Zach's First Day of School - Third Grade!

Today was a bittersweet day - it was Zach's first day of school in 3rd grade.  He is really getting so big and I can hardly believe he's already in 3rd grade!  Last night was back to school night and we went over and met his teacher Miss Berry.  She seems really nice and I just know he's going to have a great year.

This morning he was all smiles and so excited to go!

This is the outfit he chose to wear, doesn't he look handsome?!?

He's been most excited to wear his brand new shoes, he wanted me to get a picture of them to put on the blog so everyone could see how cool they were!

Here he is with his backpack all ready to head out the door.

Before I knew it, it was time for him to go - he turned around for one more picture and then  ...

... off he went with the neighbor kids for his first day of school.

I didn't think I would, but I teared up just a bit.  It has been kind of a crazy summer and he's been more bored than anything else.  We've both been looking forward to school and having him something more structured to do and learn.  But, I have to admit, my mind flashed back to this:

How on earth did my little baby get so big so fast?

Seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and now he's a big 3rd grader.  Time goes by so fast and sometimes it feels like you blink and they grow up on you.  *Sigh*  Such is life I suppose.  So, now we are waiting for his return in the next little bit and to hear all about his fabulous first day of school.  I just know it will have been so much fun!

(Another first day of school post will be coming next week when kingergarten starts - but I'm trying not to think about that right now!)

School Haircuts!

With school just right around the corner, we decided it was time for some haircuts. So Saturday afternoon, we pulled everything out and proceeded to cut some hair!

Zach was up first. I've been cutting his hair for some time now and although he complained the whole time (which is normal), we got it done fairly quickly and it turned out great.

Love that smile!



I love the back, especially when the bottom is so short! I also love his major cowlick - it's so prominent and fun to deal with when trying to comb the hair down!


Next up was Hailey. I usually have a friend down the street cut her hair, but I had tried to trim it myself last time (with somewhat successful results) and because we waited so long to get it cut this time around, I decided to try it again - after all, how hard would it be to just cut it short and straight?

Well, as I learned nearly 30 minutes later - QUITE DIFFICULT and that I can really make it look HORRIBLE in just a short amount of time! So after feeling frustrated, having her wash it, letting it dry, and all the while praying that it would look better any minute, I realized I had really made a mess of it. So I desperately dialed my friend down the street, tried not to cry as I admitted what I had done, and begged some time from her to fix it. Graciously, she told me to bring her right down. My wonderful friend put aside everything she was doing on her Saturday night to fix my mistake and after another 30 minutes, she had worked a miracle! She made it look wonderful and we finally felt like we had a haircut that we could be proud of! Here it is (I didn't even take pictures of my attempt because that is NOT something I'm proud of and want to remember!):


She wanted it really short, so by the time Tiffani fixed my mess, it was really short - but she loves it!


We decided to try a headband for church yesterday - it looked cute, but we found out that it's hard for a little girl to keep it in place and looking good, so we probably won't be using that again! But she did look cute.


This isn't the best picture of the back, she had slept on it weird overnight, but it does show how short it ended up.


Whew - what a day! One thing I learned - there are just some things that I can't do - one of those is cutting my daughter's hair! I don't think I'll be attempting that again any time soon!

So, with much drama and many thanks to a wonderful friend, we finally ended up with hair ready for school!

Curly Head!

I have naturally curly hair - actually that would probably be an understatement! My hair is so curly that sometimes it drives me nuts! But I do love it most of the time and I was just SURE that most of my kids would have curly hair!

Well, that didn't turn out quite like I expected. Zach has wavy hair, but only when it gets really long and it's very slight. When we found out we were pregnant with Hailey, I was just sure this was going to be my curly child - I mean, who doesn't wish for a curly haired little girl? Well, that didn't turn out like I expected either - her hair is thin and very, very straight. But, the straight hair looks beautiful on her, so I wouldn't have it any other way.

So when we found out we were pregnant again, I wondered, will this be the one? Well, I think a few simple pictures will answer that question.

Yes, Tate's hair is curly! It's not curly all over, it's mostly wavy on top, but the areas where it's longer it definitely has quite a bit of curl. Areas like at the very back ...


... or over his ears are really curly.


Especially on his right side.


Yes, he's my curly haired baby.


I love it! In fact, so much so that I can't bring myself to cut it - not just yet anyway. I'm sure he'll hate it when he gets older, but at least it won't be as bad when it's short. And despite the fact that he might hate it, it looks so darling on him now and I just love it!

Swimming!

I have been promising the kids we would swim in our backyard for quite a few days and finally, we decided to do it last week. It was kind of a crazy day, but it all worked out and the kids all had a great time.

Here are our 3 monkeys - aren't they all so cute?


Since the older kids like to run and jump into the pool whenever they swim, we decided it would be good to have Tate in his own little pool so that he wouldn't get splashed and could have a smaller amount of water to play in. Special thanks to Nana and Papa for buying him his own little pool!


The older two were happy to have their own pool too and jumped, splashed, and squirted!


Tate was completely fascinated with a little plastic baseball I tossed in for him to play with - he barely put it down the entire time he was in the pool.


Zach and Hailey eventually decided they needed toys too - so we pulled out the sand and water toys and they had a blast playing in their pool with their toys.


I happened to catch this priceless smile of our little one - he's getting so big and he just is the cutest thing ever!


The two older ones are pretty darn cute too and they were always looking over and smiling at me - so I had to grab another picture of them as well.


About part way through swimming, Tate decided that he needed to stand up and for the rest of the time, I was continually telling him to sit down. Now that he's walking, he's determined to get up and walk - no matter where he is!


I'm including just a bit of video of him standing up and then looking down at the water dripping from his swimming suit - he could not figure out what was going on an would stand, lean over, and stare at it dripping until he'd hear me to tell him to sit down. It was hilarious!



In all, it was a fun time for all - despite the fact that it took me more time to get everything set up, everyone in their suits, and everything cleaned up than the amount of time they actually were swimming! Ah, the sacrifices of a mother right? Just kidding, it was all worth it to see them all so happy!

Mini Golf and a Birthday!

Last week was Nana's birthday and she decided that she wanted to go to lunch and mini-golfing for her birthday on our weekly get-together (well, I don't know how much of that was what she actually wanted to do or if it was more what she thought the kids wanted to do!). But regarless, the kids were thrilled at the idea and couldn't wait!

After lunch at Sizzler (which was an experience in and of itself - yeah, no more buffets for us without Jeremiah there to help me with 3 crazy kids!), we headed over to Cherry Hill for some mini-golf. By this time Kylie and Libby had gone home (it was too hot) and I was too tired to push Tate up the grassy hill in his stroller, so just the 4 older kids were in the picture.


Once we got that out of the way, we headed over to pay, get the clubs and balls, and head out on the course. The kids were so funny, but they had a great time!


It was really hot, but the kids did great until right at the end when they were all dying of thirst! Thanks to quite a few trees, Tate and I were able to keep in the shade most of the time.


It was really fun and the kids had a blast! Here's Nana and Papa with all the kids (except Libby of course, who was probably home and cool!).


Happy Birthday Nana - hope you had a good birthday, thanks for sharing it with us and taking us mini-golfing - we had so much fun!

HAFB Airplane Museum

This was another of the activities the kids really wanted to do this summer. We drive by the Hill Air Force Base Airplane Museum every time we head to Kylie and Jedd's or go through Ogden (you can see the planes from the freeway). We finally made it up to see them earlier this month and the kids just loved it!

I love that we take a picture of all the cousins together everywhere - it's so fun to see them all together in all of the different places we go!


Both Zach and Hailey picked out one special airplane or helicoptor that was their favorite and they each got to have a picture of just them in front of it.

Here is Zach with his favorite plane.


Loved the thumbs up he gave me.


Hailey chose a helicoptor - she loved the rotors (although she kept calling them fans).


She thought it was so neat that they could actually touch them.


Speaking of touching them, the kids loved the planes that spanned across the sidewalk and loved to see who could touch them each time.


Once we saw all of the planes outside, we headed to the inside portion of the museum - most of the pictures I took inside were too dark (I realize almost too late that I didn't have my flash on!). One of the pictures I did get was Nana and the kids in front of this airplane. Notice that it says "Cindy's Fighter?" Yep, that's Nana's name and all the kids were convinced it was named after her!


One of the traditional pictures we have to get every time is the kids each sitting in the pilot seat that they have out. Zach jumped right up there and told me he felt comfortable in it (he wants to be a fighter pilot when he grows up - something I'm not so sure I like!).


And Hailey looked so big in the chair this year. Every year it seems they both grow so much!


And a special treat for us - there was a group of HAFB military men there planning a retirement party. Zach really wanted to shake their hands, so we asked and they kindly agreed to do that and take a picture with the kids - it was so kind of them to take a few minutes with our kids, they were the best! Zach couldn't wait to come home to tell his Dad and show him the picture.


Yep, another fun and exciting trip the airplane museum. We sure had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Train Ride and Visit to the Planetarium

A few weeks ago we decided for our weekly get-together that we would ride the UTA commuter train into Salt Lake and visit the Planetarium at the Gateway.

Here are the kids at the train station anxiously awaiting the train to come! Even though we only waited about 5 minutes, the kids thought it too forever!


Here's a picture of me with the three kids - I don't get many pictures of me with them because I'm mainly the one taking pictures, but I thought I'd get one today just to prove that I was there!


And here's Nana with the grandkids - boy were they excited to go!


Once we boarded the train, we headed right to the top - our favorite place to sit. The 4 oldest kids sat together and had the best time riding!


This was Tate and Libby's first train ride and they weren't quite sure what was going on, but they loved looking out the window and squealing at everything they saw.


Once we got to Salt Lake, we transferred from the UTA train to the Trax Light Rail train that took us to the Planetarium. The kids had a blast! Here are the big kids in front of a replica of the earth.


I love the Planetarium because there are so many fun and interesting things to see and do. The kids spent so much time looking at EVERYTHING!

Hailey especially loved looking through the telescopes (I think this year she actually understood the concept of closing one eye and looking through it with the other).


Zach loved all the things that you could do. He especially loved the wheel you could spin and create electricity in order to turn on the lightbulbs on the wall. Before long, it became a contest to see who could create the most electricity and turn on the highest watt bulb!


One of my favorite areas is where they have areas representing what it looks like on Mars ...


... and the Moon. I love these pictures of the kids at each of the areas. They make it look almost like they are really there.


Tate spent most of his time in the stroller, but towards the end he got tired and wanted out. He then became fascinated with this big box where balls were going up, down, around, looping, etc. It would also make little dings or boings and the balls would pass certain areas and it was really a fun thing for him to watch.


Hailey was really a good helper and let me sit down for a minute while she kept an eye on Tate.


Around the front side of the box was a big white wheel you could spin to start another ball through the maze of twists and turns. Of course, Tate LOVES things that spin, so that quickly became another favorite!


After visiting the Planetarium, we headed into the food court at the Gateway for an ice cream cone and then headed back to the train station for our return journey.

It sure was a fun day and we all had a blast riding the train and seeing the Planetarium. We can't wait until we can do it all again!