Mia's 4th Bday

My sweet little Mia Grace turned 4 this week. Man how time flies. It's hard ot believe my little spider monkey is 4 years old. She was so excited, she has been asking how much longer until her birthday since Kaitlyn's Bday in May. We've kept the Bday's small this year and just done a family party for each of the kiddos. I've really enjoyed it and I think they have, too. We wake up early and the girls put on the special BDay Boa and we open their gifts. Then, they get to pick dinner and we have a special dessert. For her Bday, Mia got to pick lunch too since she's not in school. So, we woke up, did presents, had lunch at Pizza Hut, dessert at Baskin Robbins, dinner at McDonalds (her choice) and yummy Costco Cupcakes to top off the day. She really enjoyed getting to be in charge for the day and took full advantage of it. She even tried to keep that feeling going for a few days after =). Here are some Bday pics. Enjoy!









Dear Mia,
I just want you to know how much we love you and that we are so proud of you. You are such a sweet little princess. You have the most caring heart and you are always such a good helper. Whenever someone needs help you are always there ready to lend a hand. You are growing into such a beautiful young lady. You are also our silly little monkey and you tell the funniest knock knock jokes. "Knock, Knock Who's There? Banana Banana Who? Banana Sillyhead!!!" We love you to pieces and can't wait to see what this year holds for you. We love you Princess Mia!

Halloween

This year Halloween wasn't as extravagant as it usually is for us, it was actually pretty calm. I was also thankful that the two big girls fit into their costumes from last year and I keep the costumes so we only have to buy a new one for the oldest and one for the boy.
The night before Halloween we went to a Fall Festival at the church we've visited a few times. The kids had fun and they love getting to dress up more than once. The next day for Halloween we went over to the Krieg's for their Halloween party. So, the kids trick-or-treated in their neighborhood and then played for awhile while the adults watched the baseball game. It was a fun Halloween.
Jude's costume on Halloween night (I think he wore it all of 10 min)

Jude's costume for the Fall Festival

Mia as Snow White

Kaitlyn as the Gangster Girl

Emma as Double Trouble

Quick 101 Things Update

Ok, so I have been working on my list of 101 Things. Here is a quick update on what I've gotten done/started since Oct.
-I have printed out our Passport stuff and gotten it all filled out. Just need to make some copies, get pics and save up the $$ (we'll probably get that all done after we get the baby paid off)
-We start the monthly Bible verses this month
-We've been keeping up with our chores. The kids are doing a good job of cleaning up when asked (they do whine, but they do it). I've been keeping our bed made, filing has been kept up with, sticking to budget, the laundry stays up to date and our dresser has been clean.
- We are still working on the baby name. Sometimes we have to take breaks from the discussion b/c they can get pretty heated
-Almost done reading The Home Experience
-signed us all up for Huffing for Stuffing in Billings on Thanksgiving, so 5K #1 here I come (I will be in week 33, so I will be walking this one)
-I've been getting some quiet time which is nice-along with some nice bubble baths
-been baking (crockpot yogurt, freezer apple pies for 2)
-cutting out internet for 4 days a month has worked, but been pretty hard-it's amazing what we rely on the net for
-hanging out with the kiddos- movie night, game night and playground
-Working on reading half my booklist

Pumpkin Patch

Well,this year we went to the local pumpkin patch so the kids could pick out some pumpkins. It was fun, they really enjoyed getting to pick their pumpkins and help me find corn and gourds for our cornucopia. Then, we went home and decorated them with sharpies (that way they don't rot so fast and I don't have to mess with pumpkin goo). It was a lot of fun, but I think next year we are going to try a patch a few towns over to go pick them in the field. Enjoy the pics-

Wordless Wednesday

September Bday Pics

See Sept. post- September Birthdays- for info. Here are pics

Emma's 6th Bday



Emma's Bday cookies


Emma's Bday outfit from us


Jarrod's Bday Card


Inside of card


Fire and Ice cupcakes

The Fancher Rundown

Ok, so far this month has been pretty busy so here's our rundown so far-

The kids: The "big" kids are really loving school and getting into the swing of things. They make their "freezer" sandwiches for the week on Sunday afternoon and they also get out all their clothes for the week and put them in the shoe hanger in their bathroom. This has made the mornings much smoother. The "little" ones are enjoying their time at home with Mommy and especially love Mondays b/c it's Daddy's day off. They do get very excited when the "big" ones get back from school. We've been trying to stay on top of our chores, but b/c it totally takes my breath away to go up and down the stairs 22 times a day to check up on the "pick up before you get something else out rule" (so we don't have a tornado in the rooms) they've kind of taken advantage of that one. But, other than that they have been pretty good. We are working on telling the truth with the oldest. When will she realize that we KNOW everything and she just can't get away with it? Little Bubba has most definitely started the terrible 2s. He got put into the "Time Out Corner" yesterday. He screamed bloody murder, but he stayed for his minute. Little Mia thinks she is 12, but she is a sweetie. Ems loves school, but she has followed in the oldest's footsteps with the Kindergarten drama. When I say drama I mean DRAMA. Everything brings on the tears or the angry face. Yesterday Mia's book almost touched her arm and you would've thought someone ran her arm over with a car.

Mommy and Daddy: We have been extra busy- doing taxes, straightening up the house, trying to figure out sleep situations for when the baby comes and trying to come up with a name for our newest addition. Daddy has been really busy with work, but he enjoys it, so that's good. Mommy has been busy getting the house straightened up and keeping up with her 101 things in 1001 days list. It's been nice to have the list b/c it's been keeping me on top of things and sort of forcing me to make some me time. The "me" time has been nice b/c I usually don't get any of that at all. We did a lot of canning and I've been doing quite a bit of baking. I love to bake this time of year. Right now I'm waiting on my crockpot yogurt to finish culturing.

Baby: I have reached the 26 week mark, so 14 weeks left to go. Our newest little buddy is a mover and a shaker. We are still working on names. Talk about stress. I get winded quite easily. Dr. appt today- we'll probably do the normal sit for 30 min. and then hear the heartbeat and then leave.

Family: we went to the apple orchard and got tons of apples-we ate a bunch and canned the rest. We went fishing. We still need to hit the pumpkin patch-maybe next week. It has been super cold. We got about 2 inches of snow last Fri. We have got to find some fun stuff to do when stranded at home in the cold, frigid weather. We all get bored fairly quickly. we did the library yesterday which was an adventure.

I will update with some pics later this afternoon. I think that's all we've been up to.