College and Preschool

Both my boys started school. Chad had is first day of classes at Idaho State University last week, and Owen and I started preschool today. We are excited and scared of this new adventure that our family is taking, but luckily I have the preschool to help us out. So now I become a college students wife, but we have 4 kids, a mortgage, and a car payment. Lets hope we can make it through the next 3 years with our sanity!

Lowes Build and Grow

My friends at work had been telling me about the Lowes Build and Grow clinic. I knew that they did these things but I had just never thought to look into it. So, one Saturday I signed them up and off we went. Claire and Owen absolutely loved it!! They got to build a bus, get little aprons and safety goggles, and Owen's favorite thing - use little hammers. He was very sad when I gave them back to the lady. Grant was to young to build anything, but he was very good. The kids did great following the instructions, and listening to directions. I was very impressed, and we will definetly be doing it again.

Wood!

So I mentioned that one of the things the kids did while they were at my parents house was cut wood. They would go up to the mountains with the men, and cut the trees down and into smaller pieces to load into the pickup. Then, they would bring them back to my parents house and unload them into a large pile. After that it was my job and the kids to run the hydralic wood spliter and split the wood into smaller pieces. It was a good job for them, especially since I was the one lifting all the wood, and they just had to run the lever. Chad had to go to Boise to get some sprinkler parts for my parents, so he took the pickup and a huge trailer full of wood back to our house. It was a little out of the way, but this is what I was met with when I got home. Claire thought it was a fun place to climb. Hopefully it will keep us warm all winter!

Claire's Front Tooth

Claire lost her first big front tooth while we away this summer. She thought it was great. The tooth fairy even found her at Grandma's house. Last time she was at the dentist he said she had 5 loose teeth. I'm hoping she looses the other front one before it grows in because I think she looks so cute!!

Berries

One of the last things we did while in White Bird was pick berries. The wild blackberries came on during the last week of our visit. I was so excited. I picked enough to make a few pies, and then bring home and make some jam. I love picking berries, I always feel so productive. Cody was nice enough to go with me, and somehow we are going the same speed, but she gets a ton more. The kids didn't think berry picking was the best thing, but it was good practice for them.

Suckers

My dad has a sucker jar. I wish I took a picture of it because it is always filled to the brim with suckers of every kind. The kids knew that if they gave Grandpa a kiss they would get a sucker. I hate the sucker jar. They could come up and give my dad a kiss at 6 in the morning and get a sucker. What a way to start the day. But, I know that it is a Grandpa thing so I don't fight it to much. Let just say that by the end of our trip Grant warmed up to Grandpa and the kids all needed to go to the dentist.

Family Time

We spent quite a bit of time with my family this summer. My Grandma and Grandpa Farmer, my brother Roy and his family, my brother J.R., and my Aunt Linda all live in White Bird, so we would get together a lot. Almost every Sunday afternoon we would have a family dinner and then play some Pinocchole, which Chad learned how to play and I think enjoyed. It was so great for Great Grandma to get to know Ava, and spend time with her, and for the rest of the kids to really get to know my Aunt Linda. I think the boys especially loved her dog Macey a ton, but Aunt Linda was part of the packaged deal. Owen especially loved living close to Uncle J.R. who he adores. J.R. took Chad and Owen fishing one Saturday morning and Owen is proudly showing off his catch in the picture above. Of course Claire had to be in the picture, but she didn't go fishing, it was a boys day out!

Rocks

My kids learned something else while we were gone for the summer. They learned how to work. They spent a lot of time in the mountains helping their dad, uncle and Grandpa cut wood, then they spent a lot of time with me running the wood splitter and stacking wood. One of their other jobs was to help pick rocks. Like I said my parents have very rocky soil, so in order to cover the sprinkler pipe up we had to pick out all the rocks. The kids had a lot of help from their cousins and they all earned a trip to the drive in to see Toy Story 3 from Grandpa for all their hard work.

Sprinklers

Most of Chad's time at my parents house was spent working on their sprinkler system. My mom has wanted a yard for forever, and they just haven't done it. My dad decided it was time and was just about to hire someone when he found out we needed a job for the summer. It worked out perfectly! Chad laid over 2000 feet of pipe (I actually think it was more, but I can't remember), and put in so many sprinkler heads (I do have to say that I put in quite a few of those too!). He had 13 stations he put in, and had to do all the digging by himself. Let me just say that my parents have about the rockiest ground ever, and Chad was so tired of digging through rocks that he got out the excavator and dug some very large trenches, but it got the job done. I was so proud of him, and very impressed by his sprinkler boxes that I had to take a picture.

Playing

I have to say that the best part about being at my parents house was the fact that the kids could play outside all day, and loved it. I didn't have to worry about them. They were either outside Grandma's house jumping on the trampoline. (They discovered the joys of putting the sprinkler under the trampoline.) Or, they would be at Aunt Cody's house playing with the kids. I spent a lot of time there helping Cody paint their new addition, so they too spent a lot of time there. They kids also had a lot of fun checking on the animals, and were sent on quite a few made up scavenger hunts by their mother. You can only handle 10 kids on one house for so long. Their other favorite activity was riding the 4 wheelers or Grandpa's Big Red. Whenever anyone went for a ride they had to hop on. In case you are wondering what my kids looked like each night, check out the picture of Grant. Bath time was a must, and if the water wasn't that dirty, then they didn't spend enough time outside.

Sleep!

To say that Chad worked hard would be an understatement, but I had no idea that it would have such an effect on Ava. Lets just say that Chad would catch a nap whenever he could.

Ava and Grandpa

Grandpa had so much fun spending time with Ava. They became great friends although at her age she is so happy to be with anyone who just holds her and talks to her. She started talking and smiling like crazy while we were in White Bird. The last picture I snapped because before I got my camera both Ava and Grandpa were asleep on the bed. it was sure nice to have so much help with the kids.

Swimming

We did a lot of swimming on our trip this summer. It was very hot and the Salmon River is only 6 miles away, so a few afternoons when Grant was taking his nap, my mom would watch Ava and Grant and we would take Claire and Owen to the river. It was soooooo COLD!! Seriously COLD! I couldn't get in, and Chad braved it but it took his breath away. Somehow Claire and Owen quite enjoyed it. We also had the chance for their stake 24th of July celebration to go to a fun swimming complex in Clarkston, WA. Claire actually went down her first water slide all by herself. I didn't even know she was going until she came out. She loved it!! Owen loved the little wave pool they had, and Grant really didn't care for anything. Grandpa was very persistent, so he eventually had to enjoy himself. My parents also took us to Zim's Hot Springs one day, where we had so much fun. The water was so nice and warm, but not to hot, and the kids swam and swam. We even put Ava in the water and she loved it. Grant enjoyed himself as long as he was with me or Chad. Unfortunately I forgot my camera every place but one day at the beach.

Fishing

The kids were so excited when we packed the fishing polls in the car. Luckily Grandpa had plans to take us fishing on our first weekend. The kids were so happy. We went to a little spot close to my parents house with Roy, Cody and kids, and Grandpa and Aunt Amber. The kids had fun fishing for awhile, and then they got to swim. Grant was so funny to watch because he loved being outside, but he wouldn't get to close to any action. He would just sit and watch. The kids got to roast hot dogs, and went home ready for bed, which a mom always loves.

White Bird

We had a great time on our trip to White Bird. The kids got to do things that we would have never been able to do had we been home all summer. Chad was working around the house so he was always around, and the kids spent a ton of time outside with their cousins. They discovered how much fun it was to put the sprinkler under the trampoline, how to cross cattle guards, how to chop and stack wood, how to chase chickens, walk sheep, pick berries, and just enjoy being outside. They were never clean, which I loved because that showed me how much fun they were having. Usually if the water in the bathtub wasn't brown, that means they didn't spend enough time outside. We were very grateful for the chance we had to go and enjoy family this summer. We appreciate all that everyone did for us, and for the great time we had. I will try to give you a good idea of what we did this summer in the next few posts. I'm sure I will forget something, but just know that we had a blast! I mean who wouldn't living in the mountains for 5 weeks!