The quiet books

So I decided to make the kids quiet books. We are taking a long long trip to Arizona and Utah for Christmas so we needed some stuff to entertain the kids. I have been working on this for the past 2 months. It has been fun but I am ready to be done. I am finished with Jonathan's but I still need to do some work on Natali's. Lets just hope I finish it in the next 3 weeks:) I will give you a walk through...

 Page one of Jonathan's. I made a car that Velcros and Jonathan can also drive his cars on it as well.

 The tree page has leaves and flowers to Velcro to the tree and they can put it in the grass pocket. The farm page. You can open the doors and pull the pig, chicken, and cow out and they are finger puppets.

 The mail box page. I made envelopes and little letters inside and the kids can open the mail box and mail them off:)

 This is the mr potato head. The basket has the parts and they can put the face on him.

 Velcro numbers to help him recognize his numbers. also the shoe lace page. I need the lace still.

 Here is a pond. The fish have a magnet in them and the fishing pole also has a magnet. they can go fishing:)

 The boat has a zipper and the fish are velcro and he can put the fish in the zipper pocket.

 Here is Natali's. A lady bug with a zipper. The dots can snap on and off and can be put into the zipper pocket. Also the Shoe lace which needs a lace as well.

 Little girl with a basket of clothes that can be dressed. she also has the pond.

 She has he barn and tree page like Jonathan

 Natali's mail box and letters

 Mrs. potato head

 Natali get color pages. she knows her colors but to remember which one is which is hard for her. I am not done with the color pages. I will have the names and flowers with buttons that she can pull off.

Well I hope  they like it. they can use them for church and for the trip. I hope you enjoy this. Sorry they are not the best in the world but I have loved working with this project.

Christmas Tree

The kids are finally old enough to help with the tree. they had so much fun!

jamestown and williamsburg

Like many of you know I love history and every thing about it:) On veterans day the Active duty military and the veterans get some free things. So we took advantage of that. On that Saturday we went to the Great Falls on the boarder of Maryland and Virginia. If was fun and very beautiful! We got in free and also got a year pass for all national parks. So we can go hiking a lot in the Spring. that's what we are excited for. That Monday we decided to take a trip down to Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia. I loved it all!

Halloween

 In front of our house ready to get some candy!

We walked around Normandy Bluff (that's where we live) housing area and hit up all the houses and filled the buckets:)

last 4 nights of Halloween dinners

 Sorry I'm a few days behind. Thursday night we had twice baked potato ghosts! yummy!

 Jason said they needed mouths so he added cheese:)

 Friday night we had the Nielson kids over while mom and dad went on  date. We had Pumpkin pancakes and Ghost bananas!

 Saturday night was easy night. We had Monster sandwhiches! they were super yummy!

Tonight we had Tarantula tacos with mexican rice.

Up date and more!!! HAHAHA

 Tuesday dinner! This was suppose to be pumpkin pockets. Sorry it doesn't look like a pumpkin. I started training for a 5k/mile walk and I haven't walked like that on a trail in about 9 months or more( well since the last week in Monterey. I use to walk everyday with the kids in california but moving and it being too hot I just didn't want to take the time so I decided I needed to get off my lazy bum and train:) Oct 27th is the day and I am excited even though its just a mile walk it's a big accomplishment and I have been doing a mile and a half in 33 mins/30 mins the past 3 days so lets see if I can get it down in the next few weeks:) Anyway I was tired and had a head ache and didn't care to try and make this look like a pumpkin but it tasted amazing and silly me thought my tongue was a piece and I bit it hard. Sorry I am going to get gross for a second but my mouth was bleeding so bad like someone punched me in the mouth or something. It still hurts and I didn't realize I talked as much as my dad until I tried talking the past 2 days. Every time in hit the roof of my mouth I wanted to cry. But it was so hard not to talk to my kids much:( Anyway long story short here is Tuesday nights meal:)

 Wednesday nights meal! One of my favorites. My home made chili! and spider bread! YUMMMMMMY!!!

 We got a surprise on our door step when we got home today from speech therapy! A package from Grandma Den Boer. Grandma has been working on these cute boots for natali! I love them and she won't take them off.

 She is ready to go:) boots and jacket! haha who needs pants?

 Also Jonathan got these cool books from grandma, papa, cousin Fiona and cousin Mia. Thanks he loves them and has not stopped talking about them:) infact he is over looking through them telling our dog (who is passed out on the couch from our walk) but that doesn't stop Jonathan from telling her all about dinosaurs.

There was also this cute little lady bug bug. Natali bug loves it!

Also here is a little update on everyone... I finally got a hold of the doctors office to set up an appointment for Jonathan. Oh man was that a head ache and frustrating. But finally the soonest we can get him in is Nov 7th for them to check to see if Dr. Dombrowsky (Jonathan's sleep doctor) was telling the truth about his tonsils and adnoids which even Jonathan's speech therapist knows its true and he needs them out. He is hard to understand some times and it sounds like he is straining his voice to be heard. Mrs Suzanne ( his speech therapist) thinks he might have vocal cord damage from straining those cords for so long. So he needs to get that checked out as well. Mrs Suzanne thinks that after his surgery he might be able to talk better and might not need therapy after Christmas. She said he is up to a 3 1/2-4 year old level where he should be now but just wants to make sure its his tonsils that are causing the rest of the problems which most likely is. Also Jonathan has bad allergies and we are not sure what he is allergic to so after his surgery when we switch him doctors we are going to get tests done to see what he is allergic to so he doesn't have to take a few different medicines like he is taking now. Jonathan is now into Dinosaurs, Sharks and still plays with his cars but he loves to learn about the different Dinosaurs and the different sharks.
Natali just turned 2 a few weeks ago and she thinks she is 16. She has an attitude and also loves girly things. Not too much to up date on her since she is going big and fast. She talks as much as Papa Den Boer does;) and she is as stubborn as her mommy:) She is a Den Boer all the way! Like I said Natali is a girly girl and loves to play with her baby doll. She got a stroller for her birthday thanks to grandma Barfuss and she walks her baby doll. She also loves to cook in her small kitchen and go grocery shopping with her cart thanks to grandma Shelly. She is funny because I catch her doing things mommy does and saying things mommy says. She will tuck her baby doll in bed kiss it and tell it good night sleep tight. She is a sweet girl:) This morning she told her baby doll to stop whining and that she has a stinka bum:) hahaha! I think she hears those from mama a lot but not at the same time:) She is my sweet girl who loves everyone! She tells everyone at the store good bye and blows them all kisses as we leave. She is the one that will ask if you are ok when you get hurt or if Jonathan is crying. Like yesterday Jonathan hit her in the face so I put him in time out. He was crying and she went up to him told him she was sorry and kissed him and asked if he was ok. I always say my kids drive me bonkers and they are stubborn but I love them both. I look at them and I see Heaven in their eyes. I love saying our prayers at night and listen to Jonathan finish the prayer all by himself and them wanting to talk to Heavenly Father. They love to sing and dance and be TICKLED!:) We are also currently trying to potty train my daughter but it has proven to be very difficult since we have to interrupt and put the diaper back on since we have to go to so many appointments. But I think she is understanding a bit. only 1 accident so far today! Wish us luck:) they are amazing and wonderful kids! I hope you have enjoyed watching them grow with the pictures I post.  
Nicole... I am just going day to day trying to help my kids and teach them the way Heavenly Father would want me to teach them. They are learning so much so fast and I love it. I decided to save the $200 a month and teach Jonathan and Natali pre school this year and then start Jonathan in Pre -k next year. We have learned about farms, maps, our body's and we are going to be learning about Halloween, thanksgiving, Christmas, oceans, earth, space, and more. They love it and they soak it all in. Like I said at the beginning on this post I am training for a 5k/mile walk. It has been a fun couple of days. I drive to the lake on base and we walk around it 2 times which is 1 1/2 miles. It has been taking me around 33 mins each time to walk it and I am feeling it afterward in the hips and knees but I can't give up! I am loving being out doors and near the lake. It is beautiful and the kids love seeing the Canadian Geese! Plus it is good for me and the dog. I heard a few times today from some people as I walked by them, "Wow you have your hands full with 2 kids and a dog!" I just smile and think wait till I have more and then it will be hands full but I will love it! I already do love being a mom! I love getting the kisses and hugs and hearing the I love you's! The past couple weeks I have been working on Christams presents every day. I love making gifts because it makes me feel good:) plus I love giving gifts to family. This years started as I visited each one of my grandparents in March-May. Then I told Jason my idea and he was so excited since he gets to put some of his wood crafting skills to work:) Thanks to those family members that gave him the home depot gift certificates for his birthday because he is so excited to go to home depot and get the tool he has been wanting and that will help us finish the gifts for mine and Jason's grandparents. Well thats what I have been up to:)
Jason is taking another French class so he can re take the DLPT and pass this time and then start receiving his Flip pay (that is the extra money we get on our paycheck every month for knowing another language.) I can't wait! His french class and test will be over in 2 weeks. Then hopefully they will get him in a job somewhere so he can start working. He has started his papers for the green to gold program which means 2 years of school and ROTC which means Officer in 2 years. If he doesn't make that then he will be re signing in May and getting a new job since he is not a fan of this one. So either one he does we will most likely be out of Maryland in June/July. So if you want to come visit us you will have to do it before then. my mom, grandma and step dad are signed up for the Barfuss/East Coast tour for end of April/may but we have openings for any other time. Feel free to contact Nicole at the main office any time to book your room and board as well as the tour packets:) haha! Sorry I'm kinda tired. So this is our lives in a nut shell for now. I hope you have enjoyed this extremely long up date. I love you all and can't wait to see you all soon or hear from you!

Pumpkin cheese sandwich and blood soup

Tonight's dinner! We had pumpkin cheese sandwiches and blood soup aka grill cheese and tomato soup. this was yummy and the kids loved it too. I cut the pumpkin out but didn't want to waste the rest so I put it with it since it had a pumpkin shape as well. Jonathan said it is the best pumpkin chesse sandwich ever:) haha goofy kid.

Sunday fun!

 Ok so here is my attempt at being a good mother. I have been tired of cleaning up the kids toys a million times a day! Plus doing everything else for them. I want to teach my kids responsibility and also teach them about money and saving. I found these charts on pinterest and printed them off. I then decided I would laminate them so the kids can use dry erase markers on them and we can reuse them. well I did not have a laminater so I used packaging tape:) then I hung them on the wall. We tried it out and it worked great. I told the kids if they do the chores they get one coin and then we can put it in their money jar and when they make enough they can pay tithing and buy a toy! They were so excited about this and got to work right away! I hope it stays exciting:)

 I worked on the kids Halloween costumes the past 3 days and I finally finished. Jonathan wanted to be a shark and natali didn't care so I decided to make them both shark costumes, Dakota (the dog) will be a life guard (thanks mom for finding the dog life guard outfit in Florida) and daddy and I are going to be shark attack victims. I bought the hoodie and pants to match (will keep them warm without covering up their costumes) and I bought some white and gray felt. I cut out the tummy and teeth and sewed them on and then I cut out a fin and some cardboard to put inside the fin to keep it straight. then I sewed that on the back. Last I took the white felt and I used a black paint pen I happened to have for a project I am making for Christmas and I used it to color the eyes black. It was pretty easy except I had to take natali's fin off a couple times to make it the right size.

 But here is the finished product. They  are going to be the cutest sharks I have ever seen but please folks stay clear of ANY kind of water this month including oceans, lakes, rivers, showers, toilets, and anything else that requires water. You never know when  they will pop up and bite you:)

 Here is tonight's Halloween dinner. It was perfect since it was a cold and rainy day.

Ghost beef soup. Its just vegetable beef soup and mashed potatoes. Jason said it didn't look like a ghost so sorry my ghosts don't look ghosty enough. I think this recipe is a keeper. I really enjoyed it and it warmed me up. I was freezing today! Well I hope you enjoyed this post. have a spooktacular evening:)

Pumpkin hot pockets and Pumpkin brains.

Not sure why the picture moved over but here is last nights dinner.  Pumpkin hot pockets.... First cut pizza dough with cookie cutter. Then spread honey mustard on all the pumpkins. Then cut up some ham and cheese and green onions and place on half the pumpkins. Then take the other half and place them on top of the ones with the meat and cheese. then seal.

 Next take 2 eggs and add food coloring so it looks orange. I added red and a little bit of yellow and it looked like this. Then baste the egg on top of the pumpkins

 so it looks like this. Then bake for 15 mins on 350 degrees or until the dough is cooked. It took us a bit longer.

 I also had the candy corn fruit. All it was is crushed up pineapple, mandarin oranges and whipped cream. It was yummy!

 Tonight's dinner was Pumpkin brains. I took yellow peppers since the commissary didn't have orange peppers and I cut faces in them and cut the tops off and cleaned it out.

 Then I made spaghetti like normal and mixed them together.

Then I put them in the pepper and placed them in the oven on 350 degrees for 20 mins. They tasted really good. I think I will make this one again. The kids even loved it. When I find a good recipe that even the kids love I make it again:) I hope you enjoyed this and enjoy!