September Recap

I figured I should just try and recount our month with one post because although I always have great intentions of writing fantastic detailed accounts of each and every experience our little family has there just aren't enough hours in the day to make it happen. Bummer, I know, since I'm sure you'd love every juicy detail ;) Oh well ... something is better than nothing, right?!

Of course the month started out a bit rocky with Steve and Ashton recovering from their tonsillectomies. The first 5-6 days really were brutal. I was getting very little sleep during that time because I was tending to them, getting ice water, heating pads, pain meds, WHATEVER they felt like eating (if they ever did), making smoothies, drink runs to Sonic, and the list goes on. We made it through and they have a follow up appointment this week. All seems to be well with their throats (and my sanity ... for the most part) and you would never know that we experienced a few weeks of misery!

During that time Steve was called to be the new Young Men's President in our ward. He had been serving as a counselor so he was already well involved with the boys. I am humbled when I see and hear him talk to/about these young men, their potential, and what they can do as leaders to teach and prepare them for the future and to serve missions. I know that he will be a great influence on them as he has always been an amazing example to me and our family. He took the girls on the annual Daddy Daughter campout a few weeks back (2 weeks post-op) and they had a fantastic time ... as usual. I was worried they wouldn't make it this year because I didn't know if he would feel up to it but he certainly didn't disappoint! They went up Friday night the 12th and didn't come home until late afternoon on Saturday. They spent the entire day hiking and enjoying the cool weather in the mountains just a few hours away.I've already given you an update on me ... creative team work has kept me busy as well as the tending to my flock and trying to keep up with the day to day. I have stayed completely on top of my laundry every day for almost 2 months now and it feels amazing - no more baskets of clean clothes laying around that take hours to fold!! I'm sure this is no big deal to most but it is a small feat for me :) It was always washed ... hated folding and putting away. Now it is a quick and easy task every morning and I can check it off the list! The school store (a monthly after school event) opened this month and I am chairing that responsibility for the PTA this year. I lost a dear friend to cancer this month and have been inspired to be a little better and try a little harder as I have heard more of the stories of her selfless life. I had the chance to have my sister come for her annual visit, too, to spend time with us - and get her eye exam, of course ;) We got to spend an afternoon catching up with long lost friends that we hadn't seen in well over 15 years. It was so fun to see them and hear about their lives and their families. They don't look a day older than the last time we saw them!! Little did we know we had been living so close for all these years! We plan to make it a yearly reunion when Kris comes to town! Oh, and I just got tickets to see Wicked again next summer ... thanks, Tori!!Brinley is happy to be part of the school choir this year. She missed auditions last year because of the change in schools so was thrilled to have the chance to try out this year. Her biggest news this past month was her decision to run for Student Council Vice President. She had to turn in an application with 2 teacher recommendations, current grades and a citizenship report. We worked together to come up with a campaign slogan, fliers, stickers, posters, t-shirts, and a speech. I did the "digital" work but she was my sidekick telling me how she wanted things to look and approving the designs. She did a great job writing and delivering her speech in front of all the 3rd-5th graders at her school. There were 13 students running for VP so her odds of winning weren't great and she proved to be a very gracious loser. She has since been elected a student council representative for her classroom and is excited to be a part of making things happen at her school. I am so proud of her for wanting to make a difference.Ashton had a rough start to the month with her recovery. It was heartbreaking to have her be completely "up" one minute and then "crashing" into tears the next. I slept downstairs with her for almost 2 weeks in case she needed anything during the night - which she almost always did. She was beyond excited when she FINALLY lost her first tooth! It had been a long time in coming :) Less than 2 weeks later she had lost 3!!!! I don't think I've ever seen her smile more! She loves her new "holey" grin and tells everyone about how she lost all of her teeth so quickly. She is in the 2nd-3rd grade choir at school and is loving that, too!Kendyl probably had the biggest month. She started preschool (which I have already blogged) and, of course, celebrated her 5th birthday!! She started early with a Red Robin birthday celebration ... as we do every year for every member of our family :) Aunt Kris was in town for the party and Kendyl enjoyed a cheeseburger, ice cream sundae, and *LOVED* the Jonas Brothers CD that Kris gave her!!The morning of her "real" birthday was started with her birthday phone call from Grandma & Papa, followed by opening gifts before the girls headed off to school. She got some cash (from Grammy & Paca and Great Grandma & Grandpa Taylor), a Camp Rock mp3 player from Grandma & Papa, some clothes, the Camp Rock DVD, the new Barbie DVD, a HSM Nintendo DS game, and a Webkinz. Can you say spoiled?! She knows it, too! What a little sassafrass :) She has waited years to have a birthday party and this was the year it would finally happen. She desperately wanted a swimming party, and since she IS spoiled that is exactly what she got!She invited 10 of her girlfriends over so we had 13 little ones in the pool. As they started pulling out their floaties and life jackets we started to question what we had gotten ourselves into!! They did a fantastic job in the pool and everyone had a great time. They swam for about an hour, we had pizza, opened presents, had cake and ice cream, and called it a night! The weather was perfect that day so we got to do everything outside. The beauty of that was my house being in one piece after all of the kiddos went home!!!
Cougar is a mess. That boy is so adorable one minute that you could just squeeze him and so naughty the next that you don't know what to do with him! He empties everything (drawers, cupboard, purses, garbage cans, etc.), sucks on everything (toothbrushes, open bottles of lotion and hair gel, baby wipes, etc.), climbs on top of everything (countertops, all furniture, pianos, bunk bed ladders, etc.), writes on everything (paper, walls, couches, television screens, skin, etc.), and throws everything (balls, cars, cell phones, food, sippy cups ... dislodging the no-drip valves, etc.). He is finally beefing up his vocabulary with new words like puppy and apple in addition to hi-ya (the way he greets EVERYONE), ball, car, mama, baba (generic term for cup, bottle, paci, etc.), nigh night, and bye bye, thank you, and beep - while lifting shirt and pushing his belly button. He puckers up and gives kisses and has finally learned how to run up to someone, wrap his arms around them and give them a hug! He has also mastered putting things in the garbage (even if he ends up taking 5 things out 3 minutes later) and putting his clothes in the hamper. He is a terror and a delight packaged into one spunky "non-stop" little body!!The weather is finally starting to cool just a bit (low 100's and some high 90's) so the kids are actually getting to play outside a bit more. We *LOVE* this time of year! Saturdays are filled with silence inside while they play with all the neighbor kids outside. The girls are dying to wear pants to school so I finally let them this past week ... even if they really won't "need" to wear pants for another 4-6 weeks :)It's been a gloriously busy month with more of the same to look forward to in October. Hopefully I can find a bit more time to write about our journeys ... and squeeze in a bit more of Hawaii!! Thanks for sticking with me :) Why do I feel like I just wrote a Christmas letter?!?!