Snow in August!

One thing that has been nice about Rylee going to kindergarten is that when she gets home, her and Audree are excited to play together. I was taking advantage of that time while Spencer was taking a nap today. Rylee and Audree had been playing with a box of packaging peanuts in a box and were calling it their "berry pie"...which I thought was a creative and harmless game. So, I went upstairs to switch some laundry. When I came back downstairs the game had changed...the peanuts were now snow!!
They enjoyed jumping on, scooping up and throwing their new found snow all over my kitchen!! This game was not as harmless as the "berry pie" game!!
Here is a note for you curious mothers out there. Packaging peanuts become more and more filled with static electricity as you play with them and try to clean them up. As we tried to sweep them and scoop them up... the static electricity eventually just made them fly around and they became impossible to pick up in handfuls. Also, take note, if you try to vaccum them up with a hose vaccum...they will clog the hose! Unclogging a vacuum hose is a difficult, though not entirely impossible, thing to do. I don't love real snow...but today I wish they had just played with the real stuff!

Rylee's Big Day!

Rylee started kindergarten today! She was so excited!! Once again I thought it was going to be a piece of cake...get her on the bus, follow it to school, take some pictures, give her a big hug and be off. All of that went as planned...but I got all teary eyed on the way home again!
Karlee was a great big sister! They got on the bus together and then Karlee held her hand and walked her to her classroom! They really are best buddies! I can't believe I have to school aged kids! Oh, and notice they both have High School Musical backpacks...they wanted to be matching!!

Rylee found her best friend, Annie Anderson, outside of class...they are in next door classrooms! Don't they just look like mischief about to happen?? I gotta love these two...always full of big ideas!

I guess I got emotional because I was thinking what a big day this is for Rys. I still remember details of my first day of kindergarten (and I have a terrible memory!). I remeber being disappointed that we had to sit on the floor instead of at our desks! I also remember having my best friends, Heather Robinson, Sheralyn Neilan and Nicole Hanstad in my class...Heather, Sheralyn and I still keep in contact to this day!! Rylee came home so excited, this is going to be a special year for her!!

Best Wishes!!

Last week Jake's cousin, Stephanie, and her husband Christian, were in a terrible plane crash. Christian had been taking flying lessons for 2 years and they were out with an experienced instructor. The plane failed after take-off and crashed, full of fuel. The instructor lost his life (he was a young father and husband) and Stephanie and Christian sustained severe injuries. Christian had 3rd degree burns coving about 1/2 of his body and Stephanie sustained 3rd degree burns over almost her entire body...including her face, hands and arms. They are a young couple with 4 children aged almost identically to my own. This experience has caused Jake and I to re-evaluate our blessings. Today there was a fundraising balloon launch in honor of Stephanie here in Provo. It was a tradition of hers to launch balloons on special occasions, which made this a special event to think of her.
The kids were excited to be able to see all of the balloons and take part in the big balloon launch. Then we sat in the grass and watched the balloons float away. The turn out for the event was much bigger than the organizers had anticipated and I am sure that Stephanie would have been touched by the support of so many loved ones. I am also sure that the event helped to raise a lot of money to help with their recovery.
This sad event in the Clark family has caused me to find gratitude for the simple mundane things I am able to do on a daily basis; my own laundry, cook food, care for my children, drive the car, chat with my husband in the evenings...even shower and brush my teeth!!! I wish Stephanie and Christian a quick recovery and I wish their children lots of love while mom and dad get better!!

Harder than I thought!

Today was Karlee's first day of 2nd grade! I thought after last year I was totally prepared to take her today. So, it caught me off guard when I started tearing up on the way to school this morning, and again after I left her. She was so excited that she barely slept last night and was up at 5:00 this morning. She will be exhausted when she gets home today!
She was really excited because she is in the same class as her best friend, Makayla Golding and their teacher, Miss Sayers, is in our ward. I am also letting her ride the bus home this year...which has been a hard thing for me, but I have to let her grow up just a little bit. So, here she is, my big old 2nd grader...does this mean I'm a real mom?? I still haven't figured out what will make me official!!

I'm a fan!!

I don't know if everyone is having this problem this week, but I just can't get any sleep!! The olympics have been so exciting and as soon as the US swim team won that huge relay the other night I have been hooked! Jake and I stay up until midnight or later watching everything!! We even record it on the DVR and then fast forward through the commercials...but we want to watch all of it!!! I was so bummed because last night at 11:00 I fell asleep on the couch watching the women's gymnastics...I literally could not keep my eyes open any longer! You just don't want to miss the "moment"!

My favorite thing for the week is kettle popcorn, rootbeer and late night olympics...it's a good thing this only lasts 2 weeks!! Go USA!!

A dose of reality!

So, I was checking out some of my friend's blogs this morning...it's becoming a daily ritual. My kids still haven't figured out that this is "mommy time" and they need to leave me alone while I do this! So, I was reading this funny blog that my friend Danielle posted on her blog (seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com) and I was yelling at Audree to stop asking me for marshmallows ("That is not a snack for 9a.m.", I said) and then I looked up because Spencer had been quiet for 5 seconds (That is a sign that something bad is happening...and he is QUICK!) And this is what I found!!

There are a couple problems with this picture! He was actually licking the pudding out of the pudding container in front of him when I found him, the garbage can behind him is overflowing (that is Jake's job!!!), and he looks way too happy to be in trouble!! I had to post this because when I went to the blog seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com, it reminded me what I didn't want my blog to turn into...so here is this picture and post as a dose of reality! This is my life...and I guess I better go clean up the garbage and feed my kids some real food...no, not marshmallows!! For those of you who want a good laugh, check out that blog...it is really funny and the truth is that all of our blogs look like that at one point or another!! I love all my friends and loved ones with blogs...keep up the great work!

The "Pooktis" Game!

So, tonight we were invited to go to an Orem Owls baseball game with Jake's family. It's done through Jim's (my father-in-law) work...so they do a dinner before the game, tickets to the game and treats from the consession stand. It's always a big night for the kids! This year the weather was a lot cooler than last year...which was nice...except the game was rained out most of the evening. Luckily, we mostly just wanted to hang out and eat treats... so the night was not a wash! As you can see, Spencer quite enjoyed the slide at the park there (he always goes down slides head first...he's so crazy!) Audree wouldn't go up to the Owl guy until her sisters went with her! What a bunch of monkeys these girls are!
Here are the kids watching one of the only innings we got to watch without being rained on! They always love to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa!
Spencer, apparently not afraid of an owl's beak! He's so curious!

Oh, and "Pooktis" is the name Audree has given to any game that involves a ball and a stick. None of us quite get it...but she is always wanting to play a game of "pooktis". So, she was really excited to go to a "Pooktis" game tonight!! Go Owls!

The Gift!

This is the gift that is always left on our front porch after an evening thunderstorm!! It's one of my favorite things about this time of year! If you look closely you can see there are actually 2 rainbows here and if I had a wide angle lens, you could see both ends of both rainbows!! Oh, and for those of you who didn't know...yes, I live across the street from the church! This rainbow display even prompted Spencer to say, "bow!"...he's talking like crazy all of a sudden!

Playdough Break!!

Have you ever had one of those days where all of a sudden it's 3:00 and you realize that, besides screaming at them, you haven't talked to your kids yet that day? Well, I was so busy cleaning and working on photography stuff today...and all of a sudden it was 3:00!! I felt like I needed to stop and do something fun with the kids! Karlee suggested making some playdough. All 4 of the kids jumped on board with that idea! It's no surprise that they decided on pink for the color...Spencer had no say on that one! So, we pulled out the recipe book and cooked up some pink playdough...all the kids helped!!


The kids loved making shapes...I showed them how to make a silly happy face and they made it even sillier!!
Guess what Spencer did when we tried to give him some of the playdough...you guessed it...he had a big ol' taste! Yummy!! Fun with the kids...mission accomplished!! I wish I would do stuff like this with them more often.

Overnight Getaway!!!

Jake and I had an overnight getaway for the first time in 3 years this weekend!! Yep, the last night we spent away from the kids we only had 2 kids!! So, this was a big deal and we can't thank my cousin Justin Allsop and his adorable wife, Becca, enough! It was so relaxing to go up to Deer Valley Resort in Park City and listen to the outdoor symphony. The music was so entertaining (there was this great fiddling threesome that performed with them), the outdoor sunset was beautiful, the Quizno's sandwiches were yummy and the company couldn't have been better! We owe another thank you to our friends Travis and Lanell Ward for letting us spend the night in their fabulous cabin in Heber! It was so quiet and nobody even woke us up to go potty!! In the morning we ate breakfast and observed some deer, hummingbirds and giant bees! I only wish I would have taken my nice camera to get some better shots of the gorgeous scenery!
The perfect getaway ended with a school shopping spree in the Park City outlet stores. I decided I should always do my school shopping without the kids! It was fast, inexpensive and nobody fought with me at all! The only problem with the weekend was that I forgot my stack of coupons I had collected to take with me...this will not surprise anyone who has read my previous posts!! All in all...it was one of the best weekends I have had in about 3 years!! I only hope it happens again before 3 more years pass!