Our BIG month of August part 1

What a month August is this year! everyone of my kids is hitting a big milestone this month. We'll start with miss Embers

This girl is really coming out of her shell. She has been pretty shy up until now, she is our little ham at home but quiet everywhere else. Well it started with her I guess being tired of being called shy. She surely hears me say it all the time to people she won't talk to. For awhile she wouldn't talk to my friend and next door neighbor Jena, and finally one day when Jena asked her if she wanted her nails painted and she nodded, she randomly said, "I can talk, you know." ha ha! And she has told me that she is not shy anymore.

This week Embrie started her first dance class with a dance company, we're in the big time now! She was super excited! She told me that she would be brave and not shy and that she would speak up and talk to her teacher, and she did.

Then the very next day she started Preschool! She is going to the same school Garrett went to with Miss Bre`. She has been talking about going to school since the beggining of the year. We met the teacher at back to school night last week. Miss Bre` gave Garrett a big hug and talked to him about starting 1st grade. It made him feel good because he loved her during preschool.

This was her today right before school, big smiles the whole time. And Garrett has been giving her tips all week on how things work at Tiny Minds Preschool, so she'd be ready. And he got a taste of what it feels like to be the one left home for once. He missed her while she was at school. He doesn't start for 2 more weeks.

She has a couple friends from the neighborhood in her class.

Running down the lawn, coming out of school with her new school bag that she picked out and Ms Bre` put her name on. I think she was the only girl in her class that didn't pick a pink bag :)

Embrie with her buddies, Katy and Bailey

3 1/2... I can't believe she is growing up so fast! But I love that she loves it!

Being productive

This was my plane jane door before

                                                    This is it after!

                 I find that in these pictures and certain light you may not be able to
                   tell but it is purple. Not the Joker's suit purple but eggplant-ish?

      And here is the monster, or I should say one of the monsters.

            These 2 Cherry tomato plants are being held up by  8 tomato cages.

          We also have another tomato plant that is producing a lot of normal

            size tomatoes, but it is not this big. The other day I picked 67 cherry tomotoes and 14 regular! Wow what a year for tomatoes. The other veggies are doing great too! Our othe rmonster is the Yellow squash spilling out onto the lawn.

So far in the last week I have made salsa almost entirely from fresh garden produce. I've made apricot jam, and apricot syrup, 3 loaves of zucchini bread and one banana. And I have put up frozen fresh green beans, and shredded zucchini. Spending that much time in the kitchen means that the rest of the housemay need my attention now, gotta run!

Come on Baby you can do it!

Help me cheer her on! I can't believe Maren is almost a year old and isn't doing this stuff yet! But I will say she sure is cute! We have a lot of practicing to get to. These shots were taken while I helped her get to each step. I'm thinking it will be awhile before she walks. . . We haven't even lowered her crib because she doesn't sit herself up.



1st Bike Parade

Garrett has always wanted to decorate his bike for a parade and he got his chance! Ou ward party was a breakfast and kid's bike parade. So the kids were way excited!

                         Embrie wore the hat she'd made with Gandma Peggy

. . . after camping

The day that we left the camp ground we drove down to grandpa and grandma Callahan's house for one more night's stay and to do some fishing that Garrett has been begging to do for quite some time.

We had no luck the first time. Man I tell ya! with 2 babies 4 kids and 3 adults we just didn't have the numbers for a successful kids fishing trip. poles and lines were tangled faster than we could handle. There were a few bites but no good catches. So the next morning, Garrett, Grandpa and Dad headed out alone to see if they'd have more luck.

                                                      and they did!
Embrie was a little sad that they boys were leaving to go fishing without her, but Grandma cheered her up with a craft idea. She helped Embrie make a cute hat.

          She picked out the colors and flower and buttons and beads she wanted.

                                She even got to use the hot glue gun herself

 Later that day we headed down to a shared garden and picked some vegetables.

I'd say we had a pretty fun week!

The great outdoors

We went camping with the Callahan side of the family at Price Rec.

This was Embrie's and Maren's first real camping trip. How terrible is that? that Embrie is 3 1/2 and this is her first camping trip other than the backyard! And so you know it's been that long since Garrett has been too! Yikes! we need to do this more often, like Embrie said when I asked her if we should to it again, "we should to it lots of times!"

 One of the first things we did was take a hike. Me and these 4 cute rug rats hit the trail.

mostly in search of these little lizards (of which 3 were caught and only one got away)

                                             climbed some rocks

                                                  played in the dirt

                                                played some games

                                                           hung out

ate great camping food

or in some cases our normal every day food

                      All the siblings from Left: Melissa, Brad, Shane, Cory

                                               looking dirty and devious

                                                 Chillin' with Grandma! 

       Everyone did great in the tent over night. Basically the whole trip went really well!