The Lord's Hand in Aug 2008

8/31/08~ Finally a day of rest, my cousin D came up and we made fruit leather and canned peaches all day yesterday. Today we don't have to worry about anything but church and relaxation, thank you for the Sabbath.

8/30/08~ Driving down the street I saw a house with a fully loaded apricot tree. We pulled over and asked if they were going to use all their apricots or if we could pick some. Not only was it okay for us to pick all his apricot but he also had a peach and a pear tree we could pick as well. Needless to say, it's not going to be a relaxing weekend for me.

8/29/08~ Sometimes it is hard to do our daily chores when there are other things that beckon our interests. I had to subscribe to the newspaper for my class. I can't want to be a journalist and not have a TV, newspaper, or any news magazines. Surprisingly I've been enjoying reading the paper, it's not all negative like I once thought.

8/28/08~ Today is Me and Bear's first day home, alone. I think it is driving Bear crazy not having anyone to play with. There is only some many times mom can chase, spank, tickle, drink of his cuteness (zurbert his neck), eat his toes, swirl him dizzy or capture his crazy button (belly button). Pretty soon he's bored and he wants to just play cars all day. It's a good thing he only has to put up with me for two days a week without anyone there to intervene.

8/27/08~ The three oldest had their first day of school today. For the girls it was no big deal since they have the same teachers as last year. However, this being Bud's first day of kindergarten, he had to have a parent stay with him the hole day. Well, I had school so Big D took an early extended lunch and went with Bud. They had a great time, even though they showed up at the wrong time (my fault). I can already feel us getting back in to a routine, isn't that great?

8/26/08~ We had a very hectic day: the three oldest had a school picnic to go to, Bear had his school open house to meet his new teacher, the girls had piano lessons, Bug went to the temple with her Achievement Days group and Big D had his first night of class (this after waking up at 4a.m. to go to the temple). I was amazed we made it to every thing. I was trying to figure out what we were going to cut out.

8/25/08~ The first day of school left me running around a lot trying to get new things I didn't know I needed and trying to get rid of old things I don't need anymore. All in all it is shaping up to be a busy semester.

8/24/08~ Big D and I had a nice time without the kids. We stayed in bed right up until it was time get ready to go to church, and we didn't have to scramble to get kids ready. Then we went to the Twin Falls Temple dedication, which was awesome. It the second dedication I've been able to attend. I went to the Navoo Temple dedication a couple years ago and that was memorable. I hope to some day get to visit the temple there.

8/23/08~ I canned some corn and more pickles, ooh what a change from the entire past week. The kids did head out to my dad's house for the weekend, which that is always nice. Big D didn't get home from rafting with the young men until about 9pm therefore too late to do anything, plus he was toast.

8/22/08~ My last week day before school starts. I feel like I have to rush to get every thing done that needs to be done before the hectic life of living out of my car commences. The schedule I have to keep up with this year is insane, I hope I don't forget my kids some where. I don't know what I'm going to do with Kinnzi on Wednesdays, I am going to be gone all day long.

8/21/08~ Bug, Beaner, and I went out by the airport and picked chokecherries for three hours. I told them our goal was two five gallon buckets full, but we decided to call it a day when we hit a bucket and a half. I told them they are going to love eating pancakes smothered in chokecherry syrup and be able to tell everyone that they helped with the process.

8/20/08~ College Registration what fun. I pulled into the parking lot at the university and saw the hundreds of parking spaces full and I got a little overwhelmed. I had to take a deep breath and remind myself I wasn't in a hurry and I didn't have to worry about my kids, thanks to Uncle Brook. Amazingly I was in and out in an hour, one hour less than I was planning.

8/19/08~ Canning and more canning. I am canning more bread and butter pickles today. Ooh but I switched it up a bit and tried some relish made out of beets. I hope it tastes good. It's funny, the pickles say you're suppose to wait four to six weeks before eating them, I don't think the pickles are going to last that long. Big D cracked one jar open and now I can't get him to quit. Between him and the kids I won't have any left to share with the rest of my family. I'm just glad they taste good, yum yum!

8/18/08~ Trying to catch up on work. I have a dentist appointment at 2p.m. I need to get groceries, because we are down to the bare skives. I still have to pick my corn and freeze it then run out to my mom's and help her with her corn. Today just gets better and better.

8/17/08~ My crazy sisters haven't let me go to bed before 2a.m. either night I've been here. I hope this isn't the norm when I'm not here or these guys are crazy, oh I guess I already clarified that point didn't I. It's fun being in a big city compared to my tiny town. It has a hole different energy that is invigorating. I guess that's why I can't sleep before 2. Now I have to look forward to the drive home. My time here goes too fast but I do miss my family, although I could stay here for a bit longer and be okay.

8/16/08~ I thought since Big D loves rhubarb and we have two huge bushes of the soar stuff I'd better find a recipe that everyone can enjoy. I made rhubarb cookies and muffins, the cookies turned out great, probably because I soaked them over night in sugar. The muffins didn't turn out as good, no soaking. They didn't have much flavor other than biting into a slimy piece of rhubarb, yuck. Ann called me upset and said she needed me right in the middle of baking my muffins. I wasn't planning on seeing her until the next night, but she needed me so I took the kids and Kinnzi to my brother Lowell's until Big D could get off work and pick them up. I made it to Ann's house in time to go through a session at the temple. She's having a tough year, I hope it helped having just having someone to be with her, not that Marie doesn't do it for her. Sometimes you just need both your crazy sisters to remind you of the silly side of life again. I also went over to my best friend, C's, house and helped her paint her front room. We painted on wall Hersey's chocolate brown and the other one striped. I wanted to lick my fingers all day it looked so good. We had a great time reminiscing while painting.

8/15/08~ Getting the kids and Big D ready for their Dad's and Kids Only cam pout tonight. No Moms allowed, I couldn't be happier. I wanted to mow the lawn but my neighbor flooded our yard so I have to wait for it to dry up.

8/14/08~ I canned twenty more pints of pickles, now up to thirty-seven all together. It's a good thing I am sharing all these pickles. I went visiting teaching and enjoyed chatting with my fellow friends. I need to visit them more than just for visiting teaching.

8/13/08~ I canned bread and butter pickles by myself for the first time. I think I did pretty good but we can't really try them for a few weeks until all the flavors mesh. I really hope they taste good, that was a lot of work.

8/12/08~ We went boating for Brook's 34 birthday. Brook Jr. brought a friend, A.J., who kept flirting with Bug, and she him. I don't know how I feel about that even though Big D had his first girlfriend in the fourth grade and I had mine when I was in kindergarten. Well, as close as you can get to a boyfriend that young. I'm just not ready for her to start noticing boys yet. I'm comfortable with her believing they have cooties.

8/11/08~ My day of rest after a great vacation. Poor Big D had to go to work. I am trying to get all caught up on everything, but I can't seem to get up.
8/10/08~ A bit of a preemptive strike, I put a movie on for the kids for the trip home. My garden looked very sad when I got home.

8/9/08~ Another day of nothing but fun at the beach, but a little slower than the day before. Everyone was tired and sore but we still managed to have fun.

8/8/08~ We played a little volleyball in the water, went swimming to get away from everyone for some quiet time, took some pictures, and enjoyed each other's company.
8/7/08~ We embarked on our last vacation of the summer. It doesn't matter how big the vehicle you drive, after the tenth time of, "Are we there yet?" it is never be big enough.

8/6/08~ We finished packing the RV in hopes that we can leave as early as possible for Bear Lake. I am surprised Big D didn't make the kids sleep in the RV so we could leave even earlier than the scheduled 9a.m.

8/5/08~ We went to the Twin Falls open house yesterday with my in-laws. What a beautiful temple! I was a bit difficult keeping Bear entertained and reverent, but I should have known that before hand given the difficulty we have keeping him entertained and reverent at church each week. I love that we can share opportunities like this with our children. Hopefully they learn a bit about the importance of going to the temple.

8/4/08~ Packing the RV getting ready for Bear Lake, our grand finale of the summer. I love traveling with my family, we are a hoot, my kids and my brother's and sister's.

8/3/08~ We had twelve kids in nursery and it wasn't as chaotic as we feared it would be, that is until the last five minutes when we had a collision and banged shins, then another collision which resulted in a bloody nose and tears. A little one whose used to getting his own way having to learn a lesson not to grab, which resulted in his tears of confusion on why he doesn't just get the toy he wants. Needless to say, I'm sure parents think we beat their kids right before they come to pick them up.

8/2/08~ We went school shopping, now I remember why I'm going back to school: I love school shopping. I haven't been able to do that for a long long time and every Fall I get the itch. It's not the same school shopping for your kids, that doesn't give you the same satisfaction.

8/01/08~ We went boating last night, for the fourth time this week. We all had a great time and no one got hurt despite the story of a young man dying out there the night before, which made me being a nervous wreck most of the evening.