Now, THIS is My Kind of Camping

About five years ago, there was a motor home that Matt's work repossessed and he got permission to "try it out" and he brought it home.
(I blogged about it back HERE)
The kids were ecstatic!!!

 {Li'l 7 yr. old Haylee}

And it was perfect timing because our ward campout was already scheduled for THAT weekend!

The kids played in it, and packed their stuff in it, in anticipation to go.

WELL, it turns out that the credit union's president's definition of "trying it out" ONLY MEANT to drive it home - and DID NOT mean we could actually take it anywhere for real camping (our definition of "trying it out.") 
OH.
So, Matt drove it back to work and the kids did not take this "misunderstanding" well.  We tented it that weekend.....And they have always wished for "what could've been" five years ago.
In fact, these old photos have been coming up on our computer's screen saver lately, and the kids are all like, "Ahhhhhhh!" whenever they see them.


Fast forward to the present day:  My good friend's mom bought a camping trailer with the hopes that her kids would USE IT - but they're not.  So, after two summers of non-use, she opened it up to a broader circle of contacts; her kids' friends - which is where we come in!  She let us use it - and her truck to pull it with - AND she WAS GRATEFUL it was getting USED!  ;)
(SOOO generous!)
So, our kids previous unfulfillment can now be filled!  :)  Better late, than never!

The weekend outing was a SUCCESS because MY kind of camping now includes:

1.  THIS....

{After a few recent years of Girls' Camp, I think a camper trailer is the only way I want to camp now!  If I have my choice!}

2.  Weather that is 'just right' - not too hot, not too cold

(And the turning leaves add a nice touch, too!)

 3. Nice big rocks that provide a place to sit down.

 4. Something to keep the kids busy, so they aren't creating [dangerous or annoying] "fun."

 Brookelle really took the hunting-for-a-leaf-at-least-as-big-as-your-palm to heart!!  ;)

5. Being close enough to a town that has famous shakes. 

 {Dairy Keen in Heber City}

6. Having full hook-ups/electricity so that the T.V./VCR worked

How much can we CHEAT at camping?!? ;)

7. Also, thanks to the full hook-ups, being able to cook everything in a "kitchen" and have all the food in a refrigerator - plus wash dishes in a sink!

8. A BED to sleep on.

9. Real cover/protection for when it rains. 

10. But, I won't ax "The Great Outdoors" altogether - the camp fire part, with the s'mores, 

and the fire's relaxing, hypnotizing affect, along with the great talks/stories 

that happen as we sit around it, is still a favorite of ours!

Thanks so much to the Williams' & Badham's!

One A Day: This MONTH'S Gratitude List

I decided to write one thing in my "Gratitude Journal" - a challenge that was given to everyone in our Young Women organization - on my blog this whole month.  (Except I ended up writing Two-A-Day during the actual Thanksgiving holiday weekend - it was too hard to limit myself.)

Here's the list in it's entirety.
{taken from the sidebar}

1. a DAY OFF school & waking up early!

2. a sweet Primary president who is looking out for Haylee (& her recent Celiac Disease diagnosis) who sent me home with a gluten-free snack for her

3. a ceiling fan...when I am feverish and overheating

4. Katelyn! She was so EXCITED and QUICK to THANK when opening bday gifts today

5. a friend called to see if she could run any errands for me because Miss B & I are sick

6. my husband brings me medication and Vick's - at 1:30 AM - while I lay in bed!

7. Cowboy Dinner

8. Warm-ish, pleasant weather in Park City for our shopping trip this year

9. I finished 3 of my main Christmas shopping lists!

10. better participation & discussion from YW in lesson today

11. I got to spend most of the day with Matt due to him having the day off work with Veteran's Day

12. a good-hearted, in tune, attentive Mia Maid advisor

13. successful YWIE - the YW who spoke did a great job by bringing The Spirit!

14. prayers were answered with our out-of-gas-on-the-freeway "fiasco" today!

15. The MTC Experience for my sons - they were high on The Spirit when they got home!

16. our friends, The Lacy's (they agreed to go out with us!)

17. my Visiting Teachers both came

18. Haylee said she liked dinner - and asked for more!

19. our home - it "works" for our family!

20. two of my YW totally planned & executed mutual

21. I can (& did) go to the temple during Kindergarten

22. a refund check from the Insurance company!

23. inspiration received from the messages of Hilary Weeks and S. Michael Wilcox at TOFW

24. my family was ON TIME to church!

25. Google

26. my supervisor eavesdropped in on a call when I happened to do/say everything right! ;)

27a. There's now a Costa Vida to eat at the halfway point on the drive down to St. George!
27b. kind, generous, (& brave) neighbors of my parents who let my family stay in THEIR house while they were out of town for the long Thanksgiving weekend!

28a. sun & warmth during my walk around the "turkey bowl" track
28b. my neice went "black Friday" (really on Thurs. night) shopping with me

29a. Matt got to baptized & confirm me in the St. George temple Baptistry - a 1st for us! (There was a total of 14 of us in attendance, including my 2 sons, from my extended family.)
29b. shakes at Iceberg ["on the house"] after our temple outing - thanks Papa!

30a. time to visit with and enjoy the company of my cousins & aunts/uncles who I hardly ever get to see.
30b. we returned home to a CLEAN house at 11:15 PM - thanks to me insisting all "Saturday" jobs were done on Wednesday before we left - it felt so good!

November 2013

Happy Harvest!

I tried my hand at a REAL garden this year for the first time.  Definition of "REAL?" As in a rectangle-shaped one with multiple rows of plants.  

(Previously, I have planted 1-2 zucchini plants in a flower bed on the edge of our old yard - which I considered not a REAL garden.)

Ryan organized our family - for his Family Life merit badge - back during Spring Break to first, prepare a plot of land in our yard for a garden.  This took half a day, leveling, and getting out the rocks and weeds, and making a "box" around the outer edges with all the leftover boards that were still hanging around our property from the builders 8 months prior.  We really know how to "Live it Up" for Spring Break, don't we?!?  ;)  haha.  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of that day.

Gradually, I planted the various vegetables & fruits (green onions, onions, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, zucchini, and corn) over the next 6 weeks based on when the seed packet suggested.  (Again, I'm a rookie, so I wasn't ever sure I was doing things exactly right....and I might have been tardy on some of my planting times.)
I don't have any photos of the planting process, either.

And since we didn't have a landscaped yard in, yet, we also didn't have any sprinklers, but our kind back door neighbors (the experienced gardners) let us hook a hose up to their garden spout, so we could at least hand water it.

We divided the garden rows up between us, and each person was in charge of weeding their row.  Like Mom was corn, Dad was onions & tomatoes, Kyle was green onions, Katelyn was zucchini, etc.  Let's just say that some rows stayed better weeded than others!  (like the corn!)

I periodically took pictures through the rest of the season.

JUNE 

AUGUST

We picked our first batch of corn and had it for dinner one night!

(Katelyn's face doesn't look so sure!  :)  That's because OUR corn was not a "pretty" as the corn she was used to getting from the farmer's corn field that used to occupy the land where our home now sits.  Again, I'm a rookie.)

SEPTEMBER

I guess the seed packet was NOT kidding when it suggested putting 3-4 feet in between each row of the vine-like plants (canteloupe/watermelon/pumpkins)......well, I didn't have that kind of space, so I didn't.....and the vines all tangled together and cross-germinated, and produced hybrids, maybe?  Rookie mistake, right?!?

Watermelon

Zucchini

Usually people around here have zucchini growing out their ears, but I can count on my hands how many I got, so maybe I did something wrong?  (Again, I'm a rookie!)

Cantaloupe

Pumpkins

In the end, our onions, green onions, and tomatoes never did come up....they just disappeared into thin air!   (Rookie!) Our [experienced gardner] neighbors actually gave us an "extra" tomato plant she had in a pot and helped my girls plant it in our empty tomato row -- but I think it was a little too late in the season - we never got any ripe tomatoes before we lost our warm weather, they just progressed to the green tomato point....maybe I should just say that we were TRYING to grow green tomatoes - ya know, for Fried Green Tomatoes? - and then I won't look so non-professional!
We also transplanted Miss B's sunflower seed she had planted in a cup at preschool - it grew pretty good out there.

LATER

We picked and ate them!

Another sign of a rookie:

Here's the inside of a couple of our watermelons.....I THINK something is wrong!?!  (Rookie!)

OCTOBER

Our "pumpkin patch" experience was really slick this year.....

We just went out to our back yard and got 'em!

And we carved our very own hone-grown pumpkins into Jack-o-Lanterns with our friends/neighbors one evening.....they all got ripped off by the pumpkin patch prices!  SUCKERS!  ;)

But, as beginner's luck would have it.....there were a couple of our pumpkins in the garden that never did turn ORANGE.....they were STILL green towards the middle of October.  (Again, rookie?)

So, instead, with some Pinspiration, I gave them a little "face lift" - just painted them up, so NO ONE would ever know!

{Except all who read this!}

NOVEMBER

And we displayed them on our porch with some of the pulled-up corn stalks from our garden, too!

 Then we yanked everything all out = end of the season.

Due to the way our landscaping [surprisingly and contrary to our plans] turned out, we're doubling the size of our garden next year!

Is that good or bad?!!?

{We'll hopefully get better at this.}

Blog Post Flashback

I'm sick.

I'm reminded of what I posted 4 years ago.  {Have I been doing this blog 4 YEARS?!?}

Moments when it's okay to say, "OH CRAP!"

The only thing that made me feel better about it 4 years ago, was I told myself,

It'll all be over in 4 years.  
(There's NO WAY he could get elected again, right?!?)

wrong.

I'm sick.

WHAT "Lazy Days of Summer?"

This is officially the last week of Summer vacation for us and it's simply CRAZY to me.  How can it be over just like that?  

Every year, my children mourn the end of summer and dread the start of school, lamenting,

"We didn't even DO anything this summer!!" 

in their best feeling-jipped-voices.  Which really means they didn't do a million, ba-jillion, totally outrageous, much-too-lofty-of-a-plan, EXPENSIVE, UNREALISTIC things.  Like go to Legoland, Universal Studios, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, The Grand Canyon, Seven Peaks, Timpanogas Cave, the Taj Majal, MLB games, Florida, Texas, New York, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Washington, Canada AND Mexico at least once each.  And that they didn't go to Boondocks, swimming, Dairy Queen, Galaxy, the zoo, Classic Fun Center, mini golfing, bowling, gymnastics class, to the movies & museums, boating, hiking, to the beach, and parachuting at least once a week.
And they LOOK OVER the ton of "other things" they DID do!

It never works -- I never have felt sorry for them!

UNTIL THIS YEAR.

Because, THIS YEAR, when they say, We didn't even DO anything this summer.....it's pretty much true!

As far as the traditional SUMMER-ISH FUN that is supposed to go on.

I even bought a pool punch pass and declared, This summer we are going to have "Water Wednesdays" which means we will go swimming every Wednesday.

We went once.

I'm joining the "feeling jipped" members of my family now.

Matt & I even missed our August date....and we were doing SO WELL - DANG!  But, we're in San Diego together right now, just the two of us, does THAT count?!?  ;)


Instead of the "Lazy Days of Summer" we've:

• Sold our home -- TWICE!  (The first people cancelled after a couple of weeks)

• Signed, dated, scanned, and emailed back and forth 14 addendums for the sell of our home.  (Our realtor joked with us that he should start taking a higher commission on offers that go past five!)

• Which also meant I had a continual stream of phone calls and texts from the Realtor

• AND we kept showing our home until we past the "Due Diligence" period with the buyers.

• Built a new home

• Made 1,000 decisions on brick, paint, tile, floorboards, door knobs, driveway and walkway shapes, trex decking color, lights, woods, closet layouts, faucets, stucco, windows, trim, size of patio, banisters, patterns, doors on the left or on the right?, plug outlets down low or up high or somewhere in the middle?, If I should UP my anxiety meds or keep them the same.....

• AND then made many of these decisions AGAIN when the bids came back TOO HIGH or TOO LOW (who am I kidding?  THAT never happened!), or my selections were OUT OF STOCK, or the granite slabs I had picked out BROKE the day before they were to be delivered & installed.

• Called the builder way too many times MORE than he wanted me to.

• Babysat the builder.

• Made the builder fix way too many MORE mistakes than he wanted to.

• Fought with the builder.

• Started the loan process with a lender for our new home.

• Completed tons of paperwork and scrounged up all kinds of info they wanted about past names, drugs taken, jobs, income, marital status, insurance, residences, driving record, credit scores, best recipe for chocolate chip cookies, etc.

• And then the underwriters came back with a list a "conditions" and we had to send them a butt load of other things; copies of account statements and down payment checks and employment verification and my mammogram results....(just wondering if you're still paying attention!)

• All the while fielding 10 calls/texts (minimum) a day from the lender with updates and requests -- one of which I was not able to take because I had just gotten rear ended on my way back from picking out my granite the second time at the warehouse too far away from my home! 

• Closed on our home - and became renters of our own [well now THEIR] home.  We paid more in rent than we did our mortgage pymt - so sad!

• Packing up our home

• Gathering boxes from all sources:  KSL.com, Walmart, friends & family, the Liquor store (it's TRUE - they're great for our canned foods/food storage)

• Packing up

• Packing

• Packed some more  - it just grew!  When I thought we had done a ton - there was still a ton to do!

• Moved the majority of our things into THE GARAGE of the new house (we hadn't officially closed & it wasn't ready yet) because our buyers were taking possession of ours SOON!

• Shop for and buy beds & bedroom sets for the kids who were changing their sleeping situation (going from a shared room to an own room, going from a toddler bed to a "big girl" bed, etc.)

• Packed up the "essentials" we had kept with us at our home, including my work office stuff because I worked up until the last day we lived in that home.

• Moved the rest into the garage 

• Cleaned & did paint touch ups at the old  [empty] home -- thanks to my VT, brother's family, and MIL for helping us with this trying-to-beat-the-5PM-deadline-to-be-out-EFFORT!

• Signed closing papers on the new house

• Got frequent phone call updates from the lender who "camped out" at the title company for two days making sure that our case was getting worked and pushed it through.(thanks to him!)

• Then when we got word that the house was officially ours, we moved AGAIN.  We could move the things from the garage into the new house.  Word came in the late afternoon, so we didn't have anything set up to sleep, so we stayed at our brother & sister-in-law's house that night.(thanks to them!)

• Unpack the new house

• Move things in from the garage to the house

• Put everything away

• Forgot where I put it away

• Unpack some more

• Put together beds

• Unpack

• Hang butcher paper in the windows (after I got tired of crawling around on the floor below window level) so the neighbors don't "get more than they bargained for."

• Unpack

• Called all the Utility companies to stop service at our old home and start at the new one.

• No one knows our address exists, so make several other phones calls to resolve this....still not sure if it's totally "resolved."

• Call for Internet

• Comcast won't serve my "area" - yet the homes on all the streets surrounding me have it - am I not in their same "neighborhood?" 

• So desperate for internet use, set up an "Internet Cafe" on my in-laws porch and "tapped into" their wireless internet.

• Call another company for Internet - they can't come out for another week.

• Begged and bargained with my co-workers to cover my shifts since I didn't have the capability to work from home without internet

• The internet co. came out and couldn't find a ground wire --then they do -- but the main cable has been spliced (inadvertently?) and they can't get anyone out for 4-5 days to fix it. 

• Went over to my neighbor's to use her internet --Since when did we become so dependent on The Internet????

• Had to drive out to the [way too far away] JetBlue office to work (due to no internet and phone at home) when I couldn't get shifts covered at 2:45 in the morning - yep, just me and one semi on the road at that time!

• Unpack

• Meanwhile, we haven't received mail for 10 days - after 3 trips to the post office, we start getting our current mail, but no one knows what happened to all the mail BEFORE she "found" us!

• Unpack

• It takes a couple of phone calls to get new garbage cans delivered, so we have tons of garbage bags piling up.  THEN once they'res delivered, the garbage man passes us by - he can't find us either?!?  This warrants a trip down to city hall myself to get this straightened out.  WHEN YOU'VE JUST MOVED, YOU HAVE TONS OF GARBAGE and we can't be skipped!

• Hire someone to install cold storage shelving

• Get a water softener guy to our new house -- hard water and oil-rubbed bronze faucets and fixtures DO NOT GO TOGETHER!

• Go up and down the stairs 25+ times a day - needing a shower by the end of the day from all the sweating I'm doing.  I've lost 5 lbs. in the last three weeks.  It's called the packing-moving-unpacking diet!

• And I managed to get Ryan registered for High School (his Junior year!) and Kyle registered for Jr. High (an 8th Grader!)  WHAT?! 

• And we went school shopping - four different days for four different children.  I realized, girls are FUN to shop with - BOYS are not.

So, ALL of THAT dominated our whole entire summer!  But, we're in our new home (pictures coming sometime!)  not totally MOVED IN, but we are sleeping there now.  There are still unpacked boxes and things in the garage that need to be put away, but we're working on it EVERY DAY - some project or another.

Next up:
Window coverings
couches
Bonus room organizational system - I don't know what to do!  Suggestions?
yard
other furniture
TV(s) (that's only on Matt's list)  :)

So, we're FAR from done.  WAAAAAAAHH!

BUT, to make up for everyone's "LOST SUMMER" we've got a Fall Family Vacation coming up that we have been saving for and planning for years......

 

It will be a nice break from all the selling/buying/moving WORK we've spent the summer doing.  :)

Guess What November Means?

Wish me luck!

Thoughts about My Weekend

It was my Annual Girls' Park City Shopping Trip this past weekend.
I didn't even take my camera, so I've got no photos to share - only thoughts:

1. You SOOO don't have to pay full price for anything! In fact 60-80% off is very possible.
   
   


2. It is SOOO much easier shopping without a baby (like I did last year) but we're thinking about bringing our strollers in the future just to hold all the "stuff!"

3. Chocolate dipped Mint Oreos are SOOO good!

4. You must try on bras. Last time, I just got measured & bought without trying on. It SOOO didn't fit! This time, I got measured and tried on - and then ended up buying a different size than was recommended to me!

5. I think I'm the only one in the universe who didn't have this on their mind...
6. I need to remember that the Arby's in Park City has Diet Dr. Pepper!!

7. There IS such a thing as "Retail Therapy."

8. I have a 12 year old girl on my Christmas shopping list. So, I went to Justice for the first time in my life. Can I just say that I was SOOO out of my element while in there? I DID NOT know what to get. 0 to 8 year old girls - easy peasy! Tweens - I'm just not cool enough!!

9. When the Landmark Inn says that "breakfast is included," it is NOT false advertising. Some other hotels try to get away with that marketing line when all they throw out is toast, danishes, & coffee. Not these guys. The stay is worth it just for their breakfast. Bacon, sausage, ham, pancakes, biscuits & gravy, breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, eggs w/ cheese, ham, & vegetables, fresh fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, juices, Hot Chocolate, hot oatmeal, cold cereal, muffins, bagels, cinnamon rolls, PLUS what those other hotels serve for their "breakfast."


10. I don't believe in decorating for Christmas BEFORE Thanksgiving is over (and don't get me started on it happening around Halloween time!) In fact, I have a real problem with it. I really feel sorry for Thanksgiving - it always gets the shaft. But, I found such a delightful Gingerbread House luminary to buy, that I'm almost tempted to break my "Before Thanksgiving" Rule.

But I will resist!

11. And, last but not least, Friday night was our Stake's Youth Culminating event.
They were putting on the Production of Cumorah's Hill.

I had planned to drive down from Park City to see Ryan in it and then drive back up.
As the time to go came closer, however, I just DID NOT feel like driving all that way back down. Alone. In the dark. It would mean I would miss going out to dinner with all my girlfriends and an extra couple of hours of shopping, which I felt kind of bad about. I started to rationalize that I didn't need to really go - since I was "out of town" and all. And, anyway, the performances were originally scheduled for Wed. & Thurs. evenings, so there were no conflicts when we planned our shopping trip. I couldn't control that the date was changed! And on & on my thoughts went....
But, I did drive down and see the performance.
And IT. WAS. WONDERFUL.
Like really, really wonderful!
I was SOOO glad that I went! (And I heard that the performance I went to was by far the better one!) I felt the spirit so powerfully - I asked Ryan if they (the performers) could feel it as much as we (the audience) did. He said they felt it MORE! I was uplifted & my testimony strengthened. It was reconfirmed to me that the Book of Mormon is TRUE. I knew that my Heavenly Father loves me - and also loves all those incredible youth who had taught us that evening (& had dedicated a great amount of time over the past several months in preparation.) I felt like Moroni in the last book of the Book of Mormon,
"I will not [cannot] deny the Christ."
And to think that I was toying with the idea of not going. How many times does that happen? I just don't feel like doing something, but if I do, I am richly blessed! And because of that, I think it's safe to say that Satan didn't want me to go! ;) And that's why I get these doubts & wavering feelings.

Driving back up to Park City afterwards didn't even seem bad at all!

I'm a Mean Ol' Witch with a Hat...

I've had this Halloween decoration hanging on my wall at home this month.

Sometimes it looks like this....

And sometimes it looks like this...

I am not changing it.
I wonder who secretly IS?

And which member of my household they are referring to? :0

It's the MOST Wonderful Time of the Year! Part 2

I referenced this last year at back to school time, but I STILL couldn't agree more with the Staples (and I did confirm, it IS Staples) commercial with my post title for it's "theme song!" And last year, thanks to your comments & emails I got in response to my post, I no longer need to think, "Is something wrong with me?" for feeling like this! I found out that many of you are WITH ME, y'all just hadn't been openly HONEST about it - YET! For me, there's NOTHING hard about the kids going back to school (except finding everyone the right shoes in the right size the week before AND having to get up early, but that's just a small price to pay for the end reward!) And I NEVER shed a tear - and those who do are FAKERS & are just campaigning for "Mother-of-the-Year!" Well, maybe that's a bit harsh, so let's just say that I don't understand them at all!

I ask again, "What's not to like?" When I got back home yesterday after taking the kids to school, I:

• Cleared off the "Hot Spot" on my dryer
• Went through a big box of Miss B's [little] baby clothes
• Cleaned out the microwave
• Answered E-mails
• Started a load of wash
• Caught up on reading some Blogs that I hadn't looked at for a while
• Returned some library books
• Dropped off the baby clothes for donation
• Made a return to the store then bought diapers, bottle liners & pasta
• Made dinner

And I haven't done all THAT in a single day for a LONG time...well...as a matter of fact...before school got out for Summer vacation! (Sorry, for the visual the unattended [food-splattered] microwave may cause!) In fact, most days NONE or just ONE of those things got done this summer!

I once saw a magnet on someone's fridge that said,

"Being a Mother is like being pecked to death by a flock of chickens."

And during the summer, those chickens came after me with a vengeance!

But, now...Okay, Breathe. Think. Relax. Enjoy the "sounds of silence."

Here's how the Blessed Day all went down... (YEA!)

It was a Rainy Day AND a Monday, but that couldn't get me down on this day!!

RYAN

This boy should have NO COMPLAINTS about being able to go back to school since he was grounded THE WHOLE ENTIRE SUMMER! As in, the whole summer. (with the exception of the very 1st week and the last few days.) But, that's a blog post for another day - or not - I might need to just purge that punishment (more mine than his) from my memory!

I had to laugh when Ryan came to me on Sunday night - with no prompting or instruction from me - to show/model for me what he was considering for his "1st Day of School" outfit. This is Ryan, my-never-prepares-until-the-very-last-millisecond-for-anything-risk-taker son! Hey, If he's decided to turn over a new leaf - I'm all for it! :)

Let me see if I can get you a closer look at his shoes...

One day while I was out shopping ALONE, I came across some fantastic prices on shoes. I gathered up a few pairs in Ryan's size and called him. I tried to describe what each looked like over the phone, so he could tell me which ones to get, but he didn't "get the picture" of what I was saying. I was scared to buy the wrong ones for this 8th Grader and as to not risk them being gone the next time I made it back to the store, I BOUGHT ALL THREE! And then let him choose when I got home. These are what he picked. These were actually MY #3 choice out of the 3. He balked at one of the pairs of Sketchers I had brought home since they didn't have TIE laces, but were of the "no tie" elastic strip variety. What?!? I thought those were a great choice...since he doesn't know how to tie his shoes anyway! Yep, that's right, in fact NONE of my kids can tie their own shoes - I have a 13, 9 1/2, and a 7 yr. old who can't (won't?) tie their shoes. Just sign me up for "worst mother of all time" now! I guess I could FORCE them to do it, but I've chosen to NOT ruin our relationship - which shoe tying lessons for sure do! But, that's also another blog post. Anyway, Ryan turned his nose up on the "no tie" shoes because Jr. High kids need laces. But, much to my amazement, I noticed his shoes on the 1st day! He doesn't use the ties! He says that's how it's suppose to be. I told him we should've got MY [less expensive] pick if he's not even going to tie them - to which he just rolled his eyes! So let me get this straight, I guess in order to be cool, ya gotta have laces, but not use them - just create them into a "no tie" shoe - just for looks?

Like I said, he was eager to get going (anywhere, even school), so he took off on his bike. I attempted to get a picture of him riding off on his first day, but he was in much too big of a hurry for his mom-with-a-delayed-camera. And this is how the photo turned out.

KYLE

Kyle merely tolerates my requirement of taking pictures on the 1st Day of School. He's kind of to the age where he thinks (or at least acts like) it's dumb for Moms to do this. But, NO, that still doesn't make me sad that his Back to School attitude is a marker that he is growing up on me. Well maybe one part - his brother has brain washed him a bit which resulted in Kyle declaring to me that he is so done with "tighty whities" and is ready to graduate to boxers - which IS sad since they cost so much more! Kyle was giddy the night before as he repeated/chanted, "No more tighty whities! Hello, boxers!"

*No photos of new boxers included...You're Welcome!

Kyle actually has the same teacher (and incidentally the same classroom) as last year since she is teaching 5th Grade also this year. So, when we walked into the classroom, and he sat in his desk that was arranged in alphabetical order, we noticed it looked very familiar to last year. Take a look...

2009

2008

He even chose the same color of shirt to wear both years!

HAYLEE

Haylee is completely OVER wearing dresses. In fact, I think the last time she wore one was on the 1st Day of School last year. And, NO, I am not depressed about that either - because keeping tights without holes in stock is a PAIN!

Haylee was more than happy to pose for as many pictures as her Mom wanted to take... Haylee's teacher this year has a very long name. It has 12 letters and 4 syllables. 12 letters! Haylee has a hard enough time remembering our own 9-letter last name, so, naturally, her main concern was learning that BIG name. Thankfully, when we arrived in class, we found out that the students can just call her, "Mrs. V." Whew!
This new backpack of hers has a "media pouch" conveniently located on the straps. Really? At this age? Why are the backpack designers doing that to us parents?

Uh Oh, is that a tear in HER eye?

{click to enlarge}

And poor Katelyn, my-practically-as-big-as-her-sister-in-2nd-Grade-and-frequently-mistaken-for-older-daughter...with her November birthday is denied entrance into Kindergarten! (That dang Sept. 1st cutoff.) But, she didn't want to be given the shaft in the photo department - so I obliged...

In her favorite spot by the school's fish tank!

Cheers!...clink, clink, take a sip of your sparkling cider...Here's to the coming [quiet] 9 1/2 months.