Busy, Busy, Busy

This week has been just totally insane - it started out quiet enough - just some family time and the normal cleaning and working and piano lessons - including a puppet show by the girls for Family Home Evening, and picking up our boxes of peaches for canning.

Then on Wednesday, the insanity broke loose.  Wednesday, Dan's brother John and his wife Melissa and their 6 kids stopped in for a night on their way back home from Virginia.  The kids all had a blast together - it's always fun to see the kids playing together and their kids are similar in ages to ours.  We had a fun time talking and playing Killer Bunnies, then sadly sent them on their way the next morning.  It was so good to see them again - I love spending time with Dan's family - it's easy to see where Dan gets his awesomeness when I'm around them  :)

Thursday, was Skate City Night for the girls.  I took them to the roller skating rink for skating, pizza, and fun.  we had a fun time together, and thankfully the girls still aren't old enough to feel the need to totally abandon and ignore me.  Eileen even had a friend who wanted to hang out with us - so we all had a fun time together

Friday was the school carnival - I picked up the girls after school, then they did piano practicing and Dan came home early and we all went back to the school for the carnival - the kids enjoyed it - free face painting, some candy and lots of games made for a fun couple hours before we headed home for dinner and bed.  

Aaron was so fun to watch on this bouncy house thing - he was very fast and LOVED it!  He could even get through faster than some of the older kids.  

Saturday started off with Anna and Aaron going to Soccer - they have one hour of practice and one game each week (except next week for labor day)  Eileen will also be playing, on the same team as Anna, but she had a birthday party that we had already RSVP-ed for before we found out when their first practice and game would be.  Then after Soccer and parties, we went back home and Dan and I (with some help from the kids) got the peaches canned - at that point, Dan and I were both about ready to go to bed - fortunately, we had nothing else planned for that day, unfortunately it was only 3pm.....  

The kids had fun putting the peaches in the jars and were very helpful.  

Re-adjustment

Well we are settling back into school life - I am getting used to schedules and some quiet time again, I have also been enjoying having time to sit and read with Evie and Aaron.  We are going to get back into some pre-school stuff with them now - and Evie has been having fun 'writing her letters' which kinda means coloring in the preschool books I made awhile ago, but she is actually doing pretty good at tracing lines and such.


The girls school offered a intermural track and field program to the younger grades this year - they have set it up so that the younger grades can stay after school and do simplified track practices with the track team - the girls wanted to do it, and since it was free, Dan and I were willing to let them spend 2 more hours at school and get some exercise, we still aren't sure what our favorite part about this is - seeing how much they enjoy it, having an extra 2 hours to let James nap and to play with Aaron and Evie, or the fact that they are getting some activity and coming home tired!  :)  They are much more willing to come home and do reading and homework and piano lessons when they have spent the last 2 hours running around.  :)

It's been nice having Dan around - and knowing that we will have him around for awhile - travel is slow for him right now and we LOVE having him here - life is always better with him here.

My dad was visiting this last week - he was in town for a few days for work and since his birthday was on Wednesday, we made him a cake and got to celebrate with him - of course, by the time I got the cake finished - i had made so many mistakes (including messing up the eggs and needing to go get more, and almost burning the cake) that it was a good thing my dad had the forgiving mind set of  "it's the thought that counts."   The cake was edible though - if only just.

James is crawling all over the place now - they are so cute and little when they are crawling and I love to watch it - which is good since he is getting good at getting into things.  :)  everything goes into his mouth!  (Unless we want it there....)

Apparently after nearly 33 years of not having any allergy problems, my body decided that it needed a change.... and as a result, I have been suffering for the last 2 weeks (or so) with allergy problems - and I think they are getting worse!  Either way - they are fast getting unbearable - I finally broke down and got some clariten - hoping to get some relief - but it's been little to no help - now I think i am going to set up a doctors appointment to see if I can get some relief from the sneezing, runny nose, congestion, itchy eyes and throat and stuffy feeling in my head....

On Tuesday we met Dan and a bunch of other people from Dan's work over in Lakewood for dinner.  We went over right after piano lessons (since it was about half a mile away) and had a very yummy meal with really awesome people.  I really like the people that Dan works with, and their spouses.  I even got to meet Dwayne who is new and will be moving out to the area - Dan and I met him and his wife playing Maple Story a few years ago, and while Dan has been working with him on shows and such for awhile now, I was excited to get to meet him in person for the first time, and I'm really looking forward to meeting Nicole and their kids in person when they move out here this year!  It's funny how seemingly little things in life can make such a big difference down the road.

The girls had a lot of fun on Saturday with cutting out paper and making puppets - then they put on a puppet show for Dan and I - it was pretty cute and funny to watch and they were SO proud of their puppets!

Back to School

We've managed to keep ourselves busy while Dan was out of town.  Monday morning, we went to the girls piano lessons, then left from there to go up to the cabin with Grandpa Francone.  We nearly ran out of gas on the way up - I hadn't noticed that we were low and we got to an area with out much around it - thankfully we managed to get safely to a gas station and filled up and then got safely to the cabin.  Monday afternoon, the kids had a good time walking around and remembering and making sure everything was as it should be.

That evening I got to look at a bunch of pictures of my mom when she was younger.  It was fun to look at them and listen to my grandpa tell stories and talk about her and my grandma - he even had some love notes my grandma had written to them when they were young and some journal pages that my grandma had written about their early dates!

Tuesday was a bit crazy!  We started out with some short nature walks picking wild flowers and playing around - then in the afternoon, Grandpa took us in his truck up one of the mountain paths.  It was a beautiful ride and we enjoyed the scenery and the ride - but it got really warm and the kids got a bit tired at the end - James actually fell asleep on my shoulder and Anna and Evie were laying down and dozing off.  

After we got back, they were energized by the idea of going to see the horses and going on a carriage ride.  Some of Grandpa's neighbors hooked up their horses for us and took us for a ride.  The older kids (and Mommy) just loved it - Evie was feeling kinda shy and kinda snuggled up to me the whole time and James was rather tired from this point by not having had much of a nap.  That night we all went to bed just EXHAUSTED!  Which was just as well since the next morning we began packing up and cleaning up to get ready to head back. The girls had assessment meeting with their teachers that afternoon and we made it back just in time to get to the meetings.  

The next day was the first day of school - they were so excited!!  They look so big and mature!  They came home loving their teachers and totally stoked about school!  

Dan got in late on Thursday after the kids were in bed and had Friday off - so we spent it having fun together and relaxing a bit.  That evening we went up to Newell and Becky's to have dinner with them (and their extended family)  Aunt Linda and her family were mostly in town for a reunion and we got to join in on some of the festivities.  We had a blast hanging out with family and eating and playing! 

Saturday the girls ended up having to spend most of the day cleaning their room.... sigh - part of me wonders  how they can do so much damage so quickly - and the rest of me remembers being a kid and having a horribly messy room too... And HATING to clean it up.  In the evening, we went to dinner at the house of one of Dan's co-workers.  All the families at his work were invited and we had a great time talking and eating.  The older women all enjoyed holding James so I even got a bit of a hands free evening :)  Dan brought his balloons and made balloon animals - which is ALWAYS a big hit. Then after dinner and dessert, they let free a bunch of ladybugs and gave the kids little bug catching containers and let them have fun trying to catch as many lady bugs as they wanted.  The kids LOVED it - Evie was a bit sad when she lost a bunch of hers - but it was pretty easy to get her more.  The kids weren't happy when we made them set them free in the back yard - but they understood that the ladybugs needed to eat and so they let them go - hoping to find them again the next day (and Eileen actually did find one....) 

We have had some sweet neighbors and friends drop off some fresh veggies recently - so we have been enjoying fresh squash, cucumber and zucchini - today, with a little help from Dan, Eileen used some of the zucchini to make zucchini bread - we enjoyed one loaf with dinner and then took the other to the same kind neighbor.  It's nice to be getting settled into a neighborhood and getting to know some of our neighbors a bit.

10 Happy Years

Can I just say that I am the luckiest woman in the world!!!  I have had 10 wonderful years with a man who still treats me like a queen, still makes me laugh and still makes every day better because he is in it.  Dan and I had our 10th anniversary this week - the plan was to keep it fairly simple since we are really celebrating with a cruise later this year - but Dan couldn't help himself.  He got up early and made me breakfast and with breakfast, I got a new set of mixing bowls (I have been intensely irritated with ours for most of our married lives, but never really done anything about it) They are wonderful and we have been enjoying using them ever since.  They make very good brownies :)  He then came home for lunch with some Panda Express for me and some flowers.  Finally, we got a sitter and he took me out to dinner (along with a very romantic and sweet card) and a movie.

Aside from our wonderful anniversary, this week has been mostly a normal uneventful week - James is now officially crawling and getting around rather better than I'm ready for - he is quickly finding everything little that his siblings leave on the floor.

The kids have mostly spent this last full week before school starts again playing with dolls, dressing up and having picnic lunches in the back yard.  (Haha - i even managed to make it look like our grass is all green in that pictures - really that's about the only green spot....) The girls had me do their dolls hairs and then do their hairs to match, which they all got a kick out of - then they, of course, wanted pictures.  

The weather has been just gorgeous, though rather hot - it has also often cooled off in the evening and drizzled in the evening - making for a nice relief.  Though the kids can only take so long being out in the heat. Last Sunday, the girls decided that they wanted bangs, so they now have bangs again and I think they look so CUTE!  Though admittedly, I am not the best hair cutter - well maybe the best in the house - but that's about all I can claim.  :)  

Dan finally let the kids pull in the trunk of dress up clothes from the garage a few weeks back and they spend at least part of every day in dress-up clothes.  

I'm very thankful for small miracles this week.  Dan had another trip that he left for this morning - which meant that I had to get all 5 kids ready for church this morning and all the craziness that entails at church - fussy baby, little kids needing to use the restroom and of course my calling.  Trying to lead music with a wiggly and cranky 6 month old can be a bit insane - and today I was so off kilter that I think it would have been impossible if not for the help of a very dear friend.  A friend from Texas was in the area visiting today and came to church with me - she and her 9 year old son were SO helpful during Sacrament meeting and she came with me and helped me out during primary.  I believe the only reason I survived with my sanity in tact, was her helpfulness!  So thanks again Shari and Garret and you are welcome to visit ANYTIME!