A trip to the coast...........

It is what we all need every once in a while. An 'out', a trip, an adventure. I think we ALL truly needed to have this vacation and it was such a blessing. We loaded the suburban and the van and headed out with six kids and the one on the way. Bo rode with us so the little kids made a rotation through Grandma and Papa's van. Have I mentioned that vacations need to be taken in two cars, keeps the peace much better!! Tallis came up with a 'knock-knock' joke on the way. Tallis, "Knock, Knock." Bo, "Who's there?", Tallis, "I just stepped in animal poooooo!!"
We heard this joke at LEAST a thousand times on the way to and from the beach! We stopped at Lori and Greg's on the way and had dinner and it made me realize how I wished we lived so much closer. It was a blessing to let the kids play and eat and laugh and enjoy each others company 'in person'.
The house had a hot tub and I had promised the girls we would have our turn so out we headed into the cold night. I was sitting with Molly and Maggie just taking in some of that almost one on one time and I heard some scurrying from up above on the porch. The girls gave me a worried look and I have to admit that I was a litte worried myself! I looked up and here comes a huge raccoon climbing down the railing, mind you this railing runs right next to the hot tub! He keeps leaning over the water with curiosity and I can just picture him jumping right in. We shooed him but he was not to be shooed and I then realized that he had brought along a few of his friends. It was as if they heard the top come off the hot tub and were gathering for a party! Our hot tub session was cut a little short but we had some funny stories to take upstairs to the others and the raccoons made an appearance on the porch for everybody to see!
The last night at the house we had a fish fry, the plan was to be able to go out on a boat and catch our dinner but the weather didn't permit that. We went to Safeway instead and bought some fillets from the seafood counter and you know, they were fantastic! Craig, Bo, and Sidon did there thing with Oysters and Bo bought crab for all to share, it was a feast indeed!

Valentines Day 2011..............

Now this is what I call a romantic dinner! We were able to share some very special news with the kids. I had a scavenger hunt laid out with eight clues leading to a ninth blessing. Somewhere around the middle of July we will be adding one more Green to the clan! When Sawyer figured it out the happy tears flowed and Sidon was right behind him. We truly are blessed.


Candle light and a good dinner, what more could we ask for?

Town Project...........

Sawyer had an assignment at school to construct a building from town. He chose Westside Petroleum, otherwise known as Reed's. He built it all by himself and I was proud of the work he put into it. As a side note, we live in a small place, some things are cultural and just a given in this town of ours. Bill Balderson lives behind the fuel station in a teepee. This is actually a step up from his van that he has lived in for years. When I checked on the progress of Sawyers project he had already added Bill and his teepee. Craig said he should keep it because it was accurate to the building and the teacher loved it!

Art Work............

Craig was asked by Idaho Forest Group to do an engraving on an axehead for a traveling trophy. Craig has a gift and it's always fun to see what new art work he tackles. Getting paid is always a nice bonus!




A timber faller with the face out of a big pine.

Token System and Prize Box............

We have implemented the token system. We have actually been doing this for quite some time but it has been really fun to see the learning process of this. The kids earn tokens for jobs done. They get to 'spend' the tokens they earn for privileges like 15 minutes on the computer (2 tokens), t.v. time (2 tokens), special toys (translation~toys that make a mess or have been known to not be picked up quickly!), movie night (complete with tickets, popcorn, and drink~5 tokens each), you get the picture. The tasks range from folding laundry, emptying the dishwasher, putting away clothes and taking out garbage. It's interesting to watch the kids being aware of how much work it took to earn those two tokens and also to see them be generous with one another when one child doesn't have enough.
After a few months of this I decided to have a small prize box with some fun things for the kids to save up for. A little incentive is always nice when chores are involved and Mom likes to have as much help as possible! Sometime before Christmas I found a 'new to us' prize box. What is it with kids and those rip off claw machines? It brings to mind a Sponge Bob episode with Squidward spending all of his money on a claw machine only to fail!
Well, I found this claw machine and it was obviously a hit, even with the big kid! Bo took plenty of turns trying to get toys for the kids.




The tokens~Sawyer(White)~Sidon(Green)~Maggie(Red)~Molly(Blue)~Tallis(Yellow)

Tallis and 'her' Dad........

Tallis likes her Dad. Alot. This morning she was being a ham and pretending to fall asleep just to scream a few seconds later that she was in fact 'AWAKE'!!

A new day and a new post........

Okay, I have been a bad blogger. I have taken an extended vacation from blogging and therefore taking many pictures. I need to get back into the swing of things so here goes!!