Back to School

They said they weren't excited about going back to school. 

 (I think they secretly were) 

As for me, I thought once the kids were back in school I would get a bit of a break.  Not today.  With 2 orthodontist appointments (1 morning, 1 afternoon), a visit at DHS with "Grandma Teresa", Freshmen registration, school supply shopping for Reed, and driving to and from football and soccer practice, I think I logged more miles on the family car than I did any other day this summer.

Whew.   Good thing gas is "so cheap" now.

Brave Voyager

How many 92 year olds do you know that would cheerfully and bravely climb into a rickety old rowboat and go for a ride with her great-grandchildren? What a trooper! We rowed over to join some friends on a rope swinging adventure this afternoon.

Wii golf?

Being the avid non-golfer that I am, I was amused to go upstairs this evening and find my youngest daughter and my husband playing wii golf. I mean, wii have a set of golf clubs in the garage, but I can't guarantee that they've ever been used. It's just not something wii've taken to. Enter the incredible Wii. It makes you think you can actually do these things. I was impressed to hear little Montana throwing around words like "fairway, par, birdie, double bogey" I had to ask her what some of those meant. When did she become an expert on golf? She adjusts for wind speed, calculates just how hard or how soft she needs to hit the ball depending on distance and slope, and she knows all the terminology. Maybe someday she'll teach mii.

George's Planter Benches

I was planning on posting some before and after pictures, but since things have been so busy around here, I haven't had a chance to actually DO the after, let alone take pictures of it.  So, I guess I'll just start with the before. 

These are some planter boxes that were given to me by my dear Grandma Dorothy's Cousin's husband.  His name is George and he has a great talent for making things with wood.  He is getting older in years and has had to slow down considerably.  He used to make all kinds of neat things out of wood and sell them at flea markets.  Recently he has had to stop wood working because of some health issues. 

A few months ago my dad told me he was going to go visit with George and Hazel.  I asked him to check and see if George had any more of his planter boxes because I would like to buy one from him.  I came home one day to find these boxes all set up, with the benches across them, in my kitchen.  I should have taken a picture of THAT.  It was pretty funny. 

Evidently, George had one bench left and wanted me to have it.  (Dad insisted on at least paying him for the cost of the wood)  I was instructed not to expose them to the weather until they had been properly stained.  So they sat in my kitchen for about a week until we all got tired of tripping over them.

Eventually Dad and I went to Home Depot and picked out some stain.  Then the girls and I spent an evening and a good part of the next day staining them.  I sure like how they look, but I'm sure they'll look much prettier if I can ever get to the store and buy some flowers to put in them.

Kix Treats

Kix Treats is one of our favorite Family Home Evening treats.  I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, Mikell.  It's super easy, quick, and YUMMY.  Here's the recipe, if you want to try it sometime.

Kix Treats

1 cup Karo syrup

1 cup sugar

Heat over medium heat until it's semi-clear.  Don't boil.

add:

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Kix cereal

Pour into 9x13 pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on the top

Three Little Monkeys

Last night I was relaxing in the living room watching DVR'd Oprahs.  Hank had taken the kids to see "Space Chimps" so I could have some alone time.  I was planning on going to a Breaking Dawn party last night, but unfortunately I came down with a sinus/head/chest cold and lost my voice. 

 I heard the garage door open and these three little monkeys came walking in.  They looked so funny I couldn't stop laughing.  The kids gave the movie great reviews, although I don't think Hank loved it so much.

While the boys are away...

We had a girls day recently when Hank was at work, Reed was at basketball camp, and Little Guy was at a foster care play date. The girls looked through my cookbooks and found "Cooking with Kids." They had so much fun looking through it and picking out things they would like to try.
I taught them how to make No-Bake Cookies and they LOVED them. So today, while I was in the shower, they decided to try it all by themselves. I came down to these two cuties with a cookie sheet full of finger licking good No-Bakes. I was a little nervous about the fact that they had been using the gas stove without any supervision, but I realized they really did just fine and maybe I need to relax a little.  Maybe not.
What do you think? How old do you think a child needs to be before they are allowed to use the kitchen stove by themselves?

Catch of the Day

We celebrated Hank's birthday tonight at McGraths. They made him wear the big blue fish hat while they sang "Happy Birthday, Dear Fish Head." He's a good sport, isn't he?

 

Like Father, Like Son

For Hank, it's always less about style and more about comfort and convenience. (love his heart, as my grandma would say) Those of you who have spent much time around Hank will recognize this outfit as his typical year round Sunday after-meetin'-clothes. Changes into shorts, leaves the white shirt, leaves the black socks. You can imagine the good laugh I got when he went up to change Little Guy before Sunday dinner and they both came down like this:

Bandon Tide Pools

Over the 4th of July weekend we went to Bandon. We rented a nice big house close to the golf course (it even had a putting green in the back yard). Not that we're golfers. We just wanted a place big enough to be together with family.

The tide pools were great! We were able to drive right onto the beach (I didn't enjoy that as much as Hank did...he LOVED the 4-wheeling). The kids enjoyed sticking their fingers in the sea anenomes. There were star fish and mussles everywhere. We also saw little crabs, big crabs, and even a dead sea lion. Ewww.

Cousin Ty-Ty

Grandpa Con fishing in the ocean

Grandma Carolyn with Little Guy

Montana got her face painted at the Bandon 4th of July Festival

(not sure what she's supposed to be, but she liked it!)