Clock Reset

Initially, I thought school starting on a Thursday was silly. They attend for two days before the weekend, that's not enough to get into a groove. Now that we've finished those two days I realize the wisdom of it. 

In order to meet the bus on time we all have to be up at 6:30 in the morning. Perhaps that's a normal rising time for some of you, but for us it's early. And now we're exhausted. It was harder to get the kids up and going this morning than it was yesterday. Phoebe almost had to walk to the bus stop in her pajamas. 

At bedtime tonight we were all worn out. Phoebe was asleep within a few minutes of climbing into her bed. I think our bodies will figure out how to wake up and fall asleep at the right times, but the process of getting there is a little rough. I'm glad we have a weekend to recover.

First and Third

The boys started school today. Peter has been ready for about a week. Cooper was nervous last night as he tried to fall asleep. I was the least ready. I genuinely enjoyed spending time with the boys this summer, which is (sadly) surprising. They aren't always (meaning never) the easiest kids, but this summer was much better than last summer. Anyway, I was sad to see them go.

I told them I would buy them a shirt of their choice for the first day. Cooper's says "They said I could be anything...so I became a ninja."

One thing that sets this year apart from all the earlier years is that the boys are riding the bus. This is a dream come true for Peter. Bryan, the girls, and I walked the boys to the bus stop at an early hour this morning. Then Phoebe and I had a girl day at home (we painted our nails and watched a Strawberry Shortcake movie she had picked out from the library) and when the appointed hour arrived, we headed back to the bus stop.

As glad as she was to have a girl day, I think she missed those brothers.

Both boys had a great day. Peter has a locker (a glorified cubby) and went to Spanish and gym today. Cooper went to music and told me about a funny book his teacher read to him. The schools (they're not at the same campus, though they have the same rules and bus) have strict rules about peanuts, which is comforting. And for the first time during his formal education, Peter is not the only kid in his class with a peanut allergy.  Hooray for strength in numbers!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have lots of beginning-of-the-year paperwork to fill out.

The Reunion Tour

It's time for me to inundate you with pictures!

I know you've been itching to find out how our drive across the country went. Well my friends, your wait is over, at least partially. I'm not going to cover a whole week in one post; that would be crazy.

But I will write about a weekend.

We finished cleaning and checked out of our Washington house on the last day of July. It took longer than we had planned for (as always) so we didn't even start our drive until dinner time. This meant that we didn't arrive in Boise, Idaho (our night's destination) until 3 in the morning. We had lots of late nights on the trip, but that was the latest.

Since I knew we were traveling across the country I looked to see which friends and family members we would be passing. It turned into quite a reunion tour. First we saw my friend Elise. She lives halfway between Boise and Utah Valley (which was our next stop) and let our motion-starved kids run wild through her house, for which we were thankful. And she fed us! It was lovely.

That night in Utah we had a big ol' sleepover. Remember the friends that drove up to see us when we were in Utah in May? Well they offered to let us crash at their house. It was sooooooo fun. It was also the best night sleep I had had in weeks. The next morning we didn't want to leave. We just wanted to stay and play with our friends. We finally pulled ourselves together and returned our friends' home to a normal decibel level. Thank you Brett and Ben!

As luck would have it, my brother Isaac and sister-in-law Falisha happened to be visiting Utah Valley from Idaho, so they spent the afternoon wandering around BYU with us. I loved getting to see them and the kids loved getting to play with them. Bonus: we went to the Museum of Art on campus and saw the exhibit advertised in the picture below. It was really cool. Phoebe especially loved all the ball gowns they had on display.

Bryan's brother Spencer came and spent time with us as well, including a stop at In N' Out, which really doesn't require an explanation. Also, I found it amusing that my youngest brother and Bryan's youngest brother had a great time chatting about math, calculus if memory serves. Sure boys, whatever makes you happy.

We also saw two more dear friends that day, but somehow I failed to take pictures. I've been kicking myself about it ever since. Charlynn, thank you for taking time to come see us! Gretel, thank you for letting us stop by! I'm so happy I got to see both of you.

After haircuts and a mall stop for some new jeans (I don't recommend eating bread and jam while traveling at 2 in the morning, you'll probably spill), we headed up to Bryan's grandparents' for the night.

The next day we went to church with Bryan's brother Dallin and his wife Melody. Phoebe adores both Aunt Falisha and Aunt Melody, so seeing them in the same weekend was kind of a big deal for her. Sadly, I again failed to pull out my camera for most of the day. I did catch this fun exchange between Dallin and Sophie.

I squeezed in one more friend visit before the traditional family Sunday dinner at Bryan's grandparents' house. Sophie and I drove twenty minutes to see my friend Makana and meet her sweet newborn baby girls. If we had come through the next weekend I would have missed her, but I caught her before she and her family moved to Texas.

Bryan and I stayed up late on Sunday night making sure the laundry was clean and the car was packed to begin the big drive across the country the next morning.

Crisis Averted

Good news, folks: I found my keys! Actually, Phoebe found them for me. After a week without them I was starting to fear the worst.

I know you were all concerned.

Also, we got internet today! Stayed tuned in the next few days for all kinds of travelogue goodness...

Read Me a Story

It's blurry, but it's one of my favorites.

Generations

Bryan got home from work early enough to setup the TV. It's been sitting in a box next to the empty TV cabinet for the last three weeks. Now we are having a good old fashioned movie night. Sophie and Phoebe are already in their beds. Cooper is trying to finish cleaning the playroom, so Peter is the only kid currently watching the movie. It was Bryan's pick and he chose a movie from one of his favorite fictional universes.

He and Peter are sitting next to each other, Peter asking questions about space travel and various alien species that he's seeing. Bryan has a look of delight on his face. I think this is how other dads feel when they take their sons to sporting events or take them fishing. Bryan is sharing something he loves with Peter.

I enjoy this movie, but the father/son show is even better.

Sitting at Attention

Fan Club

Bryan has been working very long days, which means I've been working long days as well. It also means that I don't get to shower before he leaves in the morning. Somewhere there are children that play nicely while their mother gets cleaned up, but those kids do not live at my house. So no shower before Bryan goes usually means no shower at all.

Tonight after Bryan was home and the kids were asleep I finally got to shower. While I was finishing I heard Sophie wake up crying. I came out of the bathroom to find Bryan sitting on the bed, holding a now quiet Sophie. He leaned over and whispered, "Sophie, look who's here."

She looked up and did three things all at once: she grinned, she waved her arms in excitement, and she stood. All together, it looked like she launched herself off of Bryan in her eagerness to get to me.

It's nice to be appreciated.

Missing

Has anyone seen my keys? I've looked everywhere I can think of here (including all the trashcans), so it stands to reason that they must have fallen into a tear in the universe. If you find them, please let me know.

That is all.

The Punchline