First day of school

The first day of school has come and gone for Kyra and Megan. Actually, the first week is gone. Jon, Jacob, Ethan and myself accompanied the girls on Tuesday to meet teachers and find classrooms. Megan has Mrs. Hatch who was Kyra's teacher last year. Kyra has Mrs. Schaefer who is very nice and very organized. Kyra is thrilled to be at school all day again and to be able to bring her own lunch. They have a very early morning! The bus comes and picks them up at 6:55am. Megan gets off of the bus at 11:25am and Kyra comes home at 3:20pm.

The bus comes up our driveway to drop off Megan since the driver has to see me and we have to wave to each other...she knows about the boys and refuses to make me come all the way to the road (sorry, no pic). Kyra gets dropped off at the beginning of our driveway and then we watch the driver turn around in the field next to our house.

Jacob still thinks the girls are asleep in bed when he wakes up and I have to keep telling him that they've been gone for a while.

I'm pretty sure this will be a great year! The girls love school and are excited for all the "fun things" they get to do...hopefully it stays that way!

Cute Survey in Honor of Our Wedding Anniversary

This was a cute survey that my sister put on her blog. I thought it was cute and did it in honor of our anniversary.

What is his name? Jeremiah Jon Shaw
What is your full maiden name? Pamela Ruth Anderson
How long have you been together? Married for 8 years plus the 3 1/2 months we dated.
How did you meet? We met at Ricks during a Family Home Evening event that included his apartment, my apartment and another girls apartment. (12 girls, 6 guys)
How long did you date? 1 month to the day he proposed and then 2 months 17 days later we were married.
How old is he? He just turned 31 on August 21st.
Who said I love you first? He did.
Who is taller? We're the same height, but when I drive I have to scoot the seat closer.
Who sings better? He does. I switch between soprano and alto too much.
Who is smarter? Jon is when it comes to history and science and math and such. I am better at remembering where his keys, shoes, hats etc. are.
Whose temper is worse? His. Plain and simple. There is a reason I stay home with the kids.
Who does the laundry? I wash it and then stare at it because I hate folding it.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does when he is home and I do when he is working nights. When he's off, I am usually on the couch with a kiddo. But on those rare occasions, he does because it's further from the door.
Who pays the bills? I have to because if he knew how much we owed on things, he would work 24/7.
Who mows the lawn? Jon does. And fro his birthday my mom bought him a "push-push" mower (no motor). He's wanted it for a while now and since we got it, he loves it! He won't let anyone else (me) mow because he likes his new toy too much!
Who does the dishes? Me, but only when I'm tired of looking at them! Or when we need spoons or something like that. I leave them there thinking that he will step in and do them, but you'd think that after 8 years I'd learn that he won't do them.
Who cooks dinner? I do. When we were dating he cooked a beautiful dinner for me, but I haven't seen that since. When I was pregnant with Kyra I was sick and he made dinner (Something with hamburger, Ramen noodles, peas, and something else) and I told him not to cook again...solves that problem. Now, if I want a hot dog, he's all over that!
Who drives when you are together? He usually does, but when he's tired or angry I drive.
Who is more stubborn? He is. That is why he knows the children are his. They are just as stubborn.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me at the end of our first date.
Who proposed? He did
Who is more sensitive? Depends. He cries in most movies that I should cry at, but when it comes to feelings, I am.
Who has more friends? I do. But he has more that have lasted the years.
Who wears the pants in the family? The saying in our house is that He wears the pants in the family but only after I pick them out.
How many kids do you want to have? I think we're done at 4. Some days I am a single mom of 5.

Tag! If you haven't done this yet, and you are reading this then you are IT! Have fun, I know I did!

Primary Activity

On Tuesday the kids and I had a Primary activity. We as a Primary decided that it being August and hot, we needed a water activity. So the Hermiston Ward Summer Water Olympics were held in our ball field behind the church. We started with an opening hot dog-n-chips dinner with cookies for snacks (power food). We had an obstacle course where the Elders Quorum Pres. & Secretary (J0n) did the beginning run-through to show the kids how to do it. They also threw javelins (marshmallows on straws) and the discus (paper plates). We had to leave early so I'm not sure exactly what other events were spotlighted, but it was fun nonetheless. Here are a few pictures of my kids in the obstacle course.

Here is Jon in the red.

Kyra almost at the end of the race.

Megan lining up between events.

Jacob interfering with the race.

Thanks for caring

Thanks to everyone who cared about the whole canning incident. After reviewing the situation with my aunt and grandma, I'm going to further inspect the pressure canner and if all is a go, I'll try it again. We're pretty sure the lid wasn't on all the way (even though I had the arrow point to "closed") and it's possible something was wrong with it before I got it (the reason not to buy a canner from a yard sale). So Perhaps I'll end up with more carrots. Or not. I might stick to freezer jam instead.

8 Years and counting

Yesterday Jon and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! I can't believe how fast time goes by! It seems like not too long ago we were at Ricks. Today I have a great marriage and 4 great kids!

Life Lesson #?

Life Lesson:
Don't start canning carrots at 1am.

Ok. So those carrots I posted about the other day have been, well, sitting on my counter sliced and covered with water, in the fridge taking up valuable space, and in a sack on my kitchen floor.
I've tried many times to get in the kitchen to can my carrots only to be distracted by more pressing matters, i.e. Baby puke, toddler bites, sisterly arguments, the Olympics, (the list goes on and on).
So this morning at 1 am while Jon was at work and my beautiful children were finally visiting dreamland, I decided to tackle the carrots.
Things were going great and I guess this is where the prompting came in to seriously watch the ancient pressure cooker I was given. Did I listen? No. And honestly it's probably good that I wasn't near that blasted thing! (Who am I kidding? It was great that I wasn't near it!) Needless to say, at roughly 3 pounds of pressure, the lid came flying off and water went everywhere! Now, before you jump to conclusions, I need to let you know that all 7 pints of carrots that I had in there all sealed and look beautiful! I am fine (I stopped shaking around 5am), the vent above my stove is fine, my stove has never been cleaner (Amazing what boiling hot water will do to stuck-on stains), my floor has been freshly mopped, the ceiling and cabinets have been washed and I have decided that this year I am going to freeze the rest of my carrots!

Ethan...say cheese!

Ethan with his favorite blankie winding up for...



almost there.....




success!!! a big smile for mom!

Carrots coming out of my ears!

Who would have thought that one row of carrots would produce so much???

These are a few of my biggest...

Now I get to do a lot of peeling, slicing and canning!

Tales from the Trip

Well, we're home now and boy are we tired! We turned the trip timer on when we left our driveway last Tuesday and turned it off when we piled out of the van last night. Out of our 7 day vacation, we sat in the van for a total of...drum roll please...31 hours. Yikes! But the kids were fabulous and only started fighting with each other the last 90 minutes of the trip.

We started by getting everything ready at home before leaving. That meant mowing the lawn. Jacob even decided to help Jon.

Tuesday we went to Nampa to see my sister Becky and her family. We put Ethan and Courtney (Becky's daughter) next to each other for a photo session.

Then we went to my parents house on Wednesday. We hung out there watching movies and relaxing. On Saturday we went up to Echo Lake near Bigfork, Montana to see my cousin Tracy and her family at her in-law's cabin. We had fun riding in the boat and the kids went swimming in the lake. Jon and the girls even went tubing! (pictures coming)

On Sunday we went up in the mountains and picked huckleberries. We managed to get close to 3 gallons of berries in a short time and our kids and Tracy's kids enjoyed going up and down the mountain and making Jon assist them. Megan was quite the picker...she definitely has the Anderson patience for picking in her veins. (pictures coming)

Monday we drove home only to find our lawn had mutated into a rain forest from not being mowed so Jon hacked his way through the front yard and finished the back today. What a vacation!

On Vacation!!

Currently we're on vacation in Montana...be back soon with pictures!

Our "Chunky Monkey"

On Tuesday Ethan had his 4 month check-up (even though he is closer to 5 months) and he is growing leaps and bounds! He is now 17 lbs. 6 ounces (a full 8 pounds since birth) and that puts him in the 95th percentile for weight. He is 26 inches long (5 inches since birth) and that is also in the 90-something percentile for height. At 4 1/2 months he is wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers (for those of you who know diaper sizes). He is rolling over now and almost sitting unassisted. He loves sweet potatoes, squash, peas, applesauce and graham crackers. He laughs at everything and rarely cries. I can't believe how fast these past few months have gone by.