~Day 2• 253: I want you to kill it....

Friday September 11:

Today at work was my coworker's last day.  Rina is moving on to another adventure so a bunch of us went out to lunch with her. We will sure miss her, but are very exited for what her future brings for her!

For dinner tonight, we went over to Alissa and John's house for dinner.  Nick and Alissa's parents are in town for the weekend to celebrate JJ's first birthday.  Yes, first!! Time goes fast!  Mike and Jocelyn's airplane was late getting in, so we headed over early to feed the kiddos.  After we ate, John led everyone on a scorpion hunt around their yard.  I had never been on one and it was fun!  The kids were nervous at first, but they pressed on!  Cailee was cute and asked uncle John if we could borrow his blacklight so we could go hunting in our yard... I was surprised she wanted to continue.  So we did.  She wanted to be with me and Nick while we killed the scorpions.  John won for the number of scorpions found... a few too many.  But Cailee had fun!

Jj was cute and all over the place.  He tried to get the dogs under the door with daddy.  Then he wanted in the fridge with mommy.  When grandma and grandpa finally got there, it was already past his bedtime.  Hopefully he will have a good night so he has a good day tomorrow.  Alissa and John are having a birthday party for him.  It will be fun.

Ashton was in the kitchen talking with grandma and grandpa while they ate their dinner.  I'm not sure what all was discussed, but a little bit about his grades and how good he can do on his studies if he applies himself.  I like seeing him talking with them.!

Tomorrow will be fun.  The kids are very excited to give JJ his presents :)

~Day 2• 252: breakfast and ice cream and yesterday's date

Thursday September 10:

This morning was a little lazy. We all slept in and so we didn't go riding our bikes. I took the kiddos to school and I enjoyed watching them walk to the building together. 

Tonight Brookie helped make pancakes for dinner. She said it was fun to help. I love it when the kids ask to help. 

Tonight at our relief society activity, we talked about different ways we can keep the Sabbath Day holy. There were a lot of good ideas. Then we had ice cream sundaes. Julie T. stopped to pick me up and it was nice to go with someone. It was an enjoyable evening. 

An interesting conversation with Cailee was had tonight. Nick asked her if she did her homework. She said yes. Then nick asked her what she did. She gave a couple of examples because she didn't seem to remember which activity she did.  Nick asked her to show him. She brought her book out and without missing a beat, she said, "I don't know why I wrote yesterday's date on the page." Haha smart girl! But mom and dad caught on. Dad sent her to do today's homework. Nice try smarty pants  haha 

~Day 2• 251: another first

Wednesday September 9:

Ashton's first 'big kid' community event. 'Fight the new drug' came and talked about addiction and the harm it does to you, the ones you love and the world. This organization is focused on pornography and the negative effects it has on you, and everything around you. It was very well done and I think it made an impact on Ashton, which is good.  And the auditorium was basically standing room only. They ushered the kids in first and the parents were lucky to get a seat after. Nick and I kind of pushed our way in because Ashton was alone and a little young still to let loose. I'm glad we went. I think the girls were glad we went too. They went over to Joslyn's house and had a good time. I'm grateful for Julie for keeping them so we could go!   

~Day 2• 250: lesson learned....

Tuesday September 8:

....stick with what you know.  I have this fabulous banana bread recipe that I use all the time. Tonight I tried (with a little helper who did great peeling dead bananas and throwing them into the mixer!) to make a different recipe to make the bread more 'healthy.' You know...Use applesauce and egg whites instead of good old butter and whole eggs? Mistake. I didn't like it. Hubby prefers the old recipe. The girls would only eat some if it had Nutella on it. Ashton told me it was ok, but that he liked my other recipe. It actually made me feel good! No more healthy banana bread. Butter here we come!

~Day 2• 249: Its a Magic Piano!

Monday September 7:

This morning we all went out together to ride bikes, while nick ran. It was another nice morning and the ride was very enjoyable.

After we got home, the kids worked hard in their rooms and practiced their instruments. We were headed over to the Murphy home, but the kids had to get their stuff done before they could go. They did well. 

We were over there for most of the day! Linda helped me finish the blanket I have been meaning to complete for over a year. The kids did well for the most part. There were a few skirmishes, but overall they did great. Nick was able to run away  and do some golfing. We all kept busy on this Labor Day. 

Linda provided a good lunch for us! The kids had fun playing board games, wii games, and whatever else games they came up with. Cailee did escape for awhile to play by herself. She does that a lot and likes it. 

Brookie discovered Tom's electric   keyboard. She sat down and started playing it. She called it the 'magic piano,' because of all the cool things it can do. 

It was a very fun day today! Thanks to the Murphy's for having us over!

~Day 2• 248: energy energy

Sunday September 6:

At dinner tonight, we had baked potatoes. Cailee cut hers in half and proceeded to paint each side with her sour cream. It was a beautiful masterpiece. 

Tonight the girls had a lot of energy. They were playing a game on the computer and were pretty animated. Then Brookie got up and proceeded to do handstands in the middle of the room. 

It was a fight to get all three kids into bed. But they went out pretty quickly once they laid down. Well, the girls did. Ashton stayed up reading for awhile. And I don't mind at all. 

~Day 2• 247: outside!

Saturday September 5:

This morning when I got up I found the girls on the floor in the kitchen going through the stash of art supplies we picked up yesterday. They were so excited to go through them all and see what we have. I love that they love to create. They were pretty busy layer in making stuff too.

This morning was actually very nice outside. I think the extreme heat is gone and we can enjoy outside time now. Nick left early to go golfing. But before he left he and Austin went out for a run and a bike ride. Nick ran, Ashton rode his bike.

A little later I got up and wanted to go for a bike ride. I asked the kids if they wanted to go. All three of them did! It was a lot of fun. I went total of 9+ miles. And the kids went about seven with me! That is a lot for little legs. Ashton only went about six, but he also went 3 miles with Nick this morning. I hope to keep this trend going, because it is so nice to be outside and to be together. 

When I got home,  I got changed and  went over and help my friend Theresa with some family history stuff. I was at her house four hours! We found a lot of things and she got a lot of work done. I'm very excited for her! 

When I got home,  Nick and I were talking about where Alissa and John went last night for dinner. It sounded good, so we decided to go. Nick told Alissa and she and John decided to go with us again tonight. The food was very good snd there was a lot of it! JJ was very cute. Nick tried feeding him a lemon, but he was not so interests . He kept giving me kisses and loves and it was very sweet! After we had dinner, we went over to the local gelato shop.  We sat outside and it was a nice evening all around. 

When we got home, it was time to get the kids ready for bed. For some reason we all got pretty crazy, and ended up having some sort of weird pillow fight. It was fun and I got my camera out to try to take some pictures just for the fun of it. But most of them were blurry because I was trying to get out of the way being hit with the pillow. I sure love these monkeys. They make me smile all the time. But now I'm glad they're in bed and house is quiet. Tomorrow is another day.

~Day 2• 246: crazy goofies

Friday September 4:

Today was crazy socks day at school. These goofy girls each wore long socks. They also wore one of each other's socks so they both had different socks on. They looked cute. 

After school, Cailee asked me to make the salt dough so she could create another land form she could paint. She made one at school last week and was anxious to make more. Both our hands were sticky after I made it. She was entertained for quite awhile and can't wait for her creation to dry. 

Then tonight Ashton was snuggling while we watched Jeopardy. He loves that show. He loves it more when he gets answers correct. 

I almost forgot until Cailee came and showed me her mouth. Another tooth fell out during school today. She was excited and all smiles. A toothless smile at that. Bad time of year for corn on the cob season. 

~Day 2• 245: here it comes...

Thursday September 3:

Today while I was rummaging through my oh-so-clean purse, I came across a paper airplane. I forgot I had it in there. One of the kids asked me to hold on to it weeks ago when we were at the Science Center. That tells you the kind of deep abyss my purse becomes, and how often I check it. 

Today was actually not as hot as the surface of the sun. As I was driving home from work, I was watching the dust roll in. I really wanted a picture of it, but I also didn't want to die on the freeway.  I didn't get a good picture at all because by the time I parked, the storm was basically upon us. It was very cool to watch in my rear view mirror the dark ball roll across the valley. 

Because it was so 'cool' outside, the girls  convinced dad to go down to the park so they could practice hitting golf balls with their clubs. It was fun to watch them hit the balls, and just enjoy being outside. We are almost there. There being when they can go outside ALL the time. Soon. 

~Day 2• 244: Look Mom!

Wednesday September 2:

Where's Cailee? On her bed... She says. Haha I went to get her up for school and she was on the floor. But she said she was on her bed. Goofy. 

I got home a little bit early from work today. The kids had early release from school and were being good at entertaining themselves. They were playing minecraft and building some cool buildings. 

The girls convinced me to start sewing some stuff today. First it was doll clothes. And Cailee wanted to cut something.  Then Cailee wanted a shirt that I could whip out in two seconds. Then they decided on a blanket I have meant to sew for a year. I had them get the pieces ready and then dad came home with dinner and they ditched me. Cailee said on her way out, "will you start sewing that blanket now mom?" Basically 'thanks! Bye!' It was funny. I didn't get far and lost interest. So another day to sew is on the horizon. 

Look mom! I used my machine and the book you gave me :)

~Day 2• 243: A favorite day

Tuesday September 1st:

This morning the kids talked me into taking them to school as opposed to them riding the bus. I work from home today so I could take them. Both girls had to go to school with their sunglasses on. They thought they were pretty hot stuff. Ashton didn't care and he was pretty far ahead of the girls when I called them back to get a picture.

After school, The girls had tumbling. After tumbling, Brookie had activity days and Ashton had scouts at the same time. I think this is one of their favorite days of the week. 

After they got out of their activities, we went over to McDonald's for their elementary school's fund-raising night. A lot of the teachers were there and the kids were excited to go and possibly see their teachers. It was very exciting.  I think the whole school was there. Nick looks so excited to be there, but he's a good sport and went to be with the kids. It's hard to get good pictures that are not fuzzy when the kids are moving and jumping all over the place. They had fun, and I'm glad we are able to support the school.