family newsletter, christmas

In my christmas cards I sent, I said I would post the family newsletter on my blog, and then I haven't had time to do it yet. so sorry. J had to work on Christmas day, so we had Christmas on Christmas Eve morning....which was very nice...we had to run some errands afterwards, so J and I went and the kids stayed home to play with their new things. While we were out and about, I decided to head up to Bellingham that day to surprise my parents. We are totally impulsive. I had thought about coming up here and decided not to until the last possible minute. I'd planned on taking the car, but the kids protested until we decided to take the motorhome. The weather was good, and had warmed up a bunch so I figured the roads wouldn't be bad...so, I went home, packed up, made some cookies and such and left. We got to Bellingham a little after 9 pm. It was a fun surprise. But, it made my life a bit more caotic! oh well. what else is new. We had dinner at Jessie's...she knew there were going to be 4 more mouths to feed...and just hung out and had a good day. J had a pretty lazy day at the dept. one head on..so there was a little excitement. I guess I still don't know what he had for Christmas Dinner. I definitely owe him one. I know they went to the Pirate's Cove (a local bar, with good food) for breakfast. I will post photos later. and I promise I will get my letter done soon. I guess just a shorter version of the blog. by the way, if I didn't send you a card, it was just because I didn't have your address.

Firefighter Christmas party

Well, the younger kids had their Christmas Concert last night. But I didn't get any good photos of it. It was cute though. they did a rendition of the Nutcracker. The kids sang, and Elijah played in the band.
We also had our Firefighter party last weekend. It was fun. I made 6 pies for it. 2 chocolate, 2 apple, a lemon meringue and a mixed berry. Santa came and gave the kids each a gift. There was a band that did pretty good. It was the most fun watching the kids dance.
Here is Kas, thinking she got the new Taylor Swift cd....which I thought she already had...and being very disappointed to see it was David Archeleta....which is good. I was pleasantly surprised! I think she wasn't too disappointed after a bit. she was just so certain...and santa is just enough out of it to not know better! Isn't she cute though! This photo is for Maryhelen.

Here are some of the kids dancing. Logan has got the finger action going. He is a friends little boy. You can see Kas in the background with her back facing us. dancing in a group.

Here's another side-back shot of her. Her and her friend were good at including the smaller kids. They had a great time. It was so fun to watch. Notice Kas and her friend have long shirts, jeans and boots? I am certain they didn't plan that! I wanted to get a good shot of them together but didn't get a chance to.

And, here is J and I. I could only get him out there once. and then he decided he would go cover at the department. They needed help and most everyone else had been drinking at least a bit...so J was a good candidate..and he could get out of the partying. we stayed a bit longer, and then I got Elijah out on the dance floor. I know he thought he was going to die...or at least wished. I was planning on getting Kaleb out as well, but didn't make it. oh well. I realized while dancing with J, I am not a good follower anymore. I wonder if that is an indication of something!

We had a great time though.

Tomorrow is the Branch Christmas party. The weather has been frightful.....just kidding. well, probably for some people. snow, rain, cold, wind, anyways...we aren't sure how it is going to be for tomorrow night...and if people are going to want to go out. Hopefully we will have a fair turnout. we'll see.

It has been fun having snow. The kids have started school at noon every day this week except for one. and then they canceled tomorrow, cause it was just party day. Kaleb had his last two meets this week, and both were canceled. That was very frustrating for him. Hopefully they will be able to make them up somehow. I know last year they had to cancel at least one, because of the big storm.

Tomorrow is also Kasidee's birthday! I can't believe my baby is going to be 10! but that is another post.

oh, and some other great news...the baby! that was born so early that J helped deliver and get breathing came home yesterday from the hospital. She is about 4 months old, and seems to be doing perfectly. 5 lbs and 10 oz, I think. anyways, it is just amazingly exciting. Hopefully we will be able to meet her officially soon.

anyways, I think that is enough for now. good night.

Tolerance

Here is another I found in the church news, from Pres Packer at a young adult fireside:

"I give you a strong caution. Be wary of the word tolerance....we are not required to tolerate anything that leads to unhappiness...Tolerance is often demanded but seldom returned. Beware of tolerance. It is a very unstable virtue."
"Remember, there are some things that are fixed, things that cannot change and will not change. They are part of the eternal plan. They are from God. Those who are willing to accept these things will be blessed. Those who reject what God has given us must suffer the consequences."

I thought that was very interesting, and fitting for our times.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

“It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.”
—Dr. Leo Buscaglia (1924-1998); author, professor of special education

photo catchup

My hunny and me on the road. I did find the picture of Kas waiting to tryout for the Talent Show. See her dog bag.

Kas and Elijah had extra entertainment with D at a wrestling meet. His brother wrestles high school and gramps is the coach

Kalebs new hobby...he's always checking out his screen.

Kaleb with some teammates and his coach. LP is 60's something and has yet to have a wrestler beat him...in about 30 years of coaching. He coaches the high school too, and sends kids to state all the time. Every so often he has a wrestler decide he is ready to take on LP, and gets whipped every time. Usually in a matter of seconds. It is awesome. I watched practice one day and laughed through the whole time while he was throwing the guys around. He is a fellow ff, and construction dude... We are very glad he is still coaching, cause Kaleb loves him and is learning alot from him.

Kaleb is going to kill me for posting this, but look at that boys chest. He used to be a scrawny guy. He still is a bit, but he is starting to fill out. Scary and exciting. He is not my 'little boy' anymore.

Kas had the opportunity to hang out with the YW one night while I was in a meeting and they made doughnuts out of the cheap refrigerator bisquits. She made them for FHE one night. they were surprisingly good. I don't like those kindof bisquits, so I was pleasantly surprised. Quick, easy and good.

Isn't she cutecutecute! you can see the biscuits, with just a finger hole in the center...and the oil that makes them lucious, and sinful!

Kaleb's spagetti. that is melted cheddar cheese. a ton.

I think I told you about Kas's meal last month...with the sandwich appitizers. where they looked a little ripped..I think Elijah was helping. It was her fancy meal. Spagetti and finger sandwiches.

I am running late, so I gotta go...but I will write more later.

Talent Show

Last year Kas asked her teacher why we didn't have a talent show at the school, and wondered if she could put one on. Well, her teacher started talking around and told Kas that the teachers loved the idea, and they would have one next year....Now it is next year. and Kas and Elijah both had the opportunity this week to 'try out' for the talent show. I was a little disturbed that they had tryouts, but it ended up being a very cute thing. They took three days, and would do a few grades at a time. So, Kas went on tues with the 3-4 grade classes, and Elijah went yesterday. I thought I had photos of at least Kas waiting nervously with the other tryouts, but I can't find them. Anyways, they all looked so cute, and did I say nervous. In both groups of kids, there were at least 2 Taylor Swift cd's with groups of cute girls. That is what Kas wanted to do...sing Taylor Swift. You must know that took a lot for me to admit to the public. Hi, my name is Verlee and My daughter likes country music. ALOT. I don't know how it happened. But she does. Anyways, I talked her into being a little more individual....and she is reciting a poem. She has the memorization thing down, and is very articulate for her age... so, she found a cute little poem about dogs....a favorite subject....and went with it. She went in, when they called her name. and there was a panel of judges and a few teachers, in the room. The panel of judges consisted of a cop, 2 workers from the local grocery store, and another community member. The cop is one everyone knows, who also sings. It was a little american idol style. They asked their name, and what they were doing and why. It was cute. Then the let the child perform, and then they gave pointers. I thought it was super cute. so, now they have about a month to perfect their talent, and work on the things the judges pointed out. I loved it. The kids are all wondering if they made the cut, and from what I could tell, everyone made it to the next round. I love our school. Anyways, Elijah did a sword form. He just learned it in about 2 hours. Doesn't really have it down well, but still impressed the judges just cause it looks so cool. Probably not the principal though. You never know about people, we found out she is a black belt in Karate. would've never guessed. I'm sure she noticed Elijah needed a little work on his talent. but by the show he will be great. I know this is long for some little event. but it was so cute.

Kaleb had another meet and did awesome. He performed some great moves, wasn't sick anymore, or was at least on the mend, and pinned both his guys in the first half of the match. He has improved so much this year. It is exciting. Except I think their season is almost over.

It is fun to watch the kids doing well.

First Kaleb, and then the rest of us soon followed suit...getting the latest thing going around. Today most of us have been super lazy, sleeping and laying around doing not much of anything, cause we feel so lousy. Ah well. I am glad it is before next week, when all the Christmas partying and baking starts.
Except for Elijah...who stayed home and slept most of the day, but miraculously got better today so that his friend could come over. The friend already had the crud, so he felt safe coming into the sickhouse.
I think they did a lot of planning though. Knolen brought a four wheeler, bb gun, bow and arrows, a big knife, chargers for Kalebs gun, a can of spam...(something my kids have never tried but are toasting in the fireplace right now) and more gear...I think they had a big expedition planned. The funny thing is they thought they were going to use it all this afternoon. They did find a little salamander, which is a first. We do live on a boy's paradise!
Jeremy found feathers all over the yard again this morning. 3 chickens are missing. The kids found a ton of feathers, blood and an egg....down the trail. I am sure it was the coyotes. I saw one in the yard the other night. I am a little irritated. We have 4 left. Out of 12! I think we lost our last blue layer....Frustrating. I know we will get more this spring...and hopefully have this stuff figured out so we don't keep losing them. We've had an opening through a door so they could 'free range', but that will probably have to stop.

Well, I've officially joined the Twilight frenzy. I saw the movie last week with some friends who'd read the series. I think I already mentioned that in a previous post. I started reading the book after the movie..which was kindof fun. I definitely like the book better, but loved the beautiful visuals in the movie. After reading the book, I wanted to watch the movie again, so yesterday I took Kas as an early birthday present. One of her friends loves the movie, so she was interested. It was fun doing a 'girlie thing' with her.

We had parent teacher conferences last week for the younger kids. It was very insightful for me. Kas moved to another class, so I went to her old teacher who loves her. She says she was a huge help and would do anything asked, and she knew she could count on her for anything. She is very helpful around the house too, but seems to constantly be contentious. and moody. Elijah's teacher is a friend of ours, so I think she was a little more open than she normally would have been. She said that Elijah sometimes will almost get in trouble because he will defend his friends, if he feels like they are being mistreated. She says she can guage what is really going on, cause she knows Elijah won't lie. If he is keeping quiet, she guesses that they are guilty. I thought that was funny. She realizes that last year he got away with a lot cause of his cuteness, and is determined he won't this year, which makes me laugh. I realized that an attorney may be a good career choice for Elijah...he likes to fight for others rights. and that maybe he is more responsible for the arguing that is constantly going on between him and Kas. I decided maybe I need to cut her a bit more slack....We are very blessed with good kids...who even if they struggle with school work, are always doing pretty well in the respect and helping categories...which is more important to me. Good grades is a bonus...which they do pretty well too.
Kaleb on the other hand struggles with school work. He excels in the respect and all....NEVER a problem...but doesn't really like schoolwork. Friday when I picked him up, he told me he got an award at school. I asked what for...and with a little disgust in his voice, said....'writing.' I laughed so hard. I knew he had it in him, cause when he was like in second grade he did very well with it....so well in fact, his teacher was showing all the other teachers and principal. He used to write very creative stories and cool illustrations. Anyways, it will be interesting to see where this goes. I hope it gets him a bit more interested or confident in school.

well, that is enough for now. I did get my camera fixed finally, so I should be able to add more photos soon, which will make this much more interesting.