What's being going on out here...

So I want to give a quick synopsis of what we have done since the move. 

August- we drove out. This is covered in another blog post.

September- The kids started school.  They quickly made friends, and when I say quickly I mean very slowly.  Bailey and Madison wasn't too bad, it was with in the first week they had a group of playmates.  Taylor and Jordan it took 2-3 weeks to figure out where they fit in.  Which makes total sense. 

October- We were the only family on the block that decorated for Halloween.  Very few kids came to the door, even though the neighborhood is filled with families.  One house had a guy who was exposing himself to the kids.  I was going to call the police, but no one remembered which house it was. }:-(  The kids started to have friends come over to the house and spend the night.

November- Madison mooned another kid.  Jason thought it was funny.  The other kid's parent did not.  Madison can no longer play with that boy.  And we found out that there are two bullies that pick on Madison.  One is in middle school, the other is in the same grade but another classroom.  We have spoken to the school.  They are watching the boy in the same grade, but there is nothing they can do about the other kid, because it is on the way home that he see's Madison. 

December- we had to put a lock on our fence.  Someone kept opening the fence and letting the dogs out.  If the dogs got picked up by Animal Control we would be in trouble and get fined. 

We had a great Christmas!  So many people were so sweet to us!  We had a lot of help from family, friends, church and the school!  The kids didn't get anything like i-pods, computers or video games.  But they got clothes, boardgames, books and other stuff they just loved everything!  And really appreciated that they got anything at all. Because J and I are mean, we kept telling them that they weren't getting anything because we didn't have the money!  Hahaha! 

We went to temple square, which i blogged about already.  We also went to Ogden and saw the Christmas villages.  We got Bailey and Madison light up toys for $1 and $2, which would have been a minimum of $5 in MA.  And we got candy for Jordan, $1.50 UT ($6 MA), and Taylor wanted nothing.  We did get cookies and Hot Cocoa, which was $1 each. Depending on where you are in MA it would be the same or less expensive. Seeing the lights was free, and they had live music for free as well.  So total we spent, $14.50.  About the same as if we went to Bright Nights in Springfield, without getting hot cocoa, cookies or souvenirs.  (I have loving how the dollar stretches out here!  It feels like I can do more as a family, without feeling like we have to cut back on other things)

January- The month has just started, but it feels like we have yet to stop!  During the kids vacation, December thru January, I was working 8-10hr a day 6 days a week.  So J got to be home and spend time with the kids.  And it was no fun for me. I am back to volunteering, but now it is only 3 days a week!  Whew! 

We are getting another dog.  He is a Cocker Spaniel, all black, just a tiny bit of brown on his paws.  I'm sure one of his parents had black & tan in him.  He was kept in a garage for the 1st year of his life.  And he is another great dog, who's owner is moving so can't keep him.  It's like his story mirror's Lady's.  His name is Hem.  I think we'll call him Hemi for short.  We are going to DNA test him, if all goes well and his DNA is good we'll get his papers and breed him with Lady in the spring.

Jordan's birthday is this month.  We are going to have pizza and cake at the house, then head over to the Nickelcade.  It's an arcade that takes nickels! (Guess you could have guessed that on your own!)  You pay $2 (or less) to get in, then trade your dollars for nickels and then go crazy!  We spend hours there when we go.  We took the kids once and J and I went once for a date night!  It's so much fun because the have all the games from when I was a kid, some from when J was a kid, and some even older!


I am going to have to get some pictures posted.  Some from the nickelcade and some from the Christmas Village.  I don't have any of the Nickelcade so i guess we are going to have to make a trip! ;)