Will's a kindergartener!

Yesterday Will got his letter from his teacher (grandma!) in the mail for the first day of school. He insisted on opening it himself, but was happy to let Kayte read the letter. He was much more interested in his badge name-tag!
Excitement is building . . . .

Kickin' it off!

Today was the day of the first grade open house. Kayte got to find her desk, her cubby, and her locker. She spoke with the teacher, who she'd met before, and met a couple of girls who were going to be new this year. She was looking forward to this big day all week! Very exciting. . .

At her desk, filling out her personal information and checking things off her list. Ava will be her seatmate to start the year! Yay!

Learning how to operate the locker! Definitely a highlight for her (and me!)

We had to stop in at Hall Closet for the last few things, so we stopped by Bucer's to share a cookie and do a puzzle. She is a sweet date!

Who knew?

I've always pegged myself as one of the "non-crafty", but I'm a little proud of this creation I put together for Kayte's school binder:


What I love about Kayte: she is just as impressed with me as I am :)

Let me just say, I had to do it on the computer.
Are you impressed now?

Bummer.

Ok, bad news.
My fridge is empty and I really really cannot bear to head to WinCo this week.
The students are back and it is just a madhouse.
Even on my best day, this is a challenge for me. But now that the students are back, the town is being transformed again from a sleepy little town to the world's largest highschool (sorry, I mean college. It's hard to tell by the look of them. I'm getting older. . . )
Just a handful of the crazy things I've seen in the last day or two: a woman, maybe 8 1/2 months pregnant, smoking in the McD's parking lot. . . .a beat-up Subaru bearing the bumperstickers "I'm a socialist and proud of it" (that would solve their clunker issue, I guess), and "If they attack the US, I'll be an insurgent!" (they who?). . . .and my favorite, a heavily decorated "Just married" car with a little yellow sign in the corner that said "Caution: Baby on Board", which I thought was a joke. . .part of the decor perhaps, but nope. . .there was the little baby bucket in the back seat.
Anywho, the family needs food, and although I would rather suffer through at least the next two weeks with my salsa, tortillas, and diet coke, I'm gonna have to buck up and head to WinCo.
Maybe I'll wear my Ipod.

Sicky. . .

Little bud had a fever all weekend and he was just exhausted! Yesterday he slept from 1:30 until 6 and then headed back to bed two hours later. He seems much better today. . .but he is still very cuddly and I'm enjoying the cuddle time!
There have been a lot of strange fevers and colds making the rounds in our little town, and Kayte came home from a party the other day and said, "My tummy hurts. . .I think I ate too many sweets." Curiously this came up right after I sent her down to tidy her room!
But, I'm not one to play around with the stomach flu, so I sent her to bed.
Will, always the tender heart says, "Kayte go ahead and lie down. I'll clean your side of the room for you. I'll be quiet as a mouse."
A few moments later he comes upstairs to retrieve a plate of lunch for her and takes it back down to her bed.
The sickness disappeared after about 30 minutes, but I love how it brought out the sweet side of my biggest boy!

The cup overflows. . .

My personal fav: passed out at Boulder Beach with grandpa!

I have to make a note of today because it is the kind of day that I want to remember when I am. . . .oh, maybe when I'm helping my daughter pick out her wedding veil.
The kids were up so late last night and had really run themselves out of steam by livin' it up all day. And because they have a clock in their room, they got up right at 7, regardless of the fact that they could've easily rolled over and slept till 10. But it is summer and they are children with very busy lives, so we got on to our usual routine and the kids were at swim lessons by 9 am.
By the time they got home from working out in the pool for half an hour and cleaning their room, which had been unattended to for nearly 3 days (which is decades in the history of a child's room!), they pretty much fell in a heap in the yard when I sent them out to play.
There was simply no play left.
So I let them lie around back there for awhile, and then we got in the car to run some errands (drive-thru errands, I'm not completely nuts!) and I thought we might as well pick up some lunch while we were out.
Will started in on his RainMan routine, "It is 11:45. . . .15 minutes late for lunch. . .It is 11:49. . .19 minutes past lunch. . . ."
(pause a moment to be impressed by this kid's math skills. . .)
Then Kayte pipes up, "If they take too long at the bank, Will and I are going to starve."
Which I said was unlikely, since I'd never heard of anyone starving three hours after having a bowl of Oh's.
Then Sara started squealing for a banana and it was all starting to get unreal, "I want a banana, mama!!!! I want a banana!!!!!"
I mean, it was a scene right out of Walmart!
And then the unthinkable happened. . . I started to giggle uncontrollably. . .I couldn't help myself. . .the smile came up and wouldn't stop!
This made Kayte a bit indignant, "If you don't stop laughing, I'm gonna cry!"
And Will thought that sounded like great fun, so he started snickering too, which just made my case of the giggles that much worse!
Anywhoo, I managed to regain control of myself, but lost complete control of my kids, and we swept through the rest of the drive-thrus in town with lightning speed, kids wailing and snickering all the way home and straight to their beds.
Ahh. . . .my cup sure is full.
Thank heaven I have a smidgen of sense of humor left! (even if it gets me into trouble sometimes!)

Big Sis!

Kayte is a great older sister - she is not afraid of anything, so she makes a fearless leader for our littlest (more timid) children!

Silverwood!

The grandparents kidnapped the 3 oldest kids for a roadtrip to Silverwood yesterday, and I think they were pretty giddy from the moment their feet touched the ground in the morning until they passed out in their beds at 10 that night.
Aunt Heather and her friend came along to help herd the kids through the crowds. . .good memories were made!

Looks like the start of the day, everyone still looks fresh and ready!

From the looks of it, they had plenty of rides just right for the little ones. . .I know they cannot wait to get back (and someday the little cousins will be old enough to tote along)!
Thanks Grandma Annie & Grandpa Dave & Aunt Heather!

On the countdown. . .

Kayte got this letter from her teacher in the mail today inviting her to an open house next week to settle in her desk and find her locker. (Locker!!! How lucky is she!)
I had to take a picture because she took the letter and read every word out loud without even a stutter, and it occurred to me (again!) how big she is getting!
Nine more days. . .
I'm sure gonna miss her!

Pretty Pink Pirate!

Sara came up behind me, stabbed me with a knife and hollered, "I kill you!"
The Tinkerbell fairy tattoo on her teeny weeny bicep was a nice touch. . . .

C-c-c-cold!

The temp at swim lessons today.
Not fun!

Steelhead Season Is Here

Though the season officially started Aug. 1st, this was the first outing of the year. Due to some boat complications (including not filling the boat up with gas), it was the shortest trip ever. We were only fishing for 2 hours. However, Dad took full advantage of the time and logged the first steelhead of the year. They are small this time of the year but still a blast to catch.


Deep in battle (and looking very determined).

Victory! And now sitting in the freezer awaiting the next Sabbath barbeque.

Oh the stories we see. . .

What a lucky job we have, being parents:

Boys took Sara & Brooklyn for a little ride around the fields. . .

Sara had to stop and take a call (while Will looks on in disdain). . .

. . .but the boys pass the time playing tag. . . .

. . .then they pile back in and hit the road again.
(That's a handsome set of kids we have, don't you think?)

More summer-fun on the farm!

I can't really say that Ben likes being the passenger that much. . .

Dave's at it again!

Kayte has taken to performing shows for us at every opportunity. . .

. . .Sara was her apprentice this time.
We are gonna miss summer! (just a little bit :)

Locusts!

It is a plague of near-Biblical proportions out at the cabin.

The kids seem to like it. . . .

Will learns to Read!

When your grandma is the kindergarten teacher, you get special perks, like a whole afternoon spent one-on-one learning to read - two weeks before school starts!
I'm so proud of him!

Jeepin'

Mom and Dad invited us to come along for a jeep ride this afternoon. It was a perfect day for it as it was hovering around a nice 70 degrees. . . .and they brought a great picnic too!

Cooler in the forest, so Sara bundled up!

Will got to drive. No, he really did drive and it nearly gave me a heart attack!

Will was asking questions a million miles a minute and then all of a sudden it got quiet. . .I looked back, and he was out cold:

Little bro was conked out early on. . .

The tippy top of Moscow Mountain.

Will made a really cool fort with a great view, a place to sleep, a kitchen, a place for a fire, and even a place to go to the bathroom! He thinks of everything!

Took a little walk. Ben was super-excited about his little perch.

Sara, more mellow.

A cool spear.

Will and Grandma standing up for the ride.

Kayte's turn to drive. She didn't seem to overcorrect as much, less stressful for me!

It was great to get the Jeep out again for a real ride, dip her toes in some mudpuddles, and catch an incredible view. . .