Love 4 My Family

Katie

2012-01-23T13:46:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when Katie gets ahold of my phone. She should know better, she knows I like to blog stuff like this.

Bounce!!!

2012-01-23T13:42:00.001-08:00

Emily's preschool group had a field trip last week to Bounce, an indoor collection of bounce stuff. The big kids were out of school so they got to go too.

It was fun to watch them get stuck on the Velcro wall. Emily's favorite place was the big slide.

At the Dentist

2012-01-19T14:11:00.001-08:00

Emily had a visit to the dentist today. She just up in the chair and laid right back to watch the show in the ceiling.

Fast or Slow?

2012-01-01T17:54:00.001-08:00

"I am gonna slow!"

Emily's comment during family council after Steve reminded the family about next Sunday being a Fast Sunday and reminding everyone to fast.

Clean Laundry...

2011-12-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, after seeing a friend's post, I made my own laundry soap. I have made a double batch for around $20 as I already had a big bucket of Oxyclean and a big bag of the baking soda too. I have about 30 pounds of laundry soap made. It smells good in the wash but doesn't leave a perfumy smell when the clothes are dried. I placed a tablespoon measuring spoon in the soap with the instructions to the kids to use no more than 2 tablespoons for their load. It will be fun to see how long this laundry soap lasts. I always hate the price of laundry soap in the stores and now I may never buy it pre-mixed again.
-------------------

DIY Laundry Soap

1- 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle
1 -4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle
1- box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle
3- bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle
2- small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle.(this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better)

Here's to many clean loads of laundry!!!!

Source: beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com via Jeniffer on Pinterest

For Humans

2011-12-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Steve here.

I told Emily it was okay to take a drink from a gallon jug of distilled water. She was unsure about drinking from such a strange bottle. I told her, "it's okay, go ahead."

She took a drink and said it tasted good.

"Of course it did, I put drinking water in that bottle. It's drinking water."

"It's just for humans!" she said, "Not for bugs, or kangaroos, or tigers, or other tigers...or lions."

Emily gives a talk...

2011-12-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

Emily gave her first talk in Primary today. I prepared her talk and reviewed it with her and she wanted her Daddy to help her give it. She usually is so very shy in front of people. She sat in front of the room and declared to the closest teacher that she was giving a talk today. She showed her pictures and repeated what her Daddy whispered to her. She did great! I sat a couple of rows back and pointed my phone-camera at her inconspicuously while she spoke.

Pinned him....

2011-12-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

Carson is really enjoying wrestling. He has wrestled 5 matches and won 3 of those matches. Not too bad for his first year. It is fun to watch him.

Emily put on Carson's headgear and said "Mom, look..."

And that is Carson getting ready to make his 3rd winning pin! Way to go Carson!

Ward Christmas party...

2011-12-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday our ward had a Christmas breakfast. The wise men came, otherwise known as our Bishopric.

The children acted out the Nativity scene.

We even had the animals in the stable which included our Emily. She was excited to be a sheep until it was time to be a sheep. She was finally ok with going on stage if she could be a sheep-lion. If you notice her hands most of the time are curled like claws. If you ask her about being a sheep she will correct you that she was a sheep-lion.

The finale...

Christmas Music at RMHS....

2011-12-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

Logan had his Holiday Concert last week too. He looks so handsome in his Tux. All the choirs sang beautifully! I love to see my kids in choir as that is where I was in school too! It was the most fun!

They are singing again....

2011-12-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last week we had two back to back concerts with Carson & Katie's middle school concert and then Logan's high school concert. The kids had fun and looked cute in their festive attire.

Carson joined choir second quarter and is loving it!!

Carson had a blast singing and being upfront with the Santa letters.

A little fun in Sumner...

2011-12-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

On November 18th we headed to Washington to spend Thanksgiving with Steve's parents. The first activity of our trip was to head to the fairgrounds to the Quilt show for the big girls and I. Steve, Grandpa, and the boys went to the train show.

Zoo.....

2011-12-18T10:07:00.000-08:00

We had a great visit to the Point Defiance Zoo in spite of the grey clouds looming overhead. (A corn maze photo snuck into the beginning of the slideshow....oops!)

Playing in the leaves....

2011-12-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

The kids had some fun raking leaves at the neighborhood park so they could jump in the piles of leaves. It was cold but they had fun till the sun went down.

Happy Birthday Jon!!

2011-12-18T09:56:00.000-08:00

We miss our son Jonny and we celebrated his birthday on November 9th surrounded by family and close friends. We ate Jonny's favorite dinner, pizza followed by Jonny's favorite birthday cake, an ice cream cake.

We each wrote a note to Jonny and put it inside a balloon. We took the helium filled balloons and let them go outside.

Happy Birthday Kristina....

2011-12-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

Kristina turned 15 on November 17th. She requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I was happy to make those wishes come true.

Zoo Lights...

2011-12-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Saturday night, November 26th we headed back to the zoo to see Zoo Lights. The Murphy cousins from Utah were staying the night on their way back to California. The kids had a great time visiting while going around the Zoo. The lights were amazing! Most of the animals were not available to see during this event.

Logan, Nathan, Grandpa, and Carson

Emily inside of the Sea Anemone at the play ground in the Zoo. The kids couldn't see each other the toys very much either but they climbed in and played anyway. Thanks to Steve's flash on his camera we could get this cute shot.

Corn Maze...

2011-12-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

We made our annual trek to the Corn Maze and had some fun.

We did the smaller maze with Emily while the big kids went off in hopes of finding every station on their maze card and completing the maze.

Emily's New Bike...

2011-12-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

Emily got a big girl bike all fixed up for her birthday. She loves to do what the big kids do.

Preschool Field Trip

2011-12-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

On one of the most beautiful days of Fall back in October we loaded up and went to Camel's Back Park in Boise with Emily's preschool group. My big kids were out of school that day and we even had a couple of extra kids with us. We hiked straight up that big hill and took trails all around top of the hill. We had a picnic lunch when we were done. The kids had a great time.

Katie's Fall Choir Concert

2011-12-18T09:18:00.000-08:00

Katie loves singing in choir. Their fall concert they did some fun music that and I got to accompany them on the piano too. Emily loved going to school each day when I would go and practice with the choir. She would get to see her sister and buddy Carson would meet us after choir and parade his sister around the lunch room, showing her off to all of his friends.

I love to see the kids singing in choir and enjoying themselves.

Halloween 2011....

2011-12-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

Emily was a Lady Bug this year. She was thrilled to go around the Ward trunk-or-treat party to collect her treats. Everytime she would see one of the other costumed children she would just giggle. It was fun!

Happy Birthday Katie!!!

2011-12-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

Katie turned 13 on November 24th, Thanksgiving day. She is finally a teenager! We were in Washington for Thanksgiving so she got to have her party at her Murphy grandparents' home.

Katie is a fun girl with a great sense of humor and drama!

We were at the Point Defiance zoo in Tacoma and Katie decided to strike a pose on the stage where a sign is posted "Employees Only" Apparently at 13 we can no longer read....

Cozy Feet...

2011-11-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Warming up their feet after the day in the rain. They all layed down in front of the fireplace when we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Washington.

Snoqualmie Falls....

2011-11-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

It rained and rained and rained during our visit to Washington in November. Since there was so much rain Grandpa thought the Snoqualmie Falls would be fun to visit. The falls were amazing! We got completely drenched walking from the car across the street to the viewing area for the falls.
The white mist around the falls is actually mist from the amazing amounts of water pouring over and crashing at the bottom of the falls.

Carson the Wrestler....

2011-11-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

Carson finally has a place to wrestle where I won't send him to his room for doing it!

Carson lost his first wrestling match. He wrestled against a kid who won a state championship last year.

Logan sings...

2011-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Last night Logan performed in his first high school choir concert. He looked mighty handsome in his Tux too! He seemed to walk a little taller being in his Tux! They sang 3 songs and did very well. It is fun to see my kids really enjoying themselves and Logan looked like he was having great fun!

Apples....

2011-10-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

We went last Saturday afternoon to pick apples with Grandma Lockhart. Of course no outing would be complete without Steve taking over 250 photos of the event! I must say he did get some cute shots of the kids! I am grateful for the enormous photo collection I have of my children. Sometimes the photos and memories are all we have left... I miss my Jonny!

These are a few of my favorite shots from our apple picking adventure.
The slideshow below shares more of the kids having fun.

Artist at work....

2011-10-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Emily has been enjoying the coloring project she received in her birthday box. I think some of the big kids have enjoyed it just as much too!

Emily's Birthday Box....

2011-10-17T17:41:00.000-07:00

Emily received a package in the mail from her grandparents in Washington. She even read her name on the box "Emily Marie Murphy" although it really said "Miss Emily Murphy"

She was delighted as she pulled each treasure out of the box. The trick was for the photographer to keep up with the presentations.

Even the big kids have enjoyed watching, sharing, and helping Emily enjoy her birthday box treasures!

From Grandma's Pumpkin Patch...

2011-10-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

The kids got to pick their pumpkins from Grandma Lockhart's pumpkin patch this year. She had some really good-sized ones too. Emily was thrilled to pick out her own pumpkin. She didn't go for big, just for the one she liked!

My new wall...

2011-10-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

I found this set of vinyls on a website my friend asked me to look at doing for her. I fell in love with the highlighted special that was on the homepage and had to order it for my wall. I went through the thousands of photos on my computer to find my favorites to enlarge. I went by another friend's business and bought frames and then off to TaiPan Trading company and found the wrought iron piece at the top. It has just made the whole room come together nicely. I just need a few embelishments around the room before I am done, but I LOVE my new wall!

A visit to Jonny's grave...

2011-10-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

We went last Sunday as a family to Jonny's grave so everyone could see his headstone for the first time.

Emily sat down and traced every letter on the headstone

Brothers....

2011-10-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new project for my wall in my family room and going through photos for that project. This is one of my all-time favorites of my children. We have over 30,000 photos on my computer (not exaggerating) and this is one of the top favorites. It captures so well the love between these two boys and their personalities too! It can be overwhelming, the volume of photos I have to go through for projects, but I am so glad that my husband is a man of MANY shots! I miss the big hugs Jonny gave! I miss my boy!

Love this shot....

2011-10-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

I took this shot a year ago. I was walking behind Steve and Emily and just had to take this photo. I have now blown it up to have it on my wall.

Back to School 2011

2011-10-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

The kids have been back in school for awhile now. Logan started high school this year, Kristina is in 8th grade, Carson and Katie are now in 7th grade! They are loving school!

Jonny's Headstone

2011-10-02T20:08:00.000-07:00

Jonny's headstone was finally placed on Sept. 22nd. Steve has driven by his grave everyday on his way to and from work, hoping to see work being done on the headstone.

We are so very grateful for how well it turned out. We are grateful to all those who generously donated to Jonny's memorial fund. We were able to have exactly what we wanted for his headstone because of the many kind donations. Some we were able to thank, but many we don't know as the donations were anonymous through the memorial fund. We can only hope they know who incredibly grateful we are!

She is my sunshine...

2011-10-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

Emily's sweet smile and happy face lifts my spirits every day.

She is quite the character too. She talks with such expression and uses her hands and body in her expression of joy or frustration. You would think she was a teenager at times with the drama she can portray.

I just love this girl!

Katie plays b-ball...

2011-10-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Katie is playing with on the Autumn Faire YW basketball team this year. She is having fun. It was fun to watch her and the team play. They played a very good game and were beat at the last minute of a very close game!

Logan's Eagle Project...

2011-10-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

We finally have finished with Logan's Eagle project. He has two merit badges to complete and he is an Eagle Scout! Logan was able to complete Jonny's project he had planned and had approved to do and then he was in the hospital on the day we scheduled to do it.

Logan had 75 storm drains to label in West Boise. We had a good turn-out and all the drains were labeled in about 2 hours.

When Steve and Jonny picked up the project supplies from the Boise Watershed they stopped and found one of the drains on the map and placed one of the medallions. I am so glad they did that. Jonny did get to prepare all of the paperwork and did get to participate, even if it was only one. Jonny will get a posthumous award called "The Spirit of the Eagle" which is award to young men who qualified but passed away before receiving their Eagle Scout Award.

One more Eagle project to go for Carson!

Happy 14th Logan!!!!

2011-10-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

September 1st Logan turned 14! He didn't want much, iPod Touch, DVD player, Computer.....Ha! It's ok to have wishes I told him!

This was the first time I haven't made a cake for a birthday in years.

There was just too much going on.

So some wishes do come true.

He got a camera for his Digital Photography class he is taking at school, a microscope kit.
He got an iPod touch from his grandparents too.

Logan did get some fun stuff and plenty of yummy treats, and some gift cards too.

Baseball fun...

2011-10-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

We had bought tickets for the Boise Hawks and got the entire family plus two friends in for really cheap through one of the local Groupon-like sites. We went on Logan's birthday and part of his gift was to bring a couple of friends along to the game.

The bonus for the day was the free hats we were given when we entered the stadium! Emily put her hat on and immediately asked her Dad if she looked cute!

Fun row of kids!

Grandma Lockhart came along too!

Katie is always willing to pose for the camera!

Humphrey Hawk!

Carson wanted a photo with the Hawk and the Hawk stopped and posed with him.

Boise won the game and we had a great time!

Painted faces...

2011-10-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

Emily is being transformed into a ladybug. We have been to a few events where there is a booth offering face painting. Emily becomes every shy around those she doesn't know and so she never gets her face painted. So I decided to buy face paints so we could do it at home where she is more comfortable.

Katie was very happy to paint her sister's face.a

Kristina had to get in on the fun too.

Silly girls....

Holes...

2011-08-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight Emily was having a late snack with her "Daddy-o-ee" and she wanted to have salt on her tuna melt. Steve has bluffed her many times by adding salt without turning the shaker over, pretending to shake salt while it is right-side up. Well that bluff is over. Tonight, Emily picks the shaker up, looks under it and says "Daaaad, there aren't holes under here!"

Autumn Faire Youth Trek 2011

2011-07-10T08:17:00.001-07:00

Leaving for Trek...

Finishing Trek....

A poem...

2011-07-09T23:00:00.001-07:00

The Broken Chain

Author: Ron Tranmer

We little knew that day,

God was going to call your name.

In life we loved you dearly,

In death, we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you.

You did not go alone.

For part of us went with you,

The day God called you home.

You left us beautiful memories,

Your love is still our guide.

And although we cannot see you,

You are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken,

And nothing seems the same,

But as God calls us one by one,

The chain will link again.

Sun is shining all around.....

2011-06-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

The kids had great fun this afternoon in the backyard with water going most all of the afternoon. Steve came home and shot 500 photos of the girls on the Slip-N-Slide. He then edited his 500 shots down to the few in the video. The other day Emily told me she needed to wear her swimsuit everyday. She may just need a new swimsuit to have one that will fit all summer. A little Chopin in the background completes this water fun! (Chopin Etude in C minor, Op. 25)

Preschool...

2011-05-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

(Emily is in the ladybug costume on the right)

We had our last day of our preschool playgroup at our house yesterday. I wanted to do water games outside but the weather did not cooperate. So we just drew with chalk, jumped on the tramp, and played with the trucks in the dirt! I had to apologize to the moms when they came because their children weren't wet from water games, just dirty from head to toe from dirt games!

(Emily is now in the Lion costume on in this set of photos on the bottom of this page)

The kids have had so much fun each Wednesday going to each other's homes. Emily LOVED her school and friends. We will continue in the Fall when the big kids go back to school too.

Spring Choir Concert

2011-05-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

Katie had a lot of fun singing in her Spring Concert last night. They had some fun music too!

Easter 2011

2011-05-06T23:28:00.000-07:00

Let them eat cake....

2011-05-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

I have a new love, cake decorating. Last summer I was in search of the perfect white cake recipe for my sister's wedding cake. I tried all the cake mixes on the shelf at the grocery store and none passed the test. I had to have the perfect white cake . I did find a couple of good recipes passed on to me from a reliable source and they were good, I tried those recipes for the bridal shower cakes. Since the wedding I have found my one and final recipe from America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I have the perfect buttercreme frosting recipe and I purchase the raspberry filling from Cash & Carry or from Hobby Center. Anyone need a cake? I LOVE to make them.

These are the two cakes I did for my sister's bridal shower. I had two different recipes I tried and experimented with a little color too(I didn't like the color at all)

Here is my sister's wedding cake. My good friends Naomi and Carol Ann moved the cake from the room where I decorated it into the cultural hall. I couldn't watch...I just had to have faith it would make it. It was a heavy cake, 4 double layers with a lemon flavored filling.

One of my family's favorite shows is Cake Boss on TLC. I had ordered the discs from Netflix since we don't have cable tv. I was perming the girls hair and the entire family came in and sat and watched all the episodes on that disc. We have since watch all the three seasons of that show. Now the kids want fondant cakes, Cake Boss style....

Chicks...

2011-05-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

We are growing some chickens with our friends, doubling their flock to provide enough eggs for their family and ours. The kids were so excited to go and see them. We bought 20 egg layers and they got a couple of ducks too, just for fun. Our friends already have 20 or more birds full size. We will be out taking care of chicks and cleaning out the coop every few days.

Emily Lion...

2011-05-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

These days Emily takes on a new animal persona many times a day. Sometimes she is a cat, a lion, or even a jaguar. One of her brothers is a leatherback sea turtle, she has an animal name for most of her siblings. She will show her "sharpie claws" to anyone standing around her. She has gone to her preschool/playgroup and told the mom in charge that she is a cat/lion/dog. She claps using her "claws" and will hold her drink or your hand with her "claws", she makes us laugh!

Daddy-O-EE...

2011-04-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Emily now calls Steve "Daddy-O-EE".

"I love my Daddy-O-EE" she will say as he walks out the door.
"Thank you Daddy-O-EE" when he gives her something.
And Steve loves it too!

(Photos taken by Logan)

Bond, James Bond (aka Jon Murphy)

2011-03-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

Bond,

James Bond (aka Jonny Murphy)

Jonny donned his first tuxedo for his first concert in Men's Choir at Rocky Mountain High School. He joined choir second semester having never sung in choir before. I was really proud of him standing on stage, very seriously, and performing! It warms this musical mom's heart! Not to mention he is a good looking young man!

Now all the girls have curls...

2011-02-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

Katie has been bugging me to cut her hair. I kept putting her off. Then she started asking about perming her hair. I should have just given her the hair cut! :) Last Monday they were out of school for President's day and we went to three stores to find a perming kit. You cannot buy them at Walmart or Shopko. I was going to go to Walgreens next when I thought of Sally's Beauty Supply. That is where we found our kit for all of $5.99! I got two kits and a bunch of rollers and we were out the door with enough perm solution for two girls! I did one perm on Monday and one perm on Tuesday. They don't have the tight poodle perm, just a nice wave giving them some nice body and they feel like they have some curl. Lucky for Emily she was born with naturally curly hair, perfect ringlets. I just get hers a little wet and she is good to go!

A quiet afternoon...

2011-02-18T12:51:00.000-08:00

24 years and counting....

2011-02-17T09:30:00.000-08:00

Every year Steve gets me a dozen roses for our anniversary. I LOVE them! He is always very careful to choose the best bunch of roses too, making sure they haven't opened too much and none of them are wilting at all. We ate at Tucano's for lunch and then left kids with Grandma in charge and we saw a movie too.

He also got me one of these

I got him one of these

And the kids each got a bucket full of sweets, each decorated to represent the child's favorite things in life right now.

We had a great anniversary! Next year we hope to find some white, sandy beach surrounded by water and eat lots of pineapple.

Just when you get your car washed....

2011-02-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

Emily and Katie took advantage of the beautiful afternoon and washed Emily's tricycle.

And then it snows.....

I just washed my Suburban the other day and then it snows...ugh! So much for a clean car!

Mom, I told the alien....

2011-02-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

After waking up this morning, Emily says to me, "Mom, I told the alien he could call me on my phone up in my bedroom"

What does this girl dream about?

Questions from a 3 year old....

2011-02-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Question #1: After stepping on the scale she declare that she weighs 100 pounds. With her hands in the air she asks "Where did I get that from?"

Question #2: While waiting in the car in the pick-up line at the middle school Emily asks "Mom, what's a thingamajigger?"

Question #3: While working on her puzzle at the table Emily asks the kids "Why do boys love girls?"

This girl makes us laugh!

You're making me cranky...

2011-01-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

I am trying to get Emily to head upstairs for bed. She is finishing her puzzle that she has done a bazillion times today. First she tells me "Mom, you need to help your daughter" and when I come to help her (I mean rush her along) she tells me she wants to do it herself and I am making her cranky! So I continue to help and then she tells me "Mom, you can help me but you are still making me cranky!"

Christmas Jammies 2010

2010-12-24T23:55:00.000-08:00

One of our Christmas traditions is to get new jammies on Christmas Eve. The kids look forward to this every year. Emily picked out her own jammies while we were shopping for the kids' jammies one day. She also picked out her new bathrobe! She was still surprised when she opened them up tonight.

They also get to open the present from their sibling who drew their name. The kids had fun right away tonight. More photos to come...

Then my girls stayed up and cleaned up the kitchen and house so it would be spotless for morning. That was a great present to me!

Visions of sugerplums....

2010-12-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

Katie and Carson have spent quite a bit of time right under the tree today. I am not sure why, but they were quiet and getting along so why not?

You'd better not pout...

2010-12-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

Emily was so excited to go and see Santa at the mall a few weeks ago. We were so surprised that she was so happy to see and talk to a virtual stranger. We told her before we got there that he was a grandpa and a nice guy. She told the ladies in the store where she changed into her pretty dress that Santa was a good guy.

A Song, Santa, and Reindeer

2010-12-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

Katie signed up at school to sing a solo at this outdoor Christmas concert at a local business park. Katie sang at the end of the schedule so there was no one there but our family to listen to her. We assured her that was the best way to do your first solo performance, not so nerve wracking! There was a Santa in one of the businesses that you could take your own photos with. Luckily Emily had a successful Santa visit at the mall a few weeks ago since she wanted NOTHING to do with this Santa. However, the "Big" kids all had to sit with Santa for a photo! We actually got to pet a real, live reindeer too! It was a cold and rainy day so to warm-up we made off quickly to see the Guardians of Ga'hoole movie at the cheap seats in Nampa.

Katie's First Choir Concert....

2010-12-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

Katie has sung in her school choir this year and this was her first Christmas concert in Middle School. She actually smiled at us across the gym as we were snapping hundreds of photos that evening. The kids did a nice job performing! It was fun to see her up there too.

Cabela's Fish Feeding....

2010-12-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

During the last visit from Steve's parents we took the kids to Cabela's during the fish feeding time. It is amazing to see all of those big fish and how they race to get the food. Everyone around the store gathers around the huge aquarium windows to watch the "show".

More Zoo Boise....

2010-12-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

More zoo pics....when you have two cameras shooting you end up with LOTS of photos.

Happy 16th Birthday Jonny....

2010-12-19T14:43:00.000-08:00

Jonny had a friend party too, the first one ever he announced to his friends during the party.

We had a small family party too on his birthday.

I can't believe he is 16! Where does the time fly....

He hasn't really asked to drive much yet either......lucky me!

The last visit of the season

2010-12-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

This was the last visit to the zoo for 2010.

November Birthdays...

2010-12-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

This was the year for having friends over for a birthday party. I usually keep it to family since we have so many birthdays so very close together. In fact we have about 1 a week starting with Emily on Oct. 23 and then Jonny, Kristina, and then Katie on Nov. 24th.

With the Thanksgiving break during the week of Katie's birthday we had a combined party for Kristina and Katie and their friends. They all ate pizza and watched Toy Story 3 on the wall. All the movie candy they could eat too.

And then the requested ice cream birthday cake too!

Let the festivities begin...

2010-12-04T00:46:00.000-08:00

Cool boots....

2010-12-04T00:24:00.000-08:00

Katie recently purchased these cool boots with some of her birthday money.

Snow is......by Emily

2010-12-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

Snow is freezing cold

Snow is ice cream

Snow is good for us

Snow makes our tummy full

She was so excited to have the kids home and to have them take her out to play in the snow too!

Creative Spelling

2010-11-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

Emily, holding one of Jonathan's old toys with to his name written in Sharpie on the bottom, said to Carson: "It says E-M-I-L-Y...Jonny!"

Emily's 3rd Birthday....

2010-11-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe she is three now. Time just goes by much too quickly. Emily has really caught on to the idea of birthdays and all that goes with it. She had so much opening presents and blowing out candles too. She even sang the birthday songs to herself with the rest of us. She has brought such a ray of sunshine to our family, we all just love her to pieces! She has been so much fun these last three years. She will be my only child in Primary when she moves into Sunbeams in January!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

The ward has a Trunk-Or-Treat each year at the neighborhood park, just a block or two from our house. It is great to get all the stops done in one place! This year was Katie's last year as a trick-or-treater since she turns 12 in November. Our family rule is you are done trick-or-treating when you are 12. Emily, however has another 9 years of this fun stuff. I still get candy for all the big kids so no one misses out on getting some sweet treats!

Trick or Treating never smelled so good....

2010-11-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Tami's works for Scentsy and they moved into new offices recently so they had an Open House/Trick or Treat last Friday. We went to check out the new offices and do some trick or treating with Aunt Tami. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up and to check out where Tami works. The huge stuffed animals were fun too. There is a new product at Scentsy with stuffed animals that have Scentsy packets inside of them! Katie loved the giant sized flip flop. Emily loves to color and will sit for quite a while at the table coloring. However, she spent only a few minutes, very seriously working on her paper at the party. She wanted to go find more candy. She has caught on to the trick or treat deal. Any siblings that tried to get into her candy were put into their place!

A Scout is....

2010-11-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

The Court of Honor held in August was payoff time for my three Boy Scouts. After Scout Camp and Saturday workshops Logan and Carson both had earned 12 or 13 merit badges a piece. Jonny earned his Life Scout Rank and is ready to move on to getting his Eagle Scout project started. Logan will be a Life Scout at the next Court of Honor and will start his Eagle project soon too.

A Scout is........very busy!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-11-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a great time picking out pumpkins at a nearby pumpkin patch. The kids each found something they were happy with. We all got a hayride around the farm before going home too. Steve always loves a great setting for a photo shoot too! It has been a tradition to photograph the pumpkin patch excursion each year since the big kids were quite little. We gotta keep up the tradition for little Emily too!

Build-A-Bear.....

2010-10-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

I received a coupon in the mail for a free animal up to $12 or that much off of a more expensive animal. Steve and I took Emily to the mall, our only visit for the year, to choose her animal. I had showed her all the choices on the website before we went to get an idea of what she would like. She chose the Kipper look-alike dog which was great, it was $12. When we got to the store we walked her by all of the animals and said she could choose anyone of them. After seeing all of her choices she went back to the beginning of the line and chose the same Kipper dog that had seen on the website!

You can put a sound box into your animal. They range in price from $4 to $8. I said no to the sound box. Steve however said yes to the one on clearance for $1.50. Great! It's the Jonas Brothers.....Emily's favorite! (Not! She doesn't know who they are) But she has music in her dog and she will dance to it or have her dog dance to it. It really is cute! It is worth the $1.50 to watch her dance with her dog!

It is fun to watch her face as she goes through the process of picking her animal and stuffing it, washing it, and giving it a name on the computer. The most fun however is watching her carry her box. She is determined to do it herself and she carries it all the way to the car.

My 2nd 5k event....

2010-10-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

Tami and I ran in the 5k High Speed Pursuit last Saturday. I finished and received the finishers medal. The medal is what it is all about according to my sister. My road training didn't prepare me for running on dirt roads. I ended up with shin splints about 1.5 miles into my run. I finished the race walking/running. I was disappointed not to make it running all the way again. I don't have shin splint issues when I am running at home! Emily had me up every hour from about 4am to 6am and so I was not rested as much as I should have been. I really want to make it running an entire 5k! So I now I have 3 races coming up that I want to do. I just have to decide which one!

Roar!!!!

2010-10-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Emily is going to be a lion for Halloween this year. The costume is on loan to us from a friend and we brought it home today. The kids put it on Emily and she couldn't have been happier. She has been crawling around the house growling for an hour now. Halloween is going to be so much fun this year.

"Now let's go feed the lions!"

2010-10-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

We raced to Zoo Boise yesterday to make it in time to feed the giraffes. Emily just loved it. As we walked off she said enthusiastically, "That was fun! Now let's go feed the LIONS!"

My first 5K - Update...

2010-09-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the one and only photo of me at my first 5k event. It was taken by my friend 2Busy, who also ran her first 5k that day too. She did leave me in the dust....that's ok! I made it to the finish! It was good to have a friend in the crowd!

Among the crowd, awaiting our time to take off!

My first 5k

2010-09-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, they spelled my name correctly! That's a first!
On this last Saturday, Sept. 25th I ran my first 5k race. I didn't really race anyone but myself even though I was surrounded by thousands of women. I had started "training" for this event back in June doing the Couch to 5K program on my iPod. I had completed all 9 weeks of that program a couple of weeks before my big day so I would just pick a distance or time for my run two to three times a week to continute to train.
The night before the race I had everything set out and ready to go. My ride shows up and I grab my pile of stuff and hop into her car. We are parking the car at the shuttle location and I notice that I left my headphones at home, nice.... And then I also realized I had left my pins home to attach my number to my shirt, again....nice going! Oh well, I was up and on my way!
We waited forever for our wave to start the race. My toes were going numb standing around waiting! Meanwhile I am hoping that I can complete this race pain free. During my last 4 or 5 weeks I have had pain in my upper thigh that gets unbearable at about 1.5 miles into my run. And my inner knee on the same leg is painful too.
I left the starting line at a good pace. It is hard to maintain your own pace when so many are running around you. I ran up the hill and made it to the top and then shin splints set in. Ugh.....all this training, all this time and NOW shin splints? What????? So this was about 1.5 miles into my first race and I was VERY discouraged! But I had to keep on going. So I would walk for a few minutes and then run for a few minutes until the shin splints took over again! I crossed the finish line only to see the clock had been stopped...I can only guess that I finished in about 45-50 min! My worst pace ever! After reviewing the hundreds and hundreds of photos taken at the finish line I never did find a photo of me crossing the finish line, wow do I feel like a loser now!
BUT, I did finish the race! I felt great the rest of the day, until the end of the day and my soar throat won the day's race and I had lost my voice completely!

I have signed up for my next 5k event in October. This time the course is flat and I will continue to train and improve!

Harvesting....

2010-09-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight we drove to the middle of nowhere, USA and gleaned about a ton of potatoes.
The kids have been pigging out on baked potatoes tonight.
Earlier today we picked apples.

And I have grapes in the sink ready to make juice.
We will be gleaning onions this weekend. Gotta love being surrounded by farmland!

So funny....

2010-09-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Emily makes us laugh...

--"Mom, my arm hurts real bad. I need to go to the dentist"

--With her forefinger raised in the air, Emily declares "(insert sibling name here), you need to get out of the car right now!" after a rather malodorous event.

Homemade English Muffins.....

2010-09-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

While shopping at Winco the other day I had this crazy idea to make my own English Muffins. I have this bread book that I have had since middle school and every recipe I have ever made from it has been great! So tonight I thought I would make some for Sunday breakfast. It took just a few minutes to mix them up, shape them and put them into the warmed oven to rise. Then you cook them on an open electric skillet for about 7 min. on each side. In less than an hour you have fresh and warm English Muffins! I will never buy these from the store again. They are so easy to make and taste better, especially right off of the griddle! Yum!

Yum!!!!

2010-09-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Logan was given a huge jawbreaker for his birthday. Emily found that jawbreaker and was enjoying it!

The Last Splash of Summer....

2010-09-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of a warm Saturday afternoon we gathered our swimwear, smores sticks, and hotdog buns and headed to Kuna to Grandma Lockhart's house. She lives across the street from Indian Creek. The little park in her neighborhood that borders this creek has a great little swimming area that runs off to the side of this very swift flowing creek. During the summer months there are many floaters on tubes going down this creek. This is really an irrigation creek running through this natural creek bed, no cement here. When they turn off the irrigation water around the valley this creek dries up. You can walk where once it was knee or waist deep or deeper. There is a railroad tressel that crosses the creek very close to the swimming area too. Emily loving trains was enthralled as a train went by while she was on the floating mattress. It was very loud!

They are back to school too....

2010-09-15T15:17:00.000-07:00

Jonny and Logan log-in to school each day here at home. Jonny is going to Seminary this year too. As you can see from their seating arrangements, school is quite formal! Ha....they are both enrolled with Idaho Virtual Academy. They have live classes at different times during the week and a lot of online coursework too. Logan has already completed his first four units in Math since starting class on Sept. 1st. He should finish his Algebra 1 class just after Christmas. he will also get high school credit along with his middle school credit for his Language Arts class. It is great for him to move ahead and not sit around waiting for a class to move on to the next topic! Jonny has chosen Game Design for his elective this year. He has dreams of making the next great action adventure game!

Back to school...

2010-09-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Everyone is officially back to school now! These four musketeers, Eme (borrowed child), Carson, Katie and Kristina have moved over to Sawtooth Middle School this year from our smaller charter school. They are loving the big school so far. Logan and Jonny are still doing Idaho Virtual Academy here at home and started back to school today. Jonny is a Freshman this year, Logan an 8th grader! They are all in middle school or high school this year! Wow! When Emily starts Kindergarten these older kids will all be in high school!

ABC Excitement Club....

2010-09-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Emily has been wearing everyone else's backpacks the last couple of days. We go to the school when I have meetings and she wants to ride the bus home, never mind the stroller we came in! She had a plastic bag last night with her "lunch" in it. She will be so ready to go to "skwell" in just a few short years.
Meanwhile 3 other moms in our ward decided to put together a pre-preschool group, a glorified playgroup. There are 2 boys and 2 girls and they are all within about 4-6 months of the same age. It is pretty low-key academic wise, more social with some structure. Emily was so excited to get to go but all she could say while she was there was "my mom is here!" We will rotate between the family's homes so we will have "skwell" at our house at the end of the month. Emily will LOVE that!

Funny feet....

2010-08-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

I walked by the boys' room after they had gone to sleep and this is what I saw. Logan is on the top bunk of the triple-decker bunk bed. It looks like from the photo that his feet are almost on the ceiling, but they are not. The ceiling is probably another foot above his feet. I thought it was a funny way to sleep.

Happy 13th Birthday Logan....

2010-08-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

Happy 13th Birthday Logan!

Logan had a pre-birthday party at our friends the Moxleys. It was almost too cool to swim but the kids did it anyway. It was so windy that we couldn't light the candles, so we pretended to light them and Logan pretended to blow them out! Logan and his buddies had some great time with swords on the trampoline, swimming, and a movie too!

Off to Scout Camp.....and they're back!

2010-08-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

Logan and Carson headed out to their first week-long Scout Camp.

It was an early morning rise for a summer break.

They had a great time.

Logan came home without his voice....his Scoutmaster didn't think we'd mind :)

Carson was in need of some serious chapstick therapy.

They both completed at least 12 merit badges during their week at Scout Camp! Hooray, that is 12 less I have to nag them about!

A girl and her "hipod"....

2010-08-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Emily was sitting in the chair watching Clifford on my "hiPod" and fell asleep clutching the "hiPod" like she would a stuffed animal. It was just too cute.

On your mark, get set......

2010-08-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

On your mark, get set......

GO!!!!

Katie and Emily had fun racing from that car in the background to the table where we were sitting. It was Emily's idea and Katie played along! Emily crossed the finish line, breathing heavily with much exaggeration.