Halloween at the Isaacson's

 We had Napolean Dynamite, a Minion (with a jet pack strapped to his back so he could fly to the moon) and a fairy princess.   Quite the combination Cole got his "Vote for Pedro" shirt the night before  his school Halloween party.  It came just in time.  We ordered it off the internet (I wasn't sure it was going to make it.  His boots were about 3 sizes too small but he wore them anyway.  

I couldn't talk  Lyndie into some better looking shoes for this costume she was dead set on these lovely boots (that are also too small).   Amazingly her boots are on the right feet.  I  got the idea for Lyndie's skirt from my sister Kristin.  She made one for her daughter Swasey using elastic and tying strips of pink and purple tulle to the elastic.  We got her wings and wand on amazon.

 I made Jared's Minion hat the night before.  We got the idea off the internet.  I think because I am a poor planner Halloween is not my favorite. I always find myself wishing it could just pass up by without us knowing.  Well this year turned out not too bad.  For costumes.

 The Jet pack idea came from pinterest we spray painted two 2 liter pop bottles silver and then glued felt flames to the bottom.

I did not get any pictures of the oldest 3.   Abbie was sick and Tyler and Corey refused to have pictures.

 Teacher appreciation gifts

 For the last day of school we made some teacher appreciation gifts.  I got the idea from the blogspot crafty moods  These apples are made from clay pots.  The top is the water holder that is normally placed under the flower pot.  Abbie painted the three pots.  Then I  used chocolate sculpey clay and formed a stem.  I baked the stem for about 20 minutes at 275 degrees. I made leaves from green cardstock.   I creased the leaf slightly on one end.  Then I hot glued the leaf to the water holder.  Next placed the  stem on with the leaf slightly under it with the hot glue.   Then to complete it we put little chocolates inside.

 The kids wrote thank you notes and took them to their teachers.  Somehow Abbie and Cole got their notes mixed up.  So their teachers didn't get their notes.

crafty moods

Christmas Piano Recital

 Cole and Abbie are taking Piano lessons and they had a recital December 3rd.  Abbie played Twinkle little star and God rest Ye merry Gentlemen.  Cole played Angels we have heard on high and the Rockin' song.   

We made snowmen for preschool last week.  I found this cute idea on pinterest.  

 These kiddos love glue, scissors and markers.   Sometimes they glue cut and color things I really don't want them to.  But when they are busy on projects they do really well.   It has been really fun to see them progress.  Even Tave seems to be learning the letters.  when I hold up flash cards He will say the letter before the girls sometimes.

I am Thankful for.........

Parents!  In October my Mom and Dad took time out of their busy lives to come visit me and my family here in LaGrande.  I am amazed at how they manage to visit all of their kids even though we are all so scattered and far away.  From Boston Massachusetts to San Francisco all 7 of us are spread out yet Mom and Dad make special visits to all of us.  

Lately I have been discouraged and overwhelmed with our house.  It is tight quarters compared to our Afton House.  Finding a place for everything has not been easy.   My Mom spent lots of hours helping me organize and clean while she was here.  She bought a bookshelf for Abbie's room.   Now all the hundreds of kids books we had in boxes in our hall way are organized neatly and out of the way.  No more tripping over boxes and books.  Whooo hooo what a wonderful feeling.  Abbie saved some money and bought her own bedspread just before Grandma and Grandpa came.  Mom and I found a tablecloth at wal-mart that matched the bed spread and Mom cut it in half and sewed the edges to make curtains.  We hung pictures and decorative shelves in Abbie's room plus clean and organized all of her things with Abbie's help.  We also got several more pictures hung up and Mom helped me make curtains for my Bedroom as well.  Dad entertained the kids and It was soooooooo sooooo nice to have them here.  I wished it could have been longer.  I can't tell you what a difference that made.  I love my Parents and can't imagine life without them what a blessing.  

These pictures are not great but this gives you an idea of what we accomplished.  Wish I had a before and after picture to show you.

Abbie and Lyndie's Room 

PRESCHOOL

Well I am babysitting again.  I had a year off and then Shauna got a hold of me and asked me if I would be willing to  watch her kids.  She just started working at the High School as a Social Studies/ English Teacher.  Her husband Darin is Jason's cousin and he teaches 4th grade.  Laura is Lyndie's age they are only a few months apart and Tave is 2.  I watch Laura and Tave Mon.-Fri. 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This is turning out to be a great opportunity.  I was wanting to do preschool with Lyndie this year at home so it gives us another 2 students to work with and gives Lyndie some playmates.  This was our 2nd week of preschool. Last week was mostly adjusting getting to know each other better we worked on the letter A a little. This week we had lots of fun with the letter "B.  We glued Beans on the letter "B" and then made "B"utterflies.

 We read  Fancy Nancy Bonjour Butterfly and The little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear.  

Everyone got their own pile of "B"uttons and we used rummikub tiles we drew out numbers and then had to count out the number of buttons on the tile and put them in a "B"ucket.

My good friend Rachel Berry introduced me to a great blog with tons of preschool activities. I am so excited about it and plan to use it often you can check it out here preschoolalphabet.blogspot.com

Toothless

Jared lost  his 2 bottom teeth in one night.  They were not very loose  but he was excited about the money and the tooth fairy.  He let Jason twist and tug on one.  Jason pushed and pulled really hard and got the first one out.  Jared was so excited.  His other one was slightly loose as well so he asked Jason to work his magic on that one and now as you can see he is the Toothless wonder.  We are all amazed at how he can be so tough sitting still while Jason wrenches on his teeth but when one of the kids teases torments or bothers him he is the biggest Boob.  Oh well!  After the teeth came out he asked I heard him say to Cole "it feels so good to have your teeth out doesn't it."

BACK TO SCHOOL

Back to the grind

Wow! Where did the time go.  Summer flew by and we now have 5 Isaacsons in school full time.  I really did enjoy summer and having them all home (for the most part) but now it's back to the grind and busy schedules.  Abbie,  Cole and Corey started Monday August 29th Tyler started on Tuesday. Jared didn't start until Thursday because, the First grade did a staggered start so they could test them in small groups to see what they needed to work on. Tyler has another full schedule this year and is taking early morning seminary again.  He is a SOPHOMORE. I try not to think about that too much but I did realize he only has less than 4 years until a mission. He could get his learning permit to drive any day but for some reason keeps procrastinating it. What teenage boy does that? Corey is playing football this year he is really excited about that. He had a nasty bike accident just before school started. His big right toe looked like hamburger and his left leg had some giant scratches that were quite deep. He hobbled along for the first week of school. I asked him if he wanted me to rent a wheel chair from the hospital so he could get around easier ( That didn't go over well). Abbie is now in middle school with Corey and growing up fast. She is excited about the teacher she got. Mrs. Nickelson is a wrestling mom and a great fit for our family. She donated lots of empty pop cans and bottles to Tyler last year so he could recycle them for money. Tyler became well known last year for diving through the recycling garbages at the High School. I guess he is confident enough he doesn't care what people think.  Everyone really seems to like him at the High School.   Every day I picked him up from school he had at least 1 garbage bag full of cans. Cole is going by his first name Aaron at school for the 2nd year in a row he decided to change when we moved here. It was so confusing when his friends call and ask for Aaron. He is in 4th grade and is enjoying being one of the older ones at Greenwood Elementary.  Jared only had one day of school this week but is super excited for more. We will see how long that lasts. And my little Lyndie is home with me. I started babysitting again. My break didn't last too long but we needed some extra income and babysitting allows me to be home with her. I am babysitting for Jason's cousin Darin Hendrickson. I am watching  his daughter Laura who is 4 Lyndie's age and Tave who is almost 2.  I am doing a home preschool with Lyndie and Laura and it is the perfect size.  I love having only 2 it allows me to focus on each one more. We do painting, writing, letters, numbers,  playdough and all kinds of fun stuff.  So this year is going to be a good one.

Don't go breaking my Heart

video starring "Lyndie Jean"

Lyndie combed her hair with lots "o" water and gel and then came out to sing and dance for us so Tyler talked her into singing and dancing for the computer. L.O.L. we love this girl. She keeps us entertained.

Happy Halloween !

Jared was a puppy dog and the make up artist was our one and only "Abbie". She got Halloween make up at school for doing well. (not sure i am loving that incentive)

Cole our pirate

Little miss pippy long stockings was also the make up artist for our princess. I had to tone it down a bit after she was done and you can tell if you click on the princess picture for a close up.

We had a great halloween and way to much candy hope ya'll had a great Halloween too.

Welcome to our Home

I really do love our new home. It was built in the 80's it is a very well built home but somewhat dark inside. Jason and I plan to do a little updating to brighten things up a bit by painting cabinets and walls. You will see what I mean when you look at the pictures. Here is a tour of our new place please excuse the mess I am still unpacking and trying to find a place for everything but many of our friends and family have asked for pictures so here you have it mess and all.

This is the view of the front of our house. It has a 3 car garage lots of space for storing stuff.

This is the view of the back of our house.

There is a nice storage shed in the back for lawn and gardening stuff and bikes. Plus a spot for keeping our wood.

There is an apple and cherry tree in the right hand side of the picture they are hard to see.

The Kitchen

I have big plans for the kitchen. I want to refinish the cabinets. They are nice but I am wanting to brighten up the room. It is very dark so I want to paint the cabinets white and do something similar to the kitchen on the blog Saw dust and paper scraps click on the link to see what this gal has done. I love her kitchen. I also plan to do an entertainment center on the wall of our living room similar to the one on the same blog under the basement remodel. I love it as well.

The Dining Room

The dining room is just off of the kitchen and has carpet that we are not to excited about. Jason wants to replace it with tile or wood flooring. (chalk it up to the someday list)

The Living Room

The living space in the house is very open you can see the kitchen, dining room and living room standing in any of these rooms they are all connected. I like it in ways but hate that you can see my messy kitchen as soon as you walk in the front door. Which is a silly thing to complain about. It is just good motivator for helping me keep my kitchen cleaner (right). I love having everything on one floor. I like having my family in closer quarters we have to be closer to each other that way.

This is where the wood stove will go in our living room.

The boys room

We will be fitting 4 boys in here just need another bunk bed for the other wall. It will be close quarters but they are okay with it.

Kids Bathroom

Food Storage room

Some day it will have shelves and be nice like our one in Afton.

This is entry way where you come in from the front door.

We decided to put the computer here it is a good open spot where we can monitor what everyone is doing on the computer.

Laundry Room

I love that my laundry room is in a room right off of the kitchen I can shut the door to the mess but hear the buzzer go off when the dryer is done. I don't have to run up and down the stairs for the laundry. ( It is soooo great!)

We planted a little herb garden on the side of the house in a small strip coming up to the front door.

This is the garden spot in the back yard behind the shed and it has a peach tree. We also have an apple and a cherry tree on the north side of the house in the back. We have big plans for our garden but they will have to wait until next year. I am so excited to live in a place that we can grow tomatoes without a green house and we have a Wal-mart (I know some of you are thinking oh brother, but when you have lived in remote places like Afton and Burns for the past 10 years a wal-mart is big). We pulled almost all of weeds out of the garden all ready. It was a big job and Tyler, Corey and Cole were amazingly good helpers. Jason must of threatened them good because they had it almost all done in a day.