Spud Harvest

I am eating my lunch in between doing things to get ready to go to St George. I will be going down for almost 2 weeks to stay with my Grandmother. THe kids are coming with me. Caroline has Spud Harvest Break. For those who don't know, it is potato harvest time in Idaho and some kids still live on farms and have to harvest potatoes, so the kids have a week and a half off from school. So we are going south to warmer weather. We will miss Justin, but it will be nice to get away and see my sister and sisters-in-law and grandma. And the kids are really excited to play with their cousins. So I am off! But I will ahve access to a computer down there so you can't get rid of me.

Reality TV and pushy bishops

Today I woke up very sleepy because I stayed up until midnight watching Project Runway. I just couldn't help it. Last night I went to Book Group and afterwards took the girls home that I drove and we all stayed in the driveways talking and talking forever. Then I got home at 11:00 and I was too awake to go to sleep. Usually Justin will stay up with me to watch but he hasn't been feeling well so he was gone... Out like a light. So I stayed up and watched one of the best reality tv shows on! Ok, I admit, I am a reality TV junky. It is horrible. I am the first one to say, STOP THE MADNESS! No more reality tv. But it is just so good. Soooo real... oh, yeah... But just funny and entertaining. Project Runway is about fashion designers competing to win money to start their own collections. It is awesome. I also love the Amazing Race. My friend Chelsi got me hooked in St George and I haven't missed an episode since. And this season is no exception! I just can't get enough. I like Dancing with the Stars but I don't HAVE to watch every week. As long as I know who gets kicked off, I am cool. I am the same about Rockstar. That is pretty much all I am into. I have enough other tv shows I have to keep up with. Oh, so we go in to see the bishop the other night. He was giving us callings. But first he wanted to get to know us a little so we told him. He said, "are these your only children?" We said yes. He said, "Huh... Do you plan on having more?" OK! How insolent can you be? That is the rudest thing ever!!! I was so mad. but Justin was calm and said, "Maybe." Then the bishop said that he had 9 and the other counselor in there has 5. He warned us there is something in the water here so we had better watch out. We said we would. Sometimes living in Mormonville is not all it's cracked up to be. Thank goodness the whole town isn't as ignorant as our bishop. But unfortunately, he is our bishop... Maybe he is a nice guy, but so far, I am not impressed.

33

I am 33. My birthday was yesterday and not a totally tragic event. I didnot lose 33 lbs like I had hoped. But my clothes are loose on me and people are noticing that I have lost weight. Even if my husband doesn't. He just sees me every day... But I am ok with being 33. I am not where I thought I would be at 33. But where I am is a good place. I am happy in this 33 place. I have a great family and a nice home and I love my town and I love being involved in things. I have good friends who care about me and what I am doing. I don't get to eat good food all of the time but I made an exception on my birthday. Justin got me a chocolatey chocolate ice cream cake. It was devil's food cake with chocolate ice cream with chocolate shavings in it, then covered in fudge ganache. It was decadent, and evil and something I should only do once a year. But I felt like I deserved it; being 33 and all. So am I in my mid-thirties now? Or am I still in my early 30's? I think I would like to stay in my early 30's for one more year, if that is ok. I am still trying hard to deal with the fact that I am no longer in my 20's. This is difficult. Although someone said to me just last week that I don't look old enough to have a 6 year old. Do you know how GREAT that felt!!!??? Conceivably I could have a child much older than 6. I could have a 13 year old! Because I am 33. But having a young oldest child keeps me young. Caroline turning 7 is going to be a hard day for me. Just a few more weeks away... But for now, I will have to be happy being 23. Oh, I mean 33, that's right, 33.

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!