Life is going to change

We left Ohio.....on a long trip to Idaho.  We had a lot of stops on the way and we are going to see a lot of different sights.  6 years in Ohio there were good and bad times.  There were times that were really rough on us.  Through it all our family came out stronger and healthier and happier.  We became closer because of some of our struggles.

We had a lot of fun things packed in the car to do.  One of Mckenzie's favorite things to do was play-doh.  It was one of the best things I brought a long.

We entered Indiana and we kept driving a little farther.  Our first stop is St. Louis!!

Where to begin

I don't even know where to begin on all the move and the changes.  Like I said in the last post Dave was offered a job in Idaho with Idahoan Foods and we couldn't resist the offer.  Within I believe three weeks Dave was on his way to Idaho and we were following a month later.  This move was a little different, this time Idahoan Foods moved us!  They hired a moving company to come and pack up everything and load it on a truck and drive it across the country.  They even transported one of our cars for us too across the country.  It was great!!!!  Quite a different move than we are used too.
Before we left we did some last minute fun things in Ohio.

More adventures and pictures to come!

Changes

Guess what?

We moved to Idaho!

That is right.  Dave was offered a job and within weeks life was changing dramatically.  Life is different a good different but all the same.  More on all this later.
We have had so many different fun experiences just in the last 6 months.

Hopefully I am back in the blogging scene.  Facebook is great but is not the best for keeping track of 

real life.  The real things that happen in life.

Family Picture

Updated Pictures Sorta??

These are the last pictures I took of the kids.   I cant wait for some spring shots!

Sleep

Beyond frustration in this house!  The lack of real sleep!  Bedtime used to be so easy all kids in bed by 7:30-8:00 no problems they would fall asleep easily and I had time to actually think at night.  Fast forward to NOW!

 

Lets start with the one above!  She is a feisty little thing.  She is full of energy and stamina!  She is strong willed and opinionated.  (And one day we will know why such a child had to have all these characteristics)  Anyway she doesn't sleep well at all.  I usually spend an average of about 1 1/2  hours sitting in the stairway at night.  Back to bed back to bed back to bed.....you get the idea.  Super Nanny needs to give some other options!  Eventually she falls asleep and t is usually 10 or 10:30.  We have had the same routine for bed.We haven't moved recently. It doesn't matter if it is a weekday or weekend. And she doesn't even nap during the day!!!!!!! And she shares a room with Madison who thank my lucky stars is really good about bed!  I would like to duct tape Kenzie to the bed most nights!  And she is my early riser if she even sleeps through the night. She is up by 6:30am!  She is a very restless sleeper.  Talks a lot in her sleep.  Tosses and turns, kicks her feet and lately has been having an awful lot of nightmares where she screams out.  Usually she ends up in our bed in the very wee hours of the night and then no one gets sleep. The above picture is her finally asleep on the stairs, I think we battled almost 2 hours that night.

 Enter no sleep child number two!!  He is a night owl and after hours and hours of frustration he is usually still awake at 11or later at night.  He will even just lay in his bed for hours!  Garrett on the other hand if you let him will sleep in for hours in the morning.  This is not working for school!   There are nights that I give up and tell him I am going to bed!  I turn all the lights off, lock the doors and go to sleep.  The lack of sleep is not good for school and most mornings it is apparent and by afternoon you cant miss it!

So now that I have complained.  HELP!  Any suggestions!!!  Anything???????

This mom needs some time to unwind and then SLEEP!

Christmas 2012

 We had a great Christmas this year!!!  We kept things simple.  Madison was beyond excited to get her Christmas gift her reaction was priceless! She has asked for an Ipod all year!  Kenzie was swimming in a sea of barbies and My little ponies.   Garrett was all things army men related!
We spent the time as a family and relaxed all day.  We even went to Waffle House for dinner.   No mess and no dishes!

Lots of Snow

The day after Christmas we had a huge snow storm, a blizzard warning was issued and the area braced for the storm.  I admit I was skeptical.  It is amazing the amount of times these are issued and then there is nothing!  Not this time.  Mother Nature didn't disappoint!  It snowed all day!  Finally by mid afternoon the kids were itching to get out of the house!  Bundled up they went.  They helped shovel the sidewalks dig out the cars and they even built a snow tunnel!  The latest news report was that we got 10 to 12 inches.  Everything was closed!

So out of order....

This Pretty Girl Turned 8

It is hard to believe that our little girl is growing up. She turned 8 this year, which is a big deal. She was baptized a member of our church. She was so excited to make this choice. She looked so beautiful in her white dress and he big smile!
I can't wait to watch her grow up and see who she becomes!

Better Late....than never

Here are the kids on their first day of school. Madison started 3rd grade and Garrett is now in Kindergarten half a day in the afternoon. They were both really excited. The picture of Garrett is very typical...oh his poor teacher.



The next set of pictures are their fall pictures taken at school.



Here is too a great year. We are 9 weeks in, Madison made the honor roll and had perfect attendance. Garrett is doing great they don't have letter grades but his teacher say that other than being a typical boy he is doing great. He has already passed info that they expect kids to know by the end of the year.

Halloween

Halloween this year was a lot of fun and we actually went trick-or-treating twice! Madison was mad in her picture cause I was making her stay with us, plus she didn't want her picture taken.

We had our wonderful angry birds. Dave has a costume too that hopefully I can get a picture of someday. I made the angry bird costumes for the kids and I loved that I could do this for them.
Mckenzie loved the houses that just had a bowl out and a sign to take some candy. She didn't last long and that is okay cause we have more than enough candy to last us.

Our Family Pumpkin

This is our families submission to the pumpkin decorating contest at the church Halloween Party. And guess what ......WE WON 1ST PLACE!!!!

Mckenzie and I didn't get to go but we were there in spirit.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get some good pictures of the kids in costume.