Camping in September

We thought it would be fun to take the kids camping for one last adventure this year. We decided to go not far from Boise, the weather is still nice here, and the nights aren't getting too cold. We had a great time, but we were WRONG about the coldness. We didn't pack enough firewood, or blankets, and consequently we froze. We did have a wonderful time. The kids loved making smores, and tin-foil-dinners, (even though they were burned), and playing in the sticks and dirt. Overall it was an adventure, and that was what we were going for. Ginneice and Aislyn came, and that was fun too. I am excited to go again next year, hopefully with a little better planning. :^)

I have spent the last two days sewing Allie the most Beautiful fairy princess Halloween costume. It is the cutest pink, sparkly, frilly, poofy thing in the world. IT is truely a great thing. The only problem is that she will not go near it. I hope I can talk her into wearing it by the end of the month. Oh well. I am happy about it. :^)

My camera is still being fixed, so sadly I still don't have any pictures, but I hope to have it back very soon!

Tires and two-wheelers

We had quite the day yesterday. We have good wheel news, and some bad. First of all Spencer is proudly riding a two-wheeler. Monday he asked me to take the training wheels off his bike, and by Tuesday night, he was riding like a pro. It was so fun to watch him. The boy has no fear. Every time he would fall, he would jump up throw his hands in the air and yell, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" He is so proud of himself. Everyone that we talk to has to be told that Spencer can ride his "two-wheeler".

The tragic tire news is the car accident we were in yesterday. We hit a Semi Truck tire that had fallen in the road, while we were driving down the freeway yesterday. A semi straddled it, and the pickup in front of me didn;'t see it until he hit it, which turned it onto it's side. It sort of rolled into my lane, and I hit it full on the side. After I hit it, it somehow made it under the car, and ended up stuck between my two rear tires. The headlights were both smashed, one was hanging out, and the other was shoved back under the hood. The hood was crunched, and there was coolant everywhere, and all the rest leaked out the bottom. My fairly new car is in the shop, and we are pretty shaken up, but not harmed other than that. I guess we won't know about the the full extent of the damage until tomorrow. Then we might be a little more upset. :^)

Put on your big girl panties and go

We have managed to make it through the weekend without harm or accident. This is a first for us for awhile, but I am glad. This week we have made some major changes. We decided that we didn't need the influence of T.V. in our home anymore, and had the satellite turned off. We can still watch movies, but we are very restricted in how much we watch. We moved the TV into the toy room so that the center of our home would be something else. It's nice to have a change, but deciding how the furniture should be is tricky. I want to use the space well, to be restful and inviting and not boring. I think that I need to stare at everything and decide later what is the best thing to do. I could post a picture and see if anyone has a suggestion, but my camera is broken. :^( I really need to do something about that too, because we have a camping trip planned for this weekend.

Yesterday we had a bit of fun. Grandma Bishop and Grandma Clayton came to visit and we had a nice lunch with Josh and his crew. We have had quite the stormy weekend, but there was enough break to go to the fish park with the sun shining. Spencer and Allie LOVE the "Fish Park". The Idaho State fish and game department runs a nature center in one of the public parks, featuring the life cycles of native animals and fish. There is an interpretive center with all kinds of real (stuffed) wildlife, like mountain lions, bears, buffalo, and elk. They have a live turtle that they pull out and let the kids hold, and a turtle (that is a little more skittish and will bite). It was great fun and the kids love to go and look at the fish swim by the window in the stream. It's like a real life fish tank. We have such great parks here! I think that is my favorite thing about Boise. I hope to stay here a long time.

I have one more bit of exciting news before I sign off. ALLIE USED THE POTTY THIS WEEKEND!!! She is so excited about her big girl panties with fairies and her very own potty. She also is loving a treat for sitting there. We haven't had a whole lot of success yet, but we have had some, and are very optomistic. I think I would be in heaven if there were no diapers to change!!! Hallelujah!

Happy Homeschool

Things are great today. we have had a great school success. A friend of mine invited us to go with them to a homeschool co-op class in Mountain Home. We went the first time yesterday, and it was a blast! Spencer had so much fun. We have been doing okay with homeschool, but there has been an element missing. Spencer is a social being. He just needs people, and a LOT of them. HE has been so disappointed about not being able to go to school with his friends. We have been doing school at home, and he understands that he can't go to Kindergarten this year because of the law, but his friends are all at school. There is no one to play with, and he really feels like he is being left out. This group was great! There was a whole slew of kids Spencer's age and another slew Allie's age. They played, and learned and sang songs and read books. Spencer made some new friends that he can see often, and there were even puppies to play with. I really think that this is the one thing that was missing. I am really hoping that Spencer will be happier now. What a great thing! The only bummer is that it is in Mountain Home, which is a bit of a drive, but there just isn;t much here in the way of that sort of thing. Oh well. I love to see my kids happy.

Sunday is a day of rest, sometimes. . .

We have had a crazy day! I guess it started yesterday, or really Friday, and just hasn't quit. Last night Allie couldn't sleep. She woke up about every 20 minutes and cried. It is always so hard to see your sweet children in pain and have nothing to do about it. I think her eye must have been bugging her. We had a VERY long night. Today we didn't really get up until after 9, and after everyone was clean and dressed we decided that given the circumstances, and Allie's runny nose, there wouldn't be much point in going to church. (It didn't help that we were already late. . .) We decided that a drive into the mountains would help us all to have a little peace and rest. We found a lovely picnic area just north of Idaho City with a creek to throw rocks into, and some nice shady walking paths. We didn;t get much done today, but we did all come home relaxed.

Spencer made an important discovery this weekend. Squirrels do not like to be chased. They usually just run away and up a tree. They have a stockpile of acorns in that tree. We always thought that those acorns were a winter food supply, but Spencer and his friends discovered that these acorns can also be used as ammo on boy that they have had enough of. I think that about the time the squirrels started throwing acorns, the boys decided it wasn't that fun any more. I love Autumn.

Bumps and bruises

What a week we have had! I keep meaning to write a few notes on our crazy life, and it just keeps getting crazier by the second. Last Saturday Spencer slipped at gymnastics, and hit his eye. He got a good goose egg, and quite the black eye, but other than that no harm done. We went to our homeschool opening social, which I was really looking forward to, but unfortunately there weren't too many people there, and we didn't meet anyone who lives on this end of the valley. I was a little bummed, but over all still excited and glad to talk to some other families that are as excited as I am about keeping their kids home for school.

This week, we have gone visiting teaching, and we spent one day up to our elbows in finger paints. I was inspired by Sariah and found a great apron pattern, and made a great apron. I have been canning, and cooking, and reading, and to the library, and gymnastics, and every time I sit down to write, something comes up.

This morning I was sure I finally had some time, and I was just getting the house ready and cleaned up in time for some friends to come over and an exciting day at the park. All the sudden Allie and Spencer came running in screaming (which is not that unusual), and then I saw the blood (which is more unusual) and then I noticed that poor Allie had split her eyebrow right open! I made a dash for the phone and called the doctor who sent me to the emergency room. We jumped into the car, picked up Sam (I needed reinforcements) and headed off the the hospital. A couple hours and a few stitches later, we are home and everyone is happier. This morning definitely didn't turn out like I thought it would, and I am still a little frazzled, but we handled it, and I am okay. I really didn't think that Allie would be the first of mine to get stitches, but I am always shocked by the next great thing my kids do!

Peach Canning Pergatory

We have done it. We have canned Peaches for the year. We also made some pie filling (I under-judged how many jars we could fill, and there were leftovers). I was lucky enough to enlist Sam to help me this year, and I was so glad I did. The last box, though ripe on the top, weren't ready in most of the box. We didn't realize this until we had blanched them. then they had to all be peeled with a knife as the skins wouldn't slip. Sam is so wonderful! I couldn't' have done it without him! We got 28 quarts and 3 pies. It isn't nearly as much as last year, but I am hoping that it will be enough, and I am planning on other fruit this year.

Last night Sam and I spent the evening at Time out for Couples, and it was great! There was so much good advice about how to have a better marriage, enjoy and appreciate each other, and laugh at life. One of the speakers told this great joke:

• Doctor: "Well, Mrs. Olsen, we've talked about your high blood pressure and your medications. Are you experiencing any particular stress in your life?"
• Patient: "Oh, yes! It's the Sunbeams. They're driving me crazy."
• Doctor (very surprised): "The sun beams?"
• Patient: "Yes. I've never had trouble with them before, but this group won't sit still. They bounce all over the room, and run out the door and down the hall."
• Doctor (reaching for a pen): "Have you told anyone about this?"
• Patient: "Of course. I told the president."
• Doctor: "Really! What did the president tell you?"
• Patient: "She said Sunbeams are like that. I'm just going to have to learn to deal with them."
• Doctor (concerned that he may be missing something): "I know people who are sensitive to sun beams. Do they cause you a rash or anything?"
• Patient (confused): "A rash? No."
• Doctor: "What's the biggest problem they're creating?"
• Patient: "It's the noise. They just won't quit talking."
• Doctor (astonished): "The sun beams are talking to you?"
• Patient: "Well, yes. But mostly they talk to each other."
• Doctor (scribbling furiously in the chart): "I see. Can anyone else hear them talking?"
• Patient (after a moment of stunned silence): "You're not LDS, are you?"

The entire room was rolling on the floor laughing. The man telling the joke could hardly get the words out, and there were tears streaming down his face. It was definitely a wonderful experience, and one that I hope to be able to experience again

Spencer's Birthday

I think that I might possibly already be a terrible blogger. It is just crazy how time flies, and how busy a person can get. Over the last week we have been just running, running, running, and it seems like nothing gets done!

I spent the weekend in Salt Lake with my sister Rachel, and it was so fun to see her. I was hoping for a more relaxing weekend away from my kids, but it was good to see everyone. We got Rachel moved into her new (and much bigger) apartment. Grandpa and Anna are happy and healthy, and it was nice to be able to see them, and stay in their house. It would have been great if I could have put a picture here, but I forgot my camera. :^(

I flew home Sunday and after picking me up, Sam and the kids and I made the trek to Bliss for the holiday. Spencer's Birthday is actually tomorrow, but we decided to celebrate Monday with his cousins. He was so excited to have cousins to play with, and see grandma and grandpa. He had cupcakes with sour blue frosting and marshmallows and sprinkles. He loved helping me decorate them. Hailey, Heidi, and Regan helped too. We had a big barbecue, and then cupcakes, and presents. Spencer couldn't have been happier with his semi-truck and cars from Grandma, and his new bike from Mom and Dad. It was great to see him so happy. We have been out riding bikes every day since. What a fun birthday it was! Once again it would have been good to have a camera, but I forgot mine. Grandma Bishop took some pictures, so hopefully I can add some later. I hope to write more soon!

Recipe for sour frosting: Take one can vanilla frosting. Add one packet unsweetened Koolaid. Stir well. This makes a deliciously flavored and colored frosting, but it is a little sour. Spencer (and the other kids) loved it!