A Child's Perspective

This would be Kaden's point of view. My hands off camera is starting to get a little more hands on! I guess I shouldn't leave it out on the counter so much. :) It also looks like Nate left the cheese out.... You can see him walking away from it and Haley ready to pounce!

Pearly White

Ah, that "first tooth" milestone. It's so cute! She's been working on that little sucker for a while now. It finally came through about a week after she turned 8 months old. The one next to it isn't far behind.

Of course, I can't just snap one picture....
She tried to humor me, but just wasn't having it.

Just Because....

.... she's too cute!!

First Day of School

Kaden started 2nd grade on August 25th. He is in a 2nd/3rd grade split class. He has a few friends from the neighborhood in it with him and I think will do just fine. He loves to set his alarm clock and get up before everyone else on school days and watch cartoons until I make him turn the t.v. off. I think he's going to have a really fun year.

Rachel started 3rd grade on August 25th as well. She really likes her teacher and has lots of her best friends in her class. She didn't want a traditional backpack this year. I think she may be growing up right before my eyes!! Yikes.... I'm not ready! I think it will be a great year for her.

Tye started Kindergarten on September 1st. He didn't think it was too fair to make the kindergateners start school a week later, but he survived. He has the same kindergarten teacher Rachel and Kaden had. Yay! We love her. He really likes school so far, but has complained that it's LONG. I hate to wonder what next year will feel like to him when he goes all day instead of 3 hours. He didn't want me to take his picture and wouldn't smile for any of the pictures, but when he finally attempted he just scrunched up face. Oh well. He's still cute! I can't wait to see him learn and grow.

A Little Conversation

Rachel: "I don't think I want to be a mom because then I have to change poopy diapers."
Kaden: "I can't wait to be a dad cause then I can make all the money for myself."
Mom: "Sorry, bud. You'll have to give that money to your wife!"(ha, ha!)
~SILENCE~
Tye: "I can't wait to be a dad. Then I can go on vacation by myself."

What??! Is that what Tye thinks Nate does every time he has to go out of town and does Kaden think Nate hoards the cash? I wonder....

Rexburg Trip

We went to visit my sister and her family in Rexburg the weekend before school started to give our kids one last summer trip. As usual they had a great time with their cousins. We were able to spend the afternoon at their friend's pool, the kids had a movie night and just played and played. The adults went out for sushi one night and ordered WAY too much, but no one was complaining.... much anyway. ;) Never thought I'd say I enjoy going to Rexburg, but it's something all of us look forward to.

August

Waterslide fun with cousins.

WHOOPS!!

Haley did not think the word fun and waterslide go together!

Monsoon Rain....

and HAIL!

Nate got his braces on!! About a month sooner than expected.... I don't know if he's happy about that or not.

A little yard work. Lovin' his attire. :)

I heart my boys! Kaden is a good big brother and lets Tye sleep by him when he's scared.

The casualties of having a three year old sister named Haley!

Trick-or-Treat! The kids and their friends got into our Halloween costumes and naturally decided to go trick-or-treating. I hear they got quite the loot!

Nate, Rachel, Haley, Eliza and I went on a bike ride around the temple. (The boys were at the neighbor's watching a movie.) Rachel is a trooper!
Sweet baby girls. At least Haley isn't torturing her like she usually does while they're locked up together. :)

Swensen Family Reunion

We had a really fun reunion with my family up in Bennington, Idaho August 12-14. We really enjoyed each others company and being away from the "city". You know those little places in world that make you happy and give you joy? Well, this is one of those places for me and my family. Most everyone stayed at my mom's childhood home (that now belongs to my aunt) and the rest of us camped out in relatives homes nearby. (Thank you Relatives!) We happened to be there during the Bear Lake County Fair so we stopped by one night and let the kids hit the carnival.... if you think Strawberry Days is a bit scary then don't go to the hill billy fair (as my local cousin put it). A few of my nieces had fun checking out the eligible cowboys while the rest of us got sick on "carni-donuts" (deep fried Pillsbury dough). Check out what Kaden shot trying to win something.....
Nice! It's a terrorist. Seriously, between the convicts that run the games and rides and the cowboys and cowgirls we felt a little out of place, but it was still fun.

We had a fun day at Bear Lake. My brother borrowed a boat from a friend (since none of us are boaters) and the kids had a great time being pulled on "Big Bertha" behind it and some tried a little wake boarding. Although, now that I think of it, I think Big Bertha went flat. So they enjoyed being pulled on a different tube anyway. The kids created their own "hot tub" (pictured above... I'm a bit scared of what lurks in there!) The older kids made Nate into a merman, but then Nate made himself into a mermaid. He's beautiful, isn't he?!

{all the grandkids}

On our last morning we went on a little hike up Pine Canyon where my grandfather homesteaded the land (it now belongs to my uncles). His little log cabin is still up there. It was fun to hike around and reminisce about fun times we had up there when we were kids.

It was seriously one of the best reunions (and I'm not just saying that because I planned it... ha, ha!) I think we've all decided that that is where we will be going each year instead of trying to come up with a new place each time. And maybe it will get changed up now and then, but for now this is the place!

Please Allow Me This Opportunity

I need to vent. My neck hurts.... bad. I was playing with Eliza a few days ago and felt my neck and shoulders kind of tense up. So I stopped tossing her up and down like I was and took some ibuprofen and iced it. Well within a couple hours I was dying. I could hardly move and couldn't hold the baby anymore so Nate took over bedtime and I lied down. It felt a little better the next day and even the next and so on, but when I woke up this morning it was worse again. As I carried laundry baskets, a toddler, a baby, etc. I could tell I wasn't going to make it through the day very well. So my mom came over this afternoon and watched my kids while I went to the chiropractor to get my neck adjusted and got a massage.... it helped like maybe 8%. That's right. Not 9% or 7%, but 8%. I'm hoping tomorrow it will be notably better. Nate has been gone and to top it all off I couldn't get anything accomplished today like I had planned. Yes, planned! I actually had a plan and it was going to be so wonderful. The kids destroyed the basement Sunday, but I didn't realize it until Monday afternoon because Nate tucked the kids in bed Sunday night not me. I was going to get it all put back together today. Nope. Didn't happen. But they sure as heck are cleaning it tomorrow! My kids found the Halloween costumes so my storage room is strewn with costumes and Halloween trinkets. I was going to get them all put away and also reorganize some childrens clothes I have in storage. Nope. Didn't happen. It was also laundry day and I had oodles and oodles of loads to wash, fold and put away. Nope. Didn't happen. I was going to make waffles for dinner and opened up the waffle iron and found a nasty, old, rotting waffle. It was disgusting. We had french toast instead. Tonight as I was grumpier than grumpy the kids whined and pouted about homework, bedtime, and anything else they could think of. Someone peed on the carpet.... we won't name names, but their last name is Bishop and it's probably not who you think would have done it! So I spanked them all soundly and sent them to bed...... no not really, but they did get sent to bed (with an "I love you") and I put myself in time out. Today was a failure and I'm glad it is over. Of course, with my luck I'll have 5 kids who will either have a bad dream, ear ache, head ache, leg ache, tummy ache, or what not. Tomorrow sure as heck better be better! (And yes, I know it really could be worse!)