Friday, November 6, 2009

Catching Up

I feel like I have posted a lot of pictures and a lot of "events", but nothing day to day, so here is a catch up on us.

Rob is doing well at work. He is excited that IMFT was finally profitable for a quarter. If they can keep this up, we may be getting our pay back to where it was before the bit pay cut, but it will take a while. Rob has been a trooper with Jaxson and helping out with everything. He is such a great man. It feels like life is almost returning to "normal" and he and I can spend more time together instead of one of us going to bed or taking a nap any chance we can. I wish Rob had more time to do things for himself, but he assures me that he is fine and enjoys his times when he is taking care of Jaxson and can watch movies.

I am trying to keep up with life. I am feeling like we are getting on somewhat of a schedule, although it seems to change daily. I know I am so blessed to have 5 beautiful and wonderful children who are just so great! I am grateful for this time in my life where I can spend my days with my two little ones at home. I also cherish the times that I can be with my older 3 kids and do special things just with them. I am pretty much in "mom mode" most of the time, which is fine by me. I am really tired of being sick. I got a HORRIBLE case of strep throat at the beginning of October that really knocked me down. And then four weeks later, I got it again! This time I have had a much harder time recovering and went through a rather scary time of horrible body aches, muscle and joint pain, stomach pains, and migraines. I felt so weak that I couldn't even lift on Jaxson's car seat. It was scary. After some serious rest, I am starting to feel better. I am enjoying my Relief Society calling and love the sisters that I work with.

Cayden is getting very excited for his birthday this week. I cannot believe he will be TEN! When did that happen!? Cayden is such a sweet and wonderful boy. I am so proud of him and what a good boy he is. He has so much love and is so much fun. As much as I hate to see him growing up, it is also fun to see him mature and have a fun relationship with him. He and I are quite good friends and love hanging out together. We laugh a lot and he is a total goofball! He has had some problems at school with some of the boys in his class, but we're working on it. He is doing great in school and continues to love to learn.

Ashlee is doing great. We have had some concerns with her schooling this year, but things seem to be working out. She has made huge strides in her abilities in math and now we are focusing on getting her reading up to where it should be. Ashlee is so fun and delightful. She loves to use her imagination, especially with her stuffed animals. She and Sadie have become quite chummy and she loves that Sadie will say anything she asks her to. Ashlee's latest thing is constantly asking what everything means. "Mom, what does 'probably' mean?" "Mom, what does 'holiday' mean?" She is very inquisitive. We also have to remind her that she can't just decide to change the way a certain word is said because she wants to. She keeps us on our toes and we are so proud of her.

McKell is doing great in school and loves it so much. She is growing up so much and I can't believe how mature she is becoming. She is such a good little helper with McKell and Jaxson. McKell looks at her as a second mother and McKell loves it. She is begging to get her ears pierced which I think we will do soon. She loves drawing and doing any sort of craft project. She reminds me so much of me that age - always doing some sort of crafty project. She loves dance and is always singing just like her dad. McKell got her spacing appliance in this month and is doing really well with it. Not fun, but she is tolerating it.

Sadie continues to be the joy and light in our family. She still cracks us up constantly and is growing up way too quickly. I love this stage that I refer to as the "footy pajama" age. I wish I could just stop time at this age and capture it forever. Sadie is talking so much and we love to hear her express herself. She loves saying, "Why, Mommy? Why?" She has had a complete fascination and obsession with "The Wonder Pets" recently so we have watched a lot of that at our home. She is such a smart little cookie and knows how to count to ten, all of her colors and shapes, and is working on her letters.

Jaxson boy is growing like a little weed. I can't believe he is already four months old! He is really filling out and getting bigger. He is getting really smiley and fun. He recently learned to spit and thinks he is quite funny. Jaxson is very introspective and has a funny little "concerned" face that he does, complete with his Daddy's worry lines on his forehead. He is a lot more quiet and reserved than Sadie ever was. He loves sitting in his Bumbo seat and is getting really close to rolling. Jaxson is an "old soul" and bring such a warm spirit to our home.

So, that's an update on us. 'Nuff said.

Halloween Decor

I got kind of crafty this year and added a few more decorations to my already ridiculous amount of Halloween decorations!
Above: A cute witch's hat I made using a foam ring, scrapbook paper, soccer cone, and ribbon.
I REALLY got into these glitter pumpkins this year! These are a Martha Stewart specialty, although I opted to use the plastic pumpkins instead of real ones so I could use them year after year. I can't wait to glitter all sorts of things to come!

I made these centerpieces for our ward's Witch's night. They were super easy. I sprayed Christmas berries with black spray paint and then put them in a container that I decorated with scrapbook paper. I added a few little Halloween ornaments and whalah!
I can't take credit for this awesome "Spell Book". My friend, Dorey, made it for me. She is as nutty as me when it comes to Halloween. She made this out of an old Reader's Digest book and filled it full of all sorts of vintage looking Halloween things. I LOVE it!!
My new "BOO" letters that I made.

Pumpkin Carving Time 2009

Another successful pumpkin carving night. We had my parents come up for yummy cheese and broccoli soup and then we carved like crazy! They all turned out great and we had a fun time!
Mom and Sadie busy carving. Sadie just enjoyed stabbing her child safe knife into the pumpkin over and over.
Ashlee opted for a butterfly jack o lantern this year. It turned out really cute.
McKell had a beautiful castle pumpkin and Cayden went the patriotic theme and did an American Flag. It is fun now that the kids are old enough to choose what they want and also help carve them more.

Sadie decided that eating donuts was way more fun than carving pumpkins!

Mom and Dad and their pumpkins. Mom had a little bit of a hard time with the teeth on hers and we had to do some serious dental work. I love that she did eyebrows. Dad kept his simple and "humble".
All of our pumpkins. Pretty impressive! Every year we light them up and then have to do a countdown and turn off the lights. 5...4...3...2...1...
ooh! aah! Pretty darn impressive I would say!

Peacock Halloween Party 2009

We had a great time at the annual Peacock family Halloween party hosted by Rob's sister, Suzanne.
Juliann and Jon as Army soldier and Arab prisoner

Brian and Suz
Erin and Erin
McKell, Anna, and Cayden playing Wii
Rob's family is very theatrical. Jon, dressed as an Arab sheik, brought some "praying music" that would start playing about every 25 minutes. He would grab his "praying mat" and starting praying. It was hilarious!

Cute Brooke!
I'm not quite sure what Janet was supposed to be, but she was in full character as usual and made us all laugh and marvel.
Juliann and Me

I LOVE James' face in this picture! Just not quite knowing what to do with his mother. James came dressed as a homeless man, complete with a "Will work for food" sign. The whole night he was stealing food and other items and putting them in his pocket to take back to his "Box".
McKell was our cute little mummy in the mummy wrapping game.
Our 2 handsome Clone Troopers - Cayden and Andrew

School Projects

Oh how I love school projects! Especially the ones that don't BEGIN until about 7:00 on a Sunday night are are due the following morning. Cayden has loved the Middle Ages unit they are doing in school and really wanted to build a cool castle. We got really creative and this is what we came up with. It even has a moat and a drawbridge. Even though it can be stressful, I love doing these projects with my kids. The projects and grades with come and go but the memories will last a lifetime!

Not a great picture, but I severely burned my finger with the gluegun and got this lovely huge blister on my finger. Casualties of a 4th grade project!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Neilson Family Halloween Party 2009

We had the annual Neilson Family Halloween party at our home again this year and it was a blast! We had yummy soup that everyone brought, donuts, and homemade root beer. It is one of my favorite events! The picture above is of our family. We make quite a festive group!
Poor little Korbin didn't want to wear Jay's awful wig!
The piggy getting his groove on!
Wow, now THAT is true love!
We always tend to have way too much fun with the costumes!
Delicious soups!
Elise and Braden came all the way from Virginia!
So GROSS! Ian and Heidi took the prize for the most disgusting!
The two pink friends
The Quists
Elise and cute little pumpkin Braden
Heather, Mary and Ben
Becca and Madi - Risky Business
Isn't he just the cutest little devil!?
Look at those thighs!
Michelle and Family
Jaxson and Madi
Looks like JuliAnn got knocked up by the milkman! (She really is pregnant with their first baby!)
Lexi and Korbin
Jay won the prize for the best costume for sure! He always shocks and amazes us with his creativity. This year he dressed up as the Swine Flu. Those are little piggies on the front of him. And of course he had to wear Mexican poncho and sombrero to honor the swine flu origin. So disturbing!


Random Fall Photos


Cayden had a great season of soccer. He is getting really good and improving every year. He has an awesome coach and a great team. Go Red Tigers!!

Sadie has been obsessed with a program we recorded featuring the BYU dance teams called "The World of Dance." She spend hours watching it and imitating all of the different dance styles. We recently had to add costumes as well. As you can see, this is her folk-dance outfit.
We were SO excited for my niece, Heidi, to get home from her mission in Brazil. She and McKell are best buddies so McKell was dying for her to come home. We love Heidi and are so proud of her and happy she is home!
Heidi and Miriam
The proud missionary parents
Dad and Shawn in deep conversation
Sadie loved playing with Miriam and Paul's "Puppy" at Heidi's homecoming.
The Monsons
Jay and Heather
Our little Jaxson boy is getting so big! I can't believe he is almost 4 months old! We pulled out the "Boppy" seat and he loves it! He thinks he is quite the big boy sitting on the counter in his Boppy.

Sadie is such a doting big sister and loves "Baby Daxson". She always has to get "Baby Tisses" (kisses) when she sees Jaxson.
Jaxson has started "talking" to us lately. It is so sweet to hear him coo. He is such a sweet little baby. We love talking with him.
Sadie just couldn't help herself. When we pulled out the Boppy seat that used to be hers, she just had to hop in for old time's sake.
Our awesome soccer player!