a little update

Ok, I think the washing machine and clothes are A-OK. When I dried the 'diaper clothes' there was a TON of lint, but everything smells downy fresh!

I love KSL Classifieds...can I just tell you?

I just spent 2 hours cutting up raw chicken....yuck! (Food storage item that we got through church-40 pounds of chicken, but I was surprised at how much I had to trim before putting in Ziplocs and into the freezer. Glad that's over).

For those interested in Amanda's Nutcracker performance, I have a little info...Tickets are $6 and $9. Performances are Thursday, November 20th, Friday, November 21st, and a matinee and evening performances on Saturday, November 22nd (also the UTAH v byu game-Mike is shocked that the ballet school would schedule the Nutcracker on game day).

From what I understand, tickets get filled according to how many you sell...so that means if too many people want the Saturday matinee, the dancer who has sold a higher quantity of tickets gets priority, while the dancer who may have only sold her allotted 15, would possible not get tickets for that show (but would get tickets to another show). So, you may want to give me an optional performance date in case we get bumped. I hear that if you want to come Thursday, you will probably get them for sure (the hard one to get is the Saturday matinee). Just e-mail me or give me a call. Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest!

Have a happy day!

LemiShine

Ok girls...since you enjoyed my diaper drama so much, I would tell you where to get LemiShine, but I can't remember where I got it. It was probably at Albertsons, Wal-Mart or Target. Look in the aisle with the dishwashing detergent. Good Luck!


Update: My washer looks ok this morning...I just put in the load of diaper gel clothes...
cross your fingers!

Never try this at home

Guess what I did today? I washed a disposable diaper! I think maybe it was left in a pair of Brandon's pants and put in the laundry basket. I highly discourage you from washing disposable diapers....WHAT A MESS!

I took all the clothes that were in that load outside to shake the gel beads (or whatever those squishy things are) loose from the clothes before I wash them again.

This action COVERED me in gel beads....so much so that I had to take a shower!

I am now in the process of washing my washer. I'm going to try my favorite, LemiShine! I use this in my dishwasher whenever the glasses start looking cloudy. My friend says you can use it in your washing machine, per her repair man. I figure if those little gel beads are stuck in the 'holes' we could have some problems. So, I'm bringing out the big guns! (That would be the LemiShine).

(I was excited to find that The Pioneer Woman also uses and loves LemiShine!)

I'll let you know how everything turns out!

One more update

Marathon blogging...what are you going to do? Sydney got to go to DATC for a birthday party and get her nails and hair done! She came home with this DARLING hairdo...apparently it was the best hairdo as the other girls didn't get such glamorous hair! So, Sydney wanted a photo session.....I have to say, she sure looks cute!

Brandon's first day of Preschool!

So excited! Brandon first day of preschool with Miss Cindy

Brandon could not wait to go to school like his big sisters! For the first week of their school, he kept asking me, "Where do I go today, Mom?" The day finally arrived and he wore his backpack around the house from the moment he got dressed (not long after getting up) until we got in the car to go to school. When I picked him up, he had a huge smile on his face and said, 'That was FUN!"

Spencer and Brandon on the first day

He did have a bad day at school this week. I guess he thinks that he has a chair that is his. When one of the kids took it, he got upset. The teacher tried to explain to him that we share and he could sit somewhere else for the day. Well, he got more upset and pouted the rest of school. When I asked him how school was when he got home, he said bad because his teacher wouldn't let him sit in his spot. About an hour later, his teacher called me to explain and apologize and she was worried that he was mad at her. She said she would try to make sure he gets his spot each day. I told her that we have probably spoiled him too much and that he needs to learn to share, but I appreciate her willingness to work it out!
Oh my.....

St. George for Labor-less weekend

Since we hadn't been to St. George in awhile, we decided to spend Labor Day there. We really relaxed.....maybe a little too much! We did go to Tuachan for the first time. We saw Big River. It was good and the kids loved how they flooded the stage to make a river. It was a long show, however, and by the time it was over, only Amanda remained awake in the kid department! Then, we got in the car and the fuel light was on. So, we sat as the parking lot cleared so that we wouldn't run out of gas at Tuachan!
We took the kids swimming at the bubble. We ate out a few times, but mostly hung out and relaxed and spent time together. Amanda brought Wayne Wolf from her class. He gets to go on vacation anywhere in Utah as Amanda will be studying the counties in Utah.

School's in....

I know...it's the 3rd week of school, but I'm just getting to the first day of school pictures. The kids were excited. Sydney was a bit anxious, but did well once she met her teacher. So far, the girls love their teachers. Amanda has had a bunch of homework every night...quite the change from last year. The kids look soooo much older to me this year. What happened to our babies?

Amanda in 4th grade!

Sydney

Sydney is in 1st grade. Doesn't she look at little worried? She was worried that she would miss me too much because she was gone ALL day now. I told her I would miss her, but school is fun and will go by fast. She didn't have any problems and now enjoys school so much!

Here are some celebratory cartwheels....Sydney needed a picture for her 'get-to-know-you' project of things she likes to do...

Ward Campout

First off: cute picture of B & Syd. Amanda was at Brynna's sleeping over (have you ever heard me say we don't do those.....yep, I thought so, too). Anyway, Sydney can't sleep without Amanda and Brandon can't go to sleep by himself ever since we went to Lake Powell. Perfect solution, put them in Syd's bed together and off to la-la land....

Ok, the ward campout was back in August, but with school starting and other fun things, I haven't had a chance to blog it out. We were not that excited about planning a campout. But, thanks to our wonderful committee and really my hard-working hubby, we had a great time! We had a few bumps in the road on the way up to the campground....from trying to find an air mattress at Sportmans through all the construction, to dragging and ruining the wire to the trailer lights on the Shulz' trailer (no trailer lights), to no good food for dinner....but we pulled it together and started to feel more optimistic when people started arriving. Our campout was Survivor themed, and we had some immunity challenges set up for early arrivers....such as No speaking in church for a year, to first in line for breakfast. We had our annual Men Only Dessert Contest and I was worried that it would flop since it would be more difficult to bring desserts camping, but we had a good showing and Mike ended up winning again this year. He defaulted and so Brad Wilson, Casey Francis and Richard Fawcett won, with a good showing from Rick Orison's cobbler.

The winners with their bedazzled wooden spoons! Brad is our home teacher and hasn't made any of our activities. His guilt finally kicked in and he made sure to make it to this activity, despite his hatred for camping. Thanks, Brad!

The Bishop gave a great devotional around the campfire. I thought it was so cute how his daughter, Kate, snuggled up next to him. Lots of marshmellows a-roasting and consuming of the contest desserts before heading to bed.

Bright and early the next morning (6am), we got up to start breakfast. Jared and Jenny B and Mike & I worked long and hard cracking eggs and trying to determine the egg to milk ratio for 60 eggs on Thursday so that we wouldn't have to crack eggs up camping. We must have called back and forth 5 times before getting it down. That was a fun memory...the breakfast went great! No lines, and good hot food. The only downside.....bees and hornets. Brandon getting more marshmellows. Once again, I know that Heavenly Father helps us be able to do these activities by having our kids behave so great! They are always good, not crying and taking care of each other.

We designed the Survivor games to be for families and to be self-starting...we figured we'd be cleaning up, etc. So, we posted rules at each game and let people guide themselves through. It worked out great! Here is Sydney & Amanda in the three-legged race. The girls had a great time doing the games even without their parents. When a challenge was completed, then you take a ribbon to put on your family flag. We had some great flags and I really wish I got more pictures of them.

Shulz's....part of the committee

The Bartons...part of the committee
The Smiths...part of the committee

So, in the end, we were pleased with how it turned out. We got home by noon and went right to bed! As we talked to the other committee members, they did the same thing! It takes a lot out of you to put on an activity....that or we are just getting old. I guess it went well enough because the Bishopric has already requested a campout for next year....

Our kids had a BLAST! Here are pictures of them on our way home....dirt covered and happy.

Sydney

Amanda

Brandon & Larsen McCleary

A good thinker thought

Just sitting here cruising blogs and thinking about updating mine with events that happened 2 weeks ago, when I came across Pioneer Woman. I love the last paragraph of her post today. I think one of the reasons I enjoy her is that she is back to the simple life. Where pretty much what you see is what you get. Where you don't have to worry about the trivial things that consume our day. Where kids can play and entertain themselves all day without being 'bored' or holding a video game in their hand. I sound like I'm a 100 years old, but I could see myself living this way...interesting, huh...

"As someone who grew up in a residential area on a golf course and lived for years in big, exciting Los Angeles, I especially cherish these reminders that exist around me now—reminders that there was once a time in America when slick feed trucks and prefab steel barns weren’t all the rage, when mega houses and SUV’s weren’t seen on every street…and when decency, resourcefulness, hard work, and kindness were the measure of a person’s success.
But then, the wide-eyed optimist in me knows that we still live in that place. We just have to remind one another every once in awhile."

Ok, ponder....

Saturday in review

See below for Amanda's great Saturday. But, Sydney also had a game today. She played great and stayed in the entire game! She was lucky to have Uncle Darin and Uncle Steve, along with Zach and Abi come see her play! Steve was getting their 'stuff' out of our basement and D was the hired help (or the volunteer help).

We had a great time with the uncles and cousins! Thanks, guys for helping me when I had to get kids to different places at the same time! Also, the fun lunch at Wendy's.....anyone want to play with a barrell full of monkeys?

Finally, Mikey came home! I picked him up at the airport because he hasn't been feeling well today. It was cold and rainy in Canada and he was chilled to the bone. He brought us all presents and treats! Here are the pictures from his travels.....of which he says doesn't do the place justice. Enjoy!