School Report

Day seven of school for Brandt.  On the way home today he said, "I really like second grade.  It's good."
Yeah!!!

Day two of school for Blythe.  Another full report on the way home.  I heard all about PE and green, yellow, and red cards if you are good, need a warning, or are bad.  "If you get a red card, you don't get to participate."  I love hearing my five year old use words like "participate."  She said goodbye to a girl in her class, but she didn't know her name.  And she glued pictures onto an "All About Me" page for a class book.  She loves it.  Yeah!!!

And while Blythe was at school, I went to the temple and ran two errands.  I sat calmly in the temple and was speedy with the errands because I had no children with me.  Yeah!!!

Hobo Spider

Guess who screamed like a girl when this ENORMOUS hobo spider dashed across her toes while she was innocently sorting laundry?  That would be me.  I'm not sure the picture does justice to how HUGE it really was.  Then I screamed some more as it dashed away as I tried to kill it with a flip flop.  Normally spiders don't really bug me, but this GIGANTIC one added a measure of excitement to the laundry I wasn't really looking for today.

After School Swimming

It was hot this afternoon, and as soon as school was over, we went swimming at Grandma Sue's house.  Mikayla and Brick and Heidi, Simon, and Jack came too.  I hope we get to keep swimming into October!  The kids made a train together, pulling each other along.  They took turns being the "engine."

 

 

 

 

Blythe's First Day of School

Today was Blythe's first day of kindergarten.  She has been waiting for this day for two years.  She really wanted to go to school when Brandt did.  She had a whole year home with me alone, then last year she did pre-school.  But all along, she would frequently ask, "Mom, when do I get to go to kindergarten?"  At the beginning of last year, when she was starting pre-school, she asked about kindergarten, and I replied, "You get to go after you go to pre-school."  So, she went to pre-school the first day and after I picked her up she said, "Mom, do I get to go to kindergarten tomorrow?"  I guess I needed to be a bit more specific.

First thing this morning, when I went in to see her, I asked, "Blythe, do you know what day it is today?"  Of course!  We've only been counting down for the past week.  She needed a shower, but before she came in, she said, "I just need to pick out my ensemble for the day."  Crack me up.

We all walked to school as a family, but tomorrow, Blythe will go with Brandt and Kent.  She has been excited for this too, and to get to hear a story every day, just like Brandt.  When we got to school, we walked in and said goodbye to Brandt who was continuing on down the hall, but Blythe said, "Bye Dad! Bye Mom!" and walked into her classroom.  No backward glance, no concern, no worry.  Off she went.  I had to drag her back out for a picture, and then ask if I could take some pictures in her room.  She agreed, so I went in for a couple more photos.  She went right up to Mrs. Bigelow and handed her a box, then washed her hands and took a seat at a table and began reading.  She is so confident and comfortable with herself, self-possessed and largely unconcerned about what other people think.  It's scary and wonderful all at the same time.

As Kent and I walked away, I must admit that I cried a bit.  I wasn't really crying that she was finally in kindergarten, because she is so happy to be there, and she needs to be there, but because the children are growing up so quickly.  They go to school and do their thing and it largely doesn't involve me at all.  It's good, really, really good, and amazing.

I had to get three front porch pictures because she wanted three shots of her box, 

once picture of each side.

Brandt offered her a "good luck!" on his way to class,

and first thing he asked when we picked him up after school,

"Blythe, how was your first day?"

Washing hands

Reading a book before school officially starts

 After school I got way more information from Blythe about what happened at school than I ever get from Brandt.  Blythe is a girl who likes to talk.  Brandt is a boy who doesn't.  So I heard all about the stories they read and about the puppet she made and the girl she sat next to and the treat she ate.  She also came home with a paper and a small bag of six M&Ms.  I was to ask her a question for each M&M based on color so I could hear about the "rainbow of fun" she had the first day.  Here are the questions and answers.

Red: What is your teacher's name?  "That's easy! Mrs. Bigelow.  And I know the name of the helper too!  Mrs. Moffet."
Orange:  Tell about a new friend in your class.  "Sofia, like Sophia the First!"  I asked if she had an amulet or a crown, but she doesn't.
Yellow:  Tell about your favorite thing you did at school.  "I made this!" she said, pointing at the headband she came out of school wearing.  She had done really excellent coloring and cutting.
Green:  Tell what color row you sat on.  "Purple."  Her favorite color.  Lucky!
Blue:  Tell about a rule you learned at school today.  "Be responsible."  When I asked if she knew what that meant, she said, "Yes.  I have to take care of my things and do my homework."
Brown:  Retell a story that your teacher read to you today.  "There was a panda that went to school.  Mom, do you know what Mrs. Bigelow's favorite animal is?  A panda!  A polar bear was his teacher.  His parents went with him.  He played dress up.  His parents went home, then came back to pick him up."

She called Kent and gave him a full report, and later, she told Mikayla, Grandma Sue, and Heidi all about it too.  If you ask her, I'm pretty sure she'd tell you too.  Hooray for kindergarten!

Timpanogos Cave

In my mind, I have had a list of things I wanted to do with the kids this summer.  Mostly, it has been "swim, to to Seven Peaks, swim, go canoeing, swim, ride bikes, swim."  However, I also wanted to hike to Timpanogos Cave, and two weeks before school started, I realized that we hadn't hiked and the summer was practically over, and if I didn't make an appointment, it wouldn't happen.  I am trying to be better about letting things go, but this is really one I didn't want to miss.  While we were in Spain, we went to some caves and the children thought it was pretty cool, and I just knew they would like our very own super cool cave.

So today we hiked to Timp Cave.  It was early out at school, so Blythe and I picked up Brandt, met Kent in north Orem, and went on our way.  The hike itself is steep.  From the base of the canyon you climb 1065 vertical feet, and the trail has 21 switch-backs.  I had brought water and snacks and we were given an hour and a half to make the climb before our scheduled tour time.  If I might brag just a bit here, Brandt and Blythe were troopers!  They didn't complain, they didn't whine, they didn't tell me they wanted to go back.  They just hiked.  We did stop several times to sit on a bench and eat a granola bar/apple/crackers/string cheese and have something to drink, but they hopped up when finished and kept climbing.  They wanted a story to help pass the time, Blythe specifically asked for a princess story, so I told them an exciting story about Rapunzel and Flynn/Eugene following their marriage.  We stopped to look at interest rocks and to talk to fellow hikers (of which there were very few), and Brandt hoped to see a rattlesnake near the sign that said, "Watch for rattlesnakes."  It was overcast and I wondered if it would rain while we hiked, but it didn't, and the cloud cover made for a cool if slightly humid climb.

In addition to telling the kids a made-up story, I also told them about one hike I took to Timp Cave.  I was probably ten-ish and was hiking with my mom, siblings, my Uncle Charles who was in town visiting, my Aunt Georgianne and several cousins.  We had been up to the cave, and on the way back down, someone saw a squirrel on the side of the mountain in a tree.  I wanted to see the squirrel, but when I turned to look, I couldn't see it.  Someone was pointing, and while I was straining to see the little creature, I stepped backwards several times.  I was completely unaware of getting dangerously close to the edge until I lost my footing and nearly plummeted down the side of the mountain.  Fortunately, Uncle Charles saw what was happening and grabbed my arm before I fell.  As we hiked along today and I looked down the sides of the trail, I know he saved my life.  There are very few places where I could have backed up and not fallen far.  Thanks Uncle Charles for insuring I lived long enough to take my children to Timpanogos Cave.  We saw squirrels and a chipmunk, but I stayed firmly on the trail--and made sure the children did too--as we watched them.

The cave tour itself was great, although our tour guide's presentation of cave information left something to be desired.  He would spit out a sentence, then there would be a lonnnnnnnnnnng pause, and then he would say something else.  I wanted to shake him several times to get him to talk faster.  But the children thought it was great and asked lots of questions.  Blythe did ask me a number of times when we were going to be finished, but that's because she was chilly (no body fat on our Skinny Minnie) and needed to go to the bathroom (again).  The pictures I am including of the interior of the caves are all pilfered from the internet.  I didn't even take my camera out of my backpack while inside.  Brandt and Blythe both thought the formations were super cool, and they were good about not touching anything.  It was super fun to be together in the cave, and I'm glad I didn't let the summer end without going.

Look at the leaves changing color on the mountain.

Summer really is almost over.

Kent is telling a story while we have a rest.

 

 

No people were harmed in the taking of this picture.

Blythe is trapped!

We got her out before we continued down the mountain.

Rock rest--boys.

Rock rest--girls.

Another squirrel

I let the children choose all these interior shots.

These are the things that appealed to them.

 

Ice cream in the cave

Creepy monster fingers

Reading Out Loud

It was my turn to read to Blythe tonight.  I had her select four books and she said to me, "Mom, I want you to read these three to me, but I want to read this one to you."  I readily agreed, and when I had read my three, she picked up The Perfect Nest and began to read.  She read whole pages, missing only a word or two. Thing is, Blythe doesn't know how to read yet.  I have tried to work with her, but doing anything official with Blythe, she and I clash.  Kent is going to have to teach her to ride a bike and roller skate and drive a car because when she and I are in a teacher/student or instructor/learner sort of situation, she balks and we end up in a fight.  (Yes, I am embarrassed to say that I fight with my five year old daughter.  Totally immature.  Don't judge me.  I'm working on it.)  But although she doesn't read, she got whole passages right, and she added wonderful expression.  When there were pages with too many words and she wasn't sure what was actually on that page, she just said, "I can't read this page," and turned the next one over.  It was wonderful!  I loved listening to her as she and I lay snuggled in bed together.  She will probably find her kindergarten learning to read stories pretty boring.

Fairy Houses

I think I recently posted something else titled "Fairy Houses."  Blythe has been into fairy houses of late, making all sorts, big and small.  Last Sunday we went to a fairy birthday party for Baby Mak (Blythe's half-sister McKenna), and Blythe got to paint and decorate a house.  Aunt Georgianne recently made a fairy house and offered Blythe leftover stuff to adorn a house, so Friday we went to Hobby Lobby for a largish wooden birdhouse Blythe could paint and decorate.  She had been whining at me for over a week to get the stuff from Georgianne, and as I can only stand so much, I helped her decorate the house yesterday.

This evening I discovered our front porch has been turned into a fairy housing development.  There are four different fairy houses out there, with a lovely pebble/rock path leading from the step up to the houses.  I imagine there will be a fairy party on our porch tonight.  I bet Blythe imagines the same thing too.  If you meet a homeless fairy looking for a place to put down roots, send her our way.

Early stages of the set up.

Check out that very elaborate path!

The four fairy houses set up right next to the front door.

I hope the fairies don't try to fly in the house.

This is Blythe's heavily decorated fairy house.

She and Brandt spray painted it hot pink, 

then we hot glue gunned all the pebbles, jewels, flowers, and small insects to it.

Blythe's vision tends toward the bold.

The house behind is Georgianne's,

the one in front Blythe's from McKenna's party.

I might have posted a picture of this house before.

Inside are two beds, each with two pillows (washclothes and cotton balls),

and a dresser made from an onion soup mix box.

So many choices for neighborhood fairies.

Post posting: First thing Blythe did in the morning was rush outside (in only her underwear) to see if any fairies had taken up residence.  I wonder how long the fairy houses will need to stay on the porch.

Grandpa Droubay's Farm

We had a wonderful Droubay family reunion of sorts this afternoon in Erda.  We met at the childhood home of Kent's mom, Grandpa Droubay's farm.  For all of Kent's siblings and cousins, the farm holds special memories, and Kent regularly shares stories of mischief he and his brothers got into while visiting his grandparents.

We gathered in good number.  From the Barrus family were: Craig and Monica; David and Sharon and their kids Brandon (Scott and Caleb), Brooke and Eric (Jack, Avey, and baby girl), Matt and Cindy with Aubrey, Becca, Josh, Jonathan, and Micah; Emily and Nate Burnett with their kids Zack, Annie, Ty, and Ryan and Katie and Drew Johnson with their two Ethan and Lizzie; Kent and me with Brandt and Blythe; and Lee and Cammie and Aaron.  Then there were lots of Droubay cousins, and Kent's surviving aunts and uncles who are aging and slowing down.  We laughed and ate and toured the old family mansion that any one of us would happily live in if given the chance, even though it's in Erda.  I told Kent I would like to build its duplicate in a more populated part of the state.  It is really a fantastic house.

Every farm has equipment, and Kent's cousin Scott (lives next door and farms) let Kent take Brandt out to drive a Ranger.  Talk about joy and rejoicing for our Lad.  He loved, loved, loved driving.  And of course, because Brandt got to drive, Blythe insisted on having a turn too.

A happy, happy boy in a super cool vehicle.

Brandt wants one for his very own, at our house.

"With a real car battery."

None of this kid stuff for our Lad.

That is a look of pure, unadulterated joy.

He is behind the wheel, in control!

Blythe and I rode along.

This is the field we were driving through.

Blythe's turn!

Cousin Micah happened by as we were pulling in to park, 

so Kent turned the rig around and let Micah have a turn behind the wheel.

He kept saying to Kent, 

"Go fast!"

On the porch of the Droubay Mansion

We are on the left side, next to the upper porch support.