I'm tired

I feel like I've been running like crazy! First I did all the apple butter. Then finally took a shower, right before Abby was due home. I usually get her off the bus, but I called Pete and asked him to. They get home and said they had to chase the bus down, because she forgot her coat. Except she didnt' forget it in the bus afterall, she thinks its at school. Grrrrreat.

So off we go, Abby, Matthew and I to his 1 year well check. At 13 months, he still doesn't weigh 20lbs yet, my little man. Everything checked out fine. Off to Walgreens we go.

Here is what we got:
3 Robitussin 3.99 each
Lypsyl chapstick, 2.99
L'Oreal lotion, 16.49
Rimmel Foundation, 7.49
Energy Drink thing, 3.99
Pepto Bismol 6.49
Total $49.42

- $2/1 Robitussin x3
- $1/1 L'Oreal
- $1/1 Rimmel
- $4.50 RR x2
- $5/25 Walgreens Coupon

Subtotal $22.92 +tax + $10 RR for buying the 3 Robitussin

I'll submit for rebates totalling $37.72 ... More free stuff!

On to Yokes for .79 apples. I needed more since Greenbluff only had the one kind. Usually they have a lot more different types. So I got some Jonagold, Gala and Granny Smith to use with my Empires for applesauce and pie filling, maybe more apple butter.

Its now 3:45 and we jet over to Abby's school. Just in time! Her teacher is just leaving. Sure enough, her coat is there! Thank goodness! Now she will be warm once again. Then we went home.

Now the kids are being put to bed by dad. We're all packed for tomorrow. I need to load the dishwasher and then I can plant my rear on the couch downstairs for the evening. For some reason, I really love sitting on the couch, cross stitching and watching my shows in the fall.

The Wrong Side of the Bed

That's where the boys woke up. They have been crying and fighting all morning. Lovely! Matthew woke up at 7 and didn't want to sleep more. Needless to say, he went down for a nap by 9am. Tyler and Aaron have been arguing and fighting. Because, as you know, the truck that your brother has is THE ONLY one you can even consider playing with. I just gave them yogurt and now they are eating apples. Hopefully they'll cheer up.

Abby has picture day today! It's hard to order school pictures having a photographer for a husband. I did buy the obligatory crappy generic school picture. I just got 2 - 5x7s, one for her scrapbook and one for mine. I know that Pete can do a way better job for an 8x10 and pictures for relatives. In fact, we are hoping to go to Finch Arboretum next weekend for some pictures of them plus family pictures.

I am finishing my Apple Butter today and hopefully will blog that. I took pictures of the process, JUST FOR YOU! Isn't that nice of me?

Tomorrow Tyler has a soccer game at 10:15 and then we are headed up to Addy for overnight. My parents will be up there too and hopefully my sister/BIL/nieces. Pete and my dad and maybe Tommy (if they come) are going to finish the shed. Pete needs to winterize our trailer too so the pipes don't freeze. I hope and pray we have no mice issues...ew. I'll leave that up to my mom.

I'm hoping for no rain tomorrow, that could make things kinda miserable...and the trailer muddy. I imagine we will be going through a lot of hot chocolate. I'm contemplating bringing my coffeepot so that we can have coffee all day long. We shall see.

Ok, well I think my jars are ready for apple butter, so I'm going to go do that. I only have 2 hours before I have to bring Matty to his well check, time is a wastin'!

Greenbluff

Last weekend, my sister and I and our families went up to Greenbluff. It is a fabulous farming community about 40 minutes away. Each farm has their own certain attractions and/or produce that they grow and sell. Every fall, for 5 of the past 7 years, we've always gone to the same place. First stop is Knapp's for pumpkin chunkin', maze crawlin', straw bale jumpin' and pumpkin pickin' fun. Then we go to Hansen's Orchard to pick apples, play and eat their special caramel applesauce.

First stop was petting the animals at Knapps. Well, I think they had 2 donkeys this year, sorta lame. Not the donkeys, just the fact that usually they have a lot more animals. We then posed for some pictures (see prior post). Then off to the straw maze!


Lately, this has been getting bigger and bigger. When we first started going, they had a small maze and then a huge pyramid thing made with straw bales. Under the pyramid was an enormous pile of loose straw to jump into. It was oh so much fun! Last year they got rid of it, I'm not sure why. Probably liability. Anyway, so now we are left with this straw maze. The kids loved it. Its sorta funny to watch Aaron, because its 2 bales high which means all you see is his little blonde head bobbing along :) Here he is crawling through one of the tunnels of the maze:


This year there was a big pile of loose straw to play around in. Surprisingly, Matty loved it. He was crawling around like crazy. Eventually he decided it wasn't very tasty. The kids had fun throwing it up in the air.


They did have a small pile of straw to jump into. Abby and Tyler really like it and I thought these pictures turned out really neat. I took them.

Ok, so maybe I didn't. It was Pete. He has all the photographic talent in this family (anyone need Christmas pictures?)


They had a huge tractor sitting in the field next to the straw maze. The kids were able to climb inside which was neat, especially for the boys. Here Pete is showing off some skilz. Why not put your daughter inside a big tractor tire rim? I thought it turned out cute.


Here is one of me, I look sorta mad. I wasn't, I promise. I was trying to look serious.


And another cute one of Abby because....well...just because she's cute.


Time for Pumpkins! The kids ran around searching for the perfect pumpkin. I was very pleasantly surprised this year at the great selection. Last year, they were kinda yucky. We came home with 5 perfect pumpkins. We will carve one and the other 4 will get painted by the kids so that I can cook them up for pumpkin puree.

Here is Abby with her pumpkin:


And Tyler...


And of course Aaron! He wasn't actually holding it, but you can't tell, can you? I'm so sneaky!! Or maybe Pete the Photographer is the sneaky one. Either way it takes talent to produce a holding pumpkin picture that is not really a holding pumpkin picture!



Next, we went to Hansen's Apple orchard. Matty enjoyed eating a nice, crisp apple! This is a great place to just hang out. They have a play area for the kids that keeps getting better and better! We ended up with 70? lbs of apples. So you'll probably see lots of posts about making various apple things.



Not sure what this game is...ring around the...tree ribbon? Whatever it was, it kept them fascinated for a while.



When we left, all 4 kids were asleep within 5 minutes. Ah, a quiet car ride. I forgot that such a thing even existed! All in all, a very fun fun fun day! I imagine we will do it all over again next year!

Who are the Bodens?

This is us, taken last Saturday:

















Pete and I have been married just over 7 years. And look what we have to show for it!

I am a non practicing nurse. My mom always corrects me when I say 'used to be a nurse,' so I guess that works. I haven't worked since right before Abby was born in 2003. I did used to work in Peds ICU and ER. I miss it...sometimes. Pete is a Software Engineer. BOooooooring. But he's really good at it. Just glad its him and not me! I look at the work he does from home on occasion and am baffled by the fact that it actually MAKES SENSE to him.

We live in Spokane, WA. I grew up in Snohomish WA (SHS Class of 1994) and he grew up here (East Valley HS Class of 1994). I went to Washington State University in Pullman...GO COUGS! He went to Eastern. So how did we meet? Um...gulp...the internet. Yes, its true. There is an ancient program called ICQ, its like an outdated version of AOL IM. So we chatted for a few weeks before I moved here and we met right after I got here. In fact, he helped me unpack. And he's done that several times since then :) Anyway, we were both simply looking for a friend and it blossomed into much more than that. We moved fast...met in January 2001 and married in September 2001. But when you know, you just know, right? He's so awesome, we know many people who have offered to attempt to clone him for their daughters. ANYWAYS, we have lived here except for a stint in Las Vegas from 2003 - 2005. Ultimately we love it here best.

*Disclaimer* We are sitting on a hay bale that is tilted, which is why it appears that my several inches taller hubby is shorter than me!

Ok...on to the kids.

Abby, our little Princess. She's 5 1/2. Born on April Fools Day, 2003. Surprisingly no one thought it was a joke when we called to say she was born. Wierd. She's in Kindergarten this year and proudly rides the bus. I often wonder, when exactly is it, that you learn to hate riding the bus? When is it not cool anymore? For now, I enjoy hearing stories of the Kindergartners bouncing around on the back seat of the bus. Yep, in the afternoons when the big kids are still in school, they get to sit in the back. How cool are they? She is our creative one. She LOVES projects (read: making messes). I think along with a creative mind, goes a chaotic working space, right? She is a wonderful helper and she loves to play with her brothers too. She takes weekly gymnastics lessons. She played soccer last year and T Ball in the spring. She claims she doesn't want to do T Ball again...we shall see.

Tyler, oh dear Tyler. He just turned 4 in August. He is the sweetest, most innocent little rascal on the planet. He is very analytical, meaning he definately will weigh the pros and cons of doing what we ask him to do. For instance, if he is told he cannot have a story for bedtime if he does not do X, he will often just say he didn't want a story anyway. That's my boy! He is very sweet and loveable, very sensitive and still loves his Mama! He likes to snuggle and cuddle. He loves to play with his trucks and he is learning how to play soccer. Pete is coaching his team, which is quite entertaining. He goes to Preschool 3 days a week, which he loves. Not sure how much he learns but I do know he gets a snack every day. How is THAT the highlight of the day? If you know Tyler, you know that it truly is.

Now on to Aaron, who is 2 1/2. This kid is all boy. He loves anything with wheels; cars, trucks, trains, whatever. He is our little Buggy Boy. He is a strong willed child, but sweet at the same time. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He is gentle with his baby brother...sometimes. Other times he likes to sit on him. It seems that he is very athletically inclined...he gets out there with Tyler's soccer team for practice and he kicks that ball better than some of the kids on the team! He loves any kind of balls. He has a baseball mitt, but he uses it sorta funny...he holds it instead of putting his hand in it. He hasn't managed to catch the ball that way, I wonder why? He doesn't go to school but he gets to run errands with me. I take him to MOPS and we call that his school. Its only twice a month but he's not in the nursery anymore, so I guess that qualifies? I think he's looking forward to going to Miss Angie's school in, oh, about 11 more months.

Last, but not least, is our little Matty Matt. His name is really Matthew, but every calls him that, or just plain Matty. He will be 13 months in 2 days! He is a small, huggable, lovable, cuddly little bundle of spit bubbles. Its so fun to see his little personality come out. He is louder than the other kids were as babies, but I presume that is because he HAS to be, in order to be heard in this house! Right now he has a Mr. King car from the movie CARS that he is crawling and pushing and making "mmmm mmm" sounds. It is so amazing that its like in the genes or something. He has yet to eat...er...play with Abby's Polly Pockets but he plays with cars all.the.time. He isn't walking yet, he doesn't even stand yet but hes close! Unusual for me as the others were walking by age 1. I'm enjoying the break :)

Well that's us. I suppose I should go as my husband just drove down the driveway and he's taking me on a hot date to PF Changs. My sister and Fia are coming to kid sit. Fabulous!

Introducing Our Crazy Life...

I know, I know, its about time. All the prompting and urging has finally paid off; I started a blog! I hope you are all happy now, that you can keep up the the happenings in the Boden household! My plan is to keep this blog updated with pictures and things that are going on in our life. My sister inspired me to include pictures of things I do. I love to can and preserve, so I will blog about that too. My other 'love' is coupons. I have lots of them. I am a stockpiler and deal hunter. My mom and dad love getting my weekly phone calls of what I got for free! Well, at least I THINK they like the calls. I usually save 70-80% on my groceries (usually from Albertsons) and 80-90% at Walgreens. More on that later!

I am a wife to a wonderful man and a mom to four fabulous children. Our life can be quite chaotic as a household with 4 kids ages 5 and under! On any given day, I spend my days driving to and from preschool, waiting at the bus stop and going to playdates. I am also part of a local MOPS group and involved with the PTA at Abby's school. I try to squeeze in household chores from time to time. Ha Ha. Every once in a while, I actually get to do something for myself!

So thats us in a nutshell. Much, much more to come, so keep reading!