Playdate with Kate

My sister, Erin, is back in town to bring her oldest child to BYU. She is sooo old! :) She figured that even though Spence adores his baby sister, he might not want mom dropping him off at college with a baby on her hip. Cracks me up. So we had baby Kate all day! Heaven.And she clearly liked being with us. Check out that smile. The only trouble she caused was the extreme jealously of my children over who could hold her or help feed her. My mother would say that it's proof that we need another baby at our house. But I'm content to just get my baby fix with this little girlie.

Back 2 School '10

Haley heading to 4th grade. She attends a different school than the other kids, and she absolutely loves it. The child just plain loves school.
Paige is now in 1st grade and couldn't be happier. The first thing she tells me when she walks in the door is what she had for lunch. ("Can you believe they had strawberry shortcake today? It was awesome!!")
Christian is now a 6th grader -- king of the school. He told me that this year will be a good one because he plans on staying on top of his school work. Hallelujah.

And even Elle gets in on the action this year. She starts preschool next week. Only a couple of hours a week ... I can handle that.

Great things about back-to-school

* Noticing that each of my kids (even Christian - gasp!) had laid out their 1st day of school clothes by Saturday afternoon. And Christian even had a bottle of cologne next to his outfit. That's a new addition this year.

* Watching my cute husband give each of our kids a blessing on Sunday night. I had to sneak a peak at each child, sitting quietly with their eyes closed, head bowed and arms folded. Seeing little Elle squeeze her eyes shut for the whole blessing was almost as great as the blessing itself. I'm so grateful for that little tradition.

* Watching my 3 oldest kids emerge from their rooms Monday morning, giddy & excited. And about 2 hours before school started. They all admitted they hadn't slept much and kept asking when it was time to go to school. Reminded me of Christmas morning.

* Seeing those same kids, emerge from school happy and still excited. They all had great first days at school and are still excited to go back tomorrow. Awesome.

* Taking my little Elle with me to the car after the kids were dropped off at school, knowing that she and I will have lots of one-on-one time together this year. And next year, too. I'm definitely not ready to let go of her yet. She's started making a list of things she wants us to do together .... "The zoo! And grandma's house, and the Children's Museum. And go to lunch. And pedicures!" She is so my daughter.

* Hosting some of my girlfriends at my house for my annual back-to-school breakfast. My sister has dubbed it the "Boo-Hoo Woo-Hoo breakfast." :) We had fewer tears this year than in years past, but Steph assures me that she'll be crying tomorrow. It's one of my favorite traditions all year.

Here's to a great school year. I'm hoping they'll have great friends and lots of good grades. That's not too much to ask, is it?

Camping, Misty-style

I'm laying in a tent, camping with our kids, blogging on my phone. How cool is technology? I was born at this time for a reason. The Lord knew I couldn't survive without some modern conveniences.

And about camping, we're only in the backyard of our Mayfield extended family. We have 4 tents scattered on the lawn, made dinner in a beautiful, modern kitchen, watched a movie on a projection screen on the lawn, made s'mores over their firepit and then watched cousins play musical tents as they all tried to find a way to sleep together. I love that I don't even know where my oldest 2 kids wound up. They're happy, wherever they are. And I still have access to a bathroom and an internet connection, which makes me happy.

In the morning, cousins will wake up at the crack of dawn and jump on their other sleeping cousins. And I'll help make pumpkin pancakes and caramel syrup. Couldn't be a more perfect campout for me.

Things running through my head

I love finding a good doctor or dentist or specialist. I really love my kids' orthodontist and pediatrician. I already said how much I like our dentist. I love knowing we're in good hands.

I used to be so self-conscience about my freckled face. Now I've embraced my freckled look and know that life is just too short to worry about things I can't change. Freckles are cool, anyway. Didn'tcha know?

I typically see a movie in a theater (new releases, independent films, dollar shows) on a weekly basis.

One of my favorite books of all time is Ender's Game. I can't wait until Christian is old enough to really appreciate it and love it.

I must say the words, "Please speak kindly to each other. Please be kind. Please." a dozen times a day. I keep hoping it will sink in at some point.

Red Vines are at perfection for me when they're a little bit stale.

I love, love the smell of my kids' warm, sunscreened skin.

Tommy Bahama's restaurant has the absolute best fish tacos. Seriously.

I have no problem wearing the same outfit 2 days in a row if it's still clean. And if I won't be running into the same people, although sometimes that doesn't matter to me.

Pandora is brilliant. I continually "find" great new artists thanks to Pandora.

Blogging is therapeutic for me. Even if no one reads it.

Morning summer ritual

When we moved directly behind a high school, I wasn't so sure that it would be a good thing. I could picture high school kids hucking beer cans over our fence or something, those hoodlums. But we actually love having the high school in our backyard. We watch the games from our deck, jump the fence to go run at the track (ok, not really -- we actually walk around to the proper entrance) and have found a few homerun baseballs in our yard. But the kids' favorite part is watching the football team train all summer long.

I have pictures of each of my kids, at about this same age, standing on the balcony watching the "football guys." They yell encouraging things ("Go Braves!") and sometimes get a thumbs-up back from the players.

On this morning, I walked in as Elle was yelling: "Hey football boys! Football boys! Answer me! O.K be safe and go do your job."
Makes me laugh that the coaches yell, "Big guys!" at the linemen. And I never even knew what "two-a-days" were before we lived here (sorry, honey). I've learned a lot about football, just from watching it off my deck.

Remodel

When we moved into our house 11 years ago, it seemed so updated and new. Time and kids and wear & tear changes that. So we've been updating recently. New paint, new carpet, and finally a few updates in the kitchen.

The night before the new countertops went in, I handed the kids Sharpie markers and told them to "have at it." Notice the before coloring ... white countertops & backsplash and bleached out cabinets (you can't see the floor in these pictures but it was the exact same color as the cabinets -- too monochromatic).And the finished product ....
Major improvement, if you ask me. The floors were refinished, new countertops and backsplash. Those changes even gave the cabinets new life. We also extended the countertop so we have a bar for more seating. I couldn't be happier.

Duet

How cool is that? They were plunking out harmonies with each other. For an hour. Together. Talk about a mother's payday.

20 questions

The song "Message in a Bottle" came on the radio. This is the conversation that ensued between the kids and me:

"I'll give $1 to anyone who can tell me who sings this song."
• David Cook!
• Michael Buble!
• Bon Jovi!

"I'll give you some hints. You've heard of the singer before -- Sting. He started his career singing with this band."
• Aerosmith!
• The Beatles!
• The Fray!
• The Killers! (Daddy would have been so proud.)

"Another hint -- the band name was 'The P______.'"
• The PTA!
• The Painters!
• The Presidents!

And the final clue that gave it away ...
"The band is named after a group of uniformed people who help a community."
Christian finally came up with the winning answer. No $1 reward after that many clues. Maybe next time.

Notes to the Universe

Dear worker lady at the nail salon: I know your 3 yr old is tiny compared to my 90th percentile daughter, but repeatedly saying, "She a big girl! Wow - she a big girl!" was just the tiniest bit annoying.

Dear Pizza Factory: While I'm sure it made financial sense for you to open a store here in my town, having your heaven-on-a-stick breadsticks so close to me might not be such a good thing.

Dear Bert & Ernie: What's the deal with you two? Are you brothers? Orphans? Roommates? Am I the only one who wonders about your relationship?

Dear Target: Thank you for carrying my favorite silver sandals last spring. I've worn them almost everyday this whole summer.

Dear Chris Nolan: You pretty much made my whole summer with Inception. I'm kind of obsessed with it. (Me obsessed with movies? No way.)

Dear bikini lady at the pool: I know you're proud of your body (and rightfully so) but I'm sad for you, too. All of those Paradise cookies you've never had the pleasure of eating, the juicy chicken-artichoke paninis that you've never snarfed down, the creamy Tres Leches dessert that you've never allowed to melt in your mouth ... Poor you.