Garden update...

Since I have blogged quite often this year about the progress of our garden, I thought I had better add another update.

We have GOBS of green tomatos, 12 plants worth. But have really yet to see any red. But yesterday I picked one and today I picked all of these...



So, slowly but surely, our tomatos are turning red! Yea, finally!!

Plus, these are just some of our peppers. We also have TONS of onions that we have already used in salsa and soup. Delicious!

And, I have been busy canning about 40 pints of these little beauties...



Also, we have a ton of carrots that I was able to harvest some of and use in the soup I made, also. It was a neat feeling going into my garden to pick ingredients for our meal!

All in all, I would say we have had a pretty successful year, considering we are rookies. It has been a lot of fun for us. Gardening is a very rewarding project! I am already looking forward to next year!

Family Home Evening

This last Monday, we went a few other families in our ward to the temple visitor's center for family home evening. (Great idea, Jaimee!)





While we were waiting for the other families to arrive, Paisley was playing on the railing on the stairs. Somehow, I think she was trying to flip over, she slipped and smacked the back of her head on a concrete stair. She went crying to Dave and I rushed over. A couple seconds later, her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out. Her arms were out stiff in front of her. I started to panic a bit, as is typical for me. But, luckily, my friend, Jaimee, told me to calm down, that she is fine. She was out for about 10-15 seconds, but that felt like an ETERNITY! She came to and was okay. She was very pale for a while, but okay. That sure was a scary experience!

Once everyone got there, we went in to watch a movie and then on to look at the Christus statue.


All the kids


I like this one with the kids touching and looking at the Christus (except Paisley who is in constant "pose mode"! :)

Afterwards we went out and walked around the grounds. The grass is so green, the flowers so colorful and beautiful. I just know that the Lord has some had in how beautiful the temple's surroundings are!



I was able to snap some really nice pictures of Easton and Paisley.






Avery was being her busy-body little self, and was finally able to get a cute one of her right before we left.



We had a really great night with some good friends! It was really peaceful walking around the temple, even with 14 kids! :) Thanks for the fun night, everyone!

My sweet boy!

I just wanted to post about my funny little boy who is growing up way too fast before my eyes! He is so much like me that it is scary. We have a lot of the same personality traits, a lot of the ones that I do not particularly enjoy in myself, let alone my little boy. But, he is so funny! His first grade teacher was always talking about his infectious laugh! Seriously, it is so cute! She said if he started laughing, then she just couldn't help joining it...as did the rest of the kids. That made for a bit more chaos in her class, but I think she enjoyed it.

Anyway, a couple funny things I wanted to remember...

He got two new pairs of shoes for school. And, each time he has put them on at the store, and then again for the first time at home, he has had to run as fast as he can across the room to make sure they help him run fast! It is so funny! I think it is a boy thing. But, this morning, we put on a new pair that he hadn't wore yet, and I told him to stand up and see how they feel. So, he just took off running, and then said, "Yeah they feel good." :)

That is the last thing that I personally want to do in my new shoes! :) But, can you imagine, a bunch of adults running through the shoe store to make sure their new shoes will make them run fast? Ha Ha! Obviously, running is very important to my little boy!

The other day I decided to be a sweet mom and stick a little "I love you! Be good! Have a good day" type of note in his lunch. I wanted to be sure that he got it, so I stuck it right on top to his bag of chips. I was so sure it would just brighten his day.

That night over dinner I said, "So, Easton, did you find anything special in your lunchbox today?" You know, kind of fishing for a compliment and good mom pat on the back. He all of a sudden was all distressed and said, "Mom, please don't ever do that again! It is soooo embarrassing!" I was quite taken aback, and I noticed that Dave kept looking at me to see how I was reacting. I asked him later if he thought I would cry, and he said he wasn't sure how I would react. :) (I won't lie, tears threatened for just a second.) Anyway, so I said something about how I was sorry and I thought he would like it. He said, "Damon's mom puts those in his lunch all the time and the kids won't play with him now." So, it came down to, the boys make fun of them and won't play with the "mama's boys" I guess! How ridiculous is that?!?!? But, I agreed that I wouldn't do that horrible thing to him again. But, then he added, "Well, you can put one in, just stick it to the bottom of my bag, not on my chips!" I guess maybe he did enjoy it somewhat, but wants to be able to do so in private. Understood...note taken!

I love you, son.

Back to School!!!

So, my babies are growing up. It doesn't seem like very long ago that Easton started preschool, but here he is starting second grade! And, my little girl is in kindergarten! Crazy how time flies!

Yesterday Easton and I walked with my friend, Heather, and her son, Rece to school.



When we got there, I had planned on walking him into his class and saying good bye. He and Rece just said good bye and took off by themselves to class. I will admit, it made me kind of sad. I didn't get a hug or anything! But, I am glad that he wasn't nervous at all and was just super excited to get there. Here he is the last 3 years:


First Day of Kindergarten


First Day of First Grade


First Day of Second Grade

What a handsome boy I have! :)

Paisley has afternoon kindergarten and so after lunch we headed off to school. She doesn't have a shy bone in her body and new places/people are fun for her. So, she felt like she couldn't get to kindergarten fast enough! I was able to walk her in her class and get her supplies put away and hug her good bye. That was nice!



Here is Paisley the last 2 years:


First Day of Preschool


First Day of Kindergarten


Best Friends Forever! ;)

After lunch, I headed off to lunch with my sister-in-law! (I had to celebrate the first day, too, right?) :)

Both kids had a great day on their first day back. They couldn't wait until day #2!

Dave's birthday party

Just wanted to post the few pictures that we took at our little birthday celebration for Dave. On his birthday, my sister-in-law, Stephanie, was sweet enough to come watch our kids so Dave and I could go out to dinner by ourselves. That was really nice. After our long trip, we hadn't had a lot of time alone. Thanks again, Steph!

After dinner we came back home and had cake and icecream with some of my family.



We had pineapple upside-down cake, by request from Dave. It is his favorite!

The kids loved giving Dave his presents!




While we were out to dinner, Steph helped the kids make some sugar cookies in Paisley's easy-bake oven.



Paisley was so proud as she went around serving the cookies.

We had a really great night. I hope Dave enjoyed his little party!


And, on a TOTALLY unrelated note...

Could you EVER say "no" to this face??



We can't either! What a cutie! (If I do say so myself!)

More fun vacation photos

We have almost been home from our trip to Washington for a week, but I still haven't posted the rest of the photos. So here they are...

One of the days we were there we took the kids to a children's museum. As expected, the kids had soooo much fun. It was funny that the kids all kind of liked different things. Paisley really loved to dress up and had on about 7 different outfits during the time there. Easton played with another little boy and spent a lot of time in the pretend restaurant. Avery liked playing in the play kitchen and with the babies. But, they all played on everything at some point. It was a great afternoon. I got so many cute pictures that I couldn't choose a couple to post, so I did a slideshow.

Another day we took the kids to a couple of different splash parks. They had a lot of fun playing in the water that hot afternoon!

We had a really great trip. Dave, Easton, and I also spent one day in Seattle. I went shopping and out to dinner with my best friend from high school, and Dave and Easton went to the Yankees/Mariners game. We all had a great time. The girls stayed with Dave's mom. (Thanks again, Shirley!) Unfortunately, we forgot to send Dave with the camera so he didn't get any pics of the game. :(

Back to the real world now. It is kind of fun living in vacation world! I could get used to it! :)

Happy 32nd Dave!

Today is my handsome husband's birthday! Happy Birthday, hon! I just wanted to post some of the things that I love most about Dave.

1. I love the way he loves our children. He is definately the "fun" parent, as I am a lot more serious. He loves to play with them and tease them. He and Easton love to play catch with the football. I can see the pride in Dave as his son throws him a near perfect spiral. :) The girls have him completely wrapped around their little fingers. It is so cute. They completely adore their dad.





2. I love the way that he loves me. He is very good to me. He understands my quirks and my flaws and loves me despite them. He is very patient with me when I am frustrated (usually with the kids) and tries to help me through those times. He is so good about giving me time to myself while he watches the kids. I am so thankful for alone time because it makes me a better mother, and he understands that. We are good partners and I am so thankful for him.



3. I love how he is the BEST gift giver. When I think about buying him gifts, I never know what to get. I usually end up with something kind of lame or else the same type of gift that I have gotten him before. He is very good about thinking about my needs and listening to my wants. He always comes up with very good and useful gifts for me. And, who doesn't love gifts??



4. I love that he is obsessed with sports. :) This one I admit, I don't LOVE all of the time, but I love that he has something he loves so much. Sports make him happy. Playing or watching, it doesn't matter. Three years ago we went to Atlanta. He is a life-long Atlanta Braves fan. So, that trip was an absolute dream come true for him! It was very fun to watch him, like a kid in the candy store. We went to an afternoon came in the beginning of July in Atlanta. Let me tell you, it was HOT, HOT, HOT! We had super great seats, but no shade. I thought I was going to die! I have never been so hot. I must have drank 5 bottles of water. I could hardly watch the game because I was so concerned with how hot I was. Was Dave hot? I am sure he was, but he never noticed! To this day he tells me that it wasn't very hot. That is soooo not true, but he just didn't notice because he was in heaven every minute of that game. It is funny!


Our view of the Braves dugout...you can see why he was in heaven!!

He also loves to play sports, especially softball. He has played softball every year that I have known him, except for the years he was on his mission. He plays very well and is in love with the sport. We have traveled many miles playing tournaments and spend countless nights at the ballpark.

5. I love it when he cooks. He cooks a few things really well. He makes great eggrolls and fresh salsa. Those two things are 100% his and I don't have much to do with. They are always very yummy. I am sure he could make a lot more yummy things, but unfortunately for us, I do most of the cooking! :)



6. I love his sense of humor. He is really funny and fun to be around. He is a big tease. He loves being with people that he can tease and joke with.



7. I love the way he LOVES a clean garage and well manicured yard. I love it because they are HIS. I don't ever have to clean the garage, and I don't do the yard work (unless he is working long hours. I have done my fair share when needed). The garage is his and the house is mine and we are fine with that! :)

I love many more things about Dave. He is my best friend. He is my support and my partner. He is the best thing that ever happened to me. I am so happy that he chose me to spend his life with, I am a lucky girl for sure!!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Dave! You deserve it!

More vacation fun...

TOGETHER WE SWING

DIVIDED WE FALL!

So, we have had some fun days here in Washington. Yesterday we went shopping for school clothes. Okay, so that wasn't a ton of fun. The kids are not really that good of shcppers and it stresses me to have to spend so much money at one time. So, that wasn't so great. But we did find some good deals which made it worth the trip.

That afternoon we got out grandpa's remote control cars.




It was really hot that afternoon so we didn't play for too long. But, they are pretty neat little cars and are fun to drive. The kids (and mommy and daddy) had fun driving them! We brought their scooters up with us, so they had fun doing that, too.




In the evening, we ventured out to Chuck E. Cheese.




They always love going there. But, we DEFINATELY don't go there for the pizza! It isn't very good.



But, it is all about the games! They love it.





They each were able to earn quite a few tickets and get some prizes. It really was a fun night.

We did find out that Avery has quite a "thing" for Bob the Builder...see for yourself!


Going for it....

SCORE! :)

Since it was so hot yesterday, I think today we are going to take them to a splash park. But, Paisley has not been feeling well and has thrown up this morning. She says she is feeling better now, so we'll see if we actually get to the splash park or not.

We are having a great time. It is nice to have a break from real life and just play!