Benji's B-day

(he HATES that nickname btw)

Ben turned 28 yesterday! We started the day out with a morning scavenger hunt to find his presents. Then I made some German Pancakes and the day was spent working on the house. Not the most exciting b-day, I'm sure...but he seemed OK with that.

Then we had some friends over tonight to share his cake. Camden saw the cake and got all excited, thinking it was his birthday. When I told him it wasn't his, he started to cry...poor little guy. So, here they are helping him blow out his candles.
Ben loved his baby blue cake with pink candles (which Maddie beautifully stuck in the cake). We love you babe. Thanks for letting us share another year with you :)

Nesting?

What have I been up to lately you may ask...nesting, I believe would be one way to describe it. First, here I am at 24 weeks for those who have wondering how big I'm getting.

As for the nesting part--here are all the little projects I've been working on.

This first one is something I came up with to house Maddie and her baby sisters' bow/clippy collection. It turned out a little crowded, but it works.

Next, I decided it was finally time to finish up Camden's 1 year scrapbook....before the baby comes and I get more busy.

And last, but not least--shopping for our little sprout...making sure she has a few outfits that aren't summer ones (Maddie was a summer baby, so everything is the wrong season!).
And my little helpers for all of the above...couldn't have done it without them :)

i heart apples.

Since our latest apple picking excursion I have been scrambling to find things to make with them before they go bad. I kinda like the feeling of being a little homemaker...not that I don't do things that would classify me as such normally. But there is something about making things from scratch that just screams "homemaker!" Anyways, I started with an apple pie, shown below.

Of all the years we've been married I think this is probably my second homemade pie. Sad, I know. I guess they just always seemed like so much work....and yes it was a lot of work! After all of my hard work I may or may not have eaten this and only this for lunch this week....(you be the judge).
After the above pie, I made up two more batches of the pie filling and froze it for later use. Then I moved on the dried apples. My friend let me borrow her dehydrator, which made things so much faster! I dried probably 40-45 apples! I was thinking they would be great healthy snacks and I could use some for food storage. Here is my helper. This was taken after her 1st official day of preschool. The first day was just orientation.
It made her seem so big to be going to school and then helping me in the kitchen while her little brother napped. Funny story--since I was so excited about my dried apples, I brought some to church today for the kids to eat during Sacrament Meeting. Camden took one bite and made a disgusted, sour face. Then he said "yucky...GARBAGE!" So much for all of my effort! Now I am determined to make them like them since I have SO many! We'll see how that goes.

The first.

Today was Maddie's first day of preschool and I think I was more nervous for her than she was! Not that I didn't think it would go well, or something. I guess I just get first day of school jitters still. Here is her outfit all set out the night before, like a person, a great tradition for anyone wanting to start one.

I coaxed her unwillingly outside to take some pictures. She usually loves to get her picture taken, but for some reason she wasn't thrilled about it, but I still got a few good ones.

It was a little chilly, so she got to wear her cute new jacket.

Here she is in her classroom, having some free playtime at the beginning.

I was so proud of her for being friendly and not growling at people who said "hi" to her (something we've been trying to work on). She didn't even seem to mind when I left. My baby is all grown-up it appears. Yea for preschool!

Apple Pickin'

One of the reasons I am so excited for fall this year is all of the fun things I keep hearing about to do around Albany. Today we checked one off the list and went apple picking (although I think it will remain on the list, so we can go a few more times before the end of the year). This has been a highly anticipated event since my friend, Kim, told me about it (not to mention the delicious apple cider doughnuts they sell there as well). Let me just say that a dozen wasn't enough! Apple picking is something I loved doing growing up, and have fond memories of. So, I was excited to introduce it to our kids. They were so excited to be able to pick their own apples and eat some along the way.

Don't you just love all of their faces in this photo?

(note/reminder to viewers that I am pregnant, not just middle heavy as this picture portrays)

I love this cheesy smiler! You can even see his upper dimple in this picture.
Apples all the way home, of course.
Her cheeks are filled with apples, hence the wide grin.

So fun! I have big plans for some apple pies and other apple dishes, any other suggestions? I think we'll also make a trip to pick our own pumpkins in a few weeks. Don't you just love fall!

A wee problem.

My only explanation for a 4 year old who pees in her pants after being potty trained for over a year is all the changes she has been going through (big move, starting preschool, new church, leaving her friends behind). That has to be it, right? Well, the other night we came upstairs to find Maddie like this (yes she is asleep)...

Upon closer inspection you can see that there is a small stream going out of her room. Good thing we don't have carpeted rooms!

What a fun surprise at the end of the night!

Labor Day getaway

We decided to make a trip to Kim & Seth's in Connecticut over the long weekend. We just had to have one go at their pool before it got too cold and to visit of course. It was so fun to just lounge by the pool, while Ben tried to give the kids some mini swimming lessons. Side note-I was pregnant sick most of the summer, so my kids didn't get a lot of pool time unfortunately. Cam took quite well to the water.

Kaylee was such a good swimmer. Who's heard of swimming by yourself at 4 years old? A prodigy I suppose. Maddie was another story.
All geared up.
Surprisingly all smiles.
This was one of a very few smiles in the beginning...but then once she was off by herself with her friends, she got more comfortable, thank goodness.We had such a fun time at with the Palmers. It's so nice to be just close enough to see them often. Then we made it back home for some actual "labor" at our house. Me-painting our stairs, and Ben redoing a lot of plumbing to get our water temp and pressure normal. And he did it! He amazes me all the time!