Back to School

Well it's been a week now, and everyone is happy in school. I am still lukewarm. The days are quieter, but my heart walks out the door with the kids. I love spending better quality time with the little ones, but I can't stop wondering what my big kids are doing and if they're happy and safe. My time is fragmented by drop-offs and pick-up for not just school, but all the activities that start up now too... ballet, Activity Days, gymnastics, and soon soccer. I guess we will get used to it again. 

Ella and Maddie are still in Fidus House and wore their shirts the first day.

The scooter brigade continues, although now many of them are riding bikes. We have had to really work on crossing the road and staying together to make sure they are all safe.

The school throws a party on the first day! There was music, bubbles, and everyone was in their house colors and met on the front lawn.

Ella has Mrs. Laudie and thinks she is funny, even if a little strict. She is with her best friend Cambry, and lots of other cute girls--Juliet, Kate, Emma, etc. She is loving it so far!

Maddie is in Mr. Braden's class, which gave her the biggest grin when she found out! She is with Nathan, Sophia, and lots of other kids she knows. She thinks she'll never be with Maycee, but of course they get to play all the time!

 

When the girls got home I had some cookies made so we could talk about their day. They spent most of it in their house groups going over school rules. Ella says she and Juliet keep getting told they look like twins (the kind of do!) and Maddie has a boy in her class that speaks only Spanish so Mr. Braden taught them to say "Hola, como estas," and "¿Cómo te llamas?"

With that spanish talk going on, and a need to eat up some homemade salsa, we had a Fiesta to celebrate the first day of school! A few of our neighbors helped us out with the sombreros.

The next day the girls were able to wear their new clothes, so we took another first day of school picture.

A week later Ty got to have Back to School night to meet his new teacher, Mrs. Gasser! He liked her and was happy to find out he knows tons of friends--Ty W., Benson, Ryker, and lots of kids from his preschool class last year. It was fun to find his table and take a look around his room.

Monday rolled around and it was finally his turn! It's so hard to let these little kids go to kindergarten... part of my heart goes to Mrs. Gasser's class every day. But he was ready and mostly excited... only a little bit nervous!
 

 

Despite my nervousness, Ty gets to ride with the gang in the mornings. The first day we walked with him, and now Maddie and Ella make sure to surround him and help him get there and lock up his bike. It's hard to let him go, but he's been doing great!

These little buddies are the cutest!

When we got to the school there was another party just for the kindergartners! I was super dense and didn't realize the principal was walking each one up the "red carpet" and under the balloon arch, so I just walked Ty to his teacher. But he loved the bubbles and music!

I didn't shed any tears, but my other mommy friends did! I'm so glad we're in this together!

We missed Ty, but it was admittedly really sweet to focus my attention on the littles. Ty came home saying his favorite thing was recess, and he couldn't wait for it to be tomorrow so he could go back! He says Mrs. Gasser is funny and he loves her.

Now he knows right were to go to line up in the courtyard ( I followed in the car the second day).

And then it was finally Jakey's turn!!! We are doing a mommy preschool swap with some cute neighbors friends, and I took the first week. I had them bring something for show and tell and of course Jake wanted a Rescue Bot.  

These boys were so much fun! We started out sharing our "All About Me" pages of family and favorites, and then shared our show and tell's (all cars) out of the treasure chest.

We traced and learned about our hands and feet and everything they do for us.

Jake wanted to share his favorite snack of chip and hummus, although only one other wanted to try hummus. ;) And we had M&M's to talk about our favorite colors.

We ended the day talking about what we want to be when we grow up. I broke out Jake's Halloween costume and let him put it on, and tried to find all the other dress-ups we have to show occupations: fireman, artist, doctor, Daddy, soccer player, etc. It was so fun for them and I think we're going to have a great year!

Farewell Summer

The girls started school yesterday and I am still reeling with emotions. It's so good for all of us to be back in the swing of things, but summer is still fresh on my mind... sleeping in (occasionally, when Jake didn't wake up the whole house), swimming often, playing in the yard in the evenings and watching the beautiful sunsets, staying up late to watch the Olympics, long relaxed days with nowhere to be... I know people don't read blogs anymore but writing about our happenings is cathartic for me and helps me to move on to the next chapter. So here goes a long list of summer memories.
 

These girls dressed up crazy to stay entertained one afternoon.

The sky has been so pretty lately, with thunderstorms and extra clouds making for beautiful sunsets.

Kate bug tried her first time in the bike trailer!

Evenings with Daddy are always fun.

Ty got the first gold medal of the games! Our kids got as addicted to watching the Olympics as we did.

Our ward party at the Lehi outdoor pool was a hit with the kids, since we haven't taken them this year. I can't quite handle them all by myself so having Dad there was perfect.

Maddie loves the diving board, and Ella was brave and tried it for the first time!

Ty went down the slide by himself.

Kate and Daddy did their trick in the pool!

Our gardening friend Peggy gave us a huge bowl of blackberries, so we ate them fresh for days and then made them into cobbler and froze the rest.

One Sunday night we were enjoying gymnastics on the Olympics and a thunderstorm crashed through. The sun was still out so we knew it would make a rainbow, and all the kids ran outside!

They all got drenched, but they didn't care. I have the best memories of running through rainstorms as a kid!

 

Our neighbor has had some fun water parties this summer and let the kids come play on their inflatable slides.

One night we pretended to play Olympic volleyball in the backyard and the sky lit up.

Our neighbors cracked us up with these sumo wrestler inflatables.

Jake is still taking naps (hallelujah!) and I love our daily story time.

Ella had a fun play date with some friends, complete with a doll tea party and a wedding.

The matching bridesmaid dresses and make-up were quite a crack up!

There is nothing like a thunderstorm and sunflowers combined.

We had a fun water day in the backyard one day. I feel like this should have happened more often this summer!

An Olympic size mess for Olympic viewing.

At the end of the day we still love (and always will) when Daddy comes home!

One night Ella helped me shuck 30 ears of corn (for our Heber family reunion).

Meanwhile Mike and Maddie went on a Daddy-daughter date.

They bought Maddie a new helmet and tube for her tire, then went on a bike ride to Kohler's to get ice cream sandwiches, and then to Wines park to eat them.

 She was on cloud 9 with all of Daddy's attention.

Just can't get enough of those sunflowers!

Last week Ella and I had a few sick days so we kept everyone home. It was actually really nice and relaxing to have all my kids at home to myself. Things are simpler when the doors aren't opening and closing, and the kids just find things to do amongst themselves. When we both started feeling better we ventured out on a bike ride to the mailbox and church parking lot and the kids climbed a tree.

A favorite pas time of the girls is to style the boys' hair. They took my phone and snapped some good shots of their masterpieces.

Ty and Jake realized that sending their transformers down the slide was pretty fun.

We spent that evening just hanging in the backyard.

Playing train on the slide was pretty hilarious.

There's no better sound than that of my kids laughing.

Then we had a handstand contest, practicing our form like the gymnastics ladies. It was a simple and sweet night.

One of my favorite summer traditions was our Thursday park day with friends from the neighborhood. Often there was a huge group of us socializing, and sometimes there were just a few of us, but I loved feeling more connected in this thing called motherhood.

The last weekday before school started Dana and I took the kids to the new Lehi splash pad.

More play dates, more Olympics...

And to really end summer with a bang, our neighbors talked us into going to Bear Lake for a day trip! It was a lot of driving in one day, but so worth the amazing day on the lake!

The Isaac's brought their wave runners and they were a huge hit! The kids took turns all day begging to go on rides. Mike took them out first, but I was the one to let them try driving!

Kate was a trooper sleeping on the beach.

I think my favorite way to enjoy the lake is on a wave runner! It's so fun being out there with nothing but blue in every direction.

The New's brought a little ski board trainer thingy and Maddie and Ella tried it and stayed up pretty well!

Kate bug ate lots of sand, as usual.

We stopped in Garden City for shakes, then in Logan at Fredrico's for pizza, and got home at 11:30 and dropped into our beds. Sunday was a nice day of rest and preparation for the big FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL on Monday! We watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics and said goodbye to summer on the same day... double whammy! Mike gave the girls Father's blessings, and the boys will get their's next week when they start kindergarten and preschool. And so it begins!