School news

So I finally heard from the Midwives College of Utah today and I got accepted into the program.  Hooray!  Now I can finally get going with things that have been on hold while I've been waiting to hear back, like getting my apprentice license.  I attended a couple of births last week at the Birth Center, and Elaine the midwife there started teaching me a few things.  It was very exciting to start learning new things.  I know I have a really long way to go, but I love learning and expanding my skills.  It's kinda weird to be a college student again.  It's definitely not going to be the same the second time around.

Christmas lights

So I am very proud of myself.  I hung Christmas lights for the first time this year...all by myself!  It was kinda scary when I was hanging them at the highest part of the roof, but luckily I didn't fall off the ladder.  Now I just need to figure out an easier way to have them turn on and off, cuz I get sick of going out every evening to plug them all in and out.

We went to the Christmas stroll and lights parade last night.  The kids had a lot of fun at the parade.  They collected a lot of candy and got excited about all the lit up floats.  Afterwards, we went home and watched the Grinch on TV and they ate all their candy.  I figured, hey, it's the weekend, it can't hurt, right?

The kids

Here are some pictures of what the kids have been up to.  James is playing indoor soccer.  I don't think he likes it very much.  He obviously stays away from the ball and doesn't even try to kick it unless it is right in front of him.  After a while in the games, he just walks aimlessly around the court and says he's tired of running.  :)  I guess he won't be a professional soccer player.  Sigh.  Just kidding.  He reminds me of me.  I never could get into playing sports when I was young.  I was always confused about the rules and afraid of the ball.  I do want to encourage him to participate in some kind of physical sport in his life, but maybe that will be something like biking or snowboarding rather than organized team sports.  We'll see.  The other pictures are of us at the festival of trees.  It was really fun.  They had lots of rooms with different activities for the kids, and the main room had lots of beautifully decorated trees.  I think this will be something we will do again next year (if we are still living here next Christmas, that is.  Can you believe we are counting down months instead of years until we move again?)

Thanksgiving

Well, I was a dork and forgot the camera during our Thanksgiving dinner, so you'll just have to read about it instead.  It was so nice to have somewhere to go since Jason was working.  Me and the kids and 4 other families and the missionaries gathered at the church for dinner.  We all made food to bring.  I made a 24 pound turkey (the biggest and, might I say, the best I've ever made so far) and stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, and pilgrim hat cookies for the kids.  There was all sorts of yummy food there.  It was  a lot of fun.  We just ate and talked and one of the families brought Wall-E for the kids to watch.  All of us there live far away from our families and so we just became family for each other.  I am so grateful to live by really wonderful people who care so much about each other.  It makes living far away from family bearable.  If any of my Great Falls family (aka my awsome friends) are reading this...I love you!!

Update

I hadn't posted in a while, so I thought I'd update.  Not a lot has happened that is worth mentioning.  I went to Twilight with my friends Shar and Tiffany today.  I definitely love the books more than the movie, but that's not surprising.  It was super fun to get out and spend time with friends without kids, though.  Jason was a sweetheart and stayed with the kids for me.  

I haven't got called in to a birth for the last 2 months when I have been on call.  I am finding that I really miss it when I don't go to a birth for that long.  I really love what I do.  Also, I need to be saving birth money for school, so hopefully I don't have too many more "dry" months like this.  I don't know if any of you watch the Today Show, but they featured doulas last Thursday.  I was pretty disappointed with their segment.  They had a doctor who claimed that doulas are only a luxury for women with means.  That is very much not true, as many doulas work for barter, low fees or for free.  They mentioned a few other things that just put doulas in an unfairly negative light.  I just hope that women who are considering a doula do their homework and don't just take the media word for it.  There, I'll get off my soapbox.

Well, I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving.  I wish we could be with you all.  We miss our friends and family!

Christmas freak

OK, I'm an official Christmas freak.  I've been listening to a Christmas radio station on itunes since 2 days after Halloween.  My kids kept pressuring me to set up our Christmas decorations, so today we set up our Christmas tree.  There are two rows of lights out, though, so now I have the fun duty of going through each light to find out which one has gone bad.  Yeah.  :(  So, I know that whenever friends come over between now and Thanksgiving, they will make fun of me, but oh, well.  Christmas music and lights just make me happy and put me in a good mood, and who doesn't want that?  So, Merry early Christmas everyone.  Plus, since Jason is on alert during Thanksgiving, I am not really excited about that holiday, so I'm simply skipping over it.  :)

Halloween

Halloween is so fun with kids.  They were totally excited all day.  Charlee was a big hit with everyone in her little devil costume.  We took them to the mall to trick or treat, which was pretty crowded and chaotic.  Then we took them around a neighborhood on base.  We hardly got any trick or treaters because our neighborhood is clearing out and they are not moving anyone else in (our houses will be torn down after all the people move out).  So now we have too much extra candy.  Anyway, enjoy the pics.