Do you think he's excited?

You know, the school makes these poor kindergarteners wait another whole week to return to school after the first day. It's torture for them! Yesterday, was Brandon's first official day at kindergarten and he wouldn't even stop for a picture! He just ran after the other kids to get on the bus!

He had a great day! I was a paranoid Mom-because our friend's daughter wasn't let off on the right stop last year-so I followed the bus after school (I wasn't the only mom doing that, either!) They have to go to another neighborhood and make about 10 stops, so Brandon doesn't get home until a half hour after school lets out.

When we were finally reunited, he was pretty clingy. And I loved every minute of it! I missed him and felt lonely that everyone was gone except me. I'm sure eventually I'll be loving it, but right now....I hate that our kiddos are growing up!

Our house in the a.m.

I was laying here on a Saturday morning, trying to sleep in and not being able to, when it started....

Again...

One thing I love about where we live is that we have a small farm behind us. It's far enough behind that we don't smell the fun farm smells very often, but

we do get to hear the farm sounds.

This farm has sheep and cows and every morning,

the cows get angry!

I don't know if they need to be milked or fed,

But a chorus of angry mooing begins every morning

And continues until they are attended to

And I love it!

So, so, so far behind

It took 3 shots to get one good picture of each child. Drama....

I remember thinking that when school started, things will slow down and I can catch up.

Famous last words, right?

I will play catch up later. I just want to recap the past week. School started!

Amanda in 6th grade with Mrs. Miner. Amanda LOVES this teacher. Mike and I haven't met her yet, as back-to-school night is tonight, but she young and sounds like she gets 6th graders.

Sydney in 3rd grade with Mrs. Rodda. Sydney likes her teacher. She has many friends in this class and is having a little drama with them all trying to play together. She had some anxiety going all weekend about going to the first day. Mike & I each gave her a pep talk and soon she was feeling great!

Brandon in Kindergarten with Mrs. Hoddenbach. My heart hurts! I hate when our kids finally get in school. I know some Moms are rejoicing once their baby goes, but I hate it. Mike took Brandon on his kindergarten first day treasure hunt. They were so cute together. I love my boys. But, then we take Brandon home until next Monday! It's hard on them because they are waiting for so long to go to school! He did his testing this week and did really well. I was amazed that his teacher was asking him math story problems! I guess we know what she'll be teaching this year.

The playground was all Brandon could think about during the 'treasure hunt'. Here he is with Kolton Nelson & Alli Wilson.

Along with school starting, we have the activities. Amanda is overscheduled, for sure. Her comp soccer team is at least 3 days a week. Her ballet is now 3 days a week. She is taking one jazz dance class for fun once a week. I feel really blessed that she's able to do all these fun things and that she doesn't have to choose one over the other yet. A big shout-out to carpools! We would not function without them. And starting in October, she will be a Beehive!

Sydney's ballet is now twice a week. She was so excited to try out for the Nutcracker with her shcool this year, but try-outs are the weekend we are going to Lake Powell. Oddly, she was fine with this. I thought she'd be more upset. She is also taking tumbling and hoping to get that back hand-spring down soon. She loves activity days.

Brandon just started soccer and LOVES it! He had a practice last week and wanted to go to practice the very next day! I'll miss my little buddy when he's at school!

Mike continues to be super busy. He traveled to Colorado almost every week this summer....did I mention he drove there? A little harder than flying, but it takes about the same amount of time. He hit a big birthday, too, which I'll discuss in another post....when I can catch up!

I'm just trying to adjust to new schedules and be a good Mom and Wife. I really do enjoy doing what I do! Maybe that's why I'm not liking the change of all our kids in school.

I made pancake faces for the first day of school.

Sydney & Brandon just like the whip cream 'shots' in their mouths.

I am looking forward to Fall. Especially the weather and the beautiful change that happens with the trees. Max & I are going to be walking in the mornings as soon as I get him a choke chain. He is too big and strong! I am looking forward to some fun trips coming up in the next 3 months! Thanks to the Grandmas watching our kids I will get some fun one-on-one time with my hubby! Can't wait!

And there's Ute football!!!

Brandon says:

Brandon loves homemade rootbeer. Ever since we made it a bit ago, he's been asking to make more. I told him,

'We don't have any dry ice, buddy.'

He said:

'Just get the ice from the freezer and dry it up on a towel!'

Can't argue with that logic!

A good lesson learned....

I have many posts written in my head, but we are having computer disk space problems, so I can't download any pictures. As soon as we resolve this issue, I'll update.

I decided to write about the lessons our girls have learned this summer. They have learned to serve others and to be responsible. I want them to be able to read this later and reflect on what they learned during this time.

Amanda has been tending a brand-new baby for a family down the street. The mom went back to work part-time as they await their house being sold, and then she can stay home full-time. Although Amanda gets paid, I believe she has learned a lesson about serving and being responsible. First, she is there a long time....from 7:15 am to about 2-2:30pm. That's a really long time for an 11 year old during the summer. Especially one that wants to sleep in past 7am! She doesn't even get up that early during the school year! But, through this, she has learned to serve this little baby and this family. She cares for little Ella and loves her. Amanda has always been responsible, but I believe she has learned even more responsibility. The mom has told me how much she has loved having Amanda care for her newborn and doesn't know what she will do when school starts again.

Sydney has been helping our cute friends across the street most of the summer. They just had twins in June. They also have a not-quite-two year old. Sydney has been going over about once a day to play with Drake so Natalie can feed her twins. Sydney has always loved babies and little kids, so the fact that she gets to go help is more fun for her than an act of service. When she first started, we talked to her about not accepting any payment. She needed to help our friends and learn to enjoy service. She completely agreed.....which made me so proud of her. Now, Natalie has told me she has appreciated Sydney's help and since she reads my blog, I'm going to say that 'You are still in trouble for giving Sydney the gift card, but you made her day!" She was so surprised because she knew in her mind that it didn't matter if she received anything in return for her playing with Drake. You should have seen her shopping and getting exactly what she wanted because she could pay for it with her gift card.

Mike and I have always tried to show our kids how to work, how to give service and how to be responsible, but sometimes we have to see how they respond outside our family to show they have really learned. We feel like both our girls have learned more responsibility and to love serving others. Plus, they have both been a good example to me.

Dad and I are so proud of you girls and we love you!