First Day of School 2012

This morning I woke up and just wondered where the summer went.

Wasn't it just the last day of school?

Yeah, there were days of tattling and whining and fighting, that made it seem like summer would last         for-e-ver.

BUT, for the most part, this summer was awesome. The kids had so much fun together. We adored running and playing in our new house.

It was soooo wonderful.

And, I'm glad it happened.

So, I got out of bed, made breakfast, and got these cute kiddos of mine ready for 1st and 4th grade!

Mike had to work at Red Roof Inn until 8 this morning, and then had to take the bus to D.I.

It was the first time I've ever done the first day of school alone, and it was hard.

I dropped them off.

Kissed Grace good-bye.

Waved at Adam.

Walked back to the car with Josh in hand.

Buckled him in.

And cried.

Well, I cried.

Josh was pretty darn thrilled the entire day to have me (and all of the toys) all to himself.

It was the longest day ever for me.

Grace declared it, "The best day of my life... even better than my birthday."

Adam loved it, too.

I'm soooo thankful for the great school they go to, their wonderful teachers, and the time I get to spend spoiling Josh now.

It was a good day.

Well, We (Almost) Did It All

And, the rest of the summer...

There are 80 Days of summer vacation,

'Til school comes along just to end it.

So the annual problem for our generation,

Is finding a good way to spend it.

Like maybe:

 

Viewing the volcano erupt at the Mirage

Going on a family bike ride

(to 7-11 for FREE Slurpees)

Swimming at the public pool

Having a movie night at home

(Star Wars.  I.  Will.  Never.  Get.  Those.  2.  Hours.  Back.)

Visiting the summer garden at the Bellagio

Looking at the fish at the Silverton

Making Grace's kindergarten art book

Hunting for cicada shells

Going to the magic show at the library

(Grace was chosen as assistant!)

Eating s'mores

Having a Wii game night

Going to the Pioneer Day Carnival

Swimming in Lake Mead

Eating Purple Penguin snowcones

Watching the Wizard of Oz play at the library

Observing pioneer day

(and eating our homemade taffy-turned-caramel-because-I-overcooked-it)

Celebrating Christmas in July

(with movies, music, books and our candy bar exchange)

Buying school uniforms and school supplies

(the kids were taken out individually and each given a budget and a list of what they had to buy; they chose everything and got to spend the rest on a treat)

Having the missionaries to dinner

(along with my parents and Leigh... it was a FUN night!)

Flying kites

Making homemade popsicles

Submitting entries to the Friend magazine

Having a watermelon seed spitting contest

(Mike won)

Playing dodgeball

Having family board game night

Going on a scavenger hunt

Earning prizes at the library for doing a LOT of summer reading

Eating lunch with Dad at work

Visiting a factory

(I wanted to do the Anderson dairy; but couldn't get in... so we settled for the chocolate factory)

Writing 20 postcards to the principal each and earning a pizza party at school

Going to the end-of-summer party at the library

Tie-dying t-shirts

(we reversed tie-dyed some D.I. shirts with bleach.  It worked great and cost $3.  Score!)

Visiting the temple

Taking pictures of the kids

Having a sponge fight

Going bowling

Holding our annual W* Family Summer Olympics

(Adam won!)

Having a special back-to-school dinner + father's blessings + reading The Kissing Hand

(and eating kissing hand cookies for dessert)

And because my camera kept wigging out on me and I didn't get pictures of everything:

We also had a HUGE water balloon fight with over 150 water balloons, had a science day with friends, bought school shoes, had a water gun fight, went on a hike at Mt. Charleston, bought play clothes at D.I., doorbell-ditched treats to friends, wrote a letter to some friends, made a music video, mailed letters to Elder Rice, looked at the stars, did interviews with the kiddos, and went see Toy Story on the "green" (which got rained out, but we still had fun).

***

We ALMOST did it all:

We didn't get to go camping.  With both of Mike's jobs, he only had 4 days off this summer.  And during those 4 days off, he had to go up to Girl's camp for his calling. 

We were pretty bummed, because it was going to be our "vacation" this summer and it was so fun last year.  BUT, we DID do 79 other super fun things, so we still had a pretty epic summer.

And, well, we almost did it all.

Birthday Dress #6

Grace requested a "fancy" dress this year for her birthday.

I found a pattern and bought some poly-satin material in a dark and light pink, along with some light pink tulle.

I had a vision.

I altered the pattern; adding a foot to the length, an additional row of ruffles, and an additional sleeve.  I also made an underskirt of tulle for a "poof" effect.

It's in no way perfect; I think poly-satin is horrid stuff to sew with... but Grace (and I) love it.

As tradition, she got it the Sunday before her birthday and wore it to church.

She looked sooo cute!

I love this little tradition of ours...

... and my sweet little almost-6-year-old even more.

Raingutter Regatta

Adam got to participate in his first Raingutter Regatta for Cub Scouts tonight!

The official Raingutter Regatta boats were a little too expensive; so the boys carved theirs out of soap. They had a lot of fun making them just right!

The den competed against the stake 11-year-old scouts and had a great time!

There aren't very many boys (even with the entire stake combined for 11-year-old scouts), so they each got to race 5 times. They had sooo much fun!

Adam won the first 2 races, and then began losing as the soap began deteriorating...

... it's a problem when a boat does that.

;)

I Guess It Runs in the Family

First Adam.

Now Grace.

It doesn't even look comfy.

;)

King of the Couch

A couch was left behind for us in the house we're renting.

I expressed my concern with the owner, because, well, I have 3 kiddos that can be pretty rough on furniture.

She said, "I don't want it, so they are welcome to do whatever they want with it."

So.

It has been jumped on, climbed on, flipped on, and most recently, had "King of the Couch" played on it.  The kids stack the cushions from both cushions on the one couch as high as they can.  Climb up on it, yell, "I'm King of the Couch" and jump off.

Totally safe, right?