so grown up

Ryan has been counting down to this day all summer long.

He has been nothing but excited to start Kindergarten.

This morning he ran in to tell us first thing, "today is my school day"!

I seriously can't believe that my baby is so grown up, we are definitely starting a new chapter in our lives.

Ryan has been asking me all summer to teach him how to tie his shoes so he knew how to before Kindergarten started, finally yesterday we started.  He know says that he can tie his own shoes all by himself  "with only a little help". When picking out his first day outfit he was thinking about wearing one of each of his new pairs of shoes which would of been hilarious but he decided on his bright ones instead.  For breakfast Ryan enjoyed one of his favorite things to eat, cream cheese on blueberry bagels with bacon and chocolate milk. He was also excited about his Star Wars lunch box and the chance that he would get to see his brothers at recess.  I love it that they will all go to school together here for the next three years. 

 Ryan and Ash are in the same class this year so that could make it interesting but what a fun thing to do with one of your best friends.  They were so excited to see each other at school this morning, it was so sweet.

Ryan didn't have a problem giving me kisses (just not on the lips), hugs and thumbs up when we were at the school this boy was ready to go!  We are so happy for you Ryan and know that you will do great!

the first days

the boys were nothing but excited this morning

can't wait to hear all about it when they get home from school

the time has come

summer is coming to an end and school is starting back up tomorrow

open house was last night and the boys got to meet their teachers and bring in their supplies

they were all smiles and so excited to be there

this last week has been filled with lots of fun

fun with friends getting together for swimming, water balloons and a trip to Eagle Island

fun with the family, cousins and matt & summer for a day at Roaring Springs

it was so exciting to finally get all five of us on a ride together

fun with Hailey staying the night and hanging out with us

fun watching Luke play in his first football game down at BSU

he was a little unsure about it all but worked really hard at blocking the biggest kid out there

it will be fun watching him throughout the season

Go Number Twenty

What a Mess!

Usually everyday you get tired of all of the messes, but not on this day.

That is what the kids were supposed to do, get as messy as you can and we wouldn't even complain.

The kids first had to guess what kind of day we would be having so we wrote letters on their feet and they had to unscramble the word.  It didn't take long before they figured it out together... MESSY!

We started the day with silly string and a game of freeze tag.

Next the kids had to get skittles out of a plate of jello with only their mouths.

Each of them had their own unique way of doing this but it was all pretty gross to watch.

After lunch we had ice cream sundaes, but not your typical sundae

because these were made using only your body.

The girls and Luke had no fear and jumped right in but Cody and Ryan weren't too sure

so it took them a little bit to warm up to the idea.

How could this not be fun, do you see the caramel running out of Ashlynn's hair?

Time for another treat of ice cream cones and a quick wash with the hose
before we headed to the pool, where the kids played their games  

practiced their jumps

 laid out in the sun 

looked cute 

made us laugh 

and thanks to this sweet girl who taught my son how to do front flips

how fun is that

they practiced them over and over  

 I wish it had stopped there but it didn't because Luke then taught himself how to do back flips,

he had no fear but this mother was scared to death. 

Another day spent with great friends making memories.

Happy Mail

Writing letters is Cody's new favorite thing to do.

He loves checking the mailbox everyday to see if there is anything for him.

Chances are there could be because he's been writing a lot of letters.

Letters to Mawmaw Teresia to say hello

Letters to Grammy and Papa to find out about our ancestors and to test their art skills

Letters to the President of the United States and to Lego's Customer Service

Letters to friends and to his new pen pal Mackenzie

He hand delivered a letter to the girl's last week that read:

Attention! angry bird lovers, here is a angry bird contest

the pigs have grown stronger, we need you to make a new angry bird!

directions: draw a angry bird and tell us it's power, it must be new

Little did I know how fun and entertaining this would be for them, the kids loved it!

We got the kids together and they each had a chance to share their angry bird.
You should of seen their smiles and just how proud they were.
The kids wanted us to judge them and give out winners but we couldn't do that,
like Luke had said, "we would just say that they were all winners".

so instead we came up with a few other awards:

Abigail won the Most Powerful Award with her Water Balloon Bird that shoots out water and floods the pigs hideouts.

Ash won the Most Funny Award for her Burst Bird that shoots out goo.

Cody won the Most Creative Award for his Invisa-Bird that disappears and then reappears 

Luke won the Most Dangerous Award for his Pirate Bird that catches on fire and

Ryan won the Most Birdy Award for his I Don't Know Bird that shoots out three birds and one of them is invisible. 

This was some happy mail indeed!

{fourteen} days

That's what I have left of summer break to spend with the kids.
I wish that it was more.
But since it's not, we will make the best of it and squeeze it all in.
The blog has been quiet for this reason so here is a little catch up.

Ryan is getting excited for Kindergarten to start, which I am happy about but I think I'm more worried about him starting than I was with any of the other boys.  It seems like so long ago when they had started and Ryan's my baby so I'm just not ready to let him go.  We were able to go to Roaring Springs this week with Grammy and Hailey and Ryan was loving every minute of it.  He has an endless about of energy and was a dare devil which scared us all.  He wouldn't go on the big rides but in the wave pool and lazy river, he had no fear.  He was quite amazing to watch diving under the water, curling himself up into a little ball and floating around letting the water take him wherever.  Now that we have an iPad, the boys have finally caught up with the rest of the world and found out all the buzz about playing Angry Birds and now Ryan has become obsessed, well actually they all have.
Luke is not excited about starting second grade at all even though he does enjoy school.  He just gets so nervous starting anything new and until he knows exactly what to expect he won't be excited.  This is exactly how he felt starting flag football this week and after the first practice he was already enjoying it. Luke's also made some great progress in his reading over the summer so seeing his confidence grow in that has been wonderful.  The biggest thing that everyone has noticed about him this summer is how tall he has grown, he is almost as tall as Cody now, it's crazy!
Cody can't hardly wait for school to start, especially after getting all of his new school supplies today that is all he talks about.  He just loves learning, he even started learning all of his states and capitals over the summer just for something fun to do.  He is constantly thinking about things and questions everything, he amazes me with must go on in his head all day.  Right now his favorite place to visit someday would be Europe.  His other interest right now is writing letters.  He was looking at one that I received in the mail last week and just became fascinated with everything about them, from how to write one, on how to address the envelope and on how it gets to where it's going.  He wrote three just this week and can't wait to write more so don't be surprised if you get one in the mail because he's been studying my address book.
As for myself I have become obsessed once again with Scrabble but this time with playing it on the iPad because I can play against people I know which is so much more fun.  I have been out with the boys school shopping which has been fairly easy and I was happy to find so many great deals.  It's fun seeing what they like and pick out, a lot of bright colors this year.  I couldn't believe when we took them shoe shopping that Cody and Luke each went up two sizes from last year, Cody wears a 5 1/2 and Luke a 3 1/2. I have many projects that I either haven't started or haven't finished (including painting) this summer so I'm putting a hold on everything until the kids are back in school.  I need something to keep me busy on the full days that they will all be there.
Heath changed crews at work so he is now on the Install crew and has been working lots of overtime. Of course Qwest was bought out so Heath is now working for Century Link, so far so good with the new company.  Since we didn't go on any vacations this year Heath hasn't taken any time off so he is looking forward to a long week off over Labor Day, he deserves it.  He is also having fun assisting with the coaching for Luke's flag football team.  Luke likes having him out there which is pretty sweet because he doesn't like when I help out at the school.  It will be fun watching Luke play and learn the game! Cody was even interested in what sports that are coming up that he could play while watching Luke's practice, so we will see what happens with that.

That's all for now, just hoping that our summer days slow down.

mullets, rat tails and side burns

these are all things that are starting to show up on the boys 

which is why we are getting some much needed haircuts

before family pictures that are coming up soon