Merry Chistmas

These boys were so excited for Christmas. They did not want to go to sleep. 

Morning could not come soon enough. They wanted to make sure Santa brought them everything they asked for. 

Seth asked for a dart board.

Carter asked for a CARS water race, which he got. They also got other toys which they really enjoyed.

The boys had a great day. 

Tub Time

I had Keenan and Carter in the tub for a morning bath. Keenan had finished so I took him out, dried him off, and got him dressed. I then ran down stairs to put clothes in the washer. When I returned Keenan was back in the tub, clothes and all. 

Carter said that he fall in, but he was only wet from the waist down. He thought that it was great. 

Santa Came To Town

Chopper 5 came to town with Santa. The elementary schools bused there student to the school board office to see Chopper 5 and Santa.  

I took Carter and Keenan to see Chopper 5 as well. Keenan feel asleep on our way there and slept while we waited for Santa. Carter thought that it took to long. 

Seth stood on the front row with his class waiting for Santa to come. This whole week he was counting down the days for Santa to arrive. He was most excited to be able to ride the bus to and from the board office. 

They were about a half hour late arriving on the helicopter but it was worth the wait. 

They then were able to walk around the helicopter. 

Basement Work

Before Thanksgiving we finished the Family room in our basement. 

It was just a big room so we put up a wall to divide it nearly in half. The door on one end goes into our 4th bedroom that we will finish later.  The other door goes into our storage room.  We did lights, outlets and sheet rock. Then paint and carpet. It all came together quick and looks great. 

We put three layers of joint compound on the seams.  Working over head is tiring.

This is my homemade ceiling texturing tool called a Hawk.  You put it in a pile of joint compound and stamp it on the ceiling.

The stamping creates stalactites.  Then you knock them down with a trowel.  The best part of doing a knock down ceiling is that it completely hides all the joints.

After the ceiling was done it was time for sanding the walls.  Jennifer wanted a smooth finish, with no texture.  I sanded and felt with my hands to make sure the joints were just right.

I have a micro filter mask that I wear when I do really dirty work.

Jennifer helped with the painting.

Keenan got bored and fell asleep standing with his head on the stairs.

This is a picture from the boys bedroom into the hall.  We put sheet rock on both sides of the air duct and painted the air duct.  

We installed the carpet on Monday before Thanksgiving.  

It is very nice to have this area finished.  It was very dusty and dirty before.  It was no place for Keenan to play.  Now it will be a nice place for the boys to play and get their toys out of the front room.  

Lamb Chops

A man in our ward works for the DWR and they tried to relocate about 11 big horn sheep. They moved them but then they returned. They did not want them to mix with the other sheep in the area so they went out and shot them. They are not able to keep the meat themselves so he donated one to us.   

It was brought to us gutted and Thomas took care of the rest. It was a great experience for Thomas and Dad. they skinned it then cut it up and I wrapped it to put in the freezer. 

I was also able to bottle some, which was super fun. I have seen others bottle their meat but I have not done it myself. I was a little worried about what it would taste like or if it would even be any good. We had it last night in some stir fry and it was wonderful. We also had a roast on Sunday. It was wonderful and had very little fat.   

Apple pie

I had the opportunity to take dinner to a family in my ward. I was in charge of taking a dessert and a salad.  I had made the apple pie filling previous so I just had to make the crust. This is my first attempt and I think it was a success. I am pretty proud of this apple pie. 

Big Boy Cup

We have been working with Keenan on using a regular cup. He is getting so big. He is able to hold the cup by himself and does not spill. He is like a camel. He can drink so much.  If he sees us drinking, he needs one too. I do not know where he keeps it all. 

BYU Football Turkey

This turkey is disguised so that he will not be eaten for Thanksgiving. 

This was Seth's Family project from school. Seth and Thomas worked on it together. The coloring is Seth's very best.  Thomas drew the helmet and logos.  It is now hanging in the hall outside Seth's classroom.  

Jumping in Leaves

Gma and Gpa Higham have some huge cottonwood trees at their house.  That means lots and lots of leaves.  We raked up a few and started jumping.

We got a pile about chest high for these boys.

At first they were a little careful.

Then they went all out, full speed fun.

They also enjoyed being buried in the leaves.

These leaves were fun, but we are glad that we do not have to clean up that many leaves at our house.

Halloween 2013

We had a happy Halloween. Seth and Carter love to paint their faces. We took an old sheet from DI to make Seth into a ghost.

We painted Carter's face green and he was Frankenstein.

Thomas decided to grab some old clothes out of a box in the basement and wear some black glasses with no lenses.  He could have been a few different things: a nerd, a used car salesman, an insurance agent.

Keenan was a mummy.  The boys had a great Trick or Treating.

Red Ribbon Week

 Two of the activities this week for red ribbon week was disguise day...

and crazy hair day. Thomas drew the mustache and side burns, and Seth was excited to be looking like his Dad. He has also wanted to do his hair in a mohawk everyday because he loved it so much. He loves school and has a great time everyday. 

Keenan is getting closer to walking everyday.  He loves his walker. He tried out these boots that are made for walking, but they are still a little too big.  

Brick Mailbox

My mother asked me to build a brick mailbox for her a few years ago.  I laid a cement slab and did not get any further.  

My parents were out of town this last weekend, so I went to work getting their brick mailbox build.  It also was my mother's birthday.

We made the core out of cinder blocks.  Then we put brick on the outside.  We used a level on every brick.

It took me much longer than it should have.  This was my first attempt at laying brick.  I watched a few videos on YouTube and then went at it.  

The boys and Jennifer were with me the whole time handing me bricks and bringing me water.  Here you can see my neon orange level on top of the cinder blocks.  That is not a good place to put it.  I accidentally knocked in down inside once.  It fell all the way to the ground.  Luckily we have a long grabber tool in the van that Jennifer uses to hand things back to the boys.  We used that to fish it out.

I made sure to leave my mark.

We put a bow it.  After all it was a present.

Keenan did laps with the walker as we worked.  

Halloween Crafts

Thomas has been out hunting in the evenings, so the boys and I got a little crafty. 

They had a blast. We took empty baby food jars and painted them, then drew on the faces. It did not cost us a thing and we had a great evening.  

We then put then on display with lights. 

Seth now wants to be an artist when he grows up. 

Character Counts

Seth loves school. He is a great student. At the school they try to honor the student for good character. Last month's character trait was Honesty. His picture will go up in the hallway at the school. It is to bad that he fell on the playground at recess and got cut and bruised. I guess it will be a good memory.  

The Turtle is Loose

Carter got his cast off today!!!

 He looks pretty excited here and I was even more excited then him.

 They had to pull off the tape that was protecting his skin from the cast. He got a little apprehensive but was a good sport  

 They used a medical saw with a vacuum so it went pretty slick.

 It was then pried open, like cracking a pistachio.  

 The cotton was cut and he was free.

 His joints are pretty stiff. He was not wanting to be moved and liked to be in the same position he was in the cast. They say it should only last a few days up to a week. 

He is cleared to do whatever he feels up to doing, except jump on a trampoline.