We out!

Hey all! Just a note to let you know we will be gone for the next week so I won't be updating. For all of you stuck here in the cold and snow... good luck with that! We are headed to the caribbean! I'll post pic's when we get home!

House

If you need a swimsuit...

This is the post my friend Chelsea had up this morning and I couldn't help but pass it along!

HURRY!
This is definitely blog worthy and should be acted upon immediately! One of my sister in laws forwarded this to me and there is such a"buzz "that I thought I would put itup here so I could share it with everyone.I think we all should get one for summer, especially because their motto is so great: "Swimwear that highlights the face instead of the body".Honestly, who wants people looking at our bodies, we already have to put on the swimsuit. I like it because I will have just had Lucy by swimsuit season. Let me know what all of you think. Maybe we could have a party or something. ;) Here is the Link:

http://www.wholesomewear.com/

I know, I know I am horrible.

Thanks Chels!

Nothing...

Bridger's funny face!

So I know I haven't updated in a few weeks, but it's truly just because there has been NOTHING to report!
The rain stopped and the snow set in again. I'm a terrible estimator (insert your own dirty joke here:)) so I can't tell you how much there is, but it's A LOT!!! And the forecast calls for nothing but more snow for the next 5 days. I'm sure looking forward to the sun in the Caribbean!
The house is coming along great. We are getting insulation this week and then we can move on to sheet rock. It's such a cute house and I'm thinking more than ever we need to put it in the parade of homes. However that would mean we'd have to wait until August to move in! We'll see I guess. I'd post pictures but a house reaches a certain point where it doesn't look all that different until you put on the finishing touches, like rock etc..
Oh, one thing to report, Brandon has been going to the gym with me! (Let's hear that unified GASP!!) I know, it's taken me 4 years to get him there! He's been watching what he eats too and is probably down 5 pounds at least in the last few weeks. I'm down almost 10 right now but mostly because I don't feel like eating. (Apparently depression suits me!)
Anyway, that's about it for now! Love you all!

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!