September 2012: Week Four

Seriously, where did September go??  It's truly Fall now & I do love Fall; however I dislike Fall too because it means Winter is right around the corner & I loathe cold weather & gloomy skies.

 

Thankfully, Twin is so windy (can you really believe I even said that?!?  It will be the one & only time, I promise) that we have had fairly "enjoyable" skies lately, meaning we haven't had much forest fire smoke. 

 

The week started with preschool co-op at Vanessa's house, which went okay, but not as well as last week's co-op.  Cashe apparently struggled with wanting to focus & do his schoolwork & was far more interested in playing/arguing with Ms. Vanessa.  Lovely.

 

Because there was no Mom's group at church this week, I was able to go to yoga, ... & spin & pilates & body pump.  I made it to the gym 8 times this week!  A FULL workday of exercise!  Glo & I grabbed the new schedule one morning & circled every class we're going to take until we have rockin' bodies. ... Hopefully our ambition lasts longer than just a week!

 

Tuesday, we had a playdate with Alexis, Selah & Asher.  We had a lot of fun & Alexis & I had some great fellowship & good prayer time together.  Praise the Lord for crossing our paths.  She is such a great blessing to me & has such a great, uplifting demeanor that I need sometimes when it comes to parenting ... or just life.

 

Wednesday & Thursday we had our usual BSF routine.  This week, I started teaching in my regular class, which will be Infants & Toddlers this year.  It was so much fun!  The kids are just so sweet & so relaxing at that stage in life.  They're so small & harmless ... it's when they turn 2 & they run circles around you LITERALLY that you start pulling out your hair & wondering where your sanity & energy went.

 

 



 

Taking a breather after wrestling.

My iPad has now been taken captive -- Cashe's new 'treat' is to play with it & he has learned a lot about shapes & matching.  Although I'm not totally sold on the iPad solely teaching Cashe anything & everything, yay for technology.

He now knows what a 'crescent' is. 

Naptime this week has been much needed this week with all of our activities. 
Cashe was insistent on sleeping with 'Bear' a time or two.
(I have to pin 'Bear's' arm in the slats of his bed so he doesn't smother the poor child though.)

One night after Pilates, I went to pick up Cashe at the Kids Klub & they were playing with shaving cream.
Glo was with me, so she coerced me into going in & playing too!
What fun!

I finally scheduled an appointment to get my "Fall hair" done.  Yay!
Afterwards, we went out for Mexican & Cashe ate at least an entire bag of chips or more.

Daddy went to Jackpot one night, so Cashe & I went Halloween costume shopping. 
After much debate about what he should be, we settled on a shark ...
& then he refused to take the thing off.
We went for a walk along the canyon & got all sorts of comments. 
He was quite the celeb!

Then we had the Bishops & the Gotts over for football.
Here Cashe is invading the girls' drawing time.

Zade was somewhat interested in drawing too, so he joined them.

Then Glo & her hubby, John showed up just as I was capturing pix of the kids, so I took their pic too!

Then we headed to the park & the big girls took charge & played with the boys so Bekah & I could relax.

We had a fabulous week ... full of friends, fun & laughter.

September 2012: Week Three

This week was basically broken up into one event that poured into another that poured into another event that poured into bedtime.  Then we were back up again the next day to repeat the same cycle.

 

 

Monday:

* Spin class with my friend, Glo.

* Shad left for his two days in Pocatello.

* 1st Official Day of Preschool Co-Op at Miss Nicole's house (yes, that's me!)

Here we are: Selah, Cashe & Hudson learning about the letter "B", the color blue & butterflies.

Pausing the schoolwork for a little relaxation before storytime.

Having a snack after listening to a few stories.

Since Dad was outta town for the evening, we decided to open up the ice cream & share a little ...
on the counter ...
without bowls.
So rebellious we are.

Tuesday:
I captured no photos, but this was our series of events:
* Twin Falls Reformed Church Mom's Group. [Bible Study #1]
* Conference call for work.
* Shad came home!
* (insert a bunch of chaos I'll elaborate on another day)
* Shad & I had our couples Bible study with our Twin friends. [Bible Study #2]

Wednesday:
* Cashe & I had BSF for Leaders. [Bible Study #3]
* Cashe had a doctor's appointment.
* (insert a bunch of chaos I'll elaborate on another day)
* Cashe & I went to playgroup at the park.
* Shad & I met some friends at Elevation 486 for dinner.

Bekah & Rich met Shad & I at Elevation for dinner. 
Glo joined us later after work.
This is the only decent picture I got.

 Thursday:
* Cashe & I had BSF. [Bible Study #4]
* We all jumped in the car & headed to Boise for the BSU/BYU game.

 

Somehow we managed to score a table on the patio at Chilis because we have got some awesome friends who have some awesome hook-ups.

We are true hardcore fans. 
Can't you tell?

Jen & I are NOT upside down, Blogger is just lame.
We are however, die hard football fans. 
We overheard someone say, "Kill 'em!  Break their necks!", so that's all we said all night.

Yes, Bob ruined this fun photo of all of us with his sicko face.

 

Since I had dinner with Glo the night before at Elevation, I knew she was going to be at the game.
We met up & found porta-potties galore, which really hits home for us since we spent 36+ hours together in the Grand Tetons using porta-potties.
Such a special moment.

 

Friday:

* Sister-wife coffee date with Jen, Amber Joy, Dianne & Glo while the boys worked.

* Conference call for work.

* Had dinner with the Bradleys & the Petersons.

 



 

The Lilster was a happy camper in Cashe's old bouncer gnawing on her toys while the big kids raced around the pool & yelled, "Hi Lily!" as they ran by.

I took a minute to stop & love on my little buddy, Ella. 
When we're in town, she always asks if we can live with her. 
Awe.
(We basically do.)

Sister-wives Forever.
I think we need necklaces made.

Dinner at Chandlers.

I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in one sitting. 
We had SO much fun at dinner & we had such an amazing meal. 
Praise God for allowing Boise to be only 2 hours away.

 

Saturday:

* Mandatory couch-lounging.

* Jen, Ella & I went to Fletcher Chiropractic for free adjustments & massages.

* Lunch at Fudruckers with the Bradleys. 

* Mandatory couch-lounging.





 



 

Let's see how many peanuts we can shove in our mouths.
Ready.
Set.
Go!

Cashe was in h-e-a-v-e-n with his coolest bud, Kohlman. 
Life doesn't get any better.

Sunday:

* Drive back to Twin.

* We are doing a Bible study in church too [Bible Study #5] if we're in town & can attend.

You would think I would be quite holy & very wise after all these studies.  Ha!

 



 

And then we had to drive home.
Dang.
What a fun weekend though!
The only way to cope with leaving our great friends behind:
a giant box of Goldfish.
Mmmmmm ...



September 2012: Week Two

Here is my small sigh of relief, "ahhhhhhhh" ... life has settled once again & we're back on a schedule at home (well, sort of). 

 

 

Now that we're all home again for a bit, we managed to just chill a little this week & enjoy each other.

 

Monday morning, our Preschool Co-Op was cancelled, so we continued with the lesson plan & did our own thing for the letter A & the color Red in our lesson books. 

As you can see, Cashe is a fabulous artist & he did quite well coloring on the correct page, however staying in the circle within the cherry was a bit challenging.

 

Sitting still & studying is just nonsense for more than 10 minutes in Cashe's eyes so we headed to the park to exert a little energy.

Look at that belly!

And the boots are a MUST before bed. 
(They would be a MUST during bed if Mom allowed it too.)

In addition to the launch of the Preschool Co-Op this week, we also started BSF.  This is my 7th year in BSF, which means I am now starting the 7-year study over.  Last year, I was asked if I would consider being a leader this year, so I prayed about it & felt it was definitely where I needed to be.

I chose to be a Children's Leader & we now meet on Wednesdays & Thursdays, so Cashe gets double the Bible education & double the love each week.  He loves it too!

Meanwhile, Shad was in Idaho Falls for his District Meeting. 
As a team-building event, they rented dune buggies & ATVs & played on the sand dunes all day.

He said it was incredible how the sand dunes went on for miles & miles & miles & miles. 
I wouldn't mind experiencing it once, but having sand in places I'd never want sand doesn't sound enticing.

As Shad was driving home from Idaho Falls, Cashe & I picked up & headed the other way towards Boise for our bunco night with the girls. 

 

Cashe spent the evening with one of his favorite girls, Madi, one of our babysitters in Boise.  He LOVES this girl & walks around their house like he owns the place.  What a blessing it is to know this family.  We love them all.



 

Love Love with Madi.



 

Cashe got his fill of Kohlman & Ella, as he repeatedly requests as soon as we get home: "Kohlman, Kohlman, Kohlman ... "  And we even got some play time with baby Lily & little Anna, who is now requesting Cashe.  Awe.  Melts my heart how much they're all growing up & recognizing each other.

 

After a morning of sister-wife time with my girls, we headed back to Boise to see Dad & have some family time.

 

 

Here the boys are playing cars.

... but not for long ...
Cashe believes if there is anyone on the floor, it means it's wrestling time. 

And what better way to end the weekend together than with a little football time
(while Mama preps for the upcoming week, of course.)



September 2012: Week One

After a 9 days away & a 6+ hour drive home, we made it back to normalcy & a schedule.

We started the week with a school co-op planning session at my friend Alexis' house. Four of us moms are getting our 2/3 year olds together every Monday for some interaction as well as a little education. We're rotating houses throughout the school year & we'll each teach a color, a shape, a letter & a number throughout the course of the year. This is something my Twin friends have always done & thankfully, I am blessed to join them this year. I'm excited for Cashe.

 

 

After taking more than a week off from any sort of exercise (minus the excursion in Mexico), I decided it was time to haul my booty to the gym. I met my new friend, Glo from the Grand Teton Relay for spin one morning at Gold's only to find out the schedule was wrong & we missed the spin class! WHAT?!? It's 6:00 a.m. & I have to problem-solve?? No thanks.

 

 

My decision: back to bed.

Glo's decision: let's try another class.

My response: fine.

The outcome: it was fun!

 

Cashe was playing so well in his room, I served him lunch in there one afternoon. 
He wasn't quite sure what to think about it, but was quite content.
(I was spying on him with my zoom lens from the kichen into his room.)

I knew I was going to be in Boise for the weekend, so I told my friend Alexis from Twin that I would throw a Verefina party for her with all my Boise friends.
This is Lex & I throwin' our Verefina gang signs.

My super sweet hubby stayed with Robert & all the kids almost the entire weekend so I could play.
Here is my hottie with another little hottie, the Lilster.

And SPEAKING of HOTTIES, here are two: me & Jen on our way to our first triathlon in Hidden Springs!

Now, when I say "triathon", I mean it was kind of a 'pretend' one. 
Our friend, Darlene celebrated her 40th & her hubby surprised her with a triathlon in her honor.
Go figure, our other amazing friend, Dianne put it together with Darlene's husband & it was absolutely INCREDIBLE.

Here Jen & I are stretching in our killer socks before the race.
We all had matching shirts, goody bags filled with water bottles, necklaces, candy, Rockstars, gum, & protein bars.
 

We had a 1-mile walk, a 2-mile run (uphill again), & a 7-mile bike ride.

Love these girls: Jen, Dianne, & Amber Joy.

There were probably 15 or more participants that day who totally surprised Darlene!
After having had so much time off from exercise, I didn't think I'd make it, but I feel like I did really well through the whole thing!
What a FUN FUN FUN morning/afternoon - Happy Birthday, Darlene!
[Amber Joy, Kristin, Darlene, Dianne, me, Jen & Laura]

We had a whole 10 minutes after we got home from the triathlon to get the kids & head to our friend Melissa's house for her little man, Joel's birthday party.





Here the kids are patiently waiting for the balloon girl to make them each a balloon figure.

Cashe is up!
He chose a Lightning McQueen.

Ella chose Princess Arora & Camryn chose the Tangled Princess
(Rapunzel, is it?!  Can you tell I just have a little boy?)

Kohlman chose a Spiderman.

There was a bow & arrow, a Hulk, a few BSU octopuses, Spiderman, a few Lightning McQueens & some princesses.
They all had their faces painted too.
It was a fun afternoon & as always, Melissa went ALL OUT!

After the birthday party, Robert got Cashe all geared up for a hot afternoon in their pool.

Cashe-man & Daddy.

He had a tiny bit of fun.

And Miss Dare Devil herself, Ella swam harder than both those boys! 
She's fearless. 

 

Yes, it was yet another fabulous week in the lives of the Nyquests.  The summer may be winding down, but we're still on the go!  We have a month packed full of activities in September & October's even crazier. 

 

God is so good to us by blessing us with such amazing friends & such amazing opportunities to celebrate them & enjoy them.