It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!!

After the Maczkowicz's left, we spent Sunday getting the house looking like Christmas! We got the tree up (but didn't decorate it until tonight...Monday). We got all the decorations out and up. The kids were excited to get their trees up in their rooms!! :) When I was putting out the snowman village with fake snow, my little photographer went into action. Before I knew it, Hailey had both kittens covered in fake snow, snapping pictures away. She even used some fake holly with berries! Ryan was the "assistant" and loved it. I am sure she got some great pictures, but I like mine more. Look at how she got right down there with the kittens...she has so many choices for what she wants to be when she grows up! :)

The kids did like helping with the ornaments too. It is unreal...we have the tree up and ready to go ... and it isn't December yet. I LOVE IT! :)

Thanksgiving fun

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year!! On Wednesday night, the Maczkowicz family came to Billings!!! How perfect that Ali is 8 and Alec is 5. The kids were so excited to have friends that got to sleep over for FOUR NIGHTS! And, Teresa and I loved that they all had someone to play with (the poor kittens NEVER got a break though!). We spent Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) at the house. The kids and dads went on a hike on the rims and they LOVED that. Then they played their hearts out before supper. Teresa and I worked on our plan for Friday morning shopping....it was a great match.

Here are the kids on Thanksgiving before eating! :)

Friday morning at 3am the guys left to go look for an elk (no luck unfortunately). Then at 4:15 am the girls left to look for some great deals (and got plenty of them!). We got home at 9am completely exhausted only to find out the kids had JUST gotten up...and were still in jammies and didn't even have breakfast yet! :) Figures! We were able to go to the Holiday parade on Friday night and the kids enjoyed that!

On Saturday we drove to Red Lodge to show them the mountains, the cabin and even the ski resort that just opened the previous day. It was a great time, but we wanted more time up there! We got home to find Brad and Chris home and relaxed at home that night. We had so much fun with them here and hope they can come out again REALLY SOON! :) Thanks so much for coming to stay and play with us, Brad, Teresa, Ali and Alec :)

Stone Soup

Today was a sad day....our last "Stone Soup" party! :( For the last 4 years, we have had Stone Soup. It is our last year of preschool, and thus our last year for Stone Soup. Ryan was SO EXCITED for it this year. He loves things like this. He ate some of the soup and was happy that Daddy and Mommy were both there (I was in MN for work this week, and was able to fly home late last night to make it for Stone Soup!).

Poor guy

Last night Ryan had a tough night. Chris was watching tv in the living room and I was sleeping in our room and we both heard this huge noise and then crying. It was Ryan. He fell out of bed or was sleep walking or something, and hit his eye on the nightstand in his room. He was crying this weird cry and wouldn't calm down at all. It just wasn't like him. After 10 minutes or so, we finally put him back in his bed, and put the light on. YIKES! Nice huge bump by his eye. We weren't sure if we should take him in or not. He finally started to calm down and we got a cold washcloth to put on it and then he went to sleep. We stayed with him for a little while, but then it was okay. We went back to bed and about 10 minutes later he walked into our room (this freaked me out because I was worried he would fall down the steps or something). He comes in and says "Mommy, my head and eye really hurt." I asked if he remembered falling out of bed and he didn't! He was asleep the whole time!!! We let him sleep by us the rest of the night and except for the bruises, he is fine.

But, wouldn't you know it, pictures were 2 days away! :) Figures!

Tooth #4 GONE

Yep, it didn't take that long indeed! The next bottom one came out tonight! She was over at a friends house and came home looking a little different...with a HUGE smile! :) She had her tooth in a baggie. I guess it came out in the bathroom and Hailey came out saying "I am sorry but there is a little blood in your bathroom...I LOST MY TOOTH!" It wasn't a huge mess, and Holly didn't care, but funny that she wasn't home for it. :) Now she looks great!

Updated picture of how she looks with both of them missing now!

Photos by Hailey

Here are a few pictures that Hailey took of the kittens....with my camera. I think I have created a monster...she loves MY CAMERA! Wait...when I want a new one, I can give her this one...hmmm :)

Tooth #3 GONE

It has been awhile, but Hailey FINALLY lost tooth #3 tonight! She was in the car wiggling it and before I knew it ...OUT it came. She lost her two middle front ones a while ago, and now this one is next to the new permanent teeth that came in. She is excited to see if the tooth fairy comes to this house (the tooth fairy only came to the cabin in the past!). I don't think it will be long before the one on the other side comes out too....

Happy Halloween!

What a fun-filled and busy Halloween we had! It was nice that it fell on a Saturday so we took advantage of that time and planned many activities.

We started the day carving the pumpkins. We didn't as many detailed ones this year, but did do 2 good ones and then 2 little, simple ones. Even Ryan put his hands in the pumpkins to take the "guts" out!! Hailey did it all...she was involved with the cutting open of the pumpkin, removing the guts, and then poking the holes for the design. She is quiet the artist!!! :) It was nice to do this ON Halloween so they were in good shape for that night!

Next was "Boo at the Zoo." I never would have thought we could have a perfect day weather-wise, but we DID! The kids took pictures outside the house first, and then we went to the zoo. They didn't even have to wear COATS! Hard to believe that some years it is snowing on days like this! The kids almost got a sun - burn!! :) It was a great day to go to the zoo, and we had fun walking around and playing the games, doing a little trick-or-treating, seeing the animals and decorating cookies. Finally it was time to get back home and rest before the night started!

Here are my angle and devil. How perfect is this?!?! Well, maybe not "perfect" for both kids, but still a fun thing if you ask me! :)

Pretty girl Hailey.....

And, crazy man Ryan.....

Here we are at the zoo...

Yes, Ryan got a little nappy and needed to take a break! :)

After we had our Jack-o-lantern pizza, Doran dressed the kid's faces up a little. Ryan was not happy with his (as you can tell), but I think it looks great! :) Especially the way he is pouting!! :)

Finally it was time to go out around the neighborhood. We took the wagon and off we went. I think we were out there for 2.5 hours! It was the best weather you could ask for for Halloween in Montana and the kids took full advantage of it. Hailey wanted to go to EVERY house, but thankfully we didn't get to do that (but we did come VERY CLOSE!). Ryan took a few breaks in the wagon, but Hailey just kept going (maybe next year she can be the Energizer Bunny). Just to tell you how much candy and treats Hailey got....on the way home her bag BROKE! Good thing we were so close to home. Here are the kids with all their candy! YUMMY!

Needless to say, we all slept good that night...even with all the candy! :)

My birthday

I took my birthday off...because...it was my birthday after all. However, it ended up being a fantastic day filled with the people I love so much!

I started my day at Ryan's preschool and then headed with them to the pumpkin patch for a field trip. FUN! Here he is with his good friend Jadyn and then at the pumpkin patch playing the bean bag toss game (click on the picture to make it larger and you can see he got it through!).

Then he played a few more games there, and finally "hot pumpkin" (aka hot potato). He got it right away..and got a prize...so he was happy! :)

His favorite thing from his goodie bag were these purple teeth. I had to help him put them in each time, but then he had to show everyone! So cute!! :) Then the kids when outside, got to pick out a pumpkin, and finally a hay ride before heading back to school. It was FANTASTIC! :)

After the preschool field trip, I was able to have lunch with 2 of my good friends. Then it was time to go help at Hailey's classroom for their Halloween party. I haven't been in her classroom when she was there, so this was fun to do! I don't get very many times to get to see her in there so I jumped at this time! :) The kids got to estimate how big the pumpkin was, put a sentence about the pumpkin in order...

and then had to try to get a bite of the donut without using their hands!! LOTS of laughs for this one!! :) Nice face sweetie :)

Finally they got to sit down and enjoy a snack (lots of goodies) before it was time to go home. Doesn't she look great sitting in her desk!?!? Thanks for letting me help out in your classroom Hailey :)

We went out to supper with Doug and Doran, and then came back home for cake and ice cream. Perfect birthday! Perfect!! :)

Trick or treating practice

Last night (Wednesday, Oct 28) I took the kids to MSU-B to the dorms for trick-or-treating. They had so much fun last year that we had to go again. This way, if it is raining or cold or yucky, at least we got one night of trick-or-treating in! :) They were not disappointed this year either. They walk into the lobby to find a few games, cookies, and hot cocoa. Then they ride the elevator to the top (floor 8) and the host student takes them to the doors marked for trick or treating. FUN! I got to stand back and just watch (and not be FROZEN!). It was a late night, but they had so much fun. The only problem....what to do with ALL this candy!?! :)