Little Chef

It is the beginning of the fourth week of school and I feel like we are just barely getting back into our usual school time routines.  That includes our daily chore charts and weekly Thursday chores and my personal favorite, Monday night kid's choice dinner.  Each Monday the kids take a turn choosing a meal and then helping prepare it and clean up afterwards.  To be honest, in the beginning I sort of hated these nights.  The patience it takes to let a child help prepare a meal is staggering.  At first I'd have to start an extra 45 minutes early and with homework and piano and spelling words and the rest of the craziness that comes with the two hours between school and dinner, many nights I considered giving up on this little tradition.  A couple of years later though I'm so glad I didn't!  Our kids are so much more confident in the kitchen than they were when we started.  They love to chop vegetables and open cans and peel carrots.  It's funny that the little things that are so tedious and mundane for me are exciting for them.  It's so fun to see them develop those skills and feel so grown up and independent.  

Tonight was Walker's turn and, no surprise, he chose sweet and sour meatballs for his meal.  His favorite part was mixing up the meatballs and rolling them into balls, which is fine with  me because that is my least favorite part.  

Making sure he's making the meatballs the right size.

 

Next week is Lillian's turn.  She's making cookie pizza for a family home evening treat.  She asks me everyday if it's her turn yet.

      

Playschool Begins

After watching both of her older siblings go off to school last week Lillian finally got to join them and headed off to playschool today.  She was so excited to put on her pretty new ballerina shirt and pink pants and she even let me put her hair in a pretty ballerina bun, and if you know Lillian that is kind of a miracle.  She always insists that we "leave it long".  She looked so pretty and grown up with her backpack that's nearly as big as she is with her brand new Frozen shoes and Sophia the First water bottle.  

Every thing about playschool was exciting for her.  Even getting to play with all of the little toys outside of the classroom while we waited for Teacher Annette.

One of her best little buddies, Kaden, is in her class and they stuck pretty close to one another for the first thirty minutes of the hour long parented class.

She made herself right at home and fit right in.

This should be a very fun year for our Lilly Baby.

They're Back!

After two months of anticipating and worrying and wondering the kids headed back to school this morning.  They were little balls of excitement and energy as they got dressed and had breakfast and helped me pack their lunches and snacks.  For the first time Allan got to stay home from work for the morning to take them with me.  The kids were so excited to go to the school as a family.  We got to meet their teachers, who are all sweet and amazing, and help them get settled in their new desks with their new classmates.  

All set!

His very own big boy desk!

So pretty and grown up!

Lillian was so excited as we left the school.  She couldn't believe that she was going to get to have Violet and me and the TV and toys all to herself all day.

Walker passed the torch to Lillian this year to make our traditional chocolate chip cookies.  She loved it!  And like her brother her favorite part was eating the cookie dough off of the beater.

She even shared.

It was such a fun afternoon with the little girls but at the same time these days are so long for me.  I feel like I'm holding my breath for hours as I wait to pick the older kids up and hear about their day.  I spend the day silently praying that teachers will be kind and kids will reach out.  And then the moment comes when I see their sweet happy faces and I'm filled with relief that their days went as well as I had hoped.  

And then we get to go home and eat our milk and cookies and talk all about their day.

That's my favorite part!!

Tradition (Did you just sing the Fiddler on the Roof song in your head?)

My parents and my husband will tell you that I am all about traditions.  I love them!  In fact I distinctly remember one Christmas as a kid when my mom decided to decorate our tree with fancy purple ornaments to match her pretty new purple house and the legitimate panic attack that I had over the break in tradition.  No word of a lie, it kept me up at night.  I've become a little less neurotic with age, but only just a little less.  That's why when I read or hear about a fun or inspiring tradition I always want to try to implement it.  Years ago when I religiously read blogs written by people I didn't know (I don't do that anymore for reasons that would take a whole other blog post to explain) I came across the idea for a "back to school feast" on this blog...nieniedialogues.com.  This woman has an inspiring story and so many incredible ideas for meaningful family traditions and activities.  So, years ago I came across this dinner idea and filed it away in my "to do" box in my brain because our kids were just little and nowhere near school age yet...and then I forgot about it.  This year something reminded me and I decided to give it a try.  

I came up with a theme for the school year that I thought would be appropriate and made them little crowns because they were the guests of honor, seeing as how they're the ones that are going back to school tomorrow.  I set the table the proper way which never happens at our house and even bought some pretty flowers to adorn the table.  The kids were AMAZED at how "fancy" it was.  For dinner we had strawberry bruschetta with green salad as an appetizer and scallops, steak and mashed potatoes as a main course.  I even made them fancy slushy drinks and they had sherbet for dessert.  The kids said so many times that they had never had such a fancy dinner, it was kind of hilarious.  To finish the evening we talked about our theme for the year, Joshua 1:9, and Allan gave the kids and me our back to school blessings, a tradition that we've loved for years.  All in all I think it was a success!  The kids are already talking about the lobster Allan promised to cook them for next year's dinner.

This is our theme for the year.

For the first time in Emma's little life she is anxious about going back to school.  I hate it!  Every year until now she has counted down the days until the first day of school arrived.  This year she spent the entire summer worrying and fretting and crying about school starting.  Her best friend has changed schools and she feels like she is starting all over again.  It makes my heart ache to see her struggle over this especially when she has always loved it so much.  I thought she needed a reminder that she can be strong and courageous because she is being watched over and taken care of by more than just Allan and me.  Luckily tonight she went to bed without any fuss or tears so hopefully tomorrow morning goes as smoothly.  

Walker is very excited about grade one!  It has nothing to do with his love of learning but more his love of recess and the fact that he gets a nice big long one after lunch.  He's also pumped to eat lunch at school, especially his vienna sausages.  He's pretty easy to please.  His teacher is Mrs. Smith, Emma's grade two teacher, who just got back from taking a year off to be treated for breast cancer.  We are thrilled that she is healthy and back teaching.

I'm not sure who is more excited about Walker going to back school all day, him or Lillian.  I have to admit I'm looking forward to five days a week of no screeching or screaming or squealing from this tormented and teased little sister.  She will start playschool next week and she can't wait.  She is our social butterfly and makes friends everywhere she goes.  I can't count the number of times I've had to remind her that we can't invite random strangers from the playground or spray park to our house for play dates.  Playschool is going to be a breeze!

And while we're on the subject of traditions...

College football started this month and BYU played their first game on Saturday.  The only reason I love this tradition is because Allan loves it so much and because it's rubbing off on the kids.  It should be an exciting season based on the fact that Allan has already lost his voice after "the best game I will ever see in my entire life".  GO COUGS!! 

End of Summer

I love the summer.  I love the sunny days that mean endless hours of playgrounds and bike rides and sprinklers and the sun kissed cheeks of my happy, exhausted children at the end of them.  I love the hours spent playing house and super heroes and princesses with the neighbor kids and cousins and the pleas for "just five more minutes" when I tell them it's bed time.  But after two months of these days I also love the days that tell me fall is on its way.  The wind that suddenly turns more biting and forces my kids to put on their fleecy, squeeze me sweaters.  The cold rain that makes us curl up under blankets on the couch or snuggle deep under our quilts in bed and never want to leave.  The nervous anticipation of the kids as they count down the days until school begins again.  Those days have arrived!  

On Thursday as we stepped outside to take our usual morning bike ride the kids raced back in to grab sweaters and socks and marveled at the way the cool air turned Bridgett's breath frosty.

The cooler temperatures didn't stop them from playing bare foot in the playground of course.

 Ever since Walker learned to ride his bike this summer the only pictures I can ever get of him look like this.

As much as I love these blustery days it was nice when it warmed up enough that the kids could still spend some time outside and fit their very last tea party of the summer in.

Tonight, as the house reached a chilly 18 degrees the kids begged Allan to build a fire but we both agreed that it's a little premature for that yet.  I did, however, pull out Violet's toasty Christmas pjs to keep her cozy.

(She's learning that the big camera often comes with a flash which is the reason for the goofy faces)

I just love how squeezable she is in her fleecy pjs. 

Two more sleeps until school starts!  Mixed emotions at our house.