Thursday, September 24, 2009

Of Apples and Buckeyes

What a fantastic fall day! After being at the hospital for six hours yesterday (yech!) I was anxious to get out with the kids and enjoy the best season of the year in Rexburg. We took a walk over to the gardens at BYU-I (abslolutly beautiful--I want a yard like that someday!) and then moseyed up to the orchard, where we filled a bag with apples. After paying for our apples, we then moseyed back to the gardens, found a nice spot by a waterfall and munched on muffins and apples together. It was so pleasant, and the kids were fantastic.

While walking Arden to school afterwards, we found a buckeye tree! It brought back memories from when I was a kid. I remember Ben and Charity and I had found a bunch of buckeyes somewhere, and we each had our private stash which we kept carefully hidden from the others. I remember I hid mine in the closet in the bathroom one day, and I was so mad when Ben unlocked the door, sneaked in, and found my hidden buckeyes, all without me having a clue! Grrrrr! Anyway, fun times, fun times. Arden and Maile picked up quite a few. Arden wanted to set up a stand and charge people a buck for a buckeye. I convinced him that it would be a much better idea to just give them to his friends. (-:

After dropping Arden off at school, Maile and I went over to our neighbor's to do her hair and nails. She is the sweetest lady, but she has alzheimers, so she doesn't get out much. It was so fun to have Maile help me shampoo her hair and stuff--Maile also did a great job on the nails, as well. (Although I will admit it is a good thing we used clear polish!) I love my little sweetheart!

Anyway, it was a fun day, although I still have mounds of clean laundry to fold. Maybe I'll just do it tomorrow...

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Of New Babies and New Cars

Uh-oh...the guilt is starting to set in! I have so much been enjoying reading other people's blog postings, and I have sadly neglected to update my own as often as I should. Granted, August has been quite a busy month with Cherstin's wedding and various other things, so I guess I have a bit of an excuse...

In the most exciting news, I have a new niece on the Hardin side! She is a beautiful little thing, too. I am sad I don't live closer so I can do a better job of spoiling her! Oh well, I will take what I can get. We were lucky enough to be down in the Salt Lake area this past weekend buying a car, so I got to see the baby a couple of times, which was delightful. The first time we went over it was pretty late at night and the kids were quite wound up and jumping all over the place. Later, 3 year old Maile commented that Uncle Devin's baby (Every uncle is uncle Devin) seemed "nervous." Hmmm...I wonder why!

Oh yes, so we are now the proud owners of a new mini-van. Well, used, if you want to get technical. It is a 2008 Dodge Caravan. It is black with tinted windows. Ammon commented that if the mafia were to have a van, that would be it! We all love it, and think it will suit our growing family quite well for the next several years.

In other news, for posterity's sake, since this blog will eventually be printed out as a family journal, just a note on this pregnancy (#3). It has been the easiest by far in terms of morning sickness, but there are some complications that have arisen which necessitate weekly trips to the hospital (hence the need for a second vehicle), 2-3X per month blood transfusions to the baby, and a 30-40% chance of getting toxemia. Again. I was chuckling to myself, because after tomorrow, I will have been to the hospital four times in three days. Sigh... It's all good though. How grateful I am for good doctors...and medical insurance!

Anyway, life is good. I love this time of year.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Of Canoes, Kids, and Stuff

Arden's quote of the day; "I don't like this peach Mom. It's too fresh."

Maile's quote of the day (when told to pick up her own grape she had dropped on the floor); "No, you pick it up Mom, you have huge arms."

It's been a fun few days! Over the weekend Shawn and Heather's family came up, and we enjoyed a wonderful day of canoeing on the Snake River. This time I claimed the seat of power, and the canoe ride was much more enjoyable, despite the fact that Curtis decided sitting in the front entitled him to not have to paddle. He did a few token paddles here and there, but his main self-imposed duty was to pass out frosted animal cookies to everyone. That was fine with me, as I figured I got some good exercise (which I desperately need!).

Sunday, Cherstin and Jordan got back from Hawaii and their receptions in Colorado, and we enjoyed watching them open all their wedding gifts and hearing about Hawaii. How fun to see a newly wed couple begin their lives together! It brought back fun memories from when Curtis and I were first married! Good times, good times!

Monday morning we saw Shawn and Heather off then cleared all of Cherstin and Jordan's stuff out of our garage and helped them haul it over to their new apartment. I will be amazed if they can find spots for every thing! They had a LOT of stuff!

In other news, I don't think I have yet mentioned in my blog that we received some very exciting information from Dave and Charity a couple of weeks ago. Apparently, they are expecting their second kid! Supposedly they only had a 1/2 percent chance of conceiving, so this was very unexpected and exciting news for them and every one else! Hurray! Charity pointed out that of the five married couples, four of us are currently expecting. Anona, get busy! (-;

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Of Yummy Meats

This morning I made sausage for breakfast. "Hamburgers!," yelled Arden, excitedly. "Chicken!" exclaimed Maile. Apparently all meats are interchangeable.