New Picture

Just so you all know, Carson in the picture above is my adorable nephew.  I did this layout for our Baxley/Mobley family Christmas letter and thought it was cute so I put it on here.  

He is cute though, and I would claim him any day!

I thought I had plenty of time before Christmas....then I realized it's already December.  

Where did the time go?

We've already had Christmas concerts, sung Christmas carols, played TONS of Christmas music, wrapped presents and I've been sewing for what seems like forever. Could be that I started playing Christmas music at the beginning of October, and so I feel like we'd never get to Christmas.

I'm getting excited though.....SHHHHH....it's a secret.  My parents, sister and nephew are coming in on the 20th.  The kids don't know and I'm THRILLED for the surprise.  Mind you, I don't like surprises.  However, I LOVE love LOVE the fact that the kids don't know their coming!

KatieJo was saying just last night how sad she was that we didn't get to see Grandma and Grandpa Baxley and Auntie Cori and Carson for Christmas....I almost blew it right then and opened my mouth.  It's a good thing Stuart was sitting next to me or I might have.  

So, they will show up at the door on the morning of the 21st as they get in really late the night before, with presents and breakfast in hand to surprise the kids.  I can't Wait!!!!!!

On a side note.  Samuel had his first basketball practice last night and as we were getting in the van to head to practice he looks at me and says: "I already know a few skills for basketball".  

I replied:  "Oh, and how is that?"

"Grandpa (Baxley) taught me and I even beat him a few times."

 So, watch out Richland...Samuel "the Basketball King" Mobley is on the courts!

Celebration

Maija turned 2 this week.  

I'm having a hard time realizing she's no longer a baby and is very much a toddler!

We all had a great time celebrating her birthday and it feels like we celebrated ALL day long.  

We took cupcakes to play group (they also ate a cupcake while I was decorating them),

and we had cake and presents that evening.  We were sugared up!

 

I'd say she asked for pizza, but she technically didn't.  It just happens to be one of her favorite foods so that's what we had.

Please note that I had to re-do her hair about 3 times (she normally leaves it alone, but not today!)

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Girl!!

I've been reading back to my posts when I first started blogging.  My how things have changed!  We were happy in Rawlins for many reasons, but the Lord new better and away we've gone back to Washington.  I fought it with everything I had, but in the end I had no choice except to go along with the move. 

I was talking to my mom this morning about how good this move has been for all of us.  Neither of the kids had many friends in WY, but here when I drop them off at school they are surrounded by their friends.  As a parent, that is a WONDERFUL sight to behold!  Both of them are doing so well in school and have adjusted to the school better than either of us could have hoped.

Stuart loves his job, not that that is a new concept to him but it's always nice.  And I have made quite a few friends here as well.  We all feel so loved and to be honest it feels like we've come home.  I haven't even been
"homesick" for my family which is terribly odd for me. 

I really hope we are supposed to stay here, I am almost afraid to plan too far ahead because I'm scared we'll have to move again.  I hope and pray that we don't have to....except to move out of this apartment!

Come!

On Monday I took  Maija, Phillip and a friend's little girl who is about Phillip's age to the play ground of dreams.  (We call it the castle park, but it's real name is the Play Ground of Dreams).  Maija and Phillip are used to playing on whatever they want and when we got there off they went to play.  "D" however is an only child and doesn't play with other children very often and she was a little lost as to what she should be doing with the other kids.  Maija stopped and noticed that D wasn't playing and so she walked over to her, grabbed her hand and said "Come!"  I may just be emotional right now, but having just made a big transition in our lives and being in the process of making new friends myself it really struck me.  My eyes may have been "sweating". 

Then I found this quote by James E. Faust
“The commandment given by the Savior was to love others and yourself. Am I secure enough in my love of myself to laugh at myself, to admit mistakes, to graciously accept a compliment? Am I secure in my love of others to smile and say hello to a perfect stranger?”


If I could only be more like a child!  My goal during the next few months is to make new friends, and literally say "Come!"  Some very lovely sisters have done that for me here, and with my new calling as the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator I have the perfect opportunity to do just that.

Pictures!

I finally changed our blog header, a friend of mine is trying to hone her skills to start a photography business, and so practiced on our kids at the park the other day.   I LOVE them, and I didn't have to fight with them to take them.  THANKS MONICA!

I finally found the cord to my camera and then for some reason I couldn't get the pictures to download onto the computer.  After quite a few frustrating days I figured out there was something wrong with one of the pictures on the camera and deleted...and now I can post pictures again...YAY!

We really did have a pretty good summer.  KatieJo and Samuel each stayed 2 weeks at my parents house in CO.  Samuel participated in a British Soccer Camp, and swim lessons; and KatieJo spent her time doing swim lessons and shopping with Grandma and Auntie Cori.  KatieJo also got to spend some time in Idaho with the Mobley side.

Samuel at soccer camp

I LOVE this picture!

Grandma and Grandpa and our 4 munchkins

Auntie Cori and the kids swimming.

Samuel turned 7 three days after we moved in.

First day of school!

He lost his first tooth!

Playing twister.  Well, KatieJo and Samuel playing, Maija just "playing around".

Goal

Our economy stinks.  Now, that's not my intended topic.  However, it really encourages me in my newest goal.  I read a book called The Penny Pinchers Club.  Truthfully it wasn't very good reading, however it gave me some great ideas about how to save money. 

I wouldn't necessarily say I am always cheap (I really prefer the word frugal), but I think I need to be.  I buy 99% of our clothes at garage sales or thrift stores.  I clothe our family of 6 for approximately $200-$300 a year.  Some times it's a little more, sometimes less.  I also make just about all our food from scratch, which saves us money. I don't even buy bread.  After reading the Penny Pinchers Club I realized that now that I live close enough to real stores I could really start using coupons, and could possibly save 50-90% of our grocery bill.  Now how great would it be to have that extra money in our bank account than in the stores' account!

So, I am embarking on my newest goal of saving as much money as possible.  Tonight I got 6 packages of hot dogs for 25 cents each.  It doesn't sound like much, but I saved us $6 tonight.  So my plan is to transfer that $6 to our savings account. 

Some people would never use coupons, or shop the sales.  But, I'm not afraid of coupons; I LOVE them! 

First Day of School

The first day of school for KatieJo and Edward (a.k.a. Samuel who has chosen to go by one of his middle names) was Tuesday the 31st.  I have pictures, honest I do.  However, I can't for the life of me find the cord that attaches to my camera so I can put them on the computer.  So, you'll just have to trust that I have awesome pictures of all of the kids on the first day.

On Thursday August 26th both KatieJo and Edward (still a little weird to be typing that but I'm trying!) had to go in to do some placement testing.  It's standard procedure to see where kids are when they come in from new schools.  However, Edward...because of his age and the fact that he skipped 1st grade last year had to take an extra test to make sure that 3rd grade was an appropriate placement for him.  He placed appropriately for 3rd grade and so I have two 3rd graders.  It's a little bittersweet after the fight we've been through to watch him walk to his 3rd grade classroom with kids who are taller than him.  After talking to his teacher she says he's doing great, which is WONDERFUL to hear!

I find it a little funny that both KatieJo and Edward have been playing together at recess.  At Church they ignore each other during Primary, however at school they're stuck to each other like glue!  It's nice to know that they are there for each other, and that deep down they really do like one another. And if you are wondering they are in different classes at school.

Phillip misses both of them, and the first 2 days I couldn't get him to do anything because all he wanted to do was go pick them up at school.  Maija on the other hand is really good at telling them "BYE!!!!" at the top of her lungs.  She also says "SEE!"  which means see ya! to them as they head out of the van.

I did get Phillip to do some table time this morning after I let him play at the park for 1 1/2 hours.  He can now proudly tell you that A says a, ah & aw.  I really need to get the book out of storage to teach him to read.  He's excited to read and I'm hoping if he has something to do he'll calm down a little.

KatieJo started tap dance class this week.  We're thrilled because the dance studio we chose has sent students off to Juliard and some famous ballet companies.  Not that I expect that of KatieJo, but we are excited that she'll get actual dance instruction rather than what she was getting.

Both KatieJo and Edward are going to be starting the violin or viola this year.  The first 3rd grade orchestra rehearsal is on September 13th.  They are SO EXCITED!!!!  KatieJo wants to play the violin and Edward wants to play the viola. 

Besides that things are pretty normal around here.  Stuart is helping with football in the hopes that he'll get hired on as a coach...which looks like will probably happen.  He hasn't been getting home until almost 7 every night.