Summer Wrap Up

The boys spent an afternoon painting some birdhouses. They loved this project and ever since they are begging me to take them get more projects to paint.

 B went backpacking with the boy scouts in the grouse ridge area and they hiked to glacier lake. He took some pretty iphone pictures.

Random visits from Papa. Always fun.

The ward breakfast was fun. There was a bike parade. I spoiled the kids and stopped at Safeway on the way there and bought them each a red helium balloon to tie onto their bikes for the race. I was the best Mom in the world for a few hours.

 Scarlett was so adorable it was ridiculous. She pushed around her little pink stroller with a balloon tied to it. She had little pigtails in. Every single person who saw here, whether we knew them or not, stopped me to comment on how cute she was. People would grab their friends and point to Scarlett and say, "Look at that cute little girl." I don't have a great shot of her, you'll have to click on these pictures to get a closer look. She was just the classic image of an adorable child.

 

One girl in the bike race took a bad fall and chipped a tooth and broke an arm and had a bloody shoulder. Kind of put a damper on the fun of the day. We felt bad for her and it was sad to see her be hurt. But she's fine now.

And that's the summer wrap up. Now it's all about school and little weekend adventures and that's fine by me.

Charlie's first day of preschool

Charlie knows the preschool drill. Whenever it was my turn to teach Edmond's class the past two years, Charlie was there too. He was so excited to know that he was going to preschool for real this time. It was my turn to teach first this year, so about twenty minutes before everyone else was scheduled to arrive, Charlie and Scarlett were sitting on their carpets waiting for circle time.

Our new group is full of cute kids. I love new preschoolers, they are so excited about EVERYTHING. Just flipping over their little name cards to reveal their picture is the most amazing thing to them.

They showed up at my door with their little empty backpacks and ran inside. Their Mom's all said the same thing. "They're so excited!!"

During snack time Biff made his debut. Some of the kids had never seen him before. One boy saw him and said, "That's amazing." 

Even though it's a lot of work, I love it when it's my turn to teach. Charlie loved having me there, and I love seeing how he plays with other kids. Scarlett thought she was a big kid like them and wanted to do everything they were doing.

When Edmond got home from Kindergarten he was jealous. He saw the evidence of projects and preschool snacks at our house and he wanted to know exactly what we had done and what he'd missed.

Our Kindergartener

Edmond has been so excited for Kindergarten to start. Every morning for the past few days he has shown up at my bedside asking about Kindergarten. Yesterday he woke me up and told me he needed me to help him pick his clothes. "Edmond, you can just pick your own clothes. You can wear whatever you want," I said sleepily.

"But Mom, I want to look good!"

Suddenly I realized he thought he was going to school that morning. "Edmond, school doesn't start until tomorrow, sweetheart."

He was silent for a moment, then said in a quiet voice, "Mom, why do you keep pushing it back?"

"Baby, I'm not pushing it back. I promise you that tomorrow you will start Kindergarten."

I kept my word and  Edmond started Kindergarten today. Last night in preparation of the big day, we had a special dinner. Edmond requested Raviolis. It's one of the few meals that our kids eat really well. Afterwards Daddy gave all of us a blessing. Edmond and Charlie were so reverent and kept their eyes closed the whole time, I was proud. Even Scarlett and I got a blessing. Scarlett kept looking up at her Dad while he had his hands on her head. It was cute.

We also introduced our family theme for the year. "I can be a helper". With baby #4 on the way, Mommy needs helpers in a bad way. I love having this sign up. Every time one of the kids complains about being too tired to clean up a mess or bring me something I need, I point to the sign and say, "What does our sign say?" That always motivates them.

The apple picture below is my own version of a printable that I spotted on one of my favorite blogs, Jones Design Company.

Last night I layed out Edmond's outfit for the next day on the floor. I layed Charlie's right beside it, just because. This morning I woke up before any of the kids and quickly got myself ready. (This never happens.) Then I went into the boys' room and found them next to their outfits, starting to put them on. I helped Edmond take the tags off his brand new clothes. (He loves new clothes.) Then I gave them bagels and cream cheese, another meal they eat really well. I wanted Edmond to have more than cereal in his skinny little belly.

 Then we took pictures out front. I'm hoping this will be the first of many "first day of school" pictures with my kids. I so love being their Mom.

Daddy took the morning off and came with Edmond and I to Kindergarten. We dropped off Charlie and Scarlett at a friend's house to play so we could give Edmond all of our attention. I felt happy for him as we approached the school and realized that Edmond was walking between B and I holding both of our hands. I hope he felt special and loved.

Edmond met his teacher. Afterwards I asked him what he thought of her, and he said, "My teacher is old. I got a old one."

I'm only posting that because it made me laugh. She's actually not old, but compared to every other teacher he's had (like me and my friends) I guess she's older...which is good because that means she's more experienced than us rookies.

Then Edmond saw his best friend, Parker, who happens to be in his class. I was joking with his Mom, Megan, and said we should put the boys in matching shirts and then their teacher will really be confused.

They found their name necklaces and then B and I took Edmond on a scavenger hunt around the classroom. He loved crossing off each item after we found it. 

Then he colored a visor with his name on it.

Then it was time to sit on the carpet. All the kids waved goodbye to their parents and blew us kisses. Edmond didn't cry or seem nervous...but I noticed that as he waved at us he blinked a few times, a sign that he is feeling emotion. I blinked too and smiled and waved, and then B and I bravely left him there.

While Edmond was at school I folded laundry and cleaned the house while Charlie and Scarlett played quietly. It was so nice. Then all three of us went to pick up our Kindergartener. The boy was standing in line with all his classmates and when he saw me he smiled and came running to me. As we walked back to the car, Charlie walked on my right and Edmond on my left. Edmond peaked over the edge of the stroller at Charlie and said, "Hi Charlie."

"Hi Edmond. I missed you when you was at Kindergarten." was Charlie's sweet reply.

"Yeah, I was at my school. What did you do while I was gone?"

"Nothing. I didn't do anything."

This is where I chimed in and said, "Yeah Charlie, you did. You played at Wyatt's house and then you played with Scarlett at our house. And you read a book. Cinderella."

"Oh." said Charlie. "I payed at Wyatt's house and I wead Cindewewa"

"Then what did you do?" said Edmond.

I was surprised to see how interested Edmond was in Charlie's day. Those two really love each other.

Anyway, the first day of school was a huge success and we're all so excited about this new adventure.

Twister FHE

Even Scarlett got in on the action.

At the Sales

B's brother was having a garage sale. We stopped by to get some lemonade and cookies. The boys found some sweet light sabers at the garage sale next door. The kids were so happy with their finds.

These are the faces Taitum makes at us if we say Hi to her or acknowledge her in any way. When she's grown we'll have to tease her about it.

Yay for lemonade. Yay for light sabers.

Stuff they do

At night we take all three kids into the boys' room to brush their teeth and say prayers. As we tuck the boys into bed and give them kisses (Scarlett kisses them too) there are many phrases that are repeated every night such as, "Good night", "I love you" and "No playing."

Of all these phrases, the one that Scarlett chooses to copy and repeat in a little voice full of authority, is "No playing."

So, after giving them kisses and walking toward the bedroom door with Scarlett in my arms, she looks over my shoulder at the boys and says, "No playing."

They smile at her and say, "No playing" back.

I don't know if this is a normal thing that Mom's do, but I sometimes think of Charlie's wife and what a lucky girl she'll be. He often seeks me out and comes to lay by me on the couch or snuggle close to read a book. He loves to be held and cuddle up to me. And when I carry his sleeping body from the car to his bed, his body naturally molds onto mine and he burrows his face into my neck. He's just a cuddly kid, he likes to be close to people. I think his wife will love that.

 The other day in the car I was kind of ignoring my children's chatter as I was driving along, when suddenly something Edmond was saying piqued my interest.

"What did you say, Edmond?"

"Mom," his little voice from the back of the car calmly responded, "I already told you several times. I'm not going to tell you again."

That's my boy.

We Camped

I regretted telling the kids that we were going camping, because then it became the only thing they talked about or thought about. Every half an hour they asked, "Hey Mom, when are we going camping?" Finally, after about three days of this, I asked B if we could please leave for the campsite early.

 

After some persuasion, he agreed.

We spent a night and a morning on our own, and then the cousins came. Abbey never left Scarlett's side. Girls gotta stick together.

And Truman and Edmond were fishing buddies. They caught dozens of fish, including these tiny unlucky ones who were placed inside water bottles and ziplock bags to swim away their last moments of life.

Edmond made a collection of sticks, which he refused to donate to the fire. They were his special sticks.

Here is Daddy in his happy place. The man loves to fish. He took the boys out on several excursions. I would be busy with Scarlett or preparing some food and B would inform me he was taking the boys out to fish, but I knew he was really taking himself out and the boys were invited.

 

We had some yummy meals. I think camping food is probably one of the highlights for me.

Here the kids are divvying out the little fishies. Edmond insisted that he receive five, since he's five.

The big boys. Oh how we love them.

My kids each went through three outfits per day. Even though I was prepared for them to be dirty, it's still amazing to see the amoung of filth. We were so grateful to come home to a clean house and take showers.