Straw Maze

I had to take some stuff to Millie in Rexburg today and she had a great idea. She suggested that I bring April and the kids with and we go to the Straw Maze. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea but thought it would be good motivation for the kids (and myself) to get stuff done and something to keep them busy.It was a rather ominous sky, cool, and windy as we pulled up to the maze. Side note- it was just down the road from Ruth's childhood church in Archer. So I am sure it was also very close to her house but I couldn't recognize anything. The first thing to happen was for Noni and Caleb to start a straw fight. So fun (not really).

Caleb and Leanora waiting to ambush us.

Leanora got Jessica (Camille's roommate) good.

This is what I call claustrophobia! There were a few spots that made my heart race and my breathing shallow but over all it was ok. At first the kids didn't think they needed to wait for us. But after the first "wrong turn dead end" they decided they better not get too far ahead. Even if they were just around the corner their voices sounded muffled or like they were on the other side of the maze. About 3/4 of the way through they thought we should turn around and go back the way we started. We explained that we didn't think we could remember all the turns. Caleb decided that we would never get out of there. Well . . . if your ever lost hope that Leanora is with you. She led us right out after that and was pretty proud of herself!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I was sure at a couple of spots we would be holding one of the kids up to get one of the workers to direct us out! It was a fun but chilly adventure for a Fall Saturday afternoon.

From the Mouths of Babes

No, I don't mean things my way cute daughters say hahaha. I really need to start writing down the funny things the grandkids say and thought this would be the best place.

Caleb was upset last night that he got home from school without his football. He was verbally going through the steps of coming in from recess, tossing the ball to Skyler, Skyler tossing it back and putting it on the shelf. But he couldn't figure out why he didn't notice it to bring it home.

Noni said, "Don't worry Caleb, just check the Lostin Fountain tomorrow."

That would be one interesting fountain!

Fun in the Snow

Yeah, I am finally to January!
Caleb and Noni really got into playing in the snow everyday after school. There was a good size hill where the snow gets piled up from shoveling the driveway. It is great for a 1 second ride down on the sled, and the climbing up is nothing! Caleb's goal is to see how far he can get the sled to go after the hill. He found he could do best by jumping on the sled and going down on his feet. Unfortunately none of the pictures of him doing that turned out. I guess he just goes to fast! The only thing that I care about is that it keeps them busy for a half hour and they aren't asking what they can eat!


Of course no photo session would be complete without Noni posing like a fashion model. Here she is sporting her cute green and pink parka with coordinating pink snow pants, boots, and snow cap, with pure white gloves. What a fashion statement she is, even on the slope!

Who Needs a Wii?

Caleb was kind of bored one night during the holidays. He is very creative and made a Wii. Who needs the real thing when you have Caleb's imagination. He used legos to make the "little white box" and more to make the controllers. He set the box by the TV and pretended that something showed up on the TV. He conned Millie into playing with him and they had a great time for quite a while. Oh, he also has an xbox, nintendo, and DS. I have no idea what the real thing looks like but it seemed pretty real to him. Caleb's turn
Millie's turn
The "white box" (it is sitting next to the TV)

Caleb and Millie in a heated game of something. I am pretty sure Caleb won!

One more Christmas Tradition

Every year we get a puzzle or two for Christmas. Dave was very excited to get going on this one. Shortly after starting it we realized it was not going to be very easy. It took us the whole week to do. Early on I knocked a piece off the table and saw it go over the stair railing. I searched for it. Over the next few days everyone took turns looking for it. Up and down the stairs, running our hands over the carpet to see if we could feel it. No luck. Caleb and Noni were back before we finished it. It was all done except that one piece. Caleb decided to look one more time. He found it. He was so happy and so were all of us, it just didn't look right with one piece missing. He was the HERO!We started this one the day we finished the other one because it was New Year's Eve and we had to get it done. It was finished by the next morning! Same size but interlocking pieces and an easy picture! It was a lot more fun, but I stayed up way to late working on it!