Back to school

I wonder if one was to do a search on Google blogs for "back to school", how many thousands would come up :)  But it does happen, and it did at our house too. It was last Monday, the 5th of August for us.  The bus stop has moved this year, I think the district heard I was pregnant and too hot, and they decided to move it to the park in front of my house. Yes, life is tough for me!

Maddy started at the new middle school they build in the neighborhood: Sossaman Middle School (it took a lot of imagination for them to come up with that name).  The rest of the monkeys went off to Cortina, even my wee one.  I almost cried, but then I didn't.  He told me last week: "mom, this preschool is so long for me"! I agree, I miss my side quick Tommy. 2 years of hanging out just us too has been fun, he is such an easy going kiddo. They do come home an hour earlier than last year, due to the new middle school. And I have to admit, that I feel like my days fly by, I do my little couponning, my little napping, my little snacking without having to share, absolutely no chores like before though.

So yeah, today at CVS, I got 3 bags of diapers, one lipstick, one make-up foundation, one shower gel for $15 and they gave me $6 back for next time, ha, so there!

The summer friends ready for school

Batman off to school

Now here is something odd: my husband came home early from work (not that odd) and he is being a social butterfly! (that's the odd part)

And he made it home, not after getting off the wrong bus stop first and having Elly get him back on.  Hmmm, hello, the fact that our house should be in front of him should have been a dead giveaway that it was the wrong place, but that's what you get for wearing a Sponge Bob stupid head tee-shirt! Batman helps you get on the bus, and Sponge Bob gets you home, yikes!!!

Now my days are filled with freedom, for another 70 days or less anyway!

Summer

Yikes, before the kids go back to school, I better post some pictures of our summer adventures!  We didn't go far, we just used our white trash trailer and camped in Show Low 3 times this summer.  We were there for the 4th of July too, got to see fireworks, then also got to enjoy quite a few monsoon afternoon rains.  We loved it, the kids had a blast too.

This is trip #1, in mid-June.  We picked up Maddy from Girls'camp that week too, she was in Pinetop.

This is why I wanted to camp in a trailer: it reminds me of growing up, camping all over France in the summer and playing in the sand or dirt like this with my brother; making tracks in the dirt for your cars.

Becoming a Junior Ranger, swearing to protect the forest and the animals.  PS: I look like a blimp on the pix, ugh!

We didn't catch anything fishing, so fake worms was dinner that night!

...yep, someone peed the bed, I shall protect his identity...

This is the cabin Reed's parents built and sold a few years ago, in Pinetop...such great memories of it! 

The Hondah Casino in Pinetop

Of course Buster got to come along.

Fool Hallow Lake

And why would we ever go camping in the boonies, where there wouldn't be any fast foods, I don't know, I like camping and civilization!

I lied, that's what we caught, yum! 

Pretty much all I did.

                          Trip #2, it was still a hot day around 90 for the 4th of July, but so nice in the shade...and the white trash trailer has nice running a/c.

4th of July Parade in Show Low...hmmm yeah, and Nicky is wearing a Belgian Flag hat, oops :)

Buster is so impressed by the parade.

                                   

Waiting for the fireworks to start, or the rain, we weren't sure...

Iphone nightime photos are not the best, but who carries a camera now a days?

The set up part deux

Then we loved it and went back again 2 weeks later.

Here is an advantage to having a heavy prescription for your glasses: you get to try to burn some paper with the sun!

                                   

Yep, dinner again!  The Rangers told us they had just stocked the lake with Trophy size fishes, good thing!  Tommy thought if he caught a fish, he'd win a trophy.

                                      

So he made his own fishing pole with a stick, that didn't bring him anymore luck

                                        

It had rained enough and the fire restrictions were lifted, yeah to roasting dogs and s'mores!

It rained a little, but it was way too nice to leave the fire.

So this was pretty much our summer, with lots of swimming in between those trips. Tomorrow, school starts and I will be alone for another 2 1/2 months before baby Oopsiee joins the clan.

Tonsils, ughhhhh!

If you look in there, you will see a red gumball!  She couldn't eat popcorn, steak, and other food....soooo

Off to the hospital we went.  She went to Paramount Surgical Center, she got a bear to help. The staff was awesome...but it still hurts.  It's been almost a week, she's hungry but still can't eat much :((((

I can't wait to get my Elly back.  Look what a great future babysitter she'll be, here with her youngest cousin.

Precious

 

My brother in law, Rick as a company called Precious Packages in Utah (pass the word around).  He does mobile ultrasounds.  He was in town last week, so we got a peak at our baby at 19 weeks.  Tommy found it freaky, the kids are not as excited to have an alien for a brother.  But he is doing good, all is well with baby Oopsie.

Next ultrasound in a couple of weeks.

Bye bye preschool

My baby, the one I thought of for a long time as my baby anyway (dethroned in October), is done with Preschool.  He is ready for all day Kindergarten and I don't think I am!  I am so going to miss that kid. He says the funniest things!  He told me a few weeks ago, when he couldn't go to school because he was sick, to make sure to tell Mrs.Liz to tell the kids NOT to learn anything without him!  He recently taught me the difference between a turtle and a tortoise (turtles have no tails, in French, they're all "tortues" we make it easier for once).  He reminds me a lot of Alex, who was an only child for 7 years and thus talked like an adult by age 3.  Tommy spent his last 2 years with me only, so he'll say "besides" and "otherwise" quite a bit.
I spoil him, totally and I don't care.  The kids wanted a soda for snack the other day, I heard Maddy say "hey, Tommy, you're mom's favorite, ask her if we can"...I don't have favorites, but he is the only one to still snuggle with me and admires me without judgement!
I can already hear it now: "what, Tommy got a post to himself and it's not even his birthday", blah blah blah

Kindershore, class of 2013

End of school, oh yeah!!!

We are done, done, done! Was it a long year or what? Well, no, not for me, but I remember thinking as a kid that school would never end.  

We had Margaret Thatcher for a guess in our home a few times, right before school ended.  She was part of the wax museum at Cortina.  She looks all grown up, she even did her British accent, pretty cool ;)

Now this cracks me up! Only in AZ!!! Elly in her warmest pj ever after swimming in our cold pool (it's warmer now) and Indi in her swimsuit!!! Love those girls!!!

Nicky got a price for a writing contest at school.  He got Honorable Mention, we didn't even know he was part of the contest!

I did my toes (I have NEVER had a pedicure, I'm way too cheap and enjoy doing my own, I know, I know, I heard it's fantastic, but with a partially numb toe from surgery, I don't trust them little Asian people...)

What school doesn't end with a sign'a ton! I was too lazy/nauseous to get up and go take a close up, but I saw him good, trust me!

And now that school is out, we have plenty of time to practice skating, sock, no sock, flip flops or not, whatev'!

This is just Buster, sniffing the left over Chicken Nuggets on the dinner table.  He never dared to jump on the chair though, good dog...but how he was tempted!

We like to share in our family, and I am so generous, that I let Reed share my day!  But it ended up being everyone's day when we got to talk to our favorite Elder for 2 hours on Skype! I love technology, don't you.  Phones are great, but seeing Alex for 2 hours was great. And even more for him, for the boys to get to show him their new Legos or whatever else, that was just perfect! I'm grateful to his mission president for allowing those two hours. He has been pretty great about letting the missionaries use Web cafes for 2 hours too, thus the long emails we get with all the pictures.  Now the mail is a different story.  It only takes about 1 week or less for his letters to get to us, but it took forever for him to get ours, since it gets stuck at the mission office until someone delivers them.
It was a great day, even if at church, they asked me to give a talk two weeks later, ugh!!!
We went to Grandma's house in Surprise for dinner and Reed has his first very own Pinata, he didn't even let the kids it hit once, but he shared the candies though!

Happy Birthday to my favorite guy in the world!

Best TV show ever, live from Kiev!

Alex was even there to open presents

Brotherly love

Letter with fun little Ukrainian papers, including MONEY (worth about .25c)

Look at him go, sharing his candies