First of First

I have a child that goes to school all day long. Multiple times that first week I kept thinking I'd lost someone. It's weird. I have memories of 1st grade. Really weird. We're lucky she has a good teacher, a great school, and amazing friends in her class.

Emory, Kylene, and James

First time alone at the park, what to do?

First time running with one child in the double stroller. What a joy in this super, hilly neighborhood we live in!

We also had the Elders over for dinner the first time in Salem.

Cory's first wet suit. Let's just say it look some work, on both our parts, to get him into this thing.

The first surfing prayer circle I've witnessed. Amen.

Tessa's first bite of pita.

The first homeless person hangout I've dared enter. The girls kept wanting to go in there, but I'm positive the back corner was the "bathroom".

Done and Done

I vowed to finish the girl's room this summer. School starts tomorrow. Phew!

We'll miss the Dog Daze, but I'm looking forward to a schedule and some structure in our lives. I'm also looking forward to a having a 1st grader and preschooler =ing a little mom alone time.

Goodbye summer!

Camping

We camped at Beverly Beach last weekend with some friends. It was technically the "Ward Campout", but we barely saw anyone else from our ward. We have a great group of friends, with tons of littles to keep our kids entertained.

Our campground was, literally, Fern Gully. I forgot how the simplest things make kids the happiest. Camping was no different!

Awesome Tree Lady.

Tessa's true Oregonian layering is all the rage this fall.

Here are the kids climbing around Devil's Punchbowl.

The cool, mossy pools in the Bowl.

And, of course, surfing!

Back by popular demand...

This is what happens when Mom falls asleep, Emory decides to map constellations.

This is my personal favorite of Emory's creations:

one side of the paper is D'th Bear and the other is Facts About the D'th bear.

"The red part of D'th Bears face is it's mouth, which it uses to bite stuff. As soon as the rain touches it's skin, it turns into a box. The Mom Eyes, just like, kill the stuff that it sees. And the Dad Eyes, watch over the Baby Eyes that are on the tail. The Dog runs over to the toenails, and chews them off. He's thinking "!". The Cat runs to it's bottom, and a Baby Eye that's just born, and checks it. The little white Baby Eye, near the Poo Hole. Then the Cat runs to that Stinky Donut, eats it and dies."

Emory's poem for Adam, clearly a Bear theme going on here.

This is Tessa's latest letter to Adam.

Tessa said this in a fit of rage the other day. She was dead serious, and whisper/yelled it to Emory. "I wish you could get locked in an alligators mouth . . . and crunched . . . to death."

Emory and Tessa were playing pretend birds, pecking each other, and Emory said, "Hey Tessa, I just ate your Pecker off."

I was wearing a shirt similar to this and Tessa said, "Mom, you are looking gweat for Kawate (Karate)!" When I told her I don't do Karate she said, "It's okay, mom, go have fun with your Kawate fwiends!" It made me wish I had Karate Friends.

A ton of my friends are pregnant; cue my children's obsession with pregnancy and babies. Emory asked me, "What does breastfeeding feel like?" When I paused to think she suggested, "Tickling?" I wish!

We went to a favorite Thai restaurant that has an unusual Woodsman motif, saws and logging stuff all over the walls. (Only in rural, Oregon.) There was a particularly large saw hanging over our heads and when Tessa noticed it she ducked and whispered, "We're Suwounded."

Stuff

This is only 3/4 of my harvest this year, since I'm still doing blackberries. I think my Grandma will be great full for berry season to be over, since I send her a text and picture basically every other day, of my amazing picking! (Yes, my Grandma texts!)

Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Marionberries and Cherries.

More jam somehow got made and shoved into the freezer after this.

We picked these cherries for a really cool program called Salem Harvest. They were free, we just had to give half of what we picked to the Food Bank. This is our half, which I barely froze any of. I'm surprised we didn't have bowel issues!

We've been spending a lot of time at the coast; squeeze in the warm days while we can, I guess?

Cory has a new obsession . . . surfing.

Here he is learning.

Here he is mid-fall.

Here is his teacher.

Looking good! Plus, I love that lighthouse in the background.

The girls and I enjoyed the sun on the beach with our new friends. They moved into our ward a couple weeks after we did and we've quickly become Bosom Friends.

Merrick and Em.

Cory and Tyson, friend/surf instructor/reason-why-Cory-is-obsessed-with-surfing!

Cute girls Tessa, Emory, and Berkleigh.

Otter Rock, my favorite Oregon Beach thus far.

Cory thought he'd be funny and had me take this picture. He then photo-shopped it to look like he'd drawn a mustache and missing tooth on his friend's nice new bill board, welcoming him to his new Podiatric clinic. We think we're funnier than we are, cause when we sent them the picture, they thought we'd actually done it!

A different day at the coast and a different beach. People were scouring this beach for agate. Two seconds after this photo, the wave engulfed me. Not fun.

Tessa, of course, wanted a photo shoot. All the posing was her idea. She makes me laugh and scares me all at the same time.

Emory was content to play in the sand.

Favorites

There are a few things that I've come across lately, whether it be a hair product or a recipe that I've just fallen in love with. I love when people share some of the their favorite things on their blogs, so here's a few of mine.

#1- Suave Professionals Dry Shampoo

My mom and sister introduced me to this one and I love this stuff. I wash my hair every other day, and by the end of day 2, I'm feelin' a little greasy and generally end up pulling my hair into a ponytail. Not with the dry shampoo! It's good stuff, and only costs $2.74 at my Target. (There are way more expensive ones out there, I've seen them at Sephora, but the Suave stuff seems to get the job done.)

#2- Fauxtesserie Chicken

I'd heard of Our Best Bites but never used their recipes until the last few weeks. This one pleased me greatly. I tweaked my version by shoving minced garlic under the skin, throwing rosemary in the "cavity", lemon pepper on the outside, and after it was done in the crock pot, I put it in a roasting pan under the broiler on High to crisp the skin up. It was easy, inexpensive and I used the yummy leftover chicken in other recipes all week long.

#3- Marion berries

Granted, if you don't live in Oregon, these berries are probably not readily available to you. Too bad, so sad, cause they're one of my favorites now. They're a hybrid cane berry, and are sweet enough and just tart enough for me! Here's the recipe for a Berry Crisp I really like. (I usually half it and it makes 8 individual serving in ramekins.)

#4- Pandemic

We love this game! It's even fun to play with just 2 people. We are gamers (of the board variety) and wanted something new that wouldn't cause us to need marriage counseling at the end of each game night. (Maybe the truth is I was sick of losing at Settlers and Ticket to Ride;) This is a co-op game, where you all work together to beat . . . the disease!

#5- Young Victoria

Triple love this movie! I saw it when it came out, but recently re-watched it and remembered why I loved it. Please try to coerce your significant other into watching it with you. So many things in the last 20-30 minutes of the movie can relate to all marriages.

The Funnies

I've been saving up some amazing Maughan children quotes. They are sure to delight!

As I was giving the girls a drink in the morning, Tessa told me, "You're such a good servant, Mom."

Cory and I were hugging in the kitchen and the girls were eating up to the bar. Tessa opened her arms when we finished hugging and said, "Don't mind if I do!?" She wanted in on the huggin' action!

Tessa had done something naughty (surprise) and we have a thing at our house that if you offend with your tongue, like lying, yelling, saying mean things etc., your tongue gets the punishment. Hot sauce or soap. Emory was listening in and made the contribution, "I suggest putting hot sauce in the water bottle by her bed," very matter of fact-ly, like she may have been planning it herself?

They've been obsessing about babies, or the lack thereof in my belly. They're trying to choose a name and come up with some good stuff. It turned into a rhyming game and they got to Chuck, and yes, it went there before I could stop them. Emory blurted "F***!" I was trying so hard not to laugh or let me ears bleed, because once we started the discussion on bad words she kept saying, "You mean F***?" just to make sure that it was the word she's not supposed to say. I was bright red and sweating by the end of that conversation.

My children do some weird stuff when I'm not paying attention to them, for example

packing time = weird pose photo shoot.