First Day of Preschool 2009

I can't believe my little stud rat started his last year of preschool! I'm getting so old! He couldn't wait to start and was so excited that Gavyn was going to be in class this year. When I asked him how his first day went he said "we sang some chicken song, but me and Chase didn't." He's not much into performing, but hopefully he learns a lot. The one morning Nikki picked them up she asked them what they learned and Cael told her they learned the letter "N". Gavyn didn't answer her so she asked Gavyn what he learned. Cael immediately answered for Gavyn and said "he learned "N" too, she didn't just teach me!" Some days Some days! I also found out that he has a little girl friend/secret admirer. The one morning I dropped him off my friend Kelly Greenhalgh came up to me laughing and said she had to take Braylee to see Cael's house. Once they drove by she wanted to know if his friend(gav) lived there with him. A few weeks later I helped in class and the next day Kelly said Braylee couldn't wait to tell her that "Cael's mom was there". I just love this age!

Labor Day....and i'm serious!

After months of tending our prize garden it came time to HARVEST! We started early on Saturday morning picking and only stopped just long enough to swallow a piece of pizza and then we were back to work. When the seven heaping laundry baskets showed up my dad hurried and ran to greenline and bought 3 more pressure cookers. That gave us 4 cookers to tend and they would do around 19 pints each, so I thought we would be done in no time...I was wrong. Even with the 4 cooker we still didn't finish until around 11 pm that night. We had already froze corn during the week and then with our marathon bottling day we ended up with around 200 pints each plus 40 for my grandpa. I was so tired when I landed in my bed that night, but it made me feel sooo good to think of my selves full of corn for the year.

On Monday, Casey got a wild hair and finally gutted our master bathroom that we haven't used in over year...long story. By the end of the day he had Everything out of the bath and ready to finish. I might actually have my shower back...Yahoo! He also replaced the little prison window with a nice big one we can actually see out of. I will post final pict later when the project is complete, but here's a couple for now.

Update on the growing monkies!

Cael has been loving summer! He's reached the age where he wants to play with his friends in the neighborhood. Most mornings when I'm home we spend outside riding bikes and visiting with neighbors. He finally passed swimming lessons this year and they even tried moving him up to the tadpole class after the third day. The only problem was that in the starfish class all they really do is play in the water, so when it came time to actually learn how to swim they didn't think that was fun and refused to put their face in the water for the new teacher. We decided it wouldn't hurt to let them spend one more year in the star fish class. Hopefully they will move up next year or we will have all the kids in the same class when the girls start (ha ha)! He still does not want to be left out of anything. He loves to help and is actually good to have around. During one of Kensies naps I decided to lay down myself. He wanted to lay by me and I hoped that he too would fall asleep. I laid there pretending to be asleep. He looked at me and got off the couch, went and got a blanket out of the cabinet and came and laid it over me. I just laid there still pretended to be asleep, he then turned the TV off, went in his room and got his shoes on and then went out side. It was so sweet and it made me sad to think that he is that old and mature. Nikki loves having him around and he is always so good to help her with the kids. His main jobs are to pass out all the kids meals, walk Nikki's dog, and tell Nikki when the girls need a "change in pants." Some days he can be so stubborn and I loose my temper easily, but I truly can not imagine life without him. He also has been good to clean him room and the one morning he kept calling me from his room to "come see". I finally drug myself out of bed and walked around the corner to find he had picked up his room and even made his bed. He was sooo proud of his work. Since then he begs me to let him help clean and he's really not that bad. His favorite show is Phineas and Ferb and I often find myself laughing at it. Since Nikki has been tending them, Cael and Grandpa Hal have started teasing each other. Most of their talks are about business. Cael: Hey Hal how did you take Gavyn's training wheels off? You don't have a wrench! Hal couldn't believe that Cael knew that you used a wrench to take the washer off the bolt. I say it all the time... He's a 40 year old man trapped in a 4 year olds body! Cael's favorite piece of equipment at the farm is the JCB. Hal teases him every chance he gets about . Nikki says Cael just twitches as he defends the JCB.

Kensie aka toddler tornado! Oh she has been a handful lately and like her brother can be very stubborn. I still can not turn my back or she is messing something up. I wait until she is sound asleep before I even try to clean or pick up! She loves to sing and dance especially at church. During Relief Society she was dancing to the music and I look down at her and noticed she had pulled her dress up and one bum cheek was hanging out for the sisters to see. She also loves to help, but I wish she was as helpful as her brother. She is getting a little better to let me do her hair, but she still doesn't last real long. She figured out that if she hugs me, then I can't get to her hair. Oh the little stink. She's got the cutest squeal she does when she's trying to scream. She loves to be outside. After several fist fights between her and Addison Ludlow over Addison trike we finally bought her one. Kensie will not share and then steals everyone Else's toys. She is finally starting to talk. The words I can understand are
mommy
daddy
ba ba - brother
baby
ha ee- Halle
Nin ee- Nikki
me me- minnie
d- drink
ma ma- grandma
pa pa- grandpa
doggy
O- when you answer her question
bite- as she's trying to force feed me
see- when she wants to hold something
nan nee - candy (I had to translate to Nikki over the phone what she was saying)
cook cook- cookie
be be- blankie
gee-gee- excuse me after she burps, someone else burps, or if she growls.

her favorite treat is cheese and pop. She loves to take a hit off of mine. Her favorite toys are her babies with a blanket. She's been using her burp rags for their blankies and they are the perfect size. My mom bought a paper doll sticker book from my Usborne party and that has quickly became her favorite thing to do at my moms. The minute we open the door she runs for the cabinet that it's in. On Monday she ran to Nikki and wanted her to follow her into the bedroom. Nikki had Sesame Street on and there was a girl in a wheel chair on the show. She ran up to the TV and said Ow-ee. I couldn't believe she would even know that. It just goes to show that they know a lot more than we think. Her new thing is to try and dress herself. She is soo set on doing it herself and she has come up with some stunning combinations. Most the time it's both legs in the same hole or one arm and her head in the same hole and lots of layers.
see more pics @ http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102326&id=1332408589&l=d3a5c13a19

Boulder Mountain and Girls Only weekend....

Every year the guys in Casey's family spend the bow hunt with the MEN...no girls allowed. I've not ever been to offended by it, I think It's good for him to spend time with his Dad, Uncles and cousins. The last 2 years Cael's been old enough to go and they spend most the weekend sleeping in, fishing, 4-wheeling, and just having some quality relaxation time! The fishing was good this year and Cael caught several with his Batman fishing pole. Casey almost had to jump in after his pole when a fish jumped at his bait. Cael's not to fond of them when they are out of the water, but he did try some for dinner! Me and Kens spent the weekend shopping, eating out, and sleeping! On Saturday we went shopping with my mom and I was shocked on how good she was. Usually one of us just stays in the car so we don't have to deal with her in the store. I think it must have been because Cael wasn't there. She loves him so much and always wants to be loving on him. So when he wasn't there to torment her, she was actually pretty content to shop. We even ate at Olive Garden. I was pretty hesitant to eat there just because I knew she would sit, but she proved me wrong by sitting in her chair and dipping bread sticks. After this weekend I am convinced it's good to spend alone time with both my kids. I could believe how their personality changed when they were by themselves.

Juab County Fair 2009

In March, my good friend Amanda invited Cael to do a Cloverbud class so he would have some fun stuff to put in the Fair. When it came time to take all his goods to the fair he threw a total fit and cried "they're gonna throw it away!!!" I finally convinced him that they were only going to give him a ribbon and then he could TAKE IT HOME! I'm tellin ya...some days! Anyway, we also took down all our veggies and received every color of ribbon (except purple). The losers of the group were the some-what red tomatoes which got a white :( and some of our squash, but the cucumbers and green tomatoes pulled through with a blue. Cael's 4-h stuff earned him greens for being a clover-buds entry. I wish we could of spent more time down there, but my work schedule was a little more demanding than usual and the weather was ugly. We missed the junior rodeo because Cael wouldn't agree to muttin bust, even after several bribes- maybe next year. We still made it to the ATV rodeo, lead line, and the best of all....The derby!

Good bye Ole-REd!

After being in our family for over 10 years, Big Red moved to California....with his new owner! It was kinda hard for me to see him go. This was the truck we went on our honeymoon in, moved into our house with, brought Cael home from the hospital in, and many more memories over the years. So many things have changed since Casey first bought this truck and when I think about it I wouldn't change a thing....even outgrowing this truck! Oh and FYI if Cael asks....big red now works at disneyland!

How does your garden grow??

Every year we have been going to do a family garden and well It's never happened until this year. It turned out to be so much fun and I can't wait until fall to harvest. We've tried to go down once or twice a week and weed and that has really helped! The kids love to go down and we have ended up taking Kaitlyn and Abbie along with the neighbor kids down to weed and they have all had a blast. They especially loved getting to ride on the Jarrett Express (aka Grandma Vicki pulling a wagon behind the 4-wheeler) The garden consists of around 250 potato plants, tomato, pumpkin, watermelon, onions, zucchini, peppers, and a ton of sweet corn! We should be well stocked by fall.

more pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108343&id=1332408589&l=7b2d3f3716