This Is It

 

this week max has experienced his first official school lunch, a trip to the library, two days of pe and a music class. along with TWO recesses a day. he was upset when i told him that there was a three day weekend coming up. so far, he's really liking school. when we arrive in the morning, we go to dot 31A and drop his backpack, then head over to the playground to look for friends. argenus usually spots max and hollers for him to come play. 

homework hasn't been a major pain in the butt... yet. and he seems like he's had more energy at boxing this week. (we go on mondays and wednesdays now) the nightly routine consists of a shower, lunch making (pb and honey on a thin wheat bagel is a favorite right now) and then dad reads call of the wild for awhile.

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on the first day of school, madi won the trophy for the math game they play called lines. she got to be the first mate on friday. which means she was the teacher's assistant all day. (they have a ship theme in their classroom) she's reading call of the wild too (when she actually goes to sleep in her own bed). her dance studio is changing locations, so we haven't been to sign her back up yet. 

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mackenzie had an exciting week of changes. ;) her school starts/ends earlier this year, so we have to leave at 7:20 now and after school, she has to wait a few minutes for us to get there (last year we always had to wait for her) she had all accelerated classes except math, but then the teacher noticed she should have been in the accelerated math class too. the next day she got a schedule change. for just that one class. publications is her first period and on friday, they came up with the theme for the yearbook. she has a bottom locker this year and hangs out with a new friend, colton.

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tuesday, jen, jodie and i had one of our longest blog meetings at jodie's house and kobe didn't do any damage while i was gone. i finally finished reading the help. just days before having our book swap at the grand lux cafe. spooktacular september started over on eighteen25 and it has me so excited for fall/halloween. i already have some halloween decorations up and i'm dying to burn some pumpkin scented oils.   

first day photos

- our first grader -
teacher - mr. zabriskie 

- our fifth grader -
teacher - mrs. matulef 

- our seventh grader -

alone time

i think the most asked question when someone's baby starts first grade is "what are you going to do with yourself?" (or something like that)

well, today my baby started first grade and this is what i did with myself...

• went to einstein bagels for my pumpkin crunch bagel
• ok'd the bug guy into the yard
• designed a halloween tag
• edited first day of school photos
• did two loads of laundry (folded and put them away)
• checked a few blogs
• baked some of grandma dee's chocolate chip cookies - they actually turned out this time
• vacuumed because kobe had torn apart some tp
• and then it was time to go pick the kids up

wasn't as long as i expected, but i couldn't wait to hear how everyone's first day went. we sat at the table and had cookies and milk while we shared stories. i got to fill out all of the fun paperwork and throw away stacks of papers i didn't need. 

08.22.11  monday i got up and did my grocery shopping at walmart... then we put kobe in his kennel and met everyone at the mall at 11... grandma had a surprise for all the kids... $50 for school supplies/clothes... kenzie's first stop was forever 21... she picked a dress, earrings and a chunky ring... then we spent a lot of time in the gap... max wanted a new watch and i picked him out 2 shirts... madi didn't want anything that i was picking out for her so grandma took her to jcpenny... she found two shirts... jen dragged kenzie to tilly's and her and jodie picked out a stack of clothes for her to try on... she only had $20 left, but some of the clothes were too cute to pass up... grandma was waiting up at red robin with some of the kiddos, so we tried to hurry up there... it was almost 4:00 and i got a call from darric (who happened to get home early) saying kobe had chewed his way out of his crate and pooped in the front room... i gathered my kids and we had to hurry out of there to get max to his boxing class... we got there in time and darric came to pick up the girls... he brought kobe along with him and kobe was still a little ticked and ended up peeing in his truck... that night we tried to get the kids in their own beds at 8:00... probably wasn't a good idea to let max and madi sleep on the couch all summer... bed time was no fun...

08.23.11 tuesday kenzie had an ortho appointment bright and early this morning (8:00)... the other two tagged along too, which meant we had to leave kobe alone, roaming the house... we were only gone about 45 minutes... kenzie got her bottom braces on... kobe didn't do any damage... we had to leave again to go to kenzie's school thing... it started at 11... we got there early and showed the nurse proof that she had her tdap shot... then got her class schedule and paid for her agenda... she waved to a few of her friends and we were out of there before 11... we picked up mcdonalds for lunch... that night i went with the girls (mom, jen, jodie, calie, sandy and awburn) to BJ's to celebrate awburn's birthday... she was the last one of the bunch and yes, she got a fossil purse too... (so now we all have one)... dinner was good and so were the mini pizzookies some of us had...

08.24.11  wednesday we hung out at home... did take a trip to get donuts and sonic... madi, max and kobe came with me... that night max went to jiu jitsu and did 95% of the class... 

08.25.11  thursday ran to the dollar tree to see if they had anything fun... ran by einstein bagels and noticed they had their pumpkin walnut crunch bagels... i was SO excited... jen came over after all her kids went to the orthodontist... we had to try and get some stuff done for the martha stewart paint products we received... at 3:45 we went over to cartwright for the open house... first we went to max's class... as we approached the door, his teacher says "you must be max"... hopefully that's not such a bad thing that he already knows his name... and hopefully it doesn't mean anything by max's seat being the closest to the teacher's desk ;) ... max seemed pretty pleased with everything (crossing my fingers it stays that way)... he doesn't really have any of his friends from last year... we waited a little while to go in and see madi's teacher, ms. matulef... madi and i were so excited when one of her old friend's mom walked in to the room... ellie was in the same first grade class as madi.... she said allie smith is in their class too... madi was thrilled she wasn't going to be the only one in class that goes to GATE... we came home and i got dinner going... jumbalaya... we hadn't had it for a long time... 

08.26.11  friday got up, got ready and went to get me a pumpkin crunch bagel... next week i've got to start eating better... jodie came over with the kids... we got cafe rio for lunch... when they went home we just sat around being lazy... madi started complaining of a headache and darric gave her some motrin when he got home because she was hot... i took max and kobe to get a black tea and on my way back, my eyes started bugging me... my vision got worse, even after closing my eyes for awhile... me and madi both ended up on different couches with headaches...

08.27.11  saturday us girls started feeling better... i ran to albertsons to get fruit and kenzie made fruit kabobs... that night we went to jen and dave's for our back to school fashion show... first we ate... those yummy little sandwiches that jen makes, corn, mom's fried zucchini, grandma dee's potatoe salad... the kids were a little braver coming out to model their new clothes... we learned a lot about cade... his school, teacher, grade, hobbies... madi didn't feel up to participating this year... 

08.28.11  sunday darric, max and i went over to the farmer's market by our house this morning... we just wanted to check things out since we'd never been there... max got an italian ice and darric got some hot salsa... then we walked over to einsteins to get breakfast... that afternoon, darric, madi and max took kobe to the park... kenzie and i ran to old navy to use our super c-a-s-h... they didn't have anything... it was pathetic... we left and went over to target to get some last minute items... smaller leggings for madi, mascara for kenzie, a captain america shirt for max... we picked up cafe rio for lunch... then the boys fixed my new dry erase board and ran to home depot to get the stuff to hang it... and then hung it... pizza was for dinner and then it was time to get ready for bed... back to school tomorrow... 

08.15.11  monday back to work for darric... piper came to hang out with us... we went to see awburn... she cut the girls' hair while i got to snuggle with paisley... max went to boxing tonight and did the whole thing... darric got him and max dinner and the girls and i took off for the fashion show mall...  we ate at california pizza kitchen... they wanted fast food so they could get to shopping sooner... of course they both only ordered a little bit and begged me to eat faster... when the waitress brought out our bill, she informed me that it was taken care of... a man and his family wanted to pay for it... i tried not to let my eyes fill up... i wasn't sure what to do next... in my head, i looked around the restaurant trying to figure out who it could have been... i was clueless... we felt a little watched as we left and headed to forever 21.... we had high hopes of finding lots of clothes in that big two story clothing store... they both left with one outfit... 

08.16.11  tuesday we all went to the spring's preserve... well, except kenzie and piper... kenzie did not want to see any snakes... we went to a little bug presentation as soon as we arrived and then walked around... it was hot outside, but almost all of it that we saw was inside... we ate at the wolfgang puck cafe for lunch... the food was so good... really good... that night, me and the girls went out to the galleria mall... we got a few things at kohls and aeropostale... we stopped by costco just in time for me to run in and pick up my halloween subway art... then we drove through starbucks for a treat...  

08.17.11  wednesday we went over to the dayton's for some swimming and snacks... max was pretty ticked he couldn't spend the rest of his life the rest of the day there... we stopped for happy hour at sonic and then headed home to quickly cook dinner and head back out to the mall... we had to get there before 6:00 when customer service closed... i got me $30 in free giftcards for buying a $200 giftcard, which i knew we'd for sure use... tonight kenzie got 2 pairs of shoes, a backpack, 2 shirts, madi got a backpack, 1 pair of shoes, some jeggings (these were an absolute must), a tank top and 3 shirts... i got max a backpack and lunch box (which made me sad that he'll be eating lunch at school now), a t-shirt and 2 pairs of jeans... the girls wanted drinks from starbucks... kenzie tried an iced white chocolate mocha with one shot and she claims she loved it... it's not something she will get often... madi got chocolate milk... and then we got pretzels when i got myself a diet coke... 

08.18.11  thursday me, max and madi ran to the mall and let max pick out his shoes... he didn't really care for the ones i wanted him to try on... after we purchased his shoes, we went to use the groupon certificates we got for bounce u... jennifer and i had 5 kids between the two of us, so we only used one of the cerfiticates... we were only there for about an hour and that was plenty of time to sit in the sweat smelling inflated rooms... grandma showed up a little bit before we left and we all went over to the mall for lunch... red robin... max went to boxing, only it was jiu jitsu tonight... he still did good... wasn't too thrilled about getting his goods knee-d while the other 6 year old boy was trying to shrimp out of max's guard... at the end of class, the teacher asked if anyone had questions... max and another boy raised their hands... the teacher said he was pretty sure he knew what max was going to ask... but he was wrong... max asked if he could go get the cone on the other side of the room... the teacher and i both thought he was going to ask to play dodge ball... 

08.19.11  friday i was brave and took all three with me to the mall... we got madi 2 pairs of shoes from tilly's and a couple things from kohls... we had lunch in the food court and stopped at purple penguin on our way home... madi helped me make some peanut butter blossoms and i got dinner in the oven, creamy chicken enchiladas... of course, darric got home late... we watched marley and me... it was my first time and i tried to keep myself somewhat occupied on the computer, but i still ended up crying at the end... in the living room with the entire family... lights on and everything... 

08.20.11  saturday the house got cleaned... darric spent most of the day working, even though he was not on call... he picked up some food to bbq that night

08.08.11  monday jodie talked me into starting back at the gym this morning... i showed up and did elliptical and treadmill, her alarm didn't go off... haha... went to walmart for a couple things and then went to trader joe's for groceries... picked up a box of chocolate chip cookies while i was there and me, madi and max finished them off in just a few minutes... kenzie didn't even know we ever had them... later, i took madi and max to the library to get the prizes for the reading program... a tattoo, a little toy out of the treasure box, a book and a pass to the shark reef... we got some new books and then ran to costco for prints... picked up capriottis/sonic for lunch... max had boxing tonight with a new teacher... he did good... they did a lot of kicks on the bag that left a lovely red mark on his shin for two days...

08.09.11  tuesday jodie joined me at the gym today... i did a little elliptical and then walked on the treadmill... we planned to go to the green valley ranch pool... then jodie called to say dad was going to the hospital because of a red line going up his arm... my mom was on her way to utah with jen, so jodie and i were going to go pick her up and bring her home... then jen decided to just come all the way back to make sure everything was alright... we hung out at jodie's for awhile before heading back home... max went to his jiu jitsu class tonight... did the first part of it until they started the actual jiu jitsu-ing... we sat and watched... i think it's very entertaining and when we get home i show darric the moves i learned and he helps max work on them... at 7:30, darric left to go to work in st george... he was there all night...

08.10.11  wednesday just as i was getting up at 4:25, darric walked in the door... he went to bed and i went to the gym... just walked on the treadmill again... it is no fun trying to keep kids quite... darric didn't get to sleep too late... when he woke up, i took a trip to micheals and picked up lunch for all of us... the mixter had jiu jitsu again and he did the WHOLE thing... i think it helped that there was a new just-turned-six year old boy starting tonight... max kinda felt like he had a partner in class... i was very proud of him...

 

  
08.11.11  thursday we went to the green valley ranch pool... kenzie stayed home to watch piper... mandi and her girls joined us and eventually bobbie and megan (teara's friend) came too... the kids made a wall of sand and a hole behind it... we ordered lunch... and left around 2... after jodie picked up piper... we all loaded into the car (with kobe) and went for happy hour drinks at sonic... max wanted to go to boxing tonight and when we got home we made pizzas on the bbq... we used wheat pizza dough from trader joe's and on one of them we used spaghetti sauce, pepperonis and cheese... the other one i tried pesto, tomatoes, mushrooms and mozzarella... i had that one all to myself because i was the only one that liked it...

08.12.11  friday darric had the day off... he left that afternoon on his guy's camping trip with brian and mike... i snuck a little ladybug magnifying glass in his backpack... he was joking that he'd need it to start a fire... i hope he finds it... i took madi to old navy with me to get a couple things... we stopped at hallmark for gift wrap... i love that store... the kids and i had panda express for dinner... we watched diary of a wimpy kid (the 2nd one - the first one was better)... madi and max shared my bed with me...

08.13.11  saturday me, madi and max ran to einstein bagels to pick up breakfast... we got kobe a doggie bagel... which he scarfed right down... at 11:20 we left for the other side of town... we arrived a little bit after noon to millisa's house to help celebrate joel's first birthday... (kenzie stayed home with kobe)... the ausmans were there too... max made a couple friends upstairs and didn't really want to leave when it was time... on our drive home, we stopped at sonic for drinks... albertsons for ice-cream + cones... then ordered angelina's pizza for dinner when we got home... we totally pigged out... then i sent the kids off so i could watch a movie... source code with jake gyllenhaal... i really liked it... once again, madi and max squeezed into bed with me for the night...

 

08.14.11  sunday cleaned up the house... did my two loads of laundry... made a sonic run with everyone, including kobe... designed the halloween subway art... darric got home around 2-ish... then around 4, him and max went and picked us up cafe rio... we were going to watch AFV, but something else was on, so darric found some dance movie on netflix... max practiced his moves as we fast forwarded to all of the dance scenes... the robot moves were a favorite...

pictures from the park

while the family played, i enjoyed my spot in the shade taking pictures with my phone.

 
01.  sits and stays (mostly for darric - like when he leaves for work)
02.  goes to the back door when he has to go to the bathroom
03.  chews on rocks/chalk/water bottles
04.  waits until he's told to eat (okay is the actual word to get him to eat, i always tell him go ahead and he just sits there)
05.  sleeps for most of the night (usually in kenzie's room, since he no longer can be locked in his crate)
06.  is a bit gassy
07.  is almost grown out of his collar
08.  eats blue buffalo puppy food
09.  wants to play with duke so bad
10. always lays under the table while we eat dinner, which isn't good when he has problems with #6

08.01.11  monday it's august already... only one more month of summer vacation... grocery shopping at wal-mart... all by myself... went to einstein bagels afterward... i was planning on making aug 1st my get back to eating well and exercising date... haha... had a couple design projects to work on today... max had boxing tonight... he did really good... after doing a bunch of different drills, they each took turns in the ring with the teacher, punching and kicking a big exercise ball... he was having a good time... we stopped at starbucks for his post-workout chocolate milk (and me a black tea)... darric had to go run a call after he got home from work, so he got home a little while after us... tried a new spaghetti sauce tonight - not good...

08.02.11  tuesday i took madi to target to get school supplies... max had no interest in going... i ended up getting a new cookie sheet because i probably need to try another batch of my grandma's cookies before i ever get back to eating well... we went and saw the smurfs with jen and the kids (and christian)... the kids liked it ;) ... 

08.03.11  wednesday we went to jen's for a meeting and to take photos of our back to school printables...

08.04.11.  thursday darric's off the rest of the week... i was supposed to be going to blogher (with jen + jodie) this weekend, but we weren't exactly sure when awburn and tauni's babies were going to arrive... so we decided to wait... the five of us went to breakfast at ihop... it was freezing in there and we felt crappy after eating... darric took max to his boxing tonight... they returned after just a few minutes... max refused to go in... he said it was because there was a new kid in the class...  

08.05.11  friday started cleaning up the house... i didn't want to do it all in the morning... darric and max worked in the front yard... the girls decided to switch rooms... leaving most of the furniture where it was... it took madi forever to get everything put away... ordered angelina's pizza for dinner... it's pretty good... darric's been in the mood for wings and fingers lately...

 

08.06.11  saturday got up and finished cleaning the house... while darric and kenzie took kobe to get his shots... he can go play with other dogs now... then, darric and max pulled the big dead bush out of the back yard... there was some sawing involved too by the little guy... i was not aware of this at first... probably a good thing... the ausmans came over to watch the ufc fight with us... the kids had a great time playing with each other...

08.07.11  sunday we took a trip to the park with kobe... darric and max shot some hoops... kenzie and madi tried getting kobe used to walking on a leash... then the boys tried to play with the lacrosse... then mackenzie had a turn and kept throwing the ball behind herself and didn't know where it went... we picked up subway on the way home... darric's choice... i prefer port of subs...