And I'm Back

 Oh my it has been quite some time since I was in this neck of the woods.
I wasn't purposefully ignoring my blog. It just was last on the list for a very, very long time.
Homeschooling keeps me pretty busy, but being Relief Soceity President on top of that
really doesn't leave me much time for updating the blog.
I have a smidgen of downtime today as the girls are off learning to crochet this morning.

We've been having fun making turkeys from toilet paper and paper towel tubes, making tents, ornaments (many of which were for the church Christmas Party I was partly in charge of), snowflakes, cookies, and I could go on and on. You get the picture.............we've been  having fun!

Myles and Chris made an airplane, and then Myles was so cute to try and show Elsa how to make one.

We went over to our friends' house to do Gingerbread houses, and then the next day Rhaevyn went over and baked cookies for five hours. It was just her, and she had a blast.

Chris and the girls helped make Myles a tent over his bed. It's been there for about two weeks now, and he loves it.

My Miss Rapunzel just go her hair cut, so it isn't this long anymore, but I  just love the way she says "Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair."


And my time is up. Hoping you all are having a wonderful time getting ready for the holidays. We are hoping to put up our tree today, as the organ is going to a new home.........which might be another story for another time.
Happy Holidays!!

Boise Idaho LDS Temple

  Last May we learned that the Boise Idaho Temple would reopen and that there would be an open house sometime in the fall. As a family we made it a matter of prayer to be able to go and hoped that the open house would be before the snow came.
Our prayers were answered.
The kids were so excited for this opportunity to be able to walk through a temple and see the different rooms. It was like a little piece of heaven for Chris and I to be there with our four little ones, plus extended family. The kids each had their favorite part or room of the temple. Really there just are not words to properly convey the feelings as we were there with our little family. But I can say that it was an amazing and unforgettable experience. One which we will treasure always.

Rhaevyn got her hair straightened by Auntie Leslie..

Here are my pumpkins I decorated. I love it when the candlelight reflects off the glitter.

I made this little blanket for my best friend. She joked that her baby hadn't been born yet, because I had procrastinated on making it. Luckily I got it done just before he was born.:)

Go Tigers!

Yesterday I took the kids to a football game. Our friends' son, Corbin, was playing, so we thought we'd go show our support. It was a lot of fun. They got to go up into the press box because my friend's husband has connections. Myles made a paper flag with the team's colors and would wave it around when Corbin's team had the ball. At half time the kids got to go down on the field and hold the banner that the team runs through.

 Myles, Aeva and Chris went up to the barn that we clean on Friday night for a pumpkin carving contest and apple cider pressing party. They had a great time and did their best to keep warm with the hot apple cider.

It is finally feeling like fall here. We've had rain since Friday.
We are keeping busy and are ready for a little break.

Leaves

Myles wanted a job to earn money.
I told him if he wanted he could rake the leaves off the back patio and I'd pay him twenty-five cents.
"Twenty-five cents!", he said, "I'll do it!" Then he offered two cents to Elsa if she wanted to assist him.
Well, Elsa thought that was just the greatest thing, that Myles would give her two pennies.Aeva chimed in to inform Myles that he was "being underpaid." And in the end Aeva volunteered to go help rake the leaves for free.

Life

This is a picture of our latest science experiment.
We made our very own bottle barometer. We've been watching the water level morning and night and marking it down. It's been very educational.

We have had such beautiful weather still, and I can't believe that it is truly fall.

Most of yesterday was spent at my friend's parents house. They had an apple cider pressing party.
It was so much fun. All the kids, even Elsa, got a turn at the cider press, as well as filling up the buckets with apples and giving them a bit of a bath. There was plenty of delicious apple juice to be had and a nice potluck lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit salad and apple pie. The kids didn't want to leave, and raved about it all night long.

Today we had a report from Myles's Primary teacher. Their lesson was on talents, and all the kids got Oreo cookies. As the kids all got in line, Myles says to everyone, "Ladies first!" I guess the two little girls got to have there cookies first because of that.
Love it when you see the fruits of your labor as a parent. I think she was so impressed. To top it off he gave one of his Oreo cookies to his teacher to make sure she had one to eat too. Love that little guy of mine!

Wishing you all a fall-licious first week of October :)

Elsa Rides Her Bike

We've had some firsts this week.


Elsa rode her bike all by herself for the first time without training wheels.
I think she's the one who has done it at such an early age. I can't believe my three year old little one is riding her bike like a big girl.

Rhaevyn and Myles both harnessed a horse on their own for the first time this week.
It was fun watching them do it. It took Rhaevyn a bit, but the horse finally gave up and let her do it. Myles got his on a bit faster, as the horse gave up a bit sooner with him. It was an exciting moment for them.

And Rhaevyn had her very first babysitting job. Four hours, two little boys and a baby. She managed to play Jedi Knights, get through a diaper blowout, and clean up the house before the parents got home. Yay for Rhaevyn!

So, this week..............

we had a little tea party for lunch. We sipped juice and dined on cute little chicken salad sandwiches. It was really a lot of fun.

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All the kids got to ride a horse up at the barn that the girls help clean.
Aeva was brave enough to get up to a trot, and Rhaevyn did a small jump.
They talked about it all day long.

Yesterday Chris took Rhaevyn, Aeva and Myles to the Lewisville River at Daybreak Park. It was pretty hot and muggy.
They had a blast wading and playing in the water. Although they did have to stop for about 20 minutes and run for the car as a sudden thunder and lightning storm came up. Elsa and I hung out and home and watched the lighting show and listened to the thunder rattle our house. The kids said that most people left the park at that point, so they pretty much had the river to themselves after that.

We've almost been doing school for a month. I can't believe that almost four weeks have gone by. The days are flying. It will be fall before I know it.
Wishing you all a lovely week.

Start of School Pictures

Summer is coming to a close and Fall is fast approaching.
We are loving that the weather is still warm and sunny
and providing us with lovely days to still get out and
explore nature.
Myles found himself this awesome frog on Sunday.

We are finishing up our second week of school.
Everyone seems to like their school books and what they are learning, and they are all still smiling.

Aeva and Myles got new glasses just in time for the start of the school year.
It's hard to see, but Myles has blue glasses. I got to pick out the style, and he picked out the color.

The kids are all getting so big.

Elsa with her new bracelet that she wears day and night.

She never parts with it.

I couldn't get Myles to make a nice face.

My Miss Aeva, looking glam.

Rhaeyvn is now taller than me.

Myles got a hair cut today, and
he is looking mighty handsome.

This weekend we are going peach picking, and next week Aeva is hosting a jewelry party.
She is super excited about it. She's turning into such a little lady.

Lost then Found

We have been wondering for months, May to be exact, where our little ballerina's ballet shoes danced off to.

After three months we just decided that some gremlin must have taken off with them and they were gone for good. On Friday Elsa asked if we could please get her a new pair. Yesterday, after cleaning the house, Elsa got into a traveling back that we use for toiletries when we go on vacation. I was telling her that this was not helping to keep the house clean, but making a mess. All of a sudden she let out this joyous squeal. There in her hands she held her two ballet shoes. What a happy little girl she was. Later in the day she said "Mom, now you don't have to get me another pair of ballet shoes!"

I can't believe that summer is coming to an end. The kids have had a lot of  fun catching things this summer.

Myles caught an Agreeable White Tiger Moth, and Aeva caught a Garden Tiger Moth. Myles's frogs all hopped away except for one, which died. Here he is with Elsa's net. He caught a dragon fly, but unfortunately you can't see it. It was kind of a small one. 

 

Last weekend Chris and the girls went up to visit Ben and Stacy, as Chris was helping Ben with his car.

The wee ones and I stayed home and had pizza, went out to LimeBerry Frozen Yogurt, made a stepping stone, went to the Farmer's Market, and watched Bionicles (which made Myles so very happy). 

 Here we are making our stepping stone.

 

 

The girls had fun hanging out with Stacey, going to the art store, and painting a fruit bowl. A fun time was had by both parties.

 I've been wanting to make these little fruit cheese desserts. I finally decided to do it.
They were so light and yummy.

 Monday we are starting school. I think I'm ready. I've spent the last couple of weeks getting everyone's binders put together, putting together our school schedule, and getting school books. Some are more excited than others for Monday to be here. I know that I am excited :) They are happy that I've scheduled their birthdays off for this year.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.     

 Rhaevyn has been wanting to try a recipe for pretzels that she found in the Friend magazine.
She made them on two separate occasions this week. The little ones loved helping to make and eat them.

Myles got a lesson in welding this week.
He wanted to help Chris on his tinker car. He really enjoyed it.

 

 
 Wednesday afternoon we left to head up to visit Ben and Stacey.
Thursday we decided to head to Mukilteo. The kids really enjoyed walking on the beach there last year.
This year we decided to do what some of us wanted to do last year when we went there.
We bought some fish and chips to eat.................
and ate them on the ferry ride to Whidbey Island.
Myles was very apprehensive about riding the ferry. I think he was worried about what would happen
if the ferry sunk. But about half way to the island he decided that it was really quite a lot of fun.

 

 After arriving at Clinton, Whidbey Island, we boarded a bus for Langley.
The bus transportation was free, and everyone we met was super nice and friendly.

The kids enjoyed walking the shore at Langley and searching for shells.
The tide was out.
Elsa thought the sand was very "sticky."
Myles had quite a collection of shells going on. He had to decide on just two.
Rhaevyn found a dead fish, and the kids thought the teeth were fascinating.
Then it was time to head back to catch the bus back to Clinton.

 

  For the ferry ride back to Mukilteo, we decided to go up on the observation deck.
It was so beautiful out. The sun was shinning and a breeze was blowing.
Once we got off the ferry we headed over to get some soft serve ice cream.
It was a wonderful day spent together.

 

Ben and Stacey's backyard was very entertaining for Myles. He enjoyed spending his time hunting for and trying to catch frogs and tadpoles. He was in heaven.
He came home with one frog, one tadpole, and one froglet. He just released the frog in our strawberry planter and then we put the froglet and tadpole in a container of water within the strawberry plantar.

Saturday, Ben and Chris went to a VW show, and then that afternoon we had bbq'd spiral hot dogs and cupcakes for Christopher's birthday.
As always, we had a wonderful time visiting with Ben and Stacey, and we had a great day adventure on the ferry.