As always things have been busy! Here's a rundown of our family activities in the last 9 days. We finally got Sophie groomed. She was getting pretty shaggy. She had started getting burrs caught in her muzzle so we decided to get that cut short. I don't like this haircut as much as the last one, but she still looks cute (we just got back from a long walk so she's pretty tired):
I got my teaching certificate so I am now official--haha! I am certified to be a CNA Clinical Instructor for the DATC and Davis School District. I have an orientation in a month and then things can begin. Wahoo!
Yesterday in Noah's primary class they wrote letters to people they appreciate. Noah wrote his letter to Daniel. It said, "I appreciate you when you let me play with you. I love you! You're a good brother. I want to be a family forever." That was a sweet note!
Last Saturday was the Davis County Fair. We love to see this every year and this year was no different. We let Sarah, Noah and Daniel take a turn riding the ponies:
Noah:
Daniel and Sarah:
They had a petting zoo. They also had a Red Fox you could pet, too. You never see those so it was pretty neat.
Checking out the Tortoises:
They also had bunnies and goats you could pet, too:
They had a photo op and of course my kids couldn't pass it by. However, Matthew was the only one who didn't act silly when I said smile:
They had a fun kids area with different activities. All of us took a turn with the huge Connect Four game:
They had a water pump rubber duck game Sarah really liked playing:
Noah loved the ball and tubes they had set up all around the tent. He would go gather as many balls as he could in his shirt so he could put them in the chute:
Here's Noah putting his shirt full of balls into the chute:
Matthew just liked watching everything:
They had a tent with exotic animals you could hold. Josh, Sarah and Noah all got a turn:
They had some pirate ships you could play on that Sarah, Noah and Daniel had fun with.
The kids didn't start school until Wednesday so we played Monday and Tuesday. We used the last of our bowling coupons and did a last trip to bowl.
I even played this time and kicked everyone's cans! This Mom still has it going on--haha--not really. I was just glad to break 100 ;). Matthew and I were the winners for this round.
Wednesday was the beginning of school. Tuesday evening we did the annual father's blessings and height measurement. All the kids have grown at least an inch from last year. Josh is almost 6 ft tall which is crazy! Daniel is a bit of a slow grower and is a bit frustrated with it, but what can you do. I keep telling him he will hit a growth spurt eventually. I hope that he does, too. Anyway, Wednesday morning it was so crazy and hectic that morning! I had made a breakfast casserole in the crock pot the night before so they could have a nice hot breakfast that morning. They all got up so early because they were excited. I was so glad Aaron was here to help me get everyone ready, pack lunches, organize backpacks and get them out the door. We have kids in three different schools this year. Good thing their departure times are all different! Matthew's bus comes so early in the morning that he has to get up at 5:45 am to be ready in time for his bus. Blah! Since he is not quiet that means everyone else wakes up then, too. Ugh!! Hopefully we can work on his quiet skills because waking up at 5:45 am makes everyone 'Chuckles' for the rest of the day!! I don't mind the good morning lubs I get from Noah, though:
They looked excited and cute their first morning back.
Matthew is in High School this year if you can believe it!!
Josh is in Jr. High:
Daniel, Sarah and Noah are all in Elementary School this year:
Noah was excited to eat lunch at school this year.
While Aaron and I were getting Matthew and Josh out the door Daniel pulled Noah aside and was giving him some refreshers on what he should know in 1st grade:
What a sweet brother!
After getting Matthew and Josh off to school we walked the last three to their school. We found their class lines and helped them line up for when the bell rang. Noah got pretty nervous the last few minutes because he refused to smile when it was time for him to go inside. I was nervous for him, too, but he did great.
Afterward Aaron and I went out for breakfast just like we do every year to celebrate making it through the summer--haha! It was a nice date.
Anyway, it was early out all week for the elementary kids so they got to come home early. Noah raced Daniel all the way home. I can't believe all my kids are in all day school now. It's pretty crazy!
In other things Sarah has had her interviews with the bishop and the ward missionaries in preparation for her upcoming baptism. I still can't believe that she is 8! She gets so quiet during these interviews. Afterward I asked her why she was so quiet and she told me it was because she was nervous. When did she figure out what nervous was?! She is growing up!
Aaron got called to be the Cub Master for Cub Scouts. He had his first Pack Meeting Wednesday. He organized a Bike Rodeo. It turned out pretty well. He helped hand out awards, too. Daniel got a bunch of stuff from Day Camp which Aaron was excited to give him.
One of the boys got his Bear Award. To do something fun and different Aaron decided that in order to fully earn the Bear you had to eat 'bear meat'. To make it more authentic than just beef jerky Aaron called my brother who is a hunter. Good thing Bryan has some Antelope jerky he let us use for the 'Bear Meat'. It took the poor kid a bit of coaxing to eat it, but he did and he survived--haha! Aaron is just waiting for someone to earn their Wolf award so they get to drink Wolf's blood. We will have to see what he gets for that :).
At the end of the Bike Rodeo Aaron brought out the Candy Canon he built. The kids were all excited to gather up the candy as it fell from the sky.
For the first Pack Meeting Aaron did really well. The next Pack Meeting will be the Pinewood Derby. Aaron wanted to do one last one with Daniel before he moves out of the Cub Scout program so that's why it will be next month :). Aaron's liking this new calling.
Right after Pack Meeting the Young Men had a Court of Honor. Josh got his 1st Class. I was glad to be there to get the Mom's pin. Josh has been working hard at Scouting lately so it was nice for him to receive his Merit Badges.
After the awards they did the silly awards from Scout Camp. Josh got the 'Pig' award which is the award for the biggest eater award and I am not surprised. Don't let his rail thin frame fool you--that kid can take down food like you can't believe!!
The Elementary School had their back to school night the second day after school started. A bit backwards, but what can you do?! We visited all the kids' teachers and got to hear about what they will be doing in each class and what the rules are. Sarah's teacher even had them fill out an All About Me Flag. Sarah's favorite food, color, animal and subject are pizza, green, shark and school. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up.
Her teacher even gave us parents some homework. I had to write about my 3rd grade experience for Sarah to read the next morning. I really like all the kids' teachers this year. Daniel's teacher lives in our neighborhood so Daniel better be a good student or else his teacher knows where he lives--haha! I think it will be a good year.
With all the back to school stuff our garden has been neglected. I went out and picked everything and was amazed by how much stuff was out there. We got over a bushel of tomatoes and a bunch of zucchini. I guess that's what happens when you don't harvest for over a week. Here's a picture of just some of the stuff I got:
Noah's LOVING the Cherry Tomatoes!! There were a bunch more in the bowl, but Noah got to them before I took the picture. Aaron is loving the bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed Anaheim Peppers.
I would have gotten more, but as I was picking a mouse ran by my feet. After that I 'NOPED' myself right out of the garden. Yuck!! We have put traps out the last four days and have caught three mice so far. Ick!! I might have to send Aaron out to pick the produce because that's gross!! They are doing so much new home construction by our house. The fields that used to surround us are no more and the mice are trying to find new places to live. However, I don't want them living by me, though! Blech!!
When Noah came home he was going through the tomatoes and found this one tomato with a nose. Noah thought it was hilarious:
Saturday we had a sick kiddo so we were stuck at home that day. I hate it when they get high fevers!!
Anyway it was probably a good thing to stay home because there was a lot to be done. While I bottled Aaron worked on our sprinkling system which really needed some work.
A friend had given us a bunch of peaches. I made some jam. I wanted to make more, but the kids ate the rest of the peaches before I could do anything else with them. That's ok. I will settle for 9 half pints of peach jam:
I had to do something with all the tomatoes I had so I made a ginormous batch of spaghetti sauce and salsa to bottle. Here's all the quarts that sealed:
I have five quarts in the fridge that didn't so we will be using them in someway for dinner this week :). Good thing the kids like tomato sauce and salsa!! After Aaron got done with the sprinkling system he was nice enough to baby sit the pressure canners while I finished making the stuff. He's getting pretty good at knowing how to work and babysit the canners. It was nice to have the extra set of hands and eyes!
Of course you can't bottle without at least one trip to the grocery store for forgotten items. DOH! I sent Aaron to pick up the forgotten stuff. I was then reminded that Aaron never sticks to my grocery list. When he goes shopping you just never know what extras he will come back with. This time he surprised us all with sushi. Aaron and I have had sushi, but the kids haven't. We told the kids that sushi is really popular and if they date they might end up getting some. That is why they needed to try it now to know what it tastes like. After hearing that Noah announced that he was never going to date so he wouldn't have to eat sushi. Haha! Another funny thing Noah said this week was, "I can't run anymore because my legs are retired." I don't think retired means what he thinks it means-haha!
Anyway, here's the crab sushi. To make it more authentic Aaron picked up chopsticks to eat it with:
Anyway, Daniel didn't seem to mind it despite the look on his face:
Josh, Sarah, Noah and Matthew didn't like it.
I am surprised Daniel liked it because he is our pickiest eater out of them all!
After that Aaron let Josh and Daniel try the Wasabi sauce that came with the sushi. Josh tried to play macho, but sure drank a ton of water afterward. I think Daniel still has flames coming out his ears. That stuff is HOT!
Well the first week of school seemed to be a success. I hope it stays that way the rest of the year. Summer went by too fast, but I must say it is nice to be back in a routine despite it starting at 5:45 am and 4:45 am on Fridays because of piano lessons that start at 6 am. That time is really going to kick my butt because I tend to not be a very good morning person....except when I have insomnia ;). However, I don't think the piano teacher would like to start lessons at 2 am, though--haha!
