Labor Day Love

On Labor Day we invited some of our friends from our old ward to come hang out.  The kids were so excited to see their friends again.  It is crazy how moving just a few minutes away puts you into a new ward and basically a new universe.
My favorite was the moment when Beau (4) and Ben (3) saw each other again for the first time since probably New  Year's Eve.  Beau said "BBBBEEEEENNNN!"  in this low excited voice.  Ben looked up at him and said, "Beau, you are so BIG!"  It was adorable.  You could feel the love in the air.
Lathen had a crush on Sarah all year last year during preschool.  He really wanted to swing at the park, but only when he could swing next to her.  So, I guess the love has persisted through the long absence.
It was so fun to see our friends that Sarah cried a lot when they left. I remember feeling that way too around her age, especially after my family moved from Kearns to Centerville when I was 10.

Sarah and Lathen swinging together.

Beau and Ben.  Buddies reunited!

Summer Adventures Cont....

I made a few goals of what I wanted to do with the kids this summer.  Here is a run down of the goals and how I did:
Goal:  Take the kids to the library every week.  Actual visits: at least 6 or 7 (more if you count the library at the Y in Colorado).  Not bad.
Goal:  Do science time every week.  Actual science time:  1.  Or twice if you count that Libby went to a mad scientist birthday party.  Not such a great rate.
Goal:  Take the kids to a park every week.  Actual park play:  Seriously rocked this one.  Did this almost every week.
Goal:  Do preschool time with Ben.  Actual:  Does making them watch YouTube Sesame Street Videos one time count?
Goal:  Do Mommy/Daughter workouts with the girls.  Actual:  Maybe 3 times.  Not so hot.
I am kind of proud of myself that I made goals at all.  And we didn't do too badly.
My new goal for the school year?  Get them to school and in bed at least 3X a week without yelling at anyone.  Doable?

Sarah playing at the Edmonds Park...it has had some major changes.  New playground equipment.  It is awesome! 

Ben in the giant tire!

FHE activity.  Just Dance.  Sarah is seriously really really good at this.  Beats me in every dance except Pound the Alarm.  I own Pound the Alarm.  

Sarah had a croupy cough on Friday morning.  Didn't want to end up in the ER again.  So I took her to the dr. to get a prescription for that steroid.  We had a wait in the dr. office.  We had a dance party with the flashlight app in the waiting room.  Then we had a long wait at the pharmacy in the car, and another dance party.  The meds still weren't ready and I forgot to go back.  So good thing her croup didn't flare up.   

Ben's room project is spilling out into the rest of the house.  The girls got a new dresser because I wanted the one in their room for him.  And I fell in love with his paint color so I am using it in other areas too.  I hope to post a lovely after picture next week.  Ben wanted to help me put together the girls' new dresser.  He was VERY helpful (not).

I wore paint clothes everywhere all week.  Almost.  

A Summer of Festivals

There was another festival at the park by our house this week!  And this time it was put on by a local church, so it was all free!  Free hotdogs, free face painting, free chips, free cookies, free cotton candy, and free LONG LINES.  But it was still fun, and a nice break from trying to put the finishing touches on Ben's room that wasn't happening because I couldn't figure out how to use the saw.

Before 

During

After.  Yum!

Libby's face paint.  She is a dragonfly.

Ben chose the octopus.  He was still faintly blue today at church.

We ran into our new friend from church who lives on the other side of the park.  It is so fun having friends nearby!

An exercise in letting go....

This week I discovered something about google+.  They are storing photos.  Photos that are filling up my google drive.  But, if I delete them, I delete them from my blog.  I found this out because I deleted the photos from the 25 posts I did about our amazing summer.  Aching.  I have 2 options.  Spend several hours trying to fix each post.  Or, let it go.  I still have the pictures stored on my computer.  I have the words of the posts and the memories in my mind.  I always had a no late work policy as a teacher.  If they spent time trying to go back and fix what they hadn't done, they never caught up with the present.  So, I am not going back to fix the posts.  So blog readers, if you are trying to catch up, look back to June to see photos.  Or, let's just move forward together.
Trish

More Summer Fun

This week we had three fun opportunities to put down the home improvement tools and get outside! (The last deserves its own post...)
Monday night for FHE we did Mento/Coke eruptions.  It was awesome!
On Wednesday the youth activity was canoeing at Ballinger lake.  I wasn't sure if the kids would want to do more swimming because they had just come from swimming lessons.  Hmmm.....

Sarah didn't move quite quickly enough and got doused.  Ben's face is epic!

Ben spent a lot of time playing in the canoe on the shore because I forgot the kid life jackets.  Luckily this lake is 5 minutes from the house and Derek was able to run and grab them.    

Ben got a fair amount of sand everywhere.  He also slipped off a picnic bench and scraped his back and hit his head on the way down.  Luckily he rebounds pretty quickly.  

Derek took Emily B. and Libby out on a ride.  I tried to get a pic in the canoe, but they jumped out to swim to shore.  

Lots of swimming going on.

I even got out in the canoe with Derek, Sarah & Ben.  Derek let them lean out to collect lilies.  I was super nervous we were all going to end up swimming, but we all stayed in the canoe.  Whew.
We live in such an amazing place!

Cheer Camp--Go Warriors!

As I mentioned in my last post, Libby and Sarah did the EWHS cheer camp again this year.  It is a great camp.  The cheer coach is amazing and the high schoolers are full of energy.  The participants do crafts, cheer, dance, play games, etc.  My girls were so excited for this camp!  In the video you might note that Sarah is using HUGE poms.  They belong to a cheerleader.  I didn't get them new poms this year since they still have the ones from last year.  Sarah very emphatically claimed that this decision "ruined her life."  Pretty strong words (when she was exhausted after day 1 of camp ;).
We were not disappointed.  I loved that the girls had somewhere they wanted to go everyday so I could scrape wall paper and watch Law & Order on Netflix.  (Derek even helped with this project a couple of times!)

Daddy came to see the final performance, and so did Ben.  Ben's super loud comment, "When will this be over?"

The girls know all the cheerleaders' names.  These are some of their favorites.

Libby is sad that this girl is a senior, so she will be in college next year. :(

Another favorite.

But the very best guest was Grammy!  She took a lunch from work to run over and see the performance.  

We sure do love her!

Enjoying Summer Part 2

So remember how I was planning to Enjoy Summer and not get obsessed with home projects.  WWWEELLL....I then realized that the girls have cheer camp this week so I could get some quality time in with my wallpaper steamer.  It has been 7+ months since I did my last steaming.  My automatic gag reflex when I smell wallpaper paste has subsided.  I think it is a little like how about 18 months after you have a baby you have conveniently forgotten just how bad pregnancy and labor actually were?  Anyway, I decided to go after Ben's room.  I actually got a little ahead of schedule and started the work on Friday.  I am learning.  I am getting better at saturating the paper with the water/vinegar solution on each layer (there was a hidden one that was a bit discouraging when I found it--but there is paint underneath 3 walls as I suspected).
I also realized I can "watch" stuff out of the corner of my eye on the iPad and that keeps me distracted while I work.
The main thing I have realized is that if they would have left up the original wallpaper, the layer that went up in 1965, this house would be TOTALLY in style.  If only I could remove the top layer with out damaging the bottom!  Of course in this room it still wouldn't work since Ben shouldn't really have flowered walls.  Even though he wants them.  This project could take a month or more...I am still not sure what the finished product will look like.  So stay tuned.

Ben's response when he saw me starting to remove stuff from his room.  He is screaming "put my stuff back!  I want my flowers..."  Once he realized I was moving his toys into the room where Paige had been sleeping, he happily (well--after a nap) settled down to play in his temporary room.  

The bottom layer of wall paper on one wall.  The other wall I have already done was just the tan and white with no flowers. I know that there is some sweet pink flower paper on the bottom on the last wall.  (I am saving the one where I know wallpaper is directly on the sheet rock for last.  Saving the worst for last--bad idea probably.)

I honestly look that good while I scrape.  Not.  

More like this minus the fake smile.