Last Week of Summer

Just for remembering - we had a couple of base boards get some water damage.  One was from a valve leak and the other we think leaked in from the door opening somehow.  The door is covered by the patio roof, but I guess enough rain must have splashed in through a crack to get the board wet.  It's all under contract so for the past month we have  had the plumbers come to fix the valve, then some other workers come to put new sheet rock in to patch the hole.  Then the carpenter came to put in new base boards, then the painters came to finish it.  So now it's all fixed and I'm glad I don't have to try and understand the workers who usually know more Spanish than English.

This week we found out our teachers for the year.  Tyler has Mrs. Gomez who team teachers with Mrs. Frantzen.  When we met them on Tuesday night and dropped off Tyler's stuff they seemed very nice.  Tyler has one church friend in his class so that is nice. Right after that I had a little meeting for the preschool I am doing with the girls.  We just have a group of 7 moms with 8 kids.  We are going to meet just once a week since this is really a pre-pre-school.  We talked about what curriculum we were going to use and times etc.  I'm glad we are all pretty easy going - I'm not stressing about it too much. Then after that meeting I had a primary presidency meeting.  We were assigning parts for the program, so that took awhile.  I think I got home around 10:30.  It was a long and busy day.  

Damon will have 4 teachers this year but his home room teacher is Mrs. Everill.  We went on Thursday to drop off his things and figure out his locker.  It took a couple of tries but we got it.  It's hard to communicate the craziness of the population size at both of these schools.  There are so many kids and not nearly enough room for people to park.  I parked in a neighborhood and Damon and I walked a couple of blocks.  It was a bit of a pain since we were carrying quite an armload of school supplies.  But we managed then I had to hurry home to take Chris to his meet the teacher night.  We again had to park blocks away and I was carrying a large box with a couple of reams of paper - I was sweaty with tired arms when we made it inside. They talked to all of the Kindergarteners together in the cafeteria first then we went to their individual class rooms.  Chris will have Mrs. Powell this year.  We have heard lots of good things about her and that she has received the teacher of the year award several times.  Chris didn't know anyone in his class - but he will make friends.  It was cute, Chris thought that he was going to be starting school that evening.  As we were leaving he said something like: "Now do I start school?"  

This week was also a cake week.  I did a wedding cake and groom's cake on Saturday but it takes me all week to get it ready.  Tuesday I made the frosting, Thursday I baked the cakes and worked on the fondant parts.  Friday I made more frosting, made the fillings, and base frosted the grooms cake.  The cake was a 8/10/12 inch square cake.  I rarely have had all three layers cake - most have done styrofoam for at least one layer.  So I had a lot of cake to make.  It ended up being 15 cake mixes for both cakes.  The groom's cake was a double layer cookie sheet size.  

Lots of boxes, oil, and eggs.

Friday we went to Pump it Up one more time with some friends.  The girls collided heads really bad at the end and that expedited our departure to say the least.  

The boys have been spoiled with their screen time and play time over the summer.  I really should have had them earn it more - but I guess I don't mind letting them be kids.  Once school starts they will be in screen time withdrawals.  

 Saturday morning I got up at 5:00 to get some of the cake done before I had to be 'mom.'  I was able to get the wedding cake layers assembled and base frosted which was what I was hoping to do.  Then we did breakfast and got some of our jobs done.  At 9:30ish Doug took the kids to the park and McDonald's to give me some space in the kitchen.  I didn't want to do the fondant with little helpers. :)  So I was grateful for that and I was able to get the fondant on the three layers done by 11:30.

We did lunch and sadly while we were eating Chris was curious about the cake in front of him and left his mark.  I was quite upset, but I didn't get too mad at him.  It of course was partially my fault, I should have moved it.  But this cake had gotten a crack in it and moving it would make the crack get larger.

 I was able to repair it, but it of course didn't look quite as good.  I was so grateful that I hadn't put the boarder on yet, that would have been far worse.

 The groom was obviously a proud Texan.  In case you don't get the 'Not Texas' part, Texas is Texas and everywhere else in the USA is 'Not Texas.'  This was done in buttercream and heat and humidity are just not friendly to cakes and frosting.  The colors were starting to bleed and the frosting was almost melting. Not fun.

 The wedding cake went really well.  I bought the fondant this time and I was so glad I did.  It handled much better than mine usually does.  The royal icing for the lace was fine and the pillars assembled nicely.  The ribbon was a bit tricky.  I didn't have perfectly straight sides, so the ribbon buckled a bit and it absorbed some of the grease from the buttercream so it started to darken in spots. When I went to set it up I put on new ribbon and put some wax paper on the corners to hopefully prevent the absorption.  I didn't get to see it with the flowers on it, but I asked the mom to send me some pictures, we'll see if she does.

They had the church gym decorated as nicely as I have seen.  They had fabric and lights covering the whole ceiling and poster pictures along the walls with spot lights.  It was very nicely done.

It's fun decorating cakes, but it is a long process and hard when you have to be a mom at the same time.  It just means staying up late and getting up early.  I think I tracked spending 21 hours on these two cakes.  I'm sure others could do it quicker, but it was a lot of clean up and baking time.  Glad I get more practice and try some new things but also glad to be done.

Fun Hair and Fun Forts

This week we did the normal laundry on Monday and Scouts on Tuesday.  I think we went swimming during the week - I can't remember, writing this a couple of weeks late :(

Wednesday was Relief Society and we had a bunch of mini classes to help get ready for school.  Some of them were tips on eating healthy and crock pot meals or make-ahead ideas.  Another was on time management.  They asked me and a friend to do a class about hair, so we demonstrated a few ideas on her little girl.  I had looked online for some ideas and these were some of the ones we tried at home.  

After the classes we did a get to know you game.  You had to tell a neighbor all about yourself in 30 seconds and then you switched, then the line moved down one and you did the same with the next person.  We two big lines so it took awhile but it was fun.  We all stayed quite late visiting.  They served cinnamon whole wheat waffles, they were very tasty.  

We made a fort in the middle of the week and then kept adding to it.  The boys wanted to sleep in it so we kept it up and slept in it on Saturday night.  Damon didn't last on the couch and went in and slept with Doug.  I moved to the couch, but Tyler and Chris seemed to do fine.  

 Thursday we went to Pump it Up.  It's a bouncy house place.  They have quite a few inflatables to jump and slide on.  The kids only last about 1 1/2 hours, but it is fun.  We bought a Groupon so it only ended up being $2 each, so that was good.

My friend owed me some babysitting so Doug and I went out to eat with another couple on Friday night.  We went to a place called Bernie's Backyard.  It basically is a bunch of food trucks lined up, but they have a raised deck with ceiling fans and TVs.  They had a guy playing the guitar and singing too - so that was fun.  The food was a bit pricey for being from a food truck but the hamburger was very good.  We had a nice time visiting and just getting out of the house together.  

Saturday we were going to go to Splash Town (our local Wet 'N Wild swim park) but we realized that Chris had a bad rash - probably had Fifth Disease.  It's starts with very red cheeks - sometimes it's called 'slap cheek' for this reason.  Then the rash moved down to Chris's arms, neck, chest, and legs.  It didn't bother him too much and there aren't any really bad problems with the illness, just cold symptoms and the rash - but it's pretty contagious and we weren't sure if the girls were infected - it spreads before you get the rash and the girls had fevers and stuffy noses.  So we stayed home with sick kids.  

We were also invited to a friends house for dinner, but we had to cancel that too.  I still took over some rolls since that is what I was supposed to bring and they were nice and gave us some of the brisket that they had been smoking for over 20 hours.  It was really good - very strong- but good.  

I stayed home with the girls on Sunday.  They never got a rash, but they still seemed to have colds or something.  Very slight fevers, stuffy noses, and a cough.  

Summer rolls on

Another week of summer over, crazy to think we only have 2 more weeks.  I'm going to miss my sleeping in (if you call 6:30 sleeping in).  

Monday was a busy laundry day and just taking care of things around the house.  We have started having FHE on Sunday evenings and that has worked well for us.  Jenna helped give us a lesson on smiling and being happy.  I made a new cookie recipe that was like a short bread tart.  I thought it was yummy.  Monday evening I started working on some fondant decorations for a cake I was going to make later in the week.

Tuesday we went to the Woodlands early and checked out some books from the library.  We hadn't been in awhile so it was good to get some new books.  Then we went to the dollar movie.  This week was The Nut Job.  Damon's friend Drew came with us.  I went to scouts in the evening and got to watch Damon test his spaghetti bridge.  It was 3 layers thick and ended up just bending through the tables but still didn't break.  One of the Bear leaders owns a boa constrictor and brought it for den meeting.  I got to hold it, it was pretty cool.  I worked on my cake project in the evening again. 

Wednesday we went swimming with some friends and Doug and I had a date in the evening.  We went to a dinner/presentation for the Life Vantage company.  Doug and I decided to join this company about 2 months ago and we are getting excited to start sharing the information we have learned and start building own our business group.  The babysitter did a pretty good job while we were gone.  It's never quite the same as when we are there - guess it's hard to replace 10 + years of parenting experience :)

 So we have a local Facebook page that the mom's around here join.  It's a place where people post things they want to sell, kind of like our own Craig's List.  Anyway Tuesday evening I was checking my email and saw a post for a small metal cabinet/drawers used for storing Legos and it looked like the Legos were part of the sale.  I showed it to Doug and he said sure.  While we were talking another mom had posted a question "Are the Legos included?"  The picture was of this shelf rack with Legos inside.  It was selling for $50 and for that many Legos the price seemed too low.  The other mom posted "Would you take $40?" and I posted "I'll take it."  So it seemed like a race.  The other mom posted back that she would take it for $50 and Doug and I just waited to see what the seller would say. All of our posts were listed as the same minute.  I was actually surprised that she gave it to us.  I felt kind of bad since the other mom had started looking at it first but we did say we would buy it as is first.  We don't really need more Legos (it is a TON of Legos), but I am hoping to start a Lego club at Damon's school and these would be great for it.  I asked the principle and she said that a teacher needs to sponsor the club and no one has volunteered yet, but we will see as school continues. 

Thursday morning we drove up to the Woodlands - to a very nice area with a guarded entry- to pick up the Legos.  Damon wasn't that thrilled when I told him what we were doing, but once he saw what the Legos were he was so excited.  So all the morning the boys played with the new Legos and I started sorting them.  The seller hadn't given us any instructions or said what sets were in there, but Damon and Tyler could recognize a few from the pieces.  They were able to make a few Bionicle sets and they have been working on a few other.  This was a huge lot of Legos and it came with this cart for only $50!  I sorted all day on Thursday and we are still sorting today (Sunday).  I told the boys that they could build what sets they could and pick out any cool pieces they wanted, then I was going to put away the rest. - That hasn't quite happened yet.  The Legos are still all over the floor in the office :)

 Random picture of Texas tortilla chips, it made me smile :)

Friday I baked the cakes I needed.  I was doing birthday cakes for my friends two girls.  We went swimming after dinner - it is the best time to go because part of the pool is in the shade then and it isn't so hot and bright.  Doug joined us after he got home. 

Saturday morning I finished the cakes. I think they turned out pretty well.  It was a fun design to do and pretty easy.  

Damon and Tyler went to a special Cub Scout activity from 8:00-12;00.  They worked on part of the STEM award.  They talked about codes, cryptography, computer programming and a few other things. 

Doug got this picture of the girls during screen time - he thought it was cute their feet were in the same position.   

Today I had to conduct and do sharing time.  I've had to do that before a couple of times and it always seems so crazy and that I'm trying to run a 3 ring circus.  The junior primary was very noisy today.  I wish I was better at getting control of a large group of kids.  

Over all a good week - we still deal with fighting and craziness everyday.  It will be really quiet when school starts.  I think the girls will miss their brothers.  They miss them when they are gone for scouts.  I think we find out who their teachers are this week, I hope they have some friends in their classes. 

Last Week of July

Monday Chris went to the dentist for the first time.  He did a pretty good job.  He was nervous and cried a bit during the x-rays but overall I would said it was a success.  He didn't have any cavities so that was great news.  There is a doughnut place next to the dentist office (appropriate right?) so I bought him a doughnut.  He got a cool stealth fighter jet toy from the dentist so he was pretty excited about that too. 

In the afternoon we went swimming at a friend's house.  They have just barely moved into this house, and she is excited to have a pool.  It has a slide and some rocks you can jump from.  I'll have to take pictures the next time we go - it is a fun pool.  

Tuesday we didn't go to the movies and the boys just wanted to stay home and play.  And amazingly they played together very well all morning - it was great!.  They pretended they were bounty hunters and had fun playing Star Wars stuff.  

We had scouts in the evening.  Tyler earned his Bobcat rank and Damon received some Webelos pins and a belt-loop for his first adventure in the new program.  

 We had the Rain Gutter Regatta after the awards.  The boys all had a lot of fun.  They just formed two lines and you raced whoever you matched up with.  It was nice to have a more casual feel and not so much of a competition.  The winner did get 2 starbursts, where the other only got 1.  They each got to race a few times and we even had Doug and Tyler race and Chris raced Damon.  Damon was such a good brother and let Chris win.  I got it on video and it was so touching to see how excited Chris was and I could tell Damon felt good serving his little brother.  Such a good example for our family.

Wednesday morning Tyler had to go get his expander fixed.  It had broken loose from his back molars on one side.  I felt bad for him.  They had to really tug on the other side to get it to come off, then they had to clean it off, clean his teeth, and then glue it back in.  The other kids love it when Tyler has an appointment.  The orthodontist has an arcade room where they can play all sorts of games.  Of course I have to let Tyler play for a bit when he is done. :)

Since we were already out and about we went to McDonald's for ice cream cones and to play.  It's good to have some indoor activities to do in this heat.

 Thursday morning my visiting teachers came - we are all good friends so it is fun to visit.  We had some friends come over and play at our house in the afternoon as well - so it was a fun play day.

Friday I watched my friend's kids in the morning, then we went over to another friend's house in the afternoon.  We did a lot of stuff with friends this week :)  I tried a new Thai curry rice dish that was good.  Doug and I watched a bit of the Sherlock series in the evening.  I stayed up and finished it, but Doug didn't quite make it.  The relaxing couch was calling :)

Saturday was a lot of fun.  Two friends and I headed up a community swapping event.  We invited everyone to come and drop off stuff and then everyone was welcome to take home anything they wanted.  We had a pretty good turn out.  People brought lots of stuff and we ended up taking two van/truck-fulls to Good Will.  But I had a blast.  I love finding things for me and the kids and things for the house.  I even got a guitar!!  We have been having fun trying it out.  I printed out the fingerings and managed to pluck out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

This is the stuff I got rid off - it felt so good to clean out closets and de-junk a bit.

 There were a lot of clothes (in the very back).  I found quite a few things for me: 3 shirts, 4 light sweaters, a dress, and a skirt.

After we dropped the stuff off at Good Will, my friend Kari and I went out for lunch.  It was so much fun.  We really get a long and it was great to get out of the house and do something fun.  We ate a burger place call Moo Yah.  It was soooo good.  I will definitely be going back.  We were going to get shakes too but we were too full.  We shared an order of small sweet potato fries and we didn't even eat it all.  At home I realized that I had planned to make turkey burgers for dinner, oh well.   I was still so full from lunch that I didn't eat one anyway. 

It was a good week, but felt so long.  We only have 3 more weeks until school starts.  I am mostly ready.  I still have to get some supplies of glue sticks and some paper.  I'm getting excited - I don't know about the boys though!

July 19 Week Review

Monday: Normal day of laundry and getting household things done.  I worked a lot with my calling this week.  I've been working on a Cub Scout orientation sheet and I finally got that done.  We have about half of our primary teachers out of town right now, so it's a constant chore to make sure we have subs and make sure they know what lesson they're on, room assignment, etc. 

Kaylee had a bit of a fever, but it didn't seem bad.

Tuesday is movie day up in the Woodlands.  Kaylee was well enough to go so off we went.  This week was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.  Jenna and Kaylee were asking to go home near the end but they made it.  

In the afternoon I watched my friend's 4 boys.  It wasn't too crazy and it gave my boys some friends to play with.  Tuesday evening Doug was going with work to an Astros baseball game with Damon and Tyler then he found out that there was some miscommunication from the vendor (who was taking them to the game) and they were not given the tickets as promised.  So they will try and go another time.  So Damon and Tyler went to scouts instead. 

Wednesday we had some other friends over in the morning and then we went swimming after naps.   I also did a quick trip to the grocery store when Doug came home from work.  After we got the kids to bed I went to GNO.  We watched Mom's Night Out.  I hadn't seen it yet and it was cute and funny.  I even got a little teary eyed.  It was a great mom movie and I needed to hear some of the advice given.  I was surprised that it was a bit religious.  You don't see that very often.  

Thursday Doug left to go to Kansas City for the LifeVantage convention.  He did the trip up with a break and spent the night with one of our friends from Colorado that moved to Bentonville, Arkansas to work for Wal-mart.  We switched vehicles so that he had better gas mileage and so I could get the oil changed in the truck.  I went to take it in Thursday morning and first off couldn't find the place.  I called and they told me Google Maps was wrong - yep, that's why I couldn't find it.  Then he said they were booked for the next few days.  I'll just have Doug get it done.

Then we went to the Woodland's Children Museum.  We were meeting another family there but my friend had a crazy morning and got there an hour after we did.  But we still had a fun time.  Damon was bored at first but had fun once his friend got there.  I have a video of Damon saving Jenna from a dragon and then slaying the beast.  Pretty funny.  

Thursday evening I had a Cub Scout orientation meeting that we had set up for all the new 8 year old scouts coming in and for any families that had moved in that were new to our pack.  It was good to give them an overview of what the new program was like and how to use the new Scout Book website to keep track of everything.  It is a great program.  Someone made it awhile ago and the BSA liked it so much they acquired it earlier this year.   Damon was good to watch Chris and the girls while Tyler and I were gone.  He sent me some amusing texts from the iPad during the meeting. :)

Friday we took a breather from the previous busy days and just chilled at home and then went swimming in the afternoon.  

Saturday I wanted to do something so we went up to the mall to go to the indoor play area and visit the Lego store.  My boys are really too big for this area but we went early before it got too crowded.  We stopped by the Disney store too on our way out.  

 They had this Mixel set for half off at the Lego store, so of course I had to buy it. :)

They are doing a lot of construction at the entrance to our neighborhood, building a new major beltway.  Our main road was closed so we had to wait in a long line at the detour.  We went home a different way to avoid that intersection.  

Sick and Sweet Week

Damon and Jenna were sick this week so we didn't do a whole lot.  By the end of the week they were feeling a bit better so we went swimming on Thursday morning then on Friday and Saturday evening.  It's nice to have a swimming option when we don't have anything else to do.  Kaylee has become a little fish.  She loves having goggles on and now dives into the water and tries to swim to me under water.  

Last Sunday I tried to make fudge - but it went to sugar.  So we made smores instead for our FHE treat.  I tried to make fudge again on Monday and it turned out fine...finicky recipe.

It's nice having Damon around, he watched his siblings on Tuesday so I could go grocery shopping.

Doug had Damon and Tyler learn how to use a lawnmower and how to cut the grass on Saturday.

We missed getting together with my immediate family back in Utah last week so my mom sent us a package with some of the activities that they had done.  She had made a treasure hunt for the grand-kids, so I made one for us and these lolli-pops and $5 were the treasure.  Thanks grandma and grandpa.  The kids liked them a lot.  They will just take a while to eat. 

 

Fun hair today. :)