A List Will Do

Yes I guess it is true I am a perfectionist. In case you're wondering, that doesn't mean I do everything perfect!

So I keep trying to find/make the time to blog. I always have all kinds of ideas of what I will write. I wish I could express my thoughts better. I go over titles and pictures, details and events and...well it just doesn't always come out right.

So for now a list will have to do. I like making lists! Perhaps getting something down will help capture the memories I don't want to forget, and then I can add more later. Here are some of the things we've been up to in no particular order:

-Austin turned 3 on August 15th. He got pants and a shirt, Play wooden tool box and tools, Thomas the Train book set, wind up trucks from Gma and Gpa Torrie, and a movie and cars from Grandma and Grandpa Taylor.

-The kids and I went to the zoo for a Idaho Virtual Academy field trip. It was really hot, we stayed a long time and the kids seemed to like it a lot.

-We went to the lake as a family a couple of weekends a go. The kids aren't great swimmers yet and the water was pretty cold. We are planning on swimming lessons this winter. It was still fun and the boys especially had a great time in the sand.

-Audrey was baptized June 4th. It was a happy day and we were happy to have Bart and Brandy, Genevieve, Annabelle and Alexander come and be with us. It was fun to catch up and let the kids play. Grandma Sue, Aunt Megan and Gavin also came and we were happy to see them. Unfortunately Gavin got sick and so he and Austin didn't get to play much. Audrey seems to have a really good primary teacher, and she enjoyed a gift from her as well as from our Home teachers. She loves her new scriptures from Grandma and Grandpa Torrie and her hymnbook from Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. We are not sure what to do with home teachers that come regularly. It does seem strange that we have a daughter old enough to be baptized already. We are so happy and proud of her. She is enjoying going to activity days.

-Audrey had her piano "Audition" and is excited to get going on piano. She was able to play a couple of songs for her teacher so she will know where she is at. Her teacher is Mrs. Hardyman, and she is also a second grade teacher. I think they are going to get a long really well. Audrey and Jessica have been learning to play songs with some help from Benson and I and they are good little players. It has been fun to have a piano!

-We have been painting the school room, refinishing a desk and painting the concrete, organizing all our school supplies and preparing for a new school year.

-We have been slowly getting our yard looking better after our lawn was all dug up to replace the sewer line this winter. This past week we got a bunch of top soil delivered and got it spread out. tons of dirt and mud has been tracked into the house!

-Our garden has done ok this year. We canned some beans and had some strawberries in the spring. We planted cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, peas and beans, carrots and beats. We cut up and ate a cucumber yesterday and it was really good, and not bitter like they usually are. The beets and carrots didn't make it. A lady Benson works with gave us some extra plants she didn't use and some weren't labeled. We arestill trying to identify some of the squash.

-We canned some pears a couple of weeks ago and hope to can some tomatoes and peaches too before it's too late.

-We used some of our freshly canned beans in the shepherds pie we had the other day.

-We are trying to figure out if Austin has allergies to something. He is having some digestive problems. We thought it was lactose intolerance, but it doesn't seem to be that. He has been drinking lactose free milk. When we get it figured out I think potty training will be a lot easier.

-The kids have had lots of opportunities in primary to give talks and scriptures with every going out of town... and somehow one Sunday we missed that Jessica had the scripture. After church she said "We forgot that I had the scripture, but it's ok I just bared my testimony!

-After a few months of having no dishwasher, we were able to get a decent one on sale. It is nice to be able to keep up on the dishes better. I always had good intentions and had the kids help, but we were always behind. It has been a relief.:) I actually don't mind washing dishes by hand. I didn't really learn to load a dishwasher until I was married. I have happy memories of washing dishes with my dad and memorizing poems like In Flanders Fields.


-Working on getting all our pictures in one place and backed up on and external hard drive and feeling sad that the kids are growing up so fast!

-Spent some time planning out a schedule for my day to make sure I am making time for all the important things. I call it a time map. I came across a business coach for women entrepreneurs and she talks about keeping our lives in proper alignment. It really helped to take a closer look at what should come first and on up the line. I have been inspired to make sure that I am getting my scripture reading/studying and meditation in as well as time to get ready and take care of me. It's amazing what can quickly go out the window when you have little kids. I needed a reminder to refocus.

-Benson is on the Library board and was the chairman of a committee that was working to create a library district. The County commissioners didn't let it go the ballot. At the public hearing a rude guy was personally attacking Benson and it was pretty stressful for him. Perhaps he will write about it and explain it better.

-I was released from my calling as Relief Society Pianist and was called as Beehive adviser on June 12th the same day Audrey was welcomed in as the newest member of the ward after her Baptism. The same day that the bishopric member called me at 8:00 in the morning to come to the church and the same day that Audrey ripped her dress because we were in a hurry to get everyone to the church.

-We have decided to have school at home this year through Idaho Virtual Academy and we are working on our schedule and getting into a routine. I am excited about the different opportunities that we have and some of the freedoms it gives us. We are still waiting on our computer because of a glitch in the system, but we got boxes of materials, books, art supplies etc. The kids had a great time going through everything!

-I have had my diaper store open almost every Saturday this summer for a few hours and it has been bitter sweet. I recently started using some cool credit card processing software that hooks up to my paypal account and allows me to swipe credit/debit cards, and print normal receipts. Until now I had been manually entering everything in to my online ordering system and printing a full page receipt. Now I just have to do a bunch of data entry to get all the inventory entered.

-The kids are going to be in gymnastics on Fridays. Tracy is awesome and she was our Doula when Jackson was born.

-Audrey wants to have a science fair so we will most likely help plan one and invite others to join in. There are a quite a few families in the area that home school in one way or another. The school we chose to enroll Audrey and Jessica in is a online public school. The kids still do all the state testing etc.

-Trying to figure out what activities to get our kids involved in and still stay sane and not overscheduled. There is a homeschool group that meets twice a month for field trips and library time. We found out that Idaho Virtual Academy will pay for the fees we would have to pay to rent the room at the library. I'm not sure if we will be involved in the whole thing or just the field trips.

-Today we got an emergency call saying that the city water pump had stopped working and that we needed to conserve water and not use our sprinklers. I hope we don't run our of water before 5 p.m. tomorrow. We do have some water storage thank goodness!

-On Saturday we spread out all the dirt and took some junk out of the garage to the dump, all after I came back from the store. The boys were just covered with dirt and we were all exhausted that night.

-Jessica had her first tooth pulled out by her dad with pliers. We are hoping the tooth that was growing in behind it will grow in ok. She got $2 from the tooth fairy.

-The girls and I got the sewing machine out today and they both sewed a bean bag/doll pillow. I ran the pedal and gave directions and they sewed. Audrey has been begging for me to sew with her for weeks.