Cross Country

This is one busy girl.

Along with school, homework, babysitting, Wednesday after-school job (helps a mom of 4 young kids, with laundry), YW, Cantus choir practice and normal family stuff, Rylee fits in Cross Country.

Each meet she's improved on her time and ranking.

This meet was against Sawtooth.

She ran so fast I barely got a picture of her crossing the finish line.

Way to go Rylee!

Grape Juice

My grandma canned.

My mom canned, when I was young.

My sister cans.

I don't can... unless you count freezer jam... but I don't.

Amber has an awesome back yard filled with nature's bounty. She and Tawnya made grape juice and grape jelly last year. This year, the birds thought Amber's grapes were yummy.

Amber called me worried that the birds would eat them ALL. She talked me into, sweet-talking my mom into, sweet-talking my grandma into, lending me some canning jars and her grape juicer.

We rescued a shallow bucket-full of grapes.

We washed. We smooshed. Then we put the grapes into the juicer, boiler thingy.

As the water boiled, the steam rendered the juice out of the grapes. We then released the clip on the tubing and fresh grape juice flowed into the hot, sanitized jars. We didn't strain the juice at first, but decided it was a good idea, when we noticed a few chunks.

Then we put the lids and rings on and turned them upside-down to seal.

VOILA!

Grape juice.

Thanks to Amber I can now say, I didn't can.

Halloween Tree

One afternoon, while ALL my kids were in school, I got a decorating whim.....

I took this little pink tree.

Spray painted it black.

Then made some garland.

I punched out cute scrapbook paper circles and sewed them together with my sewing machine.

I think it turned out cute.

Fits right in with my other Halloween decor.

So to answer the question, "What will you do with ALL of your kid-free time?"

....this week, make a Halloween tree.

Just Dance!

A friend in the ward just started a little dance class in her home.

Abree gets to learn ballet, jazz, creative movement and maybe even some hip-hop. She'll have a dance recital in the Winter and Spring. I think I may be more excited about this than Abree. I can't wait. I think it will be so cute! :)

Go Big Blue!

There was a lot of cheering going on at our house Monday night.

BOISE.....

STATE ! ! !
" Go ORANGE... Go big BLUE!
Fight, fight BSU!"

Lots of CrAzY FAns too.

Family and friends came over to watch Boise State's first game of the season against Virginia Tech.

The run down--- Boise had an early lead... Virginia Tech came back in the second quarter... They went back and forth during the third quarter.... By the fourth quarter Virginia was in the lead.... In the last 2 minutes Boise State scored, gaining the lead and then held it to win Boise 33, Virginia Tech 30!

I saw some of the first quarter, but was filled in on all the nail-biting details of the rest of the game, later. I was the self-appointed young bronco wrangler, for the night. (Which I am totally fine with.) I'm happy to hear the cheering coming from upstairs and see the game highlights replayed over and over, for the next week or more.

Way to go BSU!

Tales of the First Day

This is how our first day of school went......

Leading up to the first day of school, I heard underground rumblings of Rylee not being so excited about Taylee going to HER middle school. I guess being in 8th grade makes you SO mature and SO NOT a 6th grader. Taylee seized the opportunity to push a few of Rylee's "buttons". I heard things like;

"You don't want to ride bikes to school, JUST because you're afraid you'll mess up your hair!"

"Are you afraid I'm going to embarrass you?!"

"You know you don't have to look PERFECT all the time!"

Even with these rumblings, I also overheard plans being made about getting to bed early, outfits being coordinated and details about the hairstyles for the first day of school;

"Do you think I should wear the black flats or my converse?"

"Should I flat iron my hair or curl it?"

"Which necklace looks good with this shirt?"

The night before and the morning of, they were giddy. They got up WAY early, like 4 or 5am, got showered, dressed and then got to work on hair (and make-up). Rylee let Taylee wear one of her new necklaces and did her hair in ringlets. I thought it was an interesting combo, but what do I know. Taylee loved it and felt pretty and that's what counts.

They debated back and forth whether they would walk or have me take them to school. It was finally decided I would be driving them to school. They posed for their "first day of school" pictures and then we were off.

Rylee came home bummed about a math test they had the very next day. Taylee reported she had received compliments on her shirt and necklace. Then Rylee asked, "Didn't anyone say anything about your hair?" "No." I assured her it was lovely and that people probably thought she looked that fabulous every day.

From a young age, we noticed that Taylee was her father's daughter, in many ways. No exception when it came to being directionally-challenged. As I said in a previous post, I physically walked Taylee through her schedule, pointing out signs and clues to help her get where she needed to go. I was a little worried she would get mixed up, turned around and then frustrated. I wanted her to feel as confident and relaxed as possible, on her first day of middle school.


Taylee reported with a chuckle, "Guess what Mom. I accidentally went to my last class twice and totally missed my class with Mrs. Storey." Then she continued to tell me the funny details. --It wasn't until the next day, she finally realized she had been in the wrong keyboarding class, on the first day. She said, "We wondered why I wasn't on the roll?"

Even with the mix up, she seemed excited and still confident. Whew!


For the first time, in the history of Treyson, he is the oldest sibling at his school. With this position comes great responsibility.... getting Abree and himself home, safe and sound.


At his school's meet-n-greet teacher night, we walked through the route he would take from his classroom to where Abree would be waiting with her class/teacher. He assured me that he could figure it out, no problem. The Kindergarten teacher told us he would have to physically talk to her, before taking Abree home. She had to be checked off the list. Again, no problem.


After school, I decided I would meet them. I found Abree and waited in position, hoping I'd see Treyson soon. As I was talking to Abree about her day, Treyson showed up and said, "What are you doing here? I told you I would pick her up." I high-fived him for a job well done and assured him I was there so I could hear about their first day of school, right away. :)



I have to admit, I get a little antsy around 3:45p each day, but am excited (and relieved) when they BOTH walk through the front door. :)


Way to go Treyson!

Although Abree was WAY excited about Kindergarten, I wondered what the actual going-to-Kindergarten would be like for her.

We got there a little early, so she could remember where to put her backpack, where to line-up and give her the opportunity to play on the equipment if she wanted to.

She did a little playing, but mostly hung out with me.

When Mrs. Matthews came out and blew the whistle, she grabbed her backpack and quickly got in line. She looked a little nervous, but mostly excited.

As she walked in her line and through the doors, I expected her to glance over her shoulder and give me one last look. She didn't. I keep watching for this look each day. She's hasn't done it even once. Guess I need it more than she does. :)

I can report I didn't cry. I did have a tiny moment of thinking I might start crying, but being behind the camera lens and snapping lots of pictures distracted me. I'm so proud of her. It's hard to believe, my baby's growing up!!!

Abree's highlight of the first day of school; drinking PINK strawberry milk.