Matt's First Day

It's back to school again for Matt this semester. It doesn't really feel that different, considering he only had one week off after his last summer term class. He took two classes this summer, and is now into his second full semester of the UNLV Masters of Accountancy program.

He has at least 3 semesters left, counting this Fall. This is one instance where I'm OK if time goes by too fast. If he graduates in December 2014, Claire will be 7 and a second grader, Miles will be 5 in Kinder, and Penelope will be two and a half years old. They probably won't even remember all the years their dad was in school - maybe Claire will. I for one can't wait!

I made Matt take his first day of school pictures too :)

Claire, Miles and Matt all wore red today - maybe Matt was sporting his UNLV colors, but red is one of the uniform colors at Claire's new school, so Miles wants to match her and act like he's big enough for her school. He can't wait for his school to start, though he is very upset that he doesn't get to take a lunch to his preschool. He wanted to do "homework" today to get ready - he is so excited!

First Day @ Doral Academy

Claire started first grade today at Doral Academy - she loves her uniforms, jumped right out of bed the first time I called her name this morning, and wasn't phased at all by the possibility of not knowing any friends and going to a new building. Little Miss Independent! She chose purple for her first day - we have purple, red and navy blue polo shirts, paired with navy blue or khaki bottoms. 

You might be able to make out the missing bottom tooth that she was working on loosening for the past week - came out just in time for school to start. Now she is moving on to the top two middle teeth that the dentist confirmed are loose. I don't want her to lose those top ones anytime soon - she will look so much older when they grow in. For now she is my little first grader! (tallest one in the class, no doubt, but still...)

Aside from the monstrous line of cars waiting to pick up the kids (no busses - all carpooling) and the rain on the first day (I don't think Claire even knows how to use an umbrella - why would she in Vegas?), Claire said it was the "best day of her life." So, how do you complain about the logistical nightmare of the first day after that?

However, Matt waited in line almost an hour to pick up Claire. That makes me nervous to try to keep Penelope and Miles happy during the wait, all while not going absolutely crazy over the seeming lack of organization. Remember, this is the girl who when invited to a church luau takes it upon herself to organize the other guests into two lines to allow for people to get through the hallway easily. Or when standing in a huge line at Kindergarten graduation waiting for someone in the office to tell us how to check in, get name tags, etc and no one from the administration is doing anything, walks up to the front desk, grabs the guest name tags and starts passing them out to the people waiting. I don't do well with just sitting.... Tuesday and Thursdays are my days to pick up at the school, wish me luck!

Not Ready!

I'm not ready for tomorrow! Claire's first day of first grade and full-day school! On the other hand, she can't wait!

She gets to wear uniforms this year at a new school and even though I was almost trying to convince her to not go to this new school (it's about a 15 minute drive one way, no buses, kind of going to be a hassle logistically) she wanted to try it this year. It is a charter school (a free public school with a charter to choose their own curriculum and programs) called Doral Academy and they have some really cool extra classes that they call "specials" - violin, dance, drama, music, media arts, Spanish and a few more. These are things Claire is already interested in - and I would want her to take as after school classes anyway. Maybe not all of them or all at once, but she asks me all the time what something is in Spanish, she loves to sing at church, in the car, and really everywhere, and she is interested in drama.

As a first grader she will get art and music one day a week all year, plus the other special classes rotate so she gets 3 others every quarter (or semester, I'm not sure). The classes sound amazing, her teacher was very nice at Open House, and we have friends to carpool with, but I am trying not to be negative about the drop off/pick up situation since I have a napping baby to work around and a preschooler this year. It's gonna be interesting! First day pics to post soon!

Morning Walks

Getting some quiet time in the mornings, plus some great exercise, has been good for my soul!

My mom always went on walks and I can see now why she stuck with it - I like seeing the sunrise and having time to think about my day, talk to myself a bit, say a prayer, and then work up a sweat. It's a great combo! Here are some of my recent sunrises on my urban walks - not a lot of scenery around me so it's best to look up to find some beauty in the desert.

Wet n Wild!

We took our first and only trip to Wet n Wild this summer, courtesy of a friend's free passes. It is a new water park in town, though we used to have a Wet n Wild on The Strip back in the day. It closed in the early 2000s I think. Matt even used to be a lifeguard there.

We had a great time!  Miles wanted to go on every ride and nothing scared him. We went on this huge rainbow slide that you see in the back right in this picture of Miles - he slipped and hit his head at the top of the slide and I thought we would have to go back down the stairs. He was crying but said he wanted to ride still, so off we went. Of course I passed him (weighing a bit more than he does...) and when I looked back to see him he was crying really hard again. I asked him if his head was hurting and he managed to sob out, "No, I wasn't fast enough! I wanted it to be faster, I want to go again!" So, not sad that he almost cracked his skull, just that I was faster than him!

We hardly saw Claire at all after she went off with a friend. Made me very nervous, but she lived to see another day. The water park wasn't exactly conducive to carrying around my cell phone so I didn't get very many pictures, but enough to show that we actually did try the latest family fun in Vegas. :) Gotta live up these last few days of summer vacation!

Life with Miles

I asked the kids if they would be good for their dad this week and when they said yes, I asked them to do a pinky promise. Miles said, "How about a thumb promise? We made that up." Then he and Claire start cracking up. :)

Matt sent Miles back into the bathroom to wash his hands and then Matt stood outside the door waiting for Miles to finish. Matt said he heard a "shwooshhhh" water noise, only it was Miles making the sounds with his mouth. He was trying to fake washing his hands! Matt said, "Miles are you washing your hands?" and Miles said, "Yep! (shwoooshsshhh!)"

Miles preferred nickname for Penelope is Penelope Pickle Bottom. He made it up on his own and just laughs and laughs every time he says it!

Every night after books and prayers, Miles asks for one of two things - the Spider Man song, or Treasure Hunt. The only church song rarely allowed is Book of Mormon Stories. Treasure Hunt is a slightly violent-sounding back scratch song that we used to do as kids. When you hear the words, you wonder if you should really pass this tradition on to your kids, but Miles loves it and prefers it over most any song. You mark out the words to the song on the kiddo's back (don't turn me into CPS for this one):

Going on a treasure hunt, X marks the spot,

Four big boulders, one tiny dot. 

Spiders crawling up your back, bite you on the neck,

Two snakes slither up, two snakes slither down. 

Ten knives in your back! Blood drips down. 

Tight squeeze, cool breeze. 

Now you've got the chills! 

30 Day No Sugar Challenge!

The sugar monster has been winning most battles over at my house these days, so I decided to try a No Sugar Challenge again, this time for 30 days. I had to make sure that my willpower does exist after all.

Not crazy no sugar grams whatsoever, but not eating foods where sugar is one of the main ingredients. I also decided it's OK to eat fruit and milk as those natural sugars do not tempt me to eat a serving equal to half my body weight. :) So I am avoiding cookies, cakes, brownies, ice cream, sugar cereal, the kids' fruit snacks, etc.

I even made myself a sticker chart with 30 squares to put on the fridge. I figured if I do sticker charts for whatever the kids are working on, it might just help me too. I also included these quotes on the chart:

“Fall seven times; stand up eight.” – Japanese proverb

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else” – Judy Garland

And so far I am doing great! I am on day 16 today. I am back to the all or nothing method that I was trying to avoid, but as long as I can keep myself from adding in other foods (salty, carbs) to make up for the lack of sugar, then I'm solid. I even lost 2.5 lbs last week to get me back to my original total of 30 lbs lost. So, back to a clean slate and ready to move forward.  

Children's Discovery Museum

Matt has taken the kids to the new children's museum twice this summer, and we went all together today for the first time. It is so cool! I had been avoiding it because I thought it would be so crowded this summer but it wasn't bad at all. There is a really fun water exhibit where the kids got soaking wet, a pirate ship, a theater with costumes, a toddler area with animal sounds and textures.

The second floor is set up like a little town complete with a Jamba Juice, Wells Fargo, auto shop, Smiths grocery store, veterinarian clinic, an airport, and construction site. The kids even got paychecks for working and then they deposit the check in an ATM. If it weren't for our rumbling stomachs for lunch and Penelope's nap time, we could have stayed much longer. We never even made it to the third floor. Good times! Only one week til school starts so we have to do something fun every day. I am NOT ready for our first year of full-day school!

 

My Hair Issues

When you aren't quite happy with the current size of your clothes, that leaves you with cute shoes, accessories and hair and makeup to play around with. I remember my friend Becky saying her sisters had two different philosophies about losing weight and their hair: one sister used getting a new haircut/color as a reward for losing weight. The other said I might as well look cute while I'm losing weight, so my hair better be fabulous. I fall into the second camp.

So when my hair was recently lightened, I just didn't love it. It was too light, and I was missing my darker hair after only a few days. Pardon the selfie - I don't enjoy taking them.

So I did something I have never done - called my hair stylist and said I wanted it changed. Which of course she was happy to do. I have to go darker in stages to get back to my dark brown - for now, it will do. Here's me and Miss P the day it was darkened.

Cell Phone Junkie

Literally addicted....

She somehow can turn on my iTunes all by herself and dance to the music. Her favorite so far is Hey Ho by the Lumineers and she will yell out Eh! O! So cute.

Claire's Word of the Day Videos

I just found these beauties on my phone. I think Claire has seen a few of the makeup or hair tutorials I've watched lately and she found some inspiration of her own. Enjoy!

Today We're Gonna Talk About Teeth!


Word of the Day: Pants! 


Word of the Day: Invisible!

Visit from Matty and Alexis

On their way to celebrate their first anniversary in Disneyland, Matty and Alexis stopped by for a quick visit. And I mean quick - from 4 am to 10 am :) They got in late, slept a few hours and then we all went to breakfast before they left for Anaheim. This was our first time hanging out with Alexis since we met her at their wedding. I still think that's a bit strange, but since they were both going to school at BYU-Idaho it was difficult to get together.

Matty was determined to get Penelope to like him - and he managed to win her over in just a few hours. She is the queen of dirty looks, but she would still reach for him and didn't cry when he held her. She was also very interested in his glasses and kept staring at his face.

We were very jealous that they were going to Disneyland - next time we want to come! They stopped at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign before they left - if they could only do one tourist attraction, I thought that was the one!

Birthday Celebration - Super Hero Extravaganza!

We let Miles pick every meal on his actual birthday,which was on Saturday - we had Egg Works for breakfast, McDonalds for lunch after a shopping trip to spend his birthday money, and Cafe Rio for dinner. He chose a set of cap guns and a holster, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sword and mask, and a set of Star Wars Legos (that Matt has played with just about as much as Miles). I think it's fun to see all the toys that we liked as kids back in the stores, even though I know it's a marketing ploy to take advantage of our nostalgia. I will look the other way on this one. Well-played marketers.

Then we had a family birthday party on Sunday. No more Toy Story or Micky Mouse parties - it is all about the super heroes for Miles this year! He had Spider Man and Super Man plates, a Transformers cookie cake, plus he asked for super hero clothes and toys.