Coolest Toaster Ever!

So I know that sounds stupid... a cool toaster? But this is seriously amazing! My sister Michelle got this for us for Christmas. It not only toasts your toast, but it will poach an egg AND warm a sausage or bacon ALL AT THE SAME TIME! :) I know you are all thinking I'm crazazy, but my husband leaves for work at 6:15 and it sure is nice to know he's getting something decent to eat before he goes. Anyway, it's a "Back to Basics" product and they are available online. I'm sure they are in stores too, but I haven't looked. Check it out!

Christmas stuff

When I walked in the house this afternoon, I realized I'm ready to put Christmas away. I know my house will feel bare, but I'm tired of trying to vacuum with the over sized tree in the living room and dust under all the garland! Plus we are getting ready for a cruise in a few weeks and I'm thinking tropical! (Despite the soon to be 10+ inches of snow outside! At least it's not rain!) Anyway here a few shots of Christmas!

The boys on Christmas Eve


Bridger on Christmas Eve


New Christmas Jammie's!

What?!!!

It is RAINING!!! We are in North Idaho...right? And it's December...right? So why is it RAINING?!?! We had all this beautiful snow and now it is all washing away! I'm going to be pissed if we have a wet, grey Christmas! A week ago we were lucky if the temperature hit 25 degrees. Now we aren't even getting below freezing at night!

Christmas update

Alright so I mailed out our Christmas cards today. In the card I refer everyone to our blog for an update so I thought I'd post kind of a summary of our lives. A few notes:
1. If you read our blog regularly, I'm sorry if I'm repeating information you've already heard.
2. If you are reading this and you DIDN'T get a Christmas card, well it's your own fault! I posted asking for addresses.... (I'm kidding by the way!)

Alright so on with it...
We are still in Northern Idaho and still love it. We are NOT however enjoying the consequential darkness that comes from living so far North. This time of year I wonder if the sun still exists at all! But we will suffer through because the good things definitely out-weigh the bad.
Brandon is still the working like a mad man and business has been fairly good. A little slower this winter than normal, but that is not limited to just us or just this area. Fortunately the prospects for the new year look pretty good. He expanded his horizon's a bit and is General Contractor now, rather than just framing. He is currently building a new house that may be for us, if it doesn't sell. It is amazing and we have considered holding off moving into it so we can put it in the Parade of Homes next year. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Fortunately he was able to take some time this year to have fun too. We went on 2 4-wheeling trips together and he had 1 (or 2? I don't remember:)) with just he and some guy friends. One of those trips also included fishing in Oregon again and he brought home quite a bit of fish. Hurray!
Chase is 9 and is in 3rd grade. He has been placed in the ALP's program for both Math and Reading this year. He has a great teacher who just adores him and I think the feeling is mutual. He played soccer in both the Spring and Fall this year and was the star of the team. He also did soccer camps and swimming over the summer again which kept me very busy! He is in scouts and earned his Wolf in the Spring and is 3/4's of the way through his Bear. He loves scouting so much! He continues to ride Dirt bikes and has been asking about moto-cross. We will have to decide about that in the spring. He also asked me when he can start dating... I told him when he's 23.
Davin is 6 and is in the 1st grade. He too, loves school and excels in academics. However I think he would rather go to PE than reading! He played his last 2 seasons in the Mini's soccer and in the spring will be on a full sized field with the big goals. It was pretty funny to sit by the opposing team parents. Whenever the coach told Davin to go on the field they would all groan! He scored a minimum of 5 goals every game day. He also did soccer camps and swimming this summer and LOVES to swim! As Brandon is the Wolf leader at scouts, Davin often gets to go with him, even though he's not 8 yet. When he is he will cruise through his Wolf because he already knows all the info!
Bridger is our little caboose and just tags along with the rest of us. He follows the boys everywhere and cries when they leave for school in the morning. He's my little buddy and comes with me just about everywhere. He is so cute when he tries to run, and jump. He is such a little mimic and can't understand why I don't want him to help me pour bleach in the laundry or put the soap in the dishwasher. He is a sweet little guy and is all his Dad, both in looks and temperament.
I am the same. I don't change all that much! I'm still ridiculously OCD when it comes to certain things, but have learned to let other things go... a little!:)
We had a great year including a few camping trips, 4-wheeling trips, a trip to Orlando for just me and B, and even a trip for me to Lake Tahoe! (Bachelorette party)
I hope this finds you all well and we wish you all the best this Holiday Season!

Addresses

Ok so I'm actually going to send out Christmas cards this year!(I know, it's so not like me to do this for Christmas... or at all!) Anyway, I'm noticing many of my addresses are out of date, so if you want one and you've moved (like, within the last 2 years) I probably need your address!
Other than that we are not up to much other than the norm. Bridger is STILL teething and because of his asthma the post-nasal drip (medical term for a lot of boogers) has turned into a cough. He's not old enough to really "blow" his nose, so he's all drippy and gross. Yet he still manages to be cute! At least he's not grumpy about it.
The big boys are counting down the days until Christmas, of course. We took them to the store the other night and let them pick out gifts for each other. They are SOOO excited about giving them.
Brandon is working hard as always, and his mood seems to have improved since he went to work on someone else's house. When he's working on ours, he's also thinking of PAYING for ours, so he gets all freaked out. Yup, even contractors over budget when building their houses! I'll post some new pictures again soon.
Remember to leave me those addresses!

SNOW!!!

We had our first snow on Monday night!!! So of course, yesterday when Chase & Davin got home from school, they went straight outside to play. It was Bridger's first time playing in the snow and therefore he had no snow pants. So I found myself rushing to Target first thing Tuesday morning (along with all the other unprepared Mothers) and practically playing tug-of-war over the last pair of snow pants in a 2T. OK so I didn't REALLY have to play tug-of-war, but there were 3 other Mom's hovering and searching like vultures, who I thought might spit on me when I pulled out the only 2T on the rack! As a group, we Mom's are a competitive and fearsome bunch! Anyway here are a couple of pictures as well as a more recent shot of the house. (I say MORE recent simply because the house looks different everyday so it's truly improbable to post a "current" picture!)

Happy Turkey Day!!!!

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I needed to tell you all that I am SO thankful for all of you, our family and friends. And that you enrich our lives so much everyday even though we aren't always able to see each other as much as we might like.

Have a great day!

Update

So I thought I ought to update you all on our lives. We are as busy as ever and I keep wondering if things will ever really slow down. I'm beginning to have my doubts!

Unfortunately I've come down with something and nobody can hear me when I talk aka whisper. When I answer the phone I'm needing to say hello a few times before anyone can actually hear me. I thought it was just a cold since Bridge is congested too. Turns out he's getting 6 teeth! (4 molars and 2 bottom teeth) But no one else is sick so apparently not just a cold. ???

We had our friends the Facers 2 kids over the weekend and I have a whole new respect for people who have 5 or more children! It's not that any of them were "bad" per say, it's just that there were SO MANY of them! Every mother says "the minute I get one mess cleaned up there's a whole other mess already made". It's our team motto, if you will. But this time, it wasn't that there was another mess to be cleaned up... there were TEN more messes to be cleaned up! But we survived and actually managed to have a fairly good time.

The house is coming along well and I will take some new pictures soon. The windows are all in and most of the exterior doors are on. Rough plumbing is in and when I was there this morning the heating and electrical guys were both there. IT'S BIG(!) and we are beginning to hope more and more that it sells. Anybody want to buy a house?

Chase was Thomas Jefferson at the Veterans Day Program at the Elementary School. He had to recite the entire first paragraph of the Constitution and he did it from memory!!!

P.S. We are planning a "tropical" vacation in February if anyone wants to join us or has any recommendations.

That's it for now, TTFN!

I've been tagged...

Ok so I've been tagged and as I understand it, that means I have tell you all 6 things about me.

1. I'm a MAJOR clean freak! It drives me crazy to have a dirty house and it drives my husband crazy that I can't just let it go sometimes. Don't misunderstand this, I hate to clean but I hate a dirty house more so...

2. I don't like pets. I don't mind other people's pets, I just don't want them in my house. (For my reasoning see #1.)

3.I love to shop. It doesn't even have to be in the store, online works for me! As evidence look in anyone in any of my boys closets. (or mine:))

4.I love music! I sing constantly and have always wanted to learn to play the guitar. I'm always singing in the car so if you don't like it, maybe you shouldn't ride with me.

5. I also love photography and as soon as the opportunity to go back to school presents itself, that will most likely be my major. (either that or Nursing)

6. I love Holidays! I decorate for every holiday and start counting down the days to my birthday about 2 months in advance! My husband will never have the opportunity to forget my b-day (or any significant holiday really) because he gets a daily reminder of how far away it is!

I was thinking I wouldn't be able to come up with 6 things but I could actually go on! (I won't)
So now I tag Yolanda, Britton, Tristen and Melissa.

Halloween!!! Yay it's over!

Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween, all holidays really. However this year I am SO glad it's over!!!! I'm the "room Mom" in Chases' class and I had VERY few volunteers to help with the party. So that meant I had to do a game, craft and all the treats for 30 kids essentailly by myself. It was stressful but it actually turned out really well. It was good for my ego too. :) I know it's totally vain to be happy about but I overheard a few kids telling Chase how cool his Mom is. I even overheard someone say "Chases' Mom is hot!". I'M THE HOT MOM!!!! That made my week! Anyway here are a few pictures of our Halloween!

Davin the Ninja (minus the mask since we were at church) Bridger the skunk and Chase the vampire.

Me, my friend Amber with baby Esther and another friend Mikin.

My little skunk and his Daddy skunk!

We have a roof! (sort of :))

Brandon is out "flying" trusses today. Trusses are the structure of the roof and they are usually constructed off-site in a plant, trucked in and set. So here are the pictures off the trusses being set and current progress inside the house.

Trusses going on

This is the wall of future windows in the great room

The trees and balcony in the great room.

Jon setting trusses

sorry

Hey guys, I'm kind of messing with my blog and trying some new things so it might be a little screwy for the next few days! :) Allie

Silly Brandon...

Silly Brandon, tree's belong OUTSIDE of the house!!!! Or not... we are actually putting 2 of these ginormous suckers in the great room! Anyway this is the current progress on the house as well as some other recent pictures.

BOYS!!!

So it's been awhile since we had a toddler. Davin is 5 and a 1/2 years older than Bridger so it's reasonable to believe we might have forgotten about a few phases. And now that we are seeing them again, I'm reminded that they are totally normal but still hilarious all the same. Bridger is ALL BOY! i.e.He didn't have to be taught what noises a car is supposed to make as you're pushing it along the floor, etc.. He also discovered the thing that makes him "all boy", namely his penis. The second his diaper comes off he's looking at it and pulling on it! And so the life long fascination begins. :) He's also discovered his orifices. He's always shoving something in his mouth or ears. Yesterday we were running some errands and I looked in the back seat and discovered he had his finger in his nose! I wouldn't say he was "picking" but apparently it fits nicely. He started laughing uncontrollably. How great would it be to be so easily entertained?! I'm terrified we are getting into the phase when we will have to rush him to the doctor because there's a marble or something shoved in his ear or up his nose. I guess you just have to learn to laugh about it and roll with the punches!

Orlando...

Ok so Brandon and I just got back from a 5/6 day stint in Orlando. (5 days for me, 6 for him) We had to go down to do a trade show there with my family so we decided to go a few days early and see the sights. Brandon had been there when he was really young and I had never been. So we thought it would be a fun new excpierence. We had a GREAT time! However I must say I'm a Disneyland kind of girl rather than Disneyworld. There were a lot of fun things about Disneyworld, but it just wasn't as "magical" as Disneyland is. We spent all day Friday doing the Disneyworld thing. On Saturday, we decided to try an airboat tour in a swamppy area. This was an interesting excpierence. I've never really thought of Florida as "The South" although it is the southern most state in North America. When you think of the South you think, Louisianna, Georgia etc.. However we had a very southern excpierence. It was like a seen out of a movie where "the yanks" came down to the south and were shocked! We ate alligator (which I don't really reccomend) and were attacked by love bugs in swarms. But we had fun anyway. We also drove out to the Gulf Coast on Saturday, and that was my favorite part of the trip. The water was sooo warm and we ended up buying bathing suits to go swimming since we hadn't planned on it and so hadn't brought our own. Anyway I'll add a few pics of our trip later but there aren't very many so....

Our weekend

So our friends Kailee and Tex came over from Seattle this weekend. It's been a long time since they were both able to make it over so we decided we needed to do some fun stuff. For starters as with all Saturdays we had soccer games. I honestly thought we were all going to freeze to death, but at least it wasn't raining. Our boys did GREAT! Chase scored 2 and Davin scored 5 for thier teams and both of them loved every minute of it. We also got to go riding (4 wheelers/dirt bikes) this weekend and it did rain for that. (Of course) Anyway here are some pics of our fun weekend!

Hello out there in cyberland. I usually don't do the blog sort of thing but I must brag a little. MY boys are soccer nuts!!! Last week was the first round of games and while I'm sure after a few weeks of "loosing" a good Saturday Ill think other wise, it was fun to be with the kids. chase had a smashing season opener scoring 4 of the 7 goals for his team. this is quite a feat considering he is only one of 2 boys on the team. not to say that girls aren't good at soccer, many of them are, they just happen not to be on his team. this Saturday was a little crushing for him as he only had 1 goal but he covered the entire field almost by himself, and his team still won. you should see his little legs move!!! At nine he is a head shorter than everyone else on the team but that doesn't seem to matter. Go Chase!!!
Davin is also the star of his team scoring 4 goals in his season opener and 6 this Saturday. I usually walk the side lines with the balls progress yelling encouragement and had the great opportunity to be next to the other team parents and over heard the " oh crap"s when Davin's coach yelled for him to sub in. makes a father proud. its really fun to see their hard work of past practice and soccer camps pay off.

enough proud papa. i am working and doing church stuff and scouts and rarely find time to do any fun stuff. i guess there is no rest for the wicked..

Allie is doing her mom thing and is doing fantastic. she does a wonderful job of keeping the house from falling apart and is incredible patient with all the testosterone she is surrounded by. she truly is the glue that holds us together.

I enjoy seeing all the posts from family and friends. I think its great we have some medium to keep in touch as life gets so spread out and goes by so quickly. i keep seeing little kids that i didn't know about and little kids i do that aren't so little any more . How time flies!!!!


we are truly blessed up her in " Gods Country" and invite all who are able to come visit. until we meet again keep posting!!!!

Brandon

Preview....

So the foundation is in and the floor will be on tommorrow but I thought I'd give you all a little preview of what our new house is supposed to look like!

Cute, huh?! I love it and I'm so excited!!

Vegas

So Brandon is in Las Vegas this week and he called just a few minutes ago. He is wandering around trying to find a Kinko's or something like it, so while he was doing that, he called me to kill time. Anyway, neither of us are huge fans of Vegas and he has been rudely reminded of why. As we were chatting he said there was a guy on the corner wearinf a striped prison jumpsuit, rainbow shoes and rainbow sunglasses holding a sign that says"Welcome to Vegas Bail Bonds". This "Gentleman" was dancing, blowing kisses and giving the "dirty V". (If you don't know what that is, count yourself as extremely lucky!)
Meanwhile back at home things are soooo quiet! We had a gorgeous weekend with highs in the 70's. I took the boys to one of the smaller lakes around here and fed the ducks. Then on saturday night I went to movie I knew B would not want to see with me. I don't think I've ever gone to a movie by myself before. It wasn't so great.
Anyway I don't have much to say today but I thought B's expierience was worth sharing.

No it's NOT boogers!

Actually, it's worse than boogers! I made the mistake of taking a shower BY MYSELF, and this is what I found upon my exit. It's Bag Balm. The nasty stuff that your Mom put on your face if it was chapped, or in our house is used for diaper rash. It is GREASY and smells like farm animals! After finding this smeared in his hair, on my sofa and ground into the carpet, I of course threw out the remains of the offending potion. Wouldn't you? Except to my dismay, 3 days later we are dealing with Murphy's Law and Bridger has the worst diaper rash I've ever seen! Thus I'm off to the store to, (I can't believe I'm saying this) purchase MORE of the disgusting goop! (Which will be locked in a dark room in a dark closet in a safe!)

The strangest noise

My day started fairly early this morning as Chase who is 9 was too excited to sleep. Today is the first day of school and my kids are still young enough that they like school. That being said I still had to drag Davin out of bed. He is NOT a morning person! It's also Tuesday, and being the wierdo I am, I ALWAYS clean on Tuesday mornings. Don't ask me why Tuesday, I don't know. That's just the day I clean. Now, it being the first day of school, I had to take a break from the cleaning, get myself cleaned up a bit and get my boys settled in thier new classes. (I didn't take time to shower, but I did my hair and makeup so I wouldn't be the "frumpy Mom" who shows up to her kids class in her sweats.)I promptly went home and put my pj's BACK on to finish my cleaning. I cleaned EVERYTHING! I even took the time to wipe down the baseboards.Mind you I still had Bridger's "helping" to contend with, but I was suprised how fast it went. Bridger needed lunch right after I finished so as he was eating I folded ALL the laundry! Then I put it away! (This is a rare occurance at my house as there is nothing I despise more than folding and putting away laundry. Thus I procrastinate untill the laundry takes over the house and I have no choice but to do it, or move.) Shortly there after he went down for nap. I looked at the clock and realized I had time to take an actual BATH!!! Once I turned off the water I heard the strangest noise, one I haven't heard in months! SILENCE!!! Sweet blessed silence! I even removed the remnants of the nail polish I put on two and a half months ago. (The last time I was alone!) I keep thinking of all the things I should hurry and do when a wonderful thought intervenes. I get 5 days a week like this for the next nine months! I don't have to hurry! Don't get me wrong, I know I have the best kids ever. And I also know come June next year I will be thrilled to have them out of school. But for now, this feels like total and complete bliss! So now I sit here with no noise other than the clacking of the keys on the keyboard and the gentle hum of the computer and try to decide how to spend the last half hour of my quiet time. I think I'll take a nap.

Northern Idaho fashion

Let me preface this with a statement.North Idaho is an amazing place to live. It's gorgeous, there's not a lot of traffic and it's one of those places that's not to big(not to much traffic) but still has the of a larger city. Spokane is only a few minutes away with decent shopping etc.. That being said...Have you ever been out in public and seen someone "interesting" (I'm being nice) and thought to yourself, "Really? You looked in the mirror and thought that was good idea?" and then you thought, "Seriously, where do these people come from?". I can answer that. They came from North Idaho.
You know you live in a redneck town when you go to the fair and the attendants are scarier than the "carnies". For example, I met my friend Amber at McDonald's the other day to let our kids play etc.. There were several "interesting" people there but the most questionable was a girl/woman who was probably about 19 and weighed in at an estimated 300-325lbs. I've got no problem with that, my issue was that she wasn't wearing any pants! I'm not exaggerating, she wasn't wearing short shorts or something else a little too revealing for a woman of her size. She was quite literally wearing an over sized sweatshirt, slippers and NO PANTS! I guess I missed the lesson on fashion when they talked about how sexy that is... or not so much.

Things you take for granted before you have a toddler

1. Garbage cans without lids

2. Cupboards and drawers without safety locks

3. Any aerosol can with a spray nozzle intact (shaving cream and hair moose cans also fall into this category)

4. Putting something away with the knowledge it will be where you put it when you come to find it later

5. DVD's that stay on the shelf

6. A clean car or one that has real music playing in it

7. Folding the laundry without someone climbing in the basket and pulling everything back out

8. Going anywhere without "wipes"

9. Storing anything under the bed

10. Eating a meal when it is ready!!! Instead after the baby is done, he and his tray are cleaned up and the floor is cleaned so he doesn't eat the remnants off of it. Of course at this point everyone else is done too so you might as well do those dishes while you're doing the babies. The older kids (or your husband) broke a glass bowl full of salsa, so you should probably just clean the whole floor while your at it. It's now almost an hour after your food was ready, but you are to tired to rewarm it so you just eat cold!

But really who can resist this?!

And so it begins!

We have officially started our house! I say we, but that actually means Brandon. :) Brandon and Kelly (his Dad) went out today and cleared the lot. We should have a foundation in this next week! Meanwhile I spent the day looking at "Parade" homes, and unfortunately was not all that impressed. Although there were a few things I liked and am hoping I can talk B into implementing in this house. We'll see! Wish me luck, I'll probably need it!

Note to self; Learn to say NO

Am I the only one who has let myself become a "pee-on"? I've discovered today that when it comes to people "needing help" I can't say no! It doesn't seem to matter if whatever it is they are asking from me, is something I can actually do, I say yes anyway! Whether it's dinner for this person or dessert for some other function, I just can't seem to help myself! I swear I must wear an invisible sign that says "Ask me because I will say yes".
Okay, so I know I should have a better attitude about this as it falls into that "serving others" category. But seriously, where is the line? When is it ok to say "no, I just can't", and when is saying that just being self-centered?
So I just needed to vent a bit and i'm good now! :)

Lately

So, to update you all on our lives! We are still in Coeur d'Alene and we still love it. (It's easy to love in the summer.... winter? Not so much! :)) We are actually just starting a new home which we are VERY excited about! Although Brandon tells me not to get to excited as we are putting it on the market next week and we would never get to move in. To tell you the truth i'm rather conflicted about it! On one hand, if it sells we get the proffit and put into something else. But I've invested alot of time into designing this one and would be sad never to see it come to fruition. Only time will tell.
The boys are doing GREAT! Soccer starts in 2 weeks as does school. We are finally done with all the camps and lessons for the summer and have a few weeks to get ready, although things are crazy so it doesn't really feel like "time off"! They are sooo excited for school and have been nagging me for weeks to go buy school supplies.
Chase will be in 3rd grade this year. He is very bright and gets good grades. Not to mention he's a heartbreaker! He's also in Scouts. He has his Wolf and is almost done with his Duty to God. He is Mr. Responsibility. (Something about being the oldest?)
Davin will be in 1st grade and is excited about eating lunch at school. We of course, had to get him a really cool lunchbox. He's a great soccer player! (Something about practicing with Chase and other big kids makes playing with kids his own age easy!) He's EXTREMELY compettive and in all honesty is a pretty sore loser.
Bridger is my angel. He follows me everywhere these days and wants to "help" with everything. Even when I don't want his "help"! He is a very cheerful little fellow these days and I'm excited about having some time this Fall for just the 2 of us. My older boys each had some of that and I appreciate that time. I love watching him discover everything around him.
Brandon is super busy these days! He is still doing quite a bit of Framing contracting as well as Generaling. The combination adds up to ALOT of work!! He loves it though. Framing pays the bills for now and generaling gives him the freedom to do some creative things he REALLY loves. He is talking about taking some design classes in the future, since that is his true passion. (Besides me of course!) He is also the Wolf Den Leader for the Scouts (which he really likes) and is an Elders Quorum Teacher(which he really doesn't like).
I am just trying to keep up with everyone!!!! Between selling our house, building a new one, helping B with all the business stuff and keeping up a family it seems I never slow down. I'm also thinking of taking some classes in the near future. My problem is deciding which ones! I have it narrowed down to 3 choices, photography, music and nursing. i'll probably take a few of each and decide what I like best!
I suppose that is a fair update on our lives to start with!
Allie

Hi all!

Okay so my cousin Denise inspired me to start a blog. Apparently that's the way to keep up with everyone these days and I've fallen behind on even emailing. So here goes!