Where have we been?

I haven't been very diligent about keeping up with my blog. I guess it has been busy and life has gotten in the way. I have been able to accomplish a lot in the last few months. I moved my craft room to the bigger room next door and my old craft room became a storage room. I also moved some of our books to different rooms. That was a major project! I still need to organize and decorate my craft room. ( Mostly just get things back up on the walls because that is part of organizing my craft room.)  My friend is always teasing me about how often I move rooms around in our duplex. It's just that it is not a very good layout for a family of 7 and if we could afford to move we would. I also got my online store up and running (to sell things I sew and make). This was major for me because I have been putting that off for over a year.
I don't think I wrote about getting a job at Joann's. I got a job teaching sewing classes. I have yet to teach a class. Our Joann's just started offering classes in October. Hopefully things will pick up some soon. I started a new project this week. I am working getting our paperwork organized and get our winter clothing organized. It has been tough figuring out how to do that because our Living room / Dining room is so small and has to serve so many purposes. I am getting there though. Hopefully by the time we get a real snow storm I will have things up and running. The kids have been doing well in school and I have been enjoying being home with just William. Samuel got glasses this month. Jon has been doing pretty good. He's not in as much pain from his arthritis as he was. He has his days still but things have been going a lot better.
I was talking to Jon the other day he commented that if there was a job in Boise, Idaho he would take it. A few months ago I would have been excited because I have been wanting to move closer to family for a looong time.  When he said that I was like are you kidding me? No way. Things are finally starting to run more smoothly and Jon is doing a lot better. Don't rock the boat! I just can't handle anymore changes right now. I am sure if moving is what the Lord wants for us we will know soon enough.
We had a nice Thanksgiving. I opted for paper plates and instant potatoes this year. I just wasn't up for spending the whole day in the kitchen. Joseph and I worked on making bookmarks instead. Joseph has been making his own bookmarks lately by himself, it is cute. He likes to take them to school and give them to his friends.

Fall 2012

I don't know how October and November has flown by so quickly!


William was finally big enough to wear this suit my friend gave us. At least when he has shoes on.

 I already did a post from October with photos of all the kids. I really liked the way that most of them came out.

 I love all the fall colors in Minnesota. Here is our tree in the back yard.

 General Conference weekend. The kids of course built there tents. The kids were wild during conference this time. I'm going to have to work harder to make conference go better next time.

 We had fun decorating our pumpkins with vinyl.

 William learned how to do somersaults. He hadn't seen anyone doing them as far as I could tell. He just started doing them one day.

 Trick or Treating.

We also went to trunk or treat at the church. Samuel and William wore there suits and were missionaries. Guess who was the junior companion?

This month Samuel got glasses. His eyes aren't to bad so he doesn't have to wear them all the time but it will help him at school.

William's 2nd Birthday

William turned two on September 21st.

 William loves Thomas the train so I had fun making these cupcakes for him.

First Day of School 2012

The kids 1st day of school!

 I forgat to take any pictures of Samuel for his first day of 7th grade.

 Joseph is in 5th Grade this year.

 Elizabeth is in 3rd grade this year.

 Grace started kindergarten this year.

 Grace at meet the teacher.

 I made back to school cupcakes for the first day of school.

We went to a back to school party at a friends house.

 Grace with her Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Cassidy

 Grace fell asleep after her first day of school. Apparently she was worn out.

Rice Lake

I have a lot of catching up to do with our blog. We took the kids to a nearby lake called  Rice Lake near the end of summer. It's called Rice Lake because it has lots of wild rice growing around it. We enjoyed a short by the lake and the kids enjoyed the playground.

 Fun with pretzels.

 Dirt a little boys best friend.

 William enjoyed playing with the rocks. He made me carry some of his rocks when he had to many to carry.

 Joseph's acorn collections.

We went to Cabelas after we went to Rice Lake.