First week of September

First week of September:

Labor day we didn't do much.  I went to the grocery store without the kids, which is always nice.  We had a picnic lunch outside with Lunchables.  I remembered why I never buy them, my kids don't eat them very well.  But it was fun to be outside.  We grilled some hamburgers for dinner and just enjoyed being together as a family. 

 Tuesday was Chris's first day of preschool.  We are just doing a co-op with three other mom's so the group is small.  They are all boys, so that is fun or crazy.  Chris liked it and was excited to go back again on Thursday.

After I dropped off Chris at preschool we went to the park for a minute.  I was watching my friend's kids as well, so they all enjoyed playing together.  

Wednesday my friend watched my kiddos so I could run some errands.  I bought some new exercise clothes which were greatly needed.  I have been doing well since school started.  I have exercised every day (M-F) for 3 weeks now.  I don't see much difference, but it still feels good to exercise.

The boys started piano lessons this week as well.  Damon wasn't too excited about it, but then afterwards he said it wasn't going to be that bad.  They were even good to come home from school on Friday and practice.  We'll see how long that lasts. :)

Doug's sister Amy and her daughter Candice came to visit us this weekend.  Their flight came in late Thursday evening.  Friday they witnessed our normal lives of getting kids to school and then we took Chris and the girls to the open gym.  I hadn't been in awhile because I couldn't handle both girls running around and not following the rules.  They did much better this time.  They seemed to almost understand the concept of standing in line. :)

We picked the beans again, they are still producing pretty well.  Not a lot at once, but that is perfect for our family.  Jenna and Kaylee really like to try to help me in the kitchen.  Jenna actually did a good job of snipping the beans. She did a small bowlful by herself.

 It is always nice to have a few extra hands or laps around.  Candice was good to read a story to the girls and put them to bed.

 Jenna put on her goggles and was fixing the wall I guess.  Hitting the toy bike like it was a nail.

 Saturday morning we went geocaching.  We found 2 and tried to find a third, but when we made it to the location we realized we would have to tromp through a swamp to get to it.  It was at the far side of a local reservoir, so the girls were tired by the time we walked all the way around.  The boys have really had a fun time going on these 'treasure hunts.'  We brought some things to trade this time and Chris chose a cool TMNT bike from one of the caches.

The kids all had fun throwing in rocks and trying to skip them.  

We had Papa Murphy's pizzas for lunch and then we had a baby-sitter for the kids while we adults went to the temple.  Candice is leaving for her mission in November and had just barely received her endowments, so this was her second time going.  It was a good session.  They have made three new temple movies, but I have only seen one of them -keep getting the same one. :)

We did some quick shopping afterwards - helping Candice complete her missionary wardrobe.  We ate quickly at Chick-fil-a then headed home.  We made it home in time to put the kids to bed then watched a history channel movie about Houdini.  Now I feel like I need to do some research to see if all of the stuff they showed about him was true.

Church went well this morning and we are enjoying a nice quiet time right now.  Amy and Candice will leave this evening to catch another late flight home.  It was nice to have some company and spend some time with them.  Thanks for coming.