September 13, 2009

September 13, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a big week in our house. Labor Day was a relatively quiet day. We had a fun breakfast, the boys went swimming in our pool, and in the afternoon we went to our ward party that was held at a local park. We had just enough time to eat, and then I went to feed J in the car. Just as I finished and walked back to the pavilion it started to pour down rain. B-man wasn’t bothered by the rain at all and continued to play football with the big kids in the rain. He was a filthy mess when we left.

Tuesday was B-man’s first day of Kindergarten. I can’t believe that he is going to school! We got up nice and early (6:30) and started the day going. I got really nervous when he said that he wasn’t hungry for breakfast. I kept trying to get him to eat something, but he really didn’t want anything. He was just thirsty. I was so panicked that he was going to be hungry at 9:00 a.m. and be telling his teacher that he was hungry. We took pictures and then walked to the bus stop. B-man was SO excited for the bus. I kind of thought he would climb up the stairs and then give me a little wave, but he just kept on walking without looking back once! I can’t remember what I did while he was gone, but I was pretty busy with random things. When I picked him up at the bus stop later he reported that school was great. He didn’t have a whole lot of details about the day, but he seemed to have fun. We then went to run some errands together before heading home. M got home late almost every day this week, so sadly there was no time for the pool once he got home. That night was mutual; we did a scripture scavenger hunt.

Wednesday once B-man was off to school J and I went to the farm. I picked cherry tomatoes and edamame beans. While picking the edamame J decided that he was not happy, and everyone in the field knew it. I tried to keep picking but it just became impossible. One cute woman that was there by herself helped me pick a bunch, but in the end I just gave up. I was going to pick for a friend too, but it just wasn’t possible. I drove back and was able to make it to the bus stop before the bus arrives. If I’m not there when the bus comes they take B-man back to school to wait to be picked up. It’s a lot of pressure to be there when the bus comes. That afternoon B-man came with me to take J for his belated two month check –up. The check-up went well. He is 26.5 inches and 14 lbs. 11 oz. which is one hundredth percentile for both. He’s a long drink of water.

Thursday was B-man’s birthday. He turned five years old and was so excited. We had pancakes in the morning for breakfast before heading off to school. I had mixed up the wet and the dry ingredients the night before so that I could have it almost ready in the morning, and something went wrong because they were very flat little pancakes that weren’t very good. Lucky for me B-man isn’t picky. His teacher doesn’t allow any treats to be brought in, so I didn’t do anything while he was at school except shop for his birthday presents. B-man had some pretty outrageous requests for his birthday, like a remote control helicopter. I settled on a remote control car. A Ford Mustang to be exact. After picking him up I took him for his birthday lunch. He chose the location and we went to McDonald’s. That night for dinner we had homemade pizza, and then opened his presents. Everything was a big hit. He had also been asking for a real frog, “not a poison one.” There was no real frog, but somehow Grandma Dyer knew he wanted a frog and sent a stuffed one. It let me off the hook. He immediately wanted to play with his remote control car, and after he played with it a little M wanted his own turn. Now M sneaks a turn whenever he can.

Friday was a quieter morning. I read and worked around the house a little while B-man was at school. That evening we continued the birthday celebration by going to Chucky Cheese’s. B-man loves that place, he only plays the games where he can drive, ride, or shoot something. After Chucky Cheese’s we went to dinner at Red Robin.

Saturday was such a nice relaxing day. We woke up and after breakfast went to look for garage sales. It was over pretty quickly because there weren’t many. Then the rest of the day we spent at home swimming, working, and playing with our neighbors. That night M and I watched a movie before heading to bed.

Today has been fast and furious. We have been going fast since we woke up. M had a meeting at the church and I spent the morning making a cake, making dinner, and working on my lesson for Young Women’s. Luckily M came home and helped with B-man and J so that I could get things done. I was so happy to be back teaching my Beehives again. After church we came home and got busy fast working on dinner since we were having some friends over. J chose to have a massive blow-out of a diaper all over M which ate into our time a little. Eventually we got everything done. Just as we were getting ready to eat our friends called to say they couldn’t come because one of their children had just gotten ill in their car. B-man was a little sad, but we were able to convince him we would still have fun. After dinner we had cake. B-man was so excited; he had wanted a “brown cake, with blueberries underneath and peaches on top.” At one point he also said that he wanted green and yellow licorice on top but I put my foot down. This cake is my first attempt at a real frosted cake. I made a chocolate cake with a blueberry filling and whipped cream icing. It was a bit lopsided (my fault) and the blueberry filling was very runny (the recipe’s fault) but it was still pretty delicious. We gave wishes to B-man and then sang for him to blow out the candles. It was a fun way to end all the birthday celebrations.

We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J