Frankie goes to school

The first day of school was also the pre-k open house where we were able to meet the pre-k teachers. This 4 year old is ready for school!

And da backpack. 

And da little sistah again. I swear we dress her every once in awhile. 

And the back, just like Frankie. Again. And you can see just how jacked up her hair is in the back. Thanks Frankie!

Before her open house though, miss Frankie and I got to go to cheeseburger in paradise with the ladies. First up - bed, bath, and beyond! Bubba would dig this:

We got to the restaurant early to have them get our tables ready, so we got to try out all the cute chairs. 

She picked up a shell that I told her she could keep through lunch. 

She fell asleep! I love this silly chic. 

We met up to celebrate leisa's new little girl, who is now almost 2 weeks old now. I think. (:

After lunch we headed straight to the school. Frances was so excited!

The kids got to play while mrs Higgs and mrs hornbuckle talked to the parents. 

She loved it!

Her teachers seem really sweet! Mrs hornbuckle said she just wanted to cry when she saw Frankie because she reminded her of her oldest daughter who was heading out to college. Awwww. (:

It's gonna be a good year!

First day of school!

Only 10 days late...

The bubba leaving for school in the dark wee hours. Thankfully kaitlynn Eli was good to drive the LG seminary kids out to the krugmans. Seminary switched (again) this year. That's been a tough pill to swallow, since McCombs are literally less than 5 minutes away and krugmans are 20+, but bishop says they've prayed about it and feel it is the right decision, so that's good enough for me. 

Anyways, 5:45 comes around prett-y early, but thankfully there have never been too many seminary grumbles. 

My cool bubba. And off he goes!

Special occasion initial pancakes! (Bubba didn't want one, fyi). Fakey smile:

More real smile:

And we're off to the bus stop!

Showing me her back pack. (:

Striking a pose. Love this big 1st grader. (:

And as soon as Addie's pictures were done, lady lanes jumped up and said "my turn!"

And since big sister did it, to the side! Little sister will never be left out!

In the bus line. It was a little bright. 

And there goes a lil piece of my heart. It's hard every year, even when we're all ready. 

And then as I was posting back to school pics on fb, I saw this picture, and tears. I hope I can learn to not guilt myself for every little thing and really, truly accept that I am doing the best I can with what I know. And with who, and where I am. I love motherhood, but I hate the guilt!

It was still a happy first day of school. (:

Sunday

Feeding these 6 is a lot of work. I just keep thinking of what I would do if all of these were mine. Michelle Duggar, I am not. Sadly, because I think she is a great lady. I do tend to fall for reality tv, and I know most of it isn't real, but the duggars seem very genuine to me. And even their crew likes them, which cannot be said for some other reality tv personalities. And I know a little bit about what I'm talking about because one of my friends (Joni) actually produced some reality shows, most notably (imo) Jon and Kate, and their crew did not like Kate. That's my 2 cents on feeding the masses and reality tv. #hotmess

After naps (Saturday) we went to the pool. It was chill-to-the -y! And despite feeding them dinner before we left (as pictured above) everyone was "hungey." And cold. And tired. D-mama was grumpy!

We've got this kid/pool thing down to a science. Matt showers the boys, I get the girls, and by the time we finally get home they're already in their jams and ready for bed. 

Sunday morning popcorn and living scriptures. 

Periodically kale would put his arm around Addie. They've been married all weekend, so there's a lot of "honey, are you ok?" And "honey, would you like some more popcorn?" They've taken it so far that I have been "grandma" all weekend too. Playing house is fun. (:

6 spiffed up and ready for church kiddos!

We had steak and potatoes for dinner tonight and it was a good 20 minutes before Matt and I sat down. Between prepping baked potatoes and cutting steak, whew!

At dinner we talked about fhe where we will be brainstorming our family mission statement. I'll hang one at home and make one for Lexi to have at school. The teens think it's a great idea and are so happy to help brainstorm, reminding us of all the wonderful things we do together as a family and how excited they will be to see the finished product. We put out into the universe what we want, right? (;

Tonight lexi is at a ysa "cinnamon roll activity," Chris made cookies, matts got the brood on a walk, and I am relaxing for 10 minutes. And that 10 minutes is over. (:

Chris and Ad's go to the dr

I took the school goers to the dr the day before school started, and then lex and laney after, since they didn't have any school to miss. But when I told them who their dr buddy was, lex was like "oh, but I go with Addie," and Chris said "oh no, I go with laney." We are such creatures of habit. (:

Big girl is 45 pounds (50th %) and 47 inches (75th %). And they all just barely humor all my picture taking. 

My baby has been taller than me for a long time.  He's 131 lbs and 67 inches tall.  He's pretty short. (: Maybe we'll hit a growth spurt before graduation?

No glasses needed for this chic!

I love how intently they always listen to their hearing tests. So precious. 

Doling out some kind of important information. (;

Dr Molly totally gives Chris a hard time. We like her, hopefully she doesn't leave like all the other dr's. Need to find her a county boy to marry. (;

Everybody loves her stethoscope toys. (;

I don't even know...

Ticklish kiddies. (:

After our check ups we headed over to the school for open house. We put away her school supplies and talked to her teacher. Then we stayed to help man the PTA booth, and then to make a deposit. Fun, fun!!! And Addie gets a locker! Exciting stuff!

Long weekend

Friday was the start of our long Labor Day weekend. Matt and I had talked about organizing the shed (there's always something! Or a million things!) but with everything else going on, including, but not limited to getting our oldest off to college in 2 weeks, and watching Watson boys this weekend, I felt like I didn't want to take on any other possibly stress inducing tasks. I think we made a wise decision. (: 

The kids played at home all day. Matt went to visit brother Russell. He is living in the hospice home now and not doing well. On Thursday night bishop called Matt and said he might not make it through the night, so Matt went and gave him a blessing and visited. He visited again yesterday (and is there now) and said he's doing and looking better. Matt has been a good home teacher and friend to him, it's wonderful to see him exercise his priesthood in and outside of our home. 

Alexis and I did some shopping and planning while the kids napped. We've got a whole day for shopping in Utah before we head to Idaho, we've just got to stay focused and get 'er done!

We headed to the pool when the girls got home from school. Unbeknownst to us, the Marsh's were celebrating their oldests birthday, so they had pizza and brownies that they shared with everyone. We set up a table in the shade and I helped supervise the kids from the comfort of a shaded and dry seat. It was wonderful! Once again, Matt took care of things in the water. He's been so awesome lately! It was so fun to sit and visit with the ladies of LG and also Colleen, who I miss working with at church and don't get to see very often. 

The whole pool was abuzz when this guy flew over! He was a paraglider with a motor attached to the back. We don't have a clue where he glided from, but he circled around the pool a few times. It was pretty cool. 

Matt washed the three boys and brought them home, then I washed the three girls and followed after. That's a lot of kids and a lot of work! They line up in age too - kale is a month older than Addie, Riley a month older than Frankie, and Brock 6 months younger than laney. 4 happy kids and 2 abused. (;

Also, it was a pretty coolish evening and all the kids had purple lips. They would come and warm up with their towels all throughout the swim time. Crazy cool summer, and I'm not complaining!

Matt went out with the missionaries (#ilovemyhubs) so I put the 6 to bed. #lotsowork. 

On a totally unrelated note: matts mom and dad came to visit us in NM shortly after we got married and she ranted and raved about this nighty she loved. It's this exact one, but with short sleeves:

Anyways, I bought one, but I rarely wear it. I just happened to throw it on after the pool last night. It's pretty grandma'ish, but comfy. Anyways again, no one ever comes to our house after 8 o'clock (other than the kids friends, but they don't count). Last night, my grandma-nighty-clad self had three visitors - the missionaries picking Matt up, the marshes dropping off matts hat from the pool, and the mozzo's across the street inviting us to a campfire. I was just a little bit embarrassed. :/ C'est la vie!

The kids "couldn't sleep at all last night" and were up bright and early at 6:30. Matt got up with them and made chocolate chip pancakes. #iseriouslylovemyhusband. I got up with Delaney just after 8. Just so no one thinks I'm lazing it up, I did wait up for Chris to get home from his babysitting job at 11, so that's pretty fair. 

Today the kids have played outside, watched a movie, "rested", and torn up the basement. They are now eagerly awaiting matts return so we can head for round 2 at the pool. 

Christian went to brenna's to swim at her grandmas house, and lexi's bosses are trying to kill her by scheduling her to work by herself on Saturday night. 12 hours of work in a week! What were they thinking? She's got major short timers. Only 9 days, 8 hours and 11 minutes left!

Check ups

The Friday after school started I took my non-public school girls to the dr. Laney wasn't feeling the whole being measured gig. 

But the scale was awesome. 

And we love CJ! Awwwww. (:

Her "stop taking pictures" face. 

"Yeah, there's my eaw. No, there's no cookie in thewe." 

Dr o'rourke has awesome animals on her stethoscope.
"Ummm, I think that's a cow."

Getting to play with the stethoscope was a little slice of heaven! We sang doc mcstuffins and dr Molly said she only hears that about once a month. I'd a thought it'd be on the daily! Glad to be the annoying ones. :/

Frankie kept saying "is it my turn? When will it be my turn?"

Lexi got to be entertained by the stethoscope animals too. (: we (almost) always have a good time at the dr. They are fun and we've been here long enough that we have relationships with them. Good stuff. (:

Everyone is healthy and ready for college and to be 2 1/2. She asked if laney knew 20 words. Not that all my children are geniuses, (but they are) but laney is very bright and has always been very verbal. She's full on conversation mode now and I love it! 

Delaney is catching up in the weight department now too. She weighs 26 lbs and is 36 1/2 inches tall. Instead of being in the 5th % for weight, she's now in the 25th. Go laney! 50th for height too. I was told to keep doing what I'm doing. All the chocolate milk you can drink! 

Weight announcements can probably end at 18, but meh, Alexis weighs in at 118lbs (we weigh the same!;) and is 63 1/2 inches tall - up a whole 1/4 inch from last year! She's such a shawty!

Healthy kids are a mighty fine blessing. (:

After the dr, we dropped Frankie frog off at school and picked up, calculated, and copied checks and cash to go deposit. Membership time is a busy time of year! Lex was a good sport about how long it took, so after that we went to salsas for the spiciest white sauce ev-ah! They got hot chiles and every one complained about how spicy it was! We still had a fun day together. (: