Aaaaaaaaaugh!

 I thought I would be so ready for this day, but I am just NOT! Kindergarten has snuck up on me and I am not ready. Caleb sure is though. He is in afternoon kindergarten which made the first day quite tortuous. He spent all morning asking what time it was and why he had to wait until after lunch.

We walked him down to the elementary school and he was mad that we had to go with him, but then he was sweet and gave me a hug and a kiss. Watching him walk away with his class was a tearful event that confused the girls. Lucy kept asking why I was crying.

He's in an interesting class: first, it is year round school which I'm anticipating will be full of transitioning from off to on to off track, second, his teacher is a young guy named Mr. Joshua. It's his first year of teaching and he seems cool and enthusiastic. I'm interested to see how they will get along.

At Caleb's evaluation testing, his teacher concluded that he already knows everything that they will be covering this year in kindergarten. So, now, Adam and I are trying to figure out what is the best thing to do: let him sit for a year and develop social skills and maturity or figure out another game plan to help him keep growing academically. He sure LOVES to learn, but he is still quite an emotional little guy. We would love to hear any suggestions.

Mess

Something that I have noticed with having multiple kids close together is that the younger children all think that they are as old as their siblings. Anastasiya is no exception. She is never satisfied at meal time unless she is as engaged as everyone else, meaning she needs to be stuffing her face like the rest of us. I had to capture the first messy event on camera.

First time having her own plate.

So excited to be a big kid.

Will you stop with the pictures (she actually is not a fan of the camera, the flash makes her wary)

yum, yum...

It actually was not too messy because I purposefully gave her a dry pancake and blueberries. She did end up pulling the plate onto her lap and eating the rest from that position.

One of the best parts of parenting is watching the kids learn and push themselves. Even the little things like pancakes in a tiny fist can be so thrilling.


*Thank you for looking past the booger sitting on her upper lip. Sometimes I think it is a permanent fixture.

What We've Been Up To...

We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and easy access to swimming this summer ....

... and have been LOVING it!

So, this is pretty much all we have been up to.

Happy heat wave everyone!

Seven Year Itch

Adam and I celebrated our seven year wedding anniversary by hiking to Stewart Falls. Thank you to family for watching the kiddos.

Enjoying Kneaders awesome french toast.

It was a perfect day. We hiked and talked and enjoyed the beautiful mountains.

I couldn't have spent the day with a more perfect man.

I always dreamed of my prince charming when I was a little girl but I never in my wildest dreams imagined marriage to be as full and rewarding as Adam has made it for me. 

Here's to seven more years of adventures and family.

Family Reunion

We had the first official Family Reunion up at the Homestead in Midway. The moment we pulled up in that beautiful mountainous area, we all felt like we were in a slice of paradise.

This frog is randomly placed in front of the original hotel. You can see that it was established in 1886. It was so wonderful!

Water rafting down the Provo River, and boating at Deer Creek Resevior.

The kids are just old enough to enjoy tubing. We loved it.

Caleb fell off and got scared but got back on like the brave little guy he is.

We had a fun talent show with singing, dancing, and Tim and Megan's hilarious skit. The kids loved it.

Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful three days of golf, games, family, and fun!

Poor Little Jo

Jo received her first official haircut not because her hair was getting too long, but because it is getting to short. What I mean by that is it was breaking!

Not sure if you can tell, but the back section of her hair broke off when I put it into pig tails that were too tight. Her hair is so fair and fine, it just snapped near the roots.

She was very good and we saved her blond locks in a little baggy.

So much better!

She's a happy and beautiful girl with long and crazy or short and pretty hair. 

Eleven

It's been awhile since I've been blog tagged but my good friend Sharee made me feel so special and tagged me so I gotta come through. The theme is eleven so here goes...

The Rules:

1. Post these rules

2. Post 11 random things about yourself

3. Answer the questions provided by the one who tagged you

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag

5. Tag 11 people

1. I have double jointed thumbs.

2. I never thought I could have long hair but I'm making it work.

3. I love really really hot showers.

4. I work hard to be social and be the first to reach out in any situation but I am most comfortable with one or two close friends.

5.  I speak Russian.

6. My first and only pet was a hamster named Rascal.

7. I read Jane Eyre every two years and it never gets old.

8. I wear my wedding ring on my third finger because I'm too lazy to get it sized down.

9. I buy most of my clothes from TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

10. I love to exercise even though you can't really tell because I also love to eat!

11. I married the most amazing man on the planet.

1.  If you could meet any one who has lived on the earth in any time period, who would be your top three picks? oooooh, that's a tough one, non-religious ones would be Abraham Lincoln, Abigail Adams,  and Queen Elizabeth (the first one, Henry the VIII's daughter).  

2.  What is one of your pet peeves? whining! from anyone not just children

3.  What is your least favorite household chore? putting laundry away What is your favorite household chore? vacuuming

4.  What is the worst movie you've ever seen?  (the kind where you are annoyed that you just wasted 2 hours of your life on . . . ) I'm sorry to say I felt that way about "The Notebook." I know it really spoke to some people but I felt like I had wasted my time watching it, for many condescending reasons. 

5.  What is the most recent book you've read?  (And why don't you just tell us how you liked it and if you'd recommend it while you're at it?) Born to Run. LOVED IT! I highly recommend it, quite an easy read and makes you feel like an athlete just reading it.

6.  What are you looking forward to next month? Family reunion

7.  What frightens you? Mysterious sounds in the night when I'm alone. I always assume the worst.

8.  What do you do in your free time? I never really have "Free time" but I put things off and give myself "me time," so me time is reading and sleeping.

9.  What do you WISH you could do in your free time?  (and yes, those are two very different questions.) Get a masters degree.

10.  What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten? cow stomach

11.  What did you dress up as last Halloween? a Mom... I'm boring, but my kids were darling.

Wow, this took some real personal reflection and thought. I am running out of time so I am breaking the last two rules, sorry to be a downer. I'd love to read any of these fun questions answered by you blogger friends out there!