Labor Day Weekend

On the way home from Church on Sunday we told the kids that tomorrow (Monday) was a holiday. They got all excited and asked which one...our response: "a work holiday. It's labor day which means we celebrate our ability to work, so Daddy is going to stay home and we are going to take care of the house inside and out." They weren't exactly thrilled, but that is what we did on Monday. Well mostly John and I-the kids helped with the house and then were off to play. The girls mostly in their room with their Polly Pockets and Barbies and well Tate....he was everywhere. He refused a shirt and was basically our Lil Lost Boy, all covered in dirt.

Can you see what he found? A HUGE SLUG! He couldn't have been more enamored with it.

Daddy was a little antsy to get some projects started and so he worked on the sofet (sp?)

We let the chickens out and I discovered that they really liked the leftover mac'n cheese.

Shiver, Rainbow, Lollipop and GoldiLocks

(I've been working on knowing their names)

At 4:30 Dad came down the ladder and declared it was time for some fun so we headed to the DQ for Chocolate dipped Ice Cream Cones and then we made an impromptu visit to the Tom & Helga's and had a great evening with them. Their daughter and grand-daughter were there and the kids loved playing with Sage.

The topic of the night was McKenna's loose tooth that was literally hanging on by a thread. As we were leaving she showed John who quickly reached in, pulled it forward and it fell out. McKenna couldn't have been more surprised-she was so afraid it was going to hurt. Surprise quickly turned to anticipation and excitement for the big visit from the Tooth Fairy.

It was a fun day and night for all!!!

End of Aug-Sept 2

Recap of last week:

Lazy Monday-nice to have those every once in a while...

Tuesday: Adventures in a Babysitting. Watched a couple of sweet boys for the day. Had a great time with them.

Wednesday: Hiking.

We got together with Genny Phillips and TD Thornton and their kids. Despite the overcast sky we headed up to Naches Loop for a little hike. We drove the hour and a half and right before we got there we drove into a cloud, that didn't lift. Infact when we got out of the car the thermometer registered at 42 degrees. Needless to say we got out and then we got back in the car and headed down to warmer climates. We ended up doing a different hike-that went straight up. It didn't stop the girls at all-in fact Mya and Kinley ran up most of it quite impressively.

Thursday: Pt Defiance Zoo

Back to School Night at Maple Lawn's new location: McAlder

McKenna met Mrs Larson her 1st grade teacher, saw her classroom, and then we took a tour of the new school. It was a fun night for all.

Friday: Catch up-clean the house and hit the grocery store

Pacific Science Center

I'd like to Thanks Leslie for #1 Taking pictures and #2 inviting us to meet her at the Pacific Science Center. It's always fun to get out but it's always MORE fun to go with friends, and it was MORE fun.

Exploring the Local Aquatic Life exhibit.

Our Local Aquatic life playing with the Water as we enter ToddlerWorld

More Toddler world:

1st time our (McKenna and I) legs have been so short.

Then we entered the Planetarium which I think only McKenna really gets

Dinosaurs

The Butterfly House

Chris and I took a ride on the weighted floating bike

We all enjoyed the Fountain (although Tate and Christian enjoyed it most from afar)

Tyler and I thought we could get down there inbetween water bursts-we were wrong

But it was Fun!!!

Beautiful DAY!!!

Food for Thought

I love the summer months-the fresh Squash & Zucchini, Peas, Beans, tomatoes, beets, strawberries, and as one of our experiments...onions.

Onions were much easier than I expected-just stuck one I hadn't used in the ground and it multiplied by five. Pretty fantastic. One day I'll have this all down. Until then it's all just experimentation that is adding knowledge to the old brain.

This is a our main garden this year, comprising of a 1/3rd of our plots. It's been doing great and I've continued to plant more seeds as we harvest to see that we can get as much as possible.

Here is our 2nd garden plot-the Tomato Garden which is on top of the carport.

(Photographed 9/2/11)

Zaycon is also helping the food storage to grow. 40# off ground beef. 4-10# tubes broken down into 1 and 2 pound packages

My mom found me another steamer as Savers (Value Village in Utah) and I was able to put it to good use.

I bought just under 40 pounds of Peaches-ate a couple pounds and the rest I was able to turn into 15 quarts of Peaches. I actually hadn't canned peaches for about 20 years when I did it with my Mom and I can't say that I paid that much attention back then. Luckily Helga Jackson has taken me under her wing and has been teaching me a lot about canning and gardening and good recipes to go along with it. She took the time to come over and help me-show me the process and give me an extra hand. She is amazing and it was soo easy, although she assured me you needed 2 pairs of hands, not just one-especially with 3 kids running around. The result is beautiful and I can't wait to try these out.

Thanks Helga I had a great time and I learned a lot!

School Lunch

As the summer comes to an end so does our daily free school lunch at Daffodil Elementary school. It's been wonderful not to have to think too much about lunch-although as the kids get older they get a little pickier, but they love getting chocolate milk every time which they love.

Today was our last day there and they had chicken nuggets, peaches, apples and cherry pie.

It's been good for McKenna she knows she LIKES to take her home/cold lunch to school everyday.

Thank you State of Washington for this great program, even if I have to watch my kids eat and not take or eat a bite of it. Sadly I'm proud that I stayed honest this summer and didn't steal any of the school lunch for my hungry belly. Sad isn't it that it would be a temptation. We all have our vices.

Happy 7th Birthday McKenna!

McKenna P is 7 years Old! She's getting to be such a big girl-at 49" she's tall enough to get rid of the booster, but still a light weight at almost 40 lbs. She's still an early bird always rising at 7 am-She's sooo excited to start the 1st grade and asks everyday if school is starting. She loves to play Barbie's, PollyPockets, Littlest Pet Shop with Tyler but will take a break to play horses with Tate. She also likes to play her part at being the Mom both pretend and in real life. She also loves going to the Park and is a novice at the monkey bars and loves to swing. She has started using her imagination with her friends, playing Dragons and/or Snakes with the boys, although she usually ends up playing dead on the ground. She's pretty funny and loves to laugh, mostly with someone else. She's recently begun tackling the primary songs trying to learn them all and is doing pretty well. Her favorite songs are: I Love To See The Temple, Book of Mormon Stories, Katy Perry's "Fireworks" song, and she's just discovered Taylor Swift and likes her a lot. On our trip to Utah she recently discovered a new love for rollarblading and hopes to get some soon.

Since we had a "party" at the beach, we only invited a few of our local grandparents over to celebrate on her birthday with a little cake and ice cream.

She picked out the cake, flavor and all-and then funny enough didn't want any. Silly girl was too excited for presents to eat.

Isn't he cute? or maybe a bit gross-that's our Boy Tate!

Here's McKenna's collection from her birthday presents

PollyPockets, Necklaces, Barbie Clothes, and Prince Phillip, what more can a girl ask for?

Well she also got a pair of Rollarblades from us for her birthday and some wrist guards and pads from her Grandma Payne!

They are on about 6 hours each day-during mealtimes, in her pajamas, I think she likes them.

Happy Birthday McKenna!

We simply adore and LOVE You!