August 2010

Well, for some reason I don't have my July pictures available to do the July blog, so we'll just skip into August. It's kind of been a busy month, but I foresee that September will be even more so! Joshua has grown and become more of a challenge. People often comment that he's a lot to chase after, and I usually reply that it's not so bad at home. I guess I forgot all the dishes he keeps breaking! I had put our dishes and bowls in a place that would make it easier for the kids to set the table. It took 2 broken bowls and a broken glass for me to realize that Joshua can get into them, also! I finally moved them. I'm really grateful that he didn't get hurt.

We did a lot of water days. Finally bought a little blow-up pool for the backyard. It's made the kids happy.

Benjamin won $100 at the Country fair. That was really fun. I entered a couple of pictures. Ben entered a picture he'd taken of baby Joshua, and got 3rd place = $10. He also entered the recipe in a jar. I found a cool recipe for orange dreamsicle cookies. And Ben put it together and made up the recipe by himself. Oh, they are good! And the judges agreed! Ben won 1st in his division = $15 and also Grand Champion = $75. They had to submit 6 cookies. He only had 2 left on his plate, all the others had 5 left. Obviously a hit. (Although we gave some to our neighbors and Ben's friend didn't like them.) I will put the recipe on my baking blog asap!

(Joshua also gets into the cereal boxes if we leave the pantry door open. He's always bringing out a box and digging in. He's dumped a few of them on the floor, too.)

Ben found out how to climb up the tree. He uses the garage and leans against it with his back while climbing his legs up the tree. Dad also hung a rope in the tree and Ben added a ladder for climbing onto the roof of the garage. The day he broke off a large limb from the tree was the day he got grounded from the roof for a LONG time!

The next couch will NOT be mostly comprised of pillows.

We got brave and had a water party at our house the week before school started. We had some problems though. I'd promised a water slide, water balloons, kiddie pool and squirt guns. The water slide ended up with a big hole and so we had to hook up our own sprinkler. I tried to hook up our cool ball sprinkler, but it had a hole, too. One more - a kiddie sprinkler, which also had a hole! I mean, REALLY!! Then there were the water balloons. I think we bought them last year, but I guess it could have been even longer than that. Well, I filled up the bottom of the cooler and when I came back a bit later they had all popped. I didn't have time to get more, so that was out. The kids liked the big water blasters we had, we'll need more of those for next year. So, it was a wet and wild mess. We had popsicles and frosted cupcakes. (At the beginning of the summer we'd planned on having an unbirthday party. By the time we got to the end of the summer, we just decided to combine the 2 parties. This was an Unbirthday Water Party.) We also had each guest bring a $1 gift and we did a little exchange. I thought it was fun, the kids did too. We had 25 kids there and 5 moms. I plan on doing this each summer. And next year I'll be more prepared. It seems like you have to have the goofs to do it better the next time.

Sarah, Marcus and Ben enjoying cupcakes.

Ben and some of the girls had this little synchronized water-blast thing going!

Ben and Josh playing in the water cooler the next day.

Our final hoo-rah before school started, was a trip to Wild Island. I didn't want to go, then I said I would, then the month caught up with me and it was better for me not to go! So, Kannon took the 2 older kids. I dropped them off and took Joshua with me to do some shopping. My phone died as I dropped them off and I spent the majority of my time trying to get a charger. The ones I found at Target and Walmart didn't work. I tried a few more stores and found nothing. I'm not sure why the cheap ones wouldn't charge my prepay phone. I still need to go to the service store and see what they have to say about it. But, since I didn't have a way to contact Kannon I came back to the water park and hung out. Ugh, I would have had a more productive day if I'd stayed home. Oh well. THEY had fun!

When I got there I had a 10-minute pass to find them. I stayed with Sarah while Kannon rode a ride with Ben.

(Kannon's behind that big yellow tube!)

Sarah decided she wasn't done, so Kannon took her back to the kiddie area. She finally came out and the boys stayed to ride 2 more slides. They had a great time and are still talking about it. Ben wants to buy a season pass next year. We'll see. I don't think we had enough available Saturdays to warrant that.

This is a normal Sunday morning sight. Joshua comes in to our room, climbs on the bed and cuddles up with dad while drinking his milk. He just sits there leaning against daddy. It's sweet.

The first day of school. We finally found out who Ben's teacher would be a week before school started. We met Mrs. Heser a few days before school started. She seems like a no-nonsense lady. Ben hasn't had any complaints yet. That must mean he's behaving! This morning he did tell me that, "school is boring. I should be in 3rd grade. I already know everything." Aargh. Humility, boy.

We signed Ben up for soccer and had his first game on Saturday. He scored the first goal! Pretty good for not being at the practices and just being placed on a team that morning. We'll have practices twice a week and games each Saturday until mid-October. We also signed Sarah up for ballet again. She starts on Friday. I'm excited for both of them.

On Saturday I jumped in the shower at 7:45 knowing that Kannon had to leave at 8:00 to set up chairs for a stake conference at the church. I thought about the kids eating their cereal and Joshua's knew-found ability to climb and debated whether to say something to Kannon about cleaning up before he left. Well, I didn't. And this is what I found after my shower. This was Sarah's bowl. She's not a huge breakfast fan and had left a lot of cereal and milk in her bowl. Joshua was enjoying it, patting the milk and banging the spoon. (and if you look really closely at the shelves in the background you can see the plates - the bowls used to be next to them, they are now on the shelf above.)

Saturday was all busy. We went to the soccer game and caught the end of my cousins' triathlon. Signed Sarah up for ballet. Ate lunch, painted the house and garage. Let me pause here to say that I've been painting the garage for 2 months. It's been a long process and I only could get an hour here and there. Often I'd get up and get my paint clothes on and never make it out before it got too hot. So, Kannon borrows a paint sprayer and does the whole house in 2 hours - AND finishes the garage. Aargh, again! This is the new green we painted. The bottom will be a creamy color and the trim will be a dark bluish gray (called sailboat blue). The white 2x4's will be the blue, so what should I do around the windows? The blue or the cream?

We quickly cleaned up to attend a baptism then Kannon went to leadership meeting and I hauled the kids to Walmart for a few things. We got a babysitter for the evening meeting and we all enjoyed that. It was a busy day and I was exhausted by the end of it.

So, I will try to get July done soon - we had a 1st birthday - and we'll have a lot to say about September.

June

Sarah "graduated" from ABC school. (In quotes because she didn't really graduate since she's doing it again this next year. But, her class was all older and they were graduating.) Anyway, it was an occasion with caps, diplomas, clapping, popsicles and playing at the park.

Sarah and friend Madison.

Dad and Ben went to the Father and Son's outing. They went with our good friends, the Mortensen's. It was eventful. From what I know of the campout Ben fell in the creek - twice, they went on a hike and found this huge mushroom, and Ben threw up in the night - probably all those hotdogs!

They got back about 4 pm on that Saturday and Kannon left to help a friend with some plumbing issues. That was about the same time that our friends lost their son. The Mortensen's son Rex was riding behind his brother's car on his skateboard when he fell and hit his head. It was a tragic accident and my heart still hurts for them. They have the gospel and are doing so well. Rex was living his life the way he should have been. The funeral was the next week. We helped out by donating to the car wash and I led the music at the funeral. That was tough. I'm glad we got to know Rex and that he was a good example for Benjamin.

Sarah's birthday was the big item for the month. We've been thinking about it for the past 6 months! In our family we celebrate with a big party every 4 years. So this was Sarah's 4th birthday bash. She started out wanting a ballerina party and changed her mind about a month before her day - to a ladybug party. It was fun to find ideas for this and maybe a little change from the usual pink or princess parties for little girls her age.

This was our invite:

This little ladybug is at your door to tell you that Sarah is turning four!

(date)

infestation time:

fly on over to:

buzz us at:

We hope to spot you there.

Since Kannon was out of work, I did as much as I could on my own and made the cute invites myself. Sarah put on the spots. I also made a pinata. Ugh. I know you're supposed to let the paper machie dry in between layers, but my balloon shrunk and so we had a cave in on one end of it. Oh, well, it lasted only a few minutes of hitting anyway!

When the girls arrived they got to pick out a skirt. I had made these cute skirts out of a ladybug print in purple, pink and green. Then to the table to make their own lady bug bracelets. I bought the kits from the Oriental Trading Co.

After that we sent them on a treasure hunt with clues that Ben and Grammy drew and hid. That went pretty quick, but was the trick to getting some of the shyer girls involved. The prize at the end of the hunt were ladybug wings and antenna. I found the wings at the dollar store (yay!) and made the antenna with headbands, pipe cleaners and pom poms.

Then the girls really wanted to do presents so we went there. That was quick, too, but I was really pleased that Sarah remembered her manners and didn't need to be reminded to thank each girl.

I guess next was the cupcakes and ice cream. The ice cream was really soft (our freezer hasn't been working real well lately) and got pretty soupy. But, they ate what they wanted and then we headed outside again for the pinata.

I think the bat might have been too heavy for these little girls especially with the pinata as high as it was. I wish I'd gotten a picture of the pinata before it was destroyed. We let each girl have a few turns and then handed it over to Ben, who opened it in a few "whacks".

Here are all the girls in their finery. They got to take home their skirts, wings, and antenna along with a spotted bag full of candy, stickers and bubbles. We heard that some of the girls talked about it for days and even wore their skirts to church! I'm glad they came and made it such a special day for Sarah.

That evening we went out to Grammy and Papa's for a family birthday and presents. This is the cake I made for us.

I think she might have gotten spoiled this year. I bought all of her gifts at yard sales and thrift stores, but that meant I could get her so many things! She had a good time and fell asleep on the way home that night.

We did a few picnics. I'm trying to do stuff with them to make the summer more fun. Also, Kannon got a job again, only this one has him working 12 hour days EVERY day of the week. He's been working for 2 weeks straight now, hopefully ending that schedule this coming week.

Before church last week - Sarah let me curl her hair and was wearing her new dress that Grammy made for her.

Swimming lessons. They both moved up to the next level from last year, but will need to do that level one more time - need a little more experience and Sarah needs more guts. She wouldn't even jump in to someone waiting to catch her.

Ben had guts, but needs a little more practice with some of his strokes. I don't know, look at that form!

We spent a big day in Reno this last Friday - oh wait, that's not June! Oh, well. It was Joshua's 1st birthday. I know. Can you believe it? He's one! Well, because of Kannon's schedule we will wait to celebrate with him when he's home. I had to go to Reno to get a new mouth guard and then we had the rest of the day to wait. Aunt Susan and Uncle Stephen were taking Sarah and Ben to see Toy Story 3. We went to the park to eat, across the street to a thrift store to shop and use the bathroom. Then back to the park (after a quick stop for slurpee's and water) to play on the toys.

Then we went to another store, then the mall. We stopped at Bath and Body Works to get hand sanitizer and then we made an impromptu stop at the Build-a-Bear Workshop. We all enjoyed creating a bear for Joshua's birthday. You can see it in the last picture. Then it was off to KFC for dinner, where mashed potatoes were spilled and Joshua dropped his glass baby food jar on the floor - guess the result! We went over to Susan and Stephen's to drop off the kids. It was almost 7:00, so I texted Kannon and I got to trade cars with him - he took Joshua home and I had a few hours to myself where I ended up buying clothes for the kids - got some really good deals! I was super tired by the time we were driving home. And I still haven't caught up on my sleep. Late nights and early mornings, lately.

Somebody sleeps well! Yes, there is a baby in this picture. The funniest part, to me, is that Ben still sleeps like this! With his body all wrapped up in a blanket and just his face poking out and of course his legs. I worry about his breathing, though! I did uncover his face after I took the picture. He still doesn't say much, but is running everywhere and still eating everything (and I don't mean food!) He loves to be outside, where he promptly eats dirt and twigs. He's also been more accident prone than the other kids. He often has an owie on his face of some sort, or a bloody nose or lip! I love him so much. He's definitely more cuddly at this age than the other 2 were. He also likes to be chased, especially when his brother and sister play with him like that.

May

We had a yard sale in May - we didn't want it to be too hot, plus we needed to get the stuff gone! Ya know, after storing and saving it for a year, you're just ready to get it out. Grandma P. had the cousins for a whole week and came over to spend Saturday with us. These are the kids from oldest to youngest. We also took the picture tallest to shortest. My kids are both taller than their older cousins. Although, Kate and Ben are 2 years apart and Quade and Sarah are only 4 months apart.

I'm pretty sure Daddy was trying to dress Joshua, when he escaped.

We had a "girls' day out"! We were able to fly Janet out for a weekend and Nancy met us at Susan's in Reno. It was a fun time! We visited for a bit before heading out for lunch at . . . .

Claim Jumper.

I got this club sandwich. It was huge. I wasn't too thrilled with it - for some reason I was expecting a warm sandwich. I definitely couldn't eat it all. But, we all had delicious food and I totally recommend that restaurant - it's yummy. (but, don't wait more than 30 minutes for a table.)

We went back to Susan's and gave ourselves pedicures. I did Nancy's for her - it would have been kind of hard to bend over, etc. (she's about due).

More visiting and fondue. We had chocolate with marshmallows, strawberries, pineapple, and pound cake. And cheese sauce with broccoli, chicken and bread. So yum.

I ended my night with a movie back at my mom's with her and Janet. I was tired, but had such a good time with the girls. Glad we can do that every once in awhile.

A few days later I took Sarah to my hairdresser for her first "real" haircut. She had this sour face the whole time. Then when Liz finished her hair, she didn't want to get down. She said she wasn't done. So Liz curled her hair, too. So cute!

And a much better attitude!

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Elko with all the family.

Joshua playing keyboard with Grandpa.

Gabby and Sarah riding the train at the neighbors bbq.

Kannon (in black) playing basketball with brother Brock. I do believe Brock won this round.

Hanging out with all the cousins! (the 3 little boys and 1 little girl were probably inside)

And there was definitely shopping to be done. I always enjoy the clothing sales we can find in Elko. And Kannon took Ben to yard sales. And wouldn't you know it, Kannon got laid off again that Friday before we left. So, June was a bit of a tight month, money-wise.