Summer 2012

Since I was very pregnant all summer we didn't do a whole lot.  Fortunately, the kiddos seemed to be okay with that.  We did have some fun though.   

 The kids favorite thing to do this summer was running through the sprinklers.  This was huge considering last summer everyone was terrified to get wet.  They started out running around the sprinklers, but by the end of summer they were sticking their little heads in the water to get their hair wet.  It was kinda cute.

 I love this girl!  She is such a good big sister.

 I was happy to see my little trouble-maker enjoying the water too.

 I did some canning this summer.  We've got nectarines, pears and pear sauce.  Peach season is upon us, so hopefully I can get some peaches canned in the next couple of weeks and then in October we'll can some applesauce.

 We also got to go swimming with Aunt Caitlin and Uncle Brian.

 Most of the summer Cameron would only sit on the top step of the pool.  By the very end of summer though, he had gotten much braver and was playing in the water.

 Ella of course was a little fish every time she got near the water.

 This lil' one loves all things girly.

 We had a couple of rainstorms that the kiddos just had to play in.  This was an especially good one.

 The kids were lucky enough to go to the zoo with their Auntie and Uncle.  Too bad it was so hot, but they loved it anyways and are so sad to see them move.

Welcome Baby

He's here and he's perfect.  Evan Connor was born on Tuesday, August 21st, was 8 lbs 11 oz and 20.5" long.  We're so happy to have him home and have been enjoying every minute with him.

First Day of School

We had some pretty excited kiddos over the last few days.  Ella started her second year of preschool yesterday and Cameron started his first year of preschool today.  It's crazy how suddenly life can seem so much busier.  Within a week we've managed to add a new baby to the family and two of my munchkins are now in school, which means we have school every morning.

 My baby looks so grown up here.

 This little one was so excited to start school.  He's been talking about it all summer and that was all he kept asking me about yesterday.  Hopefully it's all he's hoping it will be and more.

How'd I Do... July Goals

This is way late, but life has been crazy around here.  July went way too fast, but we managed to get a lot of things done and then we were able to spend a week at the beach relaxing... well as relaxing as vacation can be with three munchkins.  We got home late Saturday night to a very hot home (thank you swamp cooler for breaking and leaking all over the hall while we were on vacation).  Fortunately, Andrew got it fixed Tuesday night, but let me tell you it was a very hot three days with no air for this 8 1/2 month preggers mama.  But now I've got to get all the walls cleaned, the pictures cleaned or replaced (water made its way into some of the frames) and the carpets cleaned (I was secretly happy about this part since I've been wanting them cleaned for a while now).  Anyways, as usual life is busy.  I've got a week and a half to prepare for this baby... unless he wants to be really kind and come earlier, I doubt that though.  So lots of cleaning and freezer cooking in my future.  Good thing I finished the nursery and washing all the baby clothes before I left on vacation.
Okay, enough about that, let's move on to July's goals.

July Goals:

Homemaking -

Swap kids rooms around - Done.  It was a rough transition, but it's slowly getting better.

Decorate big kids room - I love how it turned out.  Maybe I'll have the motivation to clean it and take pictures one of these days.

Paint the nursery - Done.  Unfortunately, the color didn't color match very well so it's not exactly what I was planning on, but I do like the color, so I'll live with it.

Set up the nursery - Done

Finish cleaning and organizing the storage room - Nope and there is no time left for this.

Deliver the donation boxes to the DI - Done

Clean and decorate the laundry room - Fail, Fail, Fail... maybe this will be a good winter project.

Cooking -

Make six freezer meals - Done, although it wasn't technically in July... minor details though.

Sort through and donate cookbooks - Done

Try three new recipes - Done

Mothering -

Patience, patience, patience - Oh my poor, poor children.  Between being prego and this ridiculous heat we've been having, the last thing I've had is patience.

Do at least one art project a week - Yeah right.

Find time to spend alone with each kiddo - I've been working on this.

Creating -

Make art for munchkin room - Done and it's exactly what I wanted.  Thanks honey for your help.

Find some crafts for vacation - Done, but they spent every waking minute at the beach, so we didn't do anything.

Plant potatoes in garden - Um, no... let's just say that sitting in my hot kitchen was not good for them and they had to take a trip to the dump.

Financing -

Figure out budget for July - Done.

Stick to budget for July - Close enough.

Finish buying baby clothes - Little man has what he'll need for now, but I've definitely got to get some 3 month winter clothes for this little guy.

Enriching -

Read a book - Yep.  I read this great book my MIL gave me called "The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency used by the Mormon Pioneers."  I highly recommend it if you're into gardening.  It got me really excited for our garden/yard next summer.

Blog once a week at least - This was obviously a big fat failure.

Start scripture study again - Again, no.

So, now that we're practically half way through August and I'm expecting baby any day now, lets see what I want to do in August.

August Goals:

Homemaking -

Clean the house in preparation for baby

Wash the infant car seat cover... the last thing to do in preparation for little guy

Get the carpets cleaned

Clean out fridge and freezer

Cooking -

Finish the freezer cooking

Mothering -

Snuggle my new baby

Make time to snuggle my other babies

Creating -

Make big sister shirts for the girls

Financing -

Stay in budget

Enriching -

Find a book to pack in hospital bag... maybe another gardening one

Well I think that is enough to cram into a week and a half... wish me luck.  Hopefully I'll get a couple more blog posts up this week.  I've got several things to post, it's really just finding the time and motivation at this point.