Crockpot Honey BBQ

Fall is a busy time of year, which means a lot of crockpot cooking.  I have promised my sister, Kristy this recipe for a while now, and here it finally is.  Enjoy!

Balloon Festival

It’s Labor Day again, which means that it’s Balloon Festival time…

I like how some are happy and excited, whereas others look a little more on the tired side. 

My parents were here for the weekend.  They also brought up Maddie when they came, for Rebecca’s birthday party.  Maddie is such a sweet girl! 

Ash was in a mood since she was running on not enough sleep.  I told her that she looked like a hot air balloon with her jacket. 

We waved with feelings of jealousy to those flying away.

 

I hate waking up early for this, but sure enjoy the beauty of the bright balloons!

Tennis

Some more summer catch up….

The breeze and clouds make late afternoons cool in Colorado.  We decided to go play tennis on one such afternoon in Blackforest Park.  The little girls ran around being ball girls, which made it extremely nice for Kaylee and Nathan. 

These two crack me up.  

Kaylee is always giving every sport all that she has…

Nathan is always trying to get a laugh being a goofball………

He looked like a true tennis player with his fits….

They sure enjoyed their little tennis match and have been begging to go back.  Jacob missed out on the fun because he was off with friends out of town.  He wants to go play, SO I better put another tennis afternoon on the calendar.  I kind of want to play Stephen.  I think I could take him at tennis.  :)

Each sport is so fun in it’s own way!

Love Her!

Kaylee can talk non-stop about ANYTHING!  She makes me laugh at her thoughts and comments about different things.  I love when she gives me the dialogue of a situation and is telling me what she was thinking in her head.  She’s such a FUN girl!

The Trunk

I tend to be a little sarcastic, and like to tease my kids.  Sometimes, … sometimes I may forget to say that I’m kidding….

We have a large old trunk that is part of our home decor.  Jerrica comes down today and points to it, “Is there really a dead man in there?”

“Who told you there was a dead man in there”

Jerra answers, “You told me that last year”

“And you believed me?!?!”

She then says, “YES, is he still dead in there?”

OK, now I feel like the horrible mother of the year that teases too much and has her little daughter freaked out about a dead man in her own house.  How many times has she walked by that trunk a little freaked out and wondering about its contents?!?  I am AWFUL!

Back to School

We went back to school last week.  We have FOUR different start times (my big girls are at a different campus than Ashley), and then Jacob and Nathan.  It is sooo much driving!  :(  I do enjoy having them trapped in my van after school to pour out their days to me.

Anyway, here are a few back to school pictures of the kids.  I can’t believe how old they are all getting!  It’s weird because I’m not getting older.

    

   

I’m sad that I don’t have a picture with ALL of the kids.  Jacob was already at school.  That last picture is so typical of Nathan and Ashley dinking around with the onlookers laughing.

I really can’t believe that summer is over and ALL my kids are in school!  I guess we actually have FIVE different start times with Jerrica’s pre-school.  UGH!!!!

My Wild Things

I came home this evening from running errands and saw these Wild Things running across my backyard.  At first I thought it was just the boys’ old dinosaur costumes from the basement, but then realized they really were  Wild Things.

"And now," cried Max Ash, "let the wild rumpus start!"

“And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.”

  I was hoping that they would tell me, “Oh, please don't go—we'll eat you up—we love you so!”

But they didn’t even notice me.

Oh how I LOVE  My Wild things, and yes they ARE very Wild!

A Gift

Do you ever give a gift and then stand in amazement at how much the person really wanted it?  I really can’t believe how much Rebecca has played with her new doll. 

She does all kinds of hairstyles, and has such cute dialogues with her.  She changes her out of her pajamas and into cute outfits each day.  I am so glad we have saved outfits over the years.  This cute, little green vintage suitcase is toted around as her wardrobe.

I can relate to Rebecca.  I still enjoy doing fancy hairdo’s and buying cute outfits for MY Rebecca.

Anyway, LOVE that she has enjoyed her birthday gift so much!

Fat the Cat

We have a cat named Fat.  Nathan named him that to make the little girls upset.  They kept trying to call him Skinny, but the rhyme of Fat the Cat has stuck.

Fat is Jerrica’s baby. 

He is an outdoor cat, and Miss Jerrica spends A LOT of time with him outside.  He lets her carry him like a baby.  He sits and purrs as she reads him her mountain of books.  She loves to scold and boss him.  They are just cute together!

She is thrilled to have her baby to play with since all of her siblings have gone back to school.  Today she told me, “I’m glad that there isn’t a Cat School”.

I had to get a picture of her and Fat for this years picture book.  He is just such a big part of her life.  So here is the picture of Jerrica saying “cheese” as I am saying “mouse” to Fat.  :)

 

Focus

I have been thinking a lot about focus with my kids, husband, and even areas in my life.

When I’m taking a picture I always have something that I want “in” focus, and the center of my photo.  I then adjust my camera.  Sometimes I want my focus to be really sharp and contain a lot of detail, with the background blurred so that all my attention is on the main object.

Other times I set my camera so that the full picture can be seen in the photo.  This always gives me the setting and some description of what is going on around the subject.  However, detail on the individual subject can not be seen as well, and the attention is not on the individual.

It seems like at times I run with the big picture without focusing on details.  When I don’t zoom in every once in a while, I don’t focus on specific details.  I see that everything is there and looks good, but neglect the little things that are there as well because I am not as focused on them.  I feel like I need to blur out the rest of my kids when I’m trying to focus on something specific with one of them.  Sure they are still there (believe me I can hear them), but the focus may be on another because they need that attention.  I need that blur so that I can scrutinize the details and see how I can help.  I can’t do that when I’m concentrating on a  “big” picture.

Yes, the big picture is important, but so are the close ups.  LOTS of close ups in different areas of the big picture.  Yes they may be filled with bees and bugs when you look close, but the close ups also allow you to appreciate the beauty and good that is already there, which is sometimes lost in the big picture.

It’s all in the focus.  :)

Ashley Lines

She just makes me laugh with how she words things.  For some reason, (maybe because of all the older siblings)  she is just mature socially. 

When she started swimming lessons and met the teacher, who was this guy with quite a cool afro, Ashley proceeded to say, upon JUST meeting him, “I’m training for the Olympics, and you my friend are going to help me get there”.   I looked at the teacher, with a good luck with this one look.

The other day I was making her wear socks with her tennis shoes.  She was not happy about it and told me, “Mom, quit trying to make me dress and be like you because I really don’t want to have your style.”  She is just so quick with her thoughts and words.

We were driving by my friend Angie’s old house.  It triggered memories and Ashley says, “Mom, what happened to Angie and her boys …”  After I explained where they moved, she says, “Oh man, I wanted to date that one boy of hers”  Kaylee then freaked out at her for being only six and thinking about dating.  She then tells Kaylee, “Its not too early to think about boys to date, that way you have a lot to date when you are old enough.  Kaylee, YOU should be freaking out though because your age is getting close to 16 and my guess is that you don’t have a list of any boys that you want to date.  Maybe you should worry about yourself!”

She LOVES the camera and isn’t afraid to jump in any picture.  I don’t know how many pictures I have taken of the other kids that she has stuck her little face in.  Don’t these two expressions say it all…

 

We were walking out of Lifetime and a really buff guy walked by.  Ash immediately commented to him, and then proceeded to beg Stephen to show his muscles and prove that he was just as buff as the guy.  Stephen declined to show the man his muscles and her older sisters were mortified at the scene.  :)

We were walking out of the Meet and Greet at school.  A girl waved at Ash all excited and said, “Hi Ashley”.  Ashley replies, “Hi, girl that I don’t know your name.”  Kaylee and I gave each other a look.  After we had past I explained to her that you don’t say that you don’t know her name, to which she said, “Mom, I needed to let her know that I really didn’t know her.  Why pretend to know her?!?”

Then my mom was on the phone telling me this story about a big snake she had found in a box.  I proceeded to say, “Oh that is so gross….. How disgusting….”  As soon as I got off the phone Ashley says, “What?  Did Grandma see her neighbor naked?”  I was like where are you getting that.  She then said, “you kept saying gross and disgusting, and that is the most gross thing I can think of to happen to Grandma.” 

She definitely keeps us on our toes and smiles on our faces!

Pride of the Rockies

This weekend is the Pride of the Rockies soccer tournament.  All my soccer players are playing in it.  My cute little soccer ref is also reffing some games for a little extra money.

Tonight Kaylee and Rebecca had games at the same time.  I missed most of Kaylee’s but was able to hang out with my Rebecca.

She has a such powerful kick.  I love these expressions on her teammate and opponents’ faces.

Abby was with us, and those two giggled and talked non-stop.

I think the Air Force Academy is so beautiful.  It was a perfect backdrop to have as I spent the evening with my Rebecca!

Back to School

It’s that time of year again.  The summer winds down and the schedule of school ensues.  Scavenger hunts for school supplies are endless.

Decorations are brought out trying to get the kids excited.

Family Home Evenings are planned to help the kids.  Rebecca did this one for us on Monday (she found it online somewhere).  I have another fun one planned for this coming week.

Countdown chains have been made for the much anticipated first day of pre-school.

Obviously some are more excited than others.  We tied a little raffia to our first day of school gifts for teachers.

Next Tuesday is the big start day for all of the big kids.  I cry every year.  I kick myself every year for not doing more over the summer.  It’s just that every year this first day of school comes around quicker and quicker.  :(