Fall TV

Ahhh......

It's almost Fall TV premiere time. I'm not gonna lie- I love my shows. I'm {sadly} prepping the DVR by deleting all my saved SYTYCD episodes.

And because I know you love your shows, too, I thought I'd provide you with a list culled from various generally reliable sources. All times are Pacific and Eastern. People in the flyover time zones probably already know that everything comes on an hour earlier there. Besides, you have DVRs, so what difference does it make what time it’s actually on? Asterisks (*) (that’s what an asterisk looks like) indicate new shows.

“Parks and Recreation” and “Greek” come back in January. “V” is sometime in November. “Friday Night Lights” will re-air on NBC next spring after premiering on DirecTV this fall. “Lost” got canceled.

Tuesday, Sept. 7
Sons of Anarchy (FX), 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 8
America’s Next Top Model (CW), 8 p.m.
*Hellcats (CW), 9 p.m.
*Terriers (FX), 10 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 9
The Vampire Diaries (CW), 8 p.m.
*Nikita (CW), 9 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 13
90210 (CW), 8 p.m.
Gossip Girl (CW), 9 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 14
One Tree Hill (CW), 8 p.m.
Life Unexpected (CW), 9 p.m.
Parenthood (NBC), 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 15
Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS), 8 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 16
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), 10 p.m.
The League (FX), 10:30 p.m..

Sunday, Sept. 19
*Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Time TBA

Monday, Sept. 20
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), 8 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS), 8 p.m.
Rules of Engagement (CBS), 8:30 p.m.
Chuck (NBC), 8 p.m.
House (Fox), 8 p.m.
*Lone Star (Fox), 9 p.m.
*The Event (NBC), 9 p.m.
Two and a Half Men (CBS), 9 p.m.
*Mike & Molly (CBS), 9:30 p.m.
*Hawaii Five-0 (CBS), 10 p.m.
*Chase (NBC), 10 p.m.
Castle (ABC), 10 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 21
Glee (Fox), 8 p.m.
NCIS (CBS), 8 p.m.
The Biggest Loser (NBC), 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), 9 p.m.
*Raising Hope (Fox), 9 p.m.
*Running Wilde (Fox), 9:30 p.m.
Dancing With the Stars (ABC), 8 p.m. (special performance show night and time)
*Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC), 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 22
Criminal Minds (CBS), 9 p.m.
*The Defenders (CBS), 10 p.m.
*Undercovers (NBC), 8 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), 8 p.m.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC), 9 p.m.
The Middle (ABC), 8 p.m.
*Better With You (formerly Better Together) (ABC), 8:30 p.m.
Modern Family (ABC), 9 p.m.
Cougar Town (ABC), 9:30 p.m.
*The Whole Truth (ABC), 10 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 23
The Big Bang Theory (CBS), 8 p.m.
*$#*! My Dad Says (CBS), 8:30 p.m.
Bones (Fox), 8 p.m.
Community (NBC), 8 p.m.
30 Rock (NBC), 8:30 p.m.
*My Generation (ABC), 8 p.m.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS), 9 p.m.
Fringe (Fox), 9 p.m.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), 9 p.m.
The Office (NBC), 9 p.m.
*Outsourced (NBC), 9:30 p.m.
The Mentalist (CBS), 10 p.m.
The Apprentice (NBC), 10 p.m.
Private Practice (ABC), 10 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 24
Medium (CBS), 8 p.m.
Smallville (CW), 8 p.m.
*School Pride (NBC), 8 p.m.
*Body of Proof (NBC), 9 p.m.
The Good Guys (Fox), 9 p.m.
Supernatural (CW), 9 p.m.
CSI: NY (CBS), 9 p.m.
*Blue Bloods (CBS), 10 p.m.
*Outlaw (NBC), 10 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 25
Saturday Night Live (NBC), 11:30 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 26
The Simpsons (Fox), 8 p.m.
The Cleveland Show (Fox), 8:30 p.m.
Family Guy (Fox), 9 p.m.
The Amazing Race (CBS), 8:30 p.m.
Undercover Boss (CBS), 10 p.m.
Dexter (Showtime), 9 p.m.
Bored to Death (HBO), 10 p.m.
Eastbound & Down (HBO), 10:30 p.m.
Desperate Housewives (ABC), 9 p.m.
Brothers & Sisters (ABC), 10 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 28
*No Ordinary Family (ABC), 8 p.m.
Dancing With the Stars (results show) (ABC), 9 p.m.
Stargate Universe (Syfy), 9 p.m.
*Law & Order: Los Angeles (NBC), 10 p.m.
The Good Wife (CBS), 10 p.m.
Sanctuary (Syfy), 10 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 1
Human Target (Fox), 8 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 3
The Amazing Race (CBS), 8 p.m.
Undercover Boss (CBS), 9 p.m.
American Dad (Fox), 9:30 p.m
CSI: Miami (CBS), 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 27
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV’s 101), 9 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 31
The Walking Dead (AMC)

Wednesday, Nov. 10
Lie to Me (Fox), 8 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), 9 p.m.

Happy Watching Ü

*big thanks to Eric for compiling the list!

bumbo!

Fourth Grader

How is it even possible that I have a Fourth grader?! Kensie was so excited for school this morning. Her teacher, Miss Russell, seems super nice and Kensie's excited to have friends in her class. It's going to be a great year!!

Back To School Celebration

We had a great Back To School Celebration this year! We dined on Thai food (Nam Tok and mango sticky rice) and yummy cupcakes, read jokes and opened Schultutes.

What the kids found inside their Schultutes. They're obsessed with collecting these erasers!

Then it was time to unveil the new family theme for the year:

Our family theme this year came from this scripture:






Then it was time to party!

giggles

Three Months

I love this kid. Three months have gone by so quickly, and he's getting cuter every day (despite the old man hairdo that is thankfully only visible from the back).

I love his smile. It's enough to melt anyone's heart! Combine it with his eyes and I'm a goner!

I love that he giggles when I clap his feet.

I love that when he's tired he yawns, gets a little fussy, and then I put him in his crib and he falls asleep on his own (NONE of my other children did this. He's a dream baby, I tell you).

I love that he rolls from his tummy to his back.

I love that his burps and other gaseous emissions can put a grown man to shame. I especially love it when he demonstrates this during church.

I love that he's flexible. He fits his naps in whenever he can- at the park, in the grocery store, on a walk.....and he's perfectly okay with a baby wipe rub down instead of a bath.

I love that he's mostly okay with his siblings mauling him constantly. He tolerates it well, but it drives ME crazy!

I love our chats, especially the ones where he has to keep his binky in while he's talking. LOVE that sound!

I love that he crosses his ankles while I'm feeding him Ü

change something

I'm embracing this process. Starting now.

*image discovered on this lovely blog

More Tummy Time

I found these pictures on my camera the other day. Kensie was having fun being a photographer while I was in the shower!!

Stevie Wonder

There's just so much to look at!!

Move Over, Chevy Chase!

We're thinking of hitting up some producers to turn our vacation into National Lampoon's Arizona Vacation.

Yes, short of tying a dead aunt to the roof of our car it was that crazy. Crazy, but fun!


We drove down to Arizona on a Thursday and spent a few days relaxing and swimming.



On Saturday we headed to the cabin in Snowflake. Matt's mom had knee surgery the day before we got there, but she was a champ! She made us yummy food, watched the baby while we went on 4-wheeler rides, went on 4-wheeler rides herself, and entertained the kids when it was raining outside (which happened pretty much once a day).

We stayed at the cabin for 5 days and enjoyed exploring (Matt & I both found arrowheads), watching movies, riding the 4-wheelers, painting rocks, having strange encounters with the locals, and seeing mysterious lights in the night sky (not so good after just watching Fire In The Sky).


Landon got in on the 4-wheeling action and loved it. It put him right to sleep!







Matt found us a pet.....which we promptly set free moments after taking these pictures!





Matt bought Landon this sweet hat at Dollar General so his head wouldn't get burned. Can you say Red Neck?!



Chillin' in the cabin


Jackson in his movie-watching gear





hanging out around the campfire



Sounds like a pretty normal vacation so far, right? This is where it gets good.....

On Wednesday we headed out. Everything was going smoothly (despite the torrential rain) until Matt tried to pass a car and noticed that the van was struggling. We continued on until we got to Payson, AZ where we were stopping for dinner. When we were idling at a light the van started shaking. A lot. We pulled into the Chili's parking lot, ate dinner, and tried to find a mechanic who was still open. Our only luck was a Checker Auto Parts store. They did a diagnostic test and recommended a mechanic (Steve) who did road side service. Boy, was he a piece of work! We never actually met him, but Matt had several interesting conversations with him on the phone. We ended up leaving the van at Checker and Steve said he'd come check it out in the morning. Luckily Matt's parents have a big car, so we all piled in and headed the 1 1/2 hours back to their place.

Long story short, Matt and Curt drove back to Payson on Friday to pick up the van, which had been fixed (maybe), left an envelope of cash with the guys at Checker to give to Steve (he was very mysterious...and really busy apparently) and headed back.

I must mention here that on Thursday Matt's mom went in to get her stitches taken out and found out she had a blood clot in her leg. Matt and Curt went to the office to get her and take her to the hospital, where she stayed until Friday night. Matt's dad was in Utah and had to get a flight back. Meanwhile Alayna came over to bring me and the kids food and keep us company while we waited to see if Marla and the car were going to be okay!

We spent Friday and Saturday watching movies and swimming. After swimming on Saturday morning Rich was drying off and got stung by a scorpion that was in his towel. His thumb and then eventually his arm became numb. Luckily it began to wear off later in the day and we didn't have to make another trip to the hospital.

(are you getting all this, producers?)


Landon ready for movie time

Saturday was the first relaxing day we'd had since Tuesday (well, except for the scorpion sting). Marla was home and giving herself shots to thin her blood, Alayna took Kensie and Lincoln to see Despicable Me, the cousins came over to swim, we had Cafe Rio and played a fun game with Alayna that night.



Jackson, Ty, Lincoln, and Jake


Sunday morning we began the journey home. You know what's going to happen next, don't you?

About 70 miles from Page, AZ the van started struggling again. Same as before. We kept going and prayed we'd make it to Page, all the while texting Matt's parents to look up mechanics and car rental places. We made it to Page, but there were no mechanics or car rental places open on Sunday. We called Steve who told us he thought we could make it home (he had told us when we picked up the van previously that mechanically everything was fixed and working great but that there was something wrong electrically that was causing the problems). With all other options exhausted we were forced to continue on in the van the remaining 350 miles home- praying all the way! It took us 13 hours to get home, but we made it.

The kids did really well despite all the drama. We tried not to stop unless we absolutely had to on the trip home. That meant that the kids ate a metric ton of fruit snacks and chips for dinner, with Dr. Pepper to quench their thirst. At that point I seriously didn't care. Although I was just waiting for one of them to puke.

Maybe the producers can work that into the script.






*taking the van in tomorrow to get fixed. Again.

Please Don't Grow Up!

We just got back from a fun and crazy vacation that I will post about later.

Yesterday as we were driving home I looked around at my kids, who were all fast asleep and totally adorable (what is it about a sleeping child that makes you want to eat them up?!), and I suddenly had a panic attack.

They are growing up!
Right before my eyes!!
How can I stop this?
I CAN'T stop this!!

I looked at each one of their faces over and over again, hoping to imprint them in my mind for all time. I cried as I thought of them getting older. Why does this have to happen? Can't they stay my babies forever???

And then they all woke up, and for the next 8 hours I thought maybe growing up might not be so bad....

Parade Floats

We had fun going with Grandma and Grandpa to see the Days of 47 Parade floats on display. Landon slept through it all, even the marching band!