MIA

So I've been a little MIA this week from blogging. I've really wanted to...life just got busy! I'm going to do a run-down of activities since I last updated, for the sake of our family journal. Feel free to scroll down to pictures...

We've had friends over to play and played at a friend's house.

Savannah and Connor helped me set up for a wedding reception at the church. Connor actually played okay in the nursery room, only crying for the first half hour.

I attended the wedding reception of Chris & J.Q. Johnson...very beautiful.

Last Saturday Dallin helped at a ward service project. Everything else was cancelled for the day because of Hurricane Ike (YW volleyball, a birthday party that Zach was supposed to attend, a quad-stake dance that our ward was helping with). We were supposed to have really bad storms...but instead we had some wind and about 20 seconds of rain. It was actually a really nice day and has been cooler ever since (although the heat is creeping back). The kids and I made a playdough farm. Jacob insisted on putting his bat-boat in the pond.
Zach said his farm will look like this someday...just real.

The boys also went and ran a half-mile at the track for their Marathon Kids running. Zach has surprised me...he is a natural runner.

Connor does this quite often...this picture was taken when the marble toy was being really noisy.

On Tuesday I got to go in to Zach's class and read a story. His teacher let me bring Connor and Savannah with me. It was really fun and something I'll probably get to do often. That night I took dinner to my friend Sherry who just had a very cute little baby boy. Side note to self...don't experiment with cooking when you're taking dinner to someone.

That night I also realized I hadn't finished stuff for Music Class the next day. It was at our house and we were making "boats" for Row, Row Your Boat. While I did cutting for Zach's teacher and then fish for the boats, Dallin used my scrapbook punches and made millions of little shapes for me. Thanks Dallin!

Savannah loves her boat...it has mostly become a boat for her "pets."

We love Music Class!

Wednesday night was mutual. We planned activities for the rest of the year. We only have 4 young women usually, so it's an interesting dynamic.

Savannah still loves to "hold" Connor. Luckily he doesn't mind too much.

Thursday morning I got to go help in Jacob's class for a while (thanks Meleah for watching my kids!). It was nice to see how they did things and who the kids are in his class. Jacob is a great student. We're so proud of him.

Zach decided that Savannah's room is too empty. So they made "wallpaper" for her room with the leftover shapes.

What a great big brother!

Zach's favorite thing to do lately is cut out pictures in magazines. I've been letting him use the old Parenting and National Geographics. He cuts them out and glues them to construction paper. It's always fun for me to see what is interesting enough to him to cut. His last work of art had everything from outdoor play equipment to a box of gas drops to granola bars.
I love Zach.

Yesterday Connor went to our new pediatrician. He had to get shots and was not a happy camper. It was so cute though...they had me undress him and put a little baby hospital gown on him for the exam. I was wishing I had my camera.

Then I took Savannah to get her first real hair cut (not just me trimming it). She did awesome and was really excited about it. Now I know how they do it and I think I can do just as good...so she probably won't be going back anytime soon. Sshhh...don't tell her that. The last picture shows her after her haircut. They took about 2 1/2 inches off, but it's still long.

I also signed Jacob up for soccer this week. Today I'm going to the parent's meeting to figure out when his practices will be. It is a co-ed league and they will only have games from the middle of October to the middle of December. He's super excited, so that makes me happy.

Hoppin' Hippos

This morning we went with a bunch of our friends to a fun place called "Hoppin' Hippos." Savannah called it Hungry Hippos. It's a bounce house place for kids 6 and under, but they have lots of other activities too...slides, a playhouse with a kitchen and dress-up clothes, swings, stuffed animals, etc. The kids had a blast and Savannah threw a nice fit when it was time to go. Thanks Holly for the fun day!

Connor having a ball... Connor never quite figured out the tire swing, but they had fun anyway.

Pure happiness...

Savannah going head-first down the slide with her friend Amelia.

A classic Savannah pose...

Connor liked the baby area because there was lots of fun, new toys.

Savannah's favorite part was all of the over-sized stuffed animals that she could "ride"...

Jumpin' for joy!

Savannah playing in the "kitchen" of the 2nd-story playhouse...

FHE Bike Riding

On Monday night we went to the school to ride bikes for Family Home Evening. It is hard to ride bikes at our house because we live on a small hill and cars come around the corner really fast. So we take the kids to the middle school right by our house. We are trying to teach Zach to ride with no training wheels...it's not quite working yet. He just wants to lean to the side and coast along while someone pushes him. He'll get it someday... It's a nice big, flat space and I don't have to worry about any cars. Our neighborhood is in the background of the picture, off to the left.

Jacob is finally tall enough to ride the bike he got for Christmas! He did a great job riding, although getting off is sometimes a bit of a challenge for him.

Connor LOVES the big wheels, but he mostly just walks them around like this...

Zach wanted to finish with his bike-riding so he could run and chase Jacob all around. We signed both of the boys up for Marathon Kids this year. They have to run 26 miles by the end of February, in 1/4 or 1/2 mile increments. They're really excited about it because they get a medal at the end. The Olympics was very inspiring I guess.

A busy Saturday...

Jacob helped Dallin mow the lawn for the first time today! He did a great job, even though he had to push really, really hard in our lovely St. Augustine grass. Our mower is not self-propelled.Being an electric lawn mower you also have to watch out for the cord (in AZ most people don't have very much grass, so electric is the way to go...here it's another story). He helped for a while until Dallin took over.

Savannah LOVES to help me bake. She has claimed this apron as her own...

Today we made banana bread...

I decided to take Zach to the Austin Farmers Market. He was in heaven and did not want to leave. Lots of people had dogs there on leashes and Zach waved at the dogs every time we passed them.

Sis. Moore was there selling some of her veggies...

This fountain was across the street and Zach was so bummed that I wouldn't let him collect all of the coins from the bottom of the pool.

The highlight of the day! There was an adopt-a-pet place doing some advertising. They had brought some 5-week-old puppies for people to see. They let Zach hold one. The whole way home he talked about how he's going to have "a million" dogs on his farm some day.

Lunch hour...

How many husbands use their lunch hour to come home and watch My Little Pony with their daughter? This one does...Savannah so looks forward to Daddy coming home for lunch every day, especially since the boys are in school. It's her special time with him. Luckily we're just a few minutes away from work. Dallin, thanks for being such a great dad and husband!

FYI - Nielson Updates

I went to high school with Christian Nielson. He and his wife Stephanie (Nie) were in a private plane crash 2 or 3 weeks ago. They are both burn victims now and are in for months of recovery. They have 4 kids that are the same ages as my kids. Although I haven't seen Christian since high school my thoughts have been on their family a lot these past couple of weeks. The link on the side of my blog is Stephanie's sister's blog, where there are almost daily updates on their kids and their progress.

Loose handles...

So I have a suggestion for you. If your pots and pans are almost 9 years old or older (and not of the best brand), check to make sure the handles are not loose. Mine have been loose for the last couple of years and I have to screw them in tight about every other time I use them. A pain, but I'm too cheap to buy new ones. Today I cooked up a pound of hamburger for chile. I didn't tighten the handle because it seemed fine. It wasn't.(I don't know why it looks like there is white stuff...it's just hot grease. Bad lighting.)
As I went to start dumping it into the strainer in my sink the handle instantly came completely loose and I had a pound of grease and hamburger on my floor. Splattered 10 feet in every direction. A couple of hours after I just mopped that floor. I also got a few small drops of grease splattered on my brand new khaki pants that I had been wearing for approximately an hour. Luckily the drops are tiny enough that only I will notice them. I was wearing an apron, but golly if my apron only goes to just above my knees and not my toes. So I mopped the floor again. And then again. Grease is nasty business.

I hope you have learned a lesson. Tighten your handles and make yourself a floor-length apron.

Labor Day Swim!

We celebrated Labor Day by going swimming with Daddy! The kids loved it (he doesn't get to come with us very often), and he didn't have a moment to himself...This is a classic Connor smile...showing only the lower teeth (click on the picture to see a close-up).