Parade of Presidents.

We are blessed to have several home school families at our church. We decided to have a parade of presidents yesterday. Each child drew a name of a president and wrote a report on them. The kids then dressed up and presented their report to the whole group. We then had a "tea party" after to let the kids play. Clayton was Thomas Jefferson and Maxx was William McKinley. Papa Carnie came and stayed with us for a few days. We had a great time on our visit and went to the zoo on Monday for a few hours. My sister and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby girl this week. The Boys and I will be headed out to see them the second week in March. Clayton is doing great in taekwondo, he is now a blue belt.

Adoption Giveaway.

Luke's big sister and her family are starting on the journey of adoption. They are trying to raise funds for their dossier, they have a wonderful prize of Disney Land tickets that are good until 2014. Every $5.00 entry buys one entry, please stop by her blog and offer $5.00 in support and a prayer. Thanks, Mary Her website is www.jessiegunderson.com click on the "blog" tab to see her post.

Pictures for Grandma

We had a great December. The pictures are from the boys Christmas play and Maxx playing the piano at church. We also had some snow fun and had some much needed time off from work and school as a family. Hope you enjoy Mom!

Desks

One of the best things about my husband is that he can do anything. If I say honey my computer is running slow... he fixes it, honey my car is broken, he fixes it... honey my washer is broke...he fixes it! It is such a blessing to married to a man that is willing to do things for me. A few weeks ago I noticed that the boys school desks were falling apart. I had seen so many cool ideas for pallet furniture on pintrest and thought for sure Luke could build me something. The boys have kind of a rustic room, so I wanted desks to match. They turned out even better than I imagined. Luke built them completely out of palates and used chalkboard for the top. They even open and have a compartment inside. He used 3.5 pallets per desk and was able to build them both for $12.00! The chalkboard top was $10 for a piece that was big enough for both and the hinges were $2.00.

Thanks for all of your hard work!

Maxx's birthday

My sweet Maxx turned 7 this summer. we had a great time at his birthday party. We wanted to throw a army/ top shot party. We invited several boys and asked them to bring their bb guns. We had a scavenger hunt and made an obstacle course to run through. we also had different target they had to shoot and a final package (pinata) that they had to bring back through. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time of fellowship. I can not believe Maxx is seven. He just started piano lessons and loves playing. He is growing into a wonderful young man.

Westport

This summer we went camping in Westport with a few friends. It was so beautiful there, I had to share some of the pictures.

I love the beach. when I am at the beach or in the country I feel like I can breath deeper and the weight of the world has been lifted of my shoulders. Hope we can make it back next year.

Clayton

When I found my camera bag on Friday I realized that I had not downloaded pictures in a long time. This last quarter in school was a long one, but now it is over and my workload is a bit lighter. School with the boys is going great, we also just finished up our first quarter. I still cannot believe they are in 3rd grade, They are growing into wonderful young men. The pictures are from Clayton's first Taekwondo tournament. This sport has been a blessing for him and he does quite well with it. He competed in 2 events, forms and sparing. He took 1st in forms and third in sparing, he was very happy to place in his first tournament.