Snowy Afternoon

We had our first "big" snow storm today.  We probably got a couple inches.  Here is how crazy Colorado weather is:  This week it has been in the 50's, today it was in the low 20's, and the rest of this week will be in the 40's and 50's. 








I am excited for the snow, it hasn't felt like Christmas without it.  And hopefully there will be snow on Christmas Eve.  (If the weather people are right, which they rarely are.) 











So today we have stayed inside and done fun cozy winter fun things.  Like...potty training. I keep resisting, but Addy keeps asking. 















Fort building.  They do this pretty much everyday, but it also makes a good snow day activity.










Marshmallow fights.  Spencer was Samuel the Lamanite and Kaden was stoning him.  :)













Rice Crispie Treat making.  We will be experimenting with rice crispie treat houses this year instead of Graham Cracker houses.


And the best part is, after I cut the shapes we get to eat the scrapes!

Our Christmas Tree

I sometimes wish I was a better photographer then I am...I would have loved to put a picture of our tree all decorated up, I still might, but the pictures are not good at all.  We went to a small tree farm to get our tree this year.  The kids loved it.  Although Spencer was not okay with the hayride.  We carried him on crying.  The ride lasted about 5 minutes at most, they were just driving everyone down to the far end of the farm.  I'm glad we made him get on because then he realized that it was fun.  

Homeschool

Last month we were learning about out bodies, so we of course had to trace our bodies and then color them in. 

 

Addy was coloring her's for a long time, for almost an hour, and then she kept coming back to it throughout the day.  She likes to put details in her drawings...right now the details are little circles. 

Garvin Family Reunion

 

We rented a large house for the reunion.  That was a fun and a good idea...our house isn't quite big enough for everyone.  Addy and her cousin Ellie are just a month apart.  They loved playing together. 

Kiss goodbye.

These are all the siblings, plus Sterling (Charla's hubby) and ...Abbie's head.  (James' wifey).

Garvin Family Reunion 2

 

 

 

These are some more pictures of the family reunion.  This cutie is my nephew Samuel...his dimples and chubbiness just made him so squeezable! 

Catch up: Halloween

So this pregnancy has kicked my butt.  I experienced the "morning sickness" all day everyday until my 20thish week.  My body is being kind to me know, but usually I get sick again at the end.  So this is the main reason for no blog posts for a while.  So I am going to play catch up.  The above picture is of my brother in law Sterling and his and my kids.  They were all facinated with watching him play.  Old school Super Mario. 

My sister and her family and my parents came to visit for Halloween and the next week we had our family reunion. 

Here are all the cousins in their costumes.

Little Addy and Ellie...both were Fairy Princesses...unplanned.

Kindergarten

 

 

These are some pictures of school with the kids.  This was at the beginning of the school year...we are now working on letter sounds and some math stuff.  We are following (loosely) My Father's World.  I decided to get a curriculum this year, since I have no idea what I am doing.  I am glad that I did, it has helped me see what I like and don't like and what works for Spencer and what doesn't. 
I'm trying to focus on living and living skills and story reading/telling more then academics right now.  We are doing academic stuff but I don't push it too hard if he is fighting it.  So far Spencer is really enjoying himself.  I've also been able to deviate from the lesson books some without feeling bad or guilty.  Like tomorrow (we'll see how I feel:  I'm still experiencing "morning" sickness.) we are going to make an apple pie.  Spencer has been asking how one is made, so we will try tomorrow.  So far I love how relaxed our days can be.  I don't have to worry about getting him ready and out the door for class.  Spencer and Kaden are building a stronger relationship with each other.  So far homeschooling has been good. 

Some News

That is a baby.  That's right we are expecting number 5 this spring.  This was at 12 weeks.  And even though I have done this 3 times before, I seem to have forgotten how much it sucks for the first 4 or so months.  I still have morning sickness (all day sickness...worse in the pm).  We decided to wait to find out what the baby will be.  Hopefully I will have the will power to not find out, I think I should be able to do it though because this will be our last one.  So this one will be due on April 1st, I'm glad that I will be pregnant through the winter...internal heater!  

Construction Site

So, I posted this mainly for my dad.  The boys have turned the bike into a saw.   They propped up one of the training wheels so that they could pedal and stay in one place.  Spencer decks himself out in sky goggles and gloves, and goes to work building a road.  I don't know why he needs a saw and wood for a road but it works for his road I guess.  I love how inventive they can be!  

Camping with Addy

We went camping a few weeks ago at a reservior about 30 minutes from our home.  This was Addy at the beginning of our trip.  (Not very clean, but she never is...)

We got to the camp site at 4ish and then we went fishing. 

We hadn't even been camping for 2 hours and this is what Addy looked like when we went back to the tent to get dinner ready. 

This girl is so funny, she hates her hands and feet being dirty but she has no problem with the rest of her getting filthy!  She is always dirtier then the boys.  She was even dirtier the next morning (we even wet wiped her) but it all washed off when we went to the lake that morning. 
We love our mud covered Addy.

4th of July

I realize that this is a tad late...but these are pictures from our 4th of July.  We went to the Four Mile Historic Park in Denver.  Every year they have an Old Fashion 4th of July Celebration. 

It was enjoyable...I think it could have been more fun if it hadn't been hotter then snot outside! 

The above pictures are of us on the horse and carriage ride.  Those horses were big!  Spencer actually was the one to suggest it.  If you know anything about Spencer you know that is very uncharacteristic of him. 

 

They had some fun old fashion games and the kids were able to play in the water and pan for gold.

This picture is of the Civil War set up they had.  We got to eat some real kettle corn and some HOMEMADE rootbeer.   Yum!  So good!  I'm not sure if we will go next year, maybe if it is not so hot. 
Afterwards we went to Grandma and Grandpa's to eat and to play with glowsticks and glow in the dark balloons...we had a fire bane throughout the whole state.