There's something in the air!!! Christmas is almost here!

We are busy preparing for Christmas around here.

 

 We let the boys decorate and put a tree in their room. They loved it!

 Corgin told me I had to take a picture of our tree too.

 One night, for family home evening, we popped popcorn, made Kool-Aid, and then loaded up in the car and went in search of Christmas lights. We saw a lot, but the boys favorite was our neighbor just two houses down who had an FM transmitter and had his lights set to go with music he played. The boys kept asking to see the dancing lights every night after that.

We also got a little crafty for Christmas gifts. Clint made this shadow box and we painted it and put an old window we painted to match on it.

 We also took on this big task. Clint cut this out on the scroll saw (each figure has anywhere from 5-9 separate pieces to it) and then I painted almost all of them and then glazed them. Yeah, we don't think we'll do that again, unless we forget how much work it was.

And here are my three kiddos. I can't believe how fast they keep growing up.

Picture Dump!

We had a little Halloween decoration that danced with music. Here is Link copying it.

 Eisley falls asleep anywhere.

 This is what happens when I let Corgin choose his own clothes.

 Link drew this ladybug. Both he and Corgin are starting to draw quite well.

 Another picture of my little Eisley.

 And another.

Corgin wanted to see how food coloring tasted and so he put a drop in his mouth. I thought his mouth would be blue for a week, but we had him swish and spit and then brush his teeth so it only lasted a few days.

Halloween and Other Festivities

Our first Halloween celebration was at the Robertson family Halloween party. The highlight of that party was the pinata for the kids 5 and under. Here is Link taking his turn.

 Here's Corgin. He was a little more aggressive so all the pics I took were blurry. Anyway, he was the one who knocked it down and then he just went crazy for a minute and was hitting it like a mad man. I didn't know that he had all that pent up rage, but he made everyone laugh.

 Then, on Halloween we hunted down some pumpkins and headed to Grandpa Brent and Grandma Kristi's for a little Halloween party. Here we are carving pumpkins.

 Link didn't try to eat too much this year.

 Corgin (Optimus Prime) and Link (a little raccoon) by their pumpkins.

Here is Eisley when she wasn't sleeping.

 After carving pumpkins we went trunk or treating. Eisley hung out with Grandpa and Grandma while Clint and I took the boys around to all the trunks.

 When we got back it was dark enough to light the Jack-o-lanterns.

 Happy boys!

 We had to make one stop at their swim lessons teacher and she gave out a full size candy bar and a 2 dollar bill. We have so much candy now, it'll probably last until Christmas and I'll have to throw it out and start again with all the x-mas treats.

 Sunday we blessed our little Eisley. Here is a family picture on her blessing day. We had a lot of family that came and supported us and we missed those who were unable to make it.

 I attempted to get a picture of Eisley in her dress, but she was a little upset.

 Here she is in a calm moment.

 And I find that I end up taking a lot of pictures of my babies when they sleep, and Eisley is no exception. Here are a couple pictures of her sleeping.

 So sweet.

 Corgin has become quite the little artist lately. He has also taught himself how to write most of the alphabet. This is one of the pictures he drew the other day and then asked me how to spell it out and he wrote all the letters by himself.

 My boys love their little sister. Here is Corgin comforting her one day when she was crying. He was the one who brought her the pillows and put the blanket on her to make her happy.

 Yesterday Clint and I took Corgin to lunch and a movie while Link and Eisley stayed with Grandma. We took him to see "Wreck it Ralph" and he loved it. Here he is being a cool dude on the way there.

Soccer and Introductions

Well, yeah, I've been a big blog slacker lately, but here it is. Finally. A few pictures of what we've been up to.

 

Corgin got to play soccer this fall. He had about as much attention for this as he did with T ball, but I think he liked it a little bit more since he got to run around more. Half the time he wasn't after the ball, just running.

 Link liked watching the games. At the last one he was cheering for the whole team from the sidelines. Yelling, "Go Corgin! Go Green! Get the Ball! Go Josie!" and anything else he heard other people hollering.

 And cheap mother that I am, here is a team picture that I took, and of course my phone had to be weird that day.

 Union Pacific had a family day and had a passenger train that employees and their families could ride on. They boys loved it. See how happy Link is about it. He still talks about it.

 AND INTRODUCING.....

Eisley Kate Simonson

Born on October 3, 2012 at 2:12am. Weighing in at 6 pound 12 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. Our family is so happy to have her!

 Three days old and all dressed up for a wedding.

 Almost two weeks old here. My cousing Courtney took some awesome pictures for us. Shout out to c.p.r. photography!!!

At her two week well check, she weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce, so she's already growing like a weed. We love our little Eisley Kate!!!

Dworshak Vacation Picture Overload

In July we took a week and went up to northern Idaho for a family vacation. We stayed with Clint's sister, Trisha, for a few days and we also spent a few days camping with all of Clint's family up at Dworshak reservoir. Here are some pictures from our stay (in no particular order).

 

 Grandpa let Corgin drive the boat.

 Addi was a little fish and so she was happy to help Link when he was unsure of the water.

 The boys on a tube ride.

 Corgin at camp.

 Linkoln at camp, messy face and all.

 The boys on the tube again.

 We spent most of the days at a floating dock. We put the tube in the middle and the kids liked to play on it.

 Swimming by some cliffs the guys had jumped off of. Corgin and Link.

 Corgin.

 Me.

 My Corgin and Link again.

 All of us cooling off.

While the guys were climbing, Link practiced his moves on the jet ski.

 Linkers swimming with some of his cousins.

 Grant, Link, and Corgin hanging out on the jet ski.

 This was the floating dock we played on.

Here is Clint getting ready to jump off a cliff.

 There he goes.

 Corgin at camp.

 Clint

 At the top of the cliff again.

 Addi, Ali, Corgin, and Carter at camp.

 Grant and Corgin playing in the water.

 Corgin.

 A different cliff, higher than the other one. Jake, Jake, and Clint are checking it out.

 There goes Clint.

 Corgin, Grant, and Carter playing on the floating dock.

 This is how they climbed up the the second cliff. It wasn't so safe, Jaron ended up taking a fall, luckily Brent pushed him out as he fell past so that he didn't hit the rocks.

 Still climbing.

 My Clinton.

 We spent a lot of time doing exactly as Corgin is, lounging in the chairs munching on goodies.

 We set up a canopy on the dock and that was our only source of shade for the day, also we kept our food there, so we gathered there quite often.

 Addi and Corgin.

 Linkers.

 I was so glad that Trisha brought this, it was a nice way to stay cool without having to swim.

 Link.

 Back at camp.

 Corgin and Grandma chilling on the dock.

Clint giving rides on the jet ski.

We had a blast and thanks to everyone taking lots of pictures so I had tons to post.

 

We also had the Robertson family camp-out, but I didn't take any pics while I was there. We stayed in a lodge, so I was thankful I didn't have to sleep in a tent. It was good to see everyone and talk and laugh!

 

Now that school is back in, we decided to take Corgin to the skate park to play. He rode his bike and his scooter. He was pretty brave too. Sorry about the pictures, I took them with my phone which has probably been dropped too many times so it was doing some weird stuff this day.

Corgin riding his scooter in the half-pipe.

Riding his bike up and down the ramps.

Riding his scooter down a big ramp.

And while Corgin did all this, Link mostly ran around and rode his scooter a little bit too.

 

This is also a bad picture, but Corgin put this together himself and told me that this is what he wants to wear for Halloween. It's a butcher paper tail, his new shin guards for soccer because they make him feel like a robot, and a plastic bag which he poked holes in for his legs. Pretty creative for a 4 year old, I thought.

 

Anyway, Corgin starts soccer this week and is pretty excited for it. I'll try to take pictures with my real camera since my phone isn't working so well and get them posted once he's had his first game.

 

I also want to post a few things about Link. He is the funniest little guy. His favorite thing to tell me is "no sir". I'm going to miss it when he stops. Clint taught him to say "no way Jose" and so now if we say it, he comes back with "yes sir, Jose".  He loves to tease us. He is also my little singer. He can carry a tune and he already knows a lot of songs. I think I hear a new one almost everyday, even if it is made up. The other day he was eating his breakfast singing to himself (to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle) "Linkoln, Linkoln, Linkoln Paul, Linkoln, Linkoln, Linkoln Paul". Clint and I have decided that his life is a musical and I absolutely love it. I hope it's something he doesn't grow out of.