A little of everything....

I know I am so behind on this sad little blog and it makes me sad. I do have a good excuse.... not really a good excuse but an excuse....my poor camera that Ryan and I splurged on before we had kids is starting to bite the dust. It makes me sad (literally sad) everytime I turn it on and it gives me error messages so I have started just not turning it on. I have used a couple of cheaper cameras and the pictures just can't compare so it makes me not even want to take them. So therefore, sadly I have hardly any pictures of the last couple of months and what is a good blog post without some pictures to go with it?

We have also been working hard soaking up every last minute of this amazing sunny weather. I have so enjoyed the warm fall we have had and so have the kids. I am so NOT looking forward to winter and the long cold days of being cooped up in the house with the two monsters! I may have to consider moving to California...

So, there you have it... some excuses and a couple of pictures that I managed to coax my camera into taking!

I did happen to catch our little Missy in action. This is the face I get whenever something doesn't go her way. She immediately crosses her arms and scowls at me. I usually can't help but laugh which then makes her laugh and then she forgets what she was mad about to begin with. Works out well for both of us!

Jack has to check Grandma Rosie's garden about every 10 seconds to make sure something hasn't grown that needs to be picked.
Overall we have had a fantastic busy fall and even though it wasn't all documented in pictures and blog posts we still had fun!

Hunting Season

I am proud to report that I successfully survived another round of "hunting season." It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun but we are all still in one piece and we are happy to have Daddy back home. Not only do I miss him and his help when he is away but the kids miss him TERRIBLY! We were on our way back from Idaho yesterday and had been gone 5 days while Ryan was hunting when Jack informed me that he was going to start looking for a new mom. A nice one. Apparently, we were both at each others wits end by the end of this vacation. He requests a mom that will let him watch as much "shows" as he wants and let him eat all the candy he wants. So if anyone knows of anyone that is available that fits that criteria I'm sure Jack would appreciate it!

The kids always enjoy playing with all of his stuff when Ryan is getting ready for another trip. This day they were looking for deer through their spotting scopes! Only a few more years and then I will be sending them hunting with Ryan and I will be heading off to Hawaii for a nice vacation during hunting season!

Blackberries and MORE Blackberries

The last couple of visits to Grandma Rosie's we have had the "pleasure" of picking the Blackberries with her. I have never seen my children so filthy and covered in purple stained skin. Ella LOVES picking the berries and eats probably more than half of the ones she picks. She is actually really good at it and caught on really quickly to which ones were ready and which ones weren't. Despite the purple hands, purple feet, purple faces, scratches and stained clothes the kids really had fun picking the berries with Grandma. I didn't so much enjoy the picking but I am a fan of the berry cobbler and jam that resulted from helping Grandma pick the berries! Checking out our loot!

If you look close you can see the purple hands, feet and face! And, probably tongue too!

They actually are good little workers and love helping Grandma with anything that she asks them to!

Preschool 2011

Preschool this year started on August 30th and Jack was more than ready to head back to school. He is going to school this year at the Lehi Elementary and he is loving it. He is in a class mixed with special needs students and "regular" students. We love his teacher and he asks me everyday if he is ever going to have to go back to his "old" preschool. Apparently he really likes his teacher this year and all of his friends, but I think he mostly enjoys the "magic milk" they serve every day for snack!
Of course he gave me this picture when I asked for him to say cheese.... You may remember the exact same pose from his first day of preschool last year.....

He looks so much more grown up since last year and has shown how much he has matured since then too. I have yet to have to drag him into school or leave him while he is in tears! Ryan took the morning off so we could drop him off together and so he could meet the teacher. Jack was so brave and was so excited to play with all the new toys and friends. He quickly gave us a squeeze and was off to play!

He loves having to go find his fish everyday to "sign" in and usually has to fight his sister for it because she REALLY wants to be able to go to school too!

It seems kind of weird to be taking him to such a big school with so many kids there but he really loves it so I feel good about leaving him with all the "big" kids! He looks like such a peanut walking into school with all of them!

And just one final picture because I thought it was cute. They stood at the end of our driveway and wished all the kids a good day at school! Ella can't wait to be big enough to go to preschool and I can hardly believe that next school year she will be! Wow - time sure does fly!