Back to School

Alek with a 'tude

The three oldest kids all started school this week, Charlie on Monday and Katie and Alek on Wednesday. I stayed home on Wednesday to help with transportation and to see Katie off to Kindergarten. It was one of the hottest days of the year and I let Alek leave the house in black jeans. It didn't occur to me it might be a problem until I dropped him off at school. Oops!

I also forgot to get a picture of Alek before school, so these are from right after I picked him up.

Katie was so excited to go to school, I thought she would burst. She was so mad when I took Alek in the morning and she didn't get to go. She's in the afternoon class.

Once we arrived at the school, she was ready to go immediately. All the other kids were hanging back, all timid and unsure. Katie ran away from us, shouting, "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" and went right into the classroom. This is her right inside the door.

They started outside, so I had to persuade her to come back out and join the class. She ran right to her teacher and started following her away from us. The other kids walked quietly, while Katie skipped and ran and made happy exclamations.

When I picked her up in the afternoon, she was supposed to sit quietly on the bench and wait for her teacher to call her name to be dismissed. Instead, she ran straight to me, yelling "Mommy!" She was the only child who didn't stay seated. I swear, it was like the rest of the kids were on Valium. I guess I am used to my hyper children and I just don't realize how calm other kids can be. Katie cried all the way home because she didn't want to leave school. I guess that means she likes it. So far, she has only made friends with the boys. I actually do find this a little surprising because she does have girl friends from church, but, of course, there are only girls in her class at church.

I wasn't home on Charlie's first day back to school, so I took pictures of him on Wednesday, too. He is thrilled to be back to his routine. He loves school. But he is also happy to come home. I do question what they are teaching him at school, since he appears to be throwing gang signs in this picture. (Ha ha, a little autism joke.)

Is this kid adorable or what?

Josh and I had some time to kill between dropping Katie off at school and picking up Alek an hour later (they had a minimum day on Wednesday, but kept the PM Kindergarten schedule the same as on regular days), so we took Fitz to the mall for a first for him:

Playing at the mall playground.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Fitz escaped from the play area and I had to run after him.

All in all, a good day.

You Know What I'm Over?

Poop. I am so over it. Poop on walls, blankets, clothes, windows, mirror, toy box, closet, toys, carpet and underneath nails and in the mouth. I am done with it.

Now how do I convey that to Charlie?

Temple Trip

Monday night, we went to the Sacramento Temple for Family Home Evening and talked about the blessing of eternal families. Charlie and Fitz both fell asleep on the car ride, so Josh hung out in the van with them while Alek, Katie and I walked around the grounds. There was a lot of wildlife out and about -- turkeys, a vulture (I think; I saw it from a distance), jackrabbits, and these:

Yes, deer. We probably saw about 5 or 6 different deer while we were there. It was pretty awesome. It seems so appropriate to me to see so many of God's majestic creations at the temple grounds. We get Canadian Geese in the winter and also see eagles and hawks there, too. I love it.

The kids love going to the temple. I was bummed the little guys fell asleep, but I got some good pictures of Alek and Katie.

Alek pointing out a dragonfly to Katie. There are two houses on the temple grounds, one of which you can see in this picture. I am assuming they're for the temple presidency? I don't know.

Alek reading the inscription on the temple to Katie.

This picture pretty much sums up Katie and Alek's relationship.

The temple grounds

I'm Sick to My Stomach

Of course, others are thrilled.

Ecstatic Reactions to Prop 8 Ruling in West Hollywood

Maybe they'd be less thrilled if they'd just had a conversation with their 11 year old like the one I had the other night.

I Need A Miracle

But I don't have any faith that I can get one. Because I don't deserve one. Not even a little bit.

But if you have faith and you pray for me, maybe I'll still get one anyway. And it's really not just for me, but for my Josh and all my babies.

Thanks.

Charlie's Illness

Charlie was sick for a couple of weeks. Here's what that was like:

He did a lot of this.

But he's feeling much better now.

Alek is 11

Alek turned 11 on July 10. He was in Arizona for his birthday and celebrated there by attending his cousin, Isaac's baptism, eating and swimming and Papa's and Granana's house, driving to Pinetop to see his aunt and uncle, and getting lots of presents.

Here in California, we had to wait a whole 20 days after his birthday to celebrate with him. We got Panda Express and Chick-Fil-A for dinner. I gave Alek the slice of cheesecake my boss brought me from the Cheesecake Factory and Alek got to stay up and watch the first disc of Return of the King.

Something about Alek turning 11 has really jarred me. Maybe because that is the age when I started middle school, I don't know, but I've just realized he's not a little boy anymore. In another year he'll be getting the priesthood and joining the Young Men's program. Before I know it, girls will like him and he'll like girls and I'll have that whole headache to deal with. Alek's grandparents bought him some new clothes (which his dad picked out) and I made him do a fashion show for me. (Which he didn't really like.) The clothes are a bit trendy and he looked even more grown up in them. It made me a little sad.

 Yes, those are skinny jeans. But Alek is so skinny that even skinny jeans are too big for him.

Alek showing off his super cool belt. Apparently, this was a compromise purchase. 

Alek wanted one that had metal studs on it.

Alek telling me he loves me. If he only knew how much I loved him!

We missed Alek a lot and are glad he's home. Even though he's already throwing tantrums this morning about not getting to play video games or watch movies and having to do chores. :)

Katie the Artist

Katie has recently become more interested in drawing and coloring. She's spent a lot of time this summer like this:

Here are some pictures she drew of Josh.

That thing on his chin is the little soul patch he's got right now.