Mathematical Poetry

For Abby's first math assignment of the year, she was supposed to write a number poem.

What?  What the heck kind of assignment is that?

She sat down and asked me if I had any ideas.  I gave it my best shot and suggested:

"2, 4, 6, 8 who do we appreciate?  Abby, Abby, Abby!"

Needless to say, Abby was less than impressed with my poetry skills and decided to take on the assignment by herself.  In ten minutes, this is what she came up with:

Square Roots

Grow into square trees

That grow square apples

That make square apple sauce

That make one person sick.

Or make a square apple pie

To cut into 4x4 pieces

To make square roots

All over again.

So, yes, it's more sophisticated than my poem, but let's be honest, math was never my strong point anyway.  Love that Abby-girl!

Back to School 2011

We have survived the first two days of school and I am already counting down the days until summer vacation - only 178 days to go!

The first day of school was a big success.  All three kids were up and dressed early, the Converse laced up and ready to go.  Breakfast was eaten wearing backpacks and there was a definite excitement in the air.

Uncle Peter's "friend", Sarah, had graciously offered to come over and do Abby's hair for the first day of school.  Abby was thrilled to have her own personal hairdresser help her get ready for school - and I was thrilled to not have to try some fancy hair-do while making lunches and feeding four other kids breakfast.  Thank you, Sarah!!

When the kids were already, we took the mandatory photos and then went over to the neighborhood breakfast.

The neighborhood breakfast is such a fun tradition.  It's always great to see the kids greet their friends and it gives them a boost of confidence as they head off to the great unknown.  I just don't know how Abby and her friends have gone from this:

to this......

In what feels like the blink of an eye?

I still remember on the first day of first grade, Abby was so nervous she wouldn't eat any food at the neighborhood breakfast, and then chewed on her backpack straps all the way to school.  This year, she and her friends just strolled casually over to school without a care in the world.  

Isaac was excited for school to start and was excited to see his friends at the neighborhood party.  I can't believe he's starting third grade this year.  As Andrew looked at these pictures of Isaac he said, "He doesn't look like a little boy anymore."

Waaaahhhhh.  Andrew should know better than to say mean things like that to me on the first day of school.  Doesn't he know, Isaac will always be my little boy?

Henry has been so excited to start first grade.  I tried to convince him that another year of Kindergarten was a great idea, but Henry wouldn't hear of it.  So, despite my protests, on Monday morning, Henry strolled confidently and happily to first grade.  (There was a little meltdown because he didn't get a Sunny-D at the breakfast, but he recovered quickly.)

Okay, so maybe he doesn't look totally confident in that picture, but he actually did great.

So, the back-to-school transition has been pretty easy this year - at least for the kids at school.  Those of us at home are less than thrilled.  I spent the day on Monday feeling melancholy.  I wasn't ready for school to start.  I wasn't ready to say good-bye to summer or to my babies and I'm not ready to acknowledge that my kids are growing up much faster than I am comfortable with. 

Peter hasn't been very happy with school starting either.  On the first day of school, he asked at 11:00, how much longer until Henry got home.  And on the second day of school, he asked, "Can't you just go to the school and tell Abby, Isaac and Henry that they HAVE to come home now?" 

Lucy hasn't faired much better.  I think she's a little bored having all the big kids gone too.  On the second day of school, while I was ten feet from her cleaning the kitchen, Lucy found a pair of scissors and very quietly shredded the dress she was wearing.  Isn't that a cry for help from a girl who doesn't know what to do with herself?

Contemplating what she has done.

Anyway,  I'm glad the kids are doing so well.  I'm glad that at least they are adjusting to school and to the new routine.  I'm just still trying to get my bearings as I wonder where the time has gone and what happened to sleeping in until 9:00.

The Summer of....

It's hard to believe but here we are one day away from school starting.  Usually, right about now, I start getting excited for school to start.  I look forward to the structure and the routine that necessarily invade our home with the advent of school and fall.  The pencil boxes, and markers and crayons have all been bought and are organized carefully in the backpacks.  Usually, we are all ready to go.

This year, I feel like I am being dragged, kicking and screaming right towards the first day of school.  This summer has been way too short and too relaxing and I am not willing to let go of it yet.  I'm not ready to surrender my children to their teachers and their friends and their homework.

This summer has been perfect.  It has been the summer of....

Swimming: We joined the neighborhood pool this summer and it has been heavenly.  All the kids except Lucy took swimming lessons and stroke development lessons and they have all turned into little fish.  Even Lucy, has spent most of the summer wearing floaties, but with her face under-water, kicking and blowing bubbles like a seasoned swimmer.   We have loved evening swims as a family, and the kids have loved night swims with friends.  Swimming has been a huge part of our summer this year, and I am not ready to let it go.

Avatar: The Last Airbender:  This was the summer that my kids discovered this animated TV show. On afternoons when it was too hot to play outside they would watch an episode or two of the cartoon series and they fell in love with the characters on this show.  Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph have become familiar names in our house as my kids have spent hours discussing them and the plot developments of the show.

Reading:  At the beginning of the summer, Abby, Isaac and Henry set goals for how much reading they wanted to do this summer.  Abby wanted to read over 5000 pages.  Isaac - over 1000.  And Henry wanted to read 50 books this summer.  Here we are the day before school starts and they have all reached their goals.  There have been many nights when lights were on until almost midnight as Abby and Isaac read away.  Reading was always one of my favorite parts of summer and I am thrilled that my kids share that love.

Lemonade stands and Bake Sales:  Abby has raked in the cash this summer as she and her friends have had lemonade stands and bake sales here in the neighborhood.

This picture actually has nothing to do with bake sales.  It's just Abby and her cute friend.

(Abby borrowed my glasses so she and her friend could look like "sisters".)

Youth Conference and Girls' Camp: Between the two, I spent almost ten days away from my family with the youth from our ward and had more fun than a wife/mother should really be allowed to have without her family.

Cooking and Crafts: Abby took two cooking classes and a sewing class this summer and discovered she has a real knack for cake decorating.  One of the summer's saddest moments occurred was when she was bringing home her perfectly decorated cake, anxious to show the family, and the car she was riding in stopped suddenly.  Her beautiful cake ended up all over the back of the passenger side seat and Abby came home broken-hearted.  (The cake may not have looked too good, but it tasted amazing and was devoured within minutes of getting it home.)  When she wasn't busy cooking or baking (or reading) she could be found working on crafts: headbands, rings, bracelets, etc.  This girl definitely has the crafty gene.

Legos: Isaac especially has logged some serious hours constructing a Lego city.  He loves, loves, loves Legos and is very creative with them.  Although I often find myself cursing legos, especially when I step on one with bare feet, it is fun to see the creations my kids come up with.  So much down time in the summer = lots of amazing lego projects.

Parades: Abby, Isaac and Henry got to be in the Salt Lake Children's Parade on July 16th.  The theme of the parade was "Press Forward Pioneers" and my kids had to dress up like the Roaring 20s.  They were less than thrilled to get up so early but ended up having a great time.  Isaac was especially excited when he realized that he had a close-up on television.

Isaac was much happier when he came home a few hours later and realized he'd been on TV.

Father and kids: Andrew took the four oldest kids (and several neighborhood kids) on the ward campout. They had a great time eating fried chicken and burned marshmallows, sitting around the campfire, sleeping in a tent and hiking to Donut Falls.  They all came home with the knowledge that their dad is pretty much the coolest dad around.  

(Lucy and I used our evening alone as an opportunity to go to dinner with Oma, Laura, Peter, Sarah and Emily and I found myself wondering how many more years until ALL the kids could go on Fathers and kids.)

This was the summer of California, of cabin trips, of lazy evenings in the backyard, of watching sunsets from our front porch, of evening swims, of last day of summer water fights, and of lying on our backs watching the clouds.  

It was the summer of popsicles, lemonade, barbecues with friends and family, trips to Ice, Ice Baby, sleeping-in, and staying up late.  It's been the summer of skinned knees, rosy cheeks, fat lips, and buzzed heads.

It has all gone by too fast, and I am NOT okay with school starting tomorrow.  Luckily, we went school shopping last week, so all my kids are ready to start the new school year.

(There's nothing like a new pair of shoes to put a spring in your step -- and this year all the kids wanted Chuck Taylors in different colors.)

Bring on the new school year!

Isaac's #1 Summer Goal

At the beginning of summer when we made our family "To Do" list, Isaac's number one request was that we go to Hidden Lake so he could hunt for frogs.  My parents had taken the kids on a hike there last year and it was such a highlight, he insisted we go again this year.

Luckily for him, on Monday, on the way home from the cabin, Andrew stopped with the four youngest kids so they could hike around the lake and Isaac could look for frogs.  All the kids had a great time and Isaac finally caught those frogs he'd been dreaming about all summer long.

(No frogs were harmed in the making of this blog post.)

Take Me to the River

At the beginning of the summer, we sat down as a family and made a long, detailed list of all the things we wanted to do before school started again.  At the time, we may have been overly confident with all the things we could do, adventures we could have, and places we could go before the summer ended.  And why shouldn't we have been confident?  We had two and half months stretching out before us - days and nights to spend them however we wanted.

Now, suddenly, here we are one week before school starts and the pressure is on.  There, taped to the fridge sits our list, with not nearly enough check marks on it.  Daily, we scan the list, deciding what we can still accomplish in the precious remaining days of summer.  Luckily, we just got home from a two-day trip to the cabin so in addition to having a great little get-away, we were able to come home and put a big check next to one of our favorite summertime activities.

The cabin is such a fun place to go - especially for the kids.   It is the best place on earth for them to explore, have adventures, test their mettle, and just get really filthy, dirty for as long as we are there.

One of the highlights of the cabin is playing in the river.  It's the perfect place to wade, just throw rocks, build dams, ride inner tubes, and for the very bravest, it's a great place to try swimming.  Believe me, this water is cold - no FREEZING.  The swims never last long, but it is always fun to see who is willing to try. This year, Isaac was the only one willing to take the plunge.  I loved watching him as he gathered his courage, and then, finally, dive under the water for a quick swim.

Isaac studies the water, contemplating his next move.

Finally goes for it.

Swim, Isaac! Swim!

All the kids had so much fun doing cabin-stuff.  From exploring the banks of the river to wading in the stream.  From feeding the horses to doing things they're never allowed to do at home - like play with fire and shoot guns.  (Yep, that's just how we roll at the cabin.)

I had a great time at the cabin breathing in the mountain air and soaking in the landscape that is as familiar to me as any I know.  The cabin has been a haven, an escape and a summer getaway since the time I was a six-month old baby.  The sound the river rushing over rocks and the rustling of the aspens have provided the soundtrack to summer adventures my whole life.

This time around, I loved watching my kids explore and discover just like I did at their age.  The natural sunlight there was so incredible, I just loved taking pictures of my kids and my Andrew and of places that have always been magical to me.

Even with great lighting, I still can't get all my kids to look at the camera at the same time.

I adore this picture of my two girls.

And this one too.

I love going to the cabin.  I love building a fire and eating roasted hot dogs and marshmallows until we're all stuffed.  I love watching for the first star (of the hundred billions we can see up there) to appear in the night sky.  I love sitting around the fire and telling stories and singing songs.  I love falling asleep to the sound of the river just outside my window and waking up to the dappled sunshine peaking through the trees. 

It is such a beautiful place.  No wonder we always come home happy, relaxed and completely covered in dirt.  Can't wait to go back next time.