Labor Day

On Labor day we went out to my sister Christina's house for a BBQ. Everyone ate, swam and chatted all afternoon.

(Keira and I are enjoying a root beer float together)

After a while Justin got the tractor out and a lot of the kids climbed into the scoop, then Justin raised it over the pool and the kids all jumped out. Katie John thought it was great and jumped many times. Even John got in and dove from the scoop. The funniest thing that day was when they tied “harnesses” around those big green bugs that Christina’s house has.

(this is Katie John's bug)
All the kids had one on a string and they flew around, just tied to the string, like a live kite. It was great. Katie John and her bug just walked around (because it couldn't fly anymore). She felt sad for the bugs on strings and wanted to keep hers as a pet, and wanted the other kids to stop being mean to the bugs. (of course the end result for most of the bugs was death)

Jonah was able to ride a mini motorcycle for the first time, and was actually a good little rider. He buzzed around the big field with great speed and won the admiration of his Uncle Jonathan.


Our day ended with tired but happy kids.

(John and Keira having a ball together)

CHICAGO ! ! !

On Wednesday night John and I went back to the fair for a Chicago concert. We sat in the "not so free" seats. It was a good concert with lots of songs that I knew, and of course John knew every song they played. John is a very fanatical fan, he’s the kind that likes to jump up waving and clapping and woo-hooing half the time. He sings along sometimes and is always having a great time even if they are not playing his favorite songs. Of course John bought a t-shirt (his 8th one!) and is wearing it to work today. We then got a chocolate frosty on the way home—yum yum. What a fun date night!

Off to the State Fair

Tuesday I pulled the kids out early from school and we all went to the State Fair. We got there about 1:00pm and immediately started off to have fun. The girls (and Levi who comes to play everyday) got temporary tattoos on their arms. Then the girls made “salmon egg” bracelets. They were actually orange beads, but they loved it anyway. Then we went off to the forest center, where for the first time we didn’t get a free tree. We don’t have anyplace to plant a non-productive tree. I only want fruiting trees growing around here. By the way my peach tree is as tall as the fence! We had a really great time on carnival rides. The kids each got to choose 4 rides. The first ride was a Dragon coaster which Katie John and Sariah went on, though a little scary, it was fun. Jonah chose a roller coaster ride in the “big kid” section called the Hi Miler and had a GREAT time. He did feel like he might fall out a little, but John kept a tight hold on him through the drops. I went on the swings ride. It’s the tamest “big kid” ride and I really like it. Jonah and Katie John, who went on it with me, thought they were pretty scary. We saw the biggest goats I’ve ever seen in the animal pavilion. Of course we saw big cows, and we saw some very woolly sheep, poor things all hot in this weather. In the animal nursery we petted baby goats and saw a big pile of baby pigs. In the Expo Center we saw the Delorean and Herbie up close, tasted cheeses and honey (not together) and saw brand new baby chicks just hatched. Keira's favorite was the kittens. She parked herself in front of the cage watching them jump and play, I think one even licked her finger. I liked the high dive show where these divers jumped and flipped and did all sorts of amazing things. The highest dive was from 80 feet! Wowzers! Everyone had a great time at the fair, thanks to Sariah for letting us tag along on her super fun day!

Note: Jonah and Katie John went to Raging Waters last week with John as a reward for being good Duckettes. Sariah was too little to go, so she chose to go to the State Fair instead.

Google This!

OK, I wanted to do this the moment I saw it on Helen's blog. All you have to do is go to google and type in 'your name' and then 'needs'. So I typed in 'Sherry needs' and here are the top 10 things it came up with:

1. Sherry needs...THIS!
2. Sherry needs to keep pub plan simple.
3. Sherry needs a lot of time to care for them. (talking about my four special needs kids of course!)
4. Sherry needs the flor, once considered a miracle.
5. Sherry needs no introduction.
6. Sherry needs instruction in phonics.
7. Sherry needs a myspace by Grandma Bettyboop.
8. Sherry needs more support!
9. Sherry needs to be phased out. (hey.....)
10. Sherry needs investment partners.

Other honorable mentions I thought funny:
11. Sherry needs out!
12. Sherry needs snuggles now!

First Day of School

The long awaited day has come. Katie John is finally a 1st grader. She seemed happy to be going to school again. She is excited about her new lunch box and drink bottle. We met Mr. Barnes and he seemed very energetic, very organized and very excited to be teaching 1st grade. Jonah is a late reader again so he had plenty of time to buzz around finding friends. He was very excited to go back to school and see who ended up in his class. I only saw Mrs. Walker in passing, but she seemed quite put together. We look forward to a productive year with her. The excitement of the first day has been tiring for me (and Sariah) and soon we'll be off for the afternoon pick up. For now this is all new and exciting, and I'm sure by next week this will all be old news. But for now school is cool!

Eagle Scout Brother!

My brother James is officially an Eagle Scout!! His project of building a bathroom in the old pioneer cemetary was quite the monster. (well, actually I haven't seen it yet, but I plan on it soon) We are so very proud of him, Good Job James!! He joins my other brothers Shaun and Jesse as another Eagle in Troup 291. YAY!

School starts next week?

Wow, our summer seems to have flown by super fast. Already I find myself pressed to get the kids back on schedule, clothes sorted for the new year, shop for the things they still need and somehow find time for all the other things that need doing. Two days ago i started in on the laundry. The mound of clean clothes last night was amazing because I had the kids dig out all the hidden items of clothing (under beds, back corners of closets) so they could be washed and sorted. Of course there were all the other normal items mixed in so our sorting was quite the task. Luckily John started in on it all while Jonah and I were at scouts. We finished the sorting while being entertained by the olympics. We sure like the olympics... they are very entertaining this time around. Four days left... I'm sure we'll make it. No need to panic here.

Jonah's Baptism

Saturday August 9, Jonah was baptized by his dad. He shared his big day with his cousin Mason Hirst who is also 8 and was baptized. After the baptisms, both boys had beaming faces which show in all the pictures. They were then confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Many family members and friends came down to support Jonah and Mason which was very appreciated. The celebration continued with a strawberry shortcake dessert in the cultral hall and lots of chatting. Jonah was excited to receive his first real set of scriptures from his Grammy and Grandpa Matthews. He brought them happily to church and used them in his primary class. We'll have his name put on the front in gold, what a treat!

Canning!

I had a really productive day last week and I'm so excited about it. I made and canned 7 quarts of applesauce ( still have a whole bucket of apples left, so more to come) and I canned 14 quarts of peaches and made a huge peach crisp! So yummy! I still have a bowl of plums left to make some jam, but I ran out of jar lids so I am forced to pause. I sure like putting yummy things in jars!

Strauss Festival "Carnival in Venice"

This year's festival was just great. As always I attended all 4 performance nights which was wonderful. Three of our children (Jonah, Katie John and Sariah) participated this year as Duckettes. Their job was to shoo ducks off the stage. John's choreography in his quadrilles was just great. My brother James was one of the quadrille dancers. Good job James! My favorite dance was the red dress dance which was John's waltz. The dancers looked wonderful out there twirling and swirling all over the stage. There were many new costumes this year and the added "carnival" elements were really exciting. The fire dancers and the magicians were my favorites.

John's mom and dad drove up from Arizona on Thursday and stayed until Saturday. We always have a fun time visiting (and often swimming) with them every year. A bonus treat was John's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy drove up from So. Cal to attend the festival for the first time. On Friday afternoon John, his dad and Uncle Bob went golfing together at Haggin Oaks. John says," It was fun and I did better than I thought I would, even though I came in 3rd."

As the blanket manager, I hosted many guests. This year we estimate 90-100 people came to sit on our blankets over the 4 festival nights. This is a blow-out from any other year. Our usual average is 40-65ish. The point of all this is: We were sooo happy to accommodate so many of our family and friends. It's always great for me to see and chat with so many of you. Thanks to all of you who came, saw and enjoyed this year's festival!! See you next year!

ps I made Katie John and Sariah's dresses, boy did they love wearing them!

My new blog

Well... let's see if i can keep this up better than my myspace page. Yay!