Punkin'

Fear Not

On Sunday these three sang a beautiful version of How Firm a Foundation called Fear Not. I wished I'd recorded it. Cooper found the song and was the one that convinced his sisters to join him. I took this picture while they practiced before church. I'm so glad they got to sing this before Cooper leaves.

In the Quiet, Misty Morning

We finished our fourth week of school today. I celebrated by waking up with a horrible headache, possibly due to starting each day at 6:00 in the morning, pushing myself to keep working until bedtime, and then going to sleep somewhere around midnight.

I do not recommend this schedule.

Bryan handled all the morning work of getting the kids to school while I laid in bed in my dark room with my hand over my eyes, trying to get the pain to go away.

And then I slept for most of the morning.

The purpose of this post is not to complain, though I've definitely done that. My goal in writing about my early mornings and late nights is to say, yes, it's hard and I'm exhausted. But I really like having a little bit of time with each kid before school. I sit and talk with Phoebe while she waits for her ride to seminary. I sit in the car and talk with Sophie while we wait for the bus. I have nearly an hour of one-on-one time with Topher after Sophie leaves and before he catches his bus.

We have mornings that are rushed and chaotic and contentious. And we have peaceful, calm mornings. Which we get depends largely on how late the kids (even the grown-up kids) were up the night before.

Yesterday morning I was waiting for Sophie to be ready to leave when I looked out at our backyard. This picture doesn't do justice to how beautiful these trees were. It is autumn, but none of these leaves have turned orange yet. That's all early morning sunlight turning the green to gold. It was so lovely that I stepped outside into the chilly morning and took this picture. I would have missed that if I hadn't been up earlier than I wanted to be. And I would miss the time I'm getting with each kid. I think that's even better than watching the sunrise on the trees.

Cheerleaders

I went to the open house for Sophie's school yesterday and the open house for Phoebe's school tonight. The verdict from all the teachers I talked to: they love both girls and think they're amazing.

I agree.

Friday Night Lights

On Friday night Phoebe, Sophie, and I had the opportunity to hear the Young Men General President for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Timothy Farnes, his wife Sister Linsey Farnes, and Area Seventy Elder Michael Brady give a devotional for the youth. The talks were all uplifting and spiritual and I'm so glad we made the hour and a half drive to attend. When it was over, the speakers graciously invited everyone in attendance to come greet them in person and take some pictures. So we did.

Back on the Bus

The last time I sent only three kids to school was ten years ago. Here's proof of that. It was Phoebe's first day of Kindergarten, Cooper's first day of 3rd grade, and Peter's first day of 5th grade.

And here we are again, but this time with Phoebe in 10th grade, Sophie in 7th grade, and Topher in 3rd grade.

Until seminary starts, the girls will be on the same bus in the mornings.

Everyone reported that they all had a great first day!

All the Books

We spent all day back to school shopping yesterday. It was tiring, but productive.

We did have one big distraction though: we walked by the books.

Phoebe snapped this picture of Topher reaching for his favorite book series. When he turned and saw all those books he gasped and ran to them, then asked if he could please spend his school clothes budget on books instead.

It made my reading mom heart happy.

Ice Cream Evening

This was an evening that felt so idyllic. After dinner we drove Phoebe to the corner ice cream shop to meet her friend. We all got a sweet treat and I brought the other two home to enjoy the ice cream in the backyard. I was overwhelmed with how thankful I am that we live here and were making happy summertime memories.

Way Down to Hadestown

Tonight Phoebe and a friend hung out by seeing the filmed version of the Broadway show Hadestown. The theater is about 30 minutes from our house. Since I had to drive there anyway, I took Cooper and Sophie and we saw it too!

The five principle actors were the same that I saw in the original cast in 2019. It was so cool that I got to share this beautiful show with some of my kids.

The Benefits of Good Taste in Music

About a month ago, one of Phoebe's Young Women leaders, Tisha, told me she had a funny request. She had bought tickets to a concert for herself and her sister, but now her sister wasn't able to go. Tisha could take her husband with her, but he didn't really love the band or the style of music. She thought about all the people she knew who would want to actually go to the concert.

And she thought of Phoebe.

She asked if Bryan and I would be okay with her taking Phoebe to this concert. It was an hour and a half away, and it was just them. I should add that this leader is still in her twenties. She's closer to Phoebe's age than she is to my age. Bryan and I discussed it and prayed about it and pondered it and discussed it some more. And then we finally asked Phoebe if she wanted to go.

She said yes.

Hold on, that's not quite right. She actually screamed, then said, "YES!"

And that's why on Saturday Phoebe attended the BTS concert at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. If you're not familiar with BTS, they're a KPop group and currently the number one band in the world.

It was a very big deal.

These are some of the pictures she sent me. The size of that crowd is staggering.

And yes, she had an amazing time.

Web Slinger

I followed last night's Shakespeare with Spider-Man today. I took Cooper and Phoebe to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day this afternoon. It was excellent! I took this very dark picture of us during the previews.

You can't tell, but Phoebe and I are both wearing Spider-Man shirts in these pictures. She suggested I borrow one of hers, which I thought was very sweet.

This was the first time either of them have seen a Marvel movie in the theater, which made the outing extra special. I'm so glad these two teenagers were willing, and even excited, to see a movie with their mom rather than their friends.

Serve Those Around You

The service activity on Saturday was a success! This is a combination of pictures from me and Phoebe. She was much more thorough in her recording of the event than I was.

Here's the food area:

And the service area, we added another service table after this was taken:

These were the dining tables, each associated with a different holiday or pair of holidays.

Here we have Memorial/Veteran's Day:

Day of the Dead, from a few angles:

Spring Equinox:

Thanksgiving:

Valentine's Day:

Christmas:

Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

These are the wall decorations, I'm sure you can tell which holiday each one goes with:

And the service projects themselves, starting with our wall of options:

The girls added some chalk art:

And here's the activity in full swing, plus a few finished ornaments to send to families who don't have any, the first done by Phoebe, the second by one of Topher's friends:

It was well attended and a lot of service was accomplished!