Like it Or not

There's a peach tree in our backyard. It came with the house. Like it or not, we have to pick them. Like it: fresh slices (with a little bit of sugar-come on!), pies, cobblers, etc. Or not: dropped peaches all over the lawn, squished peaches all over the lawn, smashed and dried peaches all over the sidewalk, ugh!

Smoothie Mustaches

As we were sitting around the dinner table, Emma asks, "Can we have FHE tonight?" So we decided to do an impromptu Family Home Evening. I got some smooth stones and some jagged stones and let them each choose the one that felt the best. They all chose the smooth stones. Of course! So we talked about being nice, gentle, and smooth with one another like the smooth stones and not mean, rough, and jagged like the the rough stones. It was a quick, very effective little object lesson. Emma did our talent and taught us all the recent song she learned in music ~ Down by the Bay. It was so much fun. We were doing the motions and coming up with all sorts of rhymes. Then we had peach smoothies for our treat. Here's to non~FHE FHE nights! (I was not supposed to be in the picture)

A Bib for the Babe

Lainey loves to lose her lunch (look at all those L's). It drives me crazy because she usually gets me when I least expect it. And she does it enough that I should always expect it. I know that someone gave me the great advice to try bibs a while ago, but never did it. Today I pulled some out and they worked great. Now I'll just be washing bibs instead of a lot of outfits ~ hers and mine.

Othello vs Selah

Hannah is the one closest to the ref on the right.

We went to the volleyball matches tonight to watch Jason's niece play volleyball. Hannah plays for the Selah freshman team. Not only did we get to see her, but some of my previous young women. The kids had a blast. It brought back so many memories, both of playing at games on the bleachers when I was younger and of my HS days actually playing volleyball. Over all, a great night out with the kids.

I know Jason has his eyes closed, but I liked the group shot.

Our Neighbors in E-burg

We went back to Ellensburg to visit our old neighbors, the Smiths. It was so much fun to see them, and to see how their kids have grown. Holy Cow! They're not so little anymore. We had lunch together and then played at the apartment playground like old times. Several other good friends that live in the complex also came out to talk and play, and that was great fun too. We had such a good time there when Jason was in school. If it weren't for that blasted wind, we might still be there. ;) Thanks for hosting us Rachel and Aaron. (kid shots courtesy of Rachel)

Peter, Liam, Corgan and Cade, Ani and Kaylee, Paul, Luke, Emma and Lainey, Benjamin, Lexi and Jase, Lily, Claire, and Blake

Emma, Lily, and Claire

I couldn't believe all of these along the way.

Early to Bed

I did it. I put my kids to bed early. They each had lights to read books in their beds since they went to bed at 7:15.
Clever placement of the flashlight up by her head so she doesn't have to hold it.

Paul got to use my book light because there weren't enough flashlights. His was the "cool" light. Emma tried all of her bargaining power to get that light away form him.

I think she was pretending to be asleep...while showing me her flashlight.

And now, if there is ever any real emergency we won't be prepared because the kids will have run the batteries down. Great!

My Pack Stack

This is my stack of books that I pack around the house. It's on my nightstand because I am getting ready to go to bed. So I place it all there for me to use before I fall asleep, which is usually while I'm trying to read one of these books or write in my journal.

So this is what happens. I wake up in the morning and I pack all of these books out to the couch. I think to myself, I can get some reading in or writing done before I start my chores. That usually doesn't happen and the books end up on the floor. So I retrieve my precious books and move them to the book shelf where they are safe. They either make several trips from the shelf to the couch and back to the shelf throughout the rest of the day or they just sit on the shelf until bed time. At which time I pack them into my room and stack them on my night stand just as you see them tonight.

Hopefully I can get some reading or writing done this time. :]

Look who's...

looking around!

School Open House

Jason was able to go with us to Emma's school open house. It was fun for Jason to meet her teacher and for us to visit with her a little. The kids loved playing on the playground toys. Emma is a pro at these bars.

A Pioneer Day

Today was a pioneer day because we did things the pioneer way~preserving and pies.

Paul was counting my jars. I'm glad they met with his approval. My pears were in dire need of syrup and jars-they were getting too ripe. I'm glad that I could get them done today. This is just the first wave.

Thanks to our Home Teacher for having us over for berries and ice cream on Sunday, we've been enjoying some more blackberries. We had blackberry pie for dessert tonight. The blackberry pie recipe had me put sugar on the top (much like the new banana recipe I got from my SIL Julie here) and I liked it a lot. It creates a sweet, crunchy top. The other pie is pear. The recipe I found had me put a crumble layer over the pears. I'm excited to try it.

It's so much fun to make pies. I always thought that they were so much work and that I'd never really be able to make a good one. But now that I've made chicken pot pie and fruit pies quite a bit, I'm thinking otherwise. Yummers!