Hee Haws 2016

Hee Haw Farms is always on our list for October. 

The huge slide is always a hit. Sadie was very helpful with Camille and went down with her repeatedly. Even head first. 

The next favorite activity is pony rides. Camille had her first solo ride. 

 The girls love to climb the hay bales, but Millie is a little scary up there. 

The animal train ride was thrilling, of course. I wonder how long riding in a circle at 5 mph will appeal to Sadie. Although this time she was acting every part the helpful big sister so her excitement may have been for Camille. 

Selfie on the candy hay ride. We ended up on the ride with only 1 other family so we got about 3 pounds of candy. 

After visiting every thing we wanted to see we returned to the slide. This picture of Daniel coming in hot with Elise and Millie while Sadie runs out of the way is hilarious.

Until next year, Hee Haws!

Last half of September

As the intriguing title states, here is what we did the last 2 weeks of September. 

Sadie made this amazing card for Grandpa Blood when we went to his birthday party.

We battled Millie over her bed. She is our first child to climb out of her crib. I tried to scare her into staying in her room but that did nothing. Since her mattress was already on it's lowest setting we tried turning the crib around, putting her in the pack and play, and finally threw her mattress on the floor along with a childproof handle on her doorknob. That doorknob cover is a lifesaver. She was sleeping terribly on the mattress on her floor so we bought her a toddler bed. Our first toddler bed. Our other girls were so old when we transitioned out of the crib that they went straight to a regular twin.

 We learned very quickly what needed to be moved out of her room and what needed to be put up out of her reach. She unloaded all her wipes. Twice. Unloaded all of her next bin of clothes and mixed them with the clothes that are too small. Stuffed things in her diaper trash. She also stopped napping. Nooooo! She occasionally still naps and the first time she napped again I took a picture of her shadow against her door. For the first month after we got the toddler bed she slept on the floor by her door. 

I celebrated my 32nd birthday. Mid-thirties here I come! Sadie made another one of her great cards. Daniel and I went on a date the weekend after my birthday.

I ran more. I don't know exactly why but we (my friends I run with and I) just started pushing ourselves a bit more. We ran Monday, Wednesday, Friday and a lot of Saturdays. We started running 5 to 7 miles for most runs. This barn run ends up being about a 5 1/2 mile run. It is a pretty one. The barn is always a welcome sight. 

Sadie had to do a project on an ancestor who immigrated to the United States. She chose Stephen Chipman, who founded American Fork and immigrated from Canada. We realized later he was a first-generation Canadian. His parents moved there from the US. There were multiple generations going back to the Mayflower who had lived in United States. Oh well. Millie and Elise were not very well behaved during the project presentations. 

Sadie's gymnastics teacher challenged them to take pictures doing gymnastics in cool places so Sadie chose our kitchen table

A trip to Chick-fil-a. Daniel was in New Zealand for a recruiting trip. The best way to pass time when Daniel is traveling is to get out of the house. 

School pictures. Very cute. Sadie's were taken in the nick of time before her adult teeth started coming up and pushing her baby teeth all over the place. 

Another night Daniel was gone we had friends over to decorate Halloween sugar cookies. My kids doused their cookies in candy and sprinkles and then didn't like them. Surprise. 

A-picking We Went

This year I started looking into apple picking in August, since I have been too late in the past. The season for it is much earlier in Utah than in New England. The place in Midway we went 5 years ago only had one Saturday left with permits available so I took it. One permit allowed 8 adults and unlimited kids so I invited a few other families. It turned out that most of the husbands couldn't come so it ended up just moms and kids. We had such a good time, even though the apples were few and far between. We ate lunch and then set to work finding the few apples that were left. 

 The setting is so beautiful. Camille kept picking apples up from the ground and taking bites. She's still alive now so I guess that was OK.

The remaining apples were SO high up. It would have been useful to have husbands. My friend Jenny is 6 feet tall so she did a lot of work. 

The kids did get a few apples themselves, although we were always nervous they were going to bring the grabber down on someone's head.

 

The kids were overjoyed with the idea of taking a picture. The Hawleys, the Ricks and the Smiths came with us. 

Millie kept running away from me. Such a booger. There were several huge muddy spots and she ended up with mud caked all over her shoes.

We had a good time, but next year I will try to get on it even earlier so the kids can pick some apples themselves. 

Fall Soccer

Sadie played soccer again this fall. Her team was much better than previous seasons. They were coached by one of our neighbors and he did a great job. I think they won about half their games, but they scored a lot more and only got blown out one time. In past seasons, like last fall when I coached, we got blown out almost every game.

Sadie had a ton of fun. She is still strongest at defense and goalie but she improved her ball handling a lot and almost scored one time. She just seems to have a mind for defense. She runs to a spot instead of running right at players. She gets good angles. But on offense she tends to back off. I only got pictures at the final game. Here she is playing defense.

 Here is her team after the last game. It was mostly made up of girls from our neighborhood. I don't know the names of the 2 girls all the way on the left, but then it is Karissa Shelton, Sadie, Sierra West, Bentley Christensen, Lexi Hawley and Jasmine Ellis. 

The season is very short, which I appreciate. Millie was not fun to have at the games because she wanted to go to the playground, but when you are 2, and you are Camille Nielson, you cannot be trusted to do that alone. Whenever Daniel could come he took her to it and when he couldn't I forced her to sit next to me and eat snacks as a distraction.

We are looking forward to spring soccer. We are hoping Rob will coach again since he did such a fantastic job. 

Salazars Visit

We were very lucky to get a short visit from Hillary and Ben in September. Ben was recruiting for Ford at BYU. Hillary tagged along. I didn't get pictures of the delicious food and long talks we had, but I did get lots of pictures with the girls. Ben and I also went on a run Friday morning. It was fun to bring someone on one of the runs I do with my friends. Also, Ben made me feel so good about myself. He can be my running partner any time. 

Friday morning Sadie and Elise had their school walk-a-thon. I signed up to mark lap cards as the kids ran around. Hillary actually ran/walked with Elise-- while holding Millie--a lot of the time. It was a gorgeous morning but Hill got a little more than she bargained for. 

 The kindergarten only ran 1/2 hour versus the older grades' 45 minutes so when Elise was done we went over to see Sadie. 

After Elise got out of school we went down to Provo for a lunch with Matt and cousin Diane. Camille insisted on wearing Elise's backpack. 

 Matt was great to read to my girls at lunch. 

 Of course we hit up Rockwell Ice Cream. Duh.

That afternoon we spent a while outside playing. Hillary sat and patiently listened to Elise's pretend world for a long time. 

 While Ben catered to Millie's preferences and directions about swing/climbing/slides, etc. I took a video of Ben and Sadie playing an intense game of soccer. Ben gave her lots of pointers. 

On Saturday morning the Salazars joined us at Sadie's last soccer game of the season. Ben ended up pretty much just chasing and playing with Elise and Camille. He took this shot of Millie kicking the ball around.

We said a sad goodbye at lunchtime when they went to spent time with Ben's family. 

We love Hillary and Ben!

First half of September

I have fallen off the blogging wagon but I am back with my blurry pictures. Here are some things we did the first couple weeks of September.

Millie and Davis Faucette when we had them over for dinner. I have only gotten to see Davis 4 or 5 times in his life. I saw his older brothers all the time and that makes me sad. Davis is such a mix of Hunter and Emett.

We worked really hard for a couple weeks trying to get Sadie riding with no training wheels. She got decent but still not enough to be trusted on her own without an adult running next to her. Hoping she doesn't lose all that muscle memory before next spring. We are hoping to get Sadie and Elise both riding with no training wheels in the spring. 

Early one morning a hot air balloon went directly over our next-door neighbors house and landed in the field across the street. It was so loud! And we could feel the heat coming off the fire. 

A donut run after one of Sadie's soccer games. Daniel missed most of Sadie's soccer games this year with various things related to work. Boo.

Camille has mastered most of our swing set. She scares me. She fell off the top of the climbing wall one day. 

I am pretty sure Daniel was celebrating BYU football's close win

Dessert for mom and dad after kids were in bed. 

Sadie's first trip to the orthodontist. Our dentist recommended she see someone after watching her huge adult teeth try to move their way in to tiny openings from her baby teeth. I learned that most kids now have braces two times- once between 8-10 years old and again at 11-13. The orthodontist said she needed 2 baby teeth pulled ASAP and 4 more within 6 months. She just doesn't have enough room in her small mouth for her adult teeth. We are hoping she won't need any adult teeth pulled in the future, but it is a real possibility.

I have been doing some shopping for Meredith's baby girl. I am so excited for a Maxfield girl!