{What I learned in school today}

Caroline brought this home from school yesterday.





Allow me to interpret.

1 I see my dad.
2 I see my fish
3 I see my cat.
4 I see my penny.
5

Let's revisit number one for a minute.

She drew hair... then erased it.
'Cuz real daddy's don't have hair.
But they DO have soul patches.

{Another Tooth Bites the Dust}

I'm thinking she should be a Jack'o lantern for halloween...

or a rat.

{Mama Trauma Day 2010}

The first day of school around here went as per usual.

I secretly freaked out while trying to put on my happy face.

The girls were so excited they could hardly hold still long enough for the obligatory first-day-of-school-show-me-your-new-outfit-and-model-your-backpack photos.

Lou has his own idea of back-to-school style.

...and I get 7 hours of interrupted Lou time every day. Without the girls. Every day. What are we going to do?!?

{Camp out FAIL}

It all started out innocently enough. One last camp out before school started. We went to Henry's Lake, the fool proof destination for great fishing (at least it had been every other time we've ever been). Add a few relatives and a few friends, and good times should be had by all...

It was a little chilly, and a little (ok, a LOT) windy, but nothing that would stop a great s'more roasting!

The next day while the boys were "fishing" we killed some time at the campsite. Mel did a full pedi on Grandma. Her toes have never been so fancy!

The little girls were hard at work doing the same...

The boys? Not so much.

They tried to start a fire the old fashioned way -- flint and steel.

...until Uncle Todd schooled them with the tried and true propane starter.

"Ohhh.... fiiiiiiirrrrrrre!"

When Todd wasn't "fishing" he also gave rowing lessons. Elizabeth got really good at it.

Louis is still on "phase one" aka "dry land."

Then just as our five star dutch oven dinner was just about ready it started to rain. Then it started to rain cats and dogs.

Then the wind blew.

And it blew, and it blew, and it blew our tent down.

And over.

And over.

And over.

And the pop-up trailer leaked.

And leaked and leaked.

Like a friggin sieve.

So we did what any tried and true campers would.

We ran home as fast as we could. Left the whole mess and the"real" trailer campers there to fend for themselves.

We bailed.

Here's our ground zero when we came back the next morning: (we passed Mel and Brandon and their friends driving away on our way in.) Our tent frame was broken and bent to pieces and everything was soaked. The pop-up had an inch of water in the bottom. So we laid everything out to dry, Adam and Todd went out on one last ditch attempt to catch a fish, and I took the kids to the docks to swim.

The boys didn't catch anything. All weekend long. Not one fish.

Camp out FAIL.

Eh, at least the kids had fun!

Brings to mind a saying from each of my parents.

Mom, "We're makin' memories!"
Daddy, "That's why it's called fishing and not catching."

{Toothless Joe from Kokomo}

Little slow on the blogging lately. Never got around to posting this picture of when Caroline Jo lost her top tooth. She had Todd pull it out at the big family Sunday dinner. Excited does not begin to describe this child.



Neither does adorable.

Next thing I know, she's had him pull another one! OK, I tell myself. Really need to get on that blogging thing.


Gotta throw this one in for good measure. Have I mentioned adorable yet?


I was just too late. She pulled the third one out all herself. The third tooth in just over one week! I found her squealing in the bathroom surrounded by about 30 bloody tissues. I think we need an intervention.
She now fakes not being able to say "s". Totally had Autie Laura going during prayers at a sleepover. Adorable? I think so. Oh, and she's been singing "All I want for 'Chrithmith' is my THREE front teeth" nonstop.

She claims she has another loose tooth, but offered me a deal. If I pay her $1, she promises NOT to wiggle it for a whole week.

I'm seriously considering it.

{Rigby Chicks}

Even if high school gets further and further away, my best friends just don't. While Jana was here from VA, most of us were able to juggle schedules (and Angie kicked out her poor hubbs and kiddies) so we could meet in Boise this year. Krista even saved the day and gave me a ride. My hero! It was go great to be together again! (We missed you Tracy and Kari!) So we pretended we were 10 years younger and crammed ourselves together for every available photo op.

In the car on our way to get "special ice" from Sonic...


...so we could make Italian sodas. Yum. Shana was doing her best to make us all as photogenic as she is, but I think I'm a lost cause.


Around the care package Kari sent from Alaska. She was so sweet to make us each a pair of earrings (Tracy, I still have yours!) and she knew we would need a stash of good chocolate.


At least we got to Skype with Kari and talk to Tracy on the phone! Oh, the gossip.


Bad things happen when you try to do your nails too late at night... like gluing your fingers together bad. We stayed up so, so, so late every night. Ladies, I'll be the first one to admit we're getting too old for that kind of nonsense!

But we still managed to look fresh and amazing for shopping in Boise the next day... after the morning soaking in some rays by the pool, of course!

We even got to see Angie and Jana's kids for little bit at church. Makes me wish we lived closer together so my kids could know their "aunties" and "cousins" better! Thanks for all the laughs and tears, girls! Until next year!