First Day of School

We have survived the first day of school! It was a little rough in places, but as of right now, all of the kids are in bed in preparation for day #2.

Despite my efforts at being organized, my grand flow chart schedule (mentioned before) caused more disappointment than help. Somehow I forgot to include bus numbers on it, so I ended up having to drive all of the kids to school since we didn't know what buses to put them on!

I stayed up way too late last night, so felt very groggy this morning. I feigned cheerfulness, however, and got everyone off without too much contention. I even sang Zippity Doo Dah as we drove along. It seems that everyone was a little on edge this morning, not knowing exactly how this day would play out.

Yesterday, I was so excited for the big send off, that I invited a couple of friends over for a celebratory breakfast after the kids left, but I felt so down in the dumps, that I called and cancelled. I then put myself back to bed. When I woke up, instead of feeling free and excited to tackle many new projects like I usually do on that first day back to school, I sadly sat on the couch and stared at the school across the street.

Could this really mean that I was sad to see my children leave? Am I getting to the point in my life that I can see the end coming more quickly? Does this mean that I really love my children? I felt like the Grinch when his heart grew two sizes. I just sat there, loving my children, and missing them. It was a good feeling.

After moping most of the day, I finally got moving and made the kids oatmeal raisin cookies, and Connor made them some mini-muffins. We wrote a welcome home message on the dry erase board, and by then it was time to welcome Hunter home. He was amazingly cheerful and chatted about his day. Emily popped in surprisingly soon after Hunter. She too had had a terrific day and told me all about it. We waited a long time for Alex and Hannah to get home. Apparently the buses were all messed up. They finally rolled in at 5pm right as I was backing out of the driveway to go and find them. They, too, were in high spirits, excited about their new year at school!

Tomorrow, the party is back on! I'm sure I'll be back to my old partying self; ready to tackle the entire house and any new project that may come my way!

The Toothless Wonder

Hunter lost his second front tooth. It was much less traumatic this time! Each day he would ask me if it was time to pull out the tooth. His smile was priceless with his one tooth sticking out through his closed lips. He looked like a true West Virginian! Now it is so funny because he has so much space in front where there are no teeth. He talks pretty funny too! I keep thinking of that line in the movie Babe where the pig bites the sheep and the sheep laughs because Babe doesn't have any teeth. Hunter is my own little toothless wonder!

Getting Ready to Camp

Alex was able to go on a three day backpacking trip in Yellowstone last weekend with the scouts. He had a great time. They had to carry all of their supplies with them, including their food! Alex packed a lot of Ramen noodle soup, jerky, and dried apples. I'm sure his stomach wasn't doing too well on the trip.

When everything was packed, his pack weighed between 55 and 60 lbs! What a hike!

It's The MOST WONDERFUL Time of the YEAR!

I just love that Office Depot or Staples commercial with the parents gleefully shopping while dragging their grumpy faced children along collecting school supplies to the Christmas tune "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!" I can SO relate! I wasn't feeling schooly until last week, and then it hit me HARD! I couldn't stand one more rip roaring fight between my girls, one more high pitched scream from the boys or the constant mess of my house! I became very ready for them to go back! I long for the days when I can walk from room to room and view the cleanliness in quiet solitude. I long to sit on the couch and read to my heart's content. I long to make myself a nice, healthy lunch (no more pb&Js) and eat it on the couch in the living room while watching TV without feeling guilty! Oh, the blissful joy! Next Thursday can't come soon enough. And then I remember that I will have 5 kids in FIVE DIFFERENT schools this year!!! That's a lot of running back and forth, and what to do about parent teacher conferences!?!

Here is the rundown; Connor starts pre-school but thankfully not until after Labor Day. Hunter will go to 1st grade in the Elementary School, which was so crowded, that they had to send the 5th graders to a different Elementary School, which of course is Emily's grade. Hannah will go to Middle School, and Alex will go to High School. We are missing the Jr. High, but will catch it next year when Hannah moves up. If I had another child Jr. high age, it could be 6 schools! But we won't even go there.

Since we live in town, the bus situation is a little sketchy. They don't specifically accommodate in-town kids. The kids have to catch the bus at one school, and transfer to another bus at the next school, and then hopefully make it to their own school. It could be tricky the first day of school.

It is so complex, that I made myself a diagram (if I end up typing it, I'll post it here for your entertainment); 5 different start and stop times, bus times, oh, and they get out of school early on Wed. I think the Middle school also gets out early on Thursdays, but I haven't worked that one out yet. All of the times have changed since last year, and I haven't discovered when High School starts yet. Alex was supposed to have orientation tomorrow, but he'll be camping in Yellowstone. So we'll have to make a trip to the HS next week.

I'm sure that my anticipated relaxation will have to wait at least until the second week! We will win Olympic medals if we don't lose anyone on that first day! It makes me tired just thinking of it all!

Good luck out there to all of you parents sending kids off in the next couple of weeks. We'll all need it! Maybe those home schoolers have something going for them after all!!!

The End of Soccer

I am surprised to find myself somewhat saddened that soccer season has ended. I thought I would really dread having two kids in soccer, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sure the fact that we live right across the street from the field helped a lot! Emily practiced a block away, and Hunter practiced a few blocks away. Emily would walk to her practices and we had to drive Hunter, but most of their games were across the street. The weather was always wonderful!
Most of Emily's teammates had played soccer before, but this was Emily's first year. Her team was undefeated (even though they don't keep score). I think she preferred the social and snacking aspects of soccer to the actual game! She did not like running on the field and I was constantly "cheering" for her to get into the game, but she was content to just walk and chat with her friends. I doubt she'll be playing again next year. The best was that she got a trophy and a gold medal! Way to go Emily!
Of course, I had to make a soccer ball cake for the last game! The colors look strange, but it was neon yellow to go with their shirts and green grass on the bottom.
Hunter also had several teammates who had previously played. This is Hunter with his friend, Blake. Blake broke her nose last year playing soccer--WOW, I can't believe she came back this year! It was so much fun watching Hunter play soccer. He was so enthusiastic. During the games he would just run around behind the crowd and follow everyone. Before his game tonight, I gave him a little pep talk. I told him to chase after THE BALL rather than the other kids. He played his best game tonight. He actually got in a couple of really good kicks. Now if he'll just remember that for next year! His coach was AMAZING!!! After each game she would give the kids a soccer ball patch for attending practice, and another patch to signify their contribution to the game. Each child was MVP at one game. The red patch was the blood patch for the child who got hurt. After the last game tonight, she had a barbecue for all of the families. She really was a great coach!

I will really miss the excuse of getting out and enjoying the fresh air. We have a tendency to stay couped up inside too much. All of the kids will be taking art classes in the fall for their extra curricular activity. Go Picasso! It will be good to spend the days indoors as it grows cold all too soon here in Idaho. Summer. . . until we meet again!

Newspaper Hats

We got an unexpected package from Grandma Moore today, and we excitedly tore it open! I was excited to find a Pampered Chef Grilling Spatula, a napkin folding book, a stained glass window book, and some yummy wheat recipes (yeah! Thank you Grandma!).

The kids, who had about 10 friends over today, discovered the newspaper Grandma used to stuff the box to protect its contents. Hannah decided to entertain the kids and made a paper scalp cap out of the paper which she put on and then chased all of the kids around the house. After a little while, Connor came to me and asked me to make him a knight helmet, sword, and armour. His little friend, Aiden also wanted knight gear. One by one they all came begging for hats. I started making sailboat hats for the rest. They had such a great time running around with their newspaper attire. Who knew how excited they would be by Grandma Moore's wonderful gift? Way to go Grandma, you knew just what they would want!

Allen Reception

On Friday we took a trip down to Logan to attend a wedding reception for Jared and Rachel Allen. We had no idea that our friends from VA who moved to TX and sent their son to IN to school would have a reception in UT!!! It was a wonderful way to see our long lost friends, Mike and Karrie Allen and Michelle Hart! Although short, our visit was well worth the 5 hour drive!

Jared and Rachel Allen

A sweet Moment with Connor.


Emily and Karrie adore each other. I wish we were closer so Karrie could be more a part of Emily's life (and all of us, of course).

Michelle Hart, Karrie, Sunny
Michelle's new boyfriend (you go girl!) Michelle, and me.
James and Emily.

Also on Friday--8/8/08, at 8:08 AM, my aunt Nancy Kirkham got married to Chris Saby in Kamas. We are excited for them. Congratulations Nancy!

Aunt Sylvie Comes to Visit

On Aug 4th we were privileged to have James' sister Sylvia come to visit us. Unfortunately she had a very rough day of travel with delayed flights, bad weather, and lost luggage. She spent two nights with us and 3 days, so we spent some time rounding up clothing and toiletries for her. It was quite the adventure. Her luggage was finally found the night before she left. She had to go to the SL airport to pick it up the next day. It was fun just hanging out with her and letting the kids get to know her better. You are wonderful Aunt Sylvia and we're so happy that you came all the way up to Idaho to see us!

Hunter Loses Front Tooth

When you have 5 children, there is always some kind of action concerning teeth; Alex's wisdom teeth are surfacing. The dentist's estimate is $1200 for extraction. Needless to say, he's keeping them for a little longer! Emily is like a little puppy. She's losing molars and Incisors left and right. Hunter is losing his front teeth. Hannah has been there done that, and Connor is stressed out about thoughts of going through it himself.

It is major drama at our house when someone is getting ready to lose a tooth. It's those last moments when the tooth is hanging by a thread of skin that are the most tense. A couple of weeks ago, Emily had a very painful tooth falling out. It was bleeding quite a bit. She was crying and basically freaking out about this tooth. I offered many times to pull it for her. I knew that once she got rid of the tooth, she would feel a lot better. James refuses to even offer to pull it. He thinks it is barbaric. Each time I came close to Emily she would start screaming "don't touch it!" and run off. One time I tackled her and jumped on her to try to pull it out. She begged me not to touch it. Finally it fell out on its own. It had a very sharp point on one edge. Each time she tried to wiggle it or pull it, the sharp point would gouge her and it would bleed. Poor thing. I've never seen a tooth like that.

So, when Hunter's front tooth became dangerously loose, he followed Emily's example and wouldn't let me touch or even look at it. I decided to let him make the decision about whether to let me pull it or not. Finally at bedtime, he told me it was okay if I pulled it out. It took a very simple tug and the tooth was released! Hunter's pain was relieved, and after placing the tooth under his pillow, he promptly fell asleep. Now he looks dangerously like a jack-o-lantern and has a very difficult time with s's.

Connor, however, couldn't sleep. He kept coming out of his room, clearly distraught. He finally wailed to me that he never wanted to lose any of his teeth and that he was going to skip six. He said, "I'm going 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7!" It was so precious! Maybe he'll be wise and just let me pull the teeth and save himself the agony.

Before Hunter lost his tooth. After losing tooth.
Whoa! Can you believe there are only two teeth missing?
Connor decides to skip age 6 so he doesn't have to lose any teeth!