Here are my boys!

1st Day of School

Sam's 1st Day of Kindergarten! He loves it!

Ethan's 1st Day of Pre-school - back at the same school again this year.

3rd Annual Tire Tater Contest

I know you have all been waiting for more pics! The day is finally here!

Today we won the coveted "Golden Masher" (and Bumble Spud, for Transformer lovers). I know I know, you wish you had. How did we do it, you ask? Well a lot of hard work, dedication, and tires. Right, tires.

Each year, we plant potatoes in a tire. As it grows, we add more tires. And more tires. Then, at the end of the season, we dig through the dirt from the tires and pull out all the potatoes that grew. Phew, hard work. The boys LOVE this part. Boys and dirt go together well! We weigh them all and the family with the most weight wins! That was us!!

Mom and Ron had a great pile too!

Here they are!

Mason was cute, as usual!

Now, to add to the excitement, we also took the prize for biggest potato! What a year!

So, this last picture is the 3rd cutest little boy ever!! LOL This is my nephew, Mason James Arsenault. He came with his mom and dad, Toby and Amanda Arsenault, to the resort and spent a night with us. He is so cute I could eat him up. Poor kid gets smothered in kisses when I am holding him. Can you blame me - look at that face!!

OK, onto the other pics...the end of our trip was to Santa's Village and Storyland. Still raining on Sat when we went to Santa's Village, so we wore ponchos! It still was warm though so we made the best of it. Kids wore froggie boots and splashed in every puddle there. Every kids dream. Sunday made up for the rainy weather - hot and so nice! We had a blast on the water rides. Great end to our 4th vacation. But we never saw fireworks - they were cancelled in Rangeley due to thunder and lightning.

OK, so I haven't posted in a long time, but a lot of you have asked if I please can post! So, here it is! This set of pictures are from the beginning of our week away! We went to Kris's family camp on Aziscohos Lake (near Rangeley) for 2 days and to the Rangeley Lake Resorts for 2 days. It rained the whole time, on and off, but we made the most of it! We still went fishing - see the boys using umbrellas! We had good luck though and caught a nice one! We still had a campfire and made smore's, my favorite. A good start to our trip.

Just a few more pics...sorry they aren't every day! My favorite is from today - the boys had a beach party, even in the middle of a snowstorm. They lounged in the sun (lamp light), made fishing poles and fish and then caught them, made fruit kabobs and had a picnic lunch, and we even played games, like Sam's ring toss. Tons of fun.

Day 53 (January 22nd)

SURPRISE! We had a baby shower for my Sister-in-Law on Sunday. Baby is due April 12th and I can't wait!! They live next door to me, so I plan to see my new nephew daily.

So my computer had a virus that wouldn't let me download anything! It is finally working again, so here are a few pics of the days I missed. Sammy and Grampy A in top left. We went up to Winterport for a sleep over the 13th - 14th. In the morning, Grampy made quite a plate! The boys loved it and asked if he would make the SAME thing next time. The top right is Ethan's hands. He loves my Stampin Up Tattoo kit. If I let him, he stamps from his hands up to his shoulders. I help him color them in. They wash off well, so I just let him do whatever - it makes him happy! So I am happy! The last pic is of last Friday night. Kris set up our tent in the livingroom. He also blew up the air mattress and the four of us watched a movie from inside the tent. Sam was the only one who slept in the tent all night though. I was first to go up to my bedroom. Then Ethan was coughing so bad and needed the humidifier, so Kris brought him up. Sometime during the night, Kris moved from the tent to the couch. So, Sammy is the winner. He even wanted to sleep in the tent AGAIN on Saturday night.

Day 32

I had to post 2 pictures today so you can see what Ethan was reacting to. Kris and I took the boys to see Disney on Ice. Ethan was in awe of everything and smiled the whole time. I looked over during the Little Mermaid song "Under the Sea" and this is what he looked like. We were in the 3rd row, so practically on the ice - great seats. Afterward, he said he loved the jellyfish.

Day 30

Don't they just look so cute! I really don't know how I even snapped this picture. They were acting like animals, like they usually do! They were holding hands, swinging each other in circles. Letting go and sliding across the floor. Then doing it again. I said look and me and say cheese, and this is what I got! Soon after, I went out the door. They had a Daddy night, with pizza and a movie. They love that.

Day 29

After a big snowstorm and being stuck inside all day on the 28th, the boys were anxious to play outside. Lots of sledding down the driveway, since we don't sand, it can be fun for the little kids still. Then we made a snowman. We put on the black top hat, but nothing happened. So, Sam decided maybe we needed his flame hat to bring "Frosty" to life. They waited and waited and waited. That is what they are doing in this picture! Waiting...but they finally gave up and we decided that maybe we just didn't have the right magic hat.

Day 27

Well first of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMY GROSS! Sorry Mom, I didn't get any good pics of you to post. They all came out blurry...maybe the lighting across the table. SO, here is just one pic from the party. We all met at The Sea Dog Restaurant in Brunswick for dinner. The boys were fantastic and full of laughs. Ethan and Kris were fooling around in this pic, talking about how yummy dinner was! My mom's birthday was actually last Friday night, but in order for us ALL to go, we had to wait until Tuesday night to celebrate.

Day 26

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMPY GUAY! Grampy is always fun to play with - I don't know, maybe they are playing air plane, or just stretching...I just snap the camera and get these action shots. Grampy's favorite part of the night was his new GPS. Ethan and Sam's favorite part was the cake and ice cream. Their mom has to agree with them - you all know my sweet tooth!

Day 25

Well I finished my scarf that I made with my Knifty Knitter. I put it on Riley, because it is just that good. It is fit for a dog! I had a bit of trouble finishing it, so the ends are not looped right. Not sure if it will unravel. Time will tell. Riley did not like it though, so I guess I will be stuck wearing it.

Day 24...yes I missed a few days.

Movie Time! The boys wanted a movie theatre in our living room, so they set up chairs. Then their "friends", aka stuffed animals, all came in and had a seat. Dinner and a movie sounded good to me, so I set them up tables and they ate while they watched the "Bee Movie". You can't tell in the picture, but we weren't allowed to have any lights on...it is dark in a movie theatre you know.

Day 19

Just a few candles I made. On some, I stamped on tissue paper and then heated them into the candles. The one in the front right has covered match boxes to coordinate with the candle.

Day 19

The boys used the window gel clings to make their own snowmen. It was all fun and games until the next day, when Sam thought he would EAT one! Yes, Sam is my oldest and is 5, but I guess it was just too tempting to see what it would taste like. SO, his mom, me, called Poison Control to find out if I should be concerned. In case any of your children do this, the answer is no, there is nothing to worry about. It is a foreign object in his system, but it will not poison him. Do they always have to keep me on my toes? I know, I know...the answer is yes.

Day 18

My cards are planned, made and cut for 20 people to make! Party is on Friday night!

On Saturday, we went to Liam's 5th Birthday Party. It was at the bowling alley. The boys had never bowled before. Kris helped them with their form and they has a blast. E was very pleased with himself, as you can see in the picture!

Day 16

This is Jen's daughter, Taylor. Every other week, a bunch of us get together to craft for the morning. I always have Ethan there. Jen always has Taylor. Taylor is so laid back. We were all sitting at the table crafting and we looked over and this is how Taylor was! It gave us a laugh because it didn't even phase her. She had been sitting up, but fell over. Sweet girl.

Day 15

"I, Gabrielle, am sleeping while the kids are watching a movie. I am the furthest on the right. I am 8 years old. I love unicorns. I am in 2nd grade. And I was in a horse show once. Next to me in the picture is my little sister, Mia, my friend, Sammy, my little brother, Liam, and his friend, Ethan. We came to spend the night with Auntie and Uncle Kris. Mom is picking us up in a few minutes. We are a bunch of cutie heads! Brown chicken brown cow."

So, yes, Kris and I spent the evening entertaining the 5 kids, but they were so good! Gabby loves my blog too :)

Day 14

Do you think Sam has enough pads on to fly? Well he thinks so. He asked me if there was enything in the house that flies and when I said no, he said, "then I will fly." I said, "no you won't." He said, "yes I will." He put on one item at a time and then asked every time, "can I fly yet?" Guess what my answer was? And just to clarify, flying means climbing up the tallest piece of furniture and jumping off. Or he said he could hold onto the ceiling fan, I would turn it on and he would let go. He's such a boy.

Day 13

Jammies are on, teeth are brushed and we are getting in a few more minutes of play time. This ball is one that lights up when you throw it, but you can't see it in the pic. Ethan loves it. Chucks it down the dark hall and chases it. A SAHM's favorite time of day is bedtime. After a long day with active kids, who wouldn't love a little quiet time. Plus, the next day will start nice and early!

Day 12

Ok you caught me. I didn't take any photos on the 12th, so here is another picture from the 11th. My 3 favorite boys!

Day 11

We woke up on Sunday morning to the snow coming down hard. It snowed until noon, a light fluffy snow. Perfect for sliding and playing in! So, when the sun came out and the wind stopped, we headed outside. We went next door to Uncle Toby and Aunt Amanda's house - they have a great hill! This pic is of Sam at the bottom, and I loved how the sun was bouncing off the trees. Beautiful. When we were done, we went into Toby and Amanda's, where they had hot chocolate waiting for us. Aren't they the BEST! It was delicious.

Day #10

From the left, this is Kris (my husband), Sam (my 5 year old), Austin (my nephew) and Toby (my brother-in-law). They went ice fishing for the afternoon today - Sam's first time. He loved it, as you can see by the huge grin on his face. Austin was the only one to catch anything, and it was very small, Sam said. What did I do while they were gone?? Ethan napped and Mommy had quiet time. I so needed that!

Day #9

This is the only picture I took yesterday. I spent a good part of the day planning and making cards with my new Stampin Up sets. Here you can see a card and basket made with the "Valentine Bundle Set", which is on sale until the end of January. 1 card is with a brand new stamp set, "Petal Pizzazz", which you will see in the new catalog out on Jan 19th. The other set is "Upsy Daisy" which is a current set, but new to me! My upline came over with her new sets too, so we made so much more than these 4. Do I need to say we had lots of fun? If you would like anymore info on the new catalog or Stampin Up products, visit my website at www.carriearsenault.stampinup.net

I wish you could see in this pic that the snow is gently falling outside. We had snow and ice all day yesterday, but still, when the boys opened the door to let our dog out, they were so excited to see the snow. They said "Mom, Mom, come quick! It is snowing!" They were both looking up trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

Day #7

My brother-in-law has a new tattoo. Isn't it awesome? He came over to show us tonight. He is in the Army and is home we think until Jan 2010, except for a 3 week stint this summer to Germany. He joined last year, had boot camp in OK, then training in Missouri. He did so well and we are all so proud of him. Doesn't surprise me he got this for a tattoo.

Day #6

Last night, which was Day #6 in the 365 day challenge, I went to dinner with my Mom, my Sister-in-Law, and her Mom. So here we are, after chips and salsa, chicken tacos and chocolate covered fried ice cream. We look so happy because we were so full we could burst! Good thing I went out to rejuvenate because today is bringing us an ice/snow storm here in the Northeast. That means no school today!

Day #5

Today was our 2nd "Itty Bitty Chefs" class at the YMCA. Sam and Ethan are both in it. They learn about eating healthy and they make yummy food. Today, they had to draw a picture of the fruit or vegetable they would be IF they were a fruit or vegetable. Sam would be a blueberry. Here is his self "blueberry" portrait.