My "exposure" to preschool

Whenever I move someplace new, it takes me awhile to feel that I have friends and that I fit in. I was really excited when the kids started school because it not only gave my kids an opportunity to meet new friends but for me to meet some as well. I feel in the last few weeks that I have made some real progress but unfortunately I am pretty sure all that progress went down the drain today.

Jocelyn's school has a lovely playground and when I pick her up from school, her class is outside playing on it. There are two classes of 15 kids each plus about 5 teachers so it can be busy outside during pick up time. I usually let Jackson and Kelsey join the other kids and play on the play ground for about 10 minutes. Well today while they were playing I got into a conversation with a mom I met last week and we were discussing an issue with a previous soccer game. We were really into our conversation so I am unaware of how many people were exactly around us. I was holding Bryce and Kelsey came up to me and tried to get my attention by pulling on my pants pretty hard to the point that the pants went down to the mid-thigh region including the under clothing. Did I mention I was holding Bryce? Yeah, one handed pants pulling up isn't very fast. I screamed when this happened but the lady I was talking to was close to 6 feet tall and I think Bryce blocked her view so I believe she was unaware of what had taken place. She gave me a funny look when I screamed and I think she was thinking I had turrets or something and carried on. I didn't want to look around too much to see who witnessed this flashing but I did make eye contact with another mom who I know saw it. She gave me that "You poor thing look". Needless to say after my indecent exposure incident parents are going think twice before they let their kid play with the flasher lady children.

Fall Photos

If you hate those blog posts that people put up that have a huge amount of photos of their children and commentary on the photos, then stop reading now because this is exactly what this is.

Now that I have my disclaimer out of the way, to the good stuff. I am obsessed with fall and because I am, every year I dress my kids up in matching outfits and take their pictures. I figure I have only a year or two left that I can do this before one of the older ones protests. For now I am good and I think they actually like it.

I am always in search of the picture fall location but most ones I find are in people's yards, which I am not about to knock on their doors asking if I can take a photo. I try to find a more public one. I don't think the leaves have quite peaked yet, but I am always afraid I am going to miss it so I end up doing it a little early. Jocelyn's preschool is located adjacent to a beautiful church and two old cemeteries. The trees around these areas are beautiful and I decided this might be a great place to try. Jackson made sure I wasn't going to take any pictures of the "stones" which I avoided taking any pictures of the headstones. We actually had a pretty fun time taking the photos and some of them even turned out pretty cute.

Bryce

Love the colorful leaves.

Happy Bubbas

Have you ever wondered what the Mona Lisa is

looking at? We wonder what Kelsey is looking at because in

almost every photo we ever take of her this is what we get.

Trying to take a photo of this girl smiling

and looking at the camera is hard.

We took lots of photos of this girl trying

to get a one. We got lots of silly pictures

out of instead.

Typical Kelsey

Finally a smiling Kelsey....

and she is looking at the camera.

Priceless!

Jocelyn

Jocelyn loved every moment of her

photo shoot. We had a hard time narrowing

our favorites down to a couple.

Jackson

He too loved the camera.

What vain children! :)

Jackson always wants a picture of him and Bryce.

My handsome boys.

Kelsey looks happy to be in this photo.

Aside from the fact the sun is the back ground and

Kelsey wouldn't take her coat off,

I love these photos. The looks on their

faces capture them.

I just like this photo for Bryce's double chin.

Who doesn't love that face?

Nothing like a dry leaf in between shots.

Of course this is one of the few photos Kelsey

is actually smiling and looking at the camera.

Probably my favorite.

What we have been up to lately

I was so excited for the school year to start because aside from the kids having school, things like soccer, dance and other extracurricular activities would begin. I thought this would bring more order to my life and a routine for us to get back into. Boy, what was I thinking! I think our lives are just more chaotic now. Despite the fact that I am going a little nuts chauffeuring everyone to all their various destinations, I am glad that are busy and enjoying the activities they are in.

Jackson is really loving kindergarten. We tried working on reading this summer but I was told on a number of a occasions that he already knew how to read or he didn't need me telling him how to do it. These are some of the reasons why I am not home schooling but that's for another post. It's very interesting how his tune has changed and how well he does with instructions from others. Now he is sounding out everything and trying to spell words. He is so determined to learn how to read. It's fascinating to watch him try to figure stuff out. He is so close to getting it but not quite there yet. I am so grateful for good patient teachers to teach reading. Jackson is also loving learning about numbers and what makes up a book. He now always asks me, "Who is the author of this book?" He still has his competitive edge when it comes to soccer and treats each game like it's an important match. My favorite thing is what he wears to his games. I don't know if this is for intimidation for his opponents but he wears two watches. One on each wrist; one works and one doesn't but no else knows that. I don't know if he is saying "Hey, look at me I can tell time" or to psych his coaches out with how much time they put him in for. "I've got two watches. I know you cut my playing time by 15 seconds". Whatever the reason it seems to work for him because he is playing well and has scored twice. We are still working on being humble though. One of his classmates also plays soccer and Jackson's team will play his team on Saturday. Jackson said to me one day. "I am going to tell Jacob that we might win his team". That's the way to win friends.

I thought I had a picture with him and watches but I don't

Here is the pencil he got for being good

and earning stickers at school.

When I signed Jocelyn up for preschool this year it wasn't for academic reasons. It was to help her overcome her shyness and to help her spread her wings a little bit and build some confidence. She used to be my child that generally hung around me at play groups and wouldn't leave my side in large group situations. I am happy to say that after a month of preschool Jocelyn is doing fabulous in these areas. She has friends at school that she plays with all the time and when I come to school she says hi and continues on with what she is doing. She is even talking about maybe participating in her dance recital at the end of the year which is just huge for her. She is just loving school and the teachers are just loving her. Her writing is really developing quite nicely and she gets to paint to her little heart's content. She is continuing with dance and this year in addition to the ballet she is starting tap.

Her first day of dance.

The Ballerina warming up.

Concentrating on her positions.

With the older kids at school, it has given me a little more time to spend with Kelsey and Bryce. Kelsey calls this time "Mommy School". We mostly just play Thomas the Train or she dresses up in a dance costume and dances. She tells other people about this time and talks about the other kids in her class like "Addy" or "Dibbie". Kelsey has a very vivid imagination that's really blossoming, in fact it's quite entertaining. She often tells us quite interesting stories about things that we aren't familiar with but Kelsey is convinced it's real. Recently I was looking at the center page of the conference Ensign with the prophet and apostles on it. Kelsey looked at it and said, "Daddy is in here, he really is. I replied with, "As long as he is married to me he won't be". She said"Yes he is, he is right here", pointing at some random guy. She is quite the crack up. I started a play group with a few other moms in the area around Kelsey's age. She has enjoyed it especially when her friend Asher shows up. She loves that kid. Kelsey also started Twinkle Toes which is about the cutest thing you have ever seen. Nothing like a bunch of two and three year old in dance costumes learning how to dance. She adores this class. I only wish it was longer.

There are only 7 girls in the class but two of the girls have an

entourage with them when they come. They stand right in front of the door

blocking the view of the dancers. I finally sent Jocelyn to the front

of the crowd with the camera to get some photos. She doesn't know

how to zoom or focus yet. These photos will have to do for now.

Love the expressions on their faces.

When I think of Bryce, the Aesop Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind. That Tortoise was in no hurry to get to the finish line, but he steadily worked towards it. Our little Bryce is the same way. Sitting up, he's working on it. Rolling from front to back, if there was a good reason he might try but for the most part he's just content with the progress he's made this far. He likes to be on his belly for on about 5 minutes and that's it. He is constantly kicking his legs which John-David calls "little egg beaters". When you sit him up he teeters around like a bowling pin but he is getting better. He does like to grab at everything especially long blond hair and any kind of food. He thoroughly enjoys his meal times now and if you are not careful he'll just grab the bowl and dig his little hand in to help himself. He is getting a lot more hair but it's still too blond to see. He has discovered his voice and loves to hear the fun sounds that he can make. When I lay him down for nap now, he'll spend about 10 minutes making some noises before he drifts off to sleep. Another funny kid.

Still toothless. 

Many people have asked if John-David is all better now and the answer is yes!! After a few weeks in physical therapy, his back is doing great and his appendix incision seems to be healing fine. He is back to giving horsey rides to bed and playing football in the backyard with Jackson, all the important things in life.

I am still the major cause of accidents here in town as people stop to gawk as I parade by with my 4 kids. People think I am exaggerating when I say this but I don't think a day goes by when someone doesn't take the time out of their busy life to say to me "You have four kids!!! You are a busy mom." Two people alone commented to me about that today. These people really need to visit the Western half of the U.S. where 4 children is a common sighting, in fact a lot of people with 4 kids are just warming up. But in the meantime I just keep my smart aleck comments to my self and just smile.

This past weekend we took the kids to a local business fall event they do every year. We went last year and had a blast so we went again. The highlight was the pony ride and the hayride.

Jackson the cowboy.

Jocelyn the cowgirl.

Kelsey the cowgirl.

Our little pumpkin.

Bubba

The Hayride.