Back to School

Last week. It happened. The inevitable. Matt went back to school. :) We love school, don't get me wrong. It's just a bitter-sweet time of year. We are sad that summer is over, but excited for the new adventures and friends that come with a new school year.
Matthew is in fifth grade this year. I'm not really sure how that happened, because it seems like it was just yesterday that he was four and dying to have his big birthday so he could go to school. (He turned 5 in January and was sorely disappointed that he didn't get to go to Kindergarten the next day.) But 5th grade it is. He's excited about his teacher and, overall, happy to be back. He's a great student and I'm certain it will be a super year!

Kitchen Sink

Does it get any better than this?

Family Home Evening at Angie's. Yum! I tell folks that I am an emotional eater...Well, the Kitchen Sink is pure happiness -- especially when there are four other spoons and my four favorite people in the world are using them!

Mr. T

We have a goldfish. His name is Mr. T. Mr. T is a pretty important part of our family. He's been with us now for about two and a half years.

Let's step back in time: Matthew's just turned 8 and we are attending our very first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. It's a Hawaiin theme and the ward gym is decorated for a Luau -- floweredy Hawaiin shirts, pineapples, etc. So great! On each table is a centerpiece...look a little closer... they are glass bowls with little goldfish swimming in them. I think, "Oh, please don't send those home with the boys. I don't want a goldfish." Skip ahead about and hour and a half. We are leaving the banquet (that was wonderful) with Matthew happily clutching a plastic bag full of water -- and goldfish.

After spending a night in a Tupperware, Matt's new fish was moved into the newly purchased fish bowl - complete with blue marbley rocks. Thanks to some careful deliberation and a book from the library, the little fishy also received a name: Sushi. I sure love happy endings, but sadly, this portion of our story isn't so happy. A week later, Sushi entered her watery porcelain grave. There is always a silver lining, however. Our silver lining was called Grandma. She was here visiting when we found Sushi floating and quickly eased Matt's grief by giving him five bucks to go buy a new fish. :) Off to PetsMart. Matthew picked a cute little guy and was a happy camper with his new fish and the $4.65 change in his pocket. This new fish had a black stripe on his head which looked a lot like a mohawk, so Matt named fish #2 Mr. T.
Mr. T has now, as I said before, been a part of our family for over two and a half years. We've had a few scares: a big red mark that has mysteriously appeared on his nose a few times and then goes away. (The worker at the pet store - yes, I actually called the pet store over a fish- said the medicine to correct the problem costs $10. For a $.35 fish... Nope, didn't buy it.) His black stripe faded and is now gone. (I swear it's the same fish). The biggie happened on the day we brought Bailey home from the hospital, though. We got home and mohawkless Mr. T was floating...on his side...not moving at all. Being emotional and hugely hormonal, I started crying (can't believe I'm admitting this) and told Steve to get it over with and flush him. He was dead. I kind of have a phobia of dead things and just wanted him gone. Steve kept staring at him and then told me that he thought we should try changing his water. There was no way I was going to touch a dead fish and change his dead germ water! But, c'mon, it's Mr. T!! So, sobbing, I cleaned his bowl and changed the water. As I scooped his lifeless body up with the little fishy net and dropped him back in the bowl, the darnedest thing on earth happend - he started swimming! I swear it on all the Diet Coke in North America. The dad blamed thing was alive and swimming rather animatedly around his sparkly clean bowl. That was 16 months ago. Who says miracles have ceased? :)



So, Mr. T has been through an awful lot and is still quite a spunky little character.

A few weeks ago I was walking into the kitchen and was nearly knocked over by Rachel running the other direction. She booked it into the living room, dove into the couch, and hid her head in the couch cushion. That's a sure fire sign that she's done something naughty. I went into the kitchen to find this:

Poor Mr. T. Look at his little face! Steve and I choked back our hysterical laughing long enough to scold Rachel and remind her we "only draw on paper." Later when I asked her why on earth she colored all over Mr. T's fishbowl she said, "I thought you would think it was pretty and that you might want to take a picture." Nice.

Swimming

Last month the kids were able to take swimming lessons at the aquatic center. Matthew has taken lessons before, but it was Rachel's first time. We were a little unsure what her reaction would be as she's going through a "mama's girl" phase... which she's been in since about birth, but that's another discussion for another day. At any rate, we were curious as to what she'd do. After all folks, it's now August and the child still won't go to Primary alone. Okay, okay - another discussion for yet another day. The great thing we had going for us was that she and her cousin were in the same class, so we figured that they'd probably be more comfortable together. We knew, at the very least, that it would be entertaining to watch.


Let me also say from the start that I was a little challenged when it came to taking pictures of the lessons. Our camera is a simple one intended for not very technologically savvy folks - perfect for me, but I found that it was so blasted bright out by the pool that I couldn't really see the display screen. This little beauty (see below) is one of my favorite pictures. (I didn't realize that I had even taken such a nice picture of cement until I had gotten home.) Sheesh, it's amazing I got any pictures at all. :)









Bailey was my spectating companion. She was not always happy to stay in the stroller through the whole lesson, but overall, she was a super little gal.

Rachel's teacher was darling. Both Rachel and her cousin really took to her immediately. In the picture below they are playing the "chop, chop" game. The kids all lined up along the side of the pool and they got to choose what kind of tree they were going to be. Then the teacher would go to each one and "chop, chop" them down -- and the kids would jump into the pool. Cute idea. The funny part was how gosh darn creative our kids were in choosing what type of trees they were. Generally the type of tree they chose was very curiously related to what print was on the swimsuits they were wearing that day. :) If Rachel wore her Dora swimsuit, she was a Dora tree. If she wore her rainbow suit, she was a rainbow tree. Her cousin fluctuated between being an orange & blue tree and a shark tree. Funny kids.

Matthew is proving to be quite a good little swimmer and really enjoyed lessons. For the record (and for anyone who may be feeling anxious or concerned at this point), his teacher does have a head. I just cut it off in this photo. I'm not sure if it is to be blamed on the sun and inabilitly to see the display (as with the lovely cement shot), or if it was merely that I was focusing on the looker in the black swimsuit.

Here's the whole swimming crew having a little "raid the diaper bag of all snacks" break.

I'm very happy to report that swimming lessons were a huge success. Both of my kiddos and all of their cousins loved the lessons and did a super job. I was very proud of all of them! We'll definitely be back next year!

Cousins!

July was a fun month, after all, we Utahns get two big ol' holidays. It was especially fun for us this year because we got to spend time with lots of family and the kids adore hanging out with their cousins. The day after Steve's b-day, his brother and his family came to Logan as a surprise to see the old man. :) It was so much fun! Because life is so busy and schedules are so hectic, we, unfortunately, don't get to see them very often. (I realized too late that I didn't get a shot of the kids all together. Bummer.) We went to dinner together (buffet - YUM!), and then headed to the park. Logan did their 4th of July fireworks that night so the kids ran off some steam at the park, then we all went and watched the fireworks together.



Bailey warmed up to the girls really quickly and loved all the attention. I decided that they should move in with me so I always have someone to carry and entertain my baby.




The Cutie in this picture with Matthew is just a month older than he is.

We had a great time and are grateful for a fun surprise visit!


On the 24th of July, we met up with our Logan cousins and watched the parade. My kids love, love, love the Pioneer Day parade here in Logan. Truth be known, I do too! I love that we can show up 10 or 15 minutes before the parade and still find a super spot. I love that a good number of the participants in the parade are in trucks with butcher paper banners hanging on the sides. I love that every single year The Waver hops on his bike and joins the parade!

Here are some of the kiddos eagerly awaiting the parade -- and mentally preparing for the oodles of candy that they will soon be dashing off the curb to retrieve.

(Not really sure what little jig Steve is doing in the back... but it sure is nice...)

Rachel firmly believes that an event is not truly an event until there are princesses involved. So, we naturally do what any good and honest parents would do - we tell her that the royalty from all the little cities are princesses. Our boy cousins weren't quite as impressed with the "princesses" as Rachel, but they were good sports and helped Rachey wave at them. (Like the big green bags on their shoulders? It was all I could rummage from the trunk of the car to hold their loot. I usually remember little lunch bags or something. Oh well.)

To finish off our month of fun cousin visits, my oldest brother and his family came from California. We get to see them so seldom, that it's always very eagerly anticipated, and we love spending time with them. We got to spend some time with them in Ogden at my other brother's house - hiking, swimming, eating, and just hanging out. The last day of their stay in Utah, they came to Logan. We took them to the school park where, serendipitously, the sprinklers turned on to save them from the heat of the day. They played hard, got sopping wet, and then ate like horses. Good times.

We absolutely loved being with family this month. The only bad thing is that it makes us remember how much we miss those who are far away and those who we don't see enough. Thanks to everyone for making the trek up north to see us! We love you!

Belated Birthday

Steve's birthday was July 2nd. I did remember - and we did celebrate. I'm just very belated in posting the pictures from his big day. :)

Steve doesn't necessarily enjoy his birthdays and doesn't like being singled out, so he's generally not terribly excited when it rolls around. This year, by lovely chance, he had the day off. (He'd never ask for his b-day off.) We decided to spend the day together in the Ogden area, as we were meeting his mom for dinner that night there.

We went to lunch at a buffet which the kids loved. Something for everyone, right? Just a little sidenote: I didn't really like buffets before I met Steve - mostly because people put foods together in one meal and on one plate that should never be eaten together. You know, like mashed potatoes and lasagna on one plate. --shudder-- (Remember that I was the kid who couldn't let food touch on my plate...) Since meeting and marrying my Sweetheart, I am happy to say that I have developed a deep appreciation for the art of buffet.

So, our lunch was delightful and my children even decided to be mostly calm and civil through the meal.

After lunch we went for a drive up Ogden canyon to Huntsville. Several years ago Steve visited the monastery there and had been wanting to take us there. It was a beautiful drive -- even if certain children who were supposed to fall asleep and take a little napper, didn't.

We were a little disappointed to find that we were there during a time that we wouldn't be able to hear the monks chant. I guess it's really cool. We just walked on the grounds and enjoyed the scenery until the torrential downpour chased us back to the car and down the canyon.

Dad and his girls. (Matt took this one.)

It was a great day. We loved being together and just hanging out. We got to meet up with Steve's mom that evening and ate tacos at one of Steve's favorite places in the entire world - Del Taco. :) Yay! Happy Birthday, Steve!

June

I can hardly believe that June is over and we're well on our way through July. I'm thinking that I'd kinda like a "re-do" of June. It was rainy, cool, and zipped by waaay too fast! In elementary school when I needed a re-do on a pitch in base soccer, it was the pitcher I'd petition. Since I'm not certain who I need to talk to for the June re-do, I guess I'll just have to pull up the ol' boot straps and move on. So anyhow, here is a quick catch up on some things we managed to fit in between rain drops in June.

This summer not only did we get to attend the Logan Summer Fest, but Matthew got to help out in the children's art yard. Now, for a boy who's loved being "the guy" since the moment he could walk and talk (the store guy, the restaurant guy, the worker guy, etc.), this opportunity to help was heaven sent.

Rachel got to participate. She made a windsock, Fathers' Day cards, a sun catcher, a bracelet, and some other fun things. Her favorite, by far, was painting on the easel.

Right outside the Art Yard was this wonderful, giant contraption that spewed out oodles of bubbles. Rachel loved it and chased bubbles until we had to drag her little body away. It was a huge hit among the little bubble-chasing crowd and I have to admit, I was pretty entertained also. Part of the reason is because it was just plain funny watching the kids run around crazy and crashing into each other. The other part, I have to admit, was that I was fascinated by the guy who owned this bubbly monstrosity. He's the one with the lovely big hat in the bottom right hand corner of the pic. What a fun-loving guy to build something like this... and wear that lovely big hat. I can't quite pin point why I was so taken by him, but it was kind of like my wonderment at circus carnies. He took his creation and his job very seriously. Both of my daughters adored it.

Father's Day! At the risk of getting all mushy and gooshy, I have to take a moment and say that my husband is an absolutely amazing father. I have been immensely blessed to have an incredible father and I have been equally blessed to have married a man who is a wonderful father to our children. I love him dearly. So I was severely disappointed that he had to work on Father's Day. We made him breakfast before we sent him off to work, but then had to have the rest of our celebration the next day. We were able to completely surprise him with a totally rocking Fathers' Day present, though. Let me back up for a sec. The entire time I've known Steve, he has talked about these tapes that he listened to as a child. They were stories (accompanied by books) about values such as honesty, hard work, obedience, etc. His favorite was honesty. The biggest reason being that there was this song sung by a grumpy old man, "Who broke my window?" Steve so vividly remembers listening to it as a kid and has sung the song for us like a gajillion times (in his big, deep, grumpy old man voice) over the years. So the week before Fathers' day I was treasure hunting at the DI and found the whole set of tapes for like a buck!! It was a Fathers' Day Miracle!! We even had a handful of the books. So on the morning of Fathers' day, we dragged Steven out to the car because there is a tape deck in the car along with the CD player. (The only thing in the house that we have anymore that plays tapes is a Fisher Price tape player and it's batteries had been pillaged for something else long ago.) We piled into the car and played, "Who broke my window" for him. It was awesome! He was totally stunned and loved it. Yay, DI!

With the end of June, came some sunshine -- finally! The kids have loved that they are finally able to play outside more. Matt and Rachel have had some great time on their bikes, and Bailey is VERY much enjoying her new vehicle!

Summer felt like it took a little longer to reach us this year, but we sure are happy it's here.