Catching up!

For those of you who don't already know, I started back to work full time last week. So that explains my absence from our blog lately so I am going to try to do a little catch up because I have lots to share.

Most of you know that I just recently got my insurance license and now I am working full time out of the new district office. I am LOVING it! I have amazing training from our District Manager who works right in my office. It is a lot of information to learn but I really am enjoying it.

This last week has been a huge adjustment for the whole family but I think we are getting the hang of it. To top it off last week Troy's partner was out of town all week (which means double the amount of work for him), Jaycee went to daycare for the first time (which she doesn't particularly care for but is getting use to), Kayden had scouts, Ori had a birthday and we went out to dinner with family that night, then Ori had a birthday party, We made 25 monkey cupcakes for Ori's preschool class on Wednesday, and we made 40 chocolate cupcakes for Ori's daycare class on Thursday, Kayden had Parent Teacher conference, and the boys didn't have school on Friday.

The boys knew how much I had on my plate and decided they wanted to help me. I walked out into the backyard and this is what I found....

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They said, "Mom we want to help you so we are going to rake up all the leaves." They made a pretty good sized pile and decided that was enough for the night. The nice thing about it was they were so proud and the next day our landscaper came and mowed the lawn and blew out our sprinklers and cleaned up all the leaves.

This year for Halloween we decided to just stick around Twin Falls instead of head to Burley/Rupert like we normally do. I must say we definitely missed Grandma Knopp's popcorn balls, but it was still nice. Troy and I got all the kids ready a left the house around 5:30. We first took them to the Kmart parking lot where they have a bunch of camp trailers parked in a big circle and local businesses each have their own trailer and hand out candy. That was nice. Then we hit up a few neighborhoods and then our kids looked at us and said, "We are done. We have enough candy and we are getting tired." Troy and I looked at each other surprised but didn't argue. We finished the night off stopping in at Troy's Dad and Helen's house and went home and watched a movie to end the night. It was very enjoyable.




Then Kayden had his weekly cub scout meeting. His Den leader is so great about having things planned to help them achieve their goals and earn patches. This particular week we visited the Twin Falls police station. The boys thought it was one of our coolest trips yet. We had an officer who showed them around the station and explained everything to them. Then he ended the tour out by his patrol car. The boys all got to take turns sitting in the back and he turned the sirens and lights on too. A couple of the boys finished the evening off by putting their hands on the hood of the car and spreading them. They thought that was so funny!




The kids also got invited to a birthday party at this new place in town called Hop 2 It. They bought the old gymnastics building and turned it into a place for kids to come and play and have parties. It is fixed up really cute and the kids had a great time. It is just completely filled up with a bunch of different bounce toys, slides, and obstacle courses.





Then we also celebrated Ori's birthday. The day before his birthday he got to celebrate his birthday at preschool because he only goes 3 days a week. When he showed up at school they had the birthday flag flying for him. We made monkey cupcakes for him to take for snacks and when I picked him up he was wearing the birthday crown that they make for everyone's birthdays. He was so proud to wear it and wore it for the rest of the night.





That evening Ori got his present for from Grandpa and Grandma Jensen. They had ordered him a pair of insulated coveralls just like his dad's pair. He has been wanting some of these for some time now. Helen found them online and Ori was THRILLED!! He had to instantly put them on and wear them home to show dad and now he wears them all the time!

Then the next day was Ori's actual birthday and he was in charge of taking snacks for daycare. So that morning we made and frosted 40 chocolate cupcakes before we left for the day. That night my parents and my youngest sister Abbie came to town and took Ori out for his birthday and brought his presents for him. They knew they would be unable to make it to his birthday party so they wanted to do something special for him. We went out to eat at Applebees with my parents, Abbie, and the Cederbergs.

On Saturday we had Ori's birthday party at the bowling alley. For some reason Ori had set in his mind that he wanted to go bowling for his birthday and has asked to do that for almost a year now. So we planned the party at the bowling alley and it was a ton of fun. When we got there they had the party table all set up for him with an old bowling pin in the middle with balloons coming off of it.
All of the kids bowled on two lanes and the adults bowled next to them on another lane. It was a ton of fun and even the adults had a good time. The kids got to bowl for an hour and got to enjoy pizza and soda while bowling.

Troy was wearing sandals when we got there so the bowling alley gave him these snazzy socks to wear with bowling pins on them. We had to get a picture of the cute socks! :)













Then they all sat up to the table to enjoy cake while Ori opened up his gifts.

Then each kid received 6 quarters to enjoy the arcade. Grandpa Cantrell was spoiling the kids by buying them rings and glasses that light up.
So there is a little catch up on what we have been up to lately. I am sure I missed a few things but this is still probably the longest post EVER! I take my other test this Saturday......wish me luck! Love you all!