Getting Into a Fall Routine

Well the boys have been back to school now for a few weeks and we are starting to figure out the busy Fall schedule with three kids. I don't remember if I talked about this last time, but Avery will be going to TWO different preschools this fall - kind of by accident. I had signed her up for the waiting list for the one that's at the elementary school where the boys go, but the the list was so long I was told in July she would not get in. So then I signed her up for a different one at the BYUI campus, which starts at the end of September. Meanwhile, in the first week of September, we got a call saying someone had dropped out and she was next on the list for the elementary school one so she DID have a spot! So, she went ahead and took that spot (since that was the one I wanted her in in the first place!) and now she is also enrolled in the BYUI one which starts in about a week and a half. So she is going to be a busy lady. She also is in dance class on Tuesday afternoons and gymnastics on Wednesday afternoons. The boys are finishing up flag football this week and then they may be taking a rock climbing class through the rec department. Other than that, they just have their homework and Gabe has Cub Scouts. We are thinking of putting Caleb into guitar lessons as well! ;) We are trying to raise well-rounded talented children, so hopefully I can stay sane driving them to everything. ;)

Here are some pictures that we just had taken a couple of weeks ago (early September) for out traditionally family pictures. I have told Josh to just get used to it. We are taking yearly family pictures from now until forever. ;)
And then there are also some of Avery's first day of school and dance and some random ones!

That's all for now!

First Day of School

Today Caleb officially started the second grade and Gabe started the fourth grade. At Burton, fourth grade is the oldest grade, so Gabe "rules to school." But it also makes me so sad to think that he will be DONE at Burton at the end of this year! :( I can not even handle thinking of him starting middle school. Yikes! Here they do 5th and 6th grade is "middle school" then 7-9 is "junior high" and then 10-12 is at the "high school." So it's really broken up I feel like. I am not looking forward to having three kids at three different schools for a majority of my future…

Anyways, looking at the bright side of THIS year, the boys were both excited to start today and both came home happy, saying their teachers were nice and they were making new friends. So that's rally all you can hope for right?! (And that they stay out of trouble…) Gabe has Mrs. West (a teacher who he requested and said is "the nicest one") and Caleb has Miss Baird, the same teacher Gabe had for second grade, so at least we are somewhat familiar with that. Caleb always seemed to do well in school with Mrs. McCoy last year (lucky us, he saves his bad behavior for home…) so hopefully he will stay under control for Miss Baird too. He does well academically, I just worry about his attitude and his attention span. Gabe is usually pretty responsible and gets his homework done without a fuss, I just need to make sure he figures out this new math curriculum, which is difficult since even I don't get it. Seriously. It is not the same way were were taught math 15-20 years ago. It's crazy town.

So that's the summary on school! Me and Avery were all alone today and I haven't decided yet if it's easier without the boys around or harder. It just means I have to keep her occupied all day. But she will be starting preschool on September 30th and will go M,W, F mornings at BYU-Idaho (yes, my three year old is off to college…;) No, it's just a program run by all the early childhood education majors (mostly college girls) and the get credit for it as an internship or something. I wanted her to go to the one at Burton so bad, but even though I put her on the list a year in advance, apparently everyone had the same idea because it was not soon enough. She was still on the waiting list as of last month so we made some other plans.

I think I am going to also start Avery in dance class and possibly gymnastics class if it works with our schedule this fall.  She went to a three day "dance camp" (one hour each day) and I just have this feeling she is going to love dance as much as I did growing up! (At least I hope!) ;)

The other news is that the boys had their first flag football games on Monday! The team they got assigned is… the Bears. I can't even talk about it. I'm so ticked. Seriously, probably the worst team they could possibly get put on. We are going to burn their jerseys at the end of the season. Anyways, they did well, but there is definitely room for improvement. ;) I think they may have won one game and lost one, but I honestly wasn't even keeping score, that's just the feeling I got overall. lol

Oh yeah, and I recently colored my hair - it's super dark now. Not sure it will last… ;)

That's all for now!

(This is how Avery insisted on dressing to go to the store today…)

Girl's Weekend in Utah, End of Soccer Season, Welcome Piper! Getting Ready for School!

So the most exciting thing that happened this past few weeks was I got to go on a little girls' weekend with some of my neighbor lady friends, Sam, Barb, and Brittaini! We had been talking about going to Vegas, but then decided to just forget that and go to Utah and see the Julianne and Derek Hough "Move" Concert/Dance show. So we left on Friday the 30th at about noon and then just came back on Sunday. It was upper fun! We ate at Culver's, Chipotle, Zuppas, and Cheesecake Factory, and did some Ikea shopping! It went way to fast!

The boys had their last soccer games also as July ended. Gabe, I think, only ended up losing one game in the whole season. Caleb I honestly didn't really keep track of the score most of the time, but even when his team lost, he seemed to always think they won, so I guess it doesn't really matter. ;)

Next, they will be starting flag football in a couple of weeks. I am happy because they are on the same team - which is kind of weird but it's for kids in 2-4th grade and it just ended up they are on the same team! But the bad news is… guess what NFL team they have been assigned? The Bears. Guess we can't be routing for them. Oh well. lol

Oh, I was also going to mention, while I was gone on my fabulous girls' weekend, the Rhodes family coincidentally had planned their outdoor/camping family reunion for the same weekend! (Yes, it was an unfortunate coincidence and that is the story I am sticking too…;) So while I was staying at a super nice hotel, going out to eat, and shopping, Josh took our three kids camping. haha It was great. So I will post some pictures of that as well!

I am sure I am forgetting some highlights, but that's all I can think of for now! oh one more thing! The parade in Saint Anthony! They do the cutest parade for Pioneer Day on July 23rd! It's actually better than the Rexburg fourth of July parade. They make actual cool floats and throw tons of candy!
Oh yeah! And Josh got a new K-9 dog named Piper! She looks just like Truck but acts way more hyper. I call her hyper Piper.