Oooooppppsss!

The link below is supposed to be www.pinchingyourpennies.com

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I just wanted to tell all of you, my family and friends, Happy Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving! It is my favorite holiday....mostly because it's all the best things of Christmas without near the stress. You get all the great food, to see family and friends, you're in a major giving spirit and I don't have to worry about presents! I love the colors and the smells of Thanksgiving, everything being so warm and comforting. I just pulled a pumpkin crisp out of the oven and it smells soooooo good. I really try not to think too much about Christmas until after the weekend of Thanksgiving. Speaking of Christmas though, we are really making some changes. I love getting lots of gifts for my children and everyone else, but no one really NEEDS most of that stuff, so we are implementing a new gift law in our little family. This a great idea I got from my former visit teaching partner. We give just 5 gifts to each other. 1. Need 2. Want 3. Family 4. Spiritual and 5. Santa. Need, want and Santa are pretty explanatory. For the family one we draw names between each other, put a $ limit on it and that's it. The spiritual one I like. I'm looking at scripture stickers for Sierra, activity books for Grace and books for sacrament meeting that Joe and Em can read and keep them occupied and kind of still. The stockings will still be filled with treats and they'll get their pajamas for Christmas Eve like they do every year. With the other things they get from extended family and grandparents, they'll will definitely have plenty! Anyway, for those of you who HATE going to town to Christmas shop you should check out www.pinchingyoupennies.com It is a wonderful site that will check local stores for sale on groceries and other things you need, seperate them, rate them, help you find coupons if they are needed and more. You can also sign up for their Screaming Deals e-mail and it will tell you which sites online are having great sales, free shipping, etc. I know I will do as much online shopping as I possibly can! Anyway, I really hope everyone has a Wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Family Pics

Finally got our new family pics done last weekend!

We went up to my dad's farm to have these done.

They turned out great...Thanks MOM!!

Bit off more than I can chew...but still pressing forward.

Today I had the grand idea, since the kids were home, to deep clean the house and rearrange things, put halloween stuff away and start working on Christmas stuff. Well, I got started. I definitely did Not get near as much done as I wanted, but that is nothing new. It took a lot longer than I expected to move the furniture around in the front room. There are not many ways I can do it, but I'm pretty sure I tried every thing that I could, or least thought of. Not to mention I got a workout. Nothing in my front room is light! But I did get it to a place I don't mind for now. All I could really think though while I was moving everything was how much I would love to have some new furniture! Oh well, that's not happening anytime soon. I did get the front room done, Grace and Joe's room done and the kitchen kinda clean.....at least all the dishes are done! That's huge, especially since the only dishwasher I have it me! Tomorrow I will get more done, but not much. I need to go to I.F. and Rexburg, plus be back by 4 so Sierra can go to violin then Grace and Sierra go to dance. One thing I'm really happy about is that we finally got family pics done this weekend, that's why I have to go to Rexburg....I need to pick them up from my mom. I will put some up as soon as I get them. Time to keep pressing forward, need to finish dinner.

Will wonders never cease?

I found out last night that my husband is trying to set up a get together with my friends for my birthday. I was kinda surprised by that. My husband is wonderful and loving and a great guy, but he is not one to take the initiative and do something special for me for my birthday. He usually needs a lot of prodding if I decide there is something in particular I want to do. I don't know if he's just trying to do something for me just because I'm going to turn 30 or if it's because he wants to go hunting more because it's the last weekend or if he really just does love me and wants to be and celebrate with me. It's probably a combination of all 3. I know I should just sit back and enjoy it, but I have a hard time with that. I'm used to being the one to make the plans and figure out what we're going to do and I have sort of a hard time not doing it at all. I usually try to have Gary involved in making plans and doing things, but most of the time he is completely content to let me make all of the decisions and I guess I've really gotten used to having that role in our marriage. Writing this down and reading it makes me really think I sound kind of like a control freak, which I'm not, I don't think, but every so often he does this and it just kind of throws me off and kind of takes me out of my comfort zone. Man, I know I had issues, but who knew I would figure them out and kinda self medicate on a blog! I think that's why I really enjoy this. I get to sort out my million mile an hour jumbled thoughts and write them down and sort through them. Now I'm starting to feel like I'm rambling, so I'm going to stop. ;)

Girl's Night Out!

I am really looking forward to tonight! Once a month a bunch of ladies from my ward.....well my old ward since it was split about a month ago....we meet up about 8:30 p.m., after we've settled our families in for the night, and go to Applebee's to have drinks, food and girl talk! I love it. We usually have about 15 ladies there every month, and they are not always the same ones. It is so much fun to get out with other women and just relax and laugh and have a guilt free night out. I know I get caught up in my schedule and even if I do have free time, I don't always call someone or visit someone like I probably should, I am such a homebody most days, but every once in awhile it is so nice to get out without any kids and just get to have an adult conversation! Especially when it's with a bunch of ladies like the group I go with. They are all so fun and nice...most of us have many things in common and you can't get most of us to shut up when we are there. Plus with that many people you end up listening or involved in 2, 3 or more conversations at a time.....it's great! If any of you don't have a group like this, I suggest or INSIST that you get one going. Just pick a time and place....you don't have to go out anywhere, just start at your house and have someone volunteer for the next month. It's so worth it and you really get to know the ladies the live around you so much better. When you go to church you don't really get to much of a chance to just "visit", so take the initiative to meet or get to know some ladies around you better and make some lasting friendships and create a great support group for youself. Everyone needs a shoulder every now and then, and when you have more options the more likely you are to find someone who really understands and can be there for you.

Niki's Family Tree

Hhhmmmppphhhh

Most days I wish I could just go back to sleep after I get Gary up and out the door. I get up about 4:40 a.m. and get his lunch together and make sure he has what he needs and get him out the door, but by the time I crawl back into bed my mind is already racing 100 miles an hour. I have a hard time tuning myself out and just relaxing. I'm usually starting to doze off about 10 minutes before the alarm goes off again to get the girls up and ready for school. Most days it's just not worth trying to go back to sleep I think, although I'd really wish that I could!

More pics

Joe had a bad day! This pic tells it all!

Sierra is turning into a young lady way too fast!

Grace loves to pose for pictures!

Emma loved me taking her picture today!!

My Girls

We haven't been able to get family pics yet, so I went out in the yard and took some pictures of my girls. I couldn't convince the boys at all. Joe was not happy with me today.....I made him get his hair cut! Anyway, we got some really cute pics of my girls! Grace and Emma wanted to keep taking pictures...Sierra had fun, but is not really comfortable with being in front of the camera. Grace and Em were a bunch of hams, but I got a lot of cute pics because of it!

Updating

I really hate updating my computer! It seems like every time I get on some program needs updated before I can use it....and it's always the one I really want to use right now! Ugh. I know that it's one of those necessary evils so that everything works better, faster and correctly, but some days I just want to do something quickly and then it ends up being a bigger chore and taking longer than I wanted to spend on it. I know that it is something little that really shouldn't bother me....but this morning it kinda does. Oh well.....I guess I'll let my computer sit and "work" while I do something else for awhile.

My new blog

Okay, I've started a new blog. Not too much went on with my old one, hopefully I'll do better with this one. I've been having fun trying to set it up and getting it looking cute. I'll probably change it, not a lot, but every few months. I hope I can keep it kinda interesting, but there are not guarantees!