Say WHAT?!

That's right; it's been a whole month and I'm FINALLY posting again!

We'll start with some things from earlier in the summer, which I neglected to post as they happened:

Dad B, Aaron, and David all helped to trim up the willow tree in back.  See it connected; see it just barely missed taking out a section of the deck; see the proud workers.  The tree may look a little lopsided now, but it's safer than it would otherwise have been.  With the large branch having broken off in the back (to the right of the largest picture), we needed to take off a large branch off the front to make sure it wouldn't take the whole tree over in the next windstorm.  It'll look a lot better in a couple years, after it recovers from this trim-up.

The ward picnic was late in August, just before our Dells trip.  The kids' favorite thing (even over the food, which was excellent!) was the massive hill that they all climbed.  Carson was really funny, refusing to walk back down, opting instead for the safer backward-crawl so he didn't have to see how far he had to go.

I mentioned on facebook that one Saturday in September, Aaron and I cleaned out the garage.  Here's proof.  It may be no organizer's dream, but we can park the car and find anything we need with much less digging!

Just last week, we watched a family of wild turkeys trek from our front lawn across the driveway on the side, down the hill behind the house and into a neighbor's property.  There were three more than this, but this was the largest group I got all together.

That same day, MomB came over and fulfilled the beginning of her promise to the girls to paint their room how they wanted.  The girls asked for a 'green and pink room with puppies and kitties'.  So we (and by we, I mean David and Linnea) painted the room a soft green.  Then Mom came over and started on her part: the puppies and kitties.  She's painting what she knows; these are all her own pets.  The kitten sitting in the tree is Josie, the sitting puppy is Pumpkin (their current dog, no longer a puppy), and the playing puppy is Uno (renamed Bruno by his current owner).  I love the whimsical tree, and that it swirls up into the slant of the ceiling.  These are also not all together; the tree and the sitting puppy happen to be beside one another, but the playing puppy is across the room, under the window.  Also, over the window is another kitten, Tilly, but I will wait to picture her, since she's not done yet.

This was my craft for Conference weekend.  Guesses?  Ha!  Y'all won't know until after Christmas cuz one of my avid readers is the recipient.

Also during Conference was my note-taking method.  I figured this out for myself last session.  I give myself topics, then jot notes from each speaker and assign it a topic.  I leave these up about a month to remind myself what I heard and loved during Conference.

If you're still here, it's because you survived the pictures and are also interested in the current events of our family.

Evie is still loving school.  She loves the schedule and reminds me all the time, "Mom, tomorrow is a library day...an art day...a field trip"  She is especailly excited about the field trip.  She gets to take a special lunch (yes, she gets hot lunch, but I also let her pick special things for this lunch) and go to a pumpkin farm.  I'd love to join her as a chaperone, but Aaron's work schedule is just off my availability.  Oh, well.  I've joined the PTO at her school and am currently involved in bi-monthly help in the library (which I already love) and bi-monthly help in her classroom at the literary station.  Volunteering this way makes me feel better when I realize that I can't contribute monetarily very much.  I hope I can be a part of the younger kids' school groups as much as I am with hers!

Lizzie also adores her school group!  It's a weekly thing, similar to Joy School, bouncing houses and such.  Next week is her 'class' field trip to a pumpkin farm.  I use class loosely, because we've invited several other moms and kids who are not in the teaching group.  Lizzie is as precocious as ever, scoring her fourth black eye (involving her bed frame) in just less than three years.  I'm amazed at how she's growing; very suddenly, she's wearing clothes that Evie was wearing just last year!  The pants are a bit long, but otherwise, the shirts and waists and dresses fit her perfectly.

Carson.  Oh, Carson.  His word list recently grew really fast!  He FINALLY started saying 'Dad' instead of referring to every adult around him as 'Mom'.  Aaron's thrilled.  If he knows I'm getting grouchy at him for something, he comes up and puts his hand on my shoulder and lightly pats, saying, in the cutest tone and with the sweetest face, "Mom".  I can't describe it as cute as he does it, but I melt every. single. time.  Carson is also my one child I can count on to clear his plate every meal - as well as anyone else's left-behind food.  I'm looking forward to his 2nd birthday in a little over a month - wow!  they grow so fast!

As for us adults, I'm fine; the baby's fine.  (name that movie!)  I've started really getting my lists and crafts started for gift-giving during the holidays.  I go through bursts of energy, often getting a craft started and leaving the house disastrous.  But I'm loving it anyway.  Aaron's doing well at work, but is looking for a position elsewhere within the bank.  If it all goes as planned, he'll go through a two year training program and get a higher pay.  Who minds that? :) 

My goal from here on out is to post at least once a week, so my posts (and readers) don't get overwhelmed with pictures and information.  Wish me luck!