dropoffs, recess, lunch, homework...must be august

The rest the kids started school today. They were all so excited after meeting their teachers on Tuesday. Maddy finally has a teacher who has been teaching for 20ish years. She has had first year teachers for 4 of the last 5 years, so I am so glad she is with a teacher that has more experience. Reading has always been a struggle for Mads, and her 5th grade teacher does all kinds of great stuff with books! Carter has the same 3rd grade teacher as Maddy...we loved her then, and Carter's thrilled to have the same teacher as his sister. Lady has a brand new teacher who is cute, young, and super excited about first grade. It should be a great year for all three!

Fifth grader...didn't want my help at all today...but did give me a hug before heading off to the fifth grade lines.

Little miss first grader...so proud, so excited!

Took so many pictures of this man trying to avoid glare on his glasses...about made me crazy!

Best lookin' 3rd grader I've ever seen!

Gave up! Took off the glasses!

Lady waiting in the first grade line...playing with her hands and looking slightly nervous.

Everyone came home with lots of stories to tell about friends in their classes, what they had for lunch, who they played with at recess, what they like about their teachers...it took over an hour to get all the chatting done. I finally sat down with Lady to do some reading and kept dozing off during Junie B Jones...typical. Lady also went to bed tonight sporting a runny nose, watery eyes, and low fever...really, really hope she is better in the morning. Somehow I doubt that. Welcome back to school!

bigger and better things

Today was Kenzie's big day....first day of Jr. High. I think I was more nervous than she was...I could hardly sleep last night. We went to back to school night yesterday. Kenzie stuck with Tim and I just long enough to buy gym clothes. She bumped into some girls from the ward and promptly ditched us, promising to walk home with her friends in time for Young Womens. Realizing how independent she is becoming makes me happy, proud, and a bit sad. It seems like I just sent her off to kindergarten....sniff, sniff.

First day of kindergarten.


Remember trying to find that "perfect" outfit for the first day...shoes and all?

We are not in elementary school anymore!

Kenzie spent a full 30 minutes giving me the low down on all things 7th grade. She was lucky enough to get a few friends in every class, get the best math teacher (yep, she has already decided that after 1 class), have ceasar salad for lunch, hang out in the common area (and yes, she had to explain where that was), and come home free from any homework (that won't last)! Now I'm busy pulling out first day clothes for three more kids that start tomorrow. All the girls have blue glitter toes...Maddy is considering changing her shoe plan so everyone can see her toes..such a girlie girl.

This last picture I had to post....Jace came out just before I took Kenzie to school wearing this getup.

Notice...we are still wearing the boots. Today they were no longer power boots...they were hunting boots. Funny...considering we are not really a hunting type of family. And the light saber, it's a gun for shootin' stuff!

one day to go

Today was my official "let's pretend like school has started" day. Kenzie was up at 5:30 a.m. practicing her piano. Maddy was next at 6:00. By 6:30 everyone else was up (sort of) and sitting on the couch for scriptures and family prayer. Tim was off to work at 6:45, which is the same time Carter started his piano practicing. By 7:45 everyone was dressed, brushed, fed, beds made and ready to go.....ummm...nowhere. At least now I know the schedule I've set is possible...a little insane, but possible. I sent them all off to do their reading...when I went to check on them, here is what I found.

Lady and Jace having their own preschool...Lady was using her letters and colors that she has been saving for the last year.

Carter said this reading spot was more comfy than the couch....whatever!

Kenzie was trying not to laugh at me taking pictures of nothing.

Maddy curled up in her room, under the canopy, in her squishy chair and didn't even notice me until the camera clicked. Kenzie starts school Wednesday and the rest the kids start Thursday. Wish I could just keep them home....we've had such a fun summer. Although, my dad did hand out BYU football tickets yesterday, which is definetely a major plus to this time of year!

power boots!

Last night we pulled out all the new school stuff for the kids...backpacks, clothes, shoes, folders, pens, pencils, crayons...you know the drill. Jace was seriously bummed that there was not a backpack for him, but all was made right when I presented him with his new winter boots. He wore the boots all night, even fell asleep with them in bed. He put them on first thing this morning...I convinced him they couldn't come to the pool, but as soon as we got home, back on went the boots. Best part about these boots for me: they were clearanced from $40 to $8. Best part for Jace: everything else!

Get ready...

Get set.....

GO!!! (yeah, be so impressed at his jumping skills!)

And what good would new boots be if they didn't improve your karate stance?

Throwback Thursday...or Friday

So Candy...this post is just for you. I do love finding fun old pics of the kids. I've always said my Jace is trouble...haven't caught too much of him being naughty on film, but I found a couple!

Jace...about 18 months...body deep in toiletpaper.

Lookin' for trouble.

Lotion issues...again.

Jace's newest phase...he is the "super--ooper--dooper--man!" This costume travels most places...the store, the movies, even to Cory and Kristen's beautiful new home. I bought a spiderman costume at Costco this week...saving it for his birthday. He is going to freak out! In a good way!

thunder...lightening...wind...tent

Which one of those title words does not fit with the others? Tim left Wednesday for a 3 day backpacking adventure with the older kids. They went to the Crystal Lake trailhead in the Uintas and hiked to....some lake....Silver lake maybe? They set up camp and had their traditional steak and potato dinner. By the time they went to bed, the first major summer storm had rolled in. The lightening and thunder kept them up all night. Instead of a day of fishing, they packed up today and headed for home. They were muddy, wet, and smokey when they pulled in...Maddy had a freshly spilled chocolate shake all down her shirt (at least it wasn't throw up this time!). The kids had a ball, even though it was only for one night. And after listening to the wind for the last few hours, and hearing about all the lightening strikes and fires, I'm glad everyone is safe here and not up on the mountain!

Eatin' dinner on a rock...so very proud.

Maddy diggin' in.

Camp....before the rain.

Carter drowning out the sound of the storm.

The boys (yes, Tim is still a 12 year old boy at heart!)

Are they wearing ponchos? I can't be sure, but I think those things that make my children look like oversized bugs are ponchos! They really have no idea how funny they look!

You could get lost in one of those!

The rain must have stopped at some point!

So glad Tim is willing to do this with the kids. They look forward to it every summer. I am way to big of a wimp to camp without a water source (CLEAN water source) and some sort of outhouse (no bushes for me!). In a few more years, Tim can take all 5 kids....think of all the stuff I can do while they're gone!

kids + dirt + good food + fire = FUN!

Every year we spend the first weekend of August camping at Payson Lakes. We've been doing this for more than 20 years....this year, Payson was putting in a new water system, and so they cancelled our reservations. We decided to stay a little closer to home and headed to Granite Flats up A.F. canyon. We missed having the lake with it's paved paths, but we still had a great weekend. We ate way too much food (thanks Tim D for the halibut, fries, and scones!), played many o' games (and yes Damon/Mom, Lindsey and I are going to spend the next year prepping for the rematch of nerts!), told stories, played kickball, scared the you-know-what out of each other (thanks to my Tim for the gorilla suit and fake rat!), took the kids on treasure hunts (Lindsey and Tim are so very ambitious), and pretty much never had a quiet moment...it was exactly what we wanted it to be!

Keeping Ty happy while setting up camp.

Could Trey look any cuter on a trike?

Dirt...very cheap entertainment.

Ran the batteries til they died...then tried just pushing eachother.

Lovin' the glowy bracelets!

Playin' spoons...Kenzie is the champ!

Chillin' with her Papa!

Kenz and Morgan convinced the boys and Maddy to go snipe hunting. They used whipped cream on their faces as bait for the snipes. The younger kids totally fell for it...they looked really hard for those non-existent snipes!

First...didn't realize how much my boys look alike until they were sleeping side by side. The amazing part of this picture is the fact that they were still sleeping. About 2 hours before I took this, Maddy threw up all over her sleeping bag and Lady's sleeping bag. Done a lot of things camping...never done that before! We rinsed everything out the best we could at 11:00 at night. Mom and Dad had a couple extra sleeping bags (what would I do without my parents?). We settled Maddy back in and climbed into our bed just after midnight. Only 15 minutes later, Kenzie started complaining about her stomach...yep, she threw up too...thankfully, we were able to give her a bowl first. Cleaned up Kenzie, and went back to bed around 1 a.m. Carter and Jace never even stirred...wish I could sleep like that!

Super cool arrowhead from the forest ranger!

There was a great kickball field, complete with backstop. We got our game on (as much as you can with so many little kids)!

It took some convincing to get everyone in one picture... but so glad I did! Coming home tonight was bittersweet...this trip always marks the end of summer for me. We only have 2 1/2 weeks until we are back in school. I could not be less ready to send the kids back. I love being able to have everyone home and just do whatever, whenever. Although, I have been missing my weekly visits to hang out with mom and dad, and my Wednesday lunch date with Lindsey...so there are some good things about school starting too!