Sunday September 30

 

Another Sunday with Dad gone to work.

Not our favorite.

But everyone went to class, so that is really good.

We spent a chunk of the time at church practicing the Primary Program that will happen in a few weeks.

Man, ALL the kids were very restless today.

It was a rough one.

Hopefully we get it all down good before the actual program :)

When we got home, we just took it easy.

I did go around and take a bunch of pictures around the place from the same position I took them a year ago.

I am excited to post the changes, cause it is looking so good.

A long ways to go, but I think we made a pretty good dent for the first year :)

Anyway...

We had cereal for dinner.

Hey, it was the kids idea :)

The kids did some jumping......

I swear while i was taking pictures Elsie did a REAL jump!

She stood up and was walking around like she usually does, and I swear she hopped!

She wouldn't try to do it again.....but I am sure she did it.

But she is a pro knee jumper, that is for sure.

Which I is much more difficult anyway :)

Saturday September 29

The Young family showed up bright and early this morning :)

They were in need of some rocks....and lucky us, we have a bunch.

So we all sat out for maybe an hour or so and filled Drews truck bed with little rocks.

They are gonna need more....so we ca do this again another day too.

After a little while it was hard to get the girls to stick to it....so we had a contest.

We put Madi and Kara together and Cassi and Aubree together.

Then they had to fill a bucket together and whoever filled it first, was the winner.

And they could have a break.

Well, Kara and Madi filled theirs first.....but we think they had a few too many large rocks ;)

Anyway, Cassi and Aubree weren't too far behind.

Then they left for a bit before they came back to do it one more time.

They are good helpers....it is just so hard to work when you just want to play!

When the Youngs went home, they left Kara behind.

The girls got to play and do their own thing for a while...

But then I put them back to work.

This time we gathered big rocks.

I spent the day digging trenches for the river rock border.

We ALMOST finished the back part to the retaining wall....almost.

But it is looking good and those girls were big help.

And Kara was rewarded with a tractor driving lesson :)

Thanks Kara for all your hard work.

And Madi too.

Cassi helped out with Babysitting the little ones so I could dig and dig and dig.

Dad did a lot of stuff.....like he always does.

Three buckets loads filled with river rock and all the trash picked out of the field so we can seed it....really soon :)

It was a busy, work filled day.

We got a lot done and it feels good.

But i am pretty sure sleep is gonna feel better!

 

Friday September 28

I know I am biased...

But that is one gash darn freaking cute kid!

Anyway.....

Drew and Heather and Hallie came over today while all the girls were at school and they helped us pick up all our big logs and branches from our tree cutting yesterday.

I am so thankful they came to help....cause this job would have taken us a lot longer if we didn't have them with us.

So, thanks so much guys.

We think you are pretty awesome!

And thanks Hallie for keeping Elsie and Porter (and Mittens) occupied :)

*****

Dad made this little bow for Porter today.

He loves Hawk Eye.

Well, any avengers....he is a little obsessed.

We just recently learned that he thought the name of the guy was Hot Guy.

We told him no....that it was HAWK EYE....and he tries so hard to remember.

He knows it is a bird name....so sometimes he throws out 'Hot Eagle Guy'.

It is pretty cute.

And he likes me to play along....so he calls me Hot Girl.

I think he is finally starting to remember it right, but it sure is cute to hear him say the other versions...

 



Madi thought she would give it a try....

Looking good.

She spent the evening mowing the lawn.

She really enjoys it.

When we first talked about her mowing all the lawn we have we talked about paying her....

But now she has a riding lawn mower....and like I said, she enjoys it.

So does she really need the money????

 



 

Dad made Porter some 'arrows' and a little pack to put them in.

Just like Hot Guy.....I mean Hawk Eye.

Pretty cute :)

(Except he isn't supposed to aim at people....he told me he was shooting the trampoline.)

Thursday September 27

We took on another big project today.

I shouldn't really say me.

Cause it was all Brent.

But I supervised.

These trees just look horrible.

The dead branches up top were really bad.

We were quoted $900 to have them cut.

Um....no!

So we (he) decided to do it.

They are still pretty pathetic looking trees, but I think next year they could possibly come in fuller.

Maybe :)

Anyway....here is a before and after.

We still have a huge mess on the ground to pick up, cause we had to leave to go to Madi's cross country meet.

So, that is what we will do tomorrow.

 

 

Brent did a good job...and he was very careful and pretty safe.

Pretty safe.....

*****

Then we headed to Madi's meet in Eagle.

She did AWESOME!!!!

So last time she ran in eagle she got 13:37 (I think)...

Today.....

Under 12 minutes!!!!

YAY Madi!!!!!

You rock!!!

Next week is District....all 7 schools.

She is excited, but I think she is sad it is coming to an end.

I am so proud of her :)

Wednesday September 26

 

I am obviously not the favorite parent here.

I make them do their homework....

But Dad comes home with a movie.

I can't win :)

Good thing mean Mom made them do their homework before they could start the movie.

Sometimes I win for the favorite....but not very often.
*****
We have officially been here for a year.
So be looking for pictures of what it used to look like compared to what it looks like now.
It has changed a lot!



Tuesday September 25

 

 

Before Porter took his nap today, I tried to get these two to sit down and eat.

He had Elsie hysterically laughing!

He kept saying, 'Mom, take a picture."

So I did.

How funny is he.....I had to laugh that he wanted me to take a picture.

I am not sure what Elsie thought was so dang funny.

I do know that this girl is super exhausted when she comes home from school.

She has a little bit of down time when she comes home (once Porter is taking his nap) and then she gets all worn out again when everyone comes home from school.

She is always VERY ready to go to sleep at bedtime!

Tonight she had a little bit of a rough time getting to sleep.

She was pretty fussy and whiny...

Makes me wonder if she might be getting sick.

But it could just be the weather too...

I guess we will have to wait and see what the next couple of days bring us.

I sat and tickled her hand while she fell asleep.

It reminded me of when these kids were little babies.

I would tickle down her palm and her hand would instinctively wrap around my finger (while she was on the verge of being completely asleep).

I thought it was so sweet.

Sweet girl.

Please don't get sick!!!

*****

Our nightly routine goes like this:

7:30- little ones to bed

The big girls do their homework

8:30 - big ones to bed.

Then Dad and I clean up or finish up whatever needs to be finished....

Then we watch something together and I blog.

9:30 - parents are supposed to go to bed!

(We usually don't make that)

But with me waking up at 5:30 a.m. to workout....9:30 is a great time to get to bed.

So we need to work on that :)

Monday September 24

 Dad had to go to work today.

Life is always more fun with Dad around.

But we had a nice evening anyway.

I had to run to the store to get chicken food after school.

So I took Porter and Cassi with me while Madi and Elsie stayed home.

We got home and ate some dinner then the kids played 'Olympics' on the Trampoline.

And I am not sure how it started, but we had a game of freeze tag.

I got a pretty good little workout.

These kids of mine have got some energy :)

 

 

Elsie bug is doing amazing!

The last couple days have been hard with the weather change.

Pressure change is always hard for her....

But she has been a rock star!

She knows what she loves to do and she goes for it, even if it is hard.

When we went inside....she just collapsed.

Poor girl was dead weight when I put her jammies on.

But I am so proud of her.

Porter is pretty intense when he plays games....not knowing quite how to be soft when it is so high energy out there :)

But he does pretty good and no one got hurt, so all is good!

 

Sunday September 23

Just a regular Sunday today.

Everything went good.

All the kiddos went to their classes.

Good day :)

After church we had a family over for dinner.

Elsie has a little girl in her Kindergarten class that is in our ward.

And her parents are Madi's teachers.....

So we thought it would be fun to have them over and get to know them better.

They are really nice and seem like our kind of people.

They bought a fixer upper a few months ago and stay busy fixing up that fixer upper :)

Elsie was very excited to have her friend Anniston over for dinner!

*****

This is the only picture I got today.

Brent inherited my Grandads suits.

I have only seen Brent in a suit a handful of times.

He has worn them for Fire job interviews....but that is pretty much it.

He inherited the suits because he is the same height and build as my Grandad was.

I think he looks so handsome :)

 



Saturday September 22

Sorry....it's late.

I will post tomorrow :)

(Sorry Sandra....)
*******
*updated*
It was a busy day.....
We woke up and got to Lake Hazel middle school by 8:30 for our ward service project.
We dug the overgrown grass from around the whole track.
Repainted the bleachers.
Busted up the old shot-put cement for it to be replaced later.
And dug all the overgrown grass from everywhere else.
It was a hard working day.
The kids all worked hard...but I have to say that Elsie was amazing!
She worked and worked until she couldn't work anymore.
She grabbed all the grass chunks and threw them into garbage bags.
She was awesome!
But Cassi helped Brent break up the cement and Madi helped with....well everything.
And Porter helped with a lot of different things.
I think it was a great thing to go and do as a family.
Then we came home and worked some more on our river rock trim.....I think it is gonna look so good....but it will take forever, that is for sure :)
Brent took his tractor and mower and mowed down our neighbors field.
They were talking at the service project and about how they were nervous about the fire danger cause it is so dry and tall....
So Brent surprised them by showing up there :)
Well, I got a call and they invited us to a steak dinner to say thanks.
So we went to the Morgans after I got everyone showered and bathed.
It was a fun night and all the kids hung out and played really well together.
Brent and i had planned to have a date night.....but we stayed at he Morgans too late.
So once we got the little ones in bed we decided we should still get out.....to Walmart.

Hey....we were together.
That counts, right???
But can you believe that the Christmas stuff is out already.
Not sure I am okay with that.....



Friday September 21

After the kids got off to school this morning, we met up with Dussy boy, Sandra and Doug to do a little shopping before they headed home.

After a little Cabela's and Joann's, we headed to the fire station so they could see it.

Then they were gone.

Dussy boy is in trouble with Elsie bug for not even saying goodbye to her!

I am sure he can make it up to her somehow, right Dussy boy?

*****

Then we just laid around and didn't do much of anything for the rest of the day until the big girls got home.

That is when we decided to start yet another project that was NOT on our to-do list....yet anyway.

We have a mountain of dirt from the swimming pool guy.

That dirt has a heck of a lot of rocks in it.

We really would like to have some kind of trim between the road and the grass to keep the little rocks out of the grass.

So we thought we would give this a try.

We will fill in the rocks with dirt and I kinda think it would look cool to grow moss in the dirt, but I don;t think that is gonna happen.

But it would look cool.

Anyway.....so we spent the evening finding rocks in the dirt and digging up a roadway to place the rocks.

I think it will work good.

Yes, a lot of work.....especially when you see how much roadway we have to line :)

But it is free.

And we like free, even if it means more work.

Elsie bug was the best helper.

She didn't quit.

She would grab one rock after another and put it down, then grab more.

She was awesome!

The big girls fought a lot...of course.

And Port Just hauled around the broken rock puzzles that he found.

He helped gather rocks.....for a little bit.

Anyway....this will be a LONG running project.

Who knows when it will be done.

But, that how we work.....

Bored?

Just start a new project....don't worry about finishing any of the others :)

 

Thursday September 20

It is Bronco night here tonight!

We got some visitors for this game.

Dussy boy is a huge BYU fan, so he has planned this trip since he found out they would be playing each other.

He is very out-numbered here at our house :)

He is trying to corrupt our kids with BYU jargon....

Not gonna work Dussy boy!

 

We had enough time to have a little BBQ before they had to head out to the game.

 

Cass found a heart chip....fitting for her love for the Borncos :)

 

Uncle Doug is a rotten tease!

He and Porter played the whole time back and forth.

Port blamed uncle Doug for his muddy hands....

 

This is Porter trying to talk Uncle Doug into holding the kitty.

Uncle Doug kept saying he was fine and didn't need to hold her.

But Port just said "No you didn't hold her yet, just hold her!"

 

These two deserve each other.

The bad thing was Uncle Doug (or like Porter like to call him "That cop guy") got Porter all goofy and then left me with him.

 

We snuck a little sticker onto the back of Dussy Boys chair.

Wonder how long it will stay there :)

 

 

And then they were off....

And the little ones and I spent a little time watching Curious George and then some of the game.
A little later in the evening Porter said to Elsie "I say Boise and you say Boise State, Boise..." Then points to Elsie, who, of course yells "BOISE STATE!"
So funny!
I got them to bed at a decent time....

Now I just need to go clean the kitchen and watch the rest of the game.

The game isn't going bad.....but not good either.

No score and we are past half time!

Come on BRONCOS!!!!!



Wednesday September 19

This boy is my buddy.

 

 

Every day I can count on him randomly saying " I just yuv you mom."

He really is so great.

I love the one-on-one time we get when the girls are at school.

And when dads home, it is even more fun.

But today it was just Port and me.

I had to go grocery shopping.

Something I like to save for me and NO KIDS :)

But that didn't work out this week.

Each night he asks, "What should we do when we wake up?"

So last night I told him we were gonna go shopping after the girls go to school.

I told him that I needed him to be a super great helper for me and not be bad at all.

I may or may not have bribed him with the chance of getting a Ninjago. (Don't judge me!!!)

He was awesome.

In the morning I would ask him to do something and he would do it right away.

After we dropped the girls off, he was very talkative and talking about the kind of car he wants to drive when he gets big.He is pretty set on having his own Transformer car....preferably Bumble bee.

He also asked me "Why did Heavenly father make us so we (everyone in general) could be mean?"

I told him that Heavenly Father didn't make us mean, that we get to choose if we are mean or nice.

And that we should choose to be nice all the time.

He liked that.

He was so good while we did the grocery shopping.

Helped me load the cart with all the many things we like to spend all our money on :)

We got home and he helped me unload.

(I may or may not have helped him put together his Ninjago......)

We went and got Elsie and eat, then it was nap time.

As soon as I said it, he grabbed his blanket and headed right down.

This kid likes to talk for a bit at nap time and bedtime.

I love it.

Sometimes it is hard to get out of there......but I do love his questions and the way his mind works.

He finally went to sleep and when he woke up I asked if he could help me fold some towels.

He was happy to help.

He was nice with Elsie.

He helped with chores.

He helped with dinner.

He was just a great kid today.

I went and put him into bed tonight and he started asking "Why Heavenly Father put bones on our bodies."

Then we talked about body parts and insides.

He asked what was inside our elbows, inside our nose, our hair....he talked for quite a long time asking those questions.

Then when I was about to leave, he said "Wait, we didn't talk about what was inside of these."

And he pointed to his legs and knees and feet.

I told him we could talk about it tomorrow night.

But somehow he got me to talk more about it.

He was quite curious about finger nails.

He said it was like bones, but soft.

Soft like under your armpit, so that must be made out of the same thing.

Silly boy.

Love him.

Every night when I walk out of his room I tell him "Your my Boy."

And he answers back with "Your my Girl."

The other night, I had been in and out several times, and the last time I walked out, I didn't say it.

He called for me to come back in and said "Mom, did you forget to say something?"

That kid makes my heart happy.

He makes me oh so very tired......and he makes me so frustrated.....he makes me mad.....but he makes me laugh and smile and he melts my heart.

It is a good little mixture :)



Tuesday September 18

We are giving the chore chart another try.

I wrote down all the new chores....cause things have changed since we have used this...

And before, I didn't have the little ones really doing anything.

Now each of them have a chore each day.

Today Elsie wiped down the couch with wipes.

And Porter washed all the kitchen chairs down.

Now, I know these things are not being done perfectly....but the little ones are feeling useful and they are excited when they get to move their chore to the 'completed' hook.

We will see how long it lasts.

But I think it will.

The big kids are good about their main chores....there were just some other things that needed a card for reminding.

I really would love to be a more organized and clean person.

Cause, I am anything but those things.

So I am making a real effort, again.

But I hope this time, I won't overwhelm myself and give up.

We will see.

There is an overwhelming amount of things to get done in order to feel any kind of order and organization.

But at least the house can be clean while I am figuring out the organization thing.

If that even makes sense.....



Monday September 17

We had a very special visitor today!

Elsie was so excited to see her Sister Roll!!!

It has been way too long since we got to see her!

She came and even brought a gift for Elsie.

It was one of Meagan's build-a-bears that she decided not to take to college :)

A cute little lamb, Elsie named her Meagan, after Meagan, of course.

And she has been lovingly calling her Meggie Reggie all day long.

She hasn't put her down unless I made her...(it is much to dirty outside to take a sweet white lamb :)

She is sleeping happily right now with Meggie Reggie tucked under her arm.

We sure love to spend time with Sister Roll....

 

*****

This is what Brent and I worked on together today.

I know most people don't think that making your new barn look like an old barn is very cool.....but I love it!

This barn, except for the tin on top, has cost us just over $200.

Not bad for such a good size barn :)

Yes, it is made up of all kinds of re purposed wood....and that is what I love!

The siding is made of old fence that was given to us by one of Brent's fire friends....

 

 

It will be painted red.

So that will look cool too :)

*****

dad was moving sprinklers, so we went outside to have family prayer.

And, of course, a few rounds of wiffle ball :)



 

It was a big hit :)

Sunday September 16

 

It was a good Sunday today.

Everything went smoothly....and that is always good.

We hung out a little this evening.

It was a beautiful night.

And things are looking pretty great around here.

We are coming up on a year here.

Pretty crazy!

I am loving what we are turning the place into....

Still SO MUCH to do.

 

Right now we have about a million grapes hanging from our tire swing tree.

They grow up the arbor and then they reach up into the trees.

And they are way up there.

But they sure look pretty.

I need to get myself a grape press.....soon :)

 

 

This hill of dirt and rocks has become a fun place for the kids to play.

It isn't very pretty :(

But eventually we will get it spread out and re-rocked.

Eventually.

Saturday September 15

The Youngs' invited us over for dinner and swimming tonight.

They all had a lot of fun, like always.

For some reason we couldn't find Madi and Elsie's swim suits....

So we improvised....

But it seemed to work fine :)

 

Port was proud of his head dunk.

Good job, buddy :)

 



Cassi spent some time working on her dive.

It is getting better and better.

Good job Cass!

 



Madi and Kara....

Well, they were just being Madi and Kara.

I am so glad these two have each other.

Kinda cool to have a best friend since the very beginning of life :)

 



 

Elsie Rose thinks it is pretty cool that she can touch the bottom in the shallow end..

She loves to jump from the last step.

She's always got the best smile!

*****

We all worked hard today before we got to play.

Madi mowed all the lawns.

She started just after 10 ish....she begged to do it right when she woke up.

But I made her clean her room first.

Anyway...she finished up around 3:00.

She did take a few breaks....but that is a long time to mow lawns!

But she loved it.

I wonder how eager she will be to do it next time :)

I got a lot of cleaning up done inside.

Dad stayed busy fixing stuff in the barn and burning cut branches....and lots of other stuff.