MY First Day of School!

Yes, it is that time again! The nights are cooler, the flowers are fading, and the streets of Rexburg are packed yet again with 18-22 year old looking for a brighter future (aka: spouse) at Brigham Young University-Idaho!

School is back in session for me. Now, over the last few semesters I have resigned myself that the first two weeks are always stressful, tiring, confusing, and truly test the alcohol part of the Word of Wisdom and the "do not kill" part of the Ten Commandments.

However, despite a taxing first day that included a nervous verbal vomiting in Old Testament of my marital status (not a big deal---unless you're in a room of single 20-somethings that have never seen a divorced person upclose), an ADHD professor that left me more confused when I left than when I entered, and general anxiety concerning my math class, I feel it went okay. Of course, this is could due to massive amounts of diet Pepsi, chocolate and the musical brilliance/gorgeousness of this guy:

The artificial endorphins will wear off soon, however--just in time for another round of new classes tomorrrow. Ah, the joys of higher education!! See you in December, if I make it that far.

EISF 2014!!

It's that time of year again! FAIR TIME!!  I love the EISF for many reasons: the food, the booths from all the branches of the armed forces, the contests, and the best one---it ushers in the autumn season! Last weekend we hit opening day and here's what we did:

As always, the petting zoo is a must.

The National Guard had a tank there that had been used in Iraq.

We were the first ones to get to the National Guard booth, and Cooper started asking so many questions the very, very nice (personality AND looking-wise) soldier took us up into the tank and showed us how everything works. Amelia was a little nervous, especially when the soldier showed Cooper how to load the gun and fire it (who can blame her--that information is a little dangerous for Coop to have!)  but it was really interesting for all of us to see how a "ka-pow" works! The soldier was incredibly patient with Cooper and answered all his questions--even when he was interrupted for one to be asked.

Amelia sitting in the chair with the empty shell holders behind her.

This is Cooper next to the ammo-loading end of the gun. The little black switch is the trigger, and he was giddy as can be to be able to pull it.

 Next stop was to check Amelia's cookies she'd entered in the baking contest. Her first year she received an honorable mention. The second year she received second place in the chocolate chip cookies class and THIS year:

She took 1st place in the "other" category (white chocolate chip macadamia nut).

AND:

2nd place in "sugar cookies--frosted" class.

Altogether,  she won $9, two ribbons, and lots and lots of happy smiles!!

Cooper is looking forward to entering next year, and Amelia decided she'd move onto quick breads so she'd give him "fighting chance" in the cookie category. Such a sweet sister.

After we'd seen all we wanted to, we hit the food stands and loaded up on tiger ears, potatoes, sno cones, and other yummy treats!

Sunday we listened to Andy's report of his mission and then hung out until Monday just playing with family and relaxing on the LAST official weekend of summer. 

                                                         AUTUMN IS NEXT!!!!!!!

Back to School!

Amelia and Cooper started school yesterday! Tuesday Rexburg had the Party in the Park again. Cooper and I went off on our own because Amelia had a "date" with a few of her friends to hang out together at the party. Here a few pictures of my darlins:

Amelia with two of her friends. I continuously forget how small she is until I see her next to other girls her age!

This isn't a great picture, but this is a game Amelia was playing. If you fell off the platform, you were out. They had a huge ball you could thrown at others to try and knock them off while jumping from platform to platform. Amelia was in there for five minutes, through a rotation of fifteen children. She may be small, but she's a scrapper!

Mady and Amelia.

Cooper digging for treasure. 

One of the games, as always, is the bull-riding. Cooper was so incredibly focused it was funny:

Wednesday morning the kids were up early and ready in record time. They both looked so cute and grown-up!

Amelia's school starts 30 minutes later than Cooper's, so we dropped him off first. He ran half a block ahead of me, shouted hello to the new principal who looked a little shell-shocked, and sprinted into the school. He called hello to his 1st grade teacher and continued staright to his new room. By the time I got here, he'd given his teacher the Kleenex and Clorox wipes, introduced himself, reminded her she'd called Amelia Curly-Q (Amelia had her for 2nd grade trades), hung up his backpack and was running out to recess. I managed to stop him, take a hurried, blurry picture and he was off. No confidence problems with THAT kid!

I walked back to the car and started toward the middle school. Amelia was awfully quiet so I asked her if she wanted me to go in with her. She said yes. We parked at the school and I walked her in. The good news is that five other mothers were doing the same thing. We got to her classroom, I told her I'd see her at the bus stop tonight and to have a good day. She just stared at me for a bit and then said in a very tiny voice, "I think I'm a little nervous."  Just about broke my heart. By then her teacher had come to the door and I introduced Amelia and explained she was a little apprehensive about a new school and students she didn't know. Her teacher was fabulous, threw her arm around Amelia and brought her into the classroom and started settling her in. I quickly left before I went back in to tell Amelia she didn't have to stay in a strange new school with strange people.

Don't worry, I consoled myself with a sausage biscuit and cinna-melts from McDonald's.

When I picked her up that afternoon, I asked how middle school was, and she said (eyes shining) "It's AWESOME!!" Crisis averted. I asked is she stopped being nervous and she said yes. Whew. We quickly did a little homework and went to get Amelia fitted for her violin:

What a busy, crazy, fun, exhausting day! Good luck to my 2nd and 5th grader! I love you two!!

Summer Winding Down

We've gotten a lot done this week before school starts! We've gotten cute back-to-school haircuts that make us look older than a 5th grader:

We've registered for school, gone school shopping with Katie Call and had our celebratory back-to-school meal at Pizza Pie Cafe:

BUT, the most exciting news is that THIS GUY CAME HOME:

Cooper was absolutely beside himself with excitement to have his "BFF Andy" home. He beat out grandpa and everyone else to get to Andy first to hug him. The rest of the night he stayed close--if not ON--Andy. Welcome home Andy!! We missed you like crazy and we are SO proud of you!

BYU-Idaho Gardens

We took our annual trek to the BYU-Idaho gardens last Saturday because the students have completed their mass exodus from town. The few that have stayed we like, so it's been a pleasant few weeks!

We stopped having picnics in the gardens because the food attracted too many of the local bees, and they caused massive screaming and flailing of arms, food, and other objects. Here are a few pictures:

Amelia brought a book so she could "relax on the porch swing and read". Ah, a girl after my own heart!

Cooper has discovered photo-bombing, so no picture is safe. But that grin makes it worth a retake!

They crack each other up.

Amelia poses so...well, poised.

Cooper goes for the personality shots.  Actually, I think he was begging me to climb on the rocks and drop dirt on the water skippers.........

We also went on a bike ride the other day. We are running out of things to do, so we're all happy school is starting soon. Before we know it, AUTUMN will be here!  Whoooeee!

Soccer Ends!

Tuesday was our last night of soccer. Amelia and Cooper loved it, and we'll probably sign up again next year, unless they find a new love by then....which after all the chaos I went through with the city this year, just might happen!

Amelia did much better this year and was a little more aggressive. She still backed off when larger kids fought for the ball, but if you see how much smaller she is than the other players, you'll understand!

Cooper liked soccer, but I'm thinking he might like basketball a little more. I'll keep him in soccer as long as he wants, but his energy level and skill is leaning more toward the courts!

She's a head shorter than everyone!

 

Cooper was posing. He doesn't really stand like that on the field!

School starts in less than three weeks, so now we're starting to prep for that. That means school shopping, getting in last minute summer activities, and earlier bedtimes and mornings!

Mesa Falls

Yesterday we went to Mesa falls with some friends of ours. It's less than an hour drive from Rexburg, so it was a perfect half-day trip for us. We got to the visitor center, and the only downside was the restrooms were outhouses......all of them. After opting to hold it, we continued down to the falls.

Upper Mesa Falls is fantastic, and the viewing platform gets you within a few feet of it. It was beautiful and a little scary to be so close! Keeping a firm hand on Amelia and Cooper, we watched the water pour over the edge for a few minutes before heading up to another view above the falls.

Upper Mesa Falls on the platform.

Upper Mesa Falls. See the platform?

About a mile downstream is Lower Mesa Falls, which is only viewed from a distance. With no groomed trail, there is a massive lava rock pile, boulders, and trees that would hamper any effort to hike down to it. Oh, and we didn't want to.

After seeing the falls and fielding questions such as, "Would I die if I went over in a canoe?" "Can I drink the water?" and "Will it ever dry up?" we stopped by an old railroad bridge and explored around the area. Cooper was enthusiastic, but Amelia was worried about any and all wildlife in the area, so we didn't stay long.

Old railroad tunnel we hiked to.

After stopping one last time to feed the huge fish, we headed home so we could get to our soccer games that night. It was a fun trip, and I'm glad we had the chance to go!