Fall Soccer

Thinking really hard...

Jared has been on a team this fall with other 2nd- and 3rd-grade boys.  (I was bummed out that they had to combine the grades because, once again, that made Jared the youngest person on his team. Last year they combined the 1st- and 2nd-grade boys.  We seem to have bad luck.  Not very fun for a kid who doesn't like to compete for the ball.)

Jared this year has really been enjoying being goalie.  His coach has had Jared and one other kid rotate being goalie for pretty much every game.  Jared has LOVED it, especially since he doesn't love chasing the ball and competing with all the other kids to kick it.

During one particular game, Jared was doing so amazing!!  Jared saved EVERY single goal that came his way (like, six or seven goals--the other team scored only when the other kid on Jared's team was goalie.)  Jared's coach chose Jared to be the MVP for that game and gave him a special MVP patch to wear on his jersey. (Don't worry, I think the coach makes sure that every kids gets a chance to be MVP at some point.)  Jared was soooooooo proud of his MVP patch and has loved telling relatives all about it.

Drop kicking

Jared "at the ready" :)

Soccer is about over for the fall, but it will start up again in the spring with the same team and same coach, so hopefully he will have even more of a chance to improve.  We are so proud of Jared and the strides he has made this fall!

Canning, AGAIN

This is just a random picture of Evelyn.  She loves to climb in and out of the dryer and also the bathtub.  

I feel like the entire month of September has been spent canning.  Ugh.  Seriously, does anyone actually like canning?  I mean, I love having the canned fruit, but the process is just hot and messy and horrible.

Our apple tree had a bumper crop this year.  WOW.  In the 5 years we've lived here, we've never had such a big crop.  I guess it makes up for last year's crop of like six apples.  Ha ha.  We had plenty for ourselves and lots to share with neighbors. I've been making dried apples galore, and the kids have been eating them almost as fast as our dehydrator makes them.

We got tons of peaches, plums, and pears from neighbors this year.   I've REALLY enjoyed making fresh peach cobblers, plum crisps, pear crisps, and apple crisps this fall.  Mmmmmmmm.

Alan and I spent an evening making applesauce.  Jared (and Maggie) were genuinely helpful!  It was really nice to make it a family affair. Doesn't Maggie look cute in her apron?

Peach pie filling in back and applesauce in front

This year's results:
14 quarts pears
8 quarts peach pie filling (We already had enough canned peaches in the basement)
21 pints applesauce (we should have made more, but it was sooooooo sticky!)
42 quarts apple pie filling (These are going to be my neighbor Christmas gifts this year, as well as families we visit teach and home teach...)

We have already had two peach pies.  Yum.  Sounds like all we've had to eat this month are fruity desserts, doesn't it?

Now I need to clean my house, which I have been neglecting for the past several weeks!

Birthday presents (and surprises)

Last week I had a birthday.  It was lovely.  My mom took me out to brunch in the morning, and Alan and I went out to dinner (alone!) in the evening on the way to the airport.  (Alan left that evening to fly to Seattle to visit his Washington family for a few days.)  

However, I found out in the early afternoon, that our painter we were hiring was going to be ready to come the very next day!  That was a bit stressful, but we were excited to finally have the job done.  I spent all afternoon removing things from the walls, moving furniture to the center of the rooms, and taking off outlets and light switch covers.  

Here is the finished product.  Our front room and hall are now gray instead of green. (I have not finished hanging pictures or decorating yet.)

Our basement TV room and hall are now light gray instead of taupe. Yuck, I need to organize this TV stand.  Don't judge. Ha ha.

It was totally worth hiring out the painting instead of doing in ourselves this time (been there, done that!)  They were done in a day and a half, and I feel like it was a really good deal.  Plus, we have a really high ceiling above our staircase.  Not fun to do ourselves.

Alan bought me a 6-qt. crockpot I've really been wanting, plus we bought a new yellow storage ottoman for our living room.  It arrived right on my birthday!!  (See living room picture above.  The ottoman is in front of the fireplace.  It fits all of Evy's toys so nicely, so now our front room is more organized.)

Alan also wrote me a sonnet for my birthday.  I LOVE these poems he writes for me.  They have so much thought and time put into them, and it is a special gift he has to write them:

Inheritance

I often contemplate our life ahead,

When we will be together without end.

It is magnificent that we, though dead,

Will come forth from the grave and live to spend

Eternity in love as man and wife!

We've been endowed with sacred priesthood power

To magnify the Father's Plan of Life;
Creating worlds where we will teach to our

Posterity all things that they must do

As they progress along the narrow path.

As equal partners, we will go forth to

Inherit everything the Father hath:

Eternal lives and endless worlds above,

With hearts and hands entwined in holy love.

(To read more sonnets by Alan, click here and here.)

Random August pictures

A man who lives in my ward invented a line of children's dress-ups called PretendWear.  They are dress-ups made out of a paper-y fabric that you can color yourself with special paint markers.  Then, you can wash out the paint in soapy water and color them again!  Wow.  I was helping him out with a project this August, and when he saw Maggie he said, "Oh, I just have to bring her one of my dress-ups!"  Maggie LOVES it.  Well, to be honest, she doesn't enjoy wearing this dress nearly as much as she loves coloring it herself.  It has occupied her for hours and hours. You can buy these dress-ups online at his website, and he says he will soon open a Kiosk at University Mall in Orem to sell them as well.

Evelyn had fallen asleep with both legs hanging out of slats in her crib.  I thought it was so funny.  However, when I was trying to take a picture, of course the noise of the camera woke her up.  

Maggie really wanted me to take a picture in their matching jackets.  These were Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Stout last year, and it's fun to pull the out again with the chilly mornings/evenings.

First Days

 By the way, never lose a library book.  It is the most grievous of sins.  We had to pay for Jared's lost book (see previous post), and it cost $24!  Seriously?? It was a skinny little chapter book, not a beautiful, colorful picture book!  I mean, I know they have to buy a new book and pay to re-catalog it and put the computer chip thingy in, but really?  Just saying...

Here are pictures of a few firsts:

Jared's first day of 2nd grade!

Maggie sometimes like to have curly hair--she slept in braids

Maggie's first day of preschool!  She looks a little sad because we had to take about 15 pictures until she finally would look at the camera...

Maggie's preschool shirt to wear on field trips.  Today was her first field trip to the library for story time.  (She tripped on the sidewalk a couple of days ago.  Hence, the cut up lip.)

I signed Maggie up for a little beginner ballet class once a week in the mornings.  Here she is before her first class.  Even though she doesn't know anyone else in her class, she was very excited and will really like it, I think.  She loves to pretend to be a ballerina here at home.

I love this sweetie!