Superheroes?

On a typical Wednesday you can find Trav, Marite, and I at the library, picking out books and enjoying storytime. Today, as we were driving to the library Travis was telling me all the superhero names that he has assigned to the family. They are as follows...

Jeff--Strongman
Caleb-Stretchman
Martie--Firegirl

He then notified me that he was Fastboy...

I was patient while I waited for him to assign me my totally AWESOME superhero name...
after a moment of pondering he said...

"well, mom, i guess you could be like cookgirl."

So EVERYONE else in the family gets a really cool superhero name and after racking his brain all Trav can come up with for me is cookgirl? You always no where you stand with Trav...I'm not fast, flexible, or cool in anyway...to him my value is in cooking. Does this please me? I do not know, but what do you think of my disguise?

Back to School Dinner!

So in honor of school year 2009-2010 (which starts tomorrow WOOHOO!!!) I decided to throw a "Back to School" dinner complete with cafeteria trays, pop quizzes, and crayons! The kids seemed really excited. The kids pretend punched in their lunch codes, grabbed their trays, and were served up "lunch lady"style (minues the hair net)! We all sat down to eat, blessed the food which Caleb said isn't like real school, and dug in.

The decorations.....

the centerpiece....

the pop quiz...we all scored 100%

the whole family...

my serving counter...

& on the menu....spaghetti, garlic bread, applesauce, carrots/dip, & a brownie!

After all was said and done....I said to the kids "How was that for a fun surprise?"

and Trav answered..."It wasn't bad."

I will take that as a thank you and well done!

ZOO

Friday we went to the Idaho Falls Zoo, and although it is small, it was still alot of fun! Here are some pics...

Camping Trip

The kids spent hours and hours catching these little frogs on the beach!

...bucket of water in the face....



...the culprit...



Every year we try to go on a camping trip with Jeff's dad. After days and days of packing (Grandpa Mike's gift/curse), we left Nampa and headed up through Idaho City, Lowman, etc. and into the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. PRETTY!! The drive was a little rough for a family with notorious carsickness and a very pregnant woman, but we made it--with only one melt down from Trav---who refused to buckle in his car seat and then after being forced in, sent me seething glares from the backseat for the remainder of the trip. You don't force Trav into doing anything unless you want to make an enemy for life.

Summer Stuff

This summer Jeff was really busy...he spent about 11 weeks out of the summer gone from home...so the kids and I have pretty much been on our own. We did find ways to entertain ourselves though. Our first visit was to Nampa to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Petersen's house for a few days. The kids had a blast playing with the dogs and we went to a nice kid oriented swimming pool that isn't far from their house. Then at the end of June we traveled to Bonners Ferry for a visit to Grandma & Grandpa Carey's house. It was so fun. We went swimming alot, floated the river, played at the 59 property, and had a great 4th of July. I think the highlight for my kids was a big ol' slip n' slide that my dad made up at his property---it was a hit and is still the first thing the kids mention about what they liked this summer. Caleb and I both had a first this summer...I shot a 45. handgun for the 1st time and Caleb got to shoot a 22 and a 17 rifle for the first time. Good times. Jeff joined us in BF for a few days to play and then we drove home and he left for a few weekds again! Our last big hurrah of the summer was for our camping trip up in the Sawtooth Mountains. We stayed at Stanley Lake Campground and it was really nice. With Caleb's constant whistling, Trav's constant farting, and Martie's constant "squalking" after 4 days I was ready to come home---and i think the rest of the campers were ready for us to leave. It was so much fun though. School starts on Monday and I am super glad! I will get to hear a little less about Star Wars and force fields, and get to spend a little more time getting ready for our new baby (which is due in about 8 wks.)!!!!!!!