First day of school! First day of school! First day of school!

So, we got back from Utah and started biding our time until school started again at the end of August.  There was plenty of yard work to do and the kids had to catch up on pool trips and jumping on the neighbor's trampoline.  Adri is getting close to riding a bike but is too unsure of herself to get the hang of it just now.  Juliet's balance is improving and she may end up with a scooter for Christmas this year. 

One afternoon we stopped by a local farmers market and came home with some goodies.

I decided to start on a ridiculously long list of home improvement items.  I made a few sets of curtains then I pulled down wallpaper and painted the kids' bathroom.  Next I improved a few sets of shelves by improvising with some wood from other shelves - now we have enough spaces for all the kid shoes in our shoe shelves and we have a nice place to put all the toys.  Lastly, I tackled some outdoor projects that have been on my mind for quite some time.  I had some friends help me pull out some hideous bushes (in my opinion nearly all bushes are hideous) in the front yard so I could plant some grass.  I also considered making our white trash fire pit into an actual fire pit but, after a little research, gave up on the idea and eventually filled it in with dirt and planted grass there, too.

These pictures depict a day where I thought I had a most brilliant idea.  I decided we would have a "choose your own adventure" day.  I explained to the kids that they would each take a turn to choose what we would all do for an activity and everyone had to participate.  I was very surprise when no one chose to go somewhere, like the museum or even McDonald's.  Adri chose to do an art project so everybody painted or drew or cut things out for an hour or so.  

Juliet chose to make cupcakes. Thanks to Gramma Joyce we all have our own chef hats, although it appears that Luke's still hadn't been personalized yet. They all got to stir and whisk and add ingredients to their hearts' content.

While the cupcakes were baking Luke chose to take a bath. Not the most exciting adventure but that's what he wanted to do so I added a bath bomb to at least make it look more interesting. I'm pretty sure I chose for us to watch a movie which is not even as exciting as taking a bath but we all had a great time. 

A week before school started we got to go on a tour of Juliet's new school.  Kindergartners don't attend the elementary school, they get their own school with pint-sized everything.  We met her new teacher and liked her very much.  This is her first year teaching and she even remembered Adri from when she was doing her student teaching.  We also got to go on a bus ride and I'm not sure if Juliet or Luke was more excited.  Each bus has a number as well as an animal silhouette posted on the side.  We got to ride the reindeer bus and, as it turns out, it was the most exciting thing Juliet has even done in her whole life.  She was very excited to get started.

Sorry this is so wobbly.  You tube did something weird to it.



The first day of school went very well.  Everyone ate all their lunch and raised their hand and followed the rules.  It wasn't until the third day that Juliet came home with an "oops report" letting me know that she was having a hard time remembering the rules.  Fortunately this was just a first week fluke and now she is rarely reprimanded for anything. 

Juliet's first day of Kindergarten

 

Adrienne's first day of 2nd grade

As is happened, the first day of school was also  the day Charlotte took her first steps.  The girls were home to see it happen and we were all very happy to see her physically advance to a place she should have been a month ago.  Yea!

This is Adrienne on her birthday.  I felt bad because we did all the celebrating in Utah before her actual birthday but she didn't seem to mind.  Happy 7th, Adri!

While she isn't an expert walker Charlotte still manages to climb on enough things to cause trouble.

We have a large ceiling lamp in our foyer that makes lovely rainbows when the sun hits it just right.  Whenever this happens we all declare that it's "rainbow time" and run in to try and grab one or at least count how many we can see.

 

Quotes: 

 

 

Adrienne: (on her birthday) I feel taller today.

 

Adrienne: (regarding the Sheriff of Nottingham) If I met that guy I'd kick him in the face!

 

Luke:  I want my mom!

JD:  You need crackers?

Luke:  No! I need my mom!

JD:  You need a toy?

Luke: NO!!  My mom!!

JD:  You need fruit snacks?

Luke: . . . Yes.

 

Adrienne: (while wearing her chef hat) If someone said there was a fire I wouldn't be ready, but if someone said it was time to bake I would be ready.

 

Dr. Chang: Can you tell me a fruit or vegetable that's red?

Juliet:  Apples!

Adrienne:  Strawberries!

Luke:  Oranges!

 

Annie:  Luke, go to sleep.

Luke:  I don't know how!

 

Annie: Remember when there was a bug on me and I screamed like a fool?

Luke:  You screamed in Gramma's pool?

 

Juliet:  It's a good thing Adri is older than me.  That means she'll die before me.

 

Juliet:  I wish I could be a flying beaver.  Then I could walk, swim, fly and chop wood!

 

Juliet:  Mom, Luke hitted me.

Annie:  No, Luke HIT me.

 

Annie:  How did you like your bus ride?

Juliet:  The only thing better would be having a sleep over with Alli and Madison ON a school bus!

 

Luke:  Make sure I don't make any sense.  

 

 

(Previous quote:  Dumb and Dumber, Winner:  Alixa)