Monday, May 31, 2010

memorial day memories

We had a great memorial day. We weren't able to go to Enterprise for the coolest BBQ EVER! It makes me sad to even think about it, next time we're SO there! But we still had a good weekend. We stayed home because we felt that it was time that we needed to get our garden in and get work done around the house. I have to say, Austin is amazing. He worked so hard all day Friday, Saturday & Monday.

He finished the new chicken barn & dog proofed the fence (our dog is such a stinker, 2 of the 4 chicks have wound up in his mouth. miraculously, they've both recovered), he also plowed up the new garden area, moved the raspberry box to a new location, tilled up the weedpatch in the apartment lawn to plant new lawn seed and tonight he's grilling dinner for us. Yeah, I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world.
This afternoon we visited 3 cemeteries and tried to tell the children a little bit about their forefathers. In Salem we visited Grandpa Harry (who Ian is named after), Hannah, Milo, Sherry and Duane. They loved that Grandpa Harry had a tonka dumptruck to hold his flowers. In Spanish Fork we saw Grandpa Cope's headstone (one of wes' names comes from this great man. And in the Pleasant Grove cemetery we visited my father's resting place. I told the children a little bit of what I remember, I was just a little older than Fiona when he passed. He let me help him raise a piglet and even let me name it Wilbur like on Charlotte's Web. And when I found a dead baby bird that had fallen out of its nest, he helped me bury it. I also remember sitting on his lap and watching King Kong with him, the old black & white version.
For lunch we partied with the Cope Cousins at Hatfieldephia (not too sure on that spelling). The kids had a great time. Austin & I hadn't been there for years and they've changed a lot. There was a castle, a playground, tunnels, a witch's house, a tee pee and lots of animals to climb on. Fiona's name was even in the castle because she must be a 'true princess'. It was a great place. Just next year I have to make sure that I bring their swimsuits, there was a fountain to play in and I forgot their swimsuits. Well, wes is not going to let me forget that again ;).








Wednesday, May 26, 2010

lazy summer days


Sunday I went visiting teaching and the sister I was visiting asked if I was excited about summer break. I had to really think about it and decided a was a bit nervous. I've never had to deal with this before. Kindergarten was the first time that any of my children were away from me for a prolonged period of time and I'd gotten used to it. What would I do now that everyone was home ALL day? This sister I visit is brilliant with children. She is the resource teacher at one of the elementaries schools is Spanish Fork and she was Ian's primary teacher last year and Wesley's teacher this year. She is an incredible teacher. She shared with me what her mother used to do for the summer.

Monday was CLEANING DAY, getting the house back in order after the weekend
Tuesday BAKING/COOKING DAY, making special treats for daddy or cooking dinner
Wednesday is PARK DAY, visiting parks throughout the county & finding new ones
Thursday will be SCHOOL DAY,the day to practice some school work and keep all that precious knowledge from oozing out in the heat of the summer sun
Friday FIELD TRIP DAY, a day at the zoo or maybe a waterpark?

I LOVED this idea and I implemented it this past Monday. The kids were really excited too and so far they've had a great time. Monday we got 3 rooms straigtened, vacuumed, dusted, windows washed and sheets changed before they headed out the door to play in the sunshine. Yesterday we made pretzels. I've been wanting to try this recipe for soft pretzels forever (http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/scrumptious-pretzels-687097/) & just never had a real reason to do it. The pretzels turned out pretty good. We had to eat them while they were still warm; Austin's pretzel was pretty tough by the time he got home to enjoy it. Today we went to the park and played all morning, then we made a quick stop at the library before we headed back home for lunch. The kids are a little reluctant about SCHOOL DAY tomorrow, but I'm trying to come up with some ways to make it fun & only plan on actually working on homework for a short time, then playing some learning games together or something.
I want to try fitting in a ART CRAFT DAY as well. I'm feeling really good about how this is going and feel like I'm spending great quality time with the kids as well as giving them lots of play time to just be kids and allow myself time to get things done, too.
I'll keep you posted on how this goes as we keep going through the summer & catch some pics of our adventures. I wish I would have thought to get picks of the kids rolling out their pretzel dough, it was hilarious and flour was everywhere.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

my little pony




fiona has taken to pretending to be a pony. she wears shoes on her hands and neighs throughout the house. i love watching them pretend. i remember pretending wonderful things, childhood is truly magical

graduations



we have 2 graduates in our home: preschool & kindergarten
it was fun to watch them sing and perform with their friends.
it is amazing how much they have each grown over this past school year.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

my week in a blur
















This past week has been packed to the gills with awesomeness and adventures (what time is it? ADVENTURE TIME!!!!)
Sunday: Mother's day was wonderful. Wesley made a funny little guess who book about me. Some of the clues were "She loves shephard pie and hates coconut", "She likes to plant flowers and hates to wake up for family prayer" and "She likes to wear her dress, she hates to wear her nightgown" (one mom's said that she hates to wear her underwear). It was so fun to see things in his world from his point of view. Ian made me a recipe holder with his picture on it. He did a great job and every night makes sure that I've put the dinner recipe in it. Austin also bought me a neat little painting that he said just looked like something I'd like. It's fun and I do like it, he's so good.
Wednesday: It was our 10TH ANNIVERSARY! Ten years seem to have flown by. I love being married to Austin and feel like the luckiest girl in the world. We went out to dinner and just had a nice time being together.
Friday: Wesley & Ian both had field trips this day. Ian got to ride a llama in the rain, talk about adventure! I went with Wesley, Fiona & Lydia to Thanksgiving Point's farm country. It was a lot of fun. The chickens were a big hit and so were the horses, sheep, bunnies, piglets, goats, cows, tractor ride, and pony ride. We definitely need to go back soon.
Ian had a kindergarten exam after his field trip on Friday and he got 5 shots, he was so brave I'm always impressed with this little guy.
After the doctor appointment we packed up the camper and headed for Little Sahara sand dunes. We stayed overnight and had a great time playing in the sand all day Saturday. The kids didn't want to come home, but mom & dad were exhausted.

Friday, May 7, 2010

ruling the roost


austin caught a great pic of all 8 of the chicks, they've gotten quite big now, roosting together. the other chickens don't mind the new comers at all. maybe they just feel outnumbered?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

random pics

Ian's preschool had CRAZY DAY so Ian wore his shirt backwards, hiking boots, and swim trunks (it was snowing that day), I also put blue in his hair, but didn't show up very well in the pic. This is him with his BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD (that's what he says everytime), Matthew. They acted just as crazy as they looked.



Lydia is ready for the sun. me too.
she is very good at making us all laugh lately


Fiona and Lydia enjoying the warm weather (and yes, Fiona is finally potty trained. halleluja!!!


isn't she beautiful!