Wheels of life

Maybe some of you have already seen this but It thought it was so cute!

Accomplishments

These may look like the most pathetic, ridiculous couple of carrots you have ever laid your eyes on. As a matter of fact...if I saw these carrots at the store I would probably look over them quickly and immediately pick out some thicker, darker orange looking ones.

These carrots are HUGE to us though!! You see....Nathan and I have never grown anything together (other then children) in the last 7 years we have been married. We have never even had so much as a tomato plant survive in a pot.

This year we decided to give gardening a try. We planted some tomatoes, carrots, cilantro, peppers, and cucumbers in the plant box that Nate put together this spring. (The foods that thrive here in Idaho without too much work) We took a quick peek at the carrots today and gave these 2 a try....even though they obviously needed more time to grow. Much to our astonishment.....THEY WERE GOOD!

We've got lots of tomatoes coming soon and we are REALLY excited about that!

Anyway....just a small accomplishment for the day. O yeah....and HAPPY BLOG-iversary to me! Its been a whole year! That's a HUGE accomplishment....especially since I didn't even know what a blog was back then! haha

Dallin's first day of kindergarten!

I swear my little boy looked like this just yesterday:

And here we are today....on his very first day of KINDERGARTEN!

Here is his new teacher...Mrs. Anderson. It's her first year teaching so she is VERY excited! Luckily Dallin already has a friend in his class! So Dal is at school right now as I am writing this. As we said our goodbyes this morning in his classroom, Dallin was happy, eager, and excited. I hope this is how he comes home-happy, eager, and excited to return for another day and many years to come!

Luckily no tears were shed as we parted but as I looked at him for the last time before I closed the classroom door, I could feel myself getting emotional. I did cry a little as I walked back from the bus stop. I couldn't help it.

It's SO hard to let go of your children. I keep wondering if I have told my son all he needs to know and if I have prepared him enough to go it alone. I would be lying if I didn't say that today was heartbreaking yet also freeing for the both of us. He needs to go out in the world and learn and heaven knows he has been waiting for this day for YEARS.

It sure is quiet around here though. Landon is taking a nap and Parker won't leave my side. He is so reliant on Dallin for EVERYTHING so I am sure this will be a definite learning opportunity for him as well.

2 hours to go until the BIG FIRST is over.........

Last "summer" day

I can't even believe that my Dallin starts kindergarden in less than 24 hours. I'm a little emotional about it but I'm sure I will have plenty to say about it tomorrow. Today we decided to "live up" our last normal summer day! We were going to go over to Sandy Point to play in the sand and sun but were stopped in our tracks by random Boise thunderstorm. Instead we went with friends over to the YMCA to play in the pool! I have NEVER been to the west YMCA...it was such a fun place for kids!

Nat's baby shower

Its a miracle! ALL 3 boys are taking a nap right now so I have a minute to catch up! I honestly can't remember the last time they all took a nap at the same time. Happy Day!

This weekend was my sisters baby shower down in Utah at Grandma EE's house. It was fun getting together with family and friends to celebrate Nat's baby! The shower lasted a couple of hours but of course the "girl talk" continued on for another 5 hours! It was great! Robby was in awe that we were able to "continue talking for THAT long with NO PAUSES." He was convinced that we had some sort of agenda or list of topics that we needed to cover. We really impressed him with our stamina. It's just what we do I guess!!

That evening mom and I went to Lagoon....thanks to Nat and Robby for the tickets. We had a great time! That place just hasn't changed too much over the years. It's kind of a step back in time!

Nate was quite relieved to have me back on Sunday night. It took him 2 full hours to get the boys ready for church by himself....haha! I love just envisioning the chaos I'm sure he endured! I appreciate him taking care of all 3 boys while I was gone. He is my everything!

Today I took the boys and we met up with a friend of mine from high school. I honestly haven't seen her in about 9 years. She has 4 boys so our kids had a great time together. We went to the zoo for the frog exhibit and then went over to the park for lunch. Time to start cleaning the house. Its amazing what can happen when mom is away for a couple of days!

Slow down summer!

Dad took me and some friends up to the lake on Tuesday night! We had so much fun on our GIRLS ONLY trip! We did some wakeboarding, skiing, tubing and surfing. THANKS to all of our husbands at home with kids (even though they were SEETHING with jealousy the whole time we were gone!)

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's been a GREAT birthday this year! 27 sounds a lot older then 26 to me for some reason. O well....I love the fact that my husband will always be 3 years older..it makes me feel YOUNG! Last night Nate and I went to PF Changs (thanks again J &J!) and then we headed over to the mall for a little while. My sweet neighbor (who is a professional baker) made me the CUTEST cake ever! Its one BIG cupcake! SOOOO adorable! Tonight the fam is coming over to enjoy the cake!

Campin'Out!

We decided to do a little "camping" last night in the backyard. Nate set the tent up and the boys brought out EVERY pillow and EVERY blanket they could find! We played some games and made up some silly stories. Almost every story had something to do with "I hit a home run" or "I hit the baseball so hard that it exploded in the middle of the air." Dallin's stories are all about beating Parker's team and Parker's stories are all about beating Dallin's team. They tend to always have a little love/hate thing going on.

Then....I headed inside with Landon and proceeded to go to sleep in my own cozy bed! This is DEFINITELY my kind of camp out!

Good times.

Last night was such a great night! I love being able to take my kiddies to Roaring Springs but I am always quite limited with the things I can do with them. I'm usually standing in the kiddie pool or over in the shallow area in the wave pool. Last night we left the kids at home and took the hubbies along. Jen, Jas, Em, Tom, Nate and I had such a great time on all of the BIG slides! It was fun fun fun!

After the water park we blitzed home to get dressed (the girls did anyway) and we met up with lots of friends over at the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my b-day! (Even though its not until Sunday) I had about 10 minutes to get ready and as we walked in the door I could hear Landon crying upstairs. I walked into his room and he had smeared POOP yes POOP all over his crib, walls, mattress, everywhere! Luckily my good husband told me to just hurry up and get ready and that he would deal with the mess. (If that isn't a good man I don't know what is!) I am SO lucky and SO blessed to have so many wonderful friends. We had a great time chatting and laughing!

I LOVE the 4th!

I didn't want yesterday to end! We had such a fun day. We started off by picking up Nate from the airport. He has been in Utah helping Grandpa Ric. (He was hurt very badly in a biking accident this past weekend.) We LOVE you Grandpa and hope you are feeling better soon! I'm so glad that Nate was able to go down be with his parents for a few days. The boys and I were SO excited to have him back.

We picked him up and went over to the park with friends for a picnic and then we went over to the good old Natatorium swimming pool. This is the pool where I took swimming lessons as a little girl. I have a lot of funny memories associated with that place. What is even more funny is the fact that I ran into about 10 people I knew from when I was little. Boise is a small town..that is for sure. (I have to look twice when I see myself in pictures...I am NOT used to the short hair!)

After swimming, we came back over to our house for a BBQ and fireworks. Mom, Dad and Jason came over as well as Emily's mom and sister. We also played some relay games in the backyard.

We played water balloon volleyball and the egg and spoon race. Here are all the boys in their red white and blue!

Lastly, we watched our money go up in flames as we lit $120 worth of fireworks. The trick with fireworks is to put them up on top of a latter. It makes them 10 times bigger then they would normally be! They boys absolutely loved the fireworks this year. I remember last year when Parker just sat in my mom's lap with his hands over his ears the ENTIRE night. This year was MUCH more fun for them!

Totally Random

This is going to be the most random post ever. You were forewarned so here it goes! I absolutely LOVE the 4th of July! It is my FAVORITE holiday (next to Christmas). It just doesn't get much better than being with family and friends, celebrating the freedoms we enjoy, eating good food and watching fireworks. So...here is the CUTE treat I made this year. They were SOOOO easy to make. They are rice crispy treats with AIRHEAD candies cut up on top to make the colors. Cute huh? Next...I CHOPPED my hair off today! I'm not sure why I was so gutsy this time around. I guess I am just getting tired of drying my long hair everyday...especially in the summer. Here is the before:

And here is the after:

Yikes! It has NEVER been this short before!

Next....my parents got their NEW Malibu Wakeboard boat today. Its absolutely GORGEOUS! (The picture doesn't do it justice)Since it feels like we won't EVER be able to afford a boat of our own it is such a blessing that we can bum along with my parents! We can't wait to get up to the lake the weekend and try this baby out!

Lastly....I just love my little guy. He is so stinkin cute I can hardly even stand it. I can't believe he's already 14 months. 4 months to go until nursery....WOO HOO!
Thats all. Happy 4th of July!

Our quick trip to Redfish Lake

Dallin, Parker, Grandma and I just got back from our quick trip up to Red fish Lake. I've never been there before. What a BEAUTIFUL place. Aren't the Sawtooth Mountains in the background so majestic?

Here is a picture of the cabin we stayed in. It was so cute and cozy.

We spent a lot of time hanging out down at the beach. We tried and tried to catch some minnows but they were WAY too quick! We rode on paddle boats, played in the raft and went swimming. We were missing the water temperature down at Lake Powell! It was COLD!

On Monday we headed over to a Ghost Town called Custer. It is about 30 minutes north of Stanley, Idaho off an old dirt road. It was an old mining town that closed down in the early 1900s. What a cool place. We saw the old miner's homes, toured old schoolhouse and tried a nice cold sarsaparilla from the old saloon.

We packed a lot in for only being gone a couple of days! My Grandma is so amazing. I am so grateful to have her not only as a Grandma but as one of my very best friends. She is always up for some adventure and I don't know very many Grandmas who have HALF the energy she does. She is independent, wise, and the most charitable person that I know. I'm so glad we were able to spend this time together! (Even though we did miss you Daddy and Landon!)

I decided that I wasn't going to entertain my kids with the DVD player on this vacation which ended up being not as bad as I thought it would. We played lots of "I spy" games and "ABC" games during the car rides. In the evenings before be we would play "grocery store." The boys thought it was the GREATEST game ever.
Can't wait to go again one day!

Parker "hairless" Starnes

He's done it again! This is the 3rd time he has cut his own hair. I try to be good about hiding scissors in a safe place...really I am! This time he found a pair in Dallin's kindergarden registration bag. Honestly...those scissors can hardly even cut a piece of paper! Parker seemed to have no problem getting it all the way to the scalp though!

Lifelong friends

Make new friends

But keep the old

One is silver

And the other is gold

This is an actual song that we used to sing in my Brownie Girl Scout troop about 19 years ago. The funny thing about it is....2 of those girls are still my really good friends and we still hang out to this day.

Kali, Jami and I went to elementary school together, played sports together, sang together, cheered in high school together, went to dances together and now our kids play together! It is amazing to me that no matter how long we go without seeing eachother...even if its even a couple of years, things just pick right up and it seems like not a day has passed!

Today we were able to get together at the water park while Kali was in town. We had lots of fun letting the kids run wild!

I'm grateful for these girls...they always make me feel like I am still 16 and they can make my stomach hurt from laughing so hard!

I tried to find some pictures of us from when we were little but all of the really OLD pictures are still at my parent's house. I did however find a couple from the high school days.

Its so crazy to me that now we have 7.5 kids between the 3 of us! (Kali is expecting another little boy) So far the tally is BOYS:6 GIRLS:1. Who would have ever thought that the three of us "girly girls" would have so many boys! haha!

Summertime....when the livin' is easy!

Summer is here in full force and we've been having lots of fun! Here are some pictures of our recent activities:

Of course we are spending MANY an afternoon over at the waterpark:

We floated the Boise River with our really good friends (and MOST of our kids!). You can't live in Boise and not float the river at least once during the summer!

We went on a group date the other night with Jason and Jen and Emily and Tom. We have WAY too much fun when we all get together! We went miniature golfing over at a black light course. It was a great time.

Most of us are EMBRACING summer around here but Parker still can't quite let go of the winter boots!