Love them!

We quickly, last minute just as the sun was going down, ran out to take our family pictures for our Christmas card. I have had my eye on this spot on our property since we moved in. The kids weren't super cooperative, but I did get this. And I did get ONE good enough family photo. 

bike rides, Fred's farm and anniversary...

Mac loves wearing Grandpa Dick's old hats.

You can't really tell, but she was filthy. This was right before lunch and made her go straight to the bath.

Oak saw a cute little black girl who had beads in her hair. Oak loved it and has been begging for me to put beads in her hair ever since. I finally caved. She kept them in for a few days.

Mac has been excited about his halloween costume. He had just gotten out of the shower and was supposed to be getting ready for bed, then he comes into my room like this. 

The kids went on a bike ride everyday this week. This day must Mac and grandma went and Mac brought me back a flower.

Grandma and I were getting things loaded to take to goodwill. And he kids were begging to have a garage sale. I said we weren't having one so the kids took it upon themselves to make their own. Mac was selling some of his action figures for $45. Steal of a deal. 

We have been a bit obsessed with taco salads this summer and it is a favorite for my picky eater. I thought it was funny that he was playing with his dinosaur and food. 

Just some post quiet time selfies.

We went out to dinner and on the way home we decided to stop at the park. 

So I finally got my bike set up so I could go on a bike ride with the kids and grandma. On our ride we were stopping to admire some farm animals when the owner of them saw us and asked if we wanted to come and see all of them. The kids had a blast and Fred was so nice. We ended up stopping there two days in a row.

This is Jethro and he likes to spit. Hence the big smile on Oak's face. He spends most of his time spitting at anyone who gives him attention. It is pretty funny.

Fred also gave us some garlic.

Daddy doing his nightly book reading with the kids. I never get tired of seeing this.

Thursdays I have two girls I watch. We decided to head to the park towards the end of the day and the kids for some reason were having trouble playing at the park and ended up sitting here trying to agree on something to play. 

We have been listening to Indian In The Cupboard on CD. And Mac really wanted to make his own "prairie". I helped a bit and I thought it turned out really cute.

The next morning before they even had breakfast they were out playing with their "prairie" and fairy place (Oak's)

I decided to skip the Get Set books and let her start the actual Explode the code. She was so excited!

Finally got thing organized the way I want them for school. The crates have a folder for each subject with their books for it. I love the task cards. I did it last year and needed to revamp it for the kids this year.

The kids helped grandma make apple pie. It was delish!

Friday was 15 years since the day Hubs and I met. Here is part 1 and part 2 of how we met.

We had this old gate on our property that wasn't being used so I took it down and took it apart. I am excited to make a coat rack shelf for the entryway.

The kids in the potting shed making plans to turn it into a chicken coop. Which we actually plan on doing. 

Saturday we got my dad's bike from storage and daddy came with us on a bike ride. 

Sunday Gratitude...thirty-nine...

I am grateful...

...that I chose to go to the Women's Broadcast last night. It was so wonderful.

...for the happiness that I feel from following my Savior and having the gospel in my life.

...to be a daughter of God and to know what my work on this earth is.

...to be a daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, niece, wife and mother. 

...that families are a part of Heavenly Father's plan of happiness

...for all the wonderful new families in our ward because of the boundary changes.

school, Temple and a birthday...

Mac doing his All About Spelling with his gloves on. 

My neck has been hurting a lot so we laid pretty low most of the week. I found this sweet moment of Mac reading his book and Oak knitting. Love!

We spent one morning brainstorming and drawing up costumes for Halloween.

I gave Oak this reading puzzle to do while I helped Mac was some school work. She said, "Mom, it's a bossy e." Smarty pants.

We did most of our math this week on the computer with games. 

Because she remembered the bossy e in cake she wanted to get out the bossy e cards to practice. 

I started having Mac pick a word out of a children's dictionary that he doesn't know and write it down in his notebook. He has also been finding a way to use the word at least once a day with out me saying anything about it. 

A little bit of yoga for some exercise since it was cold and wet for most of the week. 

This was the first word Mac looked up. I thought it was hilarious because it could not be a better description of Mac. I actually thought the word meant something totally different. 

I found this sweet surprise in the hallway next to Oak's room. She was trying to make our hallway the yellow brick road since she plans on being Dorthy for halloween. 

Cute princess. 

Wednesday when they go to the homeschool center it was so cold and rainy and the kids were all bundled up with their backpacks and they just looked so cute. 

And I told Oak that when she learned to read she could get a library card. I had totally forgotten this until this week and it hit me that she is reading so she was beyond excited to get her very own card. 

There hasn't been much outside playing lately and one night the kids energy was through the roof so I told them I would pay them a dime for every lap they ran around the house. Mac: 12 Oak: 10 and they were nice and tired and calm for scripture reading. 

Thursday I take care of two girls who also are homeschooled. They are 5 and 11. So I have been trying to have a fun project of some sort to do with the kids. This week we made paper from paper. It was fun and turned out pretty cool. 

Friday morning we put off getting out of bed to get our chores done and were just being silly and goofy instead. It was worth it.

Spur of the moment hubby and I took a trip to the Temple. Much needed. 

We spent the day doing fun things as a family. Home Depot was doing a fun safety fair and we had a alot of fun. 

I really liked this booth's saying. I have been talking to my kids about it everyday since. 

For some reason Mac has had an aversion to playing outside. This is what happens every time I have made him go outside play. A full on meltdown.

This is what happens once I distract him enough. He actually loves playing outside.

Saturday would have been my dad's 77th birthday. It's the first birthday without him. We sent balloons off with notes to him. We miss him. But we know he is watching out over us.