First Day of First Grade

I was anticipating being very emotional today, but I guess I was too busy to think about it. Mornings are always busy for me because I am not a morning person. So when we got to the bus we had time to take a quick picture, and he was on the bus. No time for tears. It felt a lot like putting on the bus for kindergarten. I missed him at lunch though.

Breakfast-

the most important meal of the day!

Connor looks lost without his older brother!

After school Hayden was all smiles. We met Daddy at the pool and he told all about his class. Some of the things he mentioned were: They have 2 recesses every day, he had gym yesterday, his teacher Ms. Hill read them a story, she gave him all the supplies that he needed for class, they will go on a field trip at the end of the year to Lake Tobias, and they get to hatch chicks in the spring.

We topped of the day with a little ice cream.

Yesterday Serena turned 8 months.

I was looking forward to having my afternoons free again, but so far that hasn't happened. Connor is not staying in his bed for a nap, and he goes into Serena's room and wakes her up too. He is also doing this to us at night and we are unable to do anything till about 10pm. As time keeps passing, I am getting more and more frustrated that I can't get caught up on others things, meanwhile, housework is building up as well. I keep thinking "This too shall pass." Just when stages get so frustrating you think you can't take another day, things suddenly get better.

I've been going to the gym regularly and thanks to Jess have found a new love in Pilates. I was never good at aerobics classes because I never took dance classes and am not very coordinated, but I can do pilates. And I love how it makes my body feel-it strengthens the core muscles and stretches lots of muscles in the body. I have noticed less back pain since I have started, and am more flexible.

Tagged?!-What!

I can't believe I've been tagged. Well' I guess I can, I know I've been horrible at blogging for over 2 months now. But I've always had good intentions in my head! Isn't that good enough!

Now that school is starting I should have time during afternoon naps to blog again. I have a lot to catch up on, including the first day of school tomorrow.

TAG GAME

These are the rules:List 5 joys, 5 fears, 5 current obsessions/collections, 5 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged.

Joys:

1. The Gospel

2. Family

3. Food-not excessive amounts, just tasty!

4. ocean

5. my kids' laughter

Fears:

1. Fire

2. Being a bad parent

3. Losing Mike-cancer was a wake-up call

4. Sending my first born off to first grade!

5. Losing all my wonderful pictures and videos stored on the computer

Current Obsessions:

1. Olympics/sports programs for my kids

2. my tan (we just got back from the beach!)

3. getting out of debt (that one kind of comes and goes)

4. Reading-myself and the kids

5. Things for Connor and I to do while Hayden is in school

Surprising facts:

1. My Associates Degree is in Fine Arts (I am a TERRIBLE artist!)

2. Mike and I have never been apart for more than 48 hours

3. I struggle with organization/cleaning, but my clothes NEED to be organized by color, and I have a system for the dishes in the dishwasher

4. I actually DON'T spend my whole paycheck at work (A.C. Moore-craft/scrapbook store)!

5. My weight fluctuates, but I am always self-conscious of my body (exercising a lot helps me feel better about eating ice cream!)

I tagged Brenda, Jessa, Emily, Ashley, Nanny (Mike's Mom). Thanks, Jess for tagging me and forcing to blog again! Check for more updates soon.

Summer, Connor

We are so busy making summer memories that I don't have time to write about them! I take the pictures, come home, get kids in bed, and collapse!

When I started writing about our Utah trip I said it would take a couple of days. Here I am a couple of WEEKS later still trying to catch up.

Anyway... I wanted to talk about Connor because he has been such a sweet little boy lately, and is growing and changing in so many ways. He has learned to buckle his seatbelt by himself which is a wonderful thing for mom, and he is so proud of himself. His speech has made a jump since our Utah trip. It's still hard to understand him, but he talks most of the time now. Some of his cutest words are wowwy-poppy (lollipop), he calls his sister Reenie Nowewee, and cutie pie. And he has been so cute and funny most of the day, we don't have nearly as many trips to time-out. Maybe it has something to do with summer-Daddy is home, Hayden is home, so he has lots more people to play with him. Whatever it is, I am totally enjoying it!

Life Changes

I debated for quite a while whether to cut my hair, and most people actually told me not to, but I couldn't resist the urge for a change any longer! I wanted to do it in May, but with our trip to Utah coming up, I didn't want to take a chance of me not liking my hair. But as usual, my hairdresser Jodi (a friend of mine from high school) did an excellent job. I don't even really need to tell her what I'm looking for, she just knows what I need and how to do it. (I wish that would work for other aspects of my life!) I've had my hair short before, but never this style, and I love it! Especially for summer, no hair on my neck and a lot less weight. It actually looks a lot like my friend Jess' haircut which she just got a few months ago. (Sorry Jess, I didn't mean to copy cat!) It's just such a great style for someone with three kids and doesn't have 20 min. to dry her hair anymore!

Before

After

July 4th and 5th, 2008

This year we did things a little backwards. Usually my parents host the day picnic, then everyone comes to our house to watch the fireworks from the Fairgrounds. But this year I had to work all day on the 4th, so my parents did their picnic on Sat. the 5th. We still hosted the fireworks display on the 4th. The weather wasn't great, but we enjoyed them this year without getting wet. Family-my cousin Jen, her mom Wanda, my mom, friend Rebecca Rebecca with her baby Ava (5 months). Ava enjoyed watching the fireworks. Serena didn't get to see them, she was just too tired. Grandpa (Bapaw) Brandt with Connor. IF you look closely, you can see my two teeth coming in already! Mommy is a bit nervous about the next six months of breastfeeding!

These are pictures from my parents picnic on the 5th-

My great aunt Ginny putting Serena to sleep. I love Ginny's glasses, she's so trendy! Every year my Dad fries two turkeys (it is delicious if you have never tried it). He loves to carve them too! On the morning of the 5th, Mike took the boys to Home Depot to build a birdhouse. He got some really cute pictures.

Last Utah entry-Mon. June 23rd-Fri. June 27th

Mon. June 23rd We returned to Provo today to take a tour of BYU campus in a golf cart (as alumni!) and show the kids around. The boys loved the ride but I didn't get a good picture of them. This is the outside of the Hinkley alumni house. This is inside the new Hinkley alumni house. Just outside the alumni house. This is our friend Mike Fisk who was Mike's old roommate and Best Man in our wedding. He treated us at McD's. Our little boys on BYU campus in front of the library. We'll get another picture once they are enrolled there! This is another new building that is used mostly for faculty offices. Hayden in front of Cougar stadium. This is a special picture. It is the hospital where Hayden was born. Tues. June 24th One of the things Mike really wanted to do while we were there was run up South Fork Canyon. That was one of his favorite runs while we lived there. So he dropped me and the kids off at my friend Jessa's house again while he ran. This is my dear friend and old roommate Jessa with her two girls. Neither one of us had done much primping that day, but I think it's a cute picture Nanny treated us for her birthday dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. This is Aunt Annette in the blue. Weds. June 25th We were coming to the end of our vacation. We were excited to meet Jamie and the boys at the Sweets candy factory for a tour. #1-to see our friends because they would be spending the whole month of July in Utah, #2-to eat yummy samples! We all had to wear hair nets...including Serena! After that adventure we went to the Gateway for the getto water park. (It's a classy shopping area, it's called getto because it's free and packed in the summer!) Water shoots up from the ground. Thurs. June 26th Today was the day we had to leave Annette's house, say good-bye to Nanny and drive down to Mesquite (we got a room there for $24!) I love both of these pictures. It was hard to say good-bye to Nanny, especially for me. I kept thinking about the next time we would see her. Serena will be so different, Connor too probably. I was really glad we could visit her while she is on her mission though. Annette's house-Ahhh. Good-bye Utah and family and friends. Thanks for a wonderful vacation!