Lately

Our garden ended up being a dream come true this year.  I'm so glad we put it in right away so we could enjoy it this summer.  

Here's a shot of it when it was really starting to produce:

Here's one Joe took:

Joe and I have wanted to have a huge garden for about as long as we've been married.  We've tried a couple of times but with renting often, moving so much, and killing a lot of plants, it hasn't worked so well.  This was going to be the place where we finally made our dream a reality.  And it worked!  We did pay a good amount for the soil and compost to fill those boxes but it sure ended up being worth it.  Everything grew so well!  

I think there is no better way to get kids to eat well than to have a garden.  I was amazed at the things my kids were eating just because they could pick it fresh while they were playing. I remember Nate one time picking some red lettuce and just eating it.  Eli is pretty picky but even he would eat the snap peas all the time.  They were delicious.  We all loved the corn and enjoyed that for a few dinners.  The watermelon ended up being pretty delicious too.  

Some of them weren't quite as sweet as really good ones from the store but after a few days in the fridge it would actually get a lot yummier.  

We all loved the cherry and roma tomatoes and we still have tons growing.  The cucumbers were a hit, too.  They were the smaller, pickling kind and they were delicious!  I don't really like cucumbers that much but these were good.  Eli loved those too.  Our kale is been the longest lasting, hardiest crop.  Sadly, I don't really know how to do much with kale except make kale chips (which we did a lot), saute it in some coconut oil, or put it in a couple of recipes I have.  Our pumpkins are looking awesome!  We'll have enough for all of us to carve them here in a little bit.  Gardens are the best.  Now we just need to put in some fruit trees and we'll be set.

The kids and I made some marshmallow/toothpick creations.  I wanted to test out making some at school.  They loved it!  We hadn't done that since the girls were tiny.  I don't know why I waited so long.  Here are some of their creations.  We had some neighbor girls over to build them, too.

Elizabeth made this awesome one that needed to be propped up.  She named it The Burrow--as in the Weasley's house:

Eli has become quite the little puzzle maker.  He started out doing these 24-piece puzzles:

Now he can do this 60-piece one all by himself!

Being silly:

I thought that was pretty impressive for a 2 year-old.

Speaking of that silly guy:

I have endless Eli selfies on my phone.

He and Nate also steal my phone to take pictures of me:

Cooking and grading papers.  That pretty much sums up my life right now.

We decided to go to the local county fair one night on a whim.  Well, I basically dragged Joe there in the name of a "fun family activity".  Not long into our time there I whispered to Joe that I thought we had made an enormous mistake.  We basically spent as much money as we would have going to an amusement park, and all for some county fair!  I don't get how people spend that much money.  It was not worth it to me.  We got out of there as quick as our kids would let us.  The few pictures I got were of the petting zoo area:

The kids did like getting to milk a cow for the first time.
Joe got this picture of a huge pig:

Sometimes my kids play together so nicely that I take a picture of it.

This was a Sunday lunch picnic:

This was over by the duck pond near our house:

I love that my kids can entertain themselves with a few rocks and some grass.

One Saturday morning we made some blue crepes in honor of our BYU cougars:

 Sadly, they lost terribly that day.

At the beginning of the summer, we got a flier from a nice older woman in our neighborhood.  She is retired but she used to teach gifted/talented classes.  She wanted to do an opera for children by children and was putting it all on for free!  My girls were thrilled and they had a great time.  Sadly, the woman has parkinson's and with that and with some scheduling craziness with families going out of town, they weren't able to finish it.  She agreed to let the kids perform it still (in its rough version) to parents and family members.  It was so great.  We loved watching it--"Trouble on Candy Isle".  The kids helped write the story, all the music, made all the sets, and performed it all.  These kids were singing all by themselves up on stage!  I was so impressed.  I would have never done that when I was their age.  There were some hilarious parts, especially with one boy who was wearing a big inflatable suit (he was a gummy bear).  

We mostly got video but here's a couple of pictures:

We had our second bone break in the family and it happened to Elizabeth again:

She was walking in the street holding one of our plasma cars and basically tripped over it and used her arm to break her fall.  Both her forearm bones buckled.  They splinted it and then four days later re-set it.  Then a week later she got her cast.  I'll have to get a picture of that up soon.  She's handled it all like a trooper and luckily hasn't had any pain since they re-set it.  

One morning, Elizabeth had her appointment for her cast so she didn't go to school.  She was helping Natalie get ready for school and told her she'd make her lunch for her.  Later, when I was cleaning out Natalie's lunchbox I found this cute note:

She also orchestrated this heart attack we got on our bedroom door one day:

She is so thoughtful.

Lastly, she took this picture of a beautiful sunset one night.

Life is good.

Culture Night: Ireland

We had another culture night a while back.  We wanted to do it while Joelle and Randon were here.  Sadly, I didn't get a single picture.  But, I thought I'd report on it for memory's sake anyway.

I made this bread:

And we ate it with this delicious butter that my sister-in-law Melissa introduced me to at our last reunion:

They have it at our Costco!

We had beef stew for the main course.  Pretty simply meal but I thought it was fairly authentic (minus the Irish beer, I guess).

I can't remember the specifics on the reports but I know we learned about the Irish Potato famine, sports, animals, the Irish language, and watched some videos of Irish dancing and the Cranberries, just for fun.  It was a fun night!

Happy Birthday Nate!

We had another birthday around here.    

It's hard to believe that this guy is 6!

He had a good day.  His birthday was on a Monday but the kids actually had the day off of school so that was nice for them.  I did have to work in the afternoon but Marsha stayed home with them.  The girls woke up early with me to make the cinnamon rolls he requested and decorate the house.  They actually did pretty much all of the decorating while I cooked so that was nice.  Then we woke him up for breakfast. 

The kids had a fun day doing pretty much whatever they wanted.  I worked on his cake that morning.  We were looking up ideas for what he wanted on his cake and he found a picture of the Gryffindor seal and he somehow settled on that.  So, it was a tricky one but I did my best.  I had a problem with not all of it freezing, unfortunately, but it was still OK:

Nate wanted to write his own name and did a great job.

We had his requested beef stroganoff with rice for dinner.  Then it was presents time!  I can't find any of those pictures right now and I'm really hoping they aren't lost.  I need to check Joe's phone later.

Nate got a few things he asked for including a new car tracks set, two new Elephant & Piggie books, a candy-gram (Natalie made him a really cute one, with some help from Elizabeth), and a green lightsaber.  Elizabeth picked out a few things from the dollar section at Target and made him a fun little treasure hunt.  Eli was supposed to give Nate the lightsaber but cried the whole night about it being his.  Poor guy.  It reminded me of this post when Elizabeth was 7 and Nate was the two year-old.  I can't believe that was 4 years ago!

In just these last few weeks since Nate started kindergarten it seems like he has grown up a lot.  Now he is talking about kids in his class that have crushes (he won't admit to one :).  It's kind of terrifying to me thinking of him growing up and liking girls.  He is still my sweet little boy, though.  He always gives me big hugs and kisses when the school bus comes to pick him up.  He still loves to snuggle up and read stories or just relax.  He still sucks his thumb and doesn't seem to want to ever quit.  We're going to need to work on that soon.  He is so sweet and always making things for people.  Just recently he made Joe and I these cute signs and hung them up above our bed (someday I'll actually hang something up there--these are great for now).  

Nate still really loves Star Wars.  We're all excited for the new movie to come out.  He really loves Super Mario Bros. too and is better than me now.  He and Joe have almost beat the new version we have, plus they've beaten all three old versions.  He loves to ride around the plasma cars with Eli outside.  He still loves all sports.  He doesn't complain about watching BYU football like the girls do.  In fact, he is out golfing with Joe right now (another of his birthday presents).  He loves climbing poles and is kind of a monkey.  He told me proudly one day that he is one of the only kindergarteners that can go across a hard monkey bars set at the school.  He loves Wild Kratts, Odd Squad, Sesame Street, and will still happily watch The Backyardigans with Eli (we all will :).  He is a great eater and very rarely throws a fit about eating something.  He loves yogurt, oatmeal, ham sandwiches, pretty much all fruit, peppers, and beef.   He loves to read with me but can get along pretty well by himself now.  He got a flier at school that said if he read 20 books a month he would get a free pan pizza from Pizza Hut every month and at the end of the year he would get a free pass to a local water park.  That was enough to convince him!  He kept asking and asking me to read books and he got it all filled in by yesterday--the 9th!  :)  Nate has the BEST laugh when he really gets laughing.  It cracks us all up.  He can be so silly and does some awesome silly dances.  He is a wonderful brothers to his siblings.

We sure love our Nate!

Back to School

Going back to school was a little bit busier this year than in past years.  That is because not only did Nate start kindergarten, but Joe and I headed back to school as well--as teachers.  Crazy, right?  Yes, yes it is.

Joe had been going a bit crazy working from home and not really interacting with anyone all day, except for through email and occasionally over the phone.  So, while he was getting plenty of business, work was not ideal for him.  He has always wanted to teach and now felt like a good time to give it a shot.  He applied for and was hired as the middle school ESL teacher in his hometown.  

A few weeks later, we heard from Joe's aunt that the high school was having a hard time filling open math positions.  She asked if I'd be interested.  I thought about it and decided I wouldn't want to work full time but if I could just work afternoons I might be interested.  The principal called me and said that would be possible.  They really were desperate, I think.  Keep in mind, neither Joe nor I are certified teachers.  Anyway, I thought--well, I might as well interview and see if I even get the job.  So, I updated my 11-year-old resume (started from scratch, actually), filled out the application and went in for my interview.  I did my best to answer all of their questions about how I would teach when I have no experience actually teaching.  I obviously do have experience from these last 11 years working with kids, although much younger than high-schoolers.  I am passionate about math education, especially after teaching my own kids all these years.  Anyway, I wasn't sure what they would decide but sure enough--they offered me the job!  Then came the tough part of decided what to do.  That was hard--I was back and forth constantly.  

One day I dropped the older kids off at golf lessons while Eli stayed at home with Joe and I had some time to think.  I walked on the canyon path I love and just thought and prayed through everything.  

I took this picture:

When it came down to it, I decided to take the unique opportunity of getting to teach the math that I love, get some work experience, and really step out of my comfort zone.  Boy has that been true.  I had no idea how hard teaching really is.  I am learning!  And I'm only teaching part-time!

The biggest thing holding me back was that I wanted to be at home with Eli.  Nate goes to kindergarten while I teach so I don't miss time with him but I do miss time with Eli.  It was heart-wrenching to decide but we felt like the cost wouldn't be too much since he naps for a lot of that time anyway.  We found a great babysitter with a little girl his age and with a room he can nap in and he has been doing great.  He's not always so enthusiastic to go but he has yet to cry or really cling too much when I drop him off.  That might be coming--who knows?  For now, I feel like this has been good for all of us, although it has definitely been hard.  We're all adjusting.  

Thoughtful little notes like this one from Natalie really help:

I love my family and that they support me so well.

OK, now on to the kids because it was a big year for them, too.  It's the first and only year all three of the older kids are in the same school.  Nate started kindergarten and managed to survive it alright.  He was not looking forward to it.  I knew once he gave it a chance he'd like it.  He was happy to have a friend from his t-ball team in his class, and a close neighbor girl too.   Eli and I took him to school his first day and he did great.  He got right in line with no tears from either of us (although a little part of my heart broke knowing there was no turning back to the carefree days at home for him).  We were both ready.  I tried to get him to pose for some pictures and this is what I got:

Eli sure loves his big brother and misses him when he's gone.  He can't wait until he gets to go to kindergarten. 

Nate walks home with his sisters and he was happy and excited when he got home so I think it was a good day.  He also came home with this paper:

The little stinker.  

For a while he wouldn't admit he liked kindergarten but he's less stubborn about it now.  He loved dressing up in the color of the day every day one week and he loves to show me all the things he draws.  He does complain about having to write his name "100 times", though.  

The girls both had a good first day.  They seem to like their teachers.  Elizabeth's work load has picked up a little bit this year but she is doing great.  Natalie is doing a lot of online work in her class, which is new but I think she is liking it a lot.  

Here they are in all their first-day-of-school glory:

I love those beautiful girls.

We're a month in and still doing pretty well.  Yay for school!

Eli-isms

Joe, Elizabeth and I have all independently commented that we really need to record some of the cute things Eli says lately on the blog.  That's one of our favorites things about this blog--the record of the cute stuff my kids used to say.  So, I've been mentally keeping track of some of these for a while now.  I'll probably have to keep adding to this post as I hear things.

Eli can't say his "l"'s so he always replaces them with "y"'s.  It's adorable.  He also has trouble with consonant combinations at the beginning of words that start with "s" like "st" or "sc".  He pretty much always drops out the "s".

So, here are some of his cute sayings:

-"Yimbo yo-down":  translation: limbo low-down.  This comes from an episode of the Backyardigans.  Eli loves doing the limbo and loves putting one of the lightsabers across two chairs to do it.  He also has started saying it whenever he sees anything going across other things.  For example, the other day he was climbing from the top of the toilet onto the bathroom counter the other day and he said, "Yook, Mom.  Yimbo yo-down!"
-"Cool bus": translation: school bus.  He loves pointing these out and talking about people going to "cool".
-"top sign": translation: stop sign.  He always makes sure I stop at stop signs.
-"Dar fo-fo":  translation: Darth Vader.  Sadly, we watched the last Star Wars movie the other day and it was the very first time that Eli said "Darth Vader" instead of "Dar Vo-vo".  It made us so sad--hence this post.  When Darth Vader comes on the screen, Eli always says, "Yook!  It's me!"  He is always Darth Vader when he and Nate play with lightsabers.  He will even say, "Yuke.  I am your father!"  Eli knows all of the "Tar Wars" characters.  He can even tell the difference between Jango Fett and Boba Fett.  "Kenobi-Wan" is how he says "Obi-wan Kenobi".  "Troom-tooper" is how he says "stormtrooper".  And of course, "Yuke" and Yeia". :)
-"I yuv you": translation: I love you.  No explanation needed.  Pure cuteness.
-"I yuv yemen yogurt!": translation: I love lemon yogurt!
-"Help us to be strong yike Superman": Eli often says this in his prayers.  He still loves say he is Superman, not Eli, and that "Superman saves the day!" or "Superman saves people!"
-"Yib-a-bef": translation: Elizabeth.  He usually calls her "Yizzy" but sometimes he will say this instead and it cracks us all up.
-"Brekist": translation: breakfast.
-"I'm cared of the dark.": translation: I'm scared of the dark.

July

I really need to catch up on more of our summer now that school is in full swing and life is crazy.  Here are some highlights:

Finding an itty-bitty frog at one of Nate's t-ball games:

I completed a 30-day Book of Mormon reading challenge in July.  I loved it!  It was just what I needed.  If you've ever thought about doing something like that, give it a try.

This spoke to me one day:

We had a great 4th of July.  There was a mini-Atkinder gathering here and it was so much fun.  We hung out eating food then played some water kickball and had a slip 'n slide:

In the evening we came back to our place for dinner and then watched the fireworks from our backyard.  We sure loved seeing everyone.

I found this one morning:

I love my sweet goal-setting daughter.

Speaking of her, here she is reading at the park:

That cracked me up. :)

One day I up and decided, "We are going on a hike!"

I got some resistance from the clan but I pushed through.  We started off great.  Everyone was having a great time:

Sadly, soon after that picture things devolved into chaos.  The trail we were on was very bushy and we were fighting our way through.  Also, we were getting attacked by mosquitos and I forgot to bring bug spray.  So, we turned back.  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted (I thought so, at least :).

We did visit the falls and had fun around there.

Can you see my tiny children?

We had a fun couple of days visiting Tom and Lorna while they were watching Chris and Regina's kids.  Here is Eli and Maddie pretending to be each other's "cute baby":

One of Eli's favorite things is to ride bikes in the driveway.  We spend a lot of evenings like this:

Or like this:

He must play hard during the day to sleep like this at night:

Since Eli has older siblings who all receive allowance, he also gets some allowance.  He decided that he wanted to use his money to buy ice cream for everyone in our family.  He talked about this constantly.  After quite a few weeks he finally had enough!

Such a cute, generous guy.

One Saturday when Joe was out of town, and our house was in bad shape, we were cleaning machines.  I just had to text him this picture to get some praise for all our hard work:

We had a fun visit from Richard and Archer for a week (Toni came later, too).  The kids sure loved playing with Archer:

Nate was actually especially sweet with him although I didn't get any pictures of that.  He has always been so good with babies.

Joe and I and the older three kids drove to Rexburg one day to go to Simon's graduation.  We had a lot of fun eating their delicious food and letting our kids run around at their house before the graduation.  I sure loved their adorable little Genevieve and got as much baby-holding time in as I could:

At the end of the month we got to have Joelle and Randon stay with us for a week.  It was so much fun and they were so easy.  One day we took them back to the falls:

They had a cousin sleep-out on the trampoline one night.  I don't think Nate lasted but everyone else did. 

It was a great month--with some major developments.  More on that next time....