from summertime to school time

I think summer is almost over. I'm so glad.

I get this sense I'm supposed to love summer and people are going to throw things at me if I saw something out loud about how miserable it can be. As the years go by I just am less and less a fan. I'm so ready for wool socks in the morning, fires in the fire place, apple picking & pumpkin gathering and all the foods associated with apples and pumpkins. I have had more than enough bees and mice and snakes and bugs of all kind scurrying around everywhere I step outside and the ugly state of my dead lawn. I hate the heat. Yes,  I'm ready to move on to a new season.


: : Back to School

Israel, Zoran & Azia off to their first day of school

Zoran, first day of first grade

The kids headed back to school last Wednesday. They weren't overly enthusiastic, but we're starting starting to get back to that routine.

A visual illustration of why it's unwise to have four children. . . the necessity of a box this big to hold all the shoes for school & fall sports. But, also why Zappos is ideal for people with four children: all the shoe shopping done after about a half hour online and the giant box arrives the next day. Free overnight shipping and free return shipping. Perfect when you hate shopping, especially with kids!

So far, we're doing a little better with having a routine. I've remembered to tell my kids to go to bed before ten most nights. We've been getting homework and reading and paper-signing done right when they get home before we get busy with other things. They've protested very little.

Zoran hasn't worn shoes since approximately May and apparently he's forgotten how to tie them. I guess it's not just the academic knowledge that regresses over the summer.

It was a little disappointing when I went to sign Azia's check-in sheet after the very first day of school. Her summary of her first school day back:



Yep, "School is slow."  That is what stuck out most about the day. But, she does seem to like her class and teacher and is mostly positive so far so maybe the slowness isn't all bad.

And this is what Lex does while everyone gets ready for school. He is not a morning boy. Sometimes I feel like I should get him up and have him start the day before 9:00 like everyone else. Then I decide he has more than enough years ahead of him to so that. Also, he's out grown naps, but if he gets up at 7:00 he's incredibly grumpy by about 6:00pm (and he still doesn't go to bed until after nine even without a nap). So, I think for now the sleeping in works.


: : New Pet (s)

Lex and his new friend

I finally broke down and got a cat. Well, two cats actually, but that was an accident.

I was really enjoying our pet-free life for a few months. And then Dev got a dog for his birthday. I actually really like the dog and don't mind having a dog, but I hate dogs ever having to be tied up.  My one stipulation in the new dog was that it had a whole fenced area of our yard for its own (not a fan of kids and dogs sharing the same fenced area) before it arrived, because we are gone a lot and live right near the school and town so our dogs tend to visit everyone when left on their own. Dev found a dog he really wanted for his birthday and promised the fence would be done by the end of the week if we got it. That was in May. We still have no fence. And even worse, there is a kennel in our carport. It makes me mad every single time I open the door.

Then this week I broke down on the cat issue too after seeing a mouse run across my floor in the middle of the afternoon. Then it happened again the next day. There is really not anything I can think of I hate more than mice and we live right in the middle of their perfect habitat. They kids started hunting them in the carport because they were scurrying around everywhere. You can hear them in the field when you walk out there and sometimes they just run across the back deck. Disgusting. I finally decided dealing with a cat was less awful than dealing with mice.

Gwen's cat had cute kittens on the 4th of July so I told her we'd take one when they were old enough. The kids picked one out and she was going to bring it down last week. Then Dev just brought one home from his brother's so we didn't need one of Gwen's.

Except I forgot to tell Gwen that and Lex brought one home from her house. I didn't realize this until many hours after he brought it in because the two cats look exactly the same.

So now we have two cats. I haven't seen any mice since they arrived, but I have seen a few piles of cat crap in my house. I really just can't win.

The cats may run away soon anyway. Lex really loves them. I'm sure it's terrifying for them.

He even took them out in the rainstorm so they could play in the rain. I told him they didn't really like rain but he didn't believe me. At least he believed they didn't want to bathe with him.

: : Hanging out at home

I think the younger kids actually kind of like it when the older kids go back to school. They'll probably miss them soon, but these first few days these two sort of like being the "big kids."

Apples must almost be ready. They'll used some trampoline and tree / fence climbing skills to pick a few off Naett's tree.

This week I had to add a "no live trees (or giant tree-sized weeds) in the house" rule to our existing rules about no insects, sticks, or rocks in the house. 

I've also been spending a lot of time with superheroes lately.

Wonderwoman waiting for Spiderman

She looks so sweat & defenseless against the scary wolf creature doesn't she?

But she has a mean punch and ferocious caped cousin for backup.



Dixon Melon Days

Melons for sale at the parade

I love how most small Montana towns have their own little celebrations each summer. Dixon's Melon Days is about the last one around here.

I tried to convince them they wanted some melon for a treat, but the melon truck was no competition for the Cool Truck!

This is Lex getting out of the car where we parked right on Highway 200 in Dixon. He got out & he and Zoran started talking about "Pickers" and the treasures they could find. Israel wasn't even with them but his influence lingers. And, Dixon might be a good place for the Pickers to film. You never know what you might find there.

Catching candy from Randi & Sage (& the Lake County Bank float).

Parade watching with the Morigeau kids (and a few others that wandered over)

So my cousin found this pretty lady. . .

 
Adam got married this weekend. It was a really pretty ceremony and good to see a lot of my mom's family I don't run into very often. 


And, the whole gathering seemed just about perfect for them: 

Adam cutting his wedding cake.

Last of the bees &  berries

Our huckleberry supply started to dwindle quickly when Lex discovered them in the freezer.  Dev did get his pancake breakfast Sunday and I finally got my milkshake. And, Lex got many handfuls of frozen huckleberries whenever the freezer was left unguarded.

I've decide if the huckleberries are nearly gone, then the bees must go as well. We can't just be stuck with all the awful things about summer if our good ones are all slipping away.

Lex trapped this one when I went to smash it. He told me bees didn't like to be smashed, which is probably true, but I also don't like them attacking everyone.

This is one of Lex & Ethen's new favorite ways to build their forts. It drives me crazy.  More than once I've read parents suggested this taking off of the cushions and playing on them with their kids as a fun activity to do with your kids.

I believe those parents are just as crazy as the ones who suggest giving a child a box of kleenex and letting them pull each one out, one by one, as a fun game.

I don't think my kids will be allowed to play with kids who have parents with those sorts of ideas.

Unless those parents want to host the playdates. I could probably be swayed then. Actually I'd like to send my kids over right now. Then I could reassemble all my couches and figure out how to get rid of all these bees.

Day 312: mini-hikers on a mini-hike

Gwen and I took nine kids nine and under on a hike to (and then completely around) Swartz Lake today. Good thing its not much of a hike or a very big lake once you get there. Still, the tiny kids were pretty impressive. Any couple hour hike is pretty tough if you're only two.

Cleaning with all sorts of help

I have this goal to have my house organized by the time I start teaching again next month. It seems like a fairly impossible goal since I can't even keep my kitchen floor swept, but we'll see how it goes.

Last week I decided to start with the worst closet first. Since I can't get anything done in the evening since I seem to be gone so often I told the kids they could design and paint the closet if they helped me clean it out. I was aware of what an awful plan this was even before we began but I was trying to figure out some way to actually work on it during the day with kids while still keeping them entertained and out of trouble.

They actually really liked the idea.

 Azia and Addison got to work right away coming up with design possibilities for all the kids to choose from. And the boys were ready to start hauling things out and putting my piles into the appropriate places.

 We needed to go through everything so we could actually get to all the paint to begin touch up (and in some cases more major) work once on the other rooms in the house once we got things organized.

 So this is what we started with.

 Okay I'm lying. This is the great organization system that was in place.

I wonder why I couldn't find anything?

Once we had it cleaned out and the kids had decided on a plan, I got them some paint and they got to work.

 Again. . . unwise. . . look at all those children with paint.

And then after every once left for the day I left Lex with access to the paint.  He was sort of following the kids' design plan, but he got a little out of control with it.

 Luckily Azia & I got most of it scrubbed off their newly painted wall and the couch.

We will not discussed the side of the house. No one will notice once we repaint there. It's on the list.


Anyway, now we have a new closet play room! (There were also big circles on the ceiling in their plan which we will add later. I ran out of patience and also didn't want to buy more paint! )

This is largely a toy storage area because we don't have a play room but do have a half dozen ride on toys and giant trunks of costumes that have no homes in any kid's room. Some time in the near future we will probably cut much of this little kid play equipment & use this space for something more practical, but for now I need somewhere to lock all this kid stuff so it isn't overtaking the house when kids aren't using it.

But as a lovely side feature, the kids do think they now have a play room. Who cares if it's only like 3x6 or something and there isn't actually any room to play once more than one person is in it.

 It's still exciting and somewhere new to hang out.

Also,  it serves as a guest room:

Bryce & Iyezk: I found these two like this at about 2:00 am when I got home from an ambulance call. I was worried they had enough of the sleepover and went home in the middle of the night but then I noticed them in the closet!


Anyway, one huge headache of disorganization under control, about a dozen more to tackle.

Day 305: an afternoon at Flathead Lake

Sage & Lex, running away from me once again. They though I should spend the afternoon running around the lake rather than swimming in it or sitting on shore. They are quite the crazy pair. We've missed having Sage around the last few weeks.

Day 296: Bowling with the Crew

Lex bowling. And everyone else keeping an eye on him & his progress.

Bowling seemed like a good activity for the day since it was dreary and rainy in the morning, but by the time we go to Missoula it was about 90 and miserable. It was still a nice option since the bowling alley was air conditioned.

Our first game was very close with Azia, Trance & Zoran's scores all only being one point apart for much of the game. Azia was slightly ahead the entire game until Trance won by one in the last frame. It was very intense, but it was hard to figure out if the close game made it more or less fun. Those three are all way too competitive.

Addison & Ethen just liked playing so matter what numbers they got. Lex liked it too, even though he continues to remind me he should not be allowed in public every time I actually bring him in public. Even though I was never more than about ten feet away from him the entire time, in the first twenty minutes or so we were there he was still able to:

• throw his second ball down while the machine was still picking up the pins from the first turn (Actually he did this in the middle of Zoran's turn rather than his own, so not only did he narrowly escape damaging the whole lane we had he also totally wrecked Zoran's score.)
• run across the line when throwing his ball and wipe out, sliding about 8 feet down the lane
• throw his ball back down where it comes up. . . right as another one was popping up from being returned
• run across two other lanes right next to us. They weren't actually in use yet, but the elderly bowlers getting ready to start were clearly horrified at his lack of bowling etiquette. (They just kept repeating to each other He ran across the lanes!)

They all want to go again so I think the plan will be to go right after they open--hopefully it will be empty and no one else will have to put up with us! It didn't seem to start to fill up until about lunch time.

Day 284: return of the Cool Truck

Addison helping Ethen pay for his popsicle.

Kind of amazing how exciting a visit from our local ice cream truck can be. It's the highlight of the day for the kids.

You Capture: Water

We've been pretty lucky with water around here lately.

Not too much to be dangerous or bothersome like many other areas.

Finally warm enough to go playing in it. . . in ways other than in our raincoats & muck boots. (Well Lex continues to wear his boots most places anyway, but for him it seems to be all about the fashion.)

So for us it's been mostly water fun the past few days:

Sage enjoying Splash Montana

Zoran & Layne cooling off at the Fireman's Picnic

Lex honing his skills with the garden hose.

They are important skills to have during Montana summers.

Mom's Watershed Summer program students (and Azia & Israel) racing the boats they made in the canal in the back yard.

And a calm evening with (at this point) still slow-moving water running through the backyard.

Day 261: it's way too hot to be outside enjoying summer

Lex, Zoran, Sage & Azia: Looking for the other half of our crew. (Clearly we aren't really focused on this task, but the other four big boys did show up right on time.)

It was like 90 degrees today. If I had known we were actually going to have a summer day I wouldn't have promised the kids we'd go to the waterpark. Apparently everyone decides to go to Splash Montana when it finally gets above 80. It was really crowded and almost too hot even when submerged in the water. It was even warmer once we got into our problematically no-longer air conditioned car. (Because it always happens that everything likes to stop working at once. I guess I should be happy Dev's truck is drive-able again?) The little kids apparently are not old & still like summer. They had fun swimming, settled for ice cream once we left the park (instead of $5 dipping dots) and then slept most of the way home.

Now I am planning to put out a sprinkler for the small children, go inside, turn on the air conditioning (which hopefully does still work), and come out until sometime next fall.

Day 255: morning boys

It's not real early morning, but when you're only a few years old and it's summer, I think the rules about hours of the day for hair brushing and pajama wearing are a little more lax.