Ancestry

Peter has been very into family history recently. While digging through family records this week, he found this relative. His name was highly amusing to us. I'm breaking my "no last names" rule to share this picture, but since he died in 1667, I figure it's okay.

The Assistant

Another First Day

We all made it out the door, fully clothed and fed and carrying required school supplies, in time to catch the bus yesterday morning.

Then Sophie and I spent the majority of the day running errands, with a detour to the park.

The afternoon had some rough patches, but chores and dinner were both accomplished and all the kids fell asleep at a reasonable hour.

I'm the only person that had homework, and Bryan and I shared the burden and got through more than half of it. My eyes grew so heavy, I figured I should put aside the rest for another day and save the teachers the burden of interpreting my brain-weary, head-bobbing, hand-weaving writing.

'Twas the Night Before School

Last night we had our traditional night-before-the-start-of-school Family Home Evening. Bryan gave each child a father's blessing. It was a lovely, spiritual experience. Each blessing was unique, but they did share two common elements. Each child was told that they have a sharp mind and that they should learn to work hard and not procrastinate. When the three oldest were done, Bryan called Sophie up and she happily hopped out of her seat to have her blessing as well. She was told to obey her mom and continue being good.

When we finished, Bryan had the kids get out a piece of paper and a pen and write down their impressions. Peter took it a step further and wrote out his list of goals for the school year. Most of them were about being a good role model and friend and working hard.

Then the kids set out their clothes for the first day and did their best to fall asleep despite a mixture of excitement and anxiety.

Ready or not for the new year, here we come!

No Fear

Tonight at bedtime Sophie asked me to shut the door so she could sleep in darkness. This is the exchange that followed.

Phoebe: No! Don't shut the door! I'm afraid of the dark!

Sophie: (looking at me) I like the dark. Dark dark dark. (turning to Phoebe) Phoebe, did you know that I'm not afraid of anything? Not the dark, not anything. (pausing for emphasis) Not even pandas.

The End of the Break

Tomorrow is our last weekday of summer break. We've been doing our best to balance fun adventures with relaxed playtime/chores at home. I discovered this summer that the kids really enjoy just being at home, playing together and reading. I guess it took a summer without moving to discover that.

One of those fun activities this week was building a fort that covered most of the main floor of the house.

We've also been going through everyone's clothes and making sure that the stuff that doesn't fit gets pulled from circulation. This involved each child trying on nearly all the clothing they own. We thinned the heard by a respectable amount.

Our last school-related errand was to tame the beast that is Cooper's hair. He said to me last week, "Mom, my hair doesn't really grow longer, it just grows bigger." That is true. His hair, and Phoebe's hair, are both now groomed. Peter didn't require such pruning.

Now, I must get back to my task of updating school records electronically. I took a break from reading the twenty-four page acceptable use document I have to sign to write this post. It's not the exciting thing I've read. Wish me luck.

Glitter and Sparkle

The girls have formed a club called Glitter and Sparkle. Their inspiration came from Phoebe's desire to be a little shinier than usual and Sophie's desire to be just like her sister. On a related note, our art project glitter now lives in the top of my closet.

Camera Obscura

We enjoyed the eclipse thanks to Bryan's homemade camera obscura. It was fun to watch that tiny moon change shape and shrink. We also had one pair of official, keep-your-vision-intact glasses that we passed around, thanks to our friends and neighbors who drove by and saw us staring at our poster board. We weren't in the path of totality, but we still had fun.

I Don't Play Favorites

A few nights ago at bedtime, Sophie looked at me sweetly and said, "You're my favorite mom."

I lovingly looked back at her and gave my standard, child specific, reply, "And you're my favorite Sophie."

This response is generally well received, but today she wanted something slightly different.

"No, say 'You're my favorite child.'"

Uh oh.

Sweet Sixteen

Sixteen years ago today, many of our loved ones gathered with us at the San Diego Temple. Bryan wore a tux, I wore a white dress, we made life-changing promises, we smiled all day.

As a very young twenty-year-old I chose to say yes when Bryan proposed. I said yes again as a slightly older twenty-one-year-old bride.

It is the best choice I've ever made.

Happy sixteenth birthday to our family!

Take a Flying Leap

If you ever decide to break a rule, say jumping on your bed, something I advise against, at least make sure your brother isn't taking a picture of the deed with your mom's camera...

Keep on Keepin' On

For the first six months of this year, I usually exercised four to five days per week, sometimes six days per week. My goal was not hyper fitness, though I did develop stronger muscles and my clothes fit a little nicer. Rather, all that time on the treadmill and rowing machine was to treat my migraines. And it worked well.

Then we went on our trip to Utah. I was nervous about the possibility of migraines, but I stayed active enough that I didn't have any of the horrible headaches during the vacation. Then I was so worn out from our return trip, and the kids needed extra supervision due to their own sleep-deprived grumpiness, that I didn't exercise for a few more weeks.

Then, last week, I had a migraine.

So, not wanting that to happen again, I've now worked-out three times. The first round was for a mile, the second for two, then last night I decided to go for what used to be my standard distance: a 5K.

It was probably a mistake.

I was so out of practice, my asthma was quickly irritated and my limbs wouldn't move very fast. I had to lower the speed so I could keep breathing and standing upright. I wondered if I would even make it a full mile, but I pressed on. An hour and seventeen minutes later, I reached my desired distance.

I may not be able to walk today...

Baker Men

The boys were both in the mood to bake last week, and I was feeling generous, so I said yes to their request and they worked together to make a red velvet cake. Their main rule was that they had to clean up whatever mess they made. They did well following directions and staying tidy, at least until it came time to measure the red food coloring. That was when they discovered that they didn't have enough red. Thinking quickly to solve the dilemma, they simply made up the difference with droplets of all the other food coloring options at their disposal.

And that is why, rather than red velvet cake, Peter and Cooper made army green velvet cake.

It tasted much better than it looked.

Fancy in All Forms

Phoebe, who has always been fancy, has taken to wearing her hair in a new fashion. She came up with it herself and she's quite pleased with the result.

Jumpin'

The Good Parts of Educational Advancement

Last night as part of Family Home Evening (yes, on Wednesday, we had to reschedule this week) we told the boys who their teachers for the new school year would be. This is the first time since we've had children in school that we've lived in the same place for two school years in a row, so it was a new experience for all of us. The assignments were just made and the boys have been eager to learn them.

First we told Cooper his teachers. In the Intermediate School, the kids have two main teachers, one for science and math and the other for language arts and social studies. Since he's going into fourth grade, the youngest group at the school, he wasn't familiar with the names. But he thought it was cool that both teachers are men, a first for Cooper's educational experience. Then I told him I knew of two kids from third grade that were in his class.

Me: Oh, and Gillian (his friend) will be in your class.

Cooper: (nodding) Anyone else?

Me: (thinking) And Lily.

Cooper: (gasping, then grinning) The blonde one?!

That gave us all a good laugh. Cooper is our little ladies' man, so I wasn't totally surprised. He tried to play it cool, but it was too late. Bryan pulled out his phone after Cooper's question and subsequent laughter.

Then I read the names of Peter's teachers. Because he's already spent a year at the school, he knew at least some of the names of the sixth grade teachers. And he's been anxious to hear about his math class in particular. Bryan had his camera at the ready this time for us to deliver the good news.

Peter made it into Pre-Algebra for next year. Here's his reaction.

A few minutes after this picture was taken his elation dwindled a bit when he realized what this advanced math class will mean: more homework.

Booklovers Unite

Happy National Booklovers Day! Being the bibliophiles that we are, this is an exciting holiday. To celebrate, I will share one of the most wonderful birthday gifts I received this year. My dear friend Brett made this for me and gave it to me in person when we were in Utah. I love it! And bonus, my kids knew exactly who it was when they saw it. That, my friends, is a parenting win.

Now, go read a book!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

On Friday I noticed that one of my tomato plants didn't look well. Upon closer examination, I found that something had been snacking on the tomatoes.

I looked even closer and found the culprit, or rather, culprits. There are at least three tomato worms in this picture, can you find them? They're green, nearly the same color as the leaves, and they have white stripes on their backs. I was trying to get a picture of the nearest, blurry one. It wasn't until I looked at the pictures tonight that I saw I had digitally captured the others as well.

Even after I saw it, I didn't know what it was. I was amused that our garden was so adored by the little creatures. I mentioned it to Bryan and he knew what they were right away. He also knew that they kill tomato plants.

Oh.

So on Saturday, after some research, I decided to do my part to save the garden. I went outside armed with a bowl of hot soapy water and a pair of sturdy tongs. My aim was to pull the critters off and drop them into the water. Peter was appalled and kept saying things like, "Okay, if you want that on your conscience." I was determined to remove as many as I could find.

It was awful.

Those suckers have a tight grasp. And when they are squeezed too tightly with a sturdy pair of tongs, they ooze green liquid.

See? Awful.

I don't think I got them all, but I got all I could find. Pesky bugs...

The Looming Inevitable

School starts three weeks from today.

Last night I finished going through all of the papers from the previous school year, tucking the important ones into books of remembrance for the kids. We have file boxes in assigned cubbies in the homework nook of our family room, complete with hanging file folders, ready for new assignments. Backpacks have been purchased and last week I bought enough prepackaged snack food for lunches to last from now through February. I found jeans for the boys for the new year on clearance at Target and stocked up.

And I'm not nearly ready.

Aside from the long list of school supplies that still need to be acquired, I'm simply not ready to send them back. In spite of the extra chaos, noise, and mess that comes with everyone being home during the summer months, this is my favorite time of year. I love that we can take off to the zoo if we choose, or stay in our pajamas and read books all morning. I'm not ready to live by the school calendar, not quite yet.

But perhaps in three more weeks I will be?

A Boy and his Bow

Peter spent the last two days at a Boy Scout camp meant just for eleven-year-old scouts. He swam and lashed and played. He did not sleep over, but he did stay late and arrive early. And he got to participate in one of his favorite activities: archery.

Sweet Ride

Cooper's favorite animal is the giraffe. That's why he was so excited to see this giraffe-patterned Mini Cooper parked near the line we waited in to feed a very tall giraffe at the zoo on Monday. It's Cooper's perfect car.

Back in Time

Here are a few more pictures from our trip back in time to the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Peter was not pleased that we were having an adventure. He wanted to stay at home, do his chores, and play video games. That's been his goal all summer. That's why, in part, I've been planning outings. Ornery, I know. Don't worry, by the end he loved it.

I didn't take many pictures at first because I was too busy listening to the presentations. We learned about fancy new inventions like the cooking spider and the rotating toaster. We watched a feather bed get spanked, the proper term for fluffing the mattress. And we learned where the term "sleep tight" comes from. We watched flax get turned into linen and sheep's wool become yarn. Really, it was quite fascinating for all of us.

Then we went to school. Phoebe was sitting next to me, too close for a good picture. We learned that once upon a time kids could advance to the next level of their schooling when they were ready, not when the school year ended. I have a few children that would benefit from bringing that system back. We also learned that students had to memorize everything: poetry, times tables, grammar rules. There were only a handful of books available to the students, so most teaching was done by vocal repetition.

I am extremely grateful to live now and have access to so many books.

This school was a modern addition to the farm, built to hold modern-sized classes. The woman giving the presentation made sure to point out that an actual schoolhouse of that time would have been half the size of this one. The girls had to sit on one side, the boys on the other, hence my picture of Peter and Cooper so far away.

Then we had a little time to fill before our final presentation, so we visited the animals. Sophie really liked the pigs. As we watched them in their pen, Peter announced, "I think pigs are the third most majestic animal." Elephants and otters occupy spaces one and two, in case you were wondering.

The last tour of our day was the barn. We learned about what went in to taking care of the animals so they could continue working on the farm. Before we were led to see the animals, the kids were invited to jump into the hay. The lighting was terrible, but if you look close you can just make out Phoebe, and then Peter, jumping into the huge pile of soft hay. Cooper and Sophie joined in the fun too, but their pictures didn't turn out as well.

Then we met a baby goat that my children all declared to be the cutest thing they have ever seen.

There were also horses.

And sheep.

In spite of a rainstorm that soaked us at one point, we had a delightful time. Actually, the rain took the heat off the day, so it was even more pleasant, though the thunder was worrisome for our tall boy who is bothered by such things. We all had fun and learned a lot, a winning combination.

Mulish

Today the kids and I visited a living historical farm. We learned all kinds of interesting things, but one item stood out to me.

The animal in this picture is named Janie. You can't tell, but she's a mule. The young man that showed us the barns and animals taught us that mules are smarter than horses. Horses will continue working, regardless of the heat or their health and well-being. But mules understand when they have done too much or when it's too hot, and they will stop working. He told us that they like to have a mule work with the horses because the mule will let the farmers know when the animals need a break.

After he finished telling us all this, I asked, "So what you're saying is, when we talk about the stubbornness of mules..." And I stopped, not sure how to finish.

"Yes," he answered, "it's because they're being smart."

Now, I know that human obstinacy does not always come from a place of intelligence, but this information is good for me to think on. We have a house full of shockingly strong-willed people. I think perhaps I need to do a better job of taking a step back from my own stubbornness and seeing the situation from the other side. Maybe, occasionally, that tenacious tendency comes from a place of self-preservation and protection. In fact, without much effort, I can think of a few times when that has been the case in our family.

So the next time someone calls you "stubborn as a mule," say thank you.