first day of school

here as promised are the first day of school pictures.
Wesley started 1st grade last week. He is doing very well after school (we thought the transition to all day would be rough, but he's really adjusting well). He likes his teacher and has many friends in class. Homework is not going to well, it brings a pout to his face just the mention of the word. Oh, well, we'll just keep working at it.
Ian started kindergarten today. He rode the bus with Wesley this morning and by himself on the way home. It was his first time ever on the bus (for Wes it's old hat now ;) He was so excited this morning he woke up before I did. And he's been dying to wear the bakugan shirt that he picked out weeks ago (I think this is his tough guy pose for the picture, so cute!). Grandma Johna is his teacher and said he did great he even made a new friend. So far no homework, but it will be soon enough he'll be joining Wes at the table to work on writing and reading.
The girls and I hung out this morning. It reminded me of the days when it was just me and the boys. They played together really well, it was fun to watch.


walking to the bus stop above our house

Wesley taught Ian how to watch for the bus from atop the burm (spelling?) above the gravel pits. while they wait for the bus, they get to watch the equipment work, what better way to spend your time if you're a 5 or 6 year old boy? answer: no other way, that's for sure.

the end of summer

these past few weeks have flown by like a tornado. it's been fun, but disorienting at the same time. here are some pics from the events.
Salem Days:
the kiddie parade
Fiona was a princesss, Wesley rode his bike, Ian walked and dressed up as a knight. Lydia & I were the hula girls (Lydia even wore the coconut bra, I felt too weird in mine and just went for a tropical flower in the hair instead)
Lydia won 'Biggest Eyes' in the baby contest. What can I say our kids are DARLING!!
the grand parade
I don't have any pics, because I decided to do a booth this year and missed the grand parade. I think I'd rather catch the parade next year. Booths just are my thing.
pageant fun
Austin volunteered when they asked for folically (spelling?) challenged males. He won a cool pillow that actually seemed to help his snoring a little. And we got some great pics. The kids made it all the way to the fireworks, Lydia loved them. the others thought they were just okay. We were really tired the next morning.






After we recovered from Salem Days I had the brilliant idea of making the family hike to Timp Cave. The kids did great, real troopers. Wesley, Ian & Fiona made it all the way up and down on their own. Lydia was not fun in the cave, she screamed because she was sick of being held and had missed her nap. When we got back to the bottom, we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. I would like to do more hiking with the kids, but we'll definitely have to make the hikes more kid friendly.



Wesley, Ian & Fiona had their vaulting showcase on the 7th. It was so much fun to watch, they did a great job. The boys have decided to not continue with the sport (it's a female dominated area), but Fiona is still going strong and loving it. The video wouldn't load, but I'll try again later.

Lastly, here is a pic of my budding artist. Fortunately, most of the mess is contained by strapping her in the high chair.

Just a side note, school started yesterday and I got some darling picks of Wesley on his first day. I'm going to hold off posting them until Ian starts kindergarten next week. Then you'll get a double dose of handsomeness to the extreme.

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

wow! I am so grateful for the power that the Savior gives us, it makes it possible to do seemingly impossible things like this.

un-birthday party

reid & kaitlyn were trying to plug the drain and create a pool, they were very persistant






wesley was a little nervous about pushing the button for the water the first time





i love this picture, ian looks like he's doing the spanish dance that buzz does in toy story 3 (that was our favorite part)
today we had an un-birthday party. there were a couple of reasons i was driven to throw this last minute party. first i've always wanted a summer birthday, water parties are so much fun! the other reason is due to an unfortunate incident we had with one of the boys' friends. we had a received a birthday party invite early in the week. the boys were so excited, they LOVE birthday parties! well, thursday the little boy, whose birthday it was, informed us that the invite was only for ian and wesley was not welcomed. wesley was heartbroken, as was i. i told the boy as politely as i could that if he'd like to invite one of the boys, then they are both invited. he promptly corrected me and said, 'no just ian'. so i thanked him for letting me know and told him that neither of my sons would probably attend. it's hard. if it had been one of ian's friends from school, it wouldn't have even been an issue since they have seperate school friends. but the boy is in the neighborhood and usually plays with both boys, in fact he's in the same school year as wesley. it's just so heartbreaking to have your child be rejected. so i decided to throw our own little party with our family. i want to teach my children that family comes before friends and that they need to stand up for each other, to rally each on. i think ian is going to face that a lot in the coming years, and i want him to be the brother that wesley is going to need him to be.
so here are some pics of our fun party. i frosted cupcakes and let the kids decorate them themselves with candies, sprinkles and mini cookies. we had icecream, too. then after they got sufficiently messy, we cleaned them up in the sprinklers. it was the perfect party (except for the wind, that tried to dampen the festivities to no avail). all in all it was fun times.

crocheting like crazy

I've been working on getting a booth ready for Salem Days next weekend. I found the cutest pattern for crocheted headbands. Here's some pics...








It's great having the cutest models right in my own house. If you're interested in getting some of this cuteness for yourself (the headbands of course) swing by Salem festivities on August 14th between 11 and 4pm and come see my booth 'who's cute'. Or if you'd like I'd be happy to take orders just leave me a comment with your email address so I get the details from you.

just for fun

i've been taking pics like crazy and just had to share a few of my new favs. most of these are lydia, she's at such a fun and crazy age. she gives us a good laugh daily (usually a fantastic tantrum, too. good thing she's so darn cute!)

vaulting

the kids decided to take vaulting again this year. ian, wesley & fiona are doing great and having fun so here are a few of their pics. they have a showcase coming up, i'm excited for dad, grandpa & grandmas to come see how much they've learned. fiona truly amazes me, she is so timid & shy about so many things, but she has no fear of the horses. she loves them!