Busier than I thought...

Nothing much has been going on around here this last week. That’s what I thought until I started writing this, but we have been pretty busy. Monday night for family home evening we all went to Shawn’s softball game since it was an early one. We picked up dinner from McDonalds and Shawn from work on the way to the game. The other team only had 2 players show up, so it was a forfeit, but the girls had fun playing on the playground and big hill at the park while we waited a bit. For treats we stopped at Dairy Queen and got the dipped ice cream cones.
Tuesday and Wednesday Felicity got to go on their 5th grade overnight adventure. They take the girls up one night and the boys up 2 nights later. She is working on a post about that on her own blog, but she had a good time and got to do some fun science activities. Evelyn did lose her 2nd tooth, so the tooth fairy paid another visit to our house. Wednesday ended up being pretty busy I guess. It was payday so I ran to the bank and to Sam’s in the afternoon after helping in Lydia’s class. After school Evelyn went to her friend’s birthday party and Felicity went to piano lessons. We had our dinner group around 7 p.m., I hosted our book group at 8:30 and Shawn had his last softball game at 9:30. I made 2 Texas 4-Layer pies – one chocolate and one butterscotch – for the dinner group and book group. We enjoyed the leftovers for a few days after that.
Thursday I helped in Evie’s class and the library, we had our presidency meeting before the girls got home from school, and after school Lissy and Lydia went to activity days. That night the big girls had dance so Shawn, Evelyn and I went to the library and to ShopKo to get Shawn some pants while we waited for them.
Friday afternoon I finally got my hair cut! Yay!! That night we picked up some chicken for dinner and took it to the park for a picnic. Then we laid on blankets and read some of our family book (Percy Jackson #2), walked the path along the river, skipped some stones, and just enjoyed each other’s company and some nice fall weather. It was fun to watch Lydia and Evelyn throw handfuls of rocks in the river (they don’t have the patience for rock-skipping yet) and Shawn and Felicity concentrate on the skipping rocks part. Evelyn and Felicity also looked for “seashells” and Lydia pretended to be a mermaid lounging on the rocks down in the river.
Saturday morning it was our turn to go help clean the church. After that we came home, made egg sandwiches for breakfast and then worked out in the yard for a bit. Shawn and Lissy mowed the lawn while the little girls and I started to clean out the garden. We filled 4 garbage sacks with dead plants and picked more zucchini, tomatoes and 1 yellow squash. After that, Evelyn went to another birthday party, Shawn to ok Felicity to work on some golfing skills and I took Lydia with me to shop for some supplies for a card class I am teaching. That evening we made pizza and watched the BSU game all together. I recorded the RS broadcast to watch later this week.
Sunday has been pretty typical – Shawn had choir, I had meetings. After church we made a FAST dinner and then played a game of LIFE with the kids (after they did the dishes). Then Shawn had to go to a music meeting so the girls and I read a chapter in our book (after we finished the game without Shawn). Now they are all tucked in their beds and Shawn just got home from his meeting. Time to relax J

Zucchini Bread

The zucchini bread recipe we like the best is on our recipe blog. It is Coconut Zucchini Bread and it is delicious! It does have pistachio pudding/nuts(if anyone is allergic) in it and the coconut is optional, but I wouldn't leave it out! The link to "It's a Keeper Recipe Blog" is in the right hand column of this blog, then click on the bread category and it is the last one. Enjoy!

Harvest DaY

Last Saturday was a harvest day for our garden. We picked and froze corn, picked and froze squash, picked and "salsaed" tomatoes, and made yummy zucchini bread.

Evelyn lost her first tooth!

Evelyn was "working on" her loose tooth last Thursday after school, and while I was making dinner, she ran into the kitchen in hysterics, sobbing and crying that she had pulled it out. I missed the hysterics, but here's a little video interview. She was pretty excited! She is young enough that she never lost one in kindergarten, so has felt a little left out of the "lost tooth club." The other one is pretty loose too, so any day now she may lose her 2nd tooth.

Labor Day Weekend: Part 3

On Sunday, we got up and made Shawn's favorite pasta salad to take with us out to Caldwell. My brother, Bryan, blessed their little girl in their ward and then we all went to their house afterwards for a luncheon. Gina made yummy rolls and pulled pork for sandwiches, and others brought salads and banana cake for dessert. Thanks guys, it was yummy! On Monday, Lissy got up early and went geocaching/rock hounding with Grandpa in the Mountain HOme area. Shawn and I got up a little after them and went golfing. After we got home, Grandma and our family drove out to Mountain Home to meet Lissy and Grandpa and for a picnic. After that, we just left for home and got here without any further car problems :)

Labor Day Weekend: Part 2

While we were in Boise, we went to visit Shawn's brothers' families. We got to see Aaron and Amandas new baby - Eloise, and their new house.



Caleb's family came over too and they introduced us to the world of Rock Band. Fun game! We didn't know many of the "rock" songs, but I killed on the Bangles song! We might have to put that on the list for Santa to bring us this year.

Labor Day Weekend: Part 1

We decided to go hang out in Boise over Labor Day weekend. Soon after getting on the freeway we decided to stop at a rest area and have Lissy look for some rocks her rock collection (school assignment). She and Shawn got out and walked around the area and found some volcanic r

ock. Soon after getting back on the freeway, our front driver's side tire blew out. Whoah! I'd never had that happen before. We called AAA (Christmas gift from my parents) and they could get somebody to us within the hour, but Shawn decided it would be faster if he just changed it. It took a bit to figure out how to get the spare tire down from under the car, but I think that was the trickiest part. Shawn got to insult the intelligence of the myriad drivers who did not switch lanes or slow down a little since he was inches away from the oncoming traffic. Fortunately, it happened just a ways outside the next town, so we swung in to the Les Schwab and got 2 new tires. However, they didn't have anyone there to balance them (which is what ultimatley caused the blowout in the first place - unbalanced tire wear), so we had to get that done the next day in Boise. Even though it was a bummer and it set us back, I was grateful that:

- it happened when Shawn was there to change it

- it happened when the girls were the age they are and had no problem just waiting in the car

-it happened that close to a Les Schwab

-we now have balanced tires

Evelyn's 6th Birthday

Here are a few pics of Evie's 6th birthday. We just had a little family party with dinner at Craigo's (pizza buffet) and cake and ice cream at home. She loved all the cards and presents she got from grandparents and her primary teachers even dropped something by for her.

Evelyn in the birthday outfit she got first thing in the morning. She didn't want to wear the jeans though. Modeling another birthday outfit.

New leotard and tights for ballet class.

It took great amounts of concentration and tongue-sticking-out to open her cards.
She was so excited to get her own "bucks"!
A pretend spa kit, for the days when you just need to relax.

The "ham" and her presents.

Her very own licorice which she guarded with her life, til I made her share it on our Labor Day trip.

The chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting (without the chocolate roses she wanted). She blew out the candles before we even finished singing "Happy Birthday" to her. Excited? A little.

Evelyn, you are our sweet, funny girl who is growing up so fast! You can always make us laugh with your silly faces. You are a great peace-maker with friends and are so kind to others.

Favorite books: Junie B. Jones

Favorite color: pink, purple and red

Best friend: Bree, Sarena, Jordi, Rachel

Favorite thing to do: Play with friends

Favorite movie: Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed

Favorite food: Pasta w/ alfredo

Favorite song: I Love to See the Temple

Height: 45 1/2 inches

Weight: 46 lbs.

First Day of School

This is it - the first year all 3 of my girls are in school all day. From about 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m. I should have tons of time right? I could be having an emotional crisis; not knowing what to do with myself all day. Well, school's been in session almost 3 weeks now, and this is the first chance I've had to post some pictures, so things have been pretty busy. I still have a lot of things on my to-do list, but with no impending deadlines, so I finally have a little free time.

Here are some pics of the girls on their way out the door the first day of school. I think I have the coolest, cutest kids out there! They are having a good year so far. Felicity was a bit overwhelmed after the first day, but is keeping up just fine. Lydia needs to work on some time-management and organization skills (she likes to read during math time). And Evelyn is happy as a clam reading Junie B. Jones chapter books and taking AR quizzes (finally!).
Shawn and I have both been volunteereing in Felicity and Lydia's classroom to help with Accelerated Math and this week I will start helping the first graders in Evelyn's class with Accelerated Reading. I'm so grateful I have had the opportunity to stay home with the girls and be able to be involved in their classrooms and education. I'm also grateful that Shawn has been in a position where he has been able to participate too. We are very blessed!