mustard

Instead of ketchup. Get it????

Josh is back at it in school. He is pretty pumped for this years bb season. So am I. He has been into FB debates a lot, as well as studying up on Christ and the Bridegroom symbology.

I have been canning a lot. A LOT. It's been fun. I can even make salsa with strictly my own ingredients from the garden. Enjoying Eragon Inheritance series right now.

Thad is Thad. He is so very two right now. Good thing he is so dang cute, cause otherwise he might not be as bearable. He had an eye check up recently and is our first child to not need glasses. Knock on wood, I hope that lasts! Right now he loves to play with balls, loves to throw and kick 'em. He loves to play chase and loves to laugh. He is a monkey-see monkey-do kind of guy. He really loves his older siblings and will do anything they do.

Monet has started pre-k. Loves it. Loves her classmates and loves that she gets to wear a backpack to school and take out library books. She is growing up too fast. She has been seen walking around with earbuds in her ears, and I get an uncomfortable glimpse into the future. She loves to help me out. Just the other day she helped me skin 10 lbs of tomatoes. Happily.

Enoch is in grade 2 and enjoying it. After having a home reading nazi for a teacher last year (don't get me wrong, she is a great teacher), I never even have to tell him to read his books. He just always does it. Weird to have one so devoted to homework. I'll have to have him read this when he is 12. Enoch is loving Diary of a Wimpy Kid books right now, as well as baseball, Pink Panther, and of course, Lego.

Levi finds himself in grade 3. he has told me several times that he has the nicest teacher in the whole school. He is a great helper with Zeke. I have even gotten him out of bed to hold the baby when I've needed to get some finishing touches on canning done. Levi has been into drawing lately. He traced about 3 dozen different planes and has them all memorized. Josh and him can talk planes and to me it sounds like a different language.

Zeke is growing way too fast. He just got his first shots and is already 20 lbs. He is inching forward on carpet and scooting backwards on lino. He can spin around on his tummy and change directions. He can flip over from his front to his back. He laughed once, really awesomely, on August 28th. Haven't heard that perfect full laugh since, although we get super big smiles anytime we ask for them. I have to refrain myself everyday from eating his cheeks and those dimples. He was an awesome sleeper and now he is an OK sleeper. Oh well. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

fhe

FHE. The dreaded weekly event that can end up really wonderful, or extremely sour, depending on the mood of parents and children alike.
Last week was one of those Mondays where I really didn't want to make the effort. I didn't have it in me. The kids were playing nicely outside, should I really stop them from what they are doing and drag them inside, just to sit down and have a lesson when they already had a lesson at church yesterday????

Persevere I did, and dragged them inside. Monet wanted to teach the lesson, and she chose to do it on reverence. We got a little lesson together and she did her thing. We talked about how reverence helped us to recognize the spirit. Daddy shared a bible story about how the voice of the Lord wasn't in the earthquake or in the wind, but in a still small voice. Next, we had an activity where we all made as much noise as we wanted to while listening to rock music. While that was going on, I called Josh's cell. No one heard it. No one. When I turned off the music and quieted everybody down (baby is now awake, btw), they were stunned to hear that the phone had gone off. I think they actually grasped that maybe, just maybe, that is why sacrament meeting can be boring, cause they aren't truly being reverent. It's more than just being quiet, its listening. It was good. I was happy, it wasn't so bad after all.

At the end we invited Monet to share her testimony. It was simple and sweet, and we could all feel the spirit. Significantly, we were all able to identify that we felt the spirit. What a wonderful evening we had, and I was so glad we took a few minutes to turn our home into a temple. FHE. Sometimes great, sometimes crazy. But that was a good one.

best ever

I had the best. birthday. ever. EVER!

As cool and collected as I am about most things, my birthday isn't one of them. I don't like birthdays. Haven't since I turned 20. I could have been 19 forever! Thankfully, I didn't get my wish and have continued to climb the ladder over the years. Of course, there are SO MANY blessings that I would have missed had I stayed 19. For example:

 and

 and of course, this:

Anyways, back to the best birthday ever. I got a garmin watch. Yes. I am happy over something so trivial and worldly. Do understand that it is something I have wanted for a long long time. Maybe 4 years or so. But the best part was that I got to spend the day with my family in Waterton. We ate at the park in town and then drove on up to Red Rock and walked around.

Oops. There was something even better. I got to ride into Waterton. On my bike (last years present), with my watch, telling me how fast and how far I have ridden. With the mountains slowly coming in closer and closer. With nothing but the wind screaming in my ear. It was heavenly and so much fun. Makes me want to bike all around Italy. But that is a dream for another birthday.

Thanks to my awesome husband for the great day. It was one to remember!