New Pellet Stove

Hooray for our new pellet stove.

We have been discussing how wonderful it would be to have a fireplace in the house for years.  Finally, we got a 'wild hair' and started our research.  Well, a regular fire place would have been too expensive to put in, so we decided to go for a pellet stove.  And in the couple of weeks we have had it, it's been great!

Thank you to Chris for working so hard to install it!  Of course there were things that made it difficult, but after only a few hiccups, we had nice, warm heat...and turned our electric heater off!

We love sitting in front of the fire place.  The kids love getting dressed in front of the fire place.  The cats love to sleep in front of the fire place!

We still have some painting to do around the mantle and along the sides of the tile.  We are painting the white a darker color...probably black so it will stand out.

Enjoying every moment.

Remember the 'Things'

When Cannon and Colson look back on these blogs, I want them to remember the things that they had when growing up.  I also want to remember what it was like in 2012.

So keeping with my promise of photographing and recording the simple things as well as the big events, here are a few photos that we'll be happy to be reminded of in years to come.

Colson's tiger...named, "Tiger."  He sleeps with Tiger and like to have Tiger with him in the morning as he is waking up.  Then he forgets about him until bedtime!  Tiger sits with us while we read.  Tiger plays games with us and is included in many morning and evening activities.

Cars, trucks, boats, quads, trailers, airplanes...oh my!  Both Cannon and Colson love to play with these toys.  We keep all of the small things in a basket under the TV and sometimes every single one will be out and lined up.  This display is from Colson.

 
Enjoying every moment.

Award

There are many proud moments in a parents life.  One of the proud moments came today as Cannon received an award at school!

His award was for taking responsibility for his school work.  Being Responsible is one of the three main rules at Mountain Meadow.  His teacher, Mrs. Jewell, shared that Cannon worked very hard in all areas and his work was quality work because he cares about his learning and takes his time when he is completing things.

Cannon was very cute holding his award and even got a medal to wear around his neck.

Enjoying every moment!

Photoshoot

Not even a downpour was going to stop us from getting pictures taken!

At this time of year, we are all so very busy...even our photographer friend and fellow school teacher, Brandy.  So when she called to ask if we wanted to reschedule when it wasn't raining, I told her no way!  We were all dressed and ready to go!  :)  

Here are a few of the favorites:

Enjoying every moment.  

A Few Photos

It was a great four day weekend.  I hate to have to go back to work tomorrow.  But getting back into the routine is a good thing, too.

I took more bags to the Goodwill.
Cannon stayed in his jammies until the afternoon.
Chris put the lights up on the house.
Cannon and Colson trucks for a long time.
Colson is climbing up on everything.
We watched the Seahawks lose on the last play of the game.
I watched the Zags win.
We sat down to a yummy dinner.
Cannon made cookies.
Both boys enjoyed a long bath and then were in bed on time.
Chris and I watched, Holes, which was a good movie.

Pancakes...we used cookie cutters as a mold.

The boys clearing their plates.

Colson with the Santa hat on.

Building a train track together.

Enjoying every moment.

Birthday's and Basketball

Today was a full day...

Cleaning, organizing (a.k.a.: making a bigger mess), shopping, birthday party, errands, and last minute tickets to the Husky Men's Basketball game.

Chris finished the grout on the fire place.  Now we just need to paint the wood around the mantle a darker color.  Everything came together nicely.  And the house is very warm!

I still have a big mess of Christmas stuff out.  And I made a bigger mess when I went to look for a tub to put the Halloween/Fall decorations in and came across two tubs of Cannon's old clothes that I hadn't looked through yet.  The Fall decorations are still not put away and the extra bedroom is now full of boy clothes.

I found some ribbon was a screaming deal at JoAnn's this morning and Brenda and I had fun walking around at some other shops.

Cannon and I went to Sam and Carly's 1st birthday party.  Jacie had the house decorated so cute.  Everyone had a great time.

Granny Joy came over for a visit and we twisted her arm to stay and watch the boys so Chris and I could go to the Husky game.  We got 4 tickets from Danny and Jimmy.  Greg and Brenda came along and we had a good time.  It was nice to get out.  The Husky's lost...and played terrible.  The night would have been a bit more fun and exciting if the team hadn't gotten killed, but we are complaining about free tickets and good seats!

Great Saturday!

Enjoying every moment.

Happy Thanksgiving

So thankful for everything.

Cannon helping me cook.

Chris putting in the new fire place. (Not totally done yet.)

Preserving memories.

Pictures with Colson.

Greg smoking the turkey and Chris carving it.

Sitting down to a yummy meal.

Cannon listening to every word Grandpa is saying.

Brenda's pumpkin pie.  Not a bite of it left!

Cannon helping Grandma wash dishes.

Bedtime.

Enjoying every moment.

Thankful

Our school family and our family here at home have been talking a lot about who and what we are thankful for.

Cannon shared how he was thankful for his parents and Colson and AC and DC.  :)

My list goes on and on...everything from food, a warm house, a stable job, the boys, Chris, family, friends books, laughter, my faith in God and much more.

The 4th graders wrote and shared about the many things and people they were thankful for and we hung their thoughts in the room.  Today, the kids at school wrote thank you notes to anyone they wanted to, sharing reasons why this person was important to them.  Some of these notes were delivered to my desk and tonight my heart was filled with warmth and love from "my kids" at school.

This is why I teach.

(But I'm thankful for 4 days off to relax and rejuvenate!)

Enjoying every moment.

Silly, Funny Boys

Oh my, are they silly!
They run and jump and chase each other and laugh and giggle.
And yes they are funny, too.
Cannon laughs so hard he cries and Colson makes the funniest faces.
I love their sense of humor and I love that they are a bit crazy!

Enjoying every moment!

Cannon's Fall Conference

Conference time is upon us and I will lead 26 conferences and attend one.

Today I attended Cannon's conference with his Early Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jewell.

The first thing she mentioned was how much she enjoyed having Cannon in class and how he was a 'thinker' and 'loves to learn.'

Cannon is doing well in all areas and is a leader in the class.  He is independent and enjoys class.

In reading he knows his letters and sounds, as well as the required sight words.  Cannon's reading group is on Unit 8 in Kindergarten Read Well and 'moving quickly' according to Mrs. Jewell.  Chris and I enjoy listening to Cannon practice his stories at home and are impressed by how many new words he knows.

Cannon has improved his writing from the beginning of the school year to now.  He has moved from drawing pictures, to using more detail in his pictures and writing words and sometimes even sentences about his picture.  He can hear the beginning, middle and ending sounds in words!

"Dog i luv mi dog"

"bot   tralr   truk"

In math, Cannon scored well in all areas and does a great job counting, patterning, and composing/decomposing numbers.

We are so very proud of Cannon's success!  He is working hard, cares about his learning and continues to make progress.

Enjoying every moment.

Happy Sunday

Enjoying 45 minutes of quiet time before the boys got up.

Eating meals from the crock pot.  This morning I made oatmeal with apples and cinnamon in the crock.  Yummy and good for you!  This evening, we had lentil soup that cooked most of the day in the crock pot.  One of my favorite recipes from my mom.  It's so very good and there are plenty of left overs!

Attending church.  Such a great way to start the day.

Listening to Cannon read stories from school.  Every week he brings home stories to practice and every week he is learning more and more words.  I can see his confidence building and he is taking more interest in reading a variety of other things, too.

Drawing together.

Cleaning out the pantry and some drawers in the kitchen.  What a good feeling.

Running on the treadmill while watching basketball.  Gonzaga won.  The Huskies lost.

Baking with Cannon and Colson. We made muffins and Cannon did almost all of the work.  Colson was right next to him and it won't be long they will be fighting over who gets to do what.

Eating treats from Greg and Brenda!  Cannon went on some errands with Greg and Brenda this afternoon and must have talked them into some yummy things!  

Spending quality time with Cannon getting frozen yogurt.  He had a gift certificate for his birthday so we enjoyed good conversation together over some very tasty frozen yogurt.

Sitting on the couch and watching the boys play.  They are sometimes so good with each other and other times they get very mad at one another.  Mostly over not wanting to share a toy.

Enjoying the bedtime routine.  Colson in the bath first, then reading and playing in his room.  Cannon in the bath next.  It's fun to listen to his imagination as he plays with his bath toys.

Relaxing, finally, after the boys go to bed.