Fall Fun

Since Dan was still out of town, this week started off with a busy Monday of doing laundry, going grocery shopping and running errands.  Dan was originally supposed to get back Monday night, but he ended up needing to stay an extra day.  We put off Family Home Evening until we could do it with Daddy.  

Tuesday James had preschool, my mom went out to run some errands, and Becca came over so we could work on our dolls.  It's been so fun having her over and getting to have fun making stuff.  Dan got back in the evening, just in time to have dinner before it was all cleaned up and then to have a little joint birthday party.  My mom wanted to have a little birthday party for Eileen, Evie and I while she was here.  Eileen and I got some cool metal building things that we can do together.  Evie got a doll and I got a game expansion.  Then we all got cake and ice cream.  :)  

Wednesday - one week until my daughter becomes a young woman...  James and I mostly took it easy and spent some time hanging out with Daddy.  In the evening, Eileen and Anna had activity days, Aaron had cub scouts, and I had choir.  It was a wonderful day as usual.  

Thursday, James had preschool again - the kids had fun dressing up for Halloween - such a cute little preschool class!  After preschool James and I ran down to get Eileen's birthday presents.  After school, Anna had auditions for the all state choir.  Then I took the kids to get their flu shots.  

We had our family home evening that night - I grabbed pumpkins while James was at preschool and we carved them and cooked the pumpkin seeds.  The kids had a great time and are so excited about Halloween!  

Friday, Dwayne and Nicole's kids came over to play while their mom and dad went to court to have their name change made official - they are now officially Dwayne and Nicole Bayer.  We all headed over to Niki's house for her Halloween party.  The kids all had a great time (except poor Tayanna who wasn't feeling the greatest - but she was feeling better by the end of the party. Anayia told me that I was a really good cook (that girl is awesome!)  It was a lot of fun though - I also got to see Tammy and had fun chatting together.

After school, Anna had robotics and Eileen had an eye appointment.  Dan came home to help out, and I took Eileen to her appointment.  She got checked out - got new glasses and while we waited for them glasses to be ready, we walked around the shops and got her some new pants - she is officially into Juniors - she needs more length with out getting wider around the waist.  Then we headed home for dinner.

Saturday we started out early by heading to the church to clean the building.  Then I took Eileen to flute lessons.  And then the kids had piano lessons.  Then, we began the cleaning!  We got the house straightened up and the kids rooms cleaned up and got our house nice and ready for a happier more peaceful Sabbath.  In the evening, we dressed up and headed to the church for the trunk or treat.  The kids had a lot of fun seeing friends and collecting candy.  I had fun seeing friends and sneaking some candy.  :)

Today was the primary program.  James' first and Eileen's last.  For the only time, I had all of my kids in one primary program.  The program was WONDERFUL.  The kids all did such a good job.  James wanted me up there with him, so I sat with him and snuggled and sang along.  They all did an awesome job with their parts.  Aaron and each of his class members had a little solo singing a verse of Book of Mormon Stories.  He did such an amazing job!  He was a little nervous - but he sang beautifully and was amazing.  Eileen was last and bore a beautiful testimony - despite being scared out of her mind to be speaking in front of that many people.  This was her last week as a primary girl - next Sunday, she will be in Young Women's.  The rest of church was great too - then after church, I had ward choir and Dan had a meeting and Eileen met with the Bishop, Anna was amazing and watched the kids in the nursery room until Dan could take them home.  Then we played together a bit before Eileen and I headed to Stake Choir.  We had a great time singing beautiful music.  Then we headed home to have dinner with some new friends in the ward.  And after played a game together.  We had a fun evening before putting the kids to bed.

YEY Grandma!!

This week has been rather insane.  Monday morning, I had a dentist appointment.  James was so mad that I got to have a dentist appointment, and he didn't, so we made sure to set up his 6 month check up so he can have a dentist appointment too.  :)  He's asked me almost every day since when his appointment is.  After, we made a trip to Costco, then I headed over to Jen's house to give her a ride to go pick up her van and help her get some much needed groceries.  After, James and I ran by Hobby Lobby to pick up some yarn for a scarf for Ann, then James and I went to pick the kids up from school.  Dan and I had a new friend from church over for dinner, she was from Africa and had never had enchilada's before!  Then we had a great family home evening lesson by Anna with her.

Tuesday morning, James had preschool and after dropping him off - I headed over to my allergist for my yearly check up.  Got finished just in time to head back and pick up James.  Then we had lunch and played games together until we had to get the kids from school.  After school, the kids had their usual getting stuff done and having fun.  In the evening, I had Institute which was wonderful as always!

Wednesday the kids had late start and Dan was mostly working from home to try and get stuff done before his trip this weekend.  I let James have some fun playing learning games on my tablet so I could get some work done on my computer, then we played games together in the afternoon.  In the evening, Aaron had cub scouts, and I had choir.  This was our last run through before the Temple Workers Devotional.

Thursday my mom started on her trip out here and the kids were so excited!  James had preschool again, and Becca came over to crochet and chat and to let me hold the baby while James was there.  Then I went and picked up James and we all had lunch together before Becca had to leave for a doctor's appointment.  It was so fun!  And I'm looking forward to trying to make this a regular thing!  In the evening, Dan had a temple trip with the youth.  My mom got in just in time to watch us eat dinner and have just a little with us.  Then it was time to get the kids to bed and wait for Dan to get home.

Friday morning, we got the kids to school, then my mom watched James while I went to another check up.  (All the check up's this week were routine basic stuff - they just all happened to fall in the same week.)  After, Dan and I went and grabbed an early lunch together, then my friend Tammy came over for some help with a sewing project which we worked on and got it mostly done before my mom got back from picking the kids up from school.  After she left, I took the kids (except Anna who was at robotics club) to the Used Book Sale.  The kids had fun as usual picking out books - and as usual I had to restrain them from going too crazy.  Then I found a couple for me and Eileen and I found some music books which looked like fun!  We got home just in time to empty the books out of the car and to be there for Becca and Jeremiah to drop off Laura so they could go on a date.  But she slept the whole time...  But it was still fun cuz when they got back - Laura was just waking up, so they stayed a bit and chatted while she ate and Becca and I got to talk Doll stuff and doll ideas for a bit before they had to go home.  Then I went and played Maple Story with the girls for a little bit before bed time.

Saturday morning, I got up and took Eileen to flute lessons, then got home and while the kids had piano lessons, I got the chili ready for the chili cook off that night, then I headed out to run an errand and then headed to Christina's baby shower.  It was a ton of fun and her baby is so adorable!!  After, I headed home - finshed up getting the chili ready and getting a pineapple upside down cake ready to bring too.  Then we packed up and headed to the church for the annual ward chili cook-off.  We all went and enjoyed yummy food and good friends.  We got home with just enough time to get the kids showered and ready for bed.  The girls wanted to play Clue, so we did and I got lucky and won, so I let them play a little bit of Maple Story before bed.

I got this fun picture of my mom with all 3 dogs on her lap clamoring for attention.

And I got this neat picture of Eileen's little friend.  She found it in the back yard and since she seems to have a way with bugs and animals of all kinds, she walked around with it for a while.  I thought it was pretty cook and snapped a quick picture.

Today was wonderful, but exhausting!!!  We walked to church since the weather was so nice, then we got to listen to a couple amazing talks and a beautiful musical number.  We have 2 more sisters leaving on missions from our ward and one is going to San Jose and the other to Japan.  After I taught a lesson on Parables and then we had a great Relief Society lesson on trusting in God to make it all work out in his time and his way.  Then I stayed for as much of choir practice as I could before heading home and playing games with the kids the whole way.  I got home, the kids got dinner started (they love cooking Sunday dinners) and it got done just in time for me to have to leave with only a couple bites.  I headed over to the Temple Workers Devotional.  The talks were wonderful including some great reminders about how important it is to make time to serve other, and to make the Lord and his work a priority in our lives.  And the singing mostly went well!  After I headed home - finally ate a meal and now despite the awful and messy condition of my house, I need to sleep....

Fall Break

So the kids were on fall break this week - so to keep them busy and me sane - we loaded up the week with fun things to do.   We started off on Monday with a trip to the park.  The kids all rode their bikes (kinda - James took the balance bike and did a good job - but he's still not really riding a regular bike.  We met some friends there and played at the park for a couple hours before heading home for lunch and to try and get the house cleaned up for the rest of the week.  It mostly got done.  We had a fun family home evening lesson before putting the younger kids to bed.  Then Dan and I and the 2 older girls played Maple Story together for awhile for their hour up.  Then Dan I got to the business of grocery shopping and laundry... 

Tuesday we headed to the zoo.   There was a really cool exhibit.  All around the zoo were statues of marine life made out of marine recycled garbage.  The kids had a lot of fun watching the Elephant show and checking out as many animals as they could.  I apparently did a much better job at taking pictures of the animals for Eileen than I did taking pictures of the kids for me....  On the way home - Julia called and we had fun chatting for awhile!  It is so fun having an awesome cousin that I can talk to and hang out with!  

Wednesday we went to the museum of Nature and Science.  The kids enjoyed their temp exhibit Extreme Mammals.  And of course they had a great time checking out their old favorites.  We also managed to catch a tour that they were doing called "Secrets of the Dioramas"  We've seen the dioramas many times before, but it was really neat hearing a lot of the stories behind them from someone who had worked at the museum for a long time.  We also ran into a few friends who were also enjoying fall break!  In the evening was choir and youth activities and such - busy as usual!

Thursday, we went to the Children's Museum.  We hadn't ever really explored the outdoor area of the museum and this time, we spent at least half our time checking it all out.  We found a fun little zip line that the kids (especially James) just LOVED.  We went inside for a fun music time and ran around the nature's backyard area for a bit - then back outside for a snack and more play time.  Anna also got to pick up her clay piece that she made last time.  

On our way out we stopped at the play ground for a bit and played on the swings before heading home to dinner with the Elders.  Thankfully I had planned a crock pot meal and it was all ready for yummy eating by the time the Elders arrived.  We had the new pair of Elders over and had a fun time getting to know them a bit.  They gave a great lesson before we had to kick them out and send them home!  

Friday we headed to the Butterfly Pavilion.  The kids had a blast - they spent most of their time (as usual) in the invertebrates area and had a ton of fun.  Eileen found out about volunteering opportunities which she can start doing when she is 13 - and now she can't wait to be 13 because then she can volunteer at the Butterfly Pavilion or at the Zoo.

As always - they all loved getting to hold Rosie the Tarantula.  We ended heading home a bit early so the Bishop's could drop off their boys while they headed to the hospital so their new baby could be born!  We had a blast with their boys over - they stayed the night and the boys had a great time.  All the kids had a blast playing together and ran each other good and exhausted.  Then woke up early the next morning and did it all over again.

 Saturday was rather crazy.  Anna had a doctor's check up early in the morning.  Eileen had her Flute lessons - both required us taking a few extra kids along.  Then piano lessons for the kids while I drove my friend to the store.  Bro Bishop picked up the boys and took them to the hospital to go visit their new baby brother.  After lunch, we headed back to the Butterfly Pavilion for their Halloween Bug-a-Boo party.  The kids excitedly picked out costumes and had a lot of fun running around collecting and eating (too much) candy.  They painted pumpkins and had a great time.

In the evening, we had a great time watching the Cultural Celebration Broadcast for the new Ft. Collins temple.  The kids had a lot of fun looking for their cousins who were performing in the celebration.  The kids headed to bed - the older two got a little bit of play time with me while Dan ran some errands to get us through Sunday and Monday.

Sunday was a special day!  The dedication of the temple was broadcast at our building in 3 sessions.  We watched the Ker's youngest so they could go to the first session, and they watched Evie and James so Eileen, Anna, Aaron, Dan and I could go to the second.  It was such a wonderful experience.  The spirit was so strong!  The talks were all wonderful - such amazing reminders of what we should be doing and how important the temple should be in our lives.   Plus - we walked there and back and it was wonderful to get to talk together about what we had learned and what we had felt.  After, we had a late lunch, then Becca came over so we could watch her darling baby girl while she went to the final session.  After, we convinced her to stay and have dinner with us.  We had a lot of fun talking crafts while Dan and some of the kids worked on dinner, then after, we put the kids to bed and played a game before she needed to head home.  I'm hoping to convince her to come crochet with me this coming week!

Hello Grandpa!

Monday morning, bright and early, I dropped the kids off at school, then James and I went to go pick up Grandpa from the airport.  We brought him back to get settled and to make a menu and grocery list for the week then headed to the grocery store.  After we got things put away, then I went to pick the kids up from school.  The kids got their homework and piano and instuments done and the kids (and grandpa) went to bed while I finished laundry and folding.  

Tuesday morning James had another preschool field trip.  The teacher for this week had her baby early so we were looking for things to do so we didn't have to cancel - so we had the field trip on Tuesday and a sub on Thursday.  We went to the Garden Center Fall Festival.  James had a great time watching the talking pumpkin and climbing on everything and playing with his friends.  

After we headed home for lunch and then getting the kids from school.  In the evening, I took Eileen with me to the Relief Society Activity - we were doing crochet and embroidery and knitting, so Eileen came to help out and have fun with us.  I taught some embroidery - and we had a great time!  Then I dropped Eileen off at home and headed back for Institute.  Class was wonderful!  (As always)

Wednesday was late start for the kids - I took Anna to an early orthodontist appointment then got back just in time to have prayers with the kids and take them to school.  We had a relaxed morning at home.  After picking the kids up from school, they did all their homework and piano and such.  Evie had a book report due this week and presented on Wednesday and did a GREAT job!!   Grandpa made smoothies in the afternoon and got the kids a bit filled up so they had a late dinner.  I headed to choir and Grandpa watched the kids.  He left Eileen in charge and walked Aaron to the church building, but then realizing he had forgotten his phone, he tried to walk back to the house to get it.... and got lost.  He finally got Aaron home near 9 and finally got him to bed (after a really late dinner and such) around 9:30.  Eileen had been rather worried since he was late and all in all - it was a bit of a stressful night.

Thursday was preschool again for James - he had a great time (he always does) and then we had an easy afternoon.  I went and got my allergy shot while he was at preschool and then headed home for a little bit.  After school, the kids got their stuff done, Grandpa made more smoothies and we got dinner ready so we could eat and head over to Skate City for a fun night of Roller Skating.  The kids all had a great time - at least until the end when Eileen had a blister and Anna bonked her head.  I had a fun time with the kids too and Grandpa had a fun time watching.

Friday the kids had no school, we had talked about maybe going somewhere, but Eileen's feet hurt and the kids were tired, so instead we just relaxed at home.  Anna and Grandpa walked to the grocery store for some more fruit for more smoothies.  Then we had those smoothies in the afternoon before taking Grandpa to the airport.  We had a bit of an emergency because Grandpa forgot his Laptop and I had to get it and run it back to him at the airport, but we made it and he made his flight and got home just fine.

Saturday morning, Eileen had flute lessons, then the kids had piano lessons, then Daddy got home ( YEY!!!)  and then Anna and I ran to Walmart for a birthday present to take to a party she was going to.  Then I dropped her off at the party, dropped off a Lasagne for some friends and headed back to Walmart to pick up my perscription (pharmacy had been closed before for lunch...) then home.  I went to take a little nap and got up 3 hours later.

Sunday was wonderful.  We headed to church and had a great fast and testimony meeting followed by my lesson in Sunday School and then a great lesson in Relief Society.  After church, we headed home and had a yummy early dinner followed by lots of fun and games, well Evie and James wanted to play Denver-opoly - like Monopoly - so more games than fun on that side, but otherwise, lots of fun and games. The best part about the Denver-opoly is seeing all our fun favorite places to go on there and trying to buy them - but otherwise - it's just like Monopoly....  Then we got the littles to bed and played one more game with Eileen and Anna.

Next week is fall break so the kids are looking forward to lots of fun!

Adventures

This week has been fun and busy.   Monday we did our usual grocery shopping, laundry and such. Then we had the sister missionaries over for dinner.

Tuesday morning, we picked up Adeline and headed to James' preschool field trip.  We hiked around a nature preserve area nearby and looked at the wildlife and had fun together exploring.  James didn't want me to take his picture (for like the first time EVER) We found a cute fuzzy caterpillar and had a fun time exploring.  The weather was perfect for it - sunny and nice but not hot.  This was one of the better pictures I got of him....

We had the Hansen's over for dinner.  It's sad that they are moving - it's been a lot of fun getting to know them this past year.  We had Chicken Tiki Masala and had a fun time chatting.  After, I went to institute.  I love studying the scriptures and I've especially been enjoying reading about the Savior's life and ministry.

Wednesday bright and early, Evie and Anna had doctor's appointments before late start day at school.  All went well - they are healthy.  James and I mostly hung out and took it easy.  In the evening, I had a chorale concert so I had to leave a little earlier than usual.  The kids had cub scouts and activity days.  The chorale was singing at a religious freedom symposium.  It was really neat - but kinda scary.

Thursday James had preschool again.  Adeline was over again.  We mostly just played and had fun until we picked the kids up from school.  In the evening, we had the kids talent show at school.  Not only were Eileen and Anna in it, but also a bunch of my swimmers and some friends from church.  Eileen and Anna were both very nervous - but did well anyway.  The only downside was that Eileen was near the end and it was rather long.... :)

Friday morning, we took the kids to school then Aunt Tina came to take James for the day so Dan and I could celebrate my birthday together.  We headed out and got breakfast, then reached Royal Gorge in time for our skydiving appointment!  We got strapped up met our tandem jump instructors and then climbed in a small plane.  We went up and jumped out.  My instructor kept asking me if I was scared and believe it or not, I wasn't - excited yet - amazed at the view - yes - scared - only for a second as I climbed out of the plane and thought - wow  I'm actually doing this :)  It was totally incredible!!!!!  I don't really have a "bucket list" but this is something I've always wanted to do - and now I can say that I've done it!

After, Dan and I stopped for some chicken feed - made a quick Costco run and then headed to Kneader's for lunch.  Then we headed home and chatted with Tina for a bit.  Then I went and got Anna from Robotics club before getting the kids dinner and sending them to bed.  Eileen got to stay up as the youth came over to watch the Princess Bride on the big screen outside.  It was a fun night - then Dan and I collapsed for a bit exhausted after a long exciting day before heading to bed

Saturday was the beginning of General Conference.  Dan got to watch the first session with us before heading off on a business trip.  Between sessions, we headed to the swim team end of season party.  We all had a fun time eating and playing and such, then we handed out awards and cute little trophies before heading back home for the next session of Conference.  After a dinner of leftovers, the younger kids went to bed while Eileen and Anna and I played Clue - Eileen won.  She was so excited - and sent daddy a lot of texts about it.  Then I let each of the girls have a little turn on my computer playing Maple Story. 

Sunday was more General Conference - these weekends are some of my favorite times of the whole year.  I always finish the weekend spiritually renewed and refreshed and ready for life again.