1st Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school in all new-to-us schools.  It was also the first day we've ever had a HIGH SCHOOLER of our own.  Yep, B. started 9th grade!  A. is a big 8th grader while X and L are in 4th grade and 2nd grade, respectively.  My baby??!!  In second grade!  They were excitedly nervous or nervously excited, whichever you choose. 

 They are letting their REAL feelings about school show.

 Mr. Debonair was all set for second grade; however, the first statement when he got in the car after school was,"School was HORRIBLE!"  But today it has moved up to "Not horrible, just bad."  Maybe by Friday we'll be at "Great!" or even "O.k." I really hope so!

 Mr. X has not been a proponent for school education, but he came home excited about 4th grade!  YAY! 

Getting up this morning was another story.

 This COOL teenager was calm and collected about school. 

Her 1st day was "o.k." Some teachers she likes, others she tolerates.

And the high schooler. 

I did go in with her to make sure we hadn't had any schedule changes.  Once she found out there hadn't been, she waved 'toodles" and was off. My heart did twist a little and my eyes felt a little wet--in the midst of a hallway of teens.  I sucked it up though. I felt like I did with my  kindergarteners--sending them into the whole, wide world! 

When I picked her up, I was afraid she and L. had planned to echo each other because she told me, "It was HORRIBLE!"  After talking, we found some good parts to her day.  

Tomorrow she starts seminary (an early morning scripture study class).  Her teacher is AWESOME!!  We LOVE him already. There will be 25 Freshman!  

And me?!  Well, I meet myself coming and going. I feel all awhirl trying to remember three different school times for drop off and pickup and homework and which child needs what supplies. The requests from teachers for supplies is never-ending. (I could get on a soap-box about that, but I won't).  Anyway, I'm a taxi driver for now. Better get to bed--seminary for B means seminary for me (though T is helping out. Yay!)

Swimmer Chic

A. tried out for the local swim team and made it!  She'll be on the high school prep team.  She is VERY excited and is taking pictures of each piece of equipment and emailing it to friends.  I was pleased she had the courage to try out.  

A Little Bit Spacey

We decided after all the stress of selling a house, moving, and buying a house, our family needed a little get-away.  Somewhere out of this world seemed good, so we chose space--a Space Center.  We learned  all about the past space programs and the future program. We saw moon rocks, rockets, mission control, space capsules, Saturn V, and so much more. We stayed the whole day. I think by the end the kiddos were feeling a bit spacey.  A great time was had by all, and we learned a bit in the process.

 A mock up of the now-retired Space Shuttle.  

 Vanna, A. showing the stylish orange suit an astronaut wears while shuttling toward space at a gazillion miles per hour.

 And this is the shuttle port-a-potty.  

L. was less than thrilled to point out this feature.

 Here is the cock-pit of the shuttle. 

There were so many buttons, knobs, and switches. 

How do they know which to push!

 Getting ready to go on the tram-ride tour of the Johnson Space Station.

 T and J

(ahhh)

Mission control. 

 This doesn't do justice to the size of this amazing rocket.  

The Saturn V sent the Apollo space capsules and their astronauts into space and ultimately to the moon.

 One of the base engines for Saturn V. I think there were five. They were huge! 

 The top of Saturn V.  See the triangular capsule? 

That's where the astronauts were. Cramped!

 Astronaut L.  

These were mock up helmets of different missions. They were all heavy and awkward.

 Astronaut B.

 Astronaut T.

He loved this whole day. He loves space.

The entrance to an Apollo capsule (a mock up).

 The astronauts (B, L, and A) within--on their backs. 

Not so comfy for a ride to the moon, if you ask me.

 X-man building his own Mars rover.

 Space man X on Mars!

After a day in space we needed a day with the earth firmly under foot. Or rather sand in between our toes. We went to the beach. We dug in the sand, collected shells, and rode the waves.  FUN!  

L. digging around. 

 X. digging a hole and A looking for shells. 

L riding a wave. 

Beach bums! 

Now we are back, still trying to get sand out of our suits!  I think we brought half the beach back with us. It was a fast, fun trip, a great way to end our summer.  Now the count down begins for school!

Got Fruit...flies

Need a gross story to help your day along? Well, let me help with a happening from our past apartment life this summer.  Don't think less of my housekeeping (or lack of) skills!

While in the apartment we noticed some pesky fruit flies flying around.  I stopped buying bananas, thinking that would solve the problem. Still fruit flies.  I checked our potatoes (had a college experience with fruit flies, spoiled potatoes, fly maggots--let's stop there). All was well with the spuds, but still fruit flies.  I concocted my surefire solution to destroy fruit flies--a mixture of water, cider vinegar, and dish soap. Little critters come to sup and drown.  HA! HA! HA!  While a few flies went to their watery grave, there were still more!! I was getting desperate as our time in the apartment was drawing to a close. I didn't want to leave a fruit fly invasion.

I enlisted help.  I told the kiddos I would pay them a nickel for every fruit fly carcass. (Ewww, gross. I told you it was a gross story).  I thought my money mongrels would swat a few, I'd be out a quarter or so, and the flies would be history.  My recruits were AMAZING!  They swatted and swiped, squashed and squished and made BIG money.  Seriously. We're talking DOLLARS.  Now try not to think about it, but that's a lot of fruit flies. Many more than I thought we had initially.  Gross.  I began to realize this was a bigger problem than I had first thought.

Luckily, I was wandering the apartment, wondering where these pests were coming from. It didn't seem to be the kitchen.  Then I happened upon X-man's backpack, picking it up to get a book. A cloud of flies fluttered.  Oh, why do I tell?!  With trepidation I unzzzipppped the pack and...there was the problem. In the rush of back and forth to school, the relief of being done with school, and the joy of a whole summer ahead, the sack lunch had been forgotten. In the bottom of the pack. With a delicious banana peel and left over sandwich. For a rather long time.  I won't say more. Just think GROSS!

We got rid of the fruit fly problem.  And hopefully learned a powerful lesson on why we empty our packs of lunches EVERY night.  X-man, cleverly, all-be-it unknowingly, instigated his breed-a-fruit-fly program, and then broke the bank with his kill-a-fruit-fly program.  Ka-CHING$$ for he and his fellow fruit-fly killers.

And now you have a gross story for your day.

Life's a Rollercoaster

So...it's been awhile.  Life has been rather rollercoaster-ish for our family--fast flying, in your face with  thrilling drops and unforeseen curves.  We're hoping we're on a calm, slow, straight-away now!

Here's a few things we've been doing in the last few months:
*Put our house up for sale.
*Sold our house (YAY!!)
*Look for houses.
*Pack up and move--into an apartment as we haven't found a new house to move into.
*Drive the kids back and forth to school for a week--T commuted for 4 months, we lasted a week.
*Summer break begins with Cub Scout Day camp and Girls' Camp fun.
*We look for houses and find the "right" house.
*Buy the house
*Move from the apartment into the house. Ahhhh...home sweet home.
*Move stuff from storage to the house the next weekend. I do NOT recommend this. Moving should happen ONCE only!
*Unpack stuff (still happening. Don't even ask about all those boxes in the garage!).

But with all these going ons, we've still had some summer fun swimming, going to some dollar movies,  playing Wii, meeting new friends, and discovering new places.

T and I took the boys to 6 Flags to use the free tickets they earned for reading in school.  Our gentle X-man surprised us by wanting to ride a BIG  roller coaster.  We went on a little kiddie one and thought that would satisfy his desire for thrills. I think it only whetted his appetite!  He still wanted to try out the roller-coaster that practically dropped straight down. T went with him and said not a sound came out of the little thrill-seeker during the whole ride, but he did it and loved it--afterwards.  L and I spent our time on the more tame yet still fun rides.  

So now we've had our fair share of roller coasters. Time for smooth sailing.