Aren't they sweet?

Today I was getting Emmy ready for the day and I said, "let's do your hair" she responded with, "why?" and I said (in my most loving, kind, gentle, motherly way) "Because you look like an orphan". She just looked at me and said, "Orphans aren't real." Isn't that funny - what does she know about orphans anyway (or the lack thereof?!)
Then Tyler was playing Wii today (how long he'd been playing is not relevant to the story) and I asked him if he was tired of playing Wii. He told me that was impossible - he'd never get tired of it. Then he adds, "but my hands are getting sweaty". I told you they were sweet . . .

First day of School!

This week we started school. Tyler started 2nd grade and Emmy started kindergarten. We'd done the kids' "Meet and Greet" at the school earlier to meet their teachers and drop off their supplies. Everybody was excited - school starting puts such a thrill in the air - everyone's excited about it and there's so much to talk about - it's really a fun time of year. I was getting ready to back into a schedule and have things going on. I will miss our lazy days of reading and playing games - but I like the excitement of school starting. Tyler was really excited to have Emmy there this year. Emmy has afternoon kindergarten so Tyler gets on the bus at 8:30, Emmy goes at 12:30 and they come home together at 4:00. They were excited to see each other at recess and sit together on the bus. Tyler seemed a little quiet at the bus stop that morning - but never said a word about being nervous. He's got some friends from other years in his class so he's in good shape.


Now Emmy starting kindergarten is what's a killer for me. I just can't believe she's old enough to go - she is so ready though. The first day the parents had to be there for the first hour to go through some policies and things. Since I had to be there anyway I assumed I'd just take her. No, she wanted to ride the bus and meet there. The first day wasn't so bad because I practically followed her there. When I met her at the school we went into her classroom and the teacher was talking to all the parents - after about 45 minutes Emmy asked me when kindergarten was going to start! When it was time to leave I gave her a big hug and started tearing up - all she could say was "BYE". She certainly wasn't missing me! She came home with Tyler on the bus and they were both happy and excited about school.





The second day was harder for me with Emmy because she rode the bus there and left me at home. The bus came around the corner and I went to give her a hug and she couldn't be stopped on her way to the bus. The bus driver just looked at me and said, "well she's ready isn't she?"

It's weird to have 2 kids gone 5 days a week - good thing I've got 2 more at home! I hope they have good teachers and good friends.

Birthday Party!

Bay's Birthday

My little Bay turned 3 last week. I can't believe she's already 3 - she's just turned into big stuff lately. We celebrated her birthday at my parent's cabin. She has been talking about her birthday cake for a month - and all she cared about was that it was chocolate. She told everyone she saw that she was going to have a chocolate birthday cake. She picked a princess cake (though the princess was extremely secondary - it had to be chocolate!) and we had her party. In honor of her turning three here's three fun things about Bay:
1 - She asks 'why' a thousand times a day - it doesn't matter what, she'll ask you why. And there's no end to this fun game - it can just go on and on. But now Derek and I have started turning the table on her - and we ask her 'why' all day. Her standard response is "love it!". It is hilarious - why are you going to bed, eating dinner, going to the bathroom, wearing pink, - "LOVE IT!". It doesn't matter what you ask her - she loves it.
2 - Bay has a blanket she really likes. It's pink fleece and she likes to have it when she takes naps and goes to bed. One Sunday I was getting her ready for church and she asked if she could take her blanket to nursery. I asked her what Sister Long would say if she showed up with a blanket - she responded, "hello blanket!"
3 - Bailey gets into ruts - or tracks of a sort. She'll start doing something - running around the couch, going down a slide - whatever it is, and she'll just do it over and over. She gets stuck in a rut. This summer we were at the water park and she got into a rut at the kiddie pool. She'd go down a slide called Kiddie Cowabunga and then back up the hill to come down again (dragging her own tube in the process!). Every time she'd come down she'd just say, 'bunga' and off she'd go again. She must have done it for 30 minutes.
Bailey is as fun as they come - Happy Birthday Bay!

Cousin Camp

Cousin Camp 2008

Every year my mom holds Cousin Camp at her cabin. All the grandkids come if they can and we have great time every year. Parents are optional - how great is this deal?! My sister Allyson came just for the fun. It's one day and one night with tons of activties jammed into it. This year she kicked it off by taking us all to Starlight Mountain Theater to see Cinderella. She made the kids all matching Cousin Camp t-shirts that the kids wore proudly to the theater. The kids loved the show. Then we all headed back to the cabin where we tried to get kids to sleep. My mom has a big bonus room with 4 twin beds and one queen - she lovingly calls it 'the bunkhouse'. So we sent 7 of the kids in (Logan opted out of that craziness!) and told them to go to sleep - are you laughing yet? My theory on the situation was as long as they stay in there I don't care. Eventually they did go to sleep - I think . . .
The next day we started the day off with a bang, or a hiss - breakfast was snake pancakes. Then we made bird feeders, tin foil boats, water gun games, 4 wheel rides, playing in the river (of course a movie or 2 so the adults could catch our breath!) and tons of fun. That night the kids who were still there went to bed a little easier. We had a great time at Cousin Camp - and my kids are asking how long until Cousin Camp next year (hint, hint Mom).

Thanks Emmy!

Today I got pretty fancy in doing Emmy's hair for church - I did a ballet bun (braided hair in a bun) for my first time. Emmy went to primary and I heard her tell her teacher, "My mom did my hair. She did the best she could." She's totally right! Maybe it wasn't as fancy as I thought . . .

Farewell 3:00 Church!

Today my family went to our last day of having church at 3:00 - that's right . . . we've had church at 3:00 all year. It's been rough having church so late - our first day of 3:00 church in January we blessed Logan. The rough time paired up with Mother Nature to dish out some meanness that day. We had company here from Utah and Eastern Idaho who had to go home that day, 3:00 church, and a snow storm. My family had to leave right from sacrament meeting to get on the road - leaving me with one big dinner (that my mom did all the work for!) and not many eaters! Oh you're mean you 3:00 church! This 3:00 church also had us coming out of church in the dark throughout the winter - literally totally dark coming out of church. I remember being in Primary and when the kids were dismissed they were told to go home and go to bed! All we had time for was dinner before bedtime. So what glorious time did we move to?! 1:00 - normally a time I'd also complain about, but now I know it can be worse. So to you 3:00 church I say good riddance!