I hate DINNER.

Today for dinner I made pulled pork in the crock pot, baked potatoes, fresh corn and we had some chips.

This is what my children had to say about it:

Dallin: EWWWW SICK! What is that horrible smell?

Parker: Did you make that sweet meat AGAIN? You ALWAYS make that mom....I'm so SICK of it."

Landon: " I just want some corn...and some chips."

This is what I had to say about it:

ME: Sounds like you guys need to go get your suitcases. I'll help you pack and then you can go find another family to live with! You can find a mom who doesn't make nice meals for you and who will let you eat as much CRAP as you want!

This was followed by mass hysteria, screaming, crying, and 3 boys BEGGING for the dinner I made. May not be the textbook tactic but HEY....it worked.

Back to School

Last week I thought I was 100% READY for my boys to go back to school but as I lay in bed this morning and listened to Parker and Dallin making their beds and getting their school clothes on I felt that little heartache that creeps in as I realized we have made it to yet another big milestone.

 We've made the most of this summer. We've played hard. We've worked hard. We've found a new appreciation for one another as we have had to rely on each other a little more being on our own in a new city. I'm grateful for boys who love each other. Boys who go to a friends house for a play date but decide that after an hour they need to come back home because they miss each other a little too much. I love these boys. I'm so grateful they are mine.

We're pretty lucky. Dallin had been going to a math and science school over in Boise. We found out when we moved that a brand new math and science school was being built less then a mile from our house. I met the principal and put us on the waiting list hoping that things would work out. We got a call 2 days later saying that both boys were in! It is a beautiful school. How neat to get to get to attend a school with a brand new library, new desks, new books, where NO ONE is the new kid! They are ALL the new kids! I chalk it up to yet another little tender mercy.

Dallin has been counting down the days to start school. He absolutely loves learning and he has a great teacher. She's been teaching for over 30 years!

Parker decided that he wanted to snuggle up with me yesterday after church. I asked him what he was thinking about. His response: "I'm just thinking about school. I am SO EXCITED to go mom!"
For a split second I saw this little face:

"That's nice Parker, but you are WAY too young to go to school!" is what I was thinking. It is crazy that my Parker is old enough for school but I know that he is ready! I'm thrilled for him. It was so much fun watching the excitement in his eyes as he put his backpack on and headed out to the car.

And so begins another school year! I'm excited for routines, alone time with Landon, and a clean house for a few hours a day!

Farewell Summer!

It was our LAST weekend before school starts on Monday so we met up with some friends and went down to Lava Hot Springs this weekend. I have very faint recollection of going there as a small girl with my Grandma but the only thing I remember was my Grandma complaining about wearing a swim suit...strange memory.

ANYWAY.....what a fun place! We camped, swam and played until the thunder and lightning shut down the party. It was the first time in a long time that I actually SLEPT while camping. It was fantastic. Thank you Advil PM and long underwear!

We camped right along the river. You can float the river but we ran out of time and good weather so we'll definitely have to do that next time.

The next day we walked across the river over to the pools:

And rode the waterslides over and over again. I can't believe my Parker...the boy who was a good 5 inches too short for the speed slides but he was still determined to ride them. And he did! No one stopped him so he just kept on riding them! He looked to tiny coming down those HUGE slides.
He's one determined little kid.

The the dark clouds rolled in and forced us to leave after a couple of hours.  We found a cute little park nearby and enjoyed our lunch at a covered picnic area while it started to pour rain on us. It was an adventure!

It was a great way to finish out our first summer in Idaho Falls. We've been lots of new places and are learning to love all of the fun things to do in Eastern Idaho. It's hard for me to believe that 2 of my boys will be in school on Monday. We've had a very FUN and very LONG summer and I am going to miss having my buddies around all day. I will however, not miss all of the FIGHTING and COMPETING that goes along with being in a house full of testosterone!

Living in fear

When we moved to Idaho Falls, someone put a flyer on my door alerting me to the danger of the Hobo Spider. Apparently these spiders are ALL OVER in eastern Idaho. (I guess they are in Boise too...I had no idea)  It told about how dangerous they were and that they are venomous and their bite leaves a red blister that develops into a lesion that leaves a scar. It can take years for these to heal. Warning: GRAPHIC picture: (This was the actual picture that was put on my door)

I was freaking out! I have 3 boys who play out in the backyard ALL DAY LONG and so started to be on the look out for these dangerous spiders. Nate told me that I was over-reacting and whoever left the flier was just trying to scare me into hiring him.

We've been here for 3 months and I have lived in total fear of every spider I see.

Then, I found one in my basement. And then another. And one my in my garage. And one over by the shoe bin. The SHOE BIN people! (insert high pitched girly SCREAM here!!!)

I dream about these little monsters, I won't go into the basement at night without my spider killing spray in hand. I put traps down, and but bug barrier in every window pane, doorway, along all baseboards, and I vacuum all corners and crevices daily.

Luckily I haven't seen any more in couple of weeks but honestly......I think I am going to be living in CONSTANT fear forever....or at least until October when they all freeze to death. Wow...a reason to actually look forward to it getting cold over here. :)

help.

My children wear garbage bags and other tales from a crazy weekend.

My head is still spinning from our busy weekend. We headed down to Utah for lots of fun events this weekend. Thursday my "best friend since the day I was born" and our children headed to the zoo for a fun filled day. Little did we know that monsoon rainfall was expected. The heavens opened up and dumped on our children wearing nothing but shorts, shirts and flip flops. Thunder was blaring and lightning was flashing.

My boys were all sobbing uncontrollably so I went over to the snack stand and asked if they could give me some trash bags. A few snips later we were good to go.....or at least good to RUN to the car! We laughed so hard while all the kids cried. It was a a moment I won't EVER forget. Here we are in the car totally SOAKED!

That night, Nate and I went to Gardner Village for my "best friend in college days"  or Marcy's wedding rehearsal dinner. Here is Nate and I outside the Gathering Place:

The next morning we headed over to a place that will always be close to my heart:

Marcy is such an incredible person, friend, shoulder to cry on, person to laugh like crazy with. I'm so THRILLED that she married such a great guy. It was so much fun to sit back and watch her glow.  She was a breathtaking bride. GORGEOUS!!!! It was a perfect summer day to get married. I'm SO happy for them.

After the wedding we met up with rest of my college roommates at Olive Garden. It was so much fun catching up with all of these amazing women. 9.5 children between all of us now! Crazy!

Oh, and by the way....it was my other half's 32nd birthday! Happy birthday to my Nathan! It was really neat being in the sealing room with my husband of 9 and a half years on his birthday in the place we were sealed all those years ago. Love this handsome man.

That night was the reception at the most beautiful place ever. It is a new reception center over in Orem overlooking the lake on a golf course. Here we are....all of the Madison #9 girls! I'm pretty sure this was the first time we've ALL been together in about 9 years or so.

Right after the reception we headed up the mountain to the cabin. As always, we had a great time up in the mountains enjoying the fresh air and being able to spend time with Kelsey and Logan.

I took Grandma EE for a little ride on the 4 wheeler. She absolutely LOVED it. She is pretty darn cool if you ask me.

After spending the weekend in Utah fighting the crowds and the traffic and dealing with people EVERYWHERE I was really looking forward to coming home to the slower paced, and less populated Idaho Falls. I must be turning into a hick or something.

Day trip.

Saturday we went on a mini trip. Where did we go? Drumroll please..............POCATELLO. Ahhhh yeah!  What? Doesn't really sound like a fun trip? Well, you are wrong!
Did I ever in a million years think that I would LOOK FORWARD to going to Pocatello? No way!

Why did we go there? Well, for 3 very good reasons.

1 reason: COSTCO. Oh how I miss Costco! It used to be about 12 minutes from my house.  I miss the samples, the hot dogs, the smells, the books, the cheaper gas! Sam's club is just not quite the same.

#2 reason is because we found one of our FAVORITE sandwich places:

Every single Scholtzsky's we have ever lived by has closed. The one in Spokane, the Boise store, the one by Grandma's house in Utah, and the one in Idaho Falls. We were thrilled to find out that this store hasn't closed. (Yet anyway!)

Reason 3: We wanted to check out the Pokey Zoo. What a fun little zoo. We had a really great time. Our favorite animals would have to be the Grizzly Bear and the 3 legged fox. He was so stinkin cute!

What a fun day spent together!

2nd Annual BOYS CLUB!

My kids won't let me forget about how much fun they had last year at our first boys club party so we decided to do it again! The boys helped plan the activities they wanted to do and they helped me get all the materials we needed! It was a MESSY success again!

We started inside painting toy tops and making SLIME!

Then we headed outside and did some finger painting:

After we were covered in finger paint we washed off by having a SHAVING CREAM war!

Then to wash all of the shaving cream off we had a huge water balloon fight that also included WATER BOMBS!

We ended up turning the hose on and spraying everyone on the tramp until all the shaving cream was gone!

Dirt and worms were served:

And after an hour and a half of MADNESS......the boys went home. And I'm ready for an afternoon nap!
2nd boys club meeting adjourned!