Terrible News. (*not really)

Setting: Friday, I am picking Rachel up from school.
Rachel (getting in the car):  Mom, I have TERRIBLE news.
Me: Oh no!
Rachel: Well, actually it's just really gross.
Me: What is it?
Rachel: Harper told me that BRADEN has a crush on me!
Me: Oh.  Who is Braden?
Rachel: He is in Mrs. Wilson's class. (the other 1st grade class)
Me:  Oh.  Well, I think it will probably be ok.
Rachel:  Yeah, I guess.

And so it begins!  My older two are so sheltered from the whole who-likes-who drama of elementary school!  I like it that way!  Homeschooling Rachel may be in the near future, haha. ;)

Setting: After bath, I am getting ready to help Ella brush her hair out.  She can do it by herself, but likes help sometimes.
Me: (picking up brush to begin)
Ella: Wait!  I need to clean off the brush patty first.
Me:  What?
Ella: You know, the brush patty....OH (rolling eyes).  I mean the *hair* patty.
Me: What?
Ella: You know, the patty...of hair?  Like a squash patty?
Me: (rolling on the floor laughing)

Naturally, we should always clean the hair patties out of the brush before beginning.  :D

Setting: Dinner table
Rachel: McKinley, guess what number I am thinking, to make me freeze.
Me: Guess a number?  To make you freeze?
Rachel: Yes, then I will freeze.
*pause*
Rachel: McKinley, a number, like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.  Or 109.
McKinley: 109.
Rachel: YES!!!

What a great guess, right?  Lucky.

In other news, this was McKinley's reaction when it was not her turn to choose the song for Family Home Evening:

So sad!  Never fear, treat time resolved all issues.

Over Labor day weekend we got a wild hair and attempted to summit a 14er, Mt. Bierstatd.  We *almost* made it to the top - 13,500 ft according to Kip's GPS unit.  We could see it.  But we just weren't feeling it.  McKinley was passed out cold so Kip and I were taking turns carrying her, which is really hard to do going straight up.  Caleb was cold and ticked off, Rachel was cold and crying...Ella was a trooper.  She could have made it to the top if the rest of us hadn't held her back.  We learned two things:
1 - we should have gotten up and started a little earlier.
2 - we should have dressed a LOT warmer.  It was probably in the high 30's by the time we stopped, in our shorts.  People coming down kept warning us that it was at least 10 degrees colder at the summit, with a nasty fierce wind.
So, we turned around.  The reason everyone is smiling in the photo is because we told them we were turning around.  Everyone felt much better after that.  (People coming down told us the last 500 feet of ascent would be AT LEAST 1 1/2 more hours, because it is pretty much vertical at the end.  That was too much for us.)

Look, it's a minion climbing the mountain!

 View from the (almost) top

 Yay!  We're turning around!

 View of the peak from the car when we got back - we were very high!

The other half of Labor Day weekend, Monday, we made our 4th annual trip to Miller Farms for the fall harvest.  We got there early this time - the last few years we have gotten there just before closing.  It had advantages - we were often the only ones on the tractor so there was plenty of room for all of our booty.

Yeah.  We will go later again next year.  It was PACKED early in the day, we had to wait in line for a tractor, then the tractor was packed with people, so there was nowhere to put our 30 bags worth of produce.  Yikes.  And it was HOT.  But all of those things aside, it was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast, and we spent the entire next week peeling, spreading, hanging, washing, packing, cooking, canning, and freezing food.  Whew, for real.

The girls sitting on the haystacks while we waited in line for the tractor.

 That is a sweet potato as big as Kip's head, in case you were wondering.

At home with our haul: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, corn, basil, kale, pumpkins, decorative gourds, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, celery, cabbage, cantaloupe, butternut squash, and a lot of dirt.

 McKinley's favorites.

 Tomatoes: before.  We made approximately 1 million jars of spaghetti sauce.  And some salsa. :)

We must not forget Ella's newest love - snakes.  We  have a few of them in the garden, they like living in the warm electric box behind our trampoline.  We have maybe killed a few when the kids weren't looking.  But when the kids find them, it's a celebration!

 Even McKinley held it!

We have a big plastic storage bucket that the kids have converted into a "habitat," with rocks, grass, disgusting water, etc.  So the snakes get a home for the day, long enough for the kids to show it to all their friends when they get home from school.  Then I make them take the pet and release far away from the house at the Cherry Creek trail.  Blech.  Everyone is happy I guess, right?

Lastly, we are busy with fall rec sports.  Caleb is enjoying soccer, and especially enjoyed getting to be on the "skins" team at practice this week (he's leaning over). lol.  I think it made him feel manly.

Life. Is. Good!