Catching up . . . Welcome Home Travis!!!!!

All six of us (and my sister and her boyfriend) flew out to MA on Sept 24th to surprise my brother, Travis, who flew home on Sept 25th. We last saw Travis two years ago as he has been serving a full-time mission for the LDS church for the last 24 months. For those of you who are not familiar with Mormon missions, males can serve at age 19 and females at 21. You volunteer for it and the church assigns you where they need you. You pay for it yourself (Travis worked through high school to pay for his) and you spend two years (18 months for girls) working every single day to teach people about the beliefs of the LDS church. You don't date or go to school or read or listen to most music or even talk to your family other than on Mother's Day and Christmas.

Travis served in the Pocatello, Idaho Mission. We couldn't miss out on seeing him as he finished this amazing part of his life and we managed to somehow keep that we were flying out there a secret from him, so he was somewhat shocked when he walked out with Mom and Dad (who flew out to bring him home) and saw all of us!

Travis did an amazing job and I am so proud of him and all he was able to accomplish! I was able to spend some time talking with him while we were up in MA and he grew and learned so much. Well done Travis :)

Travis as he walked out and saw us all

A little surprised

Not sure you can see much of Travis in this picture :) His sisters missed him . . .

All of us except Brian (Molly's fiancee) who took the pictures

Pumpkin patch

Today our church met at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. Megan got to go on a field trip to watch Sleeping Beauty, so I thought it would be fun to take the other kids out. We didn't bother with the carpooling since we already have a pretty full car and we know how to get there since we've gone for the last three years.

The girls started off by going through the little kids maze. Jack stayed with me since it would have been difficult for me to go in and get him if he got lost. After that, we heading off to Kylie's favorite part of the whole Pumpkin Patch - the bounce houses. Kylie went in the big one with the slides and ladders, then all three kids went in the smaller square one. Even Jack loved it, although most of his time was spent trying to stay upright.

After the bounce houses, I pushed the kids on the merry-go-round (Kylie held Jack on) and then they explored the teepee. Jack loved it and didn't want to leave, but the hayride was getting ready to leave, so I scooped him up and we climbed into the hayride wagon.
Kylie sat next to me and Jack and Beth sat on the bale of hay right in front of me. It was very bouncy and Kylie asked if we were driving over pumpkins.
After the hayride, the kids climbed on the wooden tractor, train and farm truck. Their favorite was the tractor, although Jack likes anything with a steering wheel.

When the kids were done climbing, we walked over to see the animals. There were two pigs, a large tortoise, a donkey, and two horses. Near the pig pen and the horse corral, there were three large leather animals. The kids wanted to ride on them, so I lifted Jack up on top of the elephant, Beth on the lion and Kylie on the hippo. It would have made a cute picture, but I didn't want to move too far away from Jack, so I had to hold up the camera and try to get a good shot.
As we walked away from the animals, Jack spotted a little red tractor and immediately squirmed to get down. He made a beeline for it and spent a happy 15 mins pretending to drive it.
We had to get a picture with the Dora and Diego cut outs!
Before leaving, the kids each got a cup of shaved ice. Kylie got strawberry because it was pink, Beth got blue raspberry and Jack got pina colada because it's white. Below is the picture I got when I called Jack's name so he would turn and look at me. He thought he was getting another bite!
We finished up by buying 4 small pumpkins for the kids to paint (they aren't old enough to carve pumpkins).

I hope Megan had a great time on her field trip! We are off to walk to pick her up at school :)

I love my kids!

I usually wait until I have pictures to post, but I just wanted to say how incredibly blessed I am that I have my children and Rob and that we are healthy and happy and safe. I finished a book last night that a friend gave me entitled The Bean Trees. It's a good book and it really made me thankful for the most important blessings I have - my family.

Before going to sleep, I checked all the kids. Kylie and Beth were asleep next to each other in the middle of their bed. From under and around them, I removed about 18 books, a caterpillar shaped drumstick, an etch-a-sketch, and several blankets. I also replaced the lampshade on their princess nightlight, which now has a long piece of purple elastic from a bracelet-making kit tied around it for some reason. Megan was asleep in her bed surrounded by probably 20 stuffed animals with several of her "treasures" stacked on the headboard of her bed (these include things like beads or rocks or sticks, misc items she's found around the house and liked, and old birthday cards). Jack was sleeping, as always, on his tummy with his little tush in the air :) I came back to bed, moving a ziploc bag of animal crackers from the floor next to our bed where Beth left it after coming in to use the bathroom, and went to bed - so grateful for my little munchkins and for Rob sleeping beside me. I know there are so many places in the world where people aren't safe and so many children who go to sleep hungry and scared. We are very blessed.

A cute story from yesterday. Kylie's favorite song is currently "I Love to See the Temple". As I did everyone's hair for church yesterday, she kept singing the first verse over and over, however when she got to the last line, she would sing "this is my sacred . . . " and leave off the word duty. Beth would wait for a minute or so, to see if Kylie was just pausing I guess, then yell out "DUTY!!!" I couldn't figure out why Kylie didn't want to finish the song until Beth turned to me and said "duty means poop!" LOL :) They obviously confused "duty" with "doody" and Kylie considered it a bad word and didn't want to sing it. I'm not sure why they thought a song about the temple would contain a line like that or why Beth didn't have any issues shouting it out, but it really made me laugh!

The Primary Sacrament Presentation was yesterday. This year we had two children in it. Megan was sitting in the front row and kept her hand in her mouth through the entire program. She has a very loose tooth that she is trying to keep in her mouth until we get to MA so Papa can pull it out. Meg considers him the ultimate authority on loose teeth. She remember her whole part though and didn't need any help despite having words like "ancestors" to remember. Kylie was the first of the Sunbeam class (the 3 year olds) to say her part and as they lined the little Sunbeams up behind the microphone, they had the piano softly play "I am a Child of God". Kylie stepped up and proceeded to sing the first part of "I am a Child of God" by herself (which was NOT a planned part of the program, but extremely sweet!) and then say her line. My babies did so well! It was so odd to sit there in the congregation with only two children. Rob and I turned to each other and said "is this what it used to be like?" It seems like that was so long ago . . .

Riding lessons!!!

We started horseback riding lessons today! The lady from the farm that we get our milk and eggs at is a licensed riding instructor, so we've decided to try riding lessons instead of gymnastics this fall. (We allow the kids to take one class at a time.) We weren't sure if all three girls would get up on the horse as they tend to be a bit scared of large animals such as chihuahuas. Most horses are quite a bit larger than chihuahuas, but the horse didn't jump on them, or run around them in circles wanting to play. They started their lesson by brushing the horse so they could get used to being near it. They kept walking behind it, making Rob and I very nervous, but this horse is fortunately one of the most laid back horses I've ever seen and never minded. I think it's the perfect horse to start them off on and to get them used to following the basic rules of riding and being around horses.

Meg was the first to actually have her brush touch the horse. Beth didn't seem nervous at all though and was right after her. I had to pick Kylie up and help her get started before she would get anywhere near it. Meg was not interested in actually getting up ON the horse though. I asked who wanted to go first and Meg backed up shaking her head. Beth was more than willing to jump up onto the saddle, but Kylie surprised us and volunteered as well. I was afraid if we let Kylie stop and think about it, she would get scared again, so we stuck Kylie up on the horse before she could have any second thoughts. She didn't smile at all the whole time, but by the end of her first ride, she seemed more comfortable with it :)

Beth was next and she seemed right at home from the moment we put her up there. She smiled and was talking to Miss Sarah (the instructor) and pointing out interesting things to her as they walked around the field. She immediately started swaying her body with the horse as it walked and although Sarah started Beth's ride holding onto Beth's foot, she let go after just a minute or two as it was obvious that Beth was doing great :) Interesting as Beth is the one of the girls that gets scared on carnival rides.


After both Kylie and Beth had gone, Megan finally agreed to take a turn. She was still more than a bit nervous, but managed to give me a smile as I snapped a picture of her :) It took her a bit to loosen up, but by the end of the second ride (each girl rode twice for about 10 mins each ride as the lesson was an hour), she was doing really well and was learning the sounds that the horse responds to. Sarah said that at the next lesson, she'll have Megan start using reins!


Between turns, the girls played with two goats, a farm dog (that was in the pen with the goats so the girls wouldn't be afraid of her), a rabbit, and the chickens that we get our eggs from. Jack gnawed on the carrots that the girls brought to feed the horse after their lesson and had a lot of fun running around and playing in the dirt and grass. Megan really liked the goats and one of the three carrots got fed to the goats before the end of the lesson. I think we'll have to bring some extras next time :)

The kids had a lot of fun and we were very lucky that Rob didn't have to work today and was able to go with us! I have a sneaking suspicion that the girls may be entering a "horse" phase. Kylie currently has Jack sitting on the dump truck that he got for his birthday and has the strap from Jack high chair attached to the steering wheel. She's pulling him around the kitchen and pretending that she's taking him on a horse ride.

Today is my brother's last email home before he gets off his mission!!!

Self portrait by Kylie that I think is cute :)

This week was busy, but not horribly noteworthy :) We got wind and rain from Ike, but it wasn't a big deal. Friday morning Kylie threw up, but she seemed fine after about 9am, so that night Christy and her friend Lisa went with the kids and I to Grapefest. Megs and Kylie played in the huge sandbox they had in the kids area and watched a puppet show and Beth rode on a tricycle rather than getting dirty in the sandbox. After that, we went to the petting zoo, billed as having "40 exotic animals". It consisted of about 25 goats, several rabbits, several chickens, a couple of ducks, three llamas and a baby kangaroo in a cage. The goats were very . . . enthusiastic and the girls took a bit to get comfortable with them. They loved petting the rabbits though. Christy fed one of the llamas, but the girls opted out of that particular experience :) Jack didn't want to go in the sandbox or pet any animals. Following the petting zoo, Christy let them go on a couple of carnival rides (I was going to be mean and just let them do the free stuff - I think Christy enjoys being the fun aunt that will buy them carnival tickets when Mom says no way :) ) and then play a game that resulted in two stuffed ducks for Kylie and Beth and a stuffed toy shaped like a rose for Megan. After that, the kids and I went home and Lisa and Christy stayed for the wine tasting and to check out the stalls. Rob was supposed to work that night (although he wouldn't have come anyway as you had to get there before 5pm to get in for free), but he didn't have to, so we got to actually spend a Friday night with him :) I was hoping we'd get hit by Ike just badly enough that his job would be cancelled, but no such luck; he worked Saturday evening at the country club.

Monday we didn't do much other than in the evening when I went shopping with my friend Beca. Tuesday morning we worked on Pre-K work with Kylie and Beth and then went to pick up our co-op order. The highlight of that was when Kylie discovered a rather large inchworm on a head of lettuce. Kylie and Beth were enthralled by the way he moved and we spent quite a while examining him. Tuesday evening Rob had boxing (btw Rob - apparently there is a guy in Keller 1st that trains for boxing as well - Bro. Chin?), so I tried to clean up the house while making brownies to bring to my book club. We got fresh mint with our co-op order, so I really wanted to make something that incorporated that. I found a recipe consisting of a brownie pie, topped with homemade chocolate pudding, then marshmellows, caramel and fudge. I altered it a bit (and cheated by using a Ghiradelli brownie mix instead of making them from scratch) and topped bite sized brownie pieces with homemade chocolate mint pudding and then pieces of Andes Mints. To all of you who may try piping chocolate pudding onto something, it looks much better piped in diagonal lines. I started by piping the pudding in circles, sort of like soft serve ice cream, however it ended up looking a bit like dog doo. It tasted great though :) Rob said they were my best brownies ever :)

The rest of my day didn't seem horribly productive though. It was one of those days where you feel like you run around all day and feel like you got nothing done - and nothing seems to go right. I made dinner for the kids by myself since Rob goes straight to boxing from work. I made corn on the cob and buffalo burgers. It wasn't until I had the burgers on the table that I discovered that the burner I had the corn steaming on was not working and the corn was still raw. I moved it to another burner and started putting burgers together for the kids. When I cut Jack's, I discovered that the inside of the burgers was still raw. At that point, I just stuck them in the microwave, but then the cheese on top melted completely and slid off into the grease and juices that were now on the plate. The kids were very hungry by then and couldn't understand why there was food on the table, but we weren't eating. Rob picked that moment to call and chat while he drove to boxing :) Ah, motherhood :) I took a deep breath, told Rob I would call him back, got burgers together for the kids and sat down. I'm glad every day isn't like that! When Rob got home, the house was still a mess, the kids were still awake, and I was sitting in the library. Rob, being the incredible husband that he is, immediately took over, reassuring me that everyone has days like that, getting the kids upstairs and ready for bed, and sending me off to book club. I had a wonderful time at my book club (it's really one of my very favorite things in the world :) ) and came home to a kitchen devoid of any sign of my afternoon/evening and a sleeping family :) Thank you Rob!!!

Jack stuck in the doll cradle after he climbed in to get the toy vacuum cleaner

Megan got to vacuum as a reward for helping the most in the cleaning of the playroom (I should have thought of that reward system sooner!)

Kylie and Beth reading together

Kylie and Beth's fort/pirate ship

Above is a self portrait taken by Kylie :)

This morning we took things easy. After we got Meg off to school and Rob off to work, Jack drifted off to sleep in my arms and Beth came downstairs and curled up next to me on the playroom couch. It didn't last horribly long, but it was nice to cuddle with my two smallest munchkins! Kylie came downstairs and we ate breakfast, then I helped the girls build a fort/pirate ship out of the climber so they could use the spyglasses we made out of a paper towel roll.

The girls took the fort/ship building into their own hands and scoured the downstairs for every blanket and pillow to add to the structure. They were thrilled with their results and couldn't wait to show it off and have me take pictures of them with it :)

Painting and pigtails

Wednesday Kylie and Beth asked if they could paint, so we got out the paints and let them loose :) I usually put the colors they want on a disposable plate, but since the paint containers were almost empty, I just let them pick the ones they wanted. They had a blast and painted lots of pictures.

An aerial shot of my kitchen counter when they were done :)

Jack had been napping while K & B painted. Once he woke up, he noticed them at the little table and decided it looked like it would be fun to climb! He is always climbing on something or getting into something :) (and yes, I took him down as soon as I took the picture!)

Megan posing with her scooter. She loves this outfit - especially the belt buckle, which is a flower made of jewels.

This morning, Jack and Beth decided they wanted to play on the computer. Beth found the "Ego" (Diego) game and they had a lot of fun pushing buttons. I don't think they ever got past the first screen, but they enjoyed it!

Beth finally has enough hair for french braids! She liked them, but they didn't stay very well. By the time we left to pick up Megan, her head looked sort of like a fuzz ball :)

Some cute shots of Beth . . .

A shot of Jack - taken by Kylie