Another week

Another week has gone flying by!!  The kids are still loving school.  Last week we had parent/teacher conferences that went really well.  Each kid seems to have the perfect teacher for them.  Definitely some answered prayers!
Here are some random goings on here in KS.
I had allergy testing done (again).  All those raised whelps just mean I'm allergic to KS.  Grass, trees, weeds, dog, cat, and molds.  It also means I have started shots again. 3 to be exact twice a week!

 Being settled means I've been back in the kitchen experimenting with some new recipes and cooking again.
Below was a strawberry rhubarb layer coffee cake thing.  SO good!

 We also went to the local minor league baseball game last weekend.  We had a great time and the kids enjoyed it.  We will do it again for sure.

 They had the best fireworks show I've seen in a really long time.  SO fun!

 More yummy goodness.  S'mores brownies.

 And vegan lasagna.  It wasn't as bad as I though it might be.  Not going to lie, I also bought chicken nuggets just in case it wasn't edible!  It was a challenge to find/make substitutes for all the dairy that's in lasagna.  But it's amazing what sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast can become.

 With my allergies to Kansas, Caroline is now mowing the yard.  Cutest little yard mower around!

 We put up a hummingbird feeder on our dining room window.  We have a few hummers that frequent the feed all day long.  So fun to watch them.

 Another yummy dinner of grilled chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, and rainbow cauliflower.

 My sweet movie watching buddy!

First Day of School

August 10th was the first day of school!  The kids were so excited.  Ever since they found out they were attending the new MacArthur (as in General) they couldn't wait!  Caroline is in 6th grade, Will is in 4th grade,  and Eric is in Kindergarten.  

 The first 6 days of school the kinders are split and half attend in the morning and the other half attend in the afternoon.  It makes it a little easier to teach the rules, class routines, and evaluate the kids.  Eric couldn't wait to go for a full day.
He loves school which is no surprise and his teacher told me the other day that he is just an amazing kid!  I think it will be a great year for him!

Caroline likes her teacher, actually she switches class and has a 3 sixth grade teachers.  Will has already told me that he really likes his teacher, which he never said once last year, so that bodes well too.  He also switches classes and will go to all 3 fourth grade teachers.

Parent teacher conferences are tomorrow so Justin and I are looking forward to getting to know the teachers a little better.

Here's to a great year!!

Harry Potter, Friends, and Soccer

Caroline is a little obsessed with the Harry Potter series.  She was thrilled when the new book about Harry as an adult came out.  We went to Barnes&Nobles to get it (she bought it) and they had all kinds of fun HP themed stuff around the store.  This BN is 2 floors of awesome!  They had scavenger hunts, scenes from the movie around, and just a lot of fun stuff.  She loved it all!

 Can you tell by her smile that she was one happy girl?

 Then another day we took a break from unpacking to meet friends at the pool.  We knew them in Hawaii so it was nice to hang out with them again.  They have 3 boys and a girl.  The oldest boy was on swim team with Caroline and another played flag football with Will.  They are here for school for a year.

 After we got back from CO, Eric did soccer camp for 2 hours each morning for a week.  He loved it and had a lot of fun!  The weather didn't always cooperate for them to be outside, but they still enjoyed it.  Now Eric likes to set up cones in the back yard and play against his brother and sister.  He's looking forward to playing soccer this fall.

Fishing videos

Back when we were up in the mountains I got a few videos of the kids catching fish.

Unpacking

The morning after we got back from colorado our crates were delivered!!  Yay!  We hadn't seen this stuff for 2 months and it was like Christmas morning when everything was unwrapped.  The kids thought it was great.  Justin and I were just hoping everything was in one piece.

There were 5 guys most of the day and 3 truck loads.  It took them 11 hours to get everything off the truck, unwrapped, put in the right room, and the beds together.  A little slow if you ask me.  They were not happy when we told them they still had shelves to put together and the kitchen to unpack.  The supervisor had to come back on Saturday to finish up.  It took him another 7 hours.  He was not so efficient!

 Everything was wrapped in thick brown paper or cardboard boxes and paper.

 Lots of boxes in the kitchen.  Some of that stuff didn't belong in the kitchen.  We found out that many of the boxes were not labeled correctly.  For example I found a box in my room labeled master/shoes.  It had 4 pairs of shoes, stuff from Caroline's  room, and them items from the mantle!

 There are 2 boys somewhere in that pile of boxes!  They made a fort and had a blast playing.

 At the end of the Saturday we had less than 10 boxes left in the house to unpack.  Caroline had unpacked her room then she helped Justin finish the garage.
The kitchen pictures below were taken roughly 24 hours apart.

 Justin also changed the light fixture out in the dining room for me.  While we were at Lowes looking at curtains and lamps I spotted that fixture and loved it.

We have everything all set up and ready to go now.  The guest room is not done, but to be honest we haven't  felt the need to rush and get that one done yet.  So no surprise visitors next week please!  The kids did great helping get the house put together.  It didn't help much that 4 days after getting our stuff Justin had to go on a week long work trip.

Rocky Mountain National Park

We have been to several national parks in the past couple of years.  They are all amazing and this one was no exception!  We had to take 2 cars; all the girls in 1 and the boys in the other.  

Parking was an issue in the morning so we took a drive first to do some mini hikes, see elk, and try to find some snow.  My kids are dying to see some snow!

Big E and Uncle Paul posing for a picture.  

 Gorgeous views were all around.

 Luke loves to take pictures and that got the others wanting to as well.  The girls took some selfies.

 And had a photo-bomber!

 Clamoring up the rocks to get ready for a picture.

 We found some snow!!  And had a little snowball fight.

 After lunch near the top (I'm guessing) where it was very windy and chilly.  It was above 11,000 feet.  We headed back down to our hiking destination.  There were no parking issues and we were ready to hike.  The hike took us past 2 clear and cold lakes on to the final lake and turn around point.

 Emerald lake was beautiful!  We stopped and enjoyed a snack and had to work hard to keep the chipmunks away.  The lake was fed by a waterfall on the far side.

 Luke taking a picture of us.  Later he was swiping through the pictures he had taken making comments about how this one was good but this one needed to be deleted!!

 Some of the hikers!

The kids did great on this hike.  It was almost 4 miles and the first half was all up hill!  It was such an amazing day and so fun to spend some great time with all the Kvernens.

One of my favorite parts about this day was Luke hiking.  He is a trooper and hiked almost all of it by himself.  But the way to motivate him is talking about who is the rotten egg or rockin egg as he calls it.  He will pass you on the trail, turn back grinning, and say to you "You're the rockin egg!"  So cute!

Thanks for having us, we had a great time!!

Fort Collins, CO

So while we waited for our HHGs to be delivered, the kids and I drove 10 hours to Fort Collins to see the Kvernens and Uncle Paul!!  It was a great way to spend the week.  Justin was back at work, school had yet to start, and our house was empty.  The kids are getting used to the long road trips again after not having that opportunity in HI and did great.  They also helped me stay awake as I have a huge tendency to fall asleep in the car(but only when I'm not driving)!  

I had not seen Laura since Eric was just a few weeks old.  Luke and John Paul went a part of their family yet.  It was great to be back together again!  The kids got along like they had been neighbors all their lives and just played and played!

 Eric didn't sleep in the same room with all the boys.  He slept in the room with me over at Uncle Paul and Aunt Patt's place.  Uncle Paul put him to bed one night as Laura and I took the girls out for a bike ride around town.

 The next morning we went for a great little hike/walk along a creek.  8 kids and a creek make for some fun moments!

 Someone spotted a little snake and they all wanted a look.

 Later that afternoon we went to the city park.  The kids played on the play ground, feed ducks, climbed trees, and had a wonderful time.

 The crew!  Lots of boys and they sure do look related huh?

 John Paul picked some flowers and handed them out!

 How many kids do you see in this tree?  I'm pretty sure all 8 are in there!!  We didn't provide help getting up and told them you only go as high as you can get down by yourself.  We didn't have to rescue anyone.  It was a perfect climbing tree!

 Aunt Patt wasn't there but we did get a chance to FaceTime with her.  That is a chair full!!

 More from the hike.

 The dam building crew.

 After the hike we drove a little more and had a great spot for a picnic lunch.  The girls found this little covered area and had their picnic under there.

 It was a perfect day.