Not politically correct

Ok so I must admit that I am not politically correct! I hate the commercials that say "Its beginning to look a lot like the HOLIDAYS!" No its not. It is beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS! So this weekend we went to Walmart and Santa was there. (No I didn't know that Santa was going to be at my work. Don't worry I was not the only one who didn't know that works at Walmart.) I decided to get the kids pictures taken with him. We have never told our kids that Santa was a real person. We have always taught them the legend of Santa and all that. But we try to focus on the true reason for the holiday. Well, John and now Taylor really believe in Santa. I have just stopped trying to convince them otherwise. John is sure that he is a real person and there is nothing you can say or do to prove otherwise. So fine I will play along. Oh, but John told me after the picture that this was not the real Santa. Why you may ask... well because Santa is way to busy right now to come and take pictures. So this is one of Santa's helpers. Besides Santa would have known my name and what I wanted. The boy is really to smart for his own good.
We set up our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We bought a fake tree that is 6.5 feet tall. It is a really pretty tree. And will fit in our place better than the 7.5 foot tree we bought 8 years ago.
The kids had a lot of fun decorating it this year. Oh and the even better part is that I have not had to redecorate it a 100 times. The kids are finally to the point where they are not touching the trees ornaments constantly. Yeaaa!!!
The tree for so many years has truly been a major holiday stress because the kids just would not leave it alone and I would have to redecorate it every day several times a day.
The kids worked together really well this year. There was no fighting. They all worked together and it was truly fun to put up. It was great.
So the main colors of our tree are purple and gold. My Mom bought this tree topper years ago before I ever left home. The first year we used it my brother and sister had already moved out and my Mom and I made a complete bear tree. Everything on it was a teddy bear. Except for the few apples that where always on my Moms tree. So that red spot under the bear is an apple to honor my Mom and my growing up years.
I think some day my kids will say... "My mom always had music notes on our tree. Daisy hung them up this year. She did a really good job with spreading them out on the tree.
I also have 2 other themes with my Christmas decorations. Not only is there lots of purple and gold but also lots of Tiggers and Snowmen. The Tiggers came about because the first year Willie and I where together he found out up to that point I had never had a real tree. So he bought me my first real tree. He gave my sister money and had her buy all the decorations for it. She bought every tigger ornament that she could find. (by the way I would say that not even a 1/4 of my ornaments are on my tree this year. Was waiting for little fingers not to touch any more.) The snowmen came about because my last name is Snow. And well snowmen are just cute. So I have a whole collection of them which I add to every year.

My way of relaxing

So, after about 3 years of working on this cross stitch I am finally done! I am so proud of myself on this accomplishment. It is the biggest one I have ever completed. It turned out really pretty and is now hanging in my house.
Yesterday I started this cross stitch, which is about the same size as the last one I did. I will post my progress as I go. I love cross stitching it is really relaxing for me.
I am thinking about ordering this one off a site I found for my Aunt's birthday. She really likes horses. I have already done 2 for her but she would really like this one. It is only a 5x7 so I probably could finish it in a couple of weeks. With 4 kids and the house and my part time job I don't get much time to work on them. Well, just thought I would share.

The month of October.

We dug up all our potatoes last month. The picture is just of what we kept. We gave away quit a bit too. They did better than we thought they would so we had way to many. But that is ok, it was nice to share with our friends.

this is a picture that Daisy took. She has been asking me to teach her how to use my camera so I thought this was a perfect oppertunity. We also talked about the hot air balloons we used to see in Arizona all the time. It was fun and she did a good job.
We actually carved pumpkins this year for the first time since at least Marybeth was born. I think we might have done it once with Daisy. But I can't remember for sure. I do know it has been a long time. Aunt Norma and I had a lot of fun with the kids. I thought John would really get into it. But he didn't, the look on his face was all "you want me to do what?" Taylor dug right in and loved it. Her pumpkin was the cleanest and done first.
The kids had fun on Halloween. We went to a trunk or treat with Taylor's school. Willie took us out to dinner. Then I had to go to work. But the kids got pleanty of candy. They loved dressing up. Daisy was Hannah Montana, John was Batman, Marybeth was a southern bell, and Tay was a pumpkin.

This morning Willie told me before he left for work that it had snowed. I in my half awake state said "no it didn't I am not ready for the snow yet." He said no it really did. Well it was like an inch, and has pretty much melted off now. But it was still the first snow of the season and it came a month earlier than last year. Thought this picture would be neat with the snow on the pumpkin.

8 Things

My friend did this and thought it would be neat to do as well.

8 Things

*8 TV Shows I love to watch:
--Gray's Anatomey
--House
--Numbers
--Reba
--Wife Swap
--All the CSIs
--Criminal Minds
--The Mentalist (new show that I love)

*8 Favorite Restaurants:
--Olive Garden
--Texas Road House
--Subway
--7-11 Ranch Restaurant
--Golden Corral
--A Chines Buffet here in town
--Del Taco

*8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
--Ate breakfast with Aunt and Uncle
--Spent time with my hubby
--Got some extra sleep (sleep is good after working the night before)
--played a game on the computer
--played with kids
--Laundry
--Took a shower
--tried to stay off my foot that I sprained the day before. (I did a number it is so bad that my ankle swelled and is all black and blue. :oP)

*8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
--The Holidays coming up!
--baking and making candies with my mother in law.
--getting all the canning done for the year.
--getting my house cleaned up
--visiting with family durning the holidays
--Actually looking forward to my birthday this year. I will be 29 next month.
-- I know this sounds crazy but going to work.
--the snow

*8 Things On My WishList:
--seeing my parents
--Getting a digital picture frame
-- losing weight
--getting my house cleaner
-- wish i could get rid of 5 kittens.
--Our own house
--the kids to stay out of things that is not theirs (found them with my wedding ring this weekend,it does not fit.)
--Seeing my hubby more often

* Friends I'm Tagging:
Anyone who wants to do this!

cant believe its been a month

I cant believe its been a month since I have updated my blog. I have been so busy.

This first picture is of leaves on our grass. There is a funny story about this picture. Last night Willie came into the house and said "You know I don't mind if the kids help the old lady next door... but I would prefer if they did not bring the leaves into our yard." I asked what he was talking about. Apparently Mary and Tay where raking up the leaves and then putting them in a pile in our yard. So we have a pile of leaves that are not from our trees. But hey what ever it takes right.
These are the trees that the girls got the leaves from I guess. But I thought they where pretty pictures any way. It is getting colder every day. The kids are getting ready for the snow and talking about what they are going to do in it.




























This is a carrot that Marybeth and I got our of our garden the other day. All in all the cold nights have made it to were things are dieing now. But the carrots are still going strong. It only takes one or two carrots for a meal. We really enjoyed the garden this summer and can't wait for next year.


This is a cute picture that I took of Taylor. She loves picking the flowers. I thought that this was a really cute picture.

I have talked to the older 3 kids teachers. They are all doing well. Daisy is above the normal in reading and vocabulary. She is also is getting really good a drawing. Marybeth needs to apply herself more and her scores will go up. She loves to write stories. John is above the curve and might be bored for a time while the rest of the class catches up. But he loves school. Taylor is doing great she is talking more and says the funniest things.

Willie and I are both working hard. We love our jobs. Wal-Mart has been a really great job for me. I love talking with the costumers. The mangers seem to really appreciate the work I do. I have made quit a few friends as well.

What I love about Utah!

Growing up where I did you did not see much of this. One day it would be hot and windy the next it seemed like it was cool and windy. Ever since I moved to Utah the first time, I have loved the changing of the seasons. I would drive from Layton to Logan a lot those first couple of years and the canyon that you go threw was always so pretty. I love being able to feel that fall is coming not just know that it is. The changing of the seasons is something I really missed in Arizona too. I took these pictures last night of one of the trees in the front yard. Daisy came in a couple of days ago and said yep it is defiantly almost fall. I asked what made her think that, she said you can
see the signs of it in the trees. She had me come and look at the tree, and she was right.

Things are going good here. We are all falling into our schedule. Work has been great. I started on a register last night. I had some one shadow me for about 45 minutes and I was doing so well that they left me on my own for the night. I had a few questions now and then but that is normal. But I got the costumers threw the line fast and made several people happy. So I feel like I did a good job. Well off to house work.

Trying to keep track of it all.

I have been going non-stop for a week now. Last Tuesday I sat John down to do his homework for the first day of school. He had to glue things to the page to spell his name. We decided on marshmallows and Fruit Loops. I enjoyed watching him do this project he very carefully put each piece on making sure they were all just so, and when he would go to put something on the page he would stick his tongue out. It was so cute and he was so proud of himself. He also did every other letter with the cereal or marshmallows.



Then the next day was time for school. He was so excited. I explained to him the night before that un-like last year, this would be John's class, and John's friends. That Taylor would not be involved with him this year. He liked the sound of that. He was very patient last year with Taylor always being around in Pre-school... but it is defiantly time for him to be on his own.

This picture was taken of Daisy, Marybeth, and John just before we headed down to the bus stop. He was really excited about going not so excited about the hug he was getting. I couldn't have asked for a better picture... well maybe... Taylor is missing.


I was worried about the bus. Last year every time he would go to get on the bus to go to Head Start he would cry until the bus was pulling away and then he was fine. Well this year he was the first one on the bus. I could hardly get his picture he went up the steps so fast. He was ready to go and get the year started. He loves his class and school. He comes off the bus in the afternoon with a great big grin. I have also found that John is a lot easier to get ready for school than the girls are. He does not take nearly as long and I don't have to even tell him what needs to be done to get ready.

So what am I trying to keep track of. Well Taylor also started one of 2 pre-school last week. She goes Tuesdays and Thursdays for that. So it is get the older three to the bus stop by 7:45 finish getting Tay ready get her to pre-school by 8:30. (which is not to hard because it is just down the street.) Then I have been going over to my Mother In-laws house and we have been canning the veggies from our gardens. (We did 20 pints of beets today) Then it is back to pick Taylor up from pre-school at a quarter to 11. John gets home at a quarter to 12. Then the girls get home about a quarter to 4. But pretty soon we will have Taylor's other pre-school starting and she will be in that Tuesday-Friday afternoons until about 4. Today I lost track of time visiting and canning and didn't make it home before John. But the back door was unlocked so John was able to get in the house at least. He only beat me home by about 10 minutes... but still I felt SOOO bad!

Also last week I started a new job at nights. I am going to be a cashier at Wal-Mart. I am really excited and so far have really enjoyed myself and the time with adults. I have already made a couple of new friends which is neat for me. Willie didn't really want me to go back. But is trying to support me any ways.

Well, it is off to go do some neglected house work.

Last Weekend of Summer part 2

Saturday afternoon after the air show and lunch with the family that went, Willie the kids and I went to Logan to visit. We had a hot dog and marshmellow roast in the yard of the family we have up there. We had not seen this family much this summer so we caught up on what had been going on and the kids played.

Saturday night the girls stayed up talking with their older sister about life in middle school and other tween stuff. I fell asleep about one in the morning and could still hear them giggling and talking in the next room. It was really neat to watch the kids play and talk together.

Sunday morning the girls learned how to climb this tree. They thought that it was pretty neat.


This is my oldest daughter. She likes Hannah Montana too. One of the 3 older girls was wearing the wig the whole time we where there.



Sunday afternoon we came back down to the Ogden area and went to see Willie's sister and her kids. We took them out to lunch. We also invited my best friend, her new boyfriend and kids to come. So we had fun chatting at McDonald's while the kids played. Rebecca and I where really bad. We taught the kids how to go down the slide with a tray because it makes you go faster. Something we learned from working and McDonald's and getting bored.


The kids had a lot of fun with it. Marybeth was the first to try it. The rest where not to sure. But when they saw Marybeth coming down the slide so fast and loving it they decided to go for it. They started out with one tray and worked their way up to 4.




















These rainbow pictures I took on our way home. It was really cool Willie and I had never seen a complete rainbow, or where it touched the ground. As soon as I thought about getting a picture of the rainbow touching the ground I couldn't find it any more. It was strange. But it made for a really pretty drive home. Oh, and since the truck we took had no AC it made it a lot cooler too.

Last Weekend of Summer part 1

On Friday afternoon we drove out to Salt Lake to visit with a really good friend of Willie's. We had a lot of fun catching up with him and meeting his 6 month old for the first time. We lost track of time and didn't get to my Grandma's in Clearfield until midnight.

The next day was my Grandparents 60th anniversary. To celebrate some of the family went to watch my Uncle David (their youngest) fly in an air show in Evonston, Wyoming. This was the first air show I have been to where the planes did stunts. It was so neat. These pictures are of his show.


This is a heart he did in the sky for Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary. The announcer told the crowd that David was doing that to celebrate his parents 60th. Then he said congratulations Stan and Carol Erickson. It was really neat and I am glade I got a picture of it.









This picture is of us waiting for Uncle D to taxi in. it was all very exciting really.












I love this picture of my Uncle. He is proof that dreams do come true. As long as I can remember he talked about flying in air shows. And the past few years he has been. I think it is really neat.










As soon as Uncle David came over the yellow tape Marybeth was right there to give him a big hug. I snapped the picture at just the right time.









The next picture is off the rest of the family coming to say hi.












I like this picture of my Uncle Mike, Uncle David, Grandpa, and my honey. Don't know why just do. My Aunt Jenae had these little planes that the kids could put together and throw. I had to laugh because I remember having blow up air planes that we would race down the stairs, and my Grandpa getting mad at us for playing on the stairs. Good times!









My Uncle had some pictures of his plane in the sky that he brought and signed for those who wanted them. Yes I did get one. That little red headed boy was very cute and asked my Uncle a lot of questions. The kids started getting bored so my always prepared Aunt Tina had coloring books for all the kids. That kept thementertained for a few minutes.

To Be Continued...

Day Of Reflection

Today is a day that I reflect on the past 12 years. My oldest daughter was born 11 years ago today. I have a baby book of sorts from while I was pregnant and for a time after she was born that I look threw every year on this day. It makes me laugh and cry every year. But I never regret my decision to place her with the wonderful family below.


They have been so wonderful. The adoptive parents told me all those years ago that I could still be involved in her life. They have been so kind and invited me to every major event in her life. They still take her up to see my Grandparents when they can. I have such a great love for all of them. The adoptive mom always says that when she adopted my daughter that she also adopted me and the family that I have made. And I really do feel like she is a second mother to me.

These pictures where taken last December. We took a picture of all of their kids and mine. It was neat, every few years we take another picture like above of the 3 of us together too.

Pictures

Well my Mom told me that I need to put some pictures up. So here they are. This first one is of carrots that Willie took out of the garden for dinner last night. I really cant believe how well the garden is doing. We have been able to freeze and can a lot for the winter. It has really helped on the food bill too.








This picture is of the cross stitch that I have been working off and on now for about 2 years or better. I have one more bird to do and the outlines. I am so excited to be so close to being done. I was going to give it to my Grandma but I am not sure I will. It is the biggest one I have ever done. So it will be a big accomplishment to finish it.

I will be getting some pictures of the kids soon. The first day of school for the oldest 2 is the 25th. Tomorrow night is a back to school night. So maybe I will take some pictures there. Exciting stuff. John goes to school on the 3rd of September. Taylor is going to 2 preschools again this year. One she starts the 2nd and the other the 15th. So we are busy getting ready for school.

Whats Up With The Snows?

We have been busy busy lately. We had my mom come for a great but not long enough visit. The garden has kept me supper busy. This week alone I have gotten about 1 1/2 city garbage cans full of weeds. Thank goodness for the lady next door, she empties out the weeds to feed to her many rabbits. The oldest 2 girls have exactly 7 days tomorrow until they starts again. Today we went to a BBQ that all proceeds went to the Shriner's Children's Hospital. That was a lot of fun we went with Willie's family. And of course for the first time since I got the camera I forgot it so no cute pictures this time. Next weekend we are driving to Evingston Wyoming to watch my Uncle David fly his stunt plane in a show. My Grandparents are trying to get as many as they can there so we can also celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. We are going to make a weekend of it and go visit my other daughter who will be 11 this week. Which is really weird to think that she is already 11. Anyway I think we are going to try and see a couple of friends too. So another busy week. The girls and I can't wait for school to start. I will find out tomorrow when John starts Kindergarten. Taylor starts preschool some time next month. It will be nice to have them all in school again.

We are so proud of our boy tonight!

Today the kids and I went over to Grandma Norma's house. While Grandma and I made Strawberry Jam the kids rode their bikes. During one of our breaks I heard the older boys giving John boy a hard time about having his training wheels on still. Every since last summer the training wheels hardly ever touched the ground. But John insisted he needed them. The older boys worked with him and the next thing we knew all the kids where cheering John on. When we looked out the window he was on his way up the street with no training wheels at all. John has been enjoying riding on the back pegs of the older boys bikes, so I guess they told him that he couldn't ride them any more until he learned to ride his bike with out the training wheels. It worked he is very proud of himself and so are we. I can't believe how big the kids are getting. He is 5 1/2 now and riding a 2 wheeler. Just thought I would share.