Where to begin?

I should be finishing the blog from our summer of fun in Provo, but we have done so much in the last month since being home that I thought I might update the present first.

Well, we got home on August 20th. I had class starting on the 24th, so we got back just in time. I had a little hiccup with school and ended up transferring the first week of class. I was going to school up in St Louis, which ended up being over a 2 hour drive each way. I transferred to the university in Rolla and changed majors and I am so happy and grateful I did. I'm doing a graduate certificate in Psychology in Leadership, which is like business psychology. It is a lot of fun and lots of hard work. My mom makes it possible for me to balance homeschooling, school, swim team, choir director, primary pianist, and a bunch of other stuff! Thanks Mom!

But, there are much more interesting things then my school stuff!! So, let's see. One of the first things that happened was that Marissa made a fort. Lots of forts. Here is one of them.

The next Friday morning we had a homeschooling party at the Kofoed's house. We have a lot of kids in our ward that homeschool, there were 25 kids are the swim part that day. We had a lot of fun!

That night we also had a ward camp out. It is an annual thing and it was so great, just like last year. We bought a new tent so that I could have room to stretch out my legs at night. It ended up being a very large tent. It is actually tall enough for me to stand up in and it can fit 2 queen size beds in it. So after roasting hot dogs on the fire, we got the tent all set up. Usually my kids are in bed at 7 or close to it, but Marissa and William have good friends at church now and they happened to be camping also and were up late. So for once, I let my kids stay up. They had so much fun! It got dark and they were still playing. William ran around with his buddy Zachary and they both had some flashlights with head straps. Marissa ran around with two other 4 year old girls, Kimmi and Alanna. They went in to each others tents again and again, giggling and completely wearing themselves out. They had some glow bracelets that they wore around their ankles so they didn't ever run into each other in the dark and I knew where they were.
Of course, I deeply regretted all this fun the next day when they were incredibly crabby. It reconfirmed to me that it is a good idea to put them into bed early and never let them stay up!

This fun picture is of a hat that Marissa made. Her friend Kimmi made the red part, but Marissa added the veil on the top and put on the dress. She was very proud.
A week or so later, it was Labor Day and we took Dad to the airport to head back to Maryland. We decided we should all go so we could head to the zoo. On the way out the door, I grabbed my camera and took these pictures of my mom's beautiful flowers! I love my camera and these flowers. They were just lovely.
So after I took the pictures, we headed up to St Louis. When we got to the zoo, there were cars backed up for blocks! We decided maybe the zoo wasn't such a good idea and went right instead towards the Science Center. It was also crowded, but not nearly as much. We always love going there. And it was even better this time because Grandpa was with us. Here are some highlights!


Marissa will often get dressed up in her ballet stuff after lunch and she just looked so cute, I had to take a picture. This is my tutu from when I was about 6. She loves it.
Hanging out with friends at the park and riding in a truck!

One day we also found a turtle. William felt compelled to bring it inside and show everyone.

On September 11, we went to a patriot rally at Lion's Club park. It was so great! They had big blowup toys, horses, a bald eagle, and a helicopter even landed right there in the park! Very fun for a free night!

One day Marissa had some free time and came up with this cool thing. She made it all herself and asked everyone else to pull her down the hallway. Very creative!

Also, she decorated this basket for Baby Day to sit in.

And she made this hair thing for herself too. She loves to make things.

A few nights ago, I went in the bathroom and found this sitting right next to the toilet. Mom and I had to draw straws to decide who had to kill it. We ended up accidentally chasing the thing behind the bathroom cabinet with the broom. The next morning it had come back out and mom vacuumed it up. It was huge!! Huge! HUGE!


Well, here is a hilarious picture. Just having fun the other afternoon.

And here is one of the bats that lives on our deck. This is the small one, but there is also a bigger one that lives there too. We have been trying to get rid of them but haven't been able to yet.

Monday morning we had our next ward homeschooling activity. We went to Lions' Club Park and played kick ball. I haven't played kickball since grade school. I've been missing so much! It is so great! I ended up pitching the second half of the game and it was a blast! By the end, I had grass stains all over my jeans, muddy boots (I didn't realize I would be playing), and I had a sore bottom. I loved it! You can see William running into third base in the first picture.

Just a couple more pictures of stuff we do. William doing his piano playing in the morning, Marissa in probably the third outfit of the day, and then the caterpillars we found in the garden this afternoon!

Well, I think is it for September! A busy month, but with great weather and lots of fun!