Fun in New Mexico

For Thanksgiving, this year, we didn't something different. Usually we get together with Family & have Turkey & the fixin's. But this year we decided to go to Angel Fire, New Mexico to my aunt & uncle's cabin. They have an awesome cabin, in the mountains. We had just a blast! We will definately go back to visit often.

Here is thier cabin!



We drove over to Red River, New Mexico, about 30 min. away to go sledding. We had so much fun. We were planning on going sledding 1 day & skiing another day, but since we all had so much fun we ended up sledding 2 days & decided to wait to teach the kids to ski until Sierra is a little bigger.
Since we had 3 sleds the girls all raced each other! Sierra won - I guess being the smallest her sled went faster!


Then the boys raced! Brayden won that race!



My kids LOVED the snow! We have never really lived anywhere, while we have children, were it snows much. They couldn't get enough of it. At home they hate wearing alot of cloths, but they all buddled up & stayed out as long as mommy could handle it.



The first thing Sierra did when we got to the snow was make a snow Angel. All she could talk about before we left for New Mexico was that she wanted to go to the Snowy Mountains & make a snow Angel. I guess she heard that on Dora?? And she did! As soon as she got out of the car she headed for the snow & laid down to make her Snow Angel!

The day before we left it warmed up to 55 degrees(which I guess felt warm to them since the low each day was about 10 degrees with a high of about 25 to 30), so the kids shed their coats & went out & built a fort out of fallen trees. They had so much fun they didn't want to get in the car the next day to go home. That is one thing they miss about TN is being outdoors exploring all the time. So, they were definately in their element out in nature in New Mexico.

My uncle took us to a cave, close to their house, where legend goes Billy the Kid & his gang use to hide out. It was fun exploring the cave & thinking that Billy the Kid use to hide out their!

One day while we were their we went hiking in the mountain that their cabin sits on. It was so much fun exploring. The girls gave out early & I took them back to the cabin while Bryan & the boys climbed to the top. They found deer tracks & deer poop & thought that was awesome.



While we were their we rode 4-wheelers all day everyday. We had such a blast riding 4-wheelers & exploring the mountain roads. It was so beautiful their & definately made us miss the mountains in TN! They had 2 4-wheelers and since the kids are so small we were able to fit all the girls on 1 and all the boys on 1. I just had to remind Bryan a few times to be careful with my boys on his. It was hard to tame the daredevil in him, but he handled it pretty well.

Bryan with the boys!

We are so thankful to my aunt & uncle who let us come stay in their cabin for Thanksgiving! We had such an amazing time together. Nothing like just exploring & spending time together as a family with out all the other distractions of life (like a phone). Our cellphones didn't work their so we just spent all day everyday together enjoy all that nature had to offer in New Mexico.

I know this way past Thanksgiving, but wanted to share our week with you! I hope ya'll all had an awesome Thanksgiving & were able to spend quality time together. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband, that I love so much & our 4 beautiful children!

Last Day!

Well, today was my LAST day at work! Yeah! I loved being in the office & working with Bryan, but my house & kids were starting to suffer. SO, we hired this awesome girl named Staci to work in our office full time. And the bonus is she is related to us and she does an awesome job. I'm excited that Bryan's sister is going to be working with him now & I can come home and be with Sierra, clean my house, workout, run errands, go to the grocery store, and then I can have more time in the afternoon with my kids. When we get back from vacation in a week, Staci will start full time. Can you tell I am really excited!
I have to say I don't know how moms work, cook, clean, shop, and take care of their kids. It was SOOOO hard - I was always tired and felt like I was missing out on time with my kids because when they were home was the only time I had to take care of all my other responsiblities too. So, I am coming home to be what I am suppose to be - A MOM!

Sierra & the Pumpkin Patch

Sierra & I went with her pre-K class to the BIG ORGANGE PUMPKIN PATCH! They had a lot of fun things for us to do! I loved all the fall signs that they have. I have really gotten into painting yard signs, so I took alot of pictures of the ones they made for ideas. But enough about me, Sierra had a blast & I loved being their with her!

We rode on a hayride to the pumpkin patch, and then got to pick out a pumpkin. Going in November their were only little pumpkins left, but she didn't mind. Alot of Kindergarden classes went in October so they must have taken the BIG ones.

Sierra loved playing in this tree. And I loved taking candid shots of her. I really like this photography thing. I loved her little dress. It had fall leaves on it & the shirt had different colored leaves all over it. She is such a cutie!

She climbed up on this tractor & I just had to take her picture. I took so many pictures of her playing & exploring that she finally got tired of it. There are sooo many of them, but decided to only post a few.

When you first came in to the farm they had Longhorn & goats for you to feed. She didn't like feeding the cows, they made her nervous. But as you can see she loved feeding the goats. She would just giggle when the goats would eat out of her hand. She thought it felt funny! And I love to hear her giggle! Her giggle is like sunshine to me. And you gotta love that sweet smile!

I'm thankful that I got to spend this day with her. We had a blast! Her being the youngest she hasn't gotten much time with mommy ALL ALONE! Thanks Sierra for letting me share this day with you.

Ardis Halloween

We had alot of fun celebrating Halloween at our house. We always decorate our house inside & out. I forgot to add the photo's :( Then for FHE right before Halloween we carve our pumpkins. We LOVE doing this. The kids each pick out a pumpkin & decide how they want it to look. Bryan and I then help them, when & if they need it. They ALWAYS want help getting the guts out because they all think it is gross.


Savanah saying CHEESE! She is deciding how she wants her pumpkin.



Bryce wanted a New Orleans Saints pumpkin. This is what he & Bryan cut out.

Brayden also wanted to do a Football theme. The boys are really getting into Football with Bryan.

Sierra wanted a ghost. We all had alot of fun carving the pumpkins.


Here is our finished product. Savanah is the only one that went with the Traditional pumpkin. The boys represented our favorite football teams, The Texas Longhorns & The New Orlean Saints!




Bryan and I went to a costume party at our friends house & had alot of fun. Bryan went as Wimpy Hulk. I also wanted to go as a Marvel character, but they make them so immodest. So, I went as a Pink Lady instead.

Sierra wanted to be a Rock Star! (She got the idea from Savanah) She wasn't so sure about the sparkly eye shadow, so the picture didn't turn out to great, but this is the only one where I got the full outfit. Sorry Sierra!

Savanah came up with the Rock Star idea. So she of course picked Pink so Sierra had to go as a Purple Rock Star. They looked really cute. When I fixed their hair they got upset with me & told me I made their hair freaky, so I had to tame it down a bit. I guess they don't really understand how a Rock Star wears their hair.

Since Bryce loves Lego Star Wars he decided to go as someone from Star Wars. He stays away from costumes that require your face being painted or a hat. He loves the simple ones, which is definately his personality.

Then their is Brayden man. He is so much like his dad. He doesn't think it is dressing up if you don't paint your face. Speaking of, when I went as a Pink Lady I wanted Bryan to go as a character from Grease also. He told me that it wasn't dressing up enough. If you don't have paint all over you & your hair a different color it isn't dressing up enough. Like Father like Son! He made an Awesome Rock Man!



I couldn't resist grabbing the camera & taking a picture of the girls. They looked so cute sitting at the bar talking about their night & all their candy. Priceless!


So, for our trunk or treat I went as a Sailor. This is my best friend Cristina! I was excited about this costume because my sister made this costume for me when I was 23. You can't tell from the top but the pants were really tight (bell bottoms) when they were made 12 years ago and they still fit. Plus it was cold that night.


Deuce went as a Bee. Doesn't he look cute! My friend and I went to Old Navy's $2 Halloween Sale & got it for $2. I wasn't planning on dressing him up, even though the kids kept begging me too. But when I found it for $2 I couldn't pass it up.

So, on Halloween Bryan decided that he wanted to go as Don King. He had been growing his hair out & it usually will frow out but it wouldn't that night. So, I'm not sure what he was. He picked up the girls mic & started acting goofy, image that!

Anyway, A fun time was had by all!

Hope you guys had a Happy Halloween too!

School Project

Bryce came home 2 weeks ago with his first BIG assignment. His instructions were to pick out a book, read it, write a book report on it & THEN to take a pumpkin & turn it into the main character of the book. His first thought was TRANSFORMERS. NO! Even as creative as Bryan & I, I thought that one might be a tad hard to do. Plus not fun to write a book report on a book about Transformers. SO, we went looking through our bookshelf for a book that Bryce would love. And we came across a book about a Turtle. For anyone that knows Bryce, you know how he LOVES Turtles. So, this was a perfect fit I thought. Plus the Turtle in the book was way cute & I knew right away how we could turn our pumpkin into a Turtle.
SO, Bryce read his book, wrote his report & then made his pumpkin. YES, he did most of the work. I guided, bought something we used for the head & bought a hat, and then helped with the hot glue because he didn't like it burning his fingers, but he painted & drew and it looks Awesome. He LOVES it, & I think it is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

SO, Here it is:
Bryce's Book Report, titled: RED, RED, RED

He is so proud of it, as he should be. He did awesome!


I love this view. Doesn't he have a cute face!


You can't see his face as much in this view, but you can see his shirt & pants. Yes, in this story the turtle wears a green & white stripped shirt & orange pants. He wears a white hat with a red stripe.



Really, I can't get over how cute it turned out. Would you believe we used a fake mango from Hobby Lobby for his head. The stem of the pumpkin is his neck & I just put a whole in the mango & glued it on.



Bryce used construction paper to make the marking on his back. The only instructions for the pumpkin were to not cute or puncture the pumpkin. They don't want them going bad at the school.

When we were finished Bryce loved it soooooo much that he said he wanted to keep it forever. At first I told him we would always have pictures of it. That wasn't quite good enough though. So then I came up with a brillant plan. I am going to buy one of those fake pumpkins and we will paint it & then take everything off this pumpkin & put it on our fake pumpkin when he brings it back home. Then he can have it forever.

This was such a fun project. I am glad that I got to share this with Bryce! I love Bryce's artistic talents, he just ahh's me all the time.

Hope you enjoyed our little project. I knew family especially would enjoy seeing what Bryce created!

My Big Boy Deuce!

My Big Boy Deuce is 11 months old now! He weighs in at a BIG 50 lbs. Isn't he a cutie! Well, I know some people don't find bulldogs cute, but I think he is adorable. I just love that face! Everytime I look at him I just smile!

The kids just love him! Don't MY Boys look cute!

After our walk each day, Deuce & the kids love to play frisbee or ball. The kids throw his frisbee and he chases after it. It is funny what dogs & kids love to do. I think all 5 of them could play this for hours. And I love watching them. Forget mom joining in, its hard enough for them to take turns with 4 people much less a 5th. Oh well, I love just watching them.

Deuce in action! Or posing for the camera???

Poor Deuce - he has not enjoyed the kids being at school ALL day & me at work. He has acted out ALOT & I was afraid I was going to have to find him a new family that could spend more time with him, but my heart is attached to him. So, instead we are trying to take him for a walk several times a day, which is helping. Plus we have a trainer that is going to come & work with all of us.

Deuce's birthday is coming up next month on November 22nd! I can't believe he is going to be 1! My baby is growing up. JK. We meet a girl bulldog, named Sophie, the other day & they are wanting to breed her soon. Her & Deuce would make cute babies. She has a red head & white body, the complete opposite of Deuce. I'll keep you posted!

FLU BUG HAS HIT!

Well, the one thing I really HATE about public schools, kids coming home SICK, happened to us this week. YES, the FLU BUG has hit poor Bryce. He woke up Monday morning running a fever and ran one all day. We gave him supplements ALL day, poor guy got tired of all the supplements, but his fever finally broke about 11 pm, Monday night. So I didn't send him to school Tuesday, I just wanted him to stay an rest an extra day. He felt fine all day until about 5 o'clock. Then he started coughing & you could tell in his eyes he felt bad again. We had been giving him supplements all day, but not as many as the first day - big mistake! Well, he woke up today throwing up. Bryan says that is good so that he can get all of the virus out, but definately not fun for Bryce or I. Poor little guy - he looks & feels terrible. He keeps telling me he doesn't like being sick. It definately isn't something we are use to at our house. Isn't that the great thing about PUBLIC SCHOOL, they get to be around all this YUCK! Got to love it!
So, be praying for little Bryce & that the other 3 kids don't get it. We pray that your families are all healthy & don't get this awful stuff that is going around!

Back to School!

Okay, I am finally blogging about school! I know some of you are wondering how starting school, for the Ardis kids went. I really do have a good reason. My computer had some really bad viruses on it & it took me about 6 weeks to get it fixed. I finally called & had a computer guy come over & fix it! YEAH! Anyway, I know you don't care about that, you are just wondering about Back to School. SO, since the kids have been in school a little over 2 months I will catch you up.

Against what I felt, in my heart & soul, Bryce started 3rd Grade on Aug. 24th. He was really nervous & didn't want to even talk about going back to school. I had to drag him into the school to meet his teacher the Friday before school started. Once he got into his classroom & met his teacher he was all ready to go to school. His 3rd Grade teachers name is Mrs. Clopton. The funny thing is, she has 2 kids a boy named Brayden who is 8 & a boy named Bryce who is 6. Pretty crazy! His room was set up really cool. She had even built a tree house in the room & he loved it. After meeting his teacher he climbed into the tree house. A few minutes later a little girl named Lily climbed up also & he immediately made a new friend. His really good friend Joseph, from church, & his friend Kylie (who was baptised the same day as he was) were also in his class. So, Monday morning, much to my relief, he was excited to go to school. Mrs. Clopton is awesome! She knew that he was coming in behind & was their with her sweet smile & funny humor to help him along.

But, like I said I JUST KNEW HE NEEDED TO BE IN 2nd GRADE. Moms, when you know something in your heart & you just can't shake that feeling - you had better listen. So, 6 days into school Mrs. Clopton called me to say Bryce was the sweetest kid in the world, she just loved him, BUT he was drowning in the 3rd grade. She also told me that she was convinced that he was Dislexis. I was SOOOOOO upset, to say the least & so very mad at the school for not listening & especially at myself for listening to Bryan & the school tell me he would be okay. I will NEVER do that again. I informed all of them that I would fight them, if I had to for my kids. So, I went in & met with her & the principal & Bryce's NEW 2nd grade teacher. Her name is Mrs. Haas. She has been a teacher for 30 years & is very good & very sweet & loving. She has been a blessing. Bryce still struggles with some things, she is working to get him tested for Dislexia. But, 2nd grade is a good fit for him. He was very upset at first about going to 2nd grade because he LOVED his teacher & had made several new friends. BUT, thank goodness he has adjusted & loves 2nd grade.

Brayden is in the 1st grade with Mrs. Ahlstedt. She is really sweet & he loves her to death. He has made lots of new friends & is enjoying going to school. He is getting better at reading, but doesn't LOVE it. He does, however, love Math. He would much rather do math than read. And he would rather memorize a word than sound it out. He gets frustrated when we are doing flash cards & Savanah sounds it out before he does.

Bryan has promised him the Mega Transformer, that has about 8 Transformers together to make one, if he will try really hard & learn to read well. We will see how that works. He memorizes really quickly & tries to hurry & memorize them so he doesn't have to REALLY read them. Neither one of my boys like to read much. I guess it is just a boy thing, because their dad doesn't like to read either.


My girl Savanah is LOVING school. And I do mean LOVING school. She has ALLLLLL the teachers & staff at the school in love with her. Several of the teachers call her MS. DIVA! She is eating it up as you can image. She loves everything about school & can't get enough. I have started doing Brayden's homework with her also, because they aren't going fast enough in Kindergarden for her. That's my girl!

Thank goodness I have 1 kid that loves to learn! She will probably be reading like crazy soon. Her teacher can't believe that she can be quite the stinker at home. Although that is getting better. She has FINALLY realized that if she is helping & especially when she does things she hasn't been asked to do that she gets the attention that she wants. YEAH! Being 5 & in Kindergarden has been awesome!


My sweetie Sierra is in Pre-K. She loves going to school Tues. - Thur., coming to work with mommy on Monday & being home by herself on Friday with mommy & daddy. She is back to being her sweet self, well except in the afternoon when sister is home. They clash somewhat terrible, but if I tell them to play in different rooms away from each other they think their world is over.

We are working on our letters & sounds & she is excited to be learning a little bit of spanish at her school. I love her school because it is across the street from Bryan's office, so I just run her over in the morning & walk back over in the afternoon to get her. She loves it also because she knows I am close by. Savanah has been teaching her the cute songs they learn at school & she can't wait to attend Boals Elementary next year.



I love this picture of the kids in front of school. Savanah is excited, Bryce is nervous & Brayden looks like he is saying Bring it on! Just like his dad!


I am so thankful the kids are loving school, but I have to say that I really miss them. We use to have LOTS of family time, could vacation when we wanted & were not inslaved to a schedule of 7:45 to 3. I think they have adjusted better than I have. Getting up at 6:30 to start getting myself ready, making breakfast so early, get the kids up, dressed, feed & out the door to school. Then coming home & finished getting ready for work. Then off to work, drop Sierra off, work, pick up Sierra, pick up the other kids, come home to homework, then cooking dinner, then getting ready for bed. Oh my goodness I am tired by the time they go to bed at 7:30. Crazy life, but we are surviving! And people look forward to sending their kids to school. Don't get me wrong, I too at one time WANTED to send my kids to school, but life is MUCH more crazy with them in school. I have to say, looking back I loved having them at home. We became extremely close & I really miss them. If & when we homeschool again the only thing I would change would be a few hours, 1 day a week to myself, but other than that I have to say I love homeschooling my kids & miss it.

Well, we have definately started a new journey in our life. I'll try to do better about keeping you posted!

Big Changes!

For those of you that haven't heard, as of August 24th Ardis Academy will be closed for the year. Yes, the Ardis kids will be going to public school for this year. I can't believe I am really saying that, but it is true. My reds are excited about the new adventure, but Bryce has very mixed feelings. He has some fond memories of when he went to school before, but his main problem (besides he doesn't do well with change) is that they don't play enough in school. He is toooooo funny! My main concern is that Bryce has consistantly tested a year behind. When I pulled him out of public school 1 1/2 years ago (he was in 1st grade) he tested like he was in kindergarden. They tested him yesterday and he test like someone going into 2nd grade (which he should be a 3rd grader). SOOOO after much prayer I have decided that I am going to have them put him in 2nd grade. I don't want him to start out, back in school, wayyyyy behind.

So, you are probably asking WHY are they going back to school. Good question! It isn't because I gave up, hated it, etc. It is because after MUCH prayer, fasting & going to the Temple Bryan and I felt like I really needed to help out at the clinic, during school hours. The office is really getting busy, which is good, but we aren't at a point (because of how much it cost to move a clinic & start over) to hire someone to help him out. And since I know his business better than anyone & I come cheap (haha) I am the only option right now.
So, for now the Ardis kids are going to public school. WOW! Pretty crazy, I really never thought they would go, but sometimes things happen different than you plan.
I have worked a few days this week & it was pretty fun. Kinda nice being able to work with your best friend - the man that I love!
Well, I don't know what else to say. Except I will keep you posted on our new adventure!
Lots of love!

Sierra's BIG 4th Birthday!

I can't believe my baby girl is 4. To celebrate her 4th birthday she got to have 2 parties. (She isn't spoiled or anything!) She had a birthday party in East Texas with 2 of her cousins that were also celebrating birthdays in July.
My dad bought a large blowup water slide for all the grandkids to play on when they are over so he thought it would be fun to get out for their birthday party. It has a large slide & then a small slide, both of which come out in a pool of water.
Sierra enjoyed the little slide. She didn't like the big slide because when you get to the bottom the water splashes in your face. She doesn't like that at all! So, she stuck to the small slide all night.


As you can tell, Savanah doesn't have a problem with the big slide AT ALL!


I tried to get Sierra to go up the big slide but she wasn't have any thing to do with it. Well, she tried it once & that was all she wrote.

Her she is with her cousins. My nephew Jaykob had a CAR MOVIE cake, my niece Callie made her own cake (She did an awesome job!) & my girl Sierra wanted a Barbie cake.

Kids are so funny! I tried to get her to pick a different Barbie to put in her cake but she wasn't having it. She wanted this Barbie with PINK hair & that was that! Since it was HER cake I gave in. I'm glad I did because it turned out pretty & she LOVED it, so that is all that matters.

I loved this one of her licking the icing off her Barbie! TOOOO Cute!

We then had a party, at the pool in our subdivision, with her friends here. They had alot of fun swimming & eating cake.

We had such a busy week with Bryan's work & also a ward party that I was in charge of, that I decided to just do cupcakes at this party. But we had to have Barbie things on top of each cupcake.



Sierra LOVES Barbies! So, she had been wanting a Barbie house to go along with all her Barbies. One day when I was going over to my mother-in-laws I came across a garage sale with a Barbie house for $30. It was in great condition so I ran up, paid for it, then had my father-in-law go back and pick it up for me. It has been at their house for months without her knowing. She was so shocked & so excited. We have hardly seen her since. She loves playing Barbies with her new house. It is so cute! Growing up I loved Barbies too. I played with them til I was atleast 12. My sister had a Barbie house, but I didn't. And she didn't like to share it either. SO, it was so funny getting her a Barbie house. So far she is sharing it with Savanah pretty good.

My sweet girl is so excited to be 4 & tells me all the time that she is getting GIANT now. We love Sierra & the sweet little girl that she is. She has always been such a sunshine to me. The Lord knew we needed her in our family. She lights up a room with her sweet spirit, her sweet smile, and her little laugh! I love you Sierra! Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!