Labor Day Weekend

We got in our last camping trip for the season. We went with my family up to Heise and camped over night on Friday. We were going to stay through Saturday night but Logan wasn't feeling well and so we came home late afternoon on Saturday. We had a great time playing games and visiting. We slept in a tent and so did Jay and Janae--my mom and dad, Kim and Vangie, and Kirk brought up their trailers. That adds another dynamic when you are camping. My kids think it is great to have a sink and a refridgerator---so there were many trips in and out of the trailors. Here are some pictures of the camping fun!!




My dad wasn't feeling the best--he took a tumble (tripped over a rug) while he was getting the water jug out of the trailer right before we left on Friday. He got bunged up from head to toe. We were glad they came anyway!!


Saturday night we came home and showered and cleaned things up and then took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. It was the second time for me and the kids to watch it but the first time for Russell. (I think it is a great movie with a great ending)

First Day of School

Well the first day of school has come and gone. How can I tell--well the kids were harder to wake up this morning. I had to go in and wake Breanna up 3 times. And as for the boys the goofing off time before school has started. I think Brock lost 2 pairs of socks--cuz he didn't know where he put them. Oh well, the blessing for the day is that it is Friday, we can have a couple days off and start over again on Monday.

The first day of school went well for everyone. Each child came home happy!! Here are a few pictures of the first morning.

Now that is some attitude to start the year off with huh??

Below is a close up of her hairdo.

So after school was another story. The kids came in and brought me their folders, went to the pantry for a snack and then the phone rang. It was Brock's friend--so out the door he went to play. Then Breanna and Brinton had to call friends as well. So Breanna sat down at the desk and called her friend Hailey--they talked on the phone for a good 5-8 minutes just discussing what they were going to play (watch out for her teenage years!!) --while Brinton couldn't wait to use the home phone and rummaged through my purse to find my cell phone to call his friend.

And Hattie had to show off her cute hair and outfit for her first day of school (at home) with out the big kids. She played with her friend Creighton, then we ran a couple errands, then we picked up Grandma and Grandpa Anderson and went to Applebee's for lunch. Then Hattie was able to spend a couple hours visiting Grma & Grmpa Anderson at their house all by herself

Sunday Dinner and Hairdos

So when I got dinner all in bowls ready for the table it looked so yummy-I thought I better capture the moment. We had honey barbeque pork chops, new peas and potatoes, and beets. I love cooking food out of the garden--it always seems to taste so much better.
Then we had the afternoon to hang out at home. I started blogging of course and was looking at some church website--well it led me to some hairdo blog that led me to some more hairdo blogs (girlydos.blogspot.com) Well then of course I had to try one hairdo out on Breanna. I think I will be trying some more in the coming week.

Ladybug, Ladybug

So today while I was at the store and Russell was at the store. Hattie had the opportunity to stay with Grandma Taylor. They were able to do some weeding and have a snack and spend some time together. Hattie asking me how the ladybug song went?? I have no clue. Well Grandma Taylor came back over later for dinner and they practiced it over and over. I got it on video. (I missed the first ladybug ladybug--but got the rest)
Go to the bottom of the blog and push pause on my playlist so you can hear Hattie.

Ladybug, ladybug fly away home

your house is on fire, your children are gone

all but one, her name is Ann

She is hiding under the pudding pan.

Update on Summer happenings

So we have added a couple things to our last minute summer activities


Thursday... I had to do a little cleaning and laundry so that happened on Thursday--but I also did 25 more quarts of beans.


Friday....I had so much laundry on Thursday--that I finished it up on Friday morning--we also cleaned the house--but then Russell took half the day off and so we stopped at Wendy's and got some lunch to eat in the park. Then we went to Tauphaus park and ate our lunch and then went to the zoo. This was the first time all season that we went zoo. It was great--the kids really enjoyed looking at the animals.

After the zoo we went over to the equal access playground. The kids played for a little while. No pictures of the playground but the kids did have fun. (they must have because 4 of the 5 children were asleep about 1 mile down the road!!) Then we stopped and got a Jamba Juice and went to the shoe store to buy new school shoes. It was a great day!!

Today--Saturday--we got up and had a yummy breakfast (biscuits and gravy!!) Then Russell started measuring and figuring for some new shelves in the garage.

We are on the count down. Tomorrow we have church and I'm sure some visiting family members. Then only 3 days left--we will see what else we will have in store.

What can we fit into the last days of summer.....

Well we can fit in a lot of things!! Let's start with Friday... we drove up to Rexburg to check out the splash park. We went with some neighborhood friends and had a blast....

who would have known--the stroller wheel was the favorite thing for Logan to play with!!!
There is a carousel in Porter park--right next to the splash park--good thinking on the city council!! It was $1 a ticke for a ride. The kids had been good so we all went for one ride and then headed home.

Then on Monday we went the other direction and drove to Pocatello to spend the day at Ross Park. It was so much fun --the little kids were content to play in the kiddie pool until they discovered the lazy river. Then we spent most of the day in the lazy river. The bigger kids played in the lazy river, on the lily pads, and on the big water slide. Logan and Tyson had a great time crawling in the water in the kiddie pool. It is nice to go to places like this with friends.

yesterday--Russell took Brinton for a motorbike ride up to Castle Lake (at Heise) and we had a Primary Water Party.
Today is park day and then we will go swimming at the Ammon Pool for one last time of the season. You will have to tune in later to see whatelse we find to do before school starts next Thursday.

Canning season

So it is canning season!! Can we al have a love-hate relationship with canning season?? This is when the garden needs to be picked at least every other day and then when it is picked you have to snap, cut, wash, bottle, and pressure or water bath the bottles. This makes for a messy kitchen and loads of towels to wash. But the rewards are great when you have shelves full of garden grown vegetables to eat all winter long. This was my first batch of beans--there weren't a lot (7 quarts and a bowl leftover to eat fresh) but don't worry next picking will be huge!!