the bus

Finally the day came when all 3 kids rode the bus together.  This morning I sent them off and came back to an empty house.  It's a good thing, part of growing up but sometimes it's almost hard to believe they're getting that big.  Kason was so excited to go on the bus, he felt really left out before when he couldn't ride it.  I just hope he behaves on there because he can get a bit wild feeding off of other wild boys and there are always some on the bus.  The bus comes to our house exactly at 7:15, give or take 2-3 minutes and if our kids are not standing at the end of the driveway the bus won't even slow down, it just passes by.  So if they're not there in time, they miss it and we have to drive them to school, which so far hasn't happened yet but you never know.  This Fall weather coming makes for a great sleeping weather in the morning too so some days we have very sleepy kids. :)  We wake them up around 6:40 and that gives them enough time to have breakfast and get ready to go.  So here's to the new school year!  Kade and Ani are having lots of fun at school so far and both come home talking 90 miles an hour. :)  I know it will wear off soon and Kade will come home with the "nothing" answer when I ask what happened in school so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

getting on the bus, into the sunlight

 

school is here!

So the first day of school came.  It was probably the first time I took Kade to school on the first day too.  Usually they just go on the bus, but there was no "open house" this summer and we haven't even met the teachers or anything so it was good I got to go with them.  The school was crazy busy with parents and there was nowhere to park either.  Kade who has been so nervous about going back to school was a trooper and was going around his business right away, putting all the supplies away and stuff.  He did great, I was really proud of him.

Then I took our Ani to her kindergarten class and I think it went well.  She could hardly sleep she was so excited the night before and in the morning but I think it hit her that I'm leaving her when she had to sit in her spot.  She started crying that she didn't want me to go.  I felt bad leaving her there but I knew the longer I stayed the longer she'd cry so I quick said goodbye and none of the other parents were there either so I didn't want to cause disruption when they were about to start.

Then as I went to put something in Ani's locker I took her towel out of the school bag (they need a towel to lie on for rest time) and it was soaked.  The new bottle I got for putting juice in leaked all over her bag.  So a friend gave me an extra blanket but then I had to run around the school to find Kade to see if his leaked at all and so it was a bit stressful by the time I got home. :)  Always something happens the first day of school.

But, they came home all smiles and full of excitement.  Kade likes his new teacher and Anika has a great time too.  Then today was Kason's first day of preschool and Ehren was going to take him.  I didn't know how it was going to go because Kason kept saying he didn't want to go but then when I told him he had to pick out his clothes for preschool he was all for it and I think just that got him excited. :)  He was all cool when they got there, no tears or anything, he was just ready to go.

And so our kids are growing up.  It was a strange feeling this morning when I was left at home with my 2 year old "twins" because neither one was my own child.  It was very quiet and I was happy they have each other because they love playing together and when it is just one of them here they really miss the other one.  I also got my big grocery shopping done with the two of them (YES!) before we went to pick Kason up.  He thought he should stay longer because Anika wasn't coming home with us.  I think this year will be the hardest for him because his best friends Ani and Emily are both in school all day and he misses them a lot.  He kept saying the first and second day "nobody is here, mom" because it was so quiet and all the big kids were gone.  So I hope some friends who have kids his age will come and play once in a while.

Ani and Kade on their 1st day

Kade's 4th grade class

Ani's new teacher

a little sad because it was almost time for me to go

Kason's 1st day

preschool boy

our big 4 year old

last summer day

And our last summer day finally came.  It is Labor Day in the US and in Minnesota we don't start school until the day after Labor Day.  So tomorrow Kade and Ani are starting their school.  Anika is so excited, you can really tell now that she's almost a year older from a lot of kids going to kindergarten.  Not because of her height or being so good at things, just her maturity and not being scared of new things like she was just a year ago.  It makes me think about how Kade was so little going to Kindergarten and was the youngest one there.  I kept asking all the teachers at the time if I should hold him back or anything but academically he was ahead of the class so being held back would make him get bored and now that he's going to 4th grade, you really can't tell the difference between him and kids that are a year older in his class.  Kade is still our homesick guy though when it comes to going back to school and every September we go through a stage when he doesn't want to go to school, he misses me and so on.  But I think this year he's a lot braver about it.  He is nervous but that's ok.  He's after his mom that way. :)  Kason starts preschool on Wednesday and I hope it goes well because now he decided he doesn't want to go to preschool.  I think since he can't go to kindergarten he doesn't want to go to school at all.  So I've been telling him he needs to graduate from preschool first and only 5 year olds go to kindergarten.  But I think he'll love it once he realizes how much fun it is and how many kids his age there are.

Anyway, as part of the last day of summer and a day off from work today we took the kids to Grand Forks to do our favorite bike loop around the river there.  It is about 10 miles which is a nice little bike ride for us but it is a big thing for Kason on his little bike.  Ehren and I were both really impressed by him because Kade had done that bike ride on the same red bike when he was about 5-6 years old and there was a lot of crying going on and his legs being tired.  Our Kason was a little trooper though and was having a lot of fun finally riding his bike on a nicely paved road.  That is, until about 3/4s of the way when he got really tired and was getting frustrated that he couldn't keep up with us.  Plus, it was pretty warm by then and his little face was bright red by the time we got done.  But I was so proud of him, he is a really hard worker and wants to do everything Kade does.  He can get really upset sometimes when he can't do something as well as Kade and it doesn't matter when we try to explain that Kade is 5 years older than him. :)

So, it was a great time for all of us and I think it is a huge milestone in our family because it was the first time ever that all of us biked together without using the bike trailer! :)  I was the most excited of all because I didn't have to pull that heavy weight behind me.  Otherwise I would have been worn out by the end.  I'm thinking I'll take Kade there sometimes, just the 2 of us because then we can go faster.  Anika is very close to be able to bike without the training wheels too, she's been biking a little bit with no help at all but she is a bit more scared than the boys but I'm sure by next Spring she'll do it.  She also loves the tandem bike and I don't think she wants to give that up.

Happy first week of school to you!  I am excited for our kids to start and all of us getting into a routine again.

a little rest with a nice view

splatter painting

So I've been wanting to splatter paint for a while now and I'm not sure why I haven't done it sooner because it is sooo much fun.  A lot of people do that with kids because kids love it and the paintings look cool, you just have to do it outside because it is messy.  So I'm going to have to get some smaller canvases for kids to do something like that.

I have to say, mixing the paints took me a lot longer than the actual painting and even then I went a little overboard on the painting because I didn't want to be done yet. :)  Sometimes it looks a lot better with less splatters but that's ok.  The wind also helped me some so when I wanted to do a certain curvy line the wind would take the paint in a totally different direction.  :)  But I kind of like it and I like the colors because they're a lot like what I used on my other painting for the living room.  This one will be hanging on our tall wall going downstairs to the basement which is a big blank wall right now and I've been wanting to paint something for there for a while.

Well, I better go wash up all the painting stuff and I hope it doesn't take too long for it to dry.

Kade is 9

Well, I am officially getting old. :)  Kade had his very first birthday sleepover at our house yesterday, having 5 boys sleeping at our house.  We've had sleepovers with one friend at a time before but that's nothing in comparison to having 5 boys together.  Kade was so excited and I don't think we've ever had such bouncy, energetic and giggly boys at our house like that.  From the moment they came they were just laughing, running around and having a blast.  It is funny to me to see how different it is when boys get together versus girls getting together.

Some of the boys were actually so riled up at first that Ehren made all of them run laps around the house and they loved it.  They ran around outside for a while and then I took them to a miniature golf course.  It was great because we were the only ones there and it was the perfect weather for it too.  Then we came back home for cake and ice cream, more running outside and then it was time for the wii games.  With all the playstations and what I know else wii is really considered a little kid game system but they had so much fun with it and didn't want to stop playing.  Our house was echoing with silly giggles and laughs until after midnight when we told them to go to bed.  Even then it wasn't over because the laughing went on and on until like 2:30am when Ehren yelled down to them to be quiet. :)  After that they finally slept but were up around 7am with more giggling so there will be some very tired boys today.

So I was feeling pretty old because I was trying so hard to stay awake but could barely stay up until midnight when we herded the boys to bed.  Whatever happened to staying up all night and not even really feel it?  This morning I am just dragging my feet as if I hadn't slept for days. :)

But, I think it was a success.  Kade loved having his friends over and he was having a blast with them.  As the day was getting closer to his party he kept asking to invite more friends and I am just glad there weren't any more boys here because that was enough wildness with just 5 of them.  I guess we're heading towards a new age, almost junior high.  It's like we need to change as our kids are changing and growing up and they grow up so fast.  But it was great to see that they were all having a lot of fun and just enjoying being together.

cake was good but like with every other food, the boys barely sat down long
enough to eat anything because they were too busy playing

Not a very good picture of me but that's ok :)

nesting

So I just realized there are a few different "nestings" women experience.  The main one everyone refers to is when you're about to have a baby and I could so relate to that with each of my pregnancies.  But recently I am experiencing a different kind of nesting and some moms may or may not relate to that.  I might have been this way last year too but somehow I am feeling it a lot more this year.

And I realized I am "nesting" for going back to school. :)  It is like a Spring fever or something.  I want to organize all our closets, clean and declutter every room and every time I get something done I think of a new thing to do. :)  Last weekend I organized the mud room that has been a junk room for like a year.  It didn't even take me that long so I don't know why it took me so long to get it done.  Anyway, somehow the thought of kids starting school soon makes me want to organize everything, get all 3 kids' Fall and Winter clothes ready and pack away the clothes that are too small.

Maybe it's just me that I'm like this but I'm saying it's their fault, whoever thought of this 3 months summer break nonsense.  Who has 3 months off? :) I still can't believe our kids have no school for that long, even though they do have less time off during the year.  So, every year at around the 2nd week of August I go crazy with getting everything and everyone ready for school and some days I am really wishing the kids were in school already. :) In a way, I like getting things around the house done now because once the school starts there will be very little time for anything.  I am already sad about Anika going to kindergarten because she'll be gone until 3:30pm every day.  Both her and Emily will be gone and I know it will be an adjustment at first because they are such a huge help to me with Aveah and Carson. (Yeah - never mind the adjustment for the poor girls to be in school all day long without their moms and kids they know, I just think about how it's going to be for me. :))  It will be a lot quieter in the house too.  I am also bummed because our Elementary school cancelled their open house that usually happens at this time where you can go with your kids and meet their new teacher, see their classroom and where they will sit and now they will just have to figure it out all on the first day of school.  They are doing some major remodeling at the school and when I was there this last week I couldn't believe the mess.  I kind of wonder if they will actually finish it on time before the first day of school but they're saying they will.  Even for Kade it helps to go meet the new teacher before because right now all we know is her name, not even what she looks like and Kade gets very anxious about the new class, kids and the teacher.  So, it will be a bit more chaotic when the school starts this year and all the more reason to get everything at home done now.

I even pulled out my big canvases today that I had stored away for months and started my new painting project.  It's something new I'm trying so we'll see how it turns out but I'm excited to try it, just need to pick up some more paints.  I've been wanting to paint something for the big wall space around our stairs for a very long time but I had no ideas for it until now.  Funny how when you get motivated in some areas, it spreads into others as well. :)  And of course I'll post about it when it's done.

So, that has been consuming my days lately, along with searching for more recipes that are quick, taste good, at least semi-healthy :), and cheap.  It is not easy sometimes to cook for a lot of people in the house without getting in the rut of making the same old recipes over and over so I am trying to add some new ones to my menus.  Another area in my life I need to spice up a bit. :)  Happy "back to school nesting" to you!

garden

Just a few pictures to show what our garden is doing this year.  It's been very dry which we're not used to so I think it affects all the crops.  We've been getting some tomatoes the last 2-3 weeks and a few cucumbers but something killed off half of our cucumber plants early on.  I quick planted more seeds but those are behind now, only starting to get tiny cucumbers right now.  Nevertheless, it is so nice to get some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes to go with our lunch or dinner and the kids love them.  Well, Kade will not eat fresh tomatoes but he loves cucumbers so at least something.  Kason and Anika will eat just about any vegetables which makes me really happy because I wasn't like that as a kid.  They especially love any kind of bell peppers and pickles, and just eat them plain as a snack.  I am very happy about this year's bell peppers because they seem to be coming along great.  This is like the 3rd year I planted some and each year we didn't even get one good pepper so I can't wait to try some this year. One thing I'm not sure about is how do I know if the pepper is supposed to be dark green, light green or orange.  Some of them are light green right now but if they are the orange kind they should turn color later on.  Of course I mixed up the plants and didn't mark them well so now I have no idea which ones they are.  Oh well, at least they are producing.  Maybe they like the heat more than the tomatoes.

So here are a few pictures my dad has been asking for.  It's nothing great, but it's ok.  One day when the lawn is done and we decide on a good spot for a garden we'll make it bigger but for me this small scale gardening works because I don't have to take care of it too much. :)  There are no pictures of cucumbers because if we get 1 or 2, we eat them right away. :)