7th, 2nd, and K

My kids are all in school and have been for almost a month now. It's weird how early school starts around here. So of course I'm just now, a month late, getting around to blogging their first days of school. I think I may have put this off because it's taken me almost a month to deal with the fact that my baby is a kindergartner and that my oldest in is 7th grade. And would you just look at that tall 2nd grader? What in the world?! He definitely had a growth spurt in the past few months.

They are all enjoying school and we have gotten back into the routine that school provides - carpool, homework, after-school activities, etc. I like that. I'm big on routine. Routines make me happy. Sophie has tons of homework every day, especially Algebra homework and geography. Do you remember taking geography in 7th grade?! I do. Very clearly. It is so weird to have a child at an age that I remember so well. But Sophie has tons more homework in 7th grade than I ever had.

Ben is doing great so far in 2nd grade. He has always loved school and I'm so grateful for that. Ben has a moderate amount of homework which he does with out being asked or complaint every night and seems to love it. I know he's a bit odd that way, but not having to encourage him has been nice, because it's a totally different story with Nina.

Nina has more than once declared, "I don't do homework Mom!" Yes, my Nina is feisty. (Which may come as a shock to some who do not see her in the privacy of our home where that feistiness really comes out.) And even though she thinks she doesn't need to, she still has to do homework. She reads a take home book every night and does an activity like review sight word flash cards or writes a sentence about a picture she's drawn, etc. Normal kindergarten type stuff, but wow it has taken a lot of encouragement and patience to do homework with our youngest. One thing she does love is reading pages for pennies. I can't thank my friend Ganelle enough for this tip! Nina sits on the couch and reads books (Bob books for now - they are easy to sound out and are great for first readers) getting a penny for each page she reads. It is so fun to see her gain confidence. Just 2 months ago she was refusing to even try to sound out words (she knows all the letters and their sounds, but she just wasn't interested in reading. AT ALL.) This penny thing has changed it all around and she wants to read me books everyday. Yay!

So that's the report on the start of a new school year. I really just can't believe how grown up these kids are getting. I am thankful everyday to be their mom. It really is an amazing thing to see them grow and gain knowledge. They are real little people and someday they're going to be real big people and I'm going to miss these days of packing lunches and carpooling and homework. Oh look, now I'm getting misty. See why it's taken me a month to blog about this... sniff... :)

The Rest of July

Our end of July was crazy town! But also lots of fun! We'll start with a fun outing that I took with friends to Twilight at Red Rocks. How cool is that??! Seriously it was awesome. I'm there for any Twilight related fun and this one was SO great! Red Rocks is the neatest place and then the crowd was full of Twihards. There were cheers and cat calls every time Edward came on screen. (I'll admit I did my fair share of cheering.) I had to take a quick picture of the first view of Edward on the big Red Rocks screen.

Next in our crazy end of July was Sophie and Nina's birthday parties. Sophie turned 12 and Nina turned 5 and we did the parties back to back. Sophie's on a Friday night and Nina's the next day on Saturday afternoon. I can't believe Sophie is 12. I'm in denial. Can she really be a Young Woman now. I need to order New Era for her. It's weird. Her party was super fun and very loud. We had 12 of her friends over and they played Just Dance on the wii, had pizza and cake, and watched The Princess Bride. Well, I should say they watched some of The Princess Bride. They were all on a bit of a sugar high when the movie started so there was a lot of non-movie watching giddiness going on. I think it was good though and Sophie enjoyed it, so yay!

Nina's party was actually a bit calmer than Sophie's if you can believe it. The theme for Nina's party was "beach party" and she and 10 of her little friends played Just Dance Kids on the wii, pin the tentacle on the octopus, fish-fish-shark (which is the beach equivalent of duck-duck-goose :)), colored beach scenes, had a water balloon toss (which quickly turned into a water balloon fight) and briefly learned how to hula (the hula dancing was kind of like herding cats with all these 4 and 5 year olds :)). Oh and of course had cake and ice cream. Nina's little friend are adorable and it was really fun to have them all over.

 Then we had our family party for the girls which consisted of dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, Sophie's favorite, and the opening of presents. Sophie got an i-Pod Touch and Nina got an American Girl doll - Kanani. They were both ecstatic about their gifts. I can't believe my girls are growing so quickly. They are both beautiful, wonderful daughters and I'm so lucky to be their mom.

So that was our busy end of July. At the beginning of August all the kids started school which is a post in and of itself. It felt like our summer was one event after the other and then school started. SO busy. It has been nice to have some breathing space now that things have calmed down, but of course there's homework, soccer, ballet, piano, Young Women's activities, and everything else to keep us all busy. I wouldn't have it any other way though. It's all good.

I just realized there was a shocking lack of Ben in this post. He's cute. And I love being his mom too. So here's a picture of him.:)

Here's another cute guy I love.:)

Midnight Harry Potter!!

In line for the midnight show. Please excuse our laser beams (there was a nasty glare), but it does bring to mind "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. "You gotta hit me, hit me, hit me with your laser beams...Ow..Ow..."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was awesome!! Adrian and I went to the midnight show in IMAX 3D last Thursday/early Friday. Oh it was fun. We did realize that we were rather old for the average age of the crowd, but that's okay. We loved seeing all the people in costume. There were snitches with "I Open at the Close" written on them, a great Madam Pomfrey, centaurs, lots of Harrys and Rons and Hermiones, a rather convincing Moaning Myrtle who actually went into a bathroom stall (our spot in the line was right next to the women's restroom) and moaned for quite a while - very method, lots of Bellatrixs, a few Tonks (but no Lupins...), a great Draco Malfoy, house elves, and a very funny George with a toothbrush sticking out of his bandaged ear. That is what is so fun about the midnight show! Adrian and I were very much 2nd tier when it came to outfits. We only had on Slytherin and Gryffendor shirts.

When we were in line (we got in line at 7:30pm) we people watched, played cards, and I tried to play the hand slapping game with Adrian, but I cannot get him and he slaps my hands every time. It's quite frustrating, so that was short lived. Once we were seated in the theater we loved overhearing all the group HP trivia going on and telling of HP jokes. Did you know there are a ton of "dumb blonde" like Hufflepuff jokes?? How many Hufflepuffs does it take to change a light bulb? All of them plus 1. Oh and how many Gryffendors does it take to change a light bulb? Three and I bet you know which 3 I mean.:) I loved the jokes! What I did not love was the girl in front of us who repeated all the parts for the Potter Puppet Pals "Mysterious Ticking Noise" six-hundred times. She exclaimed "Dumbledor!!!" about every 10 seconds and I thought it was going to drive me insane. But alas, what do you expect from a bunch of teens drinking Red Bull?? When we weren't listening to other peoples jokes and trivia questions we read our books. Adrian is reading Dracula and I decided to read parts of the last half of HP 7, just to brush up on everything before seeing it on screen.

When the previews and movie actually started the screams and clapping from the audience (all, but us, on about their 5th Red Bull) was deafening, but fun. Then of course the movie was completely great! I loved it!! I could tell you about some of the things that they changed (especially in the ending) that annoyed me, but I'm letting it go. I can easily forgive a movie for not being just like the book, because honestly I like keeping the book better than the movie. SO. I LOVED it. I love Harry. I still think he is one of the best characters ever. Seeing him portrayed on screen is great and I love the Harry Potter world. It is just exciting and neat. Yay for a decade of Harry Potter viewing! It is a little sad to not have another movie to look forward to, but I'm glad the series ended fabulously. I can't wait to have all the DVDs sitting on my shelf. I can imagine a lot of New Years Eve Harry Potter marathons in our future.

Utah Vacation

We just got back from an almost 2 week vacation to Utah and had a blast. We stayed with my parents and my sister's family and the kids loved all the cousin time. We got to see lots of both sides of our family, even Adrian's dad came down from Idaho. We also spent an evening with our friends the Turpins with some awesome SYTYCD times. We went to all our favorite Utah eateries including Los Hermanos, Burger Supreme, In & Out, The Lion House Pantry Restaurant, Cracker Barrel, Hickory Kist and a Hawaiian Shaved Ice Shack (tigersblood...yum). We saw all the Temple Square sites in Salt Lake including a tour of the Conference Center which was so neat. We went to Lagoon twice (the 2nd time was just Adrian and I - very fun!) - the new ride Wicked is fabulous. We walked around BYU campus with the kids and showed them our favorite buildings (HFAC and Talmage) and spots and of course got some chocolate covered cinnamon bears from the bookstore. We watched movies, had barbecues and picnics, sat around and talked (which is always my favorite part) and witnessed the craziest firework display courtesy of my brother-in-law David and my teenage nephews. It was great. It was fun. It was memorable. Yay for vacations! Now here's some pictures.

Thoughts Going Around My Head

• SYTYCD is on again! Yay! And I'm strangely happy to see Mary Murphy back. I never thought I would say that, because she shrieks you know, but she is like a crazy aunt that I'm fond of. There I said it. I'm fond of crazy Mary Murphy. Now if only they could get Wade back...
• Diet Coke really does make me jittery and unable to sleep. Can you imagine what I'd be like on coffee? Or amphetamines?? Seriously I'd be like the squirrel on Hoodwinked. SO. I'm recommitting myself to caffeine free Diet Coke. Thank goodness there is a Chick-Fil-A near me that has it, and a Panera that has caffeine free Diet Pepsi (I'll take what I can get).
• We planted our garden! Okay, Adrian planted our garden. His garden. Whatever. I was very encouraging, yay me, but discovered digging in the dirt and laying drip lines is not my favorite activity. I'm going to have to work on liking it better.
• In conjunction with planting the garden Adrian had to spray rabbit repellent around our yard and soak the beams around the garden in it. The stuff is suppose to smell like coyotes. It smelled like wet dog and poo. Adrian smelled like wet dog and poo. Even after taking a shower. Just saying. And he's going to have to reapply this stuff frequently to keep the bunnies away. We are going to have a stinky summer.
• We got our family pictures done by a very sweet friend who is a great photographer. I think she took my very favorite ever picture of Ben, which is quite the feat since he was acting like a goof ball the whole shoot, but then he would stop and pose like a J Crew model. What in the world? It was hilarious.
• Last week I went to the funeral of one of the nicest and loveliest ladies I've ever met. I got to know her through my callings in the primary. She was the best primary teacher ever. Really. I learned so much about what it is to magnify your calling in primary by watching her. She loved those children so much and was always so patient and kind. Soon after she passed away the teacher of the primary class she had taught previously said that one of the little girls prayed that she "was having fun in heaven". I'm sure she is, but we will all miss her.
• Jane Eyre has left Colorado. It is in no theaters. This is very frustrating to me because they also do not have a DVD release date for it, so I'm in Jane Eyre limbo. It's hard to have an addiction to movies sometimes. 
• I bought sprouted wheat bread and teff today at Whole Foods. I hope the bread goes over well. I'm going to put some teff into my pizza dough along with some whole wheat flour and see how that goes over too. 
• I'm reading Devil in the White City on my Kindle. I got a Kindle for Mother's Day. It's rad! I find Devil in the White City fascinating. I have to admit that all the information on the building of the Chicago World's Fair got a little boring, but it is a super interesting read.
• Sophie is obsessed with making friendship bracelets. Like the ones I made in elementary school. I almost stepped on an open safety pin with threads hanging off it today. Her favorite colors for the bracelets are neon. Is is 1987 again?
• We unpacked every box over the weekend and organized the basement. Whew. It was a lot of work and we took a huge load to the salvation army, but it's done. I'm so relieved and happy and the kids are happy to have a lots more space to play in down there. 
• Nina likes to lay on the carpet or on a blanket and make "snow angels". It is her favorite activity of the moment along with making paper airplanes and begging her sister to make her Kootie-Catchers. BTW, can she really be almost 5? I'm ready for a shrink ray gun now.
• I am starting to go through an identity crisis. All my kids will be in real school next school year. That means in August. What is that going to be like? It makes me teary eyed to think of it. I'm going to put off dealing with it for now. Maybe after 8 weeks with everyone home this summer I'll be ready for it. 

Bento-ing at 6:30am

I can't believe my kids will all be out of school/preschool soon. Where has this school year gone? Before it's over I want to blog about bentos. I have, since January, been trying to teach myself to be a morning person so I can bento. I have been waking up at 6:30am. Well, how it really goes is: Adrian comes in and wakes me up at around 6:15 in such a happy morning loving way, "Jenni it's 6:15. Wake up! The day is slipping away!" and I lay there in a comatose state until 6:30 when I force myself to get out of bed. Slowly. Grumbling a little. I wish I sprang out of bed and greeted the morning with a smile like Julia Child alla Julie and Julia. That would be great. But I do get up, so in my mind that's victory for the night owl that I am.

I made it a New Years resolution to get up and make my kids better packed lunches for school. Bentoing has helped me do it. I discovered this world of packed lunches in little divided containers through some Bento Mommy Blogs (click here for a favorite blog) and it is fun. I try to give my kids a nice variety of main dishes (sandwiches, muffins, soups, quesadillas, wraps, mini waffles, French toast sticks, bread sticks with marinara..), a fruit or vegetable, a crunchy side of some kind, and a treat. I made a spreadsheet to help give myself ideas and every Friday or Saturday I sit down and plan the kids' lunches for the next week. I love the little container aspect. Love having another reason to containerize something! But I also love the positive feedback I get from the kids. Ben tells me all the time how much he loves his lunches, even though he still begs for hot lunch sometimes. What is the draw of instant mashed potatoes and Bosco Sticks?? I don't know, but he wants them! Sophie is a total fan of the lunches I make since hot lunch in middle school is so not cool.

Here's some pictures of what I've been making:

Everyday Bento (I make something to this effect about 2-3 times a week): grilled cheese, cantaloupe and grapes with a giraffe bento pick, snack mix: chex, raisins, and choc chips, and a homemade chocolate chip cookie

Poptart Bento: homemade poptarts, cantaloupe (my kids love cantaloupe), popcorn, choc Teddy Grahams, and heart marshmallows

Bread Stick Bento (sorry for the fuzzy pic): bread stick, marinara, Pirate Booty, cheese cubes, fruit cocktail, and kisses -- my kids love bread sticks for lunch

Soup Bento: leftover chicken noodle soup in a thermos, turkey and cheese sandwich on a homemade baguette, pickles, ginger Bunny Grahams and chocolate milk

Banana Bread Bento: peanut butter banana bread sandwich, pretzels, peaches, lime Jello, and choc milk

Ever-Favorite Leftover Pizza Bento: leftover homemade pizza, grapes, sandwich cookies, and choc milk

Holiday/Valentines Bento: heart shaped PB&J sandwich, heart shaped cheese slices, heart shaped kiwi slices with a puppy bento pick, heart marshmallows and a Valentine fruit snack with a Vday sticker

Wrap Bento: turkey wrap (flat bread, cream cheese, and turkey rolled up) pretzel crackers, grapes, and kisses

Super Fast Bento: a nutrigrain bar, Babybel cheese, grapes, crackers, and cookies

I'm working on making the lunches healthier. We do normal milk now or water in the place of chocolate milk, because choc milk does have a ton of sugar like Jamie Oliver says :), and I've been buying organic crackers and cookies for sides and treats if I don't make them myself. I think it's all about trying to do my best to have my kids like their lunches and make them as healthy as I know how. The lunch system that I use is Easy Lunch Boxes for the containers and lunch boxes to fit them in. I have heard great things about Laptop Lunch Boxes, maybe I'll give those a try sometime, but I do love the Easy Lunch containers. I use silicone muffin cups for dividers in the containers if I need to, plastic "souffle cups" to put sauces in that I bought in serious bulk from Costco's restaurant supply section, and little bento picks that I bought on Amazon for when I give them melon cubes, etc. I don't make my bentos as freaking cute as some bento bloggers do, but every once in a while I slip in a sticker for Ben, a note for Sophie, or make faces on something in the lunch with a food marker.  Once I put candy eyes on a mini waffle and Ben thought it was awesome.

So there you go. I bento and I think it's cool! It might seem goofy to say, but it has brightened my mornings. Even though I still feel like I truly wake up after the kids have gone to school, I'm working my way towards being that mom who springs out of bed and greets each child and my husband with a happy good morning. Seriously when that happens I think Adrian will be shocked speechless. It can happen though. I know I will get there as long as I have Saturdays to sleep in.:)

Royal Wedding Mania

I am super excited for the Royal Wedding! Aren't you?! I think it's all SO fun. I've been watching William and Kate specials on TV all week, much to Adrian's chagrin. My favorite special was "Kate's Gown of Renown" on Lifetime. They took a Kate Middleton look-alike to a bridal boutique and tried all different types of gowns on her and did her hair in a bunch of different ways. Awesome. I've watched the Today Show every morning and have loved their from London coverage. I'm gonna try my best to watch the wedding live tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I'll actually wake up that early. Coverage starts at 4am (wait does that mean 2am Mountain Time?)! I know I'll definitely watch it as soon as I do wake up (so happy for the invention of DVRs) and Nina says she'll watch it with me as long as I make some popcorn. Also, I'm planning an English dinner tomorrow evening: bangers and mash with mushy peas and jelly for dessert, or in American: sausages, mashed potatoes, mushed up peas, and Jello. One of the funniest things about this whole Royal Wedding business to me is the betting going on. Did you know British bookies are taking bets on what color hat the Queen will wear and whether or not Prince Harry will drop the wedding rings? Ha! I've listed some of the actual bets below with my own predictions. Happy Royal Wedding watching tomorrow!

What color hat will Queen Elizabeth wear? I say apricot, because that sounds queenly to me for some reason.

Which of these guests will be seen crying during the ceremony: Carole Middleton, Pippa Middleton, Michael Middleton, The Queen, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Prince Phillip? I'm going with Carole and Michael Middleton, though apparently the tears have to be visible to count so this might be a long shot.

How long will William and Kate's first kiss be? Um, 3 seconds?

Will the wedding car break down on the way to Westminister Abbey? No, I think not.

Will William and Kate's first child be a boy or a girl? Girl. (I think it's hilarious that they are taking bets on this!)