September Highlights

Our highlights for September:

• Chipper/shredder marathon weekend. Scot's the one in the chair "observing." --no flash photography, please.
• Labor Day family hike. I think I'm finally recovered.
• We enjoyed dinner and ice cream with my brother, Erin.
• I met all the kids' teachers at the school.
• I took an impromptu drive with Amy & Paul to D.C. area for Quinn's baby shower. Hated to give up the rental car.
• Brian & Scot attended the Stake 11-year-old Scout Day Camp.
• Two friends helped celebrate James' birthday with a trip to the movie theater. The popcorn shaped cake failed, so we just stuck cake & ice cream in popcorn bags. The kids all took turn destroying a party hat pinata, and goodie bags with microwave popcorn & candy were sent home in popcorn bags.
• Paul practiced to hit James' pinata. He overcame many obstacles, most of them being his hat.
• Brian and I went to the Louisville Temple and were actually able to attend a session.
• Maggie turned into Nannie McPhee. She did finally lose the other front top tooth. Not sure if the Tooth Fairy has made it here yet.
• We bought a tree for the front yard. We'll get around to planting it in October.

It was pretty busy around here, getting through the first month of school and transitioning to fall. We are looking forward to General Conference and a long list of items to accomplish between sessions.

2009 Backpacking Trip

Our family's summer goal was to train for and participate in a backpacking overnight trip. While we didn't achieve the end goal this year, we were able to complete all the training segments we planned. Here are the pictures from our last big hike. Starting out in the rain, everyone is now asking Santa for better raingear.

At the trailhead. Ready to go...(back to the car? Please?).


Break time. Trail mix, anyone?
Watch for the mud & poison ivy now that you can see without the poncho.


Nice pack, Scot!
We took all the gear we would need for an overnight trip. The boys pulled their weight and more.


What are you doing outside the pack?
Paul walked a good portion of the trail on his own, which saved me (he's not a light kid!).


We'll follow this guy anywhere.


We had a great time reaching for this goal, including lots of little hikes, equipment assessments, and overnight camps. We will keep working on getting the right gear, improving bathroom ettiquette, and dehydrating our own meals. There are so many beautiful places to explore here in Ohio, we are anxious to make this a family tradition.

Drool Me a River

Subtitle: "Nap Hard"

I don't know if Paul's sudden decision to take his naps wherever/whenever is a result of early morning family prayer, extra ball-kicking activities, or an unusual loss of stubborness but this is the second time we've caught him asleep in the family room. I got these shots while I was making lunch after walking to the park this morning. He did spend more time walking than riding in the stroller, and he laughed a whole lot going down the twisty tube slide. Poor little guy keeps wearing himself out!

Sweet Honey of a Summer

Brian & the boys (minus Paul) got home from DC where they were helping Lauren & Ryan move. Not all of the Cheez-Its from the car ride were eaten & they became our afternoon snack. I came into the kitchen & what did I find? Paul up on the counter, dipping Cheez-Its into a bowl of honey. He thought that was quite tasty!

I'm glad everything got moved in. It would have been fun seeing everyone, but I'm glad at least half of us got to go and help. And thanks for not telling me about the bump on James' head until after he got home.

We are looking forward to a full week of school, with all the associated homework. As a recap of summer and a hope that summer will again return, I wanted to do a quick list of some of the things we did:

We dutch ovened:

We gardened:

We watched movies:

We swam:

We canoeed:

We camped:

Summer, we welcome you in 10 months. Give us a year to grow up--but not too much.

Kick...Ball

Paul knows a good many words. Actually, Paul can copy a good many words. There are only a handful which truly make up his vocabulary. "Again" is one, plus "mom," "dad," and the siblings. "Bus" is making its may up to the top as well. But by far, Paul's favorite two words are "kick" and "ball." Usually together & in that order. This phrase is heard over and over in our house & yard, anywhere he sees a ball, and, I'm sure, in his dreams.

This phrase, has many purposes. Sometimes it's his rallying war cry. Like Boromir's horn, he shouts "kick...ball!", calling all to join him in the fight. Yesterday we had an errand at Target. Does your Target have big red concrete balls in the front sidewalk? Our does. Crossing the parking lot Paul glimpsed one. Summoning all his strength he ran as fast as his legs could go across the lot. "Kick...ball!!" Luckily he hasn't perfected his kicking aim. Others have kicked concrete and not lived to tell the story.

Other times it's a warning. Get out of the way because I'm going to "kick...ball"! You better duck because somewhere a ball is getting kicked. And don't watch out just for the giant size soccer ball that can only roll to you, look sharp for a golf ball to the head.

Mostly it's a pleading question. Will you "kick...ball" to me? Or, can I "kick...ball" to you? And especially, can I have the ball in the middle of the huge bin at Target to "kick...ball" down the aisle? I admit, it's a little hard to resist the puppy dog eyes, and harder to stop him from pulling me out the door to play. At the pool, I end up fetching the ball out of the water just so he can throw it back in.

I have a feeling some type of ball sport is in store for this little guy. Balls of the world, you've been warned.

Back to the Bus

Roaring up the hill, the yellow school bus officially declared our summer is over. Of course, there are no complaints from the kids in our house--so far.


Scot is ecstatic to begin 6th grade. He is looking forward to a locker & being the oldest in the school. I can tell he's ready to begin because he's been watching NOVA clips on pbs.org for the last few days. He's fascinated with fractals & the idea that chimps use tools to get their food.




James will be in 4th grade. Last night we played "Upwords" for FHE (a variation of Scrabble). While he did not win, he made an incredible come back with some awesome word combinations. Can you get "remodel" from "yokel"? We had a fun time & it was reassuring that all our minds had not gone to mush.



Maggie is now a 1st grader. We took her supplies yesterday during the open house. We saw her new desk & who she sits by. She took a piece of paper & pencil to draw a map of the classroom. Her favorite thing in the room was the seashell calendar at the front blackboard, which she drew completely before we left.


As we took pictures this morning, I asked what their favorite activities were this summer. Their answers:

Scot--having Paul move into the boys room & getting his bike fixed
James--no homework
Maggie--camping
Amy--having help cleaning her room-- "it was really hard"
Paul--doing things "again...again...again"

We have done a lot of fun things. Swimming, camping, hiking, gardening, reading. Cleaning, lawn mowing, gardening, preserving, gardening, edging, gardening...ok, so it all wasn't fun. But we got a lot done!

The One That Got Away

All the rain these last couple weeks has given me the necessary excuse of avoiding the garden. Unfortunately, besides not weeding & watering, I also did not look closely for zucchini. This one takes the prize for the biggest one yet. Brian made this deal with the kids: whoever could eat just one zucchini by themselves wouldn't have to eat any more for the rest of the season. Then he showed them which zucchini they'd have to eat. No takers, but they are all very excited to turn this one into zucchini bread--and lots of it.