First Day of School! First day of School!

This scene has been playing in my head since last night...don't you think of this or something like it? Nemo meeting his teacher, getting to know the classroom, making friends, ready for the unknown... And Marlin - wondering if his little one is prepared for the big bad world that awaits, if he will make friends, nervous about the unknown...

Well, Today we sent our kiddos off to school and Caroline was my Nemo. This morning, after a bit of coaxing out of bed, was ready to go to school! Lindsay is the BTDT (been there done that) big sis and knew the drill all too well. We had a great morning!

Getting the morning off to a good start with "Rolled Up Pancakes" (crepes to you), melon and juice. Caroline just picked at her breakfast. I think she was so excited to get to school. After Sunday night's meltdown I think she was ready to get going! Last night both of us got angry and collapsed in tears on her bed - and our real feelings about being sad and scared bubbled up and we cried and cried together. We eventually ended by making up a secret handshake for the first day.

Their clothes were laid out on the window seat and ready to go - I know Caroline was really looking forward to choosing uniform outfits. And really, I was too - If you have been around her lately, you know she has been quite the creative dresser. A pirate vest from a Halloween costume has dominated this summer.

Let's get a close up of my girlies. Lindsay was so ready to be protective of her little sis. Lindsay's 3rd grade class is in the annex building so the possibility of them running into each other in passing is pretty remote. Caroline was bummed. (But, as I would find out later today, their lunch recess overlaps each other by about 10 minutes - which surprised both of them! I hear there was a happy hugging reunion.)

Admiring their new polka dot Converse. I wish I could get me some of those!

With their "well pleased" mama and daddy. So glad Steve was able to join us to walk the girls for the first day of school. From here on out, Steve will drive the girls to school on his way to work. Lindsay will drop Caroline off at the Kinder waiting spot before meeting up with her class line.

We pulled The Critter out of bed to join us...she was pretty sleepy!

So, wouldn't you know Lindsay and Ellie were wearing the exact same shirt and had almost the same hair style? Last year they came wearing the exact same top and bottom! They didn't plan it either time! Those girls...these BFF's are so bummed they will never be in the same class together...since Ellie is a grade level younger - she is a wee bit taller though! LOL! I like to tell Lindsay she is pocket sized. This makes her giggle.

Happy reunions with friends

Caroline and Ms. Jones. She was Lindsay's kinder teacher - we adore her.

And their off!

A few more from the morning

And how did The Critter and I spend our day?

Measurements and getting casts made for a new set of braces. Just little fiberglass castings that were cut off as soon as they set up to make a mold of her legs and feet to make the new AFO's. She is still on nighttime wear - it was just time for a bigger pair. She got a lot of wear out of the old ones - wearing them since October! New pink AFO's will be ready next Tuesday.

Read on to see how we started back to school last night.

Respect.

I am always trying to work on developing new traditions for our family. Kids thrive on it - they look forward to certain holidays or special occasions because of the memories created by traditions. The Christmas Advent. The Valentine's Dates. Popcorn and movies. Last day of school. And now, first day of school. Last year, after getting to know NieNie after learning of their nearly fatal plane crash, I read on her blog about her back to school tradition of planning a special meal and introducing a theme for the new year. I tucked this one in my brain file of great ideas I would like to implement for my family. So this year, Steve and I had a talk and in thinking about the things we wanted to emphasize as a family, we could boil it all down to one word:

Respect.

Respect your parents. Respect your teachers and school. Respect your friends. Respect each other. Respect yourselves. And most importantly, Respect the Lord.

I think as parents we all are witnesses to a growing generation of kids who pay more respect to electronics and Disney Channel than their families. Zoning out in front of the TV and not hearing a parent ask (again)for a chore to be completed. Thinking that "no more snacks - it is almost dinner time" really means "If I get the bag of dorritos and she doesn't see, it is OK". Sassy mouths speaking to their parents in ways we never would have dreamed of doing as kids. running crazy through Target when they have been told to stand by the shopping cart. I could go on. You all could probably fill in the blanks unless your kids are perfect and if they are - do share your secrets!! Us parents aren't totally off the hook either. Are we respecting our time with our kids if the computer or multi-tasking or any number of adult distractions keep us from really hearing our kids, from being there when they need us. Now, I am a firm beliver in not always having to entertain my kids - they need to learn to use their imaginations and be independent thinkers. But who of us has ever been guilty of nodding "uh-huh" and not really hearing them when they ask or tell us something important. Or received a few too many tugs at the shirt while engrossed in something on the computer? Or spend too much down time pursuing empty distractions and not taking care of household business so it is not a distraction later? I am guilty of all of these at various times.

Thus, our theme became Respect. I decided to make a plaque that we all signed and I would mount and hang near our dining table so we can always be reminded and have opportunities to discuss and remember and be reminded. I liked the idea of having one word to holler when they are getting out of control...and not a big long phrase! Respect was it.

Steve and I made a "fancy" dinner served in courses. The girls were excited and dressed up - well, Lindsay dressed up! Caroline was mad that we were serving our dinner as courses - she thought all she was going to get was the salad. She also brought a tootsie pop - that crazy girl.
We served salad with a wedge of melon, cheesy onion rolls, loaded baked potatoes, marinated and grilled london broil, and raspberry lemonade...in the fancy tall glasses.

Steve left after dinner to attend a stake priesthood meeting and when he came back, it was time for before school Father's blessings and cheesecake. I love hearing Steve offer blessings for the girls from their Father in Heaven and Daddy here. I am forever grateful for this in our family. It is always a very sacred experience. Baby Kate is learning to fold her arms and was trying her best to be reverent (for a moment) and wanted to crawl up on the chair for her turn when the big girls were done. She got a special Father's blessing too!

We finished the night off with cheesecake. A few days earlier I asked the girls what their favorite dessert was. I know they sometimes have different tastes since Lindsay loves ice cream and does not like cake and Caroline is often unpredictable. They looked at each other knowingly and said at the same time "Cheesecake." So often I make Cheesecake for a special event involving adults, to take to parties, to give away. Rarely do I make it just for my family. Christmas is murder on them - last year I made 3 dozen 5" cheesecakes to give away. They begged me to save one tiny cheesecake for us. So this was a real treat.

I am just thrilled to be working on a new tradition and while I am reasonable with my expections and I don't expect miracles I hope that the memories surrounding this special night will help us all remember to show a little more respect in our family and with those around us.

Father's Day

Our Daddy Steve

We love our dads! After spending 5 days with girls and women at Girl's Camp, it made me think about how truly I love the men in our lives and am grateful for everything that they do for us.

Family - our families would not be complete without dads, father in laws, brothers, brother in laws, & uncles to call our own. They truly are the head of the family and set the tone for us.
Authority - The Fathers in our family all hold the Priesthood and we are forever grateful for the worthy men who are able to act in God's name to bless the members of our family.
Teacher - Dads have so many opportunities to demonstrate by example and work side by side with each of us - teaching along the way and imparting of their wisdom to all of us.
Husband - I am forever grateful for my husband and for the husbands to the women in our family. Husbands are our best friends, our eternal companions, our favorite date!
Eternal - Our forever families require a mother and father as the head of the family unit and am so blessed to know that our immediate as well as extended families can be together forever.
Reverence - With the role of father comes great responsibility. I appreciate how much my favorite men honor and respect their roll as father as a role ordained of God.

We love you Dad's...Grandpa Bill, Grandpa Mike and Steve!! And all the assorted Uncles...Joe, Brad, Scott, John, Andy, and Carson.

Other Daddies in the family...

We hope Steve had a great father's day! We love him so much. The girls and I made one of his favorites, Peanut Butter Pie to have as dessert with a steak and shrimp dinner. Yum! The girls decided they wanted to get Daddy real GUY stuff and since he has season tickets to ASU football now, we hooked him up with some Sun Devil's gear!

We love you!!!

Found

Yesterday afternoon Steve got a call from a neighbor around the corner who said she was driving home at 11:30pm and had seen a tent on the sidewalk and thought that was strange. (Of course.) She then said this morning on her way out of the neighborhood she saw what may have been a tent behind a fence at a house about 8 houses down, around the corner, and across the street from us.

Can't see it?
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Look now.

Sure enough...

The rain fly is a little beaten up (when looking at it in a pile in my newly clean garage) so we will need to set it up to see how the rest of it survived. We may have got it back but we may still need a new one...

In other tent news...

We had a Girl's Camp Shake Down Sleepover and set up a few tents and cooked some delicious food - all in the name of camp certification. How does homemade pizza and chocolate cake inside a hollowed out orange peel sound and Parmesan and cinnamon bread sticks wrapped around a stick?? We love our camp director - no foil dinners, hot dogs, or dutch oven cobbler for us! I love these girls and love the leaders I have the pleasure of serving with in the YW presidency. You ladies rock!

Lost

1 Camping Tent.

Took flight from our backyard during Tuesday night’s storm.

Green, Maroon and Grey

Call Steve
480.703.2187

(because I am not putting my name and number...think of all the weirdos that could call me!)

I heard a little wind and rain and went to check out the backyard to make sure everything was where it should be...when these desert storms pick up we like to make sure everything is pulled under the patio cover and reasonably well secured. Since a tent is not a normal part of my backyard "stuff" I didn't think to check on it earlier! Well, when I checked the back yard after hearing some noise, said tent was GONE! Poof! As in "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" gone! We sure have enjoyed backyard camp-outs and play time in the shade...)

Hope it turns up. We were going to use this one at Girl's Camp as our food stash tent. Buying a new one wasn't exactly in my plan...

Adventures of a 1 year old

Bedtime snuggles

I need to write some of these crazy things down before I forget 20 years later that in one day I found Kate doing all of the following:

Slurping a bottle of shampoo
Grabbing a steak knife out of the dishwasher
Sucking on a bottle of lotion
Eating a marble magnet

That crazy little critter! I just don't think there is any hope for a poor 3rd child when there are 4 people to remember to close doors AND 4 people to forget to close doors. And 4 people to load and run the dishwasher AND 4 people to get distracted part way though and leave it open. Lindsay has started calling Kate the vacuum cleaner. No doubt it is the truth! Not walking...cruising and crawling faster than we can keep up with though!

A year ago we had this:

newborn Kate - 9 lb 9 oz - our biggest baby - oh, she was so rolie polie!


And now this:
Meredith and Kate at her 1st birthday party

So my plump newborn baby who has struggled to gain weight all year long tipped the scales at her 1 year check up at 17 lb 14 oz. Aren't babies supposed to double their birth weight by 6 months? At this rate, I don't know when she will reach that bench mark. But at least she is on the charts and made it from the 3rd percentile to 5th percentile. Way to go Kate!

Her feet - we were able to get her much awaited a follow-up the same time Lindsay's arm was seen by the ortho doc. Great news! Kate only has to wear her braces on her legs at night and naptime...when I remember! LOL. The PA was thrilled with how well she has done. Honestly, she said, she thought we were heading to at least one leg needing a cast. A cast would have been a straight leg cast from toes to hip. In the summer. For several months. Yuck. So, hopefully the overnight splinting is enough to maintain her foot correction. if not, well, then we will cross that bridge in 5 months.

The big girls planned a birthday celebration for Kate. We went to a fun dinner out at Johnny Rocket's Diner and had burgers, fries, onion rings and milkshakes. Kate loved it and the staff even brought over a sundae and sang to her - the big girls LOVED that!! They wrote little notes inviting Kate to Build A Bear to pick out her own new guy.

She ended up "choosing" between a pink lamb and a brown bunny. Kate chose the bunny and the doting big sisters loved helping her build it and chose Hello Kitty jammies. The bunny was called cinnamon swirl so she was named Cinaminnie Minnie. really, she is cute.

That's my little critter. Love our little monster! Now if I could just get that monster face documented so I can blog about it...

Need to blog about other stuff...my camera and computer are not getting along - I keep trying to empty my card onto my computer and there is a hang up somewhere. I guess this may be why I have not had much to blog about...but so much has happened like end of preschool and 2nd grade festivities, the beginning of summer break and "campouts" in the back yard and Memorial Day BBQ's and play dates and swimming lessons and my wishing I owned stock in any number of Popsicle companies! Getting ready for Girl's Camp next week is keeping my mind busy. I am already tired of all the neighborhood kids! But really, if dealing with piles of wet towels from happy playing kids and making bug collection jars (and helping to host a funeral for a fly) and stocking a freezer with Popsicles is all it takes to keep the kids happy, then I guess it is OK.

A story of faith and sports and Sunday Play

I am linking a story HERE about our nephew Everett, aka Bobby. He is a talented athlete and was recently presented with the dilemma of moving up to All-Star Baseball (apply the lesson to club soccer, or whatever your sports dilemma is) and Sunday play came up as a BIG issue. It just goes to show what sticking up for what you know is right will do for many.

Bravo Everett! That's a CTR, Faith, Prayer, and Commitment Grand Slam to us!