First Day of School...a Success!

The kids have been packing and preparing for school for a couple of weeks now. Sean gave the kids their special Father's Blessing on Sunday night and they picked out their clothes, packed their lunches and went off to dreamland!

Thier first day of school finally arrived and they were so excited. We've been told their teachers are wonderful and they have a beautiful new school campus. It's still under construction and a work in progress, but will be awesome when it's completed.

I think school will be a major adjustment for Ridge this year. He had half days for kindergarten and has a very active imagination. I hope he does well with the new schedule. (Six plus hours of concentration will be a major adjustment!)

Carly came home and told me how fun it was and that time flew by! She is so excited about what she is going to learn. I hope that lasts all year!

A Pumpkin Just in Time for Fall

Ridge lost his first tooth last week! He had been complaining that it hurt and sure enough, it was loose! He was so excited and couldn't wait to pull it out and put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy to come and give hime some money! Wait, let me rephrase that...he could wait to pull it out, but couldn't wait for the tooth fairy! He wouldn't let me pull it, but it was sooo wiggly, it just fell out of his mouth when he went to wiggle it! He was so excited and ran around the house jumping and screaming that his tooth fell out. So cute. So here is our new Jack-o-lantern just in time for Fall!

Enjoying lt

We have been enjoying our last days of summer freedom before school starts with a little traveling, swimming and family! Can't beat that!

Fun in the sun

Yesterday we played outside in the nice cool (103) AZ weather. We went for a little bike ride and then to Sean's softball game and really it wasn't that bad compared to the 113+ days that we have had. It was actually nice! Hope it's nice where you are.

Camping in Long Valley

We had such a fun weekend. On Friday, we went camping with several families Sean met at Woodbadge. We drove up to Long Valley north of Payson and stayed overnight and went to Blue Ridge Reservoir the next day. Carly and Ridge were in heaven with so many kids to play with. Carly especially, since there were girls to play with! (For those of you who don't know, Carly is usually surrounded by boys! So this was a great treat!)

The kids stayed up until almost 11 playing flashlight tag in the dark. They made tree swings and weapons and played in the wood piles. They got good and dirty...just like a good kid should when they're camping!

Sean brought the bows and arrows he made and set up an archery range for the families to come shoot. It was so cool. The little boys and some of the girls couldn't get enough. One little boy about Ty's age told his dad that is what he wants for Christmas! So cute.

It was funny to watch their little chests puff up and the faces they would make when they were shooting. Their eyes were lit up like magic!

The families we camped with were awesome. Good company. Good weather. Beautiful mountains. Good times.

English Toffee

This recipe is Paula Deen's. It's very easy and yummy. (Not kid friendly to make though. I got burned by some butter that splashed out while stirring.) It's not something you would make every week, but difinitely good for a treat!

English Toffee
14 tablespoons butter (1 stick plus 6 tablespoons)
1 cup sugar
2T cold water
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 t pure vanilla extract
dash salt
1 (6 oz.) bag choc. chips

Generously butter a cookie sheet.
Put butter, sugar and water in a heavy pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Bring to a bubbling boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon aprox. 10 min. (It is very important to stir constantly...keep stirring!) Remove spoon from pan, and cook to a very brittle stage (300 degrees to 310 on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat and add nuts to mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Pour onto prepared cookie sheet and spread to 1/4 inch thickness. Cool slightly, top with chocolate chips and spread once they melt. Cool completely and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

PS. I learned that if you don't have a thermometer, you can use this trick and it worked for us. Bring to a boil and continue stirring until it turns to the color of peanut butter. Then spread into a pan. It took less than the 10 minutes and it turned out great. (It got thicker than I thought it would and the butter started separating, but I kept stirring and it mixed back in.)

Sean gave me a double thumbs up on this one!