And the WINNER is.....

The votes are in and the polls are closed.

17 to 5 is ts the final count,
and the winner, of course, is ME!!!

Thank you all who recognized the masterpiece in it's entirety. Complete with custom ice skating pond, gazebo and festive holiday wreath. (not to mention, the matching and patterned roof kissables)

Thanks for your vote, and thanks to the 5 people who voted for Corey's eco friendly home, he really need your votes for his self esteem. He really did do a great job...... mine was just simply better:)

Gingerbread House Competition

So, Corey and I got a bit competitive with our Gingerbread houses.......then, of course, we both were convinced that ours were the best. Really the only thing we could agree on was that we should let our friends and family decide. So, VOTE on the poll to the right.......

#1

#2

Gingerbread Houses

The last time we tried to do gingerbread houses, we made them from graham crackers like I did when I was little, but we apparently didn't have the right "glue". The frosting we used wouldn't let the houses stick together and it was super frustrating. So, this year I was proactive and used the glue gun to put them together before hand. Worked GREAT!

Rhys got really into it and even made a pond in the front yard! Such a cutie!

Malik, true to form, made his a masterpiece, he spend a great deal of time on the design and made it just right. Our little artist!

Bet you can't guess which one Jorie did.....

Clue, most of her decorating went right in her mouth!!!

Salt Dough Candle Holders

Malik got a book at school called Craft Ideas For Kids. He and Rhys looked through it at least 50 times then announced that they would be making Salt Dough Christmas Candle Holders for their teachers and Grandma's and Papa's for Christmas. After looking over the ingredient list and making a list on Saturday we headed to the store. Then, yesterday after church, we began our 7 hour project. Mind you it's not a difficult project, my children are just perfectionists! They spent almost 4 hours painting them after they had cooked! Fun project, even Jorie and Dad got into it!

Check out the green paint on Rhys' forehead and red paint on his cheek....When Malik is really consentrating he sticks his tongue out the side of his mouth....

Enloe Update!

Hello all! Just thought I would rejoin the land of blogging and give you all an update from our new little neck of the woods.

The move went without a hitch and we have temporarily moved into a 3 bedroom home that a friend of our is giving us a great deal on. We are currently in the middle of trying to make a decision (which you all know isn;t an easy thing for us to do) about more permanent living arrangements. Hopefully, by February, we will either be breaking ground for a new home or have found one that we love and in the purchase process. For now, our rental is just fine and in a great location.

Malik started into his new 2nd grade class and loves it!!! Initially he was so sad/mad about the move but to his surprise he has fallen right in step and has made some great new friends. I also have been pretty inpressed with this new school, don't be jealous, but there are only 15 students in his class!!! It's a dream!

After hours on the phone trying to find a preschool for Rhys with openings, I finally found one. The only one in the whole stinkin' valley with an opening! In hopes that we might be able to pay Rhys' tuition in January, I will be selling a kidney. Let me know if you are interested. Rhys loves his school! They have movement classes on Mondays, gymnastics on Thursdays, and they get to play in the bounce house once a week. The play yard is like nothing I have ever seen! The have a bear cave, tunnels and hills, a treehouse and most recently (and Rhys' fav), sledding hills and sleds. They have a great time and Rhys always leaves with a smile!

Jorie and I spend a couple of hours on Monday at a play gym called GiminiKids. There are always kids her age to play with and I think the change of scenery is very welcome for Jorie. She misses her brothers while they are gone but is so happy when they get home. She is very chatty and is going through a phase where she asks thousands of questions, not only once but 5-6 times! Cute but kind of annoying. She is getting so big!

Corey is definately in his element! He loves his new job (not to mention the 5 powder days he has had in the last 3 weeks, thanks to 3-4 feet of new snow). This job in this area was made for Corey! He has always been very content with his job but now I see a huge difference in him when he comes home at night, he is so happy! He is getting ready to put the kids in ski school and can't wait for spring so we can all bike and hike the thousands of trails availabe to us.

I am very happy here but more than once a day I miss my old routine and my girlfriends and family. I love being a mom and I love my family. I am happiest when I am with them!

We love you all and hope you all want to take fun and exciting vacations to visit us, we will make it worth your while!!!! Promise!!

Yesterday afternoon it warmed up by about 10 degrees (which brought it just above freezing) and some of the snow on our tin roof began to slide. Although not for long, the temp dropped well below 15 degrees pretty quick. This morning the kids were facinated by this scene in our backyard. The snow was curved and the icesicles curved in toward our house!!! Crazy, but really pretty cool, just thought we'd share!

Chicago

I really look forward to, what seems to have turned into a tradition, making the annual trip with Corey to Chicago for his budget reviews in the late fall. Last year, Ty and Carrie were able to make the trip with us, which was a blast! This year it ended up just the two of us and Corey knowing how much I wanted to see "Dirty Dancing", was able to finagle great tickets for us!

Over our 10 years of marriage, food has become our hobby and not just food......GREAT food, which in turn has lent us the nickname, "Food Snobs". This night was no different, we had dinner at a restaurant called 312 Chicago, which happens to be managed by a friend of ours, it was amazing! Then off to the show! Super fun and entertaining (even Corey loved it!), if you have a chance to see it, I would highly recommend it!

Our last night in Chicago we went to Sushi (ever try super white tuna? DELISH!) then to a renowned comedy club called The Second City. We had never heard of it but when we walked in we instantly recognized tons of the alumni pic all over he walls, everyone from Alan Alda to John Candy and Steve Carell to Tina Fay got there comedy start here! I could never explain how seriously funny it was! My cheeks hurt and my belly ached from all the laughing! I really hope to see these Comedians around someday, they were great!

Sushi - Yum Yum!

PS -After all of this I really need to make sure my mom knows how grateful we are to her for being able and will in to come stay with our kids while we went and played. She is a wunderful woman and our children adore her and are so lucky yo have her in their lives!
Thanks again Grandma Marj!

Punkins, Parades, Cousins, Leaves, Trick-or-Treat, and FIRE

Punkins

For family night, we carved our punkins, much to Corey's dismay. Corey wishes every year that the kids would just plan forget about carving pumpkins. The smell and texture of the inerds hits the gag reflex and it's all down hill from there. So, with the fans on and the windows open wide, we attempted to spend a bit of quality time as a family. Dad cut off the tops, then retreated to his happy place while and mom and the kids scooped out the guts. Incidentally, Jorie and Malik love the inerds and have no problem, but Rhys on the other hand may have a bit of the dads weak stomach. He tried so hard but I think he may have turned green.

Parades

Malik's Halloween parade was on Thursday, due to the fact that there wasn't any school on Friday this week. I'm pretty sure I don't have any shy children, including Malik, he walked the whole parade acting like a Transformer and ate up all the attention, he was Bumblebee this year and acted the part to the T.
Malik and his friend Tyrell

Cousins
We are so lucky to have cousins! Jorie especially eats up all the attention that Cedar and Tannen give her. She has so much fun with them and they are so good to her. Jorie and the girls had a blast playing in the leaves all afternoon before we went trick-or-treating. So Cute!
Tannen, Jorie and Cedar
Trick-or-Treat
Traditionally, the kids and I go to dads work and trick-or-treat around the hotel. The kids eat it up, they get so much attention from everyone. Hanging out at dads work is always a highlight for the kids. Then later, that day all our cousins came to play, have dinner and go trick-or-treating. We were such a heard walking up and down the street, not unusual though, we are for sure the Martin heard when we are all together. I wouldn't trade it for he world, I love my family!
Optimus Prime (aka:Rhys) Ladybug (aka:Jorie) Bumblebee (aka:Malik)
Trick-orTreating at Daddy's hotel
CousinsIvy and Jorie
Uncle Papa (or Uncle Kevin) and Jorie
(she started calling him Uncle Papa tonight, so so cute)

FIRE
After we all had our fill of trick-or-treating, we went back to our house to light the fire pit and have hot chocolate in the circle (good thing, it was a chilling 65 degrees out!) All in all it was a great day and a super fun night. Thanks all for helping us make fun memories!
Rhys and Cam
Malik and Christian