And Another Year Begins

They have a whole 8 days under their belts now.  The novelty has worn off a bit.  Homework is starting.  Reality might be starting to set in...summer vacation is really OVER.  Don't get me wrong - they are all enjoying school.  All of them like their new teachers and seem to be making plenty of new friends, not to mention re-connecting with the old ones that we saw less of during our busy summer.  But it's back to the grind.  No weeknight TV.  Getting outfits and lunch boxes ready the night before.  8:00 family prayer & scriptures.  Bedtime before the wolf howls at the moon.  Waking up when the lids want to stay shut.  And so it goes...

But we're used to it, and most days we all make it through pretty well.  Our new system of rotating kitchen cleanup & "family round up" duty by assigning everyone a day of the week seems to be working fairly well.  But then again, it's only been a week and a half.  Time will tell if it sticks.  I think it's gonna, though.  I like it.  A lot.  

So here's my sweet Afton on her first day of 5th grade.

• Has Ms. Kemp for her teacher at Hale
• Still loves creating and still the duck tape queen.
• Still our most obedient 
• Starting to feel out the boundaries a bit
• Already likes the boys
• Still a tom-boy at heart, but becoming ever conscious of her feminine side
• Getting a little relief from her crazy allergies with her new allergy doc and some meds
• Playing piano, getting ready to start fall ball
• Still always going, going, going...loves to be active!
• Has a mind that is one-step ahead...always thinking about the questions no one else asks
• Had the most fantastic summer vacationing and playing non-stop with her best friend, Sydney Bauer, whom she just met in January.  They were on the same basketball team together, then the same softball team, then All-Stars.  They were like peanut butter and jelly all summer long.  Swimming, playing, late nighters.  Syd came on 2 vacations with us, and Afton spent 5 days with her family up in Snowflake.  We love the Bauers and are so glad our girls have become such great friends.

Here's Rowan on her first day of 2nd grade: 

• Has Ms. Day for her 2nd grade teacher at Hale
• Definitely our little fashionista
• Finally losing some teeth (a bit of a late bloomer in that regard)
• Increasingly becoming Easton's best buddy
• 110% social 
• Still feisty & head strong beyond my ability to understand at times
• Sporting one incredible little rockin' body
• Has become quite the hugger lately
• Is so super smart...and so perceptive.  
• Had a killer summer vacationing in Mexico, California and 3 trips to the cabin.  Spent lots of time in the pool, lots of time playing with friends.
• Funny quote during last week's meltdown over a wardrobe battle (well kind-of funny, kind of scary) : "If you'd just let me shop for my own clothes I'd have more friends!"  Oh my gosh...I about died with that one.
• But...we survived and she was back giving me luvs a few minutes later.

And here's our little man, Easton, on his first day of full-day kindergarten:

• Has Ms. Etzen for his kindergarten teacher
• Has been sooooooo happy going to school on the bus with his two sisters and all the neighborhood kids every day.  So different from last year when he did half day at Hermosa Vista and was the only kid at the bus stop.  He wasn't often too thrilled to get on.
• Loves recess and PE as every well-balanced 5-year old boy should
• Would wear basketball shorts every minute of every day if I let him...and no shirt.
• Still does the one eye half squinted thing when he smiles
• Is making me laugh all the time now...funny how their sense of humor seems to develop overnight
• Still my lover boy...he cuddles with me on the couch every night during scrips, still loves to have his back rubbed and scratched, and still gives me hugs and kisses pretty freely.  Although he did let go of my hand yesterday morning just before we turned the corner at the bus stop...just in time to keep his buddies from seeing
• Had "too much fun" goofing off and playing hard this summer.  He got so tan too with so much time out by the pool and at the beach.  He loved spending a lot of time at the cabin, and loved playing musical beds with his sisters in their upstairs forts and as they slumber partied in each others rooms...back and forth for the last several weeks of summer.

And here is our growing-up-way-too-fast 7th grader, Barrett, on her first day of junior high.

Does anyone else remember when she looked like this...on her first day of kindergarten?

• Has lots of new teachers now that she's in junior high...and a new locker to boot!
• Super responsible & getting more beautiful every day
• Terrific straight-A student taking full load of ELP/accelerated classes
• 120% social
• Likes to be in the adult conversations but still loves to hang out with her friends
• Is meeting so many new friends at school every day...I am really proud of her for going out of her way to introduce herself and ask other kids their names.  It's awesome!
• Still our go-to babysitter for our weekly date nights
• Getting ready to start fall ball (she's moving up to Juniors Division this year!)
• Wearing a size 9.5 shoe already (I only wear a 7.5!)  I hope she grows tall too!
• Such a good friend - both to her buddies (both girls and guys), and to me.  I love that we can talk about anything.
• Had the most ridiculously busy fun summer.  We figured out that she wasn't home for more than a week at a time for the entire summer break, and often it was less than that between her comings and goings.  She did cabin for Memorial Day (and invited a friend), then Girls Camp at Lo Mia, Mexico with the family, a week at Time to Blossom Young Women's Conference, Cabin for 4th of July extended weekend (and invited two friends), family beach camping in Carlsbad (with cousins and friends too), Snowflake for 24th of July weekend with Hallie Bauer's family, family cabin trip at end of July, and finally Ward Youth Conference.  Seriously...too much fun!  She told me somewhere near the end of summer that she didn't have any time to even think about being bored.  No joke!

Ryan and I are lucky to be the parents of these great kiddos.  They are all so smart and so good and just growing up at the speed of light.  I love their ages right now...I kinda want to freeze them for a bit.  Just so I can catch up and figure out what to do next.  There's no do-overs in parenting.  That's a little daunting thought.  I hope we don't screw it up...and I hope they turn out fantastic in spite of us.