It's A Dog's Life

Hazel was making a pretend picnic and Snug invited herself to lie down.  So Hazel decided to accommodate the puppy.  She was so accommodating, in fact, that now Snug won't go near the blanket and keeps hiding behind me!

Recent Writings

I found this note just inside the door. It is from Truman, I think our life is a little crazy. That thought is confirmed when my children feel the need to leave me instructions like this.

I found this picture on my camera. It is from Abby's pretend sunday school lesson she was giving to her siblings. I think our kids are a little crazy. That thought is confirmed when I find things like this.

The Second Day of the Rest of my Life

Now that we have finished the first quarter of the school year, I find myself ready again to make new goals. I have tried to be fair to all my options and now I am ready to start saying "no". Here is a list of things that have moved to my no list: Pure Fitness (I came here to get exercise not so you can tell me that 38% body fat is really bad.), PTA fundraising, scheduling my laundry days, eating PBJ sandwiches for lunch. Some of the things that are on the "definitely" list: Helping at school, going to the temple with my friends, my favorite pilates video (where the girl on the screen doesn't care what my body fat percentage is), listening to books on tape while I do whatever I want (and not feel guilty that I should be talking to Hazel, and watching romantic comedies while I fold laundry!

As far as my new goals:

1. study not just read my scriptures

2. practice my oboe (sometimes)

3. ride my bike (after I fix the flat)

4. say "no" to a few more requests

Abby Soccer

Abby also is passionate about soccer. Passionate with all the power she can muster! She is the Green #7. She is fun to watch with the pigtails flying. Go, Abby, Go! Her team won 8-0 and she scored 2 of those points.

Abby

Nate's First Soccer Game of the Season

One of the things I really love about Nate is his passion and pure delight with which he approaches life. Here are some great photos of him enjoying his first soccer game of the season:

(The second one was my favorite.)

Labor Day

We (well, the kids and I) decided to do something cool for Labor day. Flagstaff is about 30 degrees cooler than Mesa. So we went there. We went to Walnut Canyon and Christian and Truman worked on some of the requirements for the Archaeology merit badge. He did the junior ranger program and that was fun. At the end the kids all got badges that say junior ranger on them and they had to swear that they would help to care for the park independent of what their Dad might do. I think he has been watching us or something...

We had a picnic lunch and then went into the lava tube. It is a underground hike. Nate was pretty nervous that volcanic activity might pick up and we could be burned up. I reassured him that they have been cool for hundreds of years. Once we got in the tunnel he was ok.

We had a great day. The ride home was 2 hours longer than it should have been due to lots of traffic coming back into Phoenix after the Holiday. Kenneth did admirably well at not getting frustrated. He read lots to me while I drove, very slowly!

Abby and Hazel headed into the lava tube.

Bekah and Syd going in.

Christian checking the ceiling height. He did hit his head on the ceiling 2 or 3 painful times.

Nate making his way into "the volcano".

Truman preparing to go under.

Walking out to our van after successfully navigating the 2 miles of cooled lava.
Truman gets in the photo which someone else takes of us on the trail at Walnut canyon

Truman takes our photo on the trail at Walnut Canyon.

Kenn and the Kanyon.

Sydney and Christian waiting to hike down the island trail.
Snug also waiting but she is not sure what for.

Filling out our junior ranger workbooks!

And getting Snug a drink. I am thinking of inventing a camelbak for puppies.

Hazel Turns 5

Hazel has been waiting to turn 5 since she was 3. She was so excited that she couldn't decide what to have for dinner, or what kind of cake she wanted. Dinner was a hard choice because there are so many things she likes (unless it involves frozen green beans or mushrooms). She decided to have make your own pizza. Cake was a different story. She doesn't really like cake or frosting. She thought about cupcakes, because they are cute. Maybe monkey cupcakes, or princess cupcakes. OOOH how about monkey princesses on the cupcakes? In the end she decided that she wanted to be surprised and have a princess involved.

Here is the birthday girl amid the present opening flurry.

Sydney's Birthday

I don't know how we missed posting Sydney's Birthday from July. So here they are. (in reverse order I think.)

Chocolate fondue for dessert. I like the chocolate around Kenneth's mouth. It means he was really enjoying it.
We dipped Angel food cake, marshmallows, bananas, and strawberries.
Sydney got some cool shades from her Grandparents.

Truman trying to whack the pig pinata that he made for Sydney.
Abby wearing the pinata nose that got whacked off.

Christian having a go at the pinata.

The mad scramble to pick up the candy.
Hazel of course cried because she didn't think she got the most.
Bekah tried on the nose for size.

Syd enjoying the pig that Truman made.

Hazel got to go first because she posed the least threat.

The angel food for dipping with candles.

12 Years. Where did they all go?

The pinata
The drippy eye, it was really crying because it didn't want to die.

Dinner fondue.

Bad manners are allowed when cheese is involved.

It was delicious!

Christian's Birthday

When my kids were little and we let them pick their birthday dinner, they would pick things like Mac and Cheese or pizza. As they have gotten older the requests have gotten more complicated, when Truman turned 8 he requested grilled salmon with couscous and asparagus. So when I asked Christian what he wanted he looked a bit sheepish. "I'm pretty sure this is a no.... Can I have mutton and ale?" What kind of cake? I already knew the answer because he has asked for the same thing 3 years in a row and I have denied him twice. I gave in because I am acutely aware of the fact that he will only be at home for 2 more birthdays.

So here are some great pictures from Christian's 15th birthday dinner at which we ate mutton, brie, "hunks" of fresh bread, green salad and we drank ale (the ginger kind). Dinner was followed by cookie dough in the form of a cake, with chocolate ice cream.