Storytelling and the Sixth Graders

 Maxwell's 6th grade class went to the Storytelling Festival

on Thursday, and I got to go along to help watch the kids.

 Max hung out with his friends, so I sat with the other moms

and enjoyed the show. In addition to a local teller and a youth

teller, we heard Mary Gay Ducey, and Bil Lepp.

As usual, Bil Lepp was hilarious. He talked about strike

anywhere matches, alien abductions, and jello water balloons.

The kids came away from his story with lots of

good bad ideas for things to try at home.

Play Dates

Milo's first week of school was full of play dates!

Tuesdays is his day with his best friend,

and this week they came to our house. Then, after lunch

on Wednesday N and her brother came over to play.

Her brother has a broken leg, so he mostly watched

the "big" kids' antics. They went through three bottles of

bubbles, made "soup," and did their own version of

the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Thursday is our day with Little Jonah. He came over,

along with N, and A. They got along well,

and didn't make as much of a mess as the day before.

Milo is one lucky guy!

Soccer Season Starts!

Jonah's first soccer game was canceled (last Saturday)

because the fields were a soggy mess. He got to play on 

Tuesday, when the fields were a little less wet. John stayed

home with the kids, and I got to watch the game.

The Hornets lost, but played a good game.

Jonah played offense and defense and was great!

Here's to another soccer season!

The Long Awaited Day

Milo has been waiting for years for his turn in kindergarten,

but I think the past week was the longest wait of all.

He asked me every day, "How many days till kindergarten?"

Today was The Day!

Last night he set out his clothes for his first day.

He had a few ideas for poses -

some with sunglasses, some without.

Max used this cute rocket backpack in kindergarten,

and it was still in great shape so I kept it.

I was really happy that Milo wanted to use it.

Bentley got on the bus at 7:19,

and John was running, but the rest of us

walked to the school together.

We saw Milo's best friend right as we got there!

I love that the boys are in front posing,

while their sisters are talking behind them.

Milo has said "hello" to his teacher each morning

for the past week, and yesterday she let him pick out

his seat for class today. He chose a spot at the red table.

(Alton is carefully keeping an eye on things in the background.)

The class is full of friends and younger siblings of friends.

I love it.

I took a picture of our neighbor as she came out of the building,

and didn't realize Milo was running towards us on the right side.

He went back to make sure his teacher was coming out.

We wanted to get a picture of the two of them together.

Milo and his teacher - she's the best.

I'm so glad to know she loves my kids and that

she does the best she can for each of them.

Milo said that he can't remember everything they

did today, but it was fun. I'm so glad he had a great day!

Hooray for kindergarten and for our Milo!

Ruby's First Day

Jonah's First Day

Maxwell's First Day

Bentley's First Day

14 Years and a 5K

14 years ago today, John and I got married.

At the time, there were fires burning around Idaho,

and people were praying for rain. I was hoping to have

a rain-less wedding day - and we did!

A week ago, we signed up to run a 5K on our anniversary.

There's been rain all this week, and last night there

was a huge storm - lightning, thunder and buckets of rain.

When we woke up this morning there was snow on Timp,

and our thermometer said it was 52 degrees outside.

We were a little nervous about our race.

But it turned out to be perfect running weather and a beautiful day.

The race was a small one, in American Fork at Art Dye Park.

We drove up, picked up our packets, and assigned the kids

partners (Max-Alton, Milo-Bentley, Jonah-Ruby).

At 8 am the race started. The website mentioned a slight

incline near the beginning of the race - but it was a hill

that lasted nearly 1/2 a mile. Sheesh! It was unexpected

and tough (unexpected for both of us, tough for me).

John finished the race in 20:36 - taking first place overall!

He's awesome, or as Bentley or Milo would say, he's got swag.

My goal was to finish under 40 minutes, and my time was 34:27!

The kids did really well on their own for the 20 minutes that

John was running. We only had one mishap - although it's 

a pretty tragic one. Jonah brought his iPod along so he

could listen to music. He clipped it to the pocket of his jeans,

and sometime during the morning it fell off. He noticed

that it was gone as we got in the van to come home.

We spent an hour or more combing the soccer field where

he'd played, as well as the restroom, around the race tables,

and the playground, but we didn't find it. We're all sad. 

Here's John receiving his 1st place prize bucket.

Not a bad way to start our 15th year together.

(as long as you don't count the missing iPod.)

Maxwell's 11th Birthday

Maxwell was pretty happy when he saw that his birthday

was on a Friday this year. Friday's are great. :)

He wore his new Batman shirt to school, and took Krispy Kreme 

doughnuts to share with his classmates

He and I will go on our lunch date sometime next week,

but for dinner the whole family went to Tucanos.

(Thanks Grandpa and Grandma R!)

I couldn't tell if Maxwell was hoping or fearing that

the staff would sing Happy Birthday to him. They did. :)

Milo was so excited about getting to use a steak knife

that he used it to cut everything on his plate - even his roll.

Ruby was doing the same thing, but I didn't get a picture.

We came home too full to eat our maple doughnuts,

but we sang to Maxwell and he opened his present.

He opted for a "big" present this year, instead of a friend

party and a few "little" gifts. While he had hoped for a 

Chromebook, I think he was happy with his little laptop.

Alton was the only one who wasn't too full from dinner

to eat a doughnut, and he ate his in record time.

Happy Birthday Maxwell! 

We love you!

Past Birthdays -

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

Random

Jonah had his first soccer practice tonight.

His team name is "The Hornets." Jonah was happy

about that because it was the name he picked.

When we got home from practice, he outfitted Ruby

and Milo in his old soccer gear (he had a uniform

for Alton, but I wouldn't dress him up),

they took pictures and played a game in the backyard.

Soccer season, here we come!

Alton got a "bike!"

Now he has something to ride in the front yard

when the big kids are on their bikes.

Cute brothers.

Bentley crashed on the couch just before dinner tonight.

Getting up at 6:30 am for Jr. High, and staying up late

each night caught up to him. Hopefully we'll all adjust to

our new schedule before too long. 

Back to School!

Maxwell started 6th grade today!

It's his last year of elementary school, and he gets

to have Mrs. Billings (she's great!).

He had a good day at school - he says he can understand

why Bentley liked Mrs. Billings so much - no homework today!

Max, Jonah, and Ruby weren't crazy about a "normal'

picture, so after doing one for me, they got to choose a pose.

Jonah is a 4th grader this year! He has the same

teacher that Bentley had in 4th grade

(now that I think about it, all of the kids have 

Bentley's former teachers - that's never happened before).

Jonah had a good day - he played 500 for one recess,

and catch for another. I hope the good days continue.

Ruby was really excited about her new backpack,

and a little nervous about 2nd grade. Bentley had a rough

start that year (for about four months) and the 

teacher is known for being really strict and not really kind.

It sounds like her day went well, though. Ruby has

a bunch of friends in her class and she liked being

on the big kid playground for recess. Hooray!

Milo rocked his kindergarten evaluation.

(He put shoes on before we went to school.)

This kid is way too smart. I think he's going to

love going to school this year, but he'll have to

wait till next Tuesday when the kindergarten kids start.

Alton didn't seem too happy about everyone going somewhere

but him. He will usually help me take the kids to school,

but today he had to stay home with Dad so Milo could go

to his evaluation. I think he'll like going along much better.

Bentley survived his first full day of Jr. High. He had time to eat

lunch and although the halls were super crowded, he made

it to each class on time. They had a "boring" assembly,

and then the bus had problems right after they left the school.

They had to hang out for 15-20 minutes on the bus while

they waited for someone to come fix it. Luckily, it was a 

cool, rainy day so the kids didn't roast on the bus.

I hope the rest of the school year goes as well as today!