Random Pictures

Kathy, you are going to laugh at this...It is 5 p.m. and 90 degrees and the kids are outside playing. In fact we are all out in the yard along with the dogs and mosquitoes. The heat has been a little oppressive lately. I went out to water the trees and it actually felt kind of cool. So after announcing the air temp. there was a mad dash for the back door. The kids are saying "It's kind of nice out here".

Victoria wanted a "big kid" project to do so I pulled out our potholder loom. I remember doing these when I was a kid. They have nicer material now than what I remember even from when Daphne was a little girl.
Toby wouldn't move so Kirk made him in the bed. And he still wouldn't move... crazy cat! He has been so lovey since we have been back from our trip. The ol guy really missed us.

Just a cute picture of Victoria.

Symmetry

Today for school Victoria learned about symmetry after reading the Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle...one of our favorite books! This summer I relocated almost all of our art supplies into the kitchen from the garage so that supplies were a little more accessible. I figure that if they are close at hand then we will use them more. They once were long ago prior to new furniture a few years back. Anyway, Victoria was very excited about this project. She couldn't believe that I was letting her drip paint from this big bottle of paint. She reassured me that she had everything under control and leave her alone, she wanted to do it on her own. Okay...okay! And then she proceeded to tell Kaleb almost exactly what I had told her regarding directions when he decided that he wanted to get in on the project. I think it inspired everyone because Daphne and Dad came out to give it a try.

First Day of School

Yes, it's that time again. I feel like I spent alot of time planning for school all summer and now summer's over. It will be nice to get back into the groove of school. This year is a little different than previous years. For one...Daphne is a Senior in High School. I can't believe we have made it this far with wonderful results. Jared is in his first year of High School. EEk, two high schoolers!! Kaleb is a big 5th grader. And little Victoria is Kindergarten! This is a memorable year with Daphne finishing school and Victoria technically starting school. Poor kid has been doing school for the past two years but didn't really count. It was mostly to keep her occupied. It worked. This will be the first year that I can't school any of the kids together with the same subject. Everyone has their plan and somehow by the grace of God I will be able to guide them effectively through their studies and grow into who they are intended to be. It is going to be quite the challenge but I am always up for it. I think they are too. They're good kids. They "usually" do what their teacher instructs them to do. Sometimes I feel like we are a little insane homeschooling and would like some time to myself. But then I think about the relationships that we have as a family and I wouldn't trade them for anything. God blesses us every day when I hear the girls playing Barbies together knowing that Daphne would most likely do something else or seeing some huge creation that the boys built together out of Legos in their bedroom. Life is too short to let some precious moments slip past.

The girls made cupcakes for our first day of school. I love having a daughter who bakes. Daphne got the idea out of Family Fun magazine that came in the mail just 4 days ago. She is a big help around the kitchen. The other day Kaleb and Victoria drew cookies on a paper plate and held it up outside of Daphne's room chanting "We want cookies...bake some cookies..." We all know who to go to when we want something sweet as a treat. A sweet girl for a sweet treat!

Utah in a Nutshell

We had a whirl wind two weeks in Payson Utah looking for work and visiting family. I didn't take many pictures because our focus was on job hunting but I did manage to take a few here and there... This is what we did...
Blow bubbles across from a pumpkin field...and drop off a resume...

Take a rest...the elevation got to us the first few days. We were all tired and had headaches. Play at the park... Henry is such a good sport for being forced to go down slides. Meet new people...even warm fuzzy ones... my cousin Rich is always fun to be around. The kids learned to play pool... We went for walks in our PJ's. My cousin Kathy and her husband Troy came down from Idaho to visit us while we were with Rich and Mary Kaye. It was great seeing them. They brought Kathy's little doggy Zeus. He was teeny but would rough house with the bigger dogs. Victoria was very happy to finally have a dog that she could walk and not be drug halfway down the street. Kathy and Troy. I ahve discovered that Kathy and I are alot alike. It is kind of wierd and funny. King Zeus. We hung out with Duke. Kaleb hid in the basement wells... We watched the "fly Nazi" in search of flies... Rich has this helicopter hanging in his garage with this GI joe guy. The Snappy Plumbing is his company name. He drew the guy himself. He could draw for Marvel Comics. Kaleb lost a tooth within the first hour of arriving in Utah and Victoria lost a tooth near the end of our trip. Mary Kaye was telling us that when she was little her brothers used to call her a "toothless hag" when she lost a tooth. We couldn't help but thinking that Victoria looked like a little "toothless hag" herself. She has lost 6 teeth already this year.Daphne baked cupcakes.....

We went frog hunting... This frog was enormous! I ahve never seen a frog this size in the wild...then again there were alot of firsts...We were all facinated by the weather. Rich was probably thinking we were so wierd but it rained frequently and their hot wasn't even hot. It was warm with a cool breeze.

The last day of our trip we decided to do something completely different. After driving around Utah looking for work kind of wore us out mentally and physically. So we visited the Hogle Zoo with Luke as our tour guide. He told us things we would have never known...and things we wish we never knew...heehee We drove past side ways waterfalls on the way up to Park City to go shopping. Actually I need to rotate the picture that Daphne took...long story...I might just leave it that way. It was beautiful either way. We went school clothes shopping in Park City...MaryKaye and I were in Banana Republic. I never quite got a picture of Mary Kaye...she was gone often with her Mom who had an injury the week that we were there. Kaleb, Jared, Luke, Rich, Chad, Victoria and Kirk.

We came home to 110 degree heat and very tall grass that was nearly dead underneathe. Even though we found no work we had an awesome time. We got to know our family even more. That's all that counts.