Dino-Soar, Nash Visit, Samantha's 5th Birthday, Fall

Dino-Soar Days was pretty fun. James and I went to look at the classic cars, and I sent a few to Dad that I thought he'd like.

Nash came to visit for a few days. It was unexpected, but I guess it was homeless week at BYU, so he needed somewhere to stay after visiting Lars and Emily for a few days. It was decent, but I know my regular schedule is boring for just about anyone except another stay-at-home mom. He and James went hunting a few times, and he had fun doing stuff with the singles ward. I'm still tired, though, because I didn't catch up on sleep over the weekend.

Samantha's first day of school went well. She woke up happy, not even a little nervous, and had a great day at school. Today is her 5th birthday. I've made strawberry ice cream, strawberry shortcake, and grits casserole. She's also getting a matching dress for her and her new (to her) 18" doll with a few more gifts.

Tomorrow is September, which means the first unofficial day of fall. The mornings are crisp and beautiful even though the afternoons are still hot. Generous neighbors have shared their harvest with us, things like zucchini, winter squash, cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, apricots, turnips, and more, which I can't think of now. I feel especially blessed since after going to the temple last Thursday, James and I found chicken on a super sale, so we stocked up on that too. I found some discount rotisserie chickens today while I was getting birthday presents for kids' friends at Walmart. Our freezer is 75% full now. I probably don't need to buy any meat between now and almost Thanksgiving. I had so much banana squash that I got out the pressure canner and processed 7 quarts. I'll use it to make pumpkin muffins since they are everyone's favorite pumpkin dessert.

There have been a few hiccups this week, so I haven't really enjoyed being at home alone yet. Samantha's bus was really late, I've had lots of issues signing up for Joseph's math class, and I've been unsuccessful at getting teachers for the oldest Primary class. Being tired hasn't helped either, but that's starting to improve. These are all minor things that will work themselves out. I'll get into a routine that I enjoy rather than just feel rushed and stressed about various things.