1st Day of School

Ahhh...the excitement of new pencils, markers, crayons, water bottles, clothes, teachers, and adventures marks the end of summer vacation for 3 of our kiddos and the start of a whole new school year. We all felt a little excited, a little sad, and a lot nervous (especially me!) to see summer break end and school start. B. starts middle school this year. This is the stage I've been thinking about since I first saw B. as my tiny newborn and saw the challenges she might encounter. I left her in the gym with a whole crowd of loud, excited, and nervous 6th graders, encouraging her to ask questions, and praying she'd be happy. It was harder to leave her--so much harder--than kindergarten! She came home with a happy smile and now knows her way all around the school.

A. is top dog at school and THRILLED to be there, and X-man is still trying to get use to the idea of sitting in a desk all day when he'd much, MUCH rather be home playing with Legos and his brother. L. would gladly trade places with X-man, but I wouldn't dream of it. I'd lose my buddy. What will I do next year when L. starts school--my baby!!?? I just won't think about THAT.

Vacation Fun Part 1

We are back into the swing of life again after a most wonderful, relaxing vacation with my parents, but on hot, muggy days I reminisce about the warm, dry days there. We played outside everyday.

We went right below my parent's house to their meadow to enjoy a picnic of fluffer-nutters, carrots, and cookies. A fluffer-nutter is cuisine I was introduced to on my mission in Massachusetts. It's a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich. It's like eating dessert on bread. The kiddos only get that at Bumma's though they request(beg) for it at home.

We timed our trip out just right and overlapped it with my sister and her little folks. Her little guy and X are the same age. They ran off together to build Legos and then a clubhouse. The sticks poking up were to "trap" the deer and keep them out of the clubhouse. I guess it worked, because we never did find any deer "trapped." They had a blast.

The most wonderful sister in the world and her cutie-pie.

L loved his cousins, especially his special baby cousin. She liked him too and grabbed at him.

A. chopped some alfafa to feed horses when she and Bumma went on a walk.

One day X and L got the paints out and did a fantastic job on a truck and plane. They could go wandering around outside and I never worried. In fact, I'd have to ask where L was. "Outside," was often the answer.

Here's Miss B. playing us a beautiful song. She and A liked playing Christmas music. Christmas in July!

During our visit my dad came home from a dream trip to Africa. We were excited to welcome him home. L. was glad he wasn't going to be "girl-trapped" anymore, since the girls outnumbered the boys! My dad definitely brings an air of excitement and energy where ever he is! We had fun hearing about his adventures of a rhino peering in at him, giraffes only feet away, and good-looking wart hogs running around. Fun times.

Motto to Live By

We've been on vacation, so now I need to post all our fun pictures. I don't want to right now though. I found this motto on a plaque in a magazine. I loved it!

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming, "WOO HOO, what a ride!"

I want to do that.