why do we have Christmas?

So.... Last night Kamree was giving our family home evening lesson. We were having a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas. The conversation went something like this....

Kamree: Does anyone know why we celebrate Christmas?

Kelton: so we can have snow...

Me: (trying to prompt him to the appropriate answer) Kelton, do you know why we put up the tree and lights?

Kelton: Because they are nice decoratings.

Me: let's try this again. Do you know who was born that we celebrate his birthday?

Kelton: I know. Kelton's birthday. (he was right. His b-day IS in December)

Kamree: Pointing to the baby Jesus. Kelton, do you know who this is and why we celebrate his birth?

Kelton: Baby Joseph Smith. (So. he was close again. At least his birthday is also in December)

Me: Kelton, do you know why we give each other presents and have a big party for Christmas?

Kelton: So we don't run out of toys.

There you have it. The real reason we have Christmas according to my 3 year old son is so we don't run out of toys. It looks like I have a ways to go with this kid. We will be having more discussions on the true meaning of Christmas soon.

Just a sidenote: Aubree's answers were of course something like this: Because that is when the baby Jesus was born in swaddling clothes in a manger in Bethlehem because there was no room in the inn when Joseph and Mary rode the donkey to pay their taxes etc. etc. etc. ( no details left out.)

We can always hope that someday her knowledge will be transferred to her younger brothers.

I've joined the club...

You knoww... The club of mom's whose 3 year olds decided it was time to give themselves a haircut. This happened on Friday night. Lucky for me he got to show it off to the whole ward on Sunday during the Primary Program. He was right in the front row with a great spot to show off the new do. I would have to say he did a pretty good job at getting as close to the scalp as any person could with a pair of scissors and not draw any blood.

Do they come any cuter?

I love to find a beautiful fall day to take pictures of my kids. Here are my latest treasures. I had to share some of the "not so perfect poses". They are sometimes my favorite ones because they make me laugh. Now on to the cutest kids ever.

fall soccer

My little dancer Aubree surprised me with her change of personality from dancing queen to an agressive little soccer player. She was so excited every time she made a goal. Kindergartners could care less what else happens in the game or what the score was, it's all about how many times THEY made a goal.

So I never got a good picture of Kamree but she did great. She played on the BIG High school soccer field this year on a team of 5th-8th graders. She gets to play forward most of the time because she is so fast.
A busy little spectator and the main reason I didn't get any good pictures.

halloween

The kids had a 3 day weekend for Halloween this year. We decided to spend Halloween at the cabin. It is always so fun for the kids to spend time with their cousins. crazy little girls.

We went to the "Haunts of Harriman" at Harriman state park on Saturday night. So much fun. We enjoyed a hayride, a little tiny spook alley, a little tiny carnival, lots of fun halloween decorations, and just enough trick or treat candy to keep them happy for the drive home.

In a nutshell....

Here are a few happenings from the past month. In backwards order of course...

Walk-A-Thon

Our little Elementary school's PTO does a Walk-A-thon every year as their one and only fundraiser. Somehow I found myself on the committee for this. It was a great success and we had a lot of fun. The kids get pledges for an amount of $ per lap and then see how many laps they can walk/run in one hour. This has been a very successful fundraiser for our school because it is 100% profit. Last year our little school of only 450 students raised over $10,000.

Kamree and friends.

Kolby was happy as long as he had a handful of popcorn.

A lot of the moms come and bring their jogging strollers and walk with their kids. Local businesses donate water bottles and healthy snacks.

Aubree worked so hard.

A little tornado

I realized I haven't put very many pictures of Kolby on here lately. He is growing up so fast. He is walking all over the place and getting into everything. He is like a little tornado that rips my house apart every single day, all day long. Seriously. All my kids got into things at this age, but none of them have been as bad as this kid. He literally tears things out of drawers and cupboards so fast I cannot keep up with him. Everything is in such a mess because he takes things out of kitchen drawers and then drops them in bathroom drawers, etc. I cannot find anything. The other day I found all my Kotex scattered all over the front entryway and then a few more in a drawer in the kitchen. It's pretty bad. I know I should be a good mom and put child locks on every drawer and cupboard in the house but to be honest with you... I just don't want to. So for now, I guess I will just keep cleaning and keep looking for lost items. We love you anyway Kolby.

Me time

I finally got away a few weeks ago for some "girl" time. We went to Boise for "Time out for Women". We laughed, went shopping, heard some great speakers, ate at Tucano's Brazilian grill, and a wonderful Thai restaurant in downtown Boise, and had an overall great time. Can't wait to do it again.

I hate to sew...

I really Really do not like to sew. However, as I was going through the girls" clothes, I found way too many jeans with "Holes in the Knees" . I tried to think of something creative that we could do with all those jeans. I came up with these outfits. We needed something that we could wear to the mother & daughter night/fashion show at the church so I got to work in time that they could model their new "recycled" outfits. Total cost of outfits: about $3 each.

Sole to Soul

On labor day weekend, Kamree and I participated in a 5K race right here in our little town. It was fun to run with Kamree. She did a great job! She took first place in her division and won a medal and a ski pass to Pomerelle.

Crossing the finish line. That's me just a few steps behind her. She beat me by 13 seconds. Her time was 34:01. Not too bad for a first timer.
Proud medal winner.

First day of school

The first day of school....

I was so glad that I got to take my girls to school for their first day. Last year I was in the hospital having a baby and had to miss out.

Aubree with her wonderful teacher... Mrs. Gentry. Aubree just loves her. I asked her who her best friend in kindergarten was and she said it was Mrs. Gentry. Funny girl.
Kamree looking like a cool 5th grader. This is her last year at the Elementary school. That makes me very sad. I'm not ready to deal with Jr. High quite yet. Hopefully this school year will be nice and slow.

what a guy

Who knew that this rugged looking pipe moving redneck would......

someday become my super good looking distinguished looking husband.

Honey, all I can say is that it's a good thing you filled out a bit before I met you...

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

Just wanted to tell you a bit about a wonderful guy I know....



He is such a hardworker.

He never does anthing halfway. If Klade built it, you can bet it will be strong.

He is such a good leader. I am constantly hearing comments like "oh. Your Klade's Wife" He is such a great guy.

He loves his kids and it shows.

He is always thinking of ways to do things better

He is always thinking of new ways to spend quality time with his family and have so many fun times together.

He is always putting others before himself.

He sacrifices so much to make sure that his wife and kids have the things they enjoy.

He is just an overall super great guy and we love him soooo much.



I just thought I would tell you a story about my great intentions....

You see Klade is super hard to buy gifts for. I can NEVER think of anything to get him for his birthday. He never spends money on himself or would he want us to spend money on him. (my mom gave him a gift card last year to Cal-Ranch and after hanging on to it for about 6 months, he finally used it one day to buy dog food. Seriously. true story.)

Anyway.... since he's so hard to buy for I decided that this year I would have a nice dinner waiting for him at home and a clean house.

Well Tuesdays are kinda busy around here. Kindergarten carpool, dance class, pto meeting, soccer practice, etc. put a little wrinkle in my plans.

He came home to a roast beef that was a little tough because it didn't have enough time to cook, the gravy never actually got made, a birthday cake that was a little burnt around the edges, the house was a mess, the kids were loud, and it was pretty much just like every other night around here. pretty much Chaos!

Of course, no complaints from my guy. He just takes it all in stride and loves us anyway.



Here's to a birthday wish a day late!!!(You should know how I work by now)

Oh What do you do in the summertime?

I used to think the last couple weeks of August were all about winding down, getting things done, and getting ready for school. Not this year. I decided we were going to try and fit in as many fun things as we can before school starts. We had one last boat ride, one last lemonade stand, playing in the sprinklers, popsicles, and of course the county fair.

I don't have any pictures of the county fair, but I just have to tell you the story about Kamree winning the $10 at the rodeo. Every year the rodeo is the highlight of the fair. Probably because it is exactly the same rodeo that I grew up watching from the time I can remember. same clown. Same announcer. ( They aren't kidding when they joke around with each other about how old they are.) Anyway, at the Cassia county fair, they do a thing where they let all the kids in the arena (all 400+) . Then they let out 10 cows with a washer tied to their tales. The kids are supposed to try to get the washer off the cows tail and give it to the clown who then gives them money. Well, of all the 400 kids this year, our dear Kamree got one of the ten washers. That's how she won $10. It was so fun to see the proud look on her face. It's a good thing she won because the kids are supposed to be 10 and under and next year she will be too old.


Kamree and all her neighborhood friends had been wanting to do a lemonade stand all summer. We finally got it done on the last Friday before school started (the official last day of summer) even though the highs were only in the 60's that day, they managed to pull off a profit. (even if their main customers were their younger siblings). I had to take them to the stake center because our neighborhood doesn't exactly work for lemonade stands.

You can't have summer without running through the sprinklers

Playing in the pool,

Eating popsicles and blowing bubbles.