24 Things to Be Grateful For

I have seen a lot of people posting things they are thankful for on facebook this month. I haven't joined the masses in doing so, but I thought I would write 24 things that I am thankful for this year. (Note: This list is not in order of importance).

I am thankful for ....

1. My Health
2. My Religion
3. My Parents who love and support me.
4. My Home
5. The Community that I live In
6. My Country & Freedom
7. Food Storage
8. My pre-school students
9. My music students
10. Camerata Singers
11. My Car
12. Abigail's School
13. The Dana Smith Dance Studio
14. My Education
15. Modern Medicine
16. My Hardworking, Optimistic Husband
17. The Priesthood
18. The Prophets (Old & Modern Day)
19. The Internet & Modern Technology
20. My Car
21. My Twins who keep me on my toes.
22 Abigail who is growing and developing into her own self.
23. My sister Heather who lives so close to me and bails me out on numerous occasions.
24. Missionaries and my favorite future missionary my brother Harrison

Well, I said I would do 24, but I am already thinking of things that I left off of my list. I guess I will have to save those for next year. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and keeps the spirit of gratitude in their hearts year-around.

Pre-School Thanksgiving

I am loving doing pre-school with the twins. I also love that it is my own school with my own rules and I can celebrate and teach what ever I want to. We dressed up as pilgrams and indians for our pre-school class on Tuesday. I read stories, sang songs, and did crafts with the kids all having to do with Thanksgiving. I had a blast and I think the kids had fun too.



Each child in pre-school brought one ingredient to contribute to our thanksgiving feast. We made a turkey out of fruit for the "feast." The kids loved it.

Brooklyn's Playground

For a few years the community has been working to build Brooklyn's Playground it is a playground that is a community-wide volunteer effort to build the first fully-inclusive playground for the Pocatello-Chubbuck area, a place where children of all abilities can come together, interact, and grow through play. It is a project that was inspired by a kindergartner at Abigail's school named Brooklyn that was born with spina-bifida. With the help of the community, her parents have raised over $500,000 to build this playground and it was built with volunteers. We visited the finished the playground for the first time last week and it was awesome. The kids had a blast.

Silly Girls

I just had to post these pictures cause they make me smile. These girls crack me up on a daily basis.

Emily fell asleep watching a movie the other night with a pink head band on and pink bracelet on her face. No, this picture was not staged, this is really how I found her sleeping.

Many days it is difficult for these three to play together. You know the saying, "two is company, three is a crowd." On this particular day the girls were getting along very well and using their imaginations. I don't know what they are supposed to be, but they are pretty dang cute if you ask me.

The girls have found a new trick. They love to spin in this doll carrier on our laminate floors. This activity seems to entertain them pretty well for quite a while.

Family Pictures 2011

We had a friend from Rockland take our family pictures this year and I am pretty happy with them. I haven't decided which one is my favorite yet, but I am glad to have options.

Prepared for Rain

So, the girls are still sharing a queen bed while we fix their room up (it is coming along - slowly). I put them to bed one night and came in around midnight to check on them and this is what I found. Silly girls, I always wonder what is going through their heads when they do some things, "hum, I think I will sleep under an umbrella tonight." I can honestly say that the thought has never crossed my mind. Good thing my very superstitious grandmother is not living to see this picture she would have a conniption fit about that umbrella being open in doors. Hopefully Bad Luck will not rain on us because of my little girls' creativeness. As a side note, we do own pajamas, but my girls take them off in the middle of their sleep every night.

Halloween 2011

For trick-or-treating Elizabeth was a green apple fairy.

We had seven events to attend during Halloween, so we busted out the costume totes and the girls chose to be something different at every party. I was really bummed that my camera wasn't working. I totally missed Spirit Week at Abigail's school because of my camera and I missed a few of our Halloween events as well, but my friend Natalie let me borrow her camera for about a week and I was thrilled to get pictures especially since Darin was out of town until November 2nd.


For trick-or-treating Emily was a pumpkin fairy.
For trick-or-treating Abigail was a purple plum fairy.

Abigail was a flower power Disco Diva for her class party. One of the things I love about Idaho is that they still celebrate Holidays in school. The kids had an awesome class Halloween party and got to go on a costume parade.

These girls love to pose. Well, Abigail and Emily love to pose and Elizabeth is not so sure about all of her sister's silliness.
We went to the Chubbuck 2nd Ward Halloween party and dinner and the relief society presidency dressed up as witches and passed out candy while the missionaries were miniature aliens handing out candy on the other side of the building. The kids got to go trick-or-treating from room to room.
Emily was thrilled that her best friend from church Isabelle was Cinderella just like her.
Pretty Princesses for the Ward Party

We have been learning about shapes, so we tried to incorporate a shape lesson into our pumpkin carving activity. Abigail really got into it this year.
Elizabeth AKA Belle
Emily AKA Cinderella
Abigail was a witch for her dance class party.
This is my cute little pre-school class at our Halloween party.
Abigail AKA Jasmine for the ward party.

I missed getting pictures of the twins at their music class in their circus costumes. Emily was a clown and Elizabeth was a Circus Princess. I also missed getting pictures of the twins at their dance Halloween party where Emily was a pumpkin and Elizabeth was a spider. This Halloween was pretty fun cause we had so many costume choices from previous Halloween's and thanks to dance. We had a lot of fun at all of the parties. I think I spent a total of $20 on this Halloween for candy and treats and that is it. That's my kind of way to celebrate a Holiday.