Trees, Canning and Teething (oh my!)

It's been such a busy week, and it's only Tuesday! Today was our fall neighborhood cleanup. This means the city drops of several dumpsters on our street and we can fill it with whatever we want. Dave has been wanting to remove several bushes from our backyard since we moved in. Although I'm not in love with the bushes, I liked the privacy they gave us. 

Finally we came to an agreement that if we build up the back wall, we could remove the bushes. So this weekend we cut down all the bushes to the base, bundled them up, and piled them just waiting for today. In the spring we'll remove the flower bed trim, plant some sod, and maybe even add a fire pit to the area that was just a mess of bushes and weeds.

Well this morning it rained on our 8 bundles of bushes. And the trucks were late. So Logan and I loaded all the bundles into the dumpster and a few rocks Dave wanted removed as well. It was so cold and messy, but I'm so glad it's done.

Monday was pretty crazy too. Logan's been teething again. I swear he gets the worse teething of anyone I know! Logan kept trying to put both fists in his mouth to gnaw on, along with everything else he could find. He was so ornery all day long! He refused to wear a shirt, screaming at me when I put it on, and ripping it off again and again. So I gave in and let him go topless for the afternoon.

Also, since he refused to nap and was crying anyway, I decided to do the canning I had planned for the rest of the week. We did applesauce and spaghetti sauce. I'm just glad it's now over. Logan loves applesauce, and we've eat a lot of pasta, so both will be used.

He's been ornery again today, and I hope this tooth comes in quickly. The rest of the week will be wasted if not!

In Which We Work Too Hard

It's been a busy few weeks in the Plastow home! With interest rates down we have been looking into refinancing (why not save ourselves some money each month?). So we've been busy fixing things up so we could get an appraisal!

We painted the basement hallway and the basement bathroom's ceiling. We touched up all the paint in the house (from the bumps and scrapes that have happened over the past 3 years. We staged the house (ie. removed half of our furniture so the house looked more spacious). I made curtains for the bedroom and a bedskirt for our bed. I rearranged just about every room in our house... and deep cleaned everything.

Now we've appraised at $10k higher than we needed and the house is spotless. The windows are washed inside and out. The oven is shiny clean. The bathtub grout has been scrubbed clean with a toothbrush. The baseboards are even dusted. All things that haven't been cleaned in about 6 months. The nice thing is now I don't have to worry about these things again for a while.

So we move forward on the refinance process and look forward to a lower monthly payment. It will allow us to put a little money each month away into savings. Maybe even put a little more into the mortgage itself. So less is more!

Other than that, Logan's been keeping us busy. He's been getting into everything lately! He realized he can reach on top of things now, so nothing is safe placed on top of anything his hight (the end tables, our bedside tables, etc). He also started throwing things in and taking things out of our trash. And he's getting pretty fast at walking/running. So we have to keep an eye on him all the time.

We've started (and almost finished) our Christmas shopping for the year! W've got all of Logan's stuff purchased. Dave's got my big gift last weekend (a new sewing machine!!! I saved up for half over the past year, and Christmas is covering the other half). And if Dave could just decide on what he wants for his big gift, I could get that out of the way. I always try to get the shopping done by the end of October, and I'm pretty close this year.

That will give me all the time in the world to finish this year's Christmas crafts. This year I know an advent calendar is on the list, and we'll see what else I come up with.

In which Logan discovers his pockets

I've been finding rocks in Logan's pockets for weeks! He loves rocks and he always will bring some home from the park or wherever we are for later enjoyment. Usually we find them in his bed after nap time or on the changing table.

Lately he's been putting his pockets to the limits by stuffing as many golfballs in his pockets as he can fit. He loves them so much and just wants to make sure he has them when he needs them.

This weekend we went to a Conference party at my parents house. It was fun to be with the family and enjoy the word of the Lord. Dave and I got some good insight and inspiration. Hopefully we will let it change our lives for the better.

Something I found interesting was the changes that were made to the age you can go on a mission. It's really exciting that girls can now go on a mission at 19. I think more ladies will now have the opportunity to go.

I do wonder what this will do to the average age of marriage in the church though. It seemed to be younger than the general population before, and I'm thinking now this will up the average (since 18  months will likely be devoted to a mission instead of the pursuit of marriage).

I see this as a benefit in many ways. Missions are such a changing event in the lives of those that go. I would expect more women going better prepare for marriage and motherhood, with the extra spiritual knowledge they gain. I know the words of the prophet are inspired, but this doesn't just feel right to me, it makes so much logical sense!

The Cabin & Zions

Since we didn't take a summer vacation this year, we decided to take an early fall vacation instead! Friday morning we headed down to the cabin for a LONG weekend. We swung by my Grandparent Yoder's house on our way into town and briefly visited with them.

Logan loved playing peak a boo with Great-Grandpa Yoder, visiting with the cats, and exploring their stuff. He loves checking out new stuff, and there was an abundance of new stuff to see. We didn't stay too long though, because Grandma had a cold and wasn't feeling well.

We then headed up to the cabin and spent a relaxing night picking apples, making dinner, and falling asleep to the Two Towers. Dave worries far too much, so it was really nice for him to get to just unwind for once.

The neighbors always seem to have different animals every time we go down. Usually there are horses, but there have been sheep too. This time they had goats. Tons of goats. Logan loved visiting the goats. He would walk over to the door and point outside until we took him outside to visit. Any time we were outside this trip he insisted on saying hi to the goats.

Saturday we headed into Zions and hiked the narrows! Logan had the time of his life. We hiked in a few miles, ate some snacks, then turned around and hiked back. We didn't let Logan play in the water until the end, but he LOVED it when we did. He loved the rocks, splashing around in the water, and the sand. He rubbed the sand everywhere.

Sunday we had a more casual day. We slept in, cooked a big breakfast, and drove into Hurricane to play at the park/splash pad. Logan loved the water (as always). When we got there, we were the only kids there. Logan would play at one area, then walk over to another area, then back to the first, then over to the third area. He was back and forth for about an hour! We had to take warm up breaks where we wrapped him in a towel and swung on the swings. He would stay in the water all day if we would let him.

Monday we did a few more hikes in Zions (Emerald Pools, Overlook, and Weeping Rock). They were fun ones. Logan mostly had a good time, especially flirting on the bus with everyone. We got back to the cabin exhausted, so we picked up a pizza for dinner and topped it off with an ice cream from Dairy Queen. Something about being in Zions requires a trip to Dairy Queen. It's the only time we go!

We headed home Tuesday morning, unpacked and got ready for the rest of the week. It was a nice break, but we're glad to be home again! It's always nice to get away, but it's great to be back in your own bed.

Pizza Friday and Stake Conference

Last week flew by! I started a sewing blog a few weeks ago and have been working hard to get everything in place. It's called A Sassy Seamstress and I'll constantly post on my sewing projects on this blog. I plan to focus on Quilting, Alterations, and Fun Projects. Check it out! I have a few posts up already.

Logan's been transitioning to regular food over the past few months and has been loving most of it! Friday we had pizza and he just went to town eating it with us. He made a mess, but ate half a piece (which is a lot for a little guy). 

He also has been loving cow milk too. He's drinking twice as much has he did when I started weaning him, so he's doing well on that account.

Saturday was the adult session of Stake Conference. Grandma Linda came over and watched Logan so we could attend. It was a great meeting. One of the counselors from our new mission spoke about missionary work.

Right before the meeting we spoke with one of our ward missionaries, and it turns out our across the street neighbor (that we referred to the missionaries) are now taking the lessons! The house has about 10 Vietnamese family members living in the house. Right now only one of the family is meeting with the missionaries, but you never know what will happen!

Sunday Conference went fabulously. Logan played with his toys and sat through the 2 hour meeting without too much fussing. There were some greatly inspiring talks that made Dave and I think about what we can be doing better.

It's cooled down here and we've really been enjoying the weather. Logan and I go on a walk every morning and swing by the Elementary School to play on the playground. He's been learning to swing on his own. I keep a hand on his back and gently push him, and he's got great balance. Soon he should be doing it on his own! He's getting to be so big!