Painting. I forgot how fun it is.

After working for 10 days straight, I decided we needed to paint the common areas in our house. They were not painted before we moved in & after a year of Blair chaos, they were looking a little shabby. I forgot how time consuming & tedious it is. Luckily, we had help. :) A little paint on the floor...no big deal. Doing something as a family...priceless. I didn't help much in this room because I was making dinner to take to someone, but I did the trim. They did awesome. Those little edgers are great!

The next day is when I freaked out. Izzie decided she needed to paint the new grey on the new green/brown.

Twice.

UUUUUGGGHHHH! She got into BIG trouble, but I fixed it...lucky for her. The house looks great & I am very thankful to Patrick for helping with the most of it, even with his leaky leg. I will post pictures when we finish the hallway, hopefully this weekend. I just couldn't bear the mess for another day. The anxiety level was not good ;)

The End of Summer & the Beginning of Fall

How did another summer fly by so fast? Well, here we are at the beginning of another school year. Izzie still has 2 more years before she starts, but she would go right this second if she could. Ryan is in 1st grade & has Mrs. Pavlik. He is super excited because his bff from last year is in his class. Hannah is in 4th grade & has Mrs. Catron. Hannah is excited to go back & see her friends & start another year of reading.

crazy girl

"Are you ok, Ryan?"

Dad looks a little teary. haha. He was able to help get the kids off the first day because he had another surgery on July 21st & was still off from work. His bursa sac filled with blood in his knee & it had to be removed. He finally went back today, August 30th.

He was ready to go back (& I was ready for him to go back, too).

Toy Story 3 in 3D

Before school started, our Bishop, the nicest man ever, wanted to have a end of summer party for all the kids at church. He just happens to own all the movie theaters in town. He let us in for FREE & gave us popcorn & candy! Loved it!

Izzie, Hannah & Hannah's best friend & cousin, Olivia.

Izzie had never been to a movie in the theater. She just turned 3 & we didn't think she would be quiet enough or sit still long enough. This was the perfect time because Pat & I were both there & one of us could take her out if we needed to.

As we sat down & the previews came on, she said,

"What is this? A tv?" She cracks me up.

Thanks Bishop Allen!

Hannah's 9th Birthday at the Cabin

Who knew the Birthday Fairy comes to the Cabin with you on your birthday?!?! You can faintly see the "9" on her forehead. Hannha turned 9 on July 30th. Wow. I totally feel old having a 9 year old. A 4th grader. Dang. I remember being in 4th grader. Mrs. Anderson was my teacher. I perfectly remember forgetting my finished homework at home & getting a zero on it. I told my Mother & she had it out with the teacher. Thanks Mom! The teacher accepted it, but wrote LATE on it with big bold letters & I got a 75. That was a blow. I was an A student. Still have a little bit of dislike for that teacher, even today. Hopefully, I won't have to pull a "Vickie" on Hannah's teacher this year. That was a little random. haha.

9 Things We Love About Hannah

1) She is becoming very responsible.

2) She always takes up for her brother & sister & helps clean up their messes when she didn't make it.

3) She loves to read & draw & color. She reminds me of myself. Locked in my room, in my own world.

4) She loves Justin Beiber, but is very shy about, unless she is belting out his songs in her room or in the car.

5) She is a good student & a wonderful help to her teachers.

6) She is a great soccer player, helping to defend the goal.

7) She loves shoes. It's genetic. And not from me. I have heard, "My feet are bleeding, but aren't my shoes cute?" from Hannah & her Grandma Blair. Not kidding!

8) Hannah ALWAYS gives me a kiss a hug before I go to work. Love that.

9) She STILL loves Ramon noodles & would eat them every day if we let her. Those things have kept this picky girl alive.

I asked her if she wanted me to bake her a bake or Grandma Blair to bake her a Texas Sheet Cake. A chocolate cake. A YUMMY chocolate cake. A family favorite.

Is this piece big enough, Hannah?

Izzie being her Beastie self.

Grandpa Blair, Pat, Ryan & Frank (Grandpa's friend) went fishing. Only 3 fish were caught that day. Ryan caught 2 & Frank caught the other 1. Ryan said to Frank, "I don't know which one of mine is the mommy & which is the daddy, but yours must be the baby." hahaha. Poor Frank.

Grandpa cleaned the fish in about 2 seconds. I think he has done it a few times. Ryan loved every minute of it. He loved touching the eyeballs & teasing his sisters & me with touching them.

I just have a thing about touching fish. They are so gross!

Pillow Cookies

A friend of mine found a recipe for pillow cookies. I had never heard of them, but I can never pass up a cookie recipe. It is a tiny brownie baked inside a chocolate chip cookie. Can you say AMAZING?! They were so good! They are huge cookies...1 batch makes 10(!) cookies. But they are oh so good. Find the recipe here.

Izzie's Birthday Party (& Karli, too!)

Izzie shares her birthday with her cousin Karli. Karli turned 18 this year & she had a big party with lots of family & friends. We just decided to crash the party & bring Izzie's piggies.

We all had a great time.

Pat & Great-Granny

Great-Granny & Aunt Tammy

Cute. Izzie & her cousins. Izzie was the last of them to turn 3.

Karli smashed a cupcake into one of her friends faces & Ryan threatened to do the same thing. I told him he was grounded if it happened.

Grounded. It was pretty funny though & luckily, his cousin Ethan was a good sport.