Can you spell F-U-N?

We had our annual "B-M-W" friend campout and it was very fun 24 hours.

These are all our good "B-M-W" friends!  Man, we have a lot of kids!

We are practicing our "snipe" call.  A campout isn't complete without a snipe hunt!  We look for snipe tracks in the trees, make the snipe call and the snipes magically appear (aka Oreo Cookies).  Amazing!

Yummy, nummy JUMBO sized smores!

Cozy by the campfire and listening to the country band at the amphitheater on the other side of the campground.

Yummy hot chocolate and breakfast (Abby had forgotten by then that a bear was trying to get in our tent at 3:30am).

Fun times by all!  Can't wait for next year!

Don't want to forget

There are few things that I just don't want to forget (nobody else probably cares, but I want them written down).

1.  My sweet Annie was taunting her youngest sister with hair bows.  Consequently, Annie got the wrath of her mother that morning (mom was trying to get everyone out the door for school and was rushing).  After some calming down, we all knelt down for family prayer.  I asked Annie to say it.  It was the most heart-felt prayer - she asked that everyone would be safe at school, be kind to their classmates,  and make new friends.


After the amen, everyone rushed out the door.  I gave my oldest daughter a big hug and expressed my love for her and told her I was sorry.  I told her that Heavenly Father heard her prayer and He knows who she is.  She started to cry.  I asked her if she was feeling the spirit and she just smiled.  There is so much to learn from these little spirits.


2.  For anyone who has been around us, knows we are LOUD.  LOUD - LOUD - LOUD!  I know that everyone needs to be heard, has an opinion, and has something to say, but we don't need to be as loud as we are.


So we had a Family Home Evening last week on reverence.  We asked the kids what it means to be reverent...and this is the part I don't want to forget....Carter answered that we need to be reverent in our hands, feet and body.  Peachy told us that we need to fold our arm when we pray.  We talked about having reverent voices and actions.  We reminded that kids about being reverent in school.


At dinner tonight, I asked the kids how they were reverent at school today.  They all gave me "text book" answers.  Then they proceeded to tell me how "somebody in our family" got their name written on the board.  Someone else pushed in the line.


I'm glad they were honest and we challenged them to try again tomorrow.  They have to report at dinner.  One step at a time.

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffett, sat on her tuffet....

Trying potty train.  Mom painted two bathrooms, while Miss played video games and drank Kool-Aid (it was the first time I've ever bought that stuff).

But we still are not wearing panties and I'm still buying diapers.  Sigh....

R-o-d-e-o....

At the end of every summer, our church has a rodeo.  Yep, mutton bustin', chicken chasing, cash cow, etc.  Cow boys through and through!

We went to the hoedown Friday night, but didn't participate in the square dancing (my partner wouldn't dance :)   ) .  The kids had fun doing the chicken dance though and we all tasted the yummy dutch oven desserts!

Tim represented the Barlows in the 5K run and ran a great time!

We played games, ate cotton candy and popcorn, rode in the parade, and watch a good rodeo!  We came home tired and dirty....hence the fun time we had!

Abby at the bobbing for apples game

The girls before the parade

Some of us were not excited to have our picture taken in the parade line up!

Georgia is a pro at riding her scooter.  She was passing kids left and right!

Annie and Carter playing a game

All the kids took full advantage of the cotton candy and popcorn (maybe that is why we got a case of the pukes....)

The Last One to Go

Somebody started school this past week and thinks she is BIG stuff! Too bad her mom thinks she still her baby girl (after all she is still in diapers...potty training story coming....and sleeps in a crib....sigh).  But she marched right up to the front door of the school and waved goodbye. 

I'm still trying to compile my feelings with this .... all to nothing.... concept.  For so long, I had so many kids at home.  Mom mojo all the time.  Intensity.  Now, I've got 3 kids in school all day and 1 in twice a week.  I'm needing to find my role in this "new" path my family is heading down.

But alas, she had a wonderful time at school.  Recess, snacks, the letter A....it was everything a preschool should be.  I do miss my little buddy though!

A Weekend of Labors.....

I love Labor Day.  It means fall is coming, the leaves will be turning color, cooler temperatures and Swiss Days.

I love going to Swiss Days.  There are so many talented crafters out there, yummy food, a gazillion people and it is usually hotter than hot!  Tim loves to go too (not so much)!  So when I told him I was going with his sister Mandy, he breathed a sigh of relief!

As soon as I dropped the big kids off at school, we headed to the quaint little town of Midway.  We did lots of looking, eating, and window shopping!

These two cousins were rockstars and had fun enjoying the madness together!

This weekend, we also went on our first "official" hike.  We took the kids up to Battle Creek Canyon - a good starter trail.  We borrowed a back pack to carry Georgia.  The weather was really chilly, but the kids charged up that mountain like Billy Goats.  We had so much fun looking at spider webs, caves, bugs and throwing rocks (everything that encompasses a good hike).

Carter also had his Super Saturday with Dad and wanted to go hiking (with just boys) with two of his best buddies.  From what I heard, they found ancient ruins, crocodile tracks and all other sorts of silly 6 year old boy stuff!

Birdies

I recently made a new messenger style bag.  I found this cute bird fabric and decided tried to make my own  applique bird pattern.  My four birds...each with their initial on it!  It was fun to make!

Glitter Feet

A few weeks, I was going through the big girls' old clothes to find some fall stuff for Georgia for the upcoming cooler weather.  She found these pink, glittery shoes of Annie's and would not take them off.  How can you say no to pink glitter?

Jobs

When the kids turned 6, they entered into the "doing specific jobs around the house" rite of passage.  Of course they have done jobs, but now we felt they were ready to do bigger jobs.

And WOW has this lightened my cleaning load (maybe we should have started sooner)!  Some jobs are more preferable than others....cleaning windows is a favorite, but wiping off light switches is not.  I also have a list of jobs they can do to earn money.  One of the highest dollar job is to clean out the drawers.

3 drawers = $.25

They have to empty the drawer, vacuum it out, wipe it out and put everything back into it.  Now one of my children ( no naming names) is an exceptional cleaner.  Perfectionist!  This kid finished all her regular jobs first and wanted to earn some extra cash.  PLUS she wanted to do drawers.  The angels started singing and I was willing to fork out the cash (plus a little tip).

She did all my kitchen drawers and my bathroom.  I felt so much happiness with my drawer cleans and she earned a lot of money!