Just Because

We will have new house guests soon. We have been wanting to rent out the mother-in-law quarters, but didn't want to rent to a stranger. Well, Mike's sister was looking for something less expensive, so this is going to work out well for both of us. She moves in on Wednesday. Needless to say, Mike has been working really hard to get it finished by then. (I'll post finished pictures when it is done.)

On a side note, Rylan wanted to drive the lawn mower. (He thinks he is grown up.) So Mike stopped what he was doing to give Rylan a driving lesson. 

Bye Bye

Nana is moving to Texas today. We are really going to miss her and DJ.

Impromptu Camping Trip

We realized that we hadn't gone camping yet this summer, so we pulled the kids from school and went on an impromptu camping trip. We had a lot of fun.

 Mike putting up the tent, in rock hard dirt.

 Starting the camp fire.

 Camping with 5 kids is a LOT of work. Even if it is just overnight. The packing, freezing and hungry kids keep mom and dad busy. Trying to get everyone to settle down and go to bed, and then keeping them in their sleeping bags, because it is freezing outside. Madi woke up in the middle of the night, just as happy as can be. For hours I worked at keeping her happy and inside  her sleeping bag, and quiet enough not to wake everyone else.  Just when I thought I had her asleep, she would pop her head up again. I was so happy when the sun started to rise and mike got up, and took her out of the tent. When everyone got up and had some breakfast we got in the car and headed to a nearby hot spring.

  Madi had no problem jumping right in.

 It was cold outside. Probably about 43 degrees when we got there.

 Hot Spring water slide.

 Hot Springs shower.

This is a cooler pool by the river.

Just Because

 

Poor Merek

Merek seemed kind of off all day. At church he cuddled up to me and didn't move. In nursery, he laid on the floor most of the time. While I was making lunch, he laid his head on the counter. After lunch, I made him take a nap, and he took a long nap. The rest of us were outside enjoying the evening, when Mike went inside for something. He came out and told me Merek was up and sitting in the chair downstairs, and I needed to go look at him. It was so sad...he had been up for a while. He had thrown up on his shoulder and the chair and didn't want to move because it would get on him. He was sitting perfectly still waiting for someone to discover him.  Poor baby.

Updates

Today, Merek disappeared. He was playing outside, while I was cleaning the kitchen. It had been awhile since I had seen him, so I went to look for him. I searched the front yard, the back yard, the neighbors yard. I was starting to panic. I searched the garage, the cars, downstairs, the mother-in-law quarters. I finally found him in the upstairs bathroom. He had fallen asleep on the floor. Quite unusual.

On another note, I have a new job. I am now teaching EN120 at BSU. It is a freshman engineering lab. I am rather excited about it. If it wasn't for my mom, I wouldn't have found this job. When she came to Boise for the STEM conference, she met one of my old professors. They asked for an update on me, and asked if I would be interested in teaching this class. I start on Wednesday.

School's in

Today is the first day of school. Corbin is in fourth grade and Tyler is in first grade. They were so excited today, and so was I. This year is going to be so busy and I have so much that I want them to learn. 

Since the big boys started school today, so did Rylan and Merek. I am home pre-schooling them this year. We are going to re-enforce their learning on colors, shapes and counting, and we are going to learn their letters. Today I learned I need to be even more organized for these guys because they have SHORT attention spans. Also, I may move their school time to be during Madi's nap because she was very distracting.