NOT CYANNE!!!!!

The end of the first trimester has come. That means report cards have come home. All the kids did pretty well. Ressa is achieving many of her goals, Foster is slightly behind in his English skills (but is making progress), and Cyanne made the HONOR ROLL!

For the first time in her life Cyanne had all B's. She met all her reading and testing goals, and after a rocky start to the year has become quite the student. She loves being in Mr. Baskent's class and seems to be making some great friends.

As a reward she spent last weekend in Long Beach with Hannah (our old nieghbor). The girls had a great time running errands with Ms. Sharon and Mr. Jim, watching movies, going out to lunch, and just hanging out.

Cyanne is very excited to try to do better. Her competative drive has kicked in. She says she wants to have at least 2 A's next term, but straight A's would be better! We will see how that goes, but in the mean time she has surprised us all!

WHAT ARE YOUR BLOG ADDRESSES?

I'm disappointed to tell all my friends:

I have lost all your blog addresses. First our laptop crashed-- we have yet to fix it. Then my dumb phone crashed with all my contacts being wiped clean. Therefore, I have lost track of all my friends I like to peek in on. I remembered Kristin's just because the name is so her, but if any of you would leave your addresses either under the comment section or email it to me I would be grateful. We really miss everybody!

Tara

QUILTING... NEVER AGAIN

Foster's class decided to make quilts. Some of the moms know how to do it and all, but I have never done it before. Foster, of course, tells his teacher I can do it since I'm "an awesome sewer". Thanks Foster. All the kids took in their choice of material and then were given 20 squares from their classmates (did not get a square of their own). It is random, but I think turned out as well as can be expected!

This is the finished project of his class reading/picnic quilt. It took forever and I won't be sorry if I never do it again. Big thanks to Brandi's mom Genie who walked me through the process!

HALLOWEEN!

As most of you know Halloween puts me in my element. This year we decided to go easy on my sewing (due to little time and our just settling in). We were a family of zombies. Brandi and I had WAY too much fun with this one, and are already brain storming for next year!

I went as a lifeguard, Nate was a business man, Brandi was a runner, Cyanne was a soccer star, Foster was Foster, Ressa was a sweet zombie, and Ammon was a beach going zombie. Brandi bloodied up the clothes with the kids and I did all the make up. We were rocking the trick or treating! We are thinking about framing some of these pics. Enjoy!

Family picture:


Stay out of the cookie jar:


Just a taste?:

Soccer zombie:


Foster zombie:


Sweet zombie:


Beach bum zombie:


Crazy dad zombie:



Me and Brandi:


Even little zombies like loves:


When we were done in the neighborhood we stayed out on the front porch to hand out candy. Next thing the masks were out and we were scheming on how to scare teenagers. Cyanne successfully scared a couple (wearing Nate's big scary mask)when she jumped out from behind his chair. The one threw his bag of candy on the floor and yelped, while another screamed and almost landed in my lap. It was a great night.

Ressa didn't get in on the scare fun, but she modeled the mask for us:

SHAUNTE SAID TO UPDATE... HERE I AM!

I spoke to Shaunte' this morning. The coversation didn't last nearly as long as needed to get all the details out, but it seldom does when you have kids at home. She checks in here often, as do some of the rest of you, and would love to have me update. Today is a relativley calm day so here I am!

We are all loving our house! The idea of us owning it has finally started to settle into our heads. We have begun watering the dead lawn (mostly to keep the dust down), Nate purchased a weed wacker and knocked down all the weeds in the back, we had our first Halloween in our new area, the kids are starting to meet new friends, and my sewing room is finally all set up (the bare bones were functional before, but now it rocks)! I still have to paint it. The walls are all stark white, but I haven't discovered what color or colors I want to use. Soon I hope!

Our next project is to plant grass in the front and back yards. Nate also has to get the sprinkler system working. I will be getting some rose bushes and planting them over the next few months. They always remind me of Grace so of course they are my favorite. This area is great for them and they bloom nearly year round!

Here is the shock that nearly dropped Jen to the floor... I finally bought a vacume! We have always has wood floors and I never owned one. Now that the whole house is carpet we broke down and got a canister vac. I am loving it! It is fantastic for the stairs because it is light. The kids are hating it though... lots of legos and barbie shoes have met their end by being sucked up.



We have been so busy getting the house unpacked and figured out we haven't done anything too amazing. I also haven't had too much time to get on the computer or phone. Check out the other posts, and eventually I will start catching up with everybody!

Hope everybody is doing well!