Asher is 1!

Asher celebrated his first birthday with a BBQ in our back yard. He was having an awesome time until we put on his hat. He cheered right back up though when we gave him his very own cake and let him open presents.

It has been quite a difference having a baby boy. He loves getting dirty and his favorite toys are balls and cars. He loves to chase his sisters and tease them and he is quite the dare devil when it comes to bath time. If you don't keep a hand on him at all times, then he is going under. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

What I saw in my backyard

Overwhelmed

So as you probably have noticed I have not been keeping up with my blog. I am having major time management issues. I have never been a schedule person. We have never had a set bed time or routine at our house and this school thing has put a major damper on our lifestyle. The kids now have to be in bed by 7:30 which means dinner has to be at 6:00 to accommodate baths and homework and reading and we can't sleep in anymore and my mornings are rushed trying to get everyone where they need to be. I am a bit overwhelmed and am trying to get into the swing of things. I apologize to all friends, play group peeps, fellow bloggers and girl's night out gals for neglecting you all. Hopefully I will be able to resume my before school activities.
Anywho my friend Camille said my blog was very sad and challenged me to a tag so here it is.

3 Joys

My kidlets.

Free time (or bed time, it's all the same.)

Traveling.

3 Fears

One of my children will die before I do.

Spiders.

The dark.

3 goals

Make it through the school year.

Lose weight.

Get out of debt.

3 Current Obsessions

Twilight- That's a surprise to you I'm sure.

Friday Night Lights - I know, a sports drama. You wouldn't think I would be into this at all, but I challenge you to get the first season and watch it. You will be hooked too. Thanks to Kayla for recommending it and for Dirk for coming over and forcing me to watch the first disc. Why don't I just trust you to begin with?

Home Star Runner. So funny. I had forgotten about this great little web site until the Wii game came out last month. Check out the Strong Bad e-mails and Teen Girl Squad.




3 Random Surprising Facts

I hate questions like this. I have no hidden random surprises, sorry to disappoint. If I think of something juicy, I will post it. Thanks for the challenge Camille!

First Day of School

Scary. I am now the parent of a kindergartner. School is so intense. There are so many committees and volunteer things and I am now a member of the PTA and it is freaking me out. London of course did awesome. She didn't even want me to come with her on the first day. She saw one of her friends from preschool on the playground before school started and they chased each other all over and had a great time. Her teacher is incredible. London met her once the week before school started and she remembered her name and came up to talk to her out on the playground before school started. I really really like her and I really like Canyon Rim.

Pyper started preschool as well. I really hope that her teacher is ready for her. She is so darn stubborn. Parents go with the kids on the first day and she didn't want to do anything but play with the toys. She had already scoped them out when London went there and knew exactly what she wanted to play with and she didn't want me to come and she didn't want to leave. I will just hope that she is better when I am not around. Miss Kristi is an awesome teacher so I am sure she can handle her. Here are some pics from the kids first day.




Lining up for class.

Backpacks on and ready to go.

Red Fish Lake

We went on a camping trip to Red Fish Lake with Kevin's sister Jenny and their family. It was my first time into this part of Idaho and it was amazing. I honestly didn't expect it to be so breath taking. We had an incredible time riding bikes and swimming. I have the best neices and nephews. The older kids were so good to play with my kids and take them on bike rides. I love them! Thanks Jen and Todd and fam! We had a great time and I hope we can make this a yearly tradition!! Couple of funny things from the trip. I was in the tent and I could hear London outside so I said "London?" and she answered back "Squirrel?" I came out of the tent and asked her why she had said squirrel and she said. "Oh, I thought a squirrel was talking to me." Yes, a squirrel that sounds just like your mother. Second funny thing, Kevin's blonde spot on the back of his head. Ask him about it.

Glacier

So I haven't posted for nearly a month and kevin is accusing me of abandoning my blog. We just have been super busy trying to cram as much into our last few weeks of summer as possible. I don't have much to say so I am just going to post a few of our pictures from our Glacier road trip.
We had a great time despite me locking Asher in a running car in a national park. Thank heavens for Rangers! Thank you so much Garth and Anne for letting us come with you! We loved the cabin.

Where or where did my Girlfriend go?

I have been a faithful attendee of My Girlfriends Kitchen for over 3 years. I would go once a month and prepare my meals with my mom or sister. I loved it. I loved the smell of all the fresh ingredients and chatting with my girlfriends. I loved getting to sample new items and sip lemonade while I assembled my meals. I loved leaving with a laundry basket full of meals in less than two hours. It was great to have a healthy variety of meals and to never have to think about what's for dinner.

So I went online to book my appointment in April. The website said they were having some technical difficulties and to call the store to book your appointment. I called the store. Their voice mailbox was full and no one answered. Guyfriend Dave, the owner, always answers. I started to panic. I drove by. It was locked up tight. No signs or anything and the place was cleaned out. Now I really started to panic. I drove Kevin crazy with my worrying. "You used to cook before Girlfriends", he calmly stated. "You will be alright."

My answer was a panicked "I had a lot less kids back then. And what about all our favorite recipes?"

I started to call other locations and do some detective work and I found out that MGFK was bought out by some company in California and that a few of the local owners were so upset that they had closed their doors. This included the Parleys Way and Fort Union locations so now the closest stores were American Fork, Layton and West Jordan. I then found out by pumping the owner of the West Jordan store for info that they were changing their name to Dinner A'Fare and increasing their prices a lot. More panic. The owner of the West Jordan store took a road trip to California to check out the Dinner A'Fare chain and said that it was not for him. His store was going independent and would keep the same menu items although they would have to change the recipe names and alter a few ingredients. Whew.

They are keeping their prices almost the same and it is close to my work. They are not quite as good as my beloved Parley's Way store, but they are a very close second. There is one bad thing though. I can't go and assemble my meals myself anymore. They assemble them for me. You would think this would be a good thing as it is less work. I really enjoyed the little break with time to myself though and I could always say that I made the dinners myself so I sounded less lazy. Oh well. At least we won't be starving.

If any of you would like me to pick up meals for you once a month just let me know. The West Jordan store is now The Dinner Market. I highly recomment the Steller Chicken (formally All Star Chicken) and the Texas BBQ meatballs this month!