Schnephf Farms, AZ

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This year I really wanted to head over to Schnephf farms for their Halloween festivities. Jessica told me about how much fun the kids would have. So one night mom, Kevin and I took my kids and Loni's kids over there. They had a blast. They saw pig races, a dog show, rode rides, rode in buggies and a hay ride, and best of all, had some cotton candy! It was great to have a halloween fun out and about!

Fun Night

About two weeks ago, I was sick and looking for a way to keep the kids happy. So, I got innovative and we planned a halloween party. We made these mini pumpkin pies that were posted here. They would have been yummy... if any of us liked pumpkin pie!

We made pumpkin ham pizza (really I just colored the cheese).
We built a tent in my moms large living room!

Put together a few crafts that required no supervision

And we had a Halloween Town (from Disney) marathon. It was so relaxing for me and fun for the kids!

Time

Time, there never seems to be enough of it. I heard from a friend one time that she tried this when her husband was deployed. Everyone knows your children help you out. So, for every time the kids help me, I add time to their clock. So since they are saving me time, I add time and give it back to them later. Haylee cashed in an hour of time one night after the other kids had gone to bed. We just cuddled and watched a movie together. So, I love the idea. They earn time by helping me and I have a set amount of time to give back to them when I am not as busy. They seem to really like it and are more willing to help knowing they will get time back in return.

Day 1: Halloween Fun

So last week while Mom was out of town and the kids were out of school, I watched Loni's kids. I decided since we were halfway through the month, it was time to start our Halloween crafts. So we made cookies.

And assembled these little crafts.

The kids kids and laycee gathered around the tall table to work together.

The finished products

Sylas, Brooklyn and Brielle

On the Road

When the time came, we took some pictures of our trip. Kevin sang A LOT. The kids watched some movies. Logan LOVED the windmills in California. Friday we drove just passed Portland and stopped for the night. Saturday we drove until just before LA and stopped and then Sunday, we made the rest of the trek. It was long but thankfully, the kids were good and we made it safe. We got settled in at my mom's house and the kids got started with school. I have had a little trouble with Haylee's teacher, but I think I made my issues clear to her and hopefully things will work themselves out. Got registered at the YMCA and the girls started Dance. There are lots of changes, but we all seem to be doing as good as can be expected.

Farewell

Well the sad day arrived (nearly a month ago now) when Dave had to leave. It was a very hard day to drop him off and know it would be a year before we were living together again. He will have a two week break somewhere during this year, but we dont know when. So, we wanted to get one last family photo.

And each of the kids had their chance to say goodbye.

Even looking at these pictures is hard. It was a long exhausting day as after we dropped Dave off, we went back to the house to finish cleaning. Then we went to lunch and back to the house to finish packing. After packing, we waited for the landlord to come, went to the bank to deposit our returned deposit, stopped at a friend's house where we spent several hours while we waited for Kevin to come in town. His flight got in about 9pm and then we took off on the road for AZ. I thought it would be a hard day, but in reality, knowing that I still had 3 days of traveling ahead of me helped me not dwell on Dave being gone. Thankfully we live in the modern age of internet and phones so we are still able to communcate with him, nearly daily.

Food Food Food

The night before Dave left, we had nothing in the house and we weren't in the mood for fast food. So, Dave took us to dinner. We went to this AMAZING buffet in Dupont, WA. If you ever head that way, stop here. It was so good. Had 8 different stands of food and all of those were different ethnicities. It was the best buffet I have ever had.

Dave's plate samples some of the exotic stuff, octopus, sushi, pudding lol. But then it had normal foods too, pizza, chicken nuggets ect. It was AMAZING. So again, Dupont, WA stop at I think it is called Super Buffet. AMAZING

And he packs

A whole room of stuff to sort through and they already sent all their winter gear. How does this happen? The army issues way too much or something becuase he even had "left overs". Packing was a hard day, but I was glad when it was over becuase that was the last real thing we had to do before we could relax.

School

One day Laycee get's dressed and starts walking out the door. I had no idea what she was doing, so I told her to come back, and then we had this above conversation.

Military Banners

For those of you in the military, I just received an e-mail regarding welcome home banners. buildasign.com is giving away 20000 banners for free, you just pay the shipping. Shipping costs from $12-25 depending on how fast you want it. I ordered one today for Dave, put a custom picture on it and it cost me a grand total of $12.50. So if you are in the market for a banner soon, check it out and take advantage of this AMAZING deal! http://www.buildasign.com/troops Happy dealing!

Puyallup Fair

The week Dave left, we went with our friends over to the Puyallup County Fair. It was so fun to be out there and see animals, smell yummy food, and ride some rides. It was one of our last excursions before Dave left. So here are the kids in "Africa" playing some instruments.

They got to make corn flour.

Got to see LOTS of cows

And milk a pretend cow

See Llamas and Ipatcas (or however you spell it)

I thought this was Hilarious!

Piglets were just born

And the rides... Dave took Trent, so I dont have pictures of his rides.

It was great fun to have one last chance with our friends and i loved being able to get the kids out instead of sitting at home in an empty house.

How Not To...

Pack a storage unit... as you can see, we ran out time time, energy

energy
and space.

We did so good until nearing the end when we were just desperate to be done. The back is so neat and orderly and the front is well... you can see that yourself. I have yet to figure out how I am going to unpack it myself when we get back next year. But, that is on my next years list!

For My Dad

My dad requested pictures of their house and since mom is out of town... I posted them here. Plus now you all get to see where I live and our new van pictured left below. The landscaping was just finished.

River of Rocks (gotta take a river where you can get it right?)
Extra sidewalk. The driveway was so small, so mom decided to extend it some. My favorite part!
Extension on the other side

Now lets take a nonvirtual tour of the house. We have started decorating for Halloween.

The laundry room. I love these appliances! they are amazing and so fast.

Half of the kitchen... you can see our Halloween cookies on the island filling the air with a home baked aroma.

The living room, complete with the HD and Blue Ray. This is one TV that is trippy to watch Ghost Whisperer on!
Kevin room... I love the way they did the NY painting.

Downstairs bathroom. Kevin Hates the kids using it too.

Entry way... the curtains really help keep the extra sunlight out during the day.

The upstairs living room. The pictures they got in Mexico looks great up there.

The other half of the living room... i love that tv/toy stand. I have one just like it at my house (or in storage rather).

Boys room... we are still working on curtains and something for the walls, but I love the airplane theme.

The girls room, it is like a sweet haven in there. The colors are so cheerful.

The little girl is the little girl of.. umm i can't remember, but basically she is supposed to watch over the girls while Dave is gone.

And the garage. This was a two part project. The first part where Dave and some other guys came and painted and speckled the garage.

The next part, mom and I put gloss on it to seal in the color. It looks really amazing.

There are several rooms in her house that she hasn't got to yet, her and my bedroom and the downstair formal living room, but there is some amazing progress going on. I love it and hope to one day have my own dream house!!