Santa at the Christmas party

my pretty girls

Shad and Santa. He asked for a Wii game.

Chloe and Santa. She asked for pixos. (whatever those are!)haha

I was so surprised that
Gracie actually sat on his lap. she told him she wanted a bag cause she saw him handing bags to all the kids. it was pretty cute. at least she got what she wanted!!;o)

Here is Shad's story he wrote today:

'Twas the night before Christmas, Nothing was in sight, not even a light. And everything people ate was yummy for their tummy. And everyone (except Shad) went asleep, and Santa gave everyone a present not making a peep.

Family Pictures

Shad with his statue of liberty pose

The Bloxham clan --just missing Kristen's husband and Amanda's husband.

Thanks to Marianne for bringing the tripod and camera!

Our family and baby Von in my belly.

Thanksgiving, Driving, and New Glasses

well, I think these pictures uploaded in the opposite order that I intended so we will go in reverse. starting with today. Shad got glasses!! On our trip to Idaho, we were playing the alphabet game, and the poor kid couldn't find any letter sthat weren't a foot tall. so we decided to take him in when we got home. His eyes are -1.50 and -1.25. I was in 2nd grade when Tracey and I got our glasses too. The Dr said it is hereditary and they will continue to get worse as long as he continues to grow taller. He was so happy to be able to see the leaves and the signs and the grass! I remember the feeling well. ;o) I think he looks pretty cute and he seems happy with them. Hopefully things go well at school.

We went to My mom's Friday to see Ryan's, Todd's, and Tracey's families. we had some leftover turkey dinner and the kids all sat at one table. this was only half of the 23(soon to be 24) grandchildren my parents have. Shad was ducking down for the first photo.

Brandon's parents just added a new garage and a room above it. we had so much room for our Thanksgiving dinner!! There were 12 kids and 10 adults. We were only missing Kristen and Amanda's husbands.

a picture of the 3 five year olds on the Bloxham side. They are all so mellow and easy. They palyed so good together. There are also 3 two year olds but they were all beating on each other.

On Wednesday we made "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers. the kids had a blast. I have an individual picture of each child but these are just my 3 so this isn't a million pages long.

Shad had the whole thing covered in candy!

Gracie just mostly wanted to eat all the candy and lick the frosting.

This is a cool book my Dad bought at Costco that is kinda like a where's waldo but it has a list of things to find on each page and there were a lot of different pages for hours of fun for all the grandkids.

Maiah, Chloe, Alexa, and Kathryn.

We had a lot of fun seeing everyone. We missed those we didn't see. We split the driving into 2 days this time -both ways- so we were actually driving for 4 of the 10 days. crazy. Poor Brandon worked 19 days in a row to get the time off and we got back last night and he works the next 6 nights. He also did almost all of the driving. I think I did about 3 of the 18-19 hours each way. Hopefully we won't have to drive again.

We also got our tree today, I will post it later. ;o)

Locks of Love and Carmel Apples

We cut Chloe's hair a few weeks ago for Locks of Love but finally got around to sending the hair today. She was so proud.

Putting it in the mailbox.

Don't forget to lift the flag.

My first attempt at homemade carmel apples. This was Margene Criddle's recipe. She lived in Downey when we were growing up and would make carmel apples for trick or treaters. we kept trick-or treating til we were like 16 because we would just have to go get a carmel apple. She died a while back. A few years ago, My mother-in-law gave me an old Downey cookbook that she had and there inside was Margene's carmel apple recipe!! This is the first year I have tried it. Mine were a bit too sticky but still delicious!!!\

here's the recipe.

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

8-10 apples

Wash and dry apples. Combine all ingredients except apples and vanilla in heavy saucepan. Cook to soft ball stage, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Dip apples in carmel. place on cookie sheet dusted with powdered sugar.

"Not right now"

Gracie's new favorite phrase is "not right now" which just shows me that I must say it a lot myself. If I ask her to pick up her books or toys she says "not right now Mom". but then I'll use my stern voice and say"Gracie" and she says "ok Mom" She is so funny. She likes to help make dinner or treats or mix the koolaid. So now we have fights between her and Chloe. Shad never really has liked helping with the cooking. He has made mac and cheese a few times and was pretty proud. That boy could eat mac and cheese 3 meals a day. It reminds me when we were little and my little brother Scott's birthday would roll around each year and everytime he would choose mac and cheese and hotdogs for his birthday dinner. yuck.
Chloe was star student of the month in her class for September. She got a certificate with a star necklace. for last month she was a geography master and got a square piece to add to her star student chain. geography master for Kindergarten has to know their address,city, state and country, how many states in the country and what continent we live on. She will get her math masters square for this month next month. counting to 100 by 1s,2s,5s,and 10s.
Shad is our reader and has been for years. he reached his 9 week AR goal for the 2nd 9 weeks and it has only been 4. He reads 2 chapter books every day.

Well I was "tagged" for a blog game - these are the rules...Rules:1. Get the book that's on your nightstand (or whatever you happen to be reading).2. Open it to page 56 and find the 5th sentence.3. Post the next couple of sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.4. Do not go and find your favorite book; it has to be the one you are reading now!5. Tag five other people to do the same.I am reading :Your Pregnancy:Week by Week. Here is the 56th page, 5th verse and a little:

changes are occurring gradually. you still probably won't "show", and people around you won't be able to tell you're pregnant unless you tell them.You may be gaining weight throughout your body, but you should have gained only a couple of pounds this early in your pregnancy.


This chapter was on the 7th week. kinda funny. I am now 22 weeks along. I had another ultrasound yesterday and am definitely having a boy!! He was showing off for the camera to make sure we knew!! We are really excited. 4 more months!! I know the time will fly by fast. We are excited to be going to Idaho for Thanksgiving. Gas is 1.85 today.


I hereby tag Shay, Grace,and Marianne.

Happy Halloween!

The girls were butterfly princesses with their dollar store wings and tiaras. Shad was a skeleton but the mask was a bit too tight on his melon head!;o) They had a ton of candy. We had a lot of trick or treaters and actually ran out of candy around 8:30!! oops. I had a ton to start with-or so I thought-In Watertown, we only would get about 30-50. we probably got a few hundred and would have had more if we didnt have to turn the light out!! we'll be better prepared next year!!

Shad's concert

Here is one of the songs from the 2nd grade music concert last week. I didn't have a good seat ;o) luckily he is tall and on the back row.

It's a Boy!!

Well, I had an ultrasound about 7 weeks ago and the Dr. said it looked like a boy, then 3 weeks ago, I had another ultrasound and she said it looked like a girl!!! We were confused.
Then today Brandon called and said they were pretty slow at the hospital and ultrasound said they could do one for me, so i went in and sure enough, It IS a boy! most definitely. we are excited!!! not that girls are bad but we are happy to be having 2 of each. and Grandma Dawson already had bought some baby boy clothes!! Shad has been such a good brother to his sisters, it just sucks that that 2 boys will be 8 years apart!! oh well! I am now 21 weeks along and feeling pretty good. I still take my daily nap with Gracie. hopefully it will continue for the next year or so!! my due date is March 12th. It will come quickly. I can't believe it will be November soon.
I also have to brag about our gas prices--2.05 a gallon as of today. it seems to go down every day the last couple of weeks. hopefully it will keep going down til our Thanksgiving trip.

Chloe's hair donation

Chloe wanted to give her hair to locks of love so we were waiting for it to get long enough. it has to be 10 inches of donated hair. We cut it this morning. I am so sick of washing it and brushing it anyway.,she was really excited but worried that Daddy wouldn't like it cause he likes long hair but I told her that he would be proud of her for helping another little girl who doesn't have hair. I am proud of her too and she loves her new haircut! I think she looks older.

there was a town fun night that was kinda like trick or treating. you just walked around downtown and the buisnesses ahd free games and candy for the kids. (That's not Brandon with the pot belly-he was at home-party pooper-watching the OSU game)

I'm not sure what this guy is but it was from the library. gracie didn't like it at all.

they had a "Pumpkin egg" hunt for ages 3 and under. there were a ton of people and a ton os eggs. Gracie loved it.

Gracie on the Tramp

Gracie's hair gets so much static on the trampoline. It is hilarious.

I love this picture cause she has her cute little smile having fun.

here's Maggie. She loves to run around the trampoline, but Gracie gets so mad at her if she goes under it!;o)

Our house on the outside

The outside of our house
The backyard
The kids jumping.

Our house

kitchen

The girls' room. with a cardboard house...
our boring room. I didn't want to hang many pictures til I figure out what color to paint and get new bedding...

our living room. There are 2 bookcases and another chair you can't see from this angle and about 4 feet of room behind the couch that serves as a hallway.
Dining area
Guest room
kids' bathroom upstairs
Shad's room

3 silly sleepers

Last night I let the kids sleep on my bedroom floor. Brandon is in Idaho hunting, so we had a sleepover. anyway, I went in to find Shad and Gracie sleeping the same way with their arms up above their heads. so I took their picture. well, later on that night as I was heading to bed myself, Chloe was sleeping that way too!! i actually laughed ot loud. Too funny! I thought so anyway.;o)