First week of school DOWN!

I've got a 4th grader, a freshman, a sophomore, and two seniors. One at Old Mill Elementary, two at Stansbury High School, and two at Utah Valley University.

And Erik is on hiatus from school for another 18 months as he gains an education in other ways.

It was a miserable first week. Actually the first day was the worst and it got better as the week progressed.

*School should NEVER start on a Monday.
*Back to School night should never be on the first day of school.
*Short day is much better half way through the week instead of at the end of the week.

These three factors made for a very, Very, VERY long week. And I've decided I don't care for the first two weeks of school. There is no routine or schedule as you are constantly teaching and reteaching and reinforcing procedures and behavior.

But enough of that. We finished our summer off with a short trip to Bryce, one of my favorite National Parks.

Nate had other things, so it was just Alex, Ash, me, and Tyler.

The scenery is just stunning. We live in such a beautiful and diverse state.

Ash started tennis and had a few matches the week before school began.

Nate had a birthday and celebrated by playing tennis all day at a tournament. It was the only thing he wanted.

Alex and his cousin Ian set up a lemonade stand where they made some money thanks to our very kind neighborhood.

Nate ran his first cross country meet of the season as a varsity runner. He wasn't too happy about his performance, but when you're getting over being sick, I think he didn't do too badly.

We made it to the Horsley Orthodontics summer swim party (taking some friends with us)

and to the USU Aggie Alumni night drive in movie/barbecue.

Such a cute photo of those two!!

The capstone of our summer was a trip to Logan to see family. Unfortunately, our quick game night resulted in us being stuck on the freeway coming home. 

Willard was kind enough to entertain us with a firework show.


Another week of school and then a three-day weekend.

Summer update

School's in session which means technically summer has come to an end. I have to admit that this past week has been rather quiet and a little subdued. I did get in my last kid date with Alex on Wednesday. This summer I took each kid individually school shopping and to lunch. I love lunch dates with my kids and the one-on-one it gives me to chat and bond.

Let's see. There were swimming lessons

and a couple of concerts. ABBA was so much fun and Peter Breinholt is always a good show.

There was a new nephew to be snuggled,


and preschool graduation for Alex and his friend Kristin. This year we tried the Utah state sponsored online preschool called Upstart. I was very impressed at how quickly and how well Alex was reading after just a couple of months.

We took a day trip to Great Basin National Park to tour Lehman Caves and hiked to some very, very ancient Bristlecone Pines, and . . .

what's road trip without a shoe tree. Boy did that bring back memories of our trips to Oregon and the shoe tree we would pass on our way to Grandma's house.

There was hiking. I've always thought my kids enjoyed hiking. Guess I was wrong or so they tell me. But we still take them anyway. Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood canyon is one of our favorites and this year we decided to hike to Lake Mary and Twin Lakes and loop back around to Silver Lake. On our way up, four moose were meandering down the path. I don't think I've ever been that close, especially to four. We were just hoping they would mind their own business.

Summer relaxing is a must. Kiersten deserved it with all her running and school work she was required to do.

I took my graduated Laurels (5 of the 7) out to dinner to celebrate one last time together before they all took off for their various parts of the world -- a couple of BYU-Idaho, one to USU, another to Snow, one on a mission to Switzerland, and another to SUU (although she has now decided to stay home).

Our fun sixth-grade-teacher neighbor held weekly science classes for the kids. One day they did solar ovens which we tried again at home.

On our way home from touring USU campus, we stopped in Ogden for dinner and found this cute baby grand on the sidewalk just begging to be played. So my pianists obliged.


And that is just a small sliver of some of our summer. I love when summers begin. I love summers. And I love when summers come to and end. I guess I love change. It sparks something in me to do things differently.

Good things
chocolate chips
bus transportation
air conditioning

Summer break or Summer breaking point

I am SOOOOO ready for summer to end (at least have kids back in school) and we are only 7 weeks in with another 6 to go. This has never happened to me so early.

How do homeschooling moms cope with having the kids home ALL. THE. TIME?

I am done and seriously need a few days to recharge in order to be a nice mom again. Our neighbors wife took the kids to California for a few weeks leaving him home alone. Boy was I jealous.

Wanna know what set Mama Bear off yesterday? I had tried to hide some yogurts in the fridge to make a salad for a dinner party. Were they there when I needed them? Nope. I shouldn't have to label the food as to what can and can't be eaten but clearly that seems to be the route to take if I'm going to have anything left in my fridge.

The past couple of summers I've implemented a system to help the summer flow smoothly. This year, things just don't seem to be working, especially with one certain child who thinks that our system is optional. Maybe I'll do my weeding today. Maybe I'll do my cleaning. Maybe I'll work on some summer goals.

I have lost my motivation to cook at all because the kitchen is in constant disarray (at least according to my standards). One child is in charge of counters, another has the floor, another is required to make sure the dishes get put in the dish washer, and another unloads. Simple enough? Except it isn't working so I'm changing the rules. Nobody eats for 6 weeks. That should clear up the kitchen mess.

Okay, seriously, I do want them to eat. I do want them to eat when they are hungry. I just want them to make sure what they are about to eat isn't needed for anything and to clean up when they are done. Maybe if I put everyone in charge of their own mess . . .

Um, no. This won't work either because nobody will claim responsibility for what happened in the kitchen. What happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen.

And quiet time in the house? Well that's pretty much non-existent even in the early morning hours because several of the kids are up before me. My only sanity seems to be when I go for a run or work in the yard.

I need somewhere to escape for some quiet time but what I really want is to come back from my escape to a clean kitchen.

I don't think I ask for much.

Summer . . . so far

Three birthdays . . . kind of.

We celebrated Kiersten's 4 days before school let out.
Erik's was 4 days later on the last day of school.
Alex turned five 4 days ago.

Kiersten is playing her wrapping paper. I think she liked it more than any real present.


Her birthday happened to fall on Siesta Sunday and since it was a big one -- 16 -- I invited some of her friends over for cake and ice cream.

Erik received a gift from Savanna Lawson, a girl from our old neighborhood who dubbed him Roadrunner in first grade since he always ran to school. They were in the same English class this year, and for the Shakespeare unit, Erik got cast as Romeo and Savanna was Juliet.



Alex reminded me months in advance that since he was turning 5, it was the big year for his first birthday party. I do believe this was the most low key party I've ever come up with. Splash pad, popsicles and chocolate chip-m&m cookies, open presents, send kids home with a punch balloon. The best part is my older kids pretty much ran the show.






Payson Temple open house was part of our summer plans and Training Table afterwards.

A last minute race for Kiersten with her friend Hannah.

Quick day trip to Ogden to the Dinosaur Park and Smith & Edwards -- funnest store around.

Seems like we hit the dino park every so often. First time ever was on Erik's 4th birthday and the terror that filled his little heart. It took us the entire trip through the park to convince him they weren't real. Then we had to go back through again and see it with new eyes.

2011


2007

2004 (notice Erik is not in this picture)

Youth Conference in Ferron. One of our impromtu night activites was instigated by the Tovar family. We had a little rap fest where the kids would face off and come up with a rap that was complimentary about the other person. What a riot! My rap pretty much sums up the amazing group of young people we have in our ward.

"We have the best Youth in the entire stake. The live in a Ward on the Point by the Lake!" :) Get it? Lake Point Ward Youth. Ha ha.


I won't lie; it was a little stressful knowing we were headed home and I just prayed they would all behave themselves and not be stupid. They far exceeded my expectations. I didn't stress a minute we were there. The feedback I got afterwards was that they all want to come again and how much they loved all the free time. They pretty much lived in the pond the entire two days.



Friday morning we went on a hike out to some Indian writings and then later that day we performed a little talent show at the nursing home.

Toward evening a game of capture the flag commenced. The pond was neutral and each team was on one side of the pond and the other. I went undercover for one team and acted as the garbage lady picking up trash when really I was gathering information about where their flag was. As I came upon the flag I debated about how I was going to get it back to the other side. Meghan, who was guarding the flag somewhat, asked if I was playing and before I could really respond she said, "Oh, you're just the garbage lady." A minute later I took that flag and jumped in the pond, clothes and all, yelling, "I got their flag" and swam it to the other side. I took everyone by surprise since I hadn't been in the pond yet. It was a very clever move and won me many high hives, hugs, glares, cheater comments. It was definitely a moment that will live on in infamy with the youth of our ward.

Rootbeer tasting party for Fathr's Day. I do believe the winner was IBC.


And tomorrow we are hosting a neighborhood party. Welcome summer!