An Update:

Our weekends have been filled with birthday parties.  Two -weeks ago Eric went to one for a preschool friend, last weekend Zachary was invited to one for a Kindergarten classmate, and yesterday we all went to one for twins that go to nursery with Wendy.  Of course this was Wendy's party and she was excited that we could all come along.  They had an 18foot waterslide that was a huge hit with Zachary.  Wendy went a couple of times with Dad.  Eric climbed halfway up the stairs and then would bounce back down.  Oh how different each child is.  Hyrum and I did not get wet.  Hyrum chose to spend most of his time at the little picnic table eating, for how much that boy eats he still is a little thing.

The rest of this month has flown by.  Zachary and Eric are both adjusting nicely to school.  I am proud to say that both academically and behaviorally they are doing amazing.   I went and ate with both of them last week and it was fun to see how quickly they made friends and how excited they are to share things with me.  

Wendy and Hyrum are adjusting to not having big brothers at home.  They play quite nicely together.  Wendy likes being the big sister and so far Hyrum just goes along with what she says.  Wendy also likes to pretend to be the mom and I am the girl.  I do not get a name, simply 'girl'.  Often I hear 'girl' do this or 'girl' mom says it is time for bed, etc.  Below are two pictures of them after they got out of the shower, because their play had got a little dirty.  What cute kids!

I am enjoying some quiet time each day.  Hyrum goes down for his nap after lunch and then Wendy has reading/rest time for 40 min.  She is wonderful about staying in her room until she hears the timer.  This means that I get some time of my own.  Wow! that is something new, but I think I can get used to it :) 

Kyle is putting a lot of hours in at work.  The roll-out is in October so this is the busy time for him.  We are grateful for his sacrifice and I am grateful that he is able to do some of the work from home.  At least then I get to see him.  He is also into cars right now.  He found a show talks about all the details about what makes a car great and he has narrowed his favorites down to just a couple.  Too bad we don't have $30,000 sitting around :) 

A few fun thoughts

Here are a few fun things that my kids have said in the past week.

Zachary:  I was performing some rhythmic gymnastic moves and asked Zachary, "Should I go to the Olympics?"  His reply, "No, mom you have to be the best of the best."  I then asked, "I'm not the best of the best."  Being very tactful he said, "Well, you have to be good at what you're doing."

Eric:  In primary he stated the following truth, "When you like someone and they don't like you it gets complicated."

Wendy:  I said, "Oh, I over-baked the cookies!"  Wendy exclaimed, "Over-baked, Awesome!!"

My kids keep me smiling!

First Day of School

The first day of school is today.  The kids met their teachers Monday and just got more excited for it to all begin.  Zachary has loved being the big brother and telling Eric everything there is to know about their school.  Eric has been thrilled to say that he is in Kindergarten.  When we told him he was going to school he corrected us, "It is not school it is Kindergarten"  I am excited to have a whole day without anywhere to run, and only two kids at home; however, I know I will miss my two boys.

Good Luck at school Zachary and Eric!!

Words from the kids after their first day. 

Eric:  My teacher gave me play-dough!  I liked lunch, I also liked to play outside.  I like being upstairs, there are puppets.  My teacher is Mrs. Gross, everybody has a Mrs.  I like Mrs. Gross.  One of my friends shirts is blue.

Zachary:  I had a great day and I was good, and that's all.

Rocky Springs

We went for a drive Sunday afternoon and stopped at Rocky Springs a town that in 1860 had a population of 2,600 and now a population of 0.  It was a short little hike to the old church and cemetery. We had fun family time!  Hyrum insisted on walking.  Zachary, Eric, and Wendy were thrilled to point out everything they discovered.

Swimming

Obviously the month of July passed us by.  We had a wonderful time in Utah and Idaho with both sides of the family.  We spent time in St. George with the Flamm's.  It was hot, but very enjoyable.  We saw Aladdin at Tuacahn Theater.  It was wonderfully done and the kids were very entertained.  Hyrum stayed back at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa thanks.  It was also fun to swim and see the temple.
We then headed to the Schwieder Reunion in Idaho, the City of Rocks.  Again it was hot, but family always make such things worth it.  All three older kids climbed the mountain and did a wonderful job.  They all loved playing in the sand.  After a busy week we started our drive back to Las Vegas to catch our flight.  That was when the only sad thing happened, we left our camera in our rental car, hence no photos from a great adventure.  The good news is we got a new one, I like it!!

The rest of the month of July was spent at swimming lessons.  We went at least 3 times a week and Wendy even went the last week.  By the end of the summer, a lot of people stopped going so my kids often had one-on-one lessons for $4, what a deal.  They all improved this summer.  Zachary learned how to swim on his back and improved his front crawl, Eric learned how to breath and keep going and was brave enough to go off the diving platform twice, Wendy put her face in the water and kicked.  It was fun to see them all enjoy the water.  Hyrum, Wendy (when she was not swimming) and I spent time in the pavilion nearby while we were waiting.  The kids also liked to play on the slide and in the sand.