Addie played in The Sunflower Girls
Quinn played for The Blue Fairies
Aaron and I decided our family policy on playing team sports in the future is that you can only join if you'd still want to play if there were no half-time and after-game snacks.
Special Edition: Soccer!
August Chronicles
First off: Addie started First Grade! School started too early in the year for us. We didn't quite have our summer vacation out of us enough to feel really excited. I'll miss her help from the summer including: organizing any drawer or closet I point her to, putting Enoch down for naps, and thinking up creative games to play. But the coolest thing about her teacher is a classroom money system with a bank and a store! The least cool thing is being "boy trapped" at her desk. Max on one side, who I saw roll his eyes and shrug at Jack on the other side on the first day of school as Addie timidly tried to squeeze in to her desk. Her best friend Sarah is only 3 seats away on the same row, but alas, is boy trapped too.
We were so happy to have a visit from my mom, dad and McKay before they hopped on the river for a 6 day Grand Canyon trip. Quinn bawled her eyes out when she had to say goodbye the night before they left. We thought she was just overdramatic from being over tired, but she woke up the next morning and the first thing out of her mouth was a sobbing howl. She decided this kind of drama works for her and frequently enacts a similar scene in the morning when Addie leaves for school.
Quinn has had some deep thoughts on life lately. Here is a brief musing I overheard while driving them home one night:
"Imagine you are a grown up. What would it be like?
You would eat all your food,
you would not make messes and
you would be a really good rock climber.
I mean, we know how to rock climb, but if you were a grown up you would be really good!"
August was a month of bike adventures for Enoch. He discovered the freedom of the open road on his red tricycle. Unfortunately he took that freedom all the way down to the busy road at the end of the street. After some desperate holding on by his sisters, a rescue by the neighbor and some stern talking to, I think we've curbed the urge. Oh yea, and he lost his bike for a day. That was probably the big motivator. Now he just speeds right up to the gutter, throws down his feet (shoed or not, his toes are raw) and comes to a skidding stop BEFORE the road, leans all the way over the handle bars and waves at the passing traffic. I think it has given more than one driver heart failure. It takes an extra 5 minutes of negotiating to get him to ride in the stroller now. He wants to ride his tricycle everywhere. When we have ample time I let him ride it over to the school to pick her up. The high school kids waiting in their cars at the crosswalk always get a kick out of him scooting across the crosswalk with his red cowboy boots and shiny red trycicle with leather tassles hanging off the handle bars.
There is a sidewalk over by the school that has an incline which he scoots to the top of then tucks his feet under and coasts down. But he can truly coast in style. Picture head thrown back, eyes shut, feeling the wind in his face, throwing his weight side to side as he carves a giant 'S' down the slope.....and then he throws a little too much weight into it at just the wrong angle between his front and back tire and rolls clear over leaving him in a tearful heap on the cement.....but after a few sobs, a hug from mom and a distainful look at the bike who would do that to him, he's dragging it back up the sidewalk for another, more guarded, run.
McKay helped him spray paint the girls old 12" princess bike so it was at least blue and grey. It still doesn't look very manly, but I have no doubt he will compensate by riding it 'manly.' He hasn't quite converted over to it yet.
My month was filled with planning. I organized the curriculum for our preschool co-op. Which I love doing and I'll share the info with anyone interested in running a similar preschool. And I have also been having a blast organizing my Let's Play Music classes. I had no idea I would have so much fun with this. Here's my plug: this is the most fun and comprehensive music fundamentals class I have ever seen, let alone could imagine. I started teaching because I wanted it for my kids and there were no teachers in Flagstaff.
Check out the website: www.letsplaymusicsite.com
Aaron had a busy month with church assignments. He spent a weekend at a 5 stake youth conference that our stake hosted! Another weekend at a stake dance in Winslow, AZ. And another weekend on a deacon's quorum campout. Of course, he helped them with rock climbing and took them canyoneering. He felt like it was a success: 6 of the 11 boys cried and they are all bragging about the hike now. (little did Aaron know, retribution was coming. But that is a story for next month's Chronicles). The kids and I hiked in to meet them at the rock climbing Friday night. I had the pleasant realization that this was the first time I'd taken all of them hiking in a while and all 4 did great. They stayed out of the poison ivy and stayed cheerful up the steep trail. I didn't even have to break out any 'happy suckers.'
July Chronicles
Jean smiles a lot but tough to get to laugh. She likes to be with the kids, but not touched by them! She frequently has a 'deer-in-headlights' look that says something between "who sent me here?" and "are you people for real?!"
Enoch figured out how to climb out of the crib...trouble. Over the 4th Nate earned eternal bonus points with Enoch for inducting him into the Boys Sandbox Club. He loves chocolate popsicles(pronounced: clock-clet). His prayers sound like this:
"Dear Happy Father. Family...Jesus...family...where's Jesus? (looks around the room for a picture and whispers very loudly:) Right there!..family...Jesus...in the name of Jesus Christ, Oh Man!"
Quinn really likes eating the beans and peas from the garden. She scored two goals at one of her soccer games. It changed her whole game when we told her it was okay to take the ball away from the other team. She's still mostly in it for the half-time and post-game snacks. Every Sunday morning she makes a card for her Sunbeam teacher: Cox (not Sister Cox, just Cox).
Addie lost her first tooth! Her dad actually couldn't take it anymore and yanked it out. She made a lot of progress swimming this month and can swim in the big pool without a life jacket and dive to the bottom for toys.
Aaron bought himself a mill after 10 years of dreaming. Now if he could only remember some of those things he planned to make, "if he only had a mill!"
June Chronicles
On the way home from kindergarten graduation Addie announced:
"now I know what two new things feel like. I know what it feels like to be in first grade and I know what it feels like to have summer break!"
When Enoch returns from his adventures outside he always announces, "I'm home, mom!"
He likes to play with 'hick-up trucks' and 'dinoswords.'
Recently we were watching a little friend his age. I said, "say 'hi' to our friend Enoch." He smiled a mischeivious smile and then shot her a chilling scowl. He turned around and walked away long enough for me to gasp in surprise, then called over his shoulder, "only kidding mom!"
While working on our latest installment to our long-term food supply Aaron observed, "this is so inefficient. They could have a factory and machines and do this faster, cheaper and make sure it was done correctly." I offered that it would cheat us of the opportunity to be obedient and work hard together. Who wouldn't want to skip the crooked labels, fighting to push the button on the sealer and floor covered in wheat and rice grains?
The last few photos are my hobby photos as of late. Cooking is my outlet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
