December

 For the month of December, Caleb decided to "plan" out the month and do something Christmassy each night.  Our calendar has consisted of Christmas movie nights, game nights, plays, symphony, decorating, shopping for gifts, gingerbread houses, and so much more.  We are half way through the month and here are a few pics from our evenings.


At the first of the month, we decorated our home with all the Christmas decor.

This nativity was from my grandparents and it brings back great memories every year we put it up.

The kids with their favorite ornament

The 3 of them were just all sitting around the ornaments talking about each one and the memories they had.  It was pretty cute.

Dad putting up the angel

Trenton was very particular about where each ornament was hung.

Gavin kept getting irritated because his ornaments would fall off.

While decorating, we enjoyed some egg nog.  Addison enjoyed it a little too much.  It ended up all over her face and she loved it!

At the first of December the grandkids did gingerbread houses with my mom.  We had purchased a kit from Costco and so we did a family gingerbread house later that week. 

Addison helped by eating, and eating, and eating.

Gavin showed her how!

Trenton and Dad were the engineers and did a great job assembling everything.  They both were very precise!

We did suffer one casuality.  The poor gingerbread men were attacked by the big bad Addison.

The finished product.

Snow Day!!!

Oh what do you do on a snow day, when all the grass is white? Do you put on a coat, do you put on a scarf, or do you play in it all day? That is the song we made up when playing in the snow. This is what we did on our snow day!

We sat and watched a movie, took naps, built a snowman, made a slide, attempted to build a fort, and then finished our day with some hot chocolate. We didn't clean, do dishes, fold laundry, or anything else that should have been accomplished on a day off. It was the best day ever!

Halloween

 This year, we had a very busy Halloween weekend.  Friday night we went to the annual Bolander doughnut and chili feed.   The chili was great and the doughnuts were amazing!  Saturday night, James and Chelsea had their annual Halloween party.  Chelsea had some really cute decorations and some great food.  On Sunday, we went and visited all the family and then went to a harvest party at the church.  This year we had:

 A girly pirate

 A very handsome Luigi

 Three Adorable Children

And Darth Vader himself!

Gavin's 7th Birthday

On October 24th, Gavin turned 7.  It is amazing what this guy has grown up to be.  He is so caring, giving, loving, funny, athletic, and a great brother.  For his birthday dinner, he wanted meatloaf, but it was too hard to make that much meatloaf for the whole family so we decided to do Shrimp Camp Gumbo, a recipe from Caleb's cousing.

 The spread!

After dinner, we did the cake and icecream.  Aunty Karen had made the cake for Gavin.  It was a giant doughnut!

Gavin received so many great things.  He got his first Bronco t-shirt, a "football set", light saber, High Five magazine, nerf gun, and some cash.  Happy Birthday Gavin!

A New Look

The other day, Caleb and I, were discussing painting the trim in our front room.  When we first painted it we did an off-white color, and since then, it has dulled even more and is very scratched up.  For some reason, along with this conversation came the discussion of changing the color of the front room.  We decided we would like to do a focus wall and add some texturing or something to the main color.  While shopping at Home Depot, we decided that it wasn't going to be enough to just paint one wall, so we decided to paint a half wall and then add some molding.

The one thing with Caleb and I is that a lot of things we haven't ever done before, but decide that it should be easy enough to do without directions or experience.   This was one of those projects!  It all turned out really good, but we were definitely learning as we were going.  So here is what we did:

First,  decide how high up you want to have the color go up.  We decided on 3ft. high.  We measured and then began painting.  The line does not have to be perfect because the trim will cover up a portion of it.

Next, we purchased the trim we wanted and then laid it out and painted it.  We have found in the past that it is easier to give the trim a coat of paint before putting it up and then do the second coat when it is secured in place.

Now it is time to find studs to secure the trim into.  I had already found my stud, but Caleb needed a stud finder to find his.  We borrowed a brad nailer from a friend and used it to secure the trim into the walls.   Once everything is nailed up, we put wood fill in the nail holes, sanded, and then did the final coat. 

 This is my stud, Caleb is holding his stud finder!

 And this is the finished product.  We thought it transformed the room, but we had several family members over the next day and several did not even notice until they asked why we had brown paint sitting on the counter!

Soccer

The boys started soccer a couple of weeks ago and it has been so neat watching them improve with each game.  They are on the same team so we are able to watch both of them at the same time.  Both of them get right in there and have each made a couple goals. 

Getting a pep talk from dad.

Gavin the goalie.

I am so proud of my boys and I love watching them play.  It is the highlight of my week.  I get to yell and cheer for them and nothing could be better.

Women's Walk 2010

All the girls, halfway through the walk.

Everyone waiting around for the walk to start.

The End is here!

Every year, my sisters, sister in-laws, and mom get together and do the Women's Walk.  It is always so neat to see the number of people that show up and it is a great time with the girls!  This year we did the walk and then went to my sister's house and ate and did a craft.  My mom found these cute block pumpkins that we made and it was a lot of fun.  I am already looking forward to next year.