Birthday boy!!

     I have a new blogger app on my phone that I'm still figuring out and it keeps posting my blogs before I'm ready. 

      This week was pretty low key and I didn't have much to share until today! McClane is 7!! I remember watching General Conference in the hospital when he was born and that is why his middle name is Thomas after our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I'm so glad we get to celebrate his birthday the same weekend we get to be taught by so many amazing church leaders.

      With a birthday on Saturday you don't waste time opening gifts and getting to cake early. There's nothing wrong with having jello cheesecake for breakfast!

Traditional balloons.

He requested this awesome r/c dump truck.

He also requested this r/c spider. Why?! But how do you say no to this cute face.

And no birthday is complete without a card and cash from G & G Baker! McClane says thanks!!

And when you request jello cheesecake and pumpkin pie you get both without question. This smaller cheesecake is just for him and he's pretty happy about it. Unfortunately, for him, he will have to share the pie and don't worry, there's a larger version of that jello cheesecake waiting in the fridge for the rest of the family.

And this is what happens when mom goes to the outlet stores to find a plain black shirt, she finds a few other cute things too. Somethings I just have to splurge on for our little princess. (Honestly I really wish they had this is my size but I can live vicariously through Charlie if I have to.)

And this is the beginning of my fall decor going up this week. Today I have a one little craft to do that should complete my outdoor decor.

     So that's our week, mostly our Saturday so far. I hope you enjoy general conference weekend, I know we will.

Boys!

     Not the most exciting week but a few fun things happened.

Brock just wanted his picture taken.

     Mark and Marcus had the Sadie Hawkins dance last Saturday, which they were both pretty excited about. A cute girl from our ward asked Mark to be her date, which he was pretty happy about. As part of the date they met up at the Harley Davidson store to have a photo opt and then ate at the little burger joint that's part of the Harley dealership. Mark was beyond excited when he got special permission from myself and Greg to take the Harley. He didn't get to drive with his date but neither did anyone else, which was just fine by me.

These two were pretty excited to get to take the motorcycles out for part of their Sadie Hawkins experience.

Fun night! Sadie Hawkins, which is a girls choice. 

     So that's all the photos I have to share. This Sunday is our primary program. We had our practice today and, like always, it was utter chaos but I'm sure, like always, Sunday will be awesome! 

     We also had a little upset with Carter and a few of his friends. Apparently, two weeks ago, they had an incident involving a vending machine at the local car wash and now the police are involved and Carter and his friends are actually being charged with theft and destruction of property. I can say quite confidently that Carter didn't steal anything but he was there when others did so we'll see what happens when he goes up in front of the judge. We don't know any of the details yet but we know something's coming soon. Seriously, these older kids are going to be the death of us!

crafts, fall, family

      I got a little crafty recently. Both the burlap wreath and 'welcome' sign are of my own making, which is pretty amazing if I do say so myself. I'm not normally crafty and I generally find crafting quite stressful but I liked both these decor ideas, which I found on Pinterest, so I took a shot at it and I think they both turned out ok. I'm not too happy that fall is approaching but I love fall decorating. Now I just need to get a few more things and I'll have the front of the house all ready for fall.

       This past week Greg and I made a drive up to Conrad ranch to retrieve our ladders and also just to enjoy the scenery. The colors are starting to come on and this place is just as spectacular as ever!

     I also got all these fun photos to chose from, from the wedding photographer and I think all these kids took some great photos. I have seven, now eight, beautiful children and now my photo wall is all updated too!

Don't tell anyone, but McClane has to be my favorite! He's so stickin' cute!!

    So that's our week. I also spent last evening with Carter and his scout troop for the mom and son camp out, which was great but a little cold. I had every intention of sleeping over but our tent was not in good order when we finally found it so I decided to skip the sleep over aspect of the night. I felt bad about missing breakfast but wasn't sad that I had to sleep in my own bed. I never got any photo evidence of the night but it was fun and my 4th year attending with several more to go.

Bumps, tools, work and fun.

     Charlie had a little mismatch with the skateboard and the skateboard obviously won. She was sitting on the back of the skateboard while her friend was standing on the front of the same skateboard and when her friend jumped off the skateboard flew up and Charlie went forward causing this giant, nasty goose egg on her head. We cleaned her up and put some of this 'miracle' clay on it and it looks much better just a few days later.

So sad!

    Mark spent the better part of an afternoon buying tools for his diesel mechanics school and then putting them all away in his tool chest one afternoon.

The kid has a 'special' style! (What is he wearing, seriously!?)

     I also decided that Labor Day was the perfect day to put a few kids to work. We went from a messy circle fire pit to this much better stacked square fire pit.

Isaac disassembled, Mark and Greg rebuilt and McClane and Charlie cleaned up the debris.

     These two always have a good time together, at least until the one in pink jumps off the skateboard.

     And this afternoon these three put on a pretty awesome, tiny, tea party. The tea set is tiny and two of the three girls are tiny and Charlie's just the cutest hostess.

Fun girls!

     So that's our week in a nutshell. Now on to a nice weekend with Regional conference in place of traditional church, which means 'free' day!

Dogs & organizing

     Not a big week of photos. These two are new best friends, at least for the long weekend. So far so good. Cisco lives a few doors down and while his family is gone for the weekend he's hanging out with us.

      And have I mentioned how much produce we have lately!? Have I also mentioned how much I hate having a ton of stuff on my kitchen counters? I found the perfect solution, this awesome three tiered tray! It's also a perfect match for the drink dispenser I bought for Kayli's wedding reception so I'm feeling kind of fancy. This tray is a little taller then I envisioned so it won't fit under my kitchen cupboards but this spot works great too.
      Oh and we have the bedrooms finally figured out and my piano is now nicely tucked away in the back bedroom freeing up some space in the front room. And the four youngest kids are all situated in the basement thanks to my visiting teacher giving me her extra bunk beds.

        So that's what we've been up to this week. I don't know about the kids but I'm looking forward to having a three day weekend! I think we should get a three day weekend at least once a month throughout the whole school year.