DAY 7

I meet a friend here in Idaho who is the master canner.  She loves to do it, she is good at doing it, and I trust what she does.  So I decided now is the time to learn. 

 

I know there are a lot of people who would teach me if I asked, including my mother.  But Stephanie loves to do it and I thought I should give it a whirl with someone who thinks it's fun and worthwhile.  So today I took her up on her offer to teach me and we started with pickles.

 

I felt domestic just buying 36 canning jars even though I didn't know a thing.

 

Here we are 5 hours later and I got myself 32 pounds of cucumbers turned into 33 quarts of canned dill pickles.  Viola, call me Martha.

DAY 6

These are the things I wanna remember.  The memories of today are why I love doing "30 Days Hath September".  And why I love being a mom.

Camden woke up asking if I could just drop him of at school instead of walking him to the playground and waiting for the bell to ring.  I was secretly hoping he would change his mind, but he never did.  I dropped him off with all the other moms in the roundabout and watched him walk away.  Instead of leaving the parking lot I pulled into a spot to park.  I wanted so badly to sneak and hide behind the dumpster where he couldn't see me to make sure he got to class ok.  I thought about it for a second before putting the car in reverse.  I fought the urge to keep a bubble around him and drove away with Jace.  I'm still not sure why this is so emotional for me.  He is only gone for 3 short hours.  But I think today was a big step.

Jace and I ran a couple errands together, just the two of us.  I stopped for a drink at the gas station and gladly brought him in with me.  One kid is a breeze.  I even bought him a strawberry milk because I was feeling all sentimental.  When we got to the bread store the man behind the counter commented on Jace's shoes.  When asked why he had two different shoes on he said, "Camden dared me to and I get a treat when he comes home from school".  Hilarious!

I asked Jace if he would promise me to never grow up and go to school.  He told me he would be my friend until he turned 5, and then I will cry until he comes home from kindergarten.  So true!

Jace was extra lovey and I took full advantage.  His latest obsession is giving butterfly kisses.  He laughs hysterically.

And these last two pictures are typical Jace faces that I adore!  He was all over the photo shoot today.

DAY 5

Camden has talked about saving his money for a hot air balloon ride for a long time now.  I had the (not so) brilliant idea to secretly buy him a ride for his birthday.  Today was our third attempt because of poor weather to fly in the balloon.  And wouldn't you know we set the alarm wrong and just happened to wake up 2 minutes after we were supposed to be on the rode to our meeting place.  We threw on clothes, ripped the kids out of bed, and grabbed a pack of gum to combat morning breath.  Luckily the company we flew with was slow to start and we made it on time. 

And we actually got to fly today!  Wahoo!

After getting about 2 inches off the ground the pilot found something wrong with the "pockets" in the balloon.  Everyone had to get out while they deflated the balloon and we started all over.  It was an annoying process(kinda like this whole balloon ride experience) but we finally made it.

In order for Camden to get to school on time, I followed the balloon to have my car near the landing.  Every stop light we hit I would stick my head out, snap a picture and wave like crazy hoping Camden would see us.

They were about to land in the school yard until they realized school was starting in less than an hour which meant traffic.  So they headed for a nearby neighborhood.

The landing was a little rocky but they survived.

Jace was my right hand man.  He was in charge of telling me where the "Captain America" balloon was at all times.  Good thing I had him or we probably would have never found them(wink wink).

The balloon landed right in front of this ladies house and she was all over it.  She was filming and snapping pictures like crazy, it was hilarious.

Today was the perfect day to fly because Camden was able to take his certificate to show and tell which also happened to be today!  He was so proud of his certificate and tried hard not to smile when he talked about the ride.

Happy late birthday Camden, we hope we made your wildest dreams come true!

DAY 4

Dan had the day off today so it was fun taking Camden to school together.  When I asked Camden if he wanted us to drop him off at the curb or walk him to the door, he initially answered with a "drop off".  But after I agreed he changed his reply to, "I want Jace to come play on the toys with me".  He didn't have to say it twice.  I was thrilled he was still ok with us going with him.  He was a little more sure of the routine today because as soon as the bell rang he darted to his classroom door.  It made my heart pitter patter as he approached the door he turned around and gave a big wave.  I'm so proud of his courage.

 

 

Our car has been in need of tires for a little while now.  I've been avoiding it because I hate discussing money.  Unfortunately we got a nail in our tire on the way home from Utah and the need became urgent. I may or may not have freaked when I asked Dan the price of the tire he researched out.  I'm just putting it out there that I'll probably never forgive him for buying custom wheels for my car.  And in return, he can never forgive me for buying cute colored straws that I really don't need but I sure wanted!  Fair enough?

 

Trying to redeem himself he occupied his time hand washing the car with the boys.  I can appreciate a clean car.

DAY 3

 

Today we spent the day at Lake Lowell.  The parking lot was packed but not a soul on the lake.  The water was like glass.  It was a perfect water for wake boarding!

 

Camden was "willing" to ride the tube if Dad came with him and I drove the boat.  Luckily for the safety of all of us, he agreed to let Papa drive the boat as long as he didn't go too fast.

September is a little late in the game for this old body to take a dip in the cold water, so I opted for being the official sandwich maker and kid hugger.  It was the perfect job!

Jace Man's hair was killing me, there is nothing better than fluffy boating hair(and the cute glasses)!

Uncle Caleb was once again the show stopper busting out all the craziness.  Today he even attempted to get up on his skateboard in the water, it was hilarious.

We are so lucky to have the nicest Papa in the world who is always willing to take us out on the lake.

 



Day 2

When my parents first moved to Idaho my mom attended a Relief Society get together.  That night she recognized Kathy who used to be high school friends with my Uncle Norrick, her younger brother(who passed away).  They started talking and reconnecting when they realized they had kids the same age, who were friends.  Hence the birth of our families being friends.

Every now and again our families will get together and hang out.  Tonight we were lucky enough to be invited over, along with the Billings for game night.

Although, tonight there was a lot more chatting and eating than gaming.  

Kathy found these little water beads at the craft store and thought they would be fun to mess around with.  She poured them into several different dishes and they were almost addicting to touch.  It was the weirdest thing.  We may or may not have come home with a little baggie because we couldn't resist the need to play with them.

There may or may not have been tears when we told the boys it was time to go.  They had a blast shooting Nerf arrows, eating the yummy fruit from the garden, and chasing the 2 dogs.

Day 1

Last year I tried something new and I've enjoyed looking back on it. So here I go again with "30 Days Hath September".

Today I spent most of the morning finishing up some last minute odds and ends for my lesson tomorrow.  I was feeling like a bad mom for ignoring my children and decided to buy there forgiveness with a trip to the snow sack.

Seeing how there are only a few days left in the "snow sack season" our flavors were limited.  After a few meltdowns I convinced the boys that pink snow cones would taste just as delicious as the blue which they originally wanted.

Camden was all about sharing with me until he had just a few spoonfuls left he said, "Is it ok if you don't touch the rest of this cause it's only good for me".  Jace on the other hand was close to biting my fingers off every time I attempted to sneak a spoonful. Luckily Jace was "too full" and I was able to indulge in his last few bites so I didn't have to fight Camden for his.