It's Fall!!!

One of the kid's favorite fall activities is jumping in the pile of leaves at grandma and grandpa's house. Lucky for them, they still have the opportunity.

 Cade was a bit of a party pooper. What 13 year-old doesn't want to play in leaves with his brother and sister. He kept hiding from the camera.

 Even if he wouldn't play, he did work hard to get the apples off the ground. He will remember that we are fun someday.

There is a teenager in our house!!!!

I can't believe that it has been 13 years since Cade became a part of our family. He has brought so much happiness into our lives. (I didn't do such a good job scanning this picture. Jaundice was Cade's only chance at having a nice tan).

 Cade was thrilled with his new church shoes and tie. He was very polite.

He seemed a little happier with the BYU jersey and game tickets.

 We went to Iggy's  for dinner. I had told Cade that once he hit Jr. High he didn't get anymore birthday parties with friends. Even though I planned to stick with this idea, it provided the perfect opportunity to surprise him with a movie night with friends... I think someone told him, he didn't seem very surprised.

 We had a family party on Sunday. Cade enjoyed having the opportunity to talk to grandma and grandpa in Borneo He liked that he got to speak to them by himself without all the commotion. He was telling me the other day how he missed them. He especially misses grandma's cooking and how they let him eat as much as he wants. 

 Apparently turning 13 is a great way to make money. 

 I think it was Natalie who said that when you are raising children the days go by so slow and the years go by so fast.

Witch Zaugg

Grace's kindergarten class went on a walking field trip to Witch Zaugg's house to learn about pumpkins. I think Grace was a little nervous after Mark convinced her that there used to be a boy named Johnny but Witch Zaugg turned him into Johnny Cakes. Grace is in red with a purple backpack.

 Witch Zaugg lives a couple blocks from the school. She had pumpkins all over the lawn.

 She taught the kids about pumpkins growing on a vine and having seeds inside. I think it was more fun than educational.

 She let the kids take home a pumpkin. They could take the big one home if they could carry it. 

 Grace gave up on the big one and chose a small one instead.

 This is Daliah by Grace. Mrs. Stephen's said that Witch Zaugg might make Daliah cakes instead of Johnny cakes. She probably shouldn't have told me that in front of Grace. Daliah became my walking buddy for the trip.

 Those little pumpkins got a little heavy on the walk back to the school.

Grace's (and Kallie's) first day of school

What a crazy year! Grace started kindergarten, Cade started Jr. High, I started working and Jacob is all alone at Freedom Elementary.

I think Mark took the picture while we were saying cheese.

 Our kindergartner in front of Cook elementary. She was super excited.

Meet the Kindergarten Teacher

Grace's kindergarten teacher let the kids come on Friday to meet her and to see the classroom. Grace was the last student enrolled in the class and there wasn't any room at the tables so she gets to have a special desk at the end of the table. I really played up how special she is to get the only real desk in the class but they might trade places later in the school year. She wants the desk all year.

Mrs. Stephens took a picture of all the kids.

She checked out the reading area.

I hope she is good. She doesn't have a shy bone in her body.

First Day of School

This is my Cade on his first day of Jr. High. I can't believe it. Life goes by way too fast!!!!

He seems to have survived the first two weeks of this new adventure. There was only one mishap.

It happened before he even got to school. 

Apparently the transportation department decided to change some bus routes but didn't inform anyone. The transportation website still has the old routes. Well, even though there were nine kids at the original stop, the driver passed them up and stopped a street down at the new stop and let the one or two children on that knew about the change. He then left the rest of the students stranded. The boys called one of the moms and she took them to school. 

It gets better from there....

The 8th and 9th graders got to go home early while the 7th graders stayed for orientation. When it was time to go home, Cade didn't know which bus to get on because he never got on one to go to school. He told one of the drivers his address and asked if it was the right address. The driver wasn't any help. Luckily Cade was smart enough to ask if  he dropped kids off west of Maverick. He figured he walk home from any of the stops west of Maverick.

 This is handsome Jake on his first day of 3rd grade. Don't you love the shirt? We went shopping with my mom and he fell in love with it. He was so excited about it that we couldn't say no. We do have to have a rule that he can only wear it once a week.

 Grace's first day pics will come next week. she will be going to Cook Elementary. Cook is the school that I will be teaching 1/2 day 3rd grade. 

What a crazy year! We have three schools to keep track of.

First day of soccer

Today was the first day of soccer. With three kids playing, it makes for a crazy Saturday. All of the kids play at different fields. Grace's games are all at 12:00, Cade's games are all at 12:30, Jacob's games are at different times but at least four of them are at 12:45. It will be interesting to figure out how to get to all of them.

Game #1: Jacob is number 10 and is a very social player. He keeps trying to talk to everyone on the field.

They won: 4-3

 Game #2: This is Grace's first game ever. She loved it.

They won 1-0

 Game#3: We only caught the tail end of Cade's game. They won 10-0