Fun times with Friends

The North Pole Express!

Last weekend we were so excited to have our old neighbors (and great friends:) come up to visit us and while they were here we went on the famous Idaho North Pole Express train ride! The kids were so excited- as were the parents for a fun new adventure! We boarded the big red train just as the snow was really coming down- our first snowfall fo the year :) It was a nice scenic train ride over the river and through the woods ( seriously, no pun intended :) and we ended up at the North Pole for a quick visit with Santa! While on the train we heard Christmas carolers, visited with some of Santas elves, and the big man himself even sat down with us! They loved it! Poor Cadyn missed all the action though- he slept through almost the entire train ride and stop at the North Pole:( They gave us cookies and milk to munch on while at the North Pole as we stood around a bonfire and listened to the carolers. It was a great time with good friends- definitly one to remember! Thanks for the fun weekend Lusk Family! We sure do miss you guys!

Eyebrow Wax 101...

So my lovely sister was watching my kids one night and became the guinea pig to Macee's attempt at eyebrow waxing! She has seen mommy get it done and thought she should attempt herself with princess stickers.....I hope my sister will still babysit for me after this!! Macee is always taking appointments too- from the looks of it she does great work!

Broncos Basketball!

On Saturday night, after our fun North pole Express Train Ride (post to come on that soon) we decided to keep the family fun going and hit up a Boise State basketball game since I had the night off already. We headed out in the freezing snow and enjoyed a great game- which we almost won! It was a bit weird being back in the gym and NOT cheering! It brought back a lot of memories and was fun seeing it from the other side in the stands and not on the sidelines :) A lot has changed, but the kids had a good time and did really well. They only got pretty ancy and restless the last five minutes of the game and they loved watching Buster Bronco and the cheerleaders:) We even got to throw paper airplanes onto the court at halftime to try and win a prize! I think we hit more people in the back of the head then got them on the court though! Overall, good times with the Broncos. We have Ben's work X-mas party tonight and it's in one of the new sky boxes at the football stadium! Woo-hoo we will be like royalty tonight! Go Broncos!

Gingerbread House...

We had a fun family night building a Gingerbread House.....well attempting to! The girls loved putting all the candy on, but mainly eating it, and Jadyn couldn't get over how good the frosting tasted. "Oh Mom, this is so yummy!" she kept repeating over and over! After we finished it looked great, but slowly we atsrted noticing the roof splitting apart down the middle. One by one the mints lining the middle of the rooftop began to fallinto the roof as it caved in :( The next morning one side of the roof has plummeted! Oh well, they just wanted to eat it anyway right! Good thing we Greenwoods aren't home builders:)

Go Orange- Go Big Blue!

Fight Fight- BSU!! Congratulations once again to the mighty Boise State Broncos! To another undefeated WAC Championship year! For all you Tater Hater's out there - now you know we ain't just a potatoe farmin' team! We got skillz! Who knows what lies in store for a Bowl game this year- but one thing's for sure- the Greenwood family will be cheering them on! In light of their fantastic year I made these BSU bows for little girls to proudly display the Orange and Blue school spirit! I will be selling them at a craft fair this weekend! GOOOOOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!

I'm Thankful...

I know it's a little late, but just a few things I am thankful for. I am thankful for the wonderful Thanksgiving we enjoyed in Jerome with Ben's family. A great feast, great shopping (well, kind of considering I am NEVER going out at 4:00 AM the day after Thanksgiving again!), good company and more! I am also thankful that gas prices are plummeting making holiday travel even better! YES for a $25.00 fill up! I am thankful for my wonderful husband who works so hard for us and always makes us smile, and for my two silly little girls who light up my life. I am thankful for ALL of my family and friends and all that they do for me, and thankful for all of my many other blessings :) Happy Belated Turkey Day one and all!

Jadyn The Hair Model

And my lovely assistant Jadyn, now modeling the latest new hair trend! Can't decide on what bow to wear? Why not wear them all?! Isn't she cute!

And More Bows...

That first sheet of pictures I posted was kinda small so here's a better shot at them!

Christmas Bows...

More Bows...

BOWS, BOWS, BOWS!

So.. I recently went to a Christmas Craft Show with my Mother-in-Law in Twin Falls last weekend and there were a few booths that had tons of cute hair bows. I LOVE hair bows, even though my kids don't keep them in their hair for very long! I got really motivated after seeing them all, and Macee begging for more (which we already have plenty:) that I thought I should give it a try. I am not the most talented person when it comes to sewing or artsy crafty things- horrible I know since my mom is the QUEEN of all of those things! You'd think she would have sent a little crafty love down my gene pool, but I think Sabrina and Liz got most of it:( Anyway, I took a stab at it and started having a lot of fun. Next thing I know- I am making bows like crazy, staying up way too late, ignoring the children and housework, ignoring my hubby, and taking trips to Craft and Fabric stores that I NEVER go to! And they turned out pretty cute too!
My husband said "I feel like you are reading the 'Twilight' series again!" So, he suggested after seeing the plethera of hair bows scattered all over the house, that I try to make a little extra Christmas cash and try to sell some. Good idea hunny! So for any of you out there with little girls in your life, daughters, sisters, cousins, nieces, friends....here is a great Christmas gift idea and cheap too!
The kids have been assisting in my escapade, which has been fun. Macee has been helping me design and pick out colors with her expert fashion sense, and Jadyn is a great hair model as you will see with more pictures I post!
My original plan in this as well, was to make some as a gift to a little girl who is a student in my sister-in-law's 5th grade class. The girl's mother is a single mom who just lost her job and really struggling to make ends meet right now. Ben came up with a great idea to give this family our Christmas this year and help us not only teach our children about giving, but also let us experience the opportunity to help others in need. We were helped out a lot this time of year last year when Ben was suddenly laid off the week before Thanksgiving and we know how much it means to a family who is struggling to receive the kindness and help like we did. So with the help of Ben's family we will be providing food and gifts and other things they need to help them have a Merry Christmas this year.
I also thought it would be a great idea to take some bows to the hospital this year to try and cheer up any little girls who may be ill and in the hospital during the holidays. What a better gift than to help put a smile on a sad or hurting childs face. Does anyone know how to go about doing this? Who do you contact at a hospital to check on if you can donate or bring gifts to the children?? Help please:) Some of the proceeds of any bows sold will also be donated to the family we are helping as well :)
So, I will be posting more pictures of bows as they are coming along, but only so many can fit on a page :) I can also make any custom colors for you as well if you have a particular outfit or Christmas dress you would like a bow for! I started out just making Christmas style bows, but then started making other ones as well so I have some of both:) Let me know if you want any more information or pricing and I am happy to ship to anyone not in the area :)
I know it's not quite "Christmas Season" yet, but it seems like it is already with all the Christmas decorations up in stores the day after Halloween! Why not get the Christmas spirit going and start thinking of ways to give and love those around us:) That's all for now- off ot make more bows!

Photo Mishap...

For some reason the photos I attached to my post about fun with friends is not appearing on my blog? Can anyone else see it?? Macee was very upset that her Pumpkin Pizza was not there for everyone to see so I am attempting to re-post her pictures!

Don't Mess with the Greenwoods...

Just thought I'd let you know we've got some "guns" on our side. Anyone thinking of messing with the Greenwoods will have to face the rath of these two.....AKA: Biker Beth & Knockout Nick ! Ok just kidding, they looked so great on Halloween though I had to post their picture:)

Happy Halloween!!!

Well, I was a bit worried when I woke up Friday morning to dark cloudy skies and rain. The Halloween hype has been building in our home and Macee asked me on Thursday " Mom, is tomorrow the REAL LIVE Halloween because I'm tired of getting dressed up and I can't go trick or treating!" I assured her that indeed it was the day she had been waiting for- but the day looked horrible! Luckily it turned out to be the best night ever for trick-or-treating. We had Ben's sister's over for some yummy homemade chili, cornbread, apple cider, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Then we hit the streets and the weather was perfect! We didn't even need jackets! The kids had a blast and Jadyn only got scared a few times. The even racked in a few FULL SIZE candybars! Thanks good neighbors:)
Well, I have caught you all up from the month of October from the Greenwoods- hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween as well and until next time I will be busy trying to still get all the GREEN out of Macee's hair!! :)

Halloween Fun with Friends...

Since we've moved back we have had a chance to spend some time with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Celby. We have known each other since Junior High and cheered our way clear to college together! I credit Celby Jo for my BSU Cheerleading days because it was her and her mother who convinced me to go try out the night before tryouts in Boise! We both made it, became college roomies and had two awesome years cheering together that were so much fun :) She now has the cutest little girl named Cleary who we have also got to spend some time with! We go to the library for story time every Thursday and this past week we also went to the Library's Halloween Stomp, the pumpkin patch, and then finished the week off with homemade Pumpkin Pizzas for lunch on Halloween. Macee had the best turnout by far for her pumpkin pizza- Watch out Papa Murphys!! They had a blast mushing the dough and making a mess- and they tasted great! We love having Celby and Cleary to do fun things with :)

Boo at the Zoo!

We have been wanting to take the girls to the zoo since we moved back, and what a better time than for Halloween! Yeah right! Not only did they up the admission prices- but the place had a line a mile long just to get in and there were kids everywhere you could hardly get to see the attractions. We did get a few treats from the "friendly animals"- aka people dressed up- but Jadyn was terrified of them. We did get a good glimpse of the mighty tiger exhibit though0 they were prowling around like crazy, I think they knew something was going on in the zoo! It was fun, but we're going to go again next summer when it's NOT so crowded :)

Where Did October Go???

Well, I am catching up the last few weeks all in one day so sorry for multiple one day posts! A few weeks ago the girls and I had a fun baking day with Aunt Chelsea and made these "GHOULISH GOODIES!" It was so much fun! They were almost too cute to eat! These yummy creepy treats were a blast- except for when we had to clean up the HUGE mess they made! More to come....

Jadyn and Caden

Are these kids not adorable?!? Oh how we miss our dear friends the Lusks! Jadyn and Caden (I hope I spelled it right!) are just a few weeks apart in birth and had become quite the cute little friends just before we moved back to Boise. They are both blonde, blue-eyed cuties who were so fun to watch grow up the two years we were in Jerome. Caden was actually tiny compared to Jadyn at birth, and I thought he would trail her a bit growing, but boy he became this little incredible hulk! He is so strong with monster calves and abs of steel that he uses to climb ANYTHING! He outruns her by a mile with his huge feet (don't worry his mom knows they're big too so I won't offend her :)
They sure had a great time playing with each other though and were just starting to want to come to each other's houses to play. I caught the stinkers in a cute moment as I was packing one day and couldn't resist taking their picture. Could this be a photo displayed at a wedding reception one day???? I sure wouldn't mind !! :)

HAPPY B-DAY DADDY!

THE BIG 30!!!

This post is a bit late, but I had to rub it in that Ben has just turned the big 30! He's so old!! Ok- it really didn't seem like that big of a deal though when I remember thinking 30 was so old when I was a kid. He survived though and still is not yet balding :)
We celebrated with a fun surprise party planned by his family and I which turned out great and he didn't even catch on! We had pizza and cake with friends and family and it was a great time. I made a cute little "GOLF" cake with the help of my talented little sister and mother-in-law, complete with green coconut grass, a green with a flag, and even a cool sand trap! It turned out great!
Ben got awesome stuff for our dutch oven we got this year for camping and a cozy BSU blanket which turned out great for the tickets he got to a BSU football game! He and I went while my awesome sister watched the kids (AGAIN) for us. I have only been to two games in the past five or so years and it was really fun and exciting. It's a little different now, not being a cheerleader or even a student- but the excitement and loyalty you feel for the team is still there so it's great. I still get goose bumps whent he crowd starts yelling 'BOISE...STATE!' from side to side. That was my first memory of beign a college cheerleader in a huge stadium with actual fans and I will never forget those great memories :)
Anyway- we had a blast and thanks so much to Beth and Nick for the tickets :) All is going well here in the new place back in Boise, Macee started pre-school which she loes and the teacher seems great! She hasn't found any friends int he neighborhood wuite yet, but has introduced herself to a few elderly neighbors :) Social Macee as usual! WE sure do miss everyone in our old neighborhood though :( I just got a job serving in the evennings a few nights a week at a place called Carrabbas- a yummy Italian Grill! Great food if you ever get to one :)
That's all for now from the Greenwoods- hope all is well!

The Value of a Friend...

As some of you may know, we recently moved AGAIN! I know I know- we move like we're in the military! We are back in Boise now and glad to be back :) Anyway, one of the hardest parts of leaving good old J-Town (Jerome) was leaving behind some very good friends and neighbors. We really had it made where we lived being lucky enough to live by some of the kindest people we have ever met.
One in particular became a very close friend, and I feel that I havn't fully realized how much she meant to me until we were gone. It was very hard saying goodbye to her and I know I am not the best at telling people how I feel and I regret not letting her know enough how amazing she is.
Just two days after we left this wonderful friend of mine became very ill and they almost lost her. Something somehwat simple turned into a very close call and all I could think about when I heard was how I wasn't there for her when she needed me the most. She has done so much for me and my family that I wish we had been there just one more week and been able to help her out in her time of need.
This woman is more than amazing though- and is being so strong and brave through it all like she always does and carryin on with life as if nothing happened- much to everyone's dismay and wanting for her to tkae it easy and let others take care of her for once :) She never puts herself first in any situation and will got to any end to help those around her. She is the most giving, unselfish, and caring person I have ever met, and I know I have told her many times over how much I appreciate her. I still feel though, especially now after hearing of her recent hospitilization, that I have not quite appreciated her enough or let her know that either.
My words are better in writing than in person so I want her to know that I wish we would have done more together and I would have not taken for granted our time together. It is only after being gone that I really realize how greatful I am for our friendship and how much I miss you. Your good example as a mother, wife, and friend, your wonderful cooking, your abililty to watch ten kids at a time and not lose your mind! Thank you so much dear friend, you know who you are and I hope you are reading this now. Thank you for being who you are, for being the ultimate example of a truly amazing and wonderful person, a second mom to my kids, for helping me pack and clean and move to no avail! You mean the world to me and I even though it seems I never really let you know this I want you to know now and I hope our friendship continues for a long time to come. I'm sorry I was not there for you in your desperate time of need and I wish I was there now to help you recover and get back on your feet. Since I cannot- please let others do this for me :)
I am not the best at keeping in touch with my dear friends, and for that I am sorry. I want all of them to know how much I love them and appreciate them in my life. Take a minute and think of those dear friends in your life and let them know how much they mean to you- because you never know how quickly they could be gone.

FRIENDS....

So we had our 10 year class reunion this past June- and I totally forgot my camera! A friend of mine who did have hers just sent me a cute picture of five of us friends from school so I thought I would share it. This is Celby, me, Morgan, Alissa, and Lindsey who were all very close in High school and Jr High. We were missing a few other musketeers in this shot who couldn't make it (NAMELY SAMANTHA!!!) We shared a lot of great memories together, especially late night adventures involving toilet paper, shaving, cream, newspaper, etc.! Those were the good old days!Ben and I only made it to the dinner the first night of the reunion but had a great time catching up with everyone and it was fun to see how everyone had changed a bit, especially the balding men!! Anyway, it was fun and thanks to Alissa for sending me the vute picture! See ya again in 2018 SHS!

HAPPY BDAY MACEE!!!

I can't believe she's five!!! She is growing up so fast and getting so big! She loves playing with her friends, gymnastics, and taking her baby EVERYWHERE in a real carseat. For her birthday we had a "Tinkerball" party ( her latest obsession) and they had a blast! We made wands and pixie dust, played fun games, and had yummy cupcakes! For my first girls only birthday party the chaos only lasted a few hours but was worth it :) Happy Birthday Macee! LOVE YOU!

One last wedding...

Well, the Bennett girls are all of an married now..sniff sniff! The Bennett name only lasts in my Dad now as Chelsea got married last Friday :( It was a great day full of fun, energy, blood, sweat, and tears..ok maybe no blood! It was very nice though, she looked beautiful, Grndma Brenda out-did herself again with amazing dresses for the nieces, and the food at the reception was fabulous thanks to Chelsea and Matt's friend who came all the way from Boise to cook it for them! Congrats on your wedding and hoorah for the newlyweds and much years of happiness to come!!

Fun with cousins

 

We had so much fun with our cousins this week- horseback riding, rodeoing (is that a word??), canoeing, swimming, picnicing and much more! These are some pictures from Mesa Falls- one of our scenic trips- beautiful aren't we..I mean the waterfall :) Thanks to Gma and Gpa Bennett for putting up with all of us and showing us a good time in Island Park and Yellowstone. We're so glad for family to have fun with- although we missed having our Dad and the Young Family with us :( Hopefully we'll see you all next year!

Rodeo Queen

 
We just returned from a super fun trip to Island Park- our annual time share trip with the family! One of our highlights was a horseback ride in the beautiful mountains, followed by a local rodeo that night. We had a blast overcoming our fears of riding horses (Me and Macee) which turned out to be amazingly fun! Thanks to our best friend since diapers- Aaron Portmann and Diamond P Ranch for a great horse ride! We also had to goto the rodeo in style- gun and all!