First Day of School

These are some pictures from Caroline's first day of school. Oops, Sorry, I don't know how to turn that one the right way, but if you turn your head sideways, you can see just fine. Notice Caroline's SuperGirl backpack. And she is wearing her new jean jacket, that she picked out herself. Her outfit is cute too, but I dodn't get the whole thing. Anyway, I cannot believe my little girl is in first grade. In just 3 short weeks she will be 7!!!

Splash Park

These pictures are from the new Splash Park this summer. The kids really loved it and still ask to go even though it is freezing cold!!! It is now closed for the season. It opened a little later than planned. It was supposed to be open for Memorial Day, then 4th of July, then 24th of July. It opened on the 21st of August. Not much time to enjoy it before the weather got chilly. But they still loved it. And it is free, so that is the best part. It is at Porter Park, right next to the Carousel. So it used to be right across the street from us. That was so great! Now we have to drive to get there, but that's okay. We don't have to deal with all of the traffic associated with it anymore being right across the street. People blocking and parking in our driveway... But it is a welcome addition to Rexburg!

Caroline's Soccer team

These pics are from Caroline's soccer team this summer. There were 2 kids missing from the picture. The one where she is walking is right after she got a goal. She is so awesome. Justin chickened out at the ward party. He didn't want to do the song in front of everyone so Caroline just played her violin. She played brilliantly and everyone cheered for the tiny girl playing the tiny violin. I met some people so I don't feel as bad about the ward now. But I do miss my friends from my old ward. Last night I went to play Bunko with all of them. It was a lot of fun and was nice to see them again and catche up on news. Everyone has had their babies by now. I am no longer the only one not pregnant. Noone is pregnant anymore. They all have cute little boys. Except one girl. 8 boys and one girl. Isn't that crazy?

Rigby Lake & We're the Bates

These are the kids at Rigby Lake this summer...It was a little over cast and cloudy and chilly. Then it got nice later... Tonight we have to do a family "skit" for the ward party to introduce ourselves. Caroline is going to play the violin and we made up words to the song to sing along to. It goes like this... We're the Bates And we want to tell you All about our little family This is Justin he teaches at the college This is Jenny she's always on a diet This is Caroline she is into soccer This is Hilton he gets in Everything. So, it is not as effective without the music, but you get the idea. Anyway, if you think the line about me is funny, it was Caroline's idea. At FHE last night we were trying to decide what to say about each of us. We thought of everyone except me and then Caroline came up with that. Funny? Yes. But disturbing. The problem is, I don't want my children to have a complex about their bodies because of me. But I have tried to make it very clear that the reason I am on a diet is for my health. Caroline knows I have diabetes and can't have sugar and she knows that I am trying to be healthy. She makes good food choices because of it. I hope I am teaching her properly and not making my child grow up with an eating disorder!

Update

I have been trying to post more oics for 3 days now and it is not working. I have no idea what is going on, but you are just going to have to wait. Sorry! Well, today was Hilton's first day of preschool and he had a great time. I did too! I got so much done. It was much too short. But I will take what I can get. I got the kitchen completely cleaned, swept, mopped, everything. I got both of the kids' rooms picked up and the house vacuumed and dusted. It was lovely to be able to do that all without any disruptions. I can't wait to see what I will do with my time tomorrow! It is beautiful today. 60 degrees and sunny. You can't ask for a better day. The kids and I went to get the car washed. Caroline had early out today. She has early out every Monday. Why do they do that? I don't remember having early outs when I was in school... Caroline started violin on Saturday. She is learning new techniques and a new Bach piece. She was really happy to be back and she loves having private lessons. Even if it is on a Saturday. Tomorrow night at the ward activity our family is supposed to do some kind of skit. Well, I think we are just going to have Caroline play the violin. She is excited about that. We will practice tonight for FHE. I am not very excited about this ward. I haven't met anyone I really like yet. People are just not very friendly. But it has been only 3 weeks. For Women's Conference on Saturday I am going to go to my old stake because all my friends are there. And there is going to be a dinner and I had planned on it before we even moved. So I will be able to see some people I know. I guess I just need to make more of an effort in the new ward. I will. I will do my best...

Pictures!!!

These are some picture from this summer at the zoo. The kids loved the petting zoo! And the other 2 kids are Bryn and Christian, my friend Erin's kids. Very convenient that our kids are the same ages!Can you see the tiger? The flamingos were their favorites... I have no clue why! The picture of me is with my hair when I got it chopped off. This was several months ago and I see how much weight I have lost! My body has changed! Thank goodness! And my hair has grown too! Today I went to my water aerobics class. Then I volunteered in Caroline's class. We then went to an Open House for Hilton's preschool which he LOVED! He met his teachers. There was one who I was worried about. She seemed very dull and quiet and non-personality at the orientation, but when she was with Hilt, she was great! She was so good with him and fun and exciting. He loved her. He can't wait to start on Monday! Then I went to Wal Mart to pick up these pics. I will post more later. Then I came home, cleaned the house and curled up with a good book. It is raining today and perfect for that. It is cold and I am making soup for dinner and we are just going to stay in tonight and I am going to read. Yea fall!!!

Fall

It is the most beautiful fall day today. It has still been warm up until today. In the mid to upper 80's. And all of a sudden, today it is fall! It is a little cloudy, a little windy and chilly. It smells fabulous outside. I put up some faux fall foliage on our front porch and it looks so cute! In Oct we are having a baby shower for a friend here and the theme is going to be pumpkins. The baby just happened to be named Peter! And my friend, Erin, thought that Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater was cute! It is sooo funny because we thought of the pumpkin theme way before the baby was born and we found out the name! Totally a hoot. Anyway, I am trying to get my house all harvesty. So I have pumpkins everywhere, if I find a cute fake pumpkin basket or candle or anything, I get it. And Porters had a huge sale on faux foliage, so I got that and some cool candles. I have a long way to go before it is decorated sufficiently but I am on my way. I cannot get enough of fall. I hope it lasts a few months. I want to have my share of fall before it snows!

Maybe not

Well, there was this huge penalty fee to get rid of the internet. And I need the internet for a class next semester. So we are keeping it. We totally can't afford it , but we have to do what we have to do. So it was a false alarm. Please continue to come back daily to see my daily log...or blog... haha. Yesterday I went to orientation for Hilton's preschool. He is having it at the University and it looks really great. There are 5 teachers and 16 kids. Noone under 3. The classroom is so cool! They have a tree house and a kitchen and tons of cool toys. And the potty and water fountain and sink are so short! It is the cutest thing ever! There is an open house tomorrow that we are going to. Hilton will get to meet his teachers and see his classroom. I know he is going to love it! I think I will love it more. It gives me 2 hours of child-free morning. I just don't know what I will do with my time! But you can bet I will not waste a minute.

No More Internet

Well, it has been great. But I am afraid we have to get rid of the internet. It is an extra that we just can't afford right now. So I am sorry, but my daily ramblings must come to an end. I will still try to get on once a week, but I cannot even promise that. I want to thank my mother, and my father, and the producer of this blog, oh, wait, this isn't an Oscar speech. Sorry! Just kidding! Anyway, I will continue to try to keep you posted! I love you all! Good NIGHT!

Our day

Today I went walking. I felt like I had every good excuse not to go since I am doing that water aerobics class and that is hard work. But I went for an hour this morning. Up hill, both ways! Okay, not both ways, but I was definitely winded when I got home. I haven't lost any more weight, but I haven't gained either. So that is good news. Today my goal is to get my "desk" straightened out. It is just a mess and all the bills are on top with everything else and I need to get them paid, so I better get on that! I think that is all I can aspire to do today. I am beat! I have been extremely tired lately and I need to chill for a while. Today Justin is going to have lunch with Elder Snow. He is Justin's former Mission President and he is coming to give the devotional today. Justin also gets to sit up on the stand with him for devotional. So I crisply ironed his white shirt, and I had to run to Walmart and buy him a new black belt. He was going to wear his ratty old brown belt with his black suit! And his old black belt is way too small. So I ran to Wal Mart fast and got him one so that he looks nice and spiffy for his big day! I think he is very excited. THough he would never admit it. I hope he has a good time. He hasn't seen Elder Snow since I was pregnant with Caroline! Caroline got in a fight at school yesterday. A boy named Cameron was teasing her and following her around and wouldn't leave her alone so she said she started a fight with him. She was devastated. She was sobbing. At first she lied to us and told us nothing happened. The teacher didn't know what happened. She just knew that Caroline came in from recess and one of the kids was about to tattle on her. So I asked Caroline and she told me nothing happened. I asked her what the little girl was going to tattle about. And she said, "I don't know. She couldn't have seen me fighting or anything." RED FLAG! I finally got it out of her. She decided on her own that she was going to apologize to Cameron. I didn't even hint that she should. So I hope today goes better for my little girl...