A day in the backyard

We are getting ready to head out to Utah and I have a lot of work to do before we go. First on the agenda today was find the backyard. It was totally COVERED in leaves, leaves, leaves. I am so thankful my Dad got us a blower for Christmas a few years ago. While we were trying to corral the leaves, the kids thought it would be fun to play in them and scatter them all over again. Frustrating but cute so I whipped out the camera.

Peter LOVES his Daddy and wants to do everything that Daddy does. So here he is with his little "mower" helping Dad. I love this toddler stage. It seems that everything they do is cute and funny.

Brennen was telling me that he slept on my bedroom floor last night because Ellie and William kept waking him up. And then "his eyes were broken because he couldn't see and so that's why he was in my room." His little voice was so full of inflection it was hilarious.
So I chuckled and let him know he was a funny kid. He replied with gusto "YA I Am!!!!" Oh to have the confidence of a 3yr old.

Homemade Christmas

This year for Scott's family we are doing and old fashioned homemade Christmas. We thought since everyone is tight on funds it could be fun and interesting to see what we come up with. The goal is to have it cost next to nothing.
So here's what I came up with. Scarfs for the kids because I already had the fleece and felt. I just had to come up with the ideas for the applique's . The girls also got headbands with felt flowers. A bracelet for Scott's sister Tracie. The one that took the longest is a family tree for Scott's mom. It took a while to cut and stitch each leave and then to track down the pictures but I think it turned out cute.

small miralces

I just wanted to testify that the Lord does love us and here our prayers.
Scott recently got his commission cut and work has not been abundant. This leaves for a very stressed, penny pinching Stringham family. So I have been doing all I can to be as frugal as possible but we still end up short. So in my morning prayers I told the Lord everything that was weighing on my heart. I felt a little better and went about my day. First thing on my list was grocery shopping. Trying to decide what we need and what we can do without. As I went to reach for the laundry detergent on the shelf, their happened to be a coupon cut from the paper for the soap I was intending to buy. My heart filled with with joy. For in that coupon was an answer to my prayers.
Now I realize a $2 off coupon is not going to make any great changes in my bill. But it was like the lord was saying "I am here. I hear you."
I know the Lord is there for us and he works by small and simple means. I am so grateful for all the ways he blesses me and my family.

Merry Christmas to All

Williams birthday lunch

Usually we take the kids out to Dinner for their birthday. This time we took William out to lunch. We went to Jonny Rockets where they treated the kids like celebrities.
Afterwards we walked around the mall. They had a lot of stuff going on so it was fun. They had free gingerbread house decorating, a ride on train, a outdoor fire ring, and some dancing waters. The kids loved the dancing water. (fountain) All but Ellie got soaked. All I could think about was, " Are you sure its December? ) It 's 80 degrees and my kids are playing in the fountain at the mall. It sure is hard for me to get in the Christmas spirit when the weather is sooooo nice. I guess I shouldn't complain. Its just hard for me to get used to.

Nerf Party

For Williams 7th birthday we did a "Nerf" party. I went very low key with his party this year because I was so busy with so many other things.

And yes this party was way under my $50 budget.

All who were invited were welcome to bring their own nerf guns for the battle with no more than 4 bullets. I only allowed 4 because I could afford to replace 4 for each kid if they got lost.
I got a couple of big cardboard boxes from an appliance center (for free) These were for the kids to hide behind during the battle. I bought 14 helmets and the dollar store. I got 7 of each color so we could have teams and not get confused. The most expensive thing was the nerf darts. I bought 80 extra darts.
I gathered all our nerf guns for those who didn't have one. I was a little embarassed to see that I had a whole tote full of nerf weaponry, but what do you expect when you have 3, actually 4 boys.
Food was your standard pizza, chips, and juice boxes.
For games we did some target practice, an obstacle course, but the favorite was a few rounds of capture the flag. The kids LOVED it. they wanted to play again and again and again. I had to break it up so they could eat cupcakes and open presents.
The cupcakes were not done well but I seriously ran out of time. So I copped out and just tried to do the Nerf logo on them. I know its sloppy but I was against the clock.
After that was done they had an all out Nerf war. They couldn't have been happier.
Well Happy Birthday My sweet little William I can't believe your 7. Its been a joy to have you in our family.

decorating

I do love Christmas but who doesn't. I keep trying to get the feel of Christmas inside my house with decorating because it sure doesn't get that way outside. Its been 75-80 degrees all week. ( I thought this was supposed to be December?) Maybe there is something to this "global warming thing"
One decoration I don't have is a Santa Claus, and that is done on purpose.
Now I am not opposed to Santa I just feel like the rest of the world has that covered. I want my children to make sure they know the true meaning of Christmas.

new camera

I was just trying out my new cameras different settings. Hoping to get a few good pics of my kids. Not awesome but not horrible. I think it would work better if I had someone else do them. Kids are just better for other people. I almost had to pull Williams teeth to even get him outside and look in my general direction. (I was trying to get some pics of him because he never wants his picture taken.) I could only get 1 of Ellie before she lost patience.
I do love it when you can catch their personalities.