First Weekend of School

Since we survived the first week of school, the kids and I celebrated by driving Nebo Loop.

We stopped to hike to Grotto Falls. It's been a while (since August 2016) and it was on our Summer wishlist. We are still doing some activities on our list now that school has started but it's still technically Summer.

Jr. Jr. and Lucky demonstrated how to get the mud off your shoes.

We had a picnic at Devil's Kitchen and were silly.

Lucky got silly being "scared" of a wasp. 

Jr. Jr. was silly when the sun came out from behind the clouds.

"No. No. Push it away."

 

Nichole and I picked a time to get a picture of the two of us when the sun came out, too.

Nichole: It's too bright.

Mom: Must keep eyes open.

It was a great trip driving Nebo Loop.

It was World Honey Bee Day on August 21. I made Maple and Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin from Six Sister's Stuff but with a roast instead. I wanted something that could be in the slow cooker while we were gone on our outing. It had honey in it.

I've decided I don't make pretty food. I make edible food. It's not nicely presented. Oh well. I'm not trying to win any awards. I'm just trying to feed my family.

 

That day was also Brazilian Blowout Day. We thought about making Brazilian Limeade but there were no recipes we really wanted to do so Jr. ended up making his mint lemonade.

Quinceanera

Nichole and I went to celebrate the Quinceanera of a friend. Nichole decided to watercolor a picture of the birthday girl in her poofy dress. Because you know, Nichole happens to always carry watercolors and index cards in her purse. (If you give Nichole a medium)

It was so fun. Nichole gave the picture to the birthday girl before we left. 

I'm glad we got that mother-daughter bonding time that evening.

My Helper

Jet saw dough on the table so he decided to help. 

He's so smart. He started to knead it then when he spotted the rolling pin he tried to roll it then when he spotted the fork he tried to poke holes in it (or gouge out chunks of it).

I think he may have watched us make pizza from time to time. Don't you think? I'm sure if the toppings were out he would have started putting those on as well.

International Bow Day

August 19 was International Bow Day. One of the kids tried to convince me to let them play video games. Something with archery. No. I didn't.

Nichole made jalapeno pasta with bow tie pasta. I tried my hand at homemade bagels. They turned out as bagel shaped rolls. Still yummy.

Fajita Day

August 18 was National Fajita Day. I commented to Jeremy how when I started college all those years ago, there was no way I would have made fajitas. I used to be a picky eater and fajitas are pretty ambitious. Uh no. Actually they're really easy. And oh so yummy.

What's something you make often now that you would never have even considered a few (or more than a few) years ago?

The School Year Begins

We survived the beginning of the school year. Yay, us. Normally I have Nemo in my head going, "First day of school! First day of school!" This year, however, I had Cocomelon in my head. The day before school started, I went around singing, "Tomorrow is the first day of school," then the day school started, "Today is the day. It's the first day of school."

The day before school started, the elementary schoolers got to meet their teachers. Lucky took his teacher an apple that was a Doctor Who reference since his teacher has a Doctor Who themed classroom. Oh yeah.

 

I forgot to get a picture of Jr. Jr. in his classroom but he was there and met his teacher. Sorry, Jr. Jr. We're excited for your year at school, too.

I did get first day of school pictures of my kids.

I was going through my checklist and saw that I needed to remember to take pictures so I got a picture of Nichole brushing her teeth and a picture of Jr. getting off his bed. Oh, and I took pictures of them outside before they headed off to school. I guess that works, too. 

My cousin farther north took pictures of her kids on their first day of school and pointed out the hazy sky in the background from fires. I can do the same. See the hazy sky in the background from fires? I pointed it out.

Jet also got his picture taken when he and I took the boys to the bus.

I thought it was fun what they had set up to welcome the high schoolers back. There were cheerleaders cheering everyone on and the student body presidency welcoming them.

After everyone was gone to school, it was Mommy and Jet time. We drank smoothies, played and sang songs, and snuggled. Jet made messes and I tried to keep up with him. 

The kids didn't have homework when they got home from school and they all did their chores so they got to celebrate the first day of school with video games. That plus it was I LOVE My Feet Day! so they played Mario games where they were running around and stomping on bad guys.

I never had my expected breakdown on the first day of school or the rest of the first week. I waited until the weekend.

Relaxing Family Time

My parents visited and went to church with us. They picked a good week to come. Since Nichole just got back from Girl's Camp the day before, she along with some of the other girls were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting and they sang a song as well.

Then Sunday School was really good and my parents were able to be there with Jet and me.

Then of course it's relaxing to spend time with my parents. August 15 was National Relaxation Day. 

Jr. Jr.: You know what's relaxing? Breath of the Wild.

The kids wanted to play but they only got to watch Jeremy play after my parents left that afternoon. Bwah ha ha ha.

 

I wanted to get a three generations of women picture since I never get those pictures.

 

Jr. Jr. wanted to get in on the action. Can you spot him?

Mommy, Look

 Jr. Jr.: I finally found out what the little things are for.

What?

 

Middle of the Night Meteors

Everybody say, "Middle of the night meteors."

Every year toward the beginning/middle of August it is a good time to see meteor showers. We looked up which days and times were best this year and went on a night near those times that fit into our schedule. We went down to Payson and drove up the canyon just a little ways to a big parking area where we could get out to watch the stars. 

Jr. and Lucky both fell asleep on the way. Jet surprisingly stayed awake and Jr. Jr. stayed awake to watch the lightning as we were driving up. It was far enough away and we didn't hear any thunder and there was no rain and only a few clouds.

The first thing we noticed when we stepped out of the van was the sound of crickets. They were so loud. I couldn't believe how loud they were. I guess when you're out in nature completely surrounded by them as compared to however many you get outside your house in the city... We could also hear katydids clicking in the trees which Jr. Jr. commented sounded like marbles clacking together. Good description but that's Jr. Jr. for you.

Jeremy, Jr. Jr., and I started looking at the sky and it wasn't long before we started seeing shooting stars. It was great. Jet was so patient and we finally got him out. He was a little less patient after that. He didn't want to look at stars. He wanted to get down and run around which is not a good idea in the dark. So he had some troubles. 

We eventually got Jr. and Lucky up and they both saw some shooting stars. There were plenty to see. As does happen sometimes when people are tired (I mentioned this was the middle of the night, right? Two o'clock in the morning), some of the kids only lasted so long. Jr. Jr. had a blast. He loves nature. Jeremy and I divided our time between watching the sky and dealing with things.

I'm so glad we went out. One more family adventure (except without Nichole- she was at girl's camp and got home later that day.)

By the time we got home, I was the only one still awake. Jeremy and the boys planned ahead so the boys had sleeping bags on the floor of the living room waiting for them.

I keep thinking Jet hasn't been able to have certain experiences that the other kids have had (though he's too young to remember experiences right now). He's never been to Arches (which used to be an annual trip). He didn't go with us to Yellowstone or Zion National Park or Dinosaur National Monument when Jr. had his National Parks Pass and we didn't get to do any of those things with Jr. Jr.'s pass. There's enough of a gap in age between Lucky and Jet that we did so many things with Lucky as a baby on up until Jet was born. There were a lot of years in there to have family adventures when there wasn't a global pandemic. Then I realized Jet's still a baby and already he's experienced things the others have experienced such as going to Thanksgiving Point (a few times now), Antelope Island, Cascade Springs, doing Summer reading programs, playing and hiking at Big Springs. He's also gone on some new adventures with the family that we never experienced before he was born (even if at this point he won't remember them)- going to see fireflies, driving up Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, going to look at a comet. And we will have more adventures and eventually he'll get some of those other experiences (I still want to go back to Yellowstone someday. He hasn't visited Oregon or Washington yet and seen the ocean). So even with being cautious about traveling and being around other people, Jet and the rest of the family are not lacking for experiences. And c'mon, none of the rest of the kids has traveled the full length of the Provo River Parkway, but Jet has.

There are different seasons in our lives when there are different opportunities available to us. It's okay if life isn't always the same. We can enjoy what opportunities we do have in each season that we are in and be grateful for those experiences whatever they may be.

What She Missed- August 13

Friday the 13th of August-

Left Handers Day. My left handed uncle put up a post on Facebook. I'm sure you've heard it before. "If the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right minds!" Heh Heh.

 

Blame Someone Else Day. We were supposed to get a lot done that day because we had plans for that night. Here's how it went:

The boys did do some things but they didn't finish their chores and one child accused me of making them work work work all the time (even though they had played video games every single day that week and one of the days they didn't even do their chores but still got to play video games). So I didn't let the kids play on their devices that night.

There was also facetious blaming which is much more pleasant.

What She Missed- August 12

Thursday, August 12-

Middle Child Day. This is the second year since Jr. Jr. became the exact middle child yet like last year not all the siblings were here so he couldn't be the exact middle child on that day. He did get to pick what we had for dinner, though, like last year. It's fun to let him pick. So we had impossible cheeseburger pie, broccoli, and peach cobbler. Mmmm.

I love that kid. He's a hoot.

 

And look, our mountains are back.