This weekend

Busy, but fun weekend. We started off on a good note. Miss A had a great week at school, and she went out for the volleyball team. They have an "A" Team and a "B" team, but they had so many girls go out, that they ended up with one "A" team and 3 "B" teams. An advantage of going to a small school--everyone who goes out for sports gets to play. No one is "cut." The coach told them on Friday which team they got on. Miss A was so happy and excited that she made the "A" team!!!! Way to go! We are excited. Her first game is next Thursday. Yeah! Then our weather has cooled down a lot, and the kids have been begging all summer to have Ben put the tent up in the backyard so they could sleep out, but who wants to sleep out in 100 degrees with 90% humidity? Yuck! So this weekend was a very respectable 85 with low humidity, so Ben set the tent up.
We roasted marshmallows around the fire pit, had s'mores, then played games and read books in the tent. The evening was nice and cool, and the stars were beautiful. Lots of fun.

My book came Friday! Miss A has already finished it, but I don't want to know her opinion yet because then I will know what happens! ;) Hopefully I can finish it this weekend otherwise Ben and I will be fighting over it :)

Remember my spring picture of my apple blossoms? Well they have turned into these. . .

And so we are making apple sauce this weekend.

Peeling, coring, slicing. This is the best machine invented!

Ta-da! Yum! We are canning it so we will have lots to last us through the winter. Turning out to be a good weekend! Hope yours is too!

I am a fan

I am a fan. A huge fan of many things--BYU in general, BYU football in particular, my kids, my hubby, chocolate, good books, and Asics size 8. Yes, you read that right. Asics size 8. Right before my freshman year in high school when I was 14 I got my first pair of Asics size 8. I haven't looked back since (nor have my feet grown since). I have not owned a different brand or size of athletic shoe since. Yesterday, after 20 years, I realized I probably bought my 20th pair of Asics size 8 because, in addition to the kids, I need new shoes every fall too, right? Aren't they cute?
They are seriously the only kind of athletic shoe my feet like. When Ben and I were first married he wasn't quite sure about this. "You only wear Asics?" "Yes, sweetie I do." And when we went shoe shopping I tried to humor him the first few times as he would give me a pair of Nike, or Adidas or New Balance to try on, but my feet would scream "No!" Then after trying on lots of different brands, I would grab the Asics size 8, and say, "Okay, I am done. Let's go." Over the past 15 years he has learned to just let me do my thing, and shoe shopping only takes 5 minutes not hours, so he can't complain. I walk in. "Can I help you?" "Yes, where are your Asics shoes? I need a size 8. Thank you," and then I check out, and my feet are very happy.

Miss A's First Day

Well Miss A gets her own post since she started school a day later than everyone else. Here she is ready for her first day of 7th grade! Unfortunately, it turned out to be a rough one. Her schedule was changed in the middle of the school day and teachers didn't know and things got confusing, teachers frustrated, and Miss A really upset. She isn't too excited about going back tomorrow, and it is only the 2nd day! But I keep reminding her it wasn't her fault and things will work out okay. Life goes on. This too shall pass. It is not that big of a deal. Look at the big picture, and all those other nice useful things we say when things go wrong. I just felt really bad it wasn't a great day, but now we can just go up from here right??? Anyway, she is super cute and the best girl. I love her to death! She is such a blessing in my life.

She made the cute green flower clip herself with me Thursday when we were just hanging out while the other kids were at school. She said she got lots of compliments on it. Super cute! Just hope this next week goes well! Life as a 7th grader is not always the easiest thing.

First Day of School

Well, we survived the first day of school. Mr J was a little bit nervous as I drove him this morning. "Can you come in and stay for a little while Mom?" No, I can't. "Why not Mom?" "I am a little bit nervous Mom." Then we got there and he kept whispering "Where am I supposed to stand?" But we figured it all out. Ben and I gave him a big hug and kiss and told him to remember his Kissing Hand (read the book The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn before you send your kids to school this year) then I cried as I walked out, but Mr J seemed happy and didn't even turn back after I kissed him and said good-bye, but I keep looking back to see if he was missing me already and looking for me, but he wasn't. My baby is at school all day now!

Here he is all ready to go--all themed outfit, shoes, back pack, and lunch box. The kid is coordinated.
Trains and Thomas, Thomas and trains. The kid is very consistent. Love the lunchbox.

Miss E all ready for her first day of 3rd grade! She wanted to wear her shirt from our trip.

And Miss O is a big 5th grader! The oldest in the elementary.

Miss A is an even bigger 7th grader and didn't have to go back to school today. Her first day is tomorrow because they let just the 6th graders have a day all to themselves without the big, scary 7th and 8th graders there. So she just got her locker decorated. Fun Stuff. She hung out with me all day and was a huge helper as we tried to figure out how to make crafts for Super Saturday. So, when we went to school to pick up the kids I was waiting outside the kindergarten door, and Mr J walks out behind his teacher, and I wave to him. He gets a big smile on his face and runs right up to me and says "I missed you so much!!!" as he gives me a big hug. Oh!! Make my heart melt and almost cry again! I said "I missed you so much too!" A great ending to a happy first day.

What is constant in life?

As my dear friend reminded me several times this past month, "the only thing that is constant in life is change." I feel like I am going through a lot of changes now, and I used to think I was pretty resilient and tough and could handle things, but now I'm not so sure. Some of these changes are pretty major--moving onto a different phase of life. So what is changing in my life???
1. My best friend moved away this week. Best friend of 9 years. Lots of tears there. Not a fun change. Thank heavens for e-mail and phones, but sure will miss her! Love you Robyn!
2. My baby is starting all day kindergarten this week--all day! All four kids will be out of the house from 7:45 a.m. when they walk out the door with their dad in the morning to 3:45 p.m. when they walk off the bus in front of my house. Man, I did not ever think this day would come. When you have little ones, baby ones, and you barely have time to use a Kleenex when you need one because you are chasing kids and making bottles and changes diapers you kind of dream, "what will it be like when all of them are in school?" I think that is a major life change--moving onto a different phase in life. Wish me luck. I have mixed feeling about this change--from tears to elation depending upon the day.
3. Today in church I was released from being Primary President. That is being in change of kids 18 months to 11 years at church. I have been there for going on 4 years. I also have mixed feelings about that one.
4. Today I was called as the 2nd counselor in Relief Society, which is the program for woman in our church, with my mom being the new RS president. Lots of changes there, and I have to plan a Super Saturday (craft day) in 3 weeks. Nothing like jumping in head first!
5. I graduated from BYU almost 13 years ago (man, it doesn't seem like that long) with a degree in Humanities and English. Loved it. And this week I am going back to school. Nothing major--I will be taking an art design class from my dad who is an art professor/professional artist at our local community college, but man, when was the last time I had to study for a test???? Ugh! Hopefully he will give me a good grade :)

It's beginning to look a lot like back to school time!

School starts in 10 days here. 10 short days. Where did the summer go? My 8-year-old wisely said, "Summer just seems to go faster and faster." This is true. As a kid, didn't you think summer was never ending? Then the older you got, the faster it went. I think life just goes that way. As a child you think you have forever to live, then the longer you live forever gets shorter and shorter.

So do you have images like these around your house now? New boxes of crayons, rulers, markers, notebooks, folders, and sharpie pens out to label everything??? Kleenex boxes in bags next to backpacks. (do your kids need Kleenex boxes for school supplies too? I had to have 9 boxes of Kleenex for my kids this year. Who would have thought that qualified as a "back to school" item? 9 boxes!!!)
And I have to kick myself for this one. 2 years ago my now 12 year old was going into 5th grade, which is the oldest grade in our elementary. Then middle school is 6th, 7th, and 8th. So, me being the wonderful mom I am (maybe short-sighted would be the better word) thought it would be fun to host a "back to school" party for her and all the future 5th grader girls. I thought it was a one time deal, but it has continued to haunt me every year since. Luckily another mom jumped on the bandwagon with me last year, so I have a cohort in the party planning for my 12 year old, but this year my 10 year old and newest going to be 5th grader played the "you did one for her" card. So, now I have 2 back-to-school parties. Ugh. So wish we luck with back-to school parties this week! I think I am looking forward to school starting.

My favorite books this year so far

I love to read, but usually my tastes tend to go in the Young Adult genre because what others consider adult, I won't consider reading, so it has been a surprise to find some adult fiction that I really love.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. This was my favorite book that I read last year. I loved it! For some reason I didn't get it on my 2009 Reading list but it was my fav for last year. It is about a little tiny island off the coast of England that is part of England and was the only part of England occupied by the Germans during WWII. The story starts after the war, and it is written entirely in letters. So the island is real (I recently met someone that lived and served a mission there whose name actually was Guernsey, but no relation) and the German occupation really happened. Also some of the events that happened on the island during the war are true, but the characters and plot are fiction.

This year I was only about half way through the year when I read this book. These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner. The minute I finished it I had to e-mail a friend and say "Go to the library right now and check this out. It is amazing!" I thought I had found my favorite book for this year. It is the diary of Sarah as she lives and writes starting in 1881 and follows her journey across the Arizona territory in a wagon train and then trying to settle it. It will make you laugh and cry. Amazing. The characters of Sarah and Captain Jack are so well developed and so real. This is an amazing story of love, courage, and perseverance in difficulties. I was excited to see there are 2 more books about Sarah that are out. They are going on my "To check out" list.

As I said before, I thought These is my Words was going to be my favorite book for the year, but then I picked up Green Rider by Kristen Britain, and I had some major competition for favorite of the year. I think these 2 could tie. I read this in 2 days staying up way too late both nights. It is an adult fantasy about Karigan, a young girl, who unwillingly becomes a messenger for her king carrying a "life or death" message to the king while trying to escape being killed by those who do not want the message delivered. There is magic, good and evil, adventure, and a slight beginning of a romance. There are 3 out in the series right now with the 4th due out in Feb of next year. I am currently enjoying the 3rd installment called The High King's Tomb. The 2nd is First Rider's Call.

Hope these give you some good reads as you enjoy the last few hot (they are very hot here) days of summer!