What would I do without you?

As today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to write a post for one thing I am especially thankful for this year! As you may know, my parents bought the house next door to us. My mom and dad have been here periodically since then...but my mom has been here for the past 2 months!!! I'm so sad that she will be leaving for California tomorrow. My life now has to get back to normal :(!Here is my list of why my I am so thankful for my mom and why she is the BEST neighbor in the world!

1. She came over almost morning to help with breakfast and watch Laicee while I took my older girls to school!


2. She watched Emma and Laicee while I took the older girls to dance class and soccer!


3. She picked up things for me at the grocery store whenever I need them!


4. She would bring me coke and sandwiches for lunch!


5. We'd go shopping together!


6. She watched the girls while I volunteered in the girls classes!


7. She came over during nap time so I could run errands!


8. She'd surprise me and clean-up dinner and do the dishes while I gave the girls their baths!


9. She let the girls come over to play at her house for HOURS at a time!


10. She never complained to help! She was just happy to be with her grand-daughters!


11. She read the girls bedtime stories!


12. She had numerous movie nights with the girls so I could go out with my friends...and Kevin too!


13. She gladly let the girls hug her to death every time they saw her!


14. She has helped so much with everything as Kev has been studying ALL THE TIME for his HUGE test that he is taking soon!

Mom, I love you and I am so thankful for how amazing you have been! You have made it so that I haven't lost my mind dragging all my little ones around while Kev has been out of commission! You have stepped in when I have needed you the most! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you and I'm seriously going to miss you!!!

I hope you all have had a great day! Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What else do you do with a house of girls???

As we were walking out of blockbuster, the girls noticed a poster for the new Tinkerbell movie. They were so excited...but even more excited when they thought to invite their friends over to watch the movie. The idea went on from there and we had a super fun girly night with pink cookies, cupcakes with cherries, and pajamas! There was one boy who came. He told his mom that he, "wasn't afraid of Tinkerbell"! Later that night as they drove home he said, "that wasn't Tinkerbell, Captain Hook wasn't anywhere in the movie!" I think he was sorely disappointed! In the end, the girls and their friends had a great squeally time! AND--a few quirky extras!

I only let the older girls paint and do messy crafts when Emma and Laicee are napping. If you knew Emma, this would make total sense! Yesterday, Emma woke up without us knowing and snuck into the kitchen and got into the paints. At what point did she think that painting her face was a good idea?

Amberlee is our cute little eclectic one! It is not unusual for her to put together an outfit that makes her totally happy. My only rule is that she has to match on school days and Sundays!

Pumpkin Festivus - For the Rest-of-us

Why limit Halloween celebrations to just one night? Our town certainly doesn't. There is a pumpkin festival downtown a week before Halloween. The kiddos get all dressed up, trick-or-treat at all the businesses, play games, and roll pumpkins down hills! It's lots of crazy fun.

This year, Kassie (who played her part very well--I can't tell you how many times I had to say, "Kass, will you please use words to answer me, not meows!") and Amberlee were cats. Emma was a princess and Laicee was a butterfly.

Rolling pumpkins down the hill!Emma is trying to smile and eat her chewy candy at the same time!

On Halloween night, our neighborhood full of Halloween enthusiasts decided to have a progressive party. The kids started with trick-or-treating, and then moved from house to house playing games. At our house the kids did pumpkin bowling and went on a scavenger hunt to find their candy stolen by the wicked witch! Throughout the night, I kept finding Emma hidden under tables ravaging her candy!

The neighborhood kiddos!

Farm Fun with Amberlee

Amberlee went a field trip with her class to a baby animal farm. They had baby animals that you could pet, hold, and feed. Amberlee was chosen to feed a bottle to a cow. She was so excited and talked about it for days! In addition to the animals, the kids got to go on a hay ride and pick out their very own pumpkin.

Also, every year our ward has a fall party at a member's farm. The kids play in the hay barn, we go on hay rides, and this year Amberlee got to ride one of their horses! She is such an animal lover and it's so fun to see how happy and excited she gets around them!