October Fun

October!

It's already the end of the month. Here's what we were up to:

Cross-Country 

This was our family's past time for the month of October. Kameron was running for his middle school and we really enjoyed going to the meets and watching him run. He thoroughly enjoyed this season of cross-country. He loved his coach, teammates, and the whole experience. It was a great way to end his middle school XC career. He's had some pretty enthusiastic cheerleaders too.

They are enthusiastic little huggers of their favorite runner!!

Typical day. You get home from practice and Mom's is your face with her IPhone because you are so darn cute!!

October at Greenbluff

Fall wouldn't be Fall without a couple of trips to Greenbluff for pumpkins, donuts, and all kinds of fun. One weekend Elle was staying with us, so we thought it would be the perfect time to head on up. The kids (and Tyler) were dreaming of Hot Pumpkin Donuts!! Tyler and Kameron stood in line and waited for nearly an hour and a half for them and they STILL said that it was worth it. It would not have been for me!! Kameron bought his own bag and snarfed his dozen down in record time. The sugar buzz made for some wild pumpkin picking!!

Kameron was a great sport and fueled by donuts; dragged those girls all over in the wagon.

Photo bomb by Kam #1

Photo bomb by Kam #2...You gotta love 13 year old boys!!

By the end of the outing there were four crazy, hyper kids!! But like I said on Instagram... (Instagram has pretty much taken over my blogging)...Tyler bought all those donuts and stuffed the kids full of them. On a side note...doesn't he have the most startling blue eyes? Even in a weird picture those blue eyes shine through. Guess how many of my kids have inherited those beautiful blue eyes? Nary a one!! Sad. Let's hope for red-haired and blue-eyed grandkids!!

Reilly had to work that weekend and wasn't able to go with us. She ended up going later with Justin. She gave him the whole Johnson Greenbluff experience. The poor kid hadn't picked a pumpkin in years.


Sunday Drives

While the weather is nice, we have been channeling my Grandma and Grandpa McKinnon, who used to love to go for Sunday drives out in the country, and we have been doing it ourselves. We live in such a beautiful place and autumn just kicks it up a notch. On one particular drive, Tyler took me to see a dam that he inspects and that he had been working at that week.

So pretty!!

I am dreading the arrival of winter as usual. I hate being cooped up indoors and so I am trying to be out and about as much as possible in the great outdoors before we are undoubtedly snowed in. Snow makes me feel completely claustrophobic. I know. Add it to the long and lengthy list.

Going to Church

This month has been a month of a million and two EXTRA meetings. This is us at one. It was late and the meeting was LONG. On another note...Reilly's boyfriend has been coming to church with us every week, attending mutual, and going to all kinds of extra meetings, and service projects too. That has been a lot of fun for our whole family. Have I mentioned that he is really a great kid?

Stolen from Reilly's Instagram account. I know...the cheese is a little overwhelming at times. Such is teenage love.

Can I just say that the mere fact that Tyler likes this kid is a miracle from God. Seriously. Tyler has thoroughly loathed everyone Reilly has even thought about liking. This is a far cry from last year when the boy that Reilly liked said this to her:

Boy: I think your dad hates me.
Reilly: Why?
Boy: Because he is always glaring at me.
Reilly: I don't think he is glaring at you. That's just his face.
Boy: No, he's glaring at me.

Later:

Reilly: "Insert name" thinks you hate him.
Tyler: Why?
Reilly: He says you are always glaring at him.
Tyler: I am.
Me: You are seriously glaring at this kid?
Tyler: Correct
Reilly: He thinks you hate him.
Tyler: That would also be correct.

See how far we have come? Given that Tyler smiles, laughs, and actually allows Justin to hang out here is pretty darn miraculous and Ailey and Bryn have hope for the future.

Kindergarten Field Trip

Oh yes... we returned again. Tyler and I were chaperones on the Kindergarten field trip to Greenbluff. It worked out pretty well in that one of us had Bryn, and one of us had Elle, and we also kept tabs on another crazy kid. It was freezing cold, rainy, and pretty much thoroughly miserable but these two cuties made it worth it.

Lunch time

Chivalry isn't dead...even in Kindergarten.

After 4 kids and including preschool and Kindergarten field trips... I was on Greenbluff field trip #7 and Tyler was on Greenbluff field trip #2. Even we were Greenbluffed out that day!! We pass the field trip torch on...

The Dentist

 I am smiling because all four kids were cavity free. (Thank goodness our appt was PRIOR to Halloween) Reilly is smiling because she was told that from now on if she has a cavity she pays what our insurance doesn't herself and, lucky for her, she was in the clear. By nearly 18 years old you should be able to brush, floss, and take care of your teeth right?

Costume Choosing

Again Kameron refused to be Charlie Bucket for Halloween much to my great dismay. When his hair is in need of a haircut he really is Charlie Bucket's twin. It took much coercion, bribery, and some threatenings but I was allowed one photo. Was I right or what? Kameron is so rapidly growing and changing into a man-boy that I fear that his Charlie Bucket days are numbered. So with a borrowed turtleneck and DVD proof...he relented. He would like the record to state that he is EXAGGERATING  his Charlie Bucketness for his mother's amusement. :)

Pumpkins Were Carved

This year I came up with the scathingly brilliant idea of having the kids carve their pumpkins out on the deck after school and thus eliminating the pumpkin mess in my house. Brilliance!! That fact that it has taken me until my oldest was nearly 18 years old to come up with this idea is sad. The kids loved the pumpkin carving/hot chocolate party. A new tradition is born.

Onto Halloween...

New Pictures 2014

It's Better than School Picture Time Again

I am up to my eyeballs in paint, furniture, and merchandise getting ready for a vintage show in Montana in about a week and a half. But...I thought I'd take a little break to post some new cute pictures of the kids. All were taken by my friend, Amy, of Amy Stinebaugh Photography.

Reilly: Senior Year

Kameron: 8th Grade

Ailey: 5th Grade

Bryn: Kindergarten

I love them all!! And...the kids aren't bad too. :) We missed out on getting our family picture taken this year due to Reilly's work schedule...arghh. The one huge downside of having a teenager working is that her work schedule completely screws up MY SCHEDULE!! I will have to book a family picture this summer before Reilly heads out into the world as an adult. So weird.

September

Sayonara September

Now that it is mid-October it is probably time to wrap up September. What a wild ride it has been...all the back to school and accompanying hoopla. Finally we are settled into a nice routine and it feels good. So...back to September.

Let's start with Labor Day weekend. I participated in The Funky Junk Antiques show in Sandpoint, Idaho. This is a fun show put on by my friend, Jennifer, every Labor Day weekend. This is one of our bigger shows and one of our favorites. It is always crazy scrambling to get things done for this show while doing all the back-to-school shopping and trying to squeeze in the last bit of summer fun. But...we did it!!

A few pictures:

All done setting up. It was a beautiful night out in the country.

Sisters Creed Day One...all ready to go!!

We had a fantastic first day!! We sold a lot and had a great time visiting with customers and friends.

After our first day of the show we had dinner at The Dish on Dover Bay on Lake Pend Oreille. It is my new favorite restaurant. It is fantastic. We had a truly epic culinary experience...second only to eating at Decarli in Portland where my cousin Paul is a chef. It was fabulous.

Seriously!! How gorgeous is that?

Tyler was there helping us with our show and Kelley came up to shop and hangout. All of our kids were at my mom's playing with my her new darling dog...Maggie Mae. More on her later.

It was a fantastic night and a wonderful way to relax after our busy day at Funky Junk. It was such a gorgeous night on Lake Pend Oreille.

Day Two at Funky Junk was just as fun and profitable. Here I am hanging out with my friend Rebecca.

She has the most fabulous apparel line called Peace Within. My family LIVES in her clothes. They are wonderful. Here we are in her booth dressing up to be twinners. I ended up buying both the scarf and the sweater. You can buy her stuff online too. Here's the link: peacewithincda.com

Loading up post show is never fun. Luckily Reilly was there for some comic relief.

After the show was over we headed to our lake for some much needed R&R. The weather was gorgeous. Sunny and hot. Just how I like things. Why can't summer stay forever?

Does it get better than this?? The answer is no.

You may notice from our selfies that I have finally figured out where to look for pictures. Tyler not so much.

Me in my happy place

They were in their happy place too!!

Now onto Maggie Mae... the newest member of the McClellan family. Over the summer, once my mom's divorce from Ken was final...Hallelujah...no one was sad about that happening...she got a dog. The cutest dog ever. Maggie Mae is a Newfypoo. Half Newfoundland and half Poodle. She is adorable and adored by the entire family.

She has pretty much tripled in size since these pictures were taken. She will be a big dog.

These kids have been having the greatest time with her especially since we won't let them get a dog of their own right now. I feel like I live in a house full of puppies as it is!!

Here is a picture of Maggie Mae a little bigger...from Reilly's Instagram:

We also  went to the fair as a family...including Reilly's boyfriend Justin. It was a memorable experience as usual. Love the fair: the food, the people, the weird stuff. It is an all around good time.

Kameron slurping the melted ice cream off of his deep fried peach pie. It took some serious strong arming of Tyler (stent boy) to stay away from the deep fried lasagna but he did it!!

Waiting in line for the flying ride

Ailey and Reilly on the flying ride...just getting started. Our little Ailey has come so far. She  has a huge fear of heights so we were very proud that she braved this ride and ...liked it!!

Justin and Kam waiting for the ride to start

The BF was off at the ATM. The fair is an expensive date!! Luckily he thought Reilly was worth it. They then ditched us to do their own thing. Oh well.

Here's what I did:

Ate enormous corn dogs!! Why have I NEVER thought to smear mustard all over the corn dog before? Genius fair food people! Genius. I will never dip my dog again!!

Moving on to Asian Stir fry...that's health food at the fair!!

Now we are onto cotton candy. I ate two bags all by myself...hence my crazy eyes. I couldn't help it. It is my all time favorite treat!!

Just helped the kids polish off a brick of fries and Mt. Dews. It was getting late and  we still weren't done so it was caffeine for everyone!

The kids rode more rides and went down the big slide. We saw sinister looking vegetables. So large. So creepy. Don't even get me started on the giant sunflowers. SPOOKY. We saw all the animals. Bryn was fascinated. We do not get up close and personal to farm animals much...which is sad...but she did learn a lot. Mainly that farm animals stink and that she does not want to get up close and personal to them. But she can now tell a goat from a sheep. Success!! We also paid to see the world's smallest horse...rip off...and to see the world's largest and clearly angriest pig...worth every cent!! I paid twice just to go back and get another look at that crazy beast. Oh the fair was glorious!! Can't wait for next year.

Tyler and I also managed to sneak off to Lake Coeur d' Alene one day and it was fabulous. Every time I say to Tyler to get me the heck out of Fargo... which is all winter, spring, and most of fall... I remember days like this and living here is worth it.

This was a beautiful ending to a beautiful day. My very favorite coconut cake and huckleberry sorbet at the Coeur d' Alene resort.

So while I have had to look at an awful lot of this...

September has been pretty grand!!

Oh yeah...

Kameron made jazz band, has been running cross country, and earned a bunch of stuff in scouts.

Kam's XC cheerleaders!!

Ailey was nominated as an ASB representative (student council) for the 5th grade and decided to do choir instead of play an instrument. (No tears were shed on my part.) She is really following in Reilly's elementary school footsteps at least activity wise.

Reilly got a new job. What up, Shopko?

Action shot!!

We also get to spend more time with this cutie who gets to hang out with us for a little bit before and after school. Elle and Bryn are loving Kindergarten and all the fun that comes with it. I am doing another fitness challenge with my friends and you can see from the above photos that I am clearly losing...the contest.

September I miss you already!!