I know it's been a while but wow! I haven't even had time to breath it seems.  I have so much catching up to do....so here it  goes. One extra long post coming up! :)

Well since the first day of school so much has happened. I have some cute pics though, so yay! First off is Halloween. This cute picture was taken by a friend of the family at our first ever annual Halloween Party. We had so much fun! Although Kylie decided to be repunzel on actual Trick or Treat night. Which for some reason Newcastle never has their trick or treat on Halloween night (unless it falls on Saturday), I know...weird. But besides that, I LOVE NEWCASTLE!!! I love our neighborhood, the small town feel (yet we are only a stones throw from the city), and I love our church branch (soon to be ward). Anyways, the next pictures are of the girls and Matthew at his first ever school Halloween/Fall party. We loved it. After the party we went straight to trick or treating on Main street and then on to our neighborhood (which EVERYONE from Blanchard and Newcastle come to trick or treat), which was super crowded. Nathan couldn't come with us because he had to work (as usual :( ). So I took the kids around using my new bike and trailer. We finally had to end the evening early with Payton having a blowout. LOL! Regardless, the kids still made it home with pillow cases full of candy.

After all of the sugar and fun, things started to go down hill. First it started with Matthew getting really sick and Payton having a cold. He was out of school for three days and having a fever of 102.9 (on and off) for 2 days. Then Kylie got what he had except she had a temp of 103.2 (on and off) for 2 days. Then when she was finally getting over that, she started itching really bad. For 4 days in a row she kept breaking out in hives (somewhat randomly). I couldn't figure out what the problem was until Monday morning when I was getting everyone ready for school...... 

 

I was putting Kylie's hair in pigtails when I saw something crawling on her scalp. At that point I screamed, then I started saying some not so appropriate words (which I then appologized profusely to Kylie who was looking at me like I was a crazy person). I then heard Nathan about to leave to take Matthew to school. And, being the athletic person I am (hahaha), I sprinted to Nathan in half a second and yelled at him to stay right there. Of course his response was, "Why?" And that is when I told him....

"Kylie has LICE!!!" GGGRRROOSSSSS!!!!! I HATE LICE!!!! Since we didn't know if Matthew had it or not, he had to stay home from school. I then immediately started the de-licing process. I did the research and found out that the lice were causing her to break out in hives. I first called EVERYONE who may have been in contact with Kylie the past week, then I started the laundry, bagged up every toy in the house and put them in th gerage, cleaned out the van (including the carseats), vacuumed, mopped, and treated the older kids hair. And treating their hair meant....CUTTING their hair. So, yes, Kylie's BEAUTIFUL locks were cut. I felt a little bit me die as I chopped of the most gorgous hair ever (yes it's a little dramatic, but OMG I love her hair)! So, here is before....

 

.....and after. :(..........

 

So, I am going to back track a little bit. Before all the sickness and parasite drama, I did get to participate (for the first time ever) in the election process. I voted for the first time ever. And, never before have I ever felt so much love for being an American and having so much freedom. And also having the right to vote at all. I am forever grateful for living in this promised land (heart swells with pride).

 

 

So moving on (sorry, this is really starting to turn into a novel...oh well). After voting, and the election, things all of sudden got really stressful on our family (mostly me), and that doesn't include the ickyness that has been floating around. So Nathan did something for me that is TOTALLY uncharacterstic of him. You ready for this? He suprised me with suprise ROMANTIC (that being the key word) weekend WITHOUT the kids. It felt like we were dating all over again. And it couldn't come at a better time because I was at the end of my rope. He had lit candles and placed them all over our living room, and set up a candlit table and ordered Swadly's BBQ (which I had told him I had been craving for a while now). I was completely shocked...and loved every minute of it. He also suprised me with seasons 1-5 of Psych (which we both LOVE). So we sat and had a Psych marathon, and the rest is history ;)

Of course, right after that lovely weekend is when I found Kylie's lice, so I'm glad I had a nice break before the poo hit the fan. LOL!

So after taking care of the lice, Payton then got sick. And, she got it worse of all. She had a temp of 104.6. Luckily I got it under control and she started getting better. But then, alas, my nose starts to run. And, before you know it, I had a temp of 102. AArrrggg. It has been the month that never ends. Hahaha (I only laugh to keep from crying). So, while having this high temp I have to give Kylie a second treatment because the first hair treatment didn't kill all the lice (I definitely got them all the second time). Yeah, I passed out after spending three hours hunched over coming my daughters extremely thick hair. Luckily the girls were tired too and decided to take a 2 hour nap with me.

Unfortunately through all this crud, Nathan got a phone call because his father was in the ICU with Gianne Barrette (sp?) syndrome. It is one nasty thing to fight. In a nutshell, his dad was numb from the waiste down and couldn't walk. He is home now and on the mends (thanks to some wonderful doctors and lots of prayers).

 

Well, I think it's time for some good news....."It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!" Nathan is hanging Christmas light on our house in this pic (it's the first time we've ever hung lights). He did a great job!

Here are some pics of my centerpieces I thought of (thanks to pinterest).

 And the most important news to share, is that Nathan was called and set apart as second counselor to the Blanchard Branch Presidency (soon to be Blanchard Ward). It's going to be interesting sitting by myself on Sunday's, but I am excited to see what this new calling will bring our family. :) So that's all for now. I know it was a super long post, but hey, at least I finally updated right? ;)