Getting Ready

We have had a wonderful time with all the pre-Christmas fun. Kevin spent a Sat. putting up lights on our house and bushes. For some one who "enjoys" heights as much as Kevin this was a really event. Not only did he climb up on our home he also helped a neighbor do his also.

We put up our Christmas tree and all the kids help decorate (and undecorate - Clark). We even made some popcorn strings but Sarah was the only one with enough patience to finish hers.

In years past we have hung our stockings on our banister but we now have too many to fit there. Joy made a new stocking hanger and new stockings for our family.
We have loved all the fun reminders of the fun that we share this time of year. We are very blessed to have a warm home, food to fill us, healthy bodies, wonderful friends and family and the cornerstone to all that - a loving Heavenly Father and the gospel of his only begotten son Jesus Christ.

SNOW DAY!

We had to wait a long time but we finally got our first real snow. Collette and Clark were so excited to play in the snow. Collette has been waiting since it first started getting cold to build a snow man "with a carrot nose". So we plays and had tons of fun on a beautiful sunny morning in the snow!

Keeping Busy

Our family has been keeping busy with all the fun of this season! We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with our Jensen family whom we love and feel very grateful for. Joy also worked an expo with MODBE the Fri. and Sat. after Thanksgiving.

One of the other projects that have kept us busy is our new play room! Joy decided to turn our under the stairs pantry/storage into a play room for the kids. The goal was to have a place for the toys NOT in the living room and to spend $0.00. We have admitted that we are pack rats so... if we have to save everything "in case I need it someday" it was time to put some of that stuff to good use.

First I had to empty out the space. With some rearranging in the kitchen and garage it was a blank canvas-

So I used some old white paint that the we had and I put a tick coat of primer on all the walls and the floor-Then I painted "Magnetic" paint (gift from Grandma, THANKS MOMMY!) on one wall to make a giant magnet board for the kids-

On the other wall I used the bright green from the girls room for the wall and form left over dark green spray paint for the shelving brackets. Kevin made the whole space come alive by painting the tree, flowers, plants and butterflies (Coco's favorite).

I used left over blue from the boys room and painted the magnet wall. I also mixed in some of the white to make a lighter blue for the "sky". We already had the magnet sets and I used some vinyl to frame the magnetic board and make the Tic-Tac-Toe board-The floor is coverd with bound carpet samples that I had picked up years ago. They work great and make it possible to to still access the crawl space under the house. I used the vinyl letters again and made "clouds" with inspirational words. It was LOTS of work but we all love the end result. The kids have there own space, I have NO toys in the living room and everyone know what it means when I say "put the toys away".


So in the end both goals were met and every one is VERY HAPPY!

We had so much fun for Halloween! We all love to carve pumpkins but in years past it has ended up being a very long process with 4 little kids :) This year was a lot of fun. Kevin and Sarah were able and willing (always a great combo) to clean and carve their own pumpkins. With the older kids leading the way Collette and Clark really got into it all and we had a great time. Kevin love to use carving patterns and every year has a new collection. The kids each choose the design they wanted and we all set to work.

Kevin Lee chose to do a dragon that he needed some help with but between Dad and Kevin Lee it really turned out great!

Sarah chose Minnie Mouse. She did ALL the carving herself and was very proud of how it turned out!

Collete loved that Daddy had found some Disney princess patterns and chose Cinderella. Daddy did all the carving but Collette did a great job supervising.

Clark got an original design by Mommy. He was very excited when we lit the candle and the face lit up. When we told him it was time to blow out the candle and go to bed he blew it out and then gave his Jack -O- Lantern a kiss good night. It was really darling.

And Kevin did a very intricate Wolf. He took his to work and even won a prize for his carving skills.

We also did some carving with our Colby and Jensen cousins at Michael and Karen's house. We had fun decorating some small pumpkins Joe provided, they were left over decorations from the Singles ward party. THANKS UNCLE JOE!

So in the end we had quite a pumpkin collection and lots of fun to remember!

Dressing up is the number one favorite part of Halloween for the Herring kids. They all had great costumes and really had fun with who they were for the day.

Kevin - Caveman Sarah - Cavegirl

Collette - Swan Princess Clark - Dinosaur

AKA Candyasaurus

One of our current events is "The Music Man". Kevin, Sarah and Joys mom, Karen are performing with Center Street Musical Theater. The show runs Fri. Sat. and Mon. until Nov.15th. The kids are having a great time and are learning a lot with this new theater experience. Karen has reprised her roll as Widow Paroo and is wonderful as she is in every thing she does.

The rest of us keep busy with all the fun of fall and the crazy life of a family with four kids.

So I thought I would give this a try. I don't do a great job keeping everyone in our life up to date with all we do so this is my sincer atempt at letters, cards, scrapbooking and journaling all rolled into one.