Another School Year

Well "it" happened.  Yep, no matter how much I fought, it still came.  No matter that I did everything in my power to make time stand still, the day arrived.  Even though I crammed every possible moment with things to do, the inevitable happened. . . .

The first day of school!

Normally this is a cause for celebration.  Usually at this point in the year, moms are counting down to the time when they can have that wonderful peace and freedom that school affords.  Kids are anxiously assembling their school supplies and dreaming of recess, friends and even learning.  But this year, it just came way too fast.

I don't know why I have been dreading the end of summer.  Maybe it is loss of carefree days of sleeping in, playing and reading in the sun, having no set schedule and hours of conversations with my kids.  Maybe it is the thought of colder days to come.  Maybe it the frantic pace of carpools, soccer games, early morning scripture study, homework, chores, and school functions.  Perhaps it is the knowledge that someone else now has more time in influencing my children's lives each and every day.  Who knows.  I even wonder if deep down inside,  the fact that my youngest child is gone for the whole day makes me a little melancholy.

I find myself in a weird position.  It doesn't feel like that long ago when I dreamed of having just an hour to myself.  When I was in the thick of diapers, nap times, car seats, tantrums and all that comes with it.  The idea of doing errands by myself seemed so elusive and yet enticing.  And here I am at the other end, with a quiet house and endless possibilities.  I realize that once again I must reinvent myself as a mother of all school children.

Don't get me wrong.  I am excited in many ways.  I have 13 years of projects to catch up on.  I hope to even have a completely clean and organized house at some point.  There is a list a mile long of things to do.  I am sure I can keep myself busy.  I just hope that I feel that all my productivity is meaningful.

Needless to say, the kids went to school whether they were ready or not.  Brianna was thrilled.  She has been counting down the days,  She loves to learn and couldn't wait to be a 1st grader.  Ryan was okay with going back.  He had an activity in the summer with his teacher and I think it got him a little excited for the fun things ahead.

Alyssa has been dreading it.  Well at least she acts like it.  Deep down I know that she truly enjoys school and couldn't wait to get back to see her friends.  She is 13 after all and has to act like it is uncool.

So I got some neat pictures to start the day.  My children have grown so much and I am so proud of them.  I wouldn't trade them if I could (now you know I am being a little nostalgic :)  Anyway I love them and I hope their day is as wonderful as mine.  (Roger took me to breakfast and then I got a pedicure).

A Day of Firsts

It was a day for firsts for my darling Brianna.  We decided it was time for her to learn how to ride a bike.  (Especially because she was so anxious to drive the motorcycle up at Bear Lake).

So we donned the helmet, pumped up the tire and off we went.  Yep, she was so ready.  It only took her 2 times down the street before she could do it in on her own.  By the end of the day, she was riding like a pro.    What a grown up girl.

And to add icing to the cake on a wonderful day, Brianna lost her 1st tooth.  She bit into her lunch and out it came, just like that.  Pretty exciting for my 6 year old.  The tooth fairy left her a dollar and the next day she immediately wanted to spend it.  So off to the dollar store we went where she bought a fancy cup with curly straws.  It was a fun purchase and I am sure the tooth fairy would have been proud. of her choice.



Summer Camp Out Fun

The kids have been desiring to go camping for some time now.  Since Roger isn't a big camper and time is hard to come by, we did the next best thing.  We had a camp-out in our own back yard.  Tyler and Jocelyn came over to help make it more official (and fun of course).

The boy scouts set up the tent, and they did a mighty fine job.  Then they searched out sticks to carve to use for marshmellow roasting.  The girls played on the tramp and swings and eventually entertained themselves with wildpuff flowers (like glorified dandilions although I don't know their name.)

It was an idealic and perfect summer evening.

Eventually we built a fire in our make-shift cookie tray fire pit and roasted marshmellows until everyone had full tummies and sticky hands.

The kids slept well in the tent and I slept okay with Alyssa on the deck.  I can handle these type of camp-outs with running water, flushable toilets and every other ammenity at our fingertips.  I can imagine this won't be our last camp-out of the summer.

Baseball Season

Well another baseball season has come and gone.  It has certainly been a year of ups and downs.  Ryan once again played for the Marlin tearm.  This year we had a few more exprerienced players and we had a much better overall record this season than last year.  It was fun for the team to have a winning record.

Ryan was the one and only pitcher on the team.  Others were eventually trained but none of them were as consistent and fast as Ryan.  At this level, the pitcher makes or breaks the team and Ryan could only do so much.  Usually his coach put him in the last half of the game to pull out a win.  We would then have to come from behind to win it and we actually did quite often.  Ryan is a great pitcher and has lots of natural talent for it.

One of Ryan's strengths as a player is his level head.  He is normally cool and collected during the games and it appears that nothing will phase him.  I, on the other hand, pace nervously behind the backstop and have a hard time watching a lot of the time.  This year,  Ryan started to show a lot more emotion.  You could tell when he was feeling good about his performance by his facial expressions and even an occasional fist pump.  But on the flip side, you could also see his frustration and occasionaly the pressure got to him.  He had an especially difficult time with his batting this year and he would pysche himself out often.  I found this hard as a parent and so wanted to help him.  This year was a good learning experience for him to focus on controling his emotions and eventually just having fun with playing ball.

Ryan played exceptionally well during the tourniment.  In fact, as a pitcher, you are only allowed so many strike-outs per day and week.  Ryan his his quota and eventually couldn't pitch anymore.  One night he played 2 games in a row and pitched to majority of the time.  He loved it, in spite of the pain he felt in his arm afterwards.  Unfortunately, once Ryan was pulled as pitcher, we could win the game and our season ended. 

Overall it was a great experience and Ryan still loves the sport.  We are hoping to find him an acclerated league to give him some more experience and good training.  We will see what happens.

Aloha # 6

Happy Birthday my dear Brianna!!!!

My baby turned 6 today and we had a big Hawaiian party to celebrate.  It was Brianna's idea to do the Hawaiian theme and I was all too happy to oblige.  We had a wonderful turnout (14 kids) and a beautiful day to enjoy.

The main activity Brianna wanted to do was the "Limbo".  So Limbo we did.  The kids loved it and we did it over and over again.  We also played Twister,  had water fights and swam in a pool.

Kids from top to bottom:  Brianna Wheeler, Danielle Webster, Brianna Pickering, Marie Taylor, Alison Sandberg, Benny Petersen, David McConkie, Cassie Beddes, Nicole Dille, Jessie Teerlink, Jocelyn Millington and Lizzie Beddes.  Davis Alcorn showed up a little late and is absent in the picture.

We had a beach themed cake of course.  All of my kids helped make it and felt pretty pleased with the results.

We also served a lunch of "octopus" hot dogs, chips and fruit on fancy tooth-picks.  The tropical theme wouldn't have been complete without a pina colada drink and a fancy umbrella.

There was much squeeling with delight and happy laughing sounds from all.  In my book, that is a successful party.

Future Bakers of America

For her birthday, Brianna wanted a beach cake to go along with her Hawaiian theme.  We researched various cakes online and came up with a master plan.  Then we decided to try and do something new.  We attempted to use gum-paste to create the various minatures and designs on the cake.

The kids thought it was glorified play-dough.  We had a wonderful time using our artistic talents and creativity.  The kids admitted it was harder than they imagined and I had to agree.  Yet it afforded us a good couple hours of entertainment.  The overall result wasn't exactly how I imagined it to be but the pride of the kids was evident and that is enough.  Not to mention, Brianna loved it which was the most important thing.