My Men...

Ben telling Dad all about his first day of school! Thought this looked so sweet!

Benjamin the Kindergartener!

Ben had his first day of Kindergarten on September 1st! He was absolutely thrilled to finally be able to go to school! His teacher this year is Mrs. Pulsipher...we love her!

Isabelle is excited that Ben is now in school with her. They have made plans to meet up at recess and lunch! Too Cute!
We can't be serious all of the time!

Ben and his best friend Grant Saunders with little brother Kevin!

Ben is such a good friend! He always wants to make sure Grant is taken care of! Grant is a wee bit shy and sometimes gets overlooked, but not if Ben is around!

Lining up to go in! This is when I put on my sunglasses cause I was starting to cry!

And off he goes! When we first got to school I told him to wait with Grant while I walked Isabelle to her class. He told me he was fine and that I could just go home! WHAT??? That crazy boy! I told him that I would be back and make sure he got into his class ok. What an independent little man...much to his mama's chagrin!

And yes, Lisa (Grant's mom) and I cried...it was nice to have someone to cry with. And then when I got home and realized I was alone...I cried even more!

Ben has this thing about buttoning his buttons all the way to the top. I think he is channeling Mr. Monk! In the morning I told him he should leave it unbuttoned, that it looked better. He was VERY skeptical, but left it unbuttoned. After I dropped him off I thought, "Guaranteed, that button will be done up when I pick him up!" Sure enough....

Come to find out the next day, I have a very modest son. He is only concerned about his chest being shown off! Oh boy! We need to get that boy some undershirts!!!

Isabelle the First Grader!

School started on August 25th for Miss Isabelle. She is so excited to be in first grade! Her teacher is Mrs. Lee. (I was able to work with Mrs. Lee this past school year. I LOVED being in her class!)

Walking to school =) (A first day tradition!)

Isabelle and her friend Maddie Peer (Maddie is in 2nd grade this year)

Going inside her class!

Here she is hanging up her backpack, her teacher is in the blue shirt.

Isabelle said she was bored the first day cause they only talked about the boring rules! School got much more exciting after that! She is so excited every day to come home and tell me about all of the fun things that first graders get to do!

My own little Ben Kenobi

Tuesday I dropped Ben off at school. We were saying our goodbyes and our i love you's. Just before he shut the van door he shouted:
"May the force be with you!"
I think I had a smile on my face that whole day!

And that's how Isabelle C's it!

Isabelle decided she wanted to do the dishes today.
I told her to go right ahead. I started to walk out of the kitchen and she said
"Where are you going?"
me: "I need to do homework."
Isabelle: "Well, someone needs to stay in here and talk to me."
Me: "Ok, but I have to read this journal, so I can't talk."
She told me it was ok and I could read it to her. Hmmm....does she realize how BORING it is??? I was bored with it...and they use a lot of really big words =) So I decided to start reading to her, what could it hurt?
The journal was on how late entry to kindergarten can effect kids when they get to high school...zzzzzzz...could be interesting, but remember all of those big words? Yeah half of the thing made no sense whatsoever! So she kept doing dishes and about 20 minutes into it, I had just read something about how it affects them in PE, and she pipes up:
"Oh I am so glad that they decided to let them have PE at that school. Like they get to do soccer and football. Some schools do not let you do soccer or foot ball, mom." I nodded and agreed with her...but I was so impressed that she was actually listening to what I was saying. She totally didn't understand it, but she was trying!
Then I mentioned the mean (you know, average!) something about PE and again she pipes up:
"Oh they really need to get rid of that mean PE teacher. Those kids won't be able to do anything. She won't let them kick the ball, or hit the ball. She is so mean. She will only let them hit the ball with their heads. And then they will just fall over. Oh mom, they really need to get rid of that mean PE teacher!"
Can I just say that....I LOVE THIS KID!!!!!!!!!!
It was fabulous having her comment on my boring homework. I loved her interpretations and also the fact that she listened to this for about 45 min! What a champ! I am thinking she needs to be my permanent study partner...=)

Back to School

I started school on Monday. Sorry Erin, there are no pictures of me. By the time I remembered I was exhausted & could not summon the energy to do it.
I remember...7+ years ago...being in school, single, then engaged, & then newly married. I could stay up late & still get up early the next morning. I have pondered on how I actually did that. I was younger, didn't have a house & kid responsibilities, life was quite a bit easier. And now that I have started school, I have been up late doing homework (always past midnight), and up early in the morning. I guess my body will get used to it, just like it was back in the day. I hate it...especially since I don't get to come home and sleep at 4 pm and then get up, hang out, and then eat dinner at like 8pm. Man, those were the days. Now I have 2 cute kids to take care of, plus my home & husband. I am sure I will find balance somehow...eventually...hopefully! It is only the first week, isn't that the hardest?
I am really enjoying my classes. My favorite is Children's Literature...I wish I could take this every semester!!!! And the bain of my existence is math...ugh! But Matt faithfully sits by my side for hours every night and works on math with me. He is a good guy. How did I get so lucky???
Isabelle started school yesterday & LOVES it! I took pictures but do not know how to get them off of my camera...hopefully Matt will, if I remember to tell him =)
She also pulled out one of her teeth this morning. It has been a fun 2 days for this girl!

Blast from the past!

Ok, so April 8th isn't too far in the past, but definitely far enough. Ben and I got to go on a field trip to the Treehouse Museum here in Ogden with our Circle time group from Club Heights Elementary. It was lots and lots of fun to spend time with my boy!

Here he is helping reenact the 3 Billy Goats Gruff with puppets. (?, ?, Jordan Peer, Ben & Shelby Jolley)

He wants to be a puppeteer...

also an Indian...



also a fireman...

and a shark catcher!!!! There goes his hand!!!

He would also like to be a farmer with Jordan...yeah it really squirted out water!

But a cowboy might be the #1 pick!

Yup....definitely a cowboy!

We need to get this kid some boots & spurs!