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Early Christmas Present. . .

We decided to get a kitten for the kids! We have one cat already, but she never comes inside. Every once in a while she comes around for food then leaves again. We got rid of our dog a few months ago too. She was a fence jumper and always running away. We ended up giving her to my parents. The kids still get to see her when we go down to visit. It's perfect! Any way, it was strange not having any animals around here so we decided to get a cat. A little less maintenance than a dog! She's super cute and the kids LOVE her (a little too much some times).

Sophie

Oh! Christmas Tree. . .

We were a little slow getting our Christmas tree up this year. We planned on going into the mountains and getting a fresh tree, but it didn't work out. Not enough time and WAY to cold. It's been below zero around here for over a week. Yuck. Any way, we pulled our fake tree out of the garage and let the kids decorate. It was cute to see how excited they got when we plugged the lights in. Here are a few pictures. . .

Silly Boy

I was doing Lexi's hair the other night and Brandon begged me to do his too. This is what he ended up with. I think it's pretty cute! He kept looking in the mirror saying "I a pretty boy!" He wasn't so happy when I took them out, those little rubber bands can really be a pain.

Movie Night. . .

We had a movie night tonight! The kids had their own miniature bags of popcorn and sippy cups with juice and we watched Wall-E. It wasn't my favorite movie ever made, but it was cute. It's great to have Eric home so we can be a family again.


(My mom made their blankets. Cute huh?)

School girls. . .

We had a clinical simulation day at school on Thursday. It was a day full of labor and delivery fun! We assessed a manikin in labor. . . she was amazing! The instructor could adjust her contractions, the fetal heart tones, cervical dilation etc. We even "delivered" the baby. Over all it was a great day. Afterwards we had our graduation pictures taken. It made me sad to know we're almost done. We've all become great friends. I'm going to miss these girls! Here are a few pictures from our day. . .

Laid-Off. . .

Ugh. What a horrible day! Eric got laid off from the mine tonight. They supply GM and Chrysler with palladium. . . we all know the auto industry is in big trouble financially. Metal prices are so low that the mine had no choice but to cut back on production, which means less workers. Any way, today was his last day. Seems crazy that they don't have to give people any notice! He's on his way home now. . . it's a little scary. I was scheduled to start working December 1st, but I guess I'll be calling tomorrow to see if I can start sooner. We hear about unemployment and lay offs on the news- but it's not supposed to happen to MY husband. Not sure what we're going to do. . . hopefully everything will work out. I have to look on the bright side though, it's been hard having him gone so much. We'll be glad to have him home, just not under these circumstances.

Imaginations. . .

After baths tonight, the kids used their towels as a store front. Lexi got all of her baby dolls and play food out for her store. Brandon picked his guns and swords. Imagine that! They thought of it all on their own and it was pretty cute to watch. At first they tried to trade items, but it didn't work out so well. Lexi wanted to trade a fake hot dog for Brandon's super cool shotgun. Funny. So, I gave them each a handful of change and they bought things from each other's store. Pretty cute.

Childhood Flashback

When we were little, my mom would always give us a piece of dough to shape and bake when she made bread. It always tasted better if it was shaped in my initials :) After naps today, the kids helped me make bread. (I have an amazing buttermilk dough recipe that is to die for.) Any way, I gave both of the kids a piece of the dough. They were in heaven! Lexi made little bird's nest with "robin eggs" and Brandon made a snake. I helped both of them make the first letter of the name and then we baked them. What fun! Here are a few pictures. . .

"The bird's nest"

Brandon's snake

Patiently waiting. . . .

What's better than having home made bread and ramen noodles for dinner?!

Haunted Gingerbread House

I know it's a little late to still be posting Halloween pictures but the kids had a blast decorating this haunted gingerbread house! Thank you Grandma Aaron!

Busy Busy Busy. . .

Wow- It's been two weeks since I posted last. Things have been pretty crazy around here. I just made it through mid-terms! Exactly 4 weeks of school left. I am ready to start working and put some of my skills into action :) I had a job interview at our local hospital last week. They hired me on the spot! Yay! I'll mostly be working in the ER and filling in in the clinic or LTC when they need me. I'm pretty excited! I'll only be working two 12 hour shifts a week and I'll be on call 2 days a week. They are willing to work around my crazy schedule, which is amazing! I'll mainly work when Eric is home, so the kids won't have to be in daycare. Any way. . . . enough about me, let's get on with the fun stuff.

We had a great Halloween. Lexi was a princess and Brandon was spider man (imagine that!) We went to Billings, where my sister-in-law Amber threw a smashing party :) The kids bobbed for apples, played bean bag games, hit the pinata and had tons of fun trick-or-treating with all the cousins.

True Love's Kiss. . .

I snapped this picture while the kids were watching 'Enchanted'. They both love this movie, they'd watch it all day if I'd let them. Any way, right after I took the first picture Lexi layed down on the floor and pretended she was sleeping. Brandon bent over and gave her a kiss with out her telling him too. I still had the camera out and snapped the picture. Lexi jumped up and said "Brandon just gave me my true love's kiss". They were re-enacting their favorite part of the movie. Aren't they sweet?

Grandma's visit. . .

Eric's mom and Grandma came to celebrate Eric's 28th birthday. He's so old!! Any way, it's always fun when they come. The kids LOVE their grandma. She spoils them like crazy every time she comes. That's what Grandma's are all about though right?

Punkin' Patch

We took the kids to pick out pumpkins last week. They got to go out into the field and pick out the pumpkin they wanted. Of course they both picked the biggest one they could find. It was kind of strange paying $10.00 for a pumpkin. I grew up on a farm and my grandpa always grew enough for all of the grand kids. Any way, it was fun to spend time as a family! It's not fun being separated for 4 days at a time. (Eric works 4 days, then comes home for 4) His schedule is great, but it's expensive to drive home so much. Hopefully it's all temporary. We lowered the price $15,000 on the house today. Hopefully we'll get a few more offers and it'll sell quickly. We've been thinking about renting it out if it still hasn't sold when I graduate in December. I'm not sure I'm ready for the headache of trying to deal with renters. I guess we'll see what happens. . . .

Girly Do's

I've been having lots of fun doing Lexi's hair. Some of the styles take a little longer than she would like, but as long as I turn on a movie she does pretty good. Here are a few of her latest do's. . .


Simple braid around a pony tail


Criss Cross French Braids

Twisty Braids- this one takes too long. I wouldn't recommend it!

This one is my favorite. I can do it in about 20 minutes and

I leave it in for a few days.

Having a girl is so much fun!

Two Students. . .

I've been meaning to put these pictures up for a while. Lexi and I both started school the same day. . . preschool and nursing school, that is. I'm actually going year round, but I had 2 weeks off in between summer and fall semester. Any way, my fall classes started the same day she started preschool. Of course we took pictures :)







I was looking at the calendar today and realized I graduate in less than 3 months! This is my 8th semester in a row (I've been going year round) and I'm tired of school! I can't wait to be done!

Boxes

Brandon played in this cardboard box all day today. It was fun to watch him play in it. He's got such a good imagination (for a 2 year old :) ) Any way, after I took these pictures I remembered that my mom wrote a poem (one of her many hidden talents) about boxes. She wrote one for each of her kids, added pictures and put them in a book for us. I'll have to scan in some of the pages some time. The boxes page has pictures of Johnathan (my brother) in a CLOTH diaper crawling in and out of a big box. Pretty cute. Any way, here's the poem. . .

Boxes

My grandma got a brand new toy,
I think it is a dryer.
I got the BOX,
oh what a joy.
I quickly climbed insider her.

First it was an army tank, next a rocket to the moon.
Then it was a pirate ship in a blue lagoon.
A big jet plane, a submarine crusin' in the deep.
A fire engine and a train, or a cave in which to sleep.

When mama came to take me home,
I hid just like a fox.
Oh what a joy for a little boy
is a great big cardboard box.

By: Laura Lee 1998

I gave him construction paper and glue to decorate his "rocket ship"

He loved it!

All boy. . .

While Lexi was at school this morning, I snapped a few pictures of Brandon playing in his room. Eric used to worry that his boy was going to be a little too girly (he loves to dress up and play with dolls). He is now realizing that guns, swords, bow and arrows, four wheelers, fire fighters and dump trucks are better than princesses any day.