summer's ending

We have been pretty busy over the last week or so. Last Saturday (the 22nd) I went to the High Priest Group Social without Aaron, since he was on call. We had good food, and the kids loved playing at the park. Here's David and Abraham playing on the bars.

And Amy went down the slide a few times.





Sunday Aaron was post call, but was able to come home in time to ride with us to church. After church, while Aaron slept I made dinner. I forgot that I left the lid off of flour bucket and Amy dug right in

On Monday morning when I went out to water the garden and found our sad little corn stalks had been torn down again and the tiny corn cobs eaten - perhaps by a raccoon?

But I did get to harvest some lovely tomatoes!

Monday night we decided to check out a little hiking trail. There were several trails and it took us a while to find out which one actually led to the creek. But we picked lots a blackberries on the trail.

When we found the creek the boys threw rocks into it - of course, what else do boys do in a creek?

They also climbed all over the logs

The coloring went a little funny on the last few pictures, not sure what that was all about.

The rest of the week we kept busy with cleaning, shopping trips, the library, laundry, a baseball game (for Aaron and I and Amy), and play dates, and babysitting. I've just been trying to play more with the kids since they will be going to school soon. Blogging kind of fell low on the priority list. However, every time I take them to a store I day dream of when they will be in school and I can shop with just Amy in the cart, and not have to say, "Please stay next to the cart" 500 times!

Aaron has been around more as well, and I would rather spend time with him than be sitting at the computer. His schedule is very flexible right now. He is working on his Advocacy Project. He schedules meetings, does research makes phone calls etc. He often still attends noon conference, and has his afternoon clinic, but he can also take the kids out to the park, or the store, or watch a movie with me.

Saturday morning there was a grounds cleaned up outside the church and the Relief Society was assigned to do inside cleaning this week. So I took Amy inside and cleaned bathrooms and vacuumed ( I felt like I was back working at the MTC, except I had a baby trailing along behind me). Aaron took the boys outside with him to work on the grounds. The boys helped a little and played a lot, and got really dirty. It was raining and it got a little muddy. I finished about 45 minutes before they did, so I sat outside with Amy and tried to contain the boys. They wanted to uses the clippers, but the pruning was all done. Amy was exhausted and took a late nap. But that turned out to be just fine.

That afternoon was the Elder's Quorum water party at Bishop's House. It's right on the lake. There were several things to do in the water. Another family brought their boat, so we had two boats, a paddle boat, a canoe, a wake board, skis, tubes etc. Amy found this toy and didn't want to let anyone play on it but her. She played for a good 20 minutes before I decided to go get some food.

Later in the afternoon when Amy was a little crabby she would scream if anyone touched the toy while she was on it. It was a little funny, but don't worry I made sure she shared. But if no one was occupying that seat she went straight for it.

Aaron went with the boys, and Br. J* and his two oldest girls on the big tube (Aqua something???) They had a blast.





Timothy was a little cold after that. And we found him a better fitting life jacket. I went on the paddle boat with the boys, and I was grateful that I had my swim suit on under my clothes, because my pants got soaked, and I had to remove them. They were dry by the time we left. We had some good food, had lots of fun, talked to lots of people. For almost 4 hours!!! Makes me kind of wish we'd be here next year. Maybe we'll make a trip back just for the party ;)

still alive

Hi, we are still here, still alive and well, just very busy. We are enjoying the last bit of summer have left. I might get to posting sometime soon. I haven't even uploaded pictures since last week. so I guess you'll have to wait to see those too. Hopefully tomorrow. Right now I'm tired. Lots of fun in the sun today!

garden and more

A few more random thoughts...

I finally got a picture of David with his tooth gone.
Our garden is doing pretty well. We've eaten 5 tomatoes so far and there are still more getting more ripe everyday.





Our carrots didn't do well. They are short and stubby. I guess our soil is bad, or maybe we watered too much - I don't know. Our basil is OK. The zucchini is OK. I have three more growing, but the last two that grew got about 3 inches long and then turned yellow. :(




With the 3 days of rain we has last week out grass is starting to turn green again. But that won't last long if we don't get more rain.

Aaron is done with night shifts. However he's back on call tonight - taking care of the same patients he has been for the last two weeks. He traded a call to help someone else and it allows him to attend the water party at Bishop's house with us next week. Today we are going to the high Priest Group Social without him. It gets the kids out of the house, and I don't have to cook dinner, just provide a dessert - sounds good to me!

Random thoughts

David finally lost that tooth. I helped it along a bit. He yelled at me for something and I clapped my hand over his mouth and reminded him that Aaron was sleeping. Apparently that's all it needed. He wouldn't let me get a picture of it, maybe tomorrow. That reminds me, I should check and see if the tooth fairy has stopped by yet ;)

Not much else is new. Amy is walking so well now. She is also carrying things around, clapping or swinging her arms when she walks. Sometimes that makes her fall or run into things. Have a mentioned how much she loves her shoes? She loves shoes in general. Well now she loves to carry around my purse. She was so proud of herself when she put it on all by herself.
Another thing she loves to do is stick out her tongue and recently she's been sticking it out to the left side. Pretty cute. I tried to get a picture of it at dinner today, but I ended up with this video instead


She was finishing off the rest of the tuna fish.

Timothy is excited to start school. But I still wonder if he's ready. Socially, and academically I think he is, but physically - he still has accidents, and he makes a mess ALL the time, at meals, drawing, gluing, painting, playing outside etc. I hope he grows out of it, because nothing I do seems to help. He also had no problem challenging authority. Generally he is compliant, but if he's tired, or being stubborn - man - watch out! He can whine with the best of them. He can cry at the drop of a hat. Half the time I think he does it to get David in trouble.

On the other hand he is doing really well at reading. He loves to read to me, and to himself. His handwriting is really messy, but I think with more practice he'll do fine. Timothy still asks all sorts of questions. Lately our dinnertime conversations have to do with what happens after we die. Where will we live? What we will do? Will there be toys? How did Jesus make the world? How will we get back to Earth? Is there a big slide? I love it!!!

Tonight we (well really I - since Aaron is still on nights) watched two little girls - I love babysitting swapping! They had a lot of fun with the kids. I was at a loss of what to saw when the oldest (turning 5 this week) said, "Your house is really messy." She said it in all seriousness. I couldn't protest - it was pretty messy. But she should have seen it before I attempted to pick up and then gave up.

I think that's all for now. Only 3 more nights and I get Aaron back! Well, for one night, then he has a call. I need to get out and do more with the kids before school starts. Some of my friends have kids starting school this week, but we still have 3 more weeks until school starts. I know it will go by so fast.

Blackberry time again

The blackberries are ripe once again. We went out Saturday morning to pick them. They grow wild all over including one of our favorite parks (i.e. they are free). It was cool when we started, but quickly warmed up.

We were all wearing long sleeves, mostly to protect our arms from the thorns. David quickly lost interest. And decided just to eat the ones he picked. Timothy only ate about half of the ones he picked. Amy seemed to know they were to eat and squealed until she got some. Then continued to "ask" for more. And made quite a mess.I carried her in the backpack. I figured Aaron would be going further into the brambles, so carrying Amy wouldn't be the best idea. Aaron got more than twice as much as us combined. I couldn't reach very far down, or climb into the brambles carrying Amy. Besides having to constantly hand her berries, and checking on the kids, I got a little hot and tired. So we didn't last long. I think we only got about 3 or 4 lbs this year. Probably not enough to make syrup, but we'll freeze some, and we made blackberry ice cream. Maybe we'll get some more in the upcoming week. We'll have to do it without Aaron though. He's on nights again this week, and then he's on call Saturday.
While the ice cream was churning away we played outside and I found these right in our own backyard. More to harvest!

Where's your nose?

Amy loves to show me where her nose is. It's so cute. But every time I pull out the camera she won't cooperate. Well today she did it, and it was really quite funny.

OWL (or working nights)

Aaron has been working nights for that last week. It starts with a 24 hr shift starting Sunday morning at 8:00 am. Then shifts M-Th 6:30 pm to 8:00 am. He gets off Friday morning and goes back 48 hours later and does it again. It is exhausting. He is gone for more than 14 hours, comes home and plays with the kids for a while and then goes to sleep. When he wakes up he has a little time to play with the kids, or run an errand. Then he's off again. He doesn't eat any meals at home. It's kind of odd not having him eat here at all for a whole week.

Going to church with 3 kids and without Aaron is never predictable. Sometimes the kids are angels, and sometimes we take a lot of trips out to the foyer. This Sunday was a mix. The people we were supposed to pick up for church weren't coming. I called them on my way out the door, so we were 20 minutes early to church. As we found a pew to sit in Amy started screaming - she'd much rather walk around than sit for an hour. She pulled at my necklace, and as I was trying to put everything down she yanked and my pearls broke :(. Luckily the pearls we tied individually, so only one came loose. No accessories for me. Now I just have to figure out how to get them restrung. Both boys had to use the bathroom during sacrament meeting, but other than that they were pretty well behaved. Amy on the other hand would not take a nap.

During the week I try to find things out of the house so Aaron can get to sleep. But once he's asleep not much wakes him up. Other than going to a few stores this week we have played at the park and not much else. Lots of playing downstairs, watching movies, and playing on the computer.

We finally got some rain this week. I am enjoying the cooler weather and not having to water the garden. I finally harvested our first tomato. Quite by accident. I was checking to see if it was ripe, it was still pretty firm, but then it fell off into my hand. So it is sitting on the window sill, and I think I might eat it tomorrow!

Amy's first trip to the ER

I had all sorts of plans for last night after the kids went to bed - I didn't accomplish any of them. I was getting the kids ready for bath time at 7:30 I put Amy in first - she immediately stood - a big no no. I asked her to sit down, then reach over to help her, she reached for me, but must have slipped because her arms never reached the side, and her head hit first. She screamed in pain and I picked up her soaking wet. I saw the bruise on her cheek instantly. Poor girl. She calmed quickly, so I finished her bath, and got the boys in. While I was getting her dressed I looked at her eyes and the right pupil was just slightly bigger than the left. Aaron of course is working, so he can't check her out. I hardly ever call him when he's at work, so when I paged him he called back immediately. Since he wasn't there to see the difference in her eyes he suggested I take her in.

So instead of going to bed at 8:00 we arrived at the Emergency Department. The kids were in PJs, but oh well. By the time I got Amy to triage Aaron was there. One of the cheifs covered for him while he stayed with us. The triage nurse joked that Amy just wanted to see Daddy. The boys thankfully were occupied by watching Finding Nemo. Our dear friend Lou was the resident that came to see Amy. The attending kept everyone entertained with her quacking duck toy. Everything seemed to check out even though her right pupil was ovbiously larger. I nursed her to see if she'd keep food down, which she did. Eventually Aaron went back to work - which was a frustrating night in and of itself. After Aaron left the kids couldn't sit still anymore. They were just so silly, climbing all over the bed, chairs, and I thought for sure David was going to fall of the rolling chair. Finding Nemo ended and Cars started. Amy finally fell asleep, and Lou came back to check on and discharge us.
We were back home by 10:00, tired, but feeling more confident that Amy is fine. Aaron called a few times in the night to make sure she was fine. They offered to cover Aaron's shift if I needed him home. But really it was OK. She slept fine, and ate fine. She is happy this morning, just sporting a nice purple bruise.

Video of Amy walking

The title pretty much says it. I should have taken her binkie out though ;)

Camping in Central Washington

Aaron got home around 8:30 am on Friday. We were almost ready to go. I ran to the store with Amy to get a few last minute things while Aaron packed the van. We headed out the door around 10:00 am or maybe it was 10:30. We couldn't check in to our campsite until 2:30 so we weren't in a hurry. We had a late lunch, and then drove around the city for a few things. Aaron had brought his fishing gear, but needed some new flies, we stopped at a local park. It was really lame. So we headed back to the fly shop. As we piled into the van Aaron called to say he was ready - great timing.

After a stop at the bank we drove to the campground. As we parked in our spot David yelled - "It's Ms H*!!" (One of the Kindergarten teachers at his school - who will be a 2nd grade teacher next year). She had her back to us, so I said, "That looks like her hair, but I don't know if that is her." Then she turned around - it was her. How bizarre to go camping and end up in the spot next to a teacher from your school! She was there with a large group (4 campsites) to celebrate a birthday.

After we set up camp we explored the campground. There was a pond with fishing for 14 and under. So we checked it out.

Timothy liked the ducks and geese.

The boys sat down to fish. Amy tried to eat the powerbait lid - yuck!

It was hot, and Amy kept wanting to walk over to the water. So Amy and I walked around to the other (shaded and grassy) side, and watched the ducks.

As I expected, the boys soon got bored of fishing. They would rather throw things into the pond or attempt to catch grasshoppers. So Aaron and the boys headed back around the pond. They really wanted to play at the playground, but we needed to get ice, and fruit - since I forgot the apples. So I stayed at the playground with the kids while Aaron did some shopping.

Amy loved playing with the rocks, and only attempted to eat them a few times.
The boys kept throwing the rocks on the slide, so we eventually headed back to the campsite.
We were a bit disappointed that there was a burn ban - no campfires allowed. Luckily Aaron called ahead of time to check so we left the firewood and brought our little grill.
We still let the boys roast their hotdogs over the grill. Amy really wanted the corn we boiled.

And she had to have 2 spoons to feed herself the peas.

David tried to escape me taking pictures.

We also roasted marshmallows for s'mores over the grill, and used the stove to pop popcorn.
We were exhausted and since there was no campfire to warm up next to we went to bed around 9:00. And I think everyone was asleep by 9:30! It was funny to watch Amy go to sleep. She is so used to the crib. She walked or crawled around, and would lay on the air mattress or the boys' sleeping bags. Finally she laid down on the edge of Timothy's sleeping bag, and flopped her legs for a minute, and fell asleep. I didn't sleep well between the noisy neighbors, Amy stirring and waking, indigestion, and the wind. But Aaron said that was the best night's sleep he's had on a camping trip in a while. Probably because we didn't stay up so late.

Aaron set his alarm for 5:30am to head out to the river to fish. I couldn't sleep after that. Amy got up soon after, and I nursed her hoping she would go back to sleep - no such luck. After Aaron left David woke up too. I let Amy and David play quietly while I tried to go back to sleep. But finally David was hungry and I needed to get up too. So we left Timothy in the tent and made the trek up to the bathroom. It was only 6:30 am - so hardly anyone else was awake. We all got dressed and I got the stove out to make hot chocolate. We ate breakfast and finally about 8:00 Timothy woke up - only because David wanted him to get up. Someone left the tent open and a mosquito got in. Poor Timothy got about 20 bites on his head and legs. Timothy ate breakfast and then they played by the creek. That was their favorite thing to do.

Of course it was very shallow, very muddy, and they both got their shoes all muddy - twice. Oh well.

Amy and I hung back and watched.

One of the last minute items I got was these shoes for Amy.
I figured she is walking now and I didn't want her feet to get all scratched up. She LOVES them! She actually gets mad when I take them off! She loves shoes!

I love that face!

Amy usually naps about 3 hours after she gets up, so she was exhausted by 9:30. I hadn't thought about how to get her down for a nap. Luckily the wrap was in the van. I strapped her on and she fell asleep pretty quickly. Aaron had said he'd be back around 10:30 or so. I was pleasantly surprised to see him return around 9:45am. He'd had a great time on the river. And caught about 10 fish - it's all catch and release on this part of the river - but he really enjoyed it. After changing clothes he played with the boys at the playground and I started packing up. We ate lunch early - about 11:30 - and loaded the van. After a last trip to the bathroom, we headed out. We drove around the city and checked out a few places like the hospital and the pediatric office - since this may be a place Aaron applies to. I fed Amy and we headed home. On the way home we decided to stop at a fruit stand. The first one didn't have anything at a good price. However the second one had a box of peaches for $7.50!!! A 24 lb box!!! They are so good! We've only had to toss a couple of them. 3 days later they are all ripe. I have made peach crisp, I froze peach slices and bottled 5 quarts tonight. I've heard 3 of them seal so far - I hope the other two do soon. We have eaten lots of peaches. And I still have about 18 or so left. I hope they'll last till tomorrow so I can made peach cobbler!

Well I still have lots to do tonight, so I'll have to blog more another day.