I Stink at Blogging

A couple of weeks ago at church a brother in our ward came up to me and said;  "Occasionally, I log onto my wife's Facebook account and read your postings. You are hilarious!  You should blog!"  I didn't have the heart to tell this nice man that I did indeed blog, and that I SUCK (sorry mom) at blogging.  True story.  Too funny! 

So, the kids went back to school almost 2 months ago.  So this is my back to school blog entry.  I thought I better get it done before the holiday season hit.  Or they moved up a grade.....  Anyways....

Kaitlyn started 8th grade this year.  In Illinois they do K-5th for Elementary, 6-8 for Middle School and 9-12 for High School.  So this is Kaity's second and last year of Middle School.  Next year she will start High School and Early Morning Seminary!  Holy smoly!  K really enjoys school.  She is a big time smartie pants and has pulled straight A's so far this year.  And all of last year.  She earned a cell phone with her grades last year and hopes to earn an itouch something or other this year.  I'll figure out what she is talking about when she earns it.  She is also running cross country again.  She has blossomed into a gorgeous (much to her father's dismay) young woman!  We are so proud of her.  She always tries her best and has such a good attitude about doing things she doesn't want to do. 

Takes us an hour to straighten all that hair......  Kaity is currently trying to not let her brothers embarrass her and to be kinder to them.  So far, so good.  It helps to have the phone as leverage!!

Blake started 5th grade.  He has been mainstreamed this year, which means that instead of the special ed classroom, his homeroom is a regular 5th grade class and he goes out for resource.  He has his own aide, Mrs. Joyce whom he loves to pieces.  He also is participating in band.  The band teacher arranged to teach B some piano basics and get him a keyboard to take home.  He really enjoys it!  Right now he is learning to play Jolly Old St. Nicholas for the band Christmas concert.  They also are gonna let him play the triangle.  He thinks he is pretty hot stuff. 

B was so excited about this tee shirt.  He said " All the kids in my new school are going to be so jealous of my Dark Bader tee shirt!"  I'm sure they were....   :) 

Eric started 1st grade this year.  He came home every day absolutely exhausted for the first couple weeks, but he is doing really well.  He is in Mrs. Kirkwood's class and has a couple of friends from Kindergarten in his class.  He REALLY enjoys P.E. and music class.  And getting lunch with the big kids.  He still thinks that homework is a novelty and enjoys doing it.  We'll see how long that lasts! 

And before you ask, yes, he did dress himself for the first day of school.  Black Perry the Platypus tee and navy blue shorts with a white stripe.  Now where I myself would not wear such a combo of colors, I have learned to pick my battles.  Yesterdays green and yellow shirt paired with red and gray shorts was a classic! 

So, what else have we been up to?  K and B took swimming lessons from a client of Trent's.  He and his mother teach private lessons in their pool.  They were a bit pricey but both kids can jump from the diving board and swim to the side of the pool now, which is as much as I can hope for.  So I feel we got our moneys worth..... 

Them goggles is smokin hot!!

We threatened Kaity that if she didnt learn that we were gonna put her in some tadpole swim class with 3 year olds.  It worked!!  :)  We are such mean parents!! 

"Hey Mom!  I'll take swimming lessons when I'm 10 too like Blake!!"

Grandma and Grandpa Lemon's House

I went back to Utah a few weeks after we got home from vacation because my sweet grandpa passed away.  It was a tough experience all around.  I flew out by myself  because the thought of driving back through Nebraska and "Why"oming was enough to cause a panic attack.  It was strange to not have the kids and Trent there with me, but it was nice to hang with my family.  We just had a viewing and graveside service for Grandpa.  It was an extremely emotional time.  They did the full military honors for him, and when they played Taps, I was an absolute mess.  Oh I miss my grandparents so much!  Walking through their house for the last time was soooo hard!  It still smelled like their house.  Every room had a memory.  The storage room in the carport was particularly hard.  It still smelled like oil and gasoline and WD40, which is how Grandpa always smelled.  The patio was hard because that is where we had so many dinners and family parties.  Just us and Grandma and Grandpa.  Swinging on the clothesline poles, climbing on top of the dog house, those huge piles of leaves that Grandpa would rake up so we could jump in em, me biting into my first (and last) crabapple....  Getting old STINKS!!!  But SOOOOOO grateful for memories and for eternal families!  I am really so blessed!!!!  Plus, I got to hitch a ride to everything with Adam and Katie.  And their stellar taste in music.  It was so fun to ride with them and belt out Kingston Trio songs.  Not everyone can say that they like riding with their younger brother and singing Tom Dooley at the top of their lungs.  But not everyone is as cool as my family!!

The patio.  Where the picnic table used to be....  And the lava rocks. In the flower bed where they belong and not smashed all over the patio and thrown all over the lawn.  Like Kyle and Adam used to do. It was totally Kyle and Adam.  I had no part of that..... probably!

On Labor Day, Trent and his buddy Trent Lund (yeah, people call them "The Trents") ran in the Oakbrook Half Marathon.  My Trent came in like 23rd in his age group and in the low 100's overall.  Makes my 2 miles a day look pretty paltry.  We do what we can.  Or what we want to.  :)

Thumbs UP!!! 

I went to take a picture of Trent running in to the finish line.  I totally thought I had got a good one.  When I went to look at my pictures, this is what I had. 

Yep, I'm a pro!! :)   Also our new friend Samantha ran her first half marathon and did a KILLER job!  We stayed to cheer her on, but I didn't get any pics of her either......   But maybe if you squint really hard you can see her in the grass pic above.  Somewhere on the right hand side, prolly......  :)