Do You Remember.........September?

September:  Relaxing.  Educational.  Busy.  And new (used) furniture.

Relaxing
With our anniversary this month, we decided to spend the weekend alone to celebrate it.  We arranged for Hannah to stay with some friends for 3 nights.  Bless that family!  They are such great friends.

So where did we go?  NO WHERE!  We actually stayed home and it was perfect.  We didn't have to pay for a hotel, or to dine out, etc.  I cleaned the house a few days prior so we could relax in a nice clean and quite home.  I didn't even have to cook dinner.  I had some spaghetti sauce in the freezer that I just pulled out and warmed up.  It was so nice not to have to stress about anything.  We got to sleep in, and go to bed whenever we wanted.  We had all the comforts of home all to ourselves and ended up saving several hundreds of dollars in the meantime.

We told no one where we were going so that way no one would bother us.  We even had to eat our meals in our family room because if we ate them in the dining room some of our friends would have noticed we were home.  Hiding out actually made it more fun.  (I have a friend who is a fun and playful gal, and if she knew we stayed home she would have come to our door and rang the doorbell just for fun.  That's why we wanted to keep this a secret.)

We also went to church all by ourselves to one of the units in our Stake.  For lunch that day we went to a friends house on their 100 acre property.  It was gorgeous and so nice to enjoy lunch without having to worry about a toddler.

Here's a view of their house (it's the one on the far right).

Their home has this gorgeous view from a creek (though it seems more like a river to me considering it's size).

We got a tour of the land while riding in a "rover."  When you have a piece of property that is 100 acres, you need something to rove around on.  Walking would take too long.

Here is the "home teaching" tree.  That's what they like to call it.  It's a tree stump, but there is another tree starting to grow out of the stump.  How awesome is that?!

The weather that day was perfect!  It was in the low-mid 70s.  But when we were out and about on the rover, we noticed some temperature gauges were a little off.  This is one of the thermometers.  The sun was directly hitting the gauge, and with the dark background absorbing all the warmth, it said the temperature was just under 110 degrees (when in actuality it was about 70 degrees).

Notice on the lower right of that photo there is a note that says "Thermometer #2 in a quarter mile" with an arrow?  If you head in the direction of the arrow you enter this beautiful alley/tunnel of trees.

Upon entering the "knox" (that's what the owners like to call it) you can feel the temperature drop by 10 degrees.  After a little while you find the second thermometer and this is what it read:

We thought the 50 degree discrepancy was funny.


Our last day of our stay-cation, Nathan and I ended up buying a daybed that was sold near by.

Structurally, the daybed is solid and of great quality, but it needed a face-lift.  So, I've been sanding, filling, sanding again, priming, painting, and more sanding to this bed.  For a while when you walked into the house all you could smell was spray paint.  I was hoping to have it done by the end of September, but I ran out of money for spray paint so I couldn't finish it.  I figured it was more important to eat so we spent the last of our money on food.  I'm hoping to have the bed done here in a few weeks.

Preschool
Other big events that happened this month was in relation to Hannah.  She started her co-op preschool again this year.  The group decided to buy little folders for the kids to put their work in each week.  I thought it would be fun for Hannah to decorate her folder with stickers.  I remember doing that as a kid just as the school year was starting.  She loved it and was so excited for her co-op to start again.

Hannah also started a "real" preschool with a legit teacher and classroom.  Now this is something she has been waiting for, as have I!  She was so excited her first day of school that every 10 minutes she kept asking me "when am I going to pre-school?"  So far, it has been a wonderful blessing for all of us.

Busy with church
Due to some growth out here in the church, they decided to split the units, and they created a new ward.  It has been a great, and very needed change.  Our unit had out grown the building (we didn't have enough classrooms for people to meet in).  As wonderful as this change is, it is also a lot of work.  In fact, that is an understatement.  I've been so busy these last few weeks with cleaning up records, visiting "new" ward members, and helping the ward get started from scratch.  Our new ward, geographically, is the blue section.  Yes -- it's pretty big!  Before the split, our unit was the majority of the blue, and pretty much the red section.

Well.  That's pretty much our September.  It has been spent with pre-school, traveling around and about, working on a daybed, and just trying to keep up with the pace of life.

Joyeux Anniversaire

Still giving me those girl moments after all these years.

Happy Anniversary Nathan

August -- pleasant with weather, but tempestuously busy

August this year was wonderful when it came to the weather.  We hardly ever turned on the AC.  We opened all the windows many days of the month and just let the cool summer breeze come through the house.  It was glorious, and I am enjoying the reduced electricity bill because of that.

But when it came to life -- it was CRAZY!

I was busy working on a few projects for the house.  I got three 8x10 inch picture frames from friends (for free!), spray painted them, bought glitter paper from JoAnns ($1 total for two sheets), used left over burlap from a project last year, and created these:

I also decided to paint some glass milk jugs.  There is a local dairy here that still uses glass jugs to put their milk in.  How cute is that?  Now I just need to find a pint size milk jug to make it more eye appealing.

Another project I worked on (that I had lying around the house) was re-painting a clock, and painting a clear glass block.

Here is a before picture of the clock:

And the after picture (with the painted glass block next to it):

Now I just need to find a small green plant to put behind the glass block, and a nice ribbon to outline the block too.  Maybe that will be September's project.


One of our good friends cat had some kittens last month, and so we went over to go play with them some.  Hannah was in absolute heaven.  She was so excited to play with the kittens, and I think she was happy that she could pet them without worrying they would scratch or hiss at her (like Kronk does.  He is still not a fan of Hannah).  They were so darling and cute.  And NO! We are not getting another cat.  After Kronk has passed this life, we are officially done with pets.

Speaking of Kronk, this is his new found enjoyment in the mornings.  He likes to go and lick the dew off the deck chairs.

I had a friend give me her old (but very nice) crib bumpers.  I got them all cleaned up and Hannah kept asking me what they were for.  I tried to explain, but she was still confused so I showed her some pictures online of what crib bumpers are used for.  Hannah immediately took off to her room, came running back with her baby doll, and did this:

First she put the baby in between the bumpers, which I thought was hilarious.  Talk about SIDS.

Then she had a better idea and placed her baby on top of the bumpers and put the blanket on the baby so it could take a nap.

Then, she put this little pillow underneath the baby's head to make it more comfortable.

Hannah takes very good care of her baby doll.

This was yet again a very busy month with our church callings.  Nathan traveled 3 of the 5 Sundays for his high council responsibilities (speaking and auditing).  I was busy as well with presidency meetings, help organizing visiting teaching interviews, cleaning peoples homes for service, cleaning up records, and getting information on the 14 new families that moved in during August.  Sigh.  This month, we put over 600 miles on our car alone for church callings. Like I said, it was a busy month.

Another thing that I managed to do in August was read 3 books (actually, I listened to the audiobook). I read the first three volumes of the Anne of Green Gables series, which is something that I have always wanted to do.  Mid-month I received some depressing news in our ward, and I just wanted to get distracted by something else so I decided to dive right in and read the books. My goal was to just read the first of the series, but I ended up reading three of the books.  Not only did I find them enjoyable, they also helped me get back in a more cheery mood.

Anne of Green Gables picture courtesy of blogs.slj.com

July flew by (and took our neighbors with it)

I've come to terms that I pretty much only have time to blog once a month.  Between Hannah, the house, my church calling, crafting for the house/family, and serving I don't have much spare time to sit down and blog as much as I used to.  I'll admit, I am one exhausted momma.

Potty Training!

Ladies and gentlemen -- Hannah is potty trained!  She did a great job, and has only had a handful of accidents.  She is officially ready for pre-school come September (which mommy is very excited and ready for too)!

July 4th

Independence day was fun this year.  I helped our Stake Young Women's president make cookies for the first part of the day.  She has an enormous mixer (industrial kind) that can make 40 dozen cookies in one batch.  Insane!  Over the course of the last 3 months, I think I have helped her make 500 dozen cookies -- and I am not lying!  We've made a plethora of different flavors for girls camp, youth conference, and for an open house/reception.

After cookie production was over with on July 4th we went over to some friends for a party and BBQ'd.  We played games, took turns watching Hannah run around outside, and then we watched the fireworks that Penn State does (which is a 45 minute production!).

I only took a few pictures on the 4th of July, and it was just as fireworks were starting.  I was too tired from cookie making that I didn't even think about pictures.  Hannah loved the fireworks and still asks to see them to this day.  One odd thing to note, it was actually a very cool day on July 4th, that come 5:00 pm I had to put a jacket on.  It was 60 degrees.  We could not believe it, but we also were not complaining!

Speaking of cooler weather, I have only had to turn on the AC probably 5 times this month. It has been such a pleasant and mild summer that we pretty much open all the windows and let the breeze come right through the house.  We've been hovering around 75-80 degree weather most days. It's wonderful!

Songs and dancing

Hannah has started to sing a lot more by herself these days and it melts our hearts.  You'll hear her sing "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me...," or "I love to see the temple, I'm going there some day..."  We are so grateful that she is attending primary this year in church.  She is clearly learning.

Hannah also enjoys dancing, and asks to dance daily.  I do some dance workouts and she enjoys doing them with me.  She's pretty coordinated too.  I've also played some Just Dance videos (from the Wii) on youtube and Hannah tries to mimic the moves on the screen.  She also likes to try and dance like Jessie and Buzz at the end of Toy Story 3.

I can't download any videos of Hannah singing and dancing though.  I think I've used up my allowance for video downloads for the blog so I took some screen shots instead.

Becoming a girl

Hannah is becoming more girlie everyday.  She loves to wear dresses, and is always asking if she can wear some of my jewelry.  I allowed her to wear my green necklace to church one day, and she was ecstatic!

Though she doesn't always enjoy having me do her hair, she does enjoy feeling pretty after her hair is done.  

Kronk

I mentioned earlier that we have been having cool and glorious weather.  Kronk has been in heaven for the month of July.  Well, almost the whole month.  We have 12 windows in our house we can open and he loves sitting on the window sills of all 12, drinking in the fresh air. He has also enjoyed sitting in the chairs on the back deck sunbathing.

Last week we had a day where it got up to 95 degrees with 90% humidity so I had to close all the windows and turn on the AC.  The entire day he was grouchy and mad at me.  He kept howling at the windows (and at me) because all he wanted was the windows open. Every once in a while I would open the sliding door to the deck, he'd take a half a step out and then come right back in because it was so hot.  He was not a happy kitty those days.

Daddy's girl

Hannah is a daddy's girl through and through.  Most of the time she wakes up after Nathan has left for work.  Some of those days she is very sad from the moment I walk into her room to go get her (by the way -- she still has yet to come out of her room in the mornings by herself!).  We occasionally call or FaceTime daddy first thing in the morning to perk her spirits up.

Sometimes though she gets even more sad after we hang up the phone.

One Saturday morning, she wanted to sit next to daddy and "work" like him.  So she grabbed her little chair, put it right next to Daddy, and played on i-pad.

Crafting

I had a busy month crafting.  First of all, I made this skirt and dress for Hannah and I.  I bought this fabric on clearance from Hobby Lobby back in April and I finally got around to sewing with it this month.  I made a pencil skirt for myself, and a pillowcase dress for Hannah.

I also painted some vases that I got for free.  My sister told me about some acrylic paint ($2/bottle) and instructed me on how to paint them.  It was the easiest thing I've ever done in my life, and totally worth the $4!

I also "glittered" a vase that someone gave me.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but it was also extremely easy to do as well.

Service

My new calling in the Relief Society keeps me very busy.  Nathan was telling me the other day "I thought when you got released from Young Women you wouldn't get as many text messages." Well, he was very wrong!  I get text messages much more these days.

On Sunday, we tackled reorganizing the visiting teaching routes.  This is not easy to do, and it takes many hours and several takes to get it right.  It requires lots of organization (which I love). I was so proud of how organized things were, and how Nathan and I set up the computers that I couldn't help but take a picture of us working on the routes.  Our Bishop stopped by my house for a few moments, saw our set up, and was a little speechless.  It was a proud moment for me.

Neighbors moving

Our awesome neighbors moved away on Monday (sniff, sniff).  We will miss them very much! Hannah loved playing them (as did I because it kept her busy).

Miscellaneous

During church, Hannah was keeping busy by playing with her felt Mr. & Mrs. Potato heads. Apparently, she wasn't the only one though.  I looked over to my left and Nathan had started entertaining himself as well.

June: calling changes, sick, sleep deprived, girls camp, monkeys, and stickers

Lots happened this month.  Lots.

Nathan and I were able to have a day date at the beginning of the month.  It was fun and nice to be together, and to eat Chipotles -- yum!

I got released from my Young Women calling (sniff, sniff) and got moved to the Relief Society.  I wasn't too thrown off by my release.  I had received some promptings the last few months that a release was coming.  However, the Young Women did not see this coming and it was tough blow for some of the girls. They have become some great friends and I will terribly miss working with them!

To soften the blow for the girls I made some treats on my last day, wrote each girl a personal card, and then topped it off by still attending girls camp.  In the course of 2 days at girls camp, I got 4 hours of sleep.  It was too fun so we didn't sleep much.

Of course, you have to play the cup game at girls camp.

My first night there we toilet papered on of the priesthood leaders cars.  This was his first year at camp so we wanted to give him a proper welcome.  Brother W loved it and said he felt loved (such a good sport).

We had a Park Ranger come and teach the girls about PA wildlife.  This Park Ranger was hilarious and the girls just loved her!

This just cracked me up!

I taught the girls Nertz last year, and they are continuing the tradition!

And, this is our camp shot of everyone that went in our ward (we were missing 3 young women).

The last night there, we spent the majority of the time in the lodge dancing around, playing games, and painting nails.  I spent the majority of my time dancing with the girls (I'm the one in the green shirt).  The different colored shirts represented the "level" of each person.  Yellow shirts were the younger girls, the purple shirts were the youth camp leaders (the 16-18 year old), and the green shirts were the adult leaders.  Notice I'm the only leader dancing.  This was one of the reasons why the young women were so sad that I was released.  I always dance with them and they love it (as do I).  I guess I'm still a kid at heart.

At the beginning of the month Hannah got sick with pink eye and an ear infection.  Not fun at all. There were 4 nights in a row where none of us got any more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep.  As soon as Hannah was no longer contagious, we went outside for a walk with her new (used) wagon that we got for $10.  All Hannah wants to do is pull it with stuff inside (she doesn't like to ride in it).  One of the days she ended up stumbling and taking a fall that gave her a fat upper lip.  It was sad, but all she wanted to do to make it feel better was to get a band aid on her lip.  So, we obliged.

We all had dental appointments this month (all cavity free), and Hannah enjoyed it very much.  She likes the sunglasses they let her wear, and she also likes choosing a new toothbrush.

Kronk found a new cubby to hang out in when I'm working on the computer.  I've been doing a lot of that lately with my new calling (secretary stuff).

Nathan and I went on a double date to a Spikes game (local minor league baseball team).  It was a lot of fun! In some ways it was better than a pro-baseball game.

They had a Cowboy Monkey Rodeo during several middle of the innings that was more than entertaining to watch.

One last thing: Hannah only gets to play with stickers at church (she can't run loose with them in Sacrament meeting which means we can supervise where she puts the stickers).  Hannah knows she cannot put them on furniture or hymnals, so she uses her designated sticker book.  I guess she got board with the book and started to enjoy putting the stickers on herself, and then us (you can't see in the photo below, but she even put stickers on our arms, hands, and the back on Nathan's neck).

That's our June!

Cowboy monkey rodeo pictures courtesy of www.russionmachineeverbreaks.com