Till we meet again

Heaven welcomed a great man today. Casey's Grandpa Webb passed away this morning. I'm lucky I got to know him, and am grateful for his example in our lives. He worked hard, served the church faithfully, and loved his family very much. I cannot convey Casey's feelings myself, but I know he has always looked up to and loved his grandpa.

We love you Papa Webb; till we meet again.

Family Pictures

I love pictures; they are moments captured that we get to look back on and smile, laugh, roll our eyes, or just wonder what the what? I enjoy having family photos taken, but since our wedding experience of how much I payed for what the little I got I am hesitant to go pro. and dump money into pictures. (It may have to do with the fact that I'm kinda cheap too.) Vanessa's was generous and let us borrow her great camera that has continuous photo taking abilities, and Cody kindly took a bunch of photo's for us when he was visiting.
I'm sure most family pictures with small children are tricky. One looks away, won't stop talking, and can't focus for her life. The other wants to get down to run around, see's something interesting on the ground, and won't give a genuine smile to save his life. O well. We shot over two hundred pictures and I'm happy that I was able to find a handful that are suitable for the wall, some OK shots, and plenty to laugh or roll my eyes at.

While we picked a spot to take pictures Kendal found a rock, sat down and started singing I am a child of God to herself.

 Tried some tickle time to get smiles out of them.

 These last two are "I'm done!" pictures.

Extra:

Yesterday Casey's cousin was married in the Twin Falls Temple. Kendal had questions all day long about it. She enjoyed going to the reception and seeing the "Beautiful princess" she ran around and any kid that would come with her near the bride and groom she would tell them that they got married and she was a princess. So cute.  On our way to the reception I told her the bride would be in a beautiful white dress. She asked if uncle Cody was going to wear a white dress when he gets married someday. (No Kendal, his bride will, he will not. : D)

Casey and Brett's football team won their first game this last week against Bhul! Their last game will be this week at home so the kids and I get to go and cheer them on. It's been an ok season with some novice players, some decent players and some very opinionated parents. Casey's glad his season is ending but only gets a week off then he starts coaching freshman girls basketball.

Kendal is excited for her approaching birthday and wants reminders daily of when it is. We ask her what she wants and she tells that we can decide and she'll probably love it.

Till next time, happy fall ya'll!

Preschool time

This week was my week to host preschool. It's been a while since I've taught preschool; (2007 when I did it in college, and I did after school club for five years) so I knew it would be fine. The curriculum for the program is set for the year and each lesson is very detailed. It's a good curriculum I'm just not in love with it so I decided to take out and add a couple of things here and there in the lesson plans.  Mix in some activities, songs, learning days of the week, and a couple of active activities that's pretty much preschool. This weeks theme was The Earth.
 Tuesday we covered seasons, seeds (how plants grow), and the color orange. As long as I remembered that each child has a different attention span / interest in the activity I felt the day went well. The only hiccup was playing a version of duck duck goose. For what seemed like no reason at all a couple of the younger girls cried during the game. They had a hoot running around the circle, but both had melt downs when it was their turn to go around and pick. (I don't think they understood the game fully, o well.)
Today (Thursday) we talked about animals, pets, uses for animals, made bird feeders, and star constellations.Things were going well till our last half hour of the day. One of the little girls rushed to the bathroom and just stood there a minute then started to cry. (didn't get there fast enough). Nothing would console her and I couldn't even get to change out of the soiled clothes. So I quickly threw my last two activities out the window, pulled out play doh for the other kids, called her mom, and tried my best to help the inconsolable little girl.

As always Kendal enjoys preschool and spending time with her friends and cousin.

Left to right: Making constellations, running around like different animals, play doh time

Fun times / crazy times, it's all good!

Sunny but sick for Conference

Wednesday afternoon/evening Kendal got hit with the a stomach virus. Poor girl emptied her stomach numerous times and had a few clothing changes all starting waiting in line at Arctic Circle. (Now when we pass she doesn't just call it Arctical circle, she calls it Arctical Circle - the place I threw up. )
Thursday she wasn't herself, but no throw up so I hoped the sick was behind us. WRONG.
Friday morning Kendal emptied her stomach again; but she was excited for my family to come so she didn't let it get her down. My parents and sister arrived around lunch on Friday. Kendal was happy to have them here and didn't act to sick the rest of the day. We all went exploring around the Twin Falls area to see the canyon, the town, and then Shashone falls. During our outting I started feeling icky. Then Peter unloaded on my Dad, me, his car seat, and himself. Poor kid had to finish our little outting in a diaper and wrapped up in daddy's jacket. That night I was miserable and Peter was a bit grumpy.

 Saturday we got to watch conference and I was starting to feel so so, however our bug hit Casey full force. We left Casey to sleep and went to the park for lunch hoping to get the some energy out of the kids also. Just before heading back Kendal emptied her stomach yet again in the park. We took it easy and watched more conference. We went to see the Twin falls after the session for a quick outing. Saturday night we made cookies while the boys went to Priesthood. (Casey wasn't up to going but I chided that he only had to sit there so he went.) Unfortunately that night the bug got passed onto my poor sister.

Sunday was full of more wonderful conference a lot of sensitive tummy's and naps for almost everyone.
I'm grateful my parents and sister came to spend time with us. Aside from being sick it was a good weekend; sunny and family time. I feel bad it wasn't very awesome for them and hopefully my parents escape this nastiness.

Fall is coming

Fall may not be my favorite season, but there are things about it that I enjoy about it. I enjoy the crisp you feel in the air (as long as I have a sweater), leaves changing colors, and the glorious food (apples, corn, pumpkin, cider, etc.)
Fall also means canning season. I'm no expert, but I feel more experienced when it comes to canning. My treasure so far has been green beans, peaches, and chili sauce. None of this would be possible without my sister in law Vanessa's wonderful help. She knows so much about canning and has let me invade her home to can this past month. Vanessa, Sarah, and I spent all day yesterday ignoring our kids ; ) and putting up yummy things.
Here is a sample of my doings

Kendal is enjoying preschool. She asks daily if it is a preschool day and when it is a preschool day she's very excited. She can't wait to go, and procrastinates leaving when I come to pick her up. Kendal is having fun at preschool and likes to tell us about what she did and all of the friends she gets to be with. Below is a sample of Kendal's preschool crafts. Going clockwise - learning about the color blue, self portrait, melted crayon art, blue bird collage, and a sensory page of smells.

Kendal is over the moon with how much time we get to spend with cousins lately. We've started getting the cousins together on Wednesdays. This past week Nicole brought the boys up and we had all eight little monkeys were around. We "invade" aunt Vanessa's house a lot, and are grateful she welcomes the chaos.  Kendal will be four in less than two months. She's excited for her birthday to come and even more excited for Halloween. I've jumped the gun and started Halloween costumes. Casey's Smee shirt is made, and the kids costumes are sewn but not dyed green yet. 
 Often times Peter falls asleep on our way home from dropping Kendal off at preschool. I put him down for a nap and usually get some cleaning done. Peter's sixth tooth is now out. Pete is a smiley little guy, but he also has his withdrawn moments when he's shy. He's enjoyed freedom in Vanessa's backyard that has a slide, a little, house, and plenty of kids to wander around after.

Casey had his second football game a couple of days ago. He played Declo last week. Grandma Darrington came up and watched the game with us. I think it was a little off to her to be sitting opposite her home team. It took a few times for Kendal to understand that Uncle Brett and Daddy both coach together and that's why they were both on the field. Having snacks helped the kids get through some of the game. But wiggles set in and Kendal and Peter were done being still on the benches. Skinny Kendal gave some 6th graders a peep show when her pants fell down while she was climbing the bars. (I just shake my head at this little girl sometimes) The football team lost to Declo and they also lost their game this week. Casey knows these boys need to work on a lot to be decent. Right now Casey and Brett are doing their best with what they've been given. I know Casey is doing a good job and I hope these boys can toughen up, get some game, and pull out a win for them sometime this season.
Happy Fall!

It's time

To the few who read this blog I thank you for your care and interest in my little family's doings. Casey and I feel it is time that we make this blog private. I post regularly, and put a lot of information about my family, so it's high time I make this happen.
If you're interested in keeping up with our happenings please leave your email in the comments, or message me on Facebook.

small trip home

It was my dad's birthday this past Thursday. After preschool the kids and I headed down to Logan. The kids love seeing family. We spent a lot of time playing outside and enjoyed being together. The kids gave my Dad 60 treats for his birthday with a few saying and pictures.
We drove by "our Temple" on Friday and went to a cool castle park. My brothers were busy on Thursday so we had our family dinner on Friday.
Saturday we enjoyed more outside time. The kids had a blast with the bikes and toys you ride on, and Pete loved being pulled/pushed around on the toys. we ended our visit with a hot dog roast. Probably the last of the year.  It was good to see family. I'm kicking myself for not taking my camera, so no pictures for this post.