Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this! It is amazing I am getting this post up today when you see how slow I have been to get things up here the last few months. The tree you see is one we purchased at The Festival Of Trees this year which was a charity fundraiser for women & children.

The older two boys woke up at about 6am this morning and Dan had them wait another 30 minutes to go downstairs. After opening presents with my parents who are here for the holidays, I made biscuits and sausage gravy. The adults enjoyed some candy cane coffee and as Oliver is napping right now, we are getting ready to head over to Dan's parent's house to spend some time with his family.

Caleb's Christmas Party

Caleb had his Christmas party at school yesterday and I was one of the parent helpers. The kids got to wear pajamas to school as you can see. They had a gift exchange, enjoyed treats and got to decorate their teacher like a Christmas tree. You can see Caleb's teacher opening her gift from Caleb (the bag I made). She seemed quite pleased as now she said she could put her stuff in the bag instead of taking a box home with her every night.

And While The Parents Are Away....

........ the baby will play!! This picture was taken at grandma and grandpa's house when the boys spent the night, while we were gone for our anniversary. Oliver thought the toilet was the perfect little pond for a duck to play in. I would have to say that ducks and dogs are his favorite animals at this point and he loves to make a quacking sound too! Thanks to grandma for e-mailing me this picture!

Couponing - Another New Hobby/Job

In the last 6 months I have been hearing and reading a lot about "Super Couponing" and how much money you can save. We are on a pretty tight budget in our house and being co-CEO of our house I see it as part of my responsibility to help things run as cost-efficient as possible so I am trying to learn as much as I can. A woman from a neighbouring town has cut her monthly grocery spending from $800 to $200. I am going to be having a couponing class this week so I can learn all the ins and outs. I have spent the last couple weeks collecting coupons and have completed 2 successful trips of couponing. In the top picture I spend $52.31 and saved $93.01 in coupons and in the second picture I spent $60 and saved $93.67 in coupons. Crazy isn't it? There are some real techniques and work involved, but it is well worth the pay off and it feels like a real accomplishment.

My New Sewing Room!

Here is my new sewing room! Putting this room together was Dan's gift to me for our 10 year anniversary. He put the counter and shelf in for me and brought the cabinets in on each end for storage. I love it and the area is already getting some good use. Caleb calls it my "sewing center".

Halloween

I know I am a couple of weeks late getting around to posting about Halloween, but when you read my next couple posts you will understand why I have been busy.

So here are the boys on Halloween. Oliver had a little difficulty getting used to walking in the bee costume. The bee costume has now been worn by all 3 boys! The weather was incredible. It was the warmest Halloween of trick or treating we have ever had. The boys went around grandma's neighbourhood, trunk or treat at the church and then Caleb, Elton and I went around our neighbourhood.

There's A 7 Year Old In The House!

Today Caleb turned 7! He is such a big boy now. On Saturday he had some friends and his cousins over to help him celebrate. They played in the back yard, did pin the tail on the donkey and had a pinata full of treats. They were a great group of kids and it was so amazing that as we finished singing Happy Birthday, Caleb's school friends proceeded right into singing "God's Blessings".

Today Caleb was looking forward to getting called up on stage at assembly for his birthday and also took cookies to share with his classmates. He received the crown at school and also insisted on wearing his new 3D glasses for his picture. His favorite gift was getting to go pick out a Nintendo DS in cobalt blue that he used money he had been saving his money for, for about 9 months along with birthday money he received from Nana & Papa Jack and mom & dad chipping in the rest. Then on Sunday I made him a case for it.

Caleb is really growing into a smart little boy. To hear how well he reads is something else. A few weeks ago he announced to me that he wasn't reading anymore story books and was only going to be reading "chapter" books from then on. He is currently reading his first "Hardy Boys" book. He loves math, is doing well on his spelling and memorizing a weekly bible verse for his teacher. He is eager and excited for all the new challenges of a 1st grader. He also loves entertaining Oliver and being the biggest brother in the house.

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

Fall Days

Last week was Elton's field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. He got to ride the schoolbus for his first time while Oliver and I met him there. He got to pick out a pumpkin to take back to school and decorate.

After we got home I pulled out our kiddie swimming pool and filled it with leaves for the boys to play in. As you can see, Mimi thought the leaves were pretty fun too!

Oliver at 15 months old!

Oliver was 15 months old yesterday! Over the last month he has perfected his walking skills. About a month ago he would take 3 or 4 steps on his own. Then, a couple of weeks ago we took the boys to Chuckie Cheese's the day after my iLasik and this was enough motivation for him to take 5-6 steps on his own between activities. A few days later he bacame a full time walker and hasn't looked back since! You can see how he looks at the world in a whole new way and is eager to conquer it. He has 2 older brothers and a puppy to keep up with you know! Just this morning he climbed on top of the train table. Watch out world here he comes!

Elton Then & Now!

Do you remember Elton's discovery of the dog door with the help of Bingo? Well not a lot has changed. If it gets quiet in the house and you are looking for Elton, it usually means he has gone out the dog door to play in the back yard. He also comes back in this way. Telling him he is not a dog has not improved the situation. In fact, then he just goes around the house on all fours pretending he is a dog!

10 Years!

October 8th marked our 10 year anniversary! It seems like the time has flown by. Last weekend we dropped the boys off with Grandpa and Grandma Bonnes and headed to Boise overnight. It has been over 1 1/2 years since Dan and I had a night away without kids so we were really excited. We had a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot which is a fondue restaurant. We had a 3 course fondue dinner and it was wonderful! We had never been there before, but had heard many great things about it and were not disappointed.

We stayed at the Anniversary Inn in their Egypt room. When we got back from dinner we each enjoyed a 1hour massage. They were able to come to our room and just set up their massage tables which was really nice. In the morning they brought us our breakfast and then we picked up a coffee for the road trip home. We had a great time getting away!

I Can See Clearly Now........

....without contact lenses or glasses! Yesterday was the big day. Dan, the boys and I drove to Boise and I went to Restore Vision for my lasik. I mention their name because I would totally recommend them. This is all they do and obviously is their specialty. I had their intralase wave procedure that means it is the bladeless procedure that is done custom to your eye. There is no room for human error in cutting your flap as their machine does it. While I was told to not even begin to expect to start to see clearly until today, my vision was pretty clear by last evening. When I went in this morning for my post -op exam to get cleared for driving and to come home, my vision was better than he expected. It is so weird and yet totally amazing that I can see without putting something in or on my eyes. I have needed eye glasses since 5th grade!

Royal Rangers

Caleb started Royal Rangers a few weeks ago on Wednesday evenings. Elton started too, but he is considered a Rainbow. Caleb was very proud to receive his first 2 badges last night for on his vest!

Going To The Movies!

So three weeks ago (I know I am late posting this), Oliver and I were in the grocery store after taking Caleb and Elton to school when my phone rang. When I answered I heard "Hello, is this Shelley Bonnes?". When I answered yes I heard "This is name of local radio announcer. Do you know why I am calling you?" My response was that I hoped I had won something. I was right and I won their Summer Showcase giveaway. I won $3000 dollars in Cinema Cash! You can imagine my shock. Here I was standing in the middle of the grocery store not wanting to freak out and also thinking that I was live on the radio! My one memorable comment that I made was after they told me to consider this their stimulus package to me. I have to preface this by saying that the radio station is our local conservative talk radio station. This was my opportunity so I told them how I appreciated their stimulus package alot more than Obama's. This is the clip that you now here them playing over and over on the radio! This means many family outings and date nights to the movies!! It also means that the boys can enjoy movie treats from the concession stand as the cinema cash is good for movies or concessions. They are totally excited and enjoyed a big bucket of popcorn at their first movie with our winnings. The pictures above show what $3000 of cinema cash looks like.

Oliver's First Haircut

Oliver had his first haircut today! He is the first baby in the house to need a haircut before the age of 2. Caleb and Elton were pretty much bald at this stage of the game. He was a little restless, but did excellent for his first time. I guess he has seen how his brothers get a sucker when they are done their haircuts and was eager for one too!