Fun at home

Well school is back in full swing.  Anna is running every morning and Aaron has started showing an interest in running too - he has been running in the evenings too.  Anna took Aaron and Evie out for a run Saturday morning before we went to work out with my mom.  

David has discovered the joys of helping mommy and daddy cook.  He grabbed the stool and helped me make dinner on Monday - it was so cute - he stirred so carefully and so well!  

Wednesday for mutual, was the seminary kick off - so next week begins early mornings for Dan and Eileen.  I don't think Eileen is looking forward to early mornings, but I think Seminary will be good for her!  

Saturday was a busy day.  Anna and I went to work out with my mom in the morning, and Dan took the other kids to the library, then we all met up at Whataburger for lunch to use the kids coupons from the Summer reading program.  

Then we headed home and did some house cleaning and re-arranging.  We moved David up into the boys room.  Part of him hates it and part of him likes being in the room with the big boys - but he was mad to find out that he didn't get a big boy bed too - he still had to sleep in his crib.  Eileen went to a Stake Youth Dance.  They set up a couple rooms with games and the older Call kids went, so Eileen was willing to go and she ended up having a good time!  I'm so glad both that she was willing to give it a try and that she had fun! 

Today was wonderful!  We went to church in my Dad's ward to hear him talk in Sacrament Meeting.  It was a wonderful meeting and a wonderful talk.  Then we went to my parents house for an early dinner and had a great afternoon chatting together.  Then we went to our friend's house for dinner.  They had family there too and we had a fun evening chatting with Susie's dad who told us his conversion story - Eileen, Anna, Dan and I really enjoyed listening to him!  

Back to School

This week has been totally insane.  Getting ready for school and starting school and everything was rather busy!  Monday was laundry day of course, plus we had friends over to go swimming in the morning.  Then in the evening was meet the teacher for the elementary school kids.  

Tuesday we had piano lessons in the morning and Dan had a seminary meeting in the evening.  I also took school pictures for the kids.  We had fun taking them - Evie loves to pose for the camera and David wouldn't sit still, but it was fun! 

Wednesday was the first day back to school - for the 4 kids in the middle anyway.  I dropped them off and David and I were left to entertain each other.  Eileen is home schooling this year, so I dropped the ball on a back to school picture since she didn't go back to anywhere!  She started on Thursday and she and I spent Thursday and Friday doing orientation and evaluations and such.  

Eileen and Anna also had a young women's activity on Wednesday evening and Anna had a volleyball parent meeting - Anna also had sports most mornings.  

Friday, Anna had a cross country meet in the evening, and we went to a baptism in the evening.

Saturday morning, we headed down to my parents to celebrate my dad's birthday and swim and eat lunch.  We had fun playing together - Koopa had fun playing with Wicket, but got nervous anytime one of us went out the garage door.  We got some news that may lead to some changes in the next couple of years, but it's not something I can post here yet.  

After, we went home, got ready and and left the four younger kids home with a babysitter while we took Eileen and Anna and met up with my dad at the temple.  We had a wonderful time doing baptisms and then went to Chili's for dinner.  We had a wonderful time together - It's so wonderful being together and doing the ordinances that will help bind our family together.  After, I took the babysitter home and ran by the church to spend some time practicing the organ for me Sacrament meeting debut. 

Church was crazy.  The talks given were really wonderful - the messages and spirit there was amazing.  I survived on the organ - I didn't mess things up too badly and it was kind of exciting to try something new for me.  Then I headed to primary to play for primary.  It was a great morning, but a little stressful.  After, Dan did some ministering, we played some games and then we went to have dinner with some friends.  After we came back home and talked some about what we had learned in our scripture study this week, then the younger kids went to bed, and we played Clue with Anna and Eileen.  The girls kicked our backsides.... 

Thankfully next week is looking a bit less crazy as we begin to settle into the new school year.  Hopefully people will have figured out the drop-off lines this week and we can spend a little less time picking up and dropping off kids. 

Almost back to school

I can't believe summer is almost over - I'm going to miss these kids when they go back to school!  And David is REALLY going to miss them!   This week has been mostly quiet.  We had the usual stuff going on, but otherwise, we spent most of our week at home enjoying the pool and the summer before school starts. 

It was really fun Friday night, the whole family went to the pool together and we had a great time.  I taught Anna some water polo stuff and Dan spent his time wrestling the inner tubes away from the kids.  Much fun was had by all, and I got a bit sore from the work out :) 

Monday night, we had friends join us for FHE and we had fun chatting and eating yummy cakes! 

Saturday we had friends over for dinner and games.  We had a fun evening eating nachos and playing games together.  We are so blessed to have made some wonderful friends here!  The kids all had a blast together, so the adults actually got to play a game together too!  Apparently I did poorly at talking pictures this week - but I'll do better next week - I have to, school starts on Wednesday.... 

We actually had to sit down and get everything on the calendar this week - summer has been mostly slow, and we've sometimes been a bit lazy - but the calendar is packed full this week.  Ready or not....

More Summer Fun

Well, sadly summer is coming to an end - we are less than 2 weeks from the start of school.  So part of this week was spent getting ready for school.  Wednesday, we did the cub scout summer swim party - the boys had a great time, and we had a lot of fun swimming and making new friends.   Wednesday afternoon was spent getting the kids all registered at schools - We had to fill out stuff online, fill out paperwork and then bring the paper work into the school and spend way too much time at each school getting them registered to start a new year... but at least they got a free Anna t-shirt...  And at least I only had to go to 3 different schools this year instead of the 4 I will have to go to next year...  

David being silly - he would put on Anna's shoes and then pretend to fall down in them - it was pretty funny - he likes to put on a show during scripture time at night...  Thursday evening, Dan and the girls went down with the ward youth to go to the temple.  They had a wonderful time both doing baptisms and also learning a bit about the temple itself. 

Friday was our anniversary - 17 years - it's crazy, because it we've been married for 17 years, we must be getting old...  Dan and I celebrated by going to the temple and then out to dinner at On the Border.  It was a great way to spend our anniversary - I'm so glad to be married to such an amazing man - he is a wonderful husband and father who sets a great example to his children. 

During the day, while David was napping, we pulled out the old Easy Bake oven and had fun making treats together.   I think the kids had a great time and it passed some time and had us all together in the kitchen. 

Saturday was a fun day - Anna and I went to work out with Sandi and my mom, then we headed home for lunch before going to the library.  Eileen and Anna had a Stake Youth swim party in the evening and had a great time

Sunday was wonderful - we had a great fast and testimony meeting.  David loves to lead the music - while Anna was playing piano, he directed us and of course, sang along!  

He also loves to make music any way he can - he found his sisters ukulele and had a great time singing and playing.