Enjoy the moment





BAND

Okay so I am a little nostalgic.
One of the joys of living next to the high school is that we live right by the choir/band room door. In the fall and spring they leave the door open and with my windows open we can hear them. I love it. Right before Homecomming is especially a treat. The band preps for the parade.
This is hilarious. They are NOT your typical marching band. The band is tiny and because they are only marching in this one parade they don't have a lot of Marching SKILLS you might say. It's a hoot.
We sit on our front porch and the boys love to see the band "march" by.
It reminds me of highschool. Of marching in my highschool band. Of band camp, hot days, mosquitoes, band tans, locker rooms, Mr. Hatler, Flag routines, Friday night games, California competitions, State, friendships, and road trips!
I am so glad I took the time to be involved. They are fun memories.
What did you do in highschool?

Letting Go

Lately I have been learning some lessons in Letting Go.
I am learning to turn control over to my children. I am giving them more responsibility. Letting them vacumn their own rooms. Having them help Make dinner. I am letting go of things. I cleaned out toys and put them in totes. And with LESS I feel that I have MORE.
More time to read with kids, more Peace, more time for me.
I always wondered how all those other moms did it. Well, my good friend Mary has been teaching me her ways by example. Thankyou thankyou!
And I learned something, I do have a pretty clean house, I am pretty organized, I am a good mom. (Thanks Winslow and Nancy!)

Adventures

This weekend was adventurous.

Friday night was a football preseason game. but of course we had to go. I was desperately in need of some football action. So despite still feeling sick and very tired, we went to the game. We pulled out a win and had a good time. David and Rachel snacked on Coa Coa Puffs and Juice Boxes to keep entertained. Rachel is always ready to go after half time. She doesn't watch the game, she is there for the cheerleaders, so when they are done, she's done.

Saturday morning came early after a late night. I needed to get snacks for my soccer team. (cold orange slices, YUM!) And Winslow had a Health Fair to Attend. So I took all 4 kids by myself to the soccer fields. Winslow did save the day by running home and bringing me my stroller so I could strap David in. Rachel and Abby had games at 8am. (remember I am coaching Abby's team.) Jacob had pictures at 8:30am. Thankfully, Jacob is a big boy and went to the pictures and back by himself. I had warned my soccer team that I would have a system for the game and they were not to whine about wanting to play. (gotta give them credit for wanting to play, but I can only do so much!) I was able to catch a few glimses of Rachel on her field while Abby's team played. Jacob's game was at 9am, and then we came home and crashed. Winslow, David, and I were all pretty trashed. Wins and David are struggling with allergies.

Jacob and his friend Seth helped Winslow dig holes for our trees we are planting. And that was pretty much it. I had my 3 little ones in bed by 8:15pm a miracle at my house. Winslow was asleep too. I waited up for Jacob who got to go to a birthday party on a ranch and play laser tag. Which is his new fascination and what he wants for his birthday. (his list changes almost weekly.)

Since we all crashed Saturday night I had to get up early and get going for early Sunday church. I spent the majority of Sacrament Meeting in the foyer with David. I finally took him on a walk outside, and thus missed saying the closing prayer. Oops! So a member of the bishopric jumped in for me. I got a new calling which brings my total to 3. I am still the primary choirister and the Enrichment leader, and now a member of the activities commitee. (I will be release from enrichment leader After our big Super Saturday at the end of September.)

After Church we came home and ate a quick lunch and headed to Winslow's parents house. We switched the seating arrangements in the truck and it seemed to work well. The kids were hilarious. They kept quoting movies and making us laugh. The drive was GORGEOUS. And of course we all took a nap while Winslow drove. There's something about the hum of the vehicle that always puts me to sleep. Rachel woke up about 15 minutes out and shouted "We're almost to Lita's HOUSE!!!" They get so excited.

Grandma and Grandpa's house is always one of wonders. Lisa always has food ready for us, it's always delicious! The kids know exactly where to find the toys, and she is always thinking of them. David found the water paints right away. Rachel and David had so much fun painting at the little table. I love to sit on their rocking bench outside and enjoy the breeze and all of Lisa's gorgeous flowers. Lisa took David for a ride in the wagon. Abby danced with a long stick in the grass. Jacob found a rubber band gun. And Rachel found the racing car to drive.

One of the grandest adventures this weekend was that we brought home chickens! 3 chickens. So now we are officially chicken farmers. ha! I am enjoying watching them and the kids are soo excited. (Hopefully they keep being excited.)

Finding Joy in the little things.

Catching Up

It's been an interesting week. We made a mad dash to Walmart on Monday night. (remember it's an hour drive for us.) It had rained and the kids kept trying to play in the puddles and I was trying to keep them dry so we could leave.

Tuesday, I don't even remember tuesday.

Wednesday was Picture day and we played at the park.

Thursday I came down with a nasty stomach bug and spent the majority of the day on the couch moaning and longing to hurl and get it over with.

Today I am hoping to bring my house back to order after a day of sickness.

Things I remember from the week. I made homemade granola. YUM! Rachel did my hair. I love having my hair brushed. I hiked with Dianne and was super sore afterwards, but soo worth it. Soccer practice was crazy and no one listened, but I think they had a good time. I got to talk to my mom. She's been off CRUISING:). I love talking with my mom. Rachel got her whole hand smashed in the front door. OUCH!! and Winslow threatened to take doors off if it happens again.(Believe him, our kids had their doors off for months earlier this year. It's one of his biggest pet peeves.) Our cat hurt his leg in a fight, and I wondered again how many lives left he has. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and I was sorry I missed being outside yesterday, for the prettiest day yet. We have corn on our stalks and I am praying the frosts hold off long enough for me to get all my tomatoes harvested. My snapdragons are blooming and there is a chill in the air. Fall is comming. Football starts tonight and I am SOO excited. I love high school football. Powerade is my best friend when I don't feel good.

Princess hair.

Recently I decided I needed to be better about doing my girls hair. I'm not fabulous with hair. In fact, I it's never been a strong point for me. Well, it was time to do something about that. So I asked some friends for help and looked up stuff on the internet. My favorite site is http://www.princesshairstyles.com/.

So, today was picture day at preschool and I decided to be brave and try this hairstyle. Rachel calls it Bride Hair. It took forever but it turned out AWESOME!!

pictures from this week

I love this quote from Elder Holland

New green pillow

snuggling with my babies after bath time

the girl's curtains

Finally finished putting up the rest of the vinyl stickers in the girls room

Hair bow holder.