Terrific!

That is how Mr. Second-grader described his first day of school. He had other insightful words to share as well. Here he is this morning, ready to go.

He woke up right on time, was dressed and ready to go, with time to spare. I think the first day of school is the smoothest of the year. It is the rest of the year that you struggle to get all your ducks in a row. Anyway, he was very excited to get to school. He headed off on his bike, lunch in tow and he was all smiles.

After school I asked him how it went and his first word was terrific. Then he went on to expound. Among the things that I can remember he said that so far 2nd grade has been the best year of his education (after one day, that is pretty good). :) He said, "I learned that doing work is fun....something has changed and I enjoyed doing the work...it seemed like fun...we got a lot of fun privileges for doing the work." Those are direct quotes from the boy. Pretty impressive. He was also excited because he did the monkey bars 3 times at recess. I hope he keeps this positive attitude about work, it would help a lot. He is supposed to take 3 things to school tomorrow that describe more about himself, things he likes or is interested in. His choices: a sunflower, a picture he has drawn, and a picture of his favorite food. Hats off to the first day of school. May they all be just as successful!

Counting down the days

Well, the days of no school are swiftly coming to an end. Sniff, sniff. Jonathan seems excited but Caleb wishes for more time off. :) So, over the last few days we have:

We met Caleb's new teacher for second grade, Spanish immersion. She is nice and bubbly. She just got home from her mission one year ago and will be a fun teacher for Caleb. I used to be this bubbly when I got home from my mission, motherhood just did something to all that uncontrollable cheer.
We had a back-to-school sleepover/party. The boys loved having time together, riding the motorcycles and jeep and just playing their games.
We took Jonah and Jonathan to Scofield this weekend for more partying. I am pretty sure they had fun together. They played A LOT in the lake. I almost ran out of dry, clean clothes for my kids. They loved sinking in the mud of the lake and they had a lot of fun on the raft. And although our cabin is on the smallish side they managed to play tag in the cabin and there were no major problems.

Finally, on Sunday we headed back a little early because Caleb wanted to take Jonathan to his cave. All of the boys enjoyed the small hike up to the cave and we discovered some smaller caves nestled into the main cave. It was very cool.

So, that is that. Any major activities are done. The only thing left to do is get these boys into the habit of going to bed earlier, and that may be the biggest challenge of all. :)

Random

I so wish that I had a camera to document some of the things from this week but Rob took it to camp. I am not mad or bummed, I am sure he is taking some great photos up there, all of which will stay on the computer probably unless he does something with them. Heaven knows I have enough of my own photos to scrapbook, who needs more of scouts that have no emotional ties to me? :) Anyway, I will still document some of my small memories from this week.

The first big one is Peter riding a bike, on his own, away from the house, past other houses, around corners, and not making me take the bike back home. Folks, this is big! It is just a little three wheeler, close to the ground, one of those big wheel type jobs but made of metal and heavy. The big thing about it is Peter is doing it on his own and having fun with it. This is Peter, the kid that "Peters around" so slowly that a snail could catch up sometimes. The kid that tells me his legs are tired when we go on a walk and I either need to carry him or kick William out of the stroller so that he can ride. The kid who I generally take the double stroller on trips for just because I know that eventually he will need/want to ride and I do not want to have issues. But here he is, using those leg muscles to ride that bike around with Caleb, keeping up as best he can, and doing a good job of it. Yeah for Peter!

Another moment in time... my wonderful garden which is awesome and I love it. The pumpkin plant is taking over the back yard, the cherry tomato plants are swallowing up the squash plant and everything else around them, the squash plant is planning a take-over of the swing set, and I love fresh zucchini. Oh, and the sunflowers... they are just so happy! I am so glad they are one of Caleb's favorites.

Finally, a memory from last night. We were going to have a camp-out night in the tent, outside, just to be doing what Rob is doing. But, he took the tent to camp. Change of plans. We set up the sleeping bags in the house and settled down for the night. Finally the boys fell asleep and I crawled up on the couch to sleep myself. I know, I am rotten for getting the soft couch. :) So, nice peaceful nights sleep, right? Hardly! I wish I had a camera to take a picture of the many positions of these boys! William was parallel with his pillow, he had his feet on his pillow head somewhere else, he was off the sleeping bag, he was anywhere but in it. Peter never even made it in the sleeping bag, he just rolled here and there through the night. And Caleb has never been a stationary boy while sleeping. He did pretty good for the most part, but had troubles staying covered. At one point though, when Willy had his feet on his pillow and his head at the foot of his bag; Caleb had his head on the pillow and his feet at Willy's head. Then, I do not know 1/2 hour later, Willy had his head on his pillow and Caleb had reversed positions and had his feet on the pillow and his head at the foot of his bag. These boys just swim laps in their sleep and all that rustling and movement just kept me from my beauty sleep. It was wild!

So, Rob will be back on Saturday and then I will have the camera to document the madness of next week. The back-to-school party and sleepover, the Scofield trip with Jonah and Jonathon, then school starting. Man, I should just not have the camera, then I will not have the scrapbook the memories and I would not feel guilty about all the pictures that just sit on the computer. But to see these boys growing and smiling is fun. Even if they keep me up at times.

Addison at 9 months

We love Addison's cute personality. Whether she's blowing raspberries, curling up her tongue, arching her eyebrows, or scratching our eyes out, we have loved every minute of having her in our home. She is a sweet and playful little thing. Here are some 9 month pictures. Addison LOVES going outside on the grass.

----------------------------Holding my 2 favorite toys--------------------------




-------------------------------Eating my favorite toys-------------------------------


------------------------Mommy took a leaf out of my mouth!---------------------------

-----------------------------------Get ready for a raspberry---------------------------


------------------------------------Thanks Jonah!--------------------------------

--------------------------------------Where to next...------------------------------------


--------------------If you're Happy and you know it, Clap your hands----------





----------------------------------------Cute Baby!--------------------------------

Summer goodness

Since my last post I have been trying to make these last weeks fun and summery for the boys. I just wish I had more money to go do the other fun things they want like more swimming, snowies, ice-cream and all the like. But we are making the most of what we have.

We took a trip to the Sno-Shack to have some yummy snowies. Oh, summer time tastes good. Caleb has discovered he likes banana, Peter pretty much likes the flavor red, and although I have tried some new flavors my ultimate favorite is cherry.
This weekend we went to Scofield so they boys can have just a little more outdoor fun. We took a hike to Caleb's cave and got to explore a little. Here he is in his cave.
And here the boys are after playing in the lake, making rock sculptures and getting to the cabin right before a huge down pour of hail and rain from those clouds in the background. It was a fun time, they had lots of fun in the lake and just being free for a day.

Now this next week Rob goes to scout camp and we are left without a truck. So, our adventures will be very close to home but hopefully no one gets too stir-crazy.

Summer, where have you gone?

I just read somewhere on the computer, "the last few weeks of summer" and it made me so bummed! How can it be coming to a close this soon? School starts this month! Ahhhh! I know Caleb and Peter will enjoy the new activity in life but I do not want to start the "school-time routine" already. I want to play and chill and do nothing more. My boys have enjoyed summer, I think. A couple of pictures:

Most of our summer has been Scofield and just messing around in the back yard with water or the boys playing this and that game with their toys. It seems like we have been having fun but now that school is almost here I feel this great need to make August even MORE FUN. How to do that? How can I make the most out of summer without spending a ton of money yet still treat my kids to the best?? I am just going to have to put my thinking cap on and do it quickly.