County Fair

Kessiah, Jenessa, Sienna and Logan all had entries at the county fair this year (and made $5-$10 each in winnings).  We enjoyed walking around the fair with our homeschool group and looking at all the exhibits and animals.

9/11

The Civic Center lawns looked amazing this weekend.  Because of the effort the town puts into this display, I am always reminded of the events that this reminds us of.  The fact that each flag had a small bio of each person that died certainly made it personal. 

Ryan has been super busy during the past 1 1/2 weeks putting flags together, getting tags ready to put on the flags, putting flags up on the field, sitting at the booth by the field...all of those things have been done on Fridays and Saturdays (his days off)

Five for Friday

1.  Monday was Labor Day...my girls were thrilled to have the day off school!  We went to Denny's for breakfast and then went on a hike around Fain Lake.  That evening we went to Pronghorn Park and played some zombie tag and a very short game of kickball after eating a picnic dinner.  On Saturday we got talked into taking the kids to Freedom Station (thank goodness for the valpak coupon...we got a $40 gift card for $20!)

2.  This month for history/science coop Sienna and Logan are going to the Nymans.  It was really different to have a couple of hours while they were gone...and Mason was at preschool.  I spent my time cleaning up since that afternoon we had a Cloverbuds meeting at our house.  That activity got a little out of hand...we were making apple prints...Logan and Lucas decided to paint their hands and make handprints down the hallway!

3.  Wednesday was our day with nowhere to go...now I have 3 soccer practices scheduled!  I made it to all 3 this week only because Ryan left work early.  Unfortunately, Mason will not be making it to his practices...but I'm not going to worry about it since he is in pee-wee.  I should be able to get Jenessa and Sienna to their practices.

4.  Thursday we had another great time with our homeschool group...this has been such a good group for our family.  We started a new unit about the wild west, I'm in charge of the 5-7 year olds this month.  That afternoon, Kessiah had her first violin lesson with Laura Nyman.  I'm excited to see where she goes with this.  Then the girls had piano lessons.  We came home for a quick dinner before heading to 4-H community meeting.  I think that was the first community meeting I have ever sat all the way through with my boys!  I had Mason sit by Sienna while she played her DSi, Logan was coloring next to me and Corbin was on my other side playing with some toys.  It was a short meeting...but we did it!  Yeah!

5.  Friday morning Ryan left early with the girls to get the flags set up at the Civic Center for the Healing Field.

My Boys are Funny!

Logan: age 5
"Don't wake me up, I need my beauty sleep"

Mason:  age 4
"I don't want monsters to eat my sisters!"
"You're the best mom every!"  (What mom doesn't love that one!)
"Am I cute?  I think I'm cute"

Corbin:  age 2
Let's face it...with 6 kids there is some competition for my attention!  So, this week Corbin starting shushing the other kids when they were talking to me and he wanted a turn!
"Shhh!"

Pretty, Funny, Happy, Real

PRETTY

Jenessa has been wanting me to get my wedding dress down for a very long time!  I finally let her see it and she was so excited to try it on!

HAPPY

Kessiah and I found a yummy frozen yogurt place last spring and Kessiah has been hooked ever since!  As part of her summer reading bingo prize I took her out for a treat!

FUNNY

I got Ryan a double kayak for his birthday!  You should have seen me trying to get it to the front of the store to buy it! I was actually a little sore the next day!   (This store isn't my favorite as far as customer service goes!) Thankfully, I got help out to the car!

REAL

This is what happens when you leave a 2 year old at the kitchen table!  You lose a newly opened box of Honey Nut Cheerios or you end up with yogurt all over child and table!

Pretty, Funny, Happy, Real

I wanted us to celebrate Pioneer Day this year with a dutch oven dinner, homemade root beer, and homemade ice cream.  Pioneer Day fell in the middle of the week and that didn't work for my dinner plans so we had it the Saturday after!  The food took longer to cook that I expected and the ice cream didn't quite turn out (plus I didn't make enough!)...but I learned a few things for next year!

PRETTY
 It was a nice evening to be outside in our backyard with my family!  The clouds were gorgeous!

I am really bad about getting out to the garden area of our backyard.  I was surprised at the growth that has happened in the past few weeks.  I had forgotten that Ryan bought me a purple basil plant...it is so pretty!  I need to remember to use it!

FUNNY

 As I was taking this picture he said "funny"...it fit with my heading!

 HAPPY

 Give this kid a package of blueberries and he is happy!

REAL

It is loud in our house!  Although you can't hear it...it was loud when this picture was taken.  Corbin was screaming because Logan was jumping too high on the trampoline for Corbin to jump with him.

Five for Friday

1.  Only 2 more weeks left of "official" summer vacation.  I am ready to get back into a routine again!  There is a little bit of turmoil in our home (from Jenessa) because I switched Kessiah's school (Williamsburg Intermediate) and she has a later start date than Jenessa!  I have a list of projects that Kessiah can work on until she starts...but Jenessa is still upset!  Thursday evening was an online Q&A session for Williamsburg...it answered a few questions...I'm hopeful that it will be a good experience for Kessiah.

2.  Tuesday morning was the library program.  The kids turned in their reading logs and got their free books. I did art club here in the afternoon.  We painted our pinch pots and made flowers out of milk jug lids.  Tuesday evening Kessiah had YW and Jenessa had Activity Days.  Sienna felt bad she couldn't go to Activity Days...everyone else in her Primary class is 8 now and gets to go...she doesn't turn 8 until November.

3.  Wednesday morning we met the Nymans and the Meachams at the park.  That evening was a 4H meeting for leaders...we haven't done just a leaders meeting before, I think it was a good way to begin the year.  I still don't anticipate being able to attend Community Meeting when it is indoors (my boys are too noisy), but it sounds like the first couple of meetings might be at the park...so that will be helpful for me.

4.  Thursday morning Jenessa, Sienna, and Logan did science club at the Meacham's.  That afternoon I took Mason to Scottsdale for an eye appointment.  The doctor felt like he was about the same since he had his surgery in March.  He is not ruling out a future surgery and we are still just on a "watch and see" track.  The did do a small vision test this time where we could see for sure that he was using both eyes...one of the doctor's concerns has always been that he will stop using one eye.

5.  We have enjoyed the monsoons since we got back from vacation.  It has rained several times a week and the temperature has been nice.