I went to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival last night. My friend Jennie Dildine treated me to an amazing dinner and the show "Into The Woods". I had such an amazing night!

Back to school

Is it really the first day of school? I am so excited for my children. They had a hard time sleeping last night they were so anxious. Everyone laid out their outfits and their backpacks were prepared last week. We arose early, showered, ate french toast and practiced piano. The best part was the Father's blessing each child received including Thomas and Eliza. It is those tender moments when a parent is reminded of the awesome responsibility to raise and love such valiant spirits.

Our life is stressful and crazy but we recognize the blessings associated with having children in our home. Yes... Mom went on a rampage yesterday and loaded eight garbage bags with toys and "stuff". After pulling teeth for days to have everyone pick up after they are done playing and not being successful...the kids lost a great deal of treasures. Yes, they do their chores including Saturday's moping, dishes, both kids bathrooms, vacuuming & cleaning rooms, and laundry but two hours later a new fort is made. I think I made a point, well maybe a tidal wave. I silently cleaned up every boys room and kept everything that was out of place. Dad and Mom haven't decided what is going out with the garbage tomorrow, but every child has plead his case. Notice I said boys! Danielle is practically perfect when it comes to responsibility, organization and follow through. Despite the commotion yesterday, we believe we have been sent such amazing children who are smart, strong, resilient, and ultimately good. They left this morning with confidence and a huge smile on their faces...aah success!

Mom just keeps getting older! 32 years old!

My "Good Morning Committee" came to welcome my day with warm birthday wishes!!! Momma was spoiled with a new pair of sunglasses and regular glasses. The kids thought my sunglasses were hip and my regular glasses borderline granny style. I am grateful to see again.


Sunday afternoon I had visitors. The Evans brought Hershey Kisses and homemade strawberry jam...Yummy! Jenny Dildine surprised me with tickets to the Shakespeare festival on Tuesday. She is picking me up and packing us a picnic dinner. She is such a sweet friend. Heather Helsing made my favorite-sugar cookies. She said they were not as good as she wanted so apparently I am getting a new batch for family night. My mom was super thoughtful with wrapped gifts (music, necklace, book) and homemade carrot cake. The best part was the surprise gift late last night. She knows how tedious wrapping gifts at Christmas time is. She has started sewing me Christmas bags with drawstrings. I am going to help cut out and sew this next week. Yea!!! I now will have the best gift bags to use for years!!!!


In the afternoon we drove to Caldwell to enjoy a nice dinner of lasagna, rolls, jello, salad, fruit, and carrot cake. Wow I think the way to a girls heart is through yummy food...or maybe it is the fact that I didn't prepare a thing or clean a dish. Gina went all out with a golf bag cart and BSU t-shirt. Go Bronco's!! What awesome luxuries. I appreciated all the effort from Gina and Bryan. They have such a nice family. We love baby David. He gets along with Thomas and Gideon. Mom Stevens remembered my favorite color and got me a beautiful green blouse with a matching necklace. My family are always so thoughtful.


Levi and Amber stopped by with birthday wishes and a thoughtful gift. I now have reflective wrist and ankle bands for running! Marlie and Gideon exchanged toys and cute hello's. I am so glad we have children together. Cousins are the best!
I definitely felt loved and like a Queen for the day. The only bummer was having a tired and sick hubby. Scott was not feeling well. He slept a few times and went to bed early.

Kyle has experienced some "firsts" this last short period of time. He participated in a Red Cross Babysitting course about a month ago. He is First Aid and CPR certified. He spent two full days downtown in class. He feels confident in his ability to entertain and keep safe small children. He has babysat at home for us quite often. He always insists he doesn't need to be paid but it is a great way to put more savings in his money market account. He has over $1100.oo dollars. He has been saving for years. Micah is not very far behind. A big chunk of that cash came from raising Golden Retriever puppies at our house last summer.

Kyle got his first official babysitting job this past weekend. He went to the Kings house. He was so thrilled that he brought a backpack with essentials...popsicles, coloring books, first aid kit, and various other items. He did a great job with a three year old toddler, 5 year old, 7 year old twins, and a 9 year old. He cleaned the house up and got everyone in bed on time. Yea for a great babysitter!!!! I wouldn't hire anyone else!

Kyle went to 11 year old day camp on Saturday. He loves scouts, especially with such a cool leader (Uncle Levi). He did a zip line, made ropes and knots, archery, and a full day of passing off requirements. Kyle is similar to how his Dad was when it comes to scouting-it is a huge part of who he is.

Summer coming to an end!

The past couple weeks have been the calm before the storm. It is just a prediction, but summer has been so relaxing recently. I love the mornings we don't have to be anywhere early. All the children trickle into our room somewhere around 7 am. We love their happy faces and "Good Morning Daddy and Momma". Eliza, Thomas and little Gideon are always first. Thomas likes to play the guessing game of his body parts. He has mastered belly button, eyes, ears, nose, hair, toes, fingers, tummy, legs, knees, teeth, tongue, and elbows. Gideon likes to crawl all over everyone and give nose dive kisses. He is a vampire. He has tried out his new teeth on everyone (mostly Mom). The only one that doesn't get bit is Dad-we figure his hairy arms and face are a protective shield. Micah and Danielle are usually awake very close behind with a game of animal pretend started. Micah listens to his music with one ear piece in his ear and one in Danielle's ear. They are very good friends and we never hear of any selfishness or arguments between the two. Yes, Kyle and Isaac like their sleep. They do not rise until they are forced by a sibling (dog pile).

We went to the fair this week for the first time in years. I had forgotten how magical a fair can be to a child. The smell of cotton candy and donuts, the rides all lit up in the dark, 4-h animals with big blue ribbons, exhibits and booths. The children were in heaven. We drove downtown and kidnapped Dad from work early. We didn't tell him where we were going. He only had a suit so we stopped at Big Lots and picked up some flip flops and a three dollar outfit for Eliza(she refused to get dressed and was in PJ's). Scott wore his workout clothing that he keeps in his car and flip flops. It was perfect. We shared a big plate of teriyaki noodles and a plate of quesadillas. We loved the miniature ponies, goats, baby chicks and the Texas Long Horn. I have never seen so many animals on display. They had an entire building devoted to Guinea Pigs, bunnies, pigeons, and roosters. The stables had quite an array of horses and large farm animals. They then had two huge tents with all the small farm animals. Gideon and Thomas loved the Agriculture exhibit. They had a baby pool full of grain and toy tractors. They also had a scavenger hunt for the big kids to learn more about Idaho farming. We were going to call it a night when Scott and I decided to be the last of the big spenders and buy one ride for each big kid. The four oldest rode on the flying chairs. They were high as a kite when they got off. Thomas and Eliza rode a merry-g0-round. Scott gave high fives each time they came around the corner. The Fair was a great success.

Kyle started Cross Country this week. He comes home sore every night. He is attending North Star Charter school this coming Monday. All the kids are so excited to go back. Mom and Dad are not so sure. We will have a very full schedule with choir, piano, gymnastics, scouts, cross country and pre-school. I will be driving in every direction. We are going to live out the last few hours of summer catching more frogs and tadpoles, riding bikes, going swimming and playing together. O.K. so we still have a ton of chores everyday but at least we can do it at our own pace and spend time together.