I love to see the temple...

We had Family Home Evening up at the temple with Mike and Michelle, Kassie and all the kids.  Shelle was nice enough to take pictures for a project we've been talking about, and this is the result.  When I saw it for the first time, I almost fell over.

It was a marvelous family night.  And how about another shout out to our family photographer.  Part of what makes her so amazing is that she doesn't know how amazing she is. 

And so it begins...

Greg had a good talk with Ethan. He was stern and Ethan listened. Then later, when we were alone, I giggled and told Greg I would keep this note forever. He reminded me that Ethan had to turn it in to his teacher the next day. And that, my dear friends, is why it is emblazoned forever on the blog.

Gross...and cute

PJ put his darling little face right up next to mine and, looking straight in my eyes, asked: "Mom, you wanna know why always I pick my nose?"

I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't laugh in his face. "Yes," I said, poker face on.

Wide eyed and innocent: "It's cuz I just wanna see what cowor [read: color] dey are." 

Euw. That's gross. But at least it's honest.

Reading

For months and months, reading time has been tantamount to pulling teeth for Ethan.  He usually resists; he would rather be playing computer games or watching a cartoon or playing outside.  Tough.  I make him read anyway.

And then last night, the payoff. 

Each boy usually picks a book to take to bed with them.  And about 10 minutes after tucking them in, Ethan rushed into the famiy room holdling an intermediate Dr. Seuss book, excitement abounding. 

"MOM! I read ALL the way through this book! To the end! So now I need another one! Reading is awesome! It's like every time I start to read a book, I go there! To where the book is! I don't ever want to stop reading!"

Welcome to the club, Ethan.

A Happy Day for Lincoln

Lincoln has been waiting for this day for a very long time.  And I'm counting my blessings. When I signed him up for preschool last spring, I was hoping against hope to get him into a morning slot, being that we're morning people and, since we thought Greg would be overseas, I wasn't expecting to still be working mornings. He didn't get one. But now that we're starting afternoon preschool, it works out perfectly because Link is home to play with PJ in the mornings while I work, and since they often keep each other consumed in imaginative play for hours, I am grateful for his a.m. presence.

Lincoln will be the perfect preschooler.  He loves people.  He loves to talk.  He loves to color.  He loves to read books.  He loves workbooks and homework.  Oh, and he loves his teacher, which makes all the difference in the world.  

Back to school

We were sad to go from full-day kindergarten to half-day when we moved from Pinedale back to Utah last year, but we adjusted well.  Now Ethan is back in full-day school as a first grader.  I might be more excited about it than he is, but not by much.  Seriously, how cute is this kid? 

Crawdads

Just a few pictures from our annual crawdadding trip to Strawberry Reservoir.  This is the first year we camped, and it. was. magical.  It poured on us during the drive up and the first 30 minutes we were there (while I scrambled to get our tent set up), and then the sky cleared and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  The kidlets played in the towering grass, tubed behind the pontoon boat and - the highlight - hauled crawdads in by the dozens.  Two years ago we brought home over 800 crawdads and decided it was a little excessive.  This year, we stopped before half that number and still had more then enough.  Admittedly, for me at least, the fun is not in the eating; it is in the catching.