Morning of the Praying Mantis

It was very exciting.

The Noble Duke of York

Labor Day has been less laborious than we hoped, but still, it was a good day.

First we all slept in (marvelous) and, after breakfast, the kids located the Phase 10 game and played a marathon round that lasted into the early afternoon. Hubby took off for Burgerville and bought three bags of their "Five cheeseburgers and two fries" deal, which at $24 managed to feed all of us. He also bought soda and ice cream, and our day was made.

The faces of Phase 10 addiction

Afterward we worked on the house, moving some furniture and vacuuming and switching TVs so the big one is in our bedroom and the smaller one is downstairs. 

Yay, new bookcase!

Kiss the box goodbye

Harrison doing the TV stuff

Later Hubby took the kids on a short drive to Forest Park. They thought about the Gorge, but the traffic coming back into town was super gross, so that plan was nixed. 

Happy hikers

The noble duke of York

The noble duke of York

Hi ho, his name is Joe,

The noble duke of York

- Carter

This evening he was playing around with the keyboard, which has 99 recorded songs the player can play along with. This one, which I previously only knew as Farmer in the Dell, made me laugh until I had to use the restroom, and afterward look up this disorder, which I would absolutely not be surprised by except I don't have a pre-existing neurological condition. Or do I?

Hubby and Roz went to soccer practice, I made a cake, and Brennan made Garlic Herb Cheese bread in our new-to-us bread maker. Bliss, absolute bliss. 

Threat

I'm looking in my crystal ball and THERE BETTER BE CAKE. 

A cool thing happened at Sacrament meeting today - Tyson R, a ward member whom we knew from old McWard, offered Brennan and Bella jobs today, just out of the clear blue. He told them they just have to apply online and take an easy online test, and then call him, and then they could start working for him at the store where he works. It couldn't have been nicer of him. I really hope it will work out. 

Priesthood Meeting selfie

Later, Dada and Rozzie went to visit the fort and air museum. 

Ima Nerdwatcher

Watchin' nerds go by... my, my, my.

After dropping off the soccer people at the soccer field, I took the three oldest to the farmers market for some baked goods and some Kumoricon viewing. 

Look I found some

My cheese, green olive and sundried tomato bun.
So tasty.

Walking back to the car.
"Are you taking pictures of us??"

It was a very happy time.

"It's Unprofessional!!"

I woke up at 3:45 this morning hyperventilating, after having the worst bridge nightmare of my life. I can't remember the last time I was so scared - and mad. Stupid brain! Quit trying to give me a heart attack!

Bella has been having a hard time lately, so I made her call her doctor. Then we drove to one of the old neighborhoods (the Shaffer house) and went for a walk. It was fun listening to her reminisce about being a little girl here, the things she and Brennan would do when they played outside, the friend's house where she got a huge sliver in her hand and we had to take her to the doctor to get it out. She liked remembering the old hippie guy with the motorcycle who lived on the corner and the creek where the kids would catch crawdads. We walked quite a long way, up to the Cahoons' old house.

The walk thing is part of my new schedule. Bella and I both want to lose weight, so I decided to spend an hour a day walking and take her along (Brennan too, but he was sick today). We're going to visit our old neighborhoods, of which there are many, and work in some of our favorite local places as well - Brennan loves to go to the river.

After our walk, we went to Value Village and dropped off our latest unwanted treasures, and Bella bought a couple of things. Love that place.

Later, when Roz got in the car after school, she told me something gross: She was sitting at a table in class, next to a kid with an itchy head, scratching away, and a louse landed on their table. GROSS. Roz and the kid looked at each other, and Roz said, "You should go to the nurse's office." The kid refused, so Roz stood up and found another place to sit. We had lice a couple years ago, but it took forever to get rid of, and it was enough to scar us for life. When we arrived at home, I called the school nurse and let her know, had Roz shower and washed her clothes and picked through her head (I'm now a lice expert). So far so good, but we're on Lice Watch now. *shudder*

Hubby took the three youngest and Harrison's girlfriend Isabel to the high school football game tonight. Brennan, Bella and I ate the rest of the chocolate chip cookies (weight loss? What weight loss?) and watched Psycho. Good stuff. We were all in our beds by the time Hubby and the kids came home. 

First Day of School 2015

Well, here we are again. It's hard to believe how fast time goes lately.

Hubby and the kids were out so late last night that we didn't have time for the traditional father's blessings, so they happened this morning before we took the kids to school.

Harrison: 11th grade
He was surprisingly nervous
this morning.

After driving to, then parking, sitting and waiting at Harrison's bus stop a few blocks away from our house, we watched in wonder as the school bus went whizzing by like a fire engine, then drove him to school. Guess he'll get to feel the magic of the school bus on his way home today, with Cousin Demeter.

Then Hubby and I came home and dealt with these two.

Divvying up school supplies

Middle Schoolers!

Rosalind: 6th grade
This cute girl couldn't be more excited.
We're excited for her.

Carter: 8th grade
Totally good with everything, as usual.

En route, Roz realized that she forgot her schedule at home and was near tears until we told her Carter didn't have his schedule yet either, and they could both go to the office when we got there. Poor babe. We're so glad she'll have her big brother around to help her navigate middle school.

While all this was going on, I met my dear friend Pam for pedicures. They were free, because we went to the beauty school yesterday for our appointment, but no students were there to paint our toes. So we met up again today, and the pedis were on the house. Sweet!

Later: Everyone is happy with their first day, but dang tired. My old CH ward friend Sandy P. came over and chatted with me for a while. I love Sandy - she is a sweet lady.

This is how rain-deprived we've been.

True story: I just looked out my bedroom window and thought, "Why is my window wet? The sprinklers aren't going....and I'm on the second floor....OH." Seriously, the only time our windows have been wet has been because of our new-to-us automatic sprinklers, and up to that point I'd never seen an upstairs window wet. Hey, it's the little things.

Hope the rain falls all night! We can certainly use it!

Sunday Silliness

Today we attended the old ward again, for the missionary farewell talk of Caitlin W, Candice S's sister. It was like going home. Why did we have to leave this ward, again?

Naughty babies

After chatting and hugging and laughing and smiling, we took the children home,

where they subjected us to these antics.

Wrestling over something

Knuckle cracking

Computer gaming

Younger sibling considering

For dinner, we made crock pot Italian chicken and pasta. Mmmmm. It was a good day.