Back to School

Nathan went back to school today. He started first grade. He was really nervous about it, but he did great once he got to class and settled in. Only a few tears at the beginning of the day and a few at the end. That's okay, though.

I made these cute "pencils" for the special ed. staff at school last night. They're made from rolos, Hershey kisses and paper. I got the idea from a scrapbooking magazine. Aren't they cute? I was going to give them to everyone today, but I forgot them on the counter. Oh, well, I'll give them out tomorrow.

What I Did During My Summer Vacation...

I always feel a little anxiety around this time of year, wondering if I accomplished enough. So I thought it would be fun and helpful to write down all the things I did. It will be hard to remember everything in one sitting, but if I think of more things I can add them later.

• Went on vacation for a week in North Conway
• Went to Screw Auger Falls and Moose Cave
• Had Joshie over for a few days
• Did Nathan's school shopping
• Went to a puppet show
• Went to a concert for kids
• Brought Nathan to LOOK
• Brought Nathan to soccer camp
• Did lots of reading and math with Nathan to prepare for 1st grade
• Had Gabby overnight
• Went to a few birthday parties (Coy, McKenzie, Olivia and Felicia)
• Went kayaking once
• Went horseback riding twice
• Had dentist appointments for Nathan and I
• Went to a barbershop concert
• Went to the temple
• Celebrated our anniversary with food from Lost Gull
• Bought my new laptop
• Spent time with Ashley and Amber
• Went to Storyland
• Went to a couple of Relief Society activities
• Did the Norway Memorial Library summer reading program with Nathan
• Had Darcy, Gus and their family over for games
• Had game night with Aunt Diane, Kathy, Mom and Nicholle
• Caught up on Nathan's album
• Made a digital scrapbook for Olivia & Felicia's birthday
• Made several digital scrapbook pages for the family albums
• Brought Nathan to his first couple of soccer practices
• Enjoyed two new babies, Cambryn Roxy Rodriguez & Dylan Jackson Reynolds!
• Went swimming down at Mom & Dad's
• Brought Branson & Kaedon swimming with us a couple of times
• Visited Crystal and the boys twice
• Read some books
• Brought Amber to a couple of doctor appointments
• Nathan and I had haircuts
• Went to the ocean once
• Made Nathan's school work album
• Made Nathan's art album
• Did some stamping (made some bookmarks)
• Spent an afternoon and evening at Kathy's, visiting & scrapbooking
• Went to a few Cooper get togethers
• Went to school a few times
• Went to Crestholm Farm a couple times
• Went to one of Josh's baseball games
• Walked down to the lake with Dan, Megan and Nathan
• Saw New Moon, Nanny McPhee Returns and Despicable Me at theatres
• Watched a lot of movies on Netflix

I think I got everything. I knew I'd feel better if I wrote it all down.

Whoopie cushions

Last night we were at a family get together and Shelli or Allyson had made whoopie pies. Nathan was really excited and said, "Look, Mom! I'm going to get one of these whoopie cushions!"

On the way home he was quoting his new favorite movie, "Hero of the Rails." He recited a lot of it. I said, "Wow, you know a lot of that by heart." He said, "No, I don't know it by heart, I know it by brain."

Soccer starts tonight

This site really affected me the other night. Really, really broke my heart. These children deserve just as much love and affection as any "typically developing" child. I think of Matt and how his life would have been if he'd been born in another country and orphaned. Makes me sick to my stomach.

On to lighter stuff, Nathan sat on AJ the other day while Felicia led him around. He didn't want to do it at first, but Felicia and I talked him into it. He ended up loving it and was really proud of himself.

Nathan starts soccer tonight. I'm so excited because I will be able to got to all of his practices this year. They are on Wednesdays, rather than Tuesdays like last year. I missed all of his practices last year because my class was on Tuesdays.

Aunt Diane, Nicholle, Mom, Nathan and I went over to Kathy's house last night to play games. It was really fun to just relax and play and spend time together. We played three rounds of Hand and Foot. We also had plenty of junk food, which was fun. Nathan had a great time playing with Owen, especially with his awesome collection of Legos.

I took Amber to a doctor's appointment yesterday. She smelled of cigarette smoke, mingled with perfume. I don't know why people who smoke do that. They try to cover up the smell of smoke with perfume. It never works. If you're not a smoker, you will smell it. I don't know if she's smoking now or if she just smells like that from other people she's been around. I wish there was something I could do to speed up her emotional healing and her ability to learn from her mistakes. Nathan was super excited to see her. He wanted her to sit in back with him. While we were at the doctor's office, waiting for her name to be called, he asked, "Why don't you want to live at home anymore?" She said that we didn't see eye to eye. Of course he doesn't know what that means, and when he asked what that means she said it was complicated and that she would explain it to her later. Then I said, "It just means we don't agree on stuff." He understood that.

Storyland

Dan took the day off on Monday and we took the kids to Storyland. It was a nice day, not too hot, especially in the shade. It was nice to just spend the day together. One of my favorite parts was the circus. I couldn't take pictures, but it was awesome. They had a little boy and his parents riding a unicycle and another family that had two young children who did amazing acrobatics. The little girl was amazing with hula hoops,too.

Megan got her face painted.

Screw Auger Falls

On Saturday, we went to Screw Auger Falls. It's a tradition to go once every summer. The kids love it. They wade in the freezing cold water and stick their heads through the waterfall. Nathan didn't dare do that yet, but Megan did. Then, on our way home, we always stop at Crossroads Diner to eat supper. This time we went to Moose Cave, too. We had gone years ago, before Nathan was born, so we thought we'd go again. It's really nothing much to see, but it's a nice little 1/4 mile hike, and it's kind of fascinating to think of a moose getting stuck in the cave.

At Moose Cave

And more

I bought Nathan the gray one, of course. I love it! I've been wanting to get him some BYU clothes for a long time, but I just never did it. I decided now is the time.

More school clothes

and pajamas...

School Shopping

I did almost all of Nathan's school shopping online this year. I thought it would be fun to put pictures of everything we bought on here. I included the cowboy hat even though it's not for school. It was just too cute.

My classroom

Nathan has said a couple things lately that were so funny. He told me, "You may look unsmart, but you're really smart." I wasn't sure how to reply to that one. The other day I was explaining to him that the additions on the house were not always here. I lived here before I married Dad. Then he said, "So your first husband died?" Oh, my goodness.

Megan and Nathan are spending the night at Mom & Dad's tonight. They are planning on watching a movie, maybe swimming in the dark, and sleeping in Uncle Matt's really comfy bed. I was hoping to get a date with Dan, but he's still outside doing yard work, and it's almost 8:00. Maybe we'll watch a movie later.

Dan and Nathan and I went over to school last night to move some furniture around. I got a new room this year, and I'm so excited about it because it's a full size classroom. We got all of my furniture in place, but it looks kind of strange because there's a lot of empty space. I'll probably get another table. I'm really looking foward to getting it all ready for the students.