Second, Fourth, Sixth Grade!

I can't believe I have a SIXTH grader!! I remember sixth grade, moving to middle school and feeling grown up and little all at once. Much like this beautiful girl...

She was SO excited to start school! I guess backpacks are not cool now; she took a bag I made a few years ago instead. She came home after the first few days and said, "there are all these kids that have these binders that are covered in fabric, and they have a zipper all the way around and handles..." A trapper keeper? Yep, I guess trapper keepers are back in now.
Jacob started 4th grade with a teacher we haven't had before, Mrs. Spaulding. He was nervous for his first day, and admittedly he came home much less than happy. Apparently his teacher wanted him to write verbatim in his agenda what she had written on the board and he broke down crying because he hates to write. The teacher emailed me, concerned, and we both had a talk with Jacob. He hasn't had any problems since! I really like his teacher - she seems to be a very low key, low stress person, which is good for Jacob.

Beau was able to get the same teacher for second grade that both Bekah and Jacob have had - Ms. Grady. I love her so much! She is an excellent teacher who really cares for her students.
Can you guess what Beau's favorite color is? Orange!!

Marianne didn't want to be left out of the photo shoot! This BIG girl starts her preschool tomorrow! She has a new backpack and lunchbox and she's SO excited!

And what did Rus, Marianne, and I do when all the other kids were at school? We went for a 10 mile bike ride on the bosque trail, stopping at Tingley Beach to see the ducks, and turning around only when we had finally glimpsed an elephant at the zoo. Marianne wore herself out as a passenger and complained that she was so tired when we finally made it back to the van.

It's going to be a great school year, I can just feel it!!

Tea with Nana

The last weekend before school started we were able to have a wonderful lunch date with Nana to go out to tea. We went to one of my favorite places, the St. James Tea Room here in ABQ. (Nana had actually given a tea date to Bekah as a Christmas gift...it just took a little while for us to get around to it.)

Bekah was SO excited! She loves tea as much as she possibly can, which means that she can stand about two flavors if they have enough sugar stirred in. And she loves the treats that tag along with the tea on fancy trays - treats like cookies and sugar cubes. She is not an adventurous eater, however, and trying new things gives her anxiety. I know this about her, but it completely slipped my mind when I suggested that we go out to tea. She made the best of it though, trying the teas and nibbling on the amazing cream scones.

Doesn't she look lovely? 

Our room was the Beatrix Potter room. The menu for our tea was themed on Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy. I thought everything was DELICIOUS. Mmm.
The best part of our tea party was Bekah interviewing Nana. She came prepared with a list of questions like "tell me about your unicycle," and "what were your friends like in school?"

It was truly a lovely afternoon. I'm grateful for a sweet daughter and a loving mother in law!

Meeting Layton Oliver Pearce

Oh Layton. The first time I met you, you were wearing the cutest little outfit with anchors on it that I had ever seen. You let me know super fast that you didn't want any of this babying stuff - you wanted to be shown the world! You were aware of everything and wanted all the softness of stuffed animals and blankets, and the quietly spoken words of an attentive admirer. (Here you are loving the Floppy bear that Bekah made just for you!)

Sometimes though your admirers were not quiet or soft and it made you more than just a little frustrated!

But other admirers carefully played with and loved you and thought you were the funnest toy since transformers.

You were even so patient when your newly found cousins wanted to take over feeding you! You taught them very well how to hold you just right and the bottle just right, and how to burp you in the middle of feeding, even if you didn't really want to stop right then.

And when everyone had worn you out so much, you were content to just be hugged and loved.

Later on all of your cousins begged your mommy to give you a bath so they could watch. She wasn't sure, because you hadn't really been loving bath time, but you really did need a bath so she gave in. And it turned out that you loved it! You splashed and kicked more than you had ever splashed and kicked before!

You even peed in the tub, which gave the kids all sorts of giggles. And when it was all done, you were lovingly cuddled by your cute dad. He has never had anything as fun as you before!

We are so happy we got to come and see you so we could fall in love with you! When you're bigger we'll tell you all about that wonderful day when we first met you.

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Owens

I have known Steve O since I was dating Rus in college. Rus has known Steve O since his days at Eastern AZ college in Safford. Steve has a heart of gold and has probably been willingly set up on more blind dates than any other man alive. He finally found the perfect girl and married her on July 24th. We wouldn't have missed it for the world.  

We set out on a Thursday for Gilbert, AZ, and enjoyed a brief stop at the sandstone bluffs at El Malpais. As always we feared that at any moment one of our children would clumsily fall of a cliff to their death, but luckily we all made it out alive...possibly because we made them approach any ledge on their bellies like this:

I like how each of the kids is looking off in a different direction in this picture:

Rus and the Bug. Isn't the sky great?

And here is the happy couple. Steve said that by the end of the day he felt like his cheeks were going to fall off from smiling so hard! And why not - look at the gorgeous lady who is now his bride! Her name is Christy. They were married in the stunningly beautiful and grand Gilbert temple.

At their reception later that night we enjoyed taking advantage of the prop table and photo booth...

Here are the boys! (With a few added kiddos hanging around). Dave with his daughter, Steve holding up a very solid Beau, Rus and the Bug, and Clint with Maverick. Rus rarely gets a chance to hang out with Clint so he was very happy to spend time with him on this occasion.

I coerced everyone into taking a picture together. This is another reason why I like Tom's wife Suzy so much - because no one else could have convinced him to be in this picture!

And yes, that's my brother Tyler and his wife Gina there too. It turns out Gina knew Steve and so they came to the reception too. It was my first time meeting Layton and I admit I was more happy to see him than anyone else!!
Here's to a blissful forever for Steve and Christy!

Happy Summer Days!

I love summertime. I love not planning anything and just having things happen. Like waking up and realizing that it's Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a, which only happens once a year! We got our "cow" on and enjoyed a five free meals! The store manager was awesome - he decided that he wanted to offer free balloon animals, so he utilized YouTube and taught himself how to do the basics. We challenged him with things like a unicorn and a leopard gecko and a cow, and he did a terrible job, but it was offered so good-naturedly we couldn't help but still enjoy the balloons!

Amy tasked me with making her a diaper bag. I think I pulled it off quite well, even if it did arrive with a seam missing on the inside...Still it has a chocolate pocket and a chapstick pocket, and a loop for hooking keys or a baby binker.

Rus and I made a pond! It turned out beautifully, even if the actual process of making it was a little tiring and frustrating. It turns out you can't dig out under a large boulder and then expect it to stay put. And big boulders are so heavy...

My parents had us meet up with them at a farmer's market in downtown ABQ. It was really fun! Lots of great crafts and beautiful fruits and vegetables. This one lady casts sterling silver jewelry from the skulls and bones of small birds and reptiles. I'm in love with her lizard skull bracelet...

And my parents spoiled all of us with delicious cookies from one of the vendors. Mmm.

One morning Jacob and Beau were...hmm...somewhere else and us girls decided to head to ABQ uptown. We bought a sparkly lotion bar at Lush, cute shoes for Marianne and the zebra shirt Bekah is wearing at a sale at Gap, and indulged in gelato from Frost. Bekah and I at least agree that the salted caramel flavor is the best...and Marianne's shirt has never been the same since her chocolate gelato.

Happy Summer!

Zoo with Cousins

The last fun thing we did with cousins before they had to head home was a much anticipated trip to the zoo. I love the Albuquerque zoo! It's beautiful and just the right size. 

Check out the wingspan of my Jacob:

And the mouth-span of my Marianne! (I love how Beau's face is right there in the background, like he's starting in on the crust)

Grandpa had the funniest experience with Beau! He showed him how to clap his hands together, cross his middle fingers and then rotate his hands so those same middle fingers could wiggle. Beau figured it out and then said, "I'm peeing out both sides!" My exasperated dad laughed and then said, "I didn't teach him that!!" Rus had to give my dad are hard time later for teaching Beau such a crude gesture.

And here's our whole group at the end of the visit. Can you see how two of my kids look like they are ready to pass out? That's why this was the end of the visit!

Bekah's Birthday

Before I had kids I never associated the age of the oldest child with the number of years of parenting experience that the mom and dad had. Now I experience feelings of unbelief at the fact that my oldest child has turned eleven...which means I've been doing this job for eleven years! I feel largely unqualified as a parent because I am still blindsided daily with new parenting challenges. I still yell and cry and let my children do things that I look back and wonder WHAT I was thinking. I'm sure parenting will be so much easier in hindsight.

Anyway...Bekah. My baby girl. ELEVEN! I expect cards of sympathy at having a pre-teen in my house! This girl is all sass and passion and drama, she feels nothing half-way. She can be or feel or act anyway she chooses - which is sometimes completely awesome and sometimes devastating. One moment she'll be gently encouraging Marianne to go play with her (and she'll stick with her for hours), and then another time she'll be crazy mad at me telling me I've ruined her life. Her saving grace is that she always feels sorry about when she's been mad, and she is so forgiving of me when I am totally reactive in an equally immature way. As challenging as she is to me, I don't think I'd change a thing about her. (Well maybe I'd have her be a more adventurous eater.) All of her will power, determination, stubbornness and passion will be excellent qualities when she one day decides to advocate for the whales, or starving children, or some equally desperate cause. 

She was lucky this year to celebrate her birthday with cousins. Madison helped Bekah pick out her very own pet hamster! She named her Princess and she adores her! Princess has a very cute cage with a hamster wheel and hut and a little tunnel that takes her up to a small compartment at the top of her cage. She also has a hamster ball and enjoys roaming the house in it, under close supervision of course. Bekah would probably say Princess is almost perfect: she just pees a little too frequently.

Luke, Preston, Hayden, Madison, and Grandpa and Cutesy all came for birthday dinner - lasagna - and dessert - angel food cake with chocolate fondue! These are terrible pictures, but they are the only ones I have...

Happy birthday, young lady!