Back to School

Okay, I'm pretty much caught up from summer. The boys were SO ready to go back to school. They woke up way before me that morning and were all ready to go by the time I got up at 6:30. Spencer's in 7th, Tyler's in 5th, Dallin is in 3rd (in a 3rd/4th split), Brennan is in kinder, and Levi wanted to make his lunch too.

I was all stressed when school began because I was unhappy about a few things. A new charter school just opened this year, but I didn't want to do it for several reasons. The problem was that many good, strong, involved families sent their kids to it, so I was worried there wouldn't be anyone left at our school. I didn't recognize almost any of the names in their classes. But my boys were just fine with it. They like their teachers and don't want to leave their school, so I'm okay now. Why do I let these things stress me out?

After we got the oldest three boys off to school and before kindergarten started, we went out to breakfast with a few other moms. Brennan got icing all over his clothes, so we had to go home and change his clothes quick before school started. He loves his DC shirt because it looks like spin art.

First day of kindergarten! Brennan was very excited, and he wasn't at all sad to leave me. Of course it helps that he was in transitional kindergarten last year, and there is a set of twin boys from TK in his class again this year. Even though he's one of the oldest in his class (he turns 6 in November), he's still the shortest one there. Poor guy. At least he's the cutest!!

Making the most of Furlough days

Our school district is BROKE! Like, over a million dollars in the hole. So the school board decided to have 6 furlough days this year and 12 next year. They're like snow days, but with gorgeous spring weather.

 

On our first furlough day we went to Avila Beach. It's a great beach, but we don't go there often because it's usually crowded and we have to park SO far away. But on a random Monday afternoon in May, we were able to park right up front and practically had the place to ourselves. 

Dave met us there after work and grilled ribs for dinner. This means that I had to pack the car for the beach PLUS everything we'd need to cook dinner ALL by myself, stopping several times to feed Chloe. You wouldn't believe how long it took me. Like, 2 1/2 hours! Then on the way we stopped at the hospital to give them a thank-you card and a 2 lb box of See's candy. I stayed in the car with sleeping kids while the 3 oldest boys ran in and gave our gift to the pediatric nurses. They called Dave to thank us and say how amazing our boys are. It's true!

One great thing about this beach is that it has 2 parks - an old one right on the beach and a pirate park right next to it.

They love these old swings because they're so tall. New parks have pitiful short ones, if any.

I had fun taking pictures of the kids on the swings. I accidently cut off the top of Spencer's head in this one, so I cut and pasted one from another picture and thought it looked cool just sticking out of the picture. 

You know how much I love back lit pictures!

Yum!

We had one rib leftover, but a seagull swooped down and snatched it right out from under us. Man, they're quick!

Chloe just chilled the whole time. She's such a good beach baby!

Of course we had to roast marshmallows with the hot coals.

See - I was there too.

I love this picture of Brennan. He's so dang cute! It was an amazingly beautiful evening at the beach, and we had to pull ourselves away around 7:30. After all, we had school the next day.

Butterfly egg hunt

Brennan's TK (transitional kindergarten) class has been learning about butterflies, so they had a butterfly egg hunt on the last day of school before Easter. That's one clever teacher!

They had to find the eggs that had their names written on them. That way it was educational (reinforcing name recognition), and everyone got the same amount. Great idea!

Dave's family was visiting, so I left Levi and Chloe with them and went to take pictures. I had been stuck in the house with sick kids for two days, and it felt good to get out of the house. Brennan was off school for two days, and he was hoping and praying he'd be better in time for the party. He slept in until 9:45 that day and woke up feeling great. Yay!

We love Mrs. Root! And we're really bummed that the TK program will most likely be cut due to the state's budget woes. I wanted Levi to go there in a few years!!

Here's some of Brennan's class. That blonde kid sitting next to him is his hospital roommate. His mom and I shared a room when they were born!

They were allowed to eat one piece of candy when they got back to the classroom.

I feel like I've been such a terribly uninvolved mom this year! I usually try to volunteer on a regular basis or at least help out at classroom parties, but it's been too hard with Levi and being pregnant and such. Since I was alone this time I decided to stay a little longer.

They had free play and were able to choose whatever station they wanted. Brennan had fun showing me around.

TK is such a perfect mix of preschool and kindergarten. He has a lot of fun, and he has learned so much; he's totally ready for kindergarten now!

Ball Wall

We sure enjoyed watching general conference this weekend. The boys played happily, occasionally coming in to listen. We also ate yummy food and celebrated Levi's birthday. Between Saturday sessions we walked over to the school to ride bikes/scooters and play ball wall. (Look how flat that ball looks! It wasn't actually flat - just hit the ground hard. Pretty cool)

I had never actually played it or even watched someone else play it, though I do get the ball wall report from Tyler every day after school. It's his favorite thing to do at recess, and he also likes to play it with Dave for their date nights.

It used to be one of Spencer's favorite things to do at recess too. But now he's in middle school, and everyone is boring and walks around talking and acting all cool during recess.

I love this cute picture of Dallin! He doesn't like to play ball wall. He's still into chasing and being chased by girls at recess. I get that report after school too. In fact I hear more about recess than anything academic.



I even played a game with Dave! It was a lot of fun. This is not the best picture of me, since my face is washed out in the direct sun and I have a double chin taken from this angle, but it's better than all the lunging-for-the-ball pictures Spencer captured. By the way, I am now wearing maternity clothes. I grew out of all my regular pants last week. I did laundry, and when I took my jeans out of the dryer, none of them fit. I'm 19 weeks along, and my ultrasound is on Friday!

I pushed Levi (and Brennan when he got tired of riding his scooter) in the stroller. Between that and playing ball wall, I got enough excercise to wear me out for the day.

Brennan comes home every day telling me all the rules the kids are breaking at recess. I didn't think he was much of a rule kid, but when he gets to school, he is the perfect student.

More about Levi's fun birthday to follow.

Back to School

Life changes so completely for me when school is back in session. This year is a big one for us - Spencer started 6th grade (middle school!), Tyler's in 4th and Dallin's in 2nd, and Brennan is in a pilot program called Transitional Kindergarten. The school year came quicker this year (our summer was 9 weeks instead of the usual 10), but the boys were super eager to start. They love school, and they couldn't wait to wear their new clothes.

We are loving the TK program! The cutoff date to turn 5 for kindergarten in California is December 2nd, but they will be moving it up to September 2nd within the next couple of years. So they started a new program just for kids with birthdays between Sept. 2nd and Dec. 2nd (that's Brennan - Nov. 28th) who are still technically old enough to start but really not ready (that's definitely Brennan). It's regular kindergarten hours, every day for 4 hours, and it's at an elementary school down the road from us. Plus it's free, since it's through the school system. It's kind of a step between preschool and kindergarten, and he loves it!

He had a wonderful 1st day as a Pifer Panther! He loves his sweet teacher, Mrs. Root. He made 2 best friends - one of whom was born the day before Brennan and whose mom and I shared a room in the hospital when they were born - what are the chances of that? There are only 12 kids in the morning class and 11 in his afternoon class, and they overlap for 1 1/2 hours/day. After 3 weeks of school, he still loves it and comes home excited every day.

So it's just me and Levi at home for a few hours. I love my schedule! The boys make their lunches the night before to reduce craziness in the morning. I exercise at Curves a little bit earlier this year so we can have scriptures and prayers at 7:15. Spencer leaves at 7:30 to ride his bike to school with his cousins and friends. Then Tyler and Dallin walk to school at 7:45 and Dave leaves for work around 8:00. Brennan and Levi play together for a couple hours while I do my morning routine - breakfast, shower, dishes, etc. We drive Brennan to school at 10:15, run a quick errand or two (so easy with just 1), go home for lunch and put Levi down for his nap. Then I have 2-3 glorious hours all by myself to read, clean, organize, bake and nap. I love it! I usually have to wake Levi up to get Brennan at 2:15. Tyler and Dallin walk home at 2:45, and Spencer gets home around 3:30. I love that it's staggered so they can take turns telling me about their day. Last year the 3 oldest would rush home and compete to tell me their news first. About the above picture of Levi: the downside to our new wood floors is that he can easily slide the chairs anywhere he wants and get into any of the cupboards. See those knives? and marshmallows? He sure keeps me on my toes!

Peter Pan

Last Friday my kids performed in the school production of Peter Pan. They've been practicing since February, and they had so much fun. They LOVE acting. I can't even tell you how much. They are sad it's over and want to be in another play right now.

Dallin was Michael and Tyler was John. They were so cute! I made their pajamas because I couldn't find any that looked old-fashioned. Then I couldn't find any good material (all we have here is Wal-Mart), so I bought some cheap flat sheets. They were perfect. Now my other boys want me to sew pajamas for them too. I got Tyler's hat and glasses at an online costume store.

Spencer was hilarious as Smee. I bought large adult clothes and sewed them to old t-shirts and shorts along the bottom seams. Then I filled them with pillow stuffing and sewed the tops shut. Dave had the idea of attaching the stuffing to his face with toothpaste, and it worked great. I bought the glasses at the same costume store.

Some of the pirates, getting into their role.

Dallin waking up in the opening scene.

Tyler pretending he can't see until he puts his glasses on. I couldn't find black glasses, so I painted them.

The opening song, "You Can Fly," was so cute and well-choreographed. They were jumping back and forth between the beds and such.

They did so well remembering all their lines. Dallin knew what to say, but he'd forget when to do them. So we practiced lots the night before, and he did great.

"I Won't Grow Up," one of my favorite songs.

Enter the pirates. Every time Spencer was on stage he made me laugh. Even when he wasn't saying anything.


My nephews Peter and Jacob were also Pirates. Don't they look cute?

Peter makes such great faces.

Peter Pan is really the perfect play for kids. There are pirates, indians, fairies - something for everyone.

The pirate ship was incredible. Nancy (my friend who directed the play) used the old sets from Bye Bye Birdie that the stake put on the week before, and she borrowed a bunch of piratey things from Ron Daniels to decorate it. Wow!

The whole cast - 53 students! Nancy is just amazing. What a great experience for all these kids. If you'd like to see all my pictures from the play, they're on Flickr.