(second) cousins party!!!
kevin loves anything that involves more kids poking him in the stomach...
lots of little granny visits, and one of them we found these awesome sunflowers that lasted over a week! (someday we will have less meltdowns and I will manage a pic of the great granny with all her great grandkids!)
Lo requested chicken and waffles for lunch the other day. for being the littlest half pint in the family he sure is a good eater!
Little A started the online (government sponsored) preschool they have here in Utah. It is 15 minutes of a computer program every day and we got to go into Provo for some training a few weekends back. Also she found a "special rock" (there's about 20 in her bedroom) and they gave her a star for completing the pre-assessment. We even went grocery shopping after which she was thrilled about because she didn't have to share a shopping cart with three boys!
met up with dad for lunch at the park
finally saw some action in our backyard! New neighbors, can't wait for you to come! (really, I cannot. There is now a cliff in our backyard and I want it filled stat!)
the journal I made it through approximately 2 entries before calling it quits. See previous blogpost. Now it's my workout log! Ha!
"portrait of our home" by little A
THE BIG (BACKYARD) DIG
water table is requested every day. and I only give in like every other day. who would have guessed that table would bring so much happiness?
Lan saw me taking a pic and leaped out so he could get a pic with Sally
Like so. He is the cutest! I am loving the Cars phase right now!!!
the kids had their last yoga class together (A will be taking it solo from here on out while D is in school)
and it was the day of the eclipse!
we checked out little d's second grade classroom... #123 with Mrs. Smith! Yup. I thought it was made up too but it wasn't!
also I made the littlest littles wear rompers on his first day of school because... babies. they are still my babies! And so cute in them!! (gotta get away with it while I can!)
reading after school... and me figuring out the range on my baby monitor (all the way to the bus stop for the win!)
and on the second day of school... he finally lost his first tooth!! Little d has been complaining about the pain from his tooth for weeks, so when he finally offered to let me tie it up with floss (not the first time) and give it a yank, he was so relieved! He kept saying that he felt so different without his tooth. He even got a dollar for it!
I finally got brave enough to go back to the art museum with all my kids (and no other adult help) and managed not to lose anyone. It helped that Wit and Whimsy was a fascinating exhibit for adults and kids. Oh, right they also had donuts.
(D's favorite sculpture, its a man in the shape of a race car!)
(bunny for anna, obvs)
The activity they had was placing characters and props in a scene and Lo just LOVED it! He had so much fun and I promised him we would come back and do it again.
(Squirrel for Astrid!)
(A's favorite painting)
(Lan's favorite quilt and A thought it looked like something our Ohio friend E would love!)
Now that Drew is going to the gym at 6am (two weeks in a row now!! I am so proud of him!), that means we are back to childcare and morning trips to the gym. But what with little d leaving for the school bus at 7:30, we make it to the gym at 8 and are out doing fun stuff like checking out Dory and Nemo at the Rec Center play area by just after 9. Sometimes it feels crazy to all be up so early but it has made bedtime a bit easier because we are all so pooped out at the end of the day!
and on days like today when I really wanted to wear them out, we then made a quick visit to Drew's work, then the library, and the "favorite park" and then lunch and to a friends house before little d came home (followed by swimming before dinner!)
little a is really getting into her role as big sister when little d goes back to school. I guess she knows when to step in after taking the summer off (and letting little d take the reigns)?
Life is good. The kids are good (but when they are bad...). We are more active as a family and I think I am happier as a result. We have to get creative until we have sidewalks that aren't covered with construction stuff, or a playground that is within walking distance. The first day of school little d had one other person ride the bus with him!!! I couldn't believe it. But houses are getting done all over the neighborhood so he should have lots of friends soon! Aside from that, he is happy (and so am I!) to see that Utah uses the same GoNoodle, GoMath, spelling words and tests and reading programs that he was used to. I know people give a lot of grief over what is wrong with the current public school system but kind of like being able to go to any church and know the curriculum is the same, it is nice that even though we moved across the country, little d still has a really good handle and is learning the same things that his little friends in Ohio are learning. Lots of silver linings in this playbook.
