Just alittle something to think about......

10 Ways YOUR Generous Spirit Can Make a Better World

• DO say, "I'm here to help, put me to work." instead of "Let me know if you need anything."
• STAY alert lest you miss opportunities to feed hungry people who are always close by.
• TAKE comfort food in times of grief and trouble.
• ALWAYS stop to render aid...Always.
• NEVER postpone helping somebody who needs it. A hug is more important than a job or a chore.
• MAKE time to share yourself. It's the greatest gift you can give.
• PRAISE strugglers, encourage doubters, forgive cynics.
• SHARE at least one laugh a day (and don't forget to sing).
• GIVE time or money or better yet, both. Even if you think you can't afford it. Even if it hurts. Maybe BECAUSE it hurts (to remind ourselves we can be better than we think we are).
• BE kindest to those closet. Start with a pat on you own back for doing the best you can, whenever you can, wherever you can. Then work outward.

My big little helper.......

After doing laundry all day about 7 loads I was relaxing up stairs in the living room and the buzzer went off for the dryer. Well that was a clear indication to go run down the stairs and that's what Zachie did, just that. And after not hearing him or seeing him for a few I was wondering where he went. After I called for him I heard this little voice yelling from down stairs...done its done...see done. So we figured that he was messing around in something that he shouldn't be. I went and checked on him and this is what I found. Absolutely adorable. He is such a great helper. He watched me a little to closely today and how I did the laundry today.

It's harder then it looks mom..trying to get this basket up the stairs.

Now into the living room...hard floor to carpet can be tricky......

And now sitting where mom sits and watching TV just like my mom....while folding clothes.

I love you my little big man!!!!!

Simply Beautiful.........

This is why we love living here in Northern Idaho.

Lake Coeur d'Alene is one of the most beautiful spots I've ever seen. With the hills and mountains all around it's great. I was just thinking about it today how lucky we are to have such a great place to live. If there was ever heaven on earth it would be here. If the kids want to go play in the snow it's here and in the summer time if the kids want a water park there are a number of them to pick from. It's great living in a place that people come to, to vacation.

The first snow fun

Well after almost a week of the weatherman saying the snow is coming, it finally arrived. And

now the kids are loving it. All five have been out playing in it this morning but Zachies snow fun was short lived....it is kinda hard to be two and play in the snow with out gloves. Unfortunately daddy's at work with the truck and that's where the gloves are. So now me and little man are inside watching Santa Clause 1 and staying warm. This is probably the only snow pictures with kids for awhile...a deep freeze is coming along with wind so we all will be staying warm inside this

week.Here are some pictures of this morning, hope you all enjoy!!

She was waiting for the Tooth Fairy

My baby girl is getting older and it is making me sad. She lost her first tooth yesterday and was so excited for the tooth fairy to come, she didnt even want a book read before she just wanted to hurry up and fall asleep. It was pretty funny so needless to she was up early this morning and looking for the money.......

Finding the perfect one......

So after finally being free for a day and having the time to go get our tree, we did just that this last Sunday. We found a new tree farm down south of us in Harrison. It was only 28 miles south but it took over an hour to get to it because of a very very winding road, it reminded me of drive North on Hwy 1o1 driving to Port Angeles. So needless to say by the time we got to the farm we had 3 sick kids and I was well on my way myself. We got some fresh air had some candy canes, we were going to cut our own one down again like we did last year but after that car ride and the freezing cold rain mix we decided to cut the trip shorter normal. We found our pre-cut tree, the kids played with their hunting dogs then wrapped it up loaded everyone up in the truck and back on the road we went but this time we went a different way home a way that we knew was alot straighter and quicker. We had a nice lunch at a small little restaurant right before we got back on the highway. It had some of the best food and great atmosphere family owned. It was a perfect ending to the almost perfect day. Here are some pictures and some of our now decorated livingroom that we just finished today.

Here's a quick update.....

I am going to make this short and sweet...that's the plan at least. Well today we finally got our Internet back up and running..YEAH!!!!! I was going through some tough withdrawals here. All we have been up to is Christmas/Choir Concerts with the 3 kiddos in school. Shopping away for presents and we're getting our tree tomorrow. The lights are up on the house and I will be putting pics up tomorrow as well. Everyone here is doing good!!! Well like I said this one is going to be short.....now it's off to movie time with the family.

Another scarf done

Here is the newest scarf that I completed tonight. I am having so much fun doing these. Once everyone gets on here I will move onto something else to make.

A crazy hat night......

Ok so I don't know what happened tonight but the kids wanted to play with our hats and then wanted pics taken of them, so here goes....enjoy a few funny pics. First is Savannah showing off two hats at once.... then Zachie doing is sideways Yo Yo.....and Trinity up close and personal. Then the last two a combo of the kiddos.

My latest project.......

Here is my most recent crocheting project. A light pink scarf for our youngest daughter. And I am currently working on a purple scarf for another daughter then I think I may start on a red scarf for one of the boys. Lot's to do so off I go.....

Zachie and his new pj's

Zachie and his new pj's. He LOVES them. Couldn't even wait till bedtime to put them on, so he begged and begged his Aunt Lala to help him put them on.

Almost there........

Showing them off and loving Aunt Lala

Another Movie Night

So we have tested this "Movie Night" thing with the kids this last Friday and for the most part it went really good. So last night our son Tristian had a friend stay the night and we decided to do another movie night. We put the little kids to bed and all got nice and comfy and watched Hellboy 2. My own personal opinion for those who haven't seen it don't waste your time. I didn't care for it and I really doubted I would from the beginning since I don't care for those movies anyways. So I sat and played alittle online and crocheted. Of course the boys thought it was a good movie and even the girls that were still awake liked it. I just relaxed with my projects that I've been working on.

Family Friday movie night......

So tonight was Family Movie Night. The movie was Kung Fu Panda, which is really cute funny movie for the kids. We had popcorn and all went pretty good of course with Zachie running wild this evening. Not sure what's up with him except that he is growing up and wanting to see how much he can get away with. But boy has he been a little rascal this evening and a matter of fact the last few days. So with little interruptions we over all had a great night and plan on doing it alot more often. It's ALOT cheaper fur us to buy a movie, snacks and drinks then to go to the movie theater these days. It was nice watching all the kids and their expressions throughout the movie. Dad to was into it, while myself I watched while working on my third crochet project. Love love love that I have something nice and quiet to work on....yeah!!!!

Girls Skate Night

So last night was the girls schools skate night at the local skating rink here. Here are a few pictures of them having fun.

Miss Savannah strutting herself around.

Miss Trinity with her big ol' smile.
The two of them grooving.

They had a ton of fun and this morning when they woke up for school they had sore legs. But I know for a fact that they would go back today if they could!

Growing up........

Ok so after I finished my projects for today and the kids went to bed our youngest Mr. Zachary age 2 thinks he doesn't have to go to sleep when we say it's time for bed. He was in crib just a yelling and saying "Mommy and Daddy out". So dad went up to calm him down and to see what was so wrong, well there was no dirty diaper and all was good. Dad decided to lay down with him in the big bed in his room (which is actually his big brothers bed) but brother was sleeping down stairs tonight because of Zachie not wanting to sleep. Well dad laid him down and covered him up and left the room. A minute or two later I heard the door open so we told him it was night night time and the door shut. So after some time went by dad went back up and this is what he seen.

I am sad that my baby is growing up. Now I know he is still only 2 and that I have 5 kids but I am so use to having another baby whenever the youngest at the time is around 2 or 3 yrs old. And Dave and I both agreed not to have anymore so we had that fixed on both ends if ya know what I mean. I would have as many kids as I could if it was up to me, but with each pregnancy it got harder and harder on my body with different health issues yadda yadda yadda. Plus I think my mom would of had a heart attack. So now we are on to a different and new stage of this this show called life. We're getting away from strollers, no more highchairs, no more crib, no more sippy cups and the only thing I can think of that keeps him as my baby is he is still in diapers. We hope to end those by the end of this year. He knows where he is suppose to go and what we're talking about he is just stubborn in that area. He will just bring you a diaper and the wipes and tells you if he is poopy or pee pee. I know I know tmi. And he is so good that HE decides who is going to change him. It has actually gotten pretty funny at least for the time being. My dear sister (Aunt Lala) gets alot of his diapers. Love ya sissy.

And a hat to match......

Here is the second crochet project I did today, the hat to match the scarf. I started out making this all for Zachie first but the hat didn't turn out boyish enough...lol It turned out more like Strawberry Shortcake hat so now it's Sierra's. So I have decided to make all the girls scarves and hat's first then I will by that time hopefully figured out how to make a boys hat. Wish me luck.

My first project complete

Ok everyone here is my first complete crocheting project. It is Zach's scarf and I am going to crochet hat to match. And my plan is to do the same for all of our kiddos, different colors of course. So there will be more to come. And for those of out there that have done this before and have alot of experience, don't zoom in to close to the pic....lol remember this is my first ever crocheting project....LOL Plus my 2 yr old will love it and I'm sure where it all day like he did his fleece hat I made him awhile back....it's to funny how a little one gets so excited over things like this.

My 10yr old teacher......

I started this last night after watching my 10 year old crocheting for awhile now. Our neighbor Paula had shown her how to because they are both left handed and I am right plus I didn't remember how to crochet so I wasn't much help. Well I have been wanting to start making things and doing things as a family where me and the girls could have fun. So last night she taught her mom yes me how to crochet. So I am making a scarf for who I don't know yet. And once Trinity showed my Savannah our 7 yr old wanted to learn and she is left handed to so it was pretty easy for Trinity to teach her. Trinity is the biggest helper there is and has the biggest heart. My plan this year for Christmas is to make each one of my kids something that I have made by hand, either by crocheting or the fleece blankets and matching pillows I make. Money is pretty tight this year because of my health so we'll see what happens. I'll keep you all up to date with what I make.

Early Sunday Morning

Dave, Tristian and I went up to the hills this morning bright and early. It started at 4:30am with the alarm clock going off and then Dave and I back and forth about "do you want to go well do you want to go oh it's up to you honey" So after only 4 and half hours of sleep we decided to get up and go. We woke up Tristian which he was excited about. We packed some snacks and drinks and headed out the door but not before grabbing my camera and my good book I'm reading "Marley & Me". While we were out we didn't see much the boys went out walking trails and looking for signs but didn't come across anything. Meanwhile I took some pictures from the truck while waiting on them. It was so nice and peaceful. I didn't walk with them because yesterday when we went out to the same area the air was thin and oh so cold out, it was hard for me to breath and still hurts. So I decided to stay nice and warm in the truck with a good book and my camera. We still came back empty handed this time as well but it's fun just going out there just the three of us or just Dave and I having some alone time. That doesn't happen very often at all. Here are a few pics that I took today.

Tristian just watching and waiting.

It was so foggy up on Wolf Lodge.

This is the only area that we saw a Doe.

A sick house

All I can say is Oh my goodness. We have had such a sick house the last couple of months. Let me start a little list for you. Will it ever end???

• All 8 of us had the common cold
• Me with my headaches
• Dave with Pnumonia
• Trinity with surgery
• And now Savannah with Strep Throat

Boys will be boys

Here is what to boys do when they are suppose to be cleaning their room this evening. They were practicing karate and then had to come show me what they came up with. So here goes....