day with a baby girl Bens age. It's going really well. It's really fun to see how the babies interact and play with each other and then totally ignore each other two seconds later.

Benny is really starting to get into trouble. He is climbing up and in everything. He thinks he is pretty cool when he stands up against the XBox..but Daddy doesn't like that. Especially when Ben gets to close to the power button. He's tried the stairs, climbing into boxes, car seats and standing up against things which leads to a tumble and a cry.

I had to post this picture to see who you thing he looks like. I have to say his Papa, Bill. This kid is definitely a Riggles.

A Few Things

Sam had quite an ordeal this morning! First of all...she loves school! She is always ready to go to bed when it's time. She is even asking to go to bed on the nights she is extra tired. (Which seems to be more frequently because I think school is wearing her out a bit faster.) I think she is doing quite well though...except for the mornings when it comes time to do her hair. I hate to say it but I really had to hold back today and that's even with a spanking, and a escort upstairs, and waking up Dad to help me with the problem, and another spanking. YES, I was holding back...she was absolutely impossible!!! Just because she doesn't want her hair to look "cute". I'm thinking she is wanting to go for more of a extravagant, beautiful, elegant, breathtaking look or something??? I don't know???? But I'm the Mom and I get choose her hairstyle until she is big enough to do it herself (which is in another 5 years...at least) :P

And since I'm venting a little...I will continue with what happened Saturday. It was a lovely day! Well, the start of it was anyways. We took a trip to Bellevue to see the Seattle Temple with the Primary. We walked around and enjoyed the grounds and spending time with our Primary friends. Then it was time to go. Easy right? He he he ... On the way back to the car, Garrett (who obviously played to much Wizard 101 that morning) decided to whack Sam with jacket sleeve, which led to Sam's squelching, loud scream. I informed Gar that he would be grounded for the rest of the day (No games, TV) and he had a complete meltdown. Crying on and on and thrashing his body like a fish out of water. I warned him that if he continued to act like that he would be grouned for the whole week. He didn't quit! And then I added another week when he punched Quinna Sunday. So I get Wizard 101 all to myself for two weeks. Quite impressive for an 8 year old.

I didn't intend this to be a whaa whaa whaa post when I sat down...I think it's time for me to take a breath and remember they are just my cute, wonderful, lovable 'kids' who happen to have bad days like I do - they are not evil minions sent to torture me when I'm trying to be a spiritual, loving, nice Mommy.

A Quick Post

Just a little clip of Benny's new thing....The Crawl. He doesn't have it completely down but he gets around where he wants to be. He still travels much faster in his walker and enjoys a snack when he is cruising around.

And here is a pic of the first days of school for Garrett and Sam. I think they are going to grow a lot closer this year.

Aquinna isn't in a lot of these pictures cause because they were taken in the mornings. She is our night owl. One reason for this is so Sam can fall asleep without Quinna bugging and talking to her all night. (They share a room.) So she is usually up watching the boob tube until midnight. (Sometimes later I think cause half the time I'm asleep next to her and I'm not sure when she finally crashes.) But here is a picture of her eating something Yummy and being REALLY happy about it.

This Mornings Milestones

We have a couple of Big kids this morning. Benny is balancing on his butt. Some people would call that sitting up; but because he is still kinda wobbly and will fall over when he reaches too far for things I'll call it balancing on his butt for now because I won't walk away from him like this just yet. Though it won't be much longer 'til he is a pro at 'sitting up'.



And Sam is our first official bike rider without training wheels! She has been practicing with wobbly, none working training wheels on the grass. (By herself with Quinn cheering her on.) So today we took of the pointless trainers and put her on the road!


And the next picture isn't really a milestone but it's stinkin' cute. Benny has been enjoying his Johnny Jump Up...but not as a jumper. He makes himself swing by stepping forward and backward and letting go with his feet. It's quite amusing and cute. The other night he was in it for awhile having a grand ol' time and wore himself out.

Fun with Family

For our last summer trip (and our last trip anywhere for awhile,) we headed to Idaho to spend a day at Silverwood Theme Park with family. We left on an afternoon and stopped a couple times to feed Benny. He enjoyed getting a stretch from the car seat.



The kids really enjoyed the time with their cousins. Even before we got to the park. These T.P. Ninjas were quite a sight. (So were the bottoms of their feet.) :)




Sam and Quinna loved, loved, loved the Roller Coaster and the rides. Sam really likes the water slides too. Garrett didn't try a single one. But he did really enjoy the wave pool which to me was shocking cuz he don't like nothin'.


Benny and Me floated down the river a few times. It was about all he wanted to do. I think the water was too cold for him and his naps were only a couple at about two minutes each. But he sure had a lot of smiles. Especially when the pretty ladies would talk to him. Riggles said Ben was better than a puppy. :)


It's been a great summer with plenty of things to do and I'm glad we did all that we could. I must say that I'm REALLY ready for school to start though. Two kids at school, two at home......just a couple weeks to go.

Something Great

Once in while Riggles will surprise me...not on purpose (of course). But sometimes he will have something cool or have done something awesome I wished he would've told me about or shown me earlier. I ususally have to find it on my own. But being the Man/boy he is he just doesn't think about stuff. Here are some fantastic pictures he took at his work with Garrett. We had to stop there on our way to Utah last month for a quick potty break and Garrett got a quick tour of the office, cells and locker room. He thought the cell rooms where the put the 'bad guys' (or kids), "were pretty creepy."



I love how you can tell he is feeling silly and goofy wearing the hat.

Something That Makes Me Shudder!!

*Warning* : This is a graphic post. For those who continue on with reading and scrolling down I advise that your stomach is not weak and you are sitting down. (Most people do though when they're online though.) What I am about to show you is the part of my life that I just can't get rid of. It lurks from every direction. It seeps from every crack. There is no end in sight. Even when I think I get rid of it....IT COMES BACK !!!!! HELP!



*What you are about to see is a picture taken this morning. *













Sad isn't it! I probably shouldn't post a truth like this on the www. But, it's clean.....this is just how it ends up after it goes the the washing and drying process. Now guess what I'm headed off to take care of? .....(right after I check my FarmTown on facebook)