Back to School

Yesterday was Aidan's first day of First Grade. He was so excited! Not a single nerve in this boy! Ace could hardly wait to get out of the door! He wanted to dress "to make the girls fall down." The first thing that he said when he got home was, "Mom, the food was GREAT!" I wonder how he will feel about school lunch in a couple of weeks. But he really liked his teacher, Mrs. Eckman, and they had a practice lock down too, which really made an impression on him-he thought it was so cool, except he had to go to the bathroom and they wouldn't let him leave the room. It was amazing, he just talked and talked about how his day went. I didn't have to ask for any information! Wyatt missed him a lot. He kept saying, "Where's Aidan?" I would say, "School." And then Wyatt would say, "Oh, school," like it was a dirty word. Aidan was excited to go back today too. Aidan also made a new friend, Carter. I hope he cultivates some new friendships-I am so excited to see him branch out.

I can't believe that I have a 1st grader! But I am so excited to see him growing and learning. I love the person that he is becoming. Good luck in 1st grade Ace!

School Supplies

I just love school supplies. There is something about them that scream "here's your chance to start over!" to me. I love a fresh box of crayons, crisp paper, new folders, sharp sissors. The start of a new school year has always allowed me to reassess-make changes, improve something, start something new. I have my list of things I want to do-what are some of yours?

Into the Woods

We decided that as an ending to our summer, we would go camping for a few days. We have a camper (see below-stylish, isn't it? But it does keep us warm and dry) and we haven't gone since Aidan was really little. So we packed up (it took a week of cleaning and packing to get ready) and took off for the woods.

At the campsite, getting things set up. I told Aidan and Wyatt to go find sticks to help make a fire while we were busy getting everything together. I should have taken a picture of the pile. That was a very popular activity. Their wood pile would have started a forest fire! After things were all in their places, we cooked dinner (in the fire-Aidan thought that was really cool), roasted marshmellows and tucked everyone in to bed.We woke the next morning to sunny skies, orange rolls and hot cocoa. And silly grins. It was a good night. I was amazed how well everyone slept cramped up together in a camper out in the woods.(The shoes that Lydia is wearing in this picture were my shoes from so many years ago. Aunt Kellee-do you recongize them?
After breakfast, we went exploring. This is the dock in Island Park that we were going to float to the next day. Here is the old railroad bridge that marked the start of the river float. We later came back to this place to wade a little in the water. The water was COLD, but it didn't stop the kids. We also took a hike around our campsite (it was a beautiful campsite-it really was. We are going back next year for sure! Aidan, Lydia and Mom Lydia-she decided that she had gone far enough and sat in the grass protesting. It was cute, so I snapped a picture.

Wyatt-getting his shoes all muddy. We couldn't keep him or Lydia clean for anything!

Aidan-he wanted to jump into this creek. He kept spotting little fishes. It was a very pretty place. I tested out my budding photography skills with some really nice scene shots. Maybe sometime I'll share.

We also brought along Barky-he was such a good dog! He played hard. We thought he would keep us safe from bears. I guess he did, since we didn't encounter a single bear. We did have a buck wander really close to camp. I saw him and he scampered off as soon and we saw him. We went and found his hoof prints later too. He came really close into camp.

Later that afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and the Rawlings family came up to keep us company for the next couple of days. Josh and Ellie came up the next day too. It was so fun to have cousins to play with! Aidan got to sleep in a tent with Dillan and Ian and he thought it was awesome to be included with the big boys.

We went floating on the river on Saturday with everyone. I do not have pictures of this because I wanted to keep my camera working and not soak the thing, but it was a lot of fun. Wyatt loved being out on the water! I eventually got the hang of paddling our little boat. We also spotted 2 moose-one right in the water and the other next to it. The boys also saw a bird swoop down over the water and catch a fish in its beak. It was really, very cool.Aidan, Wyatt, Izzy and Ashley playing with some playdoh.
Pancake breakfast! Yum!

By Sunday, we were kinda ready for ammenities like flushing toilets and hot tap water, so we decided to drive the 20 miles to West Yellowstone for a few hours (Plus, it was raining, and we wanted to stay dry). The kids loved meandering through the stores and finding treasures. We didn't buy anything, but we did have a lot of fun looking. Next time, we are going to plan to go to the museum and to the IMAX theater. We might even take them to Old Faithful sometime. Wyatt liked all the toy guns that were around. He really like this pop gun.I liked the Davy Crockett hats. Doesn't Liddy look cute?!Aidan just liked everything. "Can I get this?" was his favorite sentence of the day. Smile! It's a tin buffalo! Aidan also really liked all the stuffed bears and other animals that were in all the shops. He posed for alots of pictures in front of them. When we got home from West Yellowstone, we decided to pack up and call it a weekend. We had such a fun time. It was great spending time with family, and eating yummy food (new potatoes and peas. . .). It was nice to have some fun down time as a family before having to start the new year. Camping was a great success. The kids loved it, we loved it. I am so excited for future summers that we can do this more. I am excited to start a family tradition.

What Rachel is Reading

Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
Lanie is a wife and mother of 3 (gee, that sound familar) that packs up her home and heads to Boston so her husband can pursue his dreams of becoming a professional musician. But, Lanie realizes that she too has dreams, or did, at some point. She sets changes in motion, joining a gym, signing up for a photography class-all to help her feel like her "old self" again.
I 100% got this book. I identified so much with Lanie, it could have been me in that book. Occasionally (okay, more than occasionally), I do feel drained with the day to day care of my children and husband, and wish I could be just me. This book helped me to see that I have changed-and change is good, but I can still be me, and Mama, and Jeremy's wife. In fact, it is important that I find me in the midst of everything. And most importantly-I am beautiful-in every walk of life I am currently in. And now, I quote from that book that I love and am going to hang up on my mirror-
"Laughter is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful. Cellulite is beautiful. Softness and plumpness and roundness are beautiful. It is more important to be interesting, to be vivid, and to be adventurous, than to sit pretty for pictures. A woman's soft tummy is a miracle of nature. Beauty comes from tenderness. Beauty comes from variety, from specificity, from the fact that no person in the world looks exactly like anyone else. Beauty comes from the tragedy that each person's life is destined to be lost to time. I believe woman are too hard on themselves. I believe that when you love someone, she becomes beautiful to you. I believe the eyes see everything through the heart-and nothing in the world feels as good as resting them on someone you love. I have trained my eyes to look for beauty, and I've gotten very good at finding it."
This is a book that needs to be on my bookshelf. (Caution: there is some language in it.)

Aidan's Favorites-age 6

So, I sat down with the new 6 year old to interview him about his favorite things over the last year. (I hope to find or take a much better picture in the near future.) Favorite color? blue
Favorite foods? watermelon, french fries, roast (grilled) cheese sandwiches
Favorite movie? Everybody's Hero
Favorite TV show? Spongebob Squarepants
Favorite actvity? play with my Legos
Favorite video game? Lego Harry Potter
Best Friend? Gabe
Favorite Subject in school? playing at recess and doing homework

Favorite Primary song? A Child's Prayer

Favorite candy? lollipops

What did you like about being 5? going to school

Favorite restaraunt? McDonalds

What do you want to learn this next year? karate

I also like to go camping. I also like to read the Magic Treehouse books with my mom.

Aidan is 3 ft, 7 in. tall and weighs 38 pounds as of August 17, 2010.

Wyatt's Kidney Update

I just thought that I would update on Wyatt's kidney's and share some pictures of our trip. We had a real fast jump down to Salt Lake City so Wyatt could have a follow up renal scan of his kidneys. Wyatt still has hydronephrosis in both kidneys. His urologist said because he was born this way, the kidneys will just never shrink down to normal size, and that is fine, as long as they are operating okay. Wyatt's right kidney is working just fine, but his left is only operating at about 15%. Again, this is okay. Something that we need to keep track of, but his doctor said that kids are born with 1 kidney and they never have an issue. So, all in all-he's fine, but we are still going to monitor occasionally. Next test he needs is an ultrasound next summer, so we have a while. Now, some pictures. . .

This one breaks my heart. They had to strap him down for the scan. Wyatt had to stay still for 45 minutes, with an IV in one arm and a catheter. Poor little man. This is my least favorite test for him to do. He had a rough time. About the only saving grace was they let him watch Cars during the test and he fell asleep because he cried himself out. But, he got a 5 pack of Matchbox cars as a prize afterward. That was way cool.

After the renal scan, we went upstairs to talk to his urologist, Dr. Cartwright. (We really like him. He is a nice guy and very helpful.) Jeremy and Wyatt in his waiting room. They covered his IV sight with wrap that had cars on it. Even though it was just fine, he insisted that he keep it on to show Aidan later that night when we got home (Aidan and Lydia were at Grandma and Grandpa's so we could keep all our attention on Wyatt.)

Eating at the Rainbow Cafe at Primary Children's Medical Center. Yum! We were so happy that he was finally eating!

Jeremy and I decided that we would take him to Build a Bear to make his own stuffed animal as his own prize. He chose this cute little dog that he named Ruff Ruff. He thought it was so cool. Wyatt pushed Ruff Ruff around in his stroller all over the mall.
The fountain at the Gateway Mall. We stopped to play to get our wiggles out before we headed home. We were only gone 24 hours, but we were tired. I am so glad that Wyatt is doing well. Hopefully he grows out of it and we don't need to worry anymore.

Happy Birthday Aidan!

Aidan turned 6 on August 9. I cannot believe that I have a 6 year old! Where the heck did time go? And what a sweet, wonderful 6 year old I have. I really lucked out with my Ace. Here is how we celebrated his big day.

It was difficult for Aidan to decide what he wanted for a birthday party. He has so many things that he loves, he couldn't narrow it down. So, I helped him out and we decided to do a fun Phineas and Ferb party. We could play some fun, wet and messy games. And I made him a Perry the Platypus cake. I think it turned out pretty awesome. First time using fondant and everything. Aidan insisted on inviting all of his friends, and we sent out 16 invitations. Everyone but 1 made it. It was a huge blast! About 1 hour before his party, the clouds and the rains came. Everything was going to be outside and Jeremy and I were scrambling to make alternative plans. But Aidan just told us that he prayed that it wouldn't rain, and what do you know? It stopped just in time for the party and stayed nice for it.

Here are some of them eating cake and ice on the trampoline. Aidan has the greatest friends!We had some really fun games. We played with the parachute, had egg races, ate donuts off of strings and played with water balloons. Here, they are searching through a swimming pool full of jello for pennies. This was a big hit. Aidan, with a mouth full of donut. Water balloon catch. We didn't get too wet, but it was a lot of fun!After the party, we made Aidan's request for dinner (waffles, eggs and bacon with chocolate milk) and then had Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Julia and Uncle Neil over for presents and cake. Aidan was so excited-he wanted to eat Perry's tail. Aidan got so many presents. He loves to play with Legos and he got a whole lot of them. He also got lots of school supplies, a new backpack and some new clothes for school. And Lego Harry Potter for Wii. Another fun thing he got to do for his birthday was he went with his Grandpa swimming and to the zoo. They had so much fun doing that together! He also got a gift card from his other Grandma and Grandpa and picked out a light saber.
He wanted a red one so he could be a Sith. Now, he wants to be Darth Vader for Halloween!

Aidan had a fantastic birthday-we are so blessed to have this sweet boy in our home. I have so enjoyed seeing him grow into this boy! I love you Aidan!