Back-to-School Feast 2017

Following our tradition of laboring on Labor Day we cleaned up the area by our basketball hoop, hauling earwig-infested logs from the pine tree that didn't survive our winter snow storm back to the front of the house via golf cart and wheelbarrow. Nicole made a sign for the free wood and most of it was picked up by a sweet older gentleman just a few doors down. How do I not know my neighbors yet? I'm taking note to change that. 

After we admired the clean area we pulled out the back-to-school feast box and started creating this year's crowns. It went like clockwork. The tradition is in place and little effort for me now. That makes it a nice way to kick off the new school year. 

Grandpa took the crew to McDonald's for one more summer treat and we swam afterwards while I finalized first day of school outfits for the kids. How can summer already be over? It has been a whirlwind of a season and filled to the brim with play, fun, and breathtaking sunsets (except for this last month...ugh! The wildfire smoke is thick). While I'm sad to see it go, I must admit that I'm ready. Seasons come at just the right times and I'm grateful for the constant moving, recycling, and rejuvenation they bring.

At our back-to-school feast we ate crock pot chicken (AGAIN...easy!) and shared this year's theme: I can do all things through Christ which strenghtheneth me (Phillipians 4:13). We can grow. We can change. We can improve. We can learn. ALL, because of Him...His perfect life, His divine mission, His absolute perfect love. I hope these sweet babies of mine will always remember this very special promise, not just this school year, but for all time. Turn to Christ. He will strengthen and lead us on our journey home to our Father. 

Then it was tender father's blessings, showers/baths, and settling into bed. Good-bye sweet summer...you've been pretty epic...until next year! 

No Braces Yet

Mary and Noah had appointments with the orthodontist today. Mary's teeth are pretty straight. He said she will not even need them at all. He did suggest a few cosmetic changes...like contouring a couple of teeth for a nicer look and keeping retainers on at night to prevent shifting with age. This was exciting news. Noah does not need braces for now. His teeth are still coming down and he will most likely need them as a teenager. But it's nice to learn that things are going well for him too and he will probably only need one phase.

Noah loves it when I take photos of him.

A lot of little things were completed with the pool today. Things are running smoothly. I anticipate that we will make our end of school deadline no problem. Exciting!

May Ladies

We went to lunch today to celebrate these beautiful May birthday ladies. They are so special to me.

On our way home from lunch, we learned that an older gentleman had crashed right into the power pole right across the street from our house. We actually arrived home just a few minutes after it happened. Rescue teams had not yet arrived and the man was not able to get out of his car due to the dangerous power lines surrounding him. He was okay, but was transported by ambulance. We ended up with out power for few hours and a lot of rerouting to use our road. It also meant that we got to go out for dinner. It turns out that there isn't much you can cook without power. And without our pump working, our water was off too.

Memorial Day Fun

Work in the morning
Hikes to waterfalls
Barbecue at Justin's

It's feeling a ton like summer around here. The kids played a lot this weekend. I have a feeling it will be hard to get back to life tomorrow. School really should end before Memorial Day. And I'm not quite sure why I didn't try these gorgeous hikes before. There was so much strong water from all the rain this winter. It was quite mesmerizing.

Cameron's Art

I love this boy's art. He even used this deceased lady bug as a model. We come home on Sundays with the most darling drawings.

Watch Out Paul Blart

The kids slept over at Tiffany's last night. Aaron and I had a nice dinner with friends and then came home and crashed from all this pool work (well, mostly Aaron). He's been waking up early each morning before work and digging sprinkler lines, wheelbarrowing dirt, and prepping the pool for completion. He is a hard worker that one!

Tiffany texted us this morning that Annie prayed over the pancakes and said, "We are so grateful that we have each other and that we are best friends". Melt my heart!!!

Cousin play time!

Following some work around the house, we all headed to Jacksonville to complete one of Tiffany's 40 by 40 tasks. Over the past year she has created a list of things she's wanted to do before she turns 40. With her birthday in just a few days, we scheduled to go on a segway tour.

Let me say that this was so incredibly fun! We had about 45 minutes of training, then a two hour tour, which was rather fascinating.

We ate lunch and got the kids from their weekend long play date. Following a few errands we took the kids to the marble store to cash in some of their first week's earnings. I'm glad they could experience a "spend day" so quickly after we started. Now they are even more motivated to keep working!

Nadauld Daily Five

We came up with a new chore system, inspired by our little brunch on Monday. We are paying our kids for their weekly chores. Hopefully they will get a better idea of how to save, budget, and pay tithing as well. So far, the kids wake up and cheerfully do their tasks. We named it the daily five, although Cameron just has four for now. They also are required to do regular family chores on Saturdays without payment. They have one chore each week that they choose from a jar (like garbage, dusting, setting the table, garbage, windows, bathrooms, etc.). This makes it pretty easy for them and it means that every two weeks my bathrooms are sparkling! Then they can spend their money on the last Saturday of the month...we can go to a store, shop online, or they can buy an "experience" (like a friend party or a trip to do go carts at the FFC) for a certain amount of money. If they do their daily five four or five days during the week then they get double their earnings. If not, they earn a dollar a day. Mary gets paid a little more because she has two instruments. She is really happy about that. It's pretty easy for me really and it is keeping our house very tidy. I'm loving it so far and I hope it continues through the summer.

Eddy's Angels

When Andrea pulled in this evening to pick up Mary for a play at the Britt, she realized that the bird she hit on her way into our driveway was a duck. After some prying, the stuck duck flew off in an embarrassed frenzy. Mary had the best night with her friend Eddy and his ladies. I think we should start calling them Eddy's Angels.

The ABC Countdown

Noah's grade is counting down the days until the end of school with an ABC Countdown. Today was K (kooky hair day). Only 15 more letters (school days) until Z, zip up and go home! I'd say Noah's hair turned out pretty kooky. After school (and a good shower to get off the hairspray) we went to Estelle's preschool graduation. The wind down is in full force around here.

This is the "PLEASE stop taking photos of me" face.

Mary's DARE Graduation

Today Mary graduated from the DARE program. She wrote a beautiful speech, unfortunately she was not selected as the class presenter. These are all good life lessons and opportunities to congratulate her friends who were chosen. I am so happy with all her hard work completing the program and thrilled that she enjoyed it as much as she did. The program focuses on drug and alcohol resistance and treating others with compassion and kindness. At MRE, this ceremony is in lieu of an elementary school graduation. So, it is kind of a big deal for them. I can't believe she off to middle school in a  few short months.

Allyson's Baby Brunch

Today we celebrated this sweet friend's baby bump. These are some of my very favorite people.

Look at us learning how to use a self timer.

The Best Sunday of the Year

Once a year our region holds a singles adult conference in our stake building, since it's adjacent to the temple. This means that they use our building for their sacrament meeting and our three wards need to combine into one. We only hold sacrament, our other meetings are cancelled for the day. I imagine this is what it would feel like to be a part of another religion. Attend for an hour and go home to be with family and observe the Sabbath. I do love this shortened meeting and it was pretty relaxing not having any responsibilities outside of attendance.

Can you see who everyone wanted to sit by at church today? Pretty sweet.

Since we had so much of our day open, the SDC planned a family potluck.

Playing with marbles after the potluck.

I really could get used to this.

Should I be worried?

When typing a comment on Rachel's Instagram post, I noticed some unusual symbols in my frequently used category...in particular the knife?! Can't think of a time when I used that one. Upon further investigation, I learned that the kids have been texting their cousins on my phone and playing the emoji game. The kids give each other a clue like "carving" and the other responds with what he/she feels is the a matching emoji . If it is right then they switch places and give a new clue , if the response is incorrect, possible emojis are sent until the correct one is identified. The "knife" emoji wasn't correct for the carving clue, it was a carved pumpkin.

Concrete!

It's in and it looks amazing! It's starting to look real!

ScienceWorks with Nicole

It's my third field trip here. I had a blast with my little one.

On the bus ride there!

Gymnastics after the field trip with her matching cousins!

Skater Boy

He's been going back and forth on the patio about a million times. What a cutie!

Pool Progress

It's just about ready to pour the concrete!

April Showers...

bring May flowers (and so do cute little gardening hands)!

Mother's Day Loot

Here's all my sweet notes from the kiddos this year. I have to say this is my favorite part of Mother's Day (besides being able to go to Relief Society and not cook dinner). I'm so grateful to be a mother and to have such a wonderful example and friend in my own mama. Feeling very grateful today.

Practice

Josh and Mary practiced the mother's day song the primary will be singing in sacrament tomorrow. I think they are going to sound beautiful.

Of Course Nicole is doing some kind of gymnastics while she is listening.

Cameron's Big Day

Today was my final walk to Bobbio's, our final time touring the restaurant and making our own pizzas. I think between preschool and Kindergarten, I've chaperoned six of these Bobbio's field trips. This evening Cameron played five cold and drizzly soccer games at his final soccer tournament. His team ended up taking second place.

Sneaky

My mom told me she loved this piece of furniture the other day. I figured she probably wouldn't buy it for herself however. She just likes to buy things for other people (because she's selfless like that). But it would go perfectly at the top of her stairs, so we all pitched in to buy it for her. We were planning on getting it today when the store opened and surprising her with it on Mother's Day. Yesterday she texted that she needed help loading this piece from the store--she had decided to actually get it! I had to spill the beans about how we were getting it for her and begged her to let us at least buy it.

So, this morning, after making some decisions on the pool, Aaron and I snuck over to the store (it's only open on Thursday and Saturdays), bought the piece and loaded it into the car. The sweet owner had put it on hold for my mom. But after explaining the situation she let me buy it. We brought it home and tricked her into stopping by in the afternoon. My mom told me that the owner had texted that she sold it to someone else this morning; she was a little disappointed. When she walked in she realized who that person was! It wasn't the best surprise, but at least we beat her to the punch and got it before she could.