"Not too cook-y, Momma."

First play date in our new house was so fun! At church we met a family who home schools and their two youngest are the same age as ours. So, in preparation for them coming over, I made our favorite cookies, Molasses Spice. Belle comes in and says, "Don't make them too cook-y, Momma, I like those cookies chewy." Huh? I reply, "You mean don't cook them too much?" Belle, "Yup, Momma, I don't like them crunchy when you cook-y them too much". Well, I guess they passed the test, because I lost count of how many she ate.

1046

1046 is one of my favorite 10 codes that the troopers use. It means in custody, or as I like to put it...off to jail with the bad guy! The reason it is so near and dear to my heart is that my hubby is a Crisis Negotiator. When someone has holed himself up and vows to shoot anyone who comes near, my brave husband races to the scene all over the state to try to talk some sense into him/her. Living way up here, it is a long trip to anywhere, and travel time to most negotiations is over 3 hours. The best thing for us girls is when hubby gets all suited up, gets in the car, only to return to the house a few minutes later to yell at the top of his lungs...1046!!!!!! Sometimes he'll be gone only a little bit and we'll get the 1046 phone call. We love that! There have been times where the 1046 comes, but only after he is almost to the scene. Those times are not so much fun. I know that he enjoys being on the Negotiation Team and enjoys his job on the team, but travel time kills the joy at times. So, hubby just left to travel about 2 hours to a call, and the girls and I are praying for a quick 1046 so he can be home for dinner! In the mean time, we pray for safety and courage and wisdom for the words to say.

The Adventures of Home Schooling

One thing I never wanted to do was home school. Not because I didn't think I was capable, but because I thought there was much more opportunity else where for the kids. Being a kid that moved a lot growing up, I know what it is like to have to adjust not only to a new town, but a new house, new neighbors, new friends, new church and a new school. We decided to do the home school thin for a number of reasons. First of all the curriculum the girls were using at their school lends it self very well to home schooling, secondly, we have no idea how long we will be here and we thought that adjustment might be better for the kids doing it this way. Ariel and I had our moments at the beginning. She wanted to make sure that mom had rules and regulations like her teacher did and she pushed all the limits. Through trial and error, and much prayer, I think we have gotten into a groove. I still think she is much smarter than I. Belle, on the other hand, has only known me as a teacher. She had almost 2 month in real school before we moved but has adjusted nicely to home school. She's reading and amazes me all the time! I tell people that I hope I don't screw them up too badly and she told me once, momma, you won't screw me up. Gotta love the faith of a child. The girls are able to keep up with their peers and have been able to go back to their school a few times, another one of the reasons that we opted for this route in schooling. Ariel's teacher has been very kind and is helping me find my way through this adventure. I have a new appreciation for teachers and home schooling moms. I adore my children and am loving being with them and teaching them. It still makes me awe struck when they get a concept for the first time and the light goes on. I'm thankful for this opportunity to be involved in this area of my kids' life.

Visitors!

We have the kind of house where you never know when the doorbell will ring or who will be ringing it. Well, in #2 house we don't ever get visitors. Well, I take that back, the Jehovah's Wittnesses have found us and stopped. But other than that our visitors are few and far between. So, imagine our excitement when two of my girlfriends from "down south" as we now call it, decided to bring their kiddos and stay a few days with us after Christmas. Picture 3 women, 7 kids and one husband, mine, who earned the Bestest Hubby Award. We had so much fun! The kids did their thing and us girls watched movies and chatted, just like we are supposed to. Oh, and we ate way too much. The first evening we were all here, I decided to make a fire in the wood stove, which apparently did not want a fire in itself. Smoke came billowing out of the back of the stove! It had never happened before and of course it had to happen while we had company! After the smoke cleared and everyone was done gagging and coughing, we did laugh, eventually. The big hit was Wii Resort and Just Dance. You should have seen those kids working up a sweat dancing, whether they were holding a remote or not! I think "Eye of the Tiger" was the fav, so funny, they call it an old song, very sad since I remember that being the "it" song. We got a huge snow storm the day after we got here and the kids had a blast playing out in it. I swear, it took us longer to get them bundled than they actually played outside. But hot chocolate always tastes good no matter how long, or short, that you are outside. They played Vampire, which means all the lights are off and the person who is it, jumps out and scares you at random intervals. The screams made are so much fun to hear because they are all followed by giggles. Good times!

Christmas

We read "Jotham's Journey" this advent season. If you haven't read those books, you need to. Age makes no difference, hubby and I enjoyed these as much as the girls did. To answer the question we get a lot, yes, we have two trees. Since we have been back and forth between our two houses every weekend and will be south for Christmas day, we needed two trees! Ariel said, Mom, since we have two houses, does that mean we are rich? My answer was a very loud laugh! So, Christmas. We got a real tree for the new house, #2 house Belle calls it. The girls and I made decorations for the tree up here. We found decorations in the Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book and fell in love with it. Of course I think, that won't be too bad, but after you cut out 40 ornaments, which have two sides each, and then have to sew them together, stuffing them is the last think I really want to do. Ariel says...I'll stuff them, mom! And what a great job she did!! After we finished I was so glad that she encouraged me to do that, what a good helper she is turning out to be! We decorated the mantle, so fun, and hung stockings on the railing to the stairs. Of course this impeded sliding down the banister, so I'm sure they will be the first thing to come down. The gingerbread house! We had so much fun doing that too. Of course, I think we were on a sugar high for a couple days after making that, you have to sample all the good stuff. Christmas is always such a fun time of year and with two houses to enjoy it in, this will be a Christmas we won't soon forget. Celebrating our Savior's birth is so fun!

Christmas Pagents

The girls got to be in their school play and in the Sunday School Christmas pageant. In the school play, Ariel was a king and had a solo! She did awesome. Belle was an angel and her big line was, "Let's talk about joy!". In the Sunday School pageant, Belle got to be Mary! It was so fun! Ariel once again used her beautiful singing voice to celebrate Jesus' birth!

Moving...

Ugh! Moving stuff from place to place, not on the top of my "Best times to be had" list. But, it wasn't so bad! We packed up the stuff we were taking, the old green couch and chair have been left behind, but the dining room table made the trip, and headed north in a 4 car caravan. I am a lucky girl to have wonderful in-laws! My father and mother-in-law pulled the trailer, my sister-in-law and nephew drove their van with stuff, my Jeep was packed and of course the cruiser with hubby...why he didn't let me drive the cruiser, I have nooooo idea! After a brief stop to load up the stuff we had used for the past 3 weeks from a friend's house just south of the new house, we landed at the house we will call home for a while. In no time at all our stuff was unpacked, the girls' beds were made and we were ready to hit those beds. The girls have already decided which room to have for a playroom and it looks like a playroom already! Their bathroom is totally girlie, complete with a feather boa as a window treatment. Good stuff. I think we'll make some good memories here.