Christmas Decorating!!!!!

I'm always wanting to start setting up Christmas in, oh I don't know... October!!! I love this time of year and I'm pretty sure it would be fun to have Christmas all year round. Dan doesn't quite feel the same way. Don't get me wrong, he enjoys the holidays, just not the decorating part of the holidays. I'm sure he would be fine with just throwing up a Christmas tree a few days before Christmas. 

He actually does enjoy it when it's all done, I think it's just the whole cutting down a tree, hauling it home, climbing ladders, dealing with broken Christmas lights, and carrying heavy boxes in and out of the garage, that turns him off to the idea of doing it a minute sooner than he possibly has to.

I've made a commitment to him that I won't break out the tree until Thanksgiving is over. So once the turkey is eaten and the dishes are done it's pretty much fair game :) 

While Dan went into work for a few hours this morning, the kids and I broke out all the decorations, the tree, stockings, the wreath, and outside lights. We were on a mission. The kids had a blast trying to get as much of our Christmas stuff up before Dan could get home and start raising a fuss about how early it is to be setting things up.

It was funny watching the kids shew Dan out the door this morning (knowing what was coming when he left), telling him all sorts of goofy lies like....We are moving the furniture around to vacuum when you are gone dad. And other such funny remarks to throw him off the scent.

We got the job done before Dan pulled back in this afternoon and the kids got a kick out of surprising him with the change in scenery.

We of course saved all of the Christmas tree ornaments to do as a family later in the evening when the whole family was here, but were able to get the bulk of it done while he was away.

Of course, a little rock-paper-scissors took place to decide who would get to put the star on this year. (Rock crushes Scissors, Scissors cut paper, Paper covers Rock:)

And the winner is... KY!

Yea, for Christmas!!!! Love ya Dan. 

I'm Thankful...

Just reflecting a little today on the things I am most thankful for...

I am so thankful for my savior Jesus Christ. For my testimony of his gospel. And for the knowledge of where I came from, who I am, and who I can become one day.

I am grateful to be married to the most amazing man on the face of the earth. He means everything to me. I can't imagine where I would be today if I wouldn't have snagged him all those years ago.

I am grateful to have such a loving family. 5 beautiful, healthy, happy children. Being around them makes me want to try harder each day to be a better person. I love the ages my children are at. (2-9 years old) I'm grateful that all of these ages are equally fun and rewarding. Each child brings so much laughter and love to our family.

 

I am grateful for a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at myself. 

I'm thankful for the family I grew up in and the memories and relationships I have with my siblings and parents.

I'm grateful to live in a time where we are so blessed with our income and abundance. 

I am grateful for the talents and strengths I have.

I'm thankful for friendships that have been developed over the years.

I'm thankful for feelings I get from the spirit as I live and learn.

I'm grateful for the little, cozy home we live in and for the great memories we make together daily, within the walls of this home. 

I'm thankful for our great neighborhood, and school district.

I'm thankful for a husband who unconditionally loves and supports my life and dreams. Who is a best friend to me. A confidante for my most heartfelt ideas and feelings.

I'm grateful for Health and strength.

I'm grateful for the safety and protection that has been shown to my family.

I'm grateful for forgiveness, growth, and repentance.

I'm thankful for the scriptures. I'm grateful to live in these last days, in the fullness of times, preparing the world for the coming of the Savior. For temples and the peace and revelation that comes to me therein.

I'm thankful for a democratic government, with freedoms un paralleled anywhere in the world. For a strong military to keep our country safe and protected.

I'm thankful for technology, computers,  and modern day conveniences in the home.  

I am so grateful for cameras, pictures and memories to help me reflect.

I'm am grateful for snuggle time with my kids and dates with my husband.

I'm am grateful for this life. I am so blessed!

Exclusive Twilight Showing

After reading maybe only 10 books since high school, I was a little skeptical that I would actually like a book about vampires. It took a year of my friends recommending and begging me to read Twilight and I still hadn't found the motivation to crack it open and give it a try. Finally one friend actually forced me take her copy home to read it. (Thanks Kate). To my amazement I loved it and couldn't wait to read the next 3 in the series.

When we heard they were making this book into a movie, a friend of mine thought it would be fun to rent out an entire theater to ourselves for our own private viewing of Twilight. No husbands, or Kids allowed!

Normally that would be pretty spendy but I happen to have a friend who manages a theater here in town, so she was able to help us make this happen at a very reasonable rate. We booked our showing for 10am the day the movie was being released, and then the preparations for this fun event really began.

It was lots of fun to put this event together.

Here's the Official Twilight planning committee... Stacey, Kathy, and Jenne.

So I'm a fan but, Kathy and Jenne are HUGE Twilight fans. They made this event memorable and really fun for the 85 women we invited to this private showing.

Jenne designed these awesome passes for all the ladies. We had fun staying up until 12am making them for everyone. We all felt pretty cool flashing our "all access pass" to get into the theater. (Thanks for taking the ticket idea to a whole new level Jenne. Super Cute!)

We wanted to make this a super fun experience for all who attended, so earlier in the week we sent out a quiz to all the people coming to the movie. A little Twilight trivia from Bella. 10 minutes before the movie started we gave out movie prizes to the winners of the quiz. A few of the prizes given out were for... getting the most answers right, read the book the most times, told the most people to read the book, best twilight dressed, best story about having to lie to read the books, 17th person through the door, etc.

We hung memorable quotes from the book all around the theater. Also pictures from the making of the movie to add that special touch.

Here's a few you may have seen hanging on the wall.

Bella, oh I mean Kathy and Edward.

Edward, Jenne, and Emmet hanging out on set.

Me and Edward.

I'm pretty sure he's grabbing my butt. And Ohhh what a nice butt I have, if I do say so myself. So fun!

As for the movie, I really liked it. It was a little corny in some parts but I still enjoyed it. The movie was not as good as the book, but what movie is? It was fun to see all of the characters in the book brought to life and for the most part it was what I had envisioned. I would recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. I liked it enough that I would probably go see it again if someone invited me.

It was a blast taking a morning off from my normal routine to hang out with friends, and act like a teenager again.

All in all.....It was totally fun, and the memories made doing this little Twilight Movie Day will be sticking with me for many "new moons" to come. :)

12 Dancing Princesses

Instead of doing a sport this season, Alaina asked if she could try out for a play. I said,"Sure!" and then discovered it was a musical and that to audition she would have to learn lines, know a dance routine and have a song prepared that she could sing. 

Try outs were tough, but she got a part. She was a "Page" (servant to the king). She also preformed as a "Dancing Cow" in one of the scenes. Play practice has consumed many of her nights for the last few months, but this week is opening night, so now all of the hard work is paying off. Alaina is having a blast and hopes to do another play in the future.

Thanks to all the friends and family who came to support Alaina in her first play!

Here's a little recap of the play, 12 Dancing Princesses, if you missed it...   

A Turkey Treat You'll Gobble Up...

In the month of November our Family Home Evening lessons with the kids have turned to ones revolving around Thanksgiving. I love this time of year and I love talking to my children about all of the blessings and miracles that happen in our lives daily. Tonight we talked about Gratitude. We also talked about people who we can serve, who are less fortunate then us, and about all of the many blessings we have. It was awesome to hear the kids list off the things they are grateful for. I am reminded how much I can learn from my children about the simple things we should be grateful for that I seem to take for granted. They say stuff like, grateful that dad works so hard for the family, grateful for shoes, for friends, for the scriptures, grateful for grandma to live so close, grateful for a house to live in, our beds, a car and on and on. The fact that they keep going for what seems to be hours is what amazes me. And what I learn from.

We made our traditional "I'm Grateful For... Turkey" and hung him up tonight. The kids spend the month of November thinking of things they are grateful for and writing them on his feathers each day. I wish we did this all year round because of the effect it has on my kids. What typically happens is that they will write something complimentary of one of their siblings and then that prompts the other kids to write a compliment back. And then the younger siblings don't want to be out done by the older ones so they join in and start throwing compliments around. That keeps the cycle going. One kind thought leads to more positive reciprocation which leads to more sharing, love, kindness, compliments, and getting along, and so on. It's a vicious cycle, and I love it!

It was a Great Family Night!

Got this idea off a website and had lots of fun making them with the kids

 tonight for our snack.

(Rice Krispy Treat Balls made with Cocoa Krispy's)

Enjoy!

Money, Money, Money!

The Ostler Family 

Sprinkler Blowouts 2008

The kids are always asking Dan and I how they can earn money. They finally started asking if they could have a paper route, but we're just not ready for that kind of a time commitment and we know that at their ages it would mean mom and dad would have a paper route too.  And we're just not into getting up at 5:00am, If ya know what I mean.

Dan has owned many landscape and lawn mowing businesses in the past, so he had an idea. Dan decided to teach the kids how to do Sprinkler Blowouts. The time commitment is only a couple weekends in the fall and the kids can make a lot of money doing it. 

The kids loved that idea, so the planning and preparing began.

It's been really fun to see how hard they've been working this past week and I love that Dan has been teaching them all the in's and out's of running a business. 

They've been a part of every aspect of it. They started by creating fliers, printing, and cutting them. Then they spent a couple Saturdays going door to door passing them out. Their plan was to book 2 Saturdays full of Sprinkler Blowouts customers but the people kept calling so they kept adding blowout days to their schedule. They are now doing seven days of sprinkler blow outs. 

At each job they are responsible for...

Turning the main water off, and unscrewing the cap to the blowout pipe.

Hauling the hoses.

Attaching the hose to the compressor.

Turning the compressor on. 

Watching for when each circuit is no longer blowing out water, and air is coming out instead. Then manually switching it to the next circuit.

And writing an invoice out for each customer.

The kids favorite job by far is counting their money. They count it up and deduct their expenses, tithing and savings to see what they will actually get to keep. It's pretty exciting for them to be earning this much money.

The kids are having a blast running this business. It's so cute to watch them. Thanks to all of the family and friends who've let the kids come by this year to do your sprinkler blowouts.