Bring on HaLlOwEeN!!

We're kicking off the Halloween Festivities here in the Ferguson House. We have been busy decorating all week. This is one of my most favorite times of the year! And I feel like we can't find enough fun stuff to do!! We have all of our costumes ready (well not Daddy's yet). To start off the beginning of October (a day early), we had Halloween Movie & Popcorn afternoon. It was fun. We watched Elmo Says Boo, Clifford's Halloween, and A Playhouse Disney Halloween. I popped popcorn for the kiddos, and put them in these festive cupcake papers. We are so excited! Bring on HaLloWeEn!!

A Letter From Uncle David

We are preparing for baptism in this house right now. I am so excited, and can't wait to share that day with Preston. My brother, David, who is serving a mission sent a letter home for Preston. It really touched my heart, and I broke down into tears reading it to him. I just wanted to share it, the message behind it was so uplifting. And so perfectly written for an 8 year old to understand.

Preston,
Hey Buddy. How are you doing? I can't believe you are turning 8. Well you already have, but it's so awesome you have chosen to be baptized. I'm so proud of you kid. The choice you are making now will bless you the rest of your life. Your Heavenly Father is so proud of you, for the choice you are making now, that you are going to enter the waters of baptism. You will get the gift of the Holy Ghost and have him with you to help you make good choices. Your baptism is making a promise to God. Like God does with every promise, he gives us blessings, this one is the Holy Ghost. Preston, I am so so proud of you. You are so lucky to have the chance to be baptized at 8. I baptize people who are older, like Mommy's and Daddy's. They haven't had the gospel in their lives, and they aren't happy. Then people introduce them to our church, they get baptized, and find that missing happiness. The whole reason I am on my mission is to help people do what you are preparing to do. You are becoming a big kid now, and have to make sure you're choosing the right. The Holy Ghost can only be with you if you are being good. So make sure you listen to your teachers, help your Mom and Dad, and be a good kid. I think you should make spiritual goals for your life, even though you're young. Like to serve a mission or graduate from seminary. You will remember your baptism day the rest of your life. I still remember mine. The warm tingly feeling you get, well that's Heavenly Father and Jesus telling you they love you, and are so proud of you. That what you're doing is right. The bad guys are going to try to make you feel bad, and not be happy. But the good guys will always want you to choose the right. So make sure you are on the right side! That way you can be happy, and be close to Heavenly Father.
I love you, Preston. Choose the right!!
Love,
Elder/ Uncle David Dennison

Getting "Knot"-y!!

I am enjoying this new hair fixin' hobby of mine. So today's "do"...KNOTS!!

It's way easy, and cute. Wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea...but it isn't mine. :/ So here is a tutorial, and the "mind" behind it:

Tootin' my own horn!!

At the beginning of July, I decided it was time to take the plunge on getting a healthier lifestyle. So I started the Healthy Challenge. It has been over the 6 weeks, that I committed too. However, I have tried to continue to incorporate it into my daily life. First of all, I am so NOT perfect about the rules. Second, I didn't follow it 100%. Third, Despite my short comings, I have made a conscious effort. Fourth, it's still a work in progress and I have a lot further to go. BUT-- after talking with some people through the past week or so I thought...hmmm maybe I should weigh in (I don't like the numbers) so I did, and then I thought...hmmm maybe I should measure myself.

Moment of truth...

I have lost a total of 16lbs., and 15 inches all together. (That's 15 inches total, measuring from all over different areas of my body...with my Thighs being the winner at a whopping' 3 inches smaller.)

So-- I am still continuing on my journey with trying to loose all the weight I want too. I am so proud of myself though. I pray, I can continue to keep going, and keep following the rules. So I can meet my goal. This is so much harder then I ever thought it would be!! Especially with all these dang holidays coming up.

I have noticed I cannot eat as much anymore. My desire for sugar, and coke isn't as bad--most days. When I do have sugar, I feel icky (maybe that's the guilt). I have more energy when I work out.

Eileen’s Wedding

My Sister-in-law, Eileen, got married Saturday! We had a good time. Weddings are always hard with 4 small kids, and we had a big assignment, but we survived. Here are some things about our day.

Addy’s hair: Since she was a flower girl, I was going to take her to get her hair done, but I ran out of time, and had to do it myself. I think it turned out really pretty. I put it in a tight ponytail, then pulled pieces of the ponytail into Hot Sticks. I then clipped flowers up into it to create a fancy bun look. I think it turned out pretty cute. It stayed in most of the day—which was my goal.

This was the Canopy that Clint built: So talk about a  project!! I don’t think that either one of us realized what a pain this cute little canopy was going to be. Clint has amazing talent, and I have great shopping skills… the total for this was $50.00. Eileen asked Clint to make this for her, and I think it turned out really pretty. It did have a few complications, and now that we have done it once, we will know exactly what to do different next time. It really was a neat, and a pretty thing to get married under.                                    COUSINS: Really do I need to say more?! We love our cousins. The kids all have sooo much fun together. We couldn’t have asked for better cousins, and best friends. It makes us sad sometimes that we live so far from them. Such cute kids!!

My favorite picture of the whole wedding, is the “Silly Face Flower Girls”. These girls did a great job!! And I owe them ICE CREAM. (I didn’t forget, Aubree :]) Daddy-Daughter Dance: There is something about a “Daddy-Daughter Dance” That just gets my emotions flowing!! Um, probably the fact that I am 100% Daddy’s girl!! I love this picture. I love that my girls love their Daddy.                                     Tyson Catching The Garter: He said, “What do I do with this?” We told him it was just silly, and made him give it away. Wedding Photography: I will admit, I like to pretend that I am a professional photographer. Okay, really I know I’m not. I did however sneak in a few cute shots of my kiddos. I love taking pictures of my kids, and especially when they are all dressed up cute. So here are a few of my favorites!

Being “8” is great!

Preston turned 8 today! We decided to keep this year low key (since we have a baptism coming up), and have a fun family day. We spent the day at the Zoo (see the previous post). It was a blast, we had a great time. We ended our day at Chili’s. It’s one of Preston’s favorite places to eat. He ordered his favorite thing, BBQ Ribs. He even got a free chocolate shake. We opened presents there. Preston got lot’s of Zhu Zhu things, a Rocket Ship/Alien set, a DS game, and some cool science things. He is very into that right now. He has even decided he will grow up to be a scientist. :)  We hope you had a great birthday, P!! We love you!

HogLe Zoo!!

Train rides, the carousel, family fun, eating, seeing all the animals, cupcakes for Preston, and a great day! We even ended up getting a membership, and can’t wait to go back!

Catchin' up...(the past couple weeks)

-I have been so stressed lately, and I think it has to do a lot with the new schedule that this year brings me. The KINDERGARTEN schedule make me nuts. I am sure we will survive-- we always do. In the mean time though, it has caused major headaches. I think I even have stressed myself sick! I spent the past weekend, and 1/2 the week in bed with Strep Throat. We are pretty sure I had tonsillitis with that too. I have never had it that bad before. I couldn't do anything. So I had 6 kids (yes, I was babysitting for 5 days strait) and strep! EEk. Not so fun. I am feeling better, other then this leftover cold, and just figured I would try and do some journal/blogging.
-We went to our first Cub Scout Pack Meeting. It was very fun. I spent the majority of the time in the hall with the "out of control children". I felt like such a looser Mom for Preston. He didn't have a uniform, and I wasn't even in there to enjoy the time with him. I think next Pack Meeting I am bringing our Portable DVD player, and locking the other 3 in the nursery.
-Later in the week, a friend of mine gave me not 1, but 2 cub scout shirts. I was so excited! I couldn't bring myself to pay $40.00 for a shirt! So now Preston will have a uniform! YAY!
-We inherited a new dinning room table. I am so excited about it. It's old, and could use some refinishing (another day), but I cannot wait to sit around the table and have dinner with my family!!
-Kaitlon has FINALLY started walking. (I will have a separate blog post with this, once I get around to it.)
-My kids are so excited for Halloween, that we decorated the back door early. We almost have all our costumes too!
-One of my favorite things about teaching, is making up fun bulletin boards or doors. I just had to take a couple pictures of some fun things I did for the classroom. Right now I am working with the babies. #1-So I could be with Kaitlon (she's moved on now, though), and #2-So I don't have to work full time. It can be challenging to do things with little ones. This is what I came up with though...
I love the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. So I created the door to look like the front cover of the book.

The horses are the babies hand prints, and I made the cowgirls with my cricut machine.

Cub Scouts

Preston is now officially a Cub Scout. He has been anxious for this opportunity. Today was his first activity. They learned how to do a Flag Ceremony. He is so excited to get a shirt!! I am hoping we can find one that doesn't cost us a fortune! :)

Last Weekend of August, and our Lazy Labor Day Weekend

I am really falling behind here. Here is a little catch up.

The last weekend of August brought excitement and craziness, as my life usually does. We spent Saturday the 28th in Lehi, running around doing errands, babysitting, Clint's 1st day of school, at a Birthday Party, and a Bridal Shower. Yes, that was all in one day! It was a pretty exhausting day. Then after my SIL Bridal Shower, a few of us spent the evening cutting out 250 boxes. They're thank yous filled with Hershey's Hugs & Kisses. They turned out fun. It was also fun to visit, and get to see how the Cricut Design Studio works. (I gotta get one of those!) Then Sunday the 29th was fun, relaxing, enjoyable...UNTIL... the basement flooded. :/

Okay, so it wasn't that bad!! It did however leave me with one HUGE mess. It was bad enough that in my moment of panic and crying, my husband ended up calling some Brethren in our Ward to come help. THANK GOODNESS, too! It ended up ruining lot's of the carpet padding. Which had to be taken out. Then I had to dry the carpet with fans for 3 days, it made it nearly impossible to get anything done around here. I am so grateful for awesome ward members. Especially those who go out of their way to help me when Clint isn't here. It really means a lot. A big thank you to them.

Due to the basement mess our LABOR DAY WEEKEND was a bore! *Yawn* Friday & Saturday left Clint re-laying padding. With him so busy doing that, Mommy had to keep the kids away. We tried to find something to entertain ourselves with. The best we could do was an afternoon movie, and lunch with Grammie. The children enjoyed the movie. However, I spent 3/4 of the movie in the hall with Kaitlon. Which made me grumpy, and tired. I don't think I will do that again for a while. After a quick Saturday dinner, Clint let me sneak out to see a movie with my brother. That was a nice break. On Labor Day, we didn't do anything. We just caught up on laundry, dishes, and housework. It was a very boring, but nice day. Our carpet is back together again, too!!

Tyson goes to Kindergarten…

My “Woogie” started Kindergarten today! He was so big and brave. Not like last week at Back to School Night, when I thought he may seriously throw up. (He was very nervous.) I was able to leave work early to be there for this momentous occasion.  I was so happy to be able to take a picture at his desk, and make sure he knew what he was doing. It was awesome! When we pulled up to the school, I told Tyson to lead the way. He went right to class, he knew right where to go, and what to do!! I can already tell he will love it. He told me all about reading the book “The Kissing Hand”, and how he played with animals. And hey, 2 kids in school, I think I’m gonna love this. :)

We had a celebration dinner for Back to School. Then did HOMEWORK! I tried to be funny. I told Preston, “April showers bring May flowers, and back to school brings homework.”  He just gave me that, ‘You are SO weird’ look.

Oh, on another note, I managed to fight back the tears this year. That’s right! Me, the person that cries over Johnson & Johnson baby commercials, managed not to cry. I was very proud of myself. I hope we can survive this year, and these crazy kindergarten schedules!