First Day of School!

The first day of school calls for a breakfast of cinnamon rolls served on the Special Day Plate! The boys rolled out of bed all dressed and ready to go...as in, Hank literally slept in his school clothes. 

I usually roll my eyes at moms who do things like this, but I made first-day-of-school banana bread gifts for the boys' teachers because I guess I'm feeling grateful that they've prepared and worked so hard to make this year special for my kids.

No nerves for these two. They were all smiles to return to school and catch up with their friends. Aaron reprimanded me for allowing them to dress themselves as they wished, but I am ok with it--if wearing all their favorite clothes all at once makes them feel confident, then so be it. They looked...colorful! 

It feels bittersweet to me because I genuinely do miss their company when they're gone, but I'm also excited for all the fun things they'll get to do at school this year. 

Happy First Day of 4th and 1st grade to my handsome boys!

Updated: Hank and Max came home from school feeling tired, but happy. Max was excited to have found some of his baseball buddies on the playground but was a little flummoxed about buying his milk in the cafeteria. Hank felt pretty pleased with being an "upperclassmen" and enjoyed seeing friends from past grades. It was a good first day! 

Big Leagues

I'm sure this won't be the last post on this topic, but I can't hold it in any longer. A few weeks ago, Max tried out for a U-8 super league competition baseball team. He was the youngest kid there, competing against 8 year olds with much more experience, but Max made the team! Since then, we were hit with the team fees and practice schedules and questioned for a minute what we were thinking, but we're so excited for Max and this opportunity for him to develop his natural talents and do something he loves. Isn't he the cutest little baseball player there ever was?!

When We're Helping We're Happy!

I love to catch my boys in the act of serving one another. In practical terms, I appreciate their help as it lightens my load, but, more than that, I know that their hearts will be filled with love for their brothers as they render service towards them and our hoouse will become a more peace-filled, spirit-filled home.

Sabbath

Sunday was stake conference, but we had too many germs, so we sent Aaron to represent us. Even though we couldn't make it to church, I still wanted to set an example to the boys about observing the Sabbath, so we shared a snack and a lesson on a blanket at the temple. 

No matter how hard I try to maintain reverence, the boys seem to instinctively break into a wrestling match.

Boys Will Be Boys

I was outside, enjoying a summer afternoon, when Rocky approached me with his arms outstretched and something in his hand that he was offering me. When I asked him what he had, he opened up his little first to reveal a squirmy beetle! I squealed and told him to drop it, which he did, and promptly stepped on it with his bare foot! A moment later, Joey joined him to examine the now-dead bug up close...I had to remind Rocky several times not to eat it! Eek!

Triple Tub Trouble

The fun only last for a minute before the splashing and kicking gets too out of control and we have to pull the plug on the bath time fun, but it sure is cute to throw these three in the tub together while it lasts.

Happy Campers

I was finally initiated into full-fledged camper status when our family joined our good friends for our first ever family overnighter! As excited as we were about the much anticipated adventure, we got off to a rough start from the get-go. The weather was threatening to storm and we couldn't make up our minds if we should reschedule or risk spending the night camping in the rain. At the very last minute we decided to make a go of it and threw all our gear in the pickup in a frenzy. Once we got to the campsite, Aaron was all business. I just tried to steer clear while he got camp set up. Moments after he staked up the tent, the rain came. We took cover and fed the kids a dinner of cereal (Aaron was too paranoid about the safety factor of clumsy little ones + fire to build a fire pit) and hunkered down under our canopy. Awhile later, the rain let up enough to join our friends for s'mores and visiting around their campfire. We called it a night just as the rain really began to pour. Just short of drugging him, we tried everything we could think of to get Rocky to go to sleep. At 3am, we couldn't take the screaming anymore and Aaron took Rocky back home. By the time we awoke, Aaron was already back and getting a breakfast feast grilled up. While Aaron deconstructed the camp, I took our combined 12 kids to the field area for a couple rounds of kickball. When it's all said and done, I can see how camping could be fun in theory, but I think we may wait until Rocky becomes more of a "happy camper" before we attempt camping again.