thursday morning

jakob asher



 Look at the deliciousness, what an adorable baby.  I wish I was there to hug him and kiss his little checks. 

Today is picture day at the middle school.  H asked for a special hair style and I think it turned out really pretty.  She sure is growing up.  It's amazing the changes that happen in middle school.  Han is a really sweet girl, and a great student and a lot of fun and also very stylish.  She's a fun daughter to have :)  It's really been a treat for me to watch the different children learn and grow and develop.  They are all unique and wonderful.  What a lucky mom I am :)

Last night was the cub scout rain gutter regatta.  E was very late because of soccer practice.  He LOVEs soccer and likes scouts but there is no contest in his mind which is his priority.  I wish they didn't conflict every week.

So, what's on the agenda for today?  I am making bread, changing the sheets on H's bed for Tori's visit!!!, preparing a FHE lesson and doing some laundry.  It's a good day.  I am glad I know how to make bread, that I have clean water, electricity and soap to get things clean and am looking forward to a great visit this weekend and to conference!  Yeah.  Can't wait. I really enjoyed last weekend's broadcast and have listened the "forget me not" talk a number of times this week.  

there's got to be a better way

every night we have a bedtime battle.  every night. 
It's not with Lucy, she goes to bed nicely.  And early.  I go upstairs with her and we brush her teeth and jammie up then she gets a story and songs and usually goes right to sleep.  She sometimes looks at books by herself in the semi-dark and now that she can read that part is getting longer but still she's pretty easy and in the morning she is always up bright and early ready for the day.
Ethan gets put to bed.  Sometimes he then jumps around on the bed and in his room (literally) and then gets tucked again.  Then he reads.  Then 2 hours later when he is done reading he pops up and we have to tuck him in again.  He usually stays at that point, unless he wanders in later in the night because of a) a bad dream, b) he has to pee, c) he is moaning and groaning and needs to throw up (we don't know why but he he does this often).  In the morning he doesn't get up on his own, unless it is a weekend, but he does get up when I get him.
Hannah is the nightmare.  She gets sent to bed and will not go. We tell her, we ask her, we walk her up, we tell her again, we yell at her, we threaten her, we .... finally she goes up and reads.  We turn off the light, she turns it on, we turn it off, she turns it on.  In the morning I go wake her up.  She won't get up.  I pull off the covers.  She puts them back, I get in her bed and tickle her, rub her back, tell her to get up, encourage her and then put my feet on her buns and launch her.  She hops back in.  I get mad. I tell her I will think of the most horrible punishment ever if she doesn't get up.  She laughs and gets up. 
I really want to stream line this process. 
Here's my plan. 
At night I say "time for bed, sweetheart and give her a kiss" she goes to bed.
In the morning I say "time to get up" while I turn on her light and she gets up.
How about we try that???

i heart where i live

This morning I got to take dinner to the Devries, who just had baby Cameron.  Rachel made Italian Delight and I made the accessories, I wanted to drop it off early because afternoons are crazy.  On the way there I saw a sign for "seahorse beach".  I don't often get to that side of the bridge so I couldn't pass up the chance to take a look.  It was a short drive past a cute lakeside beach, a deer grazing in the forest, a log with no less than a dozen turtles sunbathing, a cheerful blue door, lots of fallen trees (thanks to Irene), and a pleasant winding road to the beach.  It was peaceful.  One lady was there sitting and reading.  Lots of seagulls were there.  I stood on the sand and looked out over the water enjoying the sound of waves rolling in and thinking.  I enjoyed a peaceful reprieve that felt like 5 minutes but was actually 30. 

I am worried about:
a) Sierra.  My sweet sweet Christmas baby. I miss her.  I hope she's happy.  I want her roommates to be so nice to her and I don't think they are.  She's doing great in school and Grandma says she is so nice and pretty and spends time with her and Andrea, which I am glad about but I think she's lonely and I want her to make lots of great friends and to be happy.
b) Romania,Dracula land. 
c) my girls 
d) $$  never enough
e) why am i such a bad dieter
f) Lucy ballerina's stitches (which are healing nicely but you know I'm the mom)
g) R's stress at work
h) our basement...when is it going to be finished?  it's driving me craZy
i) my girls
j) Sie
k) erra
l) why can't I make a fluffy delicious cinnamon roll?
m) how am I going to paint the top floor of my entry...white walls ~ ewh!
n) that's it....not even a whole alphabet's worth

Sunday

Oh, it was one of those days.  Lots of drama.

In the evening though we had our quarterly combined leadership training/class presidency meeting at our house which was very nice.  The girls are awesome and we got a lot of great things planned.  After we always have a chocolate fountain and visit.
Hannah got her first calling, she is the Beehive secretary.  She is very excited and did a great job at the meeting with lots of ideas and inputs.  The yellow sleeved arm in the corner next to Ashley is her :)

neighborhood bike parade

 Our neighborhood had a bike parade tonight.  The fire department came and everyone brought desserts to share.  I was gone but the kids are R said they had a fun time :)

Fall Fall Fall

 I love fall!  I love all the seasons, well, spring is my least favorite but I do the other three.  Fall is so crisp and full of the promise of the coming holidays.  Plus school starts in the fall, and I have always loved the start of school.  I loved it when I was a student and I love it as a mom. 

This morning Hannah and R went to the nursery and bought some mums and some pumpkins.  Then they made the front porch look so welcoming.  Love it!

I did some cleaning and some baking. I  made some bread, which was super delicious! and a yummy lentil and chorizo stew.  Fall food is really comfort food. 

Tonight I went to the general Women's Broadcast.  It was most excellent.  I loved all the talks, especially Sister Becks and President Uchdorf's.    I would love to sit in a room with him and have a little chat, he is so positive and funny, encouraging and wise.  (and he's handsome)

fearless fair goers

This weekend is the annual St Mary's County Fair.  The kids love this day! They don't have to go to school and they see all their friends at the fair grounds.  What could be better?  Well, the sun but we can't be too picky.

So despite a rainy forecast for the weekend I gathered Fancy, Stitches and Grouchy and headed out for some fair fun.   It was a blast!  Every year we go with Colleen and her kiddos and have a great great time.  This year was the same, love it!

We saw cute baby ducks with mohawks, ginormous Clydesdales, pigs and cows and goats.  We saw lots of lovely quilts and yummy cakes and fabulous displays of all kinds.  Colleen won a first place for her canned chicken! and Chelsea and Ellie both got ribbons for their entries as well. 

Hannah and Chelsea ventured off on their own, we saw them from time to time and they also hung out with other girls they would see from church or school.  Part of the fun is seeing so many friends and neighbors.

The kids rode a lot of rides.  Ethan's favorite was the scrambler, Lu liked it as well and she also liked the ferris wheel and the everything else she rode.  She is a wild ride riding girl!

We did get rained on, a lot, but it didn't dampen any one's spirits and after 6 hours of fair fun when I said it was time to go the girls still weren't ready to leave. E was.  We came home wet and tired and now everyone is getting warmed up and cleaned up.

Tonight R and I are going to the temple and sweet Colleen is keeping the kids.  Fortunately they are good and worn out so they will probably be happy to watch movies all night.

practicing

We are looking forward to Halloween.  Hannah and Lucy already have their costumes planned and I am ready to start cooking with pumpkin :)  Hannah bought Millie a costume this year.  They have been practicing wearing it.  The first time Millie ripped it off her head.  The second time she scratched up the floor in her efforts to get away from the costume.  The third time H had a good idea, she got some ham and rewarded Millie. 

Ham + costume = cooperative dog. 

With some more training I think she'll be ready to debut her costume on the streets by Halloween night.

I subbed two days this week.  Tues and Wed.  It went well.  Lu was glad to have me at school, it's sort of like being a celebrity when your mom is at school.  Her foot is feeling a bit better and healing well.

the herd grows

I love the smell of fall, the air is thick with it tonight.  We had to drive our cars to the playground parking lot because our streets are being paved tomorrow, and the next day.  Sort of annoying but we'll survivie. 

Lu stayed home from school today.  Her little foot was hurting her quite a bit.  We went to the library and she got a movie and some books, then we went to look for a new elephant for her herd, a whispered  bribe reward for compliance last night.  Compliance being defined as what I am not sure since a 50lb girl almost out wrested 500lbs of adults laying on her and definitely out screamed us...none the less we were sad that she was hurt and were distracting her and ourselves and another elephant is always welcome.

When we got home she fell asleep on the couch, which is evidence of just how bad she felt. 

Tonight E had a soccer clinic, and H had a lot of homework and I baked a cake that was not a home run and despite it's appley carmel title was not that good. 

and nothing says fall like football!  The Y lost but J and co. still had fun.

Sunday

 What started out as a perfectly pleasant Sunday ended in some trauma and tears.  We went to church as usual, stayed late afterwards (sadly as usual too) and then brought home Mags and Joseph with us while Han went to hang out with Stephanie and Katie at the McCombs. 
The girls had a little picnic, the boys played.  It was a tad bit on the wild side but everyone had fun and nothing got broken.

Then in the evening we had an adult fireside.  We got there early to set up the youth classes.  The YW were providing childcare and I had activities and snacks and had them broken up into age groups so it took a little setting up.

The fireside had just barely started (and I was looking forward to hearing it, it was on receiving personal revelation) when Hannah came in and told me Lu was bleeding and needed stitches.  I went out to check and she was in a classroom crying and being bandaged up.  There were a couple of Brethren from the other ward, one of whom was a fire fighter, right there and they  helped her and bandaged her up.  He told us it was a deep deep cut and he was worried it might have gotten to the tendon so not to let her walk on it and to go right to the E.R.
We went. 
She was very sad and scared.  She ended up being wrapped up like a burrito and having R and I and a nurse laying on her while the nurse practitioner sewed her up.  It was a screaming trauma.  She was brave...in a she stayed conscious the whole time kind of way.

 She got 7 stitches and will have a nice little scar to show for it :(  When we got home E and H were waiting, Laura brought them home and stayed with them and they were very worried about her.

Poor Lu.  Not a fun way to end the weekend.

The injury happened while playing red light green light.  Her leg got under the folding won-door and got sliced open when she ran.  Ouch!!

sleeping in

One of the pleasures of a Saturday morning is sleeping in.  It's delicious to wake up with the sun streaming in the window, the sounds of spounge bob on the TV and 3 kids piled around the bed "being quiet".  
This morning poor R wasn't there to enjoy it, he got up at o dark thirty to go ride his bike 65 miles with 1000 of his closest friends.  He got a great shirt from the journey and reported that the ride food was exceptional.  Way to go Jethro!!

We cleaned the house this morning.  Went to E's soccer game in the afternoon, where they won again.  He played keeper the first half and scored a goal the second. 

This evening the kids played at the park with their friends.  It was a good day.

feels like a Saturday

We had the nicest day.  The weather has really cooled off and it's feeling like fall.  Today was an off Friday, which usually doesn't mean anything but some over time but today R had off.  After we got the kids out the door and off to school we went on a long bike ride (for me)  We rode almost 9 miles, and I didn't die.  My buttocks were sore after.  It was a shorty for my biker babe who is regularly going 50+ miles.  Anyway we had a fun time. 

When we were done we ate and got ready for the day and then split up to divide an conquer some errands.  I went grocery shopping, to CVS, and to the bank.  R went to the hardware store and to work on our refinance and also he got our new printer working (yea!)

After school Lu got to go to Maggie's birthday party.  She had been looking forward to it all week and ended up having a great time.

The rest of us went to watch E's first soccer game of the season.  He played center forward the first half and did a great job.  The team worked well together and were so fun to watch.  The second half
he was the keeper, which gives me a heart attack.  He didn't let any in the net but it was much more stressful to watch.

Also, good news, I learned that Bobby Flay has a restaurant in DC.   Can't wait to try it out!!

thoughts on a thursday evening

I am no scriptorian, nor do I pretend to understand the words of Isaiah, or even to read them very often.  Today I was reading though and found them comforting and sweet.  They brought peace to my heart and I was grateful.

I remember years ago walking with my friend Krista and we were pushing our strollers and talking about life and the universe and whatnot.  She told me one verse that always scared her was the one in Matthew 24, where it says "wo unto them that are with child or who give suck..." and we talked about the last days, of the signs of His coming, and the question "were we prepared?"  I have always wanted to be prepared but have felt somewhat wary about my own readiness and ability to stay strong. 

Then today I read in Isaiah 40

10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his ^aarm shall rule for him: behold, his ^breward is with him, and his work before him.

11 He shall feed his ^aflock like a ^bshepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

31  But they that ^await upon the Lord shall ^brenew their ^cstrength; they shall mount up with wings as ^deagles; they shall ^erun, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

What a beautiful peaceful promise.

There is such a sharp contrast between the consequences that will befall the wicked and the reward promised those who follow Him.  Choose wisely which side you want to be on.

dinner drama

Lucy came with me to YW tonight.  The Laurels played minute to win it.  Lu was the winner of the mummy wrap.

Tonight the cubs shot off rockets that they have worked on the last few weeks.  R went to help.  It was "the coolest cub activity ever!"  The green blur is Bub.

Today our leaking wall was fixed.  Now we have to get the dry wall fixed and the carpet.  Then we can put the basement back together.

The highlight of my day was skypeing with Tate.  We read some stories and sang some songs.  She was wearing her cute pink Elmo jammies and wants to go to "Gracie's house". 
The low point was trying to feed my boy dinner.  He has turned into the world's worst eater.  Two nights ago he hated our tarragon chicken and pasta.  Last night he hated the Italian meatball soup.  Tonight before soccer practice I offered him tacos al pastor, he refused.  By the time we got home from soccer/scouts he was "starving".  Lately he hates everything and I am losing patience with the whole thing. 

fun things I did today

woke up at 5:40, like always, started getting kiddos ready for the day.

added to the patina of my cast iron skillet

cleaned out the trash can, and gave it a bleach rinse

worked on my pumpkin cinnamon roll skills (yesterday they turned out like little pumpkin colored rocks)

vacuumed

folded a lot of laundry

took the girls to piano lessons

reorganized the kitchen cabinets

watched Gibbs catch a couple of bad guys

read a Franny K Stein book to Lu

helped H with some homework

had Matthew over (because his sister is in the emergency room for the third night in a row)

ironed some table clothes

watered the plants

dusted

looked at Romania on the internet, had internal debate with myself about whether or not to try and talk J out of going

hmm...that's the high points I think.

weekend

Our weekend was busy. 
Saturday R and some of his friends went on a bike ride, he is in the middle of training for the seagull century next month.  They rode 52 miles.  That's a lot!  When he got home he mowed the lawn, and the neighbors lawn then got cleaned up and took Hannah with him to a wedding at the church. When they got home he and the kids had an evening together while I drove a car load of youth to the dance and then chaperoned.
During the day I had family cleaning hour with the kids, then E and H went off to play then the kids all came here to play.  Then our clean house wasn't clean any more. 

Sunday we had church, then cub committee meeting.  R got a new calling, he is the YM secretary.  He had a meeting and was set apart, and then I had some people to talk to.  We ended up being a church for about 2 hours after the meetings were over.  When we finally left we took Maggie and Daniel with us and sent Hannah to the McCombs.  All the kids enjoyed the arrangement very much and played together nicely.  Sunday night was BYD. 

Today is beautiful and sunny.  Nice!
The picture of Sierra and Jenna is from this weekend, they hung out together last night.  I am glad the three girls have each other and have always been friends. 

friends

Yesterday I went to lunch with several sweet friends.  There were 9 of us and we went to Salsas where we shared chips and salsa, drank diet cokes, ate lunch and talked for 3 hours.  It was a much looked forward to, and very enjoyed lunch.

Today I made jam with Lucy and Ethel :)

Colleen, Laura and I got a bushel of peaches and spent all afternoon in Laura's kitchen making batch after batch of sweet peach jam!  Yumm!

(batch #1)

Tonight R and I went out, we tried a new restaurant Rustic River.  It was good, I would go there again. 
Now we are watching X men, first class.  So far it's good.

update:  I fell asleep, the kids are R report that the movies was good.  The parts I saw were entertaining.

happy picture day

 Today was a great picture day, I got so many fun surprises.  First there was this darling picture of mom and dad.  So cute! They are a great couple and great parents.

 Then I looked at Dani's blog and saw this super cute cute cute picture of Tate riding cujo pony (look at that ponies eyes).  Tatum looks so adorable and happy.

Lastly Jenna posted some "college life" photos and I got to see her dorm and room mate and friends.  I sure miss her and was super happy to see her pictures.

labor day

 We were expecting a lot of rain this weekend but actually ended up with very little and had a very fun labor day! 
The only bummer was that I had made plans and also R made plans so I cancelled mine but felt bad about it.

We met the Zawada's early in the morning for some water fun.

 The first time we went Lu cried and didn't want to go, she was nervous and had to be persuaded to get on the tube.  She ended up loving it and today when we told her we were going she cheered and couldn't wait for her turn.

It was funny to watch her, she was thrilled and kept giving us a thumbs up to speed up.  Even when Emily and Hannah gave a thumbs down :)  She's a daredevil.

 E went out with R.  Didn't like it.  Our "future fighter pilot" doesn't like loud noises, roller coasters, tubing, heights or going fast.  I think he might want to pick a different career :)

 We also spent some time swimming and jumping off the boat.  Everyone loved that.  The day was perfect, not too hot, a little choppy.   It was beautiful, one of those days when I love living in MD.

 When we got back to shore we saw some crabbers and  some swimmers.  I can not believe how many crabs they got!  We need to try this spot.

 The kids found friends to play marco polo with and we had to drag them out of the water to go home.

When we got home we cleaned up, ran to the store and then got together for a late lunch, which turned into a killer bunny game.  A nice end to our summer we are all a little sun kissed and made some fun memories.

cookies

We had a lovely day.  It's fast Sunday and Hannah fasted admirably.  She doesn't like to fast but did her best and made it all the way to dinner.  We had a good meeting and Rachel taught a great YW lesson, the girls really liked it. 
When we came home we rested, then made dinner and ate on the deck. 
After dinner Lucy wanted to make cookies for her primary teacher , so we did.  She mixed all the ingredients, sampled the batter and then got a plate ready to deliver.  When everything was ready we drove to the Davis' and had a short visit with them.  Lucy was happy to give her a hug and see her at her home.  I am so grateful for wonderful primary teachers who spend time preparing lessons and loving the kiddos so they can love church and feel their Heavenly Father's love.

Air Show

We went to the air show today.  It was pretty awesome.  It was hot out and lots of people were there, still we had a really fun time.  We saw lots of neat static displays and lots of amazing flying.

The Blue Angels were my favorite, they were amazing.

There were lots of bouncy houses, food for sale and fun things to look at.

 This helicopter was incredible, he flew upside down and did flips and twists.

Everyone had a fun day.

turning our backs on August

 We are done with August, done with heat, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes.  Done with fallen trees, no electricity and grouchy end of summer blues. 

 We are turning our backs and looking forward to a nice fall.  The airshow, the county fair, pumpkins, soccer games and carmel apples.  Warm jammies and comfort foods.  Looking forward to that.