School Daze!

As usual I have had a hard time adjusting to the school year :(  I miss my kids not being around (ok this is the first year I've had two in school so it's usually just kid) & I miss having our lazy & spontaneous summer schedule.  This summer was exceptionally wonderful because the school year in Springfield ends in May & the school year in Oregon doesn't start up until after Labor day so we all had an extra month to just play & relax.  Sigh.  But since we're starting our 4th week I think I'm getting the hang of it. 

Can I declare to the world how much I love the kids school?!  I love, love, love it!  One of the main reasons I love it is I already feel that the teachers are much more interested in communicating with me than in our previous school & I really appreciate that a lot.  Next biggest reason is that it starts at 8am & they are done by 2:30 & every Wednesday they get out at 1:30.  I feel like we still have lots of time to hang out & do things together.  I love it!  And Hyrum is much happier coming home this year & I think it's because of the time difference.  Hunter has half day K which is perfect for both of us.  He absolutely loves it, can't wait to go back each day & has already made a bunch of little friends.

Jeremy schedule is awesome so I'm taking advantage of it & have decided to spend 3 hours in H&H's classrooms each week.  It's fun but it's reemphasized to me I am not meant to be a teacher by any means :)

 

 

It's been a huge blessing to have been asked to join a co-op preschool with 4 other Moms.  Em & Justy go twice a week & I am teaching the whole first month.  It's been a blast & the kids are really sweet & get along well.  

Here's the preschool group!

Unfortunately Justy spent the first week quarantined in his room with a bad cold.  Poor kid he just laid around the house sleeping & being quiet, which of course is nothing like his usual self.

Jeremy was able to hike Saddleback Mountain with a friend.  Here's the view from the top.

Having a dance party! We like our new TV & someday when we actually get Netflix we can stream it right there!

Hyrum really wanted everyone to know this was HIS plate & HIS chair for dinner.  I guess you have to be very clear in a family of 7 :)

 

After Justin had a time-out Dallen thought that was the place to be for some fun.  He didn't last long in the corner-he was probably confused why Justin had stood there for so long :)

Goofy boys

 

Dallen has become attached to his bear lately.  He calls him 'Pooh Bear'.  One day he kept carrying him around saying 'Coot bear' (coot=cute) & patting his back & saying 'Seep' (or sleep).  It was so cute.

One afternoon Hunter said 'Our windows are really dirty!  Can I clean them for you???' And he proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes cleaning almost all the windows in the house.  Awesome.  I keep waiting for his helpfulness to go away but it's still in full force around here.

Jeremy had a dental conference at the Great Wolf Lodge close to where my parents live so we got to spend some time with Pa & Darlin.  They took us to the state fair!  I may be wrong but I think that's my first time ever going to a state fair.  I only snapped two pictures but the kids had fun especially seeing all the animals & riding tractors.

Dallen's idea of heaven-a bag of grapes all to himself!

The lodge was pricey-whew!!!-but it was a blast!  I was absolutely amazed at how brave everyone was.  They all played nonstop.  It's hard to remember that H&H were ever so terrified of water-they've morphed into fish!

Waiting for pizza!!

I think we really tired them all out, eh??

Labor Day

Okay a week before Labor Day weekend we went to Portland for a variety of reasons but most importantly to go to the temple.  I am so excited the Portland temple is now our temple.  It has been my favorite ever since it was built.  I think I was 8 or 9 years old when it was built & dedicated. I will always remember being able to walk through before the dedication & being in awe of it's beauty inside & out.  The flowers rival those of the Salt Lake city temple ground.  They were gorgeous!  And I got to see some family friends who happened to be there for a sealing (wedding).

Hyrum finished his 450 page workbook for 2nd grade 2 weeks prior to 2nd grade starting.  He worked very hard & was beyond excited to be done.  Sometimes I felt like the meanest Mom enforcing school work during the summer but it was only for like 30 minutes a day & hopefully he'll be familiar with things he's learning at school now.

It really hasn't rained much at all here in the last two months.  But we did have one day with a really good downpour.  Everyone was able to try out their rain boots!

So over Labor Day weekend Dallen turned 18 months old (on September 1st.)  He is basically the cutest thing ever.  He loves to read books & chatters non-stop.  He tries so hard to repeat everything we say & repeat everything the big kids do.  He loves to dance & listen to music & pretend to be a dog or fish.  He is slightly obsessed with shoes & it's usually one of the first things he asks for after he wakes up.  He loves to eat fruit & dairy & not much else.  He is the size of a 2 year old or small 3 year old even :)  Lately he has developed a bit of arachnophobia (wonder where he gets that from??)

We took off Thursday morning to drive down to Newport & Lincoln City.  I've been itching to go down there since we moved to Oregon.  One of the main attractions was the aquarium.  It really did live up to its reputation.  We spent 3 hours there & would've stayed longer if we hadn't been starving for lunch.  We will have to go back soon.

We dubbed this guy the 'pirate fish' - kind of creepy, eh?

The tunnel ... duh duh duh

The octopus was pretty much my favorite

We met up with some dental school friends for lunch & then explored their free science museum- almost as cool as the aquarium :)  The kids had so much fun together.  Hyrum & Braxton were best friends when they were 2 so they had a lot of catching up to do :)

Hiking Cape Lookout - it was crazy foggy there ('froggy' as Emma calls it)

We went to Connie Hansen's garden.  The grounds were much larger than I thought they would be & everything was gorgeous.

Devil's Punch Bowl

 

Loads of fun in the car ;-)

This was the coolest beach (aside from the thousands of flys landing on us).  It was just below the lighthouse at Yaquina Head.  There was no sand just tons of smooth polished black rocks.  When the waves crashed & slid back out to the ocean it sounded exactly like one of those rain maker delio's.  It sounded so cool.

We spent Monday playing at our own beach, hiking around Coffenbury Lake & enjoying delicious Indian food to kick start the first week of school!